"I just wish I could marry Meg myself, and keep her safe in the family."

– Jo, Little Women Chapter 20

As October turned to November, the bright New England foliage giving way to barren tree branches and a crispness in the air that almost tasted like peppermint, Juliet sat on her couch every night and dialed Max Medina's number.

Inevitably, she would chicken out before she'd even finished punching in the numbers, dropping the phone beside her as she talked herself in and out of going out with him.

Max Medina. Maaax Medina. Despite his ardent reassurances and quotations from the play she'd been named after, Juliet still wasn't entirely convinced that she was the Gilmore sister who held his interest. She wasn't the one who'd caught his eye first, that was for sure. Not that she could blame him for that.

Sighing, Juliet picked up the phone again, dialing the familiar number.

Lorelai picked up after the third ring, her voice a low whisper. "Hello?"

"Lor? It's me."

"Jules? What are you doing up? I thought you had to work at six."

Juliet glanced at the clock beside her, her eyes widening when she saw it was past midnight. "Shit. I didn't wake you, did I?"

"Nah, I was up," Lorelai said dismissively. After a moment, she inhaled deeply, then said giddily, "I smell snow."

Juliet felt herself smile involuntarily at her sister's enthusiasm. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Lorelai sighed dreamily, giggling a little. "I love snow."

Juliet screwed up her face in mock consideration. "Hmm, I think I remember that about you."

"You know that all the best things in my life happened when it snowed?" Lorelai's smile was audible. "My best birthday, my first kiss, Rory's first steps, the day she was born –"

"The day I was born," Juliet reminded her, her smile growing.

"I was getting to that," Lorelai promised.

"Uh-huh," Juliet rolled her eyes with a smile, settling back against the pillows.

Over the phone, Juliet heard a muffled, "Mom?"

"Sorry, sweets, did I wake you?" Lorelai asked, her voice quieting as she pulled her mouth away from the speaker. "Say hi to Auntie Jules!"

"Hi, Auntie Jules," Rory greeted, her voice groggy.

"Hi, Rory."

Rory's voice became distant again. "I'm going back to bed, if you're good out here."

"I'm good. Night, hon," After a moment, Lorelai's voice came back on the speaker. "Speaking of which, why aren't you in bed?"

"Just thinking," Juliet said evasively, shrugging.

"About what? The ozone layer?" Lorelai quipped.

Juliet laughed shortly. "Well, now that you mention it. . ."

"Seriously, though, about what?" Lorelai prodded gently. "Is everything okay?"

"It's just this stupid Max Medina thing," Juliet confessed, focusing intently on the green fabric of her couch.

"Still?" Lorelai asked incredulously. "Jules, it's been weeks. How long are you going to waffle about this?"

"Hey, you know I'm a waffler," Juliet protested.

"Oh, I know," Lorelai huffed out a breath. "Okay, walk me through your thinking. I'm not as good at the pro-con list as Rory, but I'll try."

She began with the dead horse Lorelai had been beating for the last month. "I can't shake the thought that he wants to be with you and not me."

Static crackled over the phone at the force of Lorelai's sigh, her eye roll almost audible. "I'm gonna give you some tough love here, okay?"

"Okay."

"I think that has a lot more to do with you than with him," Lorelai said frankly. "And hon, you can't let a stupid insecurity about not being as hot as your big sister – which, by the way, not even remotely true – get in the way of something that could be really great. God, Jules. Sometimes I think you still see yourself as this awkward thirteen-year-old with Pippi Longstocking braids. When really, you're a catch! You're beautiful, you're kind, you're smart –"

"I'm not that smart," Juliet broke in with a bitter chuckle.

"You're a doctor who went to Yale," Lorelai reminded her. "Most people would consider that pretty smart."

Juliet held back a comment about nepotism, frowning as she considered her sister's words. She worked her jaw, not quite ready to accept the logic behind them. "But he –"

"Left me a flirty message? I know," Lorelai's tone carried an air of forced patience. "But he met me first, remember? Maybe he would've been into you all along if you guys had met sooner."

"Maybe," Juliet allowed, her forehead still creased in doubt. She shook her head, clearing it. Dwelling on what-ifs wouldn't do her any good. Lorelai aside, did Juliet want to date him? She sighed. "I don't know, Lor. He's so charming."

"Oh my God, a charming man? Spare me!" Lorelai laughed.

Juliet snorted. "Yeah, 'cause your guy's a real charmer."

"He's not my guy," Lorelai grumbled under her breath. "Pin, remember?"

Juliet rolled her eyes. "And you say I'm waffling."

"It's a big deal, okay?" Lorelai protested, her tone sobering. "If Luke and I started something, there'd be no going back. It's like on Friends when Rachel's wondering if she should date Ross – which, blegh, he's so whiny, she could do so much better – and Monica's all, 'it'd be like starting on the fifteenth date!' but Phoebe's like, 'it'd be like starting on the fifteenth date', you know? I don't want to risk losing a great friend just because I think his eyes are dreamy."

"You think his eyes are dreamy?" Juliet repeated, a laugh bubbling in her throat.

"You know what? Shut up," Lorelai said with an embarrassed laugh of her own.

Friday evening, Juliet pulled her locker open, shaking her hair out of its claw with a relieved sigh as the pressure on her scalp went away. Pulling her cell phone out of her purse, she frowned at the four missed calls on the screen, three from her mother, one from Lorelai.

She decided to get the less fun of the two over with and dialed, wincing.

Emily answered the phone after two rings. "Gilmore residence."

Juliet could feel her blood pressure spike just from hearing her mother's voice. "Mom? It's Juliet. I saw you called me earlier?"

"I did. Remind me what the point of having a cell phone is if it's still impossible to reach you?"

Juliet clenched her jaw. "Sorry, um, we're not supposed to have our phones on us at work, except during breaks."

"Hm," Emily's eye roll was almost audible. "I can't imagine why. Talking to people about their feelings doesn't seem particularly time-sensitive."

"Sorry," she repeated, ignoring the obvious baiting attempt as she rubbed at her eyebrow. "Um, what's up?"

Her mother huffed out a breath. "I just called to tell you that there's no need for you to come to dinner tonight. Apparently, the weather is too bad for Lorelai to bother coming."

Juliet probably could've gotten to her parent's house without much difficulty, but she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. "Um, okay. So I guess I'll see you guys next week?"

"Barring any more of this Dickensian weather, yes," Emily said with a sigh. "Have a nice evening, Juliet."

"You too, Mom," Juliet said as she hung up. After a moment, she took a deep breath, then pressed one on her speed dial.

Lorelai picked up immediately. "Jules, hey! I was just about to call you again! Some benevolent snow god smiled upon me tonight and trapped me in the Hollow, so you and Rory will be on your own at dinner tonight."

Juliet's brow creased in confusion. "Wait, Rory's not with you?"

Lorelai sighed. "No, the storm hit right when she got out of school, so she went straight to Mom and Dad's, and Mom's insisting she stay the night. Ooh, hey! Maybe you could stay over there too! You guys could make blanket forts and freeze each other's bras!"

Juliet gave a disbelieving laugh. "Mom told me that dinner was canceled tonight, so I'm not going over there at all."

"You're joking," Lorelai let out a bitter chuckle. "Oh, she's good. God, I can't believe her!"

"Yeah, this is wildly out of character for her," Juliet said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Well, hey, if the roads aren't too bad, you could come down early," Lorelai suggested. "I need a snow walkin' buddy, and if Rory's stuck in Hartford . . ."

"I'll be there in like an hour," Juliet promised.

Lorelai and Juliet walked arm-in-arm through the town square, giggling to one another as the Revolutionary War reenactors passed by them, bickering like schoolchildren.

"And they do this every year?" Juliet asked, glancing over her shoulder at the men in uniform.

"Every year," Lorelai confirmed, her eyes dancing. "It drives Luke crazy."

"Because it romanticizes gun violence?" Juliet guessed, leaning into her sister's body heat when a gust of wind blew by them.

"Hard to do that when the battle they're reenacting never happened," Lorelai said with a wry smile as they reached the man in question. "Hey, there goes the fire chief, the police chief, and the one paramedic with a valid license. Thank God there's a doctor among us, huh?"

Luke scoffed, shaking his head. "Look at them, all relatively intelligent men, but there they are dressed up in costumes, standing out in a snowstorm, and for what?"

"Because it's tradition!" Lorelai said with mock seriousness.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Tradition is a trap, it allows people to stick their heads in the sand. Everything in the past was so quaint, so charming. Times were simpler. Kids didn't have sеx. Neighbors knew each other. It's a freaking fairytale. Things sucked then too. It just sucked without indoor plumbing."

Lorelai beamed at him. "I think some traditions are nice. Birthdays, holidays, taking a walk in the first snow of the season."

"I didn't get the Hallmark card for that one," Luke said gruffly, but with less bite.

"When I was five, I had a really bad ear infection. I mean, really bad," Lorelai smiled over at Juliet, hugging her arm. "I used to drag Jules out of her crib every night and make her sleep in my bed because it was the only thing that made me feel better."

"I remember you climbing into my crib," Juliet recalled, laughing at the memory.

Lorelai shook her head, pressing her smiling lips together. "That was just the one time."

"Oh right," Juliet nodded, turning to Luke with a smirk. "She kicked me in the head."

Lorelai rolled her eyes, fighting a smile. "You know, for being two years old, you sure remember that night well."

"Well sure," Luke said with a sage nod. "You're two years old, you wake up, and there's a foot flying at your face. A person remembers that stuff."

Lorelai glared at him. "The point is, that I was very sad. So I wished really hard that something wonderful would happen to me. And I woke up the next morning and it had snowed. And I was sure that some fairy godmother had done it just for me. It was my little present."

Luke gazed at her, quickly masking the fond smile on his face with his customary scowl. "Your parents never explained the concept of weather to you?"

"Wow, you're just Mouthy McGee tonight, aren't you?" Lorelai rolled her eyes again with a huff. "Of course, many years later, I realized that logically, the snow was not there for me personally. But, still, when it snows, something inside me says, 'hey, that's your present'. I don't think it'll ever change."

"My father used to be one of those guys," Luke shared, pointing at the reenactors. "Even had his own musket."

Lorelai watched him with interest, a soft smile on her face. "Really."

Luke nodded. "Never had to rent it."

"Where's the musket now?"

"He was buried with it," Luke deadpanned.

Juliet laughed, thinking he was kidding, her eyes widening as she took in the serious expression on his face. She covered her mouth in embarrassment, turning bright red. "Sorry. That wasn't funny."

"Nah it's okay, I think he did it as a joke," Luke said, ducking his head with a wistful smile. "He was a smart guy. He knew we'd all need a laugh after he – after."

"Then he and I would've gotten along," Lorelai said softly, trying and failing to sound lighthearted. "I'm a huge fan of doing things for the bit."

"Yeah, he would've liked you," Luke said, his voice gravelly. As he and Lorelai got into another one of their staring contests, Juliet glanced around the square awkwardly. Should I leave and let them make out or something?

"Come on in, I'll get you some coffee," he pointed to the door of the diner. Then, remembering Juliet's presence, he glanced over at her. "Tea too."

Juliet smiled at the inclusion.

Lorelai thought for a moment, before shaking her head with a bright smile. "No thanks. We're gonna walk around and kick each other in the head a couple times. Enjoy my present a little."

Juliet resisted a little as Lorelai made to pull her away, turning back to face Luke. She took a deep breath, ready to invite him to walk with them, but decided against it, snapping her mouth shut. It'd be pretty hypocritical of her to invite Luke on their snow walk after she'd chewed Lorelai out for doing the same thing to Rory.

Still. This back-and-forth dance her sister was doing with the diner owner was excruciating to watch, and Juliet was one longing look away from locking them in a closet together.

"Um," Juliet began, searching Lorelai's face for signs of protest, then turned back to Luke with a hesitant smile when she found none. "Do you want to come with us?"

"Oh, I – I shouldn't, you know," he stammered, his eyes betraying the slightest bit of hope. "I don't want to intrude, or anything."

"Aw, don't worry, we've had twenty-nine years to bond," Lorelai cajoled, her smile bright. She wrinkled her nose in consideration. "Well, more like twenty-eight, she kinda laid there like a blob for the first year or so, but still! It'll be fun!"

Luke half-heartedly looked back at the diner, pretending to consider. "Give me a second to lock up."

"Yay!" Lorelai squealed, clapping her hands. "Another convert to the snow cult!"

Luke rolled his eyes, then walked into the diner to finish closing up. As they waited outside for him, Juliet turned to Lorelai.

"It's okay that I did that, right?"

Lorelai's eyebrows went up. "What? Oh, God, yeah, you're fine. You were very cool about it. Nothing like my Mrs. Bennet episode last week."

"You meant well," Juliet tried to reassure her, touching her forearm lightly.

"Okay," Luke said as he came back out. "Where are we going? Or do we have to wait for a bunch of snow fairies to take us off to the Land of Sweets or something?"

Lorelai gasped, her eyes lighting in amusement. "Did macho-man Luke just make a Nutcracker reference?"

"Miss Patty was short on boys one year," he grumbled, his ears pinking.

"You were in the Nutcracker?" Juliet asked, fighting a smile at the mental image of Luke twirling around onstage in his flannel and boots.

"That's worse than them!" Lorelai chortled, pointing at the reenactors. "Oh my God, you're never gonna live this down!"

"Okay, I'm going back inside," Luke sighed, turning around.

"No, come on, we'll stop," Lorelai promised, looping her arm through his and giving it a little squeeze. He smiled softly down at her.

Now we're getting somewhere, Juliet thought, despite feeling like she was intruding on a private moment. Lorelai, either noticing her discomfort or simply wanting to diffuse the sudden tension, hooked her free arm through Juliet's.

"We're off to see the wizard," Lorelai began to sing as she attempted to skip without slipping on ice. "Hey, Jules, are you the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, or the Lion? Jules?"

Juliet wasn't listening, instead staring at something – or rather, someone – across the square. "Oh my God."

"What? What's wrong?" Luke asked, following her gaze. "Who is that?"

"No," Juliet groaned, tearing her eyes away from Max Medina to glance down at her unremarkable sweater and jeans in consternation. Why couldn't she have run into him on a day she looked pretty? At least her pants didn't have stains on them this time.

"It's fate!" Lorelai declared gleefully, wrapping her arm around her shoulders. "The snow brought him to you!"

Well. He'd seen her, so it wasn't like Juliet could turn tail and run away. Besides, she'd probably slip on some ice and break her tailbone or something.

Lorelai gave her a gentle shove. "Aren't you gonna . . .?"

Juliet took a shaky breath. "Yeah, I'm just gonna . . . yeah. I'll be right back."

"Want me to come with you?" Lorelai offered, rubbing her back.

Juliet took in her sister's appearance, the snowflakes glittering in her dark curls like diamonds, her bright, genuine smile at the weather, her well-tailored coat. As nice as a buffer would be, she didn't want to invite comparison between them if she could avoid it.

Juliet shook her head. "No, that's okay. Thanks though."

She slowly made her way over to where Max stood, using the moisture from the snow to hopefully smooth out any flyaways.

Juliet waved with a shy smile when she reached him. "Hey."

"Juliet," Max returned, gracing her with one of his debonair smiles.

"Hey," Juliet repeated, cringing internally at her own awkwardness as she tucked her hair behind her ears and finger-combed it nervously. "Um, what brings you here?"

"I was on my way back from Stamford, and my car decided to stop," Max explained with another smile.

Juliet frowned in sympathy. "Oh, that's the worst. I'm sorry."

"Are you? Because I'm suddenly not sorry about it," he said, staring straight into her eyes.

Juliet ducked her head, feeling her cheeks burn. Did this guy take flirting classes or something, and if so, where can I take them?

"What about you, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, um, Lorelai lives here," Juliet turned over her shoulder and pointed her sister out. "I visit her here a lot."

"Oh, I see," Max nodded, giving Lorelai a wave hello.

She waved back excitedly, then slapped Luke's arm, telling him to wave too. He did, rolling his eyes only a little.

"Is, ah, is that her boyfriend?" Max asked, his voice neutral.

Juliet paused, unable to read whether the nonchalance on his face was real or practiced. "Uh, no. Not yet."

"Not yet," he nodded again. "And the three of you are. . .?"

"Just walking around. Lorelai loves the snow," Juliet explained, turning around again to smile in her sister's direction.

"And you love her," Max said softly,

Juliet shrugged. "More than anything."

He took a step closer to her. "So, would your walk be ruined by adding one more person? Seeing as fate seems determined to throw us together."

"I don't believe in fate," Juliet countered with a smile.

"Of course you don't, you're a doctor," Max chuckled. He met her eyes steadily. "So?"

Juliet bit her lip, unsure. "Um. . ."

"Not a date," Max assured her, leaning in conspiratorially and dropping his voice to a whisper. "Just two sisters, and the men whom they are not yet dating."

Juliet, beginning to waver, glanced back over her shoulder again. "Let me see if they'd be okay with it."

Max nodded, holding up his hands. "Of course, go consult. It's not like I can go anywhere."

"Okay," Juliet smiled quickly, walking back over to Luke and Lorelai.

"Well?" Lorelai asked, bouncing on her toes. "What's he doing here?"

Juliet shrugged. "I guess his car broke down or something."

"Good car," Lorelai said with a smirk.

"And, um," Juliet tucked her hair back again. "He was wondering if he could hang out with us tonight?"

"Oh my God, of course!" Lorelai crowed, beaming. She sobered, leaning forward to search her sister's face. "If that's okay with you. Because if you don't want to hang out with him, feel free to throw me under the bus. Or blame Luke!"

Luke made a face at that, but didn't argue. Juliet gave them both a nervous smile.

"No, that's okay," Juliet reassured her. She gestured behind herself with her thumb. "I guess I'll just . . . go get him."

Lorelai gave her hand a squeeze and one last encouraging smile as Juliet turned around, resigning herself to what was likely to be an even stranger evening than the one she would've spent at her parents' house.

Despite their closeness, double dates had never been something that she and Lorelai did together. And although this was not a date, not for Luke and Lorelai, and definitely not for Max and Juliet, having her sister there eased some of the anxiety that Juliet felt around men. Awkward pauses were filled quicker, and Juliet didn't have to worry whether she might have something in her teeth, trusting that Lorelai would let her know if she did.

"So, explain to me what a fiesta burger is?" Max asked Juliet as they walked a few feet behind Lorelai and Luke.

"I have no idea," Juliet shook her head with a little smile. Lifting her head, she called, "Hey, Lor? What's a fiesta burger?"

"Oh, man, have I never introduced you to them? I'm the worst sister ever!" Lorelai mock lamented. She turned around and began to walk backward, excited to enlighten them. "Okay, so it's like a regular burger, except they put chili powder or something in the meat, and then they put jalepeños instead of tomatoes, and you're supposed to use hot sauce instead of ketchup! They're amazing, trust me, your life will never be the same."

Max made a face that was a mix of intrigued and nervous. "Sounds very interesting."

There was a brief lull in the conversation, and Lorelai gave her sister a pointed look, gesturing to Max with her eyebrows with as much subtlety as a charging bull.

Juliet took the hint, turning to Max with a small smile. "So, why'd you decide to become a teacher?"

"Well, growing up, I actually wanted to be a clown," Max admitted with a self-deprecating laugh.

"A clown?" Juliet repeated, laughing too. "That's a lot different from a teacher. What changed?"

"First it was clown, then stand-up comedian, then actor," Max listed off on his fingers. "Because of that, I decided to start reading Shakespeare, for practice, and then, to understand the characters better, I began reading analyses and criticisms of his plays, and fell in love with literary criticism. And then, English teacher."

He glanced over at Juliet as they walked. "What about you? Why psychiatry?"

"Besides having a sister who's clinically insane?" Luke said with a chortle, looking over his shoulder.

"Hey, no one calls her that but me," Juliet admonished, smiling.

"And I prefer the term 'eccentric', thank you very much," Lorelai added with a mock pout.

Juliet laughed, then sobered a little. "Um, I didn't really plan on anything, honestly. I mean, I majored in Psychology at Yale because I was interested in it, but I didn't think I would do anything with it."

"Well, of course. We Gilmore women go to college to find husbands, not a career," Lorelai adopted an uppity accent, smiling sardonically. "And Jules had a black sheep of a big sister to make up for, so there was extra pressure there."

"What changed?" Max asked, looking genuinely interested.

"Um, a professor my junior year told me that 'my talents would be wasted throwing tea parties' or something like that, so I applied to med school," Juliet shrugged, a little embarrassed. "Just at Yale. I figured if it was the right thing to do, I'd get in, and if it wasn't . . ."

Max arched an eyebrow. "So you do believe in fate."

"Huh," Juliet laughed shortly, her eyes flicking up to his. "Maybe I do."

Later, the four of them sat on a couch in the Black, White, and Red, Lorelai and Juliet in the middle with Luke and Max bookending them.

Lorelai tapped Juliet's shoulder. "Are you scared yet?"

"I'll let you know," Juliet quipped, touching her head to Lorelai's shoulder briefly.

Lorelai turned to her other side, tapping Luke on the shoulder. "What about you, are you scared yet?"

Luke, Juliet was learning, loved to pretend to be annoyed by Lorelai just as much as she loved annoying him. "No."

"Are you scared now?" Lorelai whispered, turning back to Juliet.

"I'm gonna squeeze this in your eye," Juliet threatened, holding up a hot sauce packet.

"I'll help," Luke offered tersely.

"Uh, mean!" Lorelai gasped. She leaned forward and smiled at Max. "See how they're ganging up on me?"

"Vicious," he agreed, shaking his head.

"It's those damn water signs, dude, I'm telling you," Lorelai said, throwing her hands up.

Max huffed a laugh, turning back to the screen. Lorelai reached out and squeezed her sister's knee, smiling reassuringly.

"See?" she whispered. "All you, babe."

Juliet didn't answer, simply threading her arm through Lorelai's.

They were much quieter as they left the theater, Lorelai and Luke once again walking a few feet ahead, talking quietly to each other, while Juliet and Max took up the rear.

Suddenly, Lorelai turned back, a look of concern on her face. "Max, do you have a place to stay tonight?"

Max blinked in surprise. "Ah, no. I hadn't really thought that far ahead, to be honest."

"Well, the Independence Inn isn't too far from here, and, lucky you, I happen to have an 'in' with the manager," Lorelai said with a wink. "I could get you a discount. Maybe even a complimentary breakfast if you ask real nice."

Max smiled genially. "Well, I'm asking."

"Okay," Lorelai nodded, changing direction slightly with a hand on Luke's elbow. She sent another encouraging smile Juliet's way, then pointedly turned the other direction.

As they walked side by side in companionable silence, Juliet snuck glances at Max's profile, allowing herself to consider whether dating him would be a good idea. She'd had fun tonight, as reluctant as she'd initially been. And she was attracted to him, in that annoying high school way where her tongue constantly felt too big for her mouth and her palms were sweaty.

He was handsome and charming, there was no way around that. But Juliet got the sense that everything about Max Medina, Romantic Hero, was cultivated for her benefit. It was as though he'd studied all the men in Austen and Brontë novels, and rehearsed in front of a mirror until he'd gotten their mannerisms down.

She wasn't being fair. Everyone pretended a little bit when dating, at least at first. Besides, the attention was nice.

Max caught her staring, and she lowered her eyes quickly, embarrassed. With a little smirk, he slipped his hand into hers as they walked, glancing at her sideways to gauge her reaction. She didn't protest, looking away in an effort to hide her flustered smile.

Humiliating, she thought, disgusted at herself. I'm almost thirty, a psychiatrist, a Yale graduate, and I'm blushing like a teenager because a cute boy is holding my hand.

When they reached the inn, Max dropped her hand, smiling over his shoulder at her as he followed Lorelai to the front desk.

Luke nudged her lightly. "Hey."

Juliet nudged back, smiling. "Hey."

Luke hesitated for a moment, taking a breath. "Thanks. For . . .you know."

"You're welcome," Juliet nodded, then dropped her voice to a whisper. "And . . I do know."

"You – you know?" Luke repeated, looking slightly embarrassed.

"I kinda get paid to be good at reading people's emotions," Juliet explained with a short laugh. "You know, body language and stuff."

"Ah. Got it," Luke eyed her with a teasing smirk. "So, in theory, if someone's face turns as red as their hair when talking to someone, that means . . .?"

"Shut up," Juliet hissed through clenched teeth. "It's genetic."

Luke nodded dryly. "Sure."

Before she could respond, Max and Lorelai walked back over.

"Well, let's let the young folks have a moment here, huh, Lucas?" Lorelai asked in her Southern Belle voice, looking up at Luke. He rolled his eyes but didn't argue, allowing her to lead him away. Lorelai reached out and squeezed Juliet's arm. "We'll be right outside."

Juliet turned back to Max as they walked away, suddenly as nervous as she'd been at the beginning of the night now that her two buffers were gone.

"Thank you for tonight," Max said, his voice low. "You turned what started as a frustrating detour into a wonderful evening."

Juliet laughed uncomfortably. "I should be thanking you. You saved me from having to third wheel all night."

"Oh I can imagine," Max sympathized with a chuckle. "They're nauseating, aren't they?"

The familiar urge to defend Lorelai against even playful ribbing rose up, and she smiled tightly. "It's sweet."

"Yes, very sweet," he allowed, sounding only the tiniest bit patronizing.

Juliet, suddenly uncomfortable with how he was looking at her, changed the subject. "And I appreciate, you know, you being patient with me, with – with everything."

"Of course," Max nodded, giving her a charming little half-smile, and she smiled back despite herself. He paused for a moment, searching her face for something. "May I ask why the hesitancy, though? Because I had a great time tonight, and I think you did too. Am I right to assume that lack of interest isn't the reason you're holding back?"

"You're right," Juliet began slowly, screwing her face up as she considered how honest she should be about her reservations. Finally, she exhaled. "Um, it's just that – I just feel like, um, that – at least initially – that maybe you're more interested in – in Lorelai, than in me."

"Oh," Max nodded again, pondering her words for a moment. He shrugged. "Well, to be frank, yes. I was."

Okay. Juliet nodded, a little surprised by his honesty. "You were."

"Yes. Before meeting you, I will admit that I was attracted to her," Max said with another shrug, sticking his hands in his pockets. He chuckled. "I mean, your sister is a beautiful, charming woman."

"Yeah, she is," Juliet agreed with a small smile. If there was anything Juliet knew, it was that.

"But so are you," he whispered, stepping closer to her. Juliet avoided his eyes, studying the carpet. Max tipped her chin up gently with one finger. "And I can tell you with complete honesty, that as soon as I laid eyes on you, I suddenly wasn't interested in Lorelai anymore."

The look in his eyes was so earnest that she almost believed him. Almost. Juliet frowned. "But you came to our table at the bake sale to ask Lorelai out. I could tell."

"Romeo went to Lord Capulet's feast to woo Rosaline Capulet, didn't he?" Max challenged, lifting an eyebrow.

Women named after Shakespearean heroines shouldn't date men who teach Shakespeare for a living, Juliet thought, ducking her head with a smile.

"Look, Juliet, I like you, and I want to date you. You. Can you take me at my word when I say that?"

She swallowed hard as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, shivering involuntarily at the contact.

Juliet inhaled shakily, feeling her cheeks heat up. "How about I think about it and let you know?"

When he opened his mouth to respond, she cut him off. "And that's not just me trying to say no nicely. I like to think things through."

He smirked, looking down with a chuckle. "Oh, I'd gathered that."

She rolled her eyes with an embarrassed laugh. "So, I'll think about it, and let you know."

"That's all I ask. You have my number."

"I do. I'll um, I'll think about it," she repeated, knocking into an end table as she backed away. Kill me now, please. "And, I guess I'll see you around either way."

"Yes, you will," he promised, giving her a blinding smile. God, what teeth whiteners did this guy use? Would it be weird to ask?

"Have a good night," she said, waving as she walked away.

"A thousand times goodnight," he called after her.

Juliet allowed herself a small smile at him as she looked back over her shoulder, giving one more tiny wave. She walked slowly toward the inn's French doors, her chest warm as she mulled over whether she should believe him or not. She stepped outside, rubbing her arms to shield herself from another gust of freezing wind. She glanced up, and the sight that met her as she walked out to the inn's wraparound porch made her chest constrict.

Luke and Lorelai stood on the porch facing each other, and she was laughing at something he said, putting a hand on his forearm. The way that the snow slightly obstructed them from view, combined with the porchlight in the night, made them look like actors on a stage, and Juliet simply a spectator.

She felt fourteen again, as small and helpless as she had when Lorelai had chosen Rory over her, when she'd been left alone in a giant, lonely house. Squeezing her eyes shut forcefully, she shook her head and shoved the childish possessiveness that was rising in her throat like bile aside. Juliet lingered on the porch for another moment, feeling voyeuristic and silly and horribly out of place, before turning on her heel decisively and marching back into the inn.

Her eyes darted around wildly before she could lose her nerve, landing on their desired target after a moment. "Max, wait!"

He was halfway to the stairs, turning around at the sound of her voice. She slowed her half-run into a walk, imagining all the rom-coms Lorelai might use to mock her about this interaction when they discussed it later.

"I um," she ducked her head, suddenly embarrassed. "I just realized that I never gave you my number."

Max's head jerked up in surprise. "And you'd like to?"

Juliet nodded before her brain could catch up and talk her out of it. She felt her pockets for a pen, coming up empty. "Um, do you have. . .?"

He felt his pockets too and chuckled. "You'd think our respective professions would ensure that we each have a pen in our hands at all times."

Juliet glanced around the lobby, smiling when she noticed a pad of the Inn's stationery with a pen next to it on the coffee table. She reached for both, scribbling her cell number on it quickly before tearing off the sheet and handing it to Max.

"So the rumors are true," he laughed, looking at it. "All doctors do have terrible handwriting."

She frowned, standing on her tiptoes and leaning over his arm to get a closer look at the paper. "Can you not read it?"

"I'm joking," Max reassured her. "I can read it just fine."

Juliet relaxed, lowering herself again. "Okay. Well, um, have a good night, then."

Impulsively, she leaned in and, after a moment of hesitation, pecked a shy kiss on his cheek. He smiled.

"Goodnight, Juliet."

"Night," Juliet waved, her face flaming as she hurried back outside, slowing her stride when she neared Lorelai and Luke.

"Hey, you!" Lorelai greeted, smiling brightly as she looped an arm through hers. "You were gone awhile, everything go okay in there?"

Juliet laughed at the way her sister's eyebrows went up suggestively. She ducked her head. "Yeah. I gave him my number."

"You did?" Lorelai's face lit up, and she squeezed her sister's arm. "Aw, Jules, I'm so glad! He seems great. Even Luke liked him, right?"

"Nice guy," Luke nodded gruffly. "Too much hair gel, though."

Lorelai's eyebrows lifted in mock surprise. "Wow, you hear that? That's pretty much a declaration of love coming from him!"

Luke rolled his eyes. "Shut up."

"It's official!" Lorelai hooked each of her arms through theirs again as they walked further away from the inn. "Luke finally has a guy friend!"

"I have plenty of guy friends," Luke grumbled, rolling his eyes

Lorelai raised an eyebrow. "Kirk doesn't count."

"I didn't mean Kirk."

Juliet laughed, watching the ground go by as she walked beside the two of them, trying to work through this uncomfortable and unwarranted sense of loss she was feeling.

She'd learned to share Lorelai before, hadn't she? Her heart had expanded to include Rory sixteen years ago, so overwhelmed with love for her new niece that it didn't even register that she was no longer the most important person in her sister's life. Would it ever feel like that with Luke, or with any guy Lorelai dated? Would she eventually feel like she was gaining a brother, rather than losing a sister?

"Jules? Daydreaming about Max?" Lorelai teased, snapping her out of her reverie.

"Nah," Luke shook his head, smirking. "See? Her face is a normal color."

Juliet scowled at him, standing on her toes to reach around Lorelai and flick him in the head. He just laughed.

Maybe, she thought. Maybe.

Notes:
I'm sure you noticed Luke's pining snow stare was replaced by Juliet's, because as I think I've mentioned before, Juliet and Lorelai have kind of an emotionally incestuous relationship (which, totally understandable considering they were living in an emotionally abusive household together).
Also, I'm so tickled by the idea of Max and Luke developing an odd little friendship since they're gonna be thrown together a lot, and don't see each other as rivals in this universe.

Let me know what you think! If anyone's remotely curious about who I personally imagine playing Juliet, in my head, she's played by Riley Keough from Daisy Jones and the Six (who is obviously very pretty, but our girl's an unreliable narrator lol).

Also, is William Danes anyone else's Roman Empire? I'd love to see a prequel about him and Luke.