Luke got back to the diner and managed to wipe the grin off his face before anyone got suspicious. He knew he wasn't usually smiling, but today felt like a celebration.
So he swallowed the smile and replaced it with a half-hearted scowl as he made his way to the diner door. It was unlocked. Jess must have forgotten to lock it when he got home. IF he got home. Worry twisted itself in his gut, but was quickly dispelled when he entered the diner to find the boy exiting the stairs, his hair already gelled up for the day.
"Where've you been?" Jess asked, starting to flip over chairs and get the Inter ready to open. Luke grimaced. He really had woken up late.
"Did you leave the door unlocked all night?" Luke deflected, watching the boy carefully.
"No," he said, turning away. Luke sighed.
"Jess.. you can't leave the diner unlocked at night! That's unsafe! What if somebody had broken in?"
"Oh my bad, I guess I just forgot to worry about the mean streets of Stars Hollow. I heard Kirk broke a doorknob with his foot yesterday trying to prove he didn't need help carrying groceries, then cried on his doorstep saying 'what have I done'. Yeah, real scary stuff."
Luke shook his head and started flipping over chairs. He worked quickly, making up for lost time. 'Lost time.' He smiled to himself. The one time he slept in and had zero regrets.
"What're you smiling about?"
Luke's happy expression slid off his face when he remembered he wasn't alone. He gave Jess a look and said, sternly, "None of your business."
"Does it have anything to do with where you are all night?"
Luke didn't answer, which apparently was answer enough for Jess, who gave him a sneer. "Were you out with a… lady friend?"
"Jess!" Luke exclaimed, feeling his face heating up.
"It would explain why you're grinning like Dopey the Clown. I guess getting laid makes you Mr. Sunshine for the next few hours, huh?"
Luke had no trouble forming a scowl this time. "Shut up," he growled dangerously, his face burning. He could never tell him that he was at Lorelai's. He knew he would never hear the end of it if word got out.
Jess held up his hands in an innocent gesture, raising his eyebrows at Luke. "Hey, it's all cool! Just let me know before you bring her over here so I can still have a childhood. Leave a note next time, or at least hang a sock on the door."
Luke slammed the chair down hard, his face beet red. "JESS!"
"Oh wow, would you look at the time," Jess said evasively, glancing at his watch-less arm. "Gotta get to school. See ya, Uncle Luke."
"It's LUKE. Just, LUKE!" He barked after him.
Jess slipped out of the diner without his books, without a backpack, but WITH a pointed smirk that made Luke dig his fingers into the chair until they hurt. He took a deep breath, and tried to get his face to return to its normal color.
He realized it wasn't even NEAR time for school. After taking a long-winded sigh, he let it go. Running after Jess would just encourage him. With a pang of regret, Luke realized it would still be hours and hours before Lorelai came in, if she came in at all. Maybe he had been too hasty in leaving.
Luke contented himself to remembering what it felt like to have her in his arms, to hold her close and feel her warm body pressed against his. He then avoided similar thoughts until customers started trickling in, so that his face wouldn't get flushed again. No need to embarrass himself this early in the morning.
Hours later, he was still failing at not thinking about her. He busied himself behind the counter, snapping his head up every time the bells rang, just in case it might be that brunette woman who had captured his heart.
Eventually, it happened, and Lorelai Gilmore breezed into the diner with Rory in tow, and Luke's heart felt like it was being set on fire.
He stomped out the metaphorical flames as the two sat down and he walked over (not too fast NOT TOO FAST) to (CASUALLY) take their orders.
"What can I getcha?" Luke asked, purposefully looking down at his notepad and NOT at her.
"Oh! Hi," Lorelai said with a start, looking suprised to see him.
"Hi," he said back, with a tentative grin before clearing his throat. "So, uh, what movie did we watch again last night? I can't really remember."
She scoffed and smacked his chest. Luke ignored the flurry of sparks he felt at her touch. "Ugh, it was a CLASSIC! How could you forget?!"
"You always say that. About every movie."
"Yeah, but I only mean it with a few," Lorelai responded, grinning first at him, then turning to Rory, who was watching the two adults with an amused expression. "We watched Pride and Prejudice last night."
"The 1995 version? With Jennifer Ehle?"
"Uh, duh! That's the only version I'll accept! Colin Firth and her have some SERIOUS chemistry, and it MAKES the film!"
"Really?" Luke said, with a suppressed smile and knowing glance, "Maybe we didn't get to that part before you fell asleep."
Lorelai reddened and spluttered a response before Rory interjected, fixing her mother with an appalled look. "MOM! How could you?! And during a CLASSIC, no less."
Lorelai shrugged defensively, claiming that she hadn't slept the night before last, that she had eaten her weight in sugar (which was true), that she had run 10 miles (which was not) and couldn't be blamed for falling asleep on the couch. Luke watched her over-enthusiastic explanation with a bemused look on his face, enjoying her rant.
When she paused for breath, Luke saw an opening, and took the plunge. He just went for it.
"Well, maybe, if you're, uh, not so tired tomorrow, OR SOME OTHER TIME, we… you and I, could.. uh...," he stammered, suddenly feeling off balance, not quite making eye contact anymore.
From what he did see Lorelai was looking at him with her bright blue eyes opened wide, her face almost… glad? Wishful thinking, probably. Luke cursed himself for not being more articulate as he flubbed his way through an ask-out.
"We.. um, if-if you want to we could maybe… go ou—"
Just then, a guy with rock-star hair and a guitar slung over his left shoulder (the town Troubadour, if Luke wasn't mistaken) burst into the diner with a huge grin on his face.
"ATTENTION EVERYONE," he said loudly, catching the attention of the packed diner, "I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT!"
Luke felt a familiar blunt pain in his stomach at being interrupted before his and Lorelai's relationship could progress. He focused the anger and frustration on the Troubadour.
"Hey, buddy, that's the doorway, not a podium. Ya got somethin' to say, bring it up at the next town meeting." Luke hoped the guy would just go away. Maybe then he could actually form the words 'would you like to have dinner with me?'
The guy just laughed, saying, "Don't worry, I won't take long. I just wanted everybody to know that as of tomorrow, I will be IN HOLLYWOOD!"
Silence. Lorelai clapped and let out an over-enthusiastic "woot woot!" which Rory echoed. Luke scowled, wondering why he should care. The guy answered that for him.
"So, because there won't be a Troubadour for the next few months while I'm working on the set of Phantom of the Opera, I know it's spur of the moment, but I'll be hosting a miniature festival in the town square at sundown! Come if you can, I'll be performing for as long as we can stay awake!"
The diner erupted into frenzied conversation as the town troubadour turned on his heel and strutted out the door, looking entirely too pleased with himself. Luke's shoulders sagged. The moment had passed, like it always did. At least he still had a chance though. He turned back to Lorelai only to find her excitedly jabbering about the festival with Rory.
"Omigosh, I can't believe the Troubadour got that big a break! Lucky, lucky, lucky!"
"Well," the young girl said reasonably, "It might not be TOO lucky. He didn't say what part he had gotten."
Lorelai raised her eyebrows, considering. "I guess that's true. Huh. Too bad. I would pay good money to see that man in a cape."
"Or any man, as long as they have good hair," Rory said, giggling.
"I have taught you well, young Padawan."
"Are you gonna order anything?" Luke asked, somewhat exasperated.
"I'll order you to not interrupt our conversation, thank you very much," Lorelai said in a pretend-haughty tone.
Luke glared at her with no real conviction. "I'll come back when I have time for this," he growled, putting away the notepad and walking away.
Lorelai squawked. "No! Uh, quick, Rory, order everything you can think of while we still can!"
The girl jumped in her seat and hummed all panicky. "Um, um, um, pancakeswithscrambledeggsandlotsandlotsofwhippedcream!"
"Ooh! And coffee, don't forget the coffee!"
"All the coffee, buckets of coffee! Cry me a river of coffee!"
"Got that, burger boy?" Lorleai shouted after him as he walked away.
"I stopped listening after I left the table," he shouted back, reveling in the sounds of their disgruntled gasps.
He scribbled down their order discreetly, taking care not to show his smile as he did so. Even though the first attempt didn't go well, Luke was hopeful that the Gilmore Girls' conversation would pause again, and he would get another chance to ask out the woman of his dreams. But until then, things seemed to be turning out okay after all.