Chapter Four - Teething Problems

FLASHBACK

Lorelai turned to the diner. Most of the lights were out, apart from the few above the counter and the sign was turned to close, which she ignored and entered anyway.

'Hey!' Came Luke's voice from behind the curtain that his the stairs 'So you wanna come on up and help me, she won't settle tonight' He told her.

'Yeah sure' She answered. Thats when she knew she had fully calmed down, right when she saw his face. Tonight was going to be fun.

As she as she walked into Luke's apartment, Lorelai could see that he was having a rough night. There were dirty clothes everywhere, toys and baby blankets strewn across the floor. This was strange for Luke; his apartment was usually clean and tidy, much tidier than Lorelai's own house, something he never failed to inform her everytime he came to fix something. However, Lorelai could see that the mess was the least of his worries, as he picked up a screaming Ellie from her crib.

'Shh' Luke struggled to soothe her while she attempted to free herself form Luke's arms, 'She's been screaming like this for over an hour! I've fed her, I've tried changing her, I just don't know what's wrong!' He told Lorelai with a panicked look on his face.

'Has she been chewing on stuff a lot lately?' She asked him, thinking she knew what could be wrong.

'Umm, yeah but what's that got to do-' Luke tried to ask before Lorelai cut in

'Just keep hold of her while I check something will you?' She instructed, making her way over to the pair. 'Hey there Eliie, you and daddy are a little stressed out tonight, huh? Lets see if we can help your daddy out shall we?' She spoke to the baby in a soothing voice. 'Lets have a look in that mouth, sweetie', Lorelai continued to speak to her, as she slid a finger over the baby's gums. 'Yep, just as I thought' Lorelai said taking her fingers awat from the baby's mouth.

'What do you mean? What's wrong with her Lorelai?' Luke asked, obviously still worried

'She's just teething Luke. She'll be fine' Lorelai told him, glad to see him finally calm down. 'Listen, have you got any teething gel around here?'

'Umm, not sure. If I have it should be in that baby bag over there' Luke pointed to a small pink bag in the corner of the room. Lorelai went over to the bag and found what she was looking for almost straight away, before walking back over to Luke and Ellie.

'Here you go sweetie' Lorelai spoke to the baby, as she spread teething gel over her gums. 'There, see she's calmed down already' Lorelai reassured Luke, as Ellie began to settle down. Lorelai had never seen Luke so panicked or stressed out, seeing him like this now worried her. He looked tired and worn out, like he needed a rest.

'Anyway, enought about Ellie' She began, taking a seat on the old couch as Luke set a sleeping Ellie back in her crib. 'How are you doing? You look a little tired'

'Yeah I've been up since five this morning, then she wouldn't sleep. I haven't even had time to take a shower yet' He told her, rubbing his tired eyes.

'Why don't you go take a shower. I'll stay here just incase she wakes up' Lorelai said pointing to the crib, 'And then I'll tell you all about when Rory was teething.'

'Sounds good to me' He said, going across to the closet ans picking out some pyjamas and a fresh bath towel, 'I won't take too long, there's beer in the frigde if you get thirsty.' He told her, making his way into the bathroom and locking the door. While Luke was taking his shower, Lorelai walked around the small apartment, just taking in the scenery around her. She had never seen this place so untidy, and to seeing it in this messy state was weird to her. Just to give Luke one less thing to worry about, Lorelai decided to clean the place up a little. She picked up all the dirty clothes and blankets, and put them in what she assumed to be a laundry basket near the bathroom door, before moving onto the toys. Once she had put the last of Ellie's toys away in the toybox, Lorelai continued to look around when she came across a picture she hadn't seen for ages. It was the one of her and Luke at the firelight festival. She loved this picture; she could even remember the first time Rachel had shown it to her. Luke had gotten so tongue tied when Rachel asked what he thought of Lorelai's eyes, and he had given her that 'Oh God, my girlfriend thinks I have chemistry with another woman' look. Maybe Rachel had seen me as a threat thought Lorelai, Maybe that's why she was so eager to take that job in New York, to get Luke away from me. For the second time in as many days, Lorelai found herself immersed in her own thoughts. So immersed in fact, that she hadn't noticed Luke re-enter the room. or that she was still staring at the picture.

'I've got a copy of that if you want it' He told her as he placed the bath towel in the laundry basket. Lorelai was so much in her own dream world, that Luke's voice startled her.

'Jeez, Luke!' She shouted, a hand over her racing heart 'You trying to give me a heart attack?'

'Oh sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. But I really do have a copy of that if want it ' He told her. looking at his hands. 'Rachel gave it to me, just incase you wanted a copy.' Lorelai could tell he felt uncomfortable talking about it, but she knew Luke well enough to know that he needed to talk about it. So, being Lorelai, she dived straight into the subject:

'So, you never did tell me what happened in New York, with you and Rachel that is.'Luke wasn't sure of how to answer Lorelai. He didn't want her to see how much Rachel had hurt him, and he definaltely wasn't ready to tell her the reason Rachel left. But he knew he had to tell her something. Okay, here goes nothing He thought to himself'

'Oh, she was just Rachel being...well Rachel. She never could just stay in one place, she was always a free spirit.' He told her, after all it wasn't that far from the truth.

'Luke, I'm so sorry it didn't work. She had no right to treat you like that, and to just leave you with Ellie too' Lorelai let out. She was so angry and Rachel for doing this to Luke, he deserved to be treated better than this.

'Well I guess I was never what she really wanted' Luke took a deep breath 'I could never give her enough.' He was speaking from the heart now. He had always been able to do that around her, able to just open up. He could feel her eyes on him as he sat playing with his hands, purposely avoiding her gaze.

'Oh, Luke don't you ever think that. You gave her everything, you even left your home, your business. Don't you ever think that you weren't good enough!' Lorelai was getting angry now. Luke was the most amazing guy she had ever met, and Rachel had just treated him like dirt.

'I obviously wasn't good enough for her was I? Or she wouldn't have just me, just up and left me!' Luke told her from the heart. He wasn't shouting, but his voice was definately louder than his usual monosyllabic grumble.

'Luke, don't talk like that. If she just up and left like that, then she doesn't deserve you.' She reassured him, pulling into a warm hug. They both loved being this close to each other, but being the stubbon people they were, neither would admit it. As Luke pulled away his eyes locked with Lorelai's, and he found himself once again lost in her dazzling blue eyes. God why is he looking at me like that? Why can't I look away? Lorelai thought to herself. I never realised Luke's eyes were so blue before. Before she realised what she was doing she felt herself leaning in to kiss him, only to notice Luke was doing the same. STOP Lorelai! He's your best friend, you shouldn't be doing this! She told herself. Their faces were only centimetres apart now, they could feel the other's breath on their face. This was it.

'Whaaa!' The sound of Ellie crying brought them out of trance . Jeez that kid of mine has bad timing, Luke thought to himself.

'I should go,' Lorelai finally said 'Rory's gonna wonder where I am' She finished, getting up to leave.

'Oh yeah and I've got umm...' Luke struggled to get out, pointing to Ellie's crib.

'Ellie, yeah I know. So I'll see you tomorrow then...at the diner...because that's where you work' Lorelai started to babble nervously

'I own it actually' Luke corrected her, unable to find anything else to say. God this is awkward, he thought.

'Yeah that's right, you own it...so I'll see you there tomorrow, for breakfast.' She continued to babble 'I gotta go, bye!' Loerlai practically shouted as she ran down the stairs and out of the diner. Oh my god! Oh my god! What just happened back there? Did I just nearly kiss Luke? Would he have kissed me? She let her mind wonder as she walked home as fast as her legs would let her. Letting herself in, she noticed the T.V was on and Rory had yet again fallen asleep reading.

'Rory, honey wake up' Lorelai tapped her daughter lightly on the shoulder.

'What time is it?' Rory asked, her eyes still half closed.

'It's ten thirty. Now come on, time for bed' Lorelai told her, starting to pull her up off the couch.

'But I wanna hear about your night at Luke's. How did it go?' Rory asked, as she entered her bedroom.

'I'll tell ya all about it in the morning, now get some sleep'

'Okay then. Goodnight Mom' Rory gave in, placing a small kiss on Lorelai's cheek.

'Night babe' Lorelai said, leaving Rory's room and walking into the living room to sit on the couch. She kept reliving the night in her head. Was Luke going to kis me, or was I just imagining that? No, Luke doesn't feel that way...does he? Don't be so stupid Lorelai, if he liked you he would have said something. But wait , I like him and I haven't said a thing. Why can't things be simple, Dammit! Lorelai couldn't think of else, so she decided just to get some sleep. Maybe that would help clear her head.

Meanwhile, back at the diner, Luke had finally managed to get Ellie back to sleep, and was lead in bed just staring at the ceiling. Was I going to kiss Lorelai? Wait, was she going to kiss me? Nah, don't be so stupid, she just see's me as a friend...doesn't she? Luke thought to himself Dammit, you've really messed things up now Danes! Maybe she'll just forget about it. Yeah that's it, maybe she will just forget about it and she won't say a thing. So I'm not gonna say anything unless she does. With this thought Luke allowed himself to drift off to sleep, his mind still thinking the situation over.

Both Luke and Lorelai had a very uneasy night's sleep, wondering if the night's events could change their friendship forever!