A/N: Shameless stole some show dialogue, but as Max doesn't really exist in this fic I think its fine.

Lorelai sauntered into the kitchen at the inn with a definite spring in her step. Sookie spotted her the minute she entered and dropped what she was doing to grab her arm.

"Luke was in here looking for you!"

"I know," she replied with a wicked grin.

Sookie paused and narrowed her eyes at Lorelai. "Wait a minute, you're wearing different clothes." She leaned in and sniffed Lorelai's hair. "And you showered." she gasped and leaned back, covering her mouth with her hand. "You've had sex!" she said with a shriek and a giggle. "You've had sex with Luke!"

"Sookie!" Lorelai grabbed her friends arm and pulled her outside to the back porch but Sookie skipped and danced delightedly behind her. "Keep it down will you?"

"What happened?"

"I checked for him at the diner but he wasn't there, so I went home to gather my thoughts. He found me there and we talked it out."

"Talked?"

"At first."

"Ohhhh!" Sookie grabbed Lorelai's arm and shook it. "What happened then?"

"We talked, he told me what's being going on with him, what's been driving him crazy. And then we...made up."

"Made out more like."

"That too."

Sookie grabbed her friends arm and shook it with delight. "I knew you two would make up."

"I heard you threatened him with an icing bag."

"Threatened is such an ugly word."

"Thanks Sookie." She reached over and hugged her friend.

"So wasn't I right that this issue had nothing to do with you, doesn't he find you as completely irresistible as he should?"

Lorelai chuckled and thought of the afternoon spent with Luke and felt herself blushing. "He certainly does."

"So are you two an item now… or…?"

"An item, definitely an item."

Sookie squealed with delight again and danced in a circle around her. "This calls for celebration cake!"

"I'm going to go meet Rory off the bus, if that's ok." Lorelai said. "I want to talk to her about all this before it gets out around town and she find another way."

"Of course, of course."

A few hours later Lorelai was sitting at the bus stop at the square waiting for Rory to climb off her bus and when she did, she stood and engulfed her daughter in a tight hug.

"What's all this?" Rory said as she leaned into her mother's arms.

"I wanted to meet you off the bus and go for a walk."

"A walk?" Rory pulled back and held her mother at arm's length. "Now I know something is wrong."

"Nothing is wrong, everything is great," Lorelai said smiling.

"So what's all this?"

Lorelai linked arms with Rory and guided her towards the gazebo. They claimed the bench in the centre and sat side by side, Rory watching her mother for any sign that what she was about to tell her was going to be bad news.

"Well?" Rory prodded.

"I um...me and...hmmm...this is harder than I thought it was going to be."

"Mom you're starting to worry me." Rory took her mother's hand.

"No honey, don't worry." Lorelai smiled. "I want to date Luke. I am dating Luke. Luke and I are dating."

"Really?" Rory frowned. "I thought you guys were giving each other space, I thought you were fighting."

"We made up."

"Ew," Rory said and pulled back but Lorelai followed her with a smile and a chuckle.

"No honey, that's not what I mean." Lorelai brushed her daughters hair behind her ears. "We had had a bit of a disagreement, but that's over now. We talked today and we want to give each other a chance...at dating."

"Dating." Rory mulled the word over. "Does that mean he will be staying over?"

"Yes." Lorelai said resolutely, not a trace of hesitation. "Unless you feel completely weirded out by that. But I really hope you don't."

"I don't think it would be that weird. I mean it's Luke."

"Yeah, Luke."

"Does this mean we can go back to eating at the diner?"

Lorelai laughed. "Yes, it does."

"Then I'm fine with it."

"Really? All jokes aside?"

"Yes mom. Luke is a great guy. He will treat you well, but I really like him, so if you hurt him…"

Lorelai smiled and hugged her daughter close. "He's going to come over tonight for movie night. Thought it would be good to show him all our bad habits straight away."

"Good thinking." Lets go pick out a truly bad movie then, so if he makes it through that, we know he's a keeper."

Lorelai laughed and the two of them stood and walked to the video rental arm in arm.

Luke saw Lorelai arrive at the bus stop and he was about to go over and meet her when he realised what she was doing. He tried to keep busy in the diner, serving customers, taking orders but he only managed to muck things up so Caesar kicked him out just as Rory's bus pulled up.

He raced up to his apartment and over to the window by the sink which looked out over the square. He watched the Gilmore girls walk arm in arm towards the gazebo and chat. He tried to see any changes in their demeanour. Any sign that whatever they were talking about, he knew it to be him, was being taken badly. He watched them hug and laugh and his heart started to beat again.

Luke checked his watch. It was just past four. Way too long before he was going to call round. He went over to his bed and flopped down on it face first.

At about seven, showered, and changed and ready to go to Lorelai's he reached for the phone and dialled her number with his thumb. It rang twice before she picked up, laughing and breathless.

"Gilmore house of beauty, this the head cutie!" she said and Luke heard Rory groan in the background.

"Lorelai?"

"Hey, Luke,"

Rory wuuuu'd as she walked by the phone and Lorelai laughed.

"Hey, I was just wondering if you needed me to bring anything by later."

"Just your hot bod."

"I mean fries, or something?"

"We've just ordered chinese food, I hope you like chicken and pork, as we finished the beef side last week."

"Yeah sure that's fine. So I don't need to bring anything?"

"Well I never said that…"

"Donuts?"

"And danishes!"

"Okay. I'll see you shortly."

"Food should be here in about thirty minutes, so if you wanted to come early…" Lorelai trailed off and twirled the phone cord around her finger.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, do, come whenever you're ready, we're just sitting on the couch eating ice cream."

"Ice cream? Didn't you just say you ordered chinese food?"

"Yeah, it's a palate cleanser."

"Okay, I'm not even going to pull that thread." He chuckled. "I'll see you in a little while."

Luke arrived shortly with two coffees and a bag of various pastries which the girls quickly devoured despite the take out being due to arrive any minute. They huddled on the couch, ate out of cartons, swapping them back and forth until everything was gone, and watched a schlock horror movie called "Chopping Mall" which Luke had the audacity to laugh at, earning him more than a few glares from the girls who sat either side of him.

Lorelai's feet were tucked under his leg and his hand rested on her ankle, his thumb rubbing soft circles into her skin.

After the movie, the girls got back to snacking on pastries for a little while longer then Rory stood up and declared it time for her to go to bed. Luke stood with her and not wanting to be the only person sitting Lorelai stood too. Rory kissed her cheek and waved at Luke then hurried off to her room.

"Um, why are we standing?" she asked as Luke shucked his jeans and looked around the room.

"I should go."

"Go?" Lorelai grabbed his arm and pulled him back onto the seat next to her. "Why would you leave?"

"I thought, with Rory…"

"Thought with Rory what?" she urged him to continue.

"Thought I should leave when she went to bed."

"But...you're not staying?"

"Staying?" he turned and looked at her in shock. "Rory is right there!"

"And we'll be all the way over on the other side of the house, up there!" She pointed at her room.

"Lorelai-"

"Wait, let me get this straight." She reseated herself on the couch, crossing one leg under herself, the other she draped over his lap. "We're dating now."

"Yeah."

"And we're exclusive."

"Yes!" he frowned at her, not sure where this was going.

"So we're dating and sleeping together, but you won't sleep here while Rory is home."

"I mean…"

"And she has three more years of high school left." Lorelai cupped his face and made him look at her. "So are you going to be abstinent from now until Rory leaves home?"

"No." He coughed lightly. "I mean, there'll be sleep overs right?"

Lorelai chuckled. "Not nearly enough."

"Lorelai, I just don't want her to be freaked out by this, by us, by me."

"She won't be." Lorelai leaned in and kissed his cheek. "We already talked about it. She's fine with it."

"She is?"

"Mmm hmm." She stood and reached out her hand for him and after only a quick glance over at Rory's room Luke took her hand and let her lead him upstairs.

They got to her door and he pulled her back before they entered. "Would it be ok if we just slept?"

Lorelai smiled. She nodded, tugged his arm and led her into his room. He spotted that the bed sheets had been changed since he was in here earlier but little else had. The piles of clothing draped on nearly every surface including his rumpled shirt over by the laundry basket remained untouched.

"I didn't bring anything to sleep in." he said when he spotted her pulling out a pair of PJs from a drawer.

"What do you usually sleep in?" she was pulling her top off and he almost looked away.

"Sweats, and a tee."

"Well you can keep on the tee if you like and use your boxers."

"Lorelai, are you sure about this?"

Lorelai pulled a tank top on over her head and pulled it down fully then turned around and walked over to him. She took both of his hands in hers and rubbed her thumbs over his palms. "Luke, I don't want to make you uncomfortable. If you do not want to stay, I won't be offended by your leaving." She reached up on tip toes and kissed his lips softly.

"I want to stay," he said as his hands gripped her hips lightly. "But I want to be sure Rory is ok with us first."

"Well then, let me go check." She kissed Luke again then danced out of the room, ignoring his protests. She hurried down stairs and carefully opened Rory's door. The room was dark and a book with a reading light attached was resting on the girls chest.

"Hey Rory, sweetie… are you awake?"

"No."

Lorelai smiled and climbed onto the bed behind her daughter and snuggled up next to her.

"What do you want woman? I'm trying to sleep."

"I have a boy in my room."

"So?"

"So, I have a boy in my room!" she said giving Rory's arm a little shake.

"It's Luke."

"I know."

"You like Luke."

"Yes, of course I do. But it's weird. We've never had a man in the house."

"Dad has slept here."

"On the couch." Lorelai corrected. "We've never had a man in the house like this, up there," she pointed at the ceiling.

"You just need to adjust."

"How about you? Do you need to adjust?"

"I've adjusted fine. I'm trying to sleep."

"He's up there now, waiting for me."

"Then you should scurry off and get back to him." Rory paused for a moment then half rolled over to face her mother over her shoulder. "Are you happy?"

"Yes, I am," Lorelai said as she buried her face against Rory's shoulder, almost hiding the vibrance of her smile.

"Then you'll get used to it."

"I know, I will." She kissed Rory's temple and climbed out of the bed. "Goodnight kid."

"Night mom." Rory rolled back onto her side as Lorelai pulled the door closed.

Luke was up in her room pacing.

He had pulled off his shirt and undershirt but as he took off his boots and stood to remove his pants he hesitated. What if Rory was weirded out by him being there, what if he had to leave, he didn't want to have to dress all over again. Instead he sat on the edge of the bed, but he couldn't sit still while the gilmore girls were down stairs deciding his fate.

So he started to pace.

He paused when he heard Lorelai rushing back up the stairs and when she came bounded in with a smile on her face he started to relax.

"Hey good lookin'" She said as she approached and let both hands roam over his chest. "I'm liking this half dressed look."

"What did she say?"

"She is fine with it." Lorelai reached up and kissed him softly then stepped back and went over to the drawers to continue getting ready. She pulled off her jeans and panties and slipped into a pair of light cotton pyjama shorts. When she turned, expecting to see Luke ready for bed, she noticed he hadn't moved and instead was just staring at her. "What?"

"You're beautiful."

Lorelai blushed. She walked over to him and rested her hands on his chest again. "You like what you see?"

"I do."

"Well get off these damn jeans and you can snuggle up to it too." she spoke as she walked into the bathroom and it took a moment more before Luke was able to move. He took off his jeans and draped it over the back of the chair along with his shirts. When he turned to the bed and pulled down the duvet and rested on the side until she came back.

"Bathroom is all yours," she said as she rubbed the last of her cream into her face and neck.

"You have a side of the bed?"

"Hmm?"

"Which side of the bed do you lie on?"

"There is no side of the bed when you're sleeping in it alone." She crossed the room and swayed next to him. "What about you?"

"There is no side of the bed when it's a single."

Lorelai smiled and slapped his thigh. "Perfect then."

Luke went to use the bathroom and Lorelai climbed into bed after turning off the lights, leaving only a lamp lit for him to make his way back. Luke had never felt so self conscious as he did crossing that room back over to her bed. He climbed in, flinching at ever squeaky spring or knock of the headboard against the wall.

He settled against the soft mattress and curled one arm behind his head. The other he moved to his slide and held open for her to rest against him. Her head landed on his chest, her hand on his stomach and her leg draped over one of his as she nestled against him and purred.

"This is good." he kissed the top of her head. "This is real good."

"Could be better," she said as her hand started to move down his stomach but he moved like lightning and stopped her.

"No, this is perfect."

"Perfect?"

"Yeah, this right now, right here, this is perfect."

Luke brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it tenderly then held it against his chest and closed his eyes.

"This is perfect." she said against him and kissed his chest before falling into a sweet slumber next to him.

Luke woke the next morning with Lorelai spooning against him, her butt nestled into his crotch, her hand over his side holding him in place while he had one hand on her breast, and the other on her hip She was soft and warm and her top had ridden up to her next exposing her fully to him. The hand he had on her hip had two fingers below the cuff off her shorts and he could feel the wisps of soft hair between her legs.

Based on the amount of light that was shining in through the windows, Luke guessed it was before 5 and he should start making tracks to get back to the diner to start his day but he was equally sure, wild horses couldn't drag him away from this moment.

Her body curled into his, her soft ass pressed into him, her firm fingers against his ass, her breast heavy and soft in his hand. He didn't mean to move but he couldn't help it. His fingers curled against her and her body responded with a slow arch into his hand.

"Luke?" she murmured, her voice heavy with sleep.

"Mmm." he kissed her shoulder and pulled her back against him. "Morning."

"Morning." She moved to turn to face him but he held her in place.

"No, don't move."

"Luke…"

"If you turn to face me, my resolve will all be lost. And I need to not lose my resolve."

"Seems to me," she whispered as she pressed her breast into his palm and he squeezed it tenderly. "You don't have much resolve left to lose."

"Lorelai," He bit her shoulder and laved the red skin with his tongue. "I need to go and sort out the diner."

"No, not yet. Five more minutes."

"Five more minutes and it'll be too late."

As if only noticing then that his other hand was on her hip she rolled them to make his reach go further, and clenched her ass against him. "I don't need five minutes."

"You need a straight jacket."

"Kinky." Luke chuckled and kissed her shoulder then started to roll away from her but she whimpered. "No, not yet, you're so warm."

"And hard." he rolled his hips against her ass and she clenched against his cock before he rolled away entirely and lay on his back.

"Tease," she pouted.

At that Luke sat up and pulled her onto her back, he hovered over her, his lips mere milimetres away from hers as his hand moved from her shoulder to cup her breast, down her hip to cup her mound.

"Make no mistake Lorelai Gilmore. I want you. I want you more than I want to breathe." He rolled his hips towards her in case she wasn't convinced. "I'm not teasing, I want to and intend to do unspeakable things to you, but right now, your daughter is downstairs and I want to not make it weird."

"Do unspeakable things," she urged as she lifted her hips up into his hand. "Do them Luke."

"I don't believe that you will be able to keep the volume at a respectable level."

"I will Luke, I will!" she whispered as if showing him what she was capable of.

"That might work with your usual bedfellows Lorelai, but I know you better."

"First of all," she said as she pushed on his shoulder and made him fall onto his back where she quickly followed him and straddled him. "I do not have usual bedfellows, you are the first man to ever, I say, ever sleep in this bed!" At that admission Luke looked suitably shocked. "Secondly, you might know me, Luke Danes, you might know me better than most people, but you do not know what I'm capable of in bed."

"I'm beginning to think that's true."

"And thirdly," she said as she lowered her body to hover above him, lifting herself off his erection that was straining against his boxers. Luke moaned at the loss of contact then grabbed her hips to hold her still.

"Thirdly?"

"Thirdly, what makes you think you can make me moan loud enough to wake Rory anyway!" This statement was accompanied by a challenging smile and a twinkle in her eye and Luke knew when he was being baited. He also know there was no use in trying to avoid it.

He flipped her over onto her back and pressed against her with his whole body. "You want it?" he kissed her neck, clamped his teeth down on her shoulder as his hand sought out her breast and pinched her nipple. "I have what you need," he rolled his hips towards her. "And I'm going to give it to you," he bent down and gave her a searing kiss. "But not right now."

Before the words registered, Luke climbed off her and grabbed his jeans off the chair.

"Luke?"

"I need to go." He pulled on his jeans and grabbed his shirts.

"Luke!" she sat up and watched him pull on his shirts.

"I gotta go open the diner."

"Luke!" she slammed her fists onto the bed and Luke couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks for letting me stay over." He sat on the chair and pulled on both of his boots, not bothering to tie the laces.

"Lucas Danes." This time her voice was low and threatening and Luke smiled. He crossed the room, leaned onto the bed with closed fists either side of her legs and kissed her swiftly on the cheek.

"See you guys for breakfast?"

Lorelai nodded mutley and watched as Luke hurried out of her room, leaving her sitting in a swirl of arousal and frustration. She fell back into her pillows and and slammed her fists against the bed again.

"That damned Lucas Danes."

Once home, Luke showered and changed and hurried to catch up with his opening routine. The breakfast rush was enough to keep his mind off the expression on Lorelai's face when he climbed out of her bed and he couldn't help but feel a little triumphant about it. At 8am he spotted mother and daughter crossing the road towards his diner and he braced himself for whatever revenge she had install for him.

They entered with a flourish and Lorelai caught his wince when the bell rang. She knew why he winced, she felt that same pang of desire when that bell rang, but she was expecting it, she could hide it better. Luke lay his hands on the counter and watched her cross the room. She was wearing that same damned skirt he released, the same one she wore when he first grabbed her. She took a seat by the window and Rory landed beside her, dropping her massive school bag onto another chair.

Lorelai picked up a menu and watched him surreptitiously over the top of it and he knew, without a shadow of a doubt that she was smiling at him.

"What are you doing mom?"

"Nothing."

"Put the menu down." Rory grabbed her mother's arm to make her drop the menu. "Stop teasing him."

"I'm not teasing." Lorelai put the menu back between the salt and pepper shakers but kept her eyes locked on Luke's. "I'm merely trying to let him know we're ready to order."

"It's Luke, we've been coming in here daily for years, he probably knows what we're getting, let alone when we want to order it."

"It never hurts to be prepared."

Luke kept his eyes locked on hers and took a breath before coming around the counter and approaching the table. He pulled his pad and pen out of the front of his jeans and watched Lorelai's eyes flutter down to his belt.

"What are you having?"

"Waffle and strawberries for me," Rory said, then added "And a straight jacket for my mother."

"I have one in the back, extra strong straps."

"Perfect." She smiled sweetly at Lorelai but she was ignoring them both and just smiling at Luke.

"I'll have jack omelette with white toast and nutella."

Luke cocked an eyebrow up and focused on her before writing it down. "Nutella?"

"It's a breakfast spread." She unzipped her jacket and reached behind her chair to pull it off, one sleeve at a time, making her breasts protrude towards him.

"Says who?" he tried not to look down at her chest. She was wearing a spaghetti strapped hot pink silk blouse with a low cut front and back that made him want to drop to his knees and worship at the altar or Lorelai. Instead he clenched his jaw and focused his eyes on her face.

"The tv.."

"Oh right well then," he wrote it down with a slow shake of his head. "Coffee?"

"Yes, strong, black and fast."

"Me too." Rory added sweetly.

Luke rolled his eyes and went back to the counter to grab a couple of mugs and the fresh pot he had just made. "Two heart stompers," he muttered as he poured out their drinks but they both just giggled so he rolled his eyes and walked away.

As Luke roamed around the diner seeing to other customers Lorelai watched him with her chin in her hand, and a dreamy look on her face.

"Mom."

"Yep?"

"Is it going to be like this between you and Luke now?"

"Huh?" She refocused on her daughter. "Like what?"

"Googly eyes."

Lorelai smiled and blushed a little. "No. At least, not for ever." She sipped her coffee and leaned closer to Rory. "So last night-"

"Wait… no," Rory covered her ears and screwed her eyes shut. "I don't want to know what you did last night."

"Rory!" Lorelai said with a laugh and pulled at her daughter's arms. "I know better than to share anything like that with you, though for your information, we only slept," Lorelai said. "What I was going to say was last night, hanging out with Luke was great."

Rory smiled. "It was."

"I wanted to say thank you for that."

"You're thanking me? All I did was eat his pastries."

"Yeah well, you did a lot more than that." Lorelai put her hand over Rory's and smiled warmly. "Have I told you yet today how great you are?"

"No," Rory said, lifting her chin.

"Well you're great."

"So are you guys officially-"

"Officially. Medals and a certificate in the post, it will be framed and added to the wall next to the cell phone sign."

"Does that mean he's going to start coming to Friday night dinners?"

"Whoa!" Lorelai held her hands up in surrender and leaned back in her chair. "Let's not get crazy!"

"But you said official, with a certificate and everything."

"Official does not mean he deserves punishment, in fact I would say he deserves the opposite." Lorelai sipped her coffee. "We like Luke remember? We want him to stick around."

Just then Luke swooped in carrying their plates and placed them in front of each of them. "Waffles, and omelette." He stood back, his hands on his hips and looked down at them both, as each of them looked up at him smiling. "What?"

"Yeah, you're right," Rory said as she picked up her cutlery. "We do like him, let's keep him out of harm's way."

"Huh?" Luke frowned and looked over at Lorelai who had her cup up to her lips and still managed to smile.

"Nevermind hun, you go back to doing what you're doing." Lorelai shooed him away with a pat on his butt and Luke rolled his eyes before returning to the safety of his counter.

They ate and chatted, teased him from across the diner and finished their coffee before Rory jumped up and grabbed her bag before racing for the bus that was just pulling up. Luke came by to clear their table and noticed that Lorelai seemed to be getting comfortable, and showed no signs of leaving for work.

"Refill?"

"Please." She held out her cup and he returned with the coffee. Her eyes never left him as he worked the room, refilling everyone's mugs, some who hadn't even had coffee in the first place.

When the breakfast crowd died down, she moved from her seat to a stool at the end of the counter and after ignoring her for a few minutes more Luke caved and slowly walked over. He leaned over beside, with his forearms on the counter, and clasped his hands in front of him, trying desperately to keep his eyes above her neck line.

"Not working this morning?" he asked.

"Oh I'm working, working hard."

"At driving me crazy?"

"Is it working?"

Luke let his eyes drop from hers, to her lips, that she licked slowly when she noticed his gaze wandering, to her chin, that she jutted out over her slender neck, to her chest where he just now realised was completely free of any encasement and was simply brushing against the soft silk of her blouse.

"Yes." he said without moving his eyes off her chest, making her breathing speed up which in turn moved her breasts beneath his gaze. "Yes, it most certainly is working." He looked back up to her sparkling eyes and leaned into kiss her just as the phone against the wall rang. Luke paused, his lips hovering by hers and he sighed. He planted a quick kiss against her lips then walked over to the phone and barked into it.

"Luke's"

Lorelai picked up her coffee and sipped it as she watched him walk away, careful to have her eyes on his ass when he turned around. Sure enough as he leaned back against the counter behind him and looked over, he frowned at her and waved his hand as if to shoo her gaze.

"What?...Liz...wait, put her back on the phone." Lorelai sat up, all thoughts of annoying him flushed away at the urgency in his voice. "Put her back on the phone right now dammit." She jumped off her stool and rushed to his side, placing a hand on his arm to let him know she was there. "Eric, you piece of shit…No! You cannot do that...let me talk to Liz...yeah, I'd like to see you try." Luke turned his back to the diner and Lorelai's hand dragged from his arm to his back and she held it there. "Give. Her. The. Phone." He said through gritted teeth then turned to look at the phone in his hand before slamming it onto the holder on the wall.

"Luke, what happened?"

"Liz called." He looked furious. He started to pace behind the counter and Lorelai followed. "Jesus christ."

"What?"

"She called but he snatched the phone off her." Luke thumped the edge of the counter making the few customers in the place jump.

"Hey, stop, you'll hurt yourself," Lorelai said and she snatched his hand and held it against her. "C'mon."

She dragged him behind the curtain and upstairs to his apartment then led him to a chair in the kitchen area and pushed him down. She pulled out another chair and sat across from him, still holding his hand in both of hers.

"Tell me what happened."

"Liz just called… but when she tried to talk to me her boyfriend snatched the phone off her. He wouldn't put her back on."

"What did she say?"

"Nothing, she barely said hello when he took the phone."

"What did he say?"

"He threatened me."

"What?"

"He threatened me with legal action first… then to beat me up." Luke shook his head in disbelief and took his hand back from Lorelai to sink his elbows on his knees and his face in both hands. Not content to not be touching him, Lorelai rested a hand on his shoulder and slowly rubbed it back and forth. "I thought I was too old to be threatened by my sisters boyfriends," he said with a chuckle but Lorelai knew this was forced mirth.

"What can we do?"

"Do?" Luke scoffed as he sat back, making her hand drop to his lap. "Nothing, this is par for the course with Liz."

"Luke, you should reach out to her, where is she?"

"I don't know Lorelai." He stood up and started pacing. "She moves around, she goes from place to place, dragging her son along and staying with whatever random guy will salve whatever it is she is craving at that time."

"Luke-"

"There's nowhere to go!" he shouted. "Nothing to do!"

"But-"

"You don't understand Lorelai," He whirled round to face her and jabbed his chest with two fingers. "I've been here before, I've taken those phone calls before, I've gone looking for her before, only to be told to go away and get out of her life."

Lorelai waited for the wind to leave his sails then when his hands dropped by his sides, his shoulders slumped, and his chin dropped to his chest, she stood and approached. Without waiting for an invite, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him close. As soon as she held him, his arms moved to circle her back and his head dropped to her shoulder. Lorelai whispered soothing noises against his ear, as one hand held his head against her, the other moved to his back to slowly rub circles between his shoulders.

"I'm so tired." he whispered against the skin on her shoulder. Lorelai wasn't sure if she heard him right, but loathed to lean back for fear of moving him away. "I'm so tired of chasing after her, of trying to fix whatever mess she is in, of putting my own life on hold to make sure everyone around me is happy, healthy, safe...I just want...I just want…"

"What?" Lorelai whispered, urging him to go on, her heart in her chest beating a powerful erratic rhythm.

"Uh, I dunno."

She kissed his temple and lightly scratched the back of his neck with her nails. She held him for as long as he needed and surprisingly, he let her. His forehead was heavy on her shoulder, his arms circled her slim waist, and pulled her tight against him.