AN: Hi there! I hope you're good. Here it is, the next chapter of this little story of mine. Thanks for the reviews you gave me, I sure love reading them. My thanks go to my fabulous beta junienmomo, whose notes were excellent and helpful as always! I don't know what I'd do without you. OK, go ahead and read, I hope you enjoy it! Oh, and I still don't own the rights to these characters.
Chapter Three: The Key to Relationships
Sometimes in life, a decision is made, but then, there are nothing but mixed messages. Lorelai had decided to stay in the relationship with Jason. After all, he had shown up at her grandmother's funeral, and she really liked him. Was he weird? Yes. Did she like his level of weirdness? Definitely. As awkward as their talk earlier this week had been, he had given her a key to his apartment. But to Lorelai, it all had felt strange. He didn't seem to have gladly given her the key, it was more like he felt it was time. Or something like that.
Now, a couple days later, Lorelai was working her butt off to get him to talk. An absentmined Jason wasn't a good conversational partner this night. Lorelai knew something was up. She was sensing Jason was going to break up with her. All the talk about how it did it all wrong with the key, and how he usually breaks it off at that point in a relationship.
"Oh well, gee, should we get a cake?", was all Lorelai could say. With cake, I can turn even the saddest break-up into something sweet, or at least bittersweet.
Now he was talking about running and bolting? How could I be so wrong about that guy?
"The other night I woke up and the timer went off in my head- "Hey, buddy, it's about that time." So I did what I always do. I thought about you, and I thought about us, and I thought about all the things that bother me, and I came up with nothing."
"Nothing?", she asked skepitically and then focussed on her shoes.
"I went over it and over it in my head. That feeling, that "I want out" feeling- it wasn't there. What was there was the very strong sense that if I did...bolt... I might as well go out and find a pointy hat, a stool, and a classroom full of sixth graders, because I'd be an absolute idiot to screw this up. So I went out and made the key", Jason explained softly.
"The talking key." OK, this wasn't exactly going as anticipated.
"And I was hoping that the key would say that this is different, and that I want you in my life a lot more than you are now."
"Wow. Well, I mean, it would have been more interesting to hear that from the key... it's definitely more romantic hearing it from you", Lorelai said and kissed him.
"I'm gonna go take care of Mr. Caine for you now", he said in a faked-manly manner.
"I would appreciate that."
"Good night."
"Good night, Jason." Lorelai turned around. "Jason?", she said.
"Yes?"
"Since we never got the cake, do you think we should get the next best thing?"
"The next best thing?"
"Yeah, wanna come in?"
He hesitated. But he knew very well that this was the time to spend the night at her place. She spent practically every free minute with him at his place, so this was the time to repay the favor.
"Sure", he said and smiled broadly as he followed her in.
Three hours later, Lorelai woke up. She scanned the room through half-closed eyelids.
"Jason?", she asked with a deep voice.
No answer. She sat up, and checked her alarm clock. 1:24 am. She got up, and went downstairs to get something to drink. She needed to get rid of that strange taste on her tongue. Lorelai secretly hoped to find Jason on her couch, but it was empty. She walked to the window, and saw only her Jeep in the driveway. On her way to the kitchen, she saw a bright post-it on the desk. She took it, and went to the kitchen where the lights above the stove were still on. With knitted brows, she read the note.
Lorelai,
thank you for a great night. Sorry, but I have to sleep in my own bed.
Love, Jason
Love, Jason. Love, Jason? Jason loves me? Lorelai was confused. Why can't he spend the night at my place if he loves me? Where is this relationship going when we have to have a wall, or several counties, to separate us at night? As the exhaustion washed over her face, she quickly grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, and vanished upstairs. Just before she reached the downstairs landing, she saw the red LED blinking. She pressed the button, and her machine released its message.
You have two new messages: "Hey, it's Luke. I'm sorry to be calling you like this, but I was wondering if, when you get this message, you could come pick me up 'cause I need a ride. I'm in Litchfield, the corner of Mason and Pine. It's a big, white building. You'll recognize it by the police sign outside because, oh, hell, I'm in jail. Okay, there I said it. Long story. I'll tell you when you get here. Thanks... if you come. Oh, one more thing. I need to borrow a little money- 300 bucks. It's just a loan, and, oh, hell, it's for my bail." Then he yelled into the background: "I'm gettin' off now! Relax!"
"Lorelai, it's Luke.. again. I just wanted to let you know that you don't have to pick me up anymore. Liz is in town, and she bailed me out. See ya tomorrow. Probably. I mean, you come in practically every day. Geez, see ya whenever you come in. Bye."
Lorelai breathed deeply, and tried to let the information sink in. Luke. Prison. Bail. "And I thought I had a weird night", she mumbled on her way upstairs.
She had absolutely no idea why, but somehow she spent the night tossing and turning. She didn't know if it was the fact that Jason had decided to... bolt, or if it was because she couldn't for the life of her figure out why Luke ended up in jail in the first place. Did he kill Taylor? Well, bail would have been so much higher than 300 dollars. OK, what could Luke have done to get arrested for? Lorelai knew that he certainly had the physique to punch someone's lights out, but would Luke actually do that? She pondered the thought, and turned to lie on her right side with her hands under her head. Wait, why did Luke call me of all people? He clearly was embarassed to call here. Why didn't he call this Ed guy he's been talking about, or his wife? Oh my God, he called me instead of Nicole. How weird is that?
Since she couldn't find out what the deal with Luke was, her thoughts went to Jason. Lorelai had spent an awful lot of their time together at his place. Not that she didn't like the slightly luxurious feel of his place, but compared to her own home, it felt like a nicely decorated hotel suite in a big city. And as the months progressed, Lorelai longed for a bit more intimacy. Their relationship of course wasn't at a point where they would comfortably clip their toe nails in front of each other. But she wanted to wake up at night, and see his peaceful, sleeping face, she wanted to smell him on her sheets the night after. As far as Lorelai was concerned, he didn't look peaceful when he slept and was completely odorless, because she simply didn't know better.
She sighed. Maybe it had indeed become a new hobby of hers to sigh. As awkward as the moment was when he first sprung it on her, she admired Jason for feeling comfortable enough to give her a key to his apartment. Maybe that was his way of showing how completely comfortable he was with her. She had to give it to him, he actually did this all right. First relationship, then key. Unlike someone else, who actually got engaged and never managed to have her key duplicated. Perhaps that was the problem with Max, they never had a relationship, hence no foundation to build a successful marriage upon.
With the feeling of a lesson learned, and all that wisdom almost three years late, mixed with uncertainty Lorelai finally fell asleep.
The bell jingled, and Patty immediately knew there was something up with Lorelai. She had just watched her cordially greet Mrs. Cassini in front of the diner, and now she was shyly standing in front of the counter at Luke's. If only everybody was wearing microphones, or would bother to enunciate. Unfortunely, she only saw how Luke came around the counter, put his hands on Lorelai's shoulders, and guided her behind the curtain. Maybe we could distract Luke, and in the meantime have Kirk install bugging devices in that apartment upstairs. Patty was sure that it was one of the few mysterious places left in Stars Hollow. How many times she wished she could have been a fly on that wal upstairs... Bugging devices? Think big, Patty. Have Kirk install hidden cameras. That's it, hidden cameras. I have to tell Babette about the idea...
"Luke, what's the matter with you?", Lorelai wanted to know as they entered his old apartment.
"I'm sorry I pushed you, but I just wanted to come clean about last night. And, I think I need your advice."
"Shoot", she said and went to couch to sit down.
"OK, that was me on your machine last night", he said and regretted that nonsensical confession the second it had left his mouth.
"I kind of figured that", she replied hesitantly, adding, "You said your name and all, so I kind of knew."
"Right, so you might wonder how I got where I was last night."
"The thought might have crossed my mind last night", she admitted.
"I beat up some guy's car. Not just some guy's. The guy my wife is sleeping with", he said and then paused.
Pure astonishment was visible on Lorelai's face. "I assume you didn't beat up your own car, which means you're not the guy Nicole is sleeping with?"
"No, I didn't beat up my own car", he said quietly, "And until recently, I was the guy she was sleeping with."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm sorry Lorelai, but I have never ever in my life talked to someone so openly about my sex life without sleeping with them..."
"Am I here for revenge sex?", she said half-teasingly.
"No", he chuckled, then immediately became serious again, "I mean that this is hard for me. Talking to you about it is damn hard for me", he told her and pressed the heel of his hands to his eyes.
"Listen, Luke. You don't have to tell me anything if you're not fine with sharing private information", she assured him.
"Lorelai, you're the only one I can imagine sharing it with. I just need a minute to collect myself", Luke said as he continued to pace the room before the couch.
She gave him a reassuring look, and patted the couch next to her. He sat down, and loudly exhaled.
"Can I ask a question?", she carefully asked.
"Sure."
"Why his car?"
Luke told her about his previous night, and how he basically stalked his own wife to find the clarity he needed.
"Before I knew it, a police car showed up, and I was arrested. So, what I need you to tell me is, if I, um, uh, should get tested for STDs."
"Wow, OK, so tell me again, and I'm sorry if this question is too personal, because honestly, you don't have to answer, this is none of my business, when was the last time Nicole and you...", Lorelai asked, clearly uncomfortable in this situation.
"Last week. And I don't know how long this other guy has been in the picture. I suspected it, but I wanted to know for sure. Lorelai, I'm really scared to have caught something. She's on the pill, you know, and I don't know, God, I hope they used a condom, or condoms. Plural, because he sure was in there for a long time. In my house. With my wife", Luke said, his pain obvious in his eyes.
Lorelai squeezed his hand, and gave him a smile.
"Again, I'm sorry to be blunt here, but you said a couple times that you needed confirmation, meaning you have been suspecting something. What exactly is the deal with you two? Have you been fighting?"
"Well, yeah. When Nicole suggested putting the divorce on hold and dating again, I thought we'd take it slow. Then she got the idea in her head to buy a townhouse and move in together. I was fine with it, but honestly, I wasn't a big part of the whole process. She had selected three places, but when we looked at them together, she made comments like "We wouldn't want that view 24/7, would we?", or "A wood burning fireplace would be so nice, woudn't it?", where it was clear that she was manipulating me because she secretly had already made her choice. Then, after we had moved in, she wouldn't even let me put the furniture together, or hang the pictures. Those are tasks men do, men can do."
"Nothing says testosterone more than hanging pictures", she confirmed.
"Right, so I think that all of that led to me not being there every night, because frankly, it didn't feel like my house. It's nice there, cozy, but it's not my house. So Nicole got angry because she wanted me to stay there every night. She's a big fan of the every night thing."
"Dirty!", Lorelai remarked.
Luke chuckled.
"So, um, Luke?", she asked hesitantly.
"Yeah?"
"Why exactly didn't you spend the night at Nicole's? Is it the house? That you don't feel at home?"
"I guess. Sometimes I have early deliveries. Why?"
"Because - and I know you might hate me for taking Nicole's side here a little bit - I kinda have a similar problem with my boyfriend. Jason. That's his name. We've been dating for almost five months, and he has never spent the night at my place, and I kinda see Nicole's point. I mean, he hasn't cheated on me or anything, at least not that I know of, but, I don't know. I just can't make him stay for the night. I spend the night at his place all the time, and he's this light sleeper, and we, um, we kinda sleep in separate rooms, even after we've... had sex", Lorelai said and avoided to look into his eyes.
Luke didn't know if he wanted to laugh or cry.
"I need more information", he decided to say.
"OK, he has this amazing guest room with a TV that comes out of the foot of the bed, a jacuzzi, and all those books and DVDs, because apparently he can't have the distraction. And it's been fine, wonderful actually to be able to use all of that. But I don't know, I want to have some intimacy. He's given me a key to his apartment, but then, last night, he just left me, didn't even wake me to tell me he was leaving. I really appreciate that he wants me in his life, I, um, I'm just not sure he wants to be in mine."
"Last night, huh?"
"Yeah, I woke up at like half past one, and he wasn't there. He had left me a note. That's when I got your messages by the way. I wonder when he left. Dare I ask if he just waited for me to fall asleep, or did he try to fall asleep, and when it didn't work he left?"
Luke shifted uneasily on the couch.
"What's the matter?", she asked insecurely.
"Geez, this is awkward Lorelai, but I think it's the former", Luke said slowly.
"What? How do you know?"
"Uh, I saw him, his car actually."
"What? When?", a stunned Lorelai wanted to know.
"I locked up the diner at about 11 or 11:30 last night, and-", he said before he was interrupted.
"So late?"
"Yeah, Kirk and Lulu had another date. So, anyway, I was locking the door, and I saw him driving by."
"But how do you know it was him? You haven't even met him."
"Actually, a few weeks back, I saw you with him in his car. One morning in front of the diner."
Lorelai felt incredibly sad at that moment. So he hadn't even tried to get some sleep next to her.
"I, uh, I don't know what to say", Lorelai said.
"Nothing. You don't have to say anything."
They sat there for a few moments, each in deep thought. Luke couldn't stand seeing Lorelai like this. He couldn't help but hate Jason for hurting her like that. But at the same time, he felt like a jerk for putting Nicole in a similar situation. His anger from the night before was slowly giving way to guilt. The hurt stayed, deeply rooted in his heart, his pride heavily bruised by her indiscretion. After a while, Luke stood up, and gave her his hand to pull Lorelai up.
"So, you want some coffee and pancakes for breakfast?", he asked with a consoling smile.
"You have to ask? But make it to go, I have to be at the inn like 20 minutes ago."
Back downstairs, Luke gave Lorelai her order, and scanned the room. He leaned over the counter, and quietly asked, "Is it my fault? With Nicole, is it my fault that she..."
"Luke, no", she said calmly. "You don't deserve this, you're a great man."
"But I could have tried harder, right, I could have tried harder?"
"Maybe. But in relationships, both parties are to blame. I think with Jason and I, I should have said something. I don't think I ever told him how it makes me feel to see that he doesn't really want to be in my life."
"No offense, Lorelai, but the guy left you alone without saying goodbye after sleeping with you. I may be a lousy husband, and rarely stay over at our house, but when I go there, I stay there", Luke explained, then added, "Don't be mad, OK? For my being blunt here."
"No, it's alright. And to come back to your question from before. I would get tested. But it's your decision", she said.
Both nodded in agreement. Both knew they had to have a serious conversation with their respective partners. And Luke would have to make a phone call to the Stars Hollow clinic.
Phew! So, what do you say? Did you like it? Yes, no? Leave me a review either way. I only read them religiously. Have a great week!
