Yes, i know... insert people yelling at me for taking so long.

I'm just depressed GG fan who can't find any inspiration after the loss.

Huuuuuuge thank you to Steph! without her i would be looking for another beta for the next 6 month.

Slowly it was getting darker outside, as Luke was moving methodically through the diner, putting the chairs up on the table that he had cleaned just moment before. The street outside was deserted, everyone was probably still at the town meeting, listening to Taylor going on and on about yet another town festival and prosperity it could give to everyone, him in particular as Luke suspected.

Taking one last look around, he shut the lights off and moved to the stairs, and up to his apartment. During this whole time, he hadn't realized that the street in front of the diner wasn't so empty after all. Just outside of the door, on the steps sat a single, lonely figure, which, throughout the whole time, looked ahead at the town square, deep in her thoughts.

Lorelai sighed as she leaned her chin on her knees, hugging her legs closer to her chest. She hadn't even noticed that Luke had already closed the diner, earlier than normally. She spent the last hour sitting there, lost in her thoughts, repeating the event of the day in her mind. After Luke left the hospital, all she wanted was to see Rory, and suddenly she found herself in her parent's house, Rory walking just beside her. Lorelai called her name a few times, trying desperately for her daughter to see her, and falling miserably doing so. It broke her heart that her beloved child couldn't even sense her presence. She couldn't stand it, so she left, she thought of home and the next thing she knew she was in the gazebo. But the time changed; it was already late, she could see people going to Miss Patty's, probably to a town meeting. She couldn't figure out how this time went by so fast, so she ignored it and walked straight to Luke's where she sat down on the front steps.

Taking another deep breath, she stood up and turned around. Emotionlessly she moved a bit backward and looked up to see the light still turning off at Luke's apartment. She focused her thoughts and a moment later she found herself in the middle of the spacey room Luke called his home.

It was really dark inside, but soon enough her eyes got used to it and she could see the shape of the objects surrounding her. She moved slowly around, wondering what to do next since he was apparently already in bed, and the last she wanted was to wake him up. Taking few steps in the direction of the bed, she saw a limp body spread across of it, moving up and down, rhythmically with every even breath. Not knowing what to do with herself, or if Luke would be able to hear her and wake up, she stood there like a stone, wrapping her arms around her stomach. She looked at him once again. His legs were spread wide under the thin material of orange plaid sheets. She could see one of his big feet sticking out from under it. She could see he was clad in a green t-shirt, with the right sleeve a bit rolled up. She was able to see the dark patterns of his tattoo, which caught her attention immediately, wondering how on earth it found its place on his shoulder. Then she looked at his face, or half of it, since the rest was buried deeply in the pillow he was hugging with all his might, just like a little boy would with a teddy bear. She had to admit that apart from sleeping baby Rory, this was the most calmest and adorable sight she'd ever seen. Concentrating on the lines of his features, she suddenly felt this strange feeling of calm as well. He looked beautiful in his innocent state, peaceful; she could easily feel that peace emanating from his sleeping form. The last 2 days were a nightmare, if she could call it that. She still hoped she would be able to wake up from that horrible dream and everything would be just like after she fell asleep.

"Lorelai" a sudden grunt brought her back to reality, when she realized it was Luke calling her, she unconsciously took a step back, opening her mouth to reply to him, but then he turned around, bringing the pillow with him and hugging it to his chest, a tiny snore fallowed. She blinked rapidly a few times realizing he'd been sleeping the whole time. Not wanting to get caught after all, she moved backward to the couch and sank in it, daring her eyes from the bed and the man sleeping in it, she looked around once again. Just then she realized how exactly cluttered the apartment was. As much as a very clean and simple Luke was, his apartment could say a totally different thing about him. There were so many things around there; books, trophies from high school she never seemed to actually look at more carefully, and a flannel here and there. Jess's part of the apartment was totally cleaned up though as if it never had an occupant.

Just then something caught her eyes, a simple photo frame on a small nightstand next to the couch. She almost laughed when she realized it was a photo of a much younger Luke with a fishing pole and a big fish in one of his hands. He looked so proud, so carefree, she wondered why that smile, full of joy, decorated his face less and less, and was now replaced more and more by a sarcastic smirk and a roll of eyes.

She stood up and walked around, discovering more photos spread all over the place. A picture with Jess took at the Bracebridge Dinner she invited them both to. She smiled at just how much alike the two of them were; the same almost pouty expression on their faces. She just then realized how lonely Luke might be now after his nephew had gone back to New York and how much it was her fault.

There was a picture of a teenage looking Luke with a few boys the same age surrounding him, a big trophy in his hand, and another smile of joy and pride on his face. Then she found another one with a boy around eight or nine years old and a girl not more than 2 years younger than him sitting in the front yard in front of a big blue house, a house that looked oddly familiar to her. Could that be Luke and his sister Liz, outside of their house? The boy's happy, huge blue eyes were shining with joy, but she didn't know; she wasn't sure if those bright eyes were the same as the ones who belonged to the grumpy diner owner.

And then she saw a guitar standing just by the door. Covered with dust, it stood as if it was long forgotten by its owner. Lorelai frowned with frustration. Why hadn't she seen it before, or more like hadn't she realized it was there before? Was it Luke's? Or maybe Jess left it. Could Luke play on it, could he sing? All those questions made her head spin, but one was repeating over and over again: why didn't she know any answers to those questions? Why did she know so little of the man, who slept peacefully just a few feet away from her, filling the room with his manly snores? She sat frustrated back on the couch closing her eyes, wanting for all those thoughts to just go away.

"Lorelai..." she heard again, but the voice sounded so deep, so dreamy. She looked up at the sleeping form, able to see Luke turning back and forth on his tiny bed, but not waking up. What was he dreaming about? Why was he calling her in his sleep? Too many questions, to little answers. She brought her knees close to her chest, and hugged them to herself tightly; once again she closed her eyes, hoping the night would end soon.

The annoying beeping of the alarm clock woke up Luke, like always, at quarter to five. With a frustrated groan, he let his left hand hit the off button just to let it fall down a second later. With the pillow still covering his head, he didn't make any moves indicating that he was about to get up. On the other end of the room, sitting on the couch, Lorelai pick up her head, from her knees, which she was still hugging tight to her body, without saying a word, she observed, as the body underneath the sheets started to move, inching to the side.

Finally Luke threw the pillow off of his head, swinging his legs to the side and got up, throwing his arms in the air to stretch his still sleeping body. Without even giving the apartment a once over, he made his way to the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. Lorelai just sighed leaning her chin on her knees once again.

Twenty minutes later, the door to the bathroom opened revealing Luke wrapped only in huge white towel,the water from the shower was still running down his body. He was about to move to his closet when he suddenly stopped dead in his track.

"Hey..." He said awkwardly looking at Lorelai, whose eyes widened at the sight before her.

"Hi" she replied just as surprised, her eyes still on his body. She almost forgot since the day before, just how mighty his body looked.

"I'm gonna..." Luke started mentioning to the closet and then back to the bathroom. Without saying another word, he grabbed a few things from the closet and went back to dress. Soon after that he walked out, now fully dressed, but not making any eye contact with her.

"You're still here" Luke finally said under his breath, but loud enough for Lorelai to hear, as he made his way to the kitchen area, passing her without even one glance at her.

"Yeah… still here" She sighed in reply. "Unfortunately I didn't magically wake up yesterday after you left me alone" Lorelai said sarcastically, wondering about his cold attitude toward her.

"Well, your prince charming showed up." Luke said carelessly, opening the fridge and getting out the juice. "I thought that would do the trick"

"Hey!" Lorelai yelled defensively, looking annoyed.

"Oh did he kiss you when you were lying there? No? Well maybe that would work" He said sharply while putting the glass on the table with a loud thud.

"Luke! What the hell is wrong with you?" Lorelai scoffed at him.

"Nothing! Nothing is wrong with me" He replied turning to the window, leaning over the sink, his head down. Lorelai was just about to protest. She opened her mouth, when Luke now with a more calmed voice stopped her. "I was thinking yesterday." He stated simply, he was now looking at the town's square, but with his back still turned to her. "We have to somehow get to know what's exactly happening to people's minds and brains when they are in coma; we have to learn if there are some..." He trailed off. "Some more alternative ways of waking a person from that state" He spoke slowly and methodically. "Now I have to open the diner, but once the afternoon lull comes, I'm gonna go hit Andrew's and see if he maybe has any books that could help us." Luke turned back around and smiled sadly at her. And at this moment Lorelai could feel that sadness sweeping into her. Without saying another word, he made a few long steps across the room and was out of the door, in no time, leaving it partly open, as if inviting her to join him.

The breakfast rush ended a bit after 11 and after cleaning all the tables and giving a few orders to Caesar, keeping his word, Luke left to go to the book store with Lorelai trailing behind him.

After their morning encounter, they hadn't talked much. Lorelai tried to not bother him, while spending most of the time sitting on the bottom step of the stairs that lead to his apartment, just by the door frame.

Just as she left the apartment, Lorelai was able to see by herself just how moody Luke was, grumbling at the customers that first showed up. She still couldn't understand why he acted this way, but she decided not to pry and just let it go, giving him some space to cool down from whatever was bothering him. They hadn't talked much, once more people started to come in Luke just threw himself into his working routine, which as Lorelai realized, soon started to calm him down a bit. She could feel the same calm overwhelming her as well. She started to wonder if it was possible she could now sense his moods and feelings and somehow feel them as well. She spent most of the night wondering about it, remembering how she could feel the dramatic change in Luke's mood when they were in the hospital the day before and when Christopher showed up, uninvited. It started to seem more possible every time that she could pick them up.

So by the time they left, Luke acted almost normal, even smiling at Caesar, who promised to prepare the diner for the lunch rush, before Luke got back.

They moved down the main street. Luke didn't even bother greeting people that they were passing, as if he was in a trance wanting to just get to Andrew's as soon as possible. Lorelai on the other hand, was trying to signal her existence to everyone on their way, waving or saying few words to everyone, still hoping that somehow someone would realize she was there. Once they got there, Luke took a deep breath and opened the door, leaving it a bit open so that she could slip in, still not being able to figure out why he was acting so cool toward her, she just walked through the window, ignoring his gesture. She went right through the glass and the few books that lay on the ground beside it, which caused Luke to sigh with annoyance.

"So Sherlock, lead the way" she motioned him toward the shelves filled with the books.

"Hey Luke?" Andrew asked surprised. It wasn't everyday you could see the diner owner going there in the middle of the day.

"Yeah, hey Andrew" Luke replied as politely as he could, forcing a smile on his face.

"Well, what can I do for you" Andrew offered.

"Oh I got it, I'm just gonna" Luke started pointing his thumb behind his back to the books.

"Oh ok, go ahead" Andrew replied and went back to the book he had been reading.

"Come on" Luke whispered to Lorelai who still stood next to him, with an eye roll she fallowed him.

Once they got to the medical/science section, they both looked confused at the amount of books there. The book store wasn't the biggest, everybody knew that, but the amount of books surprised them.

"Ok..." Luke started. "Any idea what we might need?" He whispered, not wanting Andrew to hear him.

"You're the tour guide here, Luke" Lorelai reminded him. "It was your idea, I thought you knew what you were looking for" she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Ok maybe we will just start here" Luke said, looking at the first shelf, ignoring Lorelai's comment.

He ran his fingers softly over the backs of the books, reading the titles carefully. He had very long fingers Lorelai realized. They looked so delicate to her when he was doing it. Mesmerized by it, she leaned her back on one of the shelves and just then she fell, her body going right through it.

"Not fair!" She exclaimed, causing Luke to smirk at the sight of her head suddenly showing out of some books.

"You ok there Luke?" Andrew suddenly asked, hearing him.

"I'm all good" He replied, trying to hide the smile that was forming on his face.

"Smile all you want, but this is not funny" Lorelai pouted, moving out of the shelf.

"Oh it is, it so is" Luke murmured under his breath, the smile still plastered to his face. He took a few books off of the shelf examing them, reading the covers and putting them under his arm.

"Hey, grumpy pants!" Lorelai called him, now standing in front of the paranormal section. "Don't you think we might need one of those?" she suggested.

"Don't even think of it" He replied, going back to the book, she rudely interrupted him examing.

"Oh come on! There are few about ghost!" she clapped her hands, trying to get it out, but falling miserably, not being able to even touch it.

"No" He replied stubbornly.

"Hello? I'm practically one of them" she joked

"No!" Luke grounded loudly. "Don't you even say that! You hear me?" He said mad.

"Ok..."Lorelai replied, overwhelmed by his reaction.

Luke sighed loudly and made his way to her, he looked at the books in front of her and grabbed one, not even checking it he added it to the ones he already had under his arm. And without another word he passed her and made his way to Andrew.

"Did you find what you need?" Andrew Asked him.

" Oh, yeah. Fine." Luke replied not meting his eyes. Just then Andrew reached for the books Luke was holding. "What are you doing?" Luke asked surprised, hiding the books even more under his arm.

"I have to ring them up." The man tried to explain. Lorelai just stood by, amused by the scene in front of her.

" I'll just tell you the prices. This one is 24.99." Luke tried reasonably.

"That high?"

"They're your prices." Luke reminded him, causing Lorelai to burst into loud laughter but he ignored it.

"Can I just see the book?" Andrew asked hopefully.

"Yeah Luuuuke, let him see the books" Lorelai encouraged between giggles.

"I'm reading you the price. It says right here." Luke started, looking down at the books. "Oh, wait -- that's the Canadian price. 14.99."

" Will you just let me scan the book?"

"When you scan the book, do you see the title?" Luke asked suspicious.

"Yes."

"Then no." Luke replied determined.

"Oh my god! This is better than Comedy Central" Lorelai giggled even louder.

"Luke, come on. What do you got there, porn?" Andrew suddenly asked causing Lorelai to not being able to stand still anymore; she suddenly sat on the ground holding her stomach while laughing like a little kid.

"You sell porn?" Luke asked, sending Lorelai a dirty look.

"No!" Andrew exclaimed horrified.

" You think I brought my own porn in here to buy?" Luke asked.

"Oh my god!!" Lorelai exclaimed. "I'm really gonna die out of laughter in a second! Luke and porn!"

"I don't know what you're doing. I just need to scan the books." Andrew tried once again, reaching for the books, but Luke was faster not letting him touch them.

"This should cover it." Luke sighed, reaching into his wallet taking out the first bill that he found there.

"A hundred bucks? That's way too much." Andrew's eyes winded.

Yes, i know... insert people yelling at me for taking so long.

I'm just depressed GG fan who can't find any inspiration after the loss.

Huuuuuuge thank you to Steph! without her i would be looking for another beta for the next 6 month.

" Take it." Luke said walking to the door, ignoring Lorelai who was still on the ground. "Bag." He suddenly said, turning back and taking the bag from Andrew. He walked outside, putting all the books into the bag.

"So, any interesting Porn you have in there" Lorelai asked laughing, as she suddenly showed up by his side.

"If you say one more word, I swear you're on your own." Luke grunted annoyed, walking faster toward the diner. Lorelai just kept laughing, fallowing his every step.

"Luuuuke?!" Lorelai sing-sanged, batting her eyelashes at him. She was sitting at the counter, right next to the coffee-maker, swinging her legs back and forth like a little girl. It took her almost 20 minutes filled with lots of pouting and whining to make him let her there, since Luke was stubbornly insisting that no matter what she was now it was still his working area and she could hurt herself, at which she laughed loudly, reminding him that whatever was planning to fall on her would just go straight through her body, at which Luke made a face, not wanting to even think of her half lifeless body, that laid in Hartford Memorial. But after a lot of "yes's" and "no's", thrown back and forth between the duo, Lorelai finally won. So there she sat, with a smile of victory plastered on her face, a smile Luke could never say "no" to.

"Jeez" Luke mumbled under his breath, as he turned around and faced her, his face far from matching her grin. He took a step forward, rolling his eyes in the process that made her grin even brighter back at him.

"Turn please?" she asked sweetly and looked at the opened book that was lying on the counter right next to her.

Luke just grunted something under his breath and turned to the next page, shooting her a very annoyed look.

"Oh come on Grumpy! It's fun!" Lorelai said swaying her legs more vigorously.

"Yeah, right" He replied turning away from her, clenching his jaw tight.

"What?" One of the costumers, who sat at the counter near the cash register asked confused.

"What?" Luke asked, his face a mixture of annoyance and confusion as well.

"That's what I'm asking, you said something to me man" the guy explained, making a weird face at Luke.

"What?" Luke asked again, but then heard a shriek of joy coming from behind him, which caused him to clench his wrists into tight balls. "No, I'm... I'm just... ehm, thinking out loud" He finally spilled out.

"Whatever man" the guy replied, getting up and taking his plate while he moved to the empty table near the window, causing another giggle from Lorelai.

"Stop that!" Luke hissed, rushing past her to the kitchen.

"You can run! But you can't hide" Lorelai called behind him, clapping her hands with joy.

Sixty eight turned pages, six tries of getting Lorelai out of the "working area" and two almost explosions of fury later, Luke was leaning over the counter, his head hiden in his hands, trying to calm himself down a bit. It wasn't helping that it was almost closing time and Kirk still occupied the table by the door.

"YES! I am a genius!" Lorelai suddenly exclaimed, hopping down from the counter.

"What?!" Luke replied, trying to sound at least half as enthusiastic as her. "Did you finally find something in that book?" He asked the hope in his voice evident.

"What? No!" She looked at him surprised he could suggest that. "The book is crap. Nothing

about a spooky ghost out of the body story yet" she said rolling her eyes. "I will have to try the one I chose, I'm telling you the cover brings hope for me" She explained, nodding her head.

"It has a cartoon on the cover!"

"So what? You'll see that my book is better than yours" She said sticking her tongue out at him, causing another grunt from him. "But back to business! As I was saying, when I was rudely interrupted: I have an amazing idea!' She looked like a little kid, proud of herself.

"And that would be?" Luke asked impatient, wanting nothing more than just to close up already, go upstairs and lay down; he already could feel another headache coming.

"Coffee!" Lorelai exclaimed throwing her hands in the air.

"What?!" He looked at her as if she was crazy

"I want coffee!" She explained, looking hopefully at the coffee maker on her right.

"You've got to be kidding me?" Luke blinked at her.

"No! All day people around me were eating yummy things and drinking yummy stuff! I almost started to believe I died and actually went to hell, so now I'm asking you, my little bright angel: would you pour me some coffee?" she batted her eyelashes with hope.

"No way! You're crazy!" Luke almost exclaimed but stopped himself, remembering that Kirk was still there.

"Yes way! All I want from you, is to be just a bit understanding here and make me suffer a bit less"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No! You're forgetting something; you won't even be able to drink it" He tried to be reasonable; he felt that his head was going to explode sometime soon.

"Oh! That was harsh Luke!" Lorelai made a shocked face. "But I will be able to sniff it!" she replied triumphal.

"There's no way. I'm not getting you coffee, just to throw it away a minute later!"

"I've never really believed you could be so heartless Luke!" Lorelai exhaled loudly.

"Luke?" Kirk's sudden voice stopped them. "I don't know what it wants, but it sounds mad to me. I wouldn't say no if I were you..."

tbc...

i hope you still wanna read more...