I've been toying with this idea for a while now. I've always wanted to see Luke as a dad (yes, I know he had April, but come on, this is not what I wanted ) so I've decided to create a universe in which Luke is Rorys's dad. Hope you enjoy it. Reviews are always welcomed.

Chapter 1: Luke's first day

Luke was pissed at his dad. Of course, as a teenager, he often had little arguments with him, but this was different. It wasn't "I was watching TV and you made me take out the garbage" level argument - it was more of a "you turned my whole life upside down" really bad level. Not that he would ever tell his dad that he was mad at him to his face. Luke thought that his father had enough to deal with - running a business and raising 2 teenage kids on his own, since Luke's mom died 2 years ago. So, for a teenager, he was a pretty good kid. He tried to make it easier for his dad, especially, since his 14-year-old sister Liz was certainly a handful, since she started high school.

However, today he was truly pissed. But maybe, he thought, he was more mad at himself than at his dad. He just couldn't say no to him. And that's why he found himself on this Monday morning, not even a month after the school year started, at the steps of St. Mary private high school, in Hartford. 30 minutes by bus from his old high school, Stars Hollow High. Luke liked his old high school. It was in his hometown, a 5 minute walk from his house. Maybe it wasn't the best school academically speaking, and their school football team, in which he played as quarterback, was nothing more than average. But it was familiar and enough for him.

It all changed for him a week ago, September 18th - the first football game of the season. He played as well as he could, which was always the case, yet they still lost the game. But Luke had no idea that there was a scout at this game. A scout, who was really interested in him and "would love to see him play with the winning team". Couple days later, the strings were pulled, and Luke received a scholarship to a private high school with the best football team in the state. And if it really was only Luke's decision, he would've said no in a heartbeat. But then he looked at his father, who looked so proud and happy. William Danes worked really hard for his kids, and they always had enough money, but he certainly wasn't able to afford private high school for his kid. So for him it was a dream come true. And that's why Luke said yes, that's why he was now on the steps of his new high school. And that's why he was pissed at his dad.

He knew he had to come in eventually, but he really didn't want to come inside. Being the new kid sucked. So he just stood there like a moron.

"Excuse me" he heard a voice behind him "You're kind of blocking the entrance, which normally I would be all for, since it would give me a perfect excuse to be late for math. But since I'm already on strike 2 with , and I can't afford another trouble with school or my parents will cut me off their will, it would be awesome if you could move. If you're having trouble with the door, I would suggest using the instructions, you know, this really big 'pull' sign."

"Thanks, I can read just fine" answered Luke and turned around to see the girl who could speak faster than anyone he ever knew. She was thin and tall, with long dark hair and piercing blue eyes. It was kind of unfair to Luke that she could look so gorgeous on a Monday morning in this stupid red uniform, which looked so dumb on him. He moved aside to make room for her. She looked at him and smiled.

"You're the new kid, right? Totally explains this whole 'trouble with the door' thing. You must come from a land of no doors" The joke was not too funny for him but her smile was so wide and sincere, that he couldn't help but smile, too.

"Ha, ha, good one." He laughed sarcastically. "I am the new kid, transferred from Stars Hollow, in which, believe it or not, we have doors. Luke Danes, pleasure to meet you. And you are?"

"Late, as I mentioned before. Sorry, Luke, I really have to go. Not lying about my parent's will. Come find me at lunch, maybe you'll learn my name then." and with that she was gone. Luke stood there for one more minute, a little stunned by this interaction with the mysterious beautiful girl. And finally he walked inside. The school didn't seem so scary anymore. Maybe it won't be so bad, he thought to himself. And suddenly he couldn't wait for lunch.

Lorelai did not have a good morning at all. She woke up with the sound of her alarm clock at 6:45 AM. Exactly 15 minutes earlier than usual, cause she did not want to hear yet another complaint from her mother- she could not be late again. At 7:15 she went down to get breakfast. Breakfast was not the easiest time at the Gilmore house, or any meal for that matter, and even though Lorelai loved food, she would gladly skip breakfasts and make do with just a cup of coffee on the way to school, if her mother would ever allow it. But her mother of course would never allow it. Emily Gilmore demanded the presence of her whole family at breakfast, even though her father was always busy with the morning paper, and Lorelai was eating as fast as she could to leave for school. Today however, she had extra 15 minutes which did not go unnoticed by her mother.

"Well, look who decided to join us today at the normal hour" Emily said when she saw her daughter.

"Yeah, well, when I saw your face after the talk with Mrs Williams, I decided that I do not want to give my mother a stroke just yet." She replied with the roll of her eyes. Honestly, she didn't know what the big deal was. She was late twice in September, 5 minutes tops, but apparently to her math teacher it was as bad as taking drugs.

"How thoughtful of you. Did you hear it Richard? Our daughter doesn't want to give me a stroke YET" Emily shook her head in disbelief. Richard, whose entire focus was on the New York Times, muttered something under his breath in response.

"Relax mom, I'm only joking"

"Well, I can never tell with you."

Lorelai sighed. It's been exactly 3 minutes since she went downstairs and was already exhausted. She could never understand how it happened that she was a daughter of Emily and Richard Gilmore. They weren't bad people, they were just so different from her. She was almost sure that she was somehow switched at birth.

"Sit down, Glenda will bring you the eggs in a minute". It was another thing, which Lorelai couldn't understand. Did they really need a maid and a cook? There were only 3 of them, and she thought she was more than capable of making her own breakfast. But the Gilmores didn't cook.

After she was served her breakfast she ate in silence, hoping her mother wouldn't insist on having conversation. Of course, she was wrong.

"I appreciate you got up earlier today, Lorelai, but honestly, I don't know why on earth you would need it. Waking up at 7 AM should give you enough time to make it to school on time. After all, it's only 10 minutes from here." Of course her mother could not pass the opportunity to make another comment regarding her mistakes. At this point they should just legally change her name to 'major disappointment'.

"Gee, mom, I guess not making it on time is one of my natural defects. Along with a big mouth and terrible sense of humor". She couldn't understand why Emily was this way. Honestly, she couldn't have been mad at her for waking up earlier. She could tell by her mother's eyes that she had yet another disapproving comment to her response so she decided to beat her to the punch. "Anyway, waking up earlier won't do me any good if I don't leave now. I have to go, don't wanna be late".

Emily sighed but didn't say anything more.

"Have a good day at school" said Richard, and that was the only comment that he made this morning. So much for eating together.

"Thanks dad." She answered. And with that she was gone. She could breathe better outside. Whenever she walked out those doors, she thought that the pressure was somehow lighter. She still had more than 20 minutes till class started, which gave her time to pick up another cup of coffee on the way. She already had 2 cups at breakfast, but there was never enough caffeine for her. Especially on Monday morning. It was 7:50 when she made it to the front steps of her high school and she was feeling really proud of herself.

The entrance was blocked by some guy, which she was sure she never saw before. St. Mary's high school did not have a lot of students, and she was sure she would remember him. He was tall, handsome and yet different from other guys from her school. Ha had this sort of scruffy look, where you could just tell that he didn't care much about his looks, yet he still looked great.

He was wearing the school uniform, so he must have been a new student. He looked so out of place, that she couldn't help but stop and stare for a while. He didn't even notice her, looking deep in his thoughts. He also looked kind of sad, and she didn't have the heart to ask him to move. Until she looked at her watch. 7:58. Crap.

"Excuse me" She finally said. "You're kind of blocking the entrance, which normally I would be all for, since it would give me a perfect excuse to be late for math. But since I'm already on strike 2 with , and I can't afford another trouble with school or my parents will cut me off their will, it would be awesome if you could move. If you're having trouble with the door, I would suggest using the instructions, you know, this really big 'pull' sign."

"Thanks, I can read just fine" the guy answered and turned around. Now that she could see him from the front she knew she was right, he was definitely handsome.

"You're the new kid, right? Totally explains this whole 'trouble with the door' thing. You must come from a land of no doors" He smiled at her joke which made her glad. Not everyone, especially at this snobby little school, could appreciate her sense of humor.

"Ha, ha, good one." He laughed sarcastically. "I am the new kid, transferred from Stars Hollow, in which, believe it or not, we have doors. Luke Danes, pleasure to meet you. And you are?"

She had never heard of Stars Hollow before and she was intrigued by the guy and wanted to continue their conversation, but her watch now showed 7:59.

"Late, as I mentioned before. Sorry, Luke, I really have to go. Not lying about my parent's will. Come find me at lunch, maybe you'll learn my name then." She couldn't even look back to see his reaction. He probably thought she was stupid and full of herself. She could really just tell him her name. And honestly she didn't think he would be eager to find her at lunch.

But there was a long time till lunch. Math first. She sat at her desk at exactly 8:00 and sighed with relief. Chris, her friend who was sitting next to her, gave her a questioning look and smiled at her. She promised him that she would be at least 10 minutes earlier today, to which he said that there's no way she would make it. If it weren't for the new guy (Luke if she remembered correctly) she would make it, but she couldn't explain it to Chris now that the class started, so she just shrugged her shoulders.

Christopher was a good friend of hers for as long as she could remember. Her parents were friends with his parents. They have been at the same school since the kindergarden. And when you're the only 2 kids at a number of boring adult parties you have to become friends. And he understood her, at least a little. He listened when she was talking about her plans for traveling the world and he wanted to do the same things, though maybe in another way. He probably wouldn't mind using his father's credit card to make his dreams come true. She was different this way, she wanted to make it without her parents' help. But he was still better than the rest of those snobby little kids at this snobby little school. And he was probably the only person that she could call a friend at this place.

Since she turned 15 last April, she wondered if maybe they would become a couple one day. Of course, her mother would probably tell her that she is too young for a boyfriend, but she felt ready. She already decided that if Chris wouldn't make a move till she's 16 (and if no other guy would come around) she would just go ahead, kiss him and see what happens. She wasn't really a waiting and pining kind of girl. When she wanted something she would go for it. Of course, she wasn't sure if Chris was really boyfriend material, for now he was nothing more than a good friend, but a girl can't wait forever for true love. And she believed he would at least make a good first boyfriend, sort of a training boyfriend.

She still had 7 months till her 16th birthday and it was still possible that she could meet someone entirely new who would also be a good candidate for a first boyfriend. Her mind involuntarily went to the new guy, but she quickly reminded herself that she shouldn't go there. She didn't know him at all, she barely could remember his name. And yet.. there was something about him that made her believe that he could at least become her good friend. She decided that if he wouldn't come to her at lunch, she would do it herself and introduce herself. But it was still only 8:15. She sighed, looking at the clock. She would have to at least try to focus on her lessons till lunch. After all, she really didn't want to give her mother a stroke. Not today, at least.

By the time lunch came around, Luke almost forgot about the mysterious beauty from this morning. Almost, because he still was hoping that she could somehow turn this day around for him. So far, it honestly sucked. The high school was rather small, the kind when everybody knew everybody, and of course nobody knew him. His last name didn't say anything to them, nor the name of his town Star Hollow, which made them correctly assume that he was a scholarship student with no money and no powerful relatives. That formed 2 different groups of students- the better half just decided to politely ignore him, the other half whispered aggressively and giggled whenever he was around (he could hear words such as "poor" and "ew" repeatedly). He decided to ignore them and just make it through the day. He was also secretly hoping that he wouldn't have to wait till lunch to see his mysterious girl - at such a small school they should have at least one class together, but he had no luck. So he tried to focus on his studies. And there were so many things to study in this school that it left him with no time to think about the mysterious girl (honestly, he had to learn her name soon, he couldn't name her the mysterious girl forever).

The cafeteria was packed with students. He was honestly worried that he couldn't find her in the crowd. He was looking around for a while, but the other students were giving him strange looks, so he sadly decided to give up and went in line to get some food.

"Luke!" He turned around and he was again face to face with his mysterious girl. "I see that I am not interesting enough to keep you intrigued for a few hours. You probably think that I'm such a weirdo, going all high and mighty, thinking that you couldn't wait and hear my name like I'm some kind of celebrity. Of course, if I was some kind of celebrity you wouldn't have to learn my name, you would just know it. It's Lorelai, by the way. But you clearly forgot about weird little me and you're just trying to get your food and eat in peace. So I'm gonna leave you to it." Again, she was throwing words at him with the speed of light. She seemed to not be breathing at all and he was wondering how such a small person could hold her breath for so long. When he processed all that she said she already turned around, ready to leave. He quickly went through her words to remember how she introduced herself.

"Lorelai, wait!" He shouted after her. "I'm sorry. I was honestly looking for you, but it was so packed that I couldn't see you in the crowd. I already have enough hard time with being a new kid. I guess in this school "scholarship student" is equivalent to "child murderer" judging by the way all of those snobby little kids are looking at me. So I didn't want to give them another reason to stare and gossip by standing in the middle of the cafeteria looking like a major creep and stalker. And, now of course, I realized that I called all the students snobby little kids, which of course I don't think about you. Although I do know you for about 2 minutes so there is still a chance that you're also snobby and now that you've heard 'scholarship student' you're gonna quickly run away from me. You can also run away, just based on the crazy things I just said. And I'm gonna shut up now."

Lorelai, to Luke's surprise, smiled at his words. Till now, she never met anybody who could speak as fast as she could. And she kind of liked the way he ranted about everything. She also learned an important piece of information - since he was a scholarship student and since he called other students snobby little kids (the same way that she called them) he couldn't possibly be one of them.

"No snobby little kid here, promise. I do have snobby little parents, though. But I wouldn't say that 'scholarship student' is equivalent to 'child murderer' to me. Maybe just a regular murderer, which as we all know is way less repulsive." She winked at him. "And if you're okay with my weird sense of humor, which I demonstrated here for you, then I think we could make great friends and I would love it if you could eat lunch with me."

"Well, since you're possibly the only person who will ever speak to me at this school, I would be a fool to decline your invitation. Lead the way, please." Luke was a little surprised with himself. He wasn't exactly a loner at his old school but he never made friends easily. It was hard for him to open up to new people. And yet, here he was, smiling and joking with such ease. Lorelai had just such an open and bubbly personality, that she could probably get anybody to open up. Not that he complained.

"My friend, Chris, will probably join us later. Fair warning, he's like 5% snobby. But he's gonna be nice to you, I promise. In the meantime, you can tell me all your dirty secrets. We have maybe 5 minutes for it, but I believe I can make you talk".

"Somehow, I believe you. And I'm not much of a talker"

"Yeah, I could tell based on that little rant of yours back there." She laughed.

"Ranting is different. It's more of a monologue. Talking to somebody - that's what I'm not good at. But I guess you're easy to talk to." He smiled at her and she couldn't help but blush a little.

"Okay, new guy. Tell Me your life story."

"Honestly, there's not much to tell. I lived in one place my whole life. Stars Hollow. It's a little town, about 30 minutes by bus from here. It's the kind of town when everybody knows everybody. Every rumor is exciting. There's no police station, no sheriff station. We do have one town councilman, who is amazingly annoying, and insists that everyone must be present at weekly town meetings. Supposedly we should make big town decisions there, but it's mostly just a lot of yelling and talking. Bunch of crazy people if you ask me. But I have to go to them for my dad, since he's busy with his shop and he needs me to give him all of the important information. I just started my junior year at Stars Hollow High, and I was a quarterback on the football team. Apparently, I played too well at my last game, since some very important scout insisted that I should transfer to the school with the best football team. Hence, the scholarship. Honestly, I couldn't care less, and I wanted to say no, but my dad was all proud and happy, and I had to say yes. And now I'm here with a bunch of snobby little kids and one very cool girl. So I guess it's not all so bad." He honestly couldn't believe that he told her all of that just like that. He barely knew this girl.

"Wow, and all of that in 3 minutes. So much for not talking much." She laughed. "And thank you for this really small but noticeable complement, appreciate it. You're pretty cool yourself. Also, Stars Hollow sounds awesome. I would love to go to one of those town meetings." He believed her, although he couldn't possibly know what sounded so awesome to her. For him his little town was mostly annoying. But now that he thought about it, it kind of suited her. She would probably fit right in there. A lot better than him.

"You're welcome to join me anytime. At least I won't die of boredom." He smiled widely at the thought of Lorelai in Stars Hollow.

"Okay mister, that was a good beginning but there are no dirty secrets yet. I need you to spill more."

"Not fair, I don't even know your last name, and you want me to bear my soul to you. You have to tell me a little more about yourself first. "

"Fine, it's Gilmore. Lorelai Victoria Gilmore, to be more specific. And I will tell you more, I promise, but my friend, Chris, the one I told you about earlier is heading here right this second. So it's gonna have to wait a little bit. If we don't have any more classes together, we can meet outside after school and I will walk you to your bus stop. I'm heading that way anyway. So what do you say?"

"Sure."

"Great, it's a date then" She smiled.

"What date?" Asked the guy, which Luke could only assume was Chris, while sitting next to Lorelai. "Honestly, Lor, the guy is here for about 5 seconds and you already tried to date him? Be careful, new guy, she probably chose you only because every other guy knows she's crazy". His tone was playful but Luke could tell that there was something more under the surface. His first impression of the guy wasn't too good, but he chose to give him a benefit of the doubt.

"It's the expression, you moron. We're not going on a date, we're just making plans to hang out later. And now, don't be an ass and introduce yourself to my new friend." It was funny to Luke how it sounded. They couldn't possibly have become friends in such a short time, and yet, this was exactly what had happened. If he were to introduce her now, he would also use the term friend and he would actually mean it.

"Christopher Hayden, nice to meet you." Chris listened to Lorelai and politely reached out his hand to Luke.

"Luke Danes, likewise." He answered, shaking his hand.

"So tell me Luke, how did you end up at our school? I've heard that you received some sort of scholarship?" Luke quickly picked up on the subtle accent on the word scholarship. Lorelai was right, he was definitely a snob, at least 5%.

"Yes, football scholarship, I'll be joining the team."

"No way. I'm on the team also. So I'll guess I'll see you at practice after school. You'll have at least one friendly face in the team." Or maybe not all that friendly, Luke thought to himself. He couldn't exactly pinpoint what was bothering him so much in Chris. He seemed polite enough, yet he didn't feel comfortable with him.

"Yeah, that's nice," he answered. And suddenly he realized something. "Oh, that's right, practice. I completely forgot, Lorelai, I can't walk with you after classes."

"Don't worry, athletic golden boy. You forgot, but I didn't. I also have an after class activity - business club." She joined the club her freshman year, mainly to shut up her mother about the importance of extra curricular activities, but she actually enjoyed it. It seemed that she was good at business. "so we're still on for after school".

" Awesome. So see you then. I have to go, since I have to find the right class. Bye, Lorelai. Bye, Christopher. "

"See you," Lorelai answered after him. He walked out of the cafeteria with a smile on his face. Of course, this short lunch break with Lorelai didn't actually solve his problems with the new school, but it certainly made him feel better. And he was willing to attend the rest of the classes with a smile on his face, no matter how many more horrible kids he would meet today. He still had something to look forward to.

Lorelai was sad when it was confirmed that she and Luke did not indeed share any classes together. Of course it made much more sense, when she found out he was a junior. She was a sophomore and it rarely happened at her school that they would allow it. She was at least happy that she could spend any time with him at all, and she gladly confirmed during lunch that he was indeed a cool person.

She couldn't also deny that she had developed a small crush on him. After all, how else could she explain that she couldn't stop thinking about him since this morning, and that she was smiling like an idiot whenever she thought she would see him again this afternoon. Honestly, who could blame her? He was not bad to look at, and he was actually fun and was better at ranting than anyone she ever knew (except for herself, obviously). But the thing that made him the most attractive to Lorelai, was that he was normal. He was living in the real world, somewhere other than the upper class of Hartford society, he could take a bus if he wanted to, he probably didn't have a trust fund or reach parents. He was a real person. And there was nothing better than that for Lorelai.

So she decided she liked him. Big deal. She was a 15-year-old girl, it was her natural right to have crushes. Didn't she just spend the last month being crazy in love with Tom Cruise from Risky Business? Of course Luke wasn't Tom Cruise, he was an actual person that she knew, but it worked almost the same. She decided that now, when she has become his friend, she will just have to wait a little bit and see how this goes. And who knows, maybe he will even be a better first boyfriend material than Chris?

Speaking of which, Lorelai couldn't help but notice that Chris was acting weird since lunch. He didn't seem to like Luke very much, but it would probably just take some time. After all it was her and Chris against the world for as long as she could remember. He could be a little jealous about the fact that he was no longer her only friend.

She almost jumped out of her seat when the business club ended. Finally, she thought to herself. She quickly left the school and leaned against the wall, while watching the main entrance. 5 minutes later she saw Luke. She was glad to notice that he didn't forget about their arrangement, as he was looking around trying to find her. When he did he smiled widely and walked towards her.

"Lorelai Gilmore, long time no see. You would think that in such small school we would have at least one class together"

"Well, it can be sadly explained by the fact that I'm only a sophomore. Which maybe I should mention before, since you may be one of those people who think that just because I'm one year younger I'm somehow too immature to have an actual conversation with a junior. Then again, we have already had a few good conversations since this morning, so that would be really stupid of you." She knew she was talking too much. She has always done that, but usually she could stop herself whenever she met new people, as they often tend to disapprove of her long and fast way of communicating. Yet, she couldn't shut up in front of Luke. Fortunately, he didn't seem to be bothered by this.

"Yeah, that explains it. But no worries, I didn't meet a single fun junior at this school. So I guess I will risk my great reputation and settle for a friendship with a sophomore." They slowly started to walk towards the bus stop. "I have about 10 minutes till my bus, which gives you twice as long a time as I had to tell me all about yourself."

"I think that's plenty of time for me to introduce myself and for you to spill all of your dirty secrets. I can speak really fast, in case you didn't notice." She said with a laugh. "Okay, so here is my life in a nutshell. I'm Lorelai Gilmore, I'm 15 years old, I will turn 16 next March. I'm an only child, and I live with my parents, Emily and Richard, about 10 minutes from here, in one of those ridiculously expensive houses. Which of course means that my parents are crazy rich. I guess that makes me rich by extension, but I don't want my parent's money. Of course, I'm using it now, but I mean later in life, after college. I want to start my own business, make it on my own, and if possible I want to do it as far away from Hartford as possible. I don't like this city. And I also don't like those snobby little kids, as you called them earlier. Or those kids' parents. So, basically I think it's a big cosmic joke for me to come to this world at this place. I don't fit in here, and I don't want to, yet here I am. My parents never understood me, to them I'm just mostly a major life disappointment." She stopped herself a little shocked by her own confessions but she tried to hide it with a small smile. "Wow, I wanted you to bear your soul, and here I am, talking about all of my dirty little secrets."

"Well, I guess it's only fair that I would actually tell you some of my dirty little secrets." She was glad that he didn't ask any follow up questions. He didn't look at her differently, after what she said. He accepted the things that she told him, understood that those feelings are hard and complicated for her, so he simply moved on. She was thankful for it. "Let's see. I live with my dad and my younger sister Liz. My mom died 2 years ago, cancer. No secrets so far." He wanted to quickly jump to another topic, he didn't like to talk about his mother and he didn't want Lorelai to feel bad for him. "Oh, I got one. I had my first kiss with Carrie from my old high school. We made out under the bleachers after one game, and I thought she was pretty fun until I found out that she kissed 3 other guys at the same spot, that same day. Now I deny that it ever happened." He thought that she would laugh at him, but she just stared at him weirdly. Was she blushing a little?

"Well, at least you kissed someone. I want to do it as quickly as possible, my first kiss, I mean. Just to avoid this whole pressure. People just wait and wait for their first kisses and then it ends up awful, or in your case you end up kissing some major slut. Anyway, I'll do it whenever I find the right opportunity"

Oh, so that's what the blushing was all about. She didn't have her first kiss yet. Suddenly, she looked at him with sort of playful look, as if she was waiting for him to make a move on her. Was she really expecting him to give her her first kiss at the bus stop on the first day that they met? He couldn't do it, he was the perfect gentleman, and he thought that was no way to treat a lady. But then again, she was looking at him with those perfect eyes, perfect smile, perfect lips and he started to think that maybe it wasn't such a bad idea. He was saved by the bus, which was stopping right now, next to him. No time for first kisses.

"I don't know if I can agree with you. Some first kisses can be special." He got closer to her, and she was sure that he was gonna kiss her, but at the last moment he turned his head and the kiss landed on her cheek. "And those kisses are worth waiting for" He winked at her and got on the bus. Before the doors closer he gave her one last smile and said:

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Loreali Gilmore. See you tomorrow. "

She didn't get a chance to respond, as the doors of the bus closed. She waved at him and stared at the bus, until he was out of her sight. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship, she could feel it in her gut. And with that though on her mind, she was smiling the whole way home.