Title: Shelter From The Storm.

Summary: "In starting over we could get some place different." What if Lorelai had found her way to Stars Hollow before Rory's birth?

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Gilmore Girls. I am in no way connected to Gilmore Girls or the WB. I also have no connections to Billie Letts or Twentieth Century Fox. This story idea is mostly my own, although it is inspired by the movie/book Where The Heart Is. (I always thought that there were several similarities between Lorelai and Novalee)

*~*~*~*

Lorelai spent the next few days cleaning the guesthouse. She washed old rags in the bathtub until they were as clean as she could make them, and then she used them to clean the rest of the room. Eventually, the dirtiest thing in the guesthouse was her, and trying to blame the smell that followed her around on something else stopped working.

She needed to take a bath and wash her clothes. But she didn't have laundry detergent or towels or soap. She could force herself to make another trip into town to buy soap, shampoo and detergent, but she didn't know where she could get towels.

As she stepped out of the guesthouse on her way back into town, she heard the sound of an engine and the beeping sound of a truck backing up. Sure enough, just a little way away from her, a delivery truck was backing up towards some double doors. The logo on the side of the truck read 'New England Linen Supply'.
Lorelai stayed close to the building and watched as it stopped and the driver got out and opened the back doors. He was starting to unload his delivery when the doors behind him opened and a tall lady in a maid's uniform approached. She handed him a cup and saucer and he drank from it as they talked and laughed. After a short while he followed her into the Inn and the doors closed behind them.

It was a sign. It had to be. She needed towels and sheets and sitting right in front of her was a linen delivery truck with its doors wide open and no one around to witness her take anything. But could she bring herself to take something? Was it stealing if she planned to one day return it or reimburse someone for it? She needed it. She wasn't sure if bad hygiene would affect her baby, but it seemed that anything that affected her could potentially affect the baby also. So why take the risk? Realizing she was wasting time, she glanced around to make sure that no one was looking and quickly made her way over to the truck.

Inside it were large metal cages on wheels, brimming over with towels, sheets and table linen, all separated into neat, plastic covered bundles. She reached in and carefully opened one of them, pulling out some sheets and tucking them under her arm and then grabbing the nearest bundle of bath towels. Trying not to drop them, she hurried back to the guesthouse and shut herself inside, watching from the windows to see if they would notice anything missing.
It was another fifteen minutes or so until the driver came back out to his truck, still talking with the linen maid who looked physically too old to be working, but seemed just as energetic and cheerful as someone twenty years her junior. He unloaded the large metal cages and helped her maneuver them into the Inn. She signed something and they waved to each other before he got back into the truck and left. Neither of them seemed to notice anything out of the ordinary and Lorelai sighed with relief. Now all she needed to do was brave another trip to the market.

* * * * *

The market seemed to get bigger and more intimidating with each visit. Even thought she liked to think she was tough, she found herself dreading going into a small town market to buy shampoo. She feared the watchful eyes of the owner, who she assumed was named Taylor Doose, from the fact the market was called 'Doose's Market' and the fact that Miss Patty had called him Taylor.
He followed her with his eyes, and when she was out of sight he would move around the store, hiding in the aisles and pretending to count tinned fruit, when really he was spying on her.
She hurried down an aisle filled with hygiene products, everything from soap to hair spray. She found a bottle of shampoo and added it to her basket, which already contained a small bottle of detergent. She'd often wonder who would bother buying those small bottles when the larger ones would last them longer. But after trying to lift one of the larger bottles, she decided that they bought the smaller size to avoid back injuries.

"Hey."

Lorelai almost dropped a bar of soap as she transferred it from the shelf to her basket. She turned to see who was talking to her.

"Oh." She sighed. It was the man from the hardware store. "It's you."

"Yeah… I just wanted to apologize…" he began, rubbing the back of his neck.

"For what?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "Being rude? Or unhelpful? Or both?"

"I see you're still upset about the other day." He smiled slightly, hoping he had lightened the mood. Her lips, pressed together in a thin line, told him that he hadn't succeeded.

"All I wanted was a flowerpot. It wasn't like I was asking for world peace or even… tickets to a Go Go's concert!"

"You like the Go Go's?" He smirked.

"But you were mean!" She continued, ignoring his comment.

"Mean?"

"Yes, mean! You made it seem like I was asking for the moon on a stick. Which I realize would have been a lofty request since the stick is obviously rammed way up your butt!"

His mouth hung open as she turned and walked away. She bit her lip and tried to stop herself laughing out loud. She couldn't believe what she had just said, or that she had the courage to say it. She had always had a quick wit and, when needed, she could speak her mind. But ever since she had found out she was pregnant she had become less outgoing, more unsure of herself. Her mother had probably seen that as a silver lining of some kind.

When he had finally recovered from his surprise enough to realize she was leaving, he hurried over to the checkout.

"I know I was rude. That's why I'm apologizing." He explained, but she didn't respond. "I was having a bad day. A bad week, actually..."

"Don't talk to me about bad days." She muttered, accepting her change from the check out girl and picking up her bag of purchases.

He noticed that she struggled with it a little and he reached out to help her. She looked at him warily for a moment before releasing her grip on the bag and letting him carry it for her. He opened the door for her and followed her out onto the street.

"Where are you headed?"

"Um…"

"Do you have a car?"

"No." She sighed. "I'm staying at the Independence Inn."

"Oh…" He frowned and looked down at the bag, wondering why a guest at the Inn would need to buy detergent and soap. He decided it was better not to pry. Instead, he started making his way in the direction of the Inn.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm helping you carry your things back to the Inn."

"But… I didn't ask you to." She pointed out uncertainly.

"I know."

"You don't have to do this. I didn't ask you to do this." She continued anxiously.

"Don't worry. I'm not expecting you to pay me or anything." He chuckled, amused by her neurotic behavior.

Lorelai watched him cautiously as they walked, wondering why he had suddenly decided to be polite and helpful. She wasn't used to people switching from one extreme to the other so quickly. Her life had always been filled with people who were set in their ways. If they were rude to you one day, it was safe to assume they would be rude to you the day after that and the week after that. And if they were kind then they would probably be kind to you most of the time. What you saw was what you got. Something told her that this man wasn't going to be so easy to read.

When they reached the Inn he handed her the bag and she smiled uncertainly.

"Thank you."

"No problem. I'm Luke, by the way." He offered almost hopefully. "Luke Danes."

"Is that other man William?" When she saw his frown she smiled. "The sign says 'William's Hardware'…"

"Oh! Yeah, that would be my dad. It's his store, I just help out." She nodded and looked down at the floor. "So, uh… do you have a name?"

"Yes."

"Is it a secret?" He smiled and she smiled back even more.

"No. Not exactly." She chuckled. "It's kind of a 'need to know' thing."

"Well, who needs to know?"

"It's Lorelai. My name is Lorelai."

"Lorelai." He nodded.

"Well… goodbye, Luke. And thanks again."

"You're welcome. Maybe I'll see you in town again sometime?"

She smiled and nodded and he took this as his cue to leave. When he was out of sight she walked away from the porch at the front of the Inn and made her way back over to the guest house, eager to take a bath and rest on her clean sheets, the very thought of it made her beam.

A/N: Sorry if I rambled about the linen delivery. I was a room maid for 2 years. *waves to Jane, the elderly but energetic linen maid*