To Live and Let Love

Lorelai sat on the bathroom floor with Rory's head in her lap, stroking her hair as she cried. "Why doesn't he like me? Why doesn't he call me? What did I do?" her baby sobbed.

"Shh, honey, its okay. It's okay," Lorelai reassured her gently.

Rory wiped the tears from her eyes and sobbed, "Logan."

"Shh, it's okay," Lorelai said again, her heart breaking as her daughter sobbed helplessly over that stupid boy. She rubbed Rory's arm and continued stroking hair head until finally her sobs subsided. She glanced over Rory's shoulder and said, "Hon? Hey, Rory? Come on kid, let's get you to bed." She slid her legs out from under her daughter's head and lowered it gently to the floor as she stood up. She looked down at the pathetic ball of girl on her bathroom floor and shook her head sadly. "Rory, Sweets," she tried again as she pulled on her daughter's arm, trying to get her to wake up and move. Rory stuck her foot out, kicking at her mother as Lorelai jumped back and said, "Hey, no need to show off the kickboxing skills."

"Lone!" Rory mumbled.

"Kid, you're on the bathroom floor," Lorelai said as she hunched down next to her.

"G'way," Rory mumbled without opening her eyes.

Lorelai straightened up and looked down at Rory, trying to figure out if she would be able to lift her and carry her to her room. Dismissing the idea, she grabbed a towel from the rack and placed it under Rory's head to cushion it. She turned to leave the room and spied her yellow chenille robe hanging on the back of the door. She pulled it from the hook and covered Rory with it, figuring that she could wake her up later and help her to her room. She walked slowly down the stairs, pausing as she saw Paris passed out on the couch, her bare feet dirty, her shirt hitched up over her knees as her arm hung over the side limply. Lorelai sighed and tossed a throw over the girl as she glanced at the clock to see that it was only 6:00. She settled into the chair with the remote control, turning the volume down as low as she could possibly could and still hear it.

Paris rolled over and grunted, "Shut up," without opening her eyes.

With a heavy sigh, Lorelai turned off the TV, placed the remote on the coffee table and got up to go to the refrigerator. She stared at the sparse contents and debated between a bottle of water and a beer. With a shrug, she pulled the beer from the shelf and went out onto the porch through the back door. She walked around to the front, settled on the porch swing, and pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging them to her protectively as the bottle dangled from her fingers. She pressed her forehead to her knees and let out a long sigh. A few minutes later, she heard a soft, "Hey," from the vicinity of the porch steps.

She lifted her head and saw Luke standing with his foot on the bottom step and a bag of food in his hand. She smiled at the sight of him and said, "Hey back."

"You okay?" he asked worriedly as he climbed the steps.

"I'm fine," she said softly. She jerked her head toward the front door and said, "Got a house full of passed out college girls, but I'm fine."

"Is Rory okay?" Luke asked as he sat down next to her.

Lorelai shook her head sadly and said, "She's asleep on the bathroom floor."

"On the floor?" Luke asked incredulously.

"I couldn't get her up. God, Luke, she's a mess," she whispered.

"Well, Founder's Day punch can be pretty lethal to the uninitiated," he said with a nod. "I brought some hangover food," he said as he gestured to the bag.

Lorelai leaned over and kissed his cheek as she said, "You are the best."

"Well, I imagine they'll be feeling pretty rough," he said with a nod. "We've all been there," he said pointedly.

"Yeah, we have," Lorelai said with a rueful laugh. She peeked into the bag and asked, "Anything for the non-inebriated?"

Luke gestured to the beer in her hand and said, "I figured you were trying to catch up."

Lorelai shook her head as she looked at the untouched beer and said, "Seemed like a good choice at the time, but once I opened it, I didn't want it anymore."

"I'll trade ya," Luke offered as he reached into the bag and pulled out a to-go cup of coffee.

"Wow, I win," Lorelai said happily as she took the cup and handed him the beer.

"And here," he said as he handed her a Styrofoam container.

Lorelai opened it and smiled when she saw the burger and fries. "Comfort food," she said with a wink.

"So, what got into those guys?" Luke asked as he gestured to the window.

"Boys," Lorelai said as she chewed. "Boys suck. Present company excepted, of course," she said as she swallowed quickly.

Luke smiled wryly and said, "Not too long ago, I would have been included."

"Yes, you were, but you've redeemed yourself," she said gravely.

"Yeah, well, I'm sure I'll screw that up at some point," he said dryly as he took a pull on the beer.

"Probably," Lorelai said with a somber nod.

"Just promise me you won't pass out on the bathroom floor. I've seen that floor," he teased.

"Love stinks," Lorelai said as she took a bite of her burger.

Luke looked over at her sharply and said, "Yes, especially if you're J. Geils."

Lorelai shook her head as she chewed quickly and swallowed with difficulty. "I just meant when you're young and confused," she said quickly.

"As opposed to being old and confused," Luke said as he picked at the label on the bottle with his thumbnail.

"Yeah," Lorelai said softly. "So, the museum opening went well," she said with a grin.

"Taylor is very pleased," Luke said with a nod.

"I hear that his right hand man is indispensable," Lorelai teased as she nudged him with her elbow.

"Oh yeah, that's the word on the street," Luke grumbled.

"Taylor told me that he couldn't have done it without you," she said, trying to keep a straight face.

"Taylor said that? When did you talk to Taylor?" he asked quickly.

"Earlier," she said with a shrug. "He thanked me for encouraging you to get more involved in town events," she said as she watched him carefully.

"Oh, that," he said with a wave of his hand. "I was just trying to get him off of my back about volunteering, so I invoked the scared name of Lorelai," he said with a nervous laugh.

"Uh huh," she said with a skeptical nod as she picked up her burger again.

"So, uh, I saw Dean today," Luke said gruffly.

"Oh yeah? How's Dean?" Lorelai asked.

Luke shrugged and said, "He seems fine. We didn't talk much."

"I hope he's fine," Lorelai said as she pulled the lettuce off of her burger.

"Eat that," Luke said as he pointed to it.

"I ate three bites of it," she answered.

Luke sat back, draping his arm over the back of the seat behind her. "So, other than the fact that I'm fueled by testosterone and not estrogen, are you, uh, happy with how things are going?" he asked nervously.

"With me and you?" she asked through bulging cheeks.

"Yeah, and please take the time to chew before you answer," he said with a smile.

She smiled at him as she chewed and reached over to pat his leg as she forced the bite down. "Yeah, I'm happy. Aren't you?" she asked as a frown creased her forehead.

"Definitely," he answered. He shrugged and said, "Just checking."

"Are you afraid that one night in the hangover house of horrors may change my mind?" she asked.

Luke smiled as he glanced down and said, "Well, a good show of solidarity can go a long way."

"No way. I got the last good one," she said as she leaned over to kiss him.

"I'm glad you think so," he said as he tucked her hair behind her ear and kissed her again. He nodded to the container on her lap and said, "Go ahead."

Lorelai sat eating her dinner as he rubbed her shoulder distractedly, lost in his own thoughts. She looked over at him and asked, "Where'd you go?"

"Huh? Oh, I was just thinking," he said as he straightened up a little in his seat.

Lorelai set the container aside and curled up in the crook of his arm cradling her coffee cup in her hands "What were you thinking about?" she asked as she glanced up at him.

Luke shrugged a little and asked, "You ever think about living somewhere else?"

"Oh my God, Taylor finally drove you out," she gasped, pressing her hand to her heart.

Luke chuckled and said, "Oh, no. I was just thinking about something this guy was talking about today."

"What guy?" Lorelai asked.

"Some guy at the museum," Luke said, trying to sound casual. "Something about people choosing to live in this crazy town. Anyway, got me thinking," he said with a shrug. "I mean, Rory's almost grown and gone. You could go anywhere you wanted," he said as he gestured with his hand.

"Where would I go? Why would I go?" Lorelai asked. "I have a life here," she pointed out.

"Yeah, but, you wouldn't necessarily have to stay here," he argued.

"But, I have you, I have the inn," she said shaking her head.

"But if you didn't. I mean, if we weren't together and you didn't own the inn, would you stay here?" he asked.

Lorelai sat up and turned to look at him as she said, "I don't understand where you're going with this. What? Are you gonna dump me again and burn down my inn?" she asked incredulously.

"No, no, God no," he said quickly. "Purely hypothetical. I'm just saying that you could move to New York if you wanted," he said as he held his hand out to make his point.

Lorelai looked at him and asked, "Oh my God, are my parents are going to try to keep us apart, causing you to burn down our house, so that you have to be institutionalized, and when you're released you track me down in Manhattan and cause my Dad to get hit by a car?"

"Uh, no," Luke said blankly.

"I don't really understand where you're going with this," Lorelai said shaking her head at him.

"Nowhere. I'm not going anywhere," he said gruffly.

"Why do you want me to move?" she asked with a frown.

"I don't want you to move," he said quickly. "I was just curious. Your life is going to be changing along with Rory's," he said lamely.

"In two years," Lorelai said with a laugh.

"I don't know, it just got me thinking," he said as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"Thinking about what?" she asked.

"This town, how small it is, how nuts it is," he said shaking his head.

"It's our town," she said with a nod.

"But Rory will be on her own soon, and you're still young. You could go anywhere, do anything," he said cautiously.

"Why would you think I would want to be anywhere else?" she asked.

"Well, who knows what's out there for you. You weren't born and raised here," he pointed out.

"No, but I've had a life here for almost the last twenty years. Rory's life. I chose to be here, Luke," she pointed out, getting annoyed.

"I was just thinking about it," he said helplessly.

"Well, your wires are crossed," she said with a frown.

"Apparently," he said with a snort. "Ignore me," he said with a wave.

"You're kind of hard to ignore," she said with a chuckle.

"I don't know, I guess we're all feeling a little off today," he said as he turned his head to look up at her.

"Probably because of that freaky mannequin thing," she said with a nod.

Luke sat back and took her hand in his, holding it tightly. "I just want to make sure we're on the same page, you know?" he asked quietly.

Lorelai looked at him quizzically and said, "Yeah, okay."

"So, you want me to go see if I can get Rory to her room?" he asked.

Lorelai weighed the pros and cons of Luke helping and said, "Nah, I'll get her up in a little while. Maybe I can get her to talk," she added with a shrug.

"This about that Logan kid?" Luke asked gruffly.

"Yeah, I don't think things are going the way she wants them to," Lorelai told him.

"What, is he nuts?" Luke asked angrily.

Lorelai smiled and said, "You might be a little biased."

Luke snorted and said, "Please, like any guy could do any better than Rory."

"You're very sweet," she said affectionately. "Rory would be mortified if you saw her like this," she said as she squeezed his hand.

"I really don't want to see her like this," he admitted gruffly.

Lorelai leaned over and kissed him as she asked, "Can you stay a little bit more? Sit with me?"

"Sure," he said as he sat back and wrapped his arm around her again.

"So what's in the bag?" she asked.

"Mac and cheese, burgers, some onion rings since the fries don't reheat well," he said with a wave of his hand.

They sat quietly for a moment as Lorelai ran her fingers through his, matching her own against his long fingers, marveling at how hands to strong and large could be so gentle. "You're an awfully good man, Luke Danes," she said softly.

"I'm glad you think so," he said with a smile. He kissed her temple. "Too bad this whole love thing stinks, huh?" he asked her in a light tone.

"Yeah, too bad," she said as she turned her face up to his and waited for his kiss.