Lorelai and Luke did work through the rest of the Clint Eastwood movies during the next few weeks. Then they branched out into the collected works of Bill Murray, occasionally adding something from Monty Python. Sometimes Rory joined them, and on those nights Luke knew his insights into whatever film they were watching would never be heard. But that was OK. He secretly loved listening to the outrageous things pouring out of their mouths. Although he'd never let it slip out, he was honored that they allowed him entrance into their world of two.

Soon Lorelai realized how difficult it was for Luke to find the time in the evening to come over to her house, so she resurrected the poker game. She'd appear in the diner about an hour before closing time a few nights a week and commandeer a table close to the cash register. She knew where the cards were kept now and helped herself. Luke would join her as he waited for the last customers to leave. He kept a cracked bowl full of pennies for them to wager with. They were only vaguely aware that they were talking more than playing cards. As far as Lorelai was concerned, the biggest perk about poker nights was the unlimited snacks. And Luke discovered that he no longer had to worry about day-old pastries.

The weeks slipped into spring, and Luke had an epiphany. There was no reason, he realized, that only Lorelai could decree what they were going to do. He could suggest an activity as well. So with a thermos full of coffee and a bag full of diner treats he was able to bribe her into attending a Stars Hollow High baseball game one crisp evening. She kept that pretty pout on her face for the first inning but she soon found that having Luke by her side, explaining the game, made it a lot more fun than she expected. She knew a lot of the players because they were former classmates of Rory's, and soon she was cheering for them as lustily as everything else she did in life. The ham salad sandwiches, onion rings, and brownies tucked away in the bag only added to her enthusiasm.

It wasn't long before Lorelai was often seen slipping upstairs to knock on Luke's door, inviting herself in to watch the game with him on his small TV.

The town grew used to seeing them together. East Side Tillie no longer tripped over the curb in her haste to spread the news that they'd been seen walking shoulder-to-shoulder down Main Street. Babette no longer grabbed the phone when she saw Luke's truck parked out in front of Lorelai's house in the wee hours of the morning. It no longer caused Miss Patty to have a heart attack when she spied Lorelai's bright face ducking out from under the curtain leading to Luke's apartment at odd times of the day.

But it was hard to let the dream die.

"Would you look at that," Miss Patty mused one evening at Black, White and Read, waiting on the feature to start. Her eyes were glued to Luke's blue baseball cap tucked up against Lorelai's dark curls, while the two of them discussed something while sharing a tub of popcorn. "What a waste."

"Ain't it the truth," Babette agreed. "Man, the babies those two would've had!"

"So, do you believe it's true?" Patty asked, cryptically.

"What?" Babette said, pouring another handful of Raisinets into her hand.

"That they're just friends."

"Well, I pretty much watch 'em like a hawk when they're at her place, and I haven't seen any touchin' at all. Plus, Rory's around most of the time," Babette revealed. "Ya know, especially since she and Dean broke up."

Patty sighed dramatically. "How could we have been so wrong?"

"I dunno. I thought sure they was meant for each other." Babette chewed methodically for a moment. "Ya know, the other day I was over at the plant center, and that cute little redhead from Weston's was there, and Chad―ya know the one I mean? The one with the biceps? He followed her all the way out to her car with her bag of weed'n'feed. Do ya think there's somethin' goin' on there?"

Patty's eyebrows quirked as she took in this information. "Really? Sweet little Felicia and that big hunk of man?" She tried to work up some enthusiasm, but ultimately failed. "It's just not the same, I'm afraid."

Babette shoved the rest of the Raisinets into her mouth. "That," she said, muffled, "is a damn shame." She pointed at Luke and Lorelai.

"A damn shame," Patty agreed, sighing once more.

The phone was ringing on the front desk, and as usual, Michel was nowhere to be found. Lorelai snatched it up on the eighth ring.

"Independence Inn. The lovely Lorelai speaking."

"Seriously? That's how you answer your business phone?" Luke griped.

Lorelai felt the smile instantly spring to her mouth. "Luke, I thought you knew by now that I'm never serious."

"Whatever." He paused for a moment, leaning over to refill a diner's coffee mug before returning to the reason for his call. "Listen, I was wondering if this friendship thing we're doing extends to going shopping."

"Hang on a minute, OK?"

He waited, assuming something else needed her attention at the Inn's front desk. Instead, loud smacking noises came over the phone, forcing him to hold the receiver away from his ear.

"What the hell are you doing?" he groused.

"Sorry. I think there's something wrong with my phone. I could swear I heard you say something about shopping."

"Very funny," he muttered.

"Oh," she gasped. "Is it the new flannel season? Do I get to go with you and pick out this year's hot color combinations?"

"Look, if you don't want to do this, it's fine, but it's my sister's birthday in a few weeks, and―"

"You have a sister?" Lorelai cut him off shrilly.

"Yes," Luke confirmed, "and her birthday is always―"

"Since when have you had a sister?" she demanded.

"Since I was about two," he replied, trying to get back on track. "And this year―"

"How come I didn't know you had a sister?"

Luke sighed. "I don't know. Probably because you weren't around when she left town."

"See, this is the sort of thing you're supposed to fill me in about, bud. I'm supposed to know about your family. What else have you been hiding from me?"

"I haven't been hiding anything from you. It's pretty much common knowledge."

Lorelai felt a small tremor of guilt pass through her. She'd never thought to ask him about his family. In her mind she retraced the path through his small apartment, trying to recall any family photos on display. She came up blank. She knew he idolized his father, but she hadn't heard anything else about his family.

"Where does she live?" she asked.

"New York." Doubt suddenly assailed him. "Hang on."

She heard papers being shuffled.

"Yeah, New York still," he confirmed.

"Well, I can tell you two are really close," she teased.

Luke sighed again. "Not really. And that's why I need help finding something for her birthday. I always screw it up. So I thought, since you're a girl too, maybe you could help me pick out something for her."

"Yes, it sounds like I have lots in common with her," Lorelai said mock-seriously. "Being a girl and all."

Luke's supply of patience was coming to an end. "Look, you usually like going shopping, so I thought you could help me with this, but if you don't want to, that's―"

"Of course I'll go shopping with you. You know I'll go shopping for anything. I went to three pet stores to get cat toys when Rory babysat for Apricot. Of course I'll go. Just tell me a little something about her, so I'll know what stores to target." She paused for just a moment. "Oooh! Target!"

"She's…" Luke tried to come up with the words to describe his free-spirited sister. "She's ditzy. The biggest flake you'll ever meet. She wears those long, crinkly skirts, you know the ones? The ones that if you stretched them out, they'd cover about six people? And she's always wearing something with little bells or beads on it. She loves all that New Age crap. Oh, and she hangs out with people who like to dress up in costumes over the weekend."

"Costumes?" Lorelai was trying to reconcile that this strange person Luke was describing was somehow related to him. "You mean like theater?"

"No," Luke said, sounding disgusted. "I mean grown people who dress up and pretend they live in the Middle Ages or something."

"Oh!" Lorelai laughed. She was starting to get the picture. "OK, I'll figure out where we should shop. When do you want to go?"

"Tomorrow afternoon would work for me. How about you?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Lorelai confirmed. "I'll pick you up. 2:00?"

"Better make it 2:30." He paused for a moment. "Thanks."

"Happy to do it, pal!"

He couldn't help but smile. "See you later, buddy."

"So, fill me in," Lorelai said the next afternoon, as she started the Jeep on the trek towards Litchfield. "You have a sister."

"Yes, I have a flaky, pain-in-the-ass sister."

"Little sister?"

"She's about two years younger."

Lorelai tried to bite down on her impatience as he offered nothing more. "What's her name?"

"Liz."

"And how many more siblings are you hiding from me?"

"She's it."

Once again Lorelai waited for him to continue, only to be disappointed. "I always thought it'd be nice to have a sister," she said wistfully. "Someone to help me fight against the parents. You know."

He looked out the window.

"You two don't get along?"

"Not really," he admitted. "Not anymore." The last words had just a hint of regret coloring them.

"What was it like when you were little?" Lorelai would have crossed her fingers, hoping he wouldn't get mad that she was pushing him, if she hadn't needed both hands on the wheel.

She glanced over and saw the tiniest smile struggling to his lips. "It was OK when we were little. We were close enough in age that we could play together, and it didn't matter that we were a boy and a girl. We had a treehouse out back, and all sorts of pretend games we'd make up. But I drew the line at playing Barbies or paper dolls with her," he told Lorelai firmly.

"Aw, G.I. Joe never got to spend any time in the Barbie Dream House?"

"Never had a G.I. Joe," Luke said, gruffly. "Keith, one of the boys down the street, did. My mom was anti any war toys."

"But let me guess: You turned every stick into a gun anyway."

"Yeah," he laughed.

"So, what happened to split you apart from your sister?"

Luke turned his head, gazing out of the window again. He cleared his throat. "I don't know if you know this, Lorelai, but my mom died when I was pretty young."

She pressed shut her eyes for a split second, cursing herself for bringing up something painful. "How young?" she asked, gently.

He continued to stare at the passing scenery. "I was going on 11. Liz was 8."

She shook her head, tears springing up automatically as she imagined Rory being left without her at that age. "I'm really sorry, Luke. I didn't know that. I can't imagine how hard that was on all of you."

"Yeah." He let out a breath as he finally turned to face forward in his seat. "My dad…My dad really loved my mom. She was everything to him. It was like something out of a movie, you know? After she was gone…He wasn't the same for a long time." His voice was gruff, but he didn't seem to be resenting telling her about it.

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

Luke moved his hands through the air, trying to grasp the words he needed to explain it. "He was there. He took care of us. But he was just so sad. It was like physically he hadn't left us, but emotionally he checked out. I think…I think it was actually easier on me." His voice lowered; slowed. "I had chores. I hung out at the store. I played on some teams. It was like I had more of a routine to follow, you know? But Liz just…" He let the words trail off as he shook his head.

"No one to help with her, huh?" Lorelai murmured, sympathetically.

"No." His mouth set in a grim line. "There were all of these neighbor women, coming over all the time, right after. Casseroles and stuff, you know? All of 'em sayin' 'Let me know if I can help.'" His voice had taken on a sarcastic alto pitch. "If just some of 'em had taken some time to maybe play with Liz a little bit, or taken her shopping, or anything like that…maybe it would've helped."

After a short pause he continued, without any prompting. "It was like all three of us were living in the house, but we weren't really living there. We all kinda avoided actually looking at each other. It was like it was easier that way. Finally my dad snapped out of it, and he took charge again. But by then Liz had figured out how to play the poor motherless girl role to the hilt. She got away with a lot of crap with everybody. She even played my dad with it. She was always just barely passing her classes. She was always being threatened with detention. The kids she hung out with were losers. By the time my dad caught on and tried to put a stop to it, she'd already figured out all the angles."

"Whoa." Lorelai sounded grim. "Sounds like we would have had something to talk about."

"More than you know," Luke muttered. "Anyway, I graduated high school and went off to UConn for a year. Track scholarship," he grudgingly admitted.

"Luke!" She was shocked. "That's great."

"I hated every minute of it," he said. "I was fed up with school. I didn't want to be in any more classes. Living in a dorm, with hundreds of people I didn't know, no private space―I really hated it."

Lorelai nodded, glancing over at him. That, she could imagine.

"That summer, when I came home, I could tell that there was something…off…with my dad. He kept saying he was fine. One day our doctor came into the store, looking for parts to fix a drip in his kitchen sink. He took one look at Dad and insisted that he come in for a check-up." Luke paused, the memory of that summer still making his palms sweat. "It turned out he had a bad heart. By the time we found out, there'd been a lot of damage done to his whole body. There wasn't…There wasn't a lot they could do, long-term."

"Oh, Luke." She squeezed her eyes shut again, briefly, in sympathy. "I'm so sorry."

"So I dropped out of school, to stay home and help run the store. It was no sacrifice on my part, although my dad always felt bad about it. And it cost me Rachel," he added, with a dark chuckle.

"Rachel?" Something flared up in Lorelai's chest.

"Girlfriend," he sighed. "We were pretty serious. At least, I thought so. And apparently we were destined to be together," he said, mockingly, "to hear the way the experts in town carried on about us."

"Oh," Lorelai said, trying to smile, "those experts."

Luke smiled too, although he looked tense. "Rachel was―and still is―very ambitious. And adventurous. She couldn't understand how I could be content to stay in Stars Hollow all my life, doing the same thing over and over. She felt bad about my dad, but that didn't stop her from dumping me."

"Sweet girl," Lorelai muttered.

"Actually," and here Luke paused, drawing in a breath, "she is. She's loving, and kind, and funny. You'd probably get along with her really well, now that I think about it. She's an amazing photographer. She goes all over the world, shooting these incredible pictures."

"Good for her," Lorelai said sarcastically, just under her breath. Louder, she asked, "So have you seen her at all since then?"

"Oh, yeah, she blows through here every few years. Every time she tries to convince me that this time we're going to make it work; that this time she's here to stay. And I buy it, every time." He turned and looked at Lorelai, shaking his head. "And then she dumps me again."

Her hands tightened around the steering wheel almost painfully as she processed what he was telling her. Missing pieces of the Luke puzzle were falling into place, and frankly, she didn't like the picture that was being assembled.

"Is she pretty?" she asked, her tone nearly aggressive.

"Yep," he confirmed, instantly.

Her hands gripped the wheel even tighter, her knuckles turning white. Idiot, she chastised herself. You know you don't ask those questions that have the possibility of giving you the wrong answers!

"So, once you were home again," she ventured, trying to lure him away from the old-flame talk, "were you and Liz still on the outs?"

"That was Liz's senior year, and she seemed to have it together," Luke began. "I still didn't much care for her friends, but they seemed to all look out for each other, and at least she was doing better in school. I thought I could let her slide while I looked out for my dad and took care of the store." He paused, painfully. "I was mistaken."

"What happened?" she asked, hesitantly. She hated to push him, but she really wanted to know.

"All that spring, Liz and her friends were going all over, visiting colleges. It made Dad so proud, that she was finally looking towards the future, making plans. Nearly every weekend she had a trip planned to go look at another campus. All of these brochures were lying all over our house. Our dining room table looked like Rory's room. The mailbox was stuffed full with them. Dad was talking to a loan officer at the bank, trying to make sure there'd be a way to pay for it."

Lorelai gave him a sympathetic look, knowing instinctively that this story wasn't going to turn out well, but encouraging him to continue.

"It turned out that she hadn't set foot on a college campus. She'd met a guy at a concert in New York one weekend. She'd been with him nearly every week since. She and her friends had this elaborate scheme in place, so she always had an alibi about where she really was. She'd sent away for all of the college brochures, and had pumped people who'd really been there for information. By the time she graduated," Luke paused, just enough to give his head a rueful shake, "she was already three months pregnant."

"Oh," Lorelai breathed out. Yeah, she knew this story.

"My dad was just…" Luke let the thought trail off, as he swallowed painfully. "You can't imagine the disappointment."

"Yeah, I can, actually," Lorelai said, a tad bitterly.

Luke's eyes shot to her. "Oh, hey, Lorelai…Sorry, I didn't mean―"

"No, it's OK," she shrugged. "Go on," she insisted.

He sighed. "We tried everything to convince her to stay home; to let us help. But she'd already turned 18, and she was determined. She packed her bags and left. She went to be with the wonderful Jimmy Mariano." His tone was resentful.

"Did they get married?"

"Yeah, they did." He rubbed his hands together. "We didn't go. We didn't want to encourage her. Now I see…that was probably a mistake."

"Yeah," Lorelai agreed, softly.

"We didn't hear from her again until the night she was in labor. She called, all panicked. We closed down the store and grabbed some stuff and took off to be there with her. We got to see Jess―that's her son―as soon as he was born." He again gave her a sad smile. "I'll never forget the look on my dad's face, holding his grandson."

She smiled back, gently, not venturing a comment.

"We tried to help them get settled. We went out and got all this baby stuff. Dad bought everything the salesclerk pointed out." He chuckled, remembering that shopping trip. "We tried to take turns holding this baby, with all of this dark hair, and already so angry at the world!" He shook his head, remembering.

"And then," he sighed, "Jimmy went out to buy diapers and never came back."

Lorelai's mouth dropped open. "Seriously? I mean, I've heard jokes like that, but seriously? That's what he did?"

"That's exactly what he did." Luke's jaw gave away how dead serious he was. "We finally bundled them both up, and all the stuff, and brought 'em back home with us."

"Wow." Lorelai was trying to picture Luke with a baby. She could almost visualize it. "How'd that go?"

"About the way you'd think. She resented everything we tried to do. We didn't approve of her mothering style, and she didn't appreciate our input. Everything was tense and unbearable. Jess cried all the time."

"Yeah, babies can sense those things," Lorelai pointed out.

"So, one day we came home and she'd packed up everything and disappeared. Apparently she'd convinced a friend with a van to come by and help her get out. She left a note, saying she'd call us and let us know where she was." His mouth set in a grim line, and his knees nervously jiggled as he tried to force the next words out. "By the time she finally called, Dad had been dead for three months."

"Oh, Luke!" The words had escaped her, bathed in sorrow. She couldn't stand to think of him facing all that pain, alone. She blinked hard, knowing that neither of them would appreciate tears.

He shrugged, trying to neutralize her sympathy. "It hit her hard, of course. She'd never meant to hurt him like she did. She was just a kid. She never expected things to turn out the way they did. It took me a long time to realize that, though. I was angry at her for a long time."

"Of course," Lorelai said, loyally.

"But she kept trying to reach out to me, and eventually I stopped being such a jerk to her and tried to meet her halfway. Except for our Uncle Louie in Florida, we're all the family we've got. We're still not really close, but we try. That's why I want to do good with this birthday present this year. I want her to know I'm trying."

"We'll find something fantastic," Lorelai promised, even though she was angry at this unknown sister for hurting him the way she did. "How old is your nephew?"

"He's Rory's age," Luke said. "He's really smart, too, just like Rory. Always reading. They'd probably get along pretty good if they'd ever meet." He stopped then, and chuckled. "If she could get past that huge chip on his shoulder."

"The world doesn't understand him, huh?" she smiled

"Pretty much," Luke confirmed. "Although I will say, the kid's had an unsettled life. Liz's taste in men never improved much from Jimmy. She's yanked Jess all over the place as it suited her needs. I could never keep track of 'em. She'd have 'em living in some farm commune, and the next thing you know they'd be in an apartment in New York. The only thing I could ever be sure of is that she'd call me when she needed money."

Lorelai's eyes darkened. "Nothing you're telling me here is encouraging me to find her a fabulous present."

Luke turned and looked at her fondly. "Well, just do it for me, then."

Lorelai got so caught up in those clear blue eyes that she forgot everything else for a moment. Just in time she brought her attention back to the street.

"Oh, we're here!" she said, too loudly, making an abrupt turn into the parking lot.

Luke's forehead creased in consternation as he took in the mystical symbols painted all over the front windows of the store, but he tried to reserve judgment.

When they walked up to the entrance he tried not to wince at all of the windchimes tinkling in the breeze. "What the hell is this place?" he finally muttered.

"It's the 'Crystal Cove,'" Lorelai told him, playfully tugging at his arm. "Let's go in and see what we can find."

Once they stepped inside the door, Luke's face cleared in realization. He sniffed the heavy odor of incense. "This place smells just like my sister," he commented. He listened to the sounds of raindrops being amplified through the store's sound system. "This place sounds just like my sister," he added. Finally he looked around at all of the other people in the store. "Everybody in here looks just like my sister!" He looked at Lorelai in amazement. "How did you know?"

She shrugged modestly. "That's my job, Luke. I have to be able to direct my guests to whatever they're looking for while they're staying at the Inn."

He snorted a quick laugh, looking around. "This should be a piece of cake."

"OK." Lorelai smiled at him. "I'm gonna go browse around. You let me know if you need any help." She gave him a jaunty wave and sauntered off to look through the rack of self-help books. She didn't want to look like she was hovering over him.

Fifteen minutes later she checked back with him. "Anything?"

"Yeah, I think I'm going to go with this." He nodded at a tea set. The tea kettle and four matching cups had a certain rustic charm. "It comes with a book about how to read tea leaves, and Liz eats that stuff up. I figure even if it doesn't end up providing her with an additional source of income, maybe it'll at least save her the money she's forking out for someone else to do it every week."

He sounded just so Luke-ish when he said it that Lorelai couldn't stop the delighted laugh that burst out of her. He smiled back at her.

"Here, let me show you something!" She tugged him over to a jewelry display. "I don't care who the woman is, you can never go wrong with something shiny and pretty." She pointed to a rack of heart necklaces that had been carved from different crystals and minerals. "See? Each color is supposed to mean something. This purple one means 'family.' Liz'll love it, Luke."

"Yeah," he agreed, nodding. "That's a good idea."

A salesclerk came up just then to offer assistance. Luke cut his eyes at the girl's crinkled broomstick skirt, tied around her waist with a belt graced with many tiny, tinkly bells.

"I like your skirt," Lorelai told her with fake innocence, and then walked away before she could laugh out loud.

When they were getting settled back into the car, Luke motioned towards Lorelai's bag. "So what did you get?"

"Great stuff!" she enthused. "I got one of the rainstorm CDs because it says they help you to concentrate. I thought maybe that'd help both me and Rory when we study. Then I got Rory a worry stone to keep in her pocket that's supposed to get rid of all of her test anxiety. And then I found a book that explains what everything in your dreams is supposed to mean. The next time I dream I'm in Bono's house, eating a hot fudge sundae under his dining room table, I'll know just what it means!" She nodded at him happily.

He grinned. "That'll come in handy," he agreed. "Just don't let Miss Patty know you've got it," he warned her. "I don't want to hear anything about what her dreams mean!"

"I don't think there's any mystery to that," Lorelai pointed out, turning the key.

"Hey, wait." Luke pulled something out of his shopping bag. "I, uh, I got you something. To thank you for bringing me here."

Lorelai looked over and her eyes were caught by the gleam of one of the crystal hearts she'd pointed out to him. It was one of the clear ones, cut and polished into a prism so that the light turned into rainbows as it passed through.

"You…you didn't need to do that," she said, faintly.

"I know I didn't have to," he said, "but I have it on good authority that all women like something shiny."

"Yeah, that's true." She tried to sound more like herself. She gave him a flirty smile and turned, gathering up her hair so he could put it around her neck.

He leaned towards her and draped the necklace around her. He fastened the catch, not once noting that his fingers were brushing against her tender skin. He certainly didn't pay any attention to the candied apple scent of the shampoo she'd used that morning. This was not going to be remembered as one of those 'moments.'

She looked down at the clear heart dangling from the black cord now fastened securely around her neck. Her fingers closed around it.

"Thanks, Luke. It's really pretty."

Luke nodded, pleased. "I liked it the best. I thought it'd go with everything."

She kept smiling, but the smile was strained, and headed the car out of the parking lot.

Lorelai was almost certain he hadn't really looked at the chart that explained what the color of each heart represented. She told herself that he didn't have any way of knowing that the clear one stood for 'love.'