What if "not wanting to try on my wedding dress every night" wasn't Lorelai's only reason to take a road trip with Rory and call off her wedding with Max? What if there was more to it? Based off of the famous "huppah scene" from episode 2.03 - "Red Light on the Wedding Night. Lukelai.
A/N: I do not own any of the characters. They all belong to Amy Sherman-Palladino. The beginning part of this plot is taken from the show, but the rest of the ideas are my own. No copyright infringement is intended.
I open the front door to see Luke maneuvering an intricately carved golden archway onto the front lawn. It takes a moment before I remember how to form words. "What is that?" I ask, shock clear in my voice.
"It's a huppah."
"A what?"
"A huppah. You stand under it, you and Max. It's for your wedding."
A small breath escapes before I continue. "Did you make that?"
"Yeah, I had some time, so—gimme a hand, huh?" He gestures with his head toward the other end of the huppah and I hurry down the porch steps to help him.
"Luke, it's beautiful." And it really is. The more I look at it, the more I see how much it screams Lorelai Gilmore.
"Yeah, well, I saw a picture in a book…the picture looked better."
I can't seem to remember how to close my gaping mouth, so I continue to study the details of the huppah. "It's got carvings—birds and flowers."
"There's also a goat." Luke points out.
"A goat?" Hmmm…what could I name him? Gilbert! It's perfect.
"Yeah I don't know what it stands for but it was in the picture and you like goats, right?"
"Yeah, goats are good."
"Okay, so there you go."
I finally turn my gaze away from the amazing gesture that Luke Danes presented me with, for no particular reason other than because it's just the kind of guy he is. When I turn to him, a smile plastered on my face, I ask, "What on earth inspired you to do this?"
Hearing the mock lecture tone in his voice makes me smile even more. "You're getting married! You can't just stand in the hot sun in the middle of a lawn that hasn't been mowed in weeks—I guess he doesn't mow."
"No, Max isn't a mower." Awkwardly, I don't feel the need to defend my fiancé.
"Okay, you needed something; here it is." He pauses briefly. "I'll mow it if you want"
My mouth is answering before my mind has the option to accept his offer. Because oddly enough, I want to accept it. "We've got a guy who does that. One of the Petes from the nursery."
"Big Pete?"
"Little Pete," I counter.
"He's the better of the Petes."
"We've always thought so." I smile at him again and begin to make my way over to the porch steps. "Hey, aren't huppahs Jewish?"
"Maybe," Luke shrugs as he takes a seat next to me on the steps. Is he sitting abnormally close to me? I ignore the thought.
"Is it-is it okay that Max and I aren't Jewish?"
"It's okay by me." I love that he can be so clueless sometimes.
"No but I mean to stand under it. God won't smite us or anything…?"
"I highly doubt it. Plus, God'd probably have to get a license from Taylor to do any smiting in Stars Hollow on a weekend so I'd say you're safe." I find myself giggling at his joke and thinking, he's probably right. "You know, I wasn't putting down Max. He seems like a really good guy."
I decide to call his bluff. "He is, and you were putting him down."
"Yeah, well I didn't mean to." And he seems sincere.
I let a moment pass, thinking if I should ask my next question. Eventually I decide what the hell. "Did you mean all those things you said about marriage?"
"What things?" Nice innocent act, Danes.
"You really want me to repeat them to you?"
"No. I mean, I guess, for some people, marriage isn't the worst thing in the world. I mean it's probably better than being hobbled or something like that."
"And people can evolve together don't you think?" And with that question, a thought flits through my mind. Did that question make me excited because I'm hoping Max and I can evolve together…or because I'm hoping Luke and I can evolve together?
"Maybe."
"Yoko and John Lennon did. They just got closer and closer as the years went by. At the end they even had the same face."
Luke, being true to himself, responds with, "It got a little spooky."
"But cool."
"Yeah, they were lucky. I guess if you can find that one person, you know, who's willing to put up with all your crap and doesn't want to change you or dress you, or you know, make you eat French food, then marriage can be all right...but that's only if you find that person."
"Yeah, if you find that person." Did I find that person? And what about Luke? Suddenly, something my mother said sets off bells in my head. "He seems to like you. He looked at you like a Porterhouse steak." A little smile makes its way onto my face as stand up and make my way to stand under the huppah. Again, Luke follows. I continue. "No one has ever made me a huppah before."
"Well you only get married once…theoretically."
"Yeah, you only get married once," I agree.
We stand there for a moment before I notice that Luke is unusually quiet next to me. I open my mouth to say something, then stop, not knowing exactly what to say since I have no idea what he's feeling about all of this. And just as I open my mouth to try again, I hear him say something so softly that I swear I didn't hear him correctly.
"Don't waste that one time on him." With that mumbled statement, I finally turn toward Luke, my mouth open in surprise.
"What?" I ask, still refusing to believe that Luke Danes just said that.
"Don't waste that one time on him," he repeats, more clearly, and this time he stops staring at his shoes and lifts his head up to look me in the eye. And what I see there makes my breath catch in my throat. There are trails of moisture making their way down Luke's face, and his expression is so defeated that it's nearly heartbreaking. I have never, in the 5 years that I have known Luke, seen him cry. I involuntarily step forward and without thinking, wipe a tear from his cheek with my thumb. My hand remains on the side of his face as I finally lock my gaze with his.
"Luke…" I softly whisper. With every nerve in my body, I feel him inching closer to me, but I don't move. And I'm not sure if it's because I can't or because I don't want to. All I know is that I have lost myself in his blue eyes and everything else has fallen away. Nothing else exists except the man in front of me.
Silently, Luke reaches his hand up and gently tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear. The slight touch of his palm against my cheek sets my skin on fire, and I lean into his touch. I feel his hand hook behind my head, and then he's pulling me toward him to close the distance between us. When his lips finally meet mine, my breath hitches and my eyes flutter closed. The unexpected softness of his lips, combined with the gentle urgency and complete vulnerability that I feel coming from him, makes my whole body tingle and I can't believe it took me so long to experience this.
I bring my other hand up to Luke's face and gently run both hands along his slight stubble, all the while deepening the kiss. The sound of our labored breathing is the only thing I can hear over the pounding of my heart, and when Luke's tongue brushes against my lips, I eagerly open my mouth to allow him entrance. When I finally get my first taste of him, it's nothing like I've ever imagined. Not that I've imagined kissing Luke, because believe me, I haven't.
However, that first taste also strikes something within me, and I'm shocked to feel tears escape from behind my closed eyelids. I pull away and look at the man standing before me. As I try to blink the tears away, everything comes crashing down. I'm left without the slightest clue as to how I was going to get myself out of this dilemma. I was engaged to Max. I was marrying Max. I loved Max. Didn't I?
"I have to go," I say to Luke as I wipe the tears from my face.
"Lorelai—" he looks just about as shocked as I feel.
"I can't—I have to go. I need to think about things. I'm sorry." And with that, I turn and leave Luke standing under the beautiful huppah he made me as I walk up the porch steps, into the house, and shut the door behind me. I don't even risk looking back at him. Because I know that if I did, my willpower would be gone and I would be back in his arms.
What the hell am I supposed to do?
A/N: I'm not sure if this fic is going to end like this or if I will add more. It can technically stand alone. But I'll leave it up to you fabulous readers. What do you think? Would you like to read more or prefer it be left like this? R/R is greatly appreciated! xoxo