Hey, again, thanks for all the reviews

'Nice! Update Soon!' seems to be a popular one...

While I appreciate the feedback, i really wouldn't mind some constructive criticism, suggestions - anything a little bit more specific

Writing these characters unbelievably is hard

Anyway - enjoy!

While Luke was cutting some bread for them to have with their soup in the kitchen Lorelai had turned on the Television and begun idly flipping through the channels.

'Why is it that when you actually need for there to be something entertaining on tv there never is, but when step on the remote on your way out the door because you're late for work there is inevitably something unmissable on; like the episode of Oprah where Tom Cruise jumps up and down on the couch. I mean god! How can I not have seen that episode? I've seen outtakes and stuff on youtube but damnit I wanna see that in its entirety'

Luke came in carrying a tray with two bowls of soup with a cut up Baguette and two glasses of water, setting it down on the coffee table in front of the couch he turned to her

'Hm? What were you saying? I didn't catch any of that…'

She rolled her eyes 'Doesn't matter – wasn't important anyway' She shivered involuntarily.

Luke noticed 'You cold? I mean, cos I could go get you a blanket…' he gestured his hands in no particular direction as he didn't know where he would find a blanket

'Uh, yeah there should be one on Rory's bed, could you grab it?'

'Yeah, sure' He retrieved the throw from the end of Rory's bed, handing it to her he set about transferring all of the food off the tray and pulling the coffee table a little closer to the couch so that Lorelai could reach it without too much trouble. Meanwhile Lorelai arranged the blanket over her lap before carefully picking up a bowl of soup and resting it in her lap between her crossed legs while leaning back against the arm of the sofa. Luke awkwardly sat facing the television, still on but muted, his soup resting on his knees.

'Hey, make yourself comfortable' she said, tasting the soup

'I am comfortable' he insisted

'You don't look comfortable, you look awkward and uncomfortable, come on, take off your shoes, sit back, relax! – Man this soup is amazing how did you do this?'

He set his soup down carefully, then as he took off his shoes he shrugged. 'I own a diner, I cook, it's what I do, I mean I'm not a chef but hey, I am capable of more than just chilli fries and pancakes.

'I don't doubt it' she raised her spoon at him as he sat back, leaning back into the pillows a bit more

'So, how you feeling?' he asked, for lack of anything better to say

'Eugh, did you have to ask? I was doing ok not thinking about it, but if I have to take inventory well, headache is still there, scratchy throat still there but being helped by the soup, earache still there but better than before but general sicky-gross feeling definitely still present' She listed off on her fingers

'Well maybe a little less talking would do your throat some good' he pointed out

'Ah! Offended!' She raised a hand in the air 'Are you saying I talk too much?' she asked, feigning incredulity

'Basically yes, I mean you're sick, you can barely stand up, you're running a fever yet you can still manage to run that motor-mouth of yours a mile-a-minute – it's beyond me'

'Yes well my mystery is part of my allure' She tried her best to plaster a suggestive look on her face but an ill timed coughing fit ruined her plan and Luke smirked

'Okay, well if I can't talk then you will just have to do enough talking for the both of us'

He rolled his eyes, 'Yeah right'

'No, seriously, come on. I mean – tell me something I wouldn't know about you, tell me a story. Entertain me' she demanded

'I have no stories, you know everything there is to know about me'

'Oh that is so not true! You Luke Danes are a mystery a… mysterious mystery'

'Oh your vocabulary astounds me!'

'Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit' she reminded him 'Okay, if I ask you questions will you at least answer them?'

'Depends on what they are' He shifted, slightly uncomfortable at the attention

'Okay, um what is your favourite colour?' She thought she'd start with an easy one as she put her soup down and settled herself further down against the arm of the sofa, her legs stretching out slightly so they were almost in Luke's lap

'Don't have one' he replied

'Oh come on, everyone has a favourite colour'

'What is the point? Why would I like one colour any more than the rest? I mean – what is your favourite colour?'

'Pink' she replied instantly

'Ok, so what is it about the colour pink that makes it so much better than say – yellow?'

Lorelai furrowed her brow 'I dunno… I just like how it looks'

'That's not an answer'

'Well fine, what is your favourite animal?'

'Ah geez Lorelai this game isn't fun, can't we just watch a movie or something?' He grimaced

'A movie, you're voluntarily suggesting a movie?' her mouth hung open as she questioned him

'Well it's gotta be better than trying to figure out if I'm a cat or a dog person'

'Definitely dogs… cats are so anti-social'

'Pick a movie' he ordered

'Nah, I've seen them all' she gestured to the cabinet that held her and Rory's DVD collection 'You choose'

Luke approached the haphazard piles of DVD's that were strewn across various shelves of one of the bookcase. 'Well I haven't seen any of these, which cancels out your having seen all of them, why don't you just choose?'

'Ummm… ok I will give you a shortlist and you can make the final decision'

'Okay'

This was possibly the hardest decision Lorelai had ever had to make, she thought to herself. The fact that she had way more important things to think about, like why she was half naked under Rory's blanket in front of Luke, was ignored as she scanned her mental movie catalogue. Meanwhile Luke continued to browse the selection of DVD's occasionally rolling his eyes at one like 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' or 'The Brady Bunch – The Collector's Edition'.

'Okay your first choice is…' Lorelai smiled widely at Luke '….are you sure you're ready for it?'

'I think I can handle it'

'Okay, your first choice is Kung Pow; a spoof of the dubbed films in the martial arts genre'

'You watched a martial arts movie? Jackie Chan whooping asses all over Hong Kong?' Luke furrowed his brow

'No, Luke, I watched a spoof of said movie, it's footage from an old Chinese movie that they've dubbed with English in funny voices, plus the main character has just inserted himself into the old footage and… bah I can't explain it but it's - hilarious' She emphasized the last word, looking up to the ceiling as if she was praising god.

Luke was skeptical 'What is my next choice?'

'Uhhh… ok, if martial arts is not you're thing we can watch… A League of Their Own – it's about baseball' She raised her eyebrows nodding as she smugly felt she had tricked Luke into watching one of the greatest chick flicks of all time.

Luke's attention was grabbed by the mention of sport, luckily for him, as she was speaking his gaze fell on the cover for the movie she was talking about. He saw Rosie O'Donnell in a cutesy women's baseball uniform and his eyes opened wide.

'Lorelai' he spoke warningly

'Yes Luke?' she asked, feigning innocence

'Is this the movie you want to watch?' he picked up the DVD showing her the cover

'No, I mean yes… I just thought you might like to watch a movie about baseball… I was being considerate of your interests'

'No, you were trying to con me into watching Madonna and Rosie O'Donnell chew gum and throw balls around'

'Hey, Geena Davis is in it too… She's kinda hot! Well she was in Thelma and Louise, not so much anymore… female Presidents may a good thing for this country – I mean yay Hilary and all that, but they are so not hot…'

He ignored her musings, knowing she was speaking more to herself than to him anyway

'Next?' He asked

'What? Oh movie – right. Your third, and might I add final choice is… Jerry McGuire – it's about a sports agent' she added helpfully

'Are you trying to trick me again? By sports agent do you mean ballet agent?'

'No, it's proper sports, men, football I think. Tom Cruise pre Katie and jumping on couches, Renee Zelwegger pre getting fat… and then thin… and then fat again'

'Okay, let's do that one'

'K, I can't be bothered to move, just put it in'

Luke looked at her, eyebrows raised

'Wha – oh! Dirty!' She flushed slightly but recovered quickly

'Luke Danes, calling me out on a 'dirty' – well I never!' She said the last part in a terrible southern accent and he rolled his eyes and went to put the DVD into the machine.

Truth be told, Luke didn't think it was such a bad movie, and even though he would never confess it to anyone out loud, he had to admit to himself that the little blonde kid with the glasses was kinda cute… okay, okay, that kid was adorable. Lorelai stretched out onto the couch, her feet were in Luke's lap, she was comfortable, possibly a little too comfortable. Truth be told, she could get used to this, someone to look after her when she was sick, someone to hang out with… Rory wouldn't be around forever and she knew that having a man around the house would take some of the sting out of Rory leaving for college.

The thought of Rory leaving was making Lorelai feel nauseous… or was that the whole sick thing again. Yes, Lorelai was definitely starting to feel queasy again.

'Luke?' she sat up gently, trying not to move around too much lest she make herself feel even more ill than she already was

'Mm?' he didn't take his eyes off the screen

'I think I'm gonna…'

'Wha?' He looked at her quizzically, then seeing her normally glowing skin tinged with a definite shade of green realized what was needed and sprung off the couch 'Oh right' He was dashing around the living room, turning this way and that looking helplessly lost as he couldn't for the life of him see anything that would be appropriate as a receptacle for Lorelai's…. lunch.

'Kitchen' she gestured blindly, her eyes shut

'Right, kitchen' He stumbled into the kitchen, throwing open the cabinets looking for some sort of bowl, spying the bowl Lorelai usually reserved for popcorn on movie nights he grabbed it and returned to her side in time to hold back her hair and stroke her back. When he thought she had finished he went to take the bowl back to the kitchen, but she gripped it tightly

'Not done yet' she said mournfully, groaning inwardly and outwardly both at how sick she felt and how sick she thought she must look

'This is so gross' she lamented

'Lorelai, it's not 'gross', you are sick, it's just a part of life' Luke tried to act gruff, realizing that Lorelai was probably not entirely comfortable with the fact that he was seeing her like this, fixing her porch was one thing, disposing of waste product was a whole different ball game. Still Luke was determined not to be put off.

'Well, it is a gross and sucky part of life' she managed before she began spasming again.

When she had finished Luke told her to lie back down, absently removing the hair from her eyes before leaving to dispose of the contents of the bowl. He returned to her side with a damp towel which he dabbed on her forehead.

She let out a deep sigh that was bordering on a moan

'That feels nice, thank you' she mumbled, reaching up to his hand to guide the cloth down one side of her face, her neck, her collarbone… Luke snatched his hand back when he realized how quickly their hands had descended toward her chest. He looked into her eyes, she held his gaze, continuing to cool herself down with the cloth their eyes locked.

'You must be tired' he said, as she said 'We should finish the movie'

'Sure… the movie' he mumbled as she replied 'right yeah…'

So with that Luke rewound the movie to where it had been when Lorelai had started feeling sick, he returned to the couch, allowing Lorelai to make herself comfortable around him. He wasn't sure but he could have sworn that she was just a little bit closer to him, her legs placed more purposefully in his lap than before. Lorelai turned her attention back to the movie, trying not to think about the increasing tension at the back of her mind that she couldn't quite place. All Luke could think about was the damp cloth that had been abandoned on the coffee table…

As the movie credits rolled Luke looked over at Lorelai who was barely suppressing a grin

'Aw – I love the end of that movie'

'Me too' Luke replied

'Really?' Lorelai was surprised by Luke's openness to such a happy ending

'Yeah, it meant the movie was over' Luke looked pleased with himself

'Guess I walked straight into that one'

'Guess so' he replied smiling

Lorelai let out a yawn

'You should probably sleep, rest is the only way to get better' He went to get up from the couch

'You're going?' Lorelai was surprised by the level of alarm in her voice '…I mean, just cos I'm quite comfortable and I could just go to sleep now…here. It's ok you can go, you probably need to like check on the diner or something so you know… just… it's fine'

'No… I mean I don't have to… I mean I'm sure Caesar has it under control… unless you want me to…' he gestured toward the door letting his sentence drift off

'No, stay. I mean I'm probably just gonna doze but you know, you should hang around… we've got movies… and you bought food so there's some of that. And well ok I'm just gonna try and sleep' She yawned again and closed her eyes, squishing herself a little further down the couch

After about 4 seconds she opened one eye to regard Luke. 'Watcha gonna do while I sleep?'

'Uh… I could watch TV, I'm sure there's some sports on'

'You know how to use the remote?' she asked, one eye still shut

'I installed your TV Lorelai'

'Right…ok well goodnight' she shut her eye as Luke leaned over to retrieve the remote from the coffee table, trying his best not to disturb Lorelai, half of who's lower body was resting in his lap.

He flipped on the TV, locating the sports channel there was a game of baseball on, he half watched the game and half watched Lorelai who had fallen asleep soon after closing her eyes. Her breathing was laboured but other than that she appeared to be sleeping soundly. Luke let his mind reflect on the morning, being sick, he felt, had caused Lorelai to lower her guard ever so slightly. The fact that she had called him this morning, the admission that she needed him made him feel closer to her, and in return he had let his walls drop too, it was an almost imperceptible shift but the change was there none the less and he was enjoying their new dynamic.

He regarded her more closely, Luke had always known that Lorelai was beautiful, he was after all not blind. But he had seen her almost every day for 5 years and her physical attractiveness had been replaced by a warm familiarity that was no less beautiful but a whole lot more personal, every man could see her outward beauty, but one had to look carefully to really appreciate just how stunning she was, and few people looked more carefully than Luke. He was by nature an observer rather than a participant and he had spent countless hours watching her in the diner, interacting with her daughter, her friends, the town folk. And her beauty was more than how she looked it was who she was, her eyes were a piercing blue to anyone, but it was the sparkle behind them that gave them their true character, the sparkle that few people had memorized as Luke had.

He let his mind wander… to Lorelai's long legs as she had kicked off her shorts, to the feel of her arms around his neck when he had carried her down the stairs, to her delicate hands dabbing at her neck and chest with the damp cloth. Realising Lorelai's legs were in his lap he banished the thoughts from his mind, forcing himself to concentrate on the game.

Lorelai fidgeted a bit in her sleep and Luke instinctively touched a hand to her shoulder to calm her, she responded to his touch, settling herself back into the couch and letting out a contented sigh. Luke realized he was smiling fondly at her and quickly turned his attention back to the television, lest she wake up to him gazing at her like a love sick puppy. He shook his head as if that might rid his minds from thoughts of her.

He had managed to keep his eyes and mind off her for about an hour, watching the game and occasionally flicking to other channels to see what was on, when he felt her stirring.

She let out a yawn, stretching her arms

'I feel gross…. I need a shower. Help me upstairs?'

He looked over at her, struggling to sit up, and suddenly could not get the image of Lorelai naked in the shower out of his mind. Luke groaned inwardly… this was going to be difficult.