TITLE: Timing

CHARACTERS: Lorelai, Luke, Rory, Dean, Ect. Oh, and my fictitious character Alyssa.

SETTING: Mid season 4, Think: "Tick, Tick, Tick, Boom!"

Chapter One

Lorelai is asleep in her bed when her alarm goes off. She shuts it off, and a second later; several others start going off around her bedroom. "You are hilarious!" she calls before getting up and walking down to the kitchen clad in a pink nightie.

As she stumbles down the stairs she calls "Okay, see, last night, when I said to you, 'Tomorrow, no matter what, make sure I get up at seven,' what I actually meant was, 'Tomorrow, no matter what, make sure I have the option of getting up at seven in case when seven comes, I actually wanna get up,' which – as it happened – I didn't." She smiles as she walks into he kitchen where Luke is making an awesome breakfast. "Therefore, you're currently responsible for the great alarm clock slaughter of 2002."

"No survivors?" he asks as she pulls the coffee out of the freezer.

"The one shaped like a bunny escaped with a mild decapitation." She smells the coffee and accuses " This is decaf."

"What are you talking about?" Luke says, playing innocent.

"You switched my coffee again," she says, searching for the real coffee.

Luke sighs, "I'm a busy man. I don't have time to sneak around switching your coffee. I have a diner to run, I have shipments to order, I have things to flip and fry. Will you stop that?" he asks as she rummages around near the sink.

"Ha, haha, hahaha! Under the sink, very clever, but not clever enough bucko." She crows opening the bag and walking over to the coffee maker.

"Okay, fine, you know what? I give up."

"Woo hoo!" Lorelai smiles, turning the machine on.

"Go one day without coffee."

"That's not giving up."

"I'll put a toy in your cereal," he tries again.

"Dirty!" Lorelai says around a wide playful smile.

"Fine, here, you win," he says with a sigh and eye-roll as he hands her a plate.

"Thank you," she says sweetly.

"You're welcome. Now you're up, you're fed, I'm leaving."

"Oh, hey, we need q-tips," she says from the table.

Luke grabs the keys, "I'll alert the media."

"See, that's better with the accent."

"The reference is enough, you'll learn that one day. I'll be home early, anything besides the q-tips?"

"Um, cotton balls, world peace, Connie Chung's original face back…" Lorelai ticks of before Luke kisses her, possibly just to shut her up.

"Goodbye crazy lady," he says to Lorelai after the break apart, and the places his hand on her belly. "Goodbye Sid and Nancy."

"Leopold and Loeb."

"What?" Luke asks as he pulls back slightly.

"I changed my mind, don't tell Rory." Lorelai pleads.

"Decaf."

"Never."

"They'll both have two heads."

"More to love." Luke kisses her again.

Lorelai wakes up in her room, and blinks in the morning sun as she lunges for the phone. "Whoa! Ugh!" she says, falling out of bed.

She blinks again and dials Rory's dorm at Yale.

"Hello?" Rory asks, her voice coated in sleep.

"Good morning."

A voice murmurs in the background. "Who is it?"

Rory covers the mouth piece but Lorelai hears her say, "It's my mom, go back to sleep Paris."

"Oh, did I wake Paris up? Is she going to kill me now?"

"You woke me up, too, you know."

"Nice avoidance there."

"I learned from the best, so you called me because…?"

"Again."

"No way!"

"Oh yes, I feel like Bill Murray!"

"Bill Murray?"

"Groundhog's Day?"

"Oh, right, continue."

"I mean it was exactly the same as always!" Lorelai sighed.

"When was the last time before this, because it's been a while since you called-"

"The last time I had it was when I spent the night at Jason's. I felt so guilty! I mean…" she sighed again.

"Mom, you've got to talk about this to someone else."

"Who? I can't tell Sookie, she'll freak, and probably tell Jackson."

"Tell Luke,"

"I already did."

FLASHBACK

"Oh, whoa! Total déjà vu." Lorelai says from where she lays on Luke's bed.

"Really?" he asks from the couch.

"It's the alarm clock." Lorelai began, regretting her choice to mention the dream, but was too far in to back out now. "I had a dream once that you set eighteen alarm clocks to get me up, which is not a bad way to get me up."

"Where were we?"

"We were, um, at my house. I got up, I went downstairs for coffee, and you talked to my stomach." Bad, bad decision, Lorelai thought.

Luke was genuinely confused, "Why on earth I do that?"

"Well, because I was pregnant. Twins." Danger Will Robinson, danger!

"Mine?"

Lorelai was slightly insulted. "What am I, dream tramp? Of course yours."

"We were married?"

"Um, yeah. Did I not mention that?"

"No," he paused, "You know, you shouldn't drink coffee when you're pregnant. "

Lorelai smirked at the ceiling, "Uh, true."

"It's probably why Rory's a caffeine addict," Luke said, still propped up on his elbow.

"Right, you're right."

"Dream go beyond that?"

"No. Um, you talked to my stomach and then you ki. . .well, no." Gone far enough, don't you think?

"Oh, okay," Luke sounded slightly disappointed. "Well. . .night."

"Yeah, night."

END FLASHBACK

"Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"Where did you just go?

"What? Nowhere, I'm right here."

"Well, answer my question then."

"Uh, what question?"

"When did you tell Luke?" Rory was annoyed, and rightly so.

"Uh… When the Inn caught fire."

"WHAT! How could you not tell me that you told him?"

"I don't-"

"And you've been having this dream since then?"

"Uh…"

"Mo-om!"

"Yes, fine, Rory, yes I have! Now, analyze!"

Rory groaned, "It's the same analyzation that it has bee every other time you ask me to analyze it!"

"But I don't want to get married to Luke and have his kids!"

There was a long pause. "Rory? Are you there? Say something, hon!"

"You didn't say you didn't love him."

Lorelai froze, speechless for the first time in a long time. "Well, I, uh…"

CUT TO: LUKE'S APARTMENT, KITCHEN

Luke leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, glaring at the small slip of paper in front of him on his kitchen table.

"Oh, please," he muttered, "How hard is it to throw away a single sheet of paper?"

And yet… He didn't move, couldn't actually force himself to crumple the faded newsprint in front of him.

"LUKE!" Caesar called from down stairs causing Luke to jump up guiltily.

"We need you down here, Luke!"

"Aw, geez," Luke said, running his hand through his hair and the pulling on his baseball cap again. He looked at the horoscope on the table and then clomped downstairs to help wit the breakfast rush.

As he closed the door behind him a small gust of wind knocked the scrap off the table, and onto the floor.

CUT TO: LUKE'S DINER, OUTSIDE LOOKING IN

Lorelai drew in a ragged breath, and pulled her low ponytail over her left shoulder. "Coffee, to go… That's it, that's all, that's not so hard…" Lorelai shook her head, oh-no, not to hard. Impossible.

She pulled open the door, the din hiding the sound of the bell, and walked to the counter. "Luke?"

He walked out of the kitchen and put some plates down at a crowded table. "Be right with ya." He walked around to the back of the counter and stood in front of her, "What can I get you?"

"Coffee, to go."

"Alright, I just made some, so it should be fresh," Lorelai smiled, to caught up in James Dean-ing it that she didn't notice Luke bumbling on making random pointless conversation.

He snapped a lid on and asked, "So, I'll see you tonight?"

Lorelai stood, her shocking blue eyes meeting his, "Maybe after Friday Night Dinner."

"Oh… Right…" Lorelai smiled and walked out. Crap! Tonight was dinner with Jason and his parents! She shook her head as she crossed the street trying to block out the small voice in the back of her mind telling her that it wasn't too late to break up with Jason.

She looked over her shoulder. No, Luke would wait. He would be there, he would always be there, he promised he would.

CUT TO: LUKE'S DINER, AFTER LUNCH LULL

"Sure, Caesar, take ten." Luke said over his shoulder. A moment later the bell rang and a leggy brunet walked in. "Uh, What can I get you?"

She walked to the counter, and laid her glass green eyes on his, "Coffee?"

"Here? Or to-go?"

She looked around, "Here… Here seems nice."'

Luke smiled to himself as he spun for the crap empty coffee pot. "Actually, I have to make some more, but you're welcome to wait. I'm, uh, I'm Luke, by the way."

She smiled and reached out to shake his hand. "I'm Allysa, and I'd love to wait, provided –of course- that you keep me company."

His gut told him it was a good idea to smile, and take her up on her offer for a chat, and who was he to disagree with his tried and true gut feeling?