This is a new story and I'm really excited about it! Please let me know what you think, I appreciate all feedback good and bad! I hope you like it. It is totally an AU, but I do use some scenes and some quotes from Gilmore Girls. Idk I just really had this inspiration and felt like writing it.

This first chapter is a little short but the rest get longer.

Thanks for reading!

"Hey, Luke! Coffee please." Lorelai called out as he stormed through the door of his diner.

Luke called back as he served an older couple. "No, that stuff will kill you." The diner was fairly busy during the breakfast rush.

"Oh, well I guess I'll just have to get it myself…" Lorelai trailed off in a singsongy voice, slowly walking behind the counter.

"Damn it Lorelai!" Luke rushed to her. "Sit down, I'll get you coffee."

"Aww, thank you. My knight in shining armor."

Luke smiled as he poured the coffee. He was turned away from her and she couldn't see his face. He didn't want her to know, but he loved the way she teased him. Her personality and all her quirks made him happy. Luke turned back around and handed her the mug. "Be careful, its hot."

"Oh really? I was expecting my coffee to be cold." Lorelai smiled playfully as she took a sip from the mug. Their eyes locked for a second as he leaned on the counter in front of her. They both sprung up when the diner door opened. "Rory!" She yelled.

"Hey Mom. Hi Luke!" Rory took her seat next to her Mom.

"Don't ask for coffee, he's in a bad mood."

"I'm not in a mood!" Luke raised his voice.

"Ha!" Lorelai pointed her finger at him. "Mood!"

Luke groaned and turned around to grab the coffee pot and another mug.

"So, I'm surprised to see you here. No homework?" Lorelai asked her daughter.

"No. I know I've been having a rough time at Chilton recently but I'm finally caught up."

"Aw Rory that's great. What do you want to do today?" Lorelai asked. Luke handed Rory her coffee.

"We haven't had a movie night in forever."

"I was hoping you'd say that!" Lorelai squealed. "I have to head to the inn for a couple hours, but I'll be off at one and then I can head to Doose's and get snacks."

"Sounds perfect!" Rory replied. "I can pick out the movie."

"Okay, bye honey." Lorelai kissed Rory's head as she stood up.

"Bye Mom!"

"See ya later you old grump," Lorelai said as she walked by Luke. He rolled his eyes in response. Lorelai waved to Rory as she walked out the door.

"So, how's school?" Luke asked Rory.

"Oh it's great. It's taken me a while to get adjusted but I'm good now. I really like the intensity."

"Good for you, Rory." He replied.

"Oh! I have an idea!"

"What?"

"Well, Mom and I haven't had a movie night in forever and I want it to be really great. I'll probably spend hours looking for the perfect combination of movies, but, you know what else would make it really good?" Like raised his eyebrows. "Your pie!"

"You want my pie?"

"Yes! We love your pie."

"Okay. I'd give you some now but we're kind of busy and I don't want to run out. I can bring some by later today."

"5:30 okay?"

"You got it," he said with a smile and a wink.

"Thank you Luke!" Rory got up and left some money on the counter. Right as she got out the door, Luke called after her.

"Rory!"

She turned around. "Yeah?"

"Take your money." He handed her the cash she left on the counter.

"But I got coffee," Rory said with a confused look.

"It's on me. You can keep your money for candy or lip gloss or something. I don't know what girls spend money on. Oh! You can use it as a tip for the bus driver!"

"Luke, it's one dollar."

"I know, but every penny counts." He held out the money.

"Okay?" Rory grabbed the money and walked away awkwardly.

Luke watched Rory until she was out of sight. Luke could tell Lorelai had been struggling for money recently. She had been coming into the diner less often than usual and when she did come, she'd order less. He knew one dollar wasn't a big deal but he hated taking money from them when he knew they were struggling. Rory's reaction clearly showed that she had no idea they were struggling financially. He wanted to help Lorelai but if she was too proud to even tell her own daughter they were having money problems, he knew confronting her about it would freak her out.

"Hey Sook!" Lorelai called as she walked into the crowded kitchen. "Woah, what's going on?"

"There's a critic! A food critic! Here! For me! I-I need this to be perfect for him."

"Wow really? That's great!"

"No it's not!"

"Woah, okay." Lorelai stepped back a bit. "Why is it not okay? You're an amazing cook."

"If he writes a bad review, no one will want to come to the inn. And then I'll have ruined the place Mia worked so hard on, and now you. We'll all be unemployed. Taste this sauce. It's it good?" Sookie shoved a spoon into Lorelai's mouth.

"Sookie!" Lorelai grabbed the spoon and put it on the counter. "Sookie, look at me." She grabbed Sookie's arms. "Calm down. You're an amazing cook. He will think you're amazing. Calm down. If you keep rushing, you'll make a mistake and then you'll ruin our lives." Sookie fidgeted. "No, I'm kidding. Slow down and do what you do best. It will all be fine."

"Okay, okay." Sookie's heart was racing.

"Deep breaths, Sook."

"Deep breaths, okay, deep breaths." Sookie breathed in and out until her heart slowed down to normal. Lorelai released Sookie's arms. "Okay. I got this."

"Yes you do."

"Yes I do."

"See you later." Lorelai said as she walked through the door.

"Bye Lorelai!"

"Did you fix it?" Michel asked.

"Everything is calm." Lorelai replied.

"Good. I couldn't take any more of her complaining."

"Michel! This is a big thing for her. She has the right to be nervous."

"Yes she does, as long as it does not involve complaining to me."

"You're despicable." Lorelai glared at him.

"And you're annoying." Lorelai rolled her eyes at his remark and walked away.

"Wait!" She said as she walked back towards him.

"What?" He asked, not looking up from the guest check in calendar.

"I'm leaving now. You're good here right?"

"Mm yes Lorelai, I can handle handing keys to people and taking keys away from people. It's not like I don't do it every day."

"Despicable."

"Annoying."

Lorelai laughed as she walked away. She dot in the jeep and drove to Doose's. She walked around grabbing every piece of junk food Taylor had stocked. Red vines, marshmallows, pop tarts, and anything that was mostly sugar.

"Wow, rotting your insides is pretty expensive." Lorelai stated as Taylor scanned each item. She watched the price go up with every item that passed and winced each time. "Ooh, 42.50. Wow."

"Is something wrong Lorelai?" Taylor asked in a condescending voice.

"No, just swipe my card." She said, handing it out to him.

"Thank you for shopping at Doose's. Come again." Taylor handed her card back after swiping it.

"Taylor I come every week."

"I'm just being nice Lorelai, move along now, you're holding up the line."

Lorelai couldn't help but laugh at the annoyed expression on Taylor's face.

"Rory! You home?" Lorelai called out as she walked in the front door. Realizing her kid was still out and about, Lorelai dropped the grocery bags on the table and went to listen to the voicemail. "Bills, bills, bills," she said as she skipped each final notice message.

"Hey Lor, its me, Chris."

Lorelai took her hand off the delete button when she heard he familiar voice.

"I'm sorry I haven't called recently. I uh, lost my phone. I got a new one though and that's how I'm calling you. Anyways, I just wanted to let you know that I'll be staying at a hotel about an hour out of Stars Hollow in a couple weeks. If you or Rory or both of you want to come see me, I'd really like that. Call me for more details. Okay I'll talk to you later. Bye Lor."

Lorelai sat there after the message ended. She listened to it again. "Huh."

"Mom?" Rory called as she walked in the front door.

"Oh!" Lorelai jumped up. "Hi hon! What'd you get?" She asked excitedly.

"It's a surprise." Lorelai groaned at her daughter. "I got three movies. I figured we could start them at 6?"

"Sounds good."

"So, what do you want to do until then?" Rory asked. "Go to Luke's?"

"Um, sure. No food though. I bought a lot for tonight and we need to be able to eat it."

"Since when have we ever had trouble eating candy?"

"Never. But we have to hold that reputation. We can't slip up now."

"Okay." Rory replied with a laugh. "Let's go."

"Oh! Hold on. I need to change." Lorelai ran upstairs into the bedroom. She traded her business skirt for a tight pair of jeans and her blouse for a Bono tee-shirt. "Much better!" She said as she hurried down the stairs. She took let her hair down and ran her fingers through it a couple times, fixing it in front of the mirror in the foyer.

"Trying to impress someone?" Rory asked with a chuckle. "I don't think your hair's going to matter once they see that shirt."

"Hey! I happen to love this shirt. And no, I just had a bobby pin poking me in the head and it really hurt."

"Whatever you say…" Rory trailed off.

"Let's go." Lorelai opened the door and gestured Rory out.

"Hey, I wasn't expecting you guys back today." Luke said when the Gilmore girls walked through the door.

"Movie preparations took less time than we thought." Lorelai responded. Rory and Luke locked eyes and he winked, he wasn't sure if he should mention the pie.

"Well you can hang out here. It isn't too busy anymore."

"Aww, have people finally realized you don't serve real meat."

"What?" Luke said angirly. "I'll have you know, I have 100% real, organic meat. It is great meat and it tastes damn good!"

"Ooh dirty." Both Lorelai and Rory laughed.

"I walked right into that one. You were just kidding weren't you?"

"She was kidding." Rory answered.

"Aw geez." Luke turned away to grab a rag. He started wiping down tables.

"I think we embarrassed him." Lorelai laughed.

"Luke has no feelings, you can't embarrass him."

"I'm right here." Luke called out to both of them.

Lorelai lowered her voice to a whisper. "Uh oh, I think he heard us."

"Still here!" Luke yelled.

Rory shifted in her seat. "Okay Mom, I'm going to go hang out with Dean. I'll meet you back at the house around 5:30. Is that okay?"

"Oh yeah, sure honey. I didn't know you guys were seeing each other today."

"Yeah, neither did I. I saw him at the movie store and we haven't had much time to hang out recently because of school and today worked for both of us."

"Ok okay hon, tell him hi for me."

"I will. Bye mom." Rory kissed her mom on the cheek and stood up. "Bye Luke." She waved at him as she left the diner.

"I don't like that kid." Luke said right as the diner door shut. He walked behind the counter across from Lorelai.

"I know you don't. But he's good to Rory and he's good to me too. He's a good kid."

Luke groaned.

"So, what should I do for the next couple of hours?" Lorelai asked.

"The diner is dead. Caesar can handle it for a while. We could maybe do something." Luke proposed nervously.

"Really? You'd do that?" Lorelai asked with a smile.

"Yeah, I mean it's no big deal." Luke spoke sheepishly.

"Okay. Yeah. What would we do though?"

"I don't know. We could walk around town and just talk… or something. Maybe we'll see something that looks fun." Luke stood there. His heart was racing. He had no idea why this woman made him so nervous.

"Okay. Let's go." Lorelai said as she stood up.

"Really?" Luke asked.

"Yeah…" Lorelai said with a smile.

"Okay."

Lorelai adjusted her shirt and then held out her arm to his. He intertwined his hand with hers and followed her to the door. Their hands broke apart and he opened the door to let her out first.

"What a gentleman."

"Don't let that get out. Apparently my rep in town is the 'old grump.'"

"Nah, everyone knows under that hard shell you're a softie."

"Aw geez." He said, blushing a little bit.

Luke shut the door behind him and they walked along the street.

"So," Luke started. "Um, h-how's life?"

Lorelai chuckled a bit. "Life is… life is stressful, but it's good."

"Good, that's good." Luke put his hands in his jean pockets awkwardly. "What makes it stressful?"

"Oh, just people and… I don't know. Other things."

"What people? What other things?"

"Well, my parents, Christopher, and um. Hold on." Lorelai walked over to a park bench and sat down. She put her elbows on her knees and leaned her head into her hands. Luke walked over slowly and sat next to her. "I haven't told anyone this." She looked up at Luke; tears were forming in her eyes. "I'm kind of having money problems." Lorelai put her head back in her hands. "I'm sorry, this is so embarrassing. I just, I don't know. I spent 50 dollars on junk food today for Rory. 50 dollars that I don't have. I've been eating less, especially when Rory is at school and she stays with her grandparents or Dean or something. Ugh this is so embarrassing."

Luke put a hand on her back and rubbed gently. "Lorelai stop. This will all work out. You'll be fine, you always are. Let me help you." Luke watched as she cried into her hands.

Lorelai sniffled and looked up at Luke. "No, I can't. I can't take money from you. I'll figure it out. I just needed to tell someone."

"Okay. You tell me if you need anything."

"I will Luke, I will." Lorelai started to cry again.

"Come here." Luke said, pulling her into a hug. Lorelai cried into his shoulder and Luke could feel his flannel getting wet. After a few minutes, she pulled away and wiped her eyes.

"Sorry Luke. I'm good now."

"Are you sure?" He asked, concerned.

"I'm sure. I know I'll figure it out, I just needed to get that out. I don't really have anyone to vent to about these situations."

"You have me." Luke replied, tapping her back.

"Thank you. Um, do you want to keep walking?" She asked.

"Sure." They both stood up and kept walking around the town as if nothing happened. They talked about everything and nothing at the same time. They laughed and joked.

"There is nothing wrong with my collection of old movies!" Lorelai laughed as she yelled in defense.

"Oh sure, it's not like they're in boxes filling up every corner and every closet in your house!" Luke argued.

"Hey mister, it's called organized chaos!"

"Oh please. It's called being a hoarder."

"Huh!" She gasped. "You take that back right now! I am not a hoarder! I collect things."

"That's what they all say." He rolled his eyes when she punched him in the shoulder. They laughed as they walked up the stairs to her house, not noticing the mysterious car in her driveway.

"Um," Lorelai became serious. "Please don't tell anyone about…"

"I won't," he replied. "I promise."

"Thank you." She paused. They stood there on the porch, looking into each others eyes. "Luke, this was fun." She smiled.

"Yeah, it was." They embraced each other in a tight hug. As they pulled away, Luke thought about kissing her. This was his chance. They were alone, close together, and it was perfect. This was his moment. Just as he was about to lean in, the front door of her house opened and they jumped apart. Lorelai's eyes widened in shock when she saw who was standing in her foyer.

"Christopher?"

Sorry about the cliffhanger! I'll post the next chapter as soon as possible. Please please please let me know what you think! Just a little disclaimer, overall I am a L/L shipper. I love Luke and Lorelai together and I love when they're happy, but in my opinion, all great stories have drama. I can tell you for sure that this story will have drama and you will probably hate me at times but I promise it will always get better! Please review, it means a lot!