The Moment (And a Few Others)
The music ended as suddenly as it had begun. Lorelai began to pull away reluctantly, wishing she could have stayed in Luke's arms, her head on his shoulder. She couldn't remember the last time she felt that comfortable in someone's embrace. With Jason, their first dance had been anything but romantic. He had stepped on her toes numerous times, stuttering an apology. Her parents had even been there to witness it – hell they had invoked it, so keeping up the pretence of their unwillingness to be close was key.
But this was so much better. For starters, Luke not only knew how to dance, he knew how to dance well. He took the lead confidently, and she found it to be a nice change from having to offer directions to whatever awkward partner she was with. She didn't even care that half the town was watching them, probably speculating already over whether something was going on between them. She was content to just close her eyes, rest her head on his shoulder and enjoy the feeling of his arm pulling her closer.
As she was about to step back, Luke tugged her closer. "Wait," he whispered, "see if the next song is worth it." She grinned, glad to know that he didn't want this moment to end either. They held on, faces turned towards Kirk, watching as he fumbled to switch the CDs and fill the air once more with sound. When he finally hit play, they looked at one another in horror and pulled apart quickly. To say Baby Got Back was completely inappropriate was an understatement. They couldn't help but laugh as they disengaged, turning to walk off the makeshift dance floor.
Luke's hand found its way to her lower back as they walked. She liked having him touch her; it was warm, tingly, and not something that a 'just friends' type friend would often do. Quickly, she pushed the thought from her mind, not wanting to question their relationship just yet. "Hey, do you think there are any turkey legs left?" she turned to ask him, both to distract her mind and appease her rumbling stomach. He gave her a sidelong glance, smirking at her.
"I should have known. You do realise that you only ate an hour ago."
"Yeah but you didn't. Come on, don't you want a turkey leg?" she asked, trying to entice him. He gave in easily and they returned to the buffet for a second time.
The rest of the night continued in the same light, playful manner, both enjoying the teasing and flirting. Once the bouquet and garter (actually, TJ's tights) had been tossed, they decided to head for home. "I'll walk you," Luke stated, falling into step beside her. She glanced at him and smiled, surprised once again by his actions. Besides the weird non-argument they'd had when she mentioned Jess, he had been the perfect gentleman. How he had managed to keep this side of himself secret for so long puzzled her.
Or maybe she'd just been blind to it. Both Rachel and Nicole had obviously seen him like this. She realised how much more complex this man had to be. There was a reason why those women had wanted to live with him, why they wanted to settle down. Lorelai watched him out of the corner of her eye and wondered what else he had been hiding from her all these years. She found herself compelled to ask, "So, is this what a patented date with Luke Danes is like? You get all dressed up and pretend to be someone else for a few hours?" She kept her tone light, knowing that her words could be easily misunderstood.
"Maybe I'm not pretending," he responded.
"Are you?"
"I guess you'll never know," he baited her, completely unsure about what her answer would be.
"Maybe I want to," she spoke before her brain had a chance to process the words. She shut her mouth quickly, worried that her comment was going to ruin the evening; that they would end up feeling awkward and just plain uncomfortable. But she couldn't deny the truth behind her statement. After everything she had experienced for the past few hours, from the 'You look beautiful', to the mutual laughter during the ceremony, to the dancing and beyond, she realised that she would be disappointed if it didn't happen again. Not necessarily the same bizarre event, but something a little more normal; like dinner, or a movie.
She turned her head towards him to find him staring at her, a smile faintly visible on his lips. She in turn, allowed the corners of her mouth to turn up, her eyes twinkling, basking in the attention he was offering. Neither one noticed the distance they covered while they were preoccupied, only finding that they had passed Lorelai's street when they finally broke their gaze.
This time, their smiles were wide and tooth baring, quickly turning to laughter at themselves. They hastily backtracked, and turned the corner to head the short distance down the road.
In an effort to get the evening back to a less intense level, Lorelai opened with, "So, this was fun."
"Yeah, it was," he replied genially.
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to be continued (only on a tv screen near you.)
Note: This really is a one part fic, just an additional scene to slot into Last Week Fights, This Week Tights. Oh yeah, please review, tell me what you thought of my version of The Moment!