Disclaimer:  I don't own anything but the story idea.

A/N:  Thank you, Jade-Tessier for doing such a great job with this chapter.  Your suggestions were, as always, wonderful.  To everyone who'd reviewed, I love you!  Knowing that people like what you write definitely makes you want to keep writing.  As a result, the next chapter is here in an extremely timely fashion.  If you like it, please let me know!

~~

Luke's muddled brain slowly became aware that his body was waking up as he rolled over and shielded his eyes from the sunlight that streamed in from the raised basement windows.  His body was discovering that his brain was waking up – and not liking what it found.

Well, he supposed he knew this was coming.  You couldn't drink as much as he had the previous night without waking up with a nasty hangover.  Still, he suspected that this morning's agony had something do to with Lorelai as well.

Luke groaned as he slowly moved his feet toward the floor from the couch.  As he gingerly sat up, he became aware that he was still in the clothes he'd been wearing the day before.  His mouth felt like a dried up old newspaper and his skin felt gritty under the pads of his fingertips.  He ran a hand through his short hair and discovered that he'd lost his baseball hat somewhere along the line.  Cradling his forehead in both hands, Luke tried not to think too hard about anything. 

Opening his eyes fully, he decided to try to stand up and immediately regretted it.  Sinking back into the couch he decided to rest for a little bit longer and hope the pain just went away.  It was too late, though.  His stomach was rejecting any notion of movement and he could feel that very quickly he'd need some sort of receptacle.  He wondered if there was a bathroom down here, but before he could investigate the possibility, he made a grab for the trashcan at the end of the couch and retched violently into it.  When he was done, his stomach felt a little better.

Sookie, who'd been hovering by the basement door, heard the noise and took it to mean Luke was up.  Hastily fixing a glass of water and pulling the bottle of Tylenol out of the medicine cabinet of the downstairs bathroom, she left David asleep in his swing and made her way downstairs. 

"Luke," she called.  "Are you awake?"

"Awake, yes.  Alive, no," Luke groaned in response.

She crossed the room and handed him the water and pills.  Gratefully he snapped the lid open and downed two, then chased them with the entire glass of water. 

"Thank you," he said gruffly.

"Can I get you anything else?" She asked timidly.

"What time is it?" 

"Almost ten," she replied gently.

Luke closed his eyes.  It was possible that the diner was open.  Rob and Caesar were scheduled to open today, but after yesterday, he wasn't at all sure that they would.  Christ, yesterday.  Luke shook his head, unwilling to get dragged down into those thoughts.  Right now, he had to deal with his hangover and then he could deal with his life.

"Okay," he responded.

"Can I make you something for your stomach?"

He nodded his aching head toward the wastebasket and said, "Taken care of."

"Oh," she replied, a little disgusted, but wanting to be a good friend.

"I'll buy you a new one," he said dismissively.  "Can I get some more water?"

"Sure," she said, patting his back.  "Come upstairs."

"Wait," he replied with a hand to her arm, then winced as his volume made his head ache even more.  "Is Lorelai up there?"

"No," said Sookie with quiet reassurance.  "She's at the Dragonfly."

"Good," he said as he closed his eyes and tried to forget the things he'd said to Lorelai the night before.  He'd wanted to drive her out of his life and now he was afraid that he might have succeeded.

They got up from the couch and walked upstairs to the kitchen, Luke's head in his hands the whole way.  Sookie made him some hash browns, telling him perkily, "Carbs and salt are great for hangovers."

He ate slowly and surprisingly, his stomach didn't protest.  She was right, the salt killed the nausea after a while and he left an hour later with just a bad headache as a remembrance of the night before.  Since he hadn't driven to Sookie and Jackson's, he walked back to the diner and discovered that it was indeed open.  Never one to invite people into his life, he snuck around back and went in through the alley entrance and met Caesar in the kitchen. 

After a few instructions, Luke slipped unnoticed behind the counter and upstairs to his place.  Everyone's eyes were trained on the front door, hoping to see him arrive.  No one had expected him to come in through the back. 

Luke checked his machine and found thirty-seven messages, all of which he promptly deleted.  The last thing he wanted or needed right now was a bunch of nosy busybodies telling him how sorry they were.  He wanted solitude and rest.

The last time he'd needed to get away he'd gone fishing.  His cabin in Vermont afforded him both solitude and rest, but it was now becoming associated with Lorelai.  If he went up there he'd see all the things he'd needed to find after their fight over Rory's car accident with Jess.  There were too many memories and too much hurt still associated with that episode in his life.  He still couldn't understand how she could ever think that he'd hurt Rory.  It was just crazy to even consider. 

He shook his head and winced again at the pain.  As he turned from his answering machine, his eyes zeroed in on the black velvet box at the center on his kitchen table.  Before he could think about what he was doing, he stormed over, picked up the box and swiftly flung it across the room.  It hit the opposite wall and landed on the floor behind his dresser. 

The force of the movement made his head want to explode and as he gripped his forehead and tried to decided what to do next, the pierce of the telephone ringing almost brought tears of pain to his eyes.

"What!" he answered roughly.

"Luke?  It's…it's me, Lex.  Are you okay?"

"Lex," he repeated.

"Yeah, I hope you don't mind, but I forgot to get your number when I was there yesterday, so I looked you up in information.  Is everything all right?  Did I call at a bad time?"

"No," he answered.  "I've just got a bit of a hangover, that's all."

"Sorry to hear that," Lex chuckled.  "I can call back."

"Wait," he said, an idea forming in his tangled brain.  "Wait," he repeated.  "Are you still in Hartford?"

"No," she responded lightly.  "I'm back in the city, why?"

~~

A/N:  Arg!  I know, right?  What the hell is he thinking?  Well, don't worry; Luke has never been one to just jump into anything, especially when the person he loves (and I mean, of course, he still loves Lorelai) can't get him out of her head.  So don't worry or get mad.  He just needs to get away for a little while and hey, maybe a woman's perspective will be a good thing.  You never know.