Chapter Twenty-One

Babette just happened to be sitting on her front porch the night that all hell broke loose at the Gilmore house. Babette heard Luke shout something at Lorelai -- sounded like "you're crazy woman". Then Luke slammed the door and got into his truck. He took off so fast that his tires squealed when he hit the pavement. Lorelai followed him outside but he and his truck were already out of sight. It was a warm summer night and the full moon illuminated Lorelai's porch. Babette noticed that Lorelai dropped heavily into the chair on her front porch and put her head in her hands. Ordinarily Babette would have run over there but something told her that Lorelai needed to be alone. Soon Lorelai got up and walked into her house. Her house went dark at the same time as a cloud blocked the moonlight. Babette took that as another bad omen. She hurried inside to call Patty. It was a little after nine and she knew Patty had a late night yoga class that would have just let out. Patty was just turning out the lights when the phone rang. As she picked up the receiver, Luke's truck came barreling around the corner, his headlights flashing in her windows and lighting up the whole studio.

"Hey Patty, something's going on with Stars Hollows love birds and it doesn't look good."

"I just saw Luke come home. I don't think I've ever seen him drive that fast. What do you know?"

"Nothing, he just called her a crazy woman and slammed out the door."

"Probably just a little lovers spat."

"I hope so. We've worked so hard to get them this far, we don't need them derailing that now."

"I'll meet you at the diner early tomorrow and we'll get to the bottom of this."

"See 'ya then. We got to nip this thing in the bud." Babette hung up the phone and walked over to the window to check Lorelai's house again. The lights were still out and the jeep was still there. Babette figured all the excitement was over for the night so she turned in early too. Tomorrow would be a busy day indeed.

Luke burst into the dinner startling Caesar. Luke mumbled something about the next day. "Open or don't open, I don't care. I'm out of here for a couple days. If anyone asks, Luke's where-a-bouts is none of their damn business."

Luke stormed upstairs threw a few things in a bag and he was on the road again in ten minutes flat. Caesar watched him tear off in the old green truck and shook his head. This just had to have something to do with Lorelai.

Lorelai was wide awake when the early morning light finally came through her window. She had woken up several times during the night and reached for Luke but he was never there. She decided she couldn't lay there any longer and quickly dressed and headed out. She couldn't resist a quick detour by the diner and found it strange that Luke's truck wasn't parked in its usual place. She continued on to work. When she walked into the Dragonfly kitchen, Sookie was surprised to see her.

"Hey honey, couldn't sleep? All those wedding plans running around in your head?"

"Morning Sook, I need coffee."

"Coming right up. You don't look so good."

"Rough night."

"That's normally a good thing", Sookie teased.

"Rough night Sookie, leave it at that."

Sookie handed her a mug of coffee. "Want some breakfast?"

"Pleeease, something hot that will make this constant pounding in my head go away. I think someone is building a friggin high rise up there."

"Sure honey." Sookie knew when to back off with the questions. She quickly whipped up some eggs and toast and set it before Lorelai. "Have you got much going on today?"

"Nope, I have to take care of a few things and then I'm heading home. You can take care of everything else, right?"

"Sure, take all the time you need."

Lorelai ate, mumbled 'thanks' and started to walk toward her office. She stopped at the door and asked, "Hey, Sookie, has Jackson ever called you a crazy woman?"

"Daily. Let's face it, we are both crazy women. Look honey, you and Luke have been through a lot the last six months. He's been married, separated, married again, cheated on and now divorced. He just discovered he's in love with his best friend and that she loves him back. It's understandable that you two are feeling the pressure right now. The inn just opened and you're planning a wedding, it's just nerves. Perfectly natural but you can't let it ruin what you've got. Believe me its normal and it will go away. This is so right Lorelai, you have to know that. He has to know it too."

Lorelai smiled feeling a little bit better about things. Sitting at her desk, her mind was definitely not on the work that was piled in front of her. She paid a couple bills and made a couple calls and then she headed back home. She drove by the diner but Luke's truck still wasn't there. When she got home she gave Liz a quick call.

"Hey Liz, you haven't heard from Luke by any chance?"

"Not since last week. You guys okay?"

"Yes or at least we will be when I find him."

"Well, when he was young and got in a snit he always liked to get away. Not sure where that would be now but back then it was always fishing."

Lorelai smiled. "It still is. Thanks, I'll talk to you soon."

"Won't be long until the wedding, don't let him mess that up Lorelai."

"Hey, if anyone were to mess it up it would be me."

"Good luck finding him."

"Thanks.' Lorelai hung up the phone and without question knew exactly where to find him. She took a few minutes to pull on some shorts and a tee shirt. The weather was unbearably hot and humid and she had a long drive ahead of her.

Lorelai jumped in her jeep and headed north. Driving fast and thinking about what she was going to say made the trip go quickly. Smiling at her own detective work, she pulled the jeep up beside Luke's green truck. Lorelai jumped out of the jeep and headed up to his front door. She tentatively knocked and soon heard his heavy approach.

Luke opened the door and seemed surprised to see her but didn't hesitate to invite her in.

Lorelai walked into the familiar room and then looked directly at Luke. "Hey."

"Hey."

"Luke what's the big idea of running out on me last night?"

""Why are you here?"

"I asked first."

"I now why you're here."

Lorelai asked, "Why do you think I'm here?"

"To finish what you started last night....the bye Luke it's been fun but now it's time to move on speech."

Lorelai was shocked. "What? You think I'm going to..."

"Come on let me have it. I've been preparing myself for it all night. Let's get it over with."

"And you called me the crazy one! Why would you think I don't want to be with you anymore? Last night we were just talking about you moving in and now you think we are over? Where is that coming from?"

"You...you said you didn't want me to move in."

"I said I didn't want you to move in before the wedding. There's not enough space for you right now."

"No place for me in your life."

Lorelai gently smiled. "No place for your stuff in my house. You're already deeply entrenched in my life mister." She quietly added. "In case you haven't noticed."

"But you said..."

"I said I needed some time to sort things out. Not things about us you idiot. Stuff in my closet, my drawers, the bathroom, to make room for your stuff."

"But you said..."

"Look Luke, cut me some slack here. It's just been Rory and me for twenty years now, eight of those in that old house. And I've never shared my closet with anyone....ever. Its an intimate thing...sharing a closet."

"Sharing a closet is intimate? Lorelai, we've been sleeping together for weeks. I've had my lips, my mouth, my tongue on and in every part of your body and I might add you have had your mouth on pretty much every part of mine. And you think sharing your stupid closet is intimate?"

"Yes, to me, having never shared a closet....having your flannel next to my shirts and your underwear next to mine in the drawers...that's pretty intimate. It's the final step in us getting together and I need time to make room. For your stuff and you!"

A smile slowly passed over his face when he realized what she was saying. "So I totally over reacted to..."

"Exactly."

"And you just need time to..."

"Finally he sees the light." She walked over to him and he took her in his arms. "I just need these last few weeks to get my house ready for my new room mate." She smiled up at him as he leaned down to kiss her.

"I'm an idiot."

"Yep, you are. But you're my idiot."

They kissed for a few minutes and ended up laughing about their first official fight.

"Hey since you're here, you are going to spend the night?"

"Well, if I'm invited."

"You are."

"In that case, sure." She snuggled into his chest. "I missed you last night, you big knucklehead."

"I missed you too. That was one long night."

"Yeah, for me too. Sookie said it was probably just pre-wedding nerves."

"You told Sookie? Now everyone will know what an idiot I am."

"I just told her you called me a crazy woman."

"You are a crazy woman, you both are. You two are the Lucy and Ethel of Stars Hollow."

"And that would make you and Jackson: Ricky and Fred."

Luke laughed, "Well, at least I get to be the good looking one." Luke pulled away. "Hey how about a swim? Perfect time of day for it, the sun is just starting to set."

"That would be great after the bizarro day I just had. But I didn't bring my suit."

"He asks again, how about a swim?"

"She answers, I would love it."

Luke peeled her shirt off and then her shorts. She did the same to him and then he pulled her bikinis off and his boxers. Hand in hand they headed down to the lake, stopping only to pick up a blanket and a couple of towels.

Luke jumped in without hesitation. "Come on in."

Lorelai shouted from the shore, "It looks cold."

"I'm not going through that again. Do whatever you want, stand there or come in. Either way I win. They view from here is beautiful."

"You are a dirty old man."

"No, I'm a man who enjoys Mother Nature and all her wonders. And right now I'm looking at one of her best."

"Flattery sir, will get you everywhere." And with that Lorelai jumped into his waiting arms. He pulled her closely into his body and they kissed and laughed and kissed again. Even though the water was cool their bodies grew warmer by the minute. Luke soon pulled her out of the water and led her to the blanket. He didn't bother with the towels, he just pulled her wet body down to him on the blanket. Luke ran his hands along her curves, enjoying the sensual feel of his wet hands gliding over her wet body. He kissed her deeply and she met his every move with one of her own. And soon they were hot and heavily into lustful, shameless sex.

Breathing heavily, they lay looking into each others eyes. She smiled at him and murmured, "Luke, that was incredible. Maybe we should fight more often, nothing quite like make-up sex."

"Don't say that. Last night was the worst night of my life. All the way up here all I could think of was how screwed up my life had become. I even thought of closing the diner and moving up here. But then I opened the door and all I could see was you. There wasn't a room inside or a place outside that we hadn't shared some sort of moment. I even slept sitting up in a chair because I couldn't bear to sleep in that bed."

"At least you slept."

"No, not really, that was one long night."

"Tell me about it. You know you could have avoided all of it if you just wouldn't have stormed off."

"I know. But you've known me how many years? Have you ever known me to be patient or reasonable about anything?"

"Next time just stay around until we talk things out."

"There is not going to be a next time."

"You and me together... there are going to be lots of times. But if we talk about it..."

"You're right."

"Good. I can't believe you just told me that I'm right." Lorelai kissed him deeply and settled her head on his chest. "So last night was bad?"

Luke chuckled, "Remember the night you bailed me out of jail? Multiply it by a hundred."

"Did you beat up a car for me?"

"Very funny." Luke pointed to a stack of firewood. "Yesterday that was a tree."

She laughed at the sight of the huge stack of wood. "Guess we're set for the winter."

"Hey, Luke..."

"Let me guess. Now that one hunger has been taken care of..."

"We just burned a lot of calories mister. We have to build our strength up for later."

"In that case, let's go make dinner. So we can get to the later part."

"You have a one track mind."

"When it comes to you, I'm afraid I do."

"Ahh, that's sweet." Lorelai laughed and stood up.

Luke gave her a long approving glance. Lorelai grinned, "Stop that."

"Never."

She reached out to pull him up and they headed toward the outside shower. They showered and quickly dried off. Lorelai pulled on his tee shirt and he pulled on his jeans and they headed into the kitchen to scrounge a quick meal.

"Hope you like fish. I spent the hours I should have been sleeping down at the lake."

"Was that before or after you cut down that poor defenseless tree?" Lorelai opened the small refrigerator and found some vegetables in the freezer. "I think we have dinner."

Luke grilled the fish and Lorelai quickly steamed the veggies. Dinner was quick and the clean up fast. By then the moon was bright in the sky and they headed back outside. Lorelai stood on the porch and took in the view. The moonlight bounced off of the lake and the trees were swaying in the evening breeze. Wildflowers were blooming everywhere and there was a small family of rabbits munching on the lower petals.

"It's so beautiful here."

Luke came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. "And it's all ours."

It took Lorelai a moment to figure out what he was saying. "Ours?"

"Yep, everything you see, it's ours. Got the papers in the mail yesterday."

"Oh, Luke, it must have cost you a fortune."

"The guys deeded it to us, early wedding present. There are a couple of stipulations."

"Stipulations being?"

"Number one, you and I have to get married and the guys have to be there to witness it."

"No problem there, they are already on the list. Next?"

"We guys still get a couple weeks each year to come do guy stuff, get away from the old ball and chain..."

"Old ball and chain?"

"Their words not mine."

"No problem with that one either. The ball and chain probably will need a little time for herself."

Luke sheepishly added, "And there's even a bonus."

"A bonus? I'm afraid to ask."

"They'll throw in the boat if I get you pregnant the first year we're married."

"You have some really strange friends." She smiled up at him a little coyly. "But I have no problem with that one either. I mean I know how much that boat means to you."

"Good, because the thought of losing that boat..." He chuckled and tightened his arms around her. Luke and Lorelai both felt a special tingly feeling when they talked about having a baby together.

They sat on the porch swing and slowly rocked back and forth. She snuggled close to his chest and in the warmth of his embrace she drifted off to sleep. Later he woke her up and they headed up to that big warm bed that awaited them up in his room – up in their room.

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