Author's Note: Sorry for the wait. This chapter will also have to tide you over for a few days. As always, thanks for the reviews and I still don't own Gilmore Girls.

Three days later and Lorelai had still not heard from Luke. She had left him one more message in a futile attempt to reopen the lines of communication, but there was still no response. To take her mind off Luke she decided to throw herself into work at the inn, which irritated Sookie and Michel to the point that they actually kicked her out of the inn for a minimum of one hour.

Since she had been banished Lorelai decided to take a walk around the town to get her mind off things. The wind was brisk and Lorelai pulled her hat down over her ears. The weather was getting colder, but Lorelai still didn't sense snow in the air. It was odd that it was the beginning of February and it hadn't snowed in weeks. Lorelai crossed her arms over chest and turned the corner to the Town Square. Against her better judgment she decided to walk passed Luke's Diner. Something about seeing the diner dark and empty made Lorelai ache inside. However, as she got closer to the diner she noticed that the lights were on. Lorelai's heart leap in her throat and she quickened her pace as she approached the diner. Lorelai pushed open the door to the diner and removed her hat.

"Luke," she called walking through the tables.

"Are you here?" she yelled as she made her way to the stairs.

"Luke's not here," called a familiar voice.

Lorelai stopped in her tracks and saw Jess come down from Luke's apartment, a box in his arms.

"Jess," Lorelai said trying to hide her disappointment.

"Wow, nice attempt at enthusiasm," he said sarcastically placing the box on the counter.

"Sorry," Lorelai said. "I just thought Luke was here."

"Well he's not," Jess said rummaging behind the counter.

"I see that," Lorelai said running her fingers over her hat.

"So I guess you don't need anything since we're closed and Luke isn't here," Jess ventured.

"Right," Lorelai half-heartedly agreed. She turned to leave the diner.

"Wait," she said turning back to Jess abruptly.

"What?" Jess said irritated. It wasn't that he was mad at her. Sure, they had never really gotten along, but Jess and Lorelai had come to some sort of civil accord when he came to town for Liz's wedding. However, at the moment Jess only saw Lorelai as the woman who broke Luke's heart. "You've obviously talked to Luke," she said gesturing toward the box on the counter. "I was wondering when he was coming back?" "He's not," Jess said simply.

"Well he can't stay away forever," Lorelai replied almost as if she was tying to convince herself of the fact.

"Actually he can," Jess said. He reached under the counter and pulled out a large board.

'FOR LEASE-Sunshine Realty', Lorelai read the sign.

"He asked me to come by and pick up a few things and make sure I put this in the window," Jess said.

"He can't do this," Lorelai whispered.

"Well he is," Jess said coldly. "You broke his heart. He only wanted you to tell him you loved him."

"Jess you don't know anything about this," Lorelai said.

"Oh please, he loved you and you couldn't say it," Jess was getting angry. "He did everything for you and you were just too proud to say you loved him." "Wow, are you over-identifying with this situation," Lorelai said. "Except the difference is I'm not you and Luke isn't Rory. Rory loved you and you left town on her. I didn't leave town on Luke. I'm still here. He's the one who left." "You didn't give him a choice," Jess said. "Was he supposed to stay here and pine for you while you played house with Rory's Dad? The sick thing is he wasn't even that upset about it. He just wanted you to say you loved him as much as he loved you." "You think I don't know that?" Lorelai shouted back. "You should know better than anyone that it's not as easy as people think."

Jess studied the counter as if he was thinking when in reality he just didn't want to make eye contact with Lorelai because he knew she was right. Rory had loved him he was sure of it, but they couldn't make it work because he wouldn't let himself love her. He wouldn't let himself show her the real him. He only let it show in pieces and most of the time he didn't treat her the way he should have. When he finally decided he did love her it was too late. It had hurt like hell. He was over it now, but he remembered all too well the feeling of utter despair and helplessness that overcame him at the time. He had a feeling Lorelai was going through the same thing now.

"I know it's not easy," he conceded. "But you can't expect him to wait forever."

"I don't," Lorelai replied sadly. "You think I don't know how wonderful he is? Well I do, believe me. I sat through entire town meeting where people basically said I'd break Luke's heart and guess what? For once I lived up to expectation didn't I?"

Lorelai pulled out a chair and sat down. She wasn't sure what compelled her to say these things out loud, to Jess of all people, and yet here she was telling Jess these things.

"I just wasn't ready to tell him how I felt," Lorelai said miserably. "You must know what that's like. I didn't realize just how much I needed him until he was gone."

"He misses you," Jess said lightly. "I mean, I'm pretty sure he does. When I talked to him he sounded like he missed you."

"Well I wouldn't know since he's avoiding my calls," Lorelai said glumly.

"Well, that's Luke," Jess said. "You hurt him. But the thing about Luke is that he always forgives. It's part of his sick sense of duty. He needs to help people."

"Yeah," Lorelai agreed. "Jess, do you think you might tell me where the cabin is? Maybe if I see Luke in person we can sort this out."

"I don't think so," Jess said. "If Luke wanted to see you he wouldn't have left town."

"Jess please I have to make him understand that I do care about him," Lorelai said standing and approaching the counter.

"I'm sorry," Jess said in a tone that actually made Lorelai believe he was. "I can't tell you."

Jess took the large sign and walked over to the window leaning it against the glass.

"I have to get to work so you're gonna have to leave," Jess told her walking toward the door.

"Right," Lorelai said walking to the door. "I'll go, but when you see Luke will you tell him...Tell him I miss him?"

"Does it look like I have Western Union stamped on my forehead?" Jess asked sarcastically falling into his usual personality.

"Please Jess?" Lorelai asked. She wanted to get mad, but she thought she might have a chance of getting his help if she remained civil.

"I'll think about it," he said.

"Well I guess that's all I can ask," Lorelai said walking passed him through the door. "But please think about it."

Lorelai walked through the door and Jess closed it behind her throwing the deadbolt over. Jess watched Lorelai walk down the street and he felt genuinely bad for her. He had the unfortunate knowledge of how hard it was to lose someone you loved. He knew how hard it was to say the words that Lorelai was struggling to find. The worst part was he had learned his lesson the hard way and it seemed to him that Lorelai was well on her way to learning the same lesson.

Luke returned from a trip to the local grocery store and placed his shopping bag on the counter. He began to unpack his essentials and just as he reached the bottom of the bag he saw it. A single can that he had purchased absent-mindedly, or maybe not so absent-mindedly. He reached into the brown bag and pulled out the can of crystallized caffeine. Luke twisted the can around in his hand and debated for minute. Soon her took the lid off the coffee and pealed back the silver foil. He inhaled deeply and his nostrils were filled with the scent of coffee. But it wasn't just coffee that he inhaled. It was Lorelai.

Luke remembered walking up and down each aisle at the store. He purchased some fruit, protein bars, water and then he walked down the tea aisle. Inevitably the tea and coffee sat side-by-side on the shelf. Luke tossed a box of peppermint tea into his basket and he continued to walk through the aisle until he stopped. He reached out and grabbed a small can of coffee and tossed it into his basket. Whether he did it consciously or not, he couldn't tell, but the fact was that he bought the coffee.

Luke set the open can on the counter and went about putting the remaining groceries away. The small cabin smelled of coffee and he thought if he'd only thought to buy a lavender candle that the cabin would smell exactly like her. The scent made him ache inside, but it also brought a strange sense of comfort. It was as if he could trick his mind into thinking that Lorelai had been there and that she would be back soon. He knew that wasn't the truth, but he wasn't much for the truth lately.

The truth is what he asked for Lorelai. The truth was the reason he was alone in a cabin. She couldn't handle the emotion. She couldn't tell him what he so desperately needed to hear. Luke thought he could go without hearing the words, but after a while he realized he needed to hear them.

He was more enraptured with Lorelai by the minute and yet he felt like he was an obligation to her. He felt as if she was merely putting up with him and his presence in her life and he couldn't live that way anymore. Although now that he realized he had bought coffee just to take in her familiar scent he thought maybe it might not have been so bad to live a life in which he wasn't completely loved. Maybe the fact the she allowed him in at all was enough. Deep inside he knew that wasn't true and so he replaced the lid to the coffee can and placed it in the back of cabinet.

Luke walked over to the couch and sat down. He decided it was time. Lorelai had left him another message and he had to return her call as much as it might hurt him. So he pulled out his cell phone and dialed her number.

"Hi," Lorelai said. "I'm not here and the operation to surgically implant my phone to my ear takes place next Thursday so until then leave a message and I'll call you back."

Luke hesitated. He wasn't sure if he should leave a message or not. Although he felt like he should say something just so Lorelai would know he wasn't avoiding her.

"Hi," Luke said clearing his throat. "It's me. I got your messages I've just been busy with things. So I'm returning your call now. Okay, bye."

Luke sighed as he hit the disconnect button. 'What a stupid message,' he thought to himself. It was too late now. The message had been left. Now all he had to do was wait to see if Lorelai would return his call.

TBC