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Chapter ELEVEN!

After getting some of their stuff settled, Lorelai decided to go out and re-discover Stars Hollow. She grabbed a pack of fruit snacks and zipped Rory up in a light jacket, since there was a twinge of Fall in the air. She held her daughter's hand and led her out the door. They walked past a moderately-sized building with a sign reading "Kim's Antiques". On the porch they saw a girl who must've been Rory's age with ear-length jet black hair and a hideous floral-print dress with long sleeves that reached her Mary Jane-clad feet and had lace around the collar. She was sitting in a rocking chair and squirming uncomfortably while her mother was placing a large copy of the 'Unrevised Children's Bible' on her lap and a cup of tea next to her.

Rory waved timidly and the little girl waved back, smiling, ignoring her mother for a second.

Lorelai kept guiding Rory down the sidewalks curiously. She drifted to a certain side of the street. She pretended that she wasn't actually looking for any place in particular or that she didn't have any reason to be looking for a certain Hardware store, but she was and she did. She walked down the sidewalk with Rory's small hand clutched in hers, both of them taking everything in.

But when she finally reached where the store had been, it was no longer there. She frowned, but still looked at the outside with curiosity. It seemed to have been turned into a diner of some sort, but the 'William's Hardware' sign was still up. She shrugged her shoulders and entered, thinking 'Why not?'

She glanced around at the eclectic mix of people sitting and chatting away. She took a seat confidently at the counter and lifted Rory up onto the stool next to her as well. It was then when she realized how hungry and caffeine-deprived she was. There was no coffee pot at the house, and she probably needed to worry about getting her daughter a bed before buying a coffee maker.

She grabbed a menu nearby and skimmed over it, but realized she needed coffee before anything else.

"Hey, excuse me!" She called loudly to the man behind the counter, who was taking the order of another person further down.

He ignored her.

"Excuse me! Hey! Can I get some coffee down here?! Please?" She added irritably.

The man waved her off and shouted for her to wait her turn while he continued talking to the other customer.

"Listen man, I need some coffee in me quick! Like…now!" She cried desperately.

He still ignored her, though her incessant obnoxious rambling about coffee caused him to remember a girl he had known years ago.

Lorelai was now standing and swinging her arms around like she was landing a plane. "Coffee! Over here!"

"Look! You're being annoying. Now sit down, shut up, and I'll get to you when-" He began to rant, but they caught a good look at her face.

"Lorelai?" He asked, completely blindsided.

"No way! Luke?" She asked, wide-eyed.

"What're you doing here?" He asked, gaping.

"You own a diner?" She asked in response.

"Well yeah. So, do you happen to want coffee?" Luke asked sarcastically.

"Well gee, I don't know…YES! GIVE ME THE COFFEE!" She cried, grabbing his shirt desperately.

"You need to calm down," Luke rolled his eyes.

"I can't help it, coffee's my drug. I'm showing withdrawal symptoms," She shrugged, grinning goofily.

Then Luke spotted the small brunette sitting on the stool next to her, obliviously chewing her fruit snacks and not blinking an eye at her mother's outrageous outcry for coffee, as though she was used to it by now.

"Oh my God," Luke gasped, using a phrase that seldom came out of his mouth. "Is that…her?"

"Well, it's not a he," Lorelai laughed. "Yeah, it's my daughter, Rory. The thing that was living in that growth on my stomach for nine months."

"Wow," He nodded.

"Yeah. Hey Rory, I'd like you to meet somebody," Lorelai shook Rory's shoulder.

"Uh, hi, I'm Luke," He greeted, sticking out his hand.

"Hi, I'm Rory," Her tiny voice greeted confidently, placing her small hand in his and shaking.

Rory smiled kindly and Luke smiled warmly, but awkwardly as well.

"Okay, now Luke- coffee. Get on that!" Lorelai cut in, breaking up the moment.

"Right," He said, then went to pour her a cup of coffee.

Once he handed her the coffee, she greedily took two sips, and then handed the large mug to her daughter. She sipped it, trying to look sophisticated even though the cup obscured half of her face.

"You give that poison to your daughter?" Luke asked incredulously.

Lorelai shrugged.

"We should talk later," Lorelai ignored his last comment.

"I'll take off for a while around 12:30," Luke checked his watch.

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At around 12:40, Lorelai came back into the diner and sat at the same spot. She recognized it as the spot she has stood and leaned day after day in the hardware store.

"Caesar, I'm taking off for a few," Luke called into the kitchen.

"Got it boss!" He replied.

Then the two of them went outside and began casually walking down the sidewalk.

"I never pictured you as the 'diner' type," Lorelai began.

"Well, I couldn't keep the hardware store going. One: I can fix things, but can't run a hardware store, and Two: It was my dad's place, and I didn't have the heart to keep it going after he d-…" Luke started to reply but couldn't finish.

"Yeah. I'm so sorry," Lorelai had to stop herself from rubbing his back comfortingly, she had just re-met him & didn't want to scare him off.

"Yeah, it's alright. So, you live here now or what?" He asked.

"Yup, I just moved here today actually," She nodded.

"Stars Hollow's a nice place. Well…I'm not gonna lie. The people are crazy and drive me insane, but it's my home. I'm sure you'll fit in just fine. And love it," He replied.

"I think you just called me weird," She replied with mock hurt and lightly smacked him on the arm.

Luke laughed, not completely protesting against the accusation.

Then they went on talking and re-getting to know each other. They continued their friendly chatter until Lorelai realized she needed to pick up Rory.

"Oh, I've gotta go, I told the sitter I'd be back by now," Lorelai checked Luke's watch.

"Who'd you leave her with?" He asked.

"This lady, very friendly, named Miss Patty," She replied.

"Rory's gonna be traumatized, I guarantee it," Luke nodded.

"I sure hope so," Lorelai replied sarcastically. "Knock some street smarts into the kid."

Luke shook his head and watched her walk away. He chuckled lightly and walked back to the diner.

Author's Note- Yay! Re-meeting! And I semi-recreated the first time they met, since I thought it was cute. But I wouldn't have been able to add in the horoscope part since he would've noticed her before. But I still think that it was crazy how both of us (me & Luke-and-LorelaiLuva6292) had the same idea about waiting a couple years. I guess great minds think alike. Review if you've got something to say!