Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with Warner Brothers or Dorothy Parker Drank Here or anyone else attached in any way with Gilmore Girls.

Chapter 4 – Identifying the Pieces

Luke walked into his apartment and just stood there in the dark. It didn't feel real to him. Nothing felt real to him. It was like he was in some weird nightmare and all he wanted to do is wake up but couldn't.

Lorelai had just broken up with him, she left him. He had lost her and he had no idea why.

There was a pain in his gut; a dull empty pain. He didn't know how to get rid of it but he wanted it to disappear.

Rising from the pain was a mass of hot emotions that began fill his chest and lodged in his throat. It was anger; raw anger mixed with grief that was threatening to overwhelm him.

"Men don't cry", he thought. "I don't cry."

Tears began streaming down his face. He felt himself begin to tremble. He was hurting. He was hurting so bad that he wasn't sure he would survive.

He had to find someway to destroy this pain this anger. He needed to hit something or break something or rip something apart or just smash something. He needed to do something to get rid of this feeling.

Suddenly he turned and slammed his fist hard into the wall. That single punch was powered by all of his pent up grief and anger and the force of it was strong enough that it managed to do some serious damage to one of the wall panels.

Luke stared at the hole that he had just created incredulously. "That was really stupid, Danes", he thought to himself. "What the hell good did that do?"

Now there was a major hole in his wall and his hand was covered in cuts and bruises.

"Well, that's what happens when you decided to slam your fist into a solid, three-quarter inch oak panel with a 2 x 4 stud behind it, idiot", he thought.

He observed his hand closely and decided that nothing was broken. But, it was hurting bad enough that he knew he was going to have some serious bruising on his knuckles. And as an added bonus, his shoulder and elbow were both beginning to throb.

"Smart", he thought,"now my hand will swell up twice the normal size and I won't be able to move my arm. This is just what I need."

He walked over to the kitchen sink and washed off the remnants of his temper tantrum from his painful right hand. His knuckles were already beginning to swell and discolor.

Next he reached into his freezer and took out a bag of frozen peas. He placed the package of frozen vegetables across his injured knuckles. He looked around for something to securely tie his homemade ice pack to his hand. He found nothing.

Since he couldn't find anything better, he decided to use his flannel shirt. He put down the "ice pack" and slipped off his shirt. He wrapped the package of peas in his shirt and awkwardly tied it over his right hand. It didn't look pretty but it would do the job.

Now his shoulder, elbow, and hand were all beginning to seriously ache and stiffen. He found the bottle of aspirin in the kitchen cabinet and tried to pry the top off. He was finding that the top was nearly impossible to get off with one hand.

"God damn stupid child-resistant top', he yelled as he threw the bottle across the room.

Once again, realizing that he had let his temper drive him to do something stupid, Luke humbly walked across the room to retrieve the offending bottle. He tried to open it again using his teeth this time. This method proved to be moderately more successful as the top did come off. Of course all of the pills spilled out on the floor in the process.

Rolling his eyes in frustration, he bent down to gather them up. The obsessively clean diner owner in him knew that he should throw away all the pills that were now contaminated by the floor, but in his present state of mind, he didn't care. He was hurt and he needed the aspirin. Damn the dirty floor.

He finished gathering up all of the pills that he could find. The whole process would have been a lot easier it he had the use of both hands. Of course, if his right hand hadn't been hurt, then he wouldn't have needed the damn aspirin in the first place. The irony of it was not lost on him.

He held on to two of the aspirins and walked back to the refrigerator. He took out a beer. Again with only one working hand, he struggled to remove the beer cap before placing the pills in his mouth. He took a big swallow of beer. It tasted really good.

It occurred to him that the beer might provide more pain relief than the aspirin. Purely for medicinal purposes, he decided to down this beer quickly. He drank it all in one breathe.

When the first bottle was empty, he grabbed a second one and took it over to his favorite chair. Feeling mad, hurt, confused and in pain, he sat down to contemplate the turn his life had taken. It was all looking pretty dismal.

Lorelai had left him and he hadn't a clue as to why. Everything was crazy. One minute she was pleading with him to run off and elope then the next minute she was breaking up with him. It didn't make any sense, not even "Lorelai" type sense.

He was obviously missing something important.

He tried to remember everything that she said earlier before she had walked out. He had been so angry at her for going to Anna behind his back and for avoiding him all day that he hadn't listened to her. At the time, he just wanted to yell at her.

Now he wished more than anything he had just kept his damn mouth shut.

The second bottle of beer was empty. He got up and got a third.

He figured that she must have just come from the Friday night dinner at her parent's house. God only knows what went on there but it was a safe bet that what ever had happened there had put her in a state.

Damn, he should have known better that to pick a fight right after she spent time with her folks. No one knew how to push Lorelai's buttons more than Richard and Emily. Whatever they said must have drudged up those insecurities about the wedding again. .

After opening his third bottle of beer, he quickly drank the first third of it right away. This was more alcohol than he usually drank but he needed it.

His pain, both physical and emotional, was subsiding somewhat. The aspirin along with the beer (probably more beer than aspirin) were doing the trick.

Now he needed to figure out how to fix this thing with Lorelai. Obviously they needed to talk. She must be feeling insecure about the wedding again. All he had to do is reassured her that he loved her and was definitely going to marry her. He just needed more time.

He drank another third of the beer.

It suddenly dawned on him that he would not be in any shape to work tomorrow, especially to meet the early deliveries. He called Caesar. He told him that he had an accident and had hurt his arm. Caesar agreed to open tomorrow.

He also called Lane to see if she could work extra hours. She also agreed.

With the diner taken care of, now Luke could concentrate on his little problem with Lorelai. It was amazing how with the aid of aspirin and alcohol, he had been able to put this whole fight into perspective.

He was now convinced that all he had to do is reassure Lorelai that everything was going to turn out all right. He just needed to talk to her.

He finished the last of this bottle of beer. He felt like another. Luke got up to get his fourth bottle, but first he needed to make a pit stop to take a leak. He snickered when he thought about the old adage, "you don't own beer you only rent it".

When he got his fourth beer, he took a moment to congratulate himself for really mastering the skill of one handed beer bottle opening. Hey, practice makes perfect!

With his beer, he sat down to figure out how to fix this little problem with Lorelai. He took another big swig of beer. Boy, it tasted good.

As he settled back in his chair, he began to feel a little sleepy. "Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to rest my eyes for a minute", he thought.

As his eye lids drifted shut and he headed off to sleep, he suddenly heard Lorelai shout at him, "This is never going to work; you've pull away from me, from us. You aren't ready to be in this type of commitment. You aren't even ready for a real relationship! You can't even trust me around your daughter!"

His eyes popped open. Where the hell did that come from? He looked around but Lorelai wasn't in the room. Yet he had distinctly heard her voice shouting at him. Maybe it was a dream or maybe he just was remembering some of her words from earlier?

Did Lorelai really say that to him? What did she mean that he wasn't ready to be married? What made her think he didn't trust her, he wasn't fully committed? Hadn't he already told he was all in?

Suddenly things did not seem so clear cut.

Luke finished off the fourth beer. "Oh god", he thought, "Lorelai doesn't think I trust her? What made her think that?"

Suddenly aware that his hand was freezing and sort of painfully numb, he realized that he was still wearing the "bag of peas" ice pack. He untied his shirt from around the wounded right hand and looked at it. It looked about twice its normal size. He could move his fingers a little but it hurt to do so. His knuckles were not looking so good either. They were red and raw and bruised.

"Great", he thought and got up to get the first aid kit to put something on his knuckles. When he got up he realized that he was a little unsteady on his feet. "Probably a little too much beer", he reflected to himself.

Luke was heading towards the bathroom when his boot landed on a stray aspirin lying on the floor. All of a sudden his foot shot out from under him.

Normally Luke was not overly clumsy but when his boot slipped on the aspirin, he lost all semblances of balance and dignity. The result was a maneuver that started out looking like a bicycle kick that quickly morphed into a twisted somersault which finished with a completely humiliating rendition of a pratfall landing him flat on his back!

Perhaps it was due to the high level of alcohol in his system or the fact that his right arm had painfully stiffen at a 45 degree angle rendering it worthless, but he had not been able to anything to lessen the impact of the tumble. He felt the full brunt of the force from his head to his butt. And, to add insult to injury, his forehead was now bleeding profusely from a cut above his eye where it had bounced against the edge of the coffee table.

Luke struggled to get up. His head was throbbing, his back hurt, his arm was killing him and his eye was beginning to swell shut. He wanted to get up and make his way to his bed but he was feeling a little woozy and stunned. Every time he tried to rise up, he felt sick and the pain in his back was excruciating. Finally, he just gave up and lay there.

He was feeling pretty sorry for himself. Life had dealt him a bad hand. It wasn't his fault. How did everything get so messed up? All he was trying to do was be a father to his daughter. How had he lost Lorelai?

How could he live without her?

Lorelai, Rory, and Chris along with Paul Anka (the dog) arrived at the Hayden Lodge just after 2:00 PM. Chris had insisted on accompanying them so that he could drive Lorelai's Jeep and help them get settled. He originally told Rory that he would just catch a plane from the Wilkes-Barre airport (which is about 40 minutes from the Lodge) back to Boston that afternoon but after checking the schedules it would take longer to fly back than drive.

He then arranged for a car and driver to get him home. Unfortunately (or not) the limo service couldn't accommodate him that afternoon. He would have to spend the night at the Lodge with the Gilmore girls and leave the next day.

The previous evening when Rory finally returned to the condo, Chris told her that Lorelai seemed to be better since she was at least making sense when she talked. He had gotten her to eat a couple of donuts and drink some coffee. But she had basically slept all day.

When Rory came in to the bedroom, she found her mother curled up asleep. Rory lay down next to her and hugged her tight. Lorelai woke up.

"Hey Mom."

"Hey sweetie."

"How are you doing? Feeling any better?"

"I'm better. Sorry about earlier. I guess I was tired and kind of a mess. You don't need to worry about me any more."

"Mom, I love you. I am here and not going anywhere without you. We will get through this together. I just want you to feel better."

"Honey, I'm a big girl. You don't need to stay with me."

"Sorry, but I'm biological predisposed to worry about my mother. You can't fight it. You may be better, but you're not good."

Rory sat up and looked intensely Lorelai, "You know what we need? I think we need to take a road trip together. You know, a mother/daughter flight from reality bonding expedition."

Lorelai rose up and turned over to give her daughter a look of puzzlement as she responded with a "What?"

"A Magical Mystery Tour, a Voyage of Discovery, you know, a road trip."

"You want to go on a road trip?"

"Yeah Mom, though it doesn't have to actually involve touring or voyaging or much traveling. I just thought it would be nice to get away, just you and me and, of course, Paul Anka."

"Where do you want to go, kid?"

"Well, it turns out that the Hayden Family Trust owns a place in the Pocono Mountains that it is for the exclusive use of the members of the Hayden family. Since I am officially a member of the Hayden family by birth, I am entitled to use this facility. You would be my guest."

"Christopher is lending us his cabin?"

"No, I asked the controller of the Hayden Family Trust if I could use the facility that is my birthright and he approved."

"Uh-ha, of course, Christopher is the controller, right?"

"Well, Mother dear, I do believe that the name of the controller is one Christopher Hayden."

"So Christopher is putting us up in a cabin in the mountains?"

"No, it's not like that, seriously. Dad's grandfather, who, I guess is my Great-Grandfather, built this cabin; well it's more like a lodge, up in the mountains. Great Grandfather Hayden use to stay up there all the time. You know, winter snow skiing and summer boating, that kind of stuff. Evidently it was a big deal to be invited by Great Grandpa Hayden to stay in the Lodge. No was allowed to come there without a formal invitation from him."

"Ever since Great Grandpa Hayden died, it is just going to waste because no one else in the family goes up there but Dad and he doesn't go up there very often because it such a hassle with GiGi. It's a long drive and she is still so little. But, he did upgrade the place to his own rigorous audio/video/internet accessible standards, which means it probably has a rocking system."

"Seriously Mom, are you really ready to go back to Star Hollow?" asked Rory meaningfully.

Lorelai processed everything Rory had just said. It was true that the thought of going back to Stars Hollow right now sent her in a near panic. She really was not ready to deal with the well-meaning busy bodies and, well, anything Luke related at the moment. Plus the thought of spending time with just her daughter sounded wonderful. She missed Rory so much.

Sighing, Lorelai spoke, "That sounds good, sweetie."

"So you're in?"

Lorelai smiled weakly, "Let's do it."

Christopher had been busy while Rory was off packing and Lorelai was resting. He had contacted the caretakers, Fred and Helen Finley, that there would be guest staying at the Lodge indefinitely. He had contacted his financial consultant and arranged for a credit card be issued in Rory's name against his account and he had withdrawn some cash that he planned to give to Rory for whatever. He had also found the time to run out and get a new coffee maker for the lodge.

He was doing all of this because he couldn't stand to see Lorelai in so much pain. Also, he secretly hoped that she as she got over her broken heart, she would see that he was no longer the reckless amigo of her youth but now he was a reliable responsible man. Someone who was always there for her.

(tbc)

A/N - I'm sorry but I really felt that someone needed to kick Luke's ass for the way he has been treating Lorelai. Who better to do it than Luke himself (at least metaphorically). It made me giggle to think about it (yes, I do have a definite dark side to my sense of humor) but I think that he was "punished" enough, don't you?

Please Read and Review! (I have become a review junkie, who knew?)

BTW - Do you think I should submit my story line to Dave Rosenthal? It is just a thought...