That Damn Donna Reed, Revisited

Chapter 1: Something Happened Last Night

. . . . .

Lorelai walked into the Independence Inn kitchen to get some coffee, and found Michel and Sookie arguing over an omelet... something about Michel wanting just egg whites and Sookie not wanting to comply.

Lorelai didn't interrupt the debate or even comment on it, she just walked over to the coffee maker and poured herself a cup. She lifted the cup to her lips, inhaling the aroma before she took a sip.

Lorelai stood facing the coffee maker, her back to Sookie, Michel, and the rest of the kitchen staff. She could still hear them bickering, she could hear pots and pans and dishes clanking, she heard other people talking, but everything was muffled. She was too distracted for any of it to register. She stared down into her coffee cup as her head started to replay images from the night before.

The moment he stepped toward her, his eyes staring into hers, and she felt his hands on her waist. The moment he started leaning closer and their lips met for the first time. And then the second. And then the third. Oh, God, that third one... it still sent chills through her body.

"Lorelai," a voice said loudly behind her, and Lorelai was soon jarred back to reality. She'd been oblivious to Sookie trying to get her attention for the past few seconds.

Lorelai turned around and glanced around the kitchen. Michel was gone, and the omelet he didn't want was sitting on the counter. The kitchen staff was moving about, and Sookie was stirring something in a large bowl, every so often glancing at Lorelai with confusion.

"Are you okay?" Sookie asked.

Lorelai quickly nodded. "Yes, good, I'm good. Just savoring the coffee. That's it, nothing else. All good over here."

"Okayyy," Sookie said slowly. "How was your night with Luke?"

Lorelai's eyes widened. "What? What do you mean?" Panic rushed through Lorelai like a freight train as she wondered how Sookie could possibly know about what happened. Did the whole town somehow find out?

"Weren't you guys picking out paint colors last night?" Sookie asked.

Lorelai exhaled a sigh of relief and she felt all the tense muscles in her body relax. "Oh, yeah, right. It went well, it was fine. I finally got him to settle on some colors."

"Used your persuasive charm on him, huh?"

Lorelai smiled. "Something like that." She took a deep breath, deciding to give Sookie some more details about her night. She set her coffee on the counter. "So, um, Sookie...I have a question for you."

"Okay," Sookie replied.

Lorelai glanced around the kitchen, ascertaining just how quietly she needed to speak based on where the rest of the staff was. She moved a little closer to Sookie and quietly asked, "What do you think of Luke... as like a potential dating-type partner?"

Sookie's eyes widened and a grin appeared on her lips. "For you?" she squealed. "You mean for you, right?"

"Shhh," Lorelai shushed her. "This is a private conversation, I don't need the entire inn to hear it."

"Oh, my God!" Sookie squealed again.

Lorelai pointed toward the door to the lobby. "Sookie, one more squeal and I'm walking out of the kitchen and never bringing this topic up again," she warned her.

Sookie clasped a hand over her lip, and Lorelai heard another muffled, "Oh, my God."

Lorelai smirked a little at her friend's excitement, but said, "Okay, this isn't gonna work." Lorelai took Sookie by the arm and led her across the kitchen into the storage closet for some privacy. She put her hands on Sookie's shoulders and calmly said, "Okay, calm down. It's just a question. What do you think?"

"I think you two are perfect for each other!" she whispered excitedly.

"And now you whisper," Lorelai said, shaking her head amusedly.

"You are amazing, and he is such a great guy, and you two are already friends and you already like each other and know a lot about each other, which is a great place to start a relationship."

"Good point," Lorelai said, nodding in agreement.

Sookie clasped her hands together and jumped a little, unable to contain herself. "Oh, my God, I'm so excited that this might be happening!"

"Really? Couldn't tell."

"Where is this coming from?" Sookie asked her. "Did something happen last night?"

Lorelai took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly before she nodded. "Something happened last night."

Sookie's eyes widened. "Does he know that you're mulling this idea? Did you talk about it?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, there was some talking last night, and this topic of being in a relationship did come up..."

Sookie squealed again. "Eek!"

"... after we had sex," Lorelai finished. "At my house. When he came over to help me find a baby chicken."

Sookie froze completely still and processed the information, and then leaned forward a little. "Say what now?"

Lorelai buried her face in her hands for a moment, and then looked at Sookie. "He came over and helped me find Rory's school project - a baby chick she has to take care of - and then one thing led to another."

"And you had sex with Luke?" Sookie asked with wide eyes. "Like real, actual sex?"

"As opposed to what?" Lorelai asked. "Fake metaphorical sex?" She shook her head. "No, nothing fake about it - it was real, actual, legitimate... hot... sweaty... passionate..." She swallowed hard and dazed off for a moment picturing it in her head, and then she looked back down at Sookie as she finished, "...sex. The realest of real."

Sookie was grinning. "That sounds amazing. And it was at your house?" she asked, and then she gasped. "You've never had sex at your house!"

"Well, now we can check that off the bucket list," Lorelai declared. "Twice."

Sookie's eyes widened. "Twice? You had sex with Luke twice last night? Oh, my God. I need to sit down." She looked frantically around the small storage closet they were in. "There are no chairs in here! This is too much."

Lorelai smiled. "Too much for you? I'm the one who did it."

Sookie giggled and stepped closer to Lorelai. "Was it as amazing as it sounds?"

Lorelai grinned and raised an eyebrow. "It was very much worth repeating," she confirmed. "Hence the reason we repeated it."

Sookie squealed. "I knew it! I always knew he'd be good in bed, he just seems like the type of guy who really knows how to treat a girl right, if you know what I mean."

Lorelai narrowed her eyes a little. "Yes, I do know what you mean, although I have no idea why you've thought about Luke in bed."

"You know how sometimes you're out somewhere and you're bored and you start looking around at people and wondering how they are in bed?" Sookie asked. "You do that, right?"

Lorelai winced a little. "No!"

"Oh, well, maybe it's just me," Sookie surmised, and then waved it off. "Anyway... what does this mean? You two are dating?"

"Yeah, we're now... dating," Lorelai said. "Luke and I... are dating." She shook her head in disbelief. "God, that sounds weird. How did this happen? One minute I'm annoying the hell out of him begging him to spruce up his diner and then the next minute he's at my house and we're talking and then we're naked and then we're talking again, and now we're in a relationship? Is that normal? This doesn't seem normal."

"It's not normal, it's special," Sookie replied. "It's fate - you were both right there in front of each other just waiting for the timing to be right, and then things just fell into place."

There was a knock on the storage room door, startling them both, and Sookie opened the door a little to see who it was. One of the other chefs needed more olive oil, and Sookie quickly grabbed a bottle, shoved it through the door opening, and then shut the door.

"But it's Luke, Sookie," Lorelai pointed out. "It's Luke. You realize what this means? If we break up, I can never go to the diner again. Actually, I can never go anywhere in town again because God knows people will blame me for the breakup because Luke's Mr. Perfect and I'm the wacky one, so inevitably it would be my doing that drives us apart and screws things up."

Sookie shook her finger at her. "You stop that right now! There will be no break up. This is a good thing, don't let your mind talk you out of it!"

Lorelai sighed. "I'm not, I'm just... preparing for the worst. I'm being rational. I don't have a good track record."

"Well, screw rational right now!" Sookie said. "We don't want that. You're not gonna screw anything up. You and Luke have been friends for years - you know each other already, you know each other's traits. He knows you're wacky and crazy and quirky and eccentric and - "

"Okay, I only said wacky, why are you adding in all these other words?" Lorelai asked.

"And frankly," Sookie continued, "one of the only things you two didn't know for sure about each other was whether the physical chemistry was there, and now that that's been confirmed, there's nothing in the way of this relationship working out."

Lorelai leaned back against the wall and smiled. "You really think?"

"I do," Sookie replied. "Where did you two leave it? Are you gonna see him today?"

"Yeah, I told him I'd come by the diner for lunch," Lorelai replied. "And I think one night we're gonna go pick out paint colors and he suggested we get dinner first. Or after. Either one. Or both, because God knows I like to eat."

Sookie grinned. "You have a date!"

Lorelai smiled. "Yeah, we do."

"And there's gonna be more sex, right?"

"God, I hope so."

Sookie giggled and hugged her. "I'm so excited for you."

"Thanks, Sookie." Lorelai gestured toward the door. "We should get back to work, though. We'll talk later."

"Okay."

They walked out of the storage closet, and as Sookie situated herself back at the counter, Lorelai refreshed her cup of coffee. Once filled, Lorelai walked toward the door to the lobby. "See you later, Sookie."

"Bye, hon," Sookie replied, and then she added, "Oh, wait... does Rory know about all this?"

Lorelai grimaced slightly and turned around to look at her. "Did I not mention that part?"

"What part?" Sookie asked, walking over to her.

"The part where Rory found out about me and Luke when she... kind of saw Luke half naked at our house," Lorelai replied.

Sookie's eyes widened. "What?!"

"Yeah. I'll fill you in on that part later, but yes... Rory knows," Lorelai said, and she exited the kitchen as Sookie stared after her in disbelief.

.

.

To be continued...

Author's note: Chapter 2 will be going back to the previous night... and up to an M rating.