Thank you to booky for her help with this idea and with the commas and such.
This story is a little out there, but it will be a good ride. It begins in 1996.

I Need a Drink

by River Run

Ch. 1: The Mysterious Luke Danes

In her 12 years in Stars Hollow, Lorelai Gilmore had learned there was very little mystery to the town she so dearly loved. Its founding was celebrated annually with a festival. The romantic lives of residents were gossiped about daily. Thanks to Babette and Miss Patty, nothing stayed a secret for too long. The only townsperson who even had an air of mystery about him was Luke Danes.

Lorelai had never met Luke, but she had seen him from a distance a few times. The one evening she had been in his diner he was strangely absent so she didn't stay to eat. She had, however, heard about him often enough. He was always a topic of gossip partly due to the lack of dirt anyone knew about him. Although lots of people knew him, for some reason they could never remember key details about him, such as his birthday or the name of his high school girlfriends. He had been a Stars Hollow resident as long as anyone could remember. As a matter of fact, no one could remember when his family moved to Stars Hollow.

It seemed a Danes had always lived in town, except for the three years Luke's father moved away to New York, only to come back with a wife and two young children. Luke had attended Stars Hollow High. He was a well-liked and gifted athlete and was offered several college scholarships, but for reasons that were unclear, Luke had chosen to stay in Stars Hollow and help run his father's hardware store. Residents were even more perplexed when after his father died, Luke turned the store into a diner. Today, he was a respected businessman, but his grumpiness was legendary.

She had never heard of him dating. She had never seen him out. Hell, Lorelai had never really seen him, period. That was why today, she was going in the diner. She wanted to meet the mysterious Luke Danes. She had the best reason to visit; she desperately needed a cup of coffee.

Lorelai had never met Luke for one reason; she had never been able to afford things in town until recently. Life had been tough for her and Rory, but it had been a though life of her choosing . Her promotion to day manager at the inn last year had finally given her the income to get out of the inn potting shed and into a house, to buy Kevin the gardener's used Honda, and to finally start eating out instead of making do with the inn's leftovers.

When Luke's Diner opened four years prior, she had heard tales of excellent coffee, delicious hamburgers, reasonable prices but far from excellent service. Unfortunately, at that time, every penny was going toward "The Rory Fund" and could not be squandered on coffee, no matter how marvelous, when she could get it for free at the inn. Even though she and Rory were not fans of Chef Andre's duck comfit, his sous chef, Sookie, always managed to make them something more edible.

She had thought about taking Rory as a special treat, but she had already been with Melissa Stevens' parents one afternoon a few months after it opened. She came home very full and with extra fries, but they were already soggy when Lorelai got a hold of them. Her curiosity was then peaked by Sookie's raves of Luke's pancakes, which was high praise. Every time another townie discussed Luke's meatloaf, his patty melts or his homemade rhubarb pie, Lorelai's mouth started to water.

The opportunity to visit Luke's came one bright summer day when she ran out of coffee. Feeling panic mix with caffeine withdrawal, she knew she needed coffee fast or she might start displaying Hulk-like tendencies. Unfortunately, Rory was playing outside and she couldn't leave her alone. As the morning passed, the coffee craving built and built until Lorelai was positive she could feel her head expanding. She even tried to score some off Babette, but she was out as well.

"What is this? Some coffee conspiracy? What am I supposed to do?"

"Maybe it's time you switch to decaf, Doll," Babette suggested, but the evil eye she received from Lorelai discouraged her from finishing that thought.

Salvation finally came with a phone call from Lane inviting Rory over to play. Lorelai walked her daughter to Lane's house, and then practically sprinted across the town square toward the yellow coffee cup sign.

When she opened the door, she was surprised to see how busy the place was. Every table was full, as well as most of the counter. There were also very few workers, she counted only four, a small number for a busy restaurant.

Even though she had never seen him up close, she instantly spotted Luke. His fashion choices were legendary, and today he was wearing a red and black plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, blue jeans, black shoes and quite possibly the ugliest baseball cap she had ever seen. He wasn't by any means her "type," but she found something very attactive about him. She wasn't sure if it was the tanned, muscular forearms, the five o'clock shadow or the deep blue eyes she could see from 20 feet away.

Her gawking session ended when she remembered why she was there in the first place. Coffee. She could smell its heavenly aroma mixed in with the smell of grease and hamburger. Luke was taking an order at a table, and no one was manning the counter. She couldn't wait a second longer. She had to have caffeine now.

"Excuse me, I hate to interrupt---hey Sarah, how are you?"

"Fine," Sarah said from her table, completing forgetting her order.

"But I really need a cup of coffee. I hear your coffee might be the best in town, possibly in the state of Connecticut. I ran out at home, and I need a cup."

"What?"

"Coffee, please, preferably to go. I know it's rude to stand here and discuss this, but I'm dying, and I'm about two seconds from kicking puppies if I don't get some coffee in my system. I'll take it black. I don't need cream. I don't need sugar. I just need strong, black coffee."

"Wait your turn," Luke said, turning to her and staring for a second into her big blue eyes before returning to the table.

"But you don't understand. I have to have coffee. Now! Can I just go pour my own? I'll do it. Then when you're done, you can give me a check, or…look! I have a dollar right here. I can just give it to you now and get my own coffee. It'll be faster if I just do it myself…"

Luke left the table and headed to another table to leave a check and the strange woman with the blue eyes followed him. She would not stop talking about coffee. It was the most amazing thing he had ever heard, and she smelled wonderful. He had never smelled someone so intoxicating that he wanted to just clear off a tabletop and taste her right there. If only she wasn't so annoy…

"…So, can I can some coffee?"

"Will you stop being so annoying? Sit down, shut up, and I'll get to you when I get to you."

Lorelai was not to be stopped. As Luke headed back to the counter, she began a second attack.

"When is your birthday?

"What?" Luke was truly flabbergasted, but he was also intrigued. How had he never met this creature before? Was she a town resident? He was sure he knew everyone in town. He'd have to talk to Miss Patty about this one the next time she visited. He felt this woman was going to be trouble.

"When is your birthday? I just want you to know I won't stop asking or following you around until I get my coffee and you answer my question, and although you are quite fast, I am in pretty good shape myself."

Luke sighed.

"There's no way I'm going to get rid of you, short of throwing you out is there?" he asked.

"Nope. I need coffee and a birthdate."

He told her his birthdate and bussed a few more plates from the counter, but continued to stare at her. Lorelai, meanwhile on the other side of the counter asked Andrew for his copy of the Stars Hollow Gazette. She opened it up to the last page, tore out a small square of paper, pulled a pen from the cup next to the cash register, and wrote something on it.

"Here," she said. "Here's your horoscope for today."

Curious, he took it. On the scrap of paper under Scorpio, it said:

You will meet an annoying woman today.
Give her coffee and she'll go away.

Luke was impressed at her chutzpah. He poured her a cup of coffee in a to-go cup.

"Thank heavens," she said, bringing the cup to her lips and moaning.

He watched her drink the coffee and he found it slightly erotic. He knew how wonderful hot liquid could be sliding down your throat...nourishing you...making you feel alive again. He quickly snapped out of it. He had to find out who she was.

"First cup is on the house. What is your name?"

"It's Lorelai, Lorelai Gilmore, and you are Luke. Now, Luke, I want you to hold on to that horoscope, put it in your wallet and one day, it will bring you good luck."

"It will?"

"Definitely. I'll see you later, Luke. I'll be back."

Luke watched her leave and was completely intrigued. He hoped Lorelai Gilmore would be back in his diner soon, but unfortunately, she had stirred something inside of him. He would have to make a trip tonight even though he wasn't supposed to for another two weeks. He'd have to make a trip to the city tonight. He picked up the phone to call Martin to ask him to work tonight and make other necessary arrangements.

"Hey, Frank," he called to the back after hanging up the phone. "I'm going out for a few minutes. Cover the front."

Luke followed her out of the diner.

Leaving the diner, Lorelai felt completely reinvigorated. She could already feel the caffeine constricting her veins. Since she had another hour before she had to pick up Rory, she went to Doose's Market next door to buy a few snacks. Rory had been asking for a few days to have a sleepover, and she needed to start buying the necessary provisions.

While she scanned the shelves, she couldn't help but feel a pair of eyes on her, but every time she turned around, there was no one around. After paying for her cupcakes, Mallomars, Pop Tarts, milk and cereal, she walked over to Miss Patty's to watch the tiny ballerinas and remembered when Rory decided to be a ballerina, much to the determent of all. Miss Patty was standing outside the studio, smoking while calling out instructions to the swans inside.

"No, Tabitha, you turn on the one, darling. Try again from the top. Hello, Lorelai. Are you here to sign Rory up for more dance lessons?"

"Oh no, I'm just killing time while she's playing at Lane's house."

"Thank goodness. I love little Rory to death, but she doesn't not have a future as a prima ballerina or even a professional line dancer."

"I know. My mother is a wonderful dancer, but Rory and I are cursed with left feet."

"So what have you been doing? I see you've been to Luke's."

"Yeah, it was my first visit. I can't believe there has been liquid heaven right here in Stars Hollow and I never knew it."

"I've told you many times about Luke's wonderful coffee."

"Yeah, but I thought it was wonderful like baby seals are wonderful, not like 'a weekend with Carlos at the Four Seasons' wonderful."

"Oh, yes, it is that wonderful. My third husband was named Carlos. I should give him a call."

Miss Patty looked back into the studio.

"Amber! Put down Kaitlin right this instance. I'm sorry, hon, I have to go."

"Bye, Miss Patty" she said as she walked over to Kim's Antiques to pick up Rory.

She still felt like there were eyes on her as she and her daughter walked home, hand in hand, discussing all the things that had happened in two hours they were apart.

"So now that you've been to Luke's, Mom, when can we go eat there?" Rory asked.

"How about tomorrow night? Do you want to see if Lane can come to?"

"I don't know if Mrs. Kim will let Lane come. She said there is nothing soy on the menu. It can just be the two of us."

"Okay," she said. "Tomorrow night at Luke's. Now, do you want to help me put away these groceries or should we just eat them right now?"

"I could eat some Mallomars," Rory said. "Let's eat the on the porch. It's kind of hot inside."

As Lorelai and Rory sat on the porch listening to Lane's latest mix tape and eating junk food, Luke was nearby out of sight and watching the duo. He remembered the little girl from her visit a few years ago, but that woman, that Lorelai was stirring feelings inside him that could prove dangerous to him, to the residents of Stars Hollow, but especially to Lorelai.

Luke silently slipped back to town, to his truck, and then to the city. There, waiting in his SoHo loft, Clarissa was waiting for him on the bed wearing a smile and very little else.

Luke smiled.

"Hello, Darling," he said in a voice of velvet. "I'm glad you could make it. I've been dying to see you."

To be continued...