Life After Kiss
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Author's note: This is my first story so any feedback would be appreciated
Lorelai ran into the inn, hoping she could get to her room without running into anyone. This night had been totally crazy. Her inn had finally opened. It should have been the greatness night of her life. But things were just nuts. First, Jason showed up in the middle of everything, then the drama with her parents, and then . . . Luke. God, Luke had kissed her. And she kissed him back. She smiled just thinking of the kiss. But then Kirk ran by naked and Luke followed. She went to tell Rory, and … Rory, her baby girl. She had slept with a married man. She was-- "Whoa!" She bumped into someone. "Luke!"
"Lorelai, hi. Is something wrong? You look upset"
"I- I'm fine. I just- I need to be alone right now."
"But-" Lorelai wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek.
"I'll see you in the morning. Good night." She went to her room and shut the door.
"Night, Lorelai." Luke leaned against the door, looking confused. "That was odd."
Lorelai woke up early the next morning. She wanted every little detail to be perfect. She checked on things and they seemed to be running smoothly. Now all she needed was--
"Coffee?" Luke smiled and handed her a cup of coffee.
"Thanks!" Lorelai grinned. "What are you doing up so early?"
"I had to get up. I run a diner, remember?"
"Right." The two of them stared at each other until Lorelai began to feel uneasy.
"Uh, I'd better go. You know me, busy, busy, busy."
"Wait a second. We need to talk."
"I know. We will, I promise. Later." She started to walk away.
"Lorelai-"
"See ya, Luke." She left the room.
"See ya," he said softly. "This can't be good." He sighed and walked out of the inn.
Luke wiped the counter during a slow time at the diner. Lorelai was running so hot and cold on him. She was flipping out. He could tell. Any minute now, she was going to run away. And he would end up heartbroken. "It's not going to happen," he mumbled to himself. He wasn't going to let her go, he needed her. He went to his kitchen to get the supplies that he'd need.
Lorelai walked into the kitchen, looking around. "It's going good, Sookie, really great."
"Yeah, we're really doing it, huh?" Sookie smiled.
"Yeah, we are."
"Are you okay? You seem, I don't know, distracted." Sookie walked over and placed her hand on Lorelai's shoulder.
"I'm fine, really."
"Are you sure? Because-" Sookie was interrupted by Michel walking into the room.
"Lorelai, there's someone here to see you." Lorelai sighed with relief.
"Okay, who is it?" Michel rolled his eyes.
"I don't know. I'm not your secretary, why don't you find out yourself?" He walks out of the room.
"I guess I'd better go see what's going on," Lorelai said, rolling her eyes.
"Good luck." Lorelai walked to the inn's front desk, glancing around the room.
"Lorelai." She looked up and saw Luke standing in front of her with a picnic basket.
"Hi," she said, knowing she had a smile on her face that wouldn't go away. "What's with the basket?"
"Well, I knew you had to eat and I had some of this in the diner and I thought that I'd see if you wanted to eat with me." Luke smiled nervously, shifting from one foot to the other.
"It's not rabbit food, is it? I don't eat that, you know." Luke rolled his eyes.
"No kidding. You've only been coming into the diner ten years." He lifted the basket onto the desk. "See for yourself." She opened the basket.
"Wow! Real food." She grinned at him.
"Yeah, so you want to go and eat lunch."
"Well, I'd like to, but I'm so busy. I don't think-"
"You need to eat."
"I'll just eat a sandwich; I don't really have time-"
"Lorelai, why are you avoiding me?"
"I'm not- I just- I'm busy." She walked away from him.
"Lorelai, wait. I need-" He sighed. "Dammit, this is horrible. I screwed up. AH!" He walked back the diner with his head hanging.
Lorelai watched Luke as he walked away. "You really screwed it up this time. Why didn't you just say, 'Yes, Luke, I'd love to have lunch with you,' or 'Last night was nice' or 'I'd really like to test out the springs on one of these brand new beds with you.' Oh, God, you blew it, Gilmore." She exhaled deeply and wiped her tears, preparing herself for another round of complaints from Taylor.
Luke walked into the inn sometime after dinner, more determined than he had ever been. He wasn't giving up this time. He and Lorelai were going to talk; they were going to settle this. And if she didn't want to be with him, at least he would know that he had tried and that it wasn't meant to be. And then, he was going to get the biggest bottle of liquor he could find and drink himself into oblivion.
Lorelai walked into a hallway of the inn and leaned against a wall. She thought about what she had done to Luke. She hadn't meant to hurt him; she was just so stressed out and confused. All she wanted to do was curl up into Luke's arms and have him make everything all better. "Now, I sound like a 12 year old." There was just too much going on in her life. Rory, the inn, her parents. She knew that she wasn't in a good place for this thing with Luke and that she should end it, but every time she saw him she just wanted to run. She couldn't bear to tell him that. She heard footsteps and looked up to see Luke. "Hi, Luke. I can't talk right now."
"I'm sorry, but we have to talk now, Lorelai. " Luke said, grabbing her wrist.
"Luke, there's people-" He shook his head.
"I don't care. I have to talk to you now." She sighed.
"Come on, follow me. We can talk in my office." They walked into the room and he shut the door. "So, you want to talk?"
"Well, uh-"
"Luke, I really don't have a lot of time." He took a deep breath.
"Lorelai, you- you're running away. We need to talk this out."
"I know- I don't mean-"
"Look, you're running hot and cold on me and I can't take it anymore. I have to know. If you don't want me, fine. I can deal with that, but I can't deal with not knowing."
"Luke-" He shook his head, and went into full scale rant mode.
"No, you're going to listen to me. Last night, I though that you I understood that I want to be with you-"
"I did-" He paced around the room and continued as if she hadn't spoken.
"But this morning, you're avoiding me. It's awkward between us; I know you can feel it. I just want to know, what do you want?" He stopped and looked at her.
"What do you mean?"
"What is it that you want? Do you want to friends or more or what? What do you want, Lorelai?" She stared at him for minute and burst into tears.
"Oh, God, Luke. I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to hurt you." He wrapped his arms around her and she cried into his chest.
"Hey, it's all right. What's the matter?" He patted her back.
"I don't even know what to say."
"So whatever you want. I'm sorry; I didn't mean to pressure you." Lorelai glanced up at him.
"It's not-"
"It's all right. I know you usually cut and run when things get tough."
"That's not what this is about." Luke raised his eyebrows. "Okay, maybe it is a little bit." She wiped her eyes and began walking around the room. "I don't want to screw this up. You're a good guy, Luke, and I'm scared I'm going to screw this up, but that's not why I've been acting so strange."
"What is it?"
"This isn't really my secret to tell, but I know you won't say anything." She glanced away from him. "Okay, um, last night, after we kissed and you went chasing after Kirk, well, I went home to get the camera and. Well, Rory and Dean- they were in Rory's room and well- they had- they were-" She looked at him as understanding came over him.
"They slept together?" Lorelai nodded. "I see. Well, how should I kill Dean, dull hedge clippers, or will a gun be good enough?"
"You're not going to-" Luke shook his head.
"I won't." He let out a breath. "Wow, this is serious. I see now why you've been preoccupied. I'm sorry I was chasing you around."
"You had no idea. But it wasn't just Rory; it was the inn, my parents. It's like everything's snowballing. I don't know what to do. Rory wanted to spend today alone, to sort things out by herself. My parents are having more trouble than I thought. The inn is the only thing that is running smoothly, but I don't think that's going to last. Do you see why I'm scared to enter into a relationship with you?"
"I get it, but I want to be there for you, if you'll let me."
"You do realize I'm a total mess, right?" He smiled.
"I know, but I like you anyway." She smiled back and wrapped her arms around him.
"Oh, I don't think I'm going to be able to resist you." He pulled back slightly.
"That's good." He pulled her completely into his arms and kissed her, slowly and provocatively.
"We have to go slowly," she whispered against his lips. "I don't want to screw this up."
"Right, slow, "he said, continuing to kiss her.
"I'm serious," she pulled back. "Come on." She pulled him to the chair in her office and sat on his lap. "Can ask you something?"
"Sure, anything you want."
"Why'd you chase after naked Kirk?" He sighed.
"I should've known you'd get around to that." She giggled.
"Well why'd you do it? Do you and Kirk have some secret that Lulu and I should know about?"
Author's note: This is a one part story, but I've got some ideas to continue it if anyone is interested.
