Scavenger Hunt
Part 2
By Steph
(awriter78hotmail.com)
Summary: The wedding of the year…well it's not who you'd expect. The man very reluctantly put in charge…he's exactly who you expect.
I do not own anything related to Gilmore Girls.
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"I'm so sorry," Lulu said in between sobs. "Just give me a second to compose myself."
Luke nodded and looked at his shoes. He never knew what to do when people cried in front of him.
Especially when the person crying was someone he didn't even really know. He should say something though. Anything.
"Hey," he said. "Want a beer?"
She sniffled. "Yes. Th-thank you."
"I'll be right back," he said uncomfortably. He walked up into his apartment and checked his answering machine. No messages. Where was Lorelai? He opened his fridge and took out two beers. He thought about turning on the TV quickly and catching the score, but decided against it.
She gratefully accepted the beer he handed her. Neither of them said anything. He glanced at her and realized how young she suddenly looked.
"You old enough to be drinking that?" he asked.
She wiped her eyes and attempted a smile. "I'm 26. But that's sweet of you to ask."
"I wasn't asking to be sweet," he said gruffly. "I was asking because I didn't want to be arrested for giving alcohol to a minor."
"A minor?" she said shaking her head. "I'm old enough to be drinking beer. Old enough to be getting married in a week.."
"Old enough to be marrying Kirk," Luke said. "You are still going to get married, right?" He figured that he wasn't being too nosy. He was, after all, planning the whole damned thing. If the wedding was being called off, he figured that he had a right to know.
"Yes," she said. "I'm still getting married next Saturday. I'm going to be Lulu Gleason."
"Was that why you were crying?" Luke asked. "Because I'd understand that. They're an odd group of people."
"No, it wasn't why I was crying," Lulu said. She sat down on the step. "And I've known the family for years. Did you know I used to date one of Kirk's brothers?"
"I think I remember Kirk saying that. Which one was it? Ralph?" Luke asked. Ralph was a few older than Luke. Ralph was a hugger. He hugged everyone. Once when Luke was fourteen and Ralph was sixteen, Ralph had attempted to hug Luke.
Ralph had ended up with a black eye.
And he was one of the more normal Gleasons.
"No, I never met Ralph. I dated Ethan. The one with the hamster."
Ethan had a hamster that he used to walk on a leash. A very long leash.
At the disgusted expression on his face, Lulu smiled. "We were more like good friends who hung out together than a serious couple. I used to have Sunday dinners with the family. I always ended up sitting next to Kirk and Kirk was always nice to me and made me laugh. I broke up with Ethan and then moved away. I came back here to visit my mother and decided to look Kirk up and see how he was doing."
"I thought Kirk said your parents were dead," Luke said. He didn't mean to pry, but if there was someone else available to plan the wedding…then he wouldn't turn his nose up at that.
"My father and stepmother are dead. They raised me. My birth mother lives here. I'm not very close to her, but she is happy about the upcoming nuptials and she is going to attend. In fact, I'm going to wear her wedding dress."
Luke breathed a quick sigh of relief. There was a part of him that worried he was going to be asked to pick out Lulu's wedding dress out for her. Since he was planning everything else.
"Can I ask you something?" Luke asked.
"Sure."
"Why are you getting married so quickly after getting engaged? I mean, I know it's not my business…"
"No, it's okay," she said. "Kirk and I both want something simple. A small wedding with just a few friends and family members. That's it. I don't really see any reason to wait and neither did he."
"How many people are you inviting? We need to start planning seating arrangements."
"I have 10 and they're all coming. My mother and her boyfriend, my aunt and uncle, and my three closest friends and their dates. That's all I have."
"You can invite more if you want," Luke said.
"No, that's all," Lulu said. "I don't really have a lot of people in my life."
He could empathize. "You have Kirk," he pointed out.
"Yes," she said. "I have Kirk."
They sat in silence. He was contemplating asking her if she wanted another beer when she suddenly turned to him.
"I don't know why I was crying. I mean, I came here to thank you for helping, but I just…"
Great. Now things were going to get uncomfortable again. "You don't have to explain."
"I feel like I do," she said softly. "I do love him and we're going to get married on Saturday. And I am happy. You shouldn't propose to someone if you don't love them."
Luke knew that firsthand from his recent failed experiment with marriage. "You're right."
"I've been really emotional lately. And you've been so nice to Kirk. You're almost like a dad to him, or at least an older brother, because you can't be that much older than Kirk, and it makes me miss my dad."
Luke shook his head. "Kirk has a father. And several older brothers."
"His father is evil and his brothers aren't too nice to him either," she said. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so forward. I'm just saying that both Kirk and I appreciate all you're doing."
He looked away embarrassed. "It's nothing."
"It's a lot," she said. "And we won't forget it. If you ever find yourself needing anything, we hope you'll come to us."
Now he was really embarrassed. "Don't worry about it."
She stood up and handed him her empty beer bottle. "Thanks for listening."
He took it from her. "I should get in. I have to be up early tomorrow."
"Sure," she said. "I hear you're going tux shopping tomorrow."
"Yep. Any requests for him?"
"Keep it basic," she said. "Traditional. But if he's dead-set on something, I'm not going to object."
He nodded. "Got it."
"Oh, I have one last question then I'll leave. My best friend wants to take me out. A girls night out type of thing."
"Uh huh," he said wondering where she was going with this.
"You wouldn't know where we could find a stripper around here, would you?"
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"You look awful," Sookie told him cheerfully. She sat down at the counter.
"I haven't been sleeping well," he said. "I keep waking up thinking that I'm forgetting something."
"I brought you something," she said. "I'm debating between these two kinds of wedding cake. Mind tasting?"
He looked around. It didn't seem too busy. "No," he said. She opened up the tin she had. He grabbed a fork. "The second one," he said after tasting.
"That's what I was I was leaning towards too," she said nodding. "Good."
"Are you ordering?" he asked.
"Sure. Cheeseburger and a salad."
He wrote it down and then looked around the diner again. She was the only person in earshot.
"Hey, can I ask you something?" he whispered.
"Sure. What's up?"
He muttered his question. "I didn't hear that," she whispered back.
"Lulu wants to find a stripper for her bachelorette party," he said. "She asked me if I knew anyone. And I don't obviously."
"Why did she ask you?" Sookie asked sounding confused.
"I don't know," he said still speaking low. "I don't know why people look at me and think stripper."
Sookie giggled. Luke realized what he had just said and frowned. "That came out wrong."
"Give me her number," Sookie said. "I've been to a few bachelorette parties recently and I can ask around."
"Thanks," he said gratefully. He wrote it on a napkin and gave it to her. She was still smirking. He left to take an order.
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"So this is where we are," Luke said to Kirk that night. Luke was closing up the diner, Kirk was waiting for him so they could go tux shopping. "Sookie's doing all the food. Lane's helping with music. Jackson and I are going to plan you a bachelor party. Lorelai will be here tomorrow so you can talk to her about seating."
"Everybody's helping," he said shaking his head. "I wasn't prepared for that."
Luke couldn't say anything to that. So he continued cleaning.
"Can I help?" Kirk asked him.
"No, I'm fine," he said. "So, what does Lulu do?" Luke figured that if he could keep Kirk talking it would distract him from doing things like making napkin origami which in the end only made more work for Luke.
"She's a teacher," Kirk said proudly. "She's very smart."
"Sure," Luke said.
"And she's so beautiful," Kirk said. "I've always had a crush on her. Even when she was dating Ethan."
"You're a lucky guy," Luke said. He scrutinized the ketchup containers. He could save the refilling until tomorrow. He wanted to get the shopping over with. He hated shopping.
"I am," Kirk said. "I can't believe I'm getting married.
Yeah, neither could Luke, but he didn't say anything.
"Maybe I can help you the next time you get married. I mean, since your first marriage ended so badly."
Luke looked up and debated the merits of hitting Kirk. It would feel good and release a lot of his pent-up tension. On the other hand, it would raise a lot of questions. So Luke ignored him.
"Can I ask you something, Luke?" Kirk asked.
"What, Kirk?" Luke asked sharply.
"I need some advice."
"On what, Kirk?"
"About women," Kirk said. He cleared his throat. "I was wondering if you had some sage advice to pass on to me."
"I don't think I'm the guy to ask," Luke said.
"Well, I know how to be romantic. I'm very romantic, Luke."
"I'll take your word for it."
"That's not what I mean though. I mean, when the time comes after the wedding to consummate our relationship…that's the kind of advice I was hoping you'd pass along my way."
Luke blinked. Was Kirk asking him for sex advice?
What the hell was wrong with this guy?
What the hell was he supposed to tell him?
Just then there was a knock on the diner door.
Thank god.
He opened the door.
"I came back early," Lorelai said. "Sorry I didn't call you back," she said to Luke. "My cell phone has issues. So I hear there's a wedding to plan. Where are you with the plans?"
"We'll talk later about this, right Luke?" Kirk asked hopefully. "About what we were just discussing?"
Luke grunted in his general direction.
He looked over at Lorelai and Luke. They were going over plans. Good. He could relax a little bit.
"I want you to hear this too," Kirk said to Luke. He turned to Lorelai. "Luke's been planning this whole thing for Lulu and me."
"I've heard," she said. She looked over at Luke. "Take a seat. This could take awhile."
They'd probably have to postpone tux shopping.
It was going to be a long night.
To be continued…