A/N: For everyone still following the story and those now joining, you're all amazing. Thank you for reading and sorry for the slow chapter releases. This chapter goes back to following the show, using dialogue from the show (no claim to that writing that's all Amy or whoever was writing that ep), with my spin on it. Hope you'll enjoy x

With the thud of the front door closing, the house finds itself in silence. Lorelai is in bed, hand on her thigh, the one still sporting a little bruise from her crash into the furniture that happened what feels like a lifetime ago. Her body is on high alert from the nightmare plaguing her mind. With Luke gone her room feels oddly cold. She pulls her covers up and closes her eyes, but she opens them seconds later. The ticking of the cat clock sounds louder than ever.

Lorelai sits up in bed and runs her hand through her hair unsure what she wants to do with herself, but what she does know is that being up here isn't helping anything. She stands and goes downstairs. She needs to know her daughter is okay, and what better way is there of doing that than while having a cup of coffee?

As Lorelai pours the beans into the machine, Luke's words of advice ring in her ear. She shakes her head. Did he really think she wasn't going to drink coffee? The thought makes her giggle to herself. Lorelai isn't sure how since Rory's disappearing act things in her mind have been all over the place, but in some ways it has opened her eyes to something she might have never noticed.

With her coffee mug in hand she leans on the kitchen counter, eyes on Rory's door. She takes a deep breath. The strong coffee swirling up is a welcomed smell. Lorelai smiles at the warmth it gives her and the memories it holds: of Rory, Luke and everything in between. Lorelai knows she's not the bad mother her mind is screaming at her that she is. Luke confirmed it during her meltdown that first night. Despite knowing all of this, the doubtful voice still holds onto her mind and emotions.

Lorelai sips on the hot beverage before pulling the kitchen chair out so she can sit down. What better place to try to sleep than here? Words she knows she'll regret but she's too tired to care. Lorelai's still too worried about her daughter not to keep an eye out on Rory's door. She's stopping herself from sleeping right there in that room, but even she knows that's overkill at this point. One night. Just one night feeding her emotions and she'll be better. She'll take the time to think about it all, rationalise, and really decide.

Lorelai needed to decide. And it had nothing to do with Rory.

In the morning Rory tried questioning her mother as to why she had decided that the kitchen table was a good idea to sleep, even though Lorelai had gotten first hand experience with how bad it is when they stayed up all night studying Shakespeare. Lorelai shrugged off the question and Rory let it go, needing to leave the house, which Lorelai was more than happy about.

By the time Lorelai had gotten changed there was a knock on the door. She wasn't expecting anyone and as she reached down the stairs she wondered if Rory had ordered some new books. The door opened to the diner man standing out there.

'Hey, Luke. What brings you here this morning?' Lorelai asks.

'Hi,' he says, a smile on his face and a lightbulb in his hand.

'Aw, a light bulb. I've waited for this day all my life. A guy, bringing me a light bulb. Every girl's dream,' Lorelai teases, eliciting a sigh from Luke.

'Let me just get this done.' At his words Lorelai takes a step back, allowing him to enter the house.

'Luke, you know you didn't have to come here in a rush because of the light,' she says as she follows him deeper into the house.

'I know but with Rachel at the diner I have time to get this done this morning. And we already know that you're a safety hazard with limited lighting.'

Without thinking Lorelai's hand goes onto her thigh. She rubs it.

'Does it still hurt?' Luke questions as he notices the gesture.

'Only if I sleep on my stomach or if I touch it too harshly.'

Luke nods at her response before taking the stairs. Lorelai follows him up and once again wishes she had done something to her room so it didn't look so chaotic. Nothing he didn't see yesterday, other than her pyjamas now on the floor and her discarded work clothes hanging on the dressing table chair.

Luke takes a moment to judge the situation and figure out what approach is best to take. He then moves the clothes off the chair to the bed and places the chair above the light he needs to replace. Lorelai is leaning against the door frame. It should be odd to see a man in her room, but Luke moves in there with such ease that it doesn't feel one bit weird.

The action of changing the bulb is quicker than Lorelai expected and soon enough Luke is putting the chair back where it was.

'Give it a go.' Luke gestures to the light switch.

The room fills up with light and Lorelai smiles. 'Perfect. Thanks, Luke.' She turns it back off.

'I'll take this with me,' he says, twirling the broken bulb in his hand.

'Probably best. Do you have time for tea?' Lorelai asks when they get downstairs, back in the living room.

'Sure.' At his words, they walk off to the kitchen.

Lorelai puts the kettle on as Luke washes his hands in the kitchen sink.

'Did you manage to get any sleep last night?' Luke asks, almost like he's been dying to ask but has stopped himself. After last night, he knew he would do anything as a way of checking up on her, even using the light bulb as an excuse.

'Crappy,' Lorelai shrugs when she says it.

'Did you have coffee?' he questions with a knowing look.

'Yes, but that's not why.' She pours the hot water into the teacup. The aroma of peppermint fills the air.

Luke smiles a little. 'I know, but it didn't help.'

'It helped just fine. What didn't was my bright idea of sleeping out here.' She gestures to the kitchen table before placing his tea down on it.

'And you thought that was a smart idea?' He picks up the tea and takes a sip.

'No, but I just wanted to be close to Rory in some way.'

'Ah. Right,' he says in an understanding tone.

'Not worth the stiff neck though.' Lorelai rubs the back of her neck.

'It would help if you stretched it out.' Luke places the cup of tea back on the kitchen table and goes behind Lorelai.

She's weary of what he's about to do until she feels his hands on her shoulders. 'Luke?' she questions quietly.

'You've got a knot in your neck. I can help.' With his thumb he feels around for the knot causing all the trouble and with pressure he massages the knot out. His movements are slow and deliberate as he works on it.

Lorelai has her eyes closed and everything else around her is forgotten, her mind is simply focused on Luke's hands on her, his fingers and how good the pressure feels against her aching neck.

'Is that better?' he asks in a quiet tone.

She breathes out a 'Yes' that is barely audible.

He gestures for her to look back and when she turns, her neck faintly clicks. They lock eyes. Suddenly Lorelai wishes she was doing one thing. Her eyes drift down to his lips.

'How does it feel?'

'Good,' she whispers back.

His hands slip away from her neck before she even gets a chance to do or say anything else.

Lorelai rolls her shoulder and rubs her eyes before looking at him again. 'Thanks for that.'

'All good,' he replies as he picks up his tea that's grown a little bit cold since he last had it in his hands.

'How did you know how to do that?' she asks.

Luke shrugs like it's no big deal. 'I used to play track. Stretching and all of that was just something we learned to help keep our bodies going.'

Lorelai smiles, suddenly picturing him out in the field with his track shorts.

'Stop it,' Luke says and Lorelai giggles.

'Stop what? I'm not doing anything.'

'You're doing plenty. You and your mind.'

Lorelai grins at that. 'Well, you painted a great picture, Luke.'

He shakes his head. He takes one more sip from the tea and then says, 'Thanks for this. I should be going.'

'Thanks for the light, and the massage.'

Luke looks at her for a moment like he wants to say something but decides not to when he turns around and heads for the door.

The front door closes like it did last night and Lorelai rubs the back of her neck. She can still feel his hands on her. Everything in her wishes he hadn't stopped. Lorelai runs her hands through her hair. Her body and mind are feeling so many different things. She's conflicted, to say the least. Part of her knows what she wants. What she desperately wants to have, but admitting it and jumping into something she isn't sure the other person wants to isn't an easy thing.

At the Inn, Lorelai finds distractions to keep her busy, from Michel's ennui to Sookie's off-wi, but now that she has a moment to rest in the post-lunch-rush kitchen, coffee in hand, of course, her mind is allowed to think.

'Honey, are you okay?' Sookie's concerned tone doesn't go unnoticed by Lorelai who glances up from staring at her coffee mug to look at the chef.

'Yeah, just a lot on my mind.'

'Everything okay with Rory?' Sookie asks right away.

'All good,' Lorelai says with a thankful tone. 'Though that hasn't stopped the crazy dreams. Just glad Luke woke me up before it got any worse,' she lets slip.

'Luke woke you? Fixing the porch rail again, was he?' Sookie steps closer as her curiosity builds.

'Not the porch rail. He came by to fix the TV and then we asked him to stay for dinner. We ended up sleeping on the couch and he woke me up when I was mid crazy dream.'

'So, you and Luke slept together.'

'Sookie!' Lorelai playfully hits her friend on the arm. 'Not like that. Nothing dirty.'

The chef is sporting a grin that makes Lorelai shake her head. 'But you so wanted it to be.'

Lorelai can't help the nervous giggle that comes out of her as she tries not to even think about that. 'No. No, nothing like that.'

'Honey, you're not fooling me.'

'He's with Rachel and I'm with Max. Nothing was about to happen.'

Sookie just smiles.

'Stop it.'

'Not until you admit it.'

Lorelai sips the last of her coffee and walks over to the sink to dump her empty mug there. Though it's all just something to do to avoid Sookie's demand.

'There's something there, isn't there?' Sookie asks, this time softly as if talking to a child. She knows how sensitive Lorelai can get when she's accused of liking Luke. Last time with Rory's chick Lorelai ran out of the kitchen irritated, and Sookie doesn't want a repeat of that.

'There might be,' Lorelai lets herself admit. She hasn't been able to say that and knows in the deepest of her heart that there is definitely something there, something she can't hide from, something she desperately doesn't want to hide from.

Sookie squeals the moment the words are said.

'Sookie, calm down.'

'I'm sorry, I've just been waiting for this moment for longer than you know.'

'I think I have a clue.'

'So when are you two going out?'

'You're forgetting that we're both currently dating other people.'

'Well, just break up with Max and go straight to the diner.'

Lorelai shakes her head. 'It's not that easy. I've seen the way Luke looks at Rachel. The way he smiles when he's around her. He's happy and I can't expect to walk up to him and drop this bombshell and think he'll just dump her. And, I like Rachel. She's a great person. It wouldn't be fair to her.'

'Okay, but what about Max?'

Lorelai shrugs at the question. 'I haven't really given it a shot, have I? We were broken up before we even had a chance to grow. Part of me wants to give it a shot. At least then I'll know.'

'I think you already know. You're just too afraid to jump for it,' Sookie says in an all-knowing voice.

Lorelai looks down at her hands, playing with the butterfly ring on her index finger. She glances up at Sookie when Michel comes into the kitchen.

'As fun as it is doing your job, you're needed at the front desk,' he says in his patterned Michel grumpy and sarcastic voice.

Lorelai nods and walks out of the kitchen, followed by the always well-dressed French man.

Walking past Miss Patty's is always interesting. You never really know what you're going to encounter. Either jumping ballerinas or yoga classes, or Kirk doing something that can't be described as dancing through the way he does it. Luckily for Lorelai, as she walks past and gives Patty a greeting she only encounters ballerinas.

Lorelai just about finishes walking past when she bumps into the gorgeous blonde brunette. The woman smiles at Lorelai.

'Hey, Rachel. Everything okay?' Lorelai asks, noting the little concern on Rachel's face.

'Hey, have you seen Luke around?'

'Oh, he's probably at the diner.' Lorelai gestures over in the direction of the establishment.

'Nope, he's supposed to be at the diner, but he's not.'

'Oh, well…'

'We were supposed to meet for lunch, but he didn't show.'

'Oh.'

'Again,' Rachel says, a little defeated.

'Ah.'

'I made tuna.'

'Nice.'

'Yeah, yeah, he usually comes back upstairs for a break between lunch and dinner, but recently he's been other places. Uh, your place actually.' She gestures to Lorelai.

'Oh, yeah, well, Rachel, he's just fixing some things,' Lorelai says back.

'I know.' Rachel's tone is understanding.

'The porch rail, a couple roof shingles, then the porch rail again after he fell off the roof onto the porch rail.'

'Yeah, yeah, he's been telling me.'

'Good.'

'Look, if you see him can you tell him to just, I don't know, check in.'

'Yes, I will.'

'Thanks.'

'Bye.'

Lorelai smiles softly at Rachel and the woman in front of her does the same before they both walk off in different directions. Lorelai walks past the troubadour, her mind replaying the conversation.

From the couple of days of arriving home and finding Luke in her house, Lorelai shouldn't be surprised to hear someone in the house. But she is. She's not used to the sound his boots make on the wooden floor.

'Hold it right there! Oh! Oh!'

'It's only me!'

'You scared me half to death!' Despite the scare, she isn't unhappy to see him.

'Who'd you think it was?'

'Well, I don't know! I heard some thudding upstairs and Rory weighs like ten ounces, and it either had to be an escaped elephant or some strange large man who should not be in the house. How did you get in here anyway?'

'Through the back door.' He gestures towards it.

'The back door's locked.'

'No, that's why I came, the back door lock was broken.'

'The back door lock was fine.'

'The back door lock was cheap.'

'The back door lock came with the house. It's been a very fine back door lock,' Lorelai declares.

'It's the kind of lock burglars look for.'

'Why do burglars look for that lock?' she asks, now a little confused and trying not to worry.

'Because it's easy to break into. I proved that.'

'You proved that by…?' The worry slips away, realising Luke just wanted an excuse to do something around here.

'Breaking in through the back door.'

'Oh my God.'

'It's the only way I could get in.'

Lorelai starts walking towards the kitchen and Luke follows her.

'You have crossed over into the dark side Luke.'

'It's not that big a deal,' Luke states.

'Uh, you broke into my house.' Lorelai says when she sees the back door is wide open with the broken lock.

'I'm going to fix it.' He instantly says and he goes to the door. He grabs the screwdriver from the counter and a kitchen towel. Luke places the towel on the inner door handle and lines the screwdriver on the other side.

'Step away from that lock,' Lorelai demands.

'What?'

'Get off. Come. Sit down.' Lorelai puts her hands on Luke's shoulder and leads him away from the door and down onto a kitchen table chair. He sits and she sits down next to him. 'You have almost no free time with all your work at the diner, and lately every spare moment has been spent not with Rachel.'

'That's not true.'

'Oh, she was looking for you today and she didn't know where you were.'

'I'm not hiding from her.'

'I didn't say you were hiding from her.'

'Sounded like you were implying it.'

'Well someone's sensitive about the accusation,' Lorelai teases.

'I think I'm hiding from her,' Luke says in defeat.

'I think you are too. Not that I haven't loved your company around here.'

Luke smiles at her last comment before he says, 'It's just a little weird having her in my place.'

'I thought that's what you wanted,' she says. Part of her desperately wants to know what he wants, and if it's not Rachel, could it be her?

'It was. Is. I'm just... I've just been living alone since forever. And I just got used to putting the milk someplace in the fridge and finding it in the exact same spot. You know what I mean?'

'Oh, we don't even keep milk in the house.'

'Well, then cookies.'

'Cookies almost never make it out of the car.'

'You know what I mean.'

'Yeah. Well, maybe you can train Rachel to use a magic marker to mark the milk exactly where you left it.' Lorelai isn't quite sure why she's pushing the matter so much. But she knows after bumping into Rachel that it's only fair to give Rachel and Luke's relationship a shot.

'It's not just about milk. I'm not used to someone expecting me.'

'Expecting you to…'

'Come home, do things, be with her.'

'Aw, most people would kill to have that in their lives.

'I know, but I'm different. I'm a loner.'

'Don't. You're so much more than that.'

'I know…It's just not what I thought it would be like having Rachel back. You know, it's not the fantasy I was toting around all these years.'

'Well, Luke, life is not a fantasy. Maybe you have to lower your expectation bar a little bit.'

'So you're saying that life is just settling for whatever comes along?'

'Wow, you think being with Rachel is settling?'

'No, I didn't mean that. Rachel's great.'

'And she's crazy about you. And if her worst trait is that she's a milk whore, you have it pretty good.'

'Yeah.'

'And you just need to give this situation a fair chance.'

'I know.'

'Unless there's any other reason stopping you from fully committing.' Lorelai had to say it. Despite wanting to be fair to Rachel, her heart is still holding out hope.

Luke doesn't say anything for a moment. His eyes are focused on his hands but soon they drift up to her. His eyes meet hers. 'Why do you ask?' he questions.

'I…I don't know. Just want you to be sure.'

'I'm sure.'

'Okay, well you should start with ceasing work on the Winchester mystery house here.'

'Okay, I will. Thanks.'

'You're welcome.'

Neither of them moves to leave and the silence is thick with everything unsaid.

'I should go,' Luke states and gets up.

'I'll see you later. For coffee.'

'Right,' Luke nods and walks out the backdoor.

Lorelai looks down at her hands. Luke is walking further closer to Rachel. Lorelai takes her phone out. Maybe it's time for Lorelai to give her own relationship a real try. She flicks her phone open and dials Max's number.

Luke was happy seeing Lorelai at the town meeting, but not so happy at the company she was keeping. The thought of her with someone slips away, remembering the fry that Lorelai had thrown at him and her offer of having some. Moments with her, even small ones always make him happy.

He heads back into the diner. There are still a few things to do and maybe he'll stay open for the others that were in the town meeting to have a bite or coffee. Luke walks into the empty diner. Rachel is behind the counter.

'Oh, you're back.'

'Yeah, nothing much pressing at the town meeting,' Luke declares.

'Okay. Well, the bread shipment's all put away, and I sent Ceasar home since it was pretty dead.'

'Good. Good call.'

'Thanks,' Rachel says. She leans down, picks up her luggage and walks out from behind the counter.

'So you're leaving, huh?'

'Yeah.'

'Were you even gonna tell me?' he asks, a little annoyed but really just hurt.

'I was waiting for you to get back so I could say goodbye.'

'Yeah, you at least always do that.' He shrugs and then says, 'So go.'

'Don't you even want to know why?'

'I know why.'

'I don't think you do.'

'It's just like all the other times Rachel. You're the anywhere but here girl, you're restless, you're bored, it is what it is,' he says as if it doesn't bother him, but she knows better. This isn't the first time that Rachel has said her goodbye. Luke thought he would be used to the feeling that surges every time.

'That's not it.'

'Then what is it? Is there another guy?'

'No.'

'Then what?'

'It's another girl.'

'What? You're telling me you're…' Luke is suddenly both confused and curious.

'The other girl isn't for me Luke, it's for you.'

'Okay. Now that's crazy.'

'Yeah?'

'Yeah.'

'No.'

'You feel you need a different excuse this time to mix things up a little, fine. But you are not leaving because of me.' He starts to walk away from her, heading for behind the counter.

'I'm sure you tried Luke. But admit it, your heart wasn't in it.' This makes Luke stop his walking and turns to Rachel again.

'My heart was in it. I was here, I didn't leave...I don't get this.'

'Luke,' she says, trying to get through to him.

'And what are you talking about, another girl. What other girl?' Rachel stares at him. 'Oh Rachel, no, you don't mean…She and I are just friends. I told you that a thousand times.'

'No. You told it to me once. And you could barely get it out then'.

'Okay, this is crazy. You've got it wrong here. It's not...She and I are...uh…'

Rachel nods and then says, 'I'm gonna go. I'll miss you.' She hugs him goodbye. 'Stay in touch.'

'Rachel, come on.'

Rachel walks to the door and stops. She turns around to look at Luke. 'So don't wait too long okay?'

'To what?'

'To tell her.' Rachel is about to leave but stops again when she hears Luke's voice.

'Rachel…I'm sorry.'

'Don't be. I waited too long. Just make sure she knows how lucky she is.'

'She doesn't even..'

'She does. Just tell her, Luke.'

Luke nods and Rachel smiles before slipping out. She leaves Luke alone in the diner.

The doorbell rings.

'You're annoyingly on time again! Ugh. Okay, stairs then shoes, stairs then shoes,' Lorelai says as she goes down and tries putting her heels on at the same time. She gets to the front door and opens it, not finding the person she expected again. 'Oh hi.'

'Hey. You're all dressed up,' Luke says right away because it's hard not to notice the way Lorelai's body looks so perfect in that black wrap dress.

'Oh, I'm going out.'

'Oh sorry. I forgot my toolbox so I just thought I'd come pick it up.'

'It's right over here.' She steps back to allow Luke to see the toolbox. 'Rory and I couldn't lift it or we would've brought it to you and then we got used to having it here, so we named it Bert and we'd say "Goodnight Bert" and it'd say "Goodnight girls" and we spend too much time home alone.' She chuckles at herself.

'Well, thanks for taking care of it.' Luke walks up to the toolbox and picks it up.

'Our pleasure.' Lorelai has loved seeing Bert here. Something about having Luke's presence in the house even when he isn't here.

Luke places the toolbox on the foyer table and Lorelai looks at him a little confused. 'So Rachel left,' he slips out.

'What!' She wasn't expecting that, not even a little.

'Last night. She left. For good.'

'Oh no, Luke I'm so sorry. What happened?'

'Ah, it's hard to explain.'

'I can't believe it. I thought she was really in it for the long haul this time.' After their talk earlier in the kitchen, the thought and opportunity of them had spilled out of her mind.

'Yeah well, she had her reasons.'

'Really? What?'

'Us,' Luke says but right as he does there is a light knock on the front door. It's pushed open and Max comes in.

'Hello? I tried to be late,' Max says.

'Oh and an utter failure at one minute past.' She looks at her watch and back at Max. She greets him with a little kiss before remembering that Luke is still here. 'Um, so uh, Max Medina this is Luke Danes. Luke owns the diner. He has the greatest coffee.'

'Oh right. I saw you at the town meeting,' Max states.

'Yeah, I saw you too.'

'Nice to meet you.'

'Uh huh,' Luke says dismissively.

'Mmhmm. So, we should be going,' Max says to Lorelai.

'Oh yeah,' she says back.

'Yeah, I'm gonna get going. I just left my toolbox from when I was here earlier fixing things. I do a lot of little things around here for Lorelai.' Luke states, looking right at Max and gesturing at the toolbox sitting on the table.

'Yeah, you're very handy. So, Luke, we'll talk later,' Lorelai says, trying to defuse the tension that's suddenly building between the two men.

'Yes, we will.' Luke smiles at Lorelai.

'Although probably not tonight. We won't be back until late,' Max states.

'No, I meant not tonight,' she says back to him.

'Oh, I misunderstood.'

'I meant tomorrow. So tomorrow.' Lorelai looks at Luke and nods, hoping he gets the hint that he should head off.

'Absolutely. We see each other almost every day,' Luke reminds Max.

'Well sure, you've got the coffee,' Max rationalises back.

'And she needs the coffee. So I'll see you tomorrow,' Luke's attention goes back to Lorelai.

'Tomorrow,' Lorelai repeats to Luke.

'Same time as always.'

'I'd count on a little later,' Max says.

'Doesn't matter what time it is. I'll always be around,' Luke states, looking at Max but then turning his sights to Lorelai again. He smiles and then turns around to go.

'Bye,' Lorelai says when Luke leaves.

'So are we going?' Max asks.

'Uh, yeah. Just wanted to make sure you two were done swinging those things around. Someone's bound to lose an eye.'

'What are you talking about?'

'Nothing. I'll get my purse.' Lorelai walks into the living room looking for her purse. Max follows her.

'So not to be blunt, but is that over?'

'Is what over?' Lorelai asks, partly confused as to what he's referring to.

'Whatever's going on that I just walked in on.'

'Oh Max, come on, that's Luke,' she says as if saying that will instantly make him back off.

'I kind of picked something up there.'

'Okay. Well, drop it back on the ground and kick it under the couch, because there is nothing there,' but even as she says it, Lorelai can't really believe the words she's saying. There hasn't been 'nothing there' for a while, and she's kidding herself by even suggesting it.

'Hey, it's okay. I mean, we were apart for quite a while. I never assumed you joined a convent.'

'Max.'

'I mean, it's not like I didn't date while we were apart.'

'You dated?'

'A little.'

'A little person?'

'No, I dated a little.'

'Okay. Well, I didn't expect you to join a convent or whatever the male equivalent of that is called.' Lorelai waits a beat before asking, 'Who did you date?' suddenly curious.

'A monastery,' Max says back.

'You dated a monastery?' she asks, confused.

'No, a monastery is the male equivalent of a convent.'

'Thank you, Mr Medina. I'll make a note for the quiz on Friday.' Lorelai's tone is a little annoyed because knowing it's a monastery is really not the point here.

'I didn't know if I'd ever see you again.'

'No, I get it,' she says, understanding because she too wasn't sure she and Max would be back together. 'Yes. We were apart. And, uh, you know, I didn't exactly remain inactive.'

'So you did date Luke?'

'No, I did not date Luke,' Lorelai says as if she's defending herself, but she doesn't need to.

'You can tell me.'

'I did not date Luke,' she repeats, her tone now more annoyed that she's having to once again say it.

'There was a vibe.'

'There was no vibe.' But a wave of worry washes through her. Was there a vibe? 'What is with the questioning? You won't tell me who you dated,' she says quickly turning it back onto him.

'There's no one you know.'

'Okay, well, did you date like casual, nothing type of dating or did you date like get down, soul train kind of a dating?'

'Well, I wouldn't have phrased it that way, but to be honest, it was the latter.'

'Good, good. Okay. Well, I like your honesty. Because I mean you could've lied and left that part out to spare my feelings which would've been unnecessary. So thank you, that was good. I slept with Rory's dad,' she says quickly and spills the last part.

'Let's change the subject.' He looks around, unsure how they got to this subject to begin with.

'On my parents' balcony.'

'I want to change the subject.'

'Okay, well you started it.'

'I did not mean for this to become a who slept with whom contest.'

'Well, how did it get that way?'

'I don't know. Why do we do this? Why do we let it get weird between us just when it's getting good again?' He gestures to them as he speaks.

'I don't know.'

'I don't like it.'

'I don't either.'

'And I'm sick of it.'

'Well, so am I,' Lorelai says in defeat, hands by her side.

'We can't keep getting this close just to have something completely derail us again. And frankly there's only one thing I can think of that could solve it.'

'Break up.' The words come out of her mouth before she even has time to think. It's what feels right. Maybe her heart has sights on someone else now.

'Ugh.' Max looks at her, partly annoyed at himself that he's got them to this point, and partly sad that it hasn't been as easy as it should be.

'Well, I'm not interested in a murder-suicide kind of thing…'

'We should get married.' The moment Max says those words Lorelai is completely shocked.

Lorelai looks at Max, blinking at him confused as to why he's just said that. 'Give me a clue as to whether you're kidding or not.'

'I am not kidding,' he states, his tone completely sure and strong.

'Good clue.' Lorelai sighs. She walks around the coffee table, looking around the living room, trying to remain calm amongst whatever is currently happening.

'What do you say?' he asks, generally waiting for her response.

'Nothing. Max, you did not just propose to me.' She turns to him a little frustrated.

'Yes, I did.'

'No. A proposal has to be something more than the desperate desire to end a bickering match.'

'It was more than that.'

'No, it has to be planned. It should be magical. There should be music playing and romantic lighting and a subtle buildup to the popping of the big question. There should be a thousand yellow daisies and candles and a horse and I don't know what the horse is doing there unless you're riding it, which seems a little over the top, but it should be more than this,' as she says each line, each expectation for what a proposal should be, she can really picture it, really feel what it should be like.

'You're right.'

'I am right.'

'I'm sorry,' he says softly. He rubs the side of his face.

'It's okay.'

'Let's start the evening over.'

'Ding dong.'

'Oh, now I'm five minutes late.'

'Well, you're making good progress.'

'Let's go?'

Lorelai follows Max toward the front door.

'Bye, bye, Bert,' Lorelai says when she goes to the door and notices Luke left it behind. As she closes the front door, the thought of Luke lingers on her mind. 'Max,' she says, making him stop walking. He turns to look at her.

'Yeah?' he asks when she doesn't say anything else.

She shakes her head. 'I can't go with you.'

'What? Why?' He takes a step closer to her.

'I just shouldn't go.'

'Was it what I said in there,' he says and gestures to the house.

'Yes…No…a bit of everything. I don't think we should act like this isn't falling apart.'

Max listens to her words but shakes his head. He's holding out to a hope that doesn't exist anymore. 'Lorelai there is something here and it's worth figuring it all out for that something.'

Her sights go down to the old, wooden porch. Looking at him as she says this hurts too much. Call her a coward if you want, but she does care for Max deeply, and hurting him isn't something she ever wanted to do. But she has to finally be truthful to everything she's been feeling these last few weeks. Or what she hasn't been feeling for him.

'Max,' Lorelai says his name softly, but the tone is sorrowful. 'I don't think the something you're looking for is here. And I think we should stop kidding ourselves.'

'Oh.' He tilts his head down. The early night comes with the sweet song of the crickets who hide in the shadows. Max sighs before looking up at her. 'It was nice knowing you, Lorelai Gilmore,' he says in the stoic way Max could so effortlessly shift into.

'It was nice meeting you, Max Medina,' Lorelai says back. Max nods and starts to walk away.

A man had just asked her to marry him, and now she watches as he walks away. She feels confused, but it doesn't feel like the wrong decision. When she knows that Max has gone, Lorelai starts to walk.

Mindlessly walking isn't something Lorelai did very often, but when she needed to clear her head, walking in the town that first felt like home to her seemed to help. This time, her walking doesn't lead to the centre of the town, nor to Luke's, instead she walks past the pond with the really mean ducks to the overgrown path. There amongst the dusty road is the beautiful but broken Inn that Rachel showed her.

At night it's hard to imagine what this building can really be and what it once was all those years ago when it was up and running. Lorelai walks along the front of it and touches the wooden pillar. Despite the darkness, Lorelai smiles at the building in front of her. This is her dream. Her own inn. Nothing she had thought she wanted when she was fifteen, but things had changed since then.

The porch creaks when she walks around. She's got Rachel to thank for showing Lorelai this place. The thought of Rachel makes Lorelai remember Luke saying Rachel left. The words 'us' were said and then washed away by Max's presence.

What did he even mean by us? Is there an us? Did she see it? All questions running through her mind. Lorelai shakes her head wanting all the unanswered questions to disappear. She takes a deep breath. It's all too much to think about.

Lorelai looks at the path back home and moves away from the Inn. As she walks on she can't fight the tug to have one last glance. She turns around. There it is. A whole building of possibilities. There are so many possibilities waiting for Lorelai. She just needs to take the leap.

Lorelai walks away.

Her journey home brings her to the back porch. As she heads for the backdoor she spots something. Lorelai reaches for the item that's draped over the newly fixed rail. In her hand the soft but slightly worn out fabric makes her smile.

Luke's flannel shirt.

'This man needs to remember to take his things with him,' she says out loud but isn't even one bit annoyed that he's left it behind, no, quite the opposite.

Holding the soft yet cool fabric in her hands, there's one feeling that shines amongst them all, that's how much affection comes at the thought of Luke. With everything going on it finally settles that Luke is single and so is she. She smiles at the opportunity that has opened up and the idea that she actually feels excited to maybe start something. With Max, the excitement had started to turn into more of an obligation and less something Lorelai was desperate to keep having fun with. But with Luke it already feels different, and nothing has started.

She looks down at the shirt in her hand. He's her friend, always has been or at least it feels that way. Lorelai grips onto the fabric tighter as the sudden doubts creep into her mind. Maybe all of this is just the way he is with friends…but even as she thinks it, Lorelai's not fully convincing herself.

Lorelai goes into the house. It's a little chilly inside despite the fact it's late spring and summer should be on its way. How the kitchen feels colder than the outside baffles her. She looks down at the shirt in her hand and almost on instinct she puts on the shirt. The fluffy fabric is a welcomed feeling against the cold kitchen.

The light in Rory's room is not as bright as it would be if the ceiling light was on, telling Lorelai that her daughter was once again up late reading.

Turning into the living room, it doesn't go unnoticed by Lorelai that Bert is still on the foyer table. She holds onto the end of the shirt with her left hand.

'Goodnight, Bert,' Lorelai says softly. She takes the stairs two at a time. Lorelai slips off her heels when she gets into her bedroom. She sits on the end of the bed for a second before lying down in defeat. Too many thoughts, too many emotions and one really tired woman. Lorelai closes her eyes waiting for sleep to make it all wash away.

Early in the morning in a rush to get the day started Lorelai walks into the inn, passing by a mumbling Machel about daisies and how they're idiotic weeds. Lorelai doesn't even question it, he's always annoyed at something. And frankly she's too tired to really care.

When she gets inside there aren't a thousand daisies waiting for her, though she wasn't expecting there to be. When she heads to the front desk, what is waiting for her is a bouquet.

She walks up to it, a little confused until it hits her: Max. Lorelai reaches out to touch the yellow flowers before finding the note within it. In his cursive the words the note reads: 'Thank you for our moments - Max'. Lorelai smiles. He always did have a way with words.

She's happy for their moments but within her heart, it's no longer Max' name that recedes there. It never belonged there to begin with. She knows who does. Lorelai reaches for her car keys. It's time to stop acting like she's not sure, because she is.

Lorelai knows.

And he should too.