A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, they really make my day. Enjoy chapter 11.

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything.

Chapter 11

Luke came home that night after closing up the diner. He was a little later than usual, the diner had been really busy. He walked in the door and smiled to himself. He never knocked anymore and although he wasn't technically living there, he spent almost every night with Lorelai. Sometimes it was at his apartment if he had an early delivery but recently they had fallen into a pattern of staying here at the house.

He walked into the living room and was surprised to find Lorelai asleep on the couch. She was sleeping a lot lately, but he shrugged his shoulders and realized it was probably from the constant stress and worry about Rory. He kneeled down in front of her and watched her for a few minutes. He put his face close to hers so he could feel her breath on his cheek and gently entwined his fingers in the silky curls of her hair. God he loved her, he thought to himself. He couldn't imagine what his life would be like without her anymore.

He thought back to a few weeks ago when he believed that she might sell the Inn and take the consulting job that Mike Armstrong had offered her and immediately he could feel the pain in his heart as if it was yesterday. He knew that he couldn't live without her but he also knew that if she had really wanted to take it and it would have made her happy, he would have supported her. He smiled. There had been no more talk of Mike Armstrong, only about them getting married. He still couldn't believe that they were getting married. He couldn't believe that after all this time, they had finally gotten together in spite of themselves. Every time he held her in his arms he thanked his lucky stars for blessing him with this wonderful woman.

"Lorelai." He said quietly into her ear and he kissed her forehead.

"Hmmm." She smiled but didn't open her eyes.

"Lorelai." He tried again, only this time he kissed her ear and her eyes and her nose. "It's time to go up to bed." His lips grazed hers as he was talking and he planted an ever so gentle kiss on her mouth.

"Hi." She said softly, reaching for him and pulling him in for another kiss but not opening her eyes yet.

"Hi." He said back to her as he put his arms around her and pulled her slowly off the couch so that she was sitting in his lap and engulfed in his arms.

She was surprised, but pleased, at where she ended up and she opened her eyes and stared into his until she laid her head on his shoulder, feeling totally content and safe in his arms. She couldn't stare into his eyes for very long before she felt her eyes start to water. His eyes told her so much about him, but mostly she could see how much he loved her. She marveled at how he knew so much about her and yet he still wanted her. He knew all her faults and insecurities. She laughed quietly to herself, knowing that they were vast and many. And yet he still loved her. She knew that he would always be there for her, that she didn't have to hide her true self from him, and that whatever stupid thing she did, he wouldn't run and he wouldn't stop loving her. She loved him and she had never said that before to anyone but Rory.

"Hey." She reached for Rory's letter and smiled up at him. "This was in the mail."

He took it from her wondering what could make her face light up the way it just had. He glanced at the heading, then skipped to the bottom of the page. "This is for you." He said smiling, but turning his face away. "She wrote this to you, I shouldn't read it."

"No. I want you to." Lorelai said refusing to take the letter back from him when he offered it.

"But, Rory wrote this to you, it's private." He didn't think Rory would want him to read it.

"She won't mind." Lorelai looked into his eyes, she wanted him to know that she believed that Rory really would not care if he read it. "She says she loves me." Lorelai added quietly and Luke hugged her tight and read the letter over her shoulder.

When he finally pulled back and looked into Lorelai's eyes again, there were tears rolling down his cheeks and he kissed her gently, nibbling her lips with his own. "This is the mother daughter combo that I love." He said quietly into her ear.

Together they got up and walked up to their bedroom without ever letting go of each other. When they got to their bedroom, Lorelai disengaged herself and began to change into Luke's flannel shirt. She never wore anything else to bed anymore. All her sexy lingerie, lay unused in her drawer, because she never felt sexier or more loved, or safer, than when she was surrounded by Luke and Luke's flannel shirt was a part of Luke. She was removing her pants, when she realized that Luke was sitting on the edge of the bed staring at her. She stopped what she was doing and came over to him and hugged him to her breasts. He put his arms around her waist and hugged her tightly, so tightly that she became alarmed. After a few minutes she removed herself from his grasp and sat down beside him, taking his hand in both of hers.

"Luke?" It was definitely a question and he knew it, but he shook his head and gripped her hands firmly. "What's wrong?" She prodded gently as she brought one hand up to his chin and turned his head to face her . When she saw the tears on his cheeks she gently kissed them and removed them from his face. "Oh Luke." Her eyes began to water and a tear escaped and ran down her face. When Luke saw her tear he hugged her tightly again and pulled her down on the bed with him. "Talk to me Luke." She continued to hug him, but oddly, there was nothing sexual in their embrace, only warmth and understanding and love.

"I was just thinking too much." He said quietly into her ear as he rested his chin on her shoulder.

"About what?" She brought her body closer to him as they snuggled and he pulled her higher on the bed so that their feet didn't dangle over the end.

"Downstairs." He sighed. He wanted to tell her everything now, never hold anything back from her again, but he was not sure how to convey what he was thinking. "Before I woke you up."

She stayed quiet, knowing that he would tell her when he found a way.

"I was looking at you, you know, watching you sleep and …" He stopped, getting caught up in his words "And I was thinking about you… and me." He added "I just.." He stopped again, but continued after a deep breath. "I just couldn't survive without you. You are everything to me and I was thinking about if I ever lost you and then." Now that the words were flowing, he couldn't stop. "And then the letter from Rory and you. My family, you and Rory." He was crying again and Lorelai hugged him as tight as she could feeling her heart explode with love and realizing that she actually hurt from all the love that she was receiving. "Forever, forever and ever." He finished.

She could feel the wet from his tears on her neck and then she realized that she was crying as well and she pulled back from him and took his face in her hands and stared into his eyes, not running from the love she saw there like she had earlier in the living room, but drinking it in and she kissed him tenderly, as their tears mixed together and repeated his words to him. "Forever, forever and ever." They held each other quietly then until they fell asleep in each others arms.

"Luke." Lorelai shook Luke to wake him up. "The phone, Luke, get the phone."

Luke reached across her and picked up the phone on the nightstand on her side of the bed. "What?" He asked grumpily into the receiver. He had been having a good sleep and he was dreaming about Lorelai. "Yeah." Luke shook Lorelai. "It's for you." He said a little wider awake.

"Who is it? Tell them I'll call them back in the morning." She opened one eye and squinted at the clock on the night stand.

"Just take it." Luke shook her again. "I don't know who it is."

She sighed and opened both eyes, finally able to see the time. 3:38 AM. She rolled over and took the phone. "What?" She said, sounding amazingly like Luke.

"Lorelai Gilmore?" A strange voice asked into her ear.

"Yes." She said, becoming some what alarmed and waking up completely.

"My name is Brian Larsen, I'm with the Hartford Police Department."

"What's wrong?" Lorelai bolted to a sitting position, and grabbed Luke's arm as tight as she could. She could feel a wave of fear and panic wash over her as surely as if someone had just covered her in a thick blanket.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you Ms. Gilmore, but there's been an accident."

Luke felt the pain in his arm from the death like grip of Lorelai's hand and sat up in a panic of his own.

And then Lorelai heard the words that she had feared for all of Rory's life. "Your daughter Lorelai Gilmore is at St. Francis Hospital."

"How is she? What happened?" Lorelai had a million questions, but she was trying to stay calm. And loosing the battle rapidly. "Is she…" She couldn't finish the sentence and she handed the phone to Luke. She heard Luke talking into the phone, asking questions, she guessed, although for the life of her she couldn't make out what he was saying.

Luke hung up the phone and jumped out of bed, he began racing around the room getting dressed. "Lorelai, come on." He prodded when she continued to sit still on the bed. "We have to get going." Then he turned to look at her and saw the tears and her blank stare, as if she was looking but not seeing anything. He stopped what he was doing and sat down beside her. "Lorelai." He said softly, putting his arm around her. "We have to go."

"What?" She turned and looked at him, but again it was like she was looking right through him. She pointed to the phone and he understood what she was asking.

"I don't know anything. He couldn't tell me anything over the phone. All I know is that she is in the trauma center at St. Francis Hospital. We'll find out everything when we get there."

She nodded and he gently lifted her off the bed and handed her some clothes. She seemed to come back to him just a little bit then as she got dressed and walked out to the truck. He grabbed her purse and keys and locked the door, then he helped her in the truck and tears rolled down both their faces as they made their way to the hospital. Not a word was said by either one of them all the way to the hospital, each of them lost in their own grief, but their hands became tightly linked and they knew that they had each other to help them get through this.

A/N: Please R & R. Very Important! Thanks.