Chapter 14 – The Confusion

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"Mom!" Rory called from downstairs.

There was no response.

"Mom!" Rory called again.

Still no response.

"I have to go to school early to work on the paper, ok?" She sighed and walked over to the desk. She took post-its out of the drawer, wrote her message, and stuck it on the coffee pot. She would definitely see it there.

About an hour later Lorelai's alarm went off and she groaned as usual. She turned it off and hopped into the shower.

"Rory?" She called as she walked down the stairs.

She walked into the kitchen and read the note. She was going to have to face Luke by herself. What was she thinking? It's not like things were weird between them. She just thought he might propose and he didn't. Nothing should be weird.

But it still felt weird.

She sighed, grabbed her purse and coat and walked to the diner.

It was a cool crisp fall morning. The wind blew lightly and the newly colored leaves swirled around her. She smiled. She liked fall, but mostly because the next season was winter.

"Oh Lorelai, come here honey!" Miss Patty called from her studio.

"Hi Patty." Lorelai said she walked up the steps to the studio.

"So, have you picked a date yet?"

"A date for what?"

"For the wedding!"

Lorelai looked at the ground. "I'm not engaged, Patty."

"Oh. Well, I thought that last night…"

"I know. But he didn't."

"Oh I see. You didn't break up, did you?"

"No. It was just a nice dinner. We had a good time."

"Ok."

"We're fine."

"Ok, sweetie."

She walked down the steps and down the street to Luke's. She saw Babette walk out of the dinner. Great, gossip queen number two.

"Hi there suga'!" Babette said.

"Hi Babette." Lorelai said.

"So, how did he do it? Was it romantic?"

"Babette, Luke didn't propose last night."

"Oh. You guys ok?"

"Yes. We're fine. We're great, actually." Lorelai said, frustrated.

"Alright honey. See you later."

"Bye Babette."

Lorelai sighed as she walked into the diner and sat down at the counter.

"Hey." Luke said as he poured her coffee. "You ok?"

"Oh, yeah. It's just…the town."

"Oh geeze, what did they do now?"

"Oh, ummm, nothing. It's no big deal."

Luke laughed softly. "Pancakes?"

"No I'm not really hungry." She took a big sip of her coffee. "I'll see ya later."

She leaned over and kissed him.

"Ok. See ya.." Luke said.

How did they know that her and Luke when out to dinner last night? She didn't tell anyone. Not even Sookie. How did the town always know? She started getting really angry. She was never the one to be mad at the town, but she wanted to scream. They were rubbing her face in the fact that he didn't propose and she hated them for that.

"Hi Mom!" Rory greeted when she heard her mother come in the house.

"Hey kid." She said as she flopped down on the couch next to Rory.

"Rough day?"

"Kinda."

"The town…"

"Yeah."

"Babettea and Miss Patty?"

"How the hell did they know?"

"I dunno. It's one of the modern mysteries."

"How do they always know everything?"

"I'm so sorry, Mom."

"I just wish our relationship wasn't so interesting to everyone. Why do they feel that they have the right to know everything about us?"

"You're the Stars Hollow TomKat."

Lorelai glared at Rory.

"Except you'd be LuLor. No, that sounds bad, Lukealai? Maybe…"

"Rory."

"Sorry."

"So, dinner? I was thinking Chinese."

"Ok. You call."

"The usual?"

"Yeah. But, extra egg rolls."

"You got it."

About fifteen minutes later there was a knock at the door. Rory hopped off the couch and headed for the door.

"You're actually going to answer the door?" Lorelai asked.

"Yes I am." Rory said proudly. "Hi Luke." She greeted.

"Hey Rory."

"We just ordered Chinese food." Rory said as he followed her into the living room.

"Well hello there." Lorelai said.

"Hey, could I see talk to you for a minute." He asked.

"Uhh, sure."

He walked into the kitchen and Lorelai looked at Rory with concern. Rory just shrugged and smiled optimistically.

"So, did something happen last night, or something?" He asked.

"What?"

"People keep shaking their heads when they see me. Like I should have done something."

"Oh, well, I don't know. That's weird."

"Lorelai…"

"Really Luke, I have no idea."

"Were you expecting something? Was I uhhh, ya know, supposed to do something?"

"Luke…"

He looked at the floor. "I know we're headed for that but I just don't want to rush things. I like us right now. Things are going really well."

"I know it was just Miss Patty said…"

"You should never listen to anything that women says. You know that." Luke said, his voice increasing in volume.

"Luke, I wasn't expecting anything I just…"

"I mean I just thought it would be nice to have a nice dinner. I didn't know that I was supposed to…"

"You weren't, Luke. The only reason I thought you might was because Miss Patty told me that…"

"Again with Miss Patty!" Luke yelled.

"Why are you yelling?"

"Why do you let this stupid town run our relationship?"

"When did I do that?"

"Our relationship is our business. No one else's."

"Why are you so mad?"

"I gotta go."

"Luke! Wait!"

He walked out the door and it slammed behind him. Lorelai just stood there, not sure what had just happened. Why was he so upset? Goddamn town.

Rory peeked her head around the wall. She walked over and hugged Lorelai. Lorelai kissed her on the top of her head. She sighed heavily and flopped down on the couch.

"What was that?" Lorelai said softly.

"Oh Mom…"

"Why was he so mad?"

"He probably feels bad."

"Why?"

"I mean, he just wanted to take you out to dinner and then he discovers that he was expected to propose. That's a lot of pressure for a guy."

"I wasn't expecting him to propose."

"Yes you were. I was. Everyone was."

Lorelai sighed. "Oh man."

"He probably wanted to surprise you and now that you know, he feels horrible."

Lorelai got up off the couch and grabbed to coat.

"I'm going to talk to him."

Rory nodded and Lorelai walked out the door. She shook her head as she walked down the street. Poor Luke. She never wanted him to feel he had to propose. She wanted him to do it when he wanted to. When it thought the time was right. She hated herself for listening to Miss Patty.

"Hey." She said as she walked into the diner.

"Hi."

"Luke, I'm so sorry about all of this."

"No, I'm sorry. I couldn't have yelled at you like that. I just…freaked out."

"I don't want you to feel pressured or anything. I'm not in any hurry."

He smiled. "I know."

He leaned in and kissed her. She placed her hand softly on his face and deepened the kiss.

"So, what were you doing at the jewelry store?" She asked.

"The jewelry store?"

"Yeah. That's why I thought you were going to propose because you were at the jewelry store."

"Oh."

"I thought you knew that. Miss Patty told me that you…"

"That's what she told you?"

"Yeah…"

"Oh."

"So…"

He kissed her quickly. "I gotta get up early tomorrow. I'll see ya tomorrow."

"Oh, right. Yeah. See ya tomorrow."

He turned around and walked up the stairs to his apartment. Lorelai sat down at the counter. She put her face in her hands. She was sick of them not talking about their problems. It always seemed to cause problems. She walked up the stairs and knocked on the door.

Luke came to the door, surprised.

"Are you ok?" He asked.

"No." She walked in. "We need to talk about this. We never talk and they we just end up fighting and…"

"Ok. Let's talk." He said.

So, yeah, this chapter, not much happened. I realize that. But, all in good time my friends :) Also, I was gonna end it with Luke saying "see ya tomorrow." And all that stuff but then I was like no. They do that ALL THE TIME and it always ends up with them either breaking up or having a huge fight. So I wanted to make things different. I wanted Lorelai to realize a problem is with their relationship. Ok, anyway, wrote too much here. Hehehe…