This fic is a sort of prequel to my fic "It Happened One Summer". It's a
stand-alone, so don't expect any more parts. It takes place when Luke and
Lorelai first meet, after Lorelai moves to Stars Hollow. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Luke, Lorelai, Rory, or anyone else mentioned in this fic. They belong to the WB and I don't know who else.
**************************************************************************** ****
The bell jangled as Lorelai walked through the door of the hardware store. At least, she thought it was a hardware store. She was carrying Rory in her snuggli, and the diaper bag was draped over one shoulder, and she was fully prepared to encounter isles and racks of tools, tools, and more tools. Instead, she found something completely different.
Two plump women sat at a table, gossiping with one another. They broke off when she came in, and Lorelai saw one of them pull out a cell phone. Other than them, the place was empty. Round stools sat next to a long counter. Behind the counter stood a man wearing a flannel shirt and a backwards baseball cap. He looked about nineteen years old, if that.
He was handsome, Lorelai thought, probably the most handsome man she'd ever seen. She wondered why his sign advertised a hardware store, and she wondered where an actual hardware store might be. She needed tools to fix up the small shed that Mia had given Lorelai and Rory to live in.
"As long as I'm here…" Lorelai thought to herself. She went up to the counter and smiled at the man.
"One extra-large coffee, please."
The man looked at her. "That stuff'll kill you."
"Then I'll die happy." Lorelai accepted the coffee and took a huge gulp, sighing with pleasure as the steamy liquid slid down her throat. "I'm Lorelai Gilmore."
"Luke Danes." He indicated the baby in the snuggli. "Your little sister?"
Lorelai frowned. "My daughter. Her name's Rory."
"That's a pretty name."
"Thank you. Actually, her name is Lorelai, but I call her Rory, 'cuz otherwise it'd be too confusing. You see, I was all doped up, and I figured if guys name their sons after them all the time, why can't women do it…" she broke off. Luke was staring at her, amused. "What?"
"You always talk this much?"
"Yeah, so what?" Luke held up his hands. "Never mind. Just thought I'd ask that's all. If you're going to come in here often, I need to invest in a good pair of earplugs."
Lorelai grinned. "You do that, Luke. So, why does the sign say this is a hardware store?"
Luke frowned. "This used to be my father's hardware store. He died last year."
"And the sign's a sort of memorial?"
"Yeah."
"Wow. That's sweet. I'm sorry about your father."
"Don't be, I'm fine." Luke looked at the plump women, who were now both on cell phones. He sighed. "I have really got to remember to put up that 'no cell phones' sign." Just then, Rory began crying. Lorelai jiggled her up and down.
"She's hungry. Do you have a bathroom or someplace where I can feed her?"
"You can use my apartment."
"Really? That would be great." Lorelai was surprised, but grateful. At least now she wouldn't have to go hunting for a bathroom. "Hang on, Rory. Food's coming." Lorelai followed Luke through a door marked 'Office'.
She found herself in a one-room apartment. It had no kitchen area, but then again, it didn't really need one. There was a small bathroom, and the main room was set up with a TV, a small radio/cassette player, a dresser, a bookcase, a couple of small tables, and a bed. For a second, she thought about what it might be like to make love to Luke in that bed, but Luke's voice and her daughter's cries brought her back to earth.
"I'm going back out there. You can use the bathroom or this room, doesn't really matter. Just come back out here when you're done."
"Thanks, Luke, I appreciate it." Luke grunted and left the room. Lorelai sat down on the bed and began to feed her baby.
***************************************************************************
Three days later, Lorelai sat on the bed and looked around the small room, satisfied with her progress. She had strung a curtain up around the bathtub, sink, and toilet to ensure privacy, and she had set up some rugs on the floor. The double bed was covered with a colorful quilt, and posters of the Bangles and the Go-Gos hung on the walls. She had most of the furniture she needed, including an armoire, a bed, a dresser, even a crib for Rory. All the furniture, except the crib, had been cast-offs from a guest room in the inn. The crib had been donated by one of the residents of Stars Hollow. Lorelai had met most of the residents of the small town, and they had proved to be quite friendly to her. Not one of them was judgmental in any way. Mia was very kind, continuing to help Lorelai when she needed it. She had a new best friend in Sookie, the inn's cook. And she was an excellent cook, indeed. The shed came with a small refrigerator, camping stove, and cooking utensils, but Lorelai preferred to get her meals from Sookie. Lorelai sighed and lay down on her bed. She didn't ever want to leave this place. She wanted to put down roots here, raise her family here, and live here forever. She got off the bed and went to the door, deciding to go see Luke.
"Go away, we're closed" Luke snapped when Lorelai opened the door to the diner.
"Then maybe you should lock the door." Lorelai smiled and perched on a stool. "Coffee please!"
Luke shook his head and poured her a cup. "Where's Rory tonight?"
"Mia wanted to spend some time with her. Her eldest daughter's visiting, and she's expecting her first baby. Mia thought it'd be good for her to get some practice. I don't mind, as long as Mia's there with them every second."
Luke laughed. "You sound like an overprotective mother. Yeah, Mia's great with kids. She used to baby-sit for me, a long time ago."
"Wow. You know, I just can't picture you as a little kid."
Luke smiled as he went to go lock the door. "Well, we all have to start from somewhere. What do I look like, a robot?"
"You'd be a Luke-bot. You're name's not Rob."
"Shut up." Luke liked the pretty sixteen year-old. He wondered what it would be like to date her, but he dismissed the thought. "She's too young for you" Luke thought to himself. "And she deserves better then you."
"Well, I'm gonna go. Rory's been away from me for an entire half hour. That is entirely too long." She slid off the stool. "Thanks for the coffee, Luke" she said, pecking him on the cheek and walking out the door. Luke rubbed his cheek in wonder.
"I'm never washing this cheek again."
*********************************************************************
Lorelai walked into the diner. She'd been in Stars Hollow for nearly three months. Rory's six-month birthday would be coming up soon, and she planned to invite a few people out to dinner to celebrate. She had some money put aside, and she figured she had enough as long as they didn't go anywhere too expensive. When Sookie heard of this plan, however, she insisted on hosting a small party at her house, and she would cook.
"Coffee?"
"You know it." Lorelai sat on the stool she usually occupied, the stool she'd come to think of as "her" stool. Rory was in the snuggli, but she was starting to outgrow it. Lorelai planned to get her a stroller that afternoon.
"So, Sookie's hosting a party for Rory's six-month birthday. I was wondering if you wanted to come."
"Sure, when is it?"
"April 10, 7 pm, Sookie's house."
"I'll be there." Luke handed Lorelai the Styrofoam cup. Lorelai looked at her watch and gasped. "I have to get to work! I'm up for a promotion, but they don't give promotions to people who are always late."
"No, they don't" Luke agreed as Lorelai scurried out the door, clutching her cup of coffee.
**********************************************
Two nights later, Lorelai came in. "You are now looking at the head maid at the Independence Inn!" Luke grinned at her.
"Congratulations!"
"Yeah, I get more pay and better hours, and more time off."
"Well, let's celebrate." Luke flipped the sign on the door to 'Closed'.
"So, where's your daughter tonight?"
"She's spending the night at Sookie's." Luke poured them each a cup of coffee, and Lorelai took a sip.
"This is great, but I really feel like Irish coffee. Do you have any whisky?"
"Hang on." Luke went into his apartment. He came back with an unopened bottle of whisky and poured some into each of their cups.
***********************************
Several hours later, the whisky was half gone, and Luke and Lorelai were bored. "Poker?"
Luke rejected the suggestion. "Nah."
"Strip Poker? Strip Twister?"
"No, no. But I know what we could do" Luke murmured, bringing his mouth down toward hers. Lorelai responded favorably to the kiss, and she gasped when he picked her up and brought her into his apartment.
The next day, Lorelai woke up in an unfamiliar room. She looked around. "Where am I?" she wondered.
Then, she remembered the previous night. She and Luke had made love several times before she fell asleep in his arms. Now, Lorelai was alone in the bed, and she was starving. She was about to get up when she heard the door open.
Luke entered the apartment, bearing a tray loaded with food for the two of them. Pancakes, hash browns, bacon, and, of course, coffee. There was even a little vial of aspirin. Lorelai grinned. "You read my mind."
She took three pills, and then she and Luke ate with gusto.
"Listen, Lorelai, we need to talk about last night."
Lorelai looked up at him. "Well, what do you want to do about it?"
"Do you think it was a mistake?" he asked her gently.
"No! Do you?" she asked worriedly.
He breathed a sigh of relief. "No, I think it was the best thing that's ever happened to me."
"I agree." Lorelai said.
"So, you wanna give this whole relationship thing a try?" Luke asked Lorelai, hopefully.
"Does this answer your question?" And she brought her lips to his for a kiss.
~8 Years later~
Lorelai stood in the gazebo in the center of town with Luke, Rory, Sookie, Luke's brother, and the preacher. "I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride." Lorelai smiled as her husband's lips met hers. She knew they would have a wonderful life together.
************************************************************************
And that's it for this story. Please R/R!
Disclaimer: I don't own Luke, Lorelai, Rory, or anyone else mentioned in this fic. They belong to the WB and I don't know who else.
**************************************************************************** ****
The bell jangled as Lorelai walked through the door of the hardware store. At least, she thought it was a hardware store. She was carrying Rory in her snuggli, and the diaper bag was draped over one shoulder, and she was fully prepared to encounter isles and racks of tools, tools, and more tools. Instead, she found something completely different.
Two plump women sat at a table, gossiping with one another. They broke off when she came in, and Lorelai saw one of them pull out a cell phone. Other than them, the place was empty. Round stools sat next to a long counter. Behind the counter stood a man wearing a flannel shirt and a backwards baseball cap. He looked about nineteen years old, if that.
He was handsome, Lorelai thought, probably the most handsome man she'd ever seen. She wondered why his sign advertised a hardware store, and she wondered where an actual hardware store might be. She needed tools to fix up the small shed that Mia had given Lorelai and Rory to live in.
"As long as I'm here…" Lorelai thought to herself. She went up to the counter and smiled at the man.
"One extra-large coffee, please."
The man looked at her. "That stuff'll kill you."
"Then I'll die happy." Lorelai accepted the coffee and took a huge gulp, sighing with pleasure as the steamy liquid slid down her throat. "I'm Lorelai Gilmore."
"Luke Danes." He indicated the baby in the snuggli. "Your little sister?"
Lorelai frowned. "My daughter. Her name's Rory."
"That's a pretty name."
"Thank you. Actually, her name is Lorelai, but I call her Rory, 'cuz otherwise it'd be too confusing. You see, I was all doped up, and I figured if guys name their sons after them all the time, why can't women do it…" she broke off. Luke was staring at her, amused. "What?"
"You always talk this much?"
"Yeah, so what?" Luke held up his hands. "Never mind. Just thought I'd ask that's all. If you're going to come in here often, I need to invest in a good pair of earplugs."
Lorelai grinned. "You do that, Luke. So, why does the sign say this is a hardware store?"
Luke frowned. "This used to be my father's hardware store. He died last year."
"And the sign's a sort of memorial?"
"Yeah."
"Wow. That's sweet. I'm sorry about your father."
"Don't be, I'm fine." Luke looked at the plump women, who were now both on cell phones. He sighed. "I have really got to remember to put up that 'no cell phones' sign." Just then, Rory began crying. Lorelai jiggled her up and down.
"She's hungry. Do you have a bathroom or someplace where I can feed her?"
"You can use my apartment."
"Really? That would be great." Lorelai was surprised, but grateful. At least now she wouldn't have to go hunting for a bathroom. "Hang on, Rory. Food's coming." Lorelai followed Luke through a door marked 'Office'.
She found herself in a one-room apartment. It had no kitchen area, but then again, it didn't really need one. There was a small bathroom, and the main room was set up with a TV, a small radio/cassette player, a dresser, a bookcase, a couple of small tables, and a bed. For a second, she thought about what it might be like to make love to Luke in that bed, but Luke's voice and her daughter's cries brought her back to earth.
"I'm going back out there. You can use the bathroom or this room, doesn't really matter. Just come back out here when you're done."
"Thanks, Luke, I appreciate it." Luke grunted and left the room. Lorelai sat down on the bed and began to feed her baby.
***************************************************************************
Three days later, Lorelai sat on the bed and looked around the small room, satisfied with her progress. She had strung a curtain up around the bathtub, sink, and toilet to ensure privacy, and she had set up some rugs on the floor. The double bed was covered with a colorful quilt, and posters of the Bangles and the Go-Gos hung on the walls. She had most of the furniture she needed, including an armoire, a bed, a dresser, even a crib for Rory. All the furniture, except the crib, had been cast-offs from a guest room in the inn. The crib had been donated by one of the residents of Stars Hollow. Lorelai had met most of the residents of the small town, and they had proved to be quite friendly to her. Not one of them was judgmental in any way. Mia was very kind, continuing to help Lorelai when she needed it. She had a new best friend in Sookie, the inn's cook. And she was an excellent cook, indeed. The shed came with a small refrigerator, camping stove, and cooking utensils, but Lorelai preferred to get her meals from Sookie. Lorelai sighed and lay down on her bed. She didn't ever want to leave this place. She wanted to put down roots here, raise her family here, and live here forever. She got off the bed and went to the door, deciding to go see Luke.
"Go away, we're closed" Luke snapped when Lorelai opened the door to the diner.
"Then maybe you should lock the door." Lorelai smiled and perched on a stool. "Coffee please!"
Luke shook his head and poured her a cup. "Where's Rory tonight?"
"Mia wanted to spend some time with her. Her eldest daughter's visiting, and she's expecting her first baby. Mia thought it'd be good for her to get some practice. I don't mind, as long as Mia's there with them every second."
Luke laughed. "You sound like an overprotective mother. Yeah, Mia's great with kids. She used to baby-sit for me, a long time ago."
"Wow. You know, I just can't picture you as a little kid."
Luke smiled as he went to go lock the door. "Well, we all have to start from somewhere. What do I look like, a robot?"
"You'd be a Luke-bot. You're name's not Rob."
"Shut up." Luke liked the pretty sixteen year-old. He wondered what it would be like to date her, but he dismissed the thought. "She's too young for you" Luke thought to himself. "And she deserves better then you."
"Well, I'm gonna go. Rory's been away from me for an entire half hour. That is entirely too long." She slid off the stool. "Thanks for the coffee, Luke" she said, pecking him on the cheek and walking out the door. Luke rubbed his cheek in wonder.
"I'm never washing this cheek again."
*********************************************************************
Lorelai walked into the diner. She'd been in Stars Hollow for nearly three months. Rory's six-month birthday would be coming up soon, and she planned to invite a few people out to dinner to celebrate. She had some money put aside, and she figured she had enough as long as they didn't go anywhere too expensive. When Sookie heard of this plan, however, she insisted on hosting a small party at her house, and she would cook.
"Coffee?"
"You know it." Lorelai sat on the stool she usually occupied, the stool she'd come to think of as "her" stool. Rory was in the snuggli, but she was starting to outgrow it. Lorelai planned to get her a stroller that afternoon.
"So, Sookie's hosting a party for Rory's six-month birthday. I was wondering if you wanted to come."
"Sure, when is it?"
"April 10, 7 pm, Sookie's house."
"I'll be there." Luke handed Lorelai the Styrofoam cup. Lorelai looked at her watch and gasped. "I have to get to work! I'm up for a promotion, but they don't give promotions to people who are always late."
"No, they don't" Luke agreed as Lorelai scurried out the door, clutching her cup of coffee.
**********************************************
Two nights later, Lorelai came in. "You are now looking at the head maid at the Independence Inn!" Luke grinned at her.
"Congratulations!"
"Yeah, I get more pay and better hours, and more time off."
"Well, let's celebrate." Luke flipped the sign on the door to 'Closed'.
"So, where's your daughter tonight?"
"She's spending the night at Sookie's." Luke poured them each a cup of coffee, and Lorelai took a sip.
"This is great, but I really feel like Irish coffee. Do you have any whisky?"
"Hang on." Luke went into his apartment. He came back with an unopened bottle of whisky and poured some into each of their cups.
***********************************
Several hours later, the whisky was half gone, and Luke and Lorelai were bored. "Poker?"
Luke rejected the suggestion. "Nah."
"Strip Poker? Strip Twister?"
"No, no. But I know what we could do" Luke murmured, bringing his mouth down toward hers. Lorelai responded favorably to the kiss, and she gasped when he picked her up and brought her into his apartment.
The next day, Lorelai woke up in an unfamiliar room. She looked around. "Where am I?" she wondered.
Then, she remembered the previous night. She and Luke had made love several times before she fell asleep in his arms. Now, Lorelai was alone in the bed, and she was starving. She was about to get up when she heard the door open.
Luke entered the apartment, bearing a tray loaded with food for the two of them. Pancakes, hash browns, bacon, and, of course, coffee. There was even a little vial of aspirin. Lorelai grinned. "You read my mind."
She took three pills, and then she and Luke ate with gusto.
"Listen, Lorelai, we need to talk about last night."
Lorelai looked up at him. "Well, what do you want to do about it?"
"Do you think it was a mistake?" he asked her gently.
"No! Do you?" she asked worriedly.
He breathed a sigh of relief. "No, I think it was the best thing that's ever happened to me."
"I agree." Lorelai said.
"So, you wanna give this whole relationship thing a try?" Luke asked Lorelai, hopefully.
"Does this answer your question?" And she brought her lips to his for a kiss.
~8 Years later~
Lorelai stood in the gazebo in the center of town with Luke, Rory, Sookie, Luke's brother, and the preacher. "I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride." Lorelai smiled as her husband's lips met hers. She knew they would have a wonderful life together.
************************************************************************
And that's it for this story. Please R/R!