Summary: What if the Sockman's partner in crime hadn't cheated on Luke? Would Lorelai have realized her feelings through her jealousy? Or would she have continued denying her feelings and let Luke remain married to a woman she despised?
Disclaimer: Don't own shiznat.
A/N: Wanted to write this as a huge chapter story, but I didn't have many ideas, so it's a fluffy, fluffer muffer of a story. What is a muffer? I don't know. Don't ask. But this seemed like a good idea. One shot. Enjoy and PLEASE review if you love me at all.
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Lorelai sat in the gazebo, slowly eating food from Al's and his disgusting coffee. Well, it wasn't that bad, but when she was craving Luke's coffee, everything else sucked.
But she couldn't go to Luke's. After being interrupted at the church, they had not said anything to each other. At all. He wouldn't even ask her for his tools. He just got them himself.
Now it felt weird to even go near the diner. Plus, Nicole was probably there. And Lorelai was not in the mood to make small talk with Nicole.
That woman was evil. Despicable. Annoying. Stuck up.
Why did Luke like her? Sure, she was pretty, but so were a lot of other women on the planet of Earth. He had to pick this one?
And she was a lawyer. Luke hated lawyers. He despised them. He cursed them everyday. Complained about them all the time. And yet here he was. Married to one.
Lorelai looked through the windows of the diner and saw the one person she never wanted to see again. You guessed it. Nicole. The irony. The blonde woman stood and said something to Luke, who was behind the counter. They were both smiling.
Stupid Nicole.
Lorelai watched, scowling, as Nicole leaned over the counter and kissed Luke. In horror, Lorelai almost dropped her coffee.
Luke actually publicly displayed his affection for someone. In front of Stars Hollow. The town of gossips.
A humongous wave of jealousy absorbed Lorelai and as Nicole exited Luke's and walked down the street, she gleefully swam in it.
When Nicole disappeared from sight, Lorelai became aware of the tightening of her chest. She was actually jealous of Nicole. The evil lawyer woman. This was not possible.
She could not be jealous of that scrawny, mean little thing. Why was she jealous? There was nothing to be jealous of! She had a boyfriend. Jason. Yes, Jason. Jason was her boyfriend.
But how could she compare her happiness to Nicole and Luke's? She wasn't even nearly that happy. Jason was great, of course. Even her mother hated him, which was a bonus.
But just looking at Luke, she could see that he was happier than she would ever be with her Dad's business partner.
It looked like Luke wasn't even affected by they're thing last night. This hurt Lorelai the most. Here he was, happy as can be, and she was miserable.
Fine. This could be dealt with in a mature way.
Lorelai stood, dumped her food and coffee, and strutted over to the diner. She violently shoved the door open and the bell was flung back and forth, making a horrible scratching noise on the wood.
Lorelai smiled at Luke, who was staring at her, and went and sat at the counter. She grinned at him, and any of the best movie critics would have been convinced it was genuine.
"Hiya, Luke!" she greeted cheerfully.
"Hi…?"
"Can I have some coffee, please?" Here comes the ultimate blow, Lorelai thought as Luke poured her coffee, his back turned. "So I just saw Nicole in here. Did you actually kiss her in public?"
"Yeah," Luke grunted.
"I think that's great Luke. You finally found the right woman who you could show your affection to in front of everyone!" Although, that was completely the opposite of how she felt. "You know, it really looks like you're happy, Luke."
Luke turned and smiled at her, thinking she was truly happy for him. And then she said it.
"Which reminds me of how happy I am with my boyfriend, Jason. I don't think I've ever been happier." She added dreamily, "I think I'm in love, Luke. I really think I am. I've never loved someone so much. With you're example of marriage, even though yours was a split second idea, you never know… We might consider the idea." Of course she would never, ever consider marriage with Jason, but it was meant to deal a blow.
Yes, this was the mature way to handle the situation.
Luke's smile faded instantly, and he stared at her again. She smiled in reply, even though she wanted to cry. Luke could go off and be happy with Nicole all he wanted; as long as he knew she was happy too. He obviously didn't care about their discussion the night before. Which was perfectly okay.
"That's…that's…" Luke stuttered.
Lorelai smiled wider. "You are truly a great friend, Luke. I'm so happy we can be glad for each other. I don't know why I was so upset that you moved to another county. I mean, I have someone to think about, too, you know?"
"Yeah."
"I think I was a little tipsy when I came here last night. I don't know why I was so negative about this whole thing. After some thought, I am aware that my actions were stupid. I'm sor…I'm…"
She tried to say she was sorry. She did. But it was hard enough lying to him like this, and she could not bring herself to apologize.
"I'm sor…ta glad we had that conversation though. It made me realize how much I care about Jason."
By now Luke looked like he was going to suffocate.
"Well," Lorelai said, downing her coffee, "I gotta get to the Inn. Someone's gotta run the place. I'm sure you know what I mean."
"Sure."
Lorelai stood and waved at him, and then turned and left.
Little did she know, Luke had been reconsidering his marriage to Nicole ever since he and Lorelai had gotten into that fight the night before.
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Lorelai was at home on the couch, watching Willy Wonka, eating Chinese food, when there was a knock on the front door. The brunette reluctantly paused the movie and went to answer it. She pulled it open to find Nicole standing on the other side.
"Nicole!"
Hate rose up in Lorelai's throat like bile, and she had to swallow many times before she could successfully smile at the woman on her porch.
"Hi Lorelai. I just…needed to talk to you."
Lorelai eyed her suspiciously, but stepped aside to let her pass. Little did Nicole know, she was stepping into the lion's den.
"Okay. What did you need?" Lorelai asked when Nicole stood awkwardly in the foyer.
"Can we sit?"
"Oh. Alright." Lorelai led Nicole into the living room, sitting politely in the chair next to the couch. Nicole gingerly set herself on the old couch, pressing her hands into the cushions. "So?"
"Well…I just talked to Luke about…you."
"Me."
"Yes. You see, I got this feeling that he liked you, even when we were together. There was always this vibe. And I kept trying to talk about it with him, but he denied everything. I'm pretty sure he was in love with you."
Not you, too.
"Oh. I see…" When really, she didn't.
"Well, this morning, he told me that you two had a fight, and he thought he might finally be able to figure out why you were acting all weird so recently. I guess you went and told him that you were in love with your boyfriend, and that made him realize something about his relationship with you. He told me he was sorry he had been neglecting me, and he had just thought that something was going on with the two of you. You're his best friend and he was a little perturbed by your actions. Now he knows you've got someone who means a lot to you and he's happy to refocus purely on me. I just wanted to thank you. He's been so distant for the last couple of weeks that I wasn't sure we would last."
"You wanted to thank me."
"Uh huh."
Lorelai felt the sudden urge to slap this woman, but she suppressed it. The nerve she had to come and thank her. She couldn't just leave it be and get on with her life. She had to rub in the fact that Luke was hers. The vile, vile woman.
"Alright. Well, you're welcome. Now, I gotta go meet that boyfriend of mine in about a half hour, so you should probably get going on your merry little way." Lorelai chuckled, but her eyes were icy blue as she stared into Nicole's hazel eyes.
When the wife had gone, Lorelai plopped onto the couch and frowned to herself. It was her fault that she had solidified Luke's relationship with Nicole. Lorelai was her own destruction.
Damn! She shouldn't care so much! Why did she want Luke to stay? She would still see him as often as she did now. There was no point.
Lorelai picked up the phone and called Rory. Her daughter didn't answer, so Lorelai ranted into her voice mail.
"I don't know why I want him to stay. I just want him to. I want him to be there for me, not Nicole. I want him to be my rock, my support. I hate when he talks about her and when she's in the diner, just for him. I hate when they look at each other and I hate the fact that even though I've never seen it, they probably kiss. I don't want him to kiss her. She is the wrong person he should be kissing. He should be kissing someone else. Someone who is there for him everyday. Someone who's been there for him for longer than a couple months. He should be kissing someone who is just not her. He should be kissing me."
Lorelai froze, her voice dying.
"Call me," she squeaked into the phone and then hung up.
She wanted to kiss Luke? When did this happen? Why did she want to kiss Luke?
Well, this was a surprise.
This was not how she was supposed to feel about Luke. Luke didn't want to kiss her, so why should she want to kiss him? Unless he did want to kiss her. Which would be the greatest thing ever.
No it wouldn't.
Yes it would.
It would. It would be the most wonderful thing if Luke wanted to kiss her. Wow.
These thoughts sent Lorelai's mind into a thousand different fantasies, all about her kissing Luke. Being in Luke's arms.
She wanted Luke, didn't she?
It must be the reason she despised Nicole so much. Why he shouldn't be moving n with Nicole. He was with the wrong person.
Lorelai sprinted for the foyer, where she snatched her coat, and then dashed outside. She ran to Luke's, ad when she pushed through the front door, she found him scrubbing at the counter. The dinner rush would probably start in a few minutes.
"Luke!" she gasped, out of breath. She collapsed onto the counter, not bothering to sit. "I need…to…t-talk to…you."
"What? Why? The dinner rush is about to start."
"Please, just for a few minutes. In the storage room." She had only slightly caught her breath, but she still managed to get this out. She grabbed his hand and tugged him into the room full of boxes, closing the door behind them. "I lied."
Luke watched her warily, confused by her. "About what?"
"What I said earlier."
"About…?"
"My boyfriend."
"What do you mean?"
"I said I was happy with him. That I was in love with him. That I was thinking about marrying him. I lied. I'm not happy with him. Not as happy as I could be. And I don't love him. I don't think I could ever love him. And…I would never ever marry him."
"Okay." That was all Luke said. Sure, he looked confused, but usually this info should receive more of a response.
"That's all? 'Okay'?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, the time to not be monosyllabic is right now."
"I…"
This was infuriating. He wasn't responding the way she thought he would. Of course, she didn't even have a plan when she came here, so she wasn't really expecting anything.
"And, I did not realize I was being stupid, because I wasn't, and I wasn't tipsy, just upset. And I know why I was so negative to the idea of you moving. Because you shouldn't be moving. Not with Nicole."
"What are you talking about?" Luke was a little annoyed now.
"You barely even know her! And yet here you are, moving in with her!"
"Let's not start this again, Lorelai, okay? Just drop it."
"No! It isn't right! You shouldn't even be married! I---"
"Stop, Lorelai! This is none of your business! We went through this last night!"
"You shouldn't be with her!"
"Why?!"
"Because you should be with me!"
And then there was silence.
"Excuse me?" Luke asked, a little breathlessly.
"Nothing," Lorelai said quietly, almost sheepishly. "Never mind. This was stupid. I'm just…" She stopped and turned to leave.
She felt his hand on her arm for a split second, and then she was being spun until she was facing him. The next thing she knew, his lips were on hers, kissing her. The kiss was light at first, almost hesitant, but Lorelai quickly kissed him harder. The kiss became open mouthed and then their tongues were dancing. She moaned into him and he broke away.
"Lorelai…"
She leaned her forehead against his, her breathing erratic. She stared into his eyes, a mile tugging on the corners of her mouth.
"I'm sorry for being so stupid."
"Don't apologize."
"I have something to tell you."
"What?"
"I…" She chuckled. "It's embarrassing."
"Say it." He playfully pulled her against him and she giggled.
"Alright, alright. I…I realized that I…"
"What? Spit it out."
"I want you."
Luke laughed lightly and Lorelai looked away.
"See? It is embarrassing. Fine," she added when he kept laughing. "I take it back!"
"You better not," he growled, kissing her again.
"Luke…" she broke away, remembering a particularly important detail about him. "You're married."
She leaned her face into his neck, breathing in his scent.
"Oh...Yeah."
"Yep."
"Well, this isn't good."
"Who do you want?"
Luke pulled her away from him and stared at her. "What?"
"Who do you want? Me or Nicole?"
"Do you seriously need to ask?"
"Well," she cried indignantly, "You told Nicole that you were ready to focus completely on her."
He pushed her further away. "You were listening in on us?"
Lorelai glared at him. "No! I would never stoop that low! She came to my house and told me!"
"She went to your house?"
"Isn't that what I just said?"
"Don't fight, Lorelai. I don't want to fight with you."
"Then tell me."
"You! I want you!"
Lorelai let a smug smile cover her face. "Good."
"Satisfied?"
"Yes."
"Well, I guess I have to talk to Nicole."
"You better."
"What? You don't want to be my mistress?"
"Just talk to her."
"I promise I will." After a pause, he said, "So, you want me?"
"Be quiet." She slapped him lightly, but he caught her hand and pulled her to him again. "Are you going to kiss me?"
"Do I have any other choice?"
"No," she whispered, before his mouth descended on hers.