Disclaimer: Talk about beating a dead horse...

A/N: You know what I love to do? Post stories and then go back and look at them, discovering like 20 million mistakes that end up aggravating the crap outta me. And, it never fails. I can run through it 3 times, then as soon as I post it and look at it, I see at least one mistake right off top. Hopefully, not many others catch them. I don't use spell check, so it happens often. Lazy. If that doesn't sell this story, I don't know what does! Enjoy.

Comfort in Constancy
-Friend in Need- Part I of V

Lorelai pulled open the door to Doose's market. She had already stopped by the video store, and in her hand was a bag that contained her night's entertainment. Now, all she needed was about forty bucks worth of junk food, and her night would begin properly.

As she entered, she saw Taylor at the register ringing up a customer. Looking around the store, she noticed that she was the only other person in there, which instantly delighted her. She figured it would save time, not having to fight some unsuspecting townie for the last bag of double stuffed.

She picked up a basket and moved swiftly toward the chip aisle. She grabbed random Big-Grabs and threw them into her basket. As she rounded the aisle, she caught sight of someone kneeled down on the floor. Lorelai jumped back and grabbed her chest.

"Oh, my god!" She leaned down and hit Luke on his shoulder. "You scared the crap out of me! What are you doing on the floor?"

Luke stood up nervously. "Uh, hi. I'm just, you know..." He stuck both hands in his back pockets and looked at her tensely.

Lorelai's eyes moved down to the items he had been looking at. She looked back at him confusedly. "Those are tampons, Luke."

He dropped his gaze. Lorelai smiled.

"Why are you looking at tampons?" She asked as she set her basket on the floor.

He scanned the area uneasily. "I'm not…well…" He released a loud breath and looked at her directly. He stepped a bit closer and lowered his voice. "Look, is there any chance that you'll just forget you saw me here?" He asked.

She smiled wider. "That's like asking Roy to forget about the day his tiger decided to have a little shoulder sandwich." Luke sighed. "Some things just stick with you, you know?"

"Lorelai, please," he said with exhaustion.

She folded her arms. "Luke, you have to tell me now. I've seen you. You're caught. Start talking."

"Shouldn't you be standing in a room with a two-way mirror when you say stuff like that?"

"Don't you change the subject. Now, talk."

Luke began shaking his head. He scratched his brow, bent down, grabbed the first box his hand came in contact with, and stood back up. "I have to go," he said quickly before turning to leave.

Lorelai picked up her things and hurried to his side. "But, you haven't told me who you're buying those for," she said leaning close to him.

He sped up to the counter. "That's because it's none of your business," he said. His face looked as if he had been sitting in the hot sun all day, it was so red. Taylor took the box and eyed Luke suspiciously. "Do your job, Taylor," he said through clenched teeth as he pulled a ten from his wallet.

Taylor acceded as he rung up the box and gave him his total. Luke handed him the money, Lorelai still next to him. "So, you have a lady friend, hunh?" She asked teasingly.

"Can you get that change any faster?" Luke asked Taylor.

Taylor gave him a sideways look before pulling out a tightly packed roll of dimes to refill the slot.

Lorelai went to stand on the other side of him. "Did she come with her own baseball cap or did you have to have one made special?"

"Lorelai, this is really not the time for this," Luke said calmly.

"Not the time for what?"

"For this," he said distractedly. "Taylor, how is that change coming?"

Lorelai held up a hand to Taylor as she saw him about to respond. She turned attention back to Luke. Her expression turned playful once again. "What, are you embarrassed of her?" She chuckled. "Does she have boils growing out of her face? Ooh, or better yet, does she have one of those peg—"

"Lorelai, I told you this is not the time. Dammit, Taylor!" He growled, redirecting his attention back to Taylor's slowness.

"Well, whoever she is, she must be pretty special to have big, tough, manly Luke buying feminine products."

Taylor finally got his change ready and handed it over to him. "Patience is a virtue, Luke," he told him.

Luke snatched his money from him. "So, do I know her?" Lorelai asked. He fumbled with putting the money in his wallet. "You seem nervous," she said with a smile. "Is she like timing you on getting back to your--"

"Lorelai, what part of this is not the time don't you understand?!" Luke snapped.

Lorelai's eyes widened, and her smile slowly disappeared. Luke picked up his bag and looked at her. Rolling his eyes, he attempted an apology. "Look, I didn't mean...just...I'll see you later." He moved around her and out of the door quickly.

Taylor pointed toward the door. "Someone's panties are in a bunch. Wouldn't you say?" He said to Lorelai.

Lorelai stared in the direction that Luke had gone. She was clearly joking with him, and she was a little confused at to his inability to recognize that. She turned attention to Taylor. "Uh, yeah," she agreed half-heartedly. She picked up her basket and went back to her junk food shopping. Her enthusiasm for the activity, however, was no longer present.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Luke walked hurriedly back toward the diner. He hadn't meant to be gone for such an extended period. He told her that he would only be a minute, and as he glanced at his watch, he realized that seven had passed. He opened the diner's door quickly and rushed inside, nearly knocking into Caesar as he stood pouring coffee.

"Sorry," he mumbled as he moved past the customers and up the staircase. He reached the top in record time, and he entered the apartment slowly.

- "Luke's."

- "Luke, come upstairs."

- "Rachel?" Dial tone.

Stepping inside, he gripped the handle and closed the door quietly. It wasn't purposeful. He didn't have a thought telling him not to make too much noise. It was just something that he did. Noise just seemed such an inappropriate addition. As he moved across the floorboards, there was squeak that had him looking up at her nervously. She didn't seem to notice. He realized he was being ridiculous. But, he had little control over it. His experience in this area was nonexistent, and all he knew to do was to not make it worse.

- Luke rushed up the stairs and into the apartment. His heart stopped.

- "Rac--" His voice got stuck in his throat.

- "Long time, no see, hunh?" Came Rachel's shaky greeting.

- He moved over slowly and began to examine her. "What the hell happened to you?"

- "I hope you don't mind. I know the door's always unlocked, so I just slipped--"

- "Rachel, what happened to you?" He moved a hand up to her bruised face, and she flinched causing him to pull back. "Were you attacked?"

- She chuckled briefly. "Yeah. By my boyfriend."

- "Y-you're boyfriend did this to you?"

- "Ex...boyfriend. I think it's time we see other people."

He moved over to where she sat on the couch and took a seat next to her. "Hey," he said softly. "I, uh, got your...I got these for you," he said as he held the bag up to her.

She opened her mouth to speak, and Luke turned his head toward the floor. He saw the pained expression that accompanied that simple act, along with the embarrassment that flashed across her eyes. It was only so much that he could take.

"Luke Danes buying tampons?" Her voice was hoarse, but he could hear her trying to cover it. "I'm sure this will be on the front page of the Stars Hollow Gazette tomorrow."

- "How long has he been...how long?"

- "First time. And, trust me, it's the last."

- "The first time?"

- "Anything worth doing is worth doing right, I hear."

Quiet filled the room. Luke's eyes still rested on the floor. He felt the bag being eased out of his fingers.

"You can look at me, you know?" She set the bag down on the couch between them. "I can't be that ugly."

Luke looked to her suddenly, then glanced away. "Don't say that."

She attempted a smile, but her swollen lip made it impossible. "I was joking," she said quietly.

Luke's jaw tightened. "Well, it's not funny."

- " North Haven. I've been in North Haven for about six months. Living with him."

- Luke looked down in contemplation.

- "I don't expect to stay here. I'm not putting that on you, Luke. I just--"

- "You're staying here."

He heard Rachel sniff, and a slight gurgling noise from her nose, which sounded like blood, caused him to look back at her. This time, he forced himself to remain looking. Even as his stomach began to betray him, and he felt his lunch starting to rise, he continued to take in her appearance. She had always been so strong. So independent. And, the sight before him was, in no way, a representation of that. She looked about as vulnerable as a newborn. It wasn't the actual image that threatened to bring back his lunch. It was, instead, the knowledge of what caused it.

- "I had to get out of there fast."

- "You did the right thing."

- "I didn't have time to pack anything."

- "That's okay. I have some stuff that you can put on."

- "Thanks. But...I don't think you have one thing that I need."

- "Oh?"

Rachel saw a sadness fall over him. Out of her one good eye.

"It's not as bad as it looks," she said. There was a small slur in her speech that time.

Luke shook his head while still looking at her. "How could he do this to you?" He continued to shake his head. "How could anyone do this to you, Rachel?"

"Luke, it's okay. Really. I'm not glass."

"It's not okay. Don't say it's okay because it's not." He paused. "I still think that you need to go to the hospital."

"I told you...I'm not going to the hospital. This is bad enough, me coming here. I'm not going to have doctors and police surrounding me and asking me a million questions."

"You need to go to the police. You need to have that asshole locked up."

"Look, I'm not defending him. I'm not that girl. But, he's not a bad guy, Luke. He doesn't belong in prison."

"Have you seen your face, Rachel?"

"Luke, please."

"You need to go to the police," he repeated calmly. "The guy is a lunatic if he can stand there and do this to you."

"Listen to me." Rachel took a long pause as she looked down to her hands. "I'm holding it together here," she said shakily. "I'm trying to hold it together and not make this something that will define me. Let me do this. Please. No hospitals, no police."

"I hear what you're saying, but I still--"

"Luke, I know that this is coming from a good place, but this isn't debatable." She looked at him. "If I have to go someplace else, then I'll do that."

He sighed. "No. Stay here. I'll leave it alone."

"Thank you."

- "Let me just get my purse, and--"

- "Don't worry about it. I've got it."

- "It's bad enough I'm forcing you to go get them. At least let me pay."

- "It's okay. Just stay here and make yourself comfortable. I'll be back in a minute."

- "Thank you, Luke."

Rachel stood up from the sofa. "I'm going to grab some sheets and make up the couch, if you don't mind. I'm a little tired."

"No, take the bed. I'll take the couch."

"No, you won't. I love that you offered, but the couch is great. I insist."

"Okay. Um, well, I guess I'll..." He looked around the apartment for something to busy himself with.

"You'll get back to the diner," Rachel said. Luke shook his head. "Yes, you will. You're open for another 3 hours, and you know as well as I do that Caesar won't be able to handle the dinner crowd alone for very long."

She was right. Caesar would require some assistance, and it would be unfair of him to leave him alone unexpectedly. "Alright. I guess I'll be downstairs, but if you need anything, just...uh, call, and I'll be right up."

"I will," she replied.

With that, Luke left and went back down to the diner.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

After working for an hour, Luke went back up to the apartment to make sure that Rachel was doing okay. He found her already asleep, and judging by her light snores, he figured that she had been out as soon as her head hit the pillow. He went in for a few minutes and did a few things around the apartment. He closed the door lightly on his way out.

As soon as he stepped back into the diner's main area, he was being asked for coffee.

"Sure," he said as he went to get the pot. He came back over to the customer and filled her mug. She thanked him, and he returned the pot back to the machine. At that moment, he thought of Lorelai. His job was to run a diner, and that included pouring coffee, which he did hundreds of times everyday. He had no idea when that simple act turned into thoughts of one particular customer. But, it often did. It was like she was an extension of the pot. He knew that she would be much more entertained by that possibility than he was.

His mind drifted to his last encounter with her in Doose's. He felt like a jerk for snapping at her the way he did, though, given the circumstances, he was perfectly within his rights. But, he knew that that was still no excuse. It wasn't like she knew the situation. She was just being...Lorelai. And, it always held true that any disagreement or tension with her would eat at him until it got resolved. He was happy that it wasn't often that they were at odds because he absolutely hated the feeling. It was simply too cumbersome.

"Caesar, do you think you can handle things for about fifteen minutes? I have to go run an errand."

"Yeah, I've got it. Where you going?" Caesar asked, sticking his head out from the kitchen.

"Out," Luke said as he tossed a glance back toward the staircase. He paused for a second as he wondered if Rachel may wake and need him in that fifteen minutes. He moved toward the door, realizing that his mind was already made. Besides, Rachel was sound asleep, and he knew her sleeping habits well enough to know that she would be out for the night, more than likely.

Wanting to get there and back quickly, he jogged out to his truck and started the engine. As he pulled into Lorelai's driveway, he saw her silhouette appear behind the curtains in her living room, and then he saw her peak out. She disappeared, and seconds later, the front door opened and she stepped out onto the porch.

Luke climbed out of the truck and walked over.

"Hey," he said as he climbed two steps and leaned on the banister nervously.

"Hey," she followed. Her eyes moved to his truck and back to him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. I just...I just...are you busy?" He asked as he suddenly realized that he could have possibly intruded on something.

She smiled. "No, I'm getting ready to watch videos while stuffing my face. I wouldn't consider that being busy. At least not until the movie starts."

"Oh. Well, you usually stop by the diner on your junk food nights."

She folded her arms. "Yeah, I know," she said quietly.

Luke cleared his throat. "About what happened in the store--I'm sorry, and I shouldn't have just jumped at you like that."

Lorelai sighed and uncrossed her arms. "Luke, I'm the one that should apologize. You were clearly not in the mood, and I kept pushing the issue...and I'm sorry."

"It's okay. It's not everyday that you catch me buying...you know. We've known each other a long time, so you've earned the right to push a little. I shouldn't have gotten so defensive."

"Yeah, we have known each other for a long time. I know you don't like to be pushed, but I still--"

"Okay, can we just agree to put it in the past?" Luke asked. "This can go on for a while."

"I have lots of stamina for stuff like this, Luke. Are you sure you want to bow out?"

He dropped his gaze and smiled. "Yeah, I give," he said.

"Okay," she said holding up her hands. "But, just for the record, I win."

"Win what?"

"The who's sorrier game. You gave up and therefore, surrendered to me."

"Get a shrink, Lorelai."

She chuckled. A huge weight felt lifted from her body. "Hey, you want to come in for a few minutes? I have some carrots amongst my junk food non-delicacies."

"You do?" He asked shocked.

"Yeah." She paused. "Carrot...cake. Um, minus the carrot." He smiled. "But, you're still welcome."

He stood up from his lean on the banister. "No, I have to..." He pointed to his truck.

Her eyes widened. "Oh, of course. I'm sorry, I forgot you have company," she said waving her hand apologetically.

He was confused for a moment, wondering why she would assume he was referring to that. "And...the diner. I have the diner," he said slowly.

"Yeah, the diner. Of course the diner," she said nodding understandingly.

"Okay, um, I'll be seeing you."

"Tomorrow?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, tomorrow's great. Danish day," he said.

"Well, then, tomorrow is stupendous," she said in correction.

Luke nodded. He waved at her and went quickly back to his truck. He was only ten minutes in, but he wanted to hurry back. Even through his rush, as he shifted the truck to Reverse, he paused and stared at Lorelai through his side window. She smiled at him and started backing toward her door. He returned the smile without even intending to do so. As she reached the door, she paused, and he saw her lift her eyebrows questioningly, helping him to realize that he had been going somewhere. He released the brake and backed out of her driveway quickly.

...TBC...