Disclaimer: I do not own nor do I have any association with the Gilmore Girls or any of its characters. Dreaming about them is a totally different thing...

Chapter 11

1984

Lorelai walked to school the next day. Usually she depended on Luke to pick her up, but after their fight she decided to walk. She left his house after talking to Liz and before Luke got home. She needed to process the insane idea of Luke having a "thing" for her. It was a completely ridiculous idea. Luke couldn't have a thing for her. No. He couldn't. He was…a friend. A very caring friend. He had absolutely no romantic feelings for her what-so-ever and she didn't have any for him…right?

Lorelai desperately wanted to end their fight. Luke was her first and best friend in Stars Hollow. Maybe even anywhere. He reached out to her when others watched her behind a glass window. It'd only been one day and she was already falling apart. One part of her wanted to yell at him, beat him with a stick or something for being a pig headed jerk. But then there was the part of her that wanted to see his smile. It wanted him to be there to pick her up for school and drive her home. It wanted him to come over after his shift and make her a turkey sandwich so she wouldn't starve. It wanted him to pay attention to her. She wanted him to pay attention to her.

When she got to school, she didn't see his truck in the parking lot. She figured he was running late. He was no where to be seen in the halls during the passing periods. Feeling a little angry Luke would go out of his way to ignore her, Lorelai stormed the halls in search of him during break, but came up empty handed. She walked out to the parking lot and Luke's usual parking lot was still empty. Something wasn't right. He couldn't have left campus. There was only three minutes left in break and Luke was never late for class. She began to worry. Where could he be?

"Sookie!" Lorelai called as she chased after her friend. "Sookie, wait up!"

Sookie stopped and waited for Lorelai to catch up. "Lorelai! Where have you been?" she asked.

Lorelai looked around frantically in hopes Luke would just suddenly appear. "Sook, you haven't seen Luke today have you?"

"I don't think so. Come to think of it. He wasn't even in home ec today. That's weird. He never misses class."

Lorelai spotted Liz across the hall. "Sook, I gotta go. I'll see you later." Lorelai quickly headed toward Liz. "Liz!"

"Oh hey Lorelai," Liz greeted. "What's up?"

"Where's your brother?"

"I don't know. He should be here."

"He didn't leave with you?"

"No. He was taking too long to get ready this morning so he sent me off, but I'm sure he's here. He said he would be."

"Oh no. Liz, can I borrow your house keys?"

"Uh sure." Liz pulled her keys out of her pocket and handed them to Lorelai. "Lorelai, is everything ok?"

"I don't know. I'll explain later. I just really need to find your brother right now."

"Ok. Be careful."

"I will. Thanks Liz!"

With that, Lorelai ran off campus. She was really worried about Luke. What could have happened? Maybe his car stalled and he needed to take it to the auto shop. What if he got in a car accident? What if he was lying unconscious in a ditch (then again, where would that ditch be in Stars Hollow? There weren't even pot holes)? What if he was mugged or car jacked? What if he was bleeding to death? She ran faster as the scenarios ran through her mind. She stopped at the hardware store first. Luke had mentioned skipping school once and a while to work. She walked into William's Hardware Store and went straight to the register.

"Why hello Ms. Gilmore," Derek, one of the employees, greeted. "Shouldn't you be in school?"

"Uh yeah. It's break. By any chance, is Luke here today?" Lorelai asked.

"No."

"What about Mr. Danes?" Lorelai had never met William Danes, but she had to know where Luke was. "Is he here?"

"I'm sorry Ms. Gilmore, William stepped out a few minutes ago. He won't be back for two hours."

Two hours? What could he be doing that took two hours? "Ok. Thanks Derek." She walked out of the store and headed for the Danes residence, keeping an open eye for ambulances.


Present Day

"Coffee!" Lorelai shouted as she walked into the kitchen of the Dragonfly Inn.

"Morning to you too," Sookie laughed as she continued to chop vegetables.

"Good morning Sookie. Where's the coffee?"

"How could you come in here and beg for coffee when your husband makes a living off of serving the undeniably greatest coffee in the state of Connecticut- according to you that is?"

"Sookie…"

"You were even the one that got him to open the diner."

"No I wasn't. It was his dream."

"To own a diner?"

"Yeah. Ok, well…maybe he wanted to play professional baseball, but he wanted to open a diner. But that's not the point. Can I just have some co…"

Lorelai sighed when Sookie interrupted her again. "You got him to open the diner. I remember the whole conversation. He said he didn't know what he wanted to do with his life anymore and then you said, 'Why don't you open a restaurant? Or a diner so you can serve your coffee. It's the greatest coffee in the state of Con…"

"Sookie! Coffee! Please!"

Sookie was shocked by her friend's outburst. Lorelai sounded more then impatient. She actually sounded angry. But over coffee? It had to be something else. She poured Lorelai some coffee and handed it to her.

"I'm sorry," Lorelai sighed as she took a sip of the coffee. "I just haven't had any today."

"You didn't go to Luke's this morning?"

"No, I did."

"But you didn't get coffee."

"No. I went to tell him Rory's home."

"I thought she wasn't going to be home until next weekend."

"So did we, but she decided to surprise us. That's not the best part. She didn't come alone."

"She didn't? Who?"

"I don't know. She wants that to be a surprise too. I'm telling you, it's a man."

"How did Luke take it?"

"Luke's Luke. He asked a million questions even though he knew I didn't have the answers."

Lorelai sounded irritated when she talked about her husband and it didn't go unnoticed. Sookie began to worry. Usually, Lorelai would be at work around eight thirty after going to Luke's for coffee and spending time with her husband. But lately, she came in at seven thirty, begging coffee. At first Sookie didn't think much of it, but then it became routine and she worried.

"Hey Lor, can I ask you something?" Sookie asked.

"Sure, go ahead," Lorelai replied.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to. It's just…Jackson said…"

"Sookie, what is it?"

"Jackson said Luke's been acting weird lately. That he's been grumpy, mean, and beats up his appliances when they don't work. He says Luke's feeling a little down and I noticed you've been a little…agitated lately. I was wondering…" Sookie paused and took a deep breath. "Is everything ok with you and Luke?"

Lorelai froze. She stared at Sookie for a while before she realized she was holding her breath. "Everything's fine," she said as coolly as she could.

"Ok, see. You hesitated. You're lying to me!"

"I am not."

"You lied again!"

"Sookie, Luke and I are fine."

"But Jackson said…"

"Jackson doesn't know what he's talking about," Lorelai snapped. "He's not even friends with Luke anymore. They barely glance at each other when they pass on the street, let alone talk. I am telling you right now Sookie, there's nothing going on. So just…back off."

Everyone in the kitchen stopped what they were doing and looked toward Lorelai and Sookie. Sookie stared at Lorelai in silence. She was on the verge of tears. "I just wanted to make sure you were ok."

Lorelai hung her head as Sookie rushed out of the kitchen. She didn't mean to get so angry. The built up tension in her got to her. She couldn't wait for all of this to be over.


"You've been sitting there for an hour Kirk," Luke said as he walked up to Kirk's table. There was still a half eaten bagel on his plate and his coffee was nearly gone.

"Everything's going wrong," Kirk said, ignoring Luke. "Why is everything going wrong?"

Luke sighed. He knew he was getting sucked into a conversation he wouldn't want to be in. "What's wrong Kirk?"

"Everything."

"I got that part."

"You guys were best friends."

Shocked by Kirk's statement, Luke took a step back. "What?"

"You guys were like brothers and now you act like you don't know each other."

"Kirk, that's not true."

"Yes it is. Just now. Jackson was trying to talk to you and you blew him off. Andrew tried to talk to Jackson and he walked away. And you scare Andrew."

"I do not scare Andrew."

"He ran out of here when you came to his table."

"The Bailey boys were trying to steal his car."

"What happened Luke?"

"Life happened."

"It wasn't supposed to tear you apart. Just because Kevin…" Kirk stopped himself and Luke remained silent. "Why can't things go back to the way they were? Luke, can you make them go back to the way they were?"

Luke bit his bottom lip. "If I could, I would. But there are some things you can't change. There are some things that will never be the way they were."


1984

Lorelai rushed up the porch steps to get to the front door. She pulled Liz's keys from her pocket and unlocked the front door, rushing inside. "Luke!" she called frantically. "Luke! Are you here? Luke!" She heard coughing, but she was too worried that something was wrong to focus on where it was coming from.

"Lorelai?" Luke asked as he appeared in the doorway in his flannel pajamas. He coughed again as he took a few steps forward. His coughs sounded like they hurt. "What are you doing here?"

"Luke! Thank God!" She ran over to him. "I've been looking all over for you!" The second she hugged him, she jumped back. "Luke! You're hot!"

"You think so?" he joked- then coughed.

"No, really. You're burning up! I think you have a fever."

"I'm fine. Really. It's just a cough."

"No it's not. You're really, really sick. Come on. You need to lay down."

"But…"

"We'll go to the couch. It's closer." She led him to the couch. After some protest, she finally got him to lie down. She pulled a blanket over his and sat in the chair next to the couch.

"You don't have to do this."

"I know. I want to."

"I thought we're fighting."

Lorelai looked away. "How about some soup? My dad used to make me this weird dish when I was sick. I think I can whip some up for you."

"I thought you're trying to make me better, not kill me."

"Right," she laughed. They were silent.

"Why'd you come?" Luke asked suddenly.

"I was worried about you."

"Because I wasn't at school?"

"It's not like you to not be at school. Everyone said you'd be there and you weren't. I went to the hardware store, the lake…you weren't anywhere. I was scared something happened to you."

"Why?"

"Because I care."

"Why?"

"Because…" She thought about what to say. "Because I do."

He accepted that as an answer…for now. "I'm sorry for ignoring you yesterday."

"That doesn't matter anymore."

"It does. I was a jerk and I didn't have any right to be."

"Luke," she said, putting her hand over his. "It's ok." They were quiet again. "You look tired. Why don't you get some sleep?"

"I'm not tired," Luke yawned.

"Yeah, I can tell," Lorelai laughed.

"You'll get bored."

"I'll watch TV or read a book. Luke, it's ok. Sleep. You need to."

"Ok, but just for a little while." His eyes were already closed as he spoke. He turned to his side so he was facing her. "Hey Lorelai?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for being here. I feel better already."

"You're welcome." She smiled and pulled the blanket over his shoulders. She stroked his hair a few times until he was fast asleep, lightly snoring. She leaned down and placed a light kiss on his forehead. He smiled. He was going to have nothing but sweet dreams tonight.


Next time on "The Broken Road": In 1984- After being taken care of Lorelai (and a few dirty thoughts), Luke musters up the courage to ask her out.