Damn, Dammity, Damn. LOL. GMB Loves Angel...Sweetie...Darling...you confirmed my worst fear. The one thing that I DID NOT want to happen. For everyone else who is not GMB Loves Angel, here's a recap: she said that Lorelai's usage of a certain 3 letter word (you know the grand finale of any sexual encounter) made it seem a little pornish. My words, not hers...not even Webster's. Pornish? Aw man. When I had her say the word the 1st time, it was an in the moment sort of thing, barely audible. That was real to me. The second time was unnecessary and upon reading it again, I knew it must go. Ugh. Can't see how I missed that. Luke's usage was indifferent to me, but I have gone back and taken out all three. I know many ppl have already seen it, but it still makes me feel better that it's not there anymore. It cleans it up just a bit more, which I'm always trying to do, believe it or not, lol. GMB Loves Angel, I just keep messing up at the last second for you, hunh? I hate that. If you disliked the whole story, it's an opinion I can live with and little I could do to fix it, but disliking one part (one word) eats at me. Argh (that's my angry pirate)

Story fact: Nicole didn't happen OR Her and Luke already divorced. Not sure. She's not in it, though.

I guess it's good that people liked the story because I've been dreading writing more. So, thanks for the encouragement everyone. I didn't get too many ideas, though. To everyone hoping that Lorelai and Jason won't last, come on, you know me better than that. I started to use Christopher, but I haven't worked myself up to writing him yet. He still makes me sick to my stomach.

Well, here is the next chapter. It's short & it's more of a lead-in, but I went ahead and posted it anyway. BTW, no nastiness in this one. Just a heads up so nobody doesn't bust a gasket out of anger/shock. Pls read, though. It goes somewhere. Just follow the yellow brick road...

Freedom Over the Phone Line Part II

"Hey, man," Jason said with a casual nod toward Luke as he stood to the side of Lorelai.

Luke looked down to her, and her eyes were everywhere but on him. "Hey," Luke finally said. He wiped his hands on his jeans and extended his right over the counter. Jason reached around Lorelai and shook it firmly.

With Luke's sudden cordiality, Lorelai looked up at him. His eyes were back on her, and he gave a light sigh and looked away. He located his pad. Setting his pen to write, he asked, "So, what can I get you two?"

"Well, nothing for me. I just came to make sure you were okay," Jason said, directing the last part to Lorelai. She smiled. He had tried calling her at home all night, and after not getting her on her cell, he decided to swing by her house, then the diner.

"I'm fine," she assured. "I spent the night in Hartford, and my cell died. I meant to call you," she said tossing a glance at Luke. She quickly looked fully at him, though, Jason smiling contentedly in the background. "Luke, can I get some coffee, please," she asked softly. He nodded, and though there was hardly a need to do so, he found himself writing the order down. Lorelai watched his lowered eyes until he finished and looked up.

"Well," Jason began. She lowered her gaze and turned her attention to him. "I'm just stopping in to see you. But, I have to get to the office." He looked up at Luke. "See, I have this really important phone call coming from a very vile client of mine, and if I'm not there, then I can't tell Helena, my secretary, to tell him I'm not there. See, being there but not accepting his phone call gives me a tiny sense of pleasure that he doesn't exactly know that I'm deriving." He looked up in thought. "Wow, hearing it said aloud makes me question the true viability of this whole thing." Luke looked at him dully. "Oh, boy," he added tiredly. He gave Lorelai a kiss, this time on the lips. "I have to go. I have some reassessing to do." He nodded toward Luke and looked back at her. "I'll call you later," he said, then left.

Lorelai's gaze dropped to her lap and remained there until after he had exited. She took a deep breath and looked up just in time to see her coffee set in front of her. Surprisingly, it was a diner mug and not a to-go cup as she had been expecting after what had gone down.

"You don't have to say anything," he said as he shrugged his shoulders. "It's okay."

Lorelai opened her mouth, looking wide-eyed at him. "But, Luke I th--"

"Blueberry muffin and coffee, please," said a guy as he approached the counter.

Luke looked at Lorelai once more before nodding his head in the direction of the customer. She nodded quickly, and he got back to work.

Lorelai looked down into her coffee mug.

Her head was a complete blank, not even acknowledging the amount of shame that was gliding up and down in her body. She stared into her mug. How the hell was she going to fix this? What would fixing this entail? These are questions that would in a few minutes time be filling her mind. But, for now, it remained blank. All except for one thing.

'I have to talk to him. I have to talk to Luke.'

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Lorelai tried to catch him at any moment that he didn't seem too busy, but when it seemed that moment would never come, she stopped trying. She pulled a pen from her purse and scribbled on her napkin before placing her coffee mug over it and leaving the diner.

Luke seemed to be everywhere at once as he moved about rapidly. He tossed a glance at Lorelai as she left before reaching down and grabbing her empty mug. Spotting the napkin, he picked it up and read it.

I'll talk to you later, Luke. I promise.

He looked toward the street, and of course, she had disappeared. He stuffed the napkin in his back pocket and went about his work.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Later that night, Lorelai lay in her bed as she absentmindedly watched Jason dress.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay at my house tonight with me?" He asked.

She remained quiet, and he finished pulling up his pants and looked at her with amusement. "I know I'm good, but I never knew I could render anyone speechless. Especially not you." He laughed, but she gave a small smile and shook her head.

"Anyone ever told you you're modest to a fault?" She asked as she sat straight up with the covers wrapped around her.

Jason laughed. He finished dressing and moved over to her, placing a kiss on her forehead. "I had a great time tonight," he said standing back up.

Lorelai smiled. "Yeah, me too."

He paused, then smiled. "I'm glad to hear you say that. I was a little worried," he said as he fastened his belt.

"Why?" She asked looking up at him.

"You just...seemed a little distracted."

Lorelai's eyes fell back to the bedsheets. "Well, I don't know why," she said. "I wasn't distracted at all. I was very...tracted." She looked up at Jason and playfully poked him in the side as he stood putting on his watch. "Hey, are you saying that my performance wasn't up to par?" She asked.

"I wouldn't dare," he exaggeratedly defended. "It very much surpassed the line of par."

"Good," she said with a contented smile. "You so just saved yourself two weeks of couch time, Buddy."

"That's good news if I ever heard it," he said as he leaned down and gave her a kiss. He grabbed his wallet from the nightstand. "Hey, tomorrow, let's do Italian."

Lorelai grimaced. "Sorry, I, uh, did an Italian before you picked me up tonight. I've had my fill."

"Oh, my gut," he said bending over playfully. "I think you busted it!" Lorelai chuckled. He stood up and headed toward the door. "Call you tomorrow. Sleep tight!" He yelled over his shoulder.

"I try to stay that way. It makes the customers happy!" she yelled to him.

"Oh, the comedy! You're a rioooot!" He yelled back up the stairs.

Lorleai settled against her pillows. She listened for door, and when she heard it close, she released a sigh.

She and Jason had gone out right after she had gotten off of work. After which, they came back to her house. Jason never stayed because she had no guest room where he could set up camp. That's why they usually spent time together over at his apartment.

Lorelai had been at work all day, and she made plans to stop and talk to Luke after work, but Jason had called reminding her of plans that they had made for the night. So, she still had yet to speak with him. She hadn't had time.

She placed her hand on her forehead and ran her hand slowly across it as her thoughts bounced around. She shook her head from side to side, trying to get rid of her words, her actions. To Jason. The entire night had been like one big illusioned affair with the masses.

Every opportunity she had, every hole that Jason left open had her jumping in to fill it with jokes of sexual encounters with anyone, everyone but him. He mentioned how the rolls were sweet, and she responded with a joke on how she had had a sweet roll in the hay with the breadmaker to ensure they had a quality meal. He said how the valet looked fresh out of Jr. High, and she immediately said how she was glad they had jail bait. Otherwise she'd be all over him. "The way they handle those foreign stick shifts! I bet they can work the hell out of their own," she had said with a wide grin. But, all he had done was laughed.

He had laughed at every joke she made. It frustrated her that all he did was laugh. She wanted a reaction from him. She realized that as they poured out of her mouth effortlessly throughout the night. She needed a reaction. But got nothing but laughter. It was all funny. Things that would never happen. Of course Lorelai would never do anything with any of those men. Of course she would never even think about it. It wasn't who she was.

Lorelai slipped out of bed and and went to shower. After ten minutes, she stepped out, dried off, and slipped on a simple black piece of lingerie. One that could barely qualify. But, on her, it most certainly still did. Though, that wasn't her intention in the least.

She changed her bedsheets, then settled comfortably onto one side as she stared at the telephone. Looking at the time, she saw that it was 23 hours ago that she had picked up the phone to talk with him in the motel. To Luke. She debated about whether to call him then or just wait 'til the next day. She was still debating it when she saw her hand reach out and pick up the phone.

She sighed and sat up as she dialed the number slowly. Pushing her hair behind her ears, she placed the phone to her ear. It took a little while longer for it to be answered this time.

"Hello," came the same voice that had driven her insane the night before.

"Uh, hi L-Luke. It's me, Lorelai."

"Oh..." Luke sat up in his bed, too. "Hey," he said unsurely.

"Hey," she said with a smile.

"You already said that."

"Y-yes, but you can never have too many heys." She moved her hand nervously. "I mean Rerun had 3, and we stopped at 2, so I don't think it's even worth mentioning if we haven't even sur--"

"Lorelai?"

"Yeah?"

"You're rambling."

"Sorry," she said sincerely. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. It's what you do."

"Yeah, that's me. I'm a rambler. If they ever got a new category for the--" She stopped abruptly realizing she was about to do it again. "Sorry," she said again.

"Stop apologizing."

"Sor--I mean, okay."

There was silence. "So, um, how are you? You okay? You're not calling me from an ice-filled bathtub with one kidney, are you?"

She smiled wide. "What?"

He shook his head. "I just want to make sure you weren't out hitchhiking tonight."

"Oh. No, maybe tomorrow."

"Okay. Tomorrow's good. I hear it should be nice and foggy out. They won't even find the body."

Lorelai laughed, it reaching her eyes entirely. "Well, why don't you come with me? That way you can protect me."

He shrugged. "That probably wouldn't sit too well with your boyfriend," he said casually.

Lorelai's laughter ended abruptly, and silence covered the phone. She cleared her throat. "Hey, I, uh..." Words escaped her. "I don't--"

"I told you that you don't have to explain anything to me, Lorelai. It's okay. We're okay."

"No, it's not okay. Luke, there is nothing I can say to you that would justify..." She stopped.

"That would justify what? Last night?"

"No," she said quietly as she shook her head. "I wasn't going to say that."

"What were you going to say?"

She continued to shake her head, rightly disclaiming the near accusation. "I can't justify not telling you that I had someone."

Luke sighed and shook his head. He began softly. "Lorelai, why didn't you tell me you were still seeing the guy? I mean, had I known, I definitely wouldn't have let it...let us get as far as we did."

In his mind, he remembered being the first to start it. He, like always, was willing to shoulder all of the blame.

"I'm sorry," she said lamely.

Luke rolled his eyes. "I told you to stop saying that," he said tiredly.

"But, I am, Luke. You're the last person in the world I'd want to hurt, and I'm sorry for putting you in the position that I did."

His heart nearly broke in two at the amount of sorrow in her voice. He smiled sadly. "Well, as far as I can remember, we didn't really...try out any positions," he said lightly.

He heard a soft, reluctant laugh come over the phone, and he smiled fully.

"Luke," she reprimanded pitifully. She didn't feel as if she deserved to laugh.

"Lorelai, listen, we can, you know, forget about last night, okay. I don't want you to feel bad on my account."

Lorelai shook her head. "I don't...,...night," she whispered. That's all Luke heard.

"I didn't hear you," he said trying to press the phone closer to his ear.

Lorelai sighed. "Luke, I don't want to forget about last night."

"Oh," came his instant response. He paused. Unable to make sense of it in his mind, he asked, "Why exactly?"

She shrugged. "Because. It was...special," she said timidly.

"Special?" He asked in a way that gave nothing away and instead, made clarification a necessity.

"Yeah, I mean, I felt incredibly close to you last night, Luke."

Luke looked down. "Why...would you want to feel close to me?"

"Because we're friends," she answered incredulously. She suddenly realized how that could have no where near answered his question. She looked around thoughtfully. "I don't really know why," she said honestly. "I just know that I felt like I had found this really huge link that, I don't know, brought us closer."

He marinated over what he had just heard. "So...you're saying that what's been missing in our friendship all these years...is phone sex?"

Lorelai chuckled. "No, Mr. Here I am with the big picture. That's not what I meant." She paused. "It was a huge stepping stone, though."

"To what?"

She rolled her eyes. "To being able to feel you as much as I did," she said getting slightly annoyed with his many questions but little contribution.

He laughed.

"What's funny?"

"You sound upset," he said.

"And, you sound like I'm providing you with some sort of entertainment."

He stopped. "Sorry."

Lorelai sighed. "Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

"Yeah, I think I do."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I felt close to you, too," he said simply. "And, I thoroughly enjoyed myself."

"Luke." Huge smile.

"Hey, I'm just as happy that you seemed to enjoy yourself," he added playfully. "I'm not selfish."

"Luke," she said again, not even noticing the sexy drag that she had added.

"I'm just kidding, Lorelai," he said sobering up.

Lorelai smiled lazily into the phone as she listened to the pronunciation of her name.

"Luke?"

"Yeah."

"Do you feel weird about...last night?"

He shrugged. "No, not at all. Which is kinda surprising."

"I don't feel weird either. Do you think it's weird that it's not weird?"

He chuckled. "Not really. Considering this new level we apparently just discovered, nothing should be weird ever again."

She smiled. "That's a nice thought," she said.

"Yeah." She smiled wider at his contentment. "We should have one hell of a friendship now, right?"

Lorelai fell quiet. She had planned to keep only a friendship with him. No thought had gone into that decision at all, but that had seemed the most logical thing. The easiest. She hadn't even had a concrete thought about it, but that's what she figured would happen. And, she'd remain with Jason. Because she was with Jason. And she enjoyed being with Jason. Her mind told her this. It told her that she had chosen him, enjoyed his company, and was treated well by him so that ended with one conclusion. She wanted to be with Jason. Obviously.

Maybe she half expected Luke to break through those thoughts and tell her what she needed to hear but didn't know she needed to hear. Maybe she wanted him to somehow start another session, a repeat from last night and make her loose with her tongue and hopefully let herself hear the words from her own mouth. Maybe she wanted him to scream at her for what she had done, helping her to realize that people in solid relationships wouldn't do what she did. There were a hundred things that maybe she wanted to happen.

But, hearing him announce their friendship without reservation wasn't what she was really expecting.

"Lorelai!" She heard Luke call loudly.

"Hm?" She finally answered.

"Did you fall asleep? I was calling you for the longest."

"Uh, no, I'm here. What'd you say?"

"Hell, I forgot now," he said with frustration.

"Sorry."

"Damn, if I'm boring you, we can--"

"No, you're not boring me," she said quickly. "Let's talk."

"Well, I have to get up in the morning, and, uh, I don't think your, uh, boyfriend would appreciate--"

"He'll be okay, Luke. We're friends," she said shrugging. "He knows your position."

Luke smiled instantly. "Back to the position thing, hunh?" He asked.

"It's amazing how open you're being," she said, smiling goofily on her end. "Is this an over the phone Luke or a late at night Luke?"

"I wasn't aware that I had been cloned."

"Seriously, I'm curious. Which one?"

"I don't know. I don't think I'm being any different."

"You are."

"Maybe I'm settling into our whole new level. And, here you are, discouraging me," he responded.

"I'm not discouraging you. I said nothing about finding fault with it."

"Hey," he said suddenly.

"What?" Lorelai asked giddily.

"What's, uh...what's your guy's name?"

"What?" Lorelai asked confused. She wasn't expecting that. "Where'd that come from?"

He shrugged. He honestly didn't know himself. "I was just thinking about him and I just wanted to know."

"You were thinking about Jason?" She asked with a smirk.

He rolled his eyes. "Not like that. I just--" He gave up. "So, Jason?" He asked to change subject.

She sighed tiredly. "That would be it."

Pause. "He seemed nice. A little off, but nice. Does he treat you good?" He asked quietly.

Lorelai paused as her eyes moved to the phone in her hand. She smiled slowly. "I guess," she answered tentatively.

"You guess?" He asked a little loudly.

"He treats me good," she said truthfully.

She heard him release a breath over the line. "Okay. That's good." Silence. "So, you're happy?" He asked.

"Right now?"

'Well, you're in a relationship with him right now.' "Of course," he answered.

'At this very second...' "I'm extremely happy."

Luke found himself smiling. She was happy. "Then, I'm glad."

Lorelai smiled from ear to ear as well. "Good."

...TBC...

Like it? Think I need to go another route? Let me know. I listen. One reviewer got like 3 whole words taken completely OUT of the story! I don't play!