An: First of all, let me preface this by saying, I am 100 percent JavaJunkie! My mind just travels to these dark places and I can't help but explore in the land of what if! This is just a quick short little something. I promise, my other stories will be updated soon. Please go read some of those for happy, cute, and cheesy Luke/Lorelai what ifs!- oh, stay away from Out On My Own)

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Enjoy and don't forget to review!

Over the Counter Coffee Comfort

The bell above the diner rang as the door opened. Luke stood behind the counter. He glanced up from his notepad while he finished writing the order he has just taken from his memory.

"Have a seat anywhere," he gruffly said, clearly out of habit, but then looked up again at the blue-eyed brunette who had just walked in as the door closed behind her.

The woman was dressed in a fitted, navy skirt suit that had to have been expensive. Her brown hair was twisted into a pristine bun. She walked over to the empty stool in the middle of the counter, easing her way on to the stool while placing her designer handbag on the empty one to her right.

Luke passed off the order he was writing and picked up the plates of food that were ready to be delivered to the few customers that were scattered about the diner.

He returned behind the counter and asked the woman, "what can I get you?" The woman didn't respond and continued to stare off into space. "Excuse me, Miss?" he waved his hand in front of her face.

"What? Oh, I am sorry," the woman finally spoke, snapping out of her daze.

"Can I get you something?" Luke asked again.

"Oh, um," she said as she looked around the diner trying to regain her bearings. Her glance went over to the coffee pots behind the counter. She loved coffee. "Could I get some coffee, please?" she asked.

"Ok," Luke told her as he grabbed a blue mug off the shelf and turned around to fill it with coffee. As he was pouring the coffee, he turned his head back to look at brown-haired woman. He noticed she was staring off into space again. "Here," he placed the mug full of the hot brown liquid in front of her which startled her, snapping her out of her thought once more.

"Thank you," she softly mumbled as she wrapped her hands around the mug, cradling it.

Something about her made Luke curious. Her eyes gave her away. He had just met this woman for the first time, yet he knew her blue eyes used to sparkle and were brighter instead of the dull blue shade they were now. He couldn't help himself and found himself asking, "Are you ok?"

"Excuse me?" she questioned not sure if he was talking to her.

"Are you ok?" he asked again.

"Why?" She asked, taken back by his question.

"Because you don't look okay," he told her, his voice full of concern.

"Well, geez, take me now, sailor," she sarcastically spat out.

"Sorry, I just thought you looked like you needed to talk or something," he started to turn around.

"We are strangers," she simply said in an attempt to stop his questioning.

"Uh, we can fix that. I'm Luke." He introduced himself, extending his hand out for her to shake.

"Luke, as in Luke's diner?" she pointed to the menu that was sitting between the salt and pepper shakers.

"Yup."

"I'm Lorelai," she said as she took his hand and shock it.

Luke would never admit it out loud, but the second their hands touched, he felt something electric run thought his veins. He felt it all the way to his gut. The gut which told him to keep talking to his woman.

"You new in town or just passing by?" he causally asked.

"Just passing by. I was at the antique shop with my mother and mother-in-law," she explained.

"Oh, the Kim's have some good stuff."

"Yeah, it was nice, scary lady though." she said and raised the mug to her lips and took a sip. She moaned with pleasure after she swallowed the coffee. "This is some seriously good coffee." Her lips slightly turned up to a small smile.

"Thanks," Luke shyly answered back.

"Seriously, I would marry this coffee if that was legally binding!"

"I don't think your husband would take that too well." Yup, he had seen the giant diamond glimmering on her left hand, after all, it was pretty hard not to notice.

"Ha," she scoffed. "That's funny you say that," she told him ruefully.

"Oh, why?"

She shook her head and looked down at the hot brown liquid. She took a deep breath in an attempt to regain her composure. "Because," she hesitated. "B-because I'm pretty sure he is cheating on me," she looked up at him, her blue eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"Oh, sorry. You don't deserve that," he told her with a genuinely sincere tone in his voice.

"How do you know I don't deserve it?" she questioned back.

"No one deserves that."

"The thing is, that is not what bothers me. I've been a crappy wife, I get it. We got married for all the wrong reasons. I just wish," she hesitated again. "I just wish I had the courage to do what I wanted, what I should have done."

"Why did you go through with it?" his curiosity got the best of him again.

"I got pregnant when I was 16 and when you get pregnant, you get married," she repeated her mother's words, her voice full of regret. "And now my daughter is grown. She is beautiful and smart. And I see her going down the same path I did. I don't want that, I didn't want that for her. I want more for her. More than high society parties, cotillion, and debutante balls. I wanted her to be able run around the park and not worry about getting a fancy, white lace dress dirty. And today, being in this town, the signs for Spring Fling, the little ballerinas in the gazebo rehearsing their dance routine, this diner, and the coffee. I would love calling this place home," she quietly admitted.

"So, do it."

"Oh, if only it were that easy," her voice full of sorrow.

"What is stopping you?" he questioned.

"My 16-year-old for one. I have no job, no money of my own. There are strings attached to everything that I have."

"You'll figure it out," he reassured her.

"How do you know? You barely know me."

"I just do."

"All I wanted was love, comfort, and safety."

"Isn't that what everybody just wants? You don't have that with your family?"

"What is the opposite of all that stuff? That's probably what I have. I don't even recognize myself anymore," she sipped her coffee some more. "It's like the second the strip turned pink, I had every decision made for me and somewhere in the marriage, the baby, the DAR, and the society, I faded away."

"You should find what makes you happy," Luke encouraged, although he had no idea why he was still standing across the counter from this beautiful woman. Usually he would take an order, cook the food, delivery the food, and take the plates back muttering only a hello, thank you, and goodbye. This Lorelai intrigued him. He was drawn to her. She was taken. Not happy, but she was still taken.

"Maybe in an alternative universe, I would have had the courage and fight to do it. I would have left with my daughter and created the kind of life I wanted. A life in a town like this."

"Everyone here belongs in a facility," he gruffly told her. He finally found his voice.

"Oh, does that include you too, Mr. Backwards-Baseball-cap?" she fired back, smartly.

A small smile appeared on Luke's face as he responded, "On some days; when Taylor comes in bugging me to put up fall decorations and I chuck a frying pan at this head."

"What?! No, way! Did you really do that?" Luke nodded in response. "No fair, I want to see that. Quick, someone go find Taylor and remind him about the lack of fall decorations last year," she said to no one in particular. "This I have got to see."

"You'd fit right into this crazy town," he told her with a chuckle.

"Well, it looks like a magical place you would find inside a snow globe," she told him as he saw some sparkle in her eyes return.

"It's not too late." He assured her causing her to nervously laugh.

"I appreciate the vote of confidence," she finished her cup of coffee. "This was seriously a great cup of coffee."

"Thanks, coffee'll kill you."

"No, it won't," she told him with a chuckle. "How much for the coffee?" She asked as she picked up her purse.

"First time customer, it's on the house."

"Oh, ok well then, thanks for the coffee," she said as she got off the stool and began walked towards the door.

"Come again," he said after her.

"I just may have to. You have a really nice place here," she turned back to tell him.

The bell rang above the door as she exited the diner. Luke watched as she made her way over to Kim's Antique again. Outside the antique store, two older woman who were dressed almost identically to Lorelai were standing outside, pointing to various pieces that were set up around the yard.

-X-

"Lorelai, where have you been?" Emily asked as Lorelai opened the white, picketed gate and walked through to Kim's Antique front yard.

"I just went to get some coffee," she told her mother as she approached the two ladies.

"Where would you get coffee here? There is no decent place around," Francine scoffed while she looked around the town.

Lorelai bit back the urge to respond back to her mother-in-law. It was something she had learned a long time ago.

"Where did you go, Lorelai?" Emily asked again.

"I told you, mother, I went to get some coffee at that diner," she added as she pointed behind her.

"Oh, how charming," Emily told her.

"It looks rustic," Francine commented, bluntly and the two older women went back to discussing the tackiness of the lawn jockey that was on display.

Lorelai caught Luke looking out the window, his hands on his hips, rag in hand. She saw him hold his other hand up. She lifted hers to wave back, a smile peaking out on to her face.

-X-

Thanks for reading!