Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters

Once her headache had gone away and she'd showered, Lorelai started to feel much more like herself. Translation: she really needed a cup of coffee.

Grabbing her purse, Lorelai decided there was no time like the present. As she walked to Luke's she tried to imagine what she would say to him when she got there. "Hi. Yeah, that thing about me loving you? Can we forget that ever happened? I'm just not sure I'm ready to explore that neck of the woods yet." That was a little abrupt.

Maybe she could play dumb. "Hey, Luke. Yeah, the funniest thing happened. I woke up this morning on the couch and there on the coffee table were two wine glasses and an empty bottle. I wonder who it was that I entertained last night." No, he'd see through that and she couldn't lie to him, anyway.

The diner was fast approaching. She was going to have to wing it.

The bell over the door jingled as she entered and headed for the counter. It was late morning so there were about two tables full of people, but the lunch crowd had not yet descended.

Caesar stood at the counter. "Hey," she said, "Luke around?"

He nodded, "Out back."

"Can I get a coffee to go?"

He poured it and took her money and she left, walked around the building to the small alleyway to find Luke crouched on the ground by the dumpster.

"Looking for scraps?" she joked.

He turned and said with a frown, "Yeah. I'm starving and I can't seem to find a place to eat in this town."

Lorelai smiled and said, "Well, I could probably recommend someplace nice if you like. There's Al's Pancake World, Teriyaki Joe's, and I think there's a diner somewhere around here. I know I've seen it."

"You're hilarious," he said.

She walked over to where he was and took a look over his shoulder.  What she saw momentarily made her speechless.  As she watched, Luke stroked what appeared to be a six-month old kitten. It was orange and white with golden eyes and it purred as Luke rubbed its fur.  He was feeding it tuna fish on a paper plate.

"Wow," Lorelai said after a minute. "You're leading a double life."

He gave her a look that told her to shut up.

"No, seriously. You're Mister Mean-Diner-Man to all of us in town, but you're Mister Soft-Flannelly-Man to all the little kitties." She was never going to let him live this down.

"Lorelai," he warned.

"How long has this been going on?" she continued.  "Should we feel betrayed?"

"Feel what you want to feel," Luke grumped. "This thing started hanging around about a month ago and I could tell it was hungry because its rib cage was its most prominent feature. So I started feeding it and now it thinks this is home."

Lorelai crouched down next to Luke and ran her fingers down the cat's back. Living outside had taken its toll. Instead of soft fur, she felt dirt and grime from the streets.

"Ew, she's filthy."

"Why don't you live under a dumpster for a while and then tell me how clean you can get yourself," he responded dryly.

"What are you going to do with it?"

"Well, I'd like to rescue it, but living above a diner might be a bit of a health violation. Especially since the only door to my apartment is through the diner so if it ever got loose…."

"I see your problem," she nodded.

"I was hoping someone would take it in for me."

Lorelai paused and looked up at him. He lifted his brows as if to say, "How 'bout it?"

"No. Oh, no. I can't take a cat home with me. What would Rory say?"

"Rory doesn't live there anymore," he argued. "Besides having something around to keep you company might be a good thing."

"This has Spinster turned Cat Lady written all over it."

"You're hardly a spinster and having one cat does not make you the 'Cat Lady'."

Lorelai sighed and looked at the cat again. "Do you know if it's a boy or girl?"

"Judging from its back-end I'd say it's a she."

"Hmm. Well...okay. But it's only temporary. I'll help you out since you're so attached to her."

"I'm not 'so' attached. She's just not likely to survive long living outside. How's this: She's got to get fixed and de-clawed. So I'll drop her off at the vet right now and I'll pick her up when she's ready and we'll come by to settle her in at the end of the week. Okay?"

Lorelai studied his eyes. Suddenly she felt like she could never say no to anything he wanted. Where had these feelings come from? "Okay," she replied softly, glancing away.

The cat had finished eating and was rubbing her head against Luke's leg. "Tell Caesar I'll be right back, okay?" Luke picked up the cat. "I'm going to bring her right now."

"Okay," Lorelai repeated. As she watched him turn the corner and disappear, she felt strange. She had not talked with him about the night before and instead she'd agreed to take in a bedraggled and probably flea-ridden animal. Where had her judgment gone?

She went back into the diner, delivered the message to Caesar and walked home, sipping at her coffee.