A/N- Uh... if any one is interested in having more regular updates....I really
need a Beta. Really. The main real reason that I'm so slow lately is that
I keep getting confused in my own story, and I just need some one to read
over thing and give me suggestions and feedback...that way I can write with a
clear head and you guys get a better story. Any one interested, just email
or something. Don't be afraid. I don't bite. Any one who can review can
help me out. Please? Well, I hope you guys enjoy!
**************************
Lorelai walked down the street determinedly. Luke had been right, The muscles in her legs were already aching from the unusual exercise and it was still the same day. She had a feeling that the burning feeling was going to be even worse tomorrow.
She crossed the park and looked ahead of her. Go to Luke's and get some food. Not that hard. Do it everyday. Easy. Simple........ Yeah.....She looked at the door from her spot on the sidewalk, but couldn't see Luke inside. He must be in the back. Okay, plan of action. In and out, avoid him if you can. What's the fastest thing on the menu. Pie. Hmmm. Pie for dinner? Pie and a three minute egg? That would be fast. Disgusting, but fast. Lorelai frowned.
"Just go inside." She told herself. A passerby stared at her strangely as she tried to push herself. She took a breath and resolved herself before grabbing the door handle. "Turn and pull. Turn and pull. Just turn it....and pull." Lorelai jerked the door open and stepped inside just as Lane stepped out of the kitchen. "OH! Lane!" Lorelai motioned her towards her and Lane glanced back at the kitchen before coming over. "What are you doing here? I thought you were off today?" Lorelai said quietly, glancing around herself.
"Uh, yeah. Caesar called me to see if I could give a hand. They got an unexpected dessert rush." Lane said cautiously.
"Right. Okay. I need you to do me a favour." Lorelai whispered.
"Okay. Why are we whispering?"
"Because. I need you to get a burger with ketchup, onions, pickles, no mustard, no tomato, one piece lettuce for Rory and a big plate of that pasta thing with the sausage and the cheese and saucey stuff, with extra cheese...and sausage....and saucy stuff. And I need you not to tell Luke that I'm out here and make sure he doesn't find out." Lorelai asked plaintively.
"One," Lane began, not whispering, which caused Lorelai to glare threateningly at her. "I don't think I could disguise that order enough for Luke not to know it was you, and two, Luke's not here." Lane told her.
"So, what, he's at Doose's or something? Okay...good, I can work with this. It gives me a little bit more time." Lorelai nodded, watching as Lane turned back to the counter.
"Well.....he's not exactly at Doose's."
"Where ever." Lorelai waved off. "Can you get me that food please Lane. I'm about five minutes from pulling a Donner Party and I'm on a time limit."
"I......Uh....Yeah, okay." Lane finally gave in. She definitely didn't want to have to be the one to tell Lorelai that Luke was....well.....gone. Lorelai perched anxiously on a stool, swinging her legs from side to side as Lane went back into the kitchen to give her order to Caesar. Lorelai was getting nervous at the minutes passed by.
"How long can it take to make two meals Caesar?" She yelled at the doorway, glancing at her watch and over at the doorway, expecting Luke to come in at any moment. Caesar appeared with a spatula in hand and an apron wrapped around his waist.
"It's going to take a lot longer than I originally thought if you yell at me again."
"Sorry." Lorelai apologized.
"Three more minutes for the burger." Caesar told her.
"Come on. Just give it to me raw. Rory likes her burger mooing." Lorelai glanced around impatiently.
"Three minutes." Caesar confirmed.
"Fine." Lorelai frowned and dropped her head onto her hand. It's not that she didn't want to see him. She wanted to see him. Had to see him. She just couldn't see him. Not yet. Not until she knew....and she knew that he knew. Because not knowing what he knew was making her so antsy that she was about ready to take up jogging for the heck of it. But she couldn't make her full decision with out being around him. It would just be weird. She'd have to do something about it......Lane emerged from the kitchen and handed Lorelai a couple of bags and two take out cups.
"Ugh, didn't even have to ask! You are a god Lane."
"Don't let my mother know." Lane grinned as Lorelai hopped down from the stool and headed out the door with a wave and a cautious look up and down the street.
*********************
Lorelai climbed up the dark steps with the Luke's bags in her hands, shifting them to knock on the door and open the knob.
"Sookie? Jackson?" She stepped into the front hall and dropped the food on a table, looking around. "Sook?!"
"Stop yelling!" Sookie hissed, as she climbed extremely carefully down the stairs.
"Sorry!" Lorelai whispered as Sookie glanced up the stairway and nodded towards the door.
"Outside." She opened the door slowly, wincing as it creaked and Lorlai grabbed the Luke's bags and followed her out onto the porch. As she closed the door behind her, Sookie sighed and sat down on the porch steps. "Davey's been crying for hours and we just got him to sleep. Jackson has been up with him all week so that I can get a little sleep, and with that, and everything today, he just finally collapsed asleep on the floor right next to the crib."
"The first few months are rough. Colicky?" Lorelai nodded sympathetically, and Sookie opened her eyes up wide after a moment, turning to Lorelai with a questioning look and a glance at her begs.
"Oh yeah. So.....How are you?"
"Uh, fine."
"With the whole....." Sookie waited. Lorelai smiled a little bit.
"How much do you know?"
"The last thing I saw was Nicole leaving and Luke getting back into his truck. What happened after that?" Sookie asked, obviously intrigued.
"He came over, and we talked for a while."
"That's it?"
"Yeah...." Lorelai said undecidedly. Sookie frowned at her.
"Yeah.........? What follows the yeah........."
"I don't quite know yet. I mean, I want to talk to Luke. We said that we were going to take sometime to figure things out, but I don't want to cut myself off from him completely while I try to figure everything out. I'm just so confused." Lorelai groaned and dropped her head onto her arms.
"Are you guys...." Sookie started.
"Are we what?"
"You know......"
"Apparently I don't..."
"Is this figuring......of a certain nature?"
"What kind of nature?"
"A romantic nature?" Lorelai nodded her head slowly.
"Do you know what it is that you want?" Lorelai shook her head.
"Okay... Do you want....." Sookie asked carefully, knowing how edgy Lorelai always got about her relationship with Luke.
"Do I want what?"
"Luke?" Sookie suggested.
"And there's my problem." Lorelai groaned.
"You want Luke!"
"I don't know! Would maybe be the wrong answer? Because I'm thinking that maybe leaning towards yes might be mine."
"Wow. This is big, this is huge, it....it's massively huge. It's.....there's no word for this!"
"Hugemongous?" Lorelai suggested half-heartedly.
"Close." Sookie agreed excitedly.
"Biggantic?"
"Noooo....I think I liked hugemongous better."
"I don't know....biggantic's pretty good." Lorelai commented, nodding her head and looking distracted.
"So.....Luke?"
"Yeah.......Luke."
"You're sure?" Sookie inquired.
"Not yet. Not completely. I think I'm going to ask him if maybe we could do stuff, just hang around, maybe watch some movies or something, just do friend stuff until we get some things figured out."
"That sounds.....good."
"But?"
"But you haven't talked to him yet have you?" Sookie smiled sympathetically.
"He, uh, wasn't there today. Tonight. When I went. When I went there for dinner." Lorelai stumbled, knowing this wasn't really totally accurate, but that it also wasn't a lie.
"Un hun." Sookie nodded unbelievingly.
"Fine. I made sure he wasn't there before grabbing my order and burning it right outta there. I just didn't want to have to deal with that awkward part. You know, the part right after everything kinda starts but before anything's really decided..........and it gets all awkward, and nothing seems right, and all the normal stuff seems weird."
"You're just going to have to push through it hon."
"I don't wanna." Lorelai sighed.
"Just arm yourself with something to say. Have something ready when you go in and get breakfast tomorrow and talk to him once everything settles itself out."
"Thank you uber wise cook lady friend."
"Good night Lorelai." Sookie winced as she heard a wail from upstairs and heard Jackson yell 'I've got it' in a groggy voice. Lorelai grinned at her friend rolling her eyes in exhaustion.
"It gets better." Lorelai said encouragingly.
"Jackson may not make it."
"Well, it was his fault."
"See, I've tried to use that to get him up to take care of Davey in the middle of the night, but he said I used up my blame quota while I was in labour."
"A shame."
"Truly that." Sookie grinned, then her face went soft and serious. "Go tomorrow Lorelai, just try to talk to him alright?" Lorelai nodded and grabbed her bags.
"I've got a hungry kid of my own to feed. It's ten o'clock and we haven't had dinner. I'm afraid I'll get home and she'll have gnawed of a hand, or a foot, or some other important appendage."
"I'll see you tomorrow hun." Sookie smiled.
"Try and get some sleep." Lorelai offered as she started back down the steps.
"Amen sister."
"Uh, Sook?"
"Yeah?"
"What if I do want.....and he doesn't want......" Lorelai shook her hand uncomfortably.
"And what if I actually get a full nights sleep at any time in the next three months."
"Okay." Lorelai nodded as she walked backwards down the front walk slowly. "Thanks Sookie."
"Goodnight Lorelai."
***********************************
Lorelai wandered up the porch steps and closed the door quietly behind her.
"Honey I'm home." She called out, wandering absently through the kitchen before grabbing a bottle of water.
"I'm on the couch." Rory replied over the back of it.
"I'd except no less." Lorelai headed into the living room and Rory reached out.
"You get my burger?"
"Damn, I knew I forgot something." Lorelai grinned as she passed Rory the bag.
"Push the movie in." Lorelai leaned forwarded and pushed the tape in before plunking herself down on the free couch cushion.
"What's tonight's feature?"
"East Of Eden."
"Ohhh. James Dean."
"And Weekend At Bernie's."
"Ohhhh.....kay. Weird choice." Lorelai started to agree and ended up giving Rory a questioning look.
"I'm in a weird mood." Rory shrugged casually. "Run's it the family so it would seem." She hinted subltly, and Lorelai avoided her eyes, trying to get up.
"Did you want extra ketchup for your fries. I think I saw some in the fridge last week...or at least some kind of tomato product....it might have been pasta sauce. I-" Rory grabbed Lorelai's sleeve and pulled her back down, looking directly at her.
"You talked to him right?" Lorelai opened her mouth, then closed it and sighed.
"He wasn't there."
"Really?"
"Yeah...."
"Then what took you so long?"
"I stopped in at Sookie's for a minute."
"And?"
"We just talked. I... I don't want to cut myself off from Luke completely while we try to figure this out, but it's going to be so awkward the first time I go in. I mean, what do you talk to some one about when you're both trying to decide if you like them enough, or , maybe at all, to start something. And what do you say when you both know that the other person is thinking about he same thing, but neither of you can say anything about it?" Loelai threw her head back over the arm of the couch.
"You just have to have something ready to talk about."
"Yeah, that's what Sookie said."
"Great minds."
"Yeah....but what do I talk about, and what do I do if we finish the topic and then it gets all awkward?"
"I have the perfect thing. I read this article, and it says that people who drink coffee, a lot of coffee, lower their risk of diabetes. That's the perfect subject for a Lukeversation. And if it gets awkward I would suggest running far away and flailing your arms."
"Wow, you are superhuman smart aren't you? How does that pretty head of yours hold it all."
"I keep a little extra in jars in my desk for specific subjects."
"You are my idol. And a little creepy with the brain jar things."
"Understandable." Rory nodded.
"Good food."
"Very good food." Rory agreed as the last preview wound down.
"Good movie." Rory looked over.
"I think Luke likes you." Rory said quietly, staring at the T.V. screen.
"Shhhh....." Lorelai murnered. "It's starting." But Rory could see the corner of her mouth twitch.
*************************************
Okay. Easy. Again. Just walk in and get some coffee and it'll be over with. She had gotten up this morning extra early, too early for a Saturday, and extra nervous. She read and reread the article Rory had found for her before Rory finally pushed her out the door, making her go alone by saying that she had to pack to get back to Yale tonight. Lorelai pushed the door of the diner open and lifted up her head. Just....go for it.
"LUKE!" Lorelai called out, hiking her purse up her arm and heading towards the counter. "This is officially the best day of my life. Try and deny me a jug of skittles and M&Ms and a side of Ben and Jerry's with my coffee. I dare you. Tell me I'll die of diabetes.....Luke?" Lorelai had looked around the diner for Luke, and she couldn't see him. She could hear two people talking in the kitchen. Mabe he was just nervous to come out."Luke? Luuuuuke? I'm taking coffee from behind the counter." Lorelai wandered around poured herself a cup, and looked around again. Hmph. She frowned. "Okay.....I'm taking a donut now....with my hands......no tongy things.....I'm contaminating all the others and increasing their staleness by keeping the lid off......okay, now I'm licking all the clean coffee mugs....and the other donuts....and I'm squeezing them and putting them back. I'm licking and squeezing the donuts now....with bare hands....." Lorelai trailed off. Luke was either dead or in a coma if he hadn't come out by now. Lane came out of the kitchen with two plates.
"Oh, hey Lorelai. Are you getting breakfast." Lane swallowed nervously. Being the bearer of bad news was never fun, and she really didn't want to have to tell Lorelai that Luke had packed his truck and burned his way outta town last night.
"Uh, yeah, I.....Um, where's Luke?" Lorelai interrupted herself, throwing her hands out to the side.
"Luke left." Lane replied quickly, grabbing the coffee pot and heading towards a table. Lorelai looked startled and a little stunned. She started trailing Lane and the coffee pot around the room.
"He's out again."
"No, not exactly. He's not so much out...as gone."
"And the difference is...."
"Well, one is going to the store for eggs...and one is leaving."
"Luke.....left? When did he leave....why did he-where did he.....how long is he going for? This isn't like a permanent thing or something is it?"
"No, he's definitely coming back." Lane said confidently.
"Do you have any idea of when." Lorelai questioned and Lane's smile faltered.
"I think it's kind of an.....indefinite thing."
"Indefinite."
"Yeah."
"Where is he?"
"Yeah...... I don't really know." Lane replied a little tentatively.
"Okay. Does Caesar?" Lorelai shook her head, confused.
"......No."
"Does ANYONE?" Lorelai exclaimed unbelievingly.
"I don't think so." Lane said apologetically.
"So no one knows where he is or how long he's going to be gone for? Did he leave maybe, I don't know, a phone number, or perhaps a forwarding address?"
"He said he would call...eventually."
"So I can't get in contact with him at all." Lorelai moved her head from side to side.
"I don't think so."
"He doesn't have like, a phone, or a telegraph, or some sort of bat signal in the shape of a coffee cup to use?"
"He didn't mention one specifically." Lane admitted reluctantly.
"So there's no way to talk to him."
"........No."
"What did he say to you? I mean, what if the diner, heaven forbid, caught fire, or you got sick, or Caesar exploded or something?" Lorelai exclaimed.
"He just said that he would be gone for a few days." Lane shrugged reluctantly.
"Damn him, man of few words."
"I'm sorry. I wish I had more to tell you." Lane tried.
"Don't worry hun. I complete blame him." Lorelai said lightly, but still looking frustrated. "Alright.....well. I guess I'll see you later."
"No breakfast?"
"I ate a donut already. Breakfast of champions." Lorelai replied distractedly, picking her purse back up off the counter.
"Alright. Bye." Lane said sympathetically as Lorelai left the diner.
**************************
Lorelai walked down the street determinedly. Luke had been right, The muscles in her legs were already aching from the unusual exercise and it was still the same day. She had a feeling that the burning feeling was going to be even worse tomorrow.
She crossed the park and looked ahead of her. Go to Luke's and get some food. Not that hard. Do it everyday. Easy. Simple........ Yeah.....She looked at the door from her spot on the sidewalk, but couldn't see Luke inside. He must be in the back. Okay, plan of action. In and out, avoid him if you can. What's the fastest thing on the menu. Pie. Hmmm. Pie for dinner? Pie and a three minute egg? That would be fast. Disgusting, but fast. Lorelai frowned.
"Just go inside." She told herself. A passerby stared at her strangely as she tried to push herself. She took a breath and resolved herself before grabbing the door handle. "Turn and pull. Turn and pull. Just turn it....and pull." Lorelai jerked the door open and stepped inside just as Lane stepped out of the kitchen. "OH! Lane!" Lorelai motioned her towards her and Lane glanced back at the kitchen before coming over. "What are you doing here? I thought you were off today?" Lorelai said quietly, glancing around herself.
"Uh, yeah. Caesar called me to see if I could give a hand. They got an unexpected dessert rush." Lane said cautiously.
"Right. Okay. I need you to do me a favour." Lorelai whispered.
"Okay. Why are we whispering?"
"Because. I need you to get a burger with ketchup, onions, pickles, no mustard, no tomato, one piece lettuce for Rory and a big plate of that pasta thing with the sausage and the cheese and saucey stuff, with extra cheese...and sausage....and saucy stuff. And I need you not to tell Luke that I'm out here and make sure he doesn't find out." Lorelai asked plaintively.
"One," Lane began, not whispering, which caused Lorelai to glare threateningly at her. "I don't think I could disguise that order enough for Luke not to know it was you, and two, Luke's not here." Lane told her.
"So, what, he's at Doose's or something? Okay...good, I can work with this. It gives me a little bit more time." Lorelai nodded, watching as Lane turned back to the counter.
"Well.....he's not exactly at Doose's."
"Where ever." Lorelai waved off. "Can you get me that food please Lane. I'm about five minutes from pulling a Donner Party and I'm on a time limit."
"I......Uh....Yeah, okay." Lane finally gave in. She definitely didn't want to have to be the one to tell Lorelai that Luke was....well.....gone. Lorelai perched anxiously on a stool, swinging her legs from side to side as Lane went back into the kitchen to give her order to Caesar. Lorelai was getting nervous at the minutes passed by.
"How long can it take to make two meals Caesar?" She yelled at the doorway, glancing at her watch and over at the doorway, expecting Luke to come in at any moment. Caesar appeared with a spatula in hand and an apron wrapped around his waist.
"It's going to take a lot longer than I originally thought if you yell at me again."
"Sorry." Lorelai apologized.
"Three more minutes for the burger." Caesar told her.
"Come on. Just give it to me raw. Rory likes her burger mooing." Lorelai glanced around impatiently.
"Three minutes." Caesar confirmed.
"Fine." Lorelai frowned and dropped her head onto her hand. It's not that she didn't want to see him. She wanted to see him. Had to see him. She just couldn't see him. Not yet. Not until she knew....and she knew that he knew. Because not knowing what he knew was making her so antsy that she was about ready to take up jogging for the heck of it. But she couldn't make her full decision with out being around him. It would just be weird. She'd have to do something about it......Lane emerged from the kitchen and handed Lorelai a couple of bags and two take out cups.
"Ugh, didn't even have to ask! You are a god Lane."
"Don't let my mother know." Lane grinned as Lorelai hopped down from the stool and headed out the door with a wave and a cautious look up and down the street.
*********************
Lorelai climbed up the dark steps with the Luke's bags in her hands, shifting them to knock on the door and open the knob.
"Sookie? Jackson?" She stepped into the front hall and dropped the food on a table, looking around. "Sook?!"
"Stop yelling!" Sookie hissed, as she climbed extremely carefully down the stairs.
"Sorry!" Lorelai whispered as Sookie glanced up the stairway and nodded towards the door.
"Outside." She opened the door slowly, wincing as it creaked and Lorlai grabbed the Luke's bags and followed her out onto the porch. As she closed the door behind her, Sookie sighed and sat down on the porch steps. "Davey's been crying for hours and we just got him to sleep. Jackson has been up with him all week so that I can get a little sleep, and with that, and everything today, he just finally collapsed asleep on the floor right next to the crib."
"The first few months are rough. Colicky?" Lorelai nodded sympathetically, and Sookie opened her eyes up wide after a moment, turning to Lorelai with a questioning look and a glance at her begs.
"Oh yeah. So.....How are you?"
"Uh, fine."
"With the whole....." Sookie waited. Lorelai smiled a little bit.
"How much do you know?"
"The last thing I saw was Nicole leaving and Luke getting back into his truck. What happened after that?" Sookie asked, obviously intrigued.
"He came over, and we talked for a while."
"That's it?"
"Yeah...." Lorelai said undecidedly. Sookie frowned at her.
"Yeah.........? What follows the yeah........."
"I don't quite know yet. I mean, I want to talk to Luke. We said that we were going to take sometime to figure things out, but I don't want to cut myself off from him completely while I try to figure everything out. I'm just so confused." Lorelai groaned and dropped her head onto her arms.
"Are you guys...." Sookie started.
"Are we what?"
"You know......"
"Apparently I don't..."
"Is this figuring......of a certain nature?"
"What kind of nature?"
"A romantic nature?" Lorelai nodded her head slowly.
"Do you know what it is that you want?" Lorelai shook her head.
"Okay... Do you want....." Sookie asked carefully, knowing how edgy Lorelai always got about her relationship with Luke.
"Do I want what?"
"Luke?" Sookie suggested.
"And there's my problem." Lorelai groaned.
"You want Luke!"
"I don't know! Would maybe be the wrong answer? Because I'm thinking that maybe leaning towards yes might be mine."
"Wow. This is big, this is huge, it....it's massively huge. It's.....there's no word for this!"
"Hugemongous?" Lorelai suggested half-heartedly.
"Close." Sookie agreed excitedly.
"Biggantic?"
"Noooo....I think I liked hugemongous better."
"I don't know....biggantic's pretty good." Lorelai commented, nodding her head and looking distracted.
"So.....Luke?"
"Yeah.......Luke."
"You're sure?" Sookie inquired.
"Not yet. Not completely. I think I'm going to ask him if maybe we could do stuff, just hang around, maybe watch some movies or something, just do friend stuff until we get some things figured out."
"That sounds.....good."
"But?"
"But you haven't talked to him yet have you?" Sookie smiled sympathetically.
"He, uh, wasn't there today. Tonight. When I went. When I went there for dinner." Lorelai stumbled, knowing this wasn't really totally accurate, but that it also wasn't a lie.
"Un hun." Sookie nodded unbelievingly.
"Fine. I made sure he wasn't there before grabbing my order and burning it right outta there. I just didn't want to have to deal with that awkward part. You know, the part right after everything kinda starts but before anything's really decided..........and it gets all awkward, and nothing seems right, and all the normal stuff seems weird."
"You're just going to have to push through it hon."
"I don't wanna." Lorelai sighed.
"Just arm yourself with something to say. Have something ready when you go in and get breakfast tomorrow and talk to him once everything settles itself out."
"Thank you uber wise cook lady friend."
"Good night Lorelai." Sookie winced as she heard a wail from upstairs and heard Jackson yell 'I've got it' in a groggy voice. Lorelai grinned at her friend rolling her eyes in exhaustion.
"It gets better." Lorelai said encouragingly.
"Jackson may not make it."
"Well, it was his fault."
"See, I've tried to use that to get him up to take care of Davey in the middle of the night, but he said I used up my blame quota while I was in labour."
"A shame."
"Truly that." Sookie grinned, then her face went soft and serious. "Go tomorrow Lorelai, just try to talk to him alright?" Lorelai nodded and grabbed her bags.
"I've got a hungry kid of my own to feed. It's ten o'clock and we haven't had dinner. I'm afraid I'll get home and she'll have gnawed of a hand, or a foot, or some other important appendage."
"I'll see you tomorrow hun." Sookie smiled.
"Try and get some sleep." Lorelai offered as she started back down the steps.
"Amen sister."
"Uh, Sook?"
"Yeah?"
"What if I do want.....and he doesn't want......" Lorelai shook her hand uncomfortably.
"And what if I actually get a full nights sleep at any time in the next three months."
"Okay." Lorelai nodded as she walked backwards down the front walk slowly. "Thanks Sookie."
"Goodnight Lorelai."
***********************************
Lorelai wandered up the porch steps and closed the door quietly behind her.
"Honey I'm home." She called out, wandering absently through the kitchen before grabbing a bottle of water.
"I'm on the couch." Rory replied over the back of it.
"I'd except no less." Lorelai headed into the living room and Rory reached out.
"You get my burger?"
"Damn, I knew I forgot something." Lorelai grinned as she passed Rory the bag.
"Push the movie in." Lorelai leaned forwarded and pushed the tape in before plunking herself down on the free couch cushion.
"What's tonight's feature?"
"East Of Eden."
"Ohhh. James Dean."
"And Weekend At Bernie's."
"Ohhhh.....kay. Weird choice." Lorelai started to agree and ended up giving Rory a questioning look.
"I'm in a weird mood." Rory shrugged casually. "Run's it the family so it would seem." She hinted subltly, and Lorelai avoided her eyes, trying to get up.
"Did you want extra ketchup for your fries. I think I saw some in the fridge last week...or at least some kind of tomato product....it might have been pasta sauce. I-" Rory grabbed Lorelai's sleeve and pulled her back down, looking directly at her.
"You talked to him right?" Lorelai opened her mouth, then closed it and sighed.
"He wasn't there."
"Really?"
"Yeah...."
"Then what took you so long?"
"I stopped in at Sookie's for a minute."
"And?"
"We just talked. I... I don't want to cut myself off from Luke completely while we try to figure this out, but it's going to be so awkward the first time I go in. I mean, what do you talk to some one about when you're both trying to decide if you like them enough, or , maybe at all, to start something. And what do you say when you both know that the other person is thinking about he same thing, but neither of you can say anything about it?" Loelai threw her head back over the arm of the couch.
"You just have to have something ready to talk about."
"Yeah, that's what Sookie said."
"Great minds."
"Yeah....but what do I talk about, and what do I do if we finish the topic and then it gets all awkward?"
"I have the perfect thing. I read this article, and it says that people who drink coffee, a lot of coffee, lower their risk of diabetes. That's the perfect subject for a Lukeversation. And if it gets awkward I would suggest running far away and flailing your arms."
"Wow, you are superhuman smart aren't you? How does that pretty head of yours hold it all."
"I keep a little extra in jars in my desk for specific subjects."
"You are my idol. And a little creepy with the brain jar things."
"Understandable." Rory nodded.
"Good food."
"Very good food." Rory agreed as the last preview wound down.
"Good movie." Rory looked over.
"I think Luke likes you." Rory said quietly, staring at the T.V. screen.
"Shhhh....." Lorelai murnered. "It's starting." But Rory could see the corner of her mouth twitch.
*************************************
Okay. Easy. Again. Just walk in and get some coffee and it'll be over with. She had gotten up this morning extra early, too early for a Saturday, and extra nervous. She read and reread the article Rory had found for her before Rory finally pushed her out the door, making her go alone by saying that she had to pack to get back to Yale tonight. Lorelai pushed the door of the diner open and lifted up her head. Just....go for it.
"LUKE!" Lorelai called out, hiking her purse up her arm and heading towards the counter. "This is officially the best day of my life. Try and deny me a jug of skittles and M&Ms and a side of Ben and Jerry's with my coffee. I dare you. Tell me I'll die of diabetes.....Luke?" Lorelai had looked around the diner for Luke, and she couldn't see him. She could hear two people talking in the kitchen. Mabe he was just nervous to come out."Luke? Luuuuuke? I'm taking coffee from behind the counter." Lorelai wandered around poured herself a cup, and looked around again. Hmph. She frowned. "Okay.....I'm taking a donut now....with my hands......no tongy things.....I'm contaminating all the others and increasing their staleness by keeping the lid off......okay, now I'm licking all the clean coffee mugs....and the other donuts....and I'm squeezing them and putting them back. I'm licking and squeezing the donuts now....with bare hands....." Lorelai trailed off. Luke was either dead or in a coma if he hadn't come out by now. Lane came out of the kitchen with two plates.
"Oh, hey Lorelai. Are you getting breakfast." Lane swallowed nervously. Being the bearer of bad news was never fun, and she really didn't want to have to tell Lorelai that Luke had packed his truck and burned his way outta town last night.
"Uh, yeah, I.....Um, where's Luke?" Lorelai interrupted herself, throwing her hands out to the side.
"Luke left." Lane replied quickly, grabbing the coffee pot and heading towards a table. Lorelai looked startled and a little stunned. She started trailing Lane and the coffee pot around the room.
"He's out again."
"No, not exactly. He's not so much out...as gone."
"And the difference is...."
"Well, one is going to the store for eggs...and one is leaving."
"Luke.....left? When did he leave....why did he-where did he.....how long is he going for? This isn't like a permanent thing or something is it?"
"No, he's definitely coming back." Lane said confidently.
"Do you have any idea of when." Lorelai questioned and Lane's smile faltered.
"I think it's kind of an.....indefinite thing."
"Indefinite."
"Yeah."
"Where is he?"
"Yeah...... I don't really know." Lane replied a little tentatively.
"Okay. Does Caesar?" Lorelai shook her head, confused.
"......No."
"Does ANYONE?" Lorelai exclaimed unbelievingly.
"I don't think so." Lane said apologetically.
"So no one knows where he is or how long he's going to be gone for? Did he leave maybe, I don't know, a phone number, or perhaps a forwarding address?"
"He said he would call...eventually."
"So I can't get in contact with him at all." Lorelai moved her head from side to side.
"I don't think so."
"He doesn't have like, a phone, or a telegraph, or some sort of bat signal in the shape of a coffee cup to use?"
"He didn't mention one specifically." Lane admitted reluctantly.
"So there's no way to talk to him."
"........No."
"What did he say to you? I mean, what if the diner, heaven forbid, caught fire, or you got sick, or Caesar exploded or something?" Lorelai exclaimed.
"He just said that he would be gone for a few days." Lane shrugged reluctantly.
"Damn him, man of few words."
"I'm sorry. I wish I had more to tell you." Lane tried.
"Don't worry hun. I complete blame him." Lorelai said lightly, but still looking frustrated. "Alright.....well. I guess I'll see you later."
"No breakfast?"
"I ate a donut already. Breakfast of champions." Lorelai replied distractedly, picking her purse back up off the counter.
"Alright. Bye." Lane said sympathetically as Lorelai left the diner.