Disclaimer: Unfortunately, Luke and Lorelai don't belong to me. The situation does. Credit to Harriet Peck Taylor for the book Coyote Places the Stars.
A/N: First and foremost, thank you to Jessa and Stephanie for reading this over. I should buy the two of you "beta" fish. Secondly, this is dedicated to two very special groups of people: 1) The JJ thread over at S-H.org and 2) The JJ thread over at Fanforum. Thanks for keeping L/L at the top of your lists.
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Lorelai stood on her front porch with a cardboard box and impossible-to-read instructions splayed about her feet. She twirled a telescope piece in her hand and hummed an indistinguishable tune to herself.
"Hey." She felt a tap on her shoulder.
"Oh, hey. You're early."
"I had nowhere else to be. And, uh, these are for you." Luke shoved one hand in his pocket and the other thrust a bouquet of pink roses into Lorelai's hands.
She smiled. "Thank you. They're gorgeous."
"Anytime. What's the telescope for?"
"I thought we could look at stars, but since it's cloudy…" Lorelai gestured sadly to the thick blanket of clouds. An airplane's lights penetrated the veil of gray and swept over the tops of the trees. She threw the piece of plastic into the box.
A sympathetic Luke gently removed the flowers from her grasp, set them on the porch railing, and held out her hands at arm's length.
"It's okay. Stars are always around. We can do it another time…hey, how about we do this…Close your eyes."
Lorelai beamed and closed her eyes. "Do you have something for me?"
"Maybe."
"Maybe meaning yes or maybe meaning no?"
"Just keep your eyes closed."
A few seconds passed without an exchange. Thunder rumbled and rolled in unison with the swirling clouds overhead. Bolts of lightning flashed sporadically, creating something of a rock concert in the skies.
"Luke, where'd you go?"
"Right here." Lorelai jumped as Luke whispered in her ear from behind.
"Just checking."
"Sorry, I'm having some trouble here. Just keep your eyes closed."
"What if it starts raining?"
He swept her hair to one side and knowingly said, "It won't."
Lorelai felt cool metal settle against her neck and reached up to touch it. Luke's hand swatted hers away and held it at her side.
"Don't touch yet."
"When can I?"
"Soon."
He fiddled with the clasp of the necklace for a bit longer and then pulled a small mirror from his pocket. He held it a few inches away from her face and placed his free hand on her hip.
"What I want to show you is more beautiful than any star...open."
Lorelai opened her eyes to find her reflection staring back in the mirror. A silver star pendant dangled from a simple chain and rested comfortably on the soft blue of her dress. She laughed quietly and turned to face the bearer of gifts.
"That was so cheesy," Lorelai remarked while winking.
Luke let go of the breath he'd been holding in and laughed. "I know, I know. Happy anniversary."
"It was sweet though. Thank you. The necklace is gorgeous." She turned the star over and over in her hand, letting the points kiss her fingertips.
"I'm glad you like it."
"I do." Lorelai wrapped her arms around his waist and he kissed the top of her head. The moment reminded her of what their relationship was: standing together in stormy weather, ignoring whatever else was crashing, breaking, or being flooded. She could smell a touch of his cologne - the one he couldn't put a brand name to - and it brought her security.
A thin curtain of raindrops began to fall. Luke and Lorelai briskly made their way into the house, kicking the telescope box underneath the porch awning in the process.
"Whew, we made it," Lorelai commented as the rain pounded down on the leaves of the daylilies outside the window. She opened the hall closet, pulled out a vase, and placed the shaken bouquet of roses in it. Water will have to come later, she thought.
"It was close, definitely close." Luke surveyed the foyer of Lorelai's house curiously. "The place looks cleaner. Did you clean?"
"Sort of. I mean, if cleaning means shoving everything in boxes without labeling them and then proceeding to put the unlabeled boxes in this closet and my closet, then sure, I cleaned."
"Figured as much."
"Don't you roll your eyes at me. That's bad boyfriend etiquette for any date, especially anniversaries." She gave him a teasing glare.
"Who says?"
"The deities that are the editors and writers of Cosmopolitan, of course."
"Because they're always right." Luke smirked, walked into the kitchen, and opened the refrigerator. "Do you have champagne? I forgot to bring the bottle."
"It's in the back right corner," she called out. "Next to the Kool-Aid."
He did some shifting of orange juice cartons and lemonade pitchers and finally grabbed the chilled bottle. He opened a cabinet nearby and retrieved two crystal flutes, obviously gifts from Emily. When he returned to the foyer, Lorelai had disappeared. He headed up the stairs and quietly opened the door to her room.
She was lying on her back with her head touching the backboard of her bed. He wasn't even sure she noticed that he'd entered the room. She looked apprehensive, bordering on worried; however, the lines on her face remained soft in contour and her eyes were still clear. A tree branch rapped against the window pane and Lorelai sat up.
"Sorry, I didn't know you were there."
"You okay?"
"I'm fine. Come on in."
He poured two glasses of champagne, handed one to Lorelai, and set the bottle on the nightstand. He slid over next to her, steadying himself against the wooden headboard. She laid her head on his shoulder and they both stared at the mirror in front of the bed while sipping from their flutes. Contented, they sat this way for several minutes, occasionally stealing looks at each other and smiling to themselves.
"You know, I was thinking about something Liz said a while back," Lorelai said pensively.
"What'd she say?" Luke tenderly rubbed her arm and returned both glasses to the nightstand. The lamplight bathed the white linens in a subtle orange glow that reflected off of her pale skin.
"It was at her wedding when I went to fix her dress. You remember that, right?" Of course he remembers. That was the night when all of the stars aligned in Luke's favor, the night the two of them shared the dance that would change everything. The night when Dragonfly dilemmas were forgotten and the location of the bread shipment didn't matter.
"Yeah, I remember."
"She was talking about marriage and how it can possibly, and probably should, last forever. I never really thought about it until tonight. I mean," Lorelai paused and shifted herself so that she was sitting in front of Luke, blocking his view of the mirror. "You're stuck with that person for your entire life. I just don't know if that would be a good thing." Her voice quieted. "It worries me."
He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck like he always does when he's nervous or doesn't know quite the right thing to say. He exhaled and fiddled with his tie as he tried to balance love equations in his head. Lorelai noticed his fidgeting and puts her hand on his leg.
"Hey, I didn't mean to scare you. I'm not expecting a proposal or anything."
The word proposal startled him even more and a million thoughts ran through his head. He finally opened his mouth and hoped for the best, hoped that he wouldn't make a fool out of himself.
"I…well, I don't really know what to make of it either. Naturally, you need to find the right person. If it's the right person, then you really aren't supposed to mind spending the rest of your life with them. You need to marry for the right reasons."
She sighed, disappointed that there wasn't a more concrete explanation for her anxiety. "Yeah, you're right." She hesitated. "I swear we've had this discussion before."
"We have." He looked down at his hands. "When you were engaged to Max."
Lorelai didn't want to continue with the sore subject, so she attempted to lighten the conversation. "I guess we've both had our share of broken relationships, haven't we?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
"But we've always had each other." Lorelai positioned herself so that she was sitting in his lap and he was holding her like an eight-year-old girl would hold her doll. She closed her eyes peacefully and relaxed.
"That we have."
"And it's a good thing we have each other now, right?"
"Always." He replied without hesitation.
Looking at their reflection, he noticed that her star pendant has flipped. He flipped it back over and returns to the mirror. A year ago, this reflection would have been a dream – merely a fantasy in his head, conjured up by a subconscious desire to want something that he couldn't get the courage to ask for. Various memories passed through his head like a slideshow, some in black in white, and others in color. He remembered their first kiss, their date in New Haven, and even their arguments.
He didn't notice, but Lorelai opened her eyes and joined him in the soundless moment of reminiscing. She reflected on the fact that both of them still blush and engage in nervous conversation after every kiss – even after a year of being together, it's still awkward. The playful staring and stolen intimate moments in the diner are still an unusual concept. To her, the relationship progression was like learning a foreign language. It took practice and many months of getting used to, but eventually, she fell right in with the rest of those speaking the language and found herself beginning to understand what everyone else already knew.
"I'm glad we've gone this far." Lorelai randomly remarks, breaking the trance.
"So am I."
She says softly, "We would be together if it weren't for you."
"You mean if it weren't for that book." He jokes.
"I can't believe we're still talking about the book!"
"Hey, you're the one that mocked it."
"I know and I'm sorry. I still can't believe you got that desperate." She let out a short laugh and moved her hands between the folds of ivory sheets.
Without thinking, he said defensively, "I wasn't desperate. I just loved you."
She turned her head and grinned. "Aha! Now we get the admission."
Realizing he had been caught, he played along. "Loved is past tense. Nobody said anything about now."
"Mean!" Lorelai pouted.
"It's not like you've said it either." Luke said as seriously as he could while stifling a laugh.
"Well, no, but…but…" She was stumped for words.
"I win." He put a hand around the back of her neck and kissed her lightly. She looked at him with adulation and he pushed a tendril of her hair behind her ear. "I love you. There. You know it. I don't have to say it a million times," he offered half-seriously, half-joking.
"But it sure is good to hear. I love you too, just for the record." Lorelai plucked a pillow from the opposite side of the bed, placed it on Luke's lap, and laid down.
"It's not everyday I get calm nights of sleep. Tonight shall be one of them." She yawned.
Luke reached over to the other nightstand and picked up a book from its surface.
"Coyote Places the Stars? Do I even want to know?"
"I was baby-sitting Davey a few nights ago; it's his book, I swear."
"Sure, sure."
"Read it."
"You want me to read a children's book?" Luke raised his eyebrows.
"To me."
"Are you crazy?"
"You know the answer to that."
"All right, fine."
Luke cleared his throat and opened the vividly colored book to the first page and began reading:
"Many moons and many moons ago, a coyote lived in a canyon by a swift-running river. He spent his days roaming the land, chasing butterflies and sniffing wildflowers…"
"Guess what?"
Luke closed the book with his finger marking the page. "What?"
Lorelai gestured to the condensation-drenched window. "It's stopped raining."
"So it has."
Lorelai pointed out thoughtfully, "Look. Stars." The storm had passed over, leaving a clear sky littered with millions of flaming stars. Some configured patterns and clusters, while others stood alone, basking in the glow of the moon.
"The stars are nice. You got to see them after all."
"In more ways than one," she murmured happily and resumed her sleeping position on this lap. "Keep reading."
"He lay awake many nights gazing at the starry heavens…"