A/N: Another story that I wrote a while back but didn't post here.
Disclaimer: I claim no ownership of characters.
Healed for a Moment
Rounding the corner from Rory's room into the kitchen, Lorelai thinks she's doing pretty well. She's stopped crying, wiped the tears, and done the deep-breath-shake-head-fake-smile thing to herself in order to force her face and voice return to normal, to cover all evidence of her breakdown. She sees Luke, his face donning a determined smile, and remembers him saying something about a moment when he walked in the door. She opens her mouth to ask him, but Luke's smile fades when he sees her, and he stops dead in his tracks. His face softens with sadness and concern. She's busted. He knows she's been crying.
"Hey, so what did you say about a moment?" she asks, truly curious, but skillfully evasive.
"Lorelai," he says in that knowing way, eyes fixed on her, ready to be her rock.
"Luke, I'm fine," she says, her eyes pleading for him to not push the issue any further.
"I wish you'd talk to me," he says, stepping closer to her, close enough so that she can feel his body heat, and despite herself, she longs for the comfort.
"Luke," she breathes, her resolve crumbling. "I don't... not now… I just…" She sighs as she falls forward onto his shoulder, arms wrapping around him, face buried in flannel.
Luke cradles her head firmly to his shoulder with one hand, and rubs her back soothingly with the other. He knows how hard this is for her, this rift between her and her daughter, the ever-present rift remaining between her and her parents, and then he happens to glance into Rory's room and sees how empty it is. A new realization hits him even harder—not only is Lorelai worried about, and feeling betrayed by her daughter, but she feels she's lost her daughter who has now removed all of her things from her mother's house and therefore from her mother's life— seemingly erased all evidence of herself and the hope of reconciliation. He knows that seeing her empty room must have thrown Lorelai for an even bigger loop and his heart aches for her even more now than before.
He hears her sniffle, and feels her stand up abruptly, pushing him away a little, a brave expression on her face replacing the broken one from moments earlier. "So, you said something about a moment?" she sniffles again. "We didn't miss it, did we?"
Luke looks at her doubtingly and apologetically. "No. It can wait."
"Luke! Come on, I want to take part in this mysterious moment of yours." A slightly playful expression is working its way back into her features, pushing out the hurt, confused one that has been present ever since he'd arrived.
"Are you sure? There's so much going on, and I'd understand if, you know, you just weren't feeling up to anything right now." Luke asks, that if he gives her the ring now, it would not only damper the happiness of the moment because of her already upset state, but it would just feel wrong to be celebrating something while he knew that Lorelai felt that other parts of her life were falling apart.
"Luke. Please. I don't want to think about anything else right now," Lorelai says, while Luke gives her a look of protest. Knowing exactly what it means, she continues. "I know, I know. I have to deal with it sometime, but not now. Please?" she takes a deep breath and looks at him pleadingly.
Reluctantly, he sighs and nods slightly. Maybe this would make her feel better. Maybe this was as good a time as any. Maybe this would make her forget about everything else if just for a moment. "Come on," he motions, reaches for her hand, and heads towards the door.
"Where are we going?" Luke is delighted to hear a hint of laughter back in her voice as he opens the front door, hearing the slight, familiar creaking of the hinges and continues to lead her out onto the porch.
"Just follow me," he says, a slight grin on his face, as he leads her out into the grassy front yard.
It's a lovely spring night. The kind that makes your heart ache for the beauty of it all. The air is full of the sweet scent of blooming flowers and the humidity that had settled as dew onto the green grass for the night. A few fireflies flicker here and there in the slight chill of the air, and the moon shines so brightly, its blue glow almost replaces the light from the unneeded porch light.
Lorelai is breathless with anticipation as Luke stops in the middle of the yard, a straight line from the porch steps and the front door, moon shining over the roof. "Okay, right here," he says, looking down at Lorelai and seeing the delighted confusion in her eyes.
"I'm loving the moment so far," Lorelai says, her eyes shining in the moonlight.
"Good." Luke reaches into his pocket, and when his hand comes back out again, his fingers are curled into a fist. Opening his hand slightly, he reaches in with the other hand, and is holding something delicately between his thumb and index finger. "I saw this, and it reminded me of you, and I just knew that this was the one," he said simply reaching for her hand.
As he slips the engagement ring onto her finger, he hears her exhale his name, her other hand flying up to her mouth, her eyes fill and she swallows the lump that has formed in her throat.
Because of the fact that she had so spontaneously proposed to him, she actually didn't even think about a ring. It hadn't even crossed her mind yet in the impulsiveness of their engagement and with everything else that was going on in her life.
"Luke, it's… it's beautiful!" she watches the diamond glittering and sparkling under the moonlight. "You didn't have to do this! I went all modern on you and proposed to you. I should get you a ring!"
Luke rolls his eyes and laughs despite himself. "I think that's a little over the top."
"Yeah, I guess," she says, looking down at her ring, and then back up at him again. "Thank you, Luke," she says sincerely as she reaches for him, stepping closer, and taking his face in her hands.
As her face grows ever closer to his, he murmurs the words she'd said to him after their post-engagement toast, "Really? You're going to kiss me now? You're so predictable."
She can't help but smile and let out a small laugh as their lips meet and everything else in the world except for each other and their new engagement fades away for just a moment, and it's exactly what they both need.