Lorelai groaned softly and looked at the bedside clock, she groaned louder when she saw that it was only half 7. That meant she had only gotten a couple of hours sleep, the party finally winding down at around 3 in the morning. She rolled over and squealed in surprise when she felt a body squirm beside her. Heart pounding, she pulled the covers back roughly, relief flooding through her when she saw Rory stir.
"Rory?" she whispered softly, concerned for her now teenage daughter, very rarely did Rory join her in bed in the middle of the night.
"Time is it?" Rory mumbled, eyes screwed shut against the light.
Lorelai brushed Rory's forehead, glad when she didn't feel a temperature, "Half 7 sweets. Are you ok? Did you get sick in the night?"
"No...why?" Rory muttered, still refusing to open her eyes.
"Well...you're in my bed."
"Babette is in mine," her daughter grumbled, turning onto her other side and falling back to sleep.
Lorelai let loose a small laugh, only at one of her parties would the next door neighbour not be able to make it home. Shaking her head she clambered out of the bed, letting Rory sleep while she showered and changed before going in search of her brown elixir.
As she walked down the stairs she could see that Babette wasn't the only one to not make it home. Miss Patty was fast asleep on the sofa, her small snores drifting up the stairs, and Sookie was asleep in the single seater, her feet perched up on a pouffe. Shaking her head with a small smile she headed into the kitchen, checking that Babette was still alive in Rory's room. Satisfied that she was, Lorelai turned to her coffee machine and screeched for the second time that morning.
"Kirk?" Lorelai called, looking anywhere but at the young man asleep on her floor.
"Where am I?" he asked in response, moving ever so slightly.
"You're in my kitchen."
"You're kitchen?" he asked blearily.
"Yes, you're in my kitchen. Why are you naked Kirk?" Lorelai asked, her eyes fixed determinedly on Rory's bedroom door.
There was a short pause, in which Lorelai assumed that he checked the situation out for himself before he responded, "Oh no! Not again, sorry Lorelai."
"That's ok Kirk, but maybe you should find your clothes and go home?"
"As soon as I find them I will."
Deciding that her kitchen needed to be thoroughly disinfected before it could be used again, she headed into the living room and roused Sookie, "Hey Sookie, I really need some coffee so I'm going to Luke's to grab some. I'll bring breakfast back for you all. If Rory wakes up can you let her know where I am?"
Sookie nodded her head in agreement, barely opening her eyes. Hoping that she had heard her, Lorelai headed out the front door, deciding that it was worth risking the porch rather than seeing Kirk naked again. Her eyes scanned the garden as she made her way down the path, her eyes immediately falling on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt crumpled up in a pile.
"Kirk?" she called with a sigh, hoping that he would hear her. When she got no response she walked to the back of the house and headed into the kitchen, her hand firmly clamped over her eyes. "Kirk?"
"Yeah Lorelai?" Kirk answered casually, too casually for a naked person in Lorelai's opinion.
"Your clothes are outside on the lawn," she said, knowing that she should have brought them in for him but not wanting to run the risk of touching his underwear.
"Oh thank god, I thought I might have buried them again."
"Buried them? Again?" Lorelai responded, dumbfounded. This town could really throw you for a loop.
"I do it from time to time," Kirk answered as if he were talking about the weather.
Deciding that it wasn't worth the headache Lorelai turned on the spot and headed back down the path towards the town. It was a beautiful, crisp day and the fresh air helped to clear her head after last night. She was suffering from a severe sugar hangover and was bitterly regretting taking part in the doughnut eating competition (even if she did win hands down).
She was glad that the party had been such a success, she even thought that Luke had enjoyed it, even if he would never admit it to himself. She was glad that they had managed to have a talk and clear the air a bit. Now that they both knew where they stood she was hoping that it could go back to the way it was before the kissing incidents.
In next to no time she was opening the diner door, the familiar tinkle making her smile. Her eyes scanned over the usual crowd of people in the diner, a lot of them calling out to her as she passed them and headed towards the counter.
"Luuuuuuke," she called in her most annoying tone, knowing how much it irked him when she did it. "I am in serious need of coffee, I have seen things that people should never have to see!"
Luke popped his head out of the kitchen and gave her a withering glare, "Can you ever just wait quietly like a normal person?"
"But this is an emergency," Lorelai said with a dramatic shudder.
"With you coffee is always an emergency," Luke said with a shake of his head.
"Not like this it isn't. I have seen Kirk naked. Fully naked!"
Luke blanched, "How did that happen?"
"He was just naked in my kitchen, fast asleep on my floor."
Luke gave a small chuckle, pouring Lorelai a large mug of coffee which she sipped on gratefully. "Things must have gotten out of control after I left then."
"Not that out of hand! There was just more dancing and eating. The cops got called on us, but they just joined in after I used some of my charm on them," she replied, batting her eyelids.
Luke snorted, "God help them if you turn the charm on. Anything else I can get you?"
"Yeah, Sookie, Patty and Babette all ended up crashing over so I need enough breakfast food for all of them, to go please."
"Coming up," he said with a smile before shouting the order out to Caesar. With that done he came back to Lorelai, his face suddenly serious. "There is something I need to tell you."
"You killed someone and need help hiding the body? I would normally be more than willing to help you out but I've just showered and I didn't get much sleep last night. Sorry pal!" she babbled nervously, not liking the look on his face.
"What are you talking about?" he asked bemused before shaking his head, "Never mind, don't answer that."
Lorelai bit her tongue and waited nervously for him to gather his thoughts.
"When I got back from the party last night I had a visitor," he said slowly, watching Lorelai keenly.
"And?" Lorelai prompted when it didn't look like he was about to continue.
"And it was unexpected, I didn't think I would ever see them again and it was unplanned."
Luke's babbling was starting to make Lorelai nervous, he was king of the monosyllable and she was supposed to be the babbler, "Just spit it out Lu-"
"Hi," a perky voice interrupted.
Lorelai's head jerked towards the new voice and felt herself freeze, out from behind the curtain separating the diner from Luke's apartment a very pretty woman had emerged wearing what was undeniably one of Luke's shirts. It only took a second for comprehension to hit, this was obviously the visitor that Luke had been nervous about mentioning. Her eyes flicked back to Luke who was looking like he would rather be anywhere else in the world.
"This...this is Rachel," he stammered.
"Rachel?" Lorelai replied idiotically, too shocked to say anything else. She felt like she was about to hyperventilate.
"Yes Rachel," he nodded.
"Hi," Rachel said again, staring between Luke and Lorelai curiously.
"Rachel, this is Lorelai," Luke said, his face going red.
"It's nice to meet you," the girl responded, holding her hand out for Lorelai to shake.
Lorelai stared at the hand mutely, her brain taking too long to come up with the appropriate response. Finally it managed to click into gear and she grasped the proffered hand, "Hi, I'm Lorelai."
The girl laughed, the sound sending daggers through Lorelai's chest, "Yes, Luke said. Is it really that surprising for Luke to have a woman around the place, you look like you've seen a ghost."
Lorelai let out a weak chuckle, proud of herself for even managing that considering that she was struggling to breathe, "It's definitely unusual."
"He has always been a bit of a loner," Rachel said with a smile, sending a wink towards Lorelai.
Luke cleared his throat awkwardly, "Here's your food Lorelai."
"Oh thanks," she said quickly, jumping up and grabbing the food. "I've got to go before my guests get so hungry they eat Rory," she said weakly, giving them her best attempt at a smile. "It was nice to meet you," she said to Rachel and, avoiding looking at Luke, made her way out of the diner at top speed.
Only when the diner was out of sight did she slow down, her brain trying to sort through the new information. Luke and Rachel? The thought left a sour taste in her mouth. "Stupid," she muttered to herself angrily swiping at a tear that had escaped from her eye, what had she expected? For him to wait and pine over her? No she thought to herself, she just hadn't expected for him to move on so quickly. It was the shock of seeing her suddenly, that was all this was. She knew she liked Luke, and there was some definite attraction between them, but that was all it had been. Nothing deeper than that, but then, why did it hurt so much?