Author's Note: Thanks again for taking the time to review this piece. I do appreciate each and every review. Like I said before I have a rough outline of where I'm going with this. Unfortunately it won't go on forever, but I think long enough that you'll enjoy it. Once again I don't own Gilmore Girls or this lovely song...
The Difficult Kind by Sheryl Crow...
I think I was wrong
I think you were right
All my angry words
Will keep me up at night
Through the old screen door
I still hear you say
Honey won't you stop
Treating me that way
If you could only see
What love has made of me
Then I'd no longer be in your mind
The difficult kind
The next day came and went and Luke saw no sign of Lorelai in the diner. He had picked up the phone at least five times to call her and apologize, but he lost the nerve each time. He wanted to call her and tell her that he wasn't sure why he had acted the way he did. He wanted to tell her that he was scared. He wanted to tell her he was sorry. Instead all he was able to do was serve customer after customer until the day was over.
It was quite obvious Luke was out of sorts. Everyone in Stars Hollow noticed that he was more irritable than usual. He had thrown Taylor out of the diner, refused to give Kirk a sandwich with extra bacon and practically threw plates of food at people all day.
"Luke dear, is everything okay?" asked Miss Patty.
"Everything's fine Patty," Luke said gruffly pouring coffee into her cup.
"Are you sure?" she tried again. "You seem a little upset."
Luke gave her a cold stare. "I said everything is fine Patty. Drop it please," he stated.
"The only time I've ever seen Luke so upset was when Rachel left," Patty whispered to Babette when he walked away.
"Do you think she was in town again?" Babette questioned Patty.
"I haven't seen her, but what else could it be?" Patty replied. "Luke never could take it when she left."
"Very true," Babette agreed. They watched Luke snap at customers for a good portion of the morning and both agreed that his trouble, while it might not deal with Rachel, was definitely related to a woman.
Luke breathed a silent sigh of relief when Patty and Babette finally left the diner. He knew he was more irritable than usual. He knew the town would soon start gossiping about what had gotten Luke so irritated. But, maybe that was actually a good thing. At least it would take the heat off Rory for a while.
Luke couldn't stop thinking about Lorelai. His date with her had ended terribly and he felt awful. Every time the bell above the diner rang he looked up, hoping it was her. But, it never was, not even when he had flipped the closed sign and the bell rang. It was only Kirk looking for his keys. Luke closed the diner and thought about nothing but Lorelai.
He remembered the fight he had had with her over Jess a few years ago. Both of them were too stubborn to talk to each other and he feared that they could fall into the same pattern all over again. He made it a point at that moment to make up with Lorelai as soon as possible. Of course at that point he was in bed and it was late, but he knew he wouldn't let this disagreement last for long.
Lorelai worked at the inn all day and into the evening just to avoid Luke's and thinking about Luke. She was angry. Yes, she had behaved horribly, but she apologized. She said she was sorry and Luke acted like she owed him more. Lorelai never thought about fighting with Luke when she thought about them together. She supposed it was normal. 'Every couple fights,' she thought to herself. 'Hell, Luke and I fought before we were even a couple,' she thought. She rubbed her forehead. Between the stress of the inn, Rory, her parents and now Luke, Lorelai was beginning to think she should buy stock in Advil, or possibly an ulcer medication.
Lorelai was in a foul mood for most of the day. She did nothing but think about Luke and how stubborn he was. The worst of it was that she wanted to talk to someone about it but she couldn't. She desperately wanted to tell Sookie, but she was known for not being able to keep things quiet. Lorelai and Luke dating was a huge thing and Lorelai still didn't want anyone to know about it. That is, if there was anything to know now anyway.
Why was this bothering her so much anyway? Lorelai wasn't one to get that invested in a relationship so quickly, but this fight with Luke had really thrown her. She got so upset with him for asking a simple question and when Luke had called her on her behavior she was surprised. Maybe it was because with most men Lorelai just had to turn on the charm and they would forgive her. But not Luke. Luke knew her all too well. Sookie broke Lorelai's train of thought by finally approaching her at the desk.
"Sweetie, are you okay today?" Sookie finally got the nerve to ask her.
"I'm fine Sookie," Lorelai replied not looking up from the stack of bills in front of her.
"Are you sure?" she tried again. "Because the look on your face would indicate otherwise."
Lorelai looked up. "I'm fine Sookie."
"You snapped at Michel," Sookie said. "He was on the verge of tears."
"He's fine Sookie," Lorelai said flatly.
"Okay, three fines in the course of 30 seconds doesn't sound fine to me," Sookie said unconvinced.
Lorelai said nothing, she just continued to stare at the papers in front of her. "I'm just gonna go then," she said walking away from Lorelai.
"Oh Sookie, wait," Lorelai said. "I'm sorry. I'm just in a really bad mood. I didn't sleep well and Rory's gone and I'm just a horrible friend today."
"Do you want to talk about it?" Sookie asked approaching Lorelai slowly.
"No, not yet," Lorelai replied. "But thanks though," she smiled meekly. "I'll be better tomorrow, I promise. And I'll call Michel and apologize too," she added. 'Maybe he'll be a big enough person to accept an apology,' Lorelai thought to herself.
"Okay," Sookie replied. "Have a good night sweetie," Sookie said leaving. She wondered what on Earth had gotten into Lorelai and she also hoped whatever it was would be gone by tomorrow.
Lorelai stayed at the inn for a few more hours working, thinking about Luke most of the time, but working as well. Finally she packed up pile of comment cards and decided to take them home for the night. She knew she couldn't go to Luke's, so it was looking like cold pizza for dinner. By the time Lorelai got home and ate she was exhausted and she went to bed.
It wasn't until seven the next morning that she awoke and she smelled a familiar aroma. Lorelai nervously threw her sheets back and crept down the stairs. There in the kitchen she found a covered plate, a thermos of coffee and a single rose in a bud vase. She looked at the back door and it was locked securely, which meant the only person who could have done this was Luke.
She timidly walked over to the covered plate and lifted the lid. There in the center of the plate was a stack of pancakes. Lorelai, against her better judgment, smiled broadly when she saw the pancakes. Of course these were no ordinary pancakes. In the center of the top pancake were the words 'I'm sorry' spelled out in tiny chocolate chips. Lorelai covered her mouth with her hand and suppressed a giggle. She wondered how long it had taken him to do this. Luke was never one with words, but his gestures really showed how he felt.
Lorelai sat down and got ready to eat. Just out of curiosity she lifted the top pancake and sure enough there was another message from Luke. 'Forgive me?' was written on the second pancake. Lorelai couldn't help but laugh at this message. Luke, always the perfectionist when it came to food preparation, must have been working at this for a while. Lorelai picked up a slice of bacon and munched on while she poured her coffee. She wanted to pick up the phone and call Luke, but she thought better of it. An in-person visit would be much better.
Luke was on his way to deliver a plate of food when Lorelai burst through the diner door. He smiled in spite of himself. He was relieved she was there. Her presence in the diner meant that she was ready to accept his apology. She breezed by him and took her usual counter seat. She waited patiently for him to come behind the counter.
"Hey," Luke said.
"Hey, yourself," she replied. "So, did you see anything funny this morning?" she asked nonchalantly.
"Funny?" Luke asked.
"Yeah, possibly a French guy with a big nose?" Lorelai continued while Luke started to look confused. "Well I'm pretty sure Cyrano de Bergerac might have broken into my house this morning," she said with a grin. "And let me tell you, that man can cook. I had some very tasty and poetic pancakes," she added slyly.
"Really what happened?" Luke asked innocently, knowing that people were around and could easily hear their conversation.
"Well I woke up and someone," Lorelai said lowering her voice with a knowing look into Luke's eyes. "Someone left me a delicious breakfast with notes in my pancakes. Way better than Post-Its I gotta tell ya," she added.
"Hmm, did the notes say anything interesting?" Luke asked playing along.
"Yeah, the person that left the notes said they were sorry and wrong and stubborn and pig-headed and--"she was cut off.
"I get the point," he said dryly. He waited a beat. "And would you say that you've accepted that person's apology?"
"Well there is a condition I'll have to discuss with this person. I can only accept his apology if he accepts mine because on a few rare occasions I can be defensive and stubborn myself. Of course we all know that I'm usually right and I'm very easy to get along with, but sometimes I'm wrong and I'm sorry."
She added the 'I'm sorry' part very quietly and Luke grinned slightly. She hated being wrong. She hated apologizing and for that matter so did Luke. He was instantly relieved that they had made up. Although it had only been a day of not talking and not seeing each other it was a day too long to Luke. He knew they had already wasted too much time apart.
"I think that the person who left you pancake Post-Its would be an idiot if he didn't accept your apology," Luke said knowingly. Lorelai smiled her magnificent 1,000-watt smile and Luke knew that things between them would be fine again. Mostly he wanted to jump over the counter and kiss her like she'd never been kissed before, but he knew that would have to wait. They were still in the "secret" stage of their relationship.
"So," Lorelai said snapping him out of his reverie. "What are you doing tonight?" Lorelai asked this question rather loudly and Luke was surprised.
"Uh, nothing that I know of," he replied quietly.
"Good, it's movie night. You're coming over," Lorelai stated simply.
"Uh, okay," Luke agreed reluctantly. He wasn't reluctant to go to Lorelai's, but there were people around and he was paranoid they had heard her.
"Okay good," Lorelai replied. She suddenly realized that Luke was giving her an odd look. She further recognized that she had just made a date with him rather loudly. She had to clarify this somehow in case anyone heard her.
"So since Rory is gone and you're her stand in you're on popcorn duty," she said louder than she needed.
"Popcorn?" Luke asked.
"Yep, old-fashioned, homemade popcorn complete with melted butter!" she said excitedly.
"Why is it I doubt Rory makes you old-fashioned homemade butter popcorn on movie night?" he asked skeptically.
"I have no idea," she said. "But I'll see you at 7 p.m." Lorelai smiled, stood up and walked out of the diner.
Luke was in a much better mood and the people of Stars Hollow were all the happier for it. The townsfolk chalked up Luke's bad mood to a bad day and the talk of Luke having woman trouble died down as fast as it started. News of Lindsey and Dean's marriage was back on the front burner again. There was talk that Lindsey had forbid Dean to see Rory, but he didn't listen. Quite a few people had seen them talking at the test run of the Dragonfly. The talk, it seemed, would not die down.
TBC
The Difficult Kind by Sheryl Crow...
I think I was wrong
I think you were right
All my angry words
Will keep me up at night
Through the old screen door
I still hear you say
Honey won't you stop
Treating me that way
If you could only see
What love has made of me
Then I'd no longer be in your mind
The difficult kind
The next day came and went and Luke saw no sign of Lorelai in the diner. He had picked up the phone at least five times to call her and apologize, but he lost the nerve each time. He wanted to call her and tell her that he wasn't sure why he had acted the way he did. He wanted to tell her that he was scared. He wanted to tell her he was sorry. Instead all he was able to do was serve customer after customer until the day was over.
It was quite obvious Luke was out of sorts. Everyone in Stars Hollow noticed that he was more irritable than usual. He had thrown Taylor out of the diner, refused to give Kirk a sandwich with extra bacon and practically threw plates of food at people all day.
"Luke dear, is everything okay?" asked Miss Patty.
"Everything's fine Patty," Luke said gruffly pouring coffee into her cup.
"Are you sure?" she tried again. "You seem a little upset."
Luke gave her a cold stare. "I said everything is fine Patty. Drop it please," he stated.
"The only time I've ever seen Luke so upset was when Rachel left," Patty whispered to Babette when he walked away.
"Do you think she was in town again?" Babette questioned Patty.
"I haven't seen her, but what else could it be?" Patty replied. "Luke never could take it when she left."
"Very true," Babette agreed. They watched Luke snap at customers for a good portion of the morning and both agreed that his trouble, while it might not deal with Rachel, was definitely related to a woman.
Luke breathed a silent sigh of relief when Patty and Babette finally left the diner. He knew he was more irritable than usual. He knew the town would soon start gossiping about what had gotten Luke so irritated. But, maybe that was actually a good thing. At least it would take the heat off Rory for a while.
Luke couldn't stop thinking about Lorelai. His date with her had ended terribly and he felt awful. Every time the bell above the diner rang he looked up, hoping it was her. But, it never was, not even when he had flipped the closed sign and the bell rang. It was only Kirk looking for his keys. Luke closed the diner and thought about nothing but Lorelai.
He remembered the fight he had had with her over Jess a few years ago. Both of them were too stubborn to talk to each other and he feared that they could fall into the same pattern all over again. He made it a point at that moment to make up with Lorelai as soon as possible. Of course at that point he was in bed and it was late, but he knew he wouldn't let this disagreement last for long.
Lorelai worked at the inn all day and into the evening just to avoid Luke's and thinking about Luke. She was angry. Yes, she had behaved horribly, but she apologized. She said she was sorry and Luke acted like she owed him more. Lorelai never thought about fighting with Luke when she thought about them together. She supposed it was normal. 'Every couple fights,' she thought to herself. 'Hell, Luke and I fought before we were even a couple,' she thought. She rubbed her forehead. Between the stress of the inn, Rory, her parents and now Luke, Lorelai was beginning to think she should buy stock in Advil, or possibly an ulcer medication.
Lorelai was in a foul mood for most of the day. She did nothing but think about Luke and how stubborn he was. The worst of it was that she wanted to talk to someone about it but she couldn't. She desperately wanted to tell Sookie, but she was known for not being able to keep things quiet. Lorelai and Luke dating was a huge thing and Lorelai still didn't want anyone to know about it. That is, if there was anything to know now anyway.
Why was this bothering her so much anyway? Lorelai wasn't one to get that invested in a relationship so quickly, but this fight with Luke had really thrown her. She got so upset with him for asking a simple question and when Luke had called her on her behavior she was surprised. Maybe it was because with most men Lorelai just had to turn on the charm and they would forgive her. But not Luke. Luke knew her all too well. Sookie broke Lorelai's train of thought by finally approaching her at the desk.
"Sweetie, are you okay today?" Sookie finally got the nerve to ask her.
"I'm fine Sookie," Lorelai replied not looking up from the stack of bills in front of her.
"Are you sure?" she tried again. "Because the look on your face would indicate otherwise."
Lorelai looked up. "I'm fine Sookie."
"You snapped at Michel," Sookie said. "He was on the verge of tears."
"He's fine Sookie," Lorelai said flatly.
"Okay, three fines in the course of 30 seconds doesn't sound fine to me," Sookie said unconvinced.
Lorelai said nothing, she just continued to stare at the papers in front of her. "I'm just gonna go then," she said walking away from Lorelai.
"Oh Sookie, wait," Lorelai said. "I'm sorry. I'm just in a really bad mood. I didn't sleep well and Rory's gone and I'm just a horrible friend today."
"Do you want to talk about it?" Sookie asked approaching Lorelai slowly.
"No, not yet," Lorelai replied. "But thanks though," she smiled meekly. "I'll be better tomorrow, I promise. And I'll call Michel and apologize too," she added. 'Maybe he'll be a big enough person to accept an apology,' Lorelai thought to herself.
"Okay," Sookie replied. "Have a good night sweetie," Sookie said leaving. She wondered what on Earth had gotten into Lorelai and she also hoped whatever it was would be gone by tomorrow.
Lorelai stayed at the inn for a few more hours working, thinking about Luke most of the time, but working as well. Finally she packed up pile of comment cards and decided to take them home for the night. She knew she couldn't go to Luke's, so it was looking like cold pizza for dinner. By the time Lorelai got home and ate she was exhausted and she went to bed.
It wasn't until seven the next morning that she awoke and she smelled a familiar aroma. Lorelai nervously threw her sheets back and crept down the stairs. There in the kitchen she found a covered plate, a thermos of coffee and a single rose in a bud vase. She looked at the back door and it was locked securely, which meant the only person who could have done this was Luke.
She timidly walked over to the covered plate and lifted the lid. There in the center of the plate was a stack of pancakes. Lorelai, against her better judgment, smiled broadly when she saw the pancakes. Of course these were no ordinary pancakes. In the center of the top pancake were the words 'I'm sorry' spelled out in tiny chocolate chips. Lorelai covered her mouth with her hand and suppressed a giggle. She wondered how long it had taken him to do this. Luke was never one with words, but his gestures really showed how he felt.
Lorelai sat down and got ready to eat. Just out of curiosity she lifted the top pancake and sure enough there was another message from Luke. 'Forgive me?' was written on the second pancake. Lorelai couldn't help but laugh at this message. Luke, always the perfectionist when it came to food preparation, must have been working at this for a while. Lorelai picked up a slice of bacon and munched on while she poured her coffee. She wanted to pick up the phone and call Luke, but she thought better of it. An in-person visit would be much better.
Luke was on his way to deliver a plate of food when Lorelai burst through the diner door. He smiled in spite of himself. He was relieved she was there. Her presence in the diner meant that she was ready to accept his apology. She breezed by him and took her usual counter seat. She waited patiently for him to come behind the counter.
"Hey," Luke said.
"Hey, yourself," she replied. "So, did you see anything funny this morning?" she asked nonchalantly.
"Funny?" Luke asked.
"Yeah, possibly a French guy with a big nose?" Lorelai continued while Luke started to look confused. "Well I'm pretty sure Cyrano de Bergerac might have broken into my house this morning," she said with a grin. "And let me tell you, that man can cook. I had some very tasty and poetic pancakes," she added slyly.
"Really what happened?" Luke asked innocently, knowing that people were around and could easily hear their conversation.
"Well I woke up and someone," Lorelai said lowering her voice with a knowing look into Luke's eyes. "Someone left me a delicious breakfast with notes in my pancakes. Way better than Post-Its I gotta tell ya," she added.
"Hmm, did the notes say anything interesting?" Luke asked playing along.
"Yeah, the person that left the notes said they were sorry and wrong and stubborn and pig-headed and--"she was cut off.
"I get the point," he said dryly. He waited a beat. "And would you say that you've accepted that person's apology?"
"Well there is a condition I'll have to discuss with this person. I can only accept his apology if he accepts mine because on a few rare occasions I can be defensive and stubborn myself. Of course we all know that I'm usually right and I'm very easy to get along with, but sometimes I'm wrong and I'm sorry."
She added the 'I'm sorry' part very quietly and Luke grinned slightly. She hated being wrong. She hated apologizing and for that matter so did Luke. He was instantly relieved that they had made up. Although it had only been a day of not talking and not seeing each other it was a day too long to Luke. He knew they had already wasted too much time apart.
"I think that the person who left you pancake Post-Its would be an idiot if he didn't accept your apology," Luke said knowingly. Lorelai smiled her magnificent 1,000-watt smile and Luke knew that things between them would be fine again. Mostly he wanted to jump over the counter and kiss her like she'd never been kissed before, but he knew that would have to wait. They were still in the "secret" stage of their relationship.
"So," Lorelai said snapping him out of his reverie. "What are you doing tonight?" Lorelai asked this question rather loudly and Luke was surprised.
"Uh, nothing that I know of," he replied quietly.
"Good, it's movie night. You're coming over," Lorelai stated simply.
"Uh, okay," Luke agreed reluctantly. He wasn't reluctant to go to Lorelai's, but there were people around and he was paranoid they had heard her.
"Okay good," Lorelai replied. She suddenly realized that Luke was giving her an odd look. She further recognized that she had just made a date with him rather loudly. She had to clarify this somehow in case anyone heard her.
"So since Rory is gone and you're her stand in you're on popcorn duty," she said louder than she needed.
"Popcorn?" Luke asked.
"Yep, old-fashioned, homemade popcorn complete with melted butter!" she said excitedly.
"Why is it I doubt Rory makes you old-fashioned homemade butter popcorn on movie night?" he asked skeptically.
"I have no idea," she said. "But I'll see you at 7 p.m." Lorelai smiled, stood up and walked out of the diner.
Luke was in a much better mood and the people of Stars Hollow were all the happier for it. The townsfolk chalked up Luke's bad mood to a bad day and the talk of Luke having woman trouble died down as fast as it started. News of Lindsey and Dean's marriage was back on the front burner again. There was talk that Lindsey had forbid Dean to see Rory, but he didn't listen. Quite a few people had seen them talking at the test run of the Dragonfly. The talk, it seemed, would not die down.
TBC