AN: Well, folks, this is it. Final chapter. Thanks to Katie for all her help with this story! Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

15 – I am going to kill them

"Hello?" Lorelai answered the phone after the third ring.

"Hey mom." Rory's voice came over the line.

"Well, hello there. I didn't think you would dare to call." Lorelai said, trying her best to sound angry.

"Mom, we went over this." Rory replied patiently. "It's my last spring break in college, you told me to go do something fun, remember?"

Rory and Paris had gone to San Diego for spring break, boyfriend and parent free for a week of sun and relaxation.

"You shouldn't do what I tell you." Lorelai complained. "Now I'm lonely."

"There's not a single person in Stars Hollow that you can talk to?" Rory said sarcastically.

"Nobody wants to talk to me." Lorelai mumbled.

"And why is that?" Rory asked. They had had the same conversation once a day for the past couple of weeks.

"Because I always get mad and start yelling at them." Lorelai admitted.

"And why do you do that?"

"Because I haven't had a good night's sleep in three months." Lorelai replied.

"Exactly!" Rory exclaimed.

"But there's nothing I can do about it." Lorelai continued. "I think the hospital has a policy that says you can only return your purchase withing the first two weeks."

"You are way too overprotective." Rory chose to ignore her mother's joke.

"I am not." Lorelai argued.

"What about when Babette offered to watch Will for an hour, so you could go and get your hair done?" Rory wondered.

"That was one time I..."

"And when Lane said that she'd be happy to keep an eye on him when you ran to the post office to get stamps?" Rory cut her mother off.

"I just don't want to leave him alone." Lorelai defended herself.

"And when I told you to stay at Sookie's for the weekend so you could get some sleep? And how about how Luke offers to take Will for the night several times a week?" Rory continued. "You haven't let him out of your sight in three months, you don't even trust me or Luke to look after him."

"It's not that I don't trust you, it's just... I don't want to leave him and have something happen when I'm not there to fix it." Lorelai explained. "I know I'm being irrational, and I'm trying to deal, OK? I even left the room for half an hour to take a shower when Luke was here last night, that's progress."

"I guess." Rory sighed. "You will just have to learn to let go a little. You'll be going back to work soon, you know, he'll be at the diner a couple of days a week then."

"I know, and I hate it." Lorelai whined. "Why can't I just stay at home with him?"

"Because you have to earn money." Rory reasoned. "Since you haven't managed to marry rich, you know."

"Knew I forgot something." Lorelai said.

"So... how about you let Luke take Will for the night this weekend when I get back?" Rory carefully suggested. "We could have a girls night, invite Sookie, Lane and April over, watch movies and pig out?"

Lorelai was quiet for a moment, obviously trying to process the fact that she wouldn't see her precious little boy for an entire night.

"OK, that sounds good." She finally agreed. "I'll have to run it by Luke, though."

"I doubt he'll mind." Rory assured her.

"I haven't been that bad, have I?" Lorelai dreaded the answer.

"Oh, it's been bad." Rory replied.

"I'm sorry." Lorelai apologized. "I will get better. And pretty soon, William should be sleeping through the night, and I'll be able to get some well needed rest."

"Which everyone will appreciate."

"I do not need any snappy remarks, missy!" Lorelai joked.

"I'll save them for Friday." Rory promised.

"See you at the grandparents?" Lorelai asked.

"See you then. Kiss Will for me."

Lorelai hung up and dropped the phone on the couch before getting up. She quickly got William dressed, it was May, so he didn't need too many clothes, and left the house.

As she walked through Stars Hollow, she noticed that it was almost summer. Where was spring? Had she missed it?

Realising that she probably had, she scolded herself. She had been so wrapped up in her little world, the world in which only she and William existed, that she had forgotten that life actually went on. She knew that she had pushed people away, she wasn't sure why. She was just so tired all the time.

She knew that she had mostly herself to blame for that. Both Luke, Rory, Sookie and her parents had offered to help her, to take Will for a night or two, just so she would be able to catch up on some sleep. But she had refused. Not even Luke, who was as much William's parent as she was, had been allowed to take care of him. His own son. Well, that was about to change now.

Looking up, Lorelai realised she was in front of the diner. She had walked there so many times that she didn't need to think, her feet found the way on their own. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door. Might as well get it over with.

Luke looked up as she walked in, offering a smile.

"Hey. Isn't it a little early for lunch?" He looked up at the clock on the wall. After William was born, they had come to a kind of agreement. Neither of them wanted to get lawyers involved, so the tried to agree on custody themselves.

They had decided that they would deal with the living situation when Will got a little older. As for now, he lived with Lorelai and Luke was welcome to see him whenever he wanted to. They also had standing breakfast and lunch dates, when Lorelai would come to the diner and eat while Luke got to see his son. Then Luke brought dinner to Lorelai's house, and usually spent the rest of the evening there. When Lorelai went back to work, she would bring William to the inn with her on the less busy days, and he would stay with Luke at the diner the rest of the week.

It was now ten thirty, and Lorelai was indeed early for lunch. Taking another breath, she decided to dive in.

"I was actually thinking about going to the mall for a little while, and I thought Will could stay with you." She said quickly, before she had time to change her mind.

"Stay here? Are you sure?" Luke asked.

"Yes, I'm sure." Lorelai nodded, already feeling better about the decision. "I mean, I'll be going back to work in July, so I figured you should start practicing."

"Are you sure?" Luke repeated.

"Will you stop asking that? Yes, I'm sure." Lorelai realised that she had snapped at him, and offered an apologetic smile. "Sorry."

"That's OK." Luke replied. "It's just, you haven't really liked the idea of leaving him before."

"I know." Lorelai nodded. "I had a little talk with Rory earlier, and I realised that I've been kinda... well, a bitch, lately, not only about not letting William out of my sight."

"You've just been tired." Luke said.

"I have, and it was my own fault." Lorelai replied. "I should have let him stay the night here every now and then, not just so that I could get some sleep. He is your son too."

"Does that mean that you'll agree to him staying with me from now on?" Luke asked cautiously.

"That's exactly what it means." Lorelai confirmed. "In fact, how about this Saturday? Rory suggested having a girls night in."

"That sounds great." Luke agreed. "I have everything upstairs that he'll need, you already made sure of that."

"Great. It's settled then." Lorelai nodded. "So, as I was saying, I was thinking about going to the mall, is it OK if Will stays here for a couple of hours?"

"Sure. Ceasar and Lane can handle the lunch rush." Luke said, taking William from Lorelai. "Is his carriage outside?"

"Yeah, I left it by the door." Lorelai replied. "OK, so I'm going then." She took a few steps backwards, not turning around.

"It's OK, we'll be fine." Luke assured her.

"I know." Lorelai nodded. "Bye baby, see you in a little while, OK? You be good to daddy."

"Bye, Lorelai." Luke gave her a pointed look.

"Bye. Leaving now." Lorelai turned around and almost ran out of the diner, to stop herself from turning around again. When she had gotten a few blocks from the diner, she stopped. "OK, you can do this." She told herself before she continued her walk home. She had walked to the diner, so she needed to get her car.

Opening the front door, she immediately grabbed the phone and pressed the speed dial.

"Hello?"

"Is everything OK?"

"You've been gone less than ten minutes, everything's fine." Luke said in an annoyed voice.

"OK, just wanted to check." Lorelai said.

"Are you going to call every five minutes?" Luke asked.

"No, of course not." Lorelai replied. "Every fifteen, tops."

"Goodbye, Lorelai." Luke hung up the phone.

"OK, you can do this." Lorelai repeated like a mantra as she located the car keyes and got in the jeep.

The drive to the mall seemed to take much longer than the usual twenty minutes, and the moment Lorelai had turned the ignition off, she got her cell phone from her purse.

"Hello?"

"Hi, me again."

"We're fine." Luke said tiredly.

"I know. I just... it's the first time I haven't had him where I could get to him in ten seconds, it takes a little getting used to. Sorry." Lorelai apologized.

"You don't have to apologize." Luke replied. "But you don't have to call every ten minutes, either. I'll call you if anything happens, not that it will. He's safe with me, you know."

"I know." Lorelai's voice softened a little. "I'm just way overprotective."

"Well, let me be overprotective for a while." Luke suggested. "I bet I'm great at it."

"Oh, I know you are." Lorelai replied.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Luke asked.

"Just that your daughter and I have a very good relationship, and we tend to talk a lot... every now and then about you." Lorelai said.

"April thinks I'm overprotective?"

"Oh, no, of course not." Lorelai said sarcastically. "But who am I to throw stones? I might break a window."

"OK, let's drop this conversation. You go shop, have fun, don't worry." Luke instructed her.

"OK. I think I'll be OK now." Lorelai said.

"Good. See you in a couple of hours."

"See you then." Lorelai hung up and put the phone back in her purse. She headed into the mall and to the nearest shoe store.

Half an hour, and a couple of tried on sandals, later, Lorelai once again had her cell phone to her ear. It rang three times, four... five...

"We're fine!" Luke didn't even say hello first.

"Just checking."

"Well, stop, or I'll unhook the phone." Luke threatened.

"OK, OK."

xxxxx

"Hey Lorelai, Rory." April got into the jeep.

"Hey babe, everything good?" Lorelai asked, pulling out from the drive way.

"Everything's great. I got an A on my English paper yesterday." April replied.

"I told you it was good." Rory said. "And I never lie about school."

"You can trust her on that." Lorelai assured her.

"So, did you already drop William off at dad's?" April asked.

"Yeah, on the way here." Lorelai told her.

"And we have movies, junk food... am I forgetting something?" Rory wondered.

"No, I think that's it." Lorelai nodded.

"And how many times has she called yet?" April asked Rory.

"Hey! I did not call that many times!" Lorelai tried to defend herself.

"Thirty two times in less than three hours is 'not that many times'?" Rory questioned.

Lorelai's trip to the mall and the subsequent phone calls had been shared with both Rory and April by Luke.

"She actually hasn't called at all yet." Rory told April.

"Really?" April said surprised. "I'm proud of you."

"I'm getting there." Lorelai replied. "The first couple of times are just a little tough."

"We know, mom, we're just making fun of you."

xxxxx

"Will you just watch the movie?" Sookie exclaimed a few hours later.

It was almost eight, and Lorelai had suddenly realised that she wouldn't be able to say goodnight to William.

"But I don't want him to go to sleep without his goodnight kiss." Lorelai complained.

"I'm sure he'll survive." Rory said dryly, her eyes on the TV.

"I'm calling Luke." Lorelai announced, getting up from the couch and going into the kitchen.

"But you were so strong!" Lane called after her. Lorelai had managed to just call once the entire evening.

"Hello?" Ceasar answered the phone at the diner.

"Hey, Ceasar, is Luke there?" Lorelai asked.

"No, he said he was taking the rest of the night off, and that I should close up by myself." Ceasar explained. "He's upstairs."

"OK, I'll try the cell then." Lorelai hung up the phone and dialled Luke's new cell phone number.

"Hello?"

"Hi, it's me." Lorelai said.

"Hey, you haven't called in almost two hours." Luke noted. "Good going."

"I really wasn't going to call, but then I realised that I wouldn't be able to give Will his goodnight kiss, and I though I could maybe do it over the phone." Lorelai explained.

"Why don't you just come over and say goodnight to him?" Luke suggested.

"Really? Is that OK?"

"Of course it's OK." Luke said.

"OK, I'll be over in a little while." Lorelai replied.

"See you then."

Lorelai hung up the phone and went back into the living room.

"I'm just gonna go over there for a little while." She told the girls.

"No, mom, it's a girls night, no boys allowed." Rory told her.

"I just want to say goodnight." Lorelai defended herself, walking to the door as she spoke.

"Traitor!" Rory called after her, but Lorelai ignored her.

xxxxx

As the front door slammed shut, Rory sighed.

"I guess she'll be gone a while." She said to no one in particular.

"Maybe she'll fall alseep over there." April suggested.

"Maybe she'll have some fun over there." Sookie smiled in a knowing way.

"Sookie! It's, like, one big room and William's right there." Rory said in mock shock.

"I was only saying." Sookie replied. "I mean, they'll have to figure it out sooner or later, right?"

"I'd put some money on the later." Rory stated.

"I'll have to agree with you." Lane chipped in. "Those two are blinder than the three blind mice."

"Isn't it about time that we did something?" April wondered. "I mean, it's been five months since my dad came back here, and still, nothing."

"I think she's right." Rory nodded. "We are going to have to do something drastic."

"Like what?" Sookie wondered.

Rory raked her brain for a while, trying to figure out the best way to get her mom and Luke back together. When it finally came to her, she wondered why she hadn't thought of it before.

"I have an idea..."

xxxxx

"So, are you done packing?" Rory asked, coming into Lorelai's bedroom. As she saw the chaos in there, she continued. "Obviously not."

"I don't know what you're supposed to bring to a spa." Lorelai complained, holding up a white t-shirt with pink heart on it.

"I don't think you're supposed to wear a lot of clothes, actually." Rory reasoned. "I mean, you'll be getting different massages and, like, mud baths and stuff, right?"

"I guess." Lorelai put down the t-shirt and picked up a turquoise sun dress with flowers. "But it's a pretty fancy place, right? And we'll eat in the dining room. You're not supposed to wear those robes in there, are you?"

"I would have to go with no." Rory replied. "Bring that new dress you bought last week."

"The blue one? Hon, it's just Sookie." Lorelai looked over at the dress, that was still hanging on the door. It was a beautiful, halter dress, but it was a little too fancy for dinner with a friend.

"Don't you want to look nice?" Rory asked.

"Nah, Sookie's a sure thing." Lorelai joked. "Seriously, you think I should bring it?"

"It doesn't hurt to be prepared, right?" Rory said. "There could be this handsom, rich guy there just waiting to ask you out, but when you show up for dinner in a plain old sun dress, he'll just think 'too bad, looks like that wasn't the one'. And we wouldn't want that, would we?"

"Right, because there are so many rich, handsome bachelors at a spa." Lorelai said sarcastucally.

"You never know." Rory took the dress from the hanger and put it in Lorelai's suitcase.

This was, of course, not the real reason for why Rory was encouraging her mother to bring the dress, but she wasn't about to cave in now, not after three weeks of planning.

Sookie hadn't been too hard to convince. She was happy to give up her weekend at the spa so Lorelai and Luke could spend some time together, alone, and hopefully realise that they were supposed to be together.

The hard part had been to keep as much information from Luke as possible, since they didn't want him to get suspicious when April lured him to the spa later that night. There he would meet not April and Anna, but Lorelai, as unaware of the set up as him.

Then, unfortunately, it was all up to the two of them. Rory only hoped that they would see why she and April had gone through all the trouble of getting them there. And if not... onto plan B. As soon as she had come up with one.

"So, all done?" Rory asked as Lorelai zipped the bag shut.

"I think so." Lorelai frowned, going through what she had packed in her mind. "Tell me what I've forgotten."

"You have the clothes, obviously." Rory checked it off a mental list. "Toothbrush, toothpaste, money, clean underwear, cell phone, charger... I think you're all set."

"I still don't understand why Sookie and I can't go in the same car." Lorelai complained as she carried the suit case downstairs.

Part of the plan had been, naturally, to get Lorelai to drive to the spa without Sookie. To make that possible, Sookie had come up with a fake doctors appointment so that she would join Lorelai that evening.

It was now almost noon, and Lorelai was about to leave. She was having lunch at the spa and then had a massage scheduled for two o'clock.

"OK, I'm off." Lorelai gave Rory a hug, dropping the suitcase on the floor in the hallway.

"Drive safely, and call me when you get there." Rory told her.

"I will, mother." Lorelai went over to the basinet where William was lying wide awake. "Goodbye baby, mommy's gonna miss you so much." She gave him a kiss on the forhead before putting him back down.

"OK, you've said your goodbyes, get going." Rory grabbed Lorelai's suitcase and headed for the door, her mother following.

"Someone's a little too eager to get rid of me." Lorelai said suspiciously as Rory put the suitcase in the backseat of the jeep.

"I'm not eager to get rid of you, I just want you to get going, you're going to miss lunch." Rory covered. "Plus, I want to get started on my weekend alone with my little brother."

"OK, I'll buy that for now." Lorelai eyed Rory.

"And don't forget, you're meeting Sookie in the dining room at seven." Rory reminded her as Lorelai got into the drivers seat.

"I know, she'll be the one wearing a pink rose." Lorelai joked. "Thank you again for this, babe, and I'll see you tomorrow night." She started the car and drove into the street.

"One down..." Rory muttered to herself, going back into the house.

xxxxx

"Why haven't I ever done this before?" Lorelai said to herself as she sunk deeper into the water. In the bathroom of the small suite she and Sookie were staying in, she had discovered a hot tub.

After arriving at the spa, she had eaten an amazing lunch, gotten a full body massage, and was now relaxing, waiting for the time to pass until she was meeting Sookie in the dining room.

Looking at the clock on the wall, she realised it was already 6:15. and she should be getting ready. Sighing, she slipped out of the warm water and wrapped a towel around herself.

Going back into the bedroom, she pondered what she would wear. The blue dress was hung up on the closet door, and she looked at it for a moment, Rory's words coming back to her.

There could be this handsom, rich guy there just waiting to ask you out...

Not that she wanted that. She wasn't ready to move on, not yet, if ever. Seeing Luke every day just made her realize what she had lost, and she fell a little more in love with him every day.

Sighing, she grabbed the dress and put it on. She didn't have to dress up for a guy, she would do it for herself, to feel good about herself.

Looking in the mirror, she liked the result. She had been able to get rid of the pregnancy weight pretty fast, by taking long walks every day. She knew she looked good, why not show it off a little?

Deciding on the dress, she got started on her hair. What to do with it, the eternal question.

xxxxx

Luke pulled into a space in the large parking lot in front of what looked like a hotel. Why had April wanted him to have dinner with him and Anna here? She had said that she wanted to tell him something important, and that by going out they would celebrate a little. He guessed that the event was her making the Mathletics at the school, but he wasn't sure.

Getting out of the car, he eyed the building suspiciously. Well, if April wanted to eat here, then they would.

Walking inside, he approached the reception.

"Yes, may I help you?" A blonde woman in her thirties asked.

"I'm looking for the dining room, I'm meeting someone for dinner." Luke replied.

"The dining room's right through there, just take a left at the end of the hall." The receptionist pointed him in the right direction.

"Thank you."

At the end of the hallway, Luke turned left, as instructed, and found himself in a very large, very crowded dining room. He looked around, seeing people eating everywhere he turned. Was that couple actually wearing bathrobes?

"Good evening, sir, how may I help you?" An older man, probably the head waiter, asked.

"I'm meeting someone for dinner, Nardini." Luke said.

"Of course, right this way." The waited led him through the dining room to a table in one of the corners, as private as it would get in the large room. "You're the first one to arrive. Would you like a menu?"

"No, thanks, I'll just wait for them to get here." Luke sat down.

"Very well, sir."

xxxxx

Lorelai walked into the large dining room a few minutes late. She hoped Sookie hadn't been waiting too long.

"How may I help you?" A waiter asked.

"I'm here for dinner, Gilmore party." She told him.

"Right this way." The waiter walked ahead of her through the dining room, stopping after a few moments. "Right there, miss, your party is waiting."

"Thank you." Lorelai smiled at him before turning to apologize to Sookie for being late. "I'm really sorry, I got a little... what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Luke replied.

"I'm meeting Sookie." Lorelai explained, sitting down opposite Luke.

"And I'm supposed to meet April and Anna." Luke said.

"But the waiter said this was my... oh, I get it." Lorelai nodded knowingly.

"Get what?" Luke wondered.

"They're setting us up." Lorelai stated.

"Who are? And why?" Luke looked like a question mark.

"Rory and Sookie, and they probably got April involved, too." Lorelai shook her head. "I am going to kill them when I get home, they had no business butting in like this, what are we, in high school?"

"I really don't get what's going on here." Luke interjected.

"They think that we need a little help figuring out where we stand in our relationship." Lorelai explained. "I'm sorry, this is all my fault, Rory has this idea that you still have feelings for me. I've told her over and over that it's not going to happen, no matter how much I would want it to, we're just friends, and that's what we'll stay."

"I think April was a little more involved than you give her credit for." Luke said when Lorelai had finished her little speech.

"You think?"

"Yeah." Luke sighed before continuing. "She asked me in the hospital, after William was born, why we hadn't gotten back together when I was still in love with you."

"When you're... what?" Lorelai couldn't believe what he had just said.

"I'm still in love with you. Never stopped." He looked her straight in the eyes when he said that.

"Me neither."

xxxxx

Luke slowly opened his eyes, the sun having woken him up. Immediately, the previous night came back to him and he rolled over in the bed, coming face to neck with a fast asleep Lorelai.

He smiled a little at her form. It had always been a wonder to him how she managed to sleep in the positions she did. Now, she was laying half on her stomach facing away from him. One leg was thrown over the side of the bed, the other intruding on his side. Her head was buried so deep in the pillow that he wondered if she could breath properly. As an answer to that question, a low snore filled the room.

Moving over so he was right behind her, Luke ran a hand up one of her legs.

"Mmmhmmm." She mumbled, coming out of the deep sleep.

"Morning." He whispered in her ear.

"And a very good one." She replied, turning around to face him.

"Sleep well?" He asked, kissing her on the tip of her nose.

"Better than I have in a long time." She responded.

"Glad to hear it." He moved to her lips and gave her a lingering kiss. As she pulled back, he could see there was something on her mind. "What's wrong?"

"I just... are you sure we can do this?" She asked.

"Do what? Us?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "I mean, we don't exactly have the greatest track record. Maybe two break-ups is some sign that we're not supposed to be together?"

"You know what they say?" He kissed a spot on her neck.

"Mmm, no, what?"

"Third time's a charm."

The End

AN: There is a sequel in the works, if people are interested… Let me know!