Author's Note: This chapter touches on a canon event, but most of this story remains non-canon. Sorry for the update delay-I was away from internet for a few days. On the upside, I wrote my first Walking Dead fic while I was away, so if any of you are Caryl fans, check that out.

Chapter 5

"Hey, Luke. How's the diner biz?" Rory grins at me as she comes in the door, the bell giving a happy, polite little trill.

"Can't complain. Better than a bullet in the leg. How's school?"

She winces. "Think it took off two toes this week, and it's only Tuesday."

"Let me move your desk into the storage room, then, and you can get to studying." I come out to pick up the table that I've marked off with her little "Reserved" sign. Except I have to stop or bump into Rory because she's not moving.

"Hi, Grandma."

I'd forgotten about Emily. She burned five burgers and she's eating her sixth. On the third, she forgot all her resolutions and snapped at me. On the upside, I've been meaning to clean out the grease trap for ages, and she did a really thorough job on it.

She dabs barbeque sauce off her lips and smiles brightly. "Hello, Rory. Have you eaten? Would you like to join me for dinner?"

"Uh, what are you doing here?"

"I like the food." The way she says it now, it almost sounds genuine. Her smile twitches a little at the corner when she glances at me, then back to Rory, her eyes lighting up. "Luke's not too fond of me, though."

Rory laughs, relaxing as she moves a step closer. "Yeah, he's like that with most people."

Emily pats the seat next to her, more animated than I've seen her in all the weeks she's been coming here. "Come! Sit! I'll buy you some pie and we can catch up a little."

"She has to study." I come up to stand beside Rory. Emily's technically not breaking my rule, because Rory did talk to her first, but she's not guilt tripping her granddaughter in my diner. "She comes here to study."

Rory glances at me, then back to Emily. She hitches her bag higher on her shoulder, planting her feet. "Did you apologize to Mom?"

"Oh, Rory." Emily lowers her voice and smoothes the napkin over her lap. "I've tried. She won't take my calls."

"Don't you ever see her here? Since you, ah, like the food so much?"

I stiffen, because I'm not sure how Rory will take news of the rule that keeps Emily as strictly an observer in her daughter's life until she's invited back in. Because it's my rule, and I'm suddenly not so sure I have the right to be making rules in this family.

"Well, I do, but—" Emily breaks off, meeting my eyes briefly. "That's between me and Luke."

"Between you. And Luke."

"That's right." Emily nods.

Rory glances between the two of us. I keep my face utterly blank, because I have no idea how this is going to play out. And I'm really not sure I have the right to get in between Rory and her grandmother, no matter how used to protecting Lorelai I've gotten.

She pulls out a chair at the table. "Okay, but just pie. Then I have to study. And I'm not coming back to Friday night dinners unless Mom does."

My heart grows two sizes inside my chest and I can't stop myself from reaching over to squeeze Rory's shoulder, that's how proud I am.

She gives me a reassuring smile and mouths, "I'll be okay." Behind her hair where her grandma can't see, just like her mom.

I head back to cut two slices of the rum lemon meringue, and listen to Rory as I get out the plates.

"Exactly how long have you been coming here, Grandma?"

"Well…" Rings click against the Formica table. She must be doing her rich lady hand-foldy thing. "It came to my attention that I didn't know very much about your lives, you and your mother. So I thought I would try to learn, and since you've been coming here for so long, this seemed the best place to start."

I bring the pies back and put them on the table. Emily smiles at me, and I realize she pitched that last comment a little louder than she generally speaks in here. I don't smile back.

"The people around town are a little…" she says and pauses, choosing her words carefully, "odd. Colorful, I suppose you might say? Though the man through the window next door, with the little toupee? Is perfectly awful."

Rory giggles. "That's Stars Hollow for you. Good pie, though, huh?"

Emily picks up her fork. "Very good pie."

#

I swear my phone knows when Lorelai's calling, just like the bell on my door knows when it's her. They both seem to ring a little louder when she's upset.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down," I say as she begins to babble. We're just finishing up the breakfast crowd and I've got to keep one eye on Emily, because she's working off the thirty-two pancakes she ruined yesterday by bussing tables. She's got these weird kitchen gloves with little jewels at the wrist that probably cost more than my truck, and an apron with an odd, asymmetrical designer profile. But it looks like she's at least being polite to people when she crosses paths with them while carrying her dirty plates.

I listen to Lorelai explain about what's going on at the Inn, but it hardly matters what the emergency is, because I can already tell by the panic underlying her tone: she needs me.

"I'll be right there," I say, and hang up. I stick my head in the kitchen to say a few words to Cesar, then run for my truck. My coat's upstairs, so I leave without it.

"Luke!"

I hear my name as I dash across the street, but I don't slow down because I recognize the voice. But as I wrench the door to my truck open and hop inside, I catch a glimpse of Emily full-out running in heels, her knees hampered by her tiny skirt but the fear on her face unmistakable. Something winces inside my chest, and I crank down my window and wait a second for her to catch up.

"Luke, what's happening? Is Lorelai hurt? Did something happen to Rory?"

"She's fine. Crisis at the Inn."

She latches on to my door, all white faced and panting from her sprint. "What kind of crisis?"

"She's got six ducks and a dining room full of guests with no chef. No blood is involved, though if I don't get there soon, I can't guarantee it'll stay that way."

"So you're going to…cook?" She looks bewildered.

"It's kind of what I do, Emily." I don't even try to rein in the sarcasm as I crank my key in the ignition.

"But what about your diner?"

"Cesar and Lane will do breakfasts and we'll close for lunch and dinner until Lorelai and I figure out a more permanent solution."

Emily's still clinging to my door. "You'd do that for her business? At the expense of your own?"

I scowl. "Will you get outta my way? If I don't get there, Lorelai's going to try to cook something and that will lose them a lot more customers than shutting down for a few days."

"Well…can I help?"

"Yeah." I put the truck in gear. "By not following me."

I'm halfway to the Inn before it sinks in that she actually did as I asked.

#

Emily is in my kitchen and she is wearing a hairnet.

I stare, my attention divided between the hairnet and the fact that I just made very vigorous love to her daughter.

The bell yelps as Lorelai breezes out the front door, blissfully unaware of all the things that are deeply wrong back here. Sookie's maternity replacement finally starts today and I asked Cesar to open without me again so Lorelai and I could sleep in. It's been a long, crazy week and we both needed the rest.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I bark at Emily.

She smiles. "I didn't know when you'd be back, so Cesar was teaching me some things. He's got a little trick with the omelettes you didn't show me."

Cesar's eyes widen. "No boss. Nothing fancy, I swear. I stuck to the system."

I wave that away and ask in Spanish, "Scale of 1 to 10, how mean has she been to you?"

"Is 10 good or bad?"

"10 is good."

"You know it's very rude to speak in other languages when—"

My eyes shift to her, and she shuts up.

"8," Cesar says. "Sometimes she says things, and they sound like a 10? But they're really a 5."

I advance on Emily. "You listen to me. This is my cook. He is not your servant. He is the father of two boys, the uncle of seven girls, and he is the most consistent, reliable cook I've trained in fifteen years. You will treat him with the same respect you accord to the Queen of goddamn England, or you will find yourself out on your ass!" My voice steadily climbs as she backs away, finally bumping up against one of the chest freezers. "And if that happens, you will not see your daughter or your granddaughter for a very long time, because neither of them are speaking to you. Do you understand me?"

"I hardly think anything I've done would warrant this kind of abuse," she huffs. "I wasn't—"

I grab her elbow and start hustling her out of the kitchen.

"I understand! Wait. I understand. I wasn't rude, I assure you."

"Not to me. To him." I jerk my chin toward Cesar.

She turns his way with a socialite's smile. "I didn't mean to be rude. I'm terribly sorry." I keep staring, and she pauses, then begins again in a little less polished voice. "I'm not very comfortable in a kitchen, and if I was short with you, I certainly didn't mean to be. It won't happen again."

"Okay." Cesar shrugs, his gaze bouncing between me and Emily. He's got a thing for soap operas, and he looks like he's eating this up.

"Fine," I snap, letting go of her arm. "We working on waffles today?"

"Yes, waffles." She smoothes her sleeve, even though I was careful as hell when I grabbed her. I'm not in the business of roughing up old ladies, even if I am getting pretty used to yelling at her.

"We'll take waffles. Cesar, you take the rest of the menu."

"Well, I can handle more!" Emily protests.

"No, you can't. When you can make a hundred perfect waffles, we'll talk pancakes. When you can make a hundred perfect pancakes, you should probably stop harassing me and get a damn hobby."

She smiles. "I rather enjoy this one."

I roll my eyes. "You would." Woman's a sadist at heart. But at least she's a sadist that's finally learning to shut up on cue.

Author's Note: In the next chapter, we get to follow Luke and Lorelai away from the diner and get a tiny bit of Rory/Logan. I'm loving the warmth of this fandom-adore you guys so much!

Please remember, though, I haven't seen the Revival yet because I'm still finishing my first GG watch through. No Revival spoilers, please!