Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls, or the parts of this from the scene in Unto the Breach.
Undoing the Damage
Lorelai walked through the darkened town, glancing up at Kirk, still in the box after a long day. Her thoughts were interrupted when Luke came out of the diner carrying bags of trash.
"How's it going?" he asked, setting down the bags.
"Hey," she greeted, looking away from Kirk.
"What are you doing out here so late?" She shrugged.
"I needed to take a walk to clear my head, and I wanted to see if Kirk was still in the box."
"Yeah apparently he is you know, I wouldn't know. I've decided to ignore him. Gawking only encourages his asinine behaviour," he said with a roll of his eyes. Lorelai turned her attention to him.
"What about you? You're usually long gone by now."
"The softball team's celebrating their first win. I couldn't get them out the door. Clearing your head about what?" he inquired. She sighed deeply.
"Logan proposed to Rory," she confided. Luke looked at her a moment, the shock evident on his face.
"No way," he exclaimed, "Wow. Wow. I guess you would need a walk for that. What did she say?
"Well, she said she needed time to mull it over."
"Good answer," he said with an appreciative nod. Lorelai nodded her agreement.
"I thought so."
"Yeah. So, did she ask for your advice?"
"She did. Yeah."
"And?"
"I told her it was her decision. My mother's picking out china patterns."
"Oh, I bet she's all over that. So, you're leaning toward "no"?" Lorelai looked at him, an eyebrow raised.
"Oh, uh, no. I'm not really leaning. I'm kind of upright."
"Oh well I just, I could understand if you were leaning away from 'yes.'"
"Why?" she asked, not really sure what he was getting at.
"Well I mean she's really young and it's the most important decision of your life -- you know, her life." He mentally kicked himself for the slip-up.
"Well, they love each other. He's been great. Maybe they got it together young. Some people do." Her tone began to change from 'mother-mulling-it-over' to 'annoyed ex'. This didn't get past Luke. His tone changed to match.
"Right and others need time," he rebutted. She rolled her eyes.
"Sure. Or they're never ready."
"I wouldn't say "never." Just they want to be a little more careful. They're a little slower, you know, just to make sure it's right," he felt sure they were no longer discussing Rory.
"Well you can't always be 100 sure it's right. Sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith."
"You got to know what you're leaping into." Lorelai shook her head. Her tone raised a bit.
"After all this time, how could you not know?"
"How could who not know?" he asked, hoping she'd stop dodging the conversation and finally let him know what was going on in her mind.
"You, Luke!" she exclaimed. Luke crossed his arms in front of him as a defensive measure. Finally they were getting down to it. "How, after two years. After all of that crap that we went through, could you not have known. How could you not be ready?" she asked. The questions exploded from her along with all of her pent up emotions surrounding the past year.
"I was confused, Lorelai! I had just found out I had a daughter. I was trying to sort out my life. You just kept pushing, you couldn't give me the space I needed just figure things out!" he exclaimed. Both were completely aware that Kirk-in-a-box was completely enthralled by there conversation. Lorelai spared a glance up to Kirk, before taking Luke by the arm and pulling him into the diner which had been left a mess by the softball team. She let the door close behind her before continuing.
"I tried to help you Luke. I wanted to be a part of it so we, as an engaged couple, could figure things out together. But you wouldn't let me in! You just kept turning me away and shutting me out! What was I supposed to do?"
"Wait!" he exclaimed, a little louder then he had intended. He took a step back and breathed deeply, his hands on his hips as they normally were when he was upset. Lorelai sighed deeply and sunk into a chair.
"How long?" she asked defeatedly, after a moment of tense silence. Luke dropped his head and sunk onto one of the stool at the counter.
"As long as it took," he anwered. She looked up at him.
"You should have come after me," she said softly. He raised his eyes, for the first time meeting hers.
"When?" he asked.
"When I walked away. I went home and waited for you to come. To fix things like you normally would- but you didn't. And I knew then that it was over." Luke sighed deeply.
"Would it have made a difference?" he asked. She shrugged.
"It would have shown me that you actually cared." This got Luke's attention. He stood and walked to the table where she sat, taking the seat across from her.
"Oh, Lorelai. Of course I cared. I wouldn't have agreed to marry you if I didn't," he said softly, taking her hand in his own. Lorelai looked at him sceptically.
"And what about now, Luke? I thought we were making progress, and then this morning you didn't want to talk to me all of a sudden." Luke looked up at her.
"I was upset," he said softly.
"About what?" she asked. He sighed deeply, pulling his hand away.
"About what you said to Babette and Ms. Patty," he admitted. Lorelai looked confused for a moment before a look of understanding came over her.
"Oh, Luke. No," she said, trying to back peddle. Luke shook his head.
"I mean, I may have been way of base in thinking that maybe... you know, that song..." he stopped, nervous.
"What?" He sighed, looking up at her.
"I thought you were singing that song to me," he said softly. Lorelai sat back in her chair, nodding slowly, taking it all in.
"Did you want me to be?" He shrugged.
"I don't know. I guess so." He said softly- not at all wanting to be putting himself out there like this. Unbeknownst to him, Lorelai felt her heart leap at the knowledge that he was still feeling things for her as well.
"I was, Luke," she said softly. His eyes shot up to hers.
"What?" he asked, not wanting to get his hopes up. She shrugged.
"I was singing it to you," she finally admitted, leaning forward. She reached over and took his hand. He looked at her sceptically.
"You were?" she nodded emphatically.
"Yes. And the only reason I said those things to Babette and Ms. Patty was because I didn't want the town to think anything before I had a chance to talk to you about it." Luke sighed deeply, looking down at there entwined hands, and then back up at her.
"Did you mean what the song said?" he asked. She nodded again.
"Every word." He swallowed hard, and then leaned in toward the table, feeling the need to be closer to her.
"So what now?" he asked. She shrugged.
"What do you want?" she asked. He sighed deeply.
"I'm so tired of waiting," he said. She raised an eyebrow.
"What do you propose?"she asked, feeling a familiar flutter in her stomach.
"Lets get married," he said softly. She tried to resist the smile working it's way onto her face. "I mean, not today, or tomorrow. Lets do it properly- with Rory and April, hell, even your parents and the town," he said, a smile growing on his features to match Lorelai's. She nodded.
"I like that idea," she said softly. Luke nodded.
"I love you so much, Lorelai," he said, his voice barely audible. She smiled happily.
"I love you too." She leaned in and kissed him softly, to which he responded by grazing her cheek with his thumb as he held her head in his hand. Slowly they separated, neither being able to contain their smiles.
"So what about Rory?" he asked after a moment. Lorelai sighed and shrugged.
"She's way too young," she said softly. He nodded.
"But Logan's a good kid," he said.
"I guess we'll just have to let her make her own decisions." He nodded.
"Well, some people get it together young."
"Well, I for one am tired of waiting," she said with a grin- still reeling from their conversation. Slowly she pulled herself up from her seat, waiting as Luke did the same. Taking his hand, and turned off the light and locked the door before leading him upstairs. Finally, they'd both enjoy a good nights sleep- their first in a year.
--I know, it was cheesy- but I'm still a little annoyed that they made us wait until the last ten minutes of the series to see them back together. Honestly, this scene should have done it. Let me know what you think.--