A few days later, hearing that all was still somber in Luke Land, Lorelai squared her shoulders and headed to the diner near closing time.

"Hey," he said, slightly shocked to see her this time of night. She had been coming in when there were plenty of people in the diner so they weren't forced to make small talk.

"Hey," she said with a bright smile as she headed toward the counter and sat down. "April here?" she asked.

He shook his head as he turned to the coffee, hesitating for a moment over giving her a to-go cup or a ceramic cup. He decided on the ceramic, the blue one that was hers.

"With her mom."

"Ah," she said as she accepted the coffee and they fell into an awkward silence. "So, how are you?" she finally asked.

"Good," he said firmly with a nod as he fidgeted with his cleaning rag. She looked at him for a moment. "Anna is moving to New Mexico and taking April with her," he finally blurted out.

"I'm sorry," she said sincerely. "Will you at least see her over the summer?"

"No idea," he said with a shrug. "I, uh, I think she might see this as her chance to keep April all to herself." Lorelai wasn't really sure what to say to this. When Rory was April's age, she would have jumped at the chance for Christopher to be as involved as Luke was.

"That's horrible," she said. "Is there anything you can do?"

"I hired a lawyer," he said. "She's been in and out of the diner to see me over the last month or so, it still doesn't look good."

"Blonde woman?" she asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Curious," she said, trying to sound casual. "I've driven past and seen you with this blonde woman, usually after you're closed. I just wondered. . . never mind, it's none of my business. If you need anything . . ."

"Thanks," he said with a small smile. "What about you?"

"I sighed the papers a few weeks ago," she said, playing with the rim of her coffee mug.

"Divorce papers?" She nodded. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It was never meant to be," she said with a sad smile. "I should never have married him and I knew it but I did anyways."

"Why?" She hesitated for a long moment. "I'm sorry, you really don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"Because I wanted to get married. I wanted a middle and I was afraid that if I didn't accept his proposal I would never get another chance," she blurted out all at once. Luke stared at her for a moment.

"So. . . you ran off and married him because I didn't want to run off and marry you?"

"Yes. . . no. . . I don't know," she said, shaking her head. "He asked and he was so sure and had been so great and I was afraid," she trailed off. Luke stared at her.

"Afraid of what?"

"Afraid that if I said no I'd be alone and hurt again." She watched as Luke clenched his jaw.

"So this is all about you then? How hurt you were? How afraid you were?" he asked.

"No," she said, trying to figure out what exactly he was getting angry about.

"What about me? What about how I felt?"

"How did you feel Luke? I am dying to hear this."

"I had a kid, for Christ's sake! A 12-year-old daughter who showed up out of nowhere, and when I wanted time to get to know her, you wouldn't give it to me!" Lorelai figured out what this about now.

"I didn't give you time? You knew about her for two whole months before you even told me."

She paused briefly to correct herself.

"Sorry, before I walked into the diner and found out about her! You built this whole separate life with her from the one we were building. And then when I try to talk to you about it, you compare me to some cartoon character all the while you're breathing down my neck and lecturing me about how we have to be honest with each other and tell each other everything. What a load of shit!" she yelled back at him.

Neither noticed the small crowd that was beginning to gather outside the diner to watch and listen to the commotion they were causing.

"I just needed time to get to know her!"

"I was going to be your wife, Luke! I was going to have to help you raise her! Didn't I deserve a chance to get to know her too? Why couldn't I do that with you?"

"Why the hell didn't you say anything? I thought you were fine with the arrangements?"

"What arrangements? You left a Goddamned message on my answering machine telling me not to come by the diner while she was there!"

"You could have said something!"

"Why? So I could hear you give me the 'I need time to process' speech again? So I could lose you again?" she yelled at him, her resolve starting to falter as she tried to fight back the tears.

She was over him, was over what they had almost had. . . at least she was pretty sure she had been. Luke clenched his jaw again as his gathered his thoughts.

"You know what? I was going to tell you about her. I was going to tell you about her the night you showed me your wedding dress. But you were so beautiful and so happy that I just couldn't do it."

"So it's my fault again? For trying to get over that, what I thought was, an irrational fear? You are unbelievable!" she said, not believing what she was hearing. She got up from the stool and moved away from the counter.

"Jesus Christ!" he said as he followed her to the middle of the diner. "How the hell could I drop something like that? Something so big? I was terrified that you'd leave me right then and there and I wanted you to be happy! I wanted you to always be happy and beautiful in that dress. I still love you!" he yelled and they both fell silent with that revelation hanging in the air between them.

The stared at each other as they each worked to catch their breath and figure out where to go next with their argument.

"I felt a million times better after April's party. You had called me to help and we had had a great time. The party was fantastic, all the girls liked it and April liked me. She liked me Luke, but you were still the one she thanked and hugged and loved. I was so sure that things were going to change after that party. I was positive that you would change your mind and see that I could be part of April's life without over shadowing you and then nothing changed."

He blinked at her a few times. He opened his mouth to reply but she started up again. "I even went to Anna to try and smooth things over, to tell her that it was okay for her to leave April with me at her party because, hey, I'm a single mom, I know what it's like, and besides, you and me were getting married. And then she started talking about how a ring isn't a guarantee and she didn't think I should see April until we were married. So I backed off, I waited because I didn't want to hurt your chances at getting to know April."

"You shouldn't have gone to see Anna!" he yelled at her, getting his steam back. "You had no business to go to her!"

"What else was I supposed to do? Everyone, everyone had met your kid but me! Jess, Lane, Rory, the town, EVERYONE but me! And the more stories I heard about her, the more I realized the wedding was never going to happen. And then Lane got married and you know what? I started downing tequila, looking to feel good about something and before I knew it, there I was up on stage, making a fool of myself."

"Everyone gets drunk and sings bad songs at weddings."

"That was a great story, wasn't it? I really have to give Patty kudos for getting that around town so quickly."

"What do you mean?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I made this horribly embarrassing speech about why the hell could a 21-year-old-girl get her act together and get married while I couldn't even get a date set? And then I went on and on about how I was never going to get married and how Rory was going to get married before I ever got you to the altar, and it just kept going and going! Every hurt feeling, every fear was announced at that wedding, out for the whole town to hear!"

Luke could only blink a few times. He had no idea any of this had happened while he was away with April.

"And then you wouldn't elope. You, who had first even put the idea into my head, wouldn't go. You didn't love me enough to just go."

"I couldn't just go!"

"Why? What was holding you back? We could have picked up April and Rory and found some where, some place, some one to marry us! And then Anna would have been happy to let April come over because we would be forever and we could get to know her and live in our house and maybe have that theoretical kid we discussed once of twice."

"I wasn't ready!"

"Then why the hell were you magically ready the next morning? What changed in those 12 or so hours? What Luke? Tell me because I am dying to know what, or who, changed your mind when I couldn't!"

They stood in front of each other again, breathing hard as rage and adrenaline fuelled them.

"I loved you," she said finally when he didn't answer any of her questions. "For the first time in my life I truly loved a man and it wasn't awkward to sleep next to you like it was with Max or Alex and I found myself imagining our future when I daydreamed and I wanted to see your shirts mixed with mine in the closet. I wanted to get married and maybe have another kid and I still love you!" she said, tears starting to fall uncontrollably.

Luke stepped back from her for a moment and blinked at her. Her revelation shocked him just as much as his had shocked her.

"Lorelai," he said, reaching out for her.

"Don't touch me," she said as she shrugged him off. She wiped at her eyes and pushed past him to grab her bag. "I can't do this," she said as she dug threw her bag for her keys. "I can't just be Lorelai Gilmore when you're just the guy that serves my coffee," she said as she finally stormed past him and out into the night.

The small crowd that had gathered around the diner windows parted to let her through and Luke watched her until he saw her get into her jeep and pull away. It was then that he noticed the crowd staring at him.

"GO HOME!!" he yelled at them as he stomped over to the door and slammed it shut, causing the glass in the door to rattle. He slammed the lock to the left and stormed back to the counter. He started to go through the motions of closing for the night when his hand landed on Lorelai's coffee mug. He stared at it for a long moment before he picked it up and threw it across the diner, watching as it shattered against the wall, spraying coffee around the room.

He swore loudly when he realized what he had done. But instead of cleaning it up, he headed to the storeroom and ripped the flap off of one of the boxes. 'Gone Fishing!' was quickly scribbled on it. He tapped it to the window before he went upstairs to pack. He needed to get away, needed to figure this all out.

Lorelai had stopped crying by the time she got home and now she was just drained. She was still furious at Luke, but she was too empty to deal with it. The rage and adrenaline had left her system, and all she felt like doing now was curling up in bed, too tired to sleep. On reflex, she hit the answering machine and was greeted by a message from Chris. Gigi couldn't find a certain doll and a couple of books, Were they still at her place? The next one was from her mother and she deleted it without listening to it. She couldn't deal with Emily tonight. The last one was from Rory, a standard 'I'm Bored, Call Me' message and she decided to deal with that in the morning, too.

"Come on, Paul Anka," she called softly. "Mommy needs some unconditional love." The dog obediently followed her up the stairs, waited for her to dress for bed and crawl in before he joined her.

Lorelai? Honey? It's Sookie. I really need you to call me. I'll be at work, at the Dragonfly, all day. Call me!

Mom, where are you? Sookie is freaking out and I'm starting to freak out too. You really, really, really need to call me. Or her. Or both of us. And soon, young lady!

Lorelai, it's your mother. I'm calling about the message I left the other night. You haven't gotten back to me about reserving the dinning room at your inn for the DAR. I need to know by today at 5 so I can take appropriate action.

Lorelai rolled over in bed, trying to fall back asleep after her mother had hung up. She knew that she should really call Sookie and Rory, tell them she was okay and just taking a personal day, but the phone was all the way downstairs and she really didn't have the energy or the drive to get out of bed at the moment. She still loved Luke. She had yelled it at him some point during their fight last night, some time after he had admitted the same thing. She tossed and turned for a while longer before drifting off into a troubled sleep.

Lorelai? Honey it's nearly 4 in the afternoon and no one has heard from you. I even called Babette and all she's seen is Paul Anka going in and out of the house a couple of times today. I'm coming over right now, before I have to start cooking for the dinner rush!

Mom, Sookie's coming over to check on you. You better not have the door locked! Oh well, she knows where the spare key is so I guess it really doesn't matter. Mom, do you need me to come home? I can come home. The lull between regular school and finals has set in and if you need me to come home before I start studying I will. Please call me mom; I won't be able to study if I'm worried about you!

I have no idea where you are or what you're doing but this is just unacceptable, Lorelai! You've always run your business well and been good at interacting with customers and that's what I am. I pay full price when I book functions in the inn. Why on earth are you ignoring me this time? Fine, it doesn't matter. Sissy has already had the luncheon room at Horton's booked for us so I no longer require your services at this time.

"Big loss," Lorelai muttered as she heard the last message and rolled over to glance at her alarm clock. It was 4:15, and that meant Sookie would be there any minute. The idea of getting dressed and looking presentable fluttered through her head for all of three seconds before she simply threw off the covers and headed downstairs to make some coffee.

"Lorelai?" Sookie called as she bustled into the house. Lorelai didn't answer, she didn't want to, or couldn't. She wasn't really sure. "Honey! There you are!" she said as she hurried over. "What's wrong? What happened?" she asked when she saw the look on Lorelai's face.

She said nothing while waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. She poured herself a cup and headed back upstairs as Sookie followed.

"I went to Luke's last night," she finally said after she was back under the covers and had had a sip of coffee.

"And? I thought you and Luke were okay," she said as she sat on the bed beside Lorelai.

"It was just supposed to be a simple 'Hey, how ya doin'?' conversation and instead it turned into a huge fight."

"Okay," Sookie nodded, not really following how this fight led to wallowing.

"I just. . . I just need some time."

"You haven't wallowed like this since you and Luke broke up the first time," Sookie pointed out. "You didn't even wallow like this when you broke up the last time. What happened last night?"

"If I say I'm not as over him as I thought, would you accept it?"

"I suppose. For now."

"Then I'm not as over him as I thought I was," Lorelai said, taking another long pull from the coffee mug before she set it down on the table by the bed. Sookie looked at her best friend for another long moment.

"I guess I should go then," she said quietly.

"Don't want to keep those dinner guests waiting," Lorelai replied, finally looking at Sookie.

"I'm so sorry, Honey," she said quietly as she pulled Lorelai into a hug after seeing her face.

It had been a long time since she had seen Lorelai this broken down and it still hurt and worried her just as much as it had the last time.

"I'll call Rory. Tell her you have a touch of the flu and you'll call her when you're up and around again."

"Thank you," she said, hanging on to Sookie tightly for a few more moments.

"I'll bring something over after dinner."

"I'm not hungry, really," she said, finally pulling away.

"Some macaroni and cheese, maybe some pizza. . . lots of carbs," she said, already planning a menu in her head. "I'll pick up some movies too," she finished, ignoring Lorelai's protests. "I'll see you around 9," she said as she left the bedroom and headed for the stairs.

"No really," Lorelai said to no one but herself. "I'm ok."