Seeing Stars (A Gilmore Girls fic)

[Evergreen]

((I know I have an original fic still unfinished, but as many of you might be aware, Gilmore Girls has come onto Netflix. Given that I have been stuck at home with the flu since Wednesday, I have watched A LOT of episodes. This fic is set in my own designated timeframe. I'm on season two when Jess comes to visit, but I want this to take place before Jess and after Lorelai breaks up with Max. I know that doesn't fall in winter, but this is my fic, my rules. As if it needs to be said, this is a sick Luke fic!))

Part One

It was Lorelai Gilmore’s favorite time of the year. As the fresh sheet of snow crunched gently under her boots, she inhaled the crisp winter air and made her way to Luke’s. It was days like today where she enjoyed taking a break from the inn to take a brisk walk in search of coffee, and Luke Danes never disappointed in the coffee department.

“Everything is beautiful and white and clean,” Lorelai announced as she entered Luke’s Diner, which was devoid of customers at 3:00 in the afternoon.

“Is it? I hadn’t noticed. I think it’s cold and dreary and dirty with all the people muddying up the snow,” he said as he looked up from wiping down the counter.

“Well hello Hyde… I was hoping to interact with Dr. Jekyll today given what a nice day I have been having.”

Luke grunted and cleared his throat. “Coffee?”

“I’m not just here to see you, sunshine,” Lorelai said as she set her bag down and took a seat in front of Luke. She grinned as he placed a mug of steaming hot coffee in front of her. She took a gulp and hummed in appreciation. “You should try this stuff. Bet you’d be peppier.”

“I don’t want to be...” he paused and knuckled his nose. “Peppier.”

“Real hygienic.”

“Relax, relax. I’m… AHTSCH Washing my hands.”

Lorelai jumped at the suddenness of his sneeze. “Jesus Christ! That’s how you sneeze!?”

Luke turned around from washing his hands and smirked at the wide-eyed woman in front of him. “My apologies, your highness.”

“You could have made me spill my coffee. What’s wrong with you?” As she assessed him, she could see he looked different… She couldn’t pinpoint how exactly.

“What do you mean what’s wrong with me? What kind of question is that?” Luke wiped the excess water from washing his hands off on his apron.

“The question I posed. What’s wrong with you?”

“Jeez, nothing is wrong with me. I’ve seen you sneeze hundreds of times, and I don’t ask what’s wrong with you.”

“No you have not. I never sneeze. Sneezing is weakness. Name once you have seen me sneeze.”

“Uh… When you had the flu at the Founder’s Day Parade last year. When a kid snuck a gerbil in here… I don’t know when else. I don’t track your sneezes.”

“Sounds like you do,” Lorelai said with raised eyebrows. She finished off her coffee quickly. “You going by the party tonight?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Luke said and rolled his eyes. “What’s the occasion?”

“A birthday… Or marriage. Or baby… I don’t know. There will be cake.”

“Cake you say?” Luke smirked again.

“Watch it mister. So are you coming?”

Luke looked at the woman in front of him who was smiling at him across the bar of his restaurant. “Fine. I’ll go. Don’t expect me to talk to people.”

Lorelai faked a gasp. “Talk to people!? Oh never! I would never expect that.” She stood up and slapped down a five. “See you Hyde. Hope Jekyll makes an appearance tonight.”

“I wouldn’t count on it.”

Lorelai gave a wave before exiting onto the street, turning her head up towards the sky, which had started to release snowflakes once more, and giving a twirl. She looked up and caught Luke’s eye, and he smiled faintly before turning back towards the sink.

-----------------------------------------------------

The town gazebo was strung with lights and the lawn buzzed with activity. Even despite the cold weather, all of Stars Hollow seemed to have come out for a celebration no one entirely understood. It was one of the things Lorelai loved about Stars Hollow: the sense of community. There was one person who Lorelai quickly identified as being missing: a grumpy diner owner.

Despite the sign on Luke’s Diner reading closed, Lorelai could see there was a light on in the stock room. She rattled the doorknob and knocked repeatedly until she saw the perplexed face she was looking for in the window.

“We’re closed,” Luke said dryly.

“You’re missing the party. You said you’d come. You promisedddd,” she said, exaggerating the last word so she sounded like a child.

Luke rubbed the back of his neck and checked his watch. “I must have lost track of time. Can you give me 10 minutes to finish up in the back and meet you out there?”

“I can wait in here... Maybe drink some coffee. Give you a little extra time,” Lorelai said, trying to enter, but surprisingly Luke blocked her.

“No, it’s really alright. I’ll meet you at the gazebo. 10 minutes.”

“Fiiine. If you’re not out here in 10 minutes, I will return with a mob.”

“Noted.”

With that, Luke shut the door and Lorelai made her way back to the party, grabbing two hot chocolates and taking a seat on a bench by the gazebo. It was almost 10 minutes exactly that Luke showed up, bundled up in a coat, hat and a scarf—a rare sighting indeed.

“You own a scarf!?” Lorelai asked as she handed over the hot chocolate.

“We live in Connecticut. Thanks,” Luke said as he sipped the hot chocolate, giving an audible sigh as the warm liquid met his throat.

Lorelai narrowed her eyes at him, sipping her own beverage and observing as his nostrils flared once… Twice.. And.. AHTSCH. There it was again. No build-up or anything. “Uh huh,” she said thoughtfully.

Luke swiped at his nose with his coat sleeve. “The polite response is bless you,” he said.

“How about Gesundheit? Or Salud? Or God Bless You?”

“Lorelai.” Luke gave her a weary look, sipping his beverage again.

“Fine. You have no sense of humor.”

“Where’s Rory?”

“Around here somewhere. Probably with Dean. Or Lane.” She leaned back and looked thoughtfully at the lights and around the party. “I love this town.”

“Yeah. It has its moments.” Luke rubbed his nose again, finishing off his hot chocolate. “I’m going to get more. Would you like anything?”

“Swipe three pieces of cake?”

“Three pieces?”

“Two for me and one for you. My sense of balance isn’t good enough, but you own a diner and your plate balancing skills are on point.”

Luke chuckled and took off. Lorelai watched as his shoulders hunched forward with another sneeze, trying to remember if there was ever a time she had seen Luke sneeze. She concluded that in the entire time she had known him he had only sneezed once… When a pepper shaker wasn’t screwed on tightly and he accidentally got engulfed in a cloud of pepper. When he returned, she could see a slight redness to his nose, but he was carrying cake and that’s all she cared about. Her eyebrows knit in confusion as he took panicked steps and shoved two plates into her hands, swiveling away from her and bending at the waist. AHH’TSCHH.

“Bless you.”

“Thank you,” Luke said with a harsh sniff, his voice a little rougher than normal. “I didn’t sneeze on your cake.”

“Clearly.”

“No… I mean while I was walking.”

“Good to know. If you had it’s fine. I mean… Not fine. But raising a kid, you learn not to be grossed out by that kind of stuff.”

“Right.”

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, eating their cake. Luke suppressed a shiver and finished off his second cup, looking more exhausted by the moment.

“You feeling alright?” Lorelai finally piped in.

“Fine.”

He said it leaving no room for discussion, and for once she bit her tongue, nodding and standing up, holding her hand out for his plate. “Let’s blow this joint.”

“I have some more stuff to do at the diner.”

Again, she cut him some slack and nodded understandingly. “Okay then. See you tomorrow at the usual time?”

“I have no doubt. Your body would stop functioning without your steady drip of caffeine.” He smiled at her, and she gave him a playful nudge before shrugging her shoulders.

“Whatever. You’d miss me if I didn’t stop by. Take care, Luke,” she said, hesitating for a moment. “Call if you need anything.”

He gave an awkward nod and pulled his coat closer to his body, shivering once his back was turned. As soon as she was out of sight, he gave a soft cough and walked back across the street. He meant to finish taking inventory, but as soon as he got into the warmth of his diner, he ventured up the stairs to his apartment and immediately went to bed.

TBC

[CHOCOLATE <3]

I love this!

[Bongo]

GG is easily in my top five favorite shows of all time and Luke is super sexy. Personally, I think Jess is walking sex, but Luke is definitely a close second. Both Luke and Lorelai are very well in character and Stars Hollow and its parties are portrayed very well.

[Sawyer]

Love love love this. I always felt like the banter on the show (especially with Lorelai's character) would be hard to emulate and add into a fic, but you've done an incredible job so far!! This stuff is so super impressive to me.

Also, oh my god, my favorite part:

“Relax, relax. I’m… AHTSCH Washing my hands.”

Lorelai jumped at the suddenness of his sneeze. “Jesus Christ! That’s how you sneeze!?”

Luke turned around from washing his hands and smirked at the wide-eyed woman in front of him. “My apologies, your highness.”

[alias]

GREAT job on the dialogue and capturing their witty banter. That is not easy to do, especially since the show has a very particular and quick brand of wit, but you really pulled it off! This made me laugh out loud quite a few times and I could absolutely hear both of the characters saying their lines. Even the pace of the writing matches the fast, funny pace of the show. Well done!

[GroundIntoDust]

Amazing job capturing the dialogue and character interactions! I hope you decide to continue this!

[Evergreen]

((thank you all so much, especially for the detailed feedback! i always love seeing what scenes or aspects of my stories appeal to people the most. glad you're enjoying. without further ado, the next installment))

Part Two

For whatever reason, Lorelai managed to make her way to Luke’s earlier than normal, and when she arrived it became apparent the extra time was needed. The place was packed, and while this wasn’t atypical on a Friday morning, it was atypical to see so many disgruntled faces.

“These pancakes are overcooked,” Kirk said and several other people voiced their own disappointment with their pancakes.

“The eggs are undercooked,” another townsperson said.

Lorelai sat at the counter and watched as Luke appeared to get more frustrated by the minute. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and his eyebrows were drawn. Anger wasn’t anything new on Luke’s part, but this inconsistency in cooking was.

“Lorelai. Coffee? Anything else?” He didn’t appear to be in the mood to talk judging by how quickly he poured her a cup and the impatient expression on his face.

“A reenactment of Hamlet?”

“Fine. Just coffee,” he said without cracking a smile.

“No wait! I want French Toast please.”

“French Toast coming up. Is Rory joining you?”

“Nope. You have me all to yourself.”

“Listen, Lorelai. I don’t really have time to chat this morning.”

She looked around to confirm that statement and shrugged her shoulders. “I’ll entertain myself then.”

“Like a five-year-old child,” he said, but he was smiling. His attention quickly turned to Kirk who had stood up and was denouncing his pancakes in a public fashion. “Aw, hell, Kirk. Sit down. If you don’t like them, don’t eat them. I won’t charge you for them… And that goes for the rest of you. Don’t like the food, get out of my diner.” Luke’s voice had risen in volume, and unsurprisingly many patrons cleared out, including Kirk.

“Not that I don’t like seeing Kirk all self righteous and Give-Me-Pancakes-Or-Give-Me-Death, but… It looks like you might be having an off day.” After this observation, Lorelai jokingly hid behind her coffee mug.

“You want to get out, too?” Luke crossed his arms over his chest, a bead of sweat rolling from his forehead down his temple. “Because I’m not having an off day. Everything is fine. Caesar is running late, and it’s just too busy in here, okay?”

Lorelai threw her hands up in surrender. “Fine, fine. I retract my earlier statement. If French Toast is too much, the coffee is really hitting the spot.”

He looked down at the counter, bracing himself against it momentarily as he gathered his composure. Finally, he looked up and sighed, meeting Lorelai’s eyes. “I’m sorry. I… ATSCH.” He had time to swivel away before the sneeze hit, and he brought his elbow to his nose as he inhaled once quickly. “Huh’ANGTSCHH.” The second sneeze was more congested than the first, and Lorelai glanced back as another patron left payment and evacuated.

“Bless you.” There was no hint of joking in her voice this time as she studied the man in front of her. “Hey Luke…”

“What?” The question came out as a bark, and he took a deep breath in and sighed. “I mean… Yes?”

“Are you feeling alright?” Lorelai watched as he opened his mouth to immediately deny being sick only for another sneeze to catch him off guard. H’AGTSCHH. She jerked slightly as she felt a thin sheen of spray hit her arm, and she immediately regretted it. Luke swore loudly enough to send a few more patrons on their way. “Luke, it’s alright. Raised a kid. Remember? Just don’t puke on me and we can stay friends.” She gave a weak smile at her attempt at humor, however Luke was still not amused.

“Lor, that was disgusting. I’m so sorry. Coffee is on the house. Another cup,” he fumbled to grab her cup and managed to dislodge it and send the black liquid rushing across the counter.

Lorelai managed to dodge the bulk of the coffee but a bit got on her skirt. She tried to hide the evidence but wasn’t fast enough as Luke’s gaze locked in on the apparent stain upon the gray fabric.

“Aw, jeez!” he threw his towel on top of the pooling liquid on the counter and huffed in frustration. “I cannot believe I ruined your skirt.”

“It’s not ruined. At least not after I wash it. I always have a spare outfit at the inn for this very reason…” she paused and her eyes widened. “I mean… Coffee spilling reason, not you ruining my skirt reason. I drink so much coffee that stains aren’t even a big deal anymore.”

“What happened here?”

Both Luke and Lorelai looked up to be greeted with Caesar’s question. Luke all but growled in frustration, wiping up any evidence of the spill on the countertop.

“Coffee casualty, I’m afraid. Joe was a good guy. May he rest in peace.” She made the joke easily but watched Luke the entire time as another droplet of sweat made a path down his cheekbone.

Caesar laughed and grabbed some napkins from the counter, wiping the floor and underside of the bar. “Need another cup?”

“Maybe to-go. I need to get to work.”

“Your French Toast,” Luke said suddenly, almost knocking into more glassware as he turned to start on making it.

“No, that’s okay. I’d better run to work anyway. Just the coffee to-go.”

She noticed Luke’s hands were shaking slightly as he tried to secure the lid onto the Styrofoam cup, and Lorelai gently worked it out of his hands. “This part’s tricky,” she said, pressing the lid into place and giving Luke’s hand a pat. “Alright, dude, I’m off to be hospitable. See you later?”

Luke gave a nod before he abruptly walked into the back, a harsh sneeze echoing amidst a clang of cans that had obviously been knocked over. HRRRTSCH.

Lorelai grabbed Caesar’s arm. “Watch out for him. He’s sick and won’t admit it. Just try to keep him busy back there and you do all the cooking. And whatever you do, do not acknowledge his current state. If it gets really bad, call me. I may be able to talk him off the pride ledge.”

“Will do. Thanks, Lorelai.” Caesar looked sympathetically towards the back as he heard a few barking coughs before he took his place behind the counter. “Have a nice day at work!”

“Yeah, you too,” she said with a chuckle. Working with Luke already posed its difficulties. She couldn’t imagine working with sick Luke. “Bye Luke,” she yelled as she exited, not waiting for any sort of response.

--------------------------------------------------

It was 4:30 when her front desk attendant, Michel, found her primping some flowers on the second floor. In his typical apathetic fashion, he began to repeat a message in his heavy French accent paying no particular attention to detail.

“A man named after a Greek figure—Hercules or Apollo or—“

“Caesar?” Lorelai finished.

“Whatever. This man called and said that some other man needs to stop working… For some reason. Really it was a boring call, but I promised to give you the message when I found you.”

“Michel, you could have called my cell to find out where I was! When did Caesar call?”

“About two hours ago. Give or take.”

“Give or take? Michel! This is serious. Luke is sick.”

“Is he going to die?” Michel asked sardonically.

“No.”

“Then it is not serious.”

Lorelai groaned but didn’t try to fight the man whose entire existence seemed to revolve around pushing the limits of his laziness. “Tell Sookie I had to leave early,” she said without bothering to see if he would. On her way to Luke’s Diner, she had the forethought to call both Rory and her mother to get out of their weekly Friday night dinners that were as strict about absences as any Ivy League school Rory wanted to attend. Rory, of course, was very understanding about the situation and wished Luke the best. Emily Gilmore, however, was not as understanding.

“Are you dating this Luke from the diner?” Emily asked insensitively.

“Well, no, mom. But he’s my friend.”

“Is he a grown adult?”

“Yes, mother.”

“Then why can’t he take care of himself until you get done with dinner?”

“Because, mother, he doesn’t know he is going to be taken care of. He won’t do what’s best for himself unless I make him.”

“Pity. I am very disappointed you can’t make it to dinner, Lorelai. It would provide some solace if we could spend more quality time with our granddaughter. Could she perhaps stay the weekend?”

“Mom, ask Rory. She’s not to be a pawn in this game. But I won’t block her from staying if that’s what she wants.”

“Then we have a deal. Don’t get sick, Lorelai. I can guarantee you most friends you think are there for you disappear when the going gets tough. Especially men.”

Lorelai rolled her eyes and said her goodbye just as she pushed open the door to Luke’s. The place was empty and Caesar was nowhere to be found. Luke, however, was washing the dishes as if they had offended him.

“Hey,” she said softly, grimacing as he gasped and coughed a few times.

“What are you doing here?”

“Wanted to take you up on that French Toast.”

“Really?” Luke asked as he clumsily grabbed a mixing bowl.

“No. Not really. I’m here because you’re sick.”

“I’m not…”

“Luke Danes. You are too. Your eyes are bloodshot. Your nose is red. And you are white as a marshmallow.”

“A marshmallow?” Luke raised his eyebrows.

“I was going to say sheet, but sheets come in plenty of colors.”

Luke smothered a cough in the back of his hand. “So do marshmallows.”

“Only since this Peeps funny business—agh! No. Not important. You are pale. You are sick. There are no customers because it is clear you are sick, and no one wants to be served food by a sick person. Where is Caesar?”

“I sent him home.”

“Luke! Why on Earth would you send Caesar home?”

“Because he said I was—HRRSSHHU. Sick.”

“Oh my God. He should be should be put on trial for slander! Alert the presses!”

“Lorelai. My head hurts. I don’t have the patience for your sarcasm.” Luke massaged his temples, closing his eyes and bowing his head forward. Lorelai took the opportunity to come around the bar until she was standing right in front of him. Without permission, she placed the back of her hand against his cheek. His eyes shot open and he stumbled back into the counter, rattling the rows of clean dishes. Lorelai grabbed his upper bicep.

“Easy there, sick boy. That is, if you’re ready to admit you’re sick. Because if you’re not, I do love French Toast.”

His eyes narrowed, and Lorelai let out a cry of despair as he grabbed a mixing bowl, directing hard coughs into his shoulder. She didn’t attempt to stop him, however, leaning against the counter as he collected ingredients at a glacial pace. She could tell from the way he bowed his head that the headache was a sinus headache going on migraine, and she fought every urge to rub his back and tell him to go lie down. Instead she had to wait for this to blow up in his face so he would admit to her and, more importantly, to himself that he, Luke Danes, was sick. Lorelai was concerned he would pull this entire thing off, but as he dumped the dry ingredients into the wet and began to stir it together as vigorously as he could, the flour created a cloud. He took a gasping breath and had to grab the counter as sneeze after sneeze tore out of him. AHTSCH. AHTSCH. ANGTSCHH… Hih… HRSHHH. HRGTSCHH. HRR—hih… HIH’TNGTSCHH. NGTSCHH’uh.

In the meantime, Lorelai had placed a steadying hand on his back, her other hand easing the bowl from his hands and into the sink. Once she felt his back relax and his breaths even out and she let out a sound of disbelief. “God bless you, Salud, Gesundheit, and bless you. That was… Impressive.”

“Thank you. And sorry. I ruined your toast.”

“It’s alright. Now are you ready to go upstairs and get into something comfy and have me make you some soup?”

Even through his watery eyes, Luke looked at her skeptically.

“By make, I of course mean order from take-out.”

He chuckled and gave a watery sniff. “Fine,” he said begrudgingly, untying the apron at his waist and making his way to the staircase.

“You go on up and get changed. I expect adorable P.J.’s with ducks or polka dots or boats. I’m going to call Caesar.” She turned and began dialing.

HARTSCHH.

Lorelai jumped in surprise, turning to look at Luke who was looking at her incredulously. “Don’t tell everyone I’m sick.”

“Like who?” she asked.

“Miss Patty. Andrew. Least of all Taylor.”

“Why would I tell Taylor?”

Luke sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know—HRRRSTCHH.”

“Bless you. Now go upstairs before you scare me again.” She looked at him and frowned as he faltered on what he wanted to say. “Hey, it’s okay. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing… I… Just… You don’t need to stay for long.” He cleared his throat and rubbed at his neck. “I can take care of myself.”

“I have no doubt, Luke. But no one likes being sick and alone, so go upstairs, get in those Jammies, and I’ll be up in a sec.”

“Thank you,” he said before finally climbing the rest of the stairs, coughing the whole way up.

TBC

[Snz.]

“I sent him home.”

“Luke! Why on Earth would you send Caesar home?”

“Because he said I was—HRRSSHHU. Sick.”

“Oh my God. He should be should be put on trial for slander! Alert the presses!”

I loved that part! Though I wasn't a diehard fan of the show or anything, I can definitely say you've got the dialogue down pat!

[jezebel215]

i've never watched gilmore girls but this story is just delicious. hopefully care taking fluff to follow!

[White Rose]

Aaaw! I love this! Please continue!