Stories and Second Chances

Disclaimer: Let me check... nope. Still don't own the Gilmore Girls. Bummer.

Rating: PG

Summary: Takes place after my previous story "Accidents and I Love You's." (This story was formerly known as "Baby," but I realized that the title made no sense. So I changed it). Luke and Lorelai's relationship develops, and grows more serious. The Inn opens, etc. I know it's taken me awhile to get this second chapter up, but I'm afraid that might be common for the next few months, as I have a lot of vacations/work related trips/etc. coming up. So please bear with me and keep reading. (And reviewing, of course!)

Chapter 2: Celery and Yellow Roses

Lorelai's doorbell rang about half an hour later. She had somehow managed to play it cool at the diner, but in all honesty, she was nervous as Hell.

After all, this was Luke.

She was going on a date with Luke.

After taking one final glance at herself in the mirror, she took a deep breath and headed to the front door.

"You had better come bearing coffee," she said as she pulled the door open.

Luke was waiting, and raised an eyebrow at her comment. Lorelai couldn't help but notice that he had discarded the usual flannel shirt, and now wore only a form-fitting grey t-shirt and her favorite pair of jeans. The baseball cap was still there, but she could tell that he had combed through the hair hidden underneath.

Lorelai swallowed hard, reluctantly dragging her eyes away from the muscles of his shoulders to meet his eyes.

"Hey," she said, feeling herself blush.

"Hey," Luke replied. "No coffee," he said apologetically. "But I brought the next best thing." He pulled his hand from behind his back to reveal a small bouquet of miniature yellow roses.

Lorelai looked down at the flowers in shock.

"You got me flowers?" She said finally.

Luke rolled his eyes. "No. They're for me."

Lorelai ignored his sarcastic comment, taking the flowers from him, and tracing the tiny petals of the roses. "They're beautiful," she said softly, still unable to believe that Luke—her Luke—had brought her flowers.

"Yeah...well..." Luke muttered, embarrassed. "Sorry they're not bigger—"

Lorelai's eyes widened, and she cut him off, grinning. "Dirty!"

Luke rolled his eyes, blushing slightly, but ignored her comment. "The market doesn't have the best selection..."

"Doose's Market?" Lorelai asked, surprised. "You braved Taylor and the prying eyes of Stars Hollow to get me flowers?"

Luke nodded. "And I can assure you, Babette was very curious about why I was buying flowers in the first place, let alone this late at night."

Lorelai laughed. "I'm impressed."

"You should be, considering what I went through for something that's just going to die in a few days anyways," Luke muttered. But his eyes rose to meet hers, and she could see the hint of a smile on his face.

"Always the hopeless romantic," Lorelai shot back. "Seriously, though. They're perfect."

"You're perfect," Luke said automatically, his eyes darting away from hers, embarrassed when he realized what he had said.

Lorelai grinned. "What? What was that you said? I think I missed it."

Luke looked up at her, and Lorelai's smile faded, her breath catching in her throat when she saw the seriousness in his eyes.

"I said, you're perfect." Luke said firmly, his gaze holding hers.

They stood in the doorway for several seconds, their eyes locked, until finally, Lorelai cleared her throat, and stepped away from the still-open door.

"You gonna come in, or what?" She asked, unable to hide the giddy grin that had spread across her face. Luke smiled, brushing past her as he made his way to the couch. Lorelai watched him go, still grinning, and feeling very much like a teenager on a date with her first crush.

"I'm going to put these in some water, and I'll grab the food," she said finally. Luke's eyes followed her as she disappeared.

"I got everything," Lorelai called from the kitchen. "Malomars, Hershey's kisses, and peanut butter cups for a chocolate fix. Oh! And popcorn and Fritos, because after all the chocolate, we're gonna want something salty..." Luke smiled to himself as she continued. "And, of course, you of all people know that a well-balanced diet is the cornerstone of a healthy lifestyle, so I picked up some Starbursts and Skittles."

"And that's healthy how?" Luke asked, frowning.

"Fruit group!" Lorelai exclaimed, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Of course..." Luke muttered. "I should have known."

He looked up as Lorelai reappeared, her arms overloaded with bags and containers. Luke's eyes widened.

"You have got to be kidding me," he said, watching as she dumped the pile of junk food onto the coffee table in front of him.

Lorelai gasped. "I never kid about junk food!"

"Please tell me you have something healthy in that pile of crap," Luke said, staring at the pile.

"Not to worry," she said. "Just to prove that I'm always thinking of you..." Lorelai shot him a broad grin before briefly returning to the kitchen. When she returned, she sat down beside him, holding out a bag "...I got you this."

Luke took the bag from her, and shot her a look.

"Celery?" He asked, less than impressed.

"What? It's healthy!" Lorelai smiled at him conspiratorially. "And, as an added bonus..." She reached into the pile of junk food, pulling out a container of peanut butter and waving it in front of him dramatically. "It's low-fat. I got it just for you," she continued, as Luke took the container from her. "As official creator of Gilmore movie night, I just can't condone the consumption of a completely healthy snack. It goes against everything I hold sacred..."

Luke watched her as she continued to chatter away about the various rules of movie night. He couldn't believe how much he had missed her chatter over the last few days. Sure it drove him crazy. But in a good way.

Luke smiled, his eyes moving down to her lips as she informed him of the most important pointers in selecting an appropriate movie night movie.

And without thinking, he leaned forward, pressing his lips against hers, abruptly ending a lengthy explanation of good and bad Leonardo DiCaprio films.

Lorelai gasped in surprise as Luke's lips met hers, then moaned softly as he began gently stroking her lips with his tongue. She slid closer to him on the couch as his hand moved up to run through the soft hair at the base of her neck. Unconsciously, Lorelai brought her own hand up to stroke the spattering of stubble on Luke's cheek.

Reluctantly, Luke pulled away, breathing deeply.

"Wow..." Lorelai said, her eyes sparkling. "I wasn't expecting that."

Luke smiled gently, running his thumb along the line of her jaw.

"I missed you this week," he said. He studied her face as he spoke, still getting used to the fact that he was able to be this close to her—to be with her like this.

And it didn't even feel weird.

It just felt... right.

"I missed you, too," Lorelai replied, her face growing serious. "I was worried that you would think I was avoiding you or something. But I wasn't."

Luke nodded, and she knew that no explanation was necessary. He understood, just like he always did.

They sat in comfortable silence for several long moments, before a grin began to spread across Lorelai's face.

Luke looked at her suspiciously. "What?"

"Guess what we're watching tonight..." she said.

Luke rolled his eyes. "I have no idea."

"C'mon... you have to guess!" Lorelai said, swatting him on the arm.

"No." Luke said.

"You're no fun." Lorelai muttered, pouting. "Aren't you even curious?"

"I could care less, as long as I'm watching it with you." Luke said.

Lorelai hesitated for a moment, considering his statement. "Normally, that would be a really sweet thing to say. But coming from you, Mr. Grumpy, it's just freaky."

"Just play the movie," Luke said, trying to hold back a smile.

Lorelai sighed, before moving away to shove a well-used video tape into the VCR. She returned to the couch and sat next to Luke as the credits began to roll.

"North by Northwest?" Luke said, surprised as the title appeared on the screen. "You've got better taste than I thought."

Lorelai gasped. "I don't know whether to be offended by that or not." Luke just shrugged, turning his attention to the television screen. "I figure," Lorelai continued. "You can't go wrong with an Alfred Hitchcock movie. The man was a cinematic god. I mean, look at The Birds. Anyone who can make a movie about man-eating seagulls is a genius..."

Luke chuckled. "Just watch the movie."

Lorelai smiled, and they watched the movie for about half an hour in silence, before Luke sensed Lorelai moving closer to him. He glanced over at her, but saw that her eyes were still focused on the screen.

Finally, after several more minutes of silence, Lorelai sighed, let out a loud yawn, and raised her arms into the air, stretching. Nonchalantly, she brought an arm down around Luke's shoulders, sending him a grin before returning her attention to the movie. This time, Luke couldn't hold back a laugh.

"Smooth," he said. "I thought that was supposed to be my move."

Lorelai sighed again, feigning frustration. "Normally, it would be. But obviously, if I had waited for you, it would have taken all night. And I'm cold."

Luke paused, momentarily distracted by Lorelai's fingers, which were absently stoking his shoulder through the fabric of his t-shirt. His face serious, he moved his own arm down to her waist, giving her a slight tug, so that their bodies were touching on the couch.

Lorelai sighed contentedly. "Now that's more like it," she said, snuggling closer to his body, and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Does this feel weird?" Lorelai asked after several moments of silence.

"Not at all," Luke said.

"Is it weird that it doesn't feel weird?" Lorelai murmured.

"No." Luke answered.

Lorelai chuckled at his quick answer. "Okay then."

They returned to the movie, and soon, Luke could feel Lorelai's breath grow steady, and he knew that she was asleep.

TBC...

A/N: Well, again, sorry for the long wait. Life just seems to get way too busy. I hope you guys liked this chapter. Hopefully it was worth your wait. Please review, and, as always, feel free to give me any thoughts you have on plot, etc...