Disclaimer: I own nothing. Still. sighs

A/N: Another little random one-shot. Comes out of nowhere, this one is something for you JJ. Some Lit undertones, but nothing actually happens in the story. Don't ask me where this came from, because I have absoulutely no idea. Sometimes it might seem a little OC.

Off Balance

It smelled like him. Sitting at the counter, Lorelai swung her feet back and forth, drinking the coffee she made. The diner was empty and almost completely dark. It was abandoned, as it had been for months now. Ten, she counted. Ten months since their fight, ten months since he left.

"I need COFFEE!"

"Wait your turn lady," the man snapped back.

"I don't think you understand, if I don't get my coffee now, then things will start happening, bad things! I need caffeine in my system, or something will happen, the apocolypse, or, I'll explode or shut down or something weird like that. I need it nooooowwww..." she babbled to the man in the flannel shirt, following him around the diner.

"No customers behind the counter." He snapped.

"See, technically, I'm not a customer, or I won't be until you give me my coffee, which you need to give me now."

After their fight that happened because of Rory's accident, Luke left, leaving only a 'Gone Fishin' sign, which Lorelai couldn't help mock. For two weeks, Lorelai had gone to Weston's and had her coffee there, avoiding Luke's in case he came back. By the third week, Lorelai started to feel worried, as did most of Stars Hollow. Luke was never gone this long just fishing. The town had to get used to eating at Weston's for breakfast, and pie and ice cream don't make the most pleasing breakfast after a while.

"When's your birthday?" The woman asked.

"Stop bothering me." The man growled at her, delivering a plate to a customer.

"Just tell me!"

"Then will you stop bothering me?" He quickly muttered his birthday and she stopped following him, digging into her purse.

She scribbled something on a newspaper and ripped it off, handing it to him as she flashed a bright smile.

He took the piece of paper with a huff and grumbled, reading it. Pouring a cup of coffee in front of her, he quickly slid it to her and she thankfully smiled at him, drinking it.

Chris came back, and he was a distraction away from her worries. They started dating again, now engaged. They'd gone to Sookie's wedding together, presented themselves as a couple to her parents. Later that day, the three of them had been driving back when Lorelai said she'd go really quick to pick up some food.

"Hey Duke," Lorelai said as her and Rory went into the diner. 11-year old Rory smiled widely.

"I told you, it's Luke." Luke said in a playful yet angry voice as he poured Lorelai a cup of coffee.

"Hey, whatever helps you sleep at night." Lorelai threw her hands up in mock defense, lowering them only to drink her coffee.

She ended up at the diner, broken down and crying because he was gone. Luke was gone. Lorelai used her credit card, unlocked the door, slipped inside, and sat at the counter, putting her head on the dusty counter.

"How many cups of coffee have you had this morning?"

"None." She responded without missing a beat.

"Plus?"

"Five."

Luke grumbled and poured her a cup.

"Junkie." He muttered.

"Angel!" Lorelai grinned, taking the cup from his hands. "You've got wings baby!"

The little bells above the door rang and Lorelai turned around quickly, her heart skipped a beat as she hoped it was Luke. It wasn't.

"Lorelai?" Jess asked in confusion as he stood in the diner. He looked uncomfortably at Lorelai, who sat at the counter with tear streaks running down her face from her mascara.

"Jess?" She asked in confusion, ruffling her eyebrows together.

"Um...is Luke around?" Jess asked awkwardly. Lorelai shook her head, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand to cover that she'd started crying again. "He...um...h-he left. About a month ago." She quietly said, shaking her head. Jess got more confused than an hour ago when he'd showed up at Sookie's wedding and Rory had kissed him.

"He left?" Jess said in disbelief. Lorelai nodded, putting her face in her hands and Jess heard a muffled, 'uh huh.'

Jess didn't say anything, standing awkwardly at the door. He didn't say anything, and he didn't know what to do. He'd never comforted a crying girl before, or let alone anyone crying.

As Loralai sat at the counter, Luke began to tell her about his Dad's store.

"You know, I think there's a spot on the wall where he wrote down an order once…when he ran out of paper," Luke told her.

"Really," Loralai asked curiously. "Where?"

"Behind the counter. By the door," Luke told her. "To the left."

They went behind the counter and found the spot. As she read aloud the order, Luke finished it. "Let's not spruce this particular spot," Loralai said as they looked at each other.

Suddenly, a crowd of people came to the door, trying to get in, with Taylor at the front, pointing around the room. Luke was about to stand up, but Loralai grabbed his shoulder and pushed him down. "No…no…they'll go away." They crouched behind the counter in silence.

As the crowd finally pulled away, Loralai laughed, and turned her head, finding herself face to face with Luke.Her mind wandered to aplace it shouldn't be, and she knew she had to go. She sat up, whispering, "I have to go." She felt she had to leave before anything happened. "Yeah…um, okay," Luke said, snapping back to reality.

Somehow, Lorelai ended up telling him to stay with them. Jess looked like he would have a heart attack from the shock, and Lorelai had no idea why she'd invited him, but somewhere down deep, she felt like he was a link to Luke.

The havoc that ensued had also taken her mind away from Luke. Rory, of course, freaked out when Lorelai came home with Jess instead of much needed food. She'd blurted out that she kissed him to her mother, and chaos erupted for almost a whole month. Later, Rory broke up with Dean and started dating Jess, who got a small apartment in Stars Hollow.

"Yours was going to be a Russian winter theme – the Romanovs." Emily admitted dreamily.

"Snow white roses, trees with white lights and candles, snow everywhere, you arriving in a silver sleigh with white horses." Emily ignored Lorelai's comment, staying in her "white roses wonderland"

"Wow."

"You hate the idea." Emily stated.

"No, no, I just – ."

"You just hate it." Emily deadpanned.

"No, it just doesn't seem like me." Lorelai tried to fix her words.

"Yes, well, it would've been beautiful."

"I'm sure it would've been." Lorelai smiled.

"Anyhow, it's obvious that wouldn't even be appropriate anymore being as I'm probably standing in your reception hall." Emily said sarcastically.

"Excuse me?" Lorelai coughed.

"Burgers and fries for the dinner? The bride walks down the aisle with a ketchup dispenser in her hand." 'Emily tersely said.

"Please tell me what you're talking about." Lorelai replied.

"I'm talking about Luke." Emily rolled her eyes.

"Luke? Mom!"

"Well, it's obvious, Lorelai."

"No, it's not, Mom."

"You're with him constantly." She continued.

"He feeds me."

"You bring up his name constantly." Emily went on.

"Once again, he feeds me."

"The moment he calls, you run to his side."

"He's my friend, he needed me, I had to be there." At that moment, Luke came downstairs.

"Yes, I know you did." Emily looked at her daughter with a bitter expression.

"Hi." Luke greeted awkwardly seeing Emily Gilmore in his diner.

"Hello." Emily replied not so politely. "I have to go. I'll see you for dinner tonight, Lorelai. And Luke," she looked directly at him standing by the door. "I'm sure I'll see you again soon." She made a meaningful look.Stopping suddenly, she turned around."What do you think of the Romanovs?" she finally asked Luke, curious about his reply.

"They probably had it coming." Luke replied immediately, not even thinking about it a second.

"A match made in heaven." Emily rolled her eyes and walked out.

In a weird way, Lorelai felt like she trusted him. She remembered that a month and a half after Luke had left, Jess started telling her about Luke, which he painfully got from his mother.

"He's good." Lorelai'd nod. "Good."

"Living in New York." She'd laugh bitterly. "He hates New York." She'd reply. "I know..." Jess would laugh.

3 months after Luke's departure, Chris proposed. Lorelai had accepted, smiling and crying and laughing. A family, is what she told herself. They were going to be a family. They moved to Hartford, where Chris had gotten a job transfer to not be making the movements back and forth from Boston. Lorelai continued to work at the Inn, still talking to her friends. Rory would go to Chilton, but often go to Stars Hollow to see Lane and to see Jess.

"He wouldn't notice me if I answered the door wrapped in cellophane wearing a Yankees cap!" Lorelai continued the joke, wrapping her arms around him. She could see his face going red.

"Oh, don't I know it," Mary laughed.

"Jeez," Luke muttered, his face darkening more shades.

"I'm just kidding Snuffy," she teased, running her finger down the side of his face, which turned even darker. "It'd be a Mets cap," she said to Mary.

"Hey, could me and the little missus," Luke gestured to Lorelai, annoyed, "have a moment alone."

"I promise we won't do anything dirty," Lorelai joked with a sly smile.

Mary laughed again. "Oh, if my husband and I were like you two,we'd never get dressed in the morning," she chuckled.

"Oh, you're bad," Lorelai laughed, gripping Luke's arm tighter as he tried to pull away, blushing more.

Mary left them laughing.

"What is wrong with you?"Luke yanked away quickly. Lorelai smiled and laughed, pointing at Luke's face. "Thirteen shades!"

That was when it started. When Lorelai started breaking into the diner daily, sitting at the counter and drinking freshmade coffee. It tasted different, she thought. Not like Luke's real coffee. She'd tell Chris and Rory that she was working at the Inn. Sometimes she fell asleep at the counter and would wake up late in the night, driving back to Hartford. At night, at the diner, Lorelai acted depressed and sad, but as she made her way into the day, she'd plastered a smile on, joking and mocking and being all bubbly and fun.

A month after she'd started breaking in, it hit Lorelai, hard and fast. God, she was in love with Luke. With Luke! Chris kept trying to set a wedding date, but Lorelai found ways to put it off after her discovery. Chris would try and touch her, and she'd turn away, finding something to do. He'd want to kiss her but Lorelai had a sudden cold, and didn't want to give it to him.

Rory and Jess would go on dates, which always tried to avoid Christopher, and the two would shoot worried glances at Lorelai. Jess knew that Lorelai was in love with Luke, and Rory knew her mom was still sad about Luke leaving. Lorelai felt pathetic at being worried about by two teenagers, and hurried them off to their date, something she never would have done before, had she not been feeling twice as pathetic. Then of course, she'd broken down at the reminder of double pathetic.

"Your food tastes better outside..."

"Oh yeah, next time the roof's leaking, I'll just rip off the whole damn thing."

"So this is nice, huh? Come on, admit it," said Lorelai.

"Never."

They sat in silence, toying with their food.

"Just having someone who you love or have some kind of crazy crush on bid on your basket and then share a romantic lunch, it's a nice concept," explained Lorelai.

"Well, I'm sure someday you'll manage to find the right guy and drag him out to this thing and make him by your stupid basket and then you'll be sitting out here with him." Luke popped a carrot in his mouth and smiled.

Lorelai smiled back, her expression vague. "Yeah, someday."

There were a few seconds of silence. "You know what?"

"What?" said Lorelai.

"This is nice."

About 5 months after Luke had left, Taylor had suggested they sell the diner, since it was sitting there, empty. News had spread like wildfire, and Sookie, whom Lorelai had told about everything, reluctantly told Lorelai. She'd gotten angry, storming out of the Inn and to Doose's. She'd yelled at Taylor, unable to remember exactly what she said now, but using words like, 'asshole', and 'historic', which she found a strange combination. The scene she'd made in the market had showed the town that she still really cared about Luke, and after some pleading from some people like Babette and Patty, and some yelling from Sookie and Jess and the rest of the town, Taylor had decided to leave the diner alone. Not only was he scared of a mob, but Sookie told Lorelai later that when Jess stood up for Luke and her, Taylor looked like he was having a stroke.

"Doesn't matter what time it is, I'll always be around."

That night, when Lorelai had found out that the diner was not to be sold and changed, Lorelai realized she could climb upstairs to the apartment. Jess's half of the apartment was emptied out, but he'd left Luke's stuff alone. Lorelai remembered her thought as she realized what he'd done. He's going soft.

Lorelai would put on one of Luke's flannel shirts and watch TV in his bed or sit at his table and do work for the Inn. The last month, she'd been falling asleep in Luke's bed, curling up into the pillow and sheets that smelled like him and drifting to sleep. She never changed the sheets or washed his flannel shirts. There were plenty in the closet, and she wanted them to still smell like him.

"It looks good on you..." Lorelai said, then realizing what she said.

"Good how?" Luke smiled slyly.

"Just watch the show." Lorelai replied as they stood side by side, looking out the window.

That was what she did tonight to. She put her mug of coffee down and climbed upstairs to the empty apartment. Using her old gymcard, she unlocked the door and slipped in. Lorelai went to his closet and pulled out the last unworn flannel shirt, taking off her blouse and jeans and buttoning it on. She felt tired todat and slipped into his bed, pulling the warm covers up and wishing Luke was still here. Things were off balance with him gone, the good times always being outweighed by the bad. She was drifting off to sleep after calling Rory and telling her she'd be home late, feeling guilty about lying.

A key in the lock snapped her awake, and she jumped at seeing a shadow in the doorway. The small light by the bed was off, as were the other lights, but Lorelai recognized the figure, and started pinching her arm to see if she was dreaming.Luke came towards his bed and saw someone in his bed, the light from outside showing a familiar face.

"Lorelai?" He said in confusion, going closer towards her.

"Luke..." her voice broke slightly, as she got up. Luke turned on the lights right as he felt arms around his neck. Lorelai hugged him tightly, not saying anything, and Luke awkwardly hugged her back, confused at why she was there. He got even morepuzzled that she was in one of his flannel shirts and felt his face get red when he realized she wasn't wearing pants.

"Your back." Lorelai pulled away, looking at him in a way that left him more confused. She had a half smile because they were wearing identical blue flannel shirts.

"Yeah...I have to-...a-and the papers...sign..." he mumbled, trying not to look down. He'd seen a cup downstairs and had been left confused then, but now it made sense, despite that everything else didn't. "What are you doing here?" He asked, everything was making his head spin.

"I missed you..." an embarrassed Lorelai admitted, but Luke still didn't get why she was there.

But abewildered Luke couldn't help but admit it. "Me too..." he said sincerely.

Without a warning, Lorelai kissed him, cupping his face tightly as she kissed him hard. Luke was perplexed, to say the least, kissing her back with all he could, despite that. They deeply kissed, Luke held her waist tightly as if afraid she'd pull away, but Lorelai hung on to him just as much. He parted her mouth and thrust his tongue in as she gladly did the same. Lorelai stroked the side of his face and played with the hem of his shirt as Luke made circles on her back with one hand and balled her shirt into his fist with the other.

He tasted like coffee, and she couldn't get enough of him, kissing him for the lost 10 months they had. Luke huskily gruffed her name and Lorelai moaned his in response. He started kissing her neck as Lorelai moved her hands to his shirt and unbuttoned the top button, Luke pulled away quickly, jumping away. "Lorelai-" he started.

"I'm sure..." Lorelai replied without hesitating, moving towards him again. She continued to unbutton his shirt as he started to unbutton hers. Lorelai unbuttoned his first, slipping it off as they moved towards the bed, and leaving him in a thin black shirt. They fell back onto it.

They lay naked in the bed, clinging to each other and trying not to sleep. Lorelai snuggled further into him as he tighted his arm around her.

"Lorelai?" Luke asked quietly, looking at her. Her eyes were closed.

"Hmm?" She softly murmured, making random shapes on his side with her fingers.

"I love you..." he softly replied. She opened her eyes and had an expressionless face.

"Luke...I'm engaged." She remembered. His eyes widened and he froze.

"Luke?" She asked again, but he didn't respond, the horrified expression still on his face. "I love you too..." she replied without a response from him. His face softened very slightly, and he didn't say anything, gripping her waist a little tighter. She kissed him gently on the mouth, then on his shoulder, and scooted closer to him, closing her eyes and feeling warm again.

"I'll always love you..." she said without being asked. "And I'm gonna be with you..." she continued, sliding her hand to his neck. Luke didn't say anything. He pulled her slightly closer and kissed her softly on the lips.

In the morning, she'd fix this. She wasn't sure how, but for now, they were just together. Things were finally balanced again.

FIN

A/N: That is the end. No sequel or anything else continuing it. I hope you liked it, it's the longest one-shot I've ever written. I think. Well, I just felt like putting in the flashbacks because it's what Lorelai is remembering at theat moment. It ends I think, a little weird, but whatever, I couldn't think of a better ending. So, please review!