Disclaimer: you know how this goes. I only wish it was mine.
After the End, A Gilmore Girls Season Eight Fanfiction
Lorelai walked through the bustling town of Star's Hollow at a Pace that would make a cheetah blink in surprise.
The bell rang out as she pushed open the door of Luke's Diner. She automatically walked to the counter and took a seat, quickly demanding coffee from Luke himself.
"This stuff will rot your brains out one day," he warned as he poured her steaming drink.
"Thank you for your insightfulness, Luke." Lorelai greeted him.
"So, what, no especially witty Lorelai-ish comment from you this morning?"
"I'm trying out something new," she replied. "I think that if I can stay quiet for long enough, then I just might drive you to the edge of insanity."
"So you miss Rory then."
"Pretty much, yeah"
For a few moments silence fell between the pair.
In a low voice, Luke broke it, "We need to talk, Lorelai."
"I don't want to." Her response offered no reason, it was plain and simple.
"We need to, things have gotta get straightened out. You're driving me crazy here."
"So it's working! Good to know, Patsy Kline."
"Lorelai…" he said in a warning tone. She stayed quiet for a moment as she pondered his proposition.
"Okay," she finally relented, "Meet me at home around nine, we can talk then, 'kay?"
"Sounds good." Luke gave her a small smile, filled up her coffee cup, and turned away to serve other customers.
Lorelai dropped her keys on the hall table. Flicking on a lamp, she stepped into the kitchen to find something to eat. As she made her way through the leftover Chinese, the phone rang.
"Hello?" Lorelai asked through a mouth full of sesame chicken.
"Mom?" her daughter's voice came through the other end.
"Rory! I was wondering when you'd call! Are forgetting about your small hometown life and the mother you left behind in the bustle of the big city yet?"
"Mom, Iowa isn't that big."
"It's bigger than Star's Hollow."
"Everything is bigger than Star's Hollow."
"Point taken."
"So……What's going on in your life?" Lorelai asked
"Nothing really, I've been going to conferences, It's weird, its only been a week, but I've already been to, like, three, and besides that, I've been checking into my hotel, getting settled in, you know, normal stuff."
"Yeah, normal stuff," Lorelai smiled into the phone. Everything was going fine. That was good, that was good. But if it was so good, then why didn't she feel as happy as she should? You miss her he mind thought, of she did. Rory had never been this on her own without her before, and now she was all the way in Iowa.
"Mom? Mom!" Rory's voice broke her chain of thought.
"What? Huh? Where's the peanut butter?" Lorelai gasped out.
"Um…I'm gonna ignore that, okay?." Rory reminded her.
"Yeah, that sounds good, I guess." Lorelai replied.
"Anyway, I was asking you what was going on in your life. Anything new and unusual that I should know about? How's Paul Anka?" Rory smiled into her cell phone at the thought of the pooch.
"Oh, he's fine. You know, he completely destroyed my entire stock of pantyhose today? They were all ripped to shreds. I had to go but new ones and everything. I've got to start remembering to lock my bedroom door when I leave the house." Lorelai rambled on.
"That's great," Rory replied, "I'm sure that your pantyhose will appreciate the thought." Once again, Rory smiled into the receiver, joining her mother in a mutual giggle.
"So really, what's happening in Star's Hollow?" Rory asked.
"Well…Luke is coming over tonight," Lorelai said in a whisper.
"What?!?! Why didn't you start with that?!" Rory whisper-yelled.
"Why are we whispering?" Lorelai asked in a, you guessed it, whisper.
"I don't know, you started it, and don't change the subject, why did he come over?" Rory said, returning to her normal voice.
"Okay, fine then, at your party, we kissed, and he thinks we need to talk about it." Lorelai replied.
"Ooh! What kind of kiss was it, like, just a peck, or, like something that screams 'I still love you Lorelai, take me back, please, I'll do anything, even serve you coffee 'til your teeth rot if you'll just have me again!'" Rory asked, doing her best impersonation of Luke's deep voice.
"The second one. Definitely." Lorelai responded, blushing slightly.
"Wow! Do you think that you guys will get back together, or what? Are you going to do that lame thing where you try to pretend that it never even happened?" Rory asked excitedly.
"Geez, you sure are chatty today, kid. And I'm not really sure what's gonna happen from here on out, I guess I'll just have to go with the flow."
It was dead silent for a moment before the two spontaneously burst out laughing.
"You…Going with…The flow." Rory managed to choke out between giggles.
"I know," Lorelai laughed, "But seriously, I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens."
Silence fell between the pair for a moment.
"I think I might be dating him," Lorelai admitted suddenly.
"Wow, déjà vu much?" Rory smiled, remembering the first time that her mother had dated Luke Danes.
Suddenly their conversation was interrupted by a ring of the doorbell.
"Ooh! That's Luke!" Lorelai squealed, "Gotta go, hun, I'll call tomorrow, 'kay?"
"Okay," Rory replied, "Love you, Mom."
"Love you, too, kid." Lorelai busily hung up the phone and rushed to throw the dirty dishes in the sink. She raced to the door.
Taking a moment to gather herself and improve her appearance, Lorelai's hand gently gripped the cold metal of the brass doorknob. She twisted and pulled.
The glass and wood flew open to reveal a man clad in jeans, a flannel shirt, and a backwards baseball cap.
"Luke, hey! come on in." Lorelai said nonchalantly, stepping out of the way so that he could enter the house.
He stepped into the living room and gingerly placed himself on her couch. She sat on a chair next to said couch.
"So…" He said, looking at her awkwardly. Lorelai, meanwhile, did everything she could to avoid his gaze. She looked at the curtains, the kitchen chairs, the staircase, and, most clichéd of all, at her own bare feet.
They sat in silence.
"This is stupid." Luke said suddenly. Lorelai looked up, meeting his eyes for the first time that night.
"What is?" She asked.
"This entire thing! We were engaged! We were goddamn friends, and now after everything that happened, we were becoming friends again, and now we're letting one kiss come between us. Are things going to bee so awkward now that we can't even look at each other?!? Because I really don't think that I would be able to take that Lorelai. I'm sorry, but I just don't know if I could."
"Then let's not do that to ourselves." Lorelai said, still staring at him.
"What do you propose?" Luke asked.
"Well, we could do a few things, a) we could entirely forget about this and continue stay friends, b) we could give it another shot and try dating again, and c) we could do what Billy Crystal says is the only possible option, and completely ignore each other and know each other as acquaintances. You pick."
There was a long pause as Luke contemplated his variety of choices.
"What?" Lorelai finally spoke up, "Do you want to pick out of a freaking hat or something? Choose, Luke, I need to know what you're thinking!"
"Currently?" he asked.
"Yes."
"As in right now?"
"What else could currently mean?"
"Well," he started, "I decided to go with the 'fool-proof' Gilmore method, I'm making a pro/con list for each of your choices in my head."
"And what's winning?" Lorelai softly asked.
Luke got to his feet, and a pang of fear filled Lorelai's gut. He was going to leave. He would be gone, and he would never come back. She would never get to see one of his rare smiles again, never get to hear him yell at Taylor or Kirk, she would never taste his coffee, would never-
As these ridiculous notions ran through her mind, she didn't even register that she had been pulled to her feet as well. All of a sudden he kissed her, bringing back emotions that had been hidden under others for ages. She responded with a fierce passion, wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him closer.
Finally, they both broke apart, gasping for air. "There's your answer," He said, and gave her one of his rare smiles.
"So…are we back together then?" Lorelai asked.
"I hope so, 'cuz that was one Hell of a kiss." Luke responded.
"Good." Lorelai pulled herself closer to him, resting her head on his chest, relaxing in his arms.
"Hey, Tanya." Rory called out to her roommate as she entered the hotel room.
"Hi, Rory." Tanya barely glanced up from her laptop computer.
"Typing an assignment?"
"Yup."
Sensing that her suite-mate was not in the talking mood, once again, Rory walked into the kitchenette, pulling out a box of cookies and a glass of milk. With Chips Ahoy in hand, she made her way to the couch and turned the television on. She watched the colors dance on the screen as she ate chocolate chip cookies dipped in milk, in her opinion, the only way.
A the movie ended, Rory glanced around to make sure she was still alone; Tanya had left a little while ago with some friends from the area.
Excitedly, she sent in her first assignment via email to her editor and decided to turn in for the night. She slid down beneath her crisp hotel sheets, and remembered the way her mother used to tuck her blankets so tightly that she couldn't move underneath them.
The next morning Rory got dressed quickly and decided to walk around town for a bit.
The morning went by quickly for Rory, and before she knew it she was making her way back to the Holiday Inn where she was currently living for lunch.
She bustled through the city's streets, opting to walk home in this beautiful day, rather than take a taxi or bus.
Her phone started ringing suddenly, and she pulled it out, only to find that the name LANE blared at her in bright lettering.
"Hey, Lane," She said, flipping her phone open and pressing it to her ear.
"Rory! Hi! I'm so glad you're here, I wasn't sure if you'd still be at work, or a press conference or something, and I guess you're not, which is great! We haven't talked in ages! What's going on with you?"
"I'm good, but Iowa's different, you know? I'm not used to living anywhere bigger than Hartford. Everything's so new here. But I'm doing okay, how are Kwan and Steve? Are getting bigger? Did I miss some huge important moment in their lives? What's going on in Star's Hollow?"
Lane proceeded to tell Rory every gruesome detail about the twins' lives, and the latest Hollow gossip as Rory listened intently, eager for any news pertaining to her life at home.
Rory was so engrossed in her conversation with Lane that she didn't even notice that she was headed directly for a man with dark hair, who was turned away from her, waiting for a bus on the street corner.
Her body collided with his and in an instant she was sprawled along the sidewalk. Her cell phone flew from her hand, crashing on the street, but thankfully staying in tact. Meanwhile, the coffee cup that had been in his hand flew up in the air, spilling all over Rory's blouse. She gasped as she felt the hot coffee seep through her shirt.
She heard the man groan as he got up, and she pulled her self to her feet as well. She picked up her cell phone, and turned to find the man apologizing profusely to her.
"Shit, sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going."
"No, its okay, it was my fault, that was so stupid, I wasn't even paying attention to where I wa-Jess?"
"Rory?" His head cocked to the side.
"Jess! What are you doing here? I thought you were in Philadelphia." Rory asked, confused.
"I know, I was, I came here, looking, for, um a new perspective, I guess. I needed inspiration for a new novel, I'm going to write another book… And, I needed a change" He finished lamely.
"Ooh! What's it about?" Rory asked, her eyes lighting up.
"That's the problem. I don't really know yet." Jess said.
"Oh, that's cool, I guess that Iowa is a good inspiration…I guess…" She trailed off, "Um, do you want to go get a cup of coffee?"
"That would be great," Jess gave her a small crooked grin.
Talking, the pair slowly made their way back through the streets of Iowa.
"How've you been? I haven't seen you since Philly…" Rory trailed off, not particularly wanting to relive those memories.
Finally they came to Starbucks. There was virtually no line, so he talked as they ordered.
"Um," Jess swallowed hard, trying to relieve some of the tension, he added, "I've been pretty good. Um, The publishing company pretty much went down the tubes, but my book is doing pretty well. It didn't exactly explode, but there's this inexplicable mouth to mouth thing going on, and its getting bigger pretty quickly, rising up and all that."
They sat at a table, drinks in hand, and she replied, "I know, and I'm so proud of you, Jess! Did you know that Taylor actually decided to try to publicize that you lived here. I mean, it isn't exactly your home town, but you know Taylor, he was prepared to pull a Coneheads and blow it all way out of proportion."
"Really? How long did that last?"
"Um…"Rory pretended to think for a minute, "About ten seconds?"
"Huh. The townspeople of Stars Hollow are losing their touch. I honestly thought it would last eight, tops, before someone either burst out laughing or a protest of Kent State proportions was started." He flashed her another smile and she grinned back, happy to be bantering with him like this again. She'd missed him to an unhealthy degree, though she wouldn't have admitted it to anyone.
Finally she broke the current that had developed between them as they bored into each others eyes when her cell phone rang.
She jumped in surprise. For the second time that day, the word LANE flashed up at her.
"Oh, dang." She mumbled.
"Um, I have to take this, okay, but I guess I'll see you around."
"Wait, Rory! I finally got a cell, and I kinda feel like we never finished, um, do you want to, er, exchange numbers?" He wasn't usually like this. Why was he acting like this? So, desperate, so vulnerable? Oh, right, because right here, right now, with her, he was desperate, he was vulnerable.
Quickly, she wrote her phone number down and handed it to Jess. In response, he quickly scribbled his own number on a scrap of paper and handed it to her.
"So, I'll see you around?" He gave her a hopeful look.
"Yeah, that would be great, Jess." She loved the feel of his name of her lips. Grabbing her to-go cup, she walked on, leaving him trying to avoid staring after her.
A/N: yea, the end was a little cheesy. Sorry about that… R/R please! I'm only gonna update after I've got 5 reviews, okay? Thanks! Oh, and raise your hand if you got the Patsy Kline and Kent State references (are they references???)!