Lorelai sat in her living room, staring at the ceiling. A couple weeks had gone by, and all Lorelai could think about was Luke. She had no idea why, but she just couldn't get him off of her mind. Those eyes, she thought. There was something about those eyes. They seemed different from anything she'd even seen before. Sure, at first glance, they just looked like normal blue eyes. But once you gave them a chance and really looked into them, you could see so much more. There was caring, comfort, and closure. Three C's, she thought. You can't deny alliteration, the most powerful of all literary tools, as her daughter had just informed her the day before. This was it. She had some thinking she had to do.

Lorelai snapped out of her daze when her daughter walked in carrying her Halloween costume, a pretty pink fairy costume. Halloween was the next day.

"Mom, the wing ripped off."

"Her, hand it over. I'll fix it in a flash."

"Thanks."

"So, are you excited about tomorrow?"

"Yeah. We're taking Lane with us, too, right?"

"Sure, but can I ask a question?"

"Sure."

"How in the world did she convince her mother to let her come?"

"Well, she reminded her that it's really the eve of All Saints Day that we're celebrating, not the fact that all we have to do to get free candy is knock on people's doors and scream in their faces. And she has to dress as her patron saint."

"I see. She gets to keep the candy?"

"No."

"What's she gonna do with it?" Lorelai said, anticipating the answer she knew was coming.

"It's supposed to go in the trash, but it'll really be hidden safely inside the crap shack."

"Yay!"

"Mom, it's still Lane's, no matter where it is."

"Fine, I won't steal any of it. Does she eat her peanut butter cups?"

"Yes, Mom, she does."

"Fine," Lorelai huffed. She finished fixing Rory's costume and watched her bounce off back to her room to try it on again. Her mind immediately shifted back to Luke. Oy, this is going to kill me, she thought. Ha, oy. That's a pretty funny word.

Halloween came, and Lorelai had been walking with Rory and Lane for over an hour, in her high heels. These shoes were not a good idea, she thought. Their last stop was Luke's. They walked in and Lorelai threw herself onto the nearest chair she could find.

Luke heard the bells jingle and immediately looked up. He was happy when he saw it was Lorelai. He had been thinking about her a lot lately.

"Finished already? You still have another… 45 minutes to go," Luke said, looking at his watch.

"We're pretty pooped," Lorelai replied in a huff.

"Speak for yourself, Mom. Lane and I could go all night. Mom wore the wrong shoes," Rory said to Luke.

Luke couldn't help but laugh. "Coffee?" he asked, out of pity.

"You're offering?"

"You look like you need it."

"Gee, Luke, you really know the way to a girl's heart."

"I'm just saying, you look like you could use a little pick-me-up."

"You could say that again."

"Mom, can Lane and I go back to her house?"

"Sure, have fun. Leave you candy here so Mama Kim doesn't get it."

"Ok, but no stealing it."

"You can trust me."

"Sure we can, bye!" and they were out the door and on their way.

Luke and Lorelai sat together in a comfortable silence for about 5 minutes before Lorelai piped up and said something.

"So, how's it goin'?" Couldn't I have though of anything better to say?

"Uh, good I guess." Luke said, a little amused at her random question. "How about you?"

"Good, good."

"That's… good."

"Yeah."

"Well, I kinda need to close up now."

"Oh, right. I'll just go then." Lorelai said, a little disappointed that she had to leave. She reluctantly got up from her chair and started towards the door.

"You know," Luke said suddenly aware of the fact that he didn't want her to leave just as much as she didn't want to go, "you could stay for awhile if you wanted to."

"Oh?" Lorelai said, a little too excited at the prospect of staying for awhile. "That'd be nice. I'll even help you wipe down the tables."

"You don't have to do that."

"But I want to." She grabbed a rag from behind the counter and started cleaning each table top. "Do you wipe off the chairs, too?"

"Yeah," Luke said, chuckling. He was amused that this woman would actually offer to clean. "Anything new?" he said, trying to start a conversation.

"No, not really. Apart from Rory's 17 new books that are beginning to take over her room, nothing's new."

"Ha, I don't understand how a little girl can love to read as much as she does."

"She's amazing, isn't she?"

"She's more than amazing. That's a great kid you've got, you know that?"

"Thanks, Luke. That's really sweet."

"No problem… If you wanted, I could put a bookcase together for Rory."

"Thanks, but I don't think we have the money to buy one."

"You don't need the money. I've got a bunch of wood left over from when I made shelves for the storeroom. I could put one together, no problem."

"You'd really do that?"

"Of course. How about I come over tomorrow?"

"Sure, that sounds good… Well, I'm finished cleaning up."

"Thanks, Lorelai."

"Oh, it was no problem… I should really be going now. Rory's probably exhausted," Lorelai said, mid yawn.

"Rory's tired? If she is, I think that goes both ways."

"Yeah, well, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Definitely. Bye."

"Bye, Luke."

Lorelai picked Rory up from Lane's house, and they walked home. The whole way, she marveled at the kindness Luke was showing to her, even after the torment she subjected him to after all those months. She didn't know why, but she couldn't wait to see him tomorrow.