Author's Notes: This story begins with the date arranged at the end of Captain Pickup. This is a sequel, a continuation of that story. I realized that because of where I pinned that tale in relation to the show, I had an amazing chance to step in and fix some things for our favorite couple before everything went completely off the rails. Even though this is following in the footsteps of Captain Pickup, it's going to be a little darker in tone, and angst will definitely make some appearances as Lorelai and Luke battle to find their middle. Even though this story will follow the general timeline and events as portrayed in the show, don't be surprised if different people pop into a scene rather than the ones you expect, or if familiar words are uttered by a different character. As for the rating, I'm going to try to keep this as a "T," but I'm already seeing that it might be necessary to bump this up as chapters (and their relationship) progress.
Thanks to all of you who welcomed me back! I'm sorry that I'm not able to reply to those of you who log in as guests, but I wish I could. And as always, thanks to my brilliant and encouraging beta, Eledgy, who always manages to ask just the right questions.
Written Under Some Cold, Dead Rocks
Lorelai's eyes flicked over to the clock beside her bed, which was turned so she could see its bright red numerals from her dressing table. It was Saturday night, the Saturday night of what could possibly be the most important date of her life, and if her clock could be believed, that date was scheduled to start in approximately eight minutes.
Eight minutes still to go and here she sat, with makeup on, hair acceptably tamed, and the winning clothing choices already fastened upon her body. Inconceivable, she heard Vizzini from the Princess Bride say in her head. She continued to sit in front of the mirror, staring at herself, feeling the butterflies and nerves dancing together in her tummy. She kept telling herself it was a date, just a date, but the butterflies completely disagreed and kept dive-bombing a sensitive spot underneath the fourth rib on her left side.
A noise from outside made her head jerk. She rushed to the window and saw Captain Pickup settling into a spot beside the Jeep. Quickly she pushed up the window.
"Hey there, Mr. Punctuality!"
Luke looked up, spotting her at the window. "Why doesn't it surprise me that you're not ready yet?"
Lorelai stepped to the side, so he couldn't see that she was dressed and ready to go. "The door's open. Come on in, make yourself at home. I'll be down in just a minute!"
"Right," Luke seemed to scoff, but he gave her an easy wave and headed for the front door.
Before she pulled down the window, Lorelai sucked in a deep breath of the fresh spring air, hoping it would help to calm her uncharacteristic pre-date nerves. She dabbed on one more spot of perfume and flipped her straightened hair back behind her shoulders. Not able to think of anything else to primp, she reluctantly moved away from the mirror and headed downstairs.
Luke hadn't sat down. He was standing in front of the fireplace, staring gloomily into its dirty depths. "When was the last time this thing was cleaned out?" he asked, sounding cranky.
"Um, I don't know. When was the last time you did it?"
"I don't think I've ever cleaned it out. That's why I'm asking."
Lorelai nodded. "There's your answer, then. If you haven't done it, it's never been done. Unless there are some sort of magic fireplace fairies that come in and remove ashes and soot while homeowners sleep."
Luke sighed irritably. "I'll put it on the list, then. Don't want this whole place to go up in flames the next time you and Rory decide to camp out in the living room and burn hot dogs in the fireplace."
"We don't burn hot dogs," Lorelai replied, a little curtly. "The best hot dogs have a nice charcoal sear on them. Everyone knows that. I'm amazed you don't, since you run a diner and all."
"Customers tend to send back burned hot dogs," Luke refuted. "Which cuts into my profits, so I try to avoid that. Plus, not everyone likes to crunch through that crispy carcinogenic layer."
"I'm unique. Got it." Lorelai snapped, before remembering that the point of this night was not to spar with Luke over food preferences. She took a breath, striving for calmness. "Anyway, it will be months before we'll want a fire again. There's plenty of time to get the fireplace cleaned out."
"You should get the chimney inspected, too."
At that, Lorelai nodded. "You know, my dad mentioned that one time. I just never got around to doing it."
"Well, you should." Luke stopped scowling at the dirty bricks lining the fireplace opening and looked at her. Instead of irritation, his face now looked concerned. "Your dad's right. He probably knows how many houses burn down because of that stuff that builds up in the chimney. He'd probably sleep better, knowing it's been taken care of."
Lorelai smiled, now understanding that Luke wasn't really worried about how well Richard Gilmore slept at night. A feeling of warm affection flooded over her again, just like the one preceding the epiphany she'd experienced in the diner a few days ago; the one that had led to this date in the first place. "Well, we certainly wouldn't want my dad to worry. Do you think Tom would have a name of a chimney sweep if I ask him? Or should I hold out for Dick Van Dyke?"
"I could ask around, if you want me to," Luke offered.
"I want," Lorelai confirmed, still smiling. "So, let's start this out again." She reached over, gently tugging on Luke's shirt sleeve. "Hi."
He blinked once and then seemed to realize where he was and what was going on. He grinned, shrugging his shoulders at his initial grumpiness. "Hi," he said in return.
"You look nice," she told him. Her eyes approved of everything she saw. The jeans looked new, the blue long-sleeved shirt wasn't flannel or plaid, and the hair, free for once from the tyranny of the hat, looked freshly-trimmed. She reached out and tugged on his sleeve again, not able to think of anything else to do to convey how happy she was to find him here with her.
"You look nice, too," he said in automatic politeness, but he seemed to limit how much he actually looked at her.
"Yeah?" Lorelai frowned down at her khaki jacket, turquoise top, and dark jeans. "You said casual, but I wasn't sure how casual."
"You look perfect." His voice turned gruff. "Which is no different than any other day."
"Yeah?" she said again, but this time she was grinning like a fool.
He shook his head, trying to temper his own grin. "Don't get cocky," he warned her.
"Or somebody gets a screwdriver in the head," she agreed, bouncing slightly on her toes, delighted that they already had in-jokes between them.
"Ready to go?" he asked, after another few seconds of smiling at their shared recollection.
"Ready," she happily agreed, and went to grab her purse.
"So where are we going?" Lorelai goaded Luke yet again, about 20 minutes later.
"If your parents ever tried to take you on a trip, they have my complete sympathy," Luke grumbled.
"Well, if you'd tell me where we're going, I'd stop asking," Lorelai pointed out.
"Hartford," Luke succinctly replied.
Lorelai rolled her eyes for her own benefit, because Luke was concentrating out the windshield, not watching her. "I know we're going to Hartford! I knew that ten minutes ago, when we pulled onto the highway leading to Hartford! Where in Hartford, that's what I want to know."
"Patience," he advised.
"You're annoying," she pouted.
"I'm annoying?" In spite of his grumpy words, he was smiling. "Right back at'cha. Fortunately, you're also cute."
For a moment she was caught completely off guard. "You think I'm cute?"
"Fishing for compliments now?"
"No, I…" She wasn't sure why hearing this from him was unsettling her. "I just didn't know you thought that."
"Really? You didn't know that?" Skepticism was layered thickly onto his words.
"Well, I…" She shook her head, worrying her lips together for a moment. "You've always been something of a mystery to me, Luke."
He barked out a short, disbelieving laugh. "I'm a mystery to you? Yeah, right. Again, right back at'cha."
Lorelai's world turned topsy-turvey. Usually she was the one calling the shots on a first date. It was disconcerting to find herself not in the driver's seat, either literally or figuratively. The knowledge settled down onto her that with Luke, all bets were off. They already possessed a shared history. They already knew all sorts of quirks and secrets about the other. This relationship, in many ways, wasn't starting out at zero. There wouldn't be a grace period, where foibles were accepted and miscommunications could be amusing. Dating Luke was possibly going to be a harder job than what she first thought.
"Well," she ordered briskly, hoping to get back into control, "let's stop with the mystery stuff right now. Take the high road and tell me where we're going."
"Don't have to." Luke waited for traffic to clear and turned into a parking lot. "We're here."
Lorelai looked out her window at the comforting neon sign for Souplantation. Her stomach gave yet another nervous twist, this time compounded by guilt, remembering the night a year ago when she and Rory ate here.
"Oh, what is this place?" she asked, using a fake-innocent voice that didn't sound believable at all. "Soup-tation? Is that it? They serve soup, I gather? What a novel idea!"
"Lorelai, give me a break," Luke groused, pulling the key from the ignition. "I know you've been here."
"Me? Oh, no, I don't know what –"
"Seriously? You thought I wouldn't notice the all-you-can-eat glow?"
Defeated, Lorelai slumped back against the seat. "Rory told you," she grumbled. "What a goody-goody."
"It wasn't Rory."
"Then who?"
"Turns out Mrs. Slutsky was there. Apparently you had your face stuck in a trough of chicken velvet soup and didn't notice her waving to you."
"Look, Luke, we didn't set out to eat here. I mean, it was just one of those things that happen when you're hungry. We drove by, and the sign about the endless buffet just lured us in! It didn't mean anything to us, I swear!"
Luke shook his head sadly, staring straight ahead. "You cheat on me and thought I wouldn't find out?"
"Luke, I –"
"There ain't no way to hide your lyin' eyes."
"Suddenly you're Don Henley? You're quoting the Eagles to me now?"
He turned to her then, a half-smile on his mouth, but his face looked troubled. "Just consider that some advice for the future," he said lightly, but she could tell he wished he could take back the whole exchange.
Suddenly she remembered Nicole and the Sockman and the trip to jail, all of which were mere weeks in the past. Her heart pinged in sympathy for him, and for the first time it dawned on her that she might have lured him out on a date with her far too soon. She reached over and put her hand on his upper arm, squeezing it gently.
"I won't cheat on you ever again, Luke." She kept the tone of her voice light, pretending she hadn't caught on to the underlying seriousness, but her hand squeezed a little bit tighter, giving him another message. "I promise that no other man's meatloaf will ever pass over these lips again."
Luke tried to choke back a laugh, but it burst out anyway. Lorelai reeled back, wide-eyed, a hand smacked over her mouth.
She had to laugh too. "I think that was possibly the dirtiest dirty thing I've ever said."
"Oh come on. I'm sure I've heard worse from you."
"But I intended those. This one just slipped out!"
Luke grinned at her. "I don't care where you eat, Lorelai. In fact, I like knowing you don't eat every meal at the diner. Gives me hope that maybe you're eating healthier someplace else. Let's keep that fantasy alive."
"We really didn't plan to eat here that night." Lorelai continued, even though she knew Luke had only been teasing her. "We'd been in Hartford, fighting with my mother. We were heading home, and boom! Here it was, beckoning in hungry travelers. It was right before Rory's graduation. Right before she knew Jess had left. You were worried…we both were worried about how to tell her…" Lorelai paused, taking a deep breath. "It was a really bad night," she summed up.
Luke sat perfectly still for a moment. Then he nodded, turning to look at her again. "You're right. That was a bad night." He reached across the seat, picked up her hand and held it carefully in his. "What do you say we go on in there and try to make this a better night than that one?" he suggested, with a hopeful smile.
"A most excellent suggestion," Lorelai agreed, and reached for the door handle.
"So where are we going now?" Lorelai asked, trying not to groan at all of the food loaded into her stomach after many filling trips down the buffet lines. At least the food had crowded out the annoying butterflies that had been bothering her earlier.
"Remember that patience thing from before?"
"You're still not telling me where we're going?"
Luke seemed to reconsider. "We're going to go see a movie."
"Really?" She stared at him in amazement. "You want to go see a movie?"
He shrugged. "Sort of traditional for a first date, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it sort of is. So what movie are we going to see?"
"Guess you'll find out when we get there."
"Man, you are really annoying tonight."
"And there's that tree again," Luke said wryly. The confident, handsome smile he sent her way, though, made her heart skip a beat, if only for a second or two.
Luke turned into the megaplex parking lot and found a spot for the truck. They walked up to the door side by side in their usual style, two comrades-in-arms.
Lorelai looked over the marque and squealed. "Are we going to see The Whole Ten Yards?"
"Is that what you want to see?" Luke tolerantly asked.
"Hello? Matthew Perry? Of course!"
His smile maybe looked suspiciously self-satisfied, but that fact went right over the top of her easily-distracted head. "Tell you what," he said, glancing at his watch, "we're kind of cutting it close here. You want snacks, right?"
She laughed at him condescendingly.
"Right," he acknowledged. He pulled out his wallet and started to give her a bill from it. "You go get whatever you want, and I'll grab the tickets."
"Do you want anything?"
Luke gave that condescending laugh right back at her.
Lorelai's giggle was genuine this time. She pushed the money back against his chest and held it there. She wobbled a little bit, off-balance, and his arm snaked around her back, holding her steady. She smiled, happy at his touch. "You go get the tickets, but I'll buy my own snacks. How's that for being all modern and quasi-feminist? I'll meet you at the ticket-taker."
He nodded, looking extremely pleased for some reason. Lorelai shrugged it off and went over to stand in line, contemplating whether to get Junior Mints or Skittles to go with her popcorn. Or…perhaps both?
The concession line moved more slowly than the one for the tickets and Luke ended up meeting back up with her there.
"We're this way," he said, taking the gigantic popcorn bucket out of her hands and leading the way.
Lorelai watched the LED signs mounted at the ceiling, trying to spot the theater for their movie.
"Holy cow," Luke murmured into her ear, distracting her. "Look at that woman over there."
The woman in question had on pink shorts, possibly made out of plastic swimming pool material, and in such a florescent shade that they nearly glowed. Her hair was pink as well and she had more body parts pierced than Lorelai had ever seen.
"Ouch," she mouthed to Luke, pretending to be horrified, her eyes held wide.
He grinned and put his arm around her back, opening the theater door and ushering her inside while her attention was still mostly on Pinky.
"You choose our seats," he offered.
"You don't care?"
He shrugged. "Even if I do, I can already hear your litany of complaints if I choose wrong. So this decision is all yours."
"Such a smart guy you are." Triumphant, she bumped her hip into his before setting off down the aisle. She picked a row close to the center of the theater and three seats down from the middle. "Rory and I have perfected this. Here we're still close to that optimum position, but far enough away that the purists who insist on sitting exactly in the center leave us alone. It's a science, I tell you."
"I bow to your movie-going knowledge."
"Yeah, if only they offered a degree in that. That would have been so much more fun than getting my business degree." Lorelai settled herself and her snacks into the seat.
"They do, don't they?"
"What?"
"Colleges have all sorts of classes about watching movies, don't they? Film classes?"
"Yeah, I guess." Lorelai opened up the jumbo box of Skittles. "But those really wouldn't have helped me run an inn. I mean, I guess I could show Citizen Kane or something in the dining room every night and offer discussion groups for the guests. But that would cut into Black, White & Read's business, and I don't want to get sued, or alienate the townsfolk. Plus, Kirk would probably want to run the projector for me, and my business plan depends on keeping the Dragonfly 100% Kirk-free."
"Sensible decision on your part. It continually amazes me that the people in Stars Hollow, the people who arguably know him the best, are the ones who keep hiring him."
Lorelai laughed. "You know people are weird. Especially Stars Hollow people!"
Luke nodded his agreement. She offered him the bucket of popcorn, but he shook his head.
The background music cut off and the screen glowed into life, blasting the advertising for the movie complex. "Hmm," Lorelai said, looking around the seats. "Not that big of a crowd here."
Luke barely shrugged, keeping his eyes on the screen.
Lorelai snuggled comfortably into her seat, automatically munching on her snacks. She wasn't really hungry, but she couldn't imagine sitting in the darkened theater without having something from the three major food groups at her side: salty, sweet, and carbonated. She cast a sideways glance at Luke, debating for a second whether or not to lean up against him. It was a date, after all. But she decided against it, in spite of the one or two tingly moments derived from their casual touches during the course of the evening so far. She hated to say it, but the night felt less like a date and more like two good ol' pals out on the town. Sure, she was having a good time. She felt comfortable and completely at ease with him, and their banter was flowing as smoothly as it did daily in the diner. But that spark of something special, that new relationship glow – she just wasn't sure she was feeling it. At least, not yet. She smiled to herself, licking some of the butter-flavored grease off of her fingers. The night was still young, though. She wasn't ready to give up on Captain Pickup yet.
After a few minutes Lorelai bumped her shoulder against Luke's. "Weird previews," she whispered to him.
"Yeah, kind of, I guess." He squirmed a little bit in his seat.
She frowned up at the screen. "I mean, where are the car chases? The explosions? Hobbits? Shrek?" She picked up her drink, preparing to take a pull from the straw. "These are all really serious. Really dark. Geez, subtitles? In a trailer? Are you freakin' kidding me?"
"Weird," Luke agreed blandly.
The screen went black and silent, preparing for the beginning of the movie. Slowly, children's voices came out of the dark.
"A Pizza Hut! A Pizza Hut! Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut! McDonald's! McDonald's! Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut!"
Lorelai chortled in delight, leaning forward in her seat, her eyes bright and shining. "What is this?" she wondered in a whisper. Still laughing, she began to recite the rhyme along with the children, her hands mirroring the motions of the rows of summer campers on the screen before her.
"Everything's bigger in America," a man's voice began to explain. "We've got the biggest cars, the biggest food, and now, the biggest people, too. America has become the fattest nation on earth."
"Luke? What is this?" Lorelai confusion ceased her laughter.
On the screen, many examples of large Americans were being shown, some with blurred faces. The man's pleasant voice continued, reciting numerous facts about overweight people in Mississippi, and reminiscing about a childhood spent in West Virginia with a mom who cooked dinner for the family every night. Suddenly golden arches popped up and the man told the audience about McDonald's dominance of the fast food industry, both in the U.S. and abroad. He talked about consumers suing McDonald's, and whether or not it was corporate or personal responsibility leading the nation to an obesity crisis.
"Luke?" Staring at the screen, Lorelai tried in vain to get her companion to communicate with her. Had they wandered into the wrong theater? "What is this?"
Just then, the unseen man who had been speaking finally appeared on the screen. "Supersize me!" he declared, throwing wide his arms. From the soundtrack, Freddie Mercury began rocking out "Fat Bottomed Girls."
"Luke!" she hissed, turning to glare at him. She was irritated, and annoyed, and…yeah, she could admit it, a little hurt, too. The smug smirk she could see on his face wasn't helping, either. It reminded her too much of Jess and she stifled her urge to smack that smirk away.
"You never listen to me when I warn you about your deplorable diet," Luke sanctimoniously whispered. "Thought maybe this guy could make you see sense."
"Humph!" Lorelai flounced back into her seat, fuming. She grabbed the box of Junior Mints and poured as much of the contents into her mouth as possible, chewing spitefully. Hearing Luke's satisfied chuckle from beside her didn't ease her disenchanted mood at all.
She leaned further to the other side of her seat, keeping more cold inches between her and Luke. It was going to take a pretty big spark to thaw the distance between them now.
"Lorelai?" Coming many minutes into the movie, Luke's whisper was full of trepidation. "Do you want to go?"
Lorelai sat hunched forward on her seat, her hands clasped between her knees, her eyes riveted to the screen where a bloated and gasping Morgan Spurlock was getting yet another blood test. Her snacks had sat untouched since about Day 12 of his McDonald's odyssey. And in fact, she did want to go. She wanted to run away from the disturbing sight of the wrecked man in the movie, but even more she wanted to be told that he made it through the month of McDonald's food unscathed. She wanted someone to appear and tell her that fries and ketchup counted as two servings of vegetables. She wanted confirmation that the protein gleaned from two all-beef patties was the staff of life. She wanted to be reassured that her lifestyle wasn't her doom.
Without looking at Luke, she gave her head a brief shake. She needed to stay. She had to stay.
Luke pulled himself as far forward on his seat as possible and turned to look at her. His face, illuminated by the movie screen, was full of agonized guilt. "Lorelai, I'm sorry, OK?" He placed a sure hand on her knee. "I didn't know it was going to be like this. It was just supposed to be a joke, you know? Come on, let's go. Let's get you out of here."
She tore her attention away from the screen and focused on the alarmed guy practically kneeling before her on the sticky floor of the movie theater. It suddenly dawned on her that the luminosity she could see in his eyes was the affection he felt for her, a twin to that warm fondness she felt for him. His eyes, his mouth, that tender hand on her knee: everything about him right now was making sparks fly in earnest between them. Suddenly that new relationship glow was out in full force.
Every touch feels incredible, she recalled. Unable to stop, her hand reached out to his strong, handsome face, her thumb stroking the whisker-free spot just under his bottom lip.
Luke went very still, his eyes locked on hers.
"I'm fine," she whispered, smiling at his stunned reaction. She moved her hand softly, lovingly cupping his cheek. "I don't want to go."
He smiled too. Sparks tingled up her thigh as he rubbed a little bit higher line on her jeans. He nodded then and sat back into his seat.
This time, Lorelai did lean up against him. It was, after all, a date.
Soon, Luke put his arm around her shoulders, urging her even closer to him.
Lorelai closed her eyes, savoring the warmth and the very existence of the man holding her. It was more than just a date now. It had become a very good date.
The muted house lights came on when the movie ended. Luke gave her shoulders a tiny squeeze and then moved away from her. Lorelai gathered up her purse and stuffed all of her snack debris inside the huge popcorn bucket.
Luke waited for her to join him in the aisle, then put his hand on her back, ushering her up the slight incline towards the door. Lorelai found herself leaning against him, not wanting to lose that connection she'd enjoyed during the last part of the film.
At the exit, Luke held open the lid to the bin so she could throw away her trash. Her hand touched his and lingered there, her fingers feathering over the bare skin of his wrist.
His arm went back around her shoulders and stayed there as they walked to the truck. He only let go when he needed to dig the keys out of his pocket.
Luke opened the door and helped her inside, his hand now the one that lingered on her elbow. Instead of closing the door and going around to the driver's side, Luke leaned further in, his head bowed.
"I hope you're not too mad at me," he said gruffly, the beginning of an apology.
Lorelai had been so caught up in the delicious physical sensations now bouncing between them that she'd already forgotten that she had been angry with him not that many minutes ago. But currently that was the last thing on her mind.
She put a hand on his head, smoothing back his hair, still half-amazed that it wasn't covered up by that hat she'd given him all of those Christmases ago. "I'm not mad," she assured him, smiling at him when his head shot back up, apparently shocked by her touch.
His eyes studied hers. "I wasn't trying to teach you a lesson or anything like that. It was really just supposed to be a joke."
"Luke, it's OK." She picked up both of his hands in hers, tightening her fingers around his. "I can take a joke, even the ones that turn my stomach. It made for a memorable first date, that's for sure. Just don't take me to McDonald's any time soon, OK?"
"Yeah, that probably wasn't going to happen anyway," he said dryly. But he smiled, too, and the smile lit up his face. Reluctantly he tugged his fingers away from her, shut her door, and hurried around the truck to climb in on his side.
He settled into his seat and put the key in the ignition, but didn't turn it. "Do you want to maybe go get a drink someplace?"
Lorelai shook her head. "Let's just head back to Stars Hollow. We can see how we feel once we get there. I think I've had enough of Hartford for the night."
Luke nodded his agreement and reached for the ignition, but Lorelai went with her gut and impulsively seized the moment, her hand zipping out to stop his. He looked at her apprehensively.
"Could we…could we maybe try something first?" she requested, a nervous quaver creeping into her voice.
"Uh…" He looked at her distrustfully, probably thinking back on all of her pranks over the years. "Depends on what it is," he said doubtfully.
"What it is…" She flicked open her seat belt, scooted across the empty middle of the seat, and reached almost blindly to pull his face towards hers. "…is this…."
"Oh God," she thought she heard him mutter, in a tone that sounded more like despair than joy. But his hand went to the back of her head and his lips found hers without a pause.
Lorelai wasn't sure what her original plan for the kiss might have been, but whatever it was, it was thrown out the window as soon as Luke became involved. He angled towards her, his other arm going round her back, pulling her as close to him as possible in the awkward space. The hand tangled in the back of her hair ensured that the kiss wasn't going to be a casual one. Already he was teasing her lips with his questing tongue.
She opened readily to him, instantly regretting that she hadn't taken in a bigger gulp of air before scooting across the seat. She managed to get both of her arms around his back, pressing her hands against the taut muscles she could feel under his shirt, using his body as leverage so she could erase even more of the miniscule space that still existed between them.
He groaned and a shiver of need passed through her body. The kiss deepened further and Lorelai started to feel lightheaded. The dizziness was not just from a lack of oxygen, though. It was from euphoria. From some sort of crazy, wild happiness. It was like…like the satisfaction felt when giving that stubborn Rubik's Cube the last twist to get the colors to all line up. Or when you looked around the house and realized that the laundry was finally all caught up. Or when you found a sale so good that it was like the store was practically paying you to take home the clothes. Kissing Luke – having Luke kiss her – was like all of that and more. For this moment at least, it was like the stars had all lined up and were giving her everything she'd ever wished or desired. It was a good, good moment, and Lorelai was in no rush to bring it to an end.
The people parked in the car next to them, however, had other ideas. They talked loudly and slammed doors, and Luke and Lorelai pulled apart at the noise, looking at each other through dazed eyes, breathing heavily.
"Well, we took that right up to 11, didn't we?" Lorelai asked shakily, wondering what Luke was thinking. She swallowed hard and tried to gauge his reaction, wondering if he wanted to try that again as much as she did.
He chuckled a little bit, sounding winded. "Yeah," he agreed. He turned back straight in the seat, running a hand over his hair, putting back in place what she'd mussed. "Practically blew out the speakers."
Lorelai finger-combed her hair, too, pleased that he'd gotten her reference. She pulled her jacket back down from where it had ridden up when she'd launched herself over at him. She made no move to change her position on the seat, though. "Where's the seat belt for here?" she asked, searching along the underside of the vinyl.
"Lorelai," he began, shaking his head.
"What? You don't want me sitting here?" she challenged.
"It might not be too comfortable for you. You might get an elbow in the ribs while I'm driving." Playfully, he illustrated his point. "Or this might happen." He reached around her and tickled the opposite side of her body.
"Nothing I can't handle," Lorelai insisted with a big smile.
"OK then." He helped her find both ends of the seat belt and dropped a kiss on her head while she was still bent over, fastening it. Then he started the truck and pulled out of the parking space.
During the drive they talked about the movie, debating whether or not eating fast food for a month would be enough to wreck an otherwise healthy man. Gradually Lorelai brought up happier memories, those of taking Rory to playgrounds at McDonald's and other restaurants when she was little.
"You know, I didn't have much of what you'd call disposable income in those days," she related. "Usually no access to a car, either, and it seemed silly to go buy flattened hamburgers and greasy fries when we had all of this fabulous food available at the Independence kitchen whenever we wanted it. But Rory loved the playgrounds at those places. She'd make up some fairytale story that involved rescuing a princess stuck at the very top of the climbing ladder, and off she'd go. She almost always made a friend or two before we left, too."
"I bet she did." Luke nodded knowingly, showing her once again how much he doted on her kid.
"And then, as she got older and we moved into our own house, eating out together just sort of became a thing for us to do together. Gave us that chance to sit down and relax at the end of the day, catch up on school and work and town gossip, you know?" Lorelai rambled on.
"Sure," Luke agreed.
"And you know, once she didn't really care anymore about the toys, there wasn't as much reason to go to the fast food places."
"Toys?"
"Yeah, you know. Happy Meals?" Lorelai wasn't really focusing on her words any longer. She was twisting around, trying to see out the back window of the cab. "So did you bring 'em?"
"Bring what?"
"Blankets."
"What?"
"Don't 'what' me," she warned him, returning the poke in the ribs he'd given her earlier. "You know exactly what I'm talking about."
Luke stared straight ahead, his lips held tightly together. "Of course not," he finally muttered.
"Why not?" she demanded.
"Because…" He shook his head decisively. "We're adults, for one thing. And there's no reason to, for another. If we were going to – and we're not – we wouldn't have to settle for a rusty truck bed."
"Aw, Luke, come on! Give me a glimpse into Butch Danes, the Teen Years. Show me what I missed, not knowing you then."
"No," he repeated.
"Luke, admit it! Don't you wanna see if we can take it up to 13?"
"No," he insisted.
"Liar," she taunted.
He glanced her way but refused to reply.
Lorelai exhaled forcefully, changing tactics. "OK, let's do it for me, then. I have never been parking, Luke, not even once. I am, I hate to admit it, a parking virgin. So come on, I bet that idea kind of turns you on, huh?"
"No," he said shortly. But he swiveled his head and gave her a closer look before facing forward again. "Besides, I don't believe it."
"Well, it's true. I mean, I've kissed and necked and that sort of stuff in a car, don't get me wrong. But when it started getting hot and heavy, there was always an empty guest cottage somewhere, or a pool house, or somebody's parents were away skiing, leaving a whole house available for a make-out party."
"Which I think was part of my point, that there are much more comfortable venues than trying to cuddle up in the bed of a truck." He paused, that muscle in his jaw flexing. "And the rest of my point was that it doesn't matter, because that's not happening tonight."
"You are so not fun," Lorelai pouted.
"That shouldn't be a newsflash to you," Luke pointed out.
Lorelai sunk down low in her seat, moping for several silent miles. Finally she rallied and sat up again. "Well, just show me where then."
"Show you where what?"
"Show me where your spot was. Show me where you had your way with all of those perky cheerleaders."
"It wasn't like that," he protested, truly offended.
"Hey, hey, I know that." Lorelai put a placating hand on his tense arm. "But I was a teenager too, Luke. I know – you know I know – what it was like. All of those hormones, all of those hot nights. Trying to figure out how it all works. And I'm just curious. I just want to share some background with you. I just want to catch a glimpse of what it was like for you, back before you were Luke Danes, sensible Diner Man."
He glanced over at her again. She could tell he was weakening.
"Please?" She put on her most charming smile. "Just show me where you used to go parking. It's our first date. Indulge me, please?"
He sighed, one of those agonized, long-suffering sighs he seemed to save up just for her. "All right," he crankily capitulated.
"Yay!" she cheered, clapping lightly.
He scowled, shaking his head, but he turned left at the next stoplight, heading out into the country.
"So how often did you come out here? Was it like a well-known spot? Did everybody from Stars Hollow High know about it?" Lorelai chattered as they drove down the road.
"No, this was someplace I found out about on my own, coming back from a track meet one night. And I kept it to myself," he added.
"Very smart of you," she complimented him. "No need sharing with the masses. Create scarcity. One of the first laws of commerce."
Luke scoffed. "Uh-huh."
"So how much farther is it?"
"Oh dear God, not this again."
"Are we almost there?"
He sighed deeply and turned down a narrow, bumpy road. It ended at a gate and well-lit parking lot. He put the truck into park and motioned out the windshield.
"What?" Lorelai asked, scrunching down to peer out the window more. "What is this?"
"This is it. My old parking spot."
"But this…how can this be? It's condominiums!"
"Yep, it sure is."
"But I…don't understand."
Luke shrugged. "It's been better'n 20 years, Lorelai. Things change."
Now Lorelai was the one to sigh deeply. "Yeah, I guess they do."
He looked at her thoughtfully. And then abruptly, Luke put the truck back in gear and took off with enough force to throw Lorelai up against him.
"Whoa! Hey, where's the fire? Luke! Where are we going?"
He was too busy driving to answer, but he was smiling. He turned the truck down one dark road and then another, and then he slowed and pulled into a faded lane that led back into a densely-wooded parcel of land.
"Things do change," Luke said, stopping the truck in the lane. He turned to look at her again, a more boyish smile on his face this time. "Doesn't hurt to stay abreast of the local real estate market, though, keep track of where the empty land is around town. You know, just so Taylor doesn't buy it all up."
Lorelai hooted a delighted laugh. She gave Luke a teasing smack on his forearm, and then scrambled out of her side of the truck. It was a bigger drop down to the ground than she expected, and she nearly fell. "Oops," she cried out, giggling, grabbing at the truck bed to steady herself.
"Lorelai! What are you doing?" she heard Luke yell after her. But by then she was already at the tailgate, trying to figure out how the latch worked to release it.
"Lorelai!" He got out of the truck too and met her in the back. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Seizing an opportunity." She continued feeling for the latch.
"I told you, we're not doing this!"
"Oh, I know. I just want to see the back of the truck."
"You've seen the back of the truck," Luke pointed out, exasperated. "You've seen it with a used mattress, without a used mattress…"
"But I've never experienced it as a date before," she argued. She finally squeezed the latch hard enough and the tailgate let go. Luke caught it before it could hit either of them.
Lorelai put her hands flat on it and tried to figure out how to climb up. With yet another sigh, Luke put his hands on her waist and turned her around, then lifted her up onto the tailgate. She grinned at him and then scrambled up to her feet, walking further into the truck bed.
"Now what are you doing?" he complained.
"Looking for the blankets." She poked around under a tarp, trying to determine what all of the odds and ends were that he had stored in the back of the truck. "Aha! What do we have here?" She pulled out a cylindrical object wrapped in a plastic bag. "Is this what I think it is?"
"It's just a sleeping bag."
"Exactly," she purred, suggestively enough that it would have made Miss Patty proud.
"It's just there for emergencies. In case I need it during fishing trips or camping or something."
"Or something," Lorelai winked, even though she knew he couldn't see it from his vantage point at the end of the truck. She pulled the sleeping bag out of the plastic and tried to unfurl it.
"Don't do that!" he groaned. "You're just going to get all dirty!" He climbed up into the truck bed too, reaching for the sleeping bag, attempting to take it away from her.
"That's exactly what I want to do. Get allll dirty," she informed him in a sultry tone.
"Lorelai!" He made her name sound like a lament.
"Luke!" She whined right back at him, while still struggling with the sleeping bag.
"Oh, for –" He took the sleeping bag away from her, easily spreading it out before them. "I'm only doing this because I know if I don't, chances are we'll never get home."
Lorelai plopped down to sit on the fiber filled material. "Well, I'm not saying you're going to score a home run tonight, but I might let you touch some bases."
"That isn't –" he began to sputter.
"Luke, I'm teasing." She tiredly patted the spot next to her. His upright attitude was becoming exhausting. "Just come here. Sit down a minute or two. Can't we just enjoy the night for a little bit?"
He looked around, possibly hoping for the cavalry to ride up and rescue him from her clutches. Seeing no one, however, he sighed and finally sat down.
"See? Not so bad, huh?" She lightly bumped her shoulder against his, but then put her hands behind her and leaned back, making the choice not to invade his space. "I mean, it's been a pretty good night so far, right? Good food, good company, a thought-provoking movie. And now here we are, enjoying one of the first really nice spring nights. It's always such a surprise when you can go outside again without being all bundled up." She eased off her shoes and wiggled her toes in the cool air, turning her face up to the sky.
"It does feel like spring," Luke agreed. "Baseball weather," he added, sounding more relaxed. "Real baseball," he quickly clarified. "Not what you were talking about before."
"I'll take your word for that." She moved forward a little bit on the sleeping bag and then laid back, keeping her knees bent upwards. She wasn't sure if there was enough room for her to stretch out completely, since about a foot of the truck bed directly behind the cab was taken up by the stored items.
"Wow, look at all the stars," she marveled. "Do you think there are this many over Stars Hollow?"
Luke leaned back on his elbows, also gazing overhead. "I suspect so, although you'd never know it. Is it because all of the damn twinkle lights wash them out, or do we just never look up?"
"Probably a little bit of both." She continued to watch overhead. "So do you know the constellations?"
"Not really."
"Yeah, me neither. On a good night I can pick out the Big Dipper and the North Star, but that's about it."
He gave a little derisive snort, while lying down completely next to her, keeping his knees bent upwards, too. "I always thought those old Greeks must have been high on something, making up those stories about archers and flying horses. I mean, they're just dots up in the sky. Who saw that stuff?"
Lorelai grinned. "Well, the stars were brighter back then, easier to see. Maybe that helped to connect the dots."
"Maybe. I don't get why looking up at the stars is supposed to be so romantic, either. They're just smoking hunks of rock. Besides, as long as it takes their light to reach earth, chances are those stars burnt out long ago. As far as we know, they could be nothing more than old, dead, cold rocks up there."
Lorelai blinked a couple of times, frowning up at the stars she thought were so pretty a moment or two ago. She rose back up on her elbow, turning to Luke and lighting hitting his chest. "Geez, Luke, way to spoil the mood!"
He grinned, still relaxed. "Sorry," he offered, not sounding very apologetic. "Just the way my mind works."
Lorelai leaned easily on his chest, looking down at his smiling face. "You really love to cultivate that curmudgeonly persona, don't you?"
"It's who I am," he said lightly. The smile faded as he slowly reached a hand up, running his fingers through a strand of hair hanging over her shoulder. "No curls tonight," he commented.
"Not tonight," she repeated, a breathless anticipation starting to unfurl in her chest.
"Why do you do that? Get rid of the curls sometime?"
"Some days it's just easier. The curls take a lot of maintenance to get them to behave. And when I straighten it, it looks neater, somehow. Like I tried harder."
He smiled briefly at that. "You thought you had to try harder tonight? With me?"
She smiled too, shaking her head. "I wanted to look nice for you, sure."
His hand pushed deeper into her hair, smoothing it back over her shoulder. "Don't try so hard next time. I like it curly."
"There's going to be a next time?"
His hand stilled, his face turned serious. "I hope so."
"I do too." Lorelai nodded, the anticipation ready to choke her. "So you like the curls. Anything else you like about me?"
"Yeah," he almost whispered. His thumb moved to her cheek, stroking it softly. Slowly, adding encouraging pressure, he brought her face down to his.
The kiss started out gentle this time, almost as if they were testing it, trying to see if the first one was just a fluke. They took their time, letting their lips become familiar before those troublemaking tongues begged to be invited to the party.
Lorelai sank down against Luke, relishing the feel of his chest under hers. His arms wrapped around her, holding her close, and then suddenly his arms grasped her even more firmly while he rolled them over, so that she was under him. Carefully he kept most of his weight off of her, but the switching of their positions, the image of being pinned down by him, made her head positively swoon.
He broke the kiss, leaving her mouth, heading to her ear. "So before, what I said. I sort of lied." He used his mouth to tug enticingly on her earlobe, then moved down to her neck.
"You lied?" Lorelai's knees quivered as her back arched up against him, the result of the nerve endings on her neck being expertly assaulted by his mouth.
"Yeah." He pulled back, looking down at her. "Before, when I said you were cute."
"You don't think I'm cute?" she questioned breathlessly, not really caring as long as he kept kissing her.
"Oh, I think you're cute all right." He kissed a cheek, her nose, her forehead, while continuing to explain. "Like when you used to wear that bandana on your head sometimes? Totally cute. Or some of those weird band t-shirts. Definitely cute."
"So what's the lie?" Lorelai panted, writhing underneath him.
"I think you're so much more than cute," he confessed, before putting his talented mouth on her neck again.
"It's OK. I forgive you. I forgive you for everything. Even for that time you gave me decaf," she gasped out.
The heartfelt confession continued to flow out of him. "The very first time I saw you, Lorelai, you were so pretty I thought my heart had stopped. You had on red lipstick and when you smiled at me I didn't think I'd ever be able to move again. You're gorgeous, Lorelai. Beautiful. So beautiful. I want you to know that. I want you to know what you do to me. What you've always done to me." He'd stopped the kissing and was looking down at her, watching her eyes as he revealed his secrets.
She took in a couple of breaths, trying to clear her head. "Right back at'cha," she murmured. She rubbed her thumb lazily over his lips. "Minus the red lipstick, of course." She put her hand on the back of his head, bringing his mouth back down to start the kissing again.
After an additional minute or two of passion, one of the corrugations from the truck bed beneath her bit into her back when her position shifted slightly. She groaned at the pain, not like the good groans that had been emanating from her. And Luke was in tune with her enough to tell the difference. He rolled them over again, so that he was now the one battling with the metal surface under them.
Her legs sprawled to either side of him. His hand massaged the spot on her back that had taken the brunt of the truck's spite. At least, she thought that was what he was doing, but then his hand continued rubbing down her spine. When he reached the small of her back he stopped, broadening and flattening his hand, pressing down on her, anchoring her securely against the length of him.
A switch tripped inside her. She wanted – needed – more. More touching. More skin. Just…more.
Inelegantly she pushed herself up to her knees, off of him. She reached for one of the sleeves of her khaki jacket, desperately wanting to rid herself of it.
"Whoa, Lorelai! Lorelai, no. Don't –"He sat up too, putting his hands on hers, trying to stop her struggling attempts to disrobe.
"No, Luke, it's like you said before. We're adults. We can do what we want, when we want. We should take advantage of that." She was breathing hard from their making out; from trying to fight out from under his grip; from being trapped inside her jacket sleeves now partway down her arms.
"Lorelai, listen to me. This isn't – this isn't what we should do. Not tonight. This is my fault for letting it get out of hand. But this isn't going any farther tonight."
"Luke, it's fine." She finally shook him off and peeled off her jacket. She leaned forward on her knees, putting a hand against his heaving chest and smiled in anticipation at him. "If you don't have anything with you, I think I do. Let me go grab my purse a minute –"
He took hold of her arms and firmly but gently maneuvered her into a sitting position beside him. He was not smiling. His face looked stern. Stern and determined.
"We're not having sex in the back of my truck, Lorelai. Not tonight. Not ever."
She laughed at that, thinking he just needed some more of her special brand of persuading. "Come on, Luke, why not? I'm all for it! Look, here we are. Hot, hunky guy." She rubbed his chest. "Cute, pretty girl." She batted her eyelashes at him, then gestured at the sky overhead. "One instant bedroom under the stars. What more do we need?"
"No," he said shortly, and started to shift himself towards the rear of the truck.
"Luke! What is wrong with you?" She grabbed at him, tried to force him back towards her. "Why wouldn't you want to –?"
"Because I don't trust you!" The chilling words thundered out of him.
The silence that remained after that revelation hurt her ears. For long, stunned moments she thought she'd forgotten how to breathe. Her lungs and her throat hurt. Everything hurt.
"How can you say that?" she finally managed to painfully whisper. "Me? You don't trust me?"
"No, I didn't mean that." Luke looked miserable. "I trust you. Of course I trust you. But this?" He motioned between them. "Whatever this is? This I don't trust."
"I don't…I don't understand." Lorelai shook her head fretfully, still reeling from his previous words. "Isn't this what we're supposed to be doing? Exploring? Getting comfortable with each other?"
"Comfortable," he scoffed. He bowed his head, rubbing his face hard before he looked up again. "That's the thing, I guess. I'm not comfortable. I'm not comfortable with you suddenly deciding I'm finally acceptable as a boyfriend."
Lorelai tried to get her dry throat to let her swallow. "Luke, I'm sorry, but I still…I don't understand. I'm not following what you're saying."
He sighed, pulling up his knees and draping his arms over them. He shook his head, closing his eyes briefly. When he opened them again he looked resigned. "So how vulnerable and sensitive do you like your guys to be?"
Still confused and hurt, Lorelai seized on the small consolation to his reference of 'your guys,' hoping that meant he wanted to be one of them. "Usually a talk show or two below Dr. Phil is good."
"OK then." He sighed yet again, looking at her. "This – whatever this is – whether we date some more, or have an actual relationship, or whatever it ends up being – it's always going to mean more to me than it does to you."
She felt battered. "How can you say that? How can you possibly know something like that?"
"Because it's true." He looked at her steadily. "I've watched you for years, how you choose your guys, how you drop them when things don't go your way. I can't let that happen between us, Lorelai. We're…already connected…on more levels than just this. I refuse to lose everything else just because you suddenly want to kick it up to 11."
Lorelai put her fingertips against her forehead and rubbed gently, wondering if she'd hit her head on something and just didn't realize it. Surely she had a concussion; some sort of head trauma. Nothing was making sense. "But you said…You said you wanted to have more dates with me!"
"I know. I do. I want –" He paused, shaking his head again. "Hell, I want it all, Lorelai. Of course I do. To be with you? Really be with you? Of course I want that. I just don't trust that's what you want, too. And I can't take the chance. When you get tired of me and move on, I'm not sure I could cope. That's why I'm stopping this here. Now. Preventive maintenance, before we get in too deep."
"But Luke, that makes no sense! We already have feelings for each other! There's no way to stop what we already feel!"
"You need to remember what I told you a little bit ago, about the first day I saw you. The very first day, Lorelai. These feelings have been building up in me since that very first time. I'm willing to bet that you don't even know when that was. Tell me the truth, when did you decide you should date me? When did I first become an option to you? Three days ago, in the diner? Why should I risk my sanity, my emotional health, my perfectly boring life in Stars Hollow, if I'm nothing more than a whim to you?"
"You're not…You're not a whim," she said faintly.
"Right," he said coldly.
Hearing the coldness in his voice kick started a little fire in her. "You are not a whim to me," she said more forcefully.
"I'm a challenge then. You want to experiment with me. See if you can get me to crack. Then you'll decide I'm not the one after all and go on your merry way. I've watched it a dozen times over the years, Lorelai."
She turned on him, her eyes snapping. "You know what? You're right. My epiphany did just happen a couple of days ago in the diner. For whatever reason I looked at you that day and realized you could be the one. But I fail to see why that's any worse than what you've done!"
Luke looked lost. "Me?"
"Yes, you!" She was getting warmed up now, her thoughts coming together, arguments ready to launch. "I readily admit that I only seriously thought of you as a possibility on Wednesday. But once that bombshell hit me, what did I do? I asked you out, Luke! I acted on that thought immediately! Meanwhile, you tell me that you've been hung up on me for what? Ten years? Eight years? However long it's been! And you've done nothing! Nothing! Why is my impulsiveness worse than your failure to act? Explain that to me, bucko!"
"I…" Luke's eyes opened wide at her onslaught. He swallowed, rubbed over the top of his head. "That's, uh, that's…" Finally he stopped, giving his head a slight shake. "That's actually a valid point," he acknowledged.
"You bet it is!" Lorelai was still fuming.
"But it still doesn't change my concern, that I'm the one looking at getting his heart broken here. Just hearing you say you didn't think of me as a possibility until Wednesday hurts, Lorelai. All those years, and I was nothing more than the guy pouring the coffee to you?"
"I didn't say that." Cautiously, Lorelai reached over and took his hand. "Of course I was aware of you, Luke. But there were all of those other levels, those other connections you were talking about. I was wary of them, too. And don't forget, I had Rory to think about. You and me isn't just about you and me. I've got a kid who thinks you hang the sun out in the morning. If things went south between us, she would have never forgiven me."
Luke was studying their hands, now carefully clasped together. "So why now? What was different on Wednesday?"
"You. Me. Everything." She tried to remember how it had felt to her, that afternoon in the diner. "It just suddenly seemed so silly to keep looking all over for the perfect guy, when he was right there, pouring my coffee."
Silence enveloped them for a pause while they both reviewed what had been said, their hands continuing to provide a link between them.
At last Luke roused himself. He dropped her hand and started to stand up, putting one resigned hand on her shoulder. "I should get you home."
"No, wait!" She tugged at his arm, trying to delay his intention. "I don't want to go home with this still hanging over our heads. Where do we stand, Luke? What do you want to do?"
He chuckled dryly at that, but continued to stand up. "You're a smart girl. I'm sure you can guess what I want to do."
Her heart soared in hope at his joke; at his admittance he was at least physically attracted to her. "But?" she prodded, knowing there was much more than that.
"But we need to step back from this. We need – I need – to see where this is going. I need some commitment from you. You show me that you're in this relationship, Lorelai, and I swear, I will be too. I want that; I just don't want to be the only one who does."
"But how…how do I show you that?"
"I'm not sure. But it's not by making love in the back of the truck and turning a blind eye to the consequences. Let's make sure we're both on the same page before we get in too deep. If there really is commitment, it's still going to be there later. For now, let's just go on like normal. We've sort of laid everything out on the table; let's see how we feel in a day or two."
"Like normal? What does that mean? I come into the diner and eat my food and drink my coffee? I forget what happened here?" She threw up her hands in disgust. "Not going to happen, Luke!"
He squatted down beside her. "Of course we don't forget. But we push that part aside. We concentrate on the other things between us. Those other connections. And you need to honestly decide if you're in this for the long haul, or if you're out, without any pressure from me."
"Now you're Heidi Klum?"
"Who? The model?" Luke looked skeptical.
Lorelai waved her hands. "It's just something she says. Never mind." She exhaled a gloomy breath of air. "Convince you I'm in. Got it."
He shook his head vigorously. "Only if you really are. I don't want you to say what you think I want to hear. I need to know you mean it."
"Right," Lorelai said dejectedly. "I guess maybe you should take me home."
Luke picked up the discarded jacket and handed it to her. Lorelai shoved her arms back into the sleeves and scooted down to the edge of the tailgate, while Luke hastily folded the sleeping bag back up and hid it back under the tarp. She put on her shoes and Luke jumped down to the ground, waiting on her to finish. He helped her down and slammed shut the tailgate.
"Wait," he cautioned, and then helped her around to the passenger door, making sure she didn't put a foot wrong and tumble down into the ditch beside the lane where they were parked.
The drive back into Stars Hollow was very subdued, both of them lost in thought. It was a surprise to them both when the truck pulled up in front of Lorelai's house.
"Wait," he requested again. He came around to open her door and helped her down to the ground. He took her hand, swinging it slightly between them as they reluctantly walked up to her front door.
"Well," she said shakily, wondering what to say at the end of this evening. Thanks for a memorable date? We must do this again sometime? I am committed to this relationship, dammit!
"I wish…" He stopped, cleared his throat. "I sort of wish I could go back and start this night all over again."
"No, Luke, it's fine," she said, desperate to end the night on a high note.
"No, it's not. Even before we parked, I was coming off like a jerk. Curmudgeonly, like you said. I think I was trying to keep myself a little distant from you. Trying to keep our relationship to that level we have at the diner. You know, the way we sort of spar and tease each other. I'm comfortable with that. I guess I thought if we could just preserve that, I'd be OK going out with you. But I'm sorry. That's not what you deserved tonight."
"Luke, you were fine," she persisted. "It was a fun night. Really."
He scoffed at her reassurance. "Yeah, a real fun night," he said sarcastically. "I treated you just like a princess."
"Luke." She laid a soothing hand against his chest. "Let it go. Please." She was tired and confused and suddenly felt like tears were next on her agenda if he continued on this way.
He took a deep breath and leaned his forehead down against hers. "I just feel…like I blew this, Lorelai. Like I totally destroyed any chance we ever had. I'm scared that I'll never see you again. I do know you, you know. I know how you react. I'm about 99% sure you'll never step foot in the diner again."
"That is not true." She put both of her hands on either side of his face and raised him up so she could look him in the eye. "That is so not true! I will be in the diner tomorrow, Luke. Maybe not first thing in the morning, because I plan on sleeping in, but I'll be there by lunchtime. I promise. I'm going to be there every single day. Every. Single. Day. Always. I am always going to be there, in your life, doing whatever I have to do to convince you how much you mean to me. Do you understand me? I will be there, Luke. You are not getting rid of me this easily."
He didn't speak, but he nodded, slowly. He put a hand through her hair, letting the silky ends trickle out over his fingers.
She saw him glance at her mouth and understood the conflict between desire and sensibility, because the same things were warring in her. But unlike him, she recognized that she had nothing to lose.
Her hands were still on his face, so she drew him down. He kissed her sweetly, but she seized the opportunity once again. She sealed her lips against his, drawing in his tongue, reminding him explosively of one of the connections that definitely throbbed between them. With regret she finally let him go, resting her face against his neck where his pulse was jumping wildly.
After a few moments he started to laugh softly. "You really do fight dirty, don't you?"
She pulled her head up, a smile flashing across her face. "You know I do, Luke. If nothing else, you know exactly what a dirty, dirty girl I am." She rubbed her thumb across his cheek once again, feeling the start of his whiskers coming through. "No holds barred," she warned him, feeling more confident.
Still chuckling, he lightly kissed her forehead. "See you tomorrow," he said, turning to leave.
"See you tomorrow," she agreed. The tears had retreated, banished by her confidence. She was able to stand on the porch and wave goodbye to him and Captain Pickup, looking forward to her campaign to convince Luke that her feelings were in all ways equal to his.
Let the games begin.
End notes: Obviously, I own nothing concerning the documentary Supersize Me, either, but I thank Morgan Spurlock for releasing it at just the right time for Luke and Lorelai's first date. Also, as my pal Fishbag pointed out, Souplantation does not have any franchises in Connecticut or anywhere on the East Coast, for that matter, but since it was the show itself that started that fib, I feel perfectly justified in continuing it.