A/N: Sorry about the cheesy ending to the last chapter! I shouldn't post chapters late at night without a fully awake proofreading. I'll have to fix that at some point. Thanks for all the positive reviews! I'll hopefully be updating with a lot more regularity from now on. I'm going on vacation this weekend, but I'll try to get another chappie or two up as soon as I get back. Expect more Luke/Lorelai and Jess/Rory and a little more excitement in the coming chapters.

Disclaimers: don't own nothing

Chapter 9: She sparkles before she speaks

Luke walked into the diner, fully expecting that it would be in total chaos without him, but it was quite calm, with just a few customers still finishing their breakfasts. Lane stood behind the counter, refilling someone's coffee.

"Hi, Luke!" she called out cheerfully as he walked in.

"Hey. How're things going here?" He was sure that things couldn't be managed this well without him—beneath the quiet appearance of the diner, something must have gone horribly wrong.

"Oh, everything's great here. The breakfast rush just ended about a half hour ago, and things are pretty calm."

"No problems at all?"

"No, everything's great here. How's Jess?" Lane said as she filled a cup of coffee and held it out to him.

Luke shook his head, refusing the proffered coffee, "He's sick, really sick, but he'll be ok. He'll probably just be in the hospital another day or two."

"That's too bad. Well, don't worry about anything here—Caesar and I have everything covered. Why don't you go get some sleep?"

"No, I'm good…" Luke hesitated, "Well, if you guys really have everything in control, I could use a little sleep."

"Yes, go, sleep. We'll be fine, the diner will be fine."

"Ok, well, come get me if you need anything."

"Sure, of course we will."

Luke trudged up the stairs and collapsed into bed, fully clothed. But sleep eluded him, so he just lay there, staring across the room and thinking. Jess's unmade bed stood in the opposite corner. At any other time he would have been angry that it wasn't made—but not today, because today it meant that Jess was back. And that meant that he hadn't failed him. That the two years he had spent trying to keep Jess from drifting hadn't been in vain. And, truth be told, he had sort of missed the kid. Especially in the diner, Lane was a great employee, but Jess had always busted his ass—and he had the patented Danes' grumpy attitude to serve up to every customer. Lane was much too cheerful.

He hoped Rory would forgive Jess. Sure, Rory deserved someone better than Jess, but he thought that Jess was deserving of someone as good as Rory. No matter what anyone said, he was still convinced that with a stable environment and a desire to do well, Jess could be a really good kid.

He was also glad Jess was back because; things got a little boring without him. After he and Nichole broke up…well, it had been a little lonely around the apartment. Especially with Lorelai dating this mystery-man and all. But that was okay…he was an island, right? Maybe.

Luke finally dozed off for an hour or two before waking up and realizing it was already two in the afternoon. He figured he should probably get to the hospital, but decided to take a shower first—he didn't want to scare the nurses away or anything. He stood under the showerhead, letting the hot water wash away his sleepiness. He had always done his best thinking in the shower—and today was no exception, because all he could think about was Lorelai—and he couldn't come up with anything better than Lorelai. He wondered why she had come last night. She had already told him she couldn't…but then there she was, right when he needed her. He couldn't help wishing he could lean on her like that a little more often, but she was busy with this Jason guy, so he tried to shove what he thought were foolish wishes out of his mind.

Out of the shower, he selected a clean flannel shirt and a pair of jeans, and grabbed his coat. He stood in the doorway for a minute, trying to think of something to bring Jess. It seemed like an appropriate gesture, but he didn't think Jess would really want flowers, and he already had a couple of books at the hospital, although he seemed much more interested in sleeping than reading. The only thing he could think of that Jess would want was Rory—and maybe, he could arrange that.

Lorelai was sitting at the kitchen table, enjoying a big cup of coffee (not as good as Luke's, but at least she didn't have to leave the house for it). She wondered what Jess being back would really mean for Rory—she couldn't even tell how Rory felt about it now because she wouldn't talk about it. She wondered what it would mean for Luke, too. She could tell he was really excited that Jess was back. Lorelai hoped it would work out better this time and that Luke was right about Jess really changing. She wanted Luke to be happy. He hadn't really seemed happy since Jess left and he and Nichole got divorced.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the kitchen door. She looked up from her coffee to see Luke on the other side of the glass in the door. "Speak of the devil," she muttered to herself as she got up to open the door.

"Hey, Luke," she said. "What brings you here?"

"Umm, actually, I wanted to talk to Rory. Is she here?"

"No, sorry, she left to go back to Yale about a half hour ago. Why?"

"I just wanted to see if she wanted to come to the hospital with me…I guess it was kind of stupid of me to think she would, anyway, huh?" Luke looked tired and his shoulders slumped dejectedly.

"No, it wasn't stupid of you. Maybe she would have wanted to go. Why don't you come in and have some coffee?"

"No thanks, I really should be getting back to the hospital—I just was trying to think of something I could do to make Jess feel better, and the only thing I could think of that makes Jess happy is Rory."

"That's so sweet of you, Luke. Do you want me to come with you?"

"You don't have to do that." Luke turned to go.

"I know I don't have to, Luke. Do you want me to?"

He stopped and turned toward her. "Yeah, that'd be nice."

"Okay," she said, "Just let me get my coat."

Ten minutes later, Luke and Lorelai were stopped at Stars Hollow's only traffic light, which was currently red.

"Damn it!" Luke thumped the steering wheel, "Why do have this stupid light?"

"Because of Taylor," said Lorelai.

"You were right yesterday—that man really should be sent to a mental facility."

"Yeah, but he'd probably drive everyone there crazy" Lorelai cracked. She knew the joke wasn't funny, but she was hoping it would make Luke laugh. And she succeeded—after a moment's pause; he looked at her and chuckled.

"That was one of the worst joke's I've ever heard," he said, still laughing.

"Well obviously you thought it was funny." Lorelai feigned offense at his comment. She felt the tension in the car lift as their relationship settled into its normal banter.