One-Shot: Father Bear
It was a quiet night in Stars Hollow. Luke Danes had closed up his diner and was flipping the chairs onto tables before heading up into his loft for the night. Suddenly, the stillness of the evening and darkness was pierced by a frantic tapping on the door. Luke looked up to see a young girl he knew well: Rory Gilmore. Even through the panes of his front door, he could see that her eyes were red and puffy. Her cheeks were streaked with tears. Something was wrong.
"Rory?" He opened the door and let the teenager in without another thought. With anyone else, he would not have let them in after business hours, but the Gilmore girl and her mother were an exception. Often, Luke had to be on his toes in preparation for a Gilmore emergency.
And from Rory's distraught look, this was definitely an emergency.
"Rory? Princess, what's wrong?" Princess was a nickname that he only ever used with her when she was in the Diner without her mom; not even Lorelai knew about it. After all, Luke had a reputation to uphold as the town grump. He went soft whenever around Rory - who could resist that cherubic face and cerulean eyes? But he didn't need anyone else to know that.
Rory sniffled. "I... I went to that party... with Lane."
Luke remembered Lorelai mentioning something about a party - a Chilton gathering - and how she wanted to get Rory out of the house. Encourage her, after the breakup with that grocer boy at Dosse's market. "Where is Lane?" he picked up on.
"We split up at the corner. She should reach home fine on her own. I just... I needed someone to tell who isn't my mother. So... my feet took me here."
Luke sighed. He rested his arms on the counter across from Rory. "Try to calm down. And start from the beginning."
"Well... I was having an OK time, reading my... book. And... a boy I know, Tristan..."
Luke tensed.
"...He... had a public break-up with his girlfriend. He looked hurt. I... found him in an empty room and tried to make him feel better. And then... we kissed."
"He kissed you?!" Luke stared.
Rory shrugged. "He has a crush on me. It's been pretty obvious."
"I wouldn't care if he had a crush on Hillary Clinton! He kissed you?! Without your permission?!" Before he knew what he was doing, Luke was ripping open a drawer and seizing the longest chopping knife he could get his hands on.
Rory gawked. "Luke... p-put that back. Please. He... he had my permission. I kissed him back."
Luke frowned, before sheepishly sticking the knife back into the drawer and slamming it shut. He wasn't in the business of castration, anyway. Maybe he should ask an expert. Like Mrs. Kim.
"I... I was lonely. After Dean... As soon as it was over, I realized it was a mistake."
Luke's eyes narrowed. "Did he touch you?" And he found his voice growling low.
Rory frantically shook her head. "No. I raced out of there and took Lane with me."
Luke leaned against the wall, breathing a sigh of relief. He had never enjoyed parties and even when he was young, had always been suspicious of them. Mostly, this had been for Liz's sake - trying to keep her away from the speakers and lights of a house where the parents were gone for the weekend had been a damn near impossible task. But this was Chilton - not the apes trashing the camp at Stars Hollow High. Those could turn into quite the raves. Still... Luke was no idiot. Even high-class kids like these Chilton types were not above breaking into a liquor cabinet. If Lorelai had been able to do it, once upon a time (at least from the stories Luke heard from her), then so could these kids. And that meant... debauchery... stolen kisses... or worse.
Luke was relieved a kiss was all it was. And that Rory had given her consent in a clear form. If the opposite had been true... and if things had gotten out of hand... Luke would have first locked Rory away in his loft, marched over to that party and bludgeoned this Tristan pretty boy into quite a sober stupor.
If it were within his power, Luke would lock Rory away forever and make her swear off boys. Perhaps talk Lorelai into putting her in a convent. He could hear the quick-witted Inn Manager now: Get thee to a nunnery...
Luke walked around the counter and pulled Rory into an awkward hug. She stiffened for a fraction of a second - he had never shown that kind of affection for her before - but soon she relaxed, like a daughter would with her father.
Now, Lane could walk home alone if she wanted to - it wasn't very far and she had a hellhound of a mother to prove it. But there was no way Luke was letting Rory walk home alone at this time of night, even across the square by the gazebo. "Come on, I'll take you home. And... I promise to let you tell your mom about this how you want to."
And hand in hand, the diner owner and teenager walked out of the establishment and into the starry night in this sleepy little town.