#imagine the whole wake up song but without the ghosts and with Luke and Rory standing on their own porchy all weepy

[innytoes]

JATP Gilmore Girls AU

Because apparently sooner or later I create a Gilmore Girls au for every fandom I am in... All the blame goes to @hawkguyhasstarbucks who sent me ‘emily patterson 🤝 emily gilmore’ and I have not known peace since.

-When Luke has Rory, he decides to name her Lorelai after himself. That way, there will still be a Lorelai in the family after he transitions so everyone can suck it.

-Luke is constantly baffled by his daughter being like, the opposite of him in every way. Except really she isn’t. He is all about music, she is all about books. He loves and supports her even if he doesn’t really get it.

-Luke still runs away to work at the Independence Inn. But besides cleaning rooms, he also mans the piano or guitar during dinner. If you tip well enough, he will play requests. If he thinks your request sucks, he will keep your money and play something better. If you want him to play Piano Man, it’s 100 bucks.

-Bobby, Rory’s father, did not run away with them even though Luke asked him to. When Luke is cleaning rooms several years later, he hears a very familiar song on the radio.

-It’s said to be by Trevor Wilson, but Luke knows that voice.

-Let’s just say that for the sake of their kid, Luke doesn’t sue the pants off of Bobby. He’s been dealing with his shitty broken promises to Rory for years and trying to keep from badmouthing her other dad. But this is one bridge too far and it’s burnt.

-He lets Bobby know if he ever tries to steal another song of Luke’s, Luke will not only sue the pants off of him, he will tell Rory everything. Rory who at eight is already smarter than both of them put together and the most fair-minded child in the universe.

-Bobby takes this threat very seriously and indeed never steals another song of Luke’s. His first album is a hit, but all his next ones are kind of flops. He does pay Luke some money, so he can move and get a house for him and Rory.

-Luke moves to his own place in Stars Hollow with Rory and they are quickly adopted by the town. They have breakfast almost every morning at Reggie’s, the diner in town. It’s run by Reggie, who is just a ray of sunshine, and Alex, who complains about how much coffee he and Rory drink but also always pours it for them anyway.

-Luke and Rory move next door to the Molinas, who are pretty awesome and have a daughter about Rory’s age. Julie and Rory are best friends and Luke is so thankful to have some Adultier Adults nearby when he has parenting questions like ‘how young is too young for a child to read Russian literature’ and ‘how did I explode the microwave trying to make soup for my daughter, no it’s fine it’s not on fire... anymore’.

-Okay and also maybe Luke looked up to Ray a little about how to be a Proper Father because he was just winging it by going ‘how about I take everything my parents did and do Not That’.

-When Ray realises he makes sure to tell Luke that he’s doing everything right and Rory seems like a well-adjusted, happy kid. Luke manages to keep it together until he’s home and only then cries about it, because that’s all he’s ever wanted, was for Rory to be happy.

-Reggie inherited the hardware store from his dad and turned it into a diner. He immediately invited Alex to join him because 1) Alex knows coffee better than Reggie ever will and 2) they were best friends and Alex was on the verge of either being cut off from the family or forced into a marriage with a Girl, Any Girl.

-Yes the Mercers did cut him off because he started living with a man and they were both like: lol but we aren’t even dating.

-They lasted like, 2 or 3 years of ‘we’re totally not dating we’re best buds’ before finally confessing they were totally in love.

-The next morning while opening the diner, Miss Patty and Babette took one look at the two of them and exchanged money. (Babette thought it would take them at least another six months and was hoping for a Dramatic Christmas Confession instead of a ‘dramatic random March confession.’)

-Tía Victoria is 100% Miss Patty’s right hand woman. Together (when Taylor isn’t looking) they rule Stars Hollow. She had her money on New Years.

-Yes Reggie baked Rory a coffee cake for her birthday. Alex is the one that grumpily informed her she was sitting at the wrong table, before nodding to the table he and Reggie decorated with balloons.

-When Rose died Luke and Rory were devastated and they did their best to help. Even if that meant ‘we know better than to try and make you a casserole but we did buy one of everything you like at Reggie’s so here you go.’

-Luke has 100% covered for the Molinas with Victoria. No no that extra plate is totally for me Victoria I promise. You know I just freaking love Ray’s spaghetti so much.

-Rory gets into Chilton and they have a small party before Luke realises that they aren’t eligible for the scholarship money. Ray offers to loan him the money but he just can’t. Ray’s fighting to keep Julie in her own music school, he doesn’t need the extra stress.

-So he goes back to his parents.

-Can you imagine how fucking painfully awkward Friday Night Dinners are. Just sit with that a moment. On the one hand Luke has Unsaid Emily running through his mind, on the other, Emily is scolding him for not wearing sleeves and trying to talk Rory out of going to Harvard and go to Yale instead and all he wants to do is run away and hide at Reggie’s diner or possibly the Molina’s studio.