Author's Note: Thanks for all the great feedback! You are all awesome readers. I hope that you enjoy this part!
Luke was in the middle of the breakfast rush when he heard the diner phone ringing. Quickly dropping off the plates he was carrying in the kitchen, he made his way over to answer it. "Hello?" he answered over the noisy sounds of the crowd.
"Hey Luke, do you have a minute?" Lorelai's voice greeted him.
He almost told her to call back later, but something in her tone of voice stopped him. "Just give me a second," he told her, making his way into the stockroom. "Okay," he said as he closed the door behind him and settled down on a nearby crate.
"Do you think you can come over sometime today? With your tools?" she asked. "I could use your help with something."
"Did your water heater go out again?"
"Not this time. It's something else."
Her voice was strained, Luke noted. She sounded really stressed out about something. He didn't even need to think about his answer. "I'll be there in about an hour."
"Sounds good. Thank you so much, Luke," she said, sounding a bit relieved. "See you later."
"Bye," he said before she hung up the phone.
After the diner calmed down, Luke left Ceasar in charge, grabbed his toolbox and headed over to Lorelai's. When he knocked on her door, no one answered. Trying the doorknob, he found that the door was unlocked. "Hello?" he called, choosing to let himself in. "Lorelai?"
"In here, Luke," she answered from the kitchen.
"You didn't answer your..." He saw her sitting on the floor as he rounded the corner to her kitchen, her clothes soaking wet, with her head in her hands. "Door," he finished. She looked up at him with a tearstained face. "What's wrong?" he asked, taking off his coat and hanging it on a chair before stooping down next to her.
"Nothing is going right," she told him, refusing to look at him.
"I can fix whatever it is. Just point the way," he said, placing a soothing hand on her shoulder.
"It's more than just one thing. This house hates me."
"It does not hate you. It's an older house. Things are bound to go wrong."
Her eyes finally met his. "Something is wrong with the washer – water is everywhere – and I can't figure it out, one of the steps in the staircase gave out, and my upstairs sink isn't working," she informed him.
"All things that I can probably fix," he said, giving her a smile. Grasping her hands, he helped her to her feet. "I'll take a look at the washer first."
"You might want to roll up your pants first," she recommended. "The water is pretty deep."
Looking into the laundry room, he saw that she was right. He slipped off his shoes and socks and rolled up his jeans. "Why don't you grab a bucket or two and a mop while I take a look?"
She gave him a nod. "I can do that."
He went into the flooded room. Within minutes, he found the problem – a loose connection. He had it tightened by the time Lorelai returned with a mop and bucket. "It's fixed."
She gave him a smile from her spot in the doorway. "Already?"
"It was just a loose connection. It shouldn't give you any more problems," he assured her. She looked relieved. "Let's get this place cleaned up." As she walked toward him, he noticed that she was limping. "What happened?" he asked, pointing to her ankle.
"Seeing as I am the most graceful person ever, I lost my balance on the wet floor." She shook it off. "It's no big deal."
"Go sit down. I'll handle this."
"Luke, you don't have to-" she began.
"No," he cut her off. "I got this."
It took him awhile, but he managed to get most of the water cleaned up. Walking back into the kitchen, he found Lorelai seated with her right ankle perched on another chair. She shivered. "You need to change, or you're going to be sick," he told her. "Come here." Standing on the side of her bad ankle, he pulled her up from her chair, supporting her so she wouldn't have to put pressure on the injury. He helped her up the stairs, avoiding the broken one, and led her into her room. "I'll go take a look at the sink and try to do something about that step while you change. Don't try going down the stairs by yourself, I'll be back when I'm done."
She simply nodded as he left her room, closing the door softly behind him. Lorelai was feeling really foolish. She hadn't meant to break down earlier. She was usually so strong, but she had been so frustrated. She hadn't wanted Luke to see her crying, but after he did, she almost felt relieved. She didn't feel uncomfortable like she usually did when someone saw her cry.
This friendship she had going on with Luke was a new thing for her. In her former life, her 'married-to-Chris, full-of-the-DAR-and-Emily-Gilmore' life, she had never felt accepted. Friendships were built on social status alone. Thus, she'd never let her true feelings show. She never really let anyone but Rory truly see who she was. But it wasn't like that in Stars Hollow... especially with Luke. Here, and with him, she could be herself without fear of rejection.
Stirring from her thoughts, Lorelai hobbled over to her dresser to pull out some dry clothing. She could hear hammering coming from the staircase. One day, she would have to repay Luke for all that he was doing for her. He didn't have any obligation, but he didn't even hesitate to help, and she knew that he would ask for nothing in return.
She changed quickly, careful not to put any pressure on her ankle. She returned to her bed and waited for Luke to return. Ordinarily, she probably wouldn't have listened to his directions, and she would have gone straight out of her room to see what he was working on. But her ankle was beginning to swell, so she thought it best to just wait. She didn't have to wait too long before she heard a soft knock on her door. "Come in," she said.
"Everything's fixed," he informed her as he opened the door and came in. "Ready to go back downstairs?"
She nodded. Once again, she felt his arm go around her waist to lend her support. As she stood to her feet, she took advantage of the moment to wrap her arms around him, giving him a tight hug. "Thank you, Luke, for everything," she whispered against his neck.
His face reddened slightly, a little shocked that she was hugging him. "It was nothing," he responded, brushing it off.
"It wasn't nothing to me," she told him softly before pulling away. She smiled at him. "You take good care of me."
He returned her smile. "We should put something on that ankle."
"See?" she questioned as he helped her out of her room and down the stairs. "You're taking care of me right now."
He made sure that she was lying comfortably on the couch before heading into the kitchen for something cold to put on her ankle. He returned moments later carrying a bag of frozen broccoli. "I can't believe that Lorelai Gilmore has vegetables in her house."
"Taylor started giving me a lecture the last time I was at the store about how I should be feeding Rory better, so I bought the broccoli just to shut him up."
"I lecture you everyday, and it never seems to do any good."
"Yes, but all I have to do is pout, and you'll give me whatever I want," she reminded him. "The pout doesn't seem to work on Taylor. Believe me, I tried. And besides, it's not like we've actually eaten the broccoli."
"You're going to die before you reach fifty." He sat next to her on the couch and gingerly placed her swollen ankle in his lap. He placed the cold bag on it.
She flinched. "Cold," she stated.
"It'll help with the swelling." His fingers gently examined her ankle. "I think it's just a sprain. It'll be fine in a few days."
She laid her head against the back of the sofa. "Hey Luke?" she asked quietly.
"Hmm...?" he answered still focusing on her ankle.
"Sorry that I was such a mess earlier. You probably weren't expecting to walk in on a crying woman."
He looked over at her. "It's okay. Everyone is allowed to let it all out once in awhile."
"I just never expected this to all go wrong. It's not like I thought it would be easy or anything. I just... I don't want to fail," she admitted. "I can't fail. I'll just prove my mother and Chris right.
"You are not going to fail," he reassured her. "You're doing really well here. One bad day means nothing."
"You really think that I can do this?"
"I know you can," he stated with confidence. "You'll be fine. Even when it's hard."
She grinned deviously at him. "Dirty."
"Aww... jeez, Lorelai!" he complained. However, she was laughing. The sparkle had returned to her eyes. He couldn't help but join in her laughter.
To be continued. Please review! Reviews make me smile.