TITLE: Yale Food
RATING: Let's go with PG-13 or T or whatever…
BACKGROUND: Luke's Diner is near Yale, not in Star's Hollow. SO Rory and Lorelai grew up drinking coffee at Weston's. Everything is the same save anything relating to Luke, Jess, or Liz; who, of course, have no history with either Gilmore girl.
SUMMARY: LM, LD -or LuRo- in other words.
DISCLAIMER: If I owned them I wouldn't need a disclaimer, now would I?
A/N: No flames please, but CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is always welcome!
Chapter One
Rory sank onto her new mattress smiling weakly, "Copper boom," she muttered, and lay flat out on her stomach. A sickly almost vomit-y feeling coated her stomach, and a bile-y, metallic-y feeling rose in her throat and she swallowed hard, grabbing her pager.
She quickly dialed her mother's pager number, and for the second time in two days, dialed in a "911" page. She regretted writing it even before she sent it.
Sure, Lorelai would come –again- but did Rory really want her to? Rory sighed, the tightness in her stomach loosening slightly as she realized that she didn't actually need her mother.
Well, at least not right now… Rory sat up and scraped her hair off her face. What to do… What, to, do…
She fiddled with her pager. Hmm… Maybe she could go for a walk… She nibbled on her lower lip, then again maybe not…
Rory groaned, she was on the fence, maybe it was time for a good old fashioned Pro/Con list… She shook her head, Nah; that'd take to long; all she needed was one good shove in either direction.
Her head shot up as her room mate walked in, "I can't believe that you needed your mother to spend the night your first time at Yale!" Paris crowed.
"Huh," Rory scoffed, and swung her feet to the ground, "Thanks, Paris." She walked quickly around the room looking for socks and shoes.
"I mean, really, I never knew you were so… Lame."
Rory smiled a false grin at the wall and grabbed her car keys, too. For some reason, a nice long drive sounded awfully appealing right now.
Rory was just about to leave campus when she realized that she needed coffee.
Rule number seven of the Gilmore handbook clearly states that every roadtrip -no matter the length- required two things: tunes and coffee.
Rory groaned and began to scan her surroundings for coffee, she was way to far from the library coffee cart, but screw good coffee, any coffee at this point would probably tide her over.
She was about to give up on the road trip when a sign caught her eye.
"Luke's" was written on a giant coffee mug shaped sign... She smiled and turned her car towards it. Rory ended up parking three shop windows away from the diner, and as she walked towards it she noticed a William's Hardware sign above the same window as Luke's mug.
Her brow furrowed in cunfusion, but a glint of curiosity lit her eyes as she pushed her way in.
All of a sudden Rory was transported to a much more Gilmore much less girly version of Weston's, except this place had real food -no cake- and better smelling coffee a tug pulling n her heart strings as she thought of her mother.
This place was, in a word, perfect.
She skirted around the only two empty tables, opting instead for the last empty counter seat.
As she waited for a server she pulled out Ready, Okay! and set her bag on the ground. She hookedd a scuffed brown leather Mary-Jane through the handle, and then deciding that it was probably safer to hold it under her feet, settled it between her long denim clad legs instead.
She had been reading only a moment when a deep masculine voice interupted her, "Reading is sexy?"
Rory looked up into the stranger's face, a jolt of arousal coating her system, then smirked flipantly as she used the pattented Lorelai Gilmore hair toss, "You think so?"
The unshaven manlooked surprised for a moment, and then he gestured to her shirt with a blush, "I, uh, I meant your shirt."
Rory channled the spirit of her mother after a shocked moment, and said, "Well, I guess that means you read it, and I'd have to say," she blatently checked out as much of his broad body as possible, "Aside from the flannel and backwards hat, I'd have to say it's right." Upon seeing his shocked face, Rory almost appologized for hitting on him, especially when she realized that he was at least twenty years older than her, but instead she forced a laugh, "Sorry, it was just too easy. Lorelai Gilmore, but you can call me Rory."
"Luke... Luke Danes," he said, reaching across the counter, and she shook his hand, tingles flying up her arm from his touch. "What can I get'cha?"
"Coffee, please."
"Here, or, uh, to-go?"
Rory looked around and saw the diner was begining to empty slightly. "Here please. Ooo, and can I get some company with that?"
Somehow Rory managed to keep her blush at bay -what the hell was she doing- as she waited for his response.
But for some reason Luke just smiled, "I suppose I can spare a few."
Rory smiled to herself and buried her nose in her book.
WBggWBggWB
Rory sighed and streched, satisfied. She reached down and slid the now finished copy of Ready, Okay! back into her bag.
She smiled again and reached for her coffee. Even though her hand just touched the mug, she could feel that it was ice cold. Rory glanced at the clock and was shocked to find that it was 9:30 p.m.
She had spent almost twelve hours in a strange diner off campus!
She quickly picked up her bag and looked around for Luke. No such luck, he was no where in sight.
Rory grabbed a pen, and before she could talk her self out of it, scrawled him a quick note on a napkin:
Even with the flannel I'd say it were true, but your hat is falling apart!
See you later? Rory
She lay a dollar on top of the note so he was sure to find it and walked out.
As she drove back to the dorm room, Rory mentally berated herself.
What had she been thinking? She had ignored him all afternoon and then left him a flirty note? Plus, he was at least twenty years older than her! Maybe she should hook the diner man up wit hher mother...
Rory snorted, if Holly-"weird" ever remade "The Graduate" so that Ben ended up with Mrs. Robinson, she was pretty sure that she knew how Elaine would feel.
She smackedher head on the steering wheel as she pulled to a stop. Why was she thinking like this? He wasn't hers! Never had been, probably never would be.
As Rory drove back to her room she tried to ignore the ache that came with her last thought.