Chapter 7: Boxing Day in August
Luke loaded another box of Rory's books onto the dolly. After strapping them down, he wheeled them out of the house, down the piece of wood serving as a temporary ramp, and into the garage, where Lorelai sat on a blanket.
She'd been going through the contents of some of the boxes, attempting to further downsize beyond the meager dent she'd made during their remodel of the house, and was making much more progress this time. She knew she really hadn't been in a sound enough mental state to handle it during her rift with Rory.
She added a few more VHS tapes to the box labeled "TRASH" and smiled at Luke as he approached with the heavy boxes of books.
"I think next time Rory's home, we should ask her about rearranging her room. I could easily put up more bookshelves so she doesn't have to stash all of these in the garage." Luke suggested.
"She might like that. Who knows how long she'll be out on the road. Plus, it would give April room to keep some of her books here, too. Rory's furniture is mostly made up of old things we were getting rid of back at the Independence Inn, anyway."
He nodded and began surveying the progress. There were a few unlabeled boxes toward the back that Lorelai hadn't gotten to yet. "What're those?" he asked.
Lorelai stood up to collapse the now-empty box that formerly held old VHS tapes, and frowned, "I'm not sure, they must be Rory's, but it's missing her usual labeling."
Luke pulled the top one down, checking each of the sides for writing. Lorelai reached down to rip open the one it had been sitting on, and pulled open one of the flaps. She gasped upon seeing its initial contents: a camouflage skirt and spatula.
Her Luke Boxes.
She had left them out next to the trash bins after the big breakup. Rory must have somehow sneaked them into the garage.
Lorelai bit her lip, memories flooding back to her: the meanings behind each item, and the depressing, painful day she'd spent packing them into boxes.
Luke looked over her shoulder to see what had caused her reaction. "Hey, my spatula. What is all this?"
"My Luke box. Well, boxes."
"I thought you said you got rid of everything."
"I thought I had. But it seems a sneaky elf must have moved them in here." Lorelai paused to lift the other flap, seeing several items of clothing she had once dearly loved and long since pushed out of her mind. "Oh, Rory, I can't believe you kept these," she said quietly to herself.
Lorelai wondered if Rory had ever intended to tell her about this. All she knew now was that she wanted to hug her.
Curious to see what else constituted a "Luke Box", Luke used his box cutter to open the box he'd moved, and immediately saw a familiar ring box sitting on top. He'd wondered what had happened to that after he'd told her he didn't want it back. He'd been afraid to ask.
Luke glanced over to see Lorelai still lost in a sea of memories, and silently slipped the ring box containing her engagement ring into his pocket. No need to upset Lorelai by having her finding it, he reasoned to himself. Below it was a jewelry box full of the various necklaces, bracelets, and earrings he'd given her during their time together. Almost every time he'd visited Liz, he'd found something that reminded him of Lorelai.
He cringed a little, realizing that even the random surprise jewelry gifts had stopped after he'd learned about April. The only piece of jewelry she'd gotten during that time was that stupid necklace he'd bought off of Logan. He wondered if that was somewhere in the box, too. He sighed, set the box down on a stack of books, and looked over at Lorelai as she stood up; she was holding a pink shimmery dress.
"Remember this?"
Luke couldn't hold back the smile that surfaced. She'd worn it the night of their first date back together after their first breakup. "Of course. I thought it looked amazing on you. I found out later it looked even better on your bedroom floor."
She laughed and smacked his bicep. "If I remember correctly, and I'm pretty sure I do, it took far too long to convince you that the dress was not meant to stay on after we got home."
"And if I remember correctly, someone had invited Kirk to sleep in the same house even though he'd seemed perfectly happy in the boat. It's bad enough he interrupted our first kiss, the last thing I wanted was him interrupting make-up sex."
"You're the one that told him to ditch his mother. And technically, that was post-reunion-date sex. We'd already had make-up sex."
"Oh, I remember," Luke returned suggestively, his voice dropping an octave.
He'd accosted her the second she opened her front door the night they'd gotten back together, and after several long kisses, she'd jumped back, and demanded to know what they were doing. After a brief conversation - far too brief, he knew now - they gave into their rising desires. It had been fast and intense on the living room floor, significantly different from the far more subdued post-reunion-date sex in Lorelai's bed that was a combination of wanting to take their time, and half-listening for Kirk.
Lorelai smiled, batting her eyelashes at him, and returned the dress to the box. "I need to thank Rory for this the next time she calls. You mind if we bring these in? There's no need for them to sit out here anymore."
He nodded in agreement, looking forward to rediscovering some of the items together, while also dreading seeing some of the other contents again. He knew the wedding dress was in there somewhere; there was no way he could abscond with that as easily as he had her engagement ring.
With everything in place at the house, and Luke's apartment looking more like a massive, oversized office with a kitchen, Luke collapsed onto the couch in exhaustion. While Lorelai was busy at the inn, he spent the rest of the day clearing out the remains of his old apartment, dropping the leftover pieces of furniture off at his storage unit with Jackson's help.
Once back at the house, he reclined on the couch and reached into his pocket to pull out the small box, opening it to gaze at the engagement ring he'd given her. It was amazing how much had happened since he'd slipped the ring on her finger on the porch not far from where he laid now. He pulled the ring out, admiring it as the light caught the diamond.
Luke had questioned the timing of it when she'd joined him on the porch that night. The joy on her face upon seeing the ring had been genuine, but she couldn't hide the redness of her eyes or the tear streaks. He knew they were from the pain of everything going on with Rory, and hated that she seemed to think she had to hold it all back.
Looking at it now, the beautiful ring represented all the beautiful promises that they'd both broken. He returned the ring to the box; the sound of it snapping shut was loud in the quietness of the house. Paul Anka woofed at the noise.
"Think she'll beat me to this next time?" he asked the dog. In response, Paul Anka walked over to lick Luke's arm before laying down on the floor next to the couch. "Thanks, I think I've got a pretty good chance too."
Luke reached down to rub Paul Anka's head and slid the box back into his jacket. He'd have to find a decent place to stash this for now. He'd also have to decide whether or not the ring was too haunted with bad memories, and he knew it would have to be soon.
Luke groaned tiredly as he stood up, and walked out to his truck. He opened his old silver toolbox - "Bert" as the girls had christened it - and poked through it. Finding an old, near-empty box of nails, he dumped its contents into another container, and slid the ring box inside the cardboard box. After storing Bert safely in the garage, he turned to see the headlights of Lorelai's jeep heading up the driveway. As she turned the engine off, he walked over to greet her.
Lorelai looked exhausted, the tension in her face indicating she'd had a stressful evening at work. Before he could ask, she began venting.
"Mr. and Mrs. Harris not only managed to cause their neighboring guests to check out early after screaming at each other the last two nights, but today's argument resulted in a completely trashed room and a broken window. I had to deal with the police, Dad's insurance company, and Michel, who wanted to kick them out two days ago after he caught them yelling at each other in the library, and now blames me for not kicking them out then. Their room is completely unusable until I can get the window and furniture replaced." Lorelai stepped out of the jeep, giving Luke a quick kiss. "The good news is, we've been so busy, the other two rooms are already occupied, and Sharon and Victor Harris are forever banned from the Dragonfly Inn."
She turned and reached back into the jeep to grab a stack of aluminum pans from the passenger seat. "But the best news is, Manny went a little too overboard with the comfort food he made for the staff and guests who'd witnessed the whole mess, and sent it home with me. And I may eat it all myself, so if you want some, you better get to it first."
"I'll try to come over tomorrow once the breakfast rush slows down and see what I can do to help with the repairs." Luke took the pans from her, grateful to not have to deal with cooking tonight. The only other option at this hour was pizza, which they'd already had for lunch, and he was starving. "Did you call Tom?"
"Yeah, after we finished taking photos for the insurance claim. He has to get ahold of his glass guy first, but he said if he can swing it tomorrow, he will," she replied as they headed inside.
They ate with very little conversation, the need for nourishment outweighing even Lorelai's need for chatter. After finishing her second plate, and a few cups of coffee, she felt a little better. Luke still looked a little peaked, but given how much more physically exhausting his day had been, it was expected.
After a shower and change of clothes, Lorelai headed back downstairs feeling newly energized. She found Luke laying on the couch, barely awake, watching the evening's sports coverage. He smiled as he saw her approach and muted the TV, "Feeling better?"
"Much." Lorelai squeezed his big toe and scooted one of the Luke boxes next to the couch before sitting down on the floor next to it.
"You're gonna do this now?"
"There may be something I want to wear tomorrow in these," Lorelai grinned. The dress she'd worn to her parents' vow renewal was the first item to start the "donate" pile. The two laughed at a few of the things that had gone in the boxes - a waffle iron, expired protein powder, books, and a variety of squeal-inducing shoes their owner was thrilled to see again. She reached into the box again blindly, pulling out another item: A beautiful black dress with flowers and pink, gauzy ruffles that peeked out from under it.
She'd loved this dress, and the memories it triggered were both awful and wonderful. She remembered arriving at Friday night dinner, ready to convince Rory that Mitchum Huntzberger was an idiot, and that she should go back to school. For the first time in her life, she had not at all been prepared for her parents to turn against her as they had that night.
She'd gone to Luke after, and his reaction was everything she needed. His determination to get Rory back in school matched hers, and she had fallen in love with him all over again.
Max's unfamiliar approach to fatherhood was one of the many things that made Lorelai start realizing she'd made a mistake accepting his proposal. But Luke… Luke had reacted to Rory's decision as passionately a father would. And she knew right then, no matter how bad the timing, she didn't want to waste another second of her life without him.
She turned her head to find Luke carefully watching her reactions. He spoke quietly, "A lot happened in that dress."
"You remember?"
"Of course. You proposed to me. Which I'd been trying to gather up the guts to do, but that guy wanted to buy the inn, and after the stupid comment Dean made…"
"Comment Dean made?"
"I never told you about this?" he asked.
Lorelai shook her head.
Luke rubbed a hand over his face, "He planted some pretty impressive seeds of doubt when he told me that you and Rory wanted more than Stars Hollow." At this, Lorelai snorted, but Luke held up his hand to stop her. "I realize he's a bitter kid, but look at the timing. I was constantly afraid of losing you to a more interesting life over getting stuck with a diner owner in a small town. I was trying to buy us the Twickham house, but that Armstrong guy was trying to buy the inn, with big promises of travel, and you seemed to be liking the idea."
"I was entertaining the idea. I told you that. It was fun to play with the idea of occasionally traveling to Europe for work. I got to think about all the things a single mother would never have been able to even consider for the last twenty years. How couldn't I at least think about it for a few days? I never thought I'd even be able to spend a minute even dreaming about something like that."
Lorelai turned to face him, sat up on her knees, and held his hands, "And in the end, I turned him down anyway. As fun as it sounded, as good as his offer was, it really wasn't what I wanted. I wanted to start building a life together with you, here. I wanted to see my inn grow without some corporate stamp on it. And seeing you talk about Rory the way you did that night - I didn't want to waste any more time without you. The timing seemed weird, but in my head with everything that was going on then - both the inn and my decision and Rory, it fit together perfectly."
Luke sat quietly, letting explanations for so many things echo in his mind. He thought back to his reaction to her news about Rory. "I would have done it. Gone after her. I wanted to so many times. I hated that you were so stubborn."
"I know. But in retrospect, I don't regret it. I think she's much stronger and more sure of herself for having come to that realization on her own. I don't know if she would've been able to handle not getting that New York Times internship if she hadn't gone through all that. Just look at what she's doing. I loved you for being so unrelentingly passionate about Rory. I still do." She frowned then, accidentally stumbling across a realization. She narrowed her eyes at Luke for a moment wondering if she should even mention it.
"What?"
"It's... just that… your interactions with Rory from the very beginning endeared you to me. You two developed your own friendship apart from me. I loved seeing that. I love that you still have that. But just the thought of me having that with April repulsed you…"
"It didn't repulse me," Luke sighed, "Lorelai, I thought we were past this."
"We… well… I… I still," She sighed, closing her eyes, looking for the right words. "It was a big thing, Luke. It went on for awhile. We're together again, and things are good. Right before April appeared, I thought we were finally on track. And we're there again, and... she'll be here soon… and there's all these memories… sometimes it's really hard not to be afraid of history repeating itself."
Luke sat up then, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Then until you can see that things are different now, I need you to trust me that they will be. I need you to trust me when I tell you that I look forward to you and April bonding over your disapproval of broccoli next to your burger and fries. I need you to trust that I am going to rely on you to explain to her that her dad's not as insane as he looks after I chase her first boyfriend out of the diner. Or whatever April's version of Dean would be."
Lorelai laughed softly and he smirked for a moment before he continued with a more serious tone.
"I blew it before, Lorelai. I loved seeing you two at her birthday party, don't doubt that for a second. I never had the chance to tell you because Anna pulled the rug out from under me so fast that day. But I laid there that night listening to you guys playing that weird chanting game, and I saw a glimpse of our future, and it made me happy. I know the exact feeling you're talking about. And I wish I'd been as strong as you had been the night you proposed to reach out and grab it. But we'll be in that place again, I just can't show you until she gets here. But I need you to trust me on this."
They held each other's gaze for a few more moments, Lorelai searching his face for any doubts. He looked pretty sure of things. Watching his eyes and considering his words, she felt the wave of sadness retreating as a wave of confidence in Luke slowly rolled in after it. She pulled herself up, wrapping her arms around Luke's torso and burying her head in his chest. She sighed, "I'm sorry stuff keeps coming up."
"I'd be more worried if it didn't," he responded, running his hand over her head and through her hair. "I'll spend the next fifty years sorting through our past if I have to."
Lorelai chuckled, "I don't think we'll need that long, but I like the idea of us together fifty years from now."
She pulled back from him, stole a glance into the box, and groaned as she fell back into Luke's embrace. She felt Luke straighten and lean forward slightly, trying to get a glimpse of what had caused her reaction. Knowing he wouldn't recognize the zipped dress bag, Lorelai pulled back again to watch his face as she spoke, "The too perfect wedding dress."
He grimaced as well, but spoke as his only memory of the dress surfaced, "I was going to tell you about April that night you showed it to me. Looking back, if I had, we might've gotten off on the right foot with that, and I might've seen the dress again in June."
Lorelai sighed, "What the hell do I do with it now? Sell it? Donate it?"
Luke frowned. When he saw her in it, he didn't want anything more in that moment than to see her marrying him in it. He still wanted that. "Keep it."
She bit her lip as she stared back at the zipped bag in the bottom of the box.
Luke understood her uncertainty - it was no different than his feelings about the ring. "Why don't I take it with me tomorrow and put it in the closet in the apartm - office - above the diner," he saw her crack a smile at the name change, "You can decide how you feel about it later."
She nodded, "That works. Just… give us a minute."
Lorelai grabbed the dress from the box and ran upstairs. She hung it from her closet door, unzipped the bag, and pulled the dress out, then spread it out on the bed and caressed the wrinkled fabric. It was still so beautiful and so her. It didn't have the foreboding "too perfect" feeling now. Instead, it just looked like a bearer of unfulfilled wishes. She fingered the bodice in thought.
Luke was right. She couldn't get rid of it. At least not until she was ready to be thinking about wedding dresses again, and could decide whether or not it had too much negative history. She slowly ran her hand down its length one last time before zipping the bag back up and carrying it downstairs.
In her absence, Luke had labeled two of the boxes "trash" and "donate" and relocated the items they'd already gone through. He returned many things to the kitchen, and was back on the couch sitting tiredly with his chin in his hands, trying to keep his eyes open as he watched a blur of scores on the TV screen. Lorelai laid the bag on the back of the couch for Luke to take with him in the morning, and turned off the TV.
"Come on, roomie, time to hit the hay."
Luke yawned and smiled, helping Lorelai collect the rest of the items she was keeping before heading upstairs to their room.
As she laid in bed, Lorelai relaxed, feeling almost giddy about reuniting with so many of the things she'd thought were gone forever, but even more relieved at the conversation the memories had dredged up.
She hadn't yet mentioned the one thing left that was still bothering her: where the hell was her ring?
Author's Notes: Way back in the Middle Ages, Boxing Day was celebrated the day after Christmas by giving gifts to the needy. Happy Boxing Day, Luke and Lorelai! ;)
