This chapter is dedicated to DiehardJavaJunkie14, because if it hadn't been her birthday yesterday, this chapter wouldn't have been finished.
Friends Forever
Lorelai's fourteen and Luke's sixteen
March 1983
The New Year had begun and suddenly it was spring, but the New England coldness stuck around, including the snow. But not the good, wintry kind that Lorelai loved, but the sleety, slushy kind that seemed to be endless. January and February had passed by quickly, and now it was March, the longest, dreariest month of the year. No holidays and it was already well into the year, meaning the teachers were piling more work on than ever. Worst of all was the way everyone was acting; depressing, gloomy, sluggish, it was as if life itself had become monotonous. Everything and everyone was the same.
As Lorelai laid with her feet dangling over the top of the antique couch in the living room, one her mother had specified was not for lounging around on, she contemplated whether or not if at least one, non-dull event happened, it would end the tedious lifestyle she had ended up with in the past few weeks.
Everything seemed to have gone downhill after the pizza night with Luke in the early part of last December. Her parents had ended up spending the holidays in Europe, and though she was glad she was allowed a choice as to whether or not she would go or stay home without them, and she chose the latter, she still hated the lonely feeling it had brought about. With Luke having to visit his aunt and cousin in Rhode Island, she had ended up more alone than she had thought she would. Apparently his aunt frowned upon bringing along people who weren't related to you, no matter how close you were to them. And once he finally got home, hardly any other part of her vacation hadn't even been spent with Luke, who she usually spent all the holidays with. She assumed it was because they were getting older and were creating lives of their own, ones that always didn't involve each other. She didn't like it that much.
New Years Eve, which traditionally was spent with Luke at the party her parents threw, had instead been spent in Rick Taylor's bathroom, holding back Alyson's hair as she emptied her stomach into the toilet. Alyson and Chris had supposedly been dating on and off during the last month because they "needed to experience new people; they had, after all, been dating almost a year." But when Lorelai walked in on Chris playing some intense tonsil hockey with a girl from some other town, she had told Alyson immediately, who apparently was repulsed at the thought of her soon to be ex-boyfriend dating someone else, proceeded to drink herself into a deeply intoxicated state, which resulted in the two of them not leaving Rick's house until the following morning.
And with the two months following, her visits with Luke were few and far between due to the fact Luke had recently gotten a job working part-time at his father's hardware store, giving him hardly any free time of his own and her dealing with her friend's, now annoying, supposed depression. She was beginning to think that Alyson was bipolar. One minute she was weeping over the loss of her "soul mate," the next was being spent flirting with whatever guy looked her way. And then there was just two weeks ago; Valentines Day. Lorelai had sworn to herself that she wouldn't let herself get caught up in all the love, but somehow, she had. And then she ended up making out behind the bleachers during gym with Mike Davis, who she willingly admitted to anyone that asked that he was the hottest man in the school. But after their short night spent at the movies and a quick goodnight kiss, he had never called her back and she had given up on him. He was just another thing to be added to her list of things gone wrong.
As she felt the blood rushing to her head quicken, she sighed and sat up. As she bent over to pick her history book up off the floor, she came to the decision that the dizziness she had felt just a few seconds prior had been the highlight of her day. That only seemed to make her more depressed.
She flipped open her history book to page 163, something about the Russian Revolution, and skimmed the pages quickly. History, no matter how simple the subject was, was her least favorite subject so far that year due to the lack of interest that it brought. By the time she had reached page 168, the doorbell suddenly began to ring impatiently. She sighed, shutting her book. "Is anyone gonna get that?" she called out loudly, even if she knew the new maid would get lost finding her way to the front door and that she was the only other person home. Tossing her book back on the floor carelessly, she muttered a quick and sarcastic, "I guess I've got it," and made her way to the door.
As the ringing ensued, her pace quickened and her mumbles grew louder. "I'm coming, just hold on! Jeez," With an unpleasant smile, she opened the door, only to have her face brighten at the sign of Luke standing on the other side of the door. "Hey, what are you doing here?" she asked, opening the door wider to allow him to come in. "Its one o'clock, shouldn't you be working?"
He shrugged, a small grin tugging at his lips as he walked in, pausing in the middle of the foyer. "I work later on Saturdays," he answered casually, "I was actually just out for a drive."
"A drive?" She sounded surprised, intrigued. "With who?"
"Drove myself." he answered simply.
"You drove here," she repeated, her smile widening considerably. He nodded. "By yourself?"
"Yeah,"
"How?"
He shrugged. "Got a car."
Her eyes widened, the disbelief evident across her face. "You got a car!"
"I got a truck," he corrected, grinning widely at her.
"And it drives?"
"Yup."
"And it has wheels?
He smirked. "Four of them."
"And all this is legal?"
"Well, no."
She deflated instantly. "You didn't steal it, did you?"
"No it's nothing like that; just that because I only have my permit, I can only drive with an adult."
"And you drove here alone." she finished with a grin. "You've only been on the road for, what, four months and you're already breaking the law?"
"It's not like it's anything that bad, I mean, if you think that I shouldn't be driving, I could just leave you here and go out with my other friends."
She gasped, a smile clear through her feigned offense, "Don't you dare!" she exclaimed.
"Good, go tell your parents you're spending the night at my place."
"Should I change?" she asked, glancing down at her sweatpants and Stars Hollow Baseball t-shirt uncertainly.
He nodded, "But make it quick. I don't want to be down here for an hour."
"Well, where are we going?"
"I've got an hour before I gotta get back to my dad's store, but then later there's a party at Nick's house so I thought we'd go there."
"How long are you going to have to work?" she asked with a frown. She had hoped that she'd get to spend some time with Luke before he had to leave her to venture out on the town alone.
"From three to seven, or somewhere around there. But that will give us about an hour and a half, and I figured while I was at work you'd probably want to spend some time with Sookie and whoever else it is that you're friends with in town."
She nodded, "Good assumption."
"But I'm not taking her with us to the party."
"Why?" She deflated. "I thought you liked Sookie."
"Because I'm already bringing one freshman along, but luckily with you, not that many people will realize that you're only in the ninth grade-"
"Because of my dazzling and mature looks?"
"Because the amount of make-up you put on makes you seem eighty and blind."
She scoffed.
"Seriously though, I'm not going to look like an idiot who's only friends with fourteen year olds."
"Hey, I'm almost fifteen, which is almost sixteen, which is how old you are."
"And when you're sixteen, I'll be eighteen and I still won't be letting your friends tag along with us. Now go get changed, I'm gonna go grab something from the fridge for the ride, want anything?"
"Soda will be fine," she called back to him, already making her way upstairs and into her room.
Luke and Lorelai spent their hour and a half together out driving on the old roads in the area where they were sure there were no police out and it would be fine to excess the speed limit, just because they couldn't think of a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon. They laughed and kidded around with each other while Luke nearly scared Lorelai to death about ten times when he "accidentally" hit the gas instead of the brakes, or when he "accidentally" swerved into the left lane when there was the occasional car passing them. They listened to the radio, Lorelai's choice of course, and she sang as loud as she could while Luke suffered beside her. He told her some crazy stories about the happenings in the Hollow, something about damned church bells ringing all the time, while she told him some amusing anecdotes of the Hartford society life. Overall, they had a great time.
When they got back to Stars Hollow, Luke set off to work and Lorelai wandered around town, smiling and waving to all the townsfolk that greeted her and claimed how long it had been since they had seen her last, until she finally made it to her destination at Sookie's house.
She and Sookie, who was ecstatic to see her, gladly caught up with each other, sharing news and gossip faster than the news on page six got around. "So he didn't even care that he was still in a relationship with Alyson?" Sookie asked incredulously. The two of them were perched on her bed, occasionally flipping through the various teen magazines scattered across the room.
Lorelai shrugged. "I guess not."
"Guys can be so cruel."
"Well, he had a right to, I guess. They were in an open relationship; they said that they could date other people."
"Are you seriously siding with Chris on this?"
Lorelai rolled her eyes. "We're not six anymore, Sook, I'm not repulsed by the simple thought of him. I'm just being logical."
"Because that's something you do so much."
"I'm a logical person," Lorelai defended. "Besides, I've known him longer; doesn't that give me the right to side with him?"
"But you're better friends with Alyson." Sookie pointed out. "If she hadn't dated Chris, you would probably still hate him." Lorelai sighed loudly, rolling her eyes. Just as she was about to retort, Sookie let out a loud squeal that resulted in Lorelai nearly falling off the bed in surprise.
"What?" Lorelai asked, scrambling back up on the bed in curiosity.
"You like him." Sookie stated knowingly with a catlike smile.
Playing dumb, Lorelai asked, "Like who?"
"You like Christopher."
"What?" she scoffed, her eyes widening as her face shone in disbelief. "I do not."
"Yes you do, it's obvious."
"It's not obvious because I don't like him, he's just a friend." Lorelai reminded her sternly.
Sympathetically, Sookie looked at Lorelai. "You know, it's okay to like someone other than Luke."
"I know its okay to like someone other than Luke. I was just saying earlier that I had a date with Mike last month."
"And that's good," Sookie encouraged, "But I mean with someone that will actually call you back." Lorelai frowned. "And I mean that in a good way. For now you should just try and put yourself out there and meet new people."
"God, you make me sound like some obsessed, crazy ex-girlfriend that can't get over the fact that her boyfriend no longer wants her."
Sookie shrugged uncomfortably, "That's one way to put it."
"But how can I be a crazy, obsessed ex-girlfriend if we haven't even gone out in the first place?"
"Are we speaking hypothetically? 'Cause I'm a little-"
"All I'm saying," Lorelai cut her off, "Is that with Luke, sure I like him, I've liked him for awhile, I've always liked him, and I probably even love him, even if it's only as a friend, but that doesn't mean that I won't let myself like other people. If I find myself liking someone new, like with Mike for example, than I'll like Mike and my feelings for Luke will still be there, but that's only because it's practically impossible to get rid of them. They'd just be put on, like, the back burner or something and I'd ignore them while I went out with the other guy."
Sookie nodded in confirmation, "So… this means you like Chris, huh?"
With a small smile, Lorelai looked down at her fidgeting hands in her lap, her face turning a bright and obvious shade of pink. She looked up at her friend with a small, shy smile. That was one way to put it.
Around eight that night, Luke and Lorelai were standing out on Nick's front porch as the loud music blared through the windows, just barely downing out their conversation. "Okay, so tonight you are at a high school party, got that?" Luke checked for what seemed like the fifteenth time that night. He had been nagging for her to behave ever since she had met him back at his house for a quick dinner and it was really beginning to get on her nerves.
Lorelai rolled her eyes, "I know, Luke, we've been over this ten times." He reached his hand for the doorknob, then paused, pulled back and sighed. "God, Luke!" Lorelai all but shouted in exasperation. "This is going to take all night."
He tiredly ran his hand across his forehead before looking up at her almost pleadingly. "Just do not make me regret being your friend at all tonight, okay?"
"You're so dramatic, Luke. Have you forgotten that I'm in high school, too?"
He waved her off. "Well, you're a freshman."
"That doesn't mean I don't know how to behave at a party. I was, after all, raised by Emily Gilmore."
"Yeah for cotillion and stuff like that."
"We'll so were you," she shot back defensively, opening the door and walking into the house before he could say another word.
He reluctantly followed her inside, only pulling her aside once to remind her to meet up with him at the front door around eleven if they didn't meet up again throughout the rest of the night, to which Lorelai agreed before the two of them separated.
Lorelai watched as Luke walked in the opposite direction of her and met up with his friends and felt suddenly completely out of place. What on earth was she thinking when she decided to go to a high school party with Luke with kids she hardly knew, and only knew her as Butch's hot and annoying little friend.
She sighed and wandered aimlessly until she found the kitchen, where she remained for what seemed like the next hour, but was only fifteen minutes. She was contemplating whether or not she should go and ask Luke if she could just go spend the night at Sookie's when a very attractive, slightly older than her, brown-haired boy walked in, smiling and nodding a hello to her.
She smiled back, politely of course, before shyly looking down at her shoes and the tiled floor. At the moment, with her reddened cheeks, the tiles were very interesting.
"Want one?" the boy asked.
Lorelai, having no clue what he was talking about, looked up and stared at him in confusion, feeling like a complete idiot. "One?"
"A drink?" he asked, holding up his own cup.
"Oh, um, sure. A drink would be nice." She smiled at him politely as he grabbed a cup from the counter and skillfully tossed it in the air, catching it with his other hand and lowering it under the tap of the keg. Lorelai's impressed smile faltered slightly as she realized that the beer he was handing her was for her to drink. "Thanks," she said with a tight smile. She looked down and into the cup at the liquid that looked faintly akin to the ginger ale she would drink when she was younger and sick. Only now it was alcohol, something new, something she knew that she shouldn't be drinking, something she never had drank before, but with him smiling at her like that, she couldn't help but consider it.
"You're welcome…?"
"Lorelai," she finished with a smile, bravely taking her first sip of alcohol and nearly choking on the bitter, stinging taste as it drifted down her throat.
"Are you okay?" he asked amusedly, stifling a small laugh.
"Oh, yeah, just, you know," she swallowed thickly. "Wrong pipe."
He nodded, still a bit skeptic. "Well, it was nice to meet you, Lorelai."
"You, too." She smiled politely, her eyes following him until he turned the corner into the other room. Well, that certainly brightened up her evening. She looked down into the cup before taking another sip, this time more hesitant and cautious than the last. The taste was still bitter and not at all delightful in her case, but for some reason, one she didn't know, it felt a little good. Maybe it was because, no matter how stupid and pathetic the reason may be, it made her feel attractive somehow. Different. Not the Lorelai everyone else knew her as in her school back in Hartford. There she would never be caught drinking. But in Stars Hollow, with kids that didn't know her that well, she could fit in just as easily as everyone else.
By the time she was done thinking about her pitiable life, her cup was surprisingly done and the stinging had either ceased or she had just grown accustomed to the feeling and forgot what it felt for her throat to not be stinging. She wasn't exactly sure. She went over to the keg, and just as she was done filling up her second cup two thirds of the way, she felt a tap on her shoulder. "I'm going; I'm going, just hold on."
However, the person behind her made it clear he didn't want to 'hold on.' He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to the secluded corner of the kitchen, turning her around to face his furious face. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Luke asked lividly, though his tone remained hushed so no one could overhear them by chance.
Lorelai blinked, still recovering from the shocked feeling. She shrugged, tugging his hand off her arm. "Nothing."
"Were you seriously-" he stopped at a loss for words and only stared at her in confusion. "Why on earth were you drinking? You're fourteen for God's sake!"
"And it was just one drink. I'm not going to drink myself into oblivion and have you carry me home. I'm fine, I'm still standing."
"And now you're being cut. No more, you can drink when you're out with your other friends, but not while you're still my responsibility."
She rolled her eyes as Luke calmly escorted her back over to the keg where he proceeded to fill up two plastic cups of his own. "Hypocrite," she mumbled, staring down into her half empty cup that he had surprisingly never taken away from her.
"So, uh, Luke?" Lorelai asked, her right hand tugging nervously at the hem of her shirt.
"Yeah?" he replied distractedly, trying not to spill any of the beer out of the cups as he poured them.
"Do you know who that guy is? Over there?" she asked, pointing him out apprehensively.
"Jared?"
"I don't know, is that who he is?"
"If you're talking about the kid with the red shirt, then yes, that's Jared."
"Oh, and, well, what do you know about this, um, Jared?" she stuttered.
Luke shrugged, seemingly oblivious to Lorelai's intentions, "Last name's Walsh, he's a sophomore, plays soccer sometimes, why he would play such a stupid sport is beyond me. No one even plays soccer; all you do is run back and forth across the field and kick a ball. It shouldn't even be considered as a sport."
"You know, Butch, not everyone thinks that running around in circles wearing shorts and a tank top is a sport either. Actually, I'm pretty sure the majority of the people here would agree that it isn't."
"Shut up," he grumbled.
"So, uh, is there anything else about Jared?" she asked abruptly.
Luke shrugged, "Not really."
"Well, what about his status?" she asked lightly, casually crossing her arms and leaning against the countertop, making sure she had a good view of the boy in question.
"Status?" Luke repeated. Lorelai nodded, trying to appear not as eager as she felt. "I don't know, he's okay, I guess. I mean, he probably wouldn't fit in with people that well at your school, yeah, he's cool."
"Oh, well, that's great and all but," she paused, doing her best to control the blush that was rising in her cheeks. This was definitely not something she was used to talking to Luke with, especially at a party. "I sorta meant, you know, whether or not he was dating someone."
"Dating someone? Why would you-" he stopped suddenly. "No. No way are you dating him."
"Are you serious?" she asked innocently, "I said absolutely nothing about dating him. I was just curious."
He continued to doubtfully stare at her until he conceded under her firm stare. "Well, it's not like you'd be able to date him anyway." he said, taking her plastic cup from her unwillingly and dumping it down the sink.
"Oh," she frowned. "Why?"
"Nearly every girl in the ninth and tenth grade is in love with the kid."
"Butch got some competition?" she asked sympathetically.
"And on that note, I'm leaving. You better not be drunk the next time I see you, either." he warned before grabbing the two cups off the counter, leaving Lorelai alone for the second time that night.
She sighed, looking almost longingly down the sink. She pushed herself away from the countertop, deciding to chance it and go hang out in the living room with everyone else. Besides, the beer wasn't that good, either.
The rest of the night went on smoothly. Lorelai ended up talking and flirting with a few of the guys, dancing with two, and met the few other freshman girls from the town that had come she had never even noticed before. The only awkward moment was catching Luke making out with a girl she assumed to be his girlfriend. She hadn't paid attention to the name when Luke had stuttered an introduction between the two women, who politely smiled at each other, though it was obviously forced. Apparently they had been going out for two weeks, so she didn't have that much of a good reason to yell at Luke at the end of the night. But overall, it was a good night. It was strange, Lorelai thought as she and Luke met up at the front door around eleven, that even though she'd practically lived in Stars Hollow her entire life and considered it a second home, she hardly knew anyone her own age.
"So where's your girlfriend?" Lorelai asked as they stepped out in the chilly air.
Luke shrugged uncomfortably. "She had to be home at ten-thirty; curfew."
She nodded. "Well, I had a good time tonight."
Luke looked over at her strangely. "Good."
"Yeah, I mean, you should definitely bring me along more often when there's a party."
"I'll remember that."
"Good."
Luke looked over at Lorelai, staring at her as if her were studying her face for some sort of final exam before turning back, shaking his head in disappointment. "I still can't believe you were drinking." he grumbled angrily.
She rolled her eyes. "I only had a total of one cup. One of those stupid plastic cups that hardly contained anything. It's not like you have to hold my hair back while I throw up in the bushes or something, it was nothing."
"You're fourteen!" he exclaimed. "You shouldn't be drinking when you're only fourteen. I didn't even have my first drink till two months ago."
"There's hardly a difference. And like I said, it was once and it wasn't even that great. I doubt I'll even have another one in the next six months."
Luke sighed loudly beside her, making it clear he didn't agree with her at all. "You better not in any way act drunk in front of my father," he warned as they approached the house. "I mean it."
"I won't." He shot her a look. She rolled her eyes, "I promise."
Lorelai liked this time of night, when she was asleep. She hardly had to worry and was usually content. It was always a plus when she was able to spend the night at the Danes home, especially when she got to sleep in the guestroom, more affectionately known as her own. Her bedroom always felt warm there, and not just in the sense of temperature. It felt like it would at a real home, and it didn't matter if the bedspread matched the color of the walls.
But that specific night, Lorelai would have preferred to be sleeping in a tent on the ground in Alaska surrounded by man eating polar bears if there were such a thing, than in the guest room. It was two fifty-five a.m. and she had yet to fall asleep. She knew she shouldn't even bother trying anyways. It was those damn bells. Luke had warned her about them, but she had waved it off time and time again. Now she was beginning to understand what he had meant when he repeatedly checked if she wanted to spend the night at his house or not.
Every hour on the hour the bells would ring, and she wasn't surprised when she heard the screaming and exceptionally loud groans from outside the house. She was tired, extremely annoyed, still slightly buzzed from the alcohol earlier and desperately wanted to go home.
Never did she think she'd ever admit that.
She sighed, checked the clock. Two fifty-eight. Two more minutes and then she could hopefully try to get at least fifteen minutes of sleep. From her position lying down on the bed, she shifted up, pulling her knees to her chest and resting her crossed arms on them, the frown on her face showing off her obvious irritation. Finally, when the clock struck three and the clamoring and the clangoring began, she flinched with every ring until finally fed up, she marched into Luke's room and over to his bed. "Luke, Luke, get up."
He sat up hurriedly, leaning back on his hands. "What?" he groaned, rubbing his hand across his face.
She gasped. "You're asleep?" she asked incredulously. "Seriously?"
He rolled his eyes, sitting up straighter. "Obviously I'm not anymore. What do you want?" he asked, looking over to check his clock. "It's three o'clock in the morning."
"How can you possibly sleep through that?"
"Through what?"
"The bells, Luke! The freakin' obnoxious bells that won't shut up! Every hour on the hour those stupid bells go off like clockwork. It's impossible to sleep!"
Luke, ignoring her completely, managed to lay back and roll onto his stomach, burying his face in his pillow, already close to sleep for the second time that night. "Obviously it's not that hard," he muttered. "Now, leave."
"I will!" she stated triumphantly, stomping her foot for emphasis. Suddenly she deflated; a pout clear on her face.
He waited a few seconds before asking, "Why are you still here?"
Speaking quickly, she explained, "I kinda need a ride home."
He yawned, "Guess you're stuck here, then."
She mock-sighed. "I know, that's just what I was thinking."
"Hmm."
"But then I remembered that you have a car."
"Truck," he corrected sleepily.
She shrugged, sitting herself down on the edge of his bed. "Truck, car, potato, potahto."
"Right now, you could be asleep, you know." he reminded her.
"Or right now you could be getting dressed to take me back home."
"Just call your parents if you want to leave so bad."
"It's three o'clock in the morning, Luke. I don't think they'd appreciate me calling them and waking them up at three in the morning."
"So instead you choose to wake me up." he deduced dryly.
"You inflict less pain when woken up."
"The more time you spend talking the less time you have trying to go back to sleep."
"Please," she scoffed. "By the time I walk all the way back down the hall and into my room and back under the covers it'll already be quarter past, and then I have to factor in the time spent trying to fall back to sleep, which, after seeing my energy level now, means another ten minutes at the least, and then I'll have hardly a half hours sleep and at four the bells will ring, waking me up again and the process will begin all over again." She sighed dramatically. "Are you even listening to me?"
"Sleep, Lorelai, it's what most normal people do at this time of the night." She shook her head, her eyes narrowed and tugged on his arm until he looked up at her unhappily. "What now?"
She cocked her head to the side, frowning mockingly, "What ever happened to you, Luke? You used to be adventurous, bold, daring, willing to break any rule at any time of the day."
"Lorelai?"
"Yeah?"
"Sleep."
"I guess it's true when they say you get soft as you age."
He sat up suddenly, causing her to jump back slightly in surprise. "That's it."
"That's what?"
"You want adventurous?" he challenged, glaring menacingly.
Her face lit up. "You're gonna take me home?"
He shook his head. "Just get dressed, or better yet, just throw on a coat and meet me downstairs by the door."
"Make it the kitchen and make me some coffee and it's a deal."
"We don't have to do this, you know." he reminded her as he began to get out of bed, clad in only his boxers and a t-shirt.
"Fine," she relented, willing herself not to make it obvious she was staring at his chest, "I'll make my own coffee."
"Make it quick," he called after her quietly as she got up and left the room.
Not ten minutes later Luke met up with Lorelai in the kitchen, his jeans and jacket on and his father's toolbox in his hand. "You almost done with that?" he asked, watching as Lorelai eyed the toolbox suspiciously.
"Why are you holding that?"
"Because we're gonna need it. Now hurry up." he ordered, quietly putting the toolbox down and pushing her out of the way, finishing up making her coffee and pouring it into a thermos.
"Thank you," she smiled, taking the thermos from him and sipping at it carefully. "It's hot," she said as they slipped out the front door in silence, put into the frigid March air.
Once they were outside, Luke led the way to their destination with Lorelai following behind him, complaining most of the way. "Are we ever gonna get there?" she asked, visibly shivering.
"For the last time, we're almost there."
And then they stopped. Lorelai looked up at Luke in confusion. "Luke?"
"Yeah?"
"We're at the church."
"I know," He nodded, searching through his wallet until he pulled out a credit card.
"What are you doing?"
He gestured to the door, "'S locked." he pointed out.
"So you plan to buy your buy your way in and charge it to your-" She stopped mid-sentence and grabbed his hand, staring at the card he was holding incredulously. "Hold on, you have a credit card?"
"No," he scoffed. "I stole it from my dad."
"You stole your dad's credit card?" she asked disbelievingly.
He raised his hands in the air defensively. "I'm gonna give it back."
"That's just what Rebecca Allen said to me in the third grade when she borrowed my pencil."
"I only took it so we could get in here." he said while expertly sliding the card between the two doors.
"So are we seriously breaking into the church?" she asked in surprise, "Is God going to smite us for doing this?"
"I hope not."
"Are we going to have to pray?" she asked worriedly, "Because I don't know how to pray."
He sighed and rolled his eyes, gesturing to the now open door, "Will you just get inside?"
With an impressed glance, she scurried inside, Luke in tow. "You know," she started as Luke set the toolbox down on one of the pews, opening it up and digging through it for something specific. "You never did tell me why we're here exactly."
He shrugged, handing her a flashlight. "Hold onto that, okay?" She nodded. He looked up at her, a screwdriver in one hand and a wrench in the other. "Well, we're gonna break the bells."
"We're gonna break the bells?" she asked in astonishment.
"Yeah, but we've got to be real quick, we've only got about twenty-five minutes."
"Okay, so how are we going to actually break them? 'Cause when I picture us breaking the bells, I picture us banging them with a hammer." She paused, then giggled. "That was dirty."
Luke rolled his eyes. "We're not using a hammer." he informed her, grabbing a few other essential tools and motioning for her to follow him.
"Well, that's good," Lorelai said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Considering what happened that last time you let me use one."
"Yes, because it was my idea to allow you to try and help me build a tree house when you were nine." he retorted sarcastically.
"You said that the only way for me to be allowed to go in it would be if I helped build it."
"I never thought you'd actually try to help." He grabbed the flashlight from her hand and shone it up the hole in the ceiling where the bell room was located. "So here's what we're gonna do, either you can stay down here and make sure nothing happens and I'll go up there and just mess around until I find some way to stop the ringing or you can come up with me and try and help."
"I'm going up," she chose immediately.
"Then you're going up first."
"Why can't you go up first?" she asked as he quickly gathered some of the tools in his arms.
"Because I said so, now hurry up. I don't want to have to wait an extra hour to be sure we did this right."
She nodded and cautiously walked as fast as she could up the short staircase where the bells were, Luke in tow following close behind her.
"What now?" she whispered, looking around the cramped room with all its gears uncomfortably.
He ignored her and tried to find some space to put down the extra tools. He sighed in defeat and looked up at her. "You're waiting outside."
"What?" she cried, frowning at his stern face. "I wanted to help break the bells, too."
"There's hardly enough room in here for one person, much less two. We wouldn't be able to even get near the bells if we did this together."
"Fine," she relented dramatically. "I'll go wait downstairs in the cold, all alone. But, you know, I could just stand right here and watch. Be your trusty assistant and whatnot."
"Just don't get in the way." he ordered.
She smiled gratefully. "I won't."
About ten minutes later it seemed like Luke was just finishing up. Lorelai had stopped trying to have a conversation about seven minutes before when each time she would talk, Luke would only grunt in response. As Luke muttered something to himself, Lorelai obnoxiously yawned, hoping to attract some type of attention.
"Almost done," he muttered, twisting the screwdriver one last time.
"How do you know you even did it right? I mean, we could be standing here in the next five minutes and when we think the bells aren't going to ring, they will and it'll be really loud and then we'll end up deaf."
"It's just some basic pieces; you know, a turnbuckle, a few clappers, some-"
"I'll take that as a yes," she interrupted.
"Just trust me on this," he said, wiping his hands on his jeans. "I've actually been learning some things at work. We won't be hearing the bells ring anymore."
And just like that, when the clock struck four according to Luke's watch, only silence could be heard. Lorelai looked up at Luke and smiled in sheer relief. "Thank God," she sighed.
"I second that," Luke agreed as they carefully walked back down the steep and twisty staircase.
"Well at least now we'll be able to sleep." Lorelai said, watching Luke put the tools away quickly.
"A night of sleep without any interruptions does sound nice."
The pair walked out the church doors quietly, hoping not to attract any attention from whoever might be walking by. Luckily, it was just a little after four and every houses lights were out and the town was deserted.
"You know, it's weird to see the town like this," Lorelai commented wistfully as they began walking back to the Danes home. "It's hardly ever this quiet and… peaceful. It's, I don't know how to explain it. Different, very different I guess you could say."
"It's definitely a change."
"But it doesn't seem like Stars Hollow, you know? If it were like this all the time, it'd be like any other town, only smaller in size."
He looked over at her wistful expression skeptically. "Are you trying to make a point or are you just having a moment with the town?"
"No," she said softly, shaking her head. "Just observing."
"So," Luke broke the quiet moment. "You think we'll get caught?"
She smiled dismissively. "We never get caught."
"Yet."
There was a short pause before Lorelai asked, "Can you believe we just committed vandalism in a church?" ending with a short laugh.
"The concept's a little hard to grasp, I've got to admit."
"And you know, if you noticed, it was you that did everything in there; I hardly did a thing."
"Trust me," Luke commented dryly, "I noticed."
"So, I was thinking, that in order for God not to smite you, you should do something selfless and giving."
"Selfless and giving, huh?"
She nodded her head vigorously as the two of them silently slipped into the house. "And," she whispered, hanging her coat up beside his, "I thought that a great way for you to do so would be to take me to the mall later, you know, after we sleep."
"The mall? Out of all the selfless and giving things I could do, you want me to take you to the mall?"
"Well," she shrugged, walking up the stairs, "There's a shoe sale going on."
He nodded, "Of course."
"But this isn't just any shoe sale; this is almost as good as the ones they have on Black Friday."
"Almost as good as Black Friday?" he asked in feigned shock.
She nodded in confirmation, his sarcasm lost on her. "I know, and since I haven't used any of my Christmas money yet, I thought I could use it today to buy a pair; two if I'm lucky."
"Just two? I'd be wasting my time taking you to the mall just so you can buy two pairs of shoes?"
She rolled her eyes as they stopped outside his bedroom door. "It's not like I have five thousand dollars, Luke. We're talking about Marc Jacob's and Manolo's and Vivienne Westwood shoes."
"Right, whatever was I thinking?" She pouted. He sighed. "I've got to work tomorrow, remember?"
"Oh, right," she mumbled, he shoulders sinking, her hopes crushed. "I guess I'll just get a ride home tomorrow morning. What time do you have to get up?"
"My dad wants me to be in at nine the latest."
"That's early," she commented with wide eyes. "And on the weekends, too?"
He shrugged. "You get used to it."
"Wow."
"So if you're up by eight-fifteen the latest, I could probably take you home and be a little late; he won't mind."
She smiled softly at him, "That sounds nice. I just might take you up on that."
"If you do, you better be up. I'm not taking my chances by waking you up in the morning."
"I'll be up."
She waved a quick goodnight and watched as he slipped back into his bedroom, leaving her alone in the hallway. And just like that she was back to where she was the day before. It was like she'd traveled in a circle and ended up nowhere. She was again alone, Luke was busy with his own life and she had no clue what she was doing with hers.
So I know updates have been few and far between lately, and I'm truly sorry for that. I've been going crazy stressing over school and stuff that I just haven't wanted to write at all lately and trust me, it isn't a good feeling. But I can promise that after this next chapter, updates won't be as far apart. And don't forget to review, please. The last chapter got less than 20, and I know it's a high number and all, it was just a little sad compared to previous ones. I know I'm practically begging, and I know that's wrong of me to do so, but why the sudden drop? Even just one word would satisfy me. Let's just try and make it to 300 reviews this time. Okay, I'm done ranting.
Anyways, I got a Livejournal, the links in my profile, and I'll probably update it once a week about my progress with the next chapter, along with other things. Feel free to check it out if you want.
Major thanks to my beta's Hannah and Java. They both are simply amazing!
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Reviews are to me as odd jobs are to Kirk.