He picked her hand up then and kissed it.

She leaned in to him and smiled, "Hey, how 'bout I wash the dishes and you make us some Medicinal Dirt Tea?"

"You'll drink the tea?" he raised his brows.

"Hey, I ate the vegetables this morning, didn't I? I'm giving that maturity thing a wee try," she told him and stood to gather the dishes, "Just don't get too used to it."

"Nope. Not holding my breath on that one," he promised as he reached for the kettle.

"Good looking, intelligent, and he cooks too! What was I thinking all these years?"

"No comment."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Early the next morning, Lorelai stood at her bedroom window and looked out at the emerging light. When Luke stirred and opened his eyes to look at her, she wiped her own eyes and turned away.

"What's going on?" he asked groggily.

"Shhh... Nothing. Go back to sleep. If you're going to sleep in, at least let yourself do it," she told him softly.

"Lorelai..." he sat up, "Why are you crying?"

She turned but didn't meet his gaze, "I'm not," she told him.

"Come here," he told her, and threw back the covers.

She climbed in next to him and he wrapped his arms around her.

"Luke?"

"Hmm?"

"What if I really am sick?" she asked him.

He sighed into her hair, "Lorelai, I know you're scared. Just hold on until we know something."

"So calling the psychic hotline is not a good idea?"

"No."

"Damn," she frowned. "Luke, I haven't told Rory anything about this."

"I know."

"She's got so much going on herself right now..." mused Lorelai.

"Yep," he acknowledged.

"What do you think?" she asked.

"I think telling Rory makes it real in way you don't want it to be."

Lorelai propped herself up on her elbow and looked at him in wonder.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Waiting for you to unzip your rubber face and let Dr. Phil out."

"Jeez. I'm not Dr. Phil. I'm just the guy who loves you. The guy who has apparently lost his mind," he yawned, "What time do you go in for the tests exactly?"

"Well, I scheduled it for after the Jane Austen people will have left..."

Luke sat up at that, "What? But they don't even come until next week!"

"That's right," she nodded, "So I go in a week from Monday at ten o'clock. They'll have all checked out by then." she told him.

"When you said Monday before, I thought you meant this Monday," he said with rising ire.

"Luke..." said Lorelai as she sat up too.

"No, Lorelai, you call them today and get it switched to this Monday," he told her.

"No Luke, I can't. I have to get ready for the Jane Austen people..." she tried to explain.

Luke looked at her in disbelief for a moment, then got out of bed and started jerking his jeans on angrily.

"W-where are you going?"

"To the diner," he snapped, not looking at her.

"But... but you were going to sleep in," she reminded him.

"Not any more." He turned to look at her then, "You just don't get it, do you?"

"Luke..." she wheedled.

"No, clearly you don't," he said and pulled his shirt over his head.

"Luke, don't go..."

"This isn't something you play around with, Lorelai," he told her angrily.

"I'm not playing around! I am getting my Inn started! And a frickin' week isn't going to make any difference. And, excuse me, but it is my choice to make!" she was angry now too.

He regarded her quietly for a moment.

"That's not true and you know it, Lorelai," he told her. She looked down at that. "And you don't know if a week will make a difference or not. I told you from the beginning that this is about a partnership. You're not the only one in this. You don't get to make the choice for how long I wait for an answer about this too, just because you have to plan some stupid Jane Dickens party!"

"Austen," she bit.

"Austen! I don't care if it's William Fucking Shakespeare himself coming, Lorelai!'

"Don't yell at me!" she yelled.

"Yeah well, you tell me how else I'm supposed to get through to you, huh?" he started pacing now, "Years now, Lorelai, years... I've waited years for this... for you!... You are not going to do this. You are not going to selfishly prance through your life and pretend this doesn't affect other people—like some sort of, I don't know, politician, or something!..." he yelled in frustration.

"Politician?! What the hell does that mean?"

"I don't know!" he shouted in exasperation, "You're just not looking at the big picture, you're focusing on yourself and your stupid job that doesn't mean anything next to this... When there are people who love you... and want you in their future... Like Rory... Like me... People who can only see their future with you in it... Who don't even want a future if you're not there..."

"What happened to not freaking out until we know something?" she demanded.

"That's over! Consider me officially freaked! Do you think I want you to slip away like everyone else I ever loved...?"

Lorelai stared opened mouthed at him for a moment.

"Luke," she reached out.

"No! This is crazy..." he ran his hand through his hair, and picked up his shoes, "I don't know how to make you understand. I've tried to stay cool and to be there for you... but if you're gonna blow this off, I am not going to watch!" he snatched his duffle and walked to the bedroom door.

"Luke! Damn it!"

"Change the God damn appointment, Lorelai!" he barked at her with a dark look. He held her eyes a moment then, before turning heel and leaving with a disgusted snort.

Lorelai listened then in shock as he descended her stairs and slammed the front door behind him.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"I told you I don't want to talk about it!" she snapped.

"Fine. Fine. Don't talk about it then," said Sookie placidly as she jabbed a thermometer into a half-baked turkey. "But perhaps you'd like to know that while you were hiding in your office this morning..."

"I wasn't hiding, I was working!" Lorelai told her with her arms crossed in front of her.

"Well, while you were working this morning, Jackson came in to drop off the cantaloupe for the banquet... and I told him that they were too ripe, and he said 'that's not possible, Sookie' and I said, 'Oh, it's more than possible, Jackson, because'..."

"Sookie?! Point, please?!"

"Right, sorry. Well, Jackson said that Taylor saw Luke taking the trash out behind the diner this morning and then he went all ballistic and beat up the dumpster! Luke that is, not Taylor." She popped the turkey back in the oven.

"What?!"

"Yep. Just kicked the hell out of it at six o'clock this morning," said Sookie with some animation, "So apparently someone else doesn't want to talk about it either... he'd rather kill some poor innocent trash receptacle instead."

"Oh boy," moaned Lorelai and put her head into her hands.

"Taylor's looking into ticketing him for attacking town property. He's always wanted to do a citizen's arrest," continued Sookie.

"Oh Jeez... I think I screwed up, Sookie," said Lorelai miserably.

"Honey," Sookie commiserated and sat next to her. "I still don't quite understand what happened, but I do know that you need to make it right."

"I know. I just... I don't know what to say..."

"That's never been a problem for you in the past," Sookie reminded her.

"True," Lorelai acknowledged and paused, "Hey, I met with Jackson for an hour this morning about the maze and he didn't say anything about this."

"He's working on that secret-keeping thing," noddedd Sookie proudly.

"Well, he picked a swell time to start that."

"You've got to talk to Luke, Lorelai. Just tell him what's in your heart—that you're scared, that you don't want to lose him. You've got to do it. That man loves you Lorelai, he always has. He beat up a dumpster over you."

"He beat up a car over Nicole," Lorelai mumbled sarcastically.

"That was wounded pride, not love. Don't be a jack ass, Lorelai. He didn't do half the things for Nicole that he's done for you over the years, and he was married to her. I'm telling you, make this right. Don't screw this up."

Lorelai sighed.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

She wondered fretfully among the rooms checking for the umpteenth time that all was as it should be before the first official guests arrived the next day. She straightened perfectly straight lampshades, and smoothed glass- like coverlets. She made sure all the window shades were exactly equi- distant from the sills. Eventually when the rooms could stand no further sprucing, she found herself in the Great Room, collapsed in a chair by the fireplace, eyes closed and heartsick.

Heart-sick, she thought wryly: Funny. Only not, of course. When would things be normal again? What if this was normal now? she shuddered. When would people just see her again and not some awful thing that was hanging around her like Pigpen's cloud of dust? Would Luke always measure their life together against this... this whatever it was? She paused then: Oh crap, Lorelai. The future. He talked about the future. Luke wants a future. With me. And she sighed her millionth sigh that morning. Sookie's right, I am a jack ass.

"Lorelai, how are you feeling?" she heard.

She fluttered open her eyes then to focus on her father who was standing before her. Feeling like she'd been caught playing hooky for some inexplicable reason, she sat up straighter and smiled as brightly as she could, "Dad, I didn't know you were coming. And I'm feeling fine," she lied.

"May I sit down?"

"Oh... Oh sure... of course," she blustered.

Richard sat in the chair opposite her, "You look pale, Lorelai."

"Do I?" she asked inanely. "I don't feel pale."

"Well, you look it. I was coming here to tell you about my plans for Paris, but perhaps I should postpone them until after your medical situation is resolved."

"No, no, Dad, don't do that. I'm not even scheduled to go in for another week," she assured him.

"That seems an unnecessary wait," Richard observed.

"It's fine, Dad," she smiled. "So Paris, huh? Do you have a plan, Dad, or are you just going to show up in a suit of armor? Don't know how you'd get that through airport security though," she frowned, "You might have to wait to pick one up there. You'd probably get the best price in Europe, anyway."

"I have no intention of wearing a suit of armor, Lorelai," he told her.

"Good, because I imagine your size couldn't be found on the rack which, of course, means a custom job, and there might not be time for that—the forge is awfully backed up this time of year..."

"Lorelai?"

"Yes?"

"You're rambling."

"Right," she nodded.

"It's tedious when you do that."

"Right, sorry."

"My flight is scheduled to leave early this evening," he went on.

"Have you told Mom that you're coming?"

"I thought a surprise would be the romantic way to do this. Rory called me this morning, so I know they are in Paris for a least a few more days. I'm stopping at Cartier on the way to the airport to pick something up for your mother," he told her proudly.

"Well, I really hope that works out for you, Dad," Lorelai told him sincerely.

"Thank you, Lorelai. And before you ask, I did not tell Rory anything about your situation."

"I appreciate that, Dad."

"But I suggest you do so. Prolonging these things only makes them worse in my experience."

"I know, you're right," she admitted.

"So, I'll be off then," he rose to leave.

Lorelai stood as well and they walked in silence out to his car. Richard opened the door to get in when Lorelai stopped him by placing her hand on his forearm.

"Thank you, Daddy," she smiled, blinking tears.

Richard softened at once as he stared down at his only child, "Of course, Lorelai." He placed his hand over hers then and gave it a squeeze, "I'll call you with any developments," he assured her.

"You better," she smiled.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Later that afternoon, Lorelai parked in front of the Gleason family home. Workers right and left were organizing tables-full of odd items into lots to be sold the next day right out of the front yard.

She walked past a complete set of Holly Hobbie Bicentennial collector's plates, a dilapidated Barbie Malibu Camper (Leslie's?) and three crutches.

She slipped into the house and looked about curiously, never having been there before. The place was in disarray, but Lorelai could clearly see the remains of the Polynesian decor. Great pineapple lamp, she observed as she looked about.

"Kirk!" she called when she saw him hurrying by with a box of beer steins, "Where's Luke?"

"Upstairs, but I'd steer clear if I were you," he warned her.

"Really?"

"Yeah, he just threw snowshoes at my head."

"Well, I'll 'think fast'!" responded Lorelai and headed up the stairs.

She eventually found him in an attic storeroom putting an odd collection of alarm clocks into a box.

"Hey," she tried glibly.

He turned to look at her, sighed, put his hands on his hips and glared.

"Okay..." she said. "That's quite a collection of alarm clocks there..." she said lamely.

"What do you want, Lorelai?"

"I want to fix this."

"Well unless you changed that appointment then all the lingerie in the world isn't going to fix this," he told her.

"Luke, I've just...." she looked at him directly then, "I'm just scared... and I was thinking about it all so much and trying to not think about it at the same time, and... Grrr! Why does this have to be so hard? ...We were going to be calm. We said we were going to be calm... And, oh by the way, I can do this by myself, you know! I can. I can do anything by myself," she told him defiantly.

"I know you can, Lorelai," he told her quietly.

She believed him, and more importantly, realized his belief in her.

"It's just... I don't want to," she told him meaningfully, "I don't want to do it alone."

They looked at each other over this until they were interrupted by her cell phone.

"Damn," groused Lorelai as she retrieved the offending object from her pocket.

—"Hello?

—Mom, hey, didn't expect to hear from you...

—I'm doing swell," laughed Lorelai ironically.

—"What?

—Well, sure I can find it in my heart to accept your apology, Mom," she looked at Luke in bewilderment.

—"Just a minute, please: Could you tell me your mother's maiden name so that I might confirm your identity?

—No, you're right. That was in no way gracious. I apologize.

---I agree, Rory is an adult now. And she's going to be fine.

—I am proud of her.

—Yes, Mom," she sighed "Luke. Yes, that Luke.

—Yes, I did tell Rory that.

—Because it's true, I do love him," she met his gaze on that.

—I don't know... I can't remember exactly when we met, ten years anyway.

—Yes, I agree that is a long time," she rolled her eyes.

—No, he has not asked me to marry him," she shifted uncomfortably and looked away from him now.

—I don't know why, he's probably heard that insanity runs in the family," she said in exasperation, "I don't really want to talk about this anymore.

—Because it's none of your business, that's why!

—Mom, I thought this was about you apologizing to me.

—Yes, you did. You're right, you did. Okay, fine.

—No, I don't want to talk with you about Luke.

—All right, yes. Goodbye."

Lorelai clicked off her phone.

"Aaaugh!" she raged, "Only my mother could turn an apology into an inquisition about my love life. I will never ever win. And I'm sure she only made the apology because Rory was sitting right there listening to her do it... making her do it... It just burns me—... W-wait, what's happening?" she looked about in confusion.

"What do you mean?" asked Luke.

"I need a drink of water," she said and turned abruptly and left the room. Luke processed that a moment then hurried behind her.

Lorelai, two hands on the bannister, was descending the stairs quickly now.

"Lorelai–?" said Luke in concern.

"I'm fine," she called over her shoulder, "I'm just gonna get a drink. Hey, box-guy!" she called out to an estate sale worker at the foot of the stairs, "Ktichen?"

He jerked a thumb over his left shoulder, and Lorelai headed in that direction.

"Lorelai? Damn it!" Luke called out from behind her.

"Just let me get a frickin' drink, Luke, and then you can yell at me all you want!" she snapped.

In the kitchen now, she crossed over to the refrigerator and opened it up.

It was a funny wiggly refrigerator, she observed in confusion, and then 'Oh damn'...

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

She felt clammy and cold, and sweaty. Her forehead hurt and she was still thirsty.

She opened her eyes and looked up at the ugliest perforated drop-ceiling she'd ever seen in her life. She focused on that for minute, trying to determine if the little perforations were making any pictures when you squint... like a bunny or something. Nope they didn't.

"Ooo! She's awake," she heard, "Doctor, she's awake!"

"Sookie?" she asked.

"I'm here, hun," said Sookie, her face now close by.

"Where–?"

"You're in the hospital. You passed out right onto Kirk's lettuce crisper. They brought you in an ambulance," she told her mistily.

"Man, I missed it," groused Lorelai. "Sookie?"

"What, sweetie?"

"Did you remember to turn the oven off?"

Sookie laughed a little, "I had to call Dereck after I got here to tell him to do it for me."

Lorelai frowned, "Aw, your turkey will be spoiled now. And why are there tubes coming out of my arms?"

"They're just hydrating you."

"Great, more water weight," grumbled Lorelai and then, "Is Luke here?"

"Oh honey, he was great," enthused Sookie, "He's the one who called the paramedics—used your cell phone and everything, if you can believe it!"

"Oh. Where is he?" Lorelai lifted her head and looked around, then winced when the action made her dizzy.

"Lie down, sweetie, you need to rest."

"Sookie!"

"What?"

"Where's Luke?"

"He's in the waiting room, Lorelai."

"Oh, would you go ask him to come in?" she explored her forehead tenderly with her fingertips.

Sookie was silent for a moment. Lorelai noticed.

"What is it?"

"He won't come in here, Lorelai. He won't come any further than the nurses' station." said Sookie nervously.

"But...?"

"No, Lorelai. We've all tried. Jackson's out there guilting him about it now, but he refuses to come in."