Disclaimers, et. al. before chapter 1.

-Eight Years Ago-

I knew his name was Luke; it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. It was right there on the sign in front of the place. Still, I called him Duke. He needed me to. I realized it the day I first saw him; it was weird, seeing a part of me reflected in a total stranger.

He was like me, or like I would have been if I hadn't been saved by Rory.

Angry, isolated. Sleepwalking through life. He had fallen into it so gradually he had never noticed, never realized how he had cut himself off from feeling and living and experiencing.

I would save him, balance the cosmic scales a little. I would wake him up.

So I called him Duke.

And he ignored it and continued to sleepwalk. I refused to give up, he became my own personal crusade. Three, four, five days a week I would drink his amazing coffee and call him Duke and try to piss him off - to rouse him and make him open his eyes.

After two years, I finally succeeded. I called him over, waving my coffee cup. He blinked at me very slowly as he approached the table, then leaned into me very close and said carefully and deliberately, "my name is Luke."

I smiled and said, "I know." I held my coffee cup out to him and said, "More coffee please, Luke."

He straightened and folded his arms across his chest; light flickered in his eyes and he said, "Coffee will kill you."

I extended my arm out further and replied, "But what a way to go." I blazed a smile at him. He stared back for a moment, and then took the cup from my outstretched hand to refill it, and I thought, "Welcome back, Luke. Welcome back."

-Now-

He fell asleep right after.

So Lucas Danes - Jack Lalaine, Grizzly Adams, Emeril and Bob Vila all rolled into one - is merely human after all.

I'm cuddled into the curve of his body and breathing with him, drawing letters and shapes on his bare back. He stirs against me, moving his legs restlessly over mine, grasping at my arms, "Lorelai?" he opens sleepy eyes to reassure himself.

"Still present," I reply, caressing the bones of his face.

I have never seen a smile like the one that breaks across his face. It is full of wonder, love, amazement, relief and joy. If I didn't love him already, I would for the sake of that smile alone.

"You're staying?" he says as if he can't quite believe that it's true, as if it is all he needs in this world.

And my throat is closing and I can't breathe right and my heart is beating faster than is humanly possible. I tighten my arms and hands and legs around him, letting my body speak where I can't. He nuzzles the curve of my neck and shoulder; he is already falling back asleep.

I stay awake, caressing his back and face, lazily learning his planes and angles, thinking, "Welcome home, Lorelai, welcome home."