Author's Note: Here's the last chapter to this short story. I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

Luke leaned against the diner's counter, chin in hand, staring at the floating specks that had ultimately turned the town white hours before. He was trying desperately to keep his promise, even though he found the whole contemplation futile. Despite the fact that he'd tried to deny it, he'd known for years that Lorelai was the woman for him. It was the reason he kept that stupid horoscope in his wallet, the reason he kept up with her little childish games, the reason he'd do anything for her and Rory. He thought back to when he first saw her; she'd been running down the street, long and wavy brown hair flying behind her, clutching the hand of a small child wearing fairy wings and waving her wand back and forth. He remembered all too well the feeling he'd had; that sense of absolute euphoria as she dashed past him toward the elementary school. He smiled as he saw Rory dancing along side her mother, as though a song were playing in her mind. His heart had known then that he belonged in that family; it was too bad it took him so much longer to figure it out himself.

He glanced at the clock and sighed. This is ridiculous. He thought. I'm not putting it off any longer. He reached for the phone hanging on the wall and dialed; hesitating slightly to remember the unfamiliar number. He leaned his back against the counter as he waited for the ringing to discontinue. When the line clicked to life, he was surprised to hear a male voice answer.

"Hello?"

"Uh…is…Nicole there?" He hesitated.

"Yep. Can I ask who's calling?" The voice answered, completely at ease.

"Sure. Tell her it's her husband." He said.

The unidentified male inhaled deeply before continuing.

"Um…yeah." He gulped rather loudly. "H-here she is."

Luke waited as muffled movement and whispers filled the silence.

"Luke?" Nicole asked.

"Uh yeah. You couldn't possibly be expecting anyone else, right?…Sorry if I spoiled your evening. It sounds like your male friend was pretty flustered when I informed him that I was your husband." Luke said sarcastically.

"It's…not what you think." Nicole lied horribly.

Luke laughed mercilessly at that.

"Sure it isn't. That's fine, Nicole. We both knew this wasn't gonna work out. Deep down, we both knew. I just wish you had the courtesy to call or tell me that it was over before cheating on me." He said.

"I'm sorry…" She trailed off.

"Yeah, sure. I was actually gonna end it right now, but you've already done that for me. I'll mail those divorce papers in the morning."

"Luke…are you sure we can't-"

He cut her off with snort.

"No. I finally went for it with Lorelai and it turns out she feels the same way. This is over. I'll pick up the few things I've got over at your place when I have the time. You don't need to come back to Stars Hollow." Luke said in a hard voice.

"Okay…" She whispered.

"Bye Nicole." Luke hung up the phone before she could say bye back.

Without thinking, he grabbed his jacket and gloves before rushing out of the diner. He locked the door behind him and quickly made his way to Lorelai's. He moved as fast as he could through the knee deep snow, stopping only when he reached her house. He stepped onto the porch and shook off as much snow as he could before reaching his gloved hand toward the door. Before he could knock, he heard a muffled sound coming from the side of the house. It didn't take him long to realize that it was a person.

"Shit." The voice cursed.

Luke smiled automatically, having had that voice engrained in his memory for years. He listened intently as he descended the porch steps and followed the sound of her voice.

"Stupid crap shack." She muttered.

He laughed quietly as he rounded the corner. He found her in front of the electrical box, leaning over with a large flashlight in her hand. Before he could ask what she was up to, she slipped on the brick she was standing on and fell, butt first, into the snow. Frozen pearly mush flew in all directions. He broke into a bout of loud laughter, doubling over when her glare reached his face.

"Will you stop being a jerk and help me up here?" She asked, holding her hand a few inches above the snow level.

"What the hell are you doing?" He choked out, slowly walking toward her.

"I was trying to fix the heat." She said, watching him. "And will you hurry up? It's freezing down here."

Luke chuckled again and bent down to help her up. He easily pulled her out of the snow and began brushing it off her shoulders.

"You know that the heat isn't electrical, right?" He asked, eyebrows raised.

She narrowed her eyes and pointed to the gas gage to the right of the electrical box. He gave her a suspicious look before picking up the flashlight she'd dropped.

"And what exactly were you planning on doing?" He asked as he shined the light on the gas gage.

"I dunno!" She said, knowing exactly what she would've done if Luke hadn't shown up.

"Hitting it solves absolutely nothing." He said.

She huffed and glared at him, hating that he knew her so well. He reached toward the gage and studied it for a few seconds before flicking a switch off to the side. He turned to her and began ushering her inside. She stared at him, not moving.

"What?" He asked.

"That's it? I've been out here for 20 minutes trying to fix that and then you come along and fix it in two seconds? That's it?" She asked, incredulous.

"It was off. I turned it on…" He said as though he were speaking to a mentally challenged person.

She was stunned into silence and he took that as his chance to push her into the house. As he closed the door behind them, he followed her into the kitchen.

"How'd you know the gas wasn't working? Did you make sure the pilot was lit?" He asked, pertaining to the heater.

"The what now?" She pulled out a cup and poured herself some coffee.

He shook his head and raised his eyebrows, silently asking his first question again.

"Oh…well, the heater wasn't working and I couldn't get it to do anything, so I came into the kitchen and turned the stove on and when I didn't hear it light, I stuck my head in to see if the gas was working. I didn't smell anything so I deduced that the gas wasn't working."

Luke stared at her from a chair around her kitchen table.

"You stuck your head…in a stove…that you didn't hear light….?" He asked, incredulous.

"Uh…yeah." She said as though asking Is there any other way?

Luke shook his head and sighed loudly.

"You're gonna end up killing yourself and we're all gonna blame ourselves for not putting you in a mental institution." Luke muttered.

"No." She said in a teasing voice before sitting down next to him.

"You know, you coulda called me. Then you wouldn't have had to spend 20 minutes out in the cold like that…" He trailed off.

"Yeah…I just…didn't know where we…stood at the moment, I guess." She looked into his eyes as she finished talking.

He turned his gaze from her face to his hands clasped atop the table.

"It doesn't matter. You can always call me when you need something."

She nodded, lightly stroking the coffee mug in front of her.

"So…what're you doin' here?" She asked gently.

"What do you think I'm doin' here?" He asked back.

Her eyebrows narrowed in confusion. It was rare for Luke to shoot a question back like that.

"Uh…couldn't you just save me the trouble of guessing? I mean, you gotta know that I'm gonna come up with stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with this situation." She said.

He laughed lightly and grinned at her. She laughed as well, slightly stunned by this beautiful smile that he rarely showed anyone. The grins slowly faded from their faces.

"I talked to Nicole." He whispered.

"You…you did?" She asked.

"Yeah…it turns out she was already planning on ending the relationship."

"Really? She said that?"

"Ha, no. Some guy answered the phone. Turned out to be her boyfriend." Luke said without any regret.

"Aw…Luke, I'm sorry." She whispered.

His head snapped up to look at her.

"Why? I'm not. I was just gonna tell her it was over anyway. I've already signed the divorce papers, I just have to get 'em notarized and mail them in the morning."

"Whoa. Luke. Are you sure you're not going too fast here?" She asked.

"Hell no." He smirked. "We weren't supposed to get married or get together for that matter. I don't want Nicole."

Lorelai looked down and bit her lip to prevent a smile from emerging. He reached over and took her hand in his. She looked up then, surprised.

"You were right before. Nicole isn't right for me because she's not you. I don't want Nicole. I want you." He whispered.

They stared into each other's eyes, like blue waves crashing together. Luke leaned in and touched his lips gently against hers. He pulled back and watched as her eyelids fluttered open. She gave him a quizzical look.

"What do you think you're doing?" She asked.

He raised his eyebrows at her.

"You're not allowed to kiss me once and pull away." She said.

He laughed before getting up and taking her in his arms, making sure to kiss her multiple times and for lengthy periods as well.

I hope you liked it! Review please!