A/N: So what would happen if Lorelai went with her true number 3 in "Ps. I Lo…"? It's yet another chapter story, so enjoy. Dialogue borrowed from said episode, very little of it, actually, and altered and twisted to meet my fiction needs. Enjoy!

"What are you looking for?"

"My new husband."

"She's already passed up two perfectly good prospects."

"But I'm feeling pretty good about number three."

"Do I want to know what you're doing?"

"Hey, Luke came to the table, does that make him number three?"

"Number three?" Luke asked.

Rory nodded. "Yeah, we're..." she saw the uncomfortable expression on her mother's face and trailed off.

"Okay... what will you have?"

Lorelai looked up at Luke and stuttered. "Uh, well… I…"

"Do you need a minute to order?" Luke asked.

Rory shook her head. "We'll both just have our usual, thanks, Luke."

As Luke walked away, Lorelai watched him. Luke? Number Three? It was too coincidental, too… easy. It was one of those things that couldn't possibly just be "placed" right in front of her like that. She watched him walk around the diner, serving the other customers and disappear into the kitchen to make their food. She was jarred out of her concentration by Rory.

"Mom, you okay?" Rory asked.

Lorelai turned to her daughter and nodded. "I'm just trying my telepathy skills. I wanted more coffee, so I thought that maybe Luke would be able to read my mind."

Rory sighed, looking out the window. "I know you're lying, you can tell me," she said softly.

"Well, that was just weird. I have a reason to be slightly freaked out," Lorelai said, gesturing toward Luke as she spoke. "It wasn't just some random guy this time, it was LUKE."

As Lorelai started on her rant, Rory turned to her mom. "What's the difference between a random guy and Luke?"

Lorelai shrugged. "I don't know, he's… Luke. He's someone we see every day, and he feeds us."

"As opposed to Al, who you ended up with last week?"

"Forget it. It was just really stupid," Lorelai said, outwardly trying to convince herself and convince Rory that it was no big deal. But it was a big deal to her, all of a sudden. It was a silly game, a game she and Rory would play for fun, for entertainment and mockery. It wasn't supposed to make you choose your actual mate. So, why was Lorelai so upset about it?

She had no idea. She thought about it all day at the inn. Lorelai was officially out of it for the rest of the day. She went through the motions of her day, slowly but surely, but she was so wrapped up in the morning's events that she was unsure of what to do with herself.

"Lorelai? Are you okay?" Sookie asked, wiping her hands on her apron.

Lorelai simply nodded. "I'm fine."

Sookie grabbed Lorelai's arm and pulled her into the kitchen. "All right, now, I'm afraid if you don't come back to Earth now, you're going to end up like Amelia Earhart. What's going on?"

Lorelai sat down on the stool. "I don't know, I guess it was breakfast."

"Did you eat the Toaster Strudels that had been sitting out again? I told you not to," Sookie chided, chopping up some celery.

"No, no Toaster Strudels for me. Rory and I were at Luke's this morning, playing one, two, three he's yours, and all of a sudden, Luke's number three!" Lorelai explained.

Sookie gasped, placing her knife on the cutting board. "Luke?"

Lorelai nodded. "Luke."

"As if that's not fate telling you right then and there that you're meant to be together," Sookie replied.

"Sookie, I like Luke, he's a good guy, but I've been thinking about this for a long time today… I don't know if I'm so… I don't know why I'm taking so much stock in this little game," Lorelai insisted. "It's a game. I didn't get upset when I ended up with Taylor."

"Aw, honey, I think you know why you're so upset."

Lorelai shook her head. "Seriously, Sook, if you were suddenly thrown together like that, with a guy you've known for forever, wouldn't you have a very similar reaction?"

Just as Sookie began to explain her reaction, Michel came into the kitchen, holding the phone at arms length. "Lorelai, your stalker is on the phone," he said, handing her the telephone and leaving.

Lorelai scrunched up her nose and wondered who it could possibly be. "My stalker? And all this time I thought that I was Bono's stalker, and now I have my own!Hello?" she answered.

"Lorelai?" Max's voice asked from the other line.

She wasn't surprised to hear his voice, but she rubbed her temple, knowing this would add to her already stressful day. "Hi," she replied.

"Is this a bad time?"

"No, of course not. Where are you?"

"In the teacher's lounge," Max replied.

Lorelai sighed. "That sounds exciting."

"Well, they have coffee, so you'd approve."

She giggled. "You know me well. What's up?"

"Well, I was thinking about something and wanted to run it past you," Max admitted.

Lorelai walked out of the kitchen. "Shoot," she replied.

"We've been having these very successful phone calls for a couple of weeks now."

"Yes we have," Lorelai echoed.

"And I think that all the talking has done us a lot of good," Max continued.

Lorelai agreed, knowing exactly what was coming. "Yes, it has."

Max sighed. "So I was thinking that maybe this weekend instead of a phone call, we should have a date. Let's have dinner."

Lorelai didn't know what to say. A week ago, she would have said yes. But the earlier events of the day got her thinking about her relationship with Max. Did she really want this as badly as Max did? Was it fair to lead him on like that?

"Max, I…" she started.

"I know you're busy, and I'm busy, but we can figure out a time that works for the both of us," he explained.

Lorelai let out a nervous laugh. "That's usually how two people plan a date," she replied.

"So?" Max asked.

She sighed. "I can't, Max. I'm sorry."