AN: Post Just Like Gwen and Gavin. I can't wait to read other people's takes on the post-ep opportunities of this one. So here is my take. I had to get it out and now it's nearly 5 o'clock in the morning and I'm posting it. I do this because I love you so enjoy!

His shoulders still felt heavy as he walked into the diner. She knew, she seemed to be taking it well, and she even said that they could post-pone the wedding! But Luke couldn't help feeling like something was still wrong. He shook the feeling off as he started to put the chairs on the tables. He looked out the window and hoped that the carnival would be over sooner rather than later. Not only did he not enjoy the noisy streets, he also was looking forward to talking to Lorelai again. He just needed assurance and reassurance that she was okay. He wondered if he had built it up in his head to be worse than it actually was. She was initially shocked but she came around rather quickly. He had expected her to be outraged, cry, bang her fists on his chest. He turned the sign to "closed" and walked upstairs to settle in and wait for her to come by.

He heard things winding down outside and decided to put on a pot of coffee. Little bonus points couldn't hurt, he thought. He sat on the couch and turned on the television, it was nine o'clock.

A shrill ringing awoke Luke as he jerked awake. He grabbed his neck in pain as he was painfully reminded of the uncomfortable way he had slept. Reminding him that Lorelai had not come by and he had fallen asleep. The phone rang again and he made a quick move for it.

"Hello?"

"Hi." It was her. She seemed a little strange but Luke shook it off...again.

He softens, "Hi. Where are you?"

"I'm at my house. Sorry I didn't come by."

"You want me to come over?"

"No. Sorry I woke you up. Go back to sleep."

No? A knot started tightening in his stomach.

"I don't mind-"

"It's really okay Luke, we're both tired. We're good, okay?"

The knot was tighter and he answered nervously, almost in a question, "Okay..."

"Goodnight Luke."

"Goodnight." And with that, she hung up.

Luke knew something was up. He considered going over there, but maybe time was just what she needed. What had happened since the festival? She was okay earlier, right?

Lorelai hung up the phone and sighed. She laid back on her bed and Paul Anka curled up beside her. She closed her eyes and wondered what in the hell she was going to do. She looked at the clock: 11:00pm. She jumped up and ran downstairs.

She knocked on Rory's door tentatively. "Come in!" Rory was sitting at her desk.

"Whatcha doing?"

"Working on this article for the paper. What's up? Weren't you going to Luke's tonight?"

Lorelai sat on the side of Rory's bed and looked at her daughter.

"I need to talk."

"You okay?"

Lorelai falls back onto the bed. "No!" Rory immediately gets up and lays beside her on her stomach, resting her head on her elbows.

"Aww Mom..."

"We postponed the wedding." The tears start coming to the surface.

"What? Why?"

"He said he was just feeling so overwhelmed and I-I offered to push it back, oh Rory I never thought he'd take me up on that. He knows how excited about this thing I am. Me, nonetheless! Happy about getting married! Is he reconsidering? Why isn't he as excited? I mean, I know the answer to that. It's Luke. But still! He didn't ever hesitate, he wanted to push it back. And it's not like I can be mad about that, you know. I offered, he accepted. And he's going through a lot right now. Oh Rory..." She wipes tears off of her cheeks. Rory brushes hair from her mom's face.

"Oh Mom. Everything's going to be okay. He just needs time."

"He's had two months!"

"I know but this is still very new for him, and you're being a great girlfriend."

"Fiancee." She corrected bitterly. Rory wasn't sure how to console her mother. She opened her mouth but was cut off before

she could say anything.

"Was he ever going to tell me? I mean what if I wouldn't have come in when I did. I would probably still not know. Oh Rory, I need to talk to Luke, but consoling me is just going to add to his burden. That'll set the wedding back a few more months." Sarcasm slipped through her words.

"Mom Luke loves you." Lorelai stills, and looks at her daughter slightly alarmed. Rory continues, "What?"

"We haven't-I mean we've done things-but not actually-it's understood, I guess."

"Really?"

Lorelai was fifty percent shocked and fifty percent amused. "How on earth did you know what I was walking about?"

"You haven't said I love yous yet." Rory confirmed proudly.

"Yeah not exactly said it. You know? Luke's not the speak from the heart kind of guy. And me, well, there's a whole other laundry list of reasons."

"But you do right?"

"Of course Rory."

"Say it."

"What you don't believe me or something?"

Rory smiled at her mother. "Yeah you're right, you should say it to him first."

Lorelai smiles momentarily but her smile fades as she recalls the beginning of this conversation. "What am I supposed to do?"

"You need to get some rest. Wake up tomorrow, and go talk to Luke. You need to tell him how you feel. He needs to know that all's not right in Whoville."

"I just don't want to make him worry about me."

"He's going to know somethings wrong, and that'll worry him more."

Lorelai sighs. "When did everything become so complicated?"

Rory considered an inappropriate joke about lack of birth control, but decided against it, given her conception, and instead settled on, "I'm afraid that nothing's really that easy once the heart's involved."

"You're wise Rory Gilmore."

"That's what I'm told. Now you, bed. Now." She kisses her forehead and pulls her up from the bed.

It was 7:30 in the morning when Luke walked into the Gilmore's kitchen. His too he thought as he put his keys on the table. He looked for tell-tell signs of distress. Junk food wrappers in the trash, coffee cups in the sink, beer bottles. But all seemed well. He decided to start a pot of coffee and then looked up at the stairs before he slowly started to climb them.

In their room, Lorelai slept on her side, with her back to the door. He noted, begrudgingly, that Paul Anka was in his spot. Luke slipped quietly around the bed and knelt down beside her. He wrapped her hand in his and kissed her cheek as she slowly started to wake.

"Luke?"

"Good morning sweetheart."

She smiles lightly at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Well I realized that you've been spoiled for so long now that you probably forgot how to work your coffee maker." She looks at Luke, he's so caring, sweet. And she just can't bring herself to let him know of her anxiety just yet.

"Come here."

She pulls him towards her and he complies, laying down on the bed beside her once-sleeping form. She wraps her arms around him tightly and burrows into his side. He wraps his arm around her shoulders and kisses the top of her head. They

enjoy a quiet moment, and then Luke speaks up. "Are you sure you're okay Lorelai?"

Damn him. She inhales a little sharply, and then builds her confidence, gets into supportive girlfriend mode, complete with smile, and looks up at him. She tries to begin, but finds his eyes, so full of concern, anxiety, love, all too much for to take. Her "supportive" mask is ripped off and she digs her face back into his side and replies, a little shaky, "I'm fine."

Luke's face falls, and his heart breaks. He pushes gently. "You didn't come by last night."

Unmoving she replies, "I was exhausted. Running a booth is tiring."

"Lorelai-"

She jumps up startling both Luke and Paul Anka. "I smell coffee!" She has her fake grin mastered.

Luke tries again softly, "Lore-"

"No Luke. No! You don't get to do this."

"Do what?"

Lorelai wants to yell all sorts of things. Have a kid! Lie to me! Post-pone the wedding! Make me talk about this! But instead she turns on her heel and walks out of the room. As she reaches the stairs she knows that walking out was probably the most hurtful option, and hesitates before she starts down the stairs.

Luke looks at Paul Anka who is looking at him questioningly. He sighs.

"Come on." They get off the bed and Paul Anka races towards the stairs.

Luke stands in the doorway of the kitchen watching as Lorelai pours her coffee.

With her back still towards him, she says "I'm sorry." He's surprised and walks to her. She turns around and buries her head in his shoulder. Luke kisses her head.

"Please don't apologize Lorelai. I should have told you." She stiffens in his arms. And he looks at her worriedly trying to pull her away to see her face.

She clings to him tightly and inhales deeply. "Can I have coffee first?"

"First?"

He has no idea. She wants to be angry, she wants to pound on his chest. She pulls back, and he sees the hurt in her eyes.

"We need to talk but let me have some coffee first."

He's taken aback as she unceremoniously removes herself from his arms and grabs her cup of coffee and stands in front of the window, her back to him again. He drops his head and wonders what he said wrong. He silently sits at the table, staring at her, looking for some sign, anything to clue him in on how to fix this.

She sits her coffee cup into the sink and turns around to Luke and grabs his hand, pulling him up. Her face is emotionless as she leads him into the den. He sits down on the couch beside her and she stands in front of him. She looks at him, and he looks like Paul Anka does before he's about to get a bath and it breaks her heart. Luke shifts uncomfortably and begins to open his mouth but Lorelai cuts him off. "No, I'm going to talk."

She sits back down beside him, turning towards him. "I know that you're going through a lot, but you need to know how I feel." He nods encouraging her. "It's not your fault that you have a kid, and yes, you should have told me. In fact, who even knows if I'd know now if I hadn't walked into the diner yesterday." Anger is slowly bubbling. He tries to speak again, "I wa-" "No Luke. You listen okay? You had two months to talk. Now it's my turn." Her comment stings him and he leans back on the couch wounded. She breathes in deeply and softens. "I just need to get his out."

He nods and she continues. "But you let me go on and on about June 3rd," she spits the date out, and he flinches and bites his bottom lip, understanding. She continues, "And how everything was perfect and, all that time," her voice starts to break and she stands up again pacing, "Dammit Luke. I thought it was perfect. And when I found out, I was hurt but I knew I needed to be there for you. And I still do and will be." She stops pacing and stares at him. "I didn't freak out Luke. I wasn't scared to marry you."

He looks at her worried and timidly asks, "Wasn't?"

"Nothing's easy. It was too easy, I should have known."

His anxiety grows. "Lorelai? Wasn't?"

She sighs and frowns at him deeply. "When I suggested we post-pone, I didn't think you would accept." He looks down and closes his eyes in regret. "But you did. And I realized that this whole time I've been planning the wedding, the excitement hasn't exactly carried over to you, and I understand Luke, I really do, but, I just need to know this. I have to know if you even want to marry me."

His head shoots up and his body follows quickly off of the couch and he grabs her hands. His voice is so strong, Lorelai nearly jumps. "Don't you ever doubt that. Don't you dare."

"Luke-"

"Never again. Do you hear me?"

She looks at him and blinks releasing a tear that rolls down her cheek. "Okay."

He softens, "Lorelai, I'm sorry, I just can't believe you would ever think that. This whole time, these horrible two months I watched you be so excited, and I wanted to be there, and be excited with you, but I just, -that whole time I just was so scared that I was going to lose you. To hurt you. And because of that, I couldn't let myself get excited." He gently places his hands and the sides of her face and carefully wipes away the wetness on her cheeks. "And when you found out, and didn't leave, I was so relieved. And, when you offered to post-pone, I accepted because I want that. I want to be excited with you and pick out the invitations and food and I want you to have your perfect wedding. Never did I think that you would think that." He kisses her softly on the mouth.

"I love you Lorelai."

She smiles at him and rest her forehead against his. "Let's post-pone it."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. I love you Luke."

He smiles and tilts his head down and captures her lips in his own.