"It's Still There – part 8"

. . . . .

When they arrived home from the hospital, they went right upstairs to the bedroom so Luke could take a nap before lunch. After helping him change into sweatpants and get comfortable in the bed, Lorelai went downstairs where Rory was studying on the couch.

"Everything okay?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, he's up there resting." Lorelai collapsed on the couch. "I'm exhausted."

"You should be. I mean, all that dancing yesterday, only a few hours of sleep last night, plus all this stuff with Luke you're dealing with. . .it's a lot. Why don't you go take a nap?"

"Nah, I wanna be awake in case Luke wakes up and needs something."

"Well, I'll be up. I can get him whatever he needs."

Lorelai shrugged. "I'm okay. I probably won't be able to sleep anyway with so much on my mind right now."

"Well, you want me to make you some coffee?" Rory offered. "That might help a little."

Lorelai smiled. "Oh, yeah, that would be – " She stopped herself when she realized she'd already had her two-cup limit. She shook her head and waved her off. "No, thanks. I'm good." She propped her feet up on the coffee table and folded her arms across her chest.

Rory eyed her curiously for a moment. "Mom, what's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the fact that you just said no to coffee when you obviously need it is enough in itself to make me think something's up, but added to the little conversation earlier with Sookie about the so-called 'caffeine thing', I'm pretty sure something's going on that you're not telling me. So what is it?"

Lorelai sighed, then turned her body to face Rory and leaned back against the armrest. "Nothing, I'm just. . .I'm trying to cut back on coffee. Too much caffeine is bad for you."

Rory's eyes slowly widened. "You just said that 'too much caffeine is bad for you' – did I hear that right?"

"Yes, you did."

"You just all of a sudden woke up one day and decided to listen to the people who have forever been telling you that the insane amount of coffee you consume isn't exactly healthy?"

Lorelai forced a smile. "Um, yes?"

Rory rolled her eyes. "Mom, what's up?"

Lorelai sighed. "Hon, it's just. . .it's something you're probably not gonna wanna hear about. "

"Try me."

Lorelai reluctantly explained to her about the article she'd read the day before, and finished by asking, "Too much information?"

Rory shrugged. "It isn't any more personal than you telling me you guys were trying in the first place."

"Good point."

Rory eyed her curiously. "You really think you'll be able to do this? I mean, asking you to cut back on coffee is like asking. . ." She paused to think up a good analogy. "Okay, I can't think of an example right now, but it's next to impossible."

"Aw, that's Mommy supportive girl. Thanks, honey."

"Sorry. But really, you think you can do it?"

Lorelai shrugged. "I don't know. I'm gonna try, we'll see how it goes."

There was a knock at the side door, and they both glanced at it. Babette and Morey were looking in the window and Lorelai waved them in. They walked into the house. "Hey girls," Babette greeted them.

"Hey," Rory said.

"Hey. What do you have there?" Lorelai gestured to a fruit basket that Morey was holding.

He set it on the coffee table. "It's for Luke."

"Aw, that's nice of you."

"We saw you guys come home a little while ago, but we wanted to give him time to get settled," Babette said. "Where is he?"

"Oh, actually, he's upstairs resting." Lorelai stood up. "I can go check to see if he's still awake. . ."

Babette waved her off. "No, no, you let him rest. He needs his strength living in this house with you two crazy girls. Morey and I'll stop back later and see him."

"Sounds good. Thanks for coming by, that was nice of you guys." Lorelai walked them to the door.

Morey stepped out onto the porch as Lorelai hugged Babette goodbye. "And you tell Luke that if he wants to get revenge on the guy who crashed into him, Morey knows a couple guys in New York who'd be happy to help out," Babette said. "We just gotta give 'em a couple days notice so they can get all the supplies they'll need."

Lorelai's eyes widened. "Oh, uh, I don't think that'll be necessary, Babette, but I'm sure he'll appreciate the offer."

"All right, but if you change your mind. . ."

"You'll be the first person we call," Lorelai said. "Bye guys." She watched them walk off the porch, then shut the door and walked back to the couch.

. . . . .

Almost an hour later, Lorelai was watching television when she heard movement upstairs. She turned off the TV and walked up the steps. Luke wasn't in the bedroom, but the bathroom door was closed, suggesting his whereabouts. She walked to the door and knocked on it lightly. "Luke, everything okay? You need any help?"

"Uh, no. Believe it or not, I mastered this toilet stuff at the age of three."

"Ah, yes, but did you master it one-handed? That's the question."

"Really, it's not that difficult."

"Okay." Lorelai walked to the bedroom and sat on the bed to wait for him. When he walked back into the room, Lorelai stood up. "Hey."

"Hey."

"How was your nap?"

Luke shrugged. "Not the most comfortable one I've ever had." He glanced down at his sling. "Could've done without the continuous throbbing pain."

"Aw. Well, Rory left about ten minutes ago to pick up your prescription for me, so hopefully that'll help." Lorelai ran her fingers through his hair, then over his cheek. "You hungry? I gave Rory some extra money and asked her to pick up some takeout."

Luke nodded. "Yeah, I could eat."

"Good. I think it's about time to ice your shoulder again. We can do that while we're waiting for her."

Luke nodded, and the two of them walked downstairs. In the kitchen, Lorelai helped secure the ice pack onto his shoulder, then they waited on the couch for Rory.

It was only a few minutes before Rory returned home, and Jess, carrying a pizza, followed her through the front door. "I'm home," Rory announced as they walked into the living room. "The pizza place was having one of their 'buy a pizza, get a free teenage boy to carry it home for you' promotions."

Lorelai smiled. "Oh, good. Hey Jess."

"Hey." Jess nodded toward her, then at Luke. "Everyone's talking about the accident. Saw the truck this morning at the garage, it looks pretty bad."

"It's seen better days," Luke agreed.

Rory handed Lorelai the bag from the pharmacy. "After I picked up the medicine, I stopped to get the pizza, and as I was heading back home, I ran into Jess who said he was on his way over. So I graciously let him to carry the pizza for me."

"That worked out well," Lorelai commented.

"Yeah, those pizzas can get pretty heavy," Rory said. "Here, I'll take it." She took the pizza from Jess and went to the kitchen.

Jess walked over and sat in the armchair across from Luke. "So. . .is everything. . ." He gestured to Luke's sling.

Luke glanced down at it. "Yeah, it's just a dislocated shoulder."

"Does it hurt?"

Luke nodded. "Yeah, but they said the pain should lessen in a few days."

"How long do you have to wear that thing?"

"A couple weeks." Luke shrugged it off as if it was no big deal. "What about you? You doing good?"

Jess nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"Work, school. . ."

"Yeah, it's all going good."

"Was I supposed to wait for you?" Rory called from the kitchen. "Because I'm eating already."

"We're coming," Lorelai called back. She stood up. "Uh, Jess, you wanna stay for lunch? There's plenty of pizza, and you'll be one of the very few people to get a detailed first-hand account from the victim of Stars Hollow's worst accident in sixteen years. What do you say?"

Jess glanced down at his watch. "Uh, yeah, I can stay for a little bit. I got work at two."

"Good. Let's go eat." The three of them headed toward the kitchen.

. . . . .

That night, Lorelai walked into the bedroom where Luke was watching television. "How's the little baseball game going?"

"It's game seven of the World Series," he corrected her. "It's more than a little baseball game."

She rolled her eyes and sat down next to him. "Sorry. How's it going?"

"It's okay." He yawned loudly. "I don't think I'm gonna make it through the whole thing."

Lorelai rubbed his leg. "Long day, huh?"

"Yeah."

"And lots of visitors," Lorelai added. "Lots of people were worried about you. That should make you feel good."

Luke shrugged. "Yeah, it was nice."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "I can't believe Kirk brought his trophy with him. I swear, one of these days I'm gonna take that thing and beat him over the head with it. I think the only slightly positive result of this accident is that it took over the front page of the Gazette and pushed the story of Kirk's victory to the back."

"Well, that's why I did it." Luke turned off the television, then stood up. "I'm gonna go get ready for bed." He started walking to the door.

"You need any help?" Lorelai asked, standing up.

"I think I'll be okay."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Call if you need me."

Luke walked to the bathroom, and Lorelai changed for bed. As she was buttoning her pajama shirt, Luke returned to the room. He walked over to the bed and stared down at it, and Lorelai walked over to him. "What are you looking at?"

"The bed." He glanced down at his left arm in the sling, then gestured to the bed. "I was thinking that maybe we could switch sides for awhile."

Lorelai narrowed her eyes with confusion. "Switch sides? How come?"

"Because I'll be sleeping on my back and my shoulder will be between us and you might bump into it in the middle of the night or something," Luke explained. "But if I sleep on your usual side, that can't happen 'cause you'll be on my right side."

"Ah." She glanced down at the bed. "Well. . .yeah, I guess we could switch."

Luke noticed her hesitancy. "We don't have to if you don't want to. I just thought – "

"No, I want to," she insisted. "I wanna do whatever will make you more comfortable."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. It's just. . .we've slept on the same sides for like five months," she said. "I might wake up in the middle of the night and get confused and not know where I am."

Luke rolled his eyes. "You're gonna be two feet over from your normal place. It's really not that big a difference."

"I know, but I'm just saying, you should be prepared for a potential freak-out in the middle of the night just in case." They climbed into the bed and situated themselves under the covers. "Wow, it's a whole different view of the room from over here."

"Go to sleep."

"I am, but listen, here's the deal for tomorrow. I have to go into work in the morning, but I'm gonna see if I can get Michel to cover for me in the afternoon so I can come home early."

"Why?"

"Why? To help you out. I don't wanna leave you here by yourself all day."

"Forget it, I'll be fine."

"But what if you need help doing something?"

"I probably won't."

"But what if you do?"

"I'll probably be in bed or lying on the couch most of the day. That doesn't require much assistance."

"No, but you'll need help getting something to eat, with your ice pack, stuff like that."

"I'll manage."

"But – "

Luke let out an annoyed sigh. "Lorelai, I'll be fine. Please, can we just go to sleep already?"

Lorelai narrowed her eyes at him, but attributed his crabby tone to tiredness. "Geez, okay, sorry." She leaned over and kissed him goodnight. "Night."

"Night."

. . . . .

Five days later, on Friday morning, Lorelai walked into the Independence Inn kitchen. She poured herself a cup of coffee, then walked over to Sookie at the stove. "Hey. What's going on?" She glanced at the pots. "Ooh, is it fruity syrup day?"

"Yes, it is."

"What kinds are you making? Same as usual?"

"Blueberry, raspberry, peach, and apple-cinnamon."

"Mm, apple-cinnamon, that's new. No strawberry this time?"

"Nah, I decided to mix it up a little and go with the apple-cinnamon instead." Sookie thought for a second, then gasped. "Oh my God! But what if there are people who look forward to fruity syrup day and they always get the strawberry syrup and then they get here and find out that there's no strawberry syrup?"

"They'll live," Lorelai assured her. "They'll try one of your other flavors and they'll like it just as much."

"Or they'll be really disappointed and never come back here again!"

"Trust me, if someone decides never to come back here again, it'll be because Michel yelled at them, not because there was no strawberry syrup for their pancakes." Lorelai patted her on the back. "Don't worry about it."

Sookie stared at the four pots in front of her. "I can call Jackson and ask him to bring me some strawberries."

"Sookie, it's fine. Forget about it," Lorelai said. "I'm sure anyone who was previously looking forward to the strawberry syrup won't mind trying a new flavor. Really, honey."

Sookie nibbled on her bottom lip. "I hope you're right."

"I am right."

"Okay." She took a deep breath. "So what's up with you? How was your Halloween?"

"Good." Lorelai rubbed her stomach. "I think I ate about five pounds of candy last night. You know how it goes, one for the trick-or-treaters, five for me."

"Absolutely."

Lorelai smiled. "And one time I answered the door and there was this lady holding this little baby dressed as a puppy. Aw, God, it was the cutest thing in the world."

Sookie smiled. "Aw, I bet it was adorable." She gestured to the coffee Lorelai was holding. "You still hanging in there?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, I've been good all week. I've noticed that I get a little crankier than usual toward the evening hours, but other than that, it hasn't been too bad. I'm even starting to get used to the decaf. Not in a 'Mm, decaf' kind of way, but an 'Ugh, decaf. . . I'll tolerate it' kind of way."

"Good, good. What else is new?"

"Luke went to his follow-up doctor's appointment yesterday."

"Oh, right. How'd that go?"

"Good. He doesn't have to wear that bandage on his head anymore, and everything with the shoulder looks like it's healing good so far."

"That's great," Sookie said. "How's Luke doing?"

Lorelai shrugged. "He's okay. Rory and I have been helping him a lot all week, and he's always tired, so that makes him a little cranky at times, but the doctor said it's normal."

Sookie nodded and stirred her syrups. "Friday night dinner tonight?"

"Yeah. Rory has to stay after school for the paper, so she's gonna meet me at my parents' house, so I have to drive up there alone."

"Luke's not going?"

"I asked him but he said he doesn't want to. And I don't blame him because my parents don't know about the accident yet, so as soon as they see the sling they'll just start pestering him with questions about it, and I know he doesn't wanna have to deal with that."

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to either."

Lorelai glanced at her watch. "Ooh, I gotta go." She started walking toward the lobby door. "I'll talk to you later."

"Bye." Sookie stared down at the syrups in front of her. "Probably wouldn't hurt to make a little batch of – "

"Don't worry about the strawberry syrup, Sookie," Lorelai called from the doorway.

Sookie quickly nodded. "Right, sorry."

. . . . .

That night, Lorelai arrived home from work just after six. She dropped her purse on the bench and looked into the living room. The television was on, but the room was empty. "Luke?"

"In here," he called. He was in the kitchen getting out supplies to make a sandwich. He set the jar of low-fat mayonnaise on the table next to the package of sliced turkey, then walked over to get some bread from the bread drawer.

Lorelai walked to the doorway. "Hey. Whatcha doing?"

"Making dinner." He dropped two slices of bread on the table, then walked over to get a knife from the utensil drawer. He brought it to the table, then sat down to make the sandwich.

Lorelai walked over and kissed him, then sat in the chair next to him. "Here, let me help you." She picked up the jar of mayonnaise and opened it, then picked up the knife.

He took the knife back from her. "I got it. You should go get ready for dinner."

"It's okay, I have time." Lorelai reached for the knife again, but Luke held it out of her reach. She narrowed her eyes at him. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing's the matter. I can make the sandwich myself."

Lorelai held up her hands in surrender. "Fine, make it, geez."

"So how was work?" Luke made the sandwich while Lorelai gave an overview of her day.

When he was finished, Lorelai stood up. "Here, I'll put the things away for you." She picked up the mayonnaise jar and secured the lid, then picked up the package of turkey and walked both items over to the fridge. "You want a drink?"

Luke picked up his plate and stood up. "I have one out on the coffee table." He started walking toward the living room, and Lorelai followed him.

As he sat down on the couch, she started walking up the steps. "I'm gonna go get ready for dinner." She went upstairs to change.

A few minutes passed, and as she was brushing her hair, she heard a "Dammit!" from downstairs.

She walked into the hallway. "Everything okay?" she called down the steps.

"It's fine," was his gruff response.

She walked down the stairs and saw that Luke's drink had spilled all over the coffee table, and he was trying to one-handedly mop it up with a dishtowel.

"There's too much damn junk on here." He put the towel down so he could move the magazines from the table before they became soaked, then picked up the towel and resumed wiping the spill.

Lorelai walked over and kneeled down next to the table. "Here, I'll do it." She grabbed the towel from him and spread it open, using both hands to sop up the liquid.

Luke sighed and stood up. "Of course you will. You can do everything."

She stared up at him, confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. I'm gonna get another drink." He grabbed his cup from the table and walked toward the kitchen.

Lorelai left the soaking towel on the coffee table and followed him. "Luke?"

He threw the plastic cup into the sink and it clanged loudly against the other dishes that were already in there.

Lorelai scoffed. "God, what's your problem?"

Luke turned around to face her. They were standing across from each other, separated by the kitchen table. "You wanna know my problem? My problem is that I can't do anything around here without you trying to do it for me. It's driving me crazy!"

Lorelai held up her hand. "Wait – you're pissed because I helped you clean up the freaking table?"

"It's not just the table, Lorelai, it's everything. I open the door to go get the mail and you or Rory run out to get it for me. I try to get myself a drink, one of you practically pushes me out of the way so you can get to the fridge first. I can't leave a room without you asking me where I'm going and if I'll need help when I get there. I can't do anything by myself anymore – do you know how damn annoying it's getting?"

Lorelai scoffed. "God, Luke, kill us for trying to be nice and help you."

"But I don't need help all the time! Sometimes, yes, but there are things that I can do by myself and I need to do them by myself," he said sternly. "I don't need to be completely babied."

"We're not trying to baby you," Lorelai insisted. "We're trying to make things easier for you while your arm's healing. You'd do the same thing if it happened to one of us. You'd take care of us."

Luke pointed at her across the table. "There's a big difference between taking care of someone and treating them like they're completely useless!"

Lorelai held up both her hands. "Okay, look, you need to stop yelling at me 'cause that's so not helping the situation here."

Luke took a deep breath and stared down at the floor. "Sorry," he muttered.

Lorelai walked over to him. "Hon. . .talk to me." She ran a hand over his good arm. "I really don't think that me being overly helpful is what's making you freak out this much. What else is wrong?"

Luke sighed and shook his head. "I'm just so. . ." He groaned down at his immobilized arm. "I'm sick of all this. I hate this stupid sling. I hate walking outside for one second and having ten people run up and ask me how I'm feeling. I hate not getting up and going to work. I'm just. . . I'm tired of it."

Lorelai frowned sympathetically. "I know it's frustrating. I know it sucks. And I wish I could help the healing process go faster for you, but I can't. We just have to take it a day at a time and realize that it's gonna get better as it goes on."

"I guess."

"Look, when you start feeling annoyed and frustrated, you can't just keep it inside that sexy body of yours," Lorelai told him. "You need to talk to someone about it. If, for some reason, you don't wanna talk to me, then call up one of your friends and talk to them. Or talk to Kirk, he'll listen to anyone. It makes him feel popular."

"I didn't feel like talkin' about it," he mumbled.

"Okay, but do you really think that keeping everything inside until you can't take it anymore and then exploding at your wife is the most effective way to deal with things?"

Luke shrugged. "Probably not."

"So. . .that's why you need to get it out. You need to – "

"Look," Luke interrupted with a sigh. "I don't feel like doing this right now." He took a step back from her. "I just. . . I need to go get some air or something." He walked past her toward the back door, and Lorelai frowned as she watched him walk out of the house.

. . . . .

It was slightly after seven when Lorelai rang the doorbell of her parents' house. The maid answered and invited her in, and after hanging up her coat, she walked to the living room. Richard, Emily, and Rory sat on the sofas talking.

"Sorry I'm a little late," Lorelai said as she sat down next to Rory.

"Oh, that's all right," Richard said.

"Everything okay?" Emily asked.

Lorelai nodded. "Uh, yeah. Just. . .you know, traffic."

Emily picked up her glass of wine from the coffee table. "Well, dinner's ready so we can move right into the dining room." She and Richard left the room.

Lorelai leaned back against the couch and closed her eyes, sighing loudly. Rory patted her on the knee. "Mom, what's wrong?"

She opened her eyes. "Nothing."

"Mom, Grandma and Grandpa don't know you well enough to recognize your 'I'm stressed' face, but I do," Rory told her. "So what's wrong?"

Lorelai sighed. "Nothing. It's just, Luke and I were talking before I left, and he's feeling kind of. . .frustrated."

"About what?"

"About everything. About being so restricted in what he can do. He's sick of wearing the sling and of not being able to go to work and all that, and it just. . .makes me feel so bad for him, you know?"

"What's taking you two so long?" Emily called from the dining room.

"Coming!" Lorelai called back. She and Rory stood up and started walking toward the dining room. "So. . .we were talking and I was trying to be supportive and everything, and then he said he needed to go get some air and he left. And I wanted to follow him and talk to him some more, but then I would've been even later to dinner and I didn't wanna incur the wrath of Emily." She sighed.

Rory rubbed her back comfortingly. "It's okay. You guys'll talk tonight."

Lorelai sighed again. "I so don't wanna be here right now."

They entered the dining room and sat in their usual seats. Dinner was served, and the four of them started eating. Lorelai stared down at her plate and picked at her food, trying to drown out everything around her. She didn't notice when Emily asked her a question.

"Lorelai!" Emily said loudly to get her attention.

Surprised, Lorelai quickly jerked her head up to look at Emily. "What?" She grimaced and rubbed the back of her neck. "Ow, that hurt."

"I asked you a question," Emily said indignantly. "You don't just ignore a person when they ask you a question. Do you have any idea how rude that is? And sit up straight. This is dinner, not a poker game."

"Really? 'Cause I could've sworn tonight was 'dinner and gambling night'," Lorelai replied. "But I could've read the calendar wrong, maybe it's next week. I'll bring the cards. I have a pack with the dancers of Chippendales on 'em."

"Sit up," Emily repeated through pursed lips.

Lorelai sighed and sat up straighter in her chair. She continued to pick at her food.

"You still haven't answered the question," Emily pointed out.

"I didn't hear the question, Mother," Lorelai said.

"She asked you how things were at the inn," Richard said.

"Things at the inn are the same as they were last week," Lorelai said with an annoyed sigh. "And the week before that and the week before that and every other week that you've asked me that same question. Fine. They're always fine. Fine, fine, fine."

"Mom." Rory gave Lorelai a 'chill out' look.

"You don't need to take that tone, young lady," Richard warned Lorelai.

"Yes, you're being awfully rude tonight," Emily snapped. "First you arrive late, and then you act like we're attacking you just because we want to know how your work is. Is it too much to ask that for the one night a week we get to interact with you that you actually participate in the interaction non-defensively?"

Lorelai sighed and her voice softened. "No, it's not too much to ask. I'm sorry, okay? I'm having a bad night. I don't mean to take it out on you or your questions or this piece of pork that I've stabbed fifty times with my fork. I just. . .have a lot on my mind right now, so why don't you just ask Rory some questions for a little while."

"Rory got here thirty minutes before you did," Emily reminded her. "We've already asked her plenty of questions."

"Well, then, ask her the questions you have for me," Lorelai said. "I'm sure she can answer them just as well as I could."

"Fine," Emily replied haughtily. She turned to Rory. "Rory. . .how are things at the inn?"

"Uh, I think they're fine, Grandma."

"And that dance marathon that your mother kept talking about last week – how did that go?" Emily asked.

Rory shrugged. "Oh, well, it was okay. They didn't win the trophy, but they hung in there for a pretty long time."

"And how's Luke?" Richard asked.

Rory glanced awkwardly toward Lorelai, then down at her plate. "Oh, uh, he's. . .okay, I guess. I mean, he's been better. He's a little. . .well. . ."

"He had an accident."

Emily and Richard turned to look at Lorelai. "An accident? What kind of accident?" Richard asked.

"A car accident," Lorelai replied. "On Saturday night after the dance marathon. He had to go to the hospital."

Emily gasped. "Oh my goodness! Is he all right? Was anyone else in the car?"

"No, just him. He had a dislocated shoulder, a concussion, a couple of bumps and bruises," Lorelai explained. "His arm'll be in a sling for a couple weeks, but he's doing okay."

"My word, that's horrible," Emily commented. "Why didn't you tell us sooner? We would've sent flowers."

"He's not really the flowers type," Lorelai replied.

"Still, Lorelai, Luke is a member of our family now, and when something as serious as a car accident happens to a member of our family, we want to know about it," Emily said.

Lorelai let out an annoyed sigh. "Yes, well, next time it happens, you'll be the first person I call, even before the ambulance. Now can we please change the subject?" She stabbed her fork into a roasted potato and shoved it into her mouth.

. . . . .

That night, Lorelai walked into the dark bedroom and Luke was already in bed. She quietly gathered her pajamas and went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. When she returned to the bedroom a few minutes later, she saw that Luke was awake and sitting up. "Hi."

"Hey." She shifted her feet. "Uh, I thought you were asleep."

"I wasn't."

"I see that now."

Luke beckoned to her, and she walked over and sat next to him on the bed. He ran his hand through her hair and down her arm, finally letting it rest on her thigh. She put her hand on top of his.

Lorelai wrinkled her nose. "So. . .um. . .we're okay, right?"

Luke nodded. "Yeah, we're good."

"Good." She kissed him. "'Cause I hate fighting with you."

"Me, too. And listen. . .I do appreciate your help," Luke added. "I mean, I didn't mean to make it sound like I didn't. This whole recovery process would be a lot harder without you. Rory, too. So. . .you know. . .thanks."

Lorelai smiled. "You're welcome. And I'll try to. . . you know, be more aware of my obsessive over-helping."

"Just ask me first," Luke said. "Ask if I need help, and if I say no, then just let it go. You don't need to try to take over."

Lorelai nodded. "Got it, ask first." They were quiet for a moment. "So where'd you go when you left?"

"Walked around for awhile," Luke said. "Finally ended up at the cemetery."

"Did you try to bury yourself alive?"

"No, I just. . .I needed somewhere quiet to think. So I sat down on a bench and just. . .thought."

"About?"

"Everything. You, me, this past week."

"And what are your conclusions?"

"That I should've talked to you," he admitted. "When I started getting annoyed, I should've just sat down and talked to you about it."

"Yes, you should've," she agreed. "It only would've taken a 'Hey hon, you're extremely gorgeous and sexy, but I need you to hold back with the helpfulness.'" She smiled and added, "Though you could've substituted other synonyms for gorgeous and sexy if those aren't your preferred choices."

Luke smiled. "They seem like good ones." He glanced down at the blanket and fingered the fringe. "And. . .I guess I probably should've talked to you about the other stuff, too. About how frustrated I was gettin' with everything. You know, instead of just keeping it in."

"I'm always here when you need someone to rant to," she reminded him.

"I know. . . thanks."

Lorelai smiled and patted him on the knee. "You're welcome."

"So, how was dinner?"

Lorelai rolled her eyes and groaned in response.

"Uh oh. Not good?"

"No, and it's all your fault."

Luke snickered. "How so?"

"Because I was worried about you. I felt bad that you were all upset and everything, so I was in a cranky mood. And you know that cranky Lorelai does not mesh well with Emily Gilmore."

"No, she doesn't. So what happened?"

Lorelai waved him off. "I don't wanna talk about it now."

"Okay."

They were both quiet for a few seconds, staring into each others' eyes as Luke began stroking her arm. They kissed passionately, and she gently pushed him back against the bed and crawled on top of him. He slipped his hand under her pajama top and caressed the soft curves of her back. They kissed for a minute before Lorelai whispered, "Luke?"

"Hm?"

"It's been over a week," she muttered in between kisses.

"You think I haven't realized that?"

She pulled back and sat up, straddling his waist. "No, but you didn't bring it up, and you didn't seem like you were ever really in the mood anyway, so I didn't bring it up either."

"The mood seems right now." He moved his hand up to her neck and pulled her down into a kiss.

She pulled back with a concerned look. "Are you sure? I mean, are you too tired? Does your shoulder hurt?"

"A little, but I'll deal with it."

Lorelai bit her lip with hesitancy. "I don't know. It might be too much for you."

"Trust me, I can deal with it." He paused, then nodded toward his sling. "But I can't put any weight on it. So. . .I mean, I won't be able to. . .you'd have to be. . ." His voice trailed off and he gestured to her. "You know."

Lorelai smiled and raised one eyebrow. "On top? I think I can handle it."

"You are pretty good at it," he agreed.

She gasped. "Excuse me?" She gyrated her hips, lightly grinding her pelvis against his.

He groaned at the sensation. "Okay, very good."

Lorelai smiled. "That's better." She leaned down and kissed him.

. . . . .

To be continued. . .