Author's Note: I feel horrible about this, I really do. I should have had this up, but yet again my computer faced troubles. That, and the semester started back up, so I've had to deal with the courseload. Plus, family came in earlier than expected, so I've had to deal with that as well. Anyway, here we are with the next chapter. It's not a huge step, but a significant one. Hope that you like, and of course...please review. Thank you!

Chapter Fourteen: I've Got A Feeling

"I already explained to you several times, Mr.Derscham, that I cannot hold your room for you. Either you and your wife come as soon as possible, or your room will be given away. Thank you." Michel said as Lorelai walked toward the front desk. "May I help you?" He asked before setting down the phone.

"Um..Lorelai Gilmore, I kind of run this place. Should I really be required to give you information to get a room?" She asked, grinning when she saw the annoyed expression on his face.

"Do you have any idea of what I have had to deal with today, Lorelai? This Mr.Derscham has called three separate times, explaining that he and his wife who are coming from Colorado, but will need to stop by to visit his sister in Oklahoma first to make sure that she can keep their cat. I already told him I cannot hold their room for a whole week, what else can I do?"

Lorelai nodded politely while tapping her nails against the counter. "Okay, well...just let me know if he calls again. I'll take care of it."

Michel gave her a look that told her he was offended. "Do you not understand what I am saying? This man is impossible, Lorelai."

"Michel?" Lorelai asked calmly. "If he calls...let me know." With that, she wandered into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. She stopped blankly upon seeing the sight before her.

"No, no...Dylan, I told you earlier. You can't put the apples in with the dumplings yet, they haven't had enough time to plump." Sookie said before rolling over the dough again with her rolling pin.

"Sookie, what are you doing?" Lorelai asked, her coffee momentarily forgotten.

"Apparently, I can't take a decent leave. I just, I leave this place and I start having nightmares about pork chops being served without being cooked thouroughly, or cheescake that isn't moist. Oh, honey...I just-" Sookie shook her head, her flour-clad hands flying into the air. "I'm hopeless."

"Sookie..." Lorelai whispered, placing a gentle hand on her friend's shoulder. "It's only been a month. We have a temporary chef who is perfectly capable of taking care of your menu until you can get back."

"But I am back, and I can't leave." Sookie cried. "Do you see this?" She said, stopping a server from walking by. "This is supposed to be lamb roast with rosemary mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce glaze. Instead, it's lamb roast with rosemary potatoes and orange glaze. Seriously, how hard can it be?"

Lorelai sighed and offered an apologetic smile at the server before letting him pass.

"Lorelai, what are you doing?"

"I'm letting our customers have their food. Sookie, people come here to experience the atmosphere, and the...the relaxation. It doesn't matter what kind of glaze they have. They don't care if-"

"Oh, I just don't know." She cried before tossing a dishtowel onto the counter. "Suzie has been keeping me up day and night, and Jackson...Jackson tries. But with Davey and Martha, he already has his hands full. I mean, I'll put it to you this way..you and Luke are lucky enough that Rory is already grown up and out of the house, because if you two ever have any kids, it would only add to the craziness."

Lorelai realized that Sookie's comment was only because of the stress she was under, but what she'd said caught on a thought that was sticking out in her mind. Choosing to leave it for later, she once again tried consoling Sookie. Seeing the temporary replacement for her friend standing in the corner, she waved him over. "See this nice man? He wants to help us. He wants to make the food that you make, so you cna go home to your babies, and to your husband. It's already been a month, Sook...things will start to calm down eventually."

"Eventually, yeah! When Suzie turns one, maybe. Or, who knows? Maybe she's one of those really loud babies who just keep crying, and crying...they cry so much it's just a freaking crying factory!"

"Lorelai!" Michel's voice came from the other room.

When Lorelai made an attempt to leave the room, Sookie followed her. "Where are you going? Lorelai, you can't just go."

"No, but you can." Lorelai said. "I'm going to go take care of this situation with Michel, and when I come back, if you're still here...sweets, I'm calling Jackson."

"Lorelai!" Michel bellowed again.

She sighed before offering Sookie a shrug. "I mean it, Sook. Get home."

Due to the craziness of the lunch rush at the Inn, Lorelai was unable to get out to visit Luke until later. She knew he wouldn't mind as it happened occasionally, but the thought still worried her that he could have. Her conversation with Sookie from earlier in the afternoon came back to her as she drove the Jeep down the streets of Stars Hollow. The house was big enough, and as Sookie had so blatantly put it, Rory had already moved out.

Something about it didn't 'gel' right, though. As nice as the idea sounded, fear crept up inside as she thought of what happened the last time. Sure, things were so much better between them than they had been, and they'd been working at keeping the communication lines open. She was quick to point out when he did things that irked her, just as Luke wasn't about to let a chance slip by to bug her about her eating habits.

Frowning, Lorelai pulled her Jeep to a stop before the diner, her thoughts completely in a jumble within her head. She was reaching for the handle when she heard a voice behind her.

"I see you're going into the diner." Kirk said, walking up slowly to greet her.

"Why, yes...I am. It's what I do eveyday, Kirk." Lorelai said, not phased by his normally strange behavior.

"Very well then, Lorelai. Might I trouble you enough to purchase me something, though?" This time, his voice faltered a little, but it was still clear that he was trying his best to act official.

"Did Luke scare you enough to make you stay outside?" Lorelai asked, not doubting the answer.

Kirk shook his head firmly. "No, you see...mother was reading an article in an important magazine last week that said a study showed that a meal would be so much more enjoyable if it were eaten outside. Look around, Lorelai...your beloved Luke has no outdoor eating space available."

Lorelai smiled, clearly annoyed, but beginning to let her hunger get the best of her. "I understand, Kirk. Just come inside, and bring the food out here."

"I already tried, and succeeded only in having Luke throwing a dishtowel at me and swearing that if he caught me with one of his plates outside again, he's charge me triple for any scratches he found."

She couldn'y help but laugh, as it seemed like a comment that Luke would typically make. Seeing Luke headed for the door, she waved him off. "Love to stay and chat Kirk, but...I've gotta eat."

"You're making a mistake!" Kirk chimed as she opened the door.

Upon seeing Luke, the nerves that Lorelai felt inside slowly began to disentangle. Offering a smile, she shrugged. "You're starting to chase him off, it's a start."

Luke shook his head. "Why bother when I know that he'll come back?"

"You've got a point." Lorelai sighed. She kissed him, not caring for the moment that anyone else in the diner saw. It was a custom that she'd grown used to, and knew that if they were going to look, trying to hide it wouldn't stop them. "So, coffee?"

"Coming right up." Luke said, gesturing to the coffee pot as he went behind the counter. He glanced across the counter and Lorelai, and couldn't help but get the feeling that something about her was off. He knew her better than anyone else, at least that was what she herself had said. Despite that, Luke felt like whatever it was couldn't be pinpointed by a simple "what's wrong?". Placing the cup in front of her, he got to work on the order he already knew she'd place, and set it before her before she'd even moved. "Lorelai?"

She blinked once. Twice. Looking up at him, she was surprised to see the worry laced through his gaze. She felt guilt swimming in her gut, but decided to call it a delayed form of a hunger pang. The thoughts that were all competing for first place in her head weren't willing to silence themselves long enough for her to offer Luke a decent answer, and she owed him that. "Can you make this to go?"

"Sure." Luke asked. "Everything busy at the Inn?"

"Yeah." Lorelai said. It was, afterall, a fact. "I have to go. I'll see you at home?" She asked weakly.

Luke nodded before handing her the bag, staring at her warily as she left. Before he had a chance to even think about the fact that she hadn't kissed him goodbye, Luke was once again on the listening end of Kirk knocking on the door. "Aw, Jeez." He muttered. "Just come in!"

The day continued for Luke in the usual stream of hectic behavior. Eventually, Taylor came out of Doose's and convinced Kirk to go inside because of the commotion he was causing. Luke wasn't sure whether or not it was a good idea, because he still had to deal with him either way. He got to the house that night and made dinner as usual. Lorelai seemed to have cheered up a little more than she had before, but something about the way she was acting bothered him. "Everything okay?" He asked when they laid in bed that night.

She nodded her head against his chest, because she herself could have sworn that it was true. "Yeah, I'm just tired."

"You've gotta stop overworking yourself, Lorelai. That Inn practically runs itself, I mean sure...you're the most important part, but..." Luke trailed off, rubbing her bare shoulder with his hand. He gave it a squeeze before kissing the top her of her head. "Sookie try and sneak back in today?"

"Yep. She kept saying that she was worried the kitchen wouldn't survive without her. Something about nightmares of rare meat, and bad desserts. I guess the kids really have her hands full." Lorelai sighed before settling her hand against the middle of his chest. The safe feeling she got when she was with him was something she realized long before she didn't feel anywhere else. He was making an attempt at helping her feel better, and she hated thinking that she could be shutting it down. "Luke?"

"Yeah?" He muttered against her hair.

Lorelai bit her lip, the words she'd been preparing for the last month threatening to flow. She wanted them to; needed to vocalize what it ws she was feeling. Try as she might though, and the right words wouldn't come. Not wanting to spoil the perfect evening they'd been having, she settled for a kiss against his chest. "Night."