Title: Chances and Choices
Author:  Megan Reilly
Rating: PG
Summary: It's better to take a chance and have it turn out bad than spend your whole life wondering what might have been.
Disclaimer: Gilmore Girls belongs to Amy Sherman-Palladino, the WB, etc.
Archiving statement: OK for Mystic's archive. Other archives, NO. Please do not archive this story without my permission.

Rory sat up in bed, suddenly awake. The house was too quiet. Something wasn't right. "Mom?" she called, looking at the clock as she sat up. It was around ten.

No answer came from the rest of the house, so Rory shoved aside the schoolbook she'd been reading when she fell asleep. It tumbled to the floor and landed with a loud noise, but she didn't pay attention. She opened the door to her room and stuck her head out into the dark kitchen. "Mom?"

The living room was dark, too. Rory flicked on the lights and leaned up the stairs. This wasn't right. Changing direction, she went to the window and looked out. The car was in the drive, but Lorelai probably would have walked to Luke's. But that had been at dinnertime. Hours ago.

Remembering Jess's words, Rory ran up the stairs, bursting into her mother's empty room. She frowned, but turned on the light and picked up the phone. First she started to dial Jess's number, but then she thought the better of it and called the diner instead.

The phone just rang and rang on the other end.

Rory slammed the phone down and ran back down the steps, barely pausing to grab her jacket on her way out of the house.

Taylor Doose stood outside the diner. The "Open" sign was still facing outward, and all the lights were on inside, but the place was empty and the door was locked. He turned away for a moment, back toward his store, digging his hands deep into the pockets of his cardigan on the cool spring night.

There'd been a lot of talk around town during the day about Luke and his behavior that morning. The boy was clearly out of his mind. Forgetting to turn off the lights wasn't against any town ordinances that Taylor could think of offhand, although closing up early wouldn't win Luke any points from the Stars Hollow Business Association.

Taylor started across the street to return to his store. Rory Gilmore was hurrying toward him...or rather, toward the diner. "Hello, young lady," Taylor said.

"Have you seen my mom?" Rory asked. She nodded to the diner's windows. "Is she --?"

"No, it's all closed up," Taylor said.

Rory frowned, but then nodded. "Okay. Thanks, Taylor." He didn't move. "I said, thanks Taylor."

"Aren't you out after curfew?" Taylor inquired.

Rory ignored him and walked up to the door of the diner, looking inside.

"Maybe I should get the police down here," Taylor said.

Rory turned to him with a serious expression on her face. "Maybe you should," she agreed. Taylor looked surprised, and she gestured toward the window. "My mom's purse is in there. She wouldn't just leave it." Rory bit her lip, her eyebrows drawn together.

Taylor leaned in and saw the small bag resting on top of the counter. "Let me go call." He hurried back toward his store.

Rory took a couple of steps backward. "Jess!" she shouted. No movement from inside the apartment over the diner, although the lights were on. "Jess!"

"Rory?" Jess appeared a moment later, leaning so far out the window she worried he'd fall. "Change your mind?"

"Come down and open the door!" Rory called.

"Gee, I don't know if I trust myself with you this late at night," Jess yelled back, sarcastic.

"Just get down here, please!" Rory replied.

Jess waved a hand and nodded, and disappeared back through the window. It took longer than Rory expected before he appeared at the door to the diner and pulled the door open. "What's up?"

Rory pointed past him. "What's my mom's purse doing on the counter?"

"She must have left it," Jess said easily.

"And Luke didn't notice when he closed up?" Rory pointed out.

Jess shrugged.

"What's that mean?" Rory asked.

"Haven't seen him," Jess said. Rory looked at him like he was crazy. Jess smiled -- he was starting to appreciate the charm of that expression.

"You haven't seen Luke," Rory said slowly.

Jess shrugged again. "That's what I said."

"My mom's missing, and so is Luke," Rory said.

Jess smirked. "You think they're at Mark Twain's house?"

"That's not funny," Rory said, but she was smiling in spite of herself.

"I telephoned the police," Taylor reported, returning from his store. "They should be here at any moment."

"What's he doing here?" Jess asked Rory, nodding to Taylor. But then he saw Miss Patty coming from her studio across the street, and Kirk running from the gazebo, just as the town's only police car pulled up, lights blazing. "Is this the Stars Hollow equivalent of a rave?"

"Jess, where are they?" Rory demanded.

"How should I know?"

"Jess, this isn't funny any more," Rory said seriously.

"Who's laughing?" Jess replied, and Rory had to admit he had a point.

Trying to take the door off its hinges hadn't worked. Luke had resigned himself to both the cuts on his hands from the slipping screwdriver, and to the fact that they were stuck in the storeroom. He'd sat back down next to Lorelai with a sigh.

"You're bleeding," she said, reaching for his hand and holding it up where she could see it. Luke had good, strong hands -- warm, and slightly rough. She hadn't noticed before.

"It doesn't matter," Luke assured her, but he didn't pull his hand away. After a moment, he folded his fingers around hers. He couldn't help the burst of surprise he felt that Lorelai just let him hold her hand.

Then she yawned and shattered his last shred of illusion.

"Sorry," Lorelai said, trying to shake off the yawn. "It must be late."

"It's been a while," Luke said. Neither of them was wearing a watch. Funny they had that in common, he thought.

"I could really go for some coffee," Lorelai said softly, letting her head rest against his shoulder for the barest second.

"You're remarkably calm," Luke observed.

Lorelai laughed. "I'm a zombie," she said.

"If you want to get some sleep..."

Lorelai straightened up, widening her eyes in an effort to revive herself. "I hate feeling like I'm not doing anything. I'm just sitting here, waiting for something to happen."

It was a feeling with which Luke was well-acquainted. "Here." Releasing her hand, he shrugged out of the flannel shirt he was wearing and draped it awkwardly around her shoulders.

Against the cool skin of her arms that was exposed by the t-shirt she was wearing, the flannel felt hot. Luke's shirt. Luke's body heat. Luke's shoulder, which she was just going to rest her head against for a second while she closed her eyes...

That's exactly how they were discovered, some time later, when the storeroom door flew open and half the town stood there staring, led by Rory and Taylor.

Luke could feel his face turning red, and the thought of blushing visibly was almost as embarrassing as the situation. "Lorelai," he said, nudging her.

"Five more minutes," she mumbled.

"Now," Luke said, and a desperate sort of plea crept into his voice.

"Bossy," Lorelai grumbled, picking up her head and blinking against the light. Suddenly Rory and Taylor and Miss Patty and Kirk and everyone else came into focus. "Tell me this is a nightmare."

"Believe me, I wish I could," Luke told her, getting to his feet.

Lorelai winced inwardly, because she wasn't waking up. That meant this wasn't a dream. She winced again as she rose from the stepstool, stiff from sitting in the same position for such a long time.

"Okay, show's over. Nothing to see. Move along," Luke said, hands outstretched to herd people away from the open door to the storeroom. He frowned at the door, wondering just how it had come to be open.

"At least it's not Miss Patty's yoga mats," Rory said, lingering so she could tease her mother.

"I'm surprised you feel like bringing that up," Lorelai informed her pointedly.

"Nice shirt," Rory tried again.

Lorelai glanced down at Luke's flannel shirt, which she'd put her arms through the sleeves of without thinking. The sleeves hung loose around her wrists. "What time is it?"

"Way past your bedtime," Rory grinned.

Lorelai paused, attempting not to become angry at how much sheer glee Rory was deriving from this, and the knowledge that she'd never hear the end of it.

"It was almost a shame to wake you up," Rory continued.

"For the love of god, be quiet," Lorelai suggested, knowing it would do no good.

"You make a cute couple."

"Now you've gone too far," Lorelai informed her daughter firmly. "What was blocking the door?" She paused outside the door to the stockroom, looking at it, expecting to see some evidence that they'd used force to get it open. But it just stood there innocently, mocking her.

"Nothing," Rory replied.

"Ha, try again," Lorelai said.

"It wasn't even locked," Rory said, her wide blue eyes curious.

"It was earlier," Lorelai told her.

"Mmm-hmm."

"Why else would we have been in there all this time?" Lorelai said. Then she held up her hand. "On second thought, don't answer that." Rory followed her into the diner. Luke was standing behind the counter. "Coffee, please," Lorelai said.

"It's brewing," Luke replied. He glanced at her purse, sitting on the counter. "Don't forget that."

Lorelai nodded, settling onto one of the stools. Various townspeople were milling about on the sidewalk. Some of them were less obvious than others about staring in through the diner's windows. Lorelai turned to Rory. "Maybe you should head home, kiddo. You've got school in the morning."

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Rory said, still teasing. "Leaving you two crazy kids alone..."

"Go," Lorelai ordered. Rory shot her an exaggeratedly puppy-eyed look, which was spoiled by her devilish smile. "Now," Lorelai insisted, "before I start thinking you were behind this."

The way Rory frowned left no doubt as to her absolute lack of guilt. "Behind what?" But she slid off the stool she was occupying. "Don't keep her out too late," she said to Luke, who was pouring coffee into one of his oversized mugs. Luke and Lorelai both watched until the door closed behind Rory.

"Coffee," Lorelai sighed ecstatically, just breathing in her favorite scent in the entire world. After just one sip, she felt immensely better. "Your coffee is the best in the whole world," she told Luke.

"You're biased," he said.

"Not when it comes to coffee," Lorelai told him. But she dropped her gaze to the cup. "This is awkward."

"Doesn't have to be," Luke said.

"Luke. Are you crazy? Half the town is out there comparing notes."

"Let 'em," he suggested. Then he did something completely unexpected. He poured a second cup of coffee and came around to the customer side of the counter, taking a seat on the stool next to hers. He drank some of the coffee and looked around. "Looks different from out here."

"Luke, we should talk about this," Lorelai said, seriously.

It was a moment before Luke agreed. "Yeah." Somewhat reluctantly, he turned and looked at her. "I guess this is the part where I apologize."

"If this was a romance novel, maybe," Lorelai replied. He looked blank. "Or a soap opera. Those guys are always all, 'I'm sorry I kissed you' but they never mean it." She glanced at him. "You wouldn't mean it."

"Lorelai --"

She set her coffee cup down. "Just don't," she said. "It's late. Neither of us is thinking straight."

"I love you," Luke said, very seriously and deliberately.

Lorelai made a small sound that almost could have been a whimper. He'd never seen her look so distraught.

"I have --" Luke began, but he was interrupted by Lorelai putting her hands on either side of his face and kissing him ferociously. She broke away just as suddenly, dropping her hands and dashing out of the diner.

She didn't realize until she got home that she was still wearing Luke's shirt.

To be continued...

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