Disclaimer: A.S.P owns all the characters I'm using for this fiction.
Just friends
Part 8
They pulled their cars in front of the house, they got out and approached each other, she searched for his hand and looked at him
"So this is it"
"Yeah"
"Did you figure what you were going to say?"
"I figured, she did the mess, she should do the talking plus I'm not a share your feelings kind of guy…"
"Yeah… so I'm going back today…"
"Back…?"
"Home… to New York…"
"Today?" he looked at her surprised "why?"
"You know why…" she looked down
"Rory…"
"Luke…" he smiled
"rory?" he searched for her eyes
"ha…?" her eyes met his and he said
"I understand"
"I know you do"
"Promise you'll come to say bye before you leave"
"I will… come on, I'll get my stuff inside and leave you guys to talk"
"o.k."
They walked into the house together, Lorelai stood in the living room facing the door
"Mom, look what I brought"
"Hi kiddo" she said quietly
And suddenly this long silent, they just stood there looking at each other, each trying to figure out what to say
by looking at her he realized how much he was mad at her, how much he's sorry for all that happened, and Rory, he thought, how much I hurt her, I wish I could've kept her from hurting… so what now, are you just gonna stand there? say something…
She looked at him searching for her voice that was suddenly lost oh my god… this must be the first time in history… I'm speechless… say something Luke… yeah right, like mister talker is going to say something… wait, what am I nuts… poor man, I should be thankful he's even standing here…
"Hi" he broke the silent
"Hi"
"Finely… I'll get my stuff to my room and I'm out of here"
They stood there again not saying anything just looking at each other
"o.k. I'm out of here… see you later"
"Bye Rory"
"Hi"
"Hi"
"Well this is weird"
"Yeah…"
"Do you want to…?" she gestured to the couch
"Sure"
They sat down and she turned to look at him
"I'm sorry"
Silent
"I know you hate me"
He looked down
"And you'll probably never forgive me…"
He raised his eyes to meet hers
"Do you hate me?"
He looked down again
"You do… Luke say something"
"What for?"
"I need to know what you think"
"I don't hate you"
Silent
"But I'm upset, angry, very angry… do you have any idea what you did?"
"Yes"
"you're self-centered, you don't care who you hurt as long as things go the way you want them to…"
"I know I hurt you…"
"I'm the last person you should be worrying about…"
"I know I hurt Rory, and I hate my self for that… I'd probably hate my self forever for hurting her…"
"You should…"
"Luke… stop it… look at me…!"
"What?"
"I'm sorry"
"I got that part"
"Forgive me"
Silent
"Luke, forgive me… please…
He met her eyes again
"Forgive me for every thing I've ever done to you"
"It's a long list…"
She got up and kneeled in front of him between his legs looking deeply into his eyes
"Forgive me… for not showing up to paint the diner…
And for not helping you with jess…
And for those things I said the night of Rory's accident…
For every time I called you butch…
Every time I pissed you off for coffee…
"Forgive me…" she continued with tears in her eyes
For every time you said I love you and didn't hear it back…
Forgive me for saying no when you asked me to marry you…
And I'm sure there are more and if you give me a couple of minutes I'll add them… but please forgive me… please… forgive me…"
"Sit down and come down…"
"No I don't wanna come down… I'm a horrible person… I know… and I hate my self for running away from the love I had for you… and I hate my self for taking you away from Rory, she cares so much about you, and I had to mess that up for her… I hate my self… I really do… I'm sorry Luke… really, really sorry… for everything…"
"I know you are…"
"I'm a horrible mother"
"Lorelai, stop crying, please…"
"And what about you and her? You became so close and I hate that I took that away from her…"
"We've talked about it, it's a little hard on her but she loves you and she wants you to be happy"
"Oh… I love her to and you, how do you feel about her?"
"I wont lie to you, I care a lot about her… she made me feel really good since she came back, but now we're just friends…"
"Please don't give me the just friends thing again…"
"Lorelai…"
"I'm kidding… I just hope that in time she'll get over all that's happened…"
"Me to… me to…"
"So what do we do now?"
"Now… I'm going to see if the diner is in one piece…"
"I'll stop by later for dinner"
"o.k."
she reached for his hand and he pulled back, she didn't understand why but instead he sent his hand to her back, rubbed it gently and then kissed her, slowly, getting used to her lips, she brought her hand to the back of his head and deepened the kiss, he pulled back for air after a while and said
"I gotta go"
"I'll see you tonight"
"Yeah" and he left
After he left she fell asleep on the couch, rory came and woke her up
"Hey honey"
"I'm all set"
"What?"
"All packed…"
"Oh… you're leaving so soon?"
"Mom, don't do this please…"
"I'm so sorry"
"Mom…"
"I am, I really am… say you don't hate me…"
"I don't"
"When are you coming back?"
"I don't know mom, its hard…"
"But you'll call me?"
"Yeah, of course I will"
"Promise?"
"Promise…"
"Good"
"So, wanna walk me to the car?"
"You're not saying goodbye to Luke…?"
"Amm" she hesitated "I already have…"
"Did he give you coffee?"
"What?"
"For the road…"
"Yeah sure, it's in the car"
"Oh… good"
"So come on…"
They went outside to Rory's car
"So, you'll call me…"
"Yeah when I get home"
"o.k."
"Bye hon" they hugged just like they always use to, Lorelai kept her self from crying, the broke back and Rory got in to her car
"Bye mom" and she was gone
She drove away, from stars hollow, from her mother's happiness, from him…
Lorelai stood there, she started crying, for every thing she did in the last 2 weeks, she didn't want Rory to leave, she didn't want her to hurt like she did, she was sorry, but sorry was not enough, she knew it, and she also knew it would be a long while before she sees her daughter again
She calmed down from her crying and started walking towards Luke's
"Hey you" she said walking into the diner smiling
"Hey"
"I miss her already…"
"Who?"
"Rory… who else can I miss…"
"She left?"
"Like you don't know, she said she was here saying goodbye and you gave her coffee for the road…"
"Yeah… I did…" he said, 'damn you Rory' he thought
"So you wanna do something tonight?"
"Sure, what do you have in mind?"
"How about a movie or something"
"Sure, so, what do you want to eat?"
"Coffee"
"Fine"
the days went by fast, Luke and Lorelai were together, it was hard for both of them, but they tried, it took 2 weeks for him to spend the night with her, and even then he didn't make love to her.
Rory called a few times and talked to Lorelai but not to Luke, she was trying to forget him, for her mother's sake.
One day Luke walked into Andrew's book store and looked around nervous
"Hey Andrew, I need some help"
"Sure Luke what do you need?"
"I'm looking for this book, it's a present…"
"Sure, what book?"
"ahh… Jane Eyre… do you have it?"
"Sure, just a second"
"Thanks"
He came back a minute later and handed him the book, he paid him and left the store to fined Lorelai sitting at the counter
"Hey you"
"Hey" he said nervous
"Where have you been?"
"Just needed to get something… just hang on, I'll be right down"
"o.k."
He put the book in his apartment and came down to the diner
"So what do you wanna do tonight?"
"ahh, I think I'll stay here tonight, I have this early shipment…"
"ohh, o.k. so I'm gonna go home, I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Of course…"
"Good night"
"Night"
That night, after he closed the diner, he went up to his apartment sat on the couch with the book in his hands and started reading.
Just wanted you to know that I red your reviews and I took it under consideration, I, to, feel that the way this story is going Luke and Rory should be together in the end, I don't know where the hand would take me, but I'll try to make it as genuine as possible.
I forgot to write it before, I hope you all know "Jane Eyre", it's my favorite book, it never leaves my bed side.
Thanks again for the reviews and for your ideas.
Till next time…