This Thing We're Doing
They chatted easily on the drive back to Star's Hollow. When they were just outside of town, Luke slowed the truck and pulled over to the side of the road. Lorelai looked over at him curiously and smirked "This is an odd place you picked to go parkin', Mr. Smooth Operator."
"I just," he started as he turned toward her in his seat, "I just wanted to be sure that you were sure about this. I mean, me coming over tonight. Babette is sure to be home by now, and she'll see my truck parked there."
"Oh." Lorelai said quietly. "Do you not want people to know that we are seeing each other?" she asked timidly.
Luke snorted a bit when he laughed. "I think it's a little late for secrecy on my part! I just want to be sure that you're okay with it. They're going to be watching our every move, you know." He warned.
Lorelai smiled over at him. "God, I hope not. Remind me to close the blinds when we get there!"
"Lorelai, I'm serious." He said shaking his head at her response, "You know what this town is like. They will be asking you questions, they'll ask me, they'll bug Rory. We will be the main topic of conversation, until something bright and shiny comes along to distract them. Hell," he began to rant, "they will probably know more about what goes on between us than we will. They way they have been stalking the diner for the past couple of days, I wouldn't be surprised if those lunatics start going through our trash…"
Lorelai smiled and placed her hand gently on his check to calm him. "I don't care. I don't care what they say or do, okay? First of all, from what I have heard, I think they want this to happen as much as I do, and I hope you do. Second, I promise not to throw away any of the epic love poems that I am sure you will start penning for me, that way they won't have anything to dumpster dive for. And third, well, I don't have a third, but I have to tell you something. I love it when you rant."
Lorelai leaned across the seat and kissed him softly on the lips. Luke sat for a moment, trying to absorb the fact that Lorelai Gilmore had just kissed him. He blinked at her slowly as he began to lean toward her to kiss her again, but Lorelai placed her hand on his chest to hold him back. "Whoa, steady on, mister. You're supposed to be taking me home, not making moves on me in your big man-truck." She teased. When she saw the disappointment flicker in his eyes, and she gentled her tone, "We'll be there in a minute. You have to see my etchings, remember?" Luke threw the truck into gear and mashed the accelerator, throwing Lorelai back into her seat. Her squeal of laughter was contagious as they sped for her house.
Once they parked the truck, Luke hopped out to open her door for her. He came to her door, and Lorelai said "You don't have to do that, you know." as he helped her from the truck.
Luke gazed down at her and replied quietly "Yes I do. My mom told me that is what a man does when he escorts a lady out for the evening."
Lorelai looked into his blue eyes and tried to keep her knees from buckling beneath her.
"Your mom was a very smart lady." She said, mesmerized.
He guided her gently toward the house with his hand at the small of her back. They climbed the stairs and Lorelai pulled her key from her purse. Luke took it from her, and unlocked the front door, opening it for her, he ushered her in. Lorelai dropped her purse on the hall table and slid out of her jacket. Hanging it on the hall rack, she turned and favored him with a dazzling smile. She tugged on his lapel, urging him to remove his coat. Luke complied, his gaze never leaving her face. Lorelai stepped closer to him and tipped her head up to look him in the eye, "I would say that your mama taught you well." She flirted with a faint southern drawl.
He grinned wolfishly, pushed his hand into her mass of dark curls and leaned down to press a lingering kiss to her soft lips. When they parted, Lorelai blinked rapidly, her mind racing. Oh my! Who knew that Luke Danes could be this sexy? I mean, I knew he was sexy, but seriously, this? I think I may pass out. Luke simply smiled at her and her mind slowed, Nope, I'm good. No swooning here. All is well. All is perfect.
Lorelai stepped back, and turned toward the kitchen. "Would you like a beer?" she called.
"Beer would be good." He said following her.
Good and cold, he thought, something needs to cool this down. What are we doing here? I mean, are we really going to move this fast? He sat down at the kitchen table and stared at his hands as she grabbed their drinks. Does she think that I expect her to sleep with me tonight? Oh God! Sleep with Lorelai! Luke's heart started racing as she slid into the chair across from him. She looked at him unconsciously wringing his hands, not even noticing the beer that she had placed before him.
"Luke?" she called softly, "Luke, what's wrong?"
His head jerked up, and before he could stop them the words tumbled from his mouth. "I don't think that we should sleep together yet." Lorelai sat back in her chair stunned, as he continued. "I mean, I want to. Boy, I really want to. And, I know that you have the house to yourself tonight. And I don't even know if that's what you meant when you said that you wanted me to come back here with you, but if it was, I don't know what to do."
She was about to lay into him about his expectations for the evening, but when she looked into his eyes, she saw the desperation in them, pleading with her to understand, so she stayed quiet for a moment. Luke was not sure how to interpret her uncharacteristic silence, so he rushed to fill the void. Realizing how his words must have sounded, he pushed away from the table and stood to pace the kitchen as he spoke. "I didn't mean for that to sound the way it probably sounded. Lorelai…" he rubbed his hands together nervously, "Lorelai, I think that you are the most beautiful woman I have ever known. I think you know that I am physically attracted to you, so that is not the issue here."
Luke rubbed his hands over his face as he dropped back into the chair across from her. "I know that we have always flirted and teased each other a lot, that's our thing, and I love it. I really do. But, now we are in new territory, and I am not sure where the lines are drawn anymore, you know. I mean, my mind is full of all this stuff!" he said gesturing wildly, "Do I get to touch her now? Do I get to kiss her now? You know, when you are first dating someone, there are all these signals and stuff, but hell! we've been use those for years, so how am I supposed to know what to do?"
"Luke, it's alright." She said trying to calm him, she got up to move over to him.
"I'm an idiot! I feel like a 16 year old boy without a clue! And yet, I keep going with this humiliation! Lorelai, why can't I make my mouth stop running? I mean, you should know what to do about this, right? Your mouth is always…" Lorelai helped him the most effective way she could think of. She kissed him firmly and passionately.
When they parted, Luke looked down at her and smirked "Well, that worked." He stated dryly, "I'll have to remember that, for future reference." He wrapped his arms tightly around her and pulled her into a tight hug. As they held each other, swaying slightly from side to side, he kissed the top of her head and sighed a soft "Sorry." into her hair.
"Nothing to be sorry about." She spoke against his neck. Feeling his pulse beginning to slow again, she couldn't resist, she pressed her lips gently to the spot, only to feel it jump instantly. Smiling, she pulled back to look him in the eye. "What do you say we take these beers, and move into the living room?" He nodded, and grabbed both of their bottles as they moved from the kitchen arm in arm.
Once they settled on the couch, she turned to him and said calmly "Okay, let's see if we can't sort some of those questions out, huh? We'll start small. The flirting, I love it too, but I can see how it can be confusing at this point in our relationship. So, let's just say that we try to be a little more conscious of what we are saying to each other right now. Does that sound reasonable?"
"Yes." Luke replied with a decisive nod.
"Alright, the touching and kissing thing. I am going to have to answer a big 'yes, please' on that one, although I will say that I am not big on the public display thing." She sat back looking at him with her head cocked and continued "I'm guessing that you probably feel that same way about the public pawing." He nodded again. "Good, but in private, I would like to state for the record, that I am all for the touching and kissing."
"Me too." He said.
"Good, my monosyllabic man is back. You were scaring me with your verbosity there for a minute. Okay, finally the big one. As for my expectations for the end of our evening, I really don't know what they were, but I think that you are right. I think that we need to take things slowly. That may be a little more difficult for us than for a couple who were just getting to know each other, because we already have the history and the attraction in place, but I think it's a good idea. I am attracted to you too, Luke. And I really look forward to, shall we say, the physical side of our relationship. But, I do agree that we should wait until we are both more comfortable with being an 'us', you know?"
"Thank you." He said quietly, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her close to his side. They sat in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying being near each other. Lorelai could hear Luke's heart beating though his sweater, and the sound gave her a sense of calm she had never felt before. I am falling for Luke! she thought. I am falling for my best friend.
"Lorelai." She felt his voice rumbling through his chest. "I have to tell you something." She sat up slowly to look at him. He took her hand in his and ran his thumb gently over the back of it as he looked at her reassuringly. She nodded for him to go on. "This thing were doing here, you, me, I just want you to know that I am in. I'm all in."
Lorelai simply kissed him on the lips and returned her head to his chest sighing "Me too, Luke, me too."
They sat quietly, Luke casually brushing his hand over her soft curls. After a few minutes, Lorelai lifted her head and asked "So, it's still early, you wanna watch a movie?"
"Sure." He replied.
"Okay!" she jumped up to peruse her DVD collection. She pulled out Footloose and waved it at him. Luke groaned and shook his head. "No, Luke, its perfect!" she exclaimed while she loaded the disc into the machine, "I've seen it a million times and you have no interest in it."
"How does that make it perfect?" ha asked as she settled back onto the couch and cuddled up to him.
"Well, that way, neither of us will care about what we miss while were necking!" she pulled back and grinned at him triumphantly.
He smiled back at her and brushed her hair back behind her ear. "You're right it's perfect." He said as he leaned n to kiss her.
