A/N: Again, I do not own these characters… if I did, they'd be doing much dirtier things…. Hee hee hee..
A/N2: Thanks again to all you guys who reviewed. I'm glad you all really enjoy the story. Any plot ideas/story changes are greatly appreciated. I believe I've written myself into a corner. If anyone can figure out how to turn it around, lemme know!
Thanks again.

Chapter Five

"Seriously, Mom," Rory insisted, "I'll be fine."
Lorelai looked down at her daughter, brushed a hair out of her face.
She does look better, the exhausted side of her reasoned.
"Mom, you and Luke stayed last night, and I'm being released later this afternoon," Rory stated. "You both have to be at work, and when you're done, you can come and pick me up! But for now, both of you need to go home and shower. You smell."
She grinned up at her mom, half-giggling, and the sorrow and fear on Lorelai's face slightly diminished as a small smirk appeared at the corner of her mouth.
The previous night, Rory had awoken to the sounds of her mother crying. Lorelai had been sitting on the couch in the corner of the hospital room, and through Rory's sleep-blurred vision, she'd seen Luke beside Lorelai, holding her as she sobbed into his shoulder.

"I was so scared," Lorelai sobbed.
"I know," Luke sniffed, manly of course, "Me too."
And now standing before her was Lorelai, slightly ragged and exhausted looking. Luke stood behind Lorelai, one hand on her back, the other in his the pocket of his worn jeans.
He'd always been the closest thing to a father figure she'd ever had. He'd always been there for her and especially for her mom. Somewhere inside her, she wished that Luke and Lorelai would get together… she'd always pictured them together in her mind. Even as a kid, she'd always imagined Luke giving her away at her wedding. She didn't know why she'd always thought that, but it had always made sense.
Rory bid both of the adults goodbye, and settled in with a copy of Proust that Luke had obligingly retrieved for her the previous day.

Getting in the car, Lorelai looked at the clock.
5:30am. The whole day was ahead of her. But she was so tired… she'd barely slept last night, and if the bags under Luke's eyes meant anything, neither had he.
Pulling out of the hospital, she looked over at Luke.
"Hey," she said, getting his attention, "I… uh, never thanked you… for all you did… all you've ever done."
Luke shifted in his seat, and placed a hand on Lorelai's knee.
"Don't mention it," he said, his voice gravelly with hidden emotion.
The hand on her knee radiated heat, and Lorelai relished in the comfort she felt from the gesture. She slid over the seat and snuggled up against Luke's side. His arm curled around her, and they drove on in comfortable silence.

As they neared Stars Hollow, Luke looked down at Lorelai, still curled in his arms.
"You want me to take you home, or do you wanna pick up the Jeep from the diner?" Secretly, he was praying that she would pick the latter, and come into the diner.
Lorelai grinned. "Hey, you've got coffee, right?" she asked, a smile in her voice as well as on her face.
"For you, there's always coffee," he sighed. His grip on her tightened and they pulled into the back of the diner.
At his words, Lorelai's skin had erupted in goosebumps, and her heart did that weird skipping thing she'd been trying to forget about the past few days. Letting go of Luke triggered a feeling of absence- absence of heat as well comfort. She felt the uncontrollable urge to run to him and never let go. But she held back. She walked calmly to the diner, Luke trailing behind, spare keys jingling in his hand. Through the back door, they walked, Luke stopping to turn on the brewer, Lorelai continuing to her nearly religious spot on the customer side of the counter.
"I'll be right back, I've just gotta get some more crème and sugar," Luke said, before disappearing behind the door to the store room. He knew Lorelai would help herself, so he took his time finding the sugar and filling up the canister he'd brought with him.
When he finished, a mere two or three minutes later, he was just about to open the door, but he stopped at the sight before him. Through the small storeroom door window, Luke could see Lorelai sitting at the counter, coffee in hand, head slightly bowed. He recognized the look on her face as one that showed she was deeply engrossed in her own thoughts. There was a slight crease between her eyebrows, and her fingers were tracing idle circles on the surface of the counter. Her wrinkled blouse hung a bit loosely in the front, and the blue fabric swayed slightly over her chest s she breathed slow calm breaths. The dark curly hair he desired to run his fingers through fell gracefully to her shoulders. The still darkened diner cast shadows about her face, shadows that only increased the worry he'd seen there.
Luke finally stepped thought the door and approached the counter carefully.
Lorelai wasn't aware of his presence until he was standing before her. She raised her head and looked him in the eye.

"You okay?" he asked warily, his brow furrowing with concern.
"I will be… eventually," A small smirk played quickly at the corner of her mouth as she gazed up at him.
But Luke could see the sadness in her blue eyes. He could see the self doubt etched across her face as though it were written in red pen. Luke rounded the counter, and once again, took Lorelai into his arms. She'd thrown her arms around his neck and he'd wrapped his around her small waist. Luke turned his head so that his face was tucked into the crook between Lorelai's neck and shoulder, unconsciously, she reciprocated the action.
Lorelai didn't know how long they stayed that way, holding each other, breathing in each other's scent. Sometime during the embrace, Lorelai had started crying again, and she realized that she'd been drying her tears on Luke's shirt. She reluctantly pulled away, her hands coming to rest on Luke's shoulders, his cupping her sides.
"I'm sorry," she sniffed, "I keep crying. I know you hate crying." She looked down at Luke's chest, rising and falling with each deep breath he took. She felt one of his hands leave her side, coming to rest on her neck, thumb brushing away the tears on her cheek. The result was her heart practically leaping into her throat.
She closed her eyes and relished the feel of his rough hands, so gentle on her skin. Luke's gravelly voice rang in her ears.
"Everything's going to be fine." He lowered his hand to her side.
Lorelai sighed. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Luke." She pulled him into yet another embrace, burying her head in the hollow of his neck.
Maybe it was something about the way she smelled, or the softness of her bare arms around his neck, or maybe it was the swelling in his chest that made him say it.

"You'll never have to find out."
Lorelai thought that maybe she'd imagined what she'd heard, but if the suddenly stiff arms around her waist were any clue, Luke had actually said it.
Arms still linked behind his head, she leaned backward and caught his eyes with hers. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but she found that she was at a loss for words. All she could do was looking into those deep eyes of his.
Suddenly, all logic flew out the window, and she felt herself leaning in, her eyes closed and her arms tightened around Luke's neck.
Luke, on the other hand, had been panicking. He'd seen her eyes close, and he felt how she'd pulled him closer to her, and then, just before their lips had touched, the bell to the diner jingled.
Lorelai practically leapt from his arms. Looking to the door, she saw that it was only Kirk, and the large box he'd been carrying had hopefully obscured his vision.
"Morning, Luke!" Kirk's muffled voice sounded from behind the box.
"Morning, Kirk," Luke responded obligingly, looking over to Lorelai, who'd already fished her keys from her purse and was looping the coach bag over her arm. She gave him one last fleeting look before rushing out the back door.
Luke had the irresistible urge to hurt Kirk, but reasoned that he had no idea what he'd walked in on.
Kirk sat down and began rambling on about his mother, his cat, and other things Luke had little interest in. So Luke began over turning chairs, and wiping down tables, preparing for the six o'clock crowd that would be do any minute.

TBC… or not? R&R, peeps!