Luke woke up with his alarm clock in his own bed for the first time in too long. He let his head roll to the side before opening his eyes, even though he know, before he opened his eyes, that she was gone. He rubbed his hand along the dent she left in the pillow, and smiled. He sat up and looked at the dishevelment of his clothing on the floor. He padded his way across the kitchen to make some tea then took a quick shower and dressed. The whole routine taking way longer than usual as he kept pausing and thinking about the events that transpired the night before.

When he was finally ready he went to leave, and only then found the note she had left on his door. It was a yellow post it with her lipstick kiss on the centre and only one word "Later."

He pulled it off the door and slipped it into his pocket then hurried down stairs to start his painting. It wasn't a chore he generally liked but there was something distinctively satisfying about covering the sanded wood with paint. He finished the first coat by lunch time then set out about arranging the seating just in time for the food delivery to arrive.

By the time all that was sorted he started on the second coat and was surprised when he spotted the time was after seven. He pulled the tarps and sheets off everything and looked around the place with a satisfied smile. When the door opened and he turned to see Lorelai walk in his smile widened. Without hesitation she walked right up to him and planted a kiss on his lips. She circled his neck with her arms, held him close and deepened the kiss.

"Planning on christening my diner next?" he said when she stepped away and smiled.

"You wish." She let her hand trail down his arm and held his hand as she looked around at his handiwork.

"Yeah…a little," he muttered and she squeezed his hand.

"The pace looks great. Will you open tomorrow?"

"No, I just need one more delivery of stock."

"I thought your food got here today?"

"Yeah food, but I need all the mugs and plates and cutlery. Scheduled to land tomorrow at 10, maybe I can open for the lunch rush."

"You'll have a queue out the door and round the block. Taylor will be going mad, he'll ask you to apply for a queueing license!"

"We'll see."

"Please, it's going to be great."

"If my delivery arrives."

"If you build it, he will come!" She said in a stage whisper.

"What?"

"Go the distance!"

"Huh?"

"Ease his pain!"

"You're not making any sense."

"God Luke, it's an all American movie about baseball and fathers, how can you not have seen Field of Dreams!" She turned to argue with him but saw the mocking smile on his face and swatted his shoulder instead. He grabbed her wrist and stopped her from hitting him, then took her into his arms and held her close. With one hand on her lower back and the other clutching her hand next to his heart he swayed slowly with her from side to side to music that wasn't even playing.

"What a week," he said lowly and he wasn't sure if she heard him.

"Yeah…"

He lowered his head and kissed her softly then let his forehead rest on hers.

"Whatever came out of that fire, whatever I might have lost, I just feel like I gained so much more."

She smiled and rested in closer to him, put her head on her shoulder in the crook of his neck and kissed his throat tenderly.

"Do you want something to eat?"

"Oh an inaugural burger off the new Luke's diner stove?"

"If you want. Whatever you want."

"How about some waffles?"

"Sure, anything."

He was reluctant to let her go, enjoying how her body moved against his.

"I'll help!" she said as they stepped apart and she followed him into the kitchen. He passed her an apron and she slipped it on. Then he passed her a whisk and a large metal bowl.

"Flour," he passed her the flour.

"How much?"

"Keep pouring until I say."

She tipped the flour into the bowl until his hand warned her to stop. Then he passed her salt and asked her to put in a pinch. Next came the baking powder and the sugar.

"Mix all that together while I get the waffle iron heated up."

"Mixing, I'm mixing," she sang along with her actions as she mixed making him chuckle.

"Are you going to narrate all your actions through song?"

"Yes!" She sang back.

He turned back to her and wrapped his arms around her from behind, brushed her hair aside and kissed her neck. "Wow, I can't wait to see how that works out later."

"Dirty!" she sang back to him and they both laughed.

"Okay, okay, put that aside, now we need a new bowl." He handed one down to her from the top shelf and passed her two eggs.

"Shall I put them in?"

"No, just hold onto them and see if they hatch. Of course put them in!"

"Alright I was just asking."

"Add the milk and gimme a sec to melt this butter." When he tipped the butter into the batter he asked her to mix then he added some vanilla extract and watched as she whisked it all together.

"How does it loooooook?"

"Still with the singing?"

She nodded and smiled then jutted her face towards his and pouted her lips for a kiss. He obliged then passed the other bowl back to her and asked her to mix them together.

"What? Why dirty two bowls in the first place, why not just put them all in together."

"The baking powder will disrupt the chemical-" He stopped talking when he saw the look of confusion on her face. "Because it'll taste better."

"Oh! Ok!"

"Right, the waffle iron is ready." He lifted the top and helped her pour in some mixture in each half then closed the lid and fastened it.

"Now we wait…"

"Grab some plates."

"You don't have any plates."

"Oh yeah…"

"Here, you have napkins!"

"Wait I'll run upstairs and grab some, hang on. Don't let them burn."

"Yeah right Luke, what are the chances of another fire burning the place down in as many weeks!" she called after him as he raced away.

She watched the waffle iron like a hawk, waited for the red light to turn green and when it did with a ding she squealed with excitement and reached for the handle. She unfastened the clip and opened the lid but was met by a gooey mess of waffle mixture.

"Oh no… Luke!" she called out. "Luuuuuuke!"

His thundering footsteps came from his own apartment and he charged down the stairs towards her.

"What! What happened?"

"It's gooey!"

"It's not ready." He closed the waffle iron lid and twisted it do the top was now the bottom

"But it dinged!"

"That wasn't and I'm ready ding, it was a temperature ding."

"Then what does the 'm ready ding sound like?"

"It doesn't have and I'm ready ding."

"Then how do you know when they are ready?"

"When they are done!"

"Well that's not much help!"

He gave her the plates and asked her to go set a table while he tried to salvage the waffles. She grabbed the syrups and he asked her to get some fruit from the fridge.

"Why?"

"To go with the waffles."

"But I have syrups. They are a fruit."

"But there are fresh berries in the fridge."

"But there is fresh syrup in the jars."

"Lorelai…please!"

She shrugged as if the idea was new to her but acquiesced to his request. By the time she came out with the fruit he had plated up the waffles on a plate and came out to join her and put one waffles on her plate.

"Dinner is served madam."

He took her hand and guided her to the table, pulled out her seat for her and helped her sit before taking his own seat. She licked her lips and grabbed the jug of strawberry sauce and drizzled it all over her waffle. She passed the jug to him but he declined. Instead he opened the container of chopped strawberries and put some on his waffle.

"Why would you pour that sugar syrup all over your pancake for a strawberry flavour when instead you could just add strawberries?"

"Because of the sticky juice!" She took a bite and relished in the saccharine sticky taste mixed with the flavour of the waffle itself. "This is divine. It's true what they say, food you cook yourself always tastes better. I think I could be a chef. It's not so hard."

"One serving of waffles is not quite the qualifier you need to become a chef."

"But it's a first step." She smiled and took another bite. He ate his strawberries, finished his waffle and ate more strawberries.

"Do you want another?"

"No."

Her refusal shocked him a little and he didn't hide it. "Really? Are you a one waffle girl now?"

"Yeah, looks like it. One large sweet waffle." She leaned forward and he matched her pose, knowing they weren't talking about their dinner anymore. He kissed her tenderly then moved to clear the table. When she tried to help he brushed away her offers of assistance.

"No, you made dinner, let me clean up." He stood in the kitchen by the large sink washing the bowls and the waffle iron when she came in. She didn't hesitate in wrapping her arms around him and he leaned back into her hug. "Do you um, maybe want to stay over tonight?" he asked half turning to face her.

"For a while."

"Only a while?"

"I'm not sure if I'm ready for the town to see me doing the walk of shame out of here at 6am."

"Walk of shame?" he questioned.

"Stride of pride?"

"Better." He shook the water bubbles off his hands and turned in the circle of his arms to face her and kissed her nose. "Okay, so, are you leaving now?"

"Not right now no."

"Good." He kissed her but before it could get too heated he took her hands and led her upstairs, turning off all the lights behind them as they moved.

For the second morning in a row Luke woke up and groped for her sleeping figure only to come up empty handed. He wasn't sure when he left, he just knew she was gone now. He slapped his alarm to turn off the offending sound then went down stairs to start his prep for the lunch shift he was hoping he'd be open for. He had called Caesar and asked him to come in for noon. He watched the clock for the deliveries and sighed with relief when the truck pulled up at ten thirty and his serving stock was brought in box by box. Only to then realise he had no mugs. He checked his order and realised the cups he had ordered were on back order which meant they wouldn't arrive until the merchant had them in stock. He cursed himself for making such an idiotic mistake and was in the throes of panic when Lorelai rang at eleven.

He told her about the delivery mix up and she tried to calm him down. He had decided to serve all his coffee in his to-go mugs and was still preparing to open at one for lunch. He spent the rest of the morning setting up his kitchen, wrapping cutlery in napkins, chopping tomatoes and onions. Caesar arrived with a song and a dance and immediately got to work in the kitchen preparing the lunch time regulars.

Luke paced behind the counter. He rubbed his palms on his jeans and checked and re checked the time. At half twelve he looked up at a knock on the door to see Lorelai standing there with a smile.

"Hey," she said when he opened the door and she came in. She reached up and kissed him and he welcomed the oblivion from the blind panic he was feeling. "How are you holding up?"

"Barely."

"I brought this for you." She rummaged in her bag for something as they walked through the diner and she took a seat at the counter. With a little flourish she produced a large purple mug out of her bag and he smiled.

"You want a coffee?"

He reached back for the pot of coffee.

"No, at least, not yet." She handed him the cup and smiled. "I want you to have this."

"Thanks Lorelai but one mug isn't going to make a difference."

"I know, but…these might." She went over to the door and walked out, then waved at something he couldn't see before walking in and holding the door open again.

What started as Taylor and Ms Patty, bringing in mugs continued with Jackson, Sookie, Lane, Kirk, Babette and more all walking in, all with mugs all handing them over. Soon nearly every surface of his diner was filled with mugs. Luke stood behind the counter, holding onto the edges of the counter with a white knuckle grip. Lorelai who was still holding the door open, as more and more people tried to cram in, all holding mugs went over to his side and squeezed his arm. He was in shock. His eyes wide open, his mouth agape and his heart pounding in his throat.

"Did you do this?" She nodded happily, realising he wasn't mad but was overwhelmed with joy. An emotion she had never really seen him display, well, she admitted, not in such a public setting.

"C'mon, let's get these on display!"

The cubed shelves behind the counter were soon filled with assorted mugs. The shelving around the room as well as the storage places behind the counter. He looked at his watch and saw it was ten to one. The crowd around the diner was buzzing with excitement and he was nervous as hell. She could see his pulse hammering against his neck and she took his hand and led him into the stock room, then closed the door behind her. He didn't wait to hear what she had to say, what she had brought him in here for instead he grabbed her, pulled her against him and kissed her gruffly. He held her head in place, probed her mouth with his tongue and pressed her against the shelf of grains and canned food.

"You are amazing." He said panting as they parted.

"I try." She shrugged.

"I am nervous as hell." He stepped away from her and braced his hands on his knees and ducked his head low. "I feel like I'm going to vomit."

"Oh, not the best thing one wants to hear after being kissed." She rubbed his back to comfort her.

"Sorry…it's not you."

"I should hope not."

"It's all this…"

"Luke, relax, you will be fine!"

"Yeah…ok." He took a deep breath. Stood up straight again. Grabbed her for another quick kiss then walked out and went straight to the coffee pot. "Okay everybody, Coffee is ready, who was here first?"

The End.

A/N: It took all my power not to turn this into a smut fest in the end. And I kind of had a whole other chapter written but I think this is a pretty good ending point. I hope you enjoyed it.