angel || l.huntzberger

mommy dearest

"our mother sure is something, isnt she?"

The drive to Stars Hollow felt longer than ever, but at the same time, not long enough at all. I was dreading having to tell Luke. And then after telling Luke, I was going to have to track down my mom somehow and tell her, but God knows where she could be. I picked at the hangnails on my fingers nervously from the passenger seat while Jess nodded along to the music playing on the radio as he drove, not urging me to talk. 

We eventually made it to the small, picturesque town and parked outside the diner. 

"You sure you don't wanna come in?" I asked Jess, who had previously said that he didn't wanna come inside because of the tension between he and Luke. 

"Maybe later. I'll be at the bookstore. Good luck," Jess replied as I unbuckled my seatbelt and stepped out of his beat-down car.

I gave a small smile and took a breath, bracing myself before entering the diner. It was pretty busy, judging by the time I could tell it was the Sunday lunch rush. I felt terrible for interrupting Luke at work, but of course, he dropped everything he was doing and came over to hug me the moment he saw me walk in. 

"Hey, kid! How've you been. Back so soon?" He exclaimed gleefully. 

I melted into my Uncle's hug, wrapping my arms around him tight. He was the closest thing I ever had to a father, and I would always be grateful for that. 

"Hey, Uncle Luke," I smiled. 

"You hungry? You get your car back? What are you doing here? You in town for the wedding?" He ambushed as we pulled away. Wedding? Who was getting married? I ignored it for the time being. 

I pursed my lips, managing to stammer out, "Actually... I need to talk to you about something." 

Luke's expression faltered to one of confusion. "Of course, Stel. Is everything okay? Do you wanna go upstairs?" 

I nodded, which made him nod too as his hand fell to to my back, leading me in front of him as we went upstairs to the apartment that used to be my grandfather's office, Luke shutting the door behind us. 

"So, uh... What's going on?" He asked uncomfortably. 

I felt tears threaten to glass my eyes over, but I fought them back, letting out a breath. "Do you remember the first Christmas I spent here? And you got me that bike?"

Luke's brows furrowed in confusion, but the corners of his mouth twitched up as he recalled the memory. "Of course. I tried to teach you to ride it around the gazebo," He chuckled lightly. "You were so scared." 

"That's still the best Christmas I've ever had," I recalled fondly with a breath of laughter. 

"Anyways, why?"

"I remember the fear I felt in that moment. But I also remember that my Uncle Luke was there for me, and that as long as you were there... I had nothing to worry about. Because you stayed by my side until I could ride the bike on my own," I said softly. 

Luke stayed silent, obviously confused as to what I was about to tell him. 

Here it goes. "I went to the hospital last week. I haven't been well and I just knew something wasn't right, so Rory convinced me to go get a checkup. And, well..."

"What? Are you okay? What happened, Stella?" 

"I got diagnosed with leukaemia."

It was taking everything in me to not cry. Two people down, so, so many more to go.