"I think we need more bedding plants in that corner there," Lorelai was saying to Jacob, the inn's new groundskeeper.
"They will fill out in a few weeks," Jacob said with the infinite patience of someone who loves plants.
"But they are so small and there are all those bare patches," Lorelai complained. "Don't you think just a couple more would-"
Jacob smiled, "If you plant them too closely, they will strangle off each other's root systems. Best to give them a little room to grow."
Strangle off each other's root system, Lorelai mused. It sounded like one of her parents' childrearing techniques. Knowing she couldn't be of more help--or do more damage--here, she left Jacob to his plants and made her way back towards the inn.
It had been a little over a week since the inn's test run and a little less than a week until their official opening. Lorelai had been at the Dragonfly almost constantly during that time, driving her staff just a little crazy and working herself into exhaustion each night.
What little time she had to spare, she spent with Rory. After that initial explosive night of Rory and Dean's affair--Lorelai shuddered at the word--Rory had sobered up to what they had done. The stains of hurt and shame did not come out easily, and there was little Lorelai could do for her daughter but be there for her. Lorelai had to trust that time would take care of the rest.
As Lorelai walked up the front steps of the entrance she paused for a moment on the porch. She did this almost everytime she passed this way. The memory of her first kiss with Luke seemed to have been burned into the floorboards. A hundred years from now, when man was living on the moon and Bill Gates' descendents had achieved their goal of world domination, someone would walk across this porch and feel the memory of that kiss... just as Lorelai did now, as she always did when she found herself rooted to this spot.
She hadn't seen Luke since that night. She had been busy. Very busy. She simply hadn't had the time to stop at the diner with everything that was going on at the Dragonfly. It wasn't that she was avoiding him. After all, he intruded on her thoughts almost constantly. Lorelai was just very busy, or so she kept telling herself.
Lorelai spotted Michel coming down the path toward the inn. He looked slightly alarmed at the sight of her, as she jogged briskly down the steps toward him.
"Michel! Good, I need to talk to you about something!"
Michel heaved a great sigh, "Of course you do..."
......
............
The diner was between the morning and noon rushes and there was little Luke could do but clean the counter again--for about the hundredth time. Most days he liked this quiet time, but these days when he wasn't working he was thinking and that was always a bad thing.
He'd find himself mentally going item by item through that damn book trying to figure out where he'd gone wrong. He would catalog every mistake he'd ever made in every relationship he'd ever had--not a lot of relationships, but certainly a lot of mistakes. And sometimes Luke would just bask in the bittersweet memory that kiss.
The bell on the diner's door chimed. A customer. Oh thank God.
"Rory," he said, trying not to sound as surprised as he felt.
"Luke. Hi." Rory said, with a nervous smile.
"You look nice," Luke said, noting the crisp dark slacks and white blouse.
"Oh, job interview," Rory explained. "The Gazette needs a fact finder and I needed a job for the summer."
"Congratulations," Luke smiled slightly, although inside he was beaming. She was growing up so quickly.
"Well I don't have the job yet," she said shyly. "Umm, could I just get some coffee to go? Mom's been so busy with the inn that there's really nothing to eat in the house and-"
"You need a proper breakfast then," Luke told her. "If you go to that interview on coffee alone, you'll be bouncing off the walls. Not the best way to make a good first impression."
"Okay, I guess," Rory said, seating herself at the counter. Her eyes seemed to skitter off Luke everytime she looked at him. At last she said, "Maybe could I get the egg breakfast with hashbrowns?"
"Coming right up."
After Luke brought back her breakfast, he tried to go back to polishing his counter. Everytime he glanced up at Rory she seemed to be picking at her food, only eating it half heartedly.
"Is there something wrong with the eggs?" Luke said finally.
"What?" Rory's head snapping up. "Oh no, the eggs are great." And she took a big bite just to prove her point.
Luke put down his cloth and walked over to her, "Rory, are you okay?"
Rory fidgeted under his gaze. Finally she said, "Luke, are WE okay?"
"What?" Luke said surprised. "Why wouldn't we be okay?"
"I know something must have happened between you and Mom," Rory said quietly. "I mean, she didn't say anything--just that you and she went to a wedding and had a good time. But I know she hasn't been in for coffee in days and... well, you know how unusual that is for Lorelai."
"Yes, I do," Luke said softly.
"So... I figured something must have changed," Rory said. "Probably not in a... good way. I mean, if something bad was going on with you and her I thought... well, maybe it would be better if I just..."
Luke's eyes widened slightly and the heartache that had lingered in his chest this past week seemed to grow threefold. "Rory, no matter what happens between me and Lorelai, there will never--EVER--be a day when you are not welcome here. There will never be a day when she is not welcome here. Do you understand?"
Rory nodded, and then she reached across the counter and gripped his hand. "You are such a huge part of our lives, Luke. I don't want that to ever change."
"It won't," he told her. "I promise." Rory smiled at him, the first full-blown Rory smile he'd seen in ages. Luke straightened up, trying to shrug himself back into his usual gruff demeanor. "Now, you eat your breakfast young lady and go nail that interview."
After Rory left, Luke was back to his thinking and even the pretense of polishing the counter had slipped away from him. Rory's words kept playing over and over in his head. She hadn't wanted him to change. It was exactly what Lorelai had been saying that night. And Rory was afraid of a day when Luke would not be in her life--their lives--both her and Lorelai's. When Rory had said it, or at least hinted at it, the thought had terrified Luke. Rory was one of the constants in his life, just as Lorelai was. He couldn't imagine his world without either of them in it.
Luke's world was filled with unshakeable constants. His diner. His apartment. His feud with Taylor. His occasional urges to kill Kirk. He had spent the better part of his life trying to keep his corner of Star's Hollow exactly the same, exactly how it had always been. His feelings for Lorelai, even when he had longed for her from afar, were among the universal contstants of his world. He had felt this way for so long that his feelings slipped around him like an invisible glove, always with him even when she wasn't.
It had never occurred to him that others had their unshakeable constants too.
"Lane!" he called into the storeroom. "I'm going out! Hold down the fort!"
......
............
Lorelai was hovering around Dragonfly kitchen. Sookie and her helpers were experimenting with a new pastry dessert and Lorelai only task at the moment seemed to be making a nuisance of herself.
"I'm not sure about these curtains," she was saying, examining them with great interest.
"Honey, the curtains are fine," Sookie told her.
"But they're so lacey," Lorelai said. "They'll get all black from the grease in here. Maybe we should swap them with the ones in the reception area. They might be more practical."
Sookie came towards Lorelai with a basket of blueberries in her hands and inclined her head with a half smile. "What?" Lorelai asked.
"I need the sink," Sookie told her as sweetly as she could.
"Oh, right. Sorry," Lorelai said stepping aside. "So what do you think about the curtains?"
Sookie turned on the tap and began rinsing the blueberries. "You know, I just remembered. I think Tom was looking for you. Something about needing to put sealant... umm, somewhere."
"Ooo, sounds like important construction-speak," Lorelai nodded. "I should go deal with that right away."
Sookie grinned, "Yes. Yes, you absolutely should."
"Remind me and we'll talk about those curtains later," Lorelai said as she stepped out the backdoor.
"Uh huh, absolutely!" Sookie called after her.
One of Sookie's helpers handed Sookie a bowl for the blueberries. "Thank you," he muttered emphatically under his breath. Sookie nodded as she rolled her eyes.
......
............
Lorelai had barely gone six steps from the kitchen's backdoor when she saw something that stopped her in her tracks and probably stopped her heart in her chest. It was Luke, striding down the path towards her. Scruffy, backward cap, flanel-wearing Luke. As he got closer, Lorelai fought to find something to say, her mouth opening and snapping shut like a goldfish. Soon, he was standing infront of her smelling like coffee and burgers and reminding her of a hundred things she missed.
"We need to talk," Luke said.
"I.. I really need to find Tom," Lorelai stammered. "Something about sealant. I think it's important. You're a construction type... Sealant sounds important, right?"
"Please," Luke said. "This will only take a minute." And before she could find another argument, he took her by the elbow and lead her to off the path to a small grove of birches trees behind the stables. Once there he let go of her and turned away, running a nervous hand through his hair before replacing his baseball cap.
Lorelai shifted uncomfortably in the silence. "Luke, I really don't know what to say."
"Don't say anything then," he told her. "I just need you to listen, okay?"
She nodded.
Luke took a deep breath and looked at her. "I'm not good with words," he said. "That was why I.. I got that stupid book. I can never seem to find the right words when I'm around you." His hands had started to tremble, so Luke shoved them in his pockets. "You were right. I always said I hated dancing but it was because I never had the right person to dance with. And I never bought flowers for someone because I never had someone I wanted to buy flowers for. I wanted to do those things for you, but I... I never meant to change on you. You have to believe that."
Lorelai nodded, her usually expressive face unreadable. Luke sighed and pressed onwards, "And, if you don't want things to change between us, I can understand that. My life is filled with things that I would never change and would never want to change. But you need to know that, no matter what happens, I will always be here for you. Always. There is nothing you could do that would ever pry me out of your life... unless... unless that's what you really wanted."
It hadn't been many words, but now that they were out of him Luke felt deflated. Lorelai was still staring at him and he knew of nothing else he could say to her.
"Luke," she said quietly. "Are you... are you in love with me?"
Luke felt his breath catch and he found himself staring intently at his shoes. Finally he nodded very slightly. He heard the rustle of leaves and shut his eyes thinking Lorelai had chosen to walk away. Instead, a moment later, Luke felt slender hands pulling his own from his pockets. Dazed he looked up into her face.
Lorelai was staring intently at his chest, lightly touching his flanel shirt. She was like a butterfly that had landed by chance on his arm and Luke was afraid a breath might scare her off again.
Not lifting her eyes, she said softly, "You know, you never had to change anything for me. I mean, you probably needed to get my attention because I am notoriously dense. But you... you never needed a book or a fancy outfit or anything like that."
Luke nodded silently.
She looked into his face, "Don't change, okay? Even the part... the part about us... the part about the way you..." Lorelai closed her eyes and laid her head against his chest. "Don't change anything," she whispered.
Luke raised a shaky hand to run it over her hair. "Okay," he said.
She looked up at him and he smiled tentatively at her. "May I..." Luke knew he was pressing his luck, but he managed to force the question out anyways, "May I kiss you?"
Lorelai slowly reached up and clasped his face between her hands. His heart threatening to pound its way out of his chest, Luke leaned in and kissed her. He tried to keep the kiss gentle and undemanding, afraid he might scare her off again. But Lorelai pulled him closer and her lips seemed to be seeking out an answer that only they knew how to find. Luke felt the walls slip as they had that first fateful night. His arms clasped her tightly and into his kiss he poured everything he could not say, could probably never say, because there are no words that could possibly hold it all.
When they at last broke apart, Lorelai looked at him with a strangely satisfied expression.
Luke's eyes were so blue. Had they always been blue? Stupid question.
She then turned and looked up at the clear sky peeking between the birch trees. Luke pulled her into his arms and looked up, trying to see what had caught her attention. He felt a foolish grin creep across his face as he asked, "What ARE you looking at?"
"Nothing," she smiled warmly at him. "Just checking."
......
............
I never saw blue like that before
Across the sky
Around the world
You've given me all you have and more
And no one else has ever shown me how
To see the world the way I see it now
Oh, I, I never saw blue like that before
-- Shawn Colvin
......
............
A/N: Yes, I'm afraid that's it. Thank you for reading. :)
"They will fill out in a few weeks," Jacob said with the infinite patience of someone who loves plants.
"But they are so small and there are all those bare patches," Lorelai complained. "Don't you think just a couple more would-"
Jacob smiled, "If you plant them too closely, they will strangle off each other's root systems. Best to give them a little room to grow."
Strangle off each other's root system, Lorelai mused. It sounded like one of her parents' childrearing techniques. Knowing she couldn't be of more help--or do more damage--here, she left Jacob to his plants and made her way back towards the inn.
It had been a little over a week since the inn's test run and a little less than a week until their official opening. Lorelai had been at the Dragonfly almost constantly during that time, driving her staff just a little crazy and working herself into exhaustion each night.
What little time she had to spare, she spent with Rory. After that initial explosive night of Rory and Dean's affair--Lorelai shuddered at the word--Rory had sobered up to what they had done. The stains of hurt and shame did not come out easily, and there was little Lorelai could do for her daughter but be there for her. Lorelai had to trust that time would take care of the rest.
As Lorelai walked up the front steps of the entrance she paused for a moment on the porch. She did this almost everytime she passed this way. The memory of her first kiss with Luke seemed to have been burned into the floorboards. A hundred years from now, when man was living on the moon and Bill Gates' descendents had achieved their goal of world domination, someone would walk across this porch and feel the memory of that kiss... just as Lorelai did now, as she always did when she found herself rooted to this spot.
She hadn't seen Luke since that night. She had been busy. Very busy. She simply hadn't had the time to stop at the diner with everything that was going on at the Dragonfly. It wasn't that she was avoiding him. After all, he intruded on her thoughts almost constantly. Lorelai was just very busy, or so she kept telling herself.
Lorelai spotted Michel coming down the path toward the inn. He looked slightly alarmed at the sight of her, as she jogged briskly down the steps toward him.
"Michel! Good, I need to talk to you about something!"
Michel heaved a great sigh, "Of course you do..."
......
............
The diner was between the morning and noon rushes and there was little Luke could do but clean the counter again--for about the hundredth time. Most days he liked this quiet time, but these days when he wasn't working he was thinking and that was always a bad thing.
He'd find himself mentally going item by item through that damn book trying to figure out where he'd gone wrong. He would catalog every mistake he'd ever made in every relationship he'd ever had--not a lot of relationships, but certainly a lot of mistakes. And sometimes Luke would just bask in the bittersweet memory that kiss.
The bell on the diner's door chimed. A customer. Oh thank God.
"Rory," he said, trying not to sound as surprised as he felt.
"Luke. Hi." Rory said, with a nervous smile.
"You look nice," Luke said, noting the crisp dark slacks and white blouse.
"Oh, job interview," Rory explained. "The Gazette needs a fact finder and I needed a job for the summer."
"Congratulations," Luke smiled slightly, although inside he was beaming. She was growing up so quickly.
"Well I don't have the job yet," she said shyly. "Umm, could I just get some coffee to go? Mom's been so busy with the inn that there's really nothing to eat in the house and-"
"You need a proper breakfast then," Luke told her. "If you go to that interview on coffee alone, you'll be bouncing off the walls. Not the best way to make a good first impression."
"Okay, I guess," Rory said, seating herself at the counter. Her eyes seemed to skitter off Luke everytime she looked at him. At last she said, "Maybe could I get the egg breakfast with hashbrowns?"
"Coming right up."
After Luke brought back her breakfast, he tried to go back to polishing his counter. Everytime he glanced up at Rory she seemed to be picking at her food, only eating it half heartedly.
"Is there something wrong with the eggs?" Luke said finally.
"What?" Rory's head snapping up. "Oh no, the eggs are great." And she took a big bite just to prove her point.
Luke put down his cloth and walked over to her, "Rory, are you okay?"
Rory fidgeted under his gaze. Finally she said, "Luke, are WE okay?"
"What?" Luke said surprised. "Why wouldn't we be okay?"
"I know something must have happened between you and Mom," Rory said quietly. "I mean, she didn't say anything--just that you and she went to a wedding and had a good time. But I know she hasn't been in for coffee in days and... well, you know how unusual that is for Lorelai."
"Yes, I do," Luke said softly.
"So... I figured something must have changed," Rory said. "Probably not in a... good way. I mean, if something bad was going on with you and her I thought... well, maybe it would be better if I just..."
Luke's eyes widened slightly and the heartache that had lingered in his chest this past week seemed to grow threefold. "Rory, no matter what happens between me and Lorelai, there will never--EVER--be a day when you are not welcome here. There will never be a day when she is not welcome here. Do you understand?"
Rory nodded, and then she reached across the counter and gripped his hand. "You are such a huge part of our lives, Luke. I don't want that to ever change."
"It won't," he told her. "I promise." Rory smiled at him, the first full-blown Rory smile he'd seen in ages. Luke straightened up, trying to shrug himself back into his usual gruff demeanor. "Now, you eat your breakfast young lady and go nail that interview."
After Rory left, Luke was back to his thinking and even the pretense of polishing the counter had slipped away from him. Rory's words kept playing over and over in his head. She hadn't wanted him to change. It was exactly what Lorelai had been saying that night. And Rory was afraid of a day when Luke would not be in her life--their lives--both her and Lorelai's. When Rory had said it, or at least hinted at it, the thought had terrified Luke. Rory was one of the constants in his life, just as Lorelai was. He couldn't imagine his world without either of them in it.
Luke's world was filled with unshakeable constants. His diner. His apartment. His feud with Taylor. His occasional urges to kill Kirk. He had spent the better part of his life trying to keep his corner of Star's Hollow exactly the same, exactly how it had always been. His feelings for Lorelai, even when he had longed for her from afar, were among the universal contstants of his world. He had felt this way for so long that his feelings slipped around him like an invisible glove, always with him even when she wasn't.
It had never occurred to him that others had their unshakeable constants too.
"Lane!" he called into the storeroom. "I'm going out! Hold down the fort!"
......
............
Lorelai was hovering around Dragonfly kitchen. Sookie and her helpers were experimenting with a new pastry dessert and Lorelai only task at the moment seemed to be making a nuisance of herself.
"I'm not sure about these curtains," she was saying, examining them with great interest.
"Honey, the curtains are fine," Sookie told her.
"But they're so lacey," Lorelai said. "They'll get all black from the grease in here. Maybe we should swap them with the ones in the reception area. They might be more practical."
Sookie came towards Lorelai with a basket of blueberries in her hands and inclined her head with a half smile. "What?" Lorelai asked.
"I need the sink," Sookie told her as sweetly as she could.
"Oh, right. Sorry," Lorelai said stepping aside. "So what do you think about the curtains?"
Sookie turned on the tap and began rinsing the blueberries. "You know, I just remembered. I think Tom was looking for you. Something about needing to put sealant... umm, somewhere."
"Ooo, sounds like important construction-speak," Lorelai nodded. "I should go deal with that right away."
Sookie grinned, "Yes. Yes, you absolutely should."
"Remind me and we'll talk about those curtains later," Lorelai said as she stepped out the backdoor.
"Uh huh, absolutely!" Sookie called after her.
One of Sookie's helpers handed Sookie a bowl for the blueberries. "Thank you," he muttered emphatically under his breath. Sookie nodded as she rolled her eyes.
......
............
Lorelai had barely gone six steps from the kitchen's backdoor when she saw something that stopped her in her tracks and probably stopped her heart in her chest. It was Luke, striding down the path towards her. Scruffy, backward cap, flanel-wearing Luke. As he got closer, Lorelai fought to find something to say, her mouth opening and snapping shut like a goldfish. Soon, he was standing infront of her smelling like coffee and burgers and reminding her of a hundred things she missed.
"We need to talk," Luke said.
"I.. I really need to find Tom," Lorelai stammered. "Something about sealant. I think it's important. You're a construction type... Sealant sounds important, right?"
"Please," Luke said. "This will only take a minute." And before she could find another argument, he took her by the elbow and lead her to off the path to a small grove of birches trees behind the stables. Once there he let go of her and turned away, running a nervous hand through his hair before replacing his baseball cap.
Lorelai shifted uncomfortably in the silence. "Luke, I really don't know what to say."
"Don't say anything then," he told her. "I just need you to listen, okay?"
She nodded.
Luke took a deep breath and looked at her. "I'm not good with words," he said. "That was why I.. I got that stupid book. I can never seem to find the right words when I'm around you." His hands had started to tremble, so Luke shoved them in his pockets. "You were right. I always said I hated dancing but it was because I never had the right person to dance with. And I never bought flowers for someone because I never had someone I wanted to buy flowers for. I wanted to do those things for you, but I... I never meant to change on you. You have to believe that."
Lorelai nodded, her usually expressive face unreadable. Luke sighed and pressed onwards, "And, if you don't want things to change between us, I can understand that. My life is filled with things that I would never change and would never want to change. But you need to know that, no matter what happens, I will always be here for you. Always. There is nothing you could do that would ever pry me out of your life... unless... unless that's what you really wanted."
It hadn't been many words, but now that they were out of him Luke felt deflated. Lorelai was still staring at him and he knew of nothing else he could say to her.
"Luke," she said quietly. "Are you... are you in love with me?"
Luke felt his breath catch and he found himself staring intently at his shoes. Finally he nodded very slightly. He heard the rustle of leaves and shut his eyes thinking Lorelai had chosen to walk away. Instead, a moment later, Luke felt slender hands pulling his own from his pockets. Dazed he looked up into her face.
Lorelai was staring intently at his chest, lightly touching his flanel shirt. She was like a butterfly that had landed by chance on his arm and Luke was afraid a breath might scare her off again.
Not lifting her eyes, she said softly, "You know, you never had to change anything for me. I mean, you probably needed to get my attention because I am notoriously dense. But you... you never needed a book or a fancy outfit or anything like that."
Luke nodded silently.
She looked into his face, "Don't change, okay? Even the part... the part about us... the part about the way you..." Lorelai closed her eyes and laid her head against his chest. "Don't change anything," she whispered.
Luke raised a shaky hand to run it over her hair. "Okay," he said.
She looked up at him and he smiled tentatively at her. "May I..." Luke knew he was pressing his luck, but he managed to force the question out anyways, "May I kiss you?"
Lorelai slowly reached up and clasped his face between her hands. His heart threatening to pound its way out of his chest, Luke leaned in and kissed her. He tried to keep the kiss gentle and undemanding, afraid he might scare her off again. But Lorelai pulled him closer and her lips seemed to be seeking out an answer that only they knew how to find. Luke felt the walls slip as they had that first fateful night. His arms clasped her tightly and into his kiss he poured everything he could not say, could probably never say, because there are no words that could possibly hold it all.
When they at last broke apart, Lorelai looked at him with a strangely satisfied expression.
Luke's eyes were so blue. Had they always been blue? Stupid question.
She then turned and looked up at the clear sky peeking between the birch trees. Luke pulled her into his arms and looked up, trying to see what had caught her attention. He felt a foolish grin creep across his face as he asked, "What ARE you looking at?"
"Nothing," she smiled warmly at him. "Just checking."
......
............
I never saw blue like that before
Across the sky
Around the world
You've given me all you have and more
And no one else has ever shown me how
To see the world the way I see it now
Oh, I, I never saw blue like that before
-- Shawn Colvin
......
............
A/N: Yes, I'm afraid that's it. Thank you for reading. :)