Author's Note: Sorry this update took longer than usual. I had a crazy week and mild writer's block so I hope this lives up to expectation. Thanks for the reviews as well! Unfortunately I still don't own Gilmore Girls...
Lorelai, Christopher and Rory hastily entered their house and locked the door. For some strange reason it gave Lorelai comfort to know that the door was secured behind them.
"Hon, are you okay?" Lorelai asked as they entered the living room.
"Yeah I'm okay I guess," Rory said.
"So what happened exactly?" Lorelai asked.
"Well I was talking to Dad and then Dean paged me," Rory started to explain. "And he said he wanted to talk, but then Lindsey walked by the diner and all of sudden everything seemed so...clandestine and wrong. I mean obviously Dean waited until she left the house to call me."
Rory looked like she might break down and Christopher placed a protective arm around her shoulder.
"He said things were over between them, but if they were over why did he wait until she was gone to page me? You were so right Mom," Rory said blinking back tears of hurt and shame.
"Sweetie," Lorelai said rushing over to Rory and hugging her tightly. "You knew this was going to be hard. I think the realization of what happened is starting sink in and it's not going to be easy, but I'm here for you and your Dad is here. Anything we can do for you, we'll do."
"You got it," Christopher added rubbing Rory's back lightly.
Rory shrugged away from her parents and nodded. "Thanks," she said wiping her eyes. "I think I just need to have some time to myself right now."
"Are you sure about that?" Christopher asked.
"Yeah. I'll just be in my room for a little while," Rory said making a hasty exit.
"Well we'll be out here if you need us," Lorelai called as Rory closed the door to her room.
Lorelai sighed, dropped her purse on the table and sank into the couch. "This isn't good," Lorelai told Christopher.
"No, it's not," Christopher agreed sitting next to her. "But we knew she was going to have to face Dean sometime. I have a hard time believing that the whole town hasn't found out about this yet."
"Yeah, I have to admit I'm surprised myself," Lorelai confessed. "I wish we could protect her from it, but I don't know what we can do?"
"Well, we're here if she needs us," Christopher said. "I think that's the most important thing. She'll tell us what she needs."
"When did you get to be the Yoda of parenting?" Lorelai asked with a small smile.
"I don't know," Christopher admitted, baffled himself. "I just really want to be able to help Rory when and if she needs it."
"I know you do," Lorelai said patting Christopher's hand. "She knows it too."
"I hope so," Christopher replied. After a moment he added, "So it looked like I interrupted something between you and Luke when I barged in the storeroom. I'm sorry if I did," Christopher said genuinely. Lorelai's face flushed slightly thinking about what happened between her and Luke in the storeroom. She hoped Christopher wouldn't notice. Lorelai didn't know what it was about being with Luke, but things seemed new and different. She felt like she was in sixth grade again. Hesitant and embarrassed to be seen with a boy.
"Oh, it's okay," Lorelai stammered. "We, uh, we were discussing some things, but we were done and, you know, things are good. So you don't need to worry."
"Good," Christopher chuckled at her.
"What?" Lorelai asked, questioning his laugh.
"Nothing," Christopher said. "You just seem guilty of something that's all. Like that time Emily found me hiding in your closet after I supposedly left hours ago."
"Oh I remember that," Lorelai exclaimed. "The look of horror on her face was priceless. I remember thinking, 'This is it! She's going to stroke out on us.' She was so mad," Lorelai remembered.
"And you were so nervous," Christopher reminisced. "You were stuttering and trying to explain that you didn't know I was in the closet."
Christopher laughed as he recalled that fateful evening. "I have a vivid memory of a whirlwind of black taffeta streaking toward me and pulling me to my feet," he laughed.
"Yeah but she forgave you," Lorelai said. "My mother has always had a soft spot for you. God knows why!"
"It's my effervescent charm," Christopher told her knowledgeably.
"That must be it," Lorelai mocked him.
"What? I'm quite charming and you know it," he retorted bumping her shoulder lightly.
Lorelai looked at him and she knew she couldn't deny it. There was something about Christopher. No matter how he disappointed her, or how he screwed up, she couldn't help but be drawn to him every time he reappeared. Granted, this time it was Lorelai who had brought him back into their lives, but she couldn't deny that somewhere, deep down in her heart there was still that familiar soft spot for him.
Lorelai just gave him a small grin. "So how's work?" she asked changing the subject.
"It's good," Christopher replied with a smile that conveyed a sense of disappointment that the previous topic had been completely dropped. "I'm traveling a lot more, which I love, but it takes me away from Georgia and I don't like that so much. But with everything going with me and Sherry I think it's almost better that I'm not around as much."
"Does Sherry know you're here?" Lorelai asked.
"I called her this morning," he replied. "She's fine with it. We're getting divorced so it's not like she's gonna miss me."
"But your daughter might," Lorelai said.
"Sherry was supposed to be going to Vermont to visit her family for a week so I wasn't going to see Georgia this week anyway," Christopher replied. He seemed sad at the prospect of being separated from his other daughter.
"Oh, okay," Lorelai replied.
Christopher and Lorelai had turned on an old movie when Rory entered the living room.
"Hey," Lorelai said looking up. "Sit down," Lorelai said scooting away from Christopher to make room for Rory to sit between them.
"You okay?" Christopher asked.
"Yeah," Rory said as she slumped onto the couch between her parents. "I called Dean."
Lorelai was surprised by her daughter's declaration. "Wow, you called Dean? What did you say?" Lorelai asked.
"I told him that I saw Lindsey and I thought it was weird that he called me when she was out of the house because I thought things weren't working for them," Rory replied.
"What did he say?" Christopher asked with a hint of bitterness in his voice.
"He said that things weren't good, but that he was going to leave her," Rory said. They sat for a moment and contemplated this information.
"For me," Rory added.
There was a collective intake of breath from the group. Lorelai and Christopher exchanged a look that spoke volumes.
"I told him I thought that would be a mistake," Rory continued. "I told him what happened was a wrong and that he should just forget it."
"You did?" Lorelai asked surprised.
"Yeah, it's the truth," Rory replied.
Lorelai wrapped her arm around Rory once again. "I think you're right," she affirmed. "But what did Dean say?"
"He was upset," Rory said. "But then he finally understood, I think."
"So you two are going to avoid each other?" Lorelai asked.
"Like the plague," Rory replied.
"I think that's the best thing for everyone," Christopher said. "I know it'll probably hurt to see him around, but I think staying away from each other would be the best thing."
"Yeah, me too," Rory said. "So that's why I called Grandma."
"You called Grandma?" Lorelai asked shocked.
"Yeah. Remember when she suggested that I go to Europe with her? Well I kind of decided to go with her," Rory explained.
"You did?" Lorelai asked almost speechless.
"Yeah," Rory replied. "I just feel like it would be better if I got away for a while. It might be easier for me and Dean and everybody."
"So you called my mother and told you wanted to go to Europe with her before you told me?" Lorelai asked slightly offended.
"It wasn't like that Mom," Rory tried to reason. "I just made a decision and I had to call her before I changed my mind."
"No, fine, it's...fine," Lorelai responded feebly. "So what did Grandma say?"
"She said she'd start making the arrangements and call me back," Rory said.
"Oh, okay," Lorelai didn't know what to say next.
"How long are you going? When do you leave?" Christopher interjected. Lorelai was grateful that Chris was there to help because she was, for once in her life, at a loss to respond.
"I don't know yet," Rory said. "Grandma was going to call her travel agent. I think she said we'd be gone for three weeks," Rory replied.
"Wow, three weeks with Emily," Christopher stated, not really expecting an answer, just stating a fact.
Rory turned to her mother. "Mom you're not mad are you?" she asked. "I didn't mean to go behind your back. I just really need to get away."
Lorelai looked at Rory. Although she was irritated that Rory had made such a big decision without telling her, she couldn't actually tell Rory she was upset. The poor girl had so much going on that Lorelai didn't have the heart to dump her issues on Rory. After all, she was running away from her problems, as was Emily. It was the Gilmore way. Big scary life-changing decisions or problems weren't met head-on. They were swept under the rug and avoided until they died down. Lorelai had run when she abandoned her wedding to Max. Rory had run to Washington after she kissed Jess. This was just the way they did things. Right or wrong, it was the way things were.
"No, I'm not mad," Lorelai lied. "I wish you would have talked to me before you called my mother, but I understand."
"Okay," Rory said tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "Well I'm gonna go dig out the suitcases and wait for Grandma to call back," Rory said standing.
"I'll help you," Christopher said following Rory.
Lorelai sat on the couch and thought for a moment. Rory had made possibly the biggest mistake of her life and now she was running away, with all people, Emily Gilmore. Life sure had a funny way of coming back to bite her in the ass.
Later that evening Luke and Lorelai walked into the bookshop where they were showing a screening of the original Manchurian Candidate. Emily had called Rory and told her that they had plane tickets to go to Paris in two weeks. They had both hoped to leave earlier, but it seemed that they would have to make due with waiting.
Rory had insisted that Lorelai go out with Luke and not postpone their relationship on account of her situation. Normally Lorelai never would have left Rory, but Christopher was there and they had planned a knockdown, drag-out night of Scrabble so Lorelai felt more at ease.
Luke was pleasantly surprised to hear Lorelai's voice on the other end of the phone when he was closing the diner. He hadn't been able to get her off his mind all day after their little storeroom tryst. She reminded him that they had plans to go to a movie and Luke was happy she decided to go.
They walked down to their seats and Luke offered to go get Lorelai snacks. She sat waiting for Luke and was slightly disappointed to see Babette and Morey walk in. Obviously Luke and Lorelai weren't trying to hide whatever was going on between them, but Lorelai had secretly hoped that they could keep it casual for a while. If Babette found out she'd have Luke and Lorelai married with a kid by the next morning.
"Lorelai," Babette waved as she and Morey took a seat three rows in front of her.
"Hi Babette," Lorelai smiled.
"Where's Rory? You're not here alone are ya? You can sit with me and Morey ya know," Babette offered pleasantly.
"Uh, no I'm fine Babette," Lorelai replied. "Thanks though."
"Oh doll it's a shame. You're too young to be here alone. Is Rory out tonight? Are you sure you don't want to sit with us? A beautiful girl like you shouldn't have to sit..." Babette trailed off.
Lorelai glanced behind her and noticed that Luke had returned with an armful of refreshments and he took a seat beside Lorelai. Babette gawked in amazement and suddenly her lips started to curl into the faintest of smiles.
"Hi Babette, Morey," Luke said congenially.
"Luke," Babette said smiling. "You're here with Lorelai?"
"Uh, yeah we're just gonna watch the movie," Luke tried to play it cool.
"Really?" Babette said with a hint of excitement in her tone. "Well that's just great. You two kids should watch the movie. Movies are a beautiful thing for two people to share, right Morey?"
"Sure babe," Morey replied agreeably.
"I'll just turn around and let you two enjoy the movie," Babette smiled and turned quickly.
Luke leaned over and whispered to Lorelai, "So how long before Kirk is selling T-shirts that say 'Luke and Lorelai saw a movie together?'
"I'd say by the time we get out of here we'll have our very own personalized souvenir of the evening," Lorelai whispered back with a grin.
"I was glad you called," Luke admitted. "I wasn't sure you'd still want to do this with everything you have going on."
"Well Christopher is with Rory so I didn't feel so bad leaving," Lorelai told him. "Besides, I was kind of looking forward to this."
Luke looked at her and grinned. "Me too," he replied.
Just then the lights dimmed and the screen flickered with the old black and white titles. "I love this movie," Lorelai said. "No offense to Meryl, but nobody plays a psychotic mother like Angela Lansbury, with the exception of Joan Crawford," Lorelai informed Luke.
"So I'm guessing the movie rules you set up at home also don't apply to you when in public?" Luke whispered to her.
Instead of responding Lorelai simply picked up a handful of popcorn and threw it at Luke playfully. Then she turned her attention back to the movie screen, although a small smile escaped her lips and Luke had to grin along with her.
After the movie was over Luke and Lorelai hurriedly escaped the bookshop in order to avoid Babette's prying eyes. They quickly walked to the diner and Luke unlocked the door and escorted Lorelai in with the palm of his hand on her back.
"I'm assuming you want coffee," he said.
"You know me too well," she smiled as Luke walked around the counter and started the coffee.
"So did you like the movie?" Lorelai asked.
"Yeah it was pretty good. It had just the right amount of intrigue and suspense," he replied.
"As if you'd know," Lorelai chuckled. "How many movies would you estimate you've seen in your lifetime anyway?"
Luke squinted in a way that made Lorelai realize just how cute he was when he was concentrating. "I'd say 20, tops," he finally replied.
"20?" Lorelai said aghast. "20 movies in your lifetime?"
"Yeah," Luke said turning to grab her coffee cup.
"Luke, that's less than one movie a year!" she exclaimed.
"I told you I haven't really seen any movies," Luke replied placing the cup on the counter and filling it.
"I'm in shock," Lorelai replied. "I am in shock that you've seen less than 20 movies in your whole life. 20! And you've seen three of them with me!"
Luke chuckled at her disbelief. "Well it gives you more options at the video store," he offered.
"You're darn right it does," Lorelai smiled sipping her coffee.
"Oh jeez," Luke replied replacing the coffeepot on the warmer. "Well how many times have you played softball in your lifetime?"
"Is this is a trick question?" Lorelai replied with a raised eyebrow.
"No," Luke replied.
"Well if you count the times I was forced to play in gym class, I'd say five times," Lorelai said.
"Five times?" Luke replied equally as surprised by her answer.
"Yeah, so? Pregnancy is the best doctor's note for getting out of gym," Lorelai said matter-of-factly.
"But didn't you ever play Little League, T-ball, anything?" he asked surprised.
"Do I look like a recreational sport kind of girl?" Lorelai asked. "Plus, joining a team requires a parental time commitment. My parents were too busy with their social functions to sign me up for any of that. But I have to say, it's probably one of the brighter spots in my childhood."
"You're playing," Luke said simply.
"Excuse me? I'm playing what?" Lorelai replied.
"You know I play every Saturday in the park. It's casual and we're always looking for more players so you should play on my team," Luke said.
"Oh no," Lorelai replied. "I don't do baseball, with the running and the bending and the hand-eye coordination," Lorelai responded.
"If I can be a movie guy you can be a baseball girl," Luke reminded her of his earlier declaration.
"Do I look like Sporty Spice to you?" Lorelai protested.
Luke didn't respond this time he simply gave her a look. A look which spoke volumes. A look that said 'please compromise on the baseball if you ever want me to sit through another movie again.'
"Fine," Lorelai agreed grudgingly.
"Good," Luke replied trying to suppress his elation. "I'm sure I'll see you before Saturday, but I'll come get you at 10 a.m. Saturday morning."
"I don't need an escort I know where the field is," Lorelai replied.
"Yeah, but I want to make sure you show up," Luke told her.
"One date in and you already don't trust me," Lorelai said. Then with a smile she added, "You know me too well."
Lorelai finished her coffee and Luke decided the gentlemanly thing to do was walk Lorelai home. They set off into the spring evening and walked in companionable silence. Side by side they strolled until Luke summoned his courage and took Lorelai's hand in his. She seemed surprised by the sudden touch but she looked down at their intertwined fingers and smiled.
"So did I mention I was glad you decided to go out with me tonight?" Luke asked as they neared Lorelai's house.
"You did mention it I think," Lorelai played coy.
"Good, I'm glad because it's true," Luke told her.
"Well I'm glad we went out too," Lorelai smiled.
They ascended the porch steps and then the awkward end of date moment occurred. They had kissed several times, but it was always spur of the moment. The end of the date marked a very definite specific protocol in terms of kissing.
Luke was suddenly nervous. He was almost as nervous as the night he kissed Lorelai on the porch of the Dragonfly. He knew she wasn't going to turn down his advances, but something made him uneasy. He was pretty sure it might be the fact that Christopher was few feet inside the house. Luke had this horrible premonition of him opening the door and finding them in a clinch.
Lorelai stood there waiting for Luke to lean in and she silently wondered what was taking him so long. It wasn't as if they hadn't kissed before. In fact they had kissed several times. She couldn't figure it out and frankly she was tired of waiting so she decided to initiate the goodnight kiss.
Lorelai leaned in placed her lips on Luke's. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he responded by circling his arms around her waist and pulling her closer to him. Their lips met with all the heat and passion of before and Lorelai finally had to pull back and catch her breath.
"Wow," she whispered under her breath. She was caught off guard by the power of kissing Luke.
Luke grinned and caught his breath as well. "I couldn't have put it better myself," he told her. "So I'll see you tomorrow?"
"I'm sure you will," Lorelai replied.
"Okay, good night then," Luke said with a little wave as he walked off the porch and into the darkness.
Lorelai watched Luke walk away and sighed. She was suddenly very glad that she decided not to completely stop what was happening with Luke. In the midst of her parent's separation, Rory's affair and the chaotic nature of opening the inn, Luke was the island of calm on a sea of commotion.
TBC