Notes: And I'm back! Thank you for all the reviews on the last chapter! My break was awesome and thankfully relaxing so now I'm ready to get back to studying and writiing this story. And I can't wait for some new GG eps on Tuesday, I'm spoiler free but I can already tell it's going to be a long summer, like always.

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Back at Luke's

After finding Lorelai, Luke helped her into the truck. The entire ride back, neither of them said a word. Luke was worried about what to say and Lorelai didn't know what to say. The only thing he could get out of her was that she doesn't want him to take her to the hospital. Just a few minutes into the ride, Lorelai's sobs lessened to just a few tears. Just the feeling of Luke, knowing he's there, helped her to calm down.

Luke pulls his truck up in front of the diner and turns off the engine. They both stare at the diner, but neither moves. "Did you want me to take you home?" Luke asks. Lorelai slowly looks up at him and Luke finally sees her face streaked with tears and blood. She shakes her head and Luke nods. He swallows to hide the fact that he's afraid that he might hurt her and that he's unsure of what to do. He motions towards the diner with his head. Knowing what he means, they both open up the doors of the truck and climb out. Luke walks over and takes Lorelai's elbow, helping her into the diner.

Luke watches Lorelai's face as they enter the diner, but she shows no sign of emotion. Lorelai doesn't move to remove Luke's jacket that he had put around her. "Let me get you some ice," Luke offers, needing to leave the room for a moment to get control of himself, knowing the only way he can help her is to hold himself together. He walks in the back to get the ice. Lorelai glances around at the unusually dark quiet diner. Luke walks back out with a filled ice pack and hands it to her. Lorelai looks up at him questioningly. "For your cheek." He motions to the large bruise forming on her right cheek.

"Thanks," Lorelai whispers gratefully. She holds the ice pack up to her cheek, feeling the cold moisture against her skin. Luke sees the slight reaction on her face when the ice finally touches her, the first sign that she is actually connected to reality. "I should call Rory," she says, still with a soft voice. Luke nods and motions to the phone behind the counter.

Lorelai walks over to the phone. She picks it up and stares at it, hesitating. Finally she dials her own number and waits. "Hello?" she hears Rory's sleepy answer.

"Hey, Hun, sorry to wake you up, I just didn't want you to worry. I'm going to stay at your dad's tonight," Lorelai lies. She refuses to look at Luke, knowing the look of displeasure that is probably on his face. He watches her nod a few times in response to whatever Rory is saying. "Okay sounds good, I'll see you tomorrow," Lorelai says, trying to keep her voice from shaking and letting Rory in on the events of the night. "Love you too." She hangs up the phone.

"You didn't want to tell her?" Luke asks. Lorelai glances over at Luke and shakes her head. She looks down at the floor, knowing he's disappointed.

"He's her father. No matter what, he's still her father," Lorelai says. Luke nods. She looks up at him, biting her top lip.

"You can stay here tonight. I'll get something to fix those cuts," Luke says, not really knowing what is right to say in this case.

"Cuts – I – …" Lorelai glances down at her hands, seeing the blood she has wiped onto them for the first time. She looks back up at Luke, a pained expression on her face. Now biting her lower lip, Lorelai walks back around to counter to stand in front of Luke. "How bad does it look? Tell me the truth," she insists in a strong whisper. Luke swallows. "Luke?" she says again, taking off his jacket and revealing more injuries. Luke had a pained look on his face as looks her over, but Lorelai's insistant looks tells him that he needs to tell her what she wants to know.

"Well, you have a large bruise on your right cheek. It was cut and bleeding earlier but that seems to have stopped. There's also a cut on your forehead, it's small but, it's there," Luke begins in a gruff but comforting voice. He takes a deep breath, not wanting to go on, but he sees the patient look on Lorelai's face and knows he must. He swallows again, his eyes traveling down, following the trail of bruises. "There are bruises on your neck, like finger marks, like someone grabbed you – by – by the throat," he manages, getting choked up, running his thumb across his forehead. His eyes are watery but Lorelai's remain dry as she listens to him. "And there are also finger like bruises on your upper arms and a few small cuts there too." He presses his lips together, watching Lorelai's reaction. He nods to let her know that is all he can see, but knowing there's more than meets the eyes.

"Thank you," she whispers.

"Lorelai…" he starts, knowing he wants to ask her, but can't. "Did he…? Did – were you raped?" Lorelai gasps.

"No." As Luke stares at her, he knows she's not hiding anything. He nods, breathing a small sigh of relief. "Chris was – he – he was drunk – but – he still – he wouldn't," she chokes out, finally becoming emotional. One small tear runs down her cheek. And all Luke wants to do is go to her and hold her while she cries, but he's afraid, her intense vulnerability is scaring him.

"What did you fight about?"

"You," she answers looking directly at him, hitting him with the full force of her words. She looks down, twisting her hands together. Luke can see that she doesn't want to say anymore at this point.

"Let's go upstairs and I'll fix those cuts," Luke says. "Don't forget the ice pack, it'll decrease the swelling." This reminds Lorelai that her hand is cold from the ice pack and she puts it back on her face. Luke motions for Lorelai to walk first and he heads up the stairs behind her.

When they get to the apartment door, Luke opens it up and allows Lorelai to walk in first. She glances around at the apartment that used to feel warm and inviting, but on this night feels dark and mysterious. Yet, it still seems like the only safe place in the world. "Have a seat," Luke says as he goes to the closet to get out the first aid kit. Lorelai nods.

She walks over to a chair at the kitchen table and sits. Luke wets a wash cloth and grabs some medication out of the kit. "I'm not going to hurt you," Luke confides in a deep quiet, but loving, voice. Lorelai nods shortly. He kneels down in front of her. She closes her eyes as he reaches up with the wash cloth and slowly wipes the blood off of her face and upper arms. Then Luke takes a bit of the medication and rubs it over each of her cuts. It gets harder and harder for Luke to look at her as she begins to tear up again. Lorelai opens her eyes and their eyes lock as Luke finishes his work. Lorelai licks her lips as she finally looks away. "You okay?" he asks. She nods, still not looking at him.

"Okay," Luke says, standing. "The bed is made with new sheets, let me get you something to wear." Lorelai nods.

"Why are you so dressed up tonight?" Lorelai asks quietly. Luke glances over at her questioningly as he goes through his drawers. "I mean, you're not flannelled, no baseball cap."

"I had a date. I went to dinner with Anna," Luke answers.

"Oh, I didn't mean to pull you away."

"You didn't," Luke answers quickly. "I had already dropped her off at home before you called." He walks back over with a pair of boxers and a large t shirt. "Here." Lorelai takes them but doesn't move. "The bathroom is over there. Do you want me to get you some coffee? Or water? Or a donut?" Lorelai cracks a soft smile but shakes her head. "Okay." Luke reaches out his hand and helps her up, although she doesn't hold onto him too tightly.

"I'm going to…" She motions towards the bathroom. Luke nods. He watches Lorelai make her way over to the bathroom and close the door.

While Lorelai's in the bathroom, Luke fixes the bed up. Then he grabs another pillow and blanket from the closet and sets them on a chair he has by the bed. Lorelai walks out of the bathroom holding her other clothes in her arms and dressed in Luke's. Luke stares at her, realizing that even bruised and in his clothes, Lorelai still looks beautiful to him. Lorelai looks up at him expectantly, not realizing that he's star struck. "Where should I put these?" she asks, licking her lips again.

"Oh," Luke says, as if startled. "Just put them over by the bed. I can wash them if you want," he offers. Lorelai shakes her head. "Okay well – just…" Lorelai nods. She walks over to the bed, putting her clothes down next to it. She climbs onto the bed as if sleep is something she's been dreaming about forever. "I can sleep somewhere else, or I can just…" He sits down in the chair.

"Yeah…" she manages.

"Okay," Luke says. Lorelai lies down on the bed, her head on the pillow. She turns to lay flat on her back and looks over at him.

"You'll stay here?" she asks, hopefully. He nods. Lorelai gazes at him, a sad, painful look on her face, but Luke summons all his strength not to look away. He realizes then that she has moved her hand toward his. Luke reaches out and takes her hand in his, squeezing it softly. She is comforted by just this small movement from him. "Thank you," she whispers again. Luke nods, the look on his face telling her everything she needs to know. Slowly she turns on her side, facing him and closes her eyes. Their hands still connected as if it's the only lifeline keeping her alive.