When Luke briefly takes off his black hat one day, he loses it. He doesn't waste time looking for it, he opens his closet and finds the old blue one, the one Lorelai gave him. He wears that one and he can't help but notice Lorelai staring at him when she first sees him wearing it.
"What?" He asks her.

"What?" She asks back.

"What?" He asks again, wondering what she's thinking.

"Nothing," She replies.

"Okay." He says, deciding to let it go.

"I'm just getting some coffee." Lorelai says.

"To go?" Luke asks.

"Yep," She replies.

"Coming right up," He walks back to the counter and she follows him.

Lorelai notices the travel books that Luke left on the counter. They talk about the boat trip. Lorelai wonders if April is really excited about the boat trip. She advises that Luke plan a couple night's stay in a hotel so that April can be more comfortable. He agrees to book a hotel and go to the restaurant that she suggests.

The next day, Lorelai and Rory come to the diner. When Rory steps outside to answer her phone, Luke walks over to their table.
"How's she holding up?" He asks Lorelai as he sits on a nearby stool.

"Oh, she's okay. Rory's used to getting what Rory wants." Lorelai answers.

"Yeah? I know. How you doing?" Luke asks.

"Me? I'm fine." Lorelai seems surprised that he asked.

"Yeah?"

Lorelai nods and asks how the trip-planning is coming. Luke tells her that he took her suggestion and booked a couple of hotels and made a reservation at the restaurant.

"Rory and I are gonna go see Patty and Babette's act at K.C.'s tonight. It should be a hoot." Lorelai tells him.

He thinks that she's inviting him. "You know, not really my thing."

Lorelai's smile drops, "Yeah. No. I'm not saying…"

"No, I know." He tells her. They both laugh a little.

"Just we're going, but, you know." She says.

"Well, if I have some free time I'll…" He says, hoping that she will ask him to come.

"No, no, no… yeah." Lorelai mutters.

"Order up, Luke." Caesar yells, interrupting.

"I should probably…" Luke gestures to the kitchen.

"Yeah,"

"Can I get you anything else?" He asks.

"A doggie bag."

"I'll take care of it." He tells her and he goes off to get one.

After Lorelai and Rory leave, April calls. She tells Luke that she got into a science camp.

"Wow, April. Congratulations. That's terrific." He says and he means it, he's proud of her.

"The only problem is its six weeks, and its right during our boat trip." April tells him. She says she's torn between wanting to go on the trip with him and wanting to go to the camp.

"It's too good of an opportunity to pass up." He tells her, he can tell she's really excited about the camp and he doesn't want her to feel obligated to go on the trip.

"Are you sure?" April asks.

"Absolutely," Luke tells her.

April says that she can still spend the last two weeks of summer with him.

"Well then that's great. We'll take a little trip somewhere."

"Yeah, definitely." April replies.

"I am so proud of you, kid." Luke says sincerely.

"Thanks, Dad." April says and he can hear the smile in her voice. "Um, I'm gonna tell Mom that we talked, okay?"

"Okay. I'll call you later."

"Love you."

"Love you too." Luke says and he hangs up. He sighs. He was looking forward to spending time with April, and he can't help but feel a little sad that their plans had to change. But I couldn't let her miss out on that opportunity. He tells himself.

Later, Lane and Zach ask Luke if he's coming to K.C's.

"Ah. I don't think so." He tells them. They both urge him to come, but Luke just says maybe he'll come later. After Lane and Zach leave, Luke thinks about going to K.C.'s. He decides to go since there are no customers at the diner and there's nothing to do in his apartment. He locks up the diner and walks over to K.C's.

He sees Lorelai singing on the stage as he walks in. When she looks at him, he gives her a smile and a nod as a greeting. He gets to the bar and orders a beer. As soon as he takes the beer he looks back to Lorelai to find she's looking at him. He listens to the words of the song. He smiles as she sings "I will always love you." She still holds his gaze and he realizes that she's singing to him. He listens to the words, "I wish you love." Luke feels tears welling up in his eyes all of a sudden. The last time he could remember crying was the day his father died. He looks down, overcome with emotions. "I will always love you." He hears Lorelai sing. I'll always love you too. Luke thinks. He swallows and blinks back his tears. He looks up to find her still looking at him. Luke doesn't take his eyes off her as the finishes the song. She gives a small smile and shrugs, almost as if to say: "I can't help it, I still love you." Everyone applauds Lorelai and Luke stands there and smiles to himself then looks down. He turns back to the bar and picks up his beer and takes a sip.

The next day, Zach gives Luke his black hat, telling him that he found it behind the dishwasher. Luke stares at the hat then decides that he wants to keep the blue one on. He tucks the black on into his back pocket and smiles. He's forgiven Lorelai and he still loves her, the blue hat shows that. I'm ready to try again if she is.

Author's note: Thank you for reading. Please feel free to leave a review.