Less Than a Second
Part 1: Hardware Stores, Diners, and Chance Meetings
__________
Pairing: Lorelai and Luke
Summary: Luke and Lorelai met in Stars Hollow while Lorelai's pregnant with Rory. Sixteen years later, they've found happiness with each other and the entire past (as fans know it) has been changed (for the better, perhaps :). This is a response to a challenge posted on the Luke and Lorelai Fan Fic group at Yahoo.
Rating: PG 13 (to be safe, for now)
Disclaimer: I do not own or in any way have connection to those that do own the Gilmore Girls.
A/N: This is my fifth Gilmore Girls fan fiction (the fourth of mine to be posted on fanfiction.net and first to be posted at the LL Yahoo Fan Fic group). I hope you enjoy! Please review or send feedback (email: artista317@yahoo.com)! Thanks! :)
__________
It had taken them almost ten years to admit that they had feelings for each other, three and a half years after that to get engaged, and another two years to finally head to the alter. However, it should be said that it took them less than a second to fall in love (or at least him with her. It took her a while to realize her feelings).
All Luke Danes had had to do was see her, standing there in the rain. It was sixteen years earlier and, for some reason, something had made him go outside in the storm. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep without making a decision about the "William's Hardware" sign that hung outside the store he was in the process of transforming into his own diner.
He grabbed his coat off the rack that hung near the stairs and carefully walked through the construction area that the downstairs was right then. He left through the front door, not letting it close completely in case he'd locked it from in the inside. He didn't have his keys with him.
He saw a figure standing just across the street, staring towards the center of town and the gazebo that shone a bright white even though it was pretty late and a darkness clung to everything else. The figure turned slightly and he got his first glimpse of the woman that would change his life.
The dim light from a nearby street lamp cast a shadow over the girl's face, blocking her features from view. She turned and saw him. He looked at the outside of the hardware store his father had owned, assessing whether or not to keep the "William's Hardware" sign. He pretended not to know that she was there. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her take a step toward him, then another, another still.
"Uh…excuse me?" She asked quietly when she was within ten feet of him. He looked towards her. "I was…um…wondering, are you from around here?"
"Yeah. This is my diner."
She looked at the sign. "Doesn't that say that it's a hardware store?"
"Yeah. It is. I mean, was. I'm renovating."
"Oh." She answered. She looked inside the window of the building and he glanced towards her. She was young. Younger than he and he was only nineteen. Her long, dark hair caught the light from the street lamps around where they were standing and it shined, brilliantly. She was taller than most teenagers, as he believed her to be, he knew. She was slightly taller than Rachel, maybe an inch or so, he guessed. His eyes drifted along her body for a last once-over look and that's when he saw the bulge in her belly. She almost looked pregnant to him. He credited his thoughts to the lack of light.
"You're not from around here, are you?" He asked, almost suddenly.
"No. Hartford."
"Oh…" He buried his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans. "So…uh…are you visiting someone here in Stars Hollow?"
*That's a nice name,* she thought, *for this little town.* She could almost imagine living there, walking to the town square in the mornings where she and her baby would play until lunchtime. Then maybe she would stop in this man's diner for lunch and some coffee.
"No, just passing through," she heard herself say. "Actually, is there any place here to stay? Like a hotel or bed and breakfast or something?"
He thought for a minute. "A friend of my family owns an inn. Maybe you've heard of it, 'Independence Inn'?"
"No, I haven't." She paused. How ironic. An inn named Independence. It's why she was here. Christopher, the father of the child growing inside of her, was moving to California after he graduated high school. He had proposed when he learned of her pregnancy, but she couldn't accept. They wanted different things, different lives. Her parents were even more furious when they heard that, besides the fact that she was sixteen and pregnant, she'd refused a marriage proposal from the man whose baby she carried. Lorelai Gilmore, only daughter of Richard and Emily Gilmore of Hartford, was dropping out of school and having a child out of wedlock. Oh, the embarrassment! After the screaming and fighting, Emily always ended the conversation with a "How could you do this to *us* (meaning herself and Richard)? Do you know what the other daughters of the revolution will say when they hear of this? I can't believe this! We're prominent members of society in Hartford and there are certain things that must be done, values that need to be upheld…" She would go on for hours.
So Lorelai withdrew her savings from the bank, packed her things, and left that life behind. And now here she was, in a town that she'd never heard of, six months pregnant (and counting), alone. But she had what she longed for her entire life—freedom, *independence* from that society crap that her mother had put her through for the last sixteen years. Lorelai vowed never to do that to her child, her *daughter,* as the doctor had told her the past Monday. She was having a baby girl.
"Would you like me to call Mia?" The voice of the man standing before her broke Lorelai's trance.
"Who?"
"The woman who owns the inn." He had forgotten that he hadn't yet told her.
"Oh, yes. That would be great. Thanks."
"Do you…uh…want to come in for a minute? You don't want to catch cold." He pushed the door to the diner open completely. "It's kinda in a mess, right now. Do you want anything? Something to drink?"
"If it's not any trouble." He cleared off part of the counter and pulled her up a stool. She sat down, a hand at her back. He looked at her again. She *was* pregnant.
"I can get you a chair if that would be more comfortable."
"No, I'm fine."
"'You sure?"
"Yeah." He glanced towards her stomach for the third time.
"So what was it that you wanted to drink? I have water, milk, juice, coffee, tea…?"
"Coffee would be good."
"All right." He went upstairs for a few minutes. Lorelai looked around the diner…or hardware store. It was a cross, at that moment, it seemed. Either that or a diner with a "tool" theme. She adjusted herself so that her back was leaning gently against the edge of the counter. Just as she was getting comfortable, the man came back.
"Here…" he handed her one of the two cups.
"How far from here is the inn?"
"About two miles down the road." He hadn't thought of how she would get there. "Don't worry about it, I'll give you a ride over." He sat down in the stool next to her so he wasn't talking to her back anymore.
"How long have you lived here?" She asked, turning her head to him as she sipped from her mug.
He shrugged. "All my life."
"Do you ever want to get away?"
"I did. I was supposed to go to college in North Carolina last year, but then my plans changed." He paused. "Is that why you're here? To get away from something?"
She didn't answer right away. "I guess so."
"Did you tell me your name?" He asked. She couldn't remember that she had.
"Lorelai." She said.
"Luke." They didn't need last names right then. She was just passing through, she said. Surprisingly, for some reason, he wished that wasn't true.
_________
A/N: Chapter 1 complete. Review, review, review! That will probably be the most frequent word used in this story (well, author's notes), if you haven't read some of my other stories and found this out already firsthand. The button below is beckoning (say that ten times fast)! And for those faithful readers of the previous, "Those Three Little Words," I am NOT abandoning that story, I just have no idea right now where to go with it. This one has been sitting with me since I read the challenge for it. "Those…Words" should be updated soon as school ends (my finals end Wednesday) and the summer draws me to my notebook(s). Okay, so before I conclude this note: REVIEW (you have to understand that reviews are for me what coffee is for Lorelai)!! Thanks in advance! :)
Part 1: Hardware Stores, Diners, and Chance Meetings
__________
Pairing: Lorelai and Luke
Summary: Luke and Lorelai met in Stars Hollow while Lorelai's pregnant with Rory. Sixteen years later, they've found happiness with each other and the entire past (as fans know it) has been changed (for the better, perhaps :). This is a response to a challenge posted on the Luke and Lorelai Fan Fic group at Yahoo.
Rating: PG 13 (to be safe, for now)
Disclaimer: I do not own or in any way have connection to those that do own the Gilmore Girls.
A/N: This is my fifth Gilmore Girls fan fiction (the fourth of mine to be posted on fanfiction.net and first to be posted at the LL Yahoo Fan Fic group). I hope you enjoy! Please review or send feedback (email: artista317@yahoo.com)! Thanks! :)
__________
It had taken them almost ten years to admit that they had feelings for each other, three and a half years after that to get engaged, and another two years to finally head to the alter. However, it should be said that it took them less than a second to fall in love (or at least him with her. It took her a while to realize her feelings).
All Luke Danes had had to do was see her, standing there in the rain. It was sixteen years earlier and, for some reason, something had made him go outside in the storm. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep without making a decision about the "William's Hardware" sign that hung outside the store he was in the process of transforming into his own diner.
He grabbed his coat off the rack that hung near the stairs and carefully walked through the construction area that the downstairs was right then. He left through the front door, not letting it close completely in case he'd locked it from in the inside. He didn't have his keys with him.
He saw a figure standing just across the street, staring towards the center of town and the gazebo that shone a bright white even though it was pretty late and a darkness clung to everything else. The figure turned slightly and he got his first glimpse of the woman that would change his life.
The dim light from a nearby street lamp cast a shadow over the girl's face, blocking her features from view. She turned and saw him. He looked at the outside of the hardware store his father had owned, assessing whether or not to keep the "William's Hardware" sign. He pretended not to know that she was there. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her take a step toward him, then another, another still.
"Uh…excuse me?" She asked quietly when she was within ten feet of him. He looked towards her. "I was…um…wondering, are you from around here?"
"Yeah. This is my diner."
She looked at the sign. "Doesn't that say that it's a hardware store?"
"Yeah. It is. I mean, was. I'm renovating."
"Oh." She answered. She looked inside the window of the building and he glanced towards her. She was young. Younger than he and he was only nineteen. Her long, dark hair caught the light from the street lamps around where they were standing and it shined, brilliantly. She was taller than most teenagers, as he believed her to be, he knew. She was slightly taller than Rachel, maybe an inch or so, he guessed. His eyes drifted along her body for a last once-over look and that's when he saw the bulge in her belly. She almost looked pregnant to him. He credited his thoughts to the lack of light.
"You're not from around here, are you?" He asked, almost suddenly.
"No. Hartford."
"Oh…" He buried his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans. "So…uh…are you visiting someone here in Stars Hollow?"
*That's a nice name,* she thought, *for this little town.* She could almost imagine living there, walking to the town square in the mornings where she and her baby would play until lunchtime. Then maybe she would stop in this man's diner for lunch and some coffee.
"No, just passing through," she heard herself say. "Actually, is there any place here to stay? Like a hotel or bed and breakfast or something?"
He thought for a minute. "A friend of my family owns an inn. Maybe you've heard of it, 'Independence Inn'?"
"No, I haven't." She paused. How ironic. An inn named Independence. It's why she was here. Christopher, the father of the child growing inside of her, was moving to California after he graduated high school. He had proposed when he learned of her pregnancy, but she couldn't accept. They wanted different things, different lives. Her parents were even more furious when they heard that, besides the fact that she was sixteen and pregnant, she'd refused a marriage proposal from the man whose baby she carried. Lorelai Gilmore, only daughter of Richard and Emily Gilmore of Hartford, was dropping out of school and having a child out of wedlock. Oh, the embarrassment! After the screaming and fighting, Emily always ended the conversation with a "How could you do this to *us* (meaning herself and Richard)? Do you know what the other daughters of the revolution will say when they hear of this? I can't believe this! We're prominent members of society in Hartford and there are certain things that must be done, values that need to be upheld…" She would go on for hours.
So Lorelai withdrew her savings from the bank, packed her things, and left that life behind. And now here she was, in a town that she'd never heard of, six months pregnant (and counting), alone. But she had what she longed for her entire life—freedom, *independence* from that society crap that her mother had put her through for the last sixteen years. Lorelai vowed never to do that to her child, her *daughter,* as the doctor had told her the past Monday. She was having a baby girl.
"Would you like me to call Mia?" The voice of the man standing before her broke Lorelai's trance.
"Who?"
"The woman who owns the inn." He had forgotten that he hadn't yet told her.
"Oh, yes. That would be great. Thanks."
"Do you…uh…want to come in for a minute? You don't want to catch cold." He pushed the door to the diner open completely. "It's kinda in a mess, right now. Do you want anything? Something to drink?"
"If it's not any trouble." He cleared off part of the counter and pulled her up a stool. She sat down, a hand at her back. He looked at her again. She *was* pregnant.
"I can get you a chair if that would be more comfortable."
"No, I'm fine."
"'You sure?"
"Yeah." He glanced towards her stomach for the third time.
"So what was it that you wanted to drink? I have water, milk, juice, coffee, tea…?"
"Coffee would be good."
"All right." He went upstairs for a few minutes. Lorelai looked around the diner…or hardware store. It was a cross, at that moment, it seemed. Either that or a diner with a "tool" theme. She adjusted herself so that her back was leaning gently against the edge of the counter. Just as she was getting comfortable, the man came back.
"Here…" he handed her one of the two cups.
"How far from here is the inn?"
"About two miles down the road." He hadn't thought of how she would get there. "Don't worry about it, I'll give you a ride over." He sat down in the stool next to her so he wasn't talking to her back anymore.
"How long have you lived here?" She asked, turning her head to him as she sipped from her mug.
He shrugged. "All my life."
"Do you ever want to get away?"
"I did. I was supposed to go to college in North Carolina last year, but then my plans changed." He paused. "Is that why you're here? To get away from something?"
She didn't answer right away. "I guess so."
"Did you tell me your name?" He asked. She couldn't remember that she had.
"Lorelai." She said.
"Luke." They didn't need last names right then. She was just passing through, she said. Surprisingly, for some reason, he wished that wasn't true.
_________
A/N: Chapter 1 complete. Review, review, review! That will probably be the most frequent word used in this story (well, author's notes), if you haven't read some of my other stories and found this out already firsthand. The button below is beckoning (say that ten times fast)! And for those faithful readers of the previous, "Those Three Little Words," I am NOT abandoning that story, I just have no idea right now where to go with it. This one has been sitting with me since I read the challenge for it. "Those…Words" should be updated soon as school ends (my finals end Wednesday) and the summer draws me to my notebook(s). Okay, so before I conclude this note: REVIEW (you have to understand that reviews are for me what coffee is for Lorelai)!! Thanks in advance! :)