Alone In The Diner

By Kelly Brown

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Pairing - Luke/Lorelai - Just a cute little Luke and Lorelai fic. It's not dramatic like my other story, it's pure romance and humor.

Summary - Luke and Lorelai get locked in the diner, together. (Don't get nasty thoughts! lol)

Rated - PG - A couple of swears, a kiss, and some other stuff, I guess.

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Alone In The Diner

It was 8 o' clock that night as Lorelai Gilmore walked through the townsquare of Stars Hollow, passing the gazebo, on her way to Luke's for dinner. She pushed the door open, sending jingling sounds throughout the diner. She walked up to the counter and saw Jess, pouring people coffee. She sighed to herself and sat down on a stool.

Jess turned around and saw Lorelai. "Coffee?"

"Thanks, Jess."

He poured her the coffee and looked up at the clock, which read 8:05pm.

"Oh, finally." Jess mumbled. He undid his apron that Luke recently had decided to make him wear, and threw it down on the counter. He grabbed a book from underneath the counter and got up to leave when Luke walked out of the kitchen, holding a plate of fries and a burger.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Luke asked Jess.

"Out." Jess stated flatly.

"Get back here, you're supposed to be working."

Jess motioned his hand toward the clock.

Luke let out a deep sigh. "Oh, okay. Well, go then, but stay outta trouble."

"Yup." Was Jess's only reply. Lorelai watched him leave then turned around to face Luke, who was staring at her with an order pad in his hand.

"What do you want?"

Lorelai smiled. "What do think I want?"

Luke stared at her, smiling wryly. "Some disgustingly unhealthy food that is made up entirely of grease?"

"Precisely."

"Okay."

Luke went into the kitchen to make her food and when he came back out he discovered Lorelai, eating some pie off of a napkin.

"Hey! How'd you get that?"

"Well, first I got a napkin. Then, I lifted up the hard, plastic cover and took out a slice of pie. I know, I know....I'm not authorized to touch the sacred food that sits on Luke's counter."

"No, you're not. So, why did you?"

"Luke, I needed pie. When you need pie like I need pie some devilish urge comes over your arm and you just reach for the nearest form of pie around you."

Luke smiled lightly and mockingly rolled his eyes. "What are you saying, you're possessed?"

"Yes, by the Gods of Pie."

"Whatever."

The last of Luke's customers filed out the door of the diner leaving Luke and Lorelai sitting alone in the empty room. Luke placed a plate of food next to the plate of pie and watched her as she ate.

"You do know that excuse won't work next time, don't you?"

Lorelai's eyes widened slightly. "Why not?"

"If it does work, I'm either in an insanely good mood or I'm just really naive."

"I'll go with naive."

"I'll go with Lorelai shouldn't steal pie from Luke's Diner."

"I couldn't wait for you, you're too slow." She went back to eating her pie.

Luke shook his head in resolution. "You're one of a kind, you know that?"

"Nah, there's a lot of us, you just haven't met us yet."

"No, I'm pretty sure it's just you."

Luke saw Lorelai go for some more pie and covered her hand in his over the plastic container so she couldn't open it. She made a face and he brought her hand back away from the pie.

"Eat your burger, it's getting cold." He said and started wiping the counter.

"Ugh, fine. But, you better give me a hell of a lotta coffee tomorrow for depriving me of my pie."

"So, let me get this straight. You're addicted to coffee AND pie?"

"Well, the coffee's an addiction. The pie thing is just a temporary need. Like, when you wake up in the middle of the night and suddenly you desperately wanna watch old reruns of 'The Love Boat'.

"Sorry, that doesn't apply to me." Luke went back to wiping the counter.

"Well, okay. You suddenly wanna play with all your baseball caps and make them dance around the apartment."

"Still doesn't apply to me."

Lorelai smiled and went back to eating her burger. The night sky had turned a midnight black and most of the lights around town were dim. The people bustling home in the pure white snow made Lorelai smile. She smiled even wider when she saw new snowflakes falling from the dark skies. When the last of her burger was eaten she tugged on Luke's arm and brought him around the counter.

Luke followed the direction of her tugging. "What are you doing?"

"We, my friend, are taking a walk in the snow."

"What? No way, I'm working."

She glanced around at the empty diner. "Yes, I can see that. You're doing a very good job, but, now we must go." She pulled him towards the door and turned the knob.

"I'm not going outside, it's freezing." Luke said, backing away from the door.

Lorelai frantically turned the knob in all directions, but the door remained shut. "Uh, you know, I don't think you can anyway."

Luke snapped his head towards her. "What are you talking about?"

Panic filled Lorelai's eyes. "The door, it won't open."

Luke ran to the door. "What do mean, it won't open."

He twisted the knob and nothing happened. "Okay, don't worry, I have keys." He dug into his pockets and rummaged through them. He brought his hands back out, revealing an old lollipop stick, but no keys.

Lorelai stared the stick in his hand. "What? We're gonna open the door with that?"

"Uh, no. I'll go upstairs and check my apartment. I have keys, don't worry."

He turned around to go but Lorelai stopped him.

"Wait, I know. The door....it probably has some kind of knob or button we can press to unlock it, right? All doors have them."

She walked up to the door and knelt down, searching for a button.

"Not this one."

She whipped around, confused. "Why not?"

"Because this door was made in the '20's."

"Shoot. Well, go get the keys then."

He walked up to his apartment and searched every corner and didn't find the keys. He let out a sigh and trudged back down the steps. A small smile fell on his lips when he got back and found Lorelai sitting at the counter, drinking coffee and eating more pie. He walked closer to her and looked at her, amused.

"Explain." He simply said.

"I'm telling you, it's those damn Pie Gods."

Luke nodded his head in amusement.

Lorelai remembered about the keys. "So, did you get them?"

"What? Oh, the keys, no. They weren't up there."

"Ugh, so we have to use those windows."

"Looks like it."

They both walked over to the windows.

"Okay, pry them open." Lorelai told Luke as she went over to the counter to retrieve her coffee.

Luke unlocked the windows and pulled on them with extreme force. They didn't budge. Luke's face reddened as he tugged at the windows with all of his might. His power ceased and his muscles fell back into their original places. All of sudden, pain shot through his back.

"Oh, God." Luke's voice was low and he was out of breath. He arched his back and put his hand over his spine where obvious pain was sprouting through him.

Lorelai saw this and ran over to him and he threw his arm around her, leaning on her.

Lorelai's voice was panicky. "Are you okay?" She yelled.

"Ow!" Luke screamed.

"Ah! I'll take that as a no."

Lorelai sat down in a seat and let Luke's body fall on top of her. He was sprawled out in the seat until Lorelai slowly sat him up straight. His face was distorted and his body cringed in great pain. After a few minutes of silence, his breathing returned to it's regular frequency and his face regained it's normalcy. His one leg was draped over Lorelai's and his head leaned against one of the windows with his arms spread wide over the table.

Lorelai rubbed his arm gently and spoke quietly. "Hey, what just happened here?"

Luke sighed and another spurt of pain took over his back. "Ah, oh god. It's an injury I got when I was a kid and I ran into a cement wall on my rollerblades."

"Ouch."

"You're not kidding. And every once in a while it comes back."

Lorelai looked deep into his eyes apologetically. "Jeez, I'm so sorry."

"Nah, It's not your fault."

He tried to get up, but fell down, right on top of Lorelai.

"Ah!" She yelled as his body plopped down on her lap.

"Sorry."

"C-mon tough guy, we gotta get you upstairs so you can lie down." She said and patted his knee.

He shook his head. "No, we gotta get this window open."

She pulled on the one window. "They're frozen shut."

"Great." Luke groaned sarcastically. "How the hell are you supposed to get home?"

"Don't worry, we'll figure something out. But, right now we gotta get you into bed so come 'ere."

She held out her arms and gestured for him to lean on her. She helped him walk up the stairs to his apartment and laid him down on the bed. Lorelai sat down next to him and saw the his eyed were closed and his face was screaming pain. She rubbed his knee and sat up slowly.

"You want some tea? I'll make you some." She smiled down at him.

He didn't open his eyes, but nodded his head.

"Great."

She fixed him his tea and set it down on the nightstand next to his bed. Suddenly, Luke's eyes shot open.

"Jess!"

Lorelai turned to him and her eyes widened. "Right, Jess can't get in!"

"Oh, God." Luke groaned and put a pillow in front of his face. "That's not what I meant."

Lorelai took the pillow away and looked at him curiously. "What did you mean?"

"I mean Jess probably stole my keys. Oh God, that little idiot, I'm gonna-"

"Hold on, maybe Jess didn't take them."

Luke looked at her in amazement. "You're defending.....Jess?"

"Hey, it's not a normal occurrence, so don't get used to it." She smiled at him warmly. "I'm just saying could be a million explanations for missing keys, that's all."

"Well, I just see one and I don't like it."

"Listen, Luke, don't let him get to you. You're sick, let's focus on you, not Jess."

Luke let out another sigh. "Yeah, alright."

She reached over and lifted his cup of tea off on the table and put it in his hands.

He was laying down and couldn't drink it. "Help me up?"

She nodded and smiled. She glided her hands gently underneath his throbbing back and slowly raised him up. She got a few pillows and placed them behind his back to prop him up.

"There. Problem solved." She clapped her hands together, triumphantly. "Here's your tea."

He sipped his tea and looked at Lorelai, sitting on his bed. "Yes, but yet another problem arises. Where are you gonna sleep?"

Lorelai's face froze. "Uh, well, I'll just go downstairs and make myself a comfy little bed in the storage room or you know, uh, on the counter-"

"Lorelai...."

"Or, you know, behind the counter, there's some nice boxes I could use for pillows and some empty coffee containers."

"Lorelai, you can stay up here."

She looked at him nervously and spoke softly. "You sure?"

"I'm sure. Unless, you're more partial to the storage room....."

"Hmmm, no."

"Okay, then stay here. I might need you anyway, you know, 'cause of me not being able to move and everything."

"Right! I forgot, so I have a perfectly good reason for staying up here then."

"So the fact that we're locked inside and there's nowhere to go, isn't a good reason?"

"Well, that too...."

"Yeah."

They smiled awkwardly at each other.

Luke swallowed hard and cleared his throat. "So, uh, don't you have to call Rory?"

"She's staying at Lane's tonight."

"Oh." Luke said groggily.

Luke finished his tea and Lorelai took the empty cup into the kitchen and rinsed it out. When she came back, Luke had fallen asleep. Lorelai smiled to herself and her heart felt like it was melting as she sat on the bed beside him and watched him sleep peacefully. She sighed to herself and looked around the room. It suddenly occurred to her that there was no couch. She sighed again and went into the linen closet to collect some sheets. She fixed up a pathetic looking bed on two cushioned chairs pushed together and laid down. She stayed there for an hour, not sleeping because it was so uncomfortable, until she heard Luke mumbling something. She flicked on the dim light and saw Luke, tossing and turning in his sleep, his voice getting louder and louder.

Lorelai got worried and sat on the bed, next to him. She whispered. "Luke?"

She saw tears run down his face at the horrible dream he was immersed in. She shook his shoulders gently and his eyes popped open. The dim light of the room glazed across his teary eyes and fear and terror shone through them. She held him tightly and rubbed his back softly.

"Luke? Are you okay?"

Luke nodded and buried his face in her soft hair. She slid her arms around him and rocked him back and forth, trying to soothe him. She heard him sniffling, trying to hide his crying. She laid him back down on the bed and crawled in next to him. They were completely silent, laying there next to each other.

Luke whispered. "Lorelai?"

"Yeah?" Lorelai's small voice said nervously.

He turned to face her, his face stained from tears, and smiled weakly. "I'm sorry, sometimes I have these dumb nightmares and I wake up crying, it's stupid...."

"It's not stupid." She took in a deep, nervous breath and snuggled up, closer to his body. His heart was beating faster and an unsure look spread over his face. The same confusion and fear was also written on Lorelai's face. Neither knew what the other was thinking, all they knew was how they felt at that moment. There was so much love, so much care that was between them, and neither of them wanted to hide it any longer. Lorelai leaned her face in closer to him and grazed her lips over the fine whiskers that masqueraded over his face. Her bottom lip found its way into his mouth and their arms found their way around each others waists. His fingers slid up her shirt and slid along the smooth skin of her back as his body trembled in fear and anticipation. Tears were running out of both their eyes, however, this time they were tears of happiness.

TBC..... or "The End" - I don't know yet. ")

*If you want me to continue or leave it as it is, then tell me in reviews, please!*