A/N: Characters borrowed.

He was going over the process in his mind, trying to work out just what the hell he was going to say to her. It occurred to him that maybe it would be best to act as if the idea had, you know, just hit him suddenly- it would certainly be less creepy, he thought, than pulling her aside and telling her that he had been completely consumed by her for years, that she had made him emotionally stunted toward other women, that he would try and change if he had to, just to be good enough for her, just so she'd give him a chance.

Yeah, he definitely understood now why Jess just dropped the bomb and ran.

"I was just sort of thinking, you know… that maybe…" he mumbled under his breath, trying on the words. "Well I'm single right now, you know, with the divorce and everything finally going through, and… since you're single right now too…"

She was single, wasn't she? He decided to overlook the thought, but made a mental note to strike up a casual conversation with Patty later.

"So, maybe we should be, um… single together. Only, not single. Because we'll be, you know, like together."

This wasn't going to go well at all.

Luke mulled all this over as he unloaded the day's shipments in the storage area, then moved into the main room and began overturning chairs. The sun would be up soon, so he figured he had a good three hours to sort his head out before Lorelai came in for breakfast.

Just as he overturned the last chair and stepped behind the counter, he heard what sounded like a muffled thud at the front door. He paused in his tracks for a moment, then walked over and twisted the blinds open. He peered out of the cold glass and saw nothing in particular, until his eyes adjusted a bit to the darkness. His gaze shifted downward when he noticed some movement, and he realized that just in front of his door was a silhouetted figure, huddled on the step. It was her.

He flipped on the outside lights and swung open the door. "What are you doing!" He cried, stepping outside and closing the door behind him. "Lorelai, do you know what time it is? What's wrong?" Her face was in her hands, and her knees drawn up to her chest. He sat down on the step next to her, unsure of what to do. His immediate thought was that she somehow found out about his plans and had issued some sort of preemptive strike, so horrified at the thought of him expressing interest in her that she came to stop him. He knew this was ludicrous and that she couldn't read his mind. At least, he hoped she couldn't.

Her shoulders were shaking, she was crying. It must be Rory. "Is it Rory? Did something happen?" His heart was pounding in his ears and he felt helpless. She shook her head, almost imperceptibly, letting out a shuddering sigh. He followed suit, releasing his breath, and waited patiently for her to gather herself together and talk. If Rory was okay, it couldn't possibly be that bad, he thought, and relaxed his shoulders.

He scooted closer so that they were hip to hip and rubbed her back aimlessly for a few moments. She looked up at him and pursed her lips, searched his eyes and took in his deeply concerned look. It made her eyes fill again, but she held her composure.

"Luke, I... I got a call a couple hours ago from Donald. Mia's son."

Luke's heart dropped, and he shut his eyes for a brief second. He felt the color draining from his face, and wished she'd take back what she'd just said.

When Lorelai didn't continue, he barely managed to get the words out. "Why, what happened?"

Lorelai reached over his knee and took his hand. "Honey, Mia had a heart attack yesterday afternoon. They um, they drove her to the hospital, she was there for a few hours before going into some kind of cardiac arrest, and then she died." He'd never heard her speak so deliberately. "Donald said that the funeral is this weekend and he asked that we both be there, he said that… he said that he knew how important it would have been to her for us to be there."

Luke sighed and nodded. "Of course we'll go, how could we not go," he said in a strained voice. Lorelai tried to think of something she could say to comfort him, but knew that if there was nothing anyone could say to her to ease the pain, there was probably little she could offer Luke. They'd been silent for a long time. "He said she went peacefully, she wasn't in any pain or anything when she died," she offered.

He abruptly cleared his throat, startling her. He stood up, dropping Lorelai's hand. "I'll um... I'll call the airport and um… make reservations."

Lorelai stood up with him and brushed off her pants. It suddenly occurred to her that Luke had no idea how to book a flight. "No, Luke, don't worry about it. I've got the number of my mother's travel agent at home, I'll call them as soon as they open and get us seats on the next flight out. Do you mind if we leave tonight?"

"No, I'll just call Caesar and Lane and see if they can take over for a few days." He stepped behind the counter and reached for the phone, relieved to have something specific to do with his hands.

Lorelai crossed the threshold of the diner. "Hey Luke? It's not even… it's 5:45 in the morning. Maybe you should a little while before calling anyone."

"Uh… right." He shifted, keeping his body stiff, hands jammed in his pockets. He didn't look like he was about to cry, but he did look like he needed to be alone. His eyes searched the floor.

"Ok well… I'm gonna go home and start packing. I need to go to the inn and make some arrangements if I'm going to be… gone awhile. I'll come by this afternoon and give you all the travel details when I know more. Okay?"

Luke finally looked up and made eye contact with her for the first time since hearing the news.

He thought about Mia, mainly about how much she had helped him when his parents had passed away. She was her mother's closest friend, and having someone there who knew and loved the same person he did made him feel a bit better. Mia was his greatest source of comfort then, always consoling him when he needed it and saying the right things at the right times- something he had never been able to master. He wondered if he was going to be able to do that now, for the people who were bound to be affected by Mia's death in the same way that he was affected by his mother's. People like Lorelai and Rory, who depended on her.

He didn't break his gaze and he stepped around the counter and swept Lorelai up in a hug. She immediately broke down, letting her body go limp as she squeezed her arms around his neck. He pressed his head down into her as she sniffled against his shoulder, comforted by the fact that he could comfort someone else. "Okay," he replied.

They were both relieved not to be alone in this situation, to have someone to share the burden of misery with. His mind drew an unintentional parallel between Lorelai and Liz, which he immediately pushed to the back of his mind. But it was true that, years ago, he had felt the same relief wash over him as he realized that he had someone who was going through it all with him. It was one of the few times in his life that he had let down his guard for someone else, and let emotion and love and pain flow freely from his body and trust that it was going to a safe place, to someone who was feeling the same things.

He may not have been able to do it in a relationship, but he knew how to do it when it really counted.

Luke felt her release her grip, and he loosened his arms from about her waist, ducking his head down and looking into her eyes.

"It's going to be okay."

"I know," she said, giving him a half-hearted smile. She stepped back from him, squeezed his hand and stepped out into the night. As the bells on the diner door signaled her exit, his thoughts traveled back to earlier, to his plans to finally tell her how he felt, that he wanted to be romantically involved with her. All of that had seemed so pressing just an hour ago.

It all seemed so much more frivolous now.

Chapter 3 will be up soon. Any thoughts?