A/N: Thanks to everyone for the reviews! 16! That's the most I've ever gotten on the first chapter of a story. I'm impressed! I'm glad people are enjoying this.

Disclaimer: I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I don't profit from them, but I'd love to buy them all coffee. (I stole this disclaimer from one of forensicsfan's stories cause it made me laugh!)

Marcel-Marceau-chicken: I couldn't help but give you a shout-out because you said 'copper boom' and it made me laugh! Thanks for your review!

Molly: Thanks for the suggestions! I may try to tie a few of those into my story for you.

Charmedchic72: Here you are again! Thanks so much for reviewing so many of my stories! I'm sorry that you're cold…I'm cold, too, if that makes you feel any better!

And last, but definitely not least, to J.Stone: Thanks again! You're encouragement has been a big help. (I'll try to maybe write something happy for you after this…)

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"The most amazing thing was, the day after she died, there were still buildings. The streets were still full of cars. People walked around. They didn't seem to realize that my whole world had just vanished."

-Arthur, Just Like Heaven (previously If Only It Were True) by Mark Levy

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Luke surveyed his surroundings as he weighed his options.

He could leave. Sure, he did need to get back to the diner. But that could wait, couldn't it? After all, he did own the place. And it was obvious that Lorelai needed him there. No way could she take care of herself in this condition.

Staying seemed to be his only choice. Things could only get worse if he left.

His earlier question repeated itself.

What was he supposed to do?

Coffee. He should make coffee. Because if there was one thing he was positive about concerning Lorelai Gilmore, it was her caffeine addiction.

Luke slowly inched toward the edge of the bed, careful not to disturb Lorelai. She needed as much sleep as she could get. He managed to get off the bed and out the bedroom door without waking her.

He treaded softly down the stairs, careful not to make any noise. When he reached the kitchen, he spotted Rory's open door, exposing her room, lit by the morning sun. He slowly walked over to it, and took a moment to just look over her room. After a while, he shut the door quietly, for Lorelai's sake, and for his own.

Once he was back in the kitchen, he filled the coffee pot with the slow stream of water pouring from the faucet. After starting up the coffee maker, he stared without really watching as the brown liquid trickled into the awaiting pot, busy with his own thoughts.

In the back of his mind, he knew what the truth was. Rory was gone. But somehow, he'd refused to truly accept it. Subconsciously, he had the childish thought that if he denied the existence of the situation, it would somehow disappear.

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Upstairs, Lorelai awoke to the early rays of sunlight streaming through her window. Looking around her, she realized that Luke was gone. Perhaps it had been a dream…? Keeping hold to the strand of hope that the last two days had just been a figment of her sleeping mind, she walked down the stairs, aiming for Rory's bedroom.

The sight of Luke in the kitchen, though, forced her to let go of the hope she'd been clinging to so tightly. It hadn't been just a bad dream after all.

She padded up behind Luke softly, noticing that he was deep in thought, gazing at the steadily filling coffee pot with a blank expression. She stood a few feet behind him, watching him think. After a few minutes, she touched him lightly on the arm. He jumped slightly, startled. Lorelai commented quietly, "Coffee's done."

Luke looked over at the machine. "Oh." He hadn't noticed. Lorelai took a seat at the kitchen table as Luke grabbed a cup from the cabinet and poured her some coffee.

After a few sips, Lorelai stood, feeling restless. Coffee cup in hand, she wandered to the window. She leaned against the counter, staring out into the street.

Kids ran back and forth across the street, laughing, as their parents watched smiling from the porches. Patty and Babette passed by, chatting animatedly on their way over the Dell's house. She turned to Luke, who had taken her vacated seat at the table. "Nobody knows, do they?" He shook his head, unable to answer with words.

Lorelai looked down, unable to bear watching the happiness of the people outside, when she could barely work up a smile. It seemed odd to her that everything could go on so normally when such a large piece of her life had been ripped away.

Suddenly, she didn't feel like walking around anymore.

She returned to her seat at the table.

"Do you think… you could tell them?" she asked. Lorelai was unable to meet his gaze as she asked such a serious question, so instead she stared into the swirling black liquid resting in her mug.

Luke took a deep breath. "Of course." He told her. Her well-being meant more than his discomfort. "Of course." He repeated, this time just convincing himself.

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After informing Lorelai of his departure and promising to bring a real lunch back with him, he headed off to the diner.

He entered his establishment, and without so much as a friendly nod in anyone's direction, Luke immediately went into the kitchen. Swiftly, he informed Caesar that he and Lane would be in charge for the next few days, that he had an 'emergency' to attend to. He seemed willing enough to do the job, but Luke swore he heard Caesar muttering about a raise as he rushed back out the door.

Following a quick stop at Doose's for provisions, he headed straight back to the Gilmore household. Halfway there, he ran into Patty, who seemed to be on her way back to her dance studio. They exchanged a friendly 'hello' and went on.

A moment after the greeting, he set down the bags and turned. "Patty?" he called.

She twisted her head back to him. "Yes, Luke?"

"I need you to pass something on for me." Without realized it, he'd begun wringing his hands nervously.

This got her antenna up. She quickly came back over. "What is it?"

"It's about… Rory." On this last word, he let out a breath that he didn't know he'd been holding.

Patty's brow furrowed slightly. "What about her?"

Luke didn't know how to say it. "There was a… She was in a…" He fixed his gaze at some unknown point right above her left shoulder as he said, "She's gone, Patty."

It took a second for the words to sink in. Once they did, Miss Patty was, for the first time she could remember, utterly speechless. After taking some time to regain her composure, she hurriedly wiped the tears that had been forming in her eyes, gave a firm nod, and told him, "I'll let everybody know."

Luke turned back, slightly misty-eyed, to pick up his bags. He blinked the tears away as he began his journey back to the Lorelai's house.

For the first time, he entered without knocking. It just felt natural, and he gave it no thought. He closed the door softly behind him before walking to the kitchen to put away the food. After setting the bags on the counter, he noticed that Rory's door – the one he'd shut so carefully before – was wide open again. He approached it cautiously, knowing full well what was going on.

Once he reached the doorway, he leaned on the frame for a moment, assessing the scene. Lorelai was seated on the floor, leaning up against the bed, every once in awhile a silent tear escaping from her eyes. Luke stepped over to her slowly, and lowered himself down next to her.

When he landed beside her, she reached over and grasped his hand with hers.

She wanted to make sure that he, at least, was still there.

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To Be Continued

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