He followed her out the door of the diner. "So, you're just going to come back in here like nothing ever happened?"
She stood, startled, paused in flight. "No, that's not what I meant to… I'm just trying to get my life back…"
"Your life?" he spat back.
"My… life. My before-Christopher life," she answered bravely, her eyes almost glinting at him in determination.
"Ahh… and just how much of that life are you trying to get back? Just bits and pieces, or are you finally ready to go after the whole package?" He had moved, standing now almost nose to nose with her. His eyes were flashing at her, and she struggled to grasp their meaning.
"The whole… package?" she repeated dumbly. "Luke, what are you…?"
"Do you want everything in your life the way it was before Christopher came into the picture again?"
"Everything? No, not quite everything. I don't want to be unhappy anymore. I don't want to feel alone all the time, even when I'm with… people."
Luke swore softly. "I'm sorry. I never wanted you to be unhappy. I'd give anything to see you happy."
"Anything?" Her eyes sought out the answer in his.
"Anything," he repeated with a smile. One hand reached up to brush a bit of hair back from her eyes. "I want you to get your life back to when it was good, when you were happy."
"That was long before Christopher, you know… It was before either of us knew you had April. It was… right after I got Rory back, wasn't it? That's when you found out… when things changed." Luke nodded. Lorelai processed that for a moment before continuing. "You did a good job of hiding it, but I knew something was off…"
"I will never put you through anything like that again. No secrets, no holding back the important stuff… and no more keeping you and April separate. I'm going to handle this the way I should have at the start…with you. If you're ready for that…"
She blinked twice before answering. "Ready to try again…with you… Are you sure that you want—" His hand dropped down to circle her waist, pulling her in the final distance to press up against his body.
"How can you think I'd want anything else? Even after… everything… it's always been you, Lorelai."
"You're the one who didn't want to marry me!" She burst out just before he could kiss her.
He pulled his head back in disbelief. "Didn't want to… Lorelai, you had better believe that the minute I get you to agree again to marrying me, I'll have you in front of the minister so fast your head will spin."
"That fast?" she marveled. A slow smile was dawning on her features.
He grabbed her hand, pulled her back, opened the door, and pulled her back into the diner. He lead her through to the store room in the back, where he had a small calendar pinned in by the door. He grabbed the calendar.
"How does tomorrow sound?" He looked at her, and found her shaking her head in amused disbelief. "Too soon? Next week?"
"Luke, this is crazy!"
"No, what's crazy is that we've spent the last year apart. What's crazy is you marrying Christopher. What's crazy is me letting it all happen without a word to fight for you." With each 'what's crazy' he stepped in a tiny bit closer, crowding her between the wall and his body. "What would be completely crazy would be for me to let one more opportunity to fix things go without putting up one hell of a fight," he finished, dangerously close, but still not quite touching her.
"Well, let me tell ya, you're fighting pretty dirty here," she said, scarcely daring to meet his eyes.
He gently cupped her face, directing her eyes into his own blue gaze. "I'll do whatever it takes, Lorelai." He held himself there for a long moment, not touching her, daring her to move, so say anything. Finally, he levered himself back away from her, pushing against the wall behind her to stand fully straightened up in front of her. Lorelai found herself missing the warmth of his body. "I'll do what ever it takes, Lorelai," he repeated, "including letting you go."
"And what if I don't want to go anywhere?" She looked Luke in the eyes with an unusually shy smile.
"Well, people will start talking eventually."
"You think they aren't now?"
"Oh, probably. Babette and Miss Patty are going to want to kick our butts for doing this when they weren't around to see it."
"We could just hang in here till they show up… The lunch crowd ought to be here any minute," she said, inching her way toward Luke. She snatched the calendar out of his hand. "Let's see… I think a good solid month is enough time to plan a decent wedding."
"You should have an amazing wedding. You deserve it."
"Oh it will be an amazing wedding, my friend. I already have an amazing groom, after all." She placed her hands on his chest and wove them up and around his neck. At long last, she closed the final distance between them. She pressed her lips into his in a kiss sweeter than summer rain. It was a welcome home kiss, a kiss full of forgiveness and hope. It was all tangled arms and legs and hands and lips and tongues, it was hot and passionate, deep and loving, longing and needing, giving and taking. It was everything a perfect make-up kiss should be.