Hey all! This is my first Gilmore Girls fanfic, so I hope you like it! Reviews are always appreciated. For those of you who read my HP or Bones fics, I have new chapters for those that will be posted sometime in the next day as well. Enjoy!
Salt and Ketchup Show
Lorelai inhaled the sharp, clean winter air as she stood on that familiar sidewalk. Through the window, beyond the sea on chair legs and fake flowers, Luke stood behind the counter, filling half empty salt shakers.
Why am I even here? She shook her head and turned to walk away.
Shut up and get in there! Her lungs pulled in another frigid breath.
"Lorelai?" She turned toward the sound of his voice. He looked especially good in the moonlight, his jeans splattered with grease, his blue plaid shirt unbuttoned at the top.
She blinked herself back into reality and smiled at him. "Sorry. It's been such a long time since I've seen a good salt show. I mean, Blue's Clues can only do so much, ya know?"
"Do you want to come in?" He stepped out of the doorway onto the steps.
"Oh, you're closing up, I don't want to get in your way…" She looked up at him. Same crossed arms, same baseball cap, same ironic smirk.
"Lorelai, get in here."
"Okay."
She took her usual stool at the counter. Luke grabbed a ceramic mug off the shelf and placed it in front of her.
"So what are you really doing here?" He asked, emptying the last few drops of coffee into her mug.
"Thanks," she said, taking a sip, "I just wondered how everything was going? I saw April in the square with Lane this afternoon."
Luke leaned against the back counter. "She's here for a few days on Spring Break."
Lorelai absently ran her finger around the edge of her cup. "I bet she was glad to be back up here."
He grinned. "She practically ran off the plane when I picked her up yesterday."
His eyes sparkled as he looked at her and she found herself staring into her coffee.
"Hey, are you okay?"
She looked back up at him. "Oh, sure. Just a little distracted. Rory's been gone a lot lately. And the inn has been booked solid for weeks."
"That's a good thing right?"
She rubbed her lips together and nodded. "Oh, no, it's great. Sookie has never been more ecstatic. In fact, she can't seem to stop making muffins so every surface on the main floor is covered in them. And Michel, he's just as unpleasant as ever. He even took it upon himself to pack up the bags of a sweet, older couple from Kansas last week when they called him 'that nice Canadian man.'"
He sniffed in amusement. "Well, I bet they couldn't wait to book their next visit."
She offered him half a smile and sighed.
"Rory came in for coffee a couple weeks ago. She looked happy."
Lorelai's face brightened a little. "You know, I really think she is."
He pulled the towel off his shoulder and began wiping down the counter in front of them. "She said something about getting a job for some newspaper in New York?"
Lorelai crossed her arms and sniffed. "She's five minutes from graduation and she already has her life figured out. Oh to have that kind of clarity."
"Who knew we'd end up with kids more together than we are?" He mused. She flinched and Luke went back to filling salt shakers.
"I filed for divorce today," she blurted. She looked back up at him, her eyes clear and resolute. He could see the tears threatening at the corners, but not one fell.
Luke blinked at her.
"I left him, Luke."
He studied her for a minute. "Is that why you came here tonight?"
She uncrossed her arms with too wide a gesture, knocking over her coffee cup. "Oh, gosh. I'm so sorry, Luke."
She grabbed a pile of napkins sitting nearby and started mopping up the black pool creeping toward her. Luke threw a towel over the mess and gently grabbed both of her wrists. "Lorelai."
She let out a shaky breath, fighting a sob. "No, Luke, I swear I didn't. I wasn't even going to tell you."
He released her wrists and stared down at her. "Why not?"
She rolled her eyes and pulled her arms back toward her. "Because of the way you're looking at me right now."
He scrunched his face up at her. "How am I looking at you?"
"Like it serves me right. Like I just failed to follow through on one more thing in my life. Like I'm Elizabeth-freaking-Taylor or something." She sniffed, looking down at her hands.
Luke burst out laughing and she glared at him. He composed himself and a look of brazen amusement settled over his face. "Sorry."
Lorelai stood up, pulling her coat tighter around her. "I shouldn't have come in here."
"Stop. I wasn't laughing at you. No one knows about failed marriages better than I do."
She placed her hands on her hips indignantly.
"And I would never compare you to Elizabeth Taylor. You're not quite on her level yet. Angelina Jolie or Britney Spears maybe."
"Oh my god, did you just compare my marriage to that of Britney Spears and Kevin Federline? I mean, Angelina and Billy Bob, I can see, but Britney and K-Fed? Please."
He let out a few deep, rolling chuckles. "Hey, at least now you have something concrete to add to your 'Reason's I'd make a better celebrity than Paris Hilton' list."
She relaxed and she felt her lips curl up against her will. "Of course! Because what's a sordid past with out a failed marriage."
She sniffed again at her own words and shook her head. "I really should get going. Paul Anka is over at Babette's and he can only hide from her cat for so long."
"Are you sure?
She nodded. Luke moved to hold open the door for her.
"Sorry again for crashing," she said, walking back out into the crisp winter air, "I'm like a moth, really. I saw the lights and couldn't resist."
"Not a problem. My salt show could use a little work anyway." He leaned against the door jam, watching her walk down the steps. "Goodnight, Lorelai."
At the bottom, she turned back. "Goodnight."
She started to walk away, but turned back around, as if something had just occurred to her.
"You know, if you ever need a ketchup sideshow to compliment the veracity of your salt filling abilities, I'm your girl." She hiked her purse up on her shoulder and smirked at him.
"That you are." They looked at each other for a moment before he shut the door with a satisfied smile.