***Trapped in Stars Hollow***
Jess slouched down on the couch, and handed Rory a takeaway cup from Luke's. He took a large gulp from his own cup and sighed.
"What's wrong?" Rory asked him, glancing away from the television to study his face.
"So tired," he grumbled before downing the rest of his coffee.
"Poor baby," she cooed.
"He did it again last night."
Rory rolled her eyes. "Oh God. Seriously? It's getting more often, isn't it?"
"Yeah. Went on for ages last night. It's like we're getting the Playboy channel for free."
Rory groaned. "Ew..."
"It starts off really quiet, but after about half an hour, it's all 'Lorelai! Lorelai!'" He yelled this imitation. "But he sure has some stamina, my uncle, even while asleep," he chuckled.
A look of disgust crossed Rory's face, and she swatted at his arm. "Do you mind? That's my mother you're talking about. It's so gross."
"Come on, it's funny."
"Nuh uh. As far as I'm concerned, my mother never has sex."
Jess burst out laughing. "Yeah. Because you end up with a kid at 16 by not having sex."
Rory punched his arm as hard as she could muster. "Shut up!"
"Seriously Cleopatra, you need to leave the lovely state of Denial. Have you seen how hot Lorelai is? She's been picked up so many times, she's starting to grow handles."
"Stop it, Jess!"
"Stop? The only time your mom says 'Stop' is when she's writing a telegram."
Rory crossed her arms across the chest, and stuck her lip out in a pout.
"I'm sorry, baby," Jess said softly, kissing her neck. "It's just that for the past month, I've heard her name being mentioned in what sounds like some pretty compromising positions. I'm going crazy here."
Rory bit her lip as she thought. "So... we need to find a way that Luke can get all this frustration out of his system during waking hours..."
He raised his eyebrows. "I'm intrigued, Julie Chen."
"I actually see myself less as the puppet master that is Big Brother, and more as Machiavelli."
"Fair enough. And your plan is..."
An evil smile came over her face. "I'll start to sow the seeds in Mom, you start with Luke - delicately, mind you. They may need a little push later on."
"I feel like... pancakes."
Lorelai shook her head firmly. "Ugh! How can you eat pancakes at 9pm?"
Rory shrugged. "That's what I feel like. You're not exactly the best role model when it comes to logical food choices."
Luke interrupted. "Lorelai? What do you want?"
"Cheeseburger, extra cheese, none of the rabbit food, and give me extra ketchup on the side."
"Wouldn't it be easier if I just added the extra ketchup while I'm making it?" Luke asked. "We both know you're going to add the whole ramekin to the burger anyway."
"Nope. I'm very particular about exactly how much goes where. You should have this stuff memorized after knowing me for over six years."
"You're crazy," Luke sighed.
Lorelai looked at him, a smile on her face, burning a hole through his head with her gaze. "I don't think it's crazy if there are certain aspects of my life where I demand only the highest quality. A burger is like... some other things in life. You don't want to bother wasting your time if it's not going to be completely satisfying."
"Dirty," Rory gasped.
Luke looked confused for a second, before you could literally see the light going off in his head. A blush came over his cheeks, and he hurried away to the kitchen.
"So, Mom," Rory started hesitantly. "How long do you plan on flirting with him before you do something slightly more pro-active?"
"Huh? Who?"
"Luke," she groaned. "Oh my God. You cannot be this dense."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Well, you're the only person in the tri-county area who doesn't know what I'm talking about. Your stubborn naiveté astounds me."
Lorelai looked at her daughter blankly.
"Luke likes you, Mom."
"Well, duh! He must be an actor of George Clooney talent if he can fake being friends with someone for six years. Even better than my lovely soon-to-be-husband George back when he was on 'Facts of Life'. Now, that was the best acting I've seen... ever."
Rory rolled her eyes. She was going to have to speak really slowly to get her to understand. "No. Luke... LIKE.... likes.... you. As in fifth grade, pulling your pigtails to get your attention 'likes'."
"Ugh! Why don't you go join Hello Magazine? I'm sure they'd love a new member. Babette would probably sponsor your application if it means getting an inside source into our lives."
A grin spread across Rory's face. "'Our' as in your and Luke's lives?"
Lorelai rolled her eyes. "You are a sad, sad little girl. You know that?"
Rory kicked Lorelai under the table in reply.
"Hey!" She kicked her daughter back, harder.
When Luke came over to deliver the girls' meals, they had turned their backs on each other, and were rubbing their respective shins. The second her pancakes were set in front of her, Rory attacked it as though she were Shenzi, Banzai and Ed being thrown a zebra leg. Lorelai looked at her daughter in confusion, until she saw the curtain flutter in her peripheral vision and Jess emerge from the apartment. The two teenagers exchanged meaningful looks as Rory gulped down her coffee, and joined her boyfriend at the end of the counter for what looked like a rather in depth conversation.
"I tried," Rory sighed. "She refuses to consider it for even a second. She's so stubborn!"
Jess chuckled. "That doesn't sound like a family trait at all."
"Hey!"
Jess gave a 'well it's true' shrug, a small grin on his face.
Rory studied Luke's demeanor, and shuddered.
"What?" Jess asked.
"Well look at him. He's Luke - our Luke. He's so sweet, and caring, and... well... normal. I can't imagine him having those sorts of dreams - especially about Mom. It's just.... ugh!"
"At least you don't have to hear it," he grumbled.
"Have you mentioned anything to him?"
"Ew! I'm not going to tell him what he's been sleep-talking about. We're guys. We don't talk."
"But, during the day, has he made any indication that he likes her?"
Jess shrugged. "Not really. He makes the sad little bunny eyes when she walks away, and he smiles a lot when she comes in, but I don't think he realizes he's doing it."
"Hmmm...." Rory pondered the predicament.
"Wait," Jess whispered and discretely indicated towards Lorelai's table, where Luke was taking Rory's seat. They couldn't hear what was being said, but Lorelai was laughing and flipping her hair - an obvious sign she was flirting. Their body language showed a degree of familiarity, turned towards each other, both sets of arms lying side by side on the table, almost touching. Lorelai leaned in to Luke, and whispered something in his ear, causing him to turn a flattering shade of puce.
"That's it," Rory decided. "This has got to stop. Phase two needs to be put into action."
"Sure, Lieutenant. Phase one didn't last very long."
"Well, I figure it's in my best interest if my boyfriend isn't having dirty thoughts of my mother running through his head while he's lying in bed."
Rory pulled her phone out of her pocket and scrolled through her address book until she found the appropriate number. She ducked behind the curtain so she wouldn't be overheard by the adults.
"Hi, Sookie? We need your help."
Lorelai walked into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. She poured the cup, wondering where Sookie was. Then she heard her friend talking in the pantry. "Yeah, sure. It's all organized. You guys get just get them here..... Sure. See you later, munchkin."
Sookie backed out of the pantry, flipping her cellphone shut. She turned to find Lorelai hovering over her. "Oh my god!" Her phone went flying across the kitchen, and Sookie fell, taking down a stack of baking pans with her.
As Lorelai helped her friend up, she looked at her guilty expression. "What's up Sook? Got some Secret Squirrel plans going on there?"
"Uh.. no," Sookie said slightly too loudly. Her eyes were wide, and her hands kept wringing the bottom of her apron. "Nothing's going on. Um... just finalizing our Christmas plans, you know..."
Sookie was much too flustered to be telling the truth. "Come on," Lorelai persisted. "If you can't tell your best friend what you're doing, then who can you tell?"
"You're the one person I CAN'T tell," Sookie let out, before gasping and clamping her hands over her mouth in shock. She waved her fingers in front of Lorelai's face. "Abracadabra. Forget everything I just said!" Embarrassed at her slip, Sookie ran from the kitchen, and locked herself in the storage cupboard.
Lorelai sighed, and wandered back out to the front desk, pulling her phone out as she went.
"Rory? My love! Come keep Mommy company. You are the only sane person in this town. Even Sookie has been taken to the dark side."
"Sorry, Mom. I've got.... something I need to do."
"Wow. You're very evasive today as well. Have the pod people gotten to you like they got to Sookie?"
"Um... maybe. Can I see you later? I'll come by the inn before you finish."
"Swear?"
"I'll pinky swear even."
"Okay, fine," she sighed into the phone. "See you Sweets."
"Bye."
***
Rory walked with Jess into the Independence Inn, and greeted Lorelai with a weird grin on her face.
"Hi, honey. Oh! Jess. I didn't expect you."
"Mom," Rory began, wrapping her arm around Lorelai's waist, grabbing a room key from the peg on the wall, and leading her towards the stairs. "There's something very important I wanted to talk to you about." She craned her neck back down to the reception area, where Sookie gave her a thumbs up.
"Huh?" Lorelai watched Rory's actions with confusion. "Where are we going? This isn't going to be a talk about sex, is it? Because I'm not ready for that yet."
Rory pushed her mother up the stairs. "Well, in a way.. yes. It is about sex."
"No Rory! Please don't tell me that Jess has defiled my little girl." She tried to turn and run back down the stairs, but Rory was intent on her destination. "I'll get him. I'll lop his head off with very blunt hedgeclippers."
"In here," Rory told her, stopping outside Room 7. She opened the door quickly, pushing her mother inside, but staying in the hall herself, and then slammed it behind her, locking the door from the outside.
Jess and Sookie approached her. Sookie's grin was so bright, it could have lit New York City for an entire week. Jess pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket, and handed it to Rory, who in turn slipped it under the door.
"And now we wait," Rory told the other two co-conspirators.
Lorelai looked at the wooden door that had closed two inches from her nose. "Rory?" she called. "This isn't funny. What's going on?"
She heard a crash and a grunt come from the bathroom, and her hand flew to her chest in shock as she spun around to confront her attacker.
"Lorelai?" she heard coming from the ensuite.
She recognized that voice. Luke emerged, flannel-less, in just his t-shirt and jeans, wiping his hands on a towel.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"Fixing the dripping faucet... I thought you asked for it."
Lorelai shook her head. "Didn't even know it was dripping."
"And you...?" Luke raised an eyebrow and gestured around the room.
"Uh... Rory said she wanted to talk, and now the door is locked. Something's fishy."
A piece of paper came shooting out from under the door, and Lorelai picked it up and began reading.
"Luke and Lorelai.
We are officially sick of the two of you dancing around each other, pretending you're not in love.
Therefore, you are hereby banished to this room until you sort this out.
Sookie will bring up meals later on.
So... talk. About your feelings.
Luke - you might like to start with telling Lorelai what you've been dreaming about for the past month.
Call Rory when you're done.
Rory, Jess, and Sookie"
Lorelai glanced at Luke. "Your dreams?" she pressed.
Luke's face became bright red and he turned away quickly. "How the hell do they.... it's nothing."
She immediately whipped out her phone and dialled the familiar number.
"That was quick," Rory answered. "You sure didn't waste any time getting down and dirty, did you?"
"You're a rat, and no longer my daughter."
"Well that's fine. Because until you get out of there, I have the house to myself. If you continue to be stubborn, I can sell it to pay for college."
"This is incredibly childish, you know."
Rory giggled. "Well, that's fine. Jess and I ARE still children, aren't we?"
"Please let us out. The joke's over," Lorelai pleaded.
"Yeah, I have a diner to run," Luke called from across the room.
"You can come out when you both have admitted your feelings," Rory said sharply before ending the call.
Lorelai kept her eyes on the dead phone in her hand, not willing to turn her attention on Luke. Her legs seemingly gave way, and she flopped down on the perfectly made king-size bed, sighing. She felt the bed shift as Luke did the same on the other side of the bed. They sat in silence for half an hour. Every two minutes, Lorelai would press 'Redial' on her phone, but it would go straight to voicemail. After leaving nine messages, she ran out of threats to make to her daughter, and would simply say 'Let us out'.
It took all the courage she could muster to turn around and look at Luke. She folded her legs under herself, and saw that he had been watching her this entire time.
"I don't know what to say," she admitted.
"Well, there is a first for everything," Luke grumbled, but his expression was soft.
"Everyone's a comedian today."
Luke was tracing the pattern on the comforter slowly and methodically. "Is it true, what Rory wrote?" he asked in a small voice. "Do you...?"
"I don't know. I haven't thought about it."
His eyebrows raised slowly. "Really?"
She didn't say anything, but Luke's skeptical gaze pierced her to the core. "Okay, fine!" she burst. "There've been a couple of times when I thought there was something more there. Are you happy?"
"Um.... sure. Was it supposed to make me happy?"
Lorelai pouted and turned away. "Well, I know of three people outside who would be happy. But if you feel at all like I do, you're mortified."
"Four," Luke muttered.
She whipped around to face him. "What?"
"Nothing," he exclaimed, his eyes wide.
"Luke? What do you mean by 'Four'?"
Luke stood up and starting pacing around the small room. It took him four paces to reach the door, and another four to make it back to the window. He stopped, staring out onto the pond outside, and sighed. "There are four people who are happy that you felt something."
Lorelai felt her breathing become shallow and her head spin as she processed the information. 'Luke would be happy if I liked him?' The thought swirled round and round her head, just like The Song that Doesn't End. As shocking as the admittance was, she was just as shocked with her body's violent reaction to the news. She slid down off the bed to the floor, not wanting to look at him while she processed this information, and pulled her knees up to her chest.
She was quiet for a long time - she lost track of how long. She thought about those moments when she had thought that they were close to something happening between them - choosing paint for the diner; the double date with Sookie and Jackson; the next morning in the diner; the night Max proposed; the bid-a-basket auction. They replayed over in her head like one of those 'Best of' videos on YouTube. She didn't notice when Luke came around the bed and sat on the floor next to her. His movements were quiet like some supernatural being. She had to glance at him, next to her, to make sure that he hadn't turned into a ghost or a vampire or something in the minutes - well she presumed it was only minutes - she had been sitting here thinking.
"Are you saying that what the kids said is right? You're in..." She couldn't say the 'L' word. Not right now. Not so soon after the idea had first crossed her mind. It seemed way to premature. "I mean... when you insinuated that you were happy I might feel something for you, that wasn't just an ego thing, right?"
"Uh... right. Not ego."
"Not the id, either, then?"
"Nothing ever written or said by Freud," he confirmed. "And, yes. There's a strong possibility that what the kids wrote is right."
"Wow," she sighed. "Luke Danes just expressed his feelings."
"Don't get used to it," he muttered. "Doubt it'll happen again."
She tried to process everything, with little success. Luke was in love with her? It just didn't compute. It felt like she was trying to fit her size nine feet into a size five shoe. No matter how determined you were, it just didn't work.
"Are you okay?" Luke asked her, his voice dripping with concern. "'Cause you have that same look on your face as when Patty told you Princess Diana had died."
"Yeah, I'm fine," she sighed.
"Just because... what you said before, it made me think I'm not alone in this. But now you're sad, or freaked out, or something, and I feel like an idiot." Luke seemed to suddenly find his shoes to be extremely interesting. He wouldn't take his eyes off them, and he started to pick at part of the leather.
Lorelai turned to face him directly. "Oh no, Luke! Don't be like that. I just wasn't prepared for this - the ambush, finding out you felt something." She delicately placed her hand on his chin, and turned him to face her again. "May I be honest with you?"
"Well yeah," he chuckled. "I'd prefer you weren't lying through your teeth right now."
Lorelai looked into his blue eyes, filled with such pain and longing. "All those little moments - those times that I've thought there was something more - I presumed it was just me. Yes, I felt it, and there were a few times when I desperately wanted to kiss you, but it felt like you didn't feel it too. You never said anything again, or changed how you acted. You remember the morning after my horrendous double date with Rune?" Luke nodded in recognition. "That morning, I was more nervous than I've been in my life. It felt like a colony of butterflies had set up camp in my stomach. I was so sure that something was about to happen. But you just acted like everything was fine. I was back to being the annoying customer, who you saw more as a sister than anything else."
Luke moved suddenly, putting his hand on her forearm. "I did NOT think of you as my sister. At any time. Far from it."
"Good, good," she muttered, suddenly very nervous about the possibility of what was to come. "So let us be crystal clear here. Clearer than glass, or water, or even air. I like you Luke. More than just a friend. And, I think that you like me back...."
"Right," he confirmed, a rarely seen smile creeping across his face. "I lo.... I more than like you, Lorelai Gilmore."
Lorelai let out a nervous giggle. "So... we're on the same page here? You, me, Sookie, Rory, Jess? We all agree on the same thing?"
"It must be a cold day in hell, but yes. I think everyone is in agreement here."
"So... what do we do now?" she asked, her eyes roaming his body.
"Well, I'd kinda like to kiss you now, if that's alright with you."
"Oh, yeah," she exclaimed. "That is perfectly alright. Encouraged even. If there was one thing that I'd like to happen now, you kissing me is definitely it."
"Lorelai?"
"Yeah?"
"Shut up." He ran a finger softly down her flushed cheek, and around to the back of her neck, where he gained enough traction to pull her upper body closer to him. He leaned towards her and kissed her gently. They pulled away from each other, and Lorelai burst out laughing. She became hysterical in no time. "What?" Luke demanded.
Lorelai calmed herself down long enough to gasp out a full sentence. "It's just - I'm kissing Luke."
Luke rolled his eyes. "Well, I'm glad you find it so funny."
Lorelai doubled over, trying not to laugh anymore. "It's Luke!" she laughed.
"Okay. Feel free to stop talking about me in the third person," he grumbled, and shuffled away from her.
That action sobered her quickly. "Oh no, Luke. Come back. I'll be good. No more laughing."
"No," he sulked. "I've changed my mind." He crossed his arms across his chest.
Lorelai tried to make her face seductive, and crawled over to where Luke was sitting, still sulking. "I'm sorry. Please, please forgive me." She hesitated a moment, like she was making a decision, then moved and straddled his legs. She leaned in closer to him, and brushed her lips across his. "Am I forgiven?"
Luke sighed. "I guess." His body, however, wasn't very good at holding a grudge. When she kissed him again, he couldn't help but reciprocate eagerly. They kissed for several minutes, happy, casual, not caring about anything else in the world but how they felt. Lorelai was the first to pull away. She gave Luke a regretful look and moved herself to be perched carefully on the edge of the bed.
"So..." she sighed.
"So?" He mournfully looked up at her, wishing she was still touching him.
"So, what are we?" she asked awkwardly. Even though 30 seconds earlier she had her tongue in his mouth, she now couldn't meet his gaze.
"Uh... I guess we try the whole relationship thing?" His suggestion came out as a nervous question.
Lorelai raised her head to look at him again. "Yeah.... that would work."
Luke joined her on the bed, and wrapped his arm around her waist. "Deal," he growled, and kissed her fervently.
There was a hesitant knock at the door. "Lorelai? Luke?" Sookie called. "I've got some dinner for you... Stand away from the door, okay? I'm not having any escapees on my watch."
The pair stood slowly, but didn't take their arms from their entwined state. Sookie slowly opened the door, peeking around the side. She saw the position the two were in, and did a double-take. Lorelai grinned at her, and snuck a glance up at Luke's face, seeing the same expression mirrored in his features.
"It worked already? This is completely the bestest idea those kids have ever had!" She whipped out her cellphone, and dialled Rory's number. "Rory! Success! We are brilliant evil masterminds!"
Rory's timbre could be heard through the phone.
"Okay. I'll tell them. Later, cupcake." Sookie hung up. "Okay. So you two are really...?"
Lorelai nodded. "We're really."
"I'm so happy for you! You are now free to go... unless.... I can just leave now. Here's your food. And your room key." Sookie clapped like a little excited girl as she left, and closed the door behind her.
"So... we're really?" Luke asked.
"We're really." Lorelai confirmed.
"Good."
"So... now you need to tell me about those dreams," she giggled.
"Not going to happen."
"But Luke..." she whined. "Please?"
Luke sighed. "I am not giving out any details. All I'll say is you had a starring role."
"Good to know. Was I any good?" She grinned at him before pecking his cheek in a short kiss.
"You were amazing," he admitted, before pulling her into another round of serious making out.