Meltdown in the Park
A Gilmore Girls fic by Gigi
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Chapter 2: Best Friend
A/N: Don't you love how I wrote a nub of a chapter and then left you to hang for five months? I'm mean. I know that, and I'm sorry. Here's hoping you'll still read it!
After having successfully drenched Luke's shirt, Lorelai straightened and tried in vain to compose herself. She kept surreptitiously wiping the mascara stains on her cheeks while avoiding any sort of eye contact with the man whose hand still clutched her shoulder.
He was still holding her shoulder. It was oddly comforting for Lorelai to feel the weight of his burly hand sitting on her shoulder; it made the muscle underneath relax just a little bit. But it was more than that. As she continued to clean herself up as much as possible, she realized she felt safe with his hand there.
A small voice in the back of her head nagged at her, saying she shouldn't be feeling that way, that if she took it any farther, she would be playing with fire, but she couldn't help it. It was Luke, after all, as in Luke Danes: diner owner and Lorelai's chief coffee supplier.
"Thanks, Luke," Lorelai whispered while still battling that stupid nagging voice in the back of her head. "I didn't mean to lay all that on you. I don't know how you put up with me, honestly. I mean, I babble, and I blubber, and I soak through your shirt…" Great, she was babbling again.
"Shh… I get it," Luke replied simply. His voice, soft and soothing as it was, tugged Lorelai's head around, and she just looked at him. She stared at him for a few seconds, completely lost. How the hell could he get it? She kept thinking that, going around in circles in her mind. He was married; she wasn't. Suddenly, that horrible despair of the I-wish-I-was-married strain arose in her once again like a huge tidal wave building up higher and higher, leaving the people on the beach in panicked suspense, waiting for the crash to come and too paralyzed to move.
"How can you get it?" she demanded before she fully registered what she was saying—or even how she was saying it. She wanted to smack herself for saying those five words with such disdain and condescension. She was never disdainful or condescending towards Luke. For God's sake, he was her best friend! "Oh, God, Luke, I am so sorry." Luke tried to wipe the hurt off his face in time to shake his head at her apology. "I can be such a jerk. I just need to learn to keep my mouth shut. That might be kind of hard, but…" Babbling again.
Luke stopped moving once Lorelai's words started pouring out of her mouth again. Then he stopped her in the middle of what was bound to be yet another self-deprecating sentence simply by placing a finger on her mouth. Once Lorelai was subdued, her bright blue eyes sparkled in the dark with unshed tears as she frantically searched his face for any indication that he was about to do what she thought—and maybe hoped a little bit—he was going to do.
Slowly but surely, Luke let his hand trail down from her lips to her chin. Lorelai couldn't help but notice how pretty his eyes were, like a stormy ocean blue—
"Stop that," Lorelai told herself. The hand on her chin froze, and she realized she had spoken aloud. "Oh, God, not you, sorry. I was talking to myself, and I swear, if you say any of that crap about talking to yourself being the first sign of insanity, I will slap you."
A deep, throaty chuckle escaped Luke's throat as he inched closer and closer. His eyes were full of… some sort of emotion. It was a familiar gaze to Lorelai, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
Before she had anymore time to mull over that look in Luke's eyes, his lips were on hers. It took virtually no time at all for Lorelai to give up and let her eyes slide shut. She draped her arms lazily around Luke's neck, softly stroking the side of his neck with one of her hands. When she felt his tongue running along her bottom lip, she opened her mouth without further thought—until she realized they're on a bench in the center of town.
"Luke," she gasped, breaking the string of kisses just for a moment. She only got a soft, "Hmm?" in response, as Luke had started in on her jaw bone. "Luke," she repeated. This time she pulled away so she could get his attention. "We're in the middle of the Town Square and making out. Taylor lives within sight of us, and so does Miss Patty."
The words take a few seconds to get through to Luke, who sat there incredulously, as if he couldn't believe he and Lorelai had just kissed. He wasn't alone; Lorelai was having a difficult time grasping that concept, as well. Abruptly, he stood up and grabbed her hand. "Come with me," he said, pulling her up and leading her to the diner.
A/N: What do you think? It's actually longer than the original second chapter, albeit not by much. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, and I really hope you'll take the time to REVIEW!
