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Part two of three.
Paradox
Part 2: Passionately
By I.M.
It had been a few minutes. It had been a few hours. Can you ever really tell when you feel like you're flying? Luke and Lorelai reluctantly broke apart, their foreheads slightly touching. They stood in the hall (away from it all), slowly swaying to the muffled music that slipped through the doors.
Lorelai lifted her eyes up to meet Luke's and sighed quietly. "We should probably get back before my mom starts looking for us," she whispered, trying not to completely destroy the delicate magic by mentioning her mother.
"C'mon, Lorelai," he responded, equal in volume. "That woman just got re-married. I don't think her daughter's whereabouts are a chief concern right n—"
"Lorelai! Where have you been?" Magic officially shattered. "I've been looking for you for hours!"
Luke and Lorelai exchanged amused glances as Emily Gilmore yelled. And yelled and yelled and yelled. Everything else faded away as they were caught in each other's gazes.
"Well?" Emily demanded. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
"Sorry Mom," Lorelai said, right on cue. The art of faked attention had been perfected by Lorelai over the years.
"We're very sorry, Emily," Luke added. "We were just… talking about some stuff."
"Well, don't just stand there. Go back in!"
-x-
Lorelai planted a quick kiss on Luke's cheek before she rushed over to Rory, who had begun to walk towards a blond-haired boy. Luke saw Lorelai's lips move rapidly, forming the words that made him feel so giddy… we're engaged. He saw Rory's jaw drop. He saw them trying to suppress the urge to jump up and down. He saw them fail miserably. He saw Lorelai grin like an idiot while her daughter hugged her tight.
He saw Christopher Hayden gulp down his drink and get up to talk to Lorelai.
He saw himself getting up and striding over to Lorelai and Rory. And Chris.
He saw Lorelai's look of surprise when Chris grabbed her shoulder and spun her around to face him.
He saw Chris confess to his fiancé that he was in love with her.
He saw Lorelai glance over to her fiancé, trying to tell him with her eyes that Chris was drunk, that it didn't matter what he said to her. That she was in love with him.
He heard him tell her that it wasn't forever. That she always came back to him.
He didn't hear anything else.
Luke had turned around. Hearing it all was bad enough. He didn't need to see it, too. There was no need to make it even more real with images—ones that would haunt him whenever he closed his eyes.
He started walking. He started walking away. He couldn't take it anymore... this relationship made him feel. But sometimes it made him feel too much.
"Luke!" he heard her cry out. "Please, Luke!"
He didn't stop.
"Wait, Luke!" She was desperate. He was broken. "Luke! Please… stop!"
He didn't stop.
He shut it all out… her begging, his heart's protests, the urge to sweep her into his arms.
"Luke! Don't go…" Her voice drifted away, but he heard her. He always did. Even when she didn't have the strength to go on, Luke was the one who understood. He was the one who was there.
He stopped.
He turned.
He saw her pale face, the tears in her eyes that threatened to fall.
He stayed completely still.
He shook his head. He didn't know what he was thinking when he started this. He had been an idiot. He should have known. He should have known Lorelai.
This was stupid, he thought. I know exactly what to do.
He saw Lorelai waiting for him to do something, do anything. But he knows exactly what to do.
The next part is pretty much what Luke decides to do: choose Lorelai or walk away... forever.
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