Author's Note: Thank you so much to everyone that reviewed my story! I honestly didn't expect anyone to so soon! I tried to incorporate things you guys said into this chapter, so review again to tell me if I did a good job.
This chapter is longer than the last one, but I'm not sure how I feel about it. I think the beginning's a little slow, but that's probably because it's hard to incorporate much humor into a 'lets talk about our relationship' scene. I hope you guys think this chapter is as good as the first one!
Lorelai and Luke stood just outside the door to the diner, blinking in the bright morning sunlight. They stared at each other for a few moments before one of them decided to relieve the tension by saying something. "Er… I guess we should… start walking then?" Luke awkwardly suggested, diverting his stare away from Lorelai and down to his feet.
"Right. Yea. Good idea. Walking. Healthy for you…lets do that," Lorelai sputtered as they set off across the street in the direction of the gazebo. A few more moments of uncomfortable silence passed before she slowly said, "You know Luke, Rory's right, we really do need to talk. Things have been kind of…strained the past few days- it really seems like you've been avoiding me, and unless I'm unaware of some sort of body odor problem I've developed, I'd say it's because of what happened at the inn. Do you regret kissing me?"
"No!" Luke hurriedly responded, but then elaborated, "It's just a little weird. We've been really good friends for years, but nothing more than that, and now I'm not sure where we stand. I mean I understand that maybe you're not looking for a relationship right now, and I was just a way to help you get over that idiot Jason---"
"Of course not Luke, I wouldn't use you like that!" Lorelai interrupted. "Yea, I did just break up with Jason, and I can see why right now isn't exactly the time to choose to get involved with someone else, but…I don't know. Everything's gotten so crazy." She looked away for a moment before smiling and adding, "And don't call Jason an idiot. We may not be dating anymore but I would prefer it if you didn't feel the need to completely trash my taste in guys."
Luke raised an eyebrow and said, "Well I'm not trying to offend you but in my book any guy who is unable to understand the phrase 'go away' falls under the category of idiot. Come on, three-year-olds can go away when they're told to."
Lorelai gave him a good-natured shove off of the curb, and laughed at him until he regained his balance enough to do the same to her. Unfortunately for Lorelai, a boy on a skateboard had turned the corner and was hurling down the street towards her. Seeing that she wouldn't have time to dodge out of the way, Lorelai closed her eyes and braced herself for the impact, which surprisingly never came. Luke had grabbed her by both arms and pulled her towards him with such force that they both toppled to the ground. As the teenage torpedo sped away, Lorelai opened her eyes to see Luke frantically checking her over to see if she was hurt.
"Are you okay?" he asked, his anxious eyes staring down at her.
Lorelai looked back up at him with a bemused expression on her face. "Luke, it was a skateboard, not a bus. Chill. I'm fine." Luke's uneasy façade lessened somewhat, but neither he nor Lorelai made an effort to get off of the ground. In fact, they had begun to slowly pull closer together when they were interrupted by a grey-haired, conservative looking man in a sweater vest came zooming towards them on shiny red motorized scooter.
"I've told everybody in town that if we didn't commit to drastic action to control those dangerous hoodlums we would have a price to pay, but did they listen to me? Nooooooo," grumbled Taylor, completely oblivious to the intimate moment he had cut short. "Now look at what's happening- innocent townsfolk being are being run down by madmen on these skateboards- someone could be fatally wounded!"
"Really Taylor, we're okay," Lorelai said in response to his irrational rant, "No fatal wounds here- we're not even maimed or anything."
Taylor looked slightly abashed that his prime argument against the skateboarding hooligans was, in fact, completely uninjured, but appeared to find one last shred of hope by asking, "Then why are you both still lying on the ground?"
Lorelai and Luke both promptly turned a rather florescent shade of pink, realizing that they were still in what most people would think to be a rather compromising position. They gawkily stumbled to their feet as quickly as they could and brushed the grass off of their clothes while they avoided Taylor's dubious gaze. After several seconds of standing like this, Luke decided to break the silence by asking Taylor "What's with the scooter?"
Taylor quickly forgot any suspicions he had previously been thinking about when asked about his new mode of transportation. "THIS, my dear friends, is not just a scooter- it's a top of the line, imported MOTORIZED scooter I purchased in case an occurrence in Stars Hollow that would require my personal attention took place. I finally brought it out of the box this morning so I can patrol the town in search of those crazy skateboarding punks. Now where did that last one go…"
Lorelai stifled her laughter as she exchanged an amused look with Luke. "He disappeared down the street about five minutes ago Taylor. If you want to catch him, I'd head out after him right away."
Taylor fastened his red, shiny, matching helmet around his head and turned to Lorelai, saying, "You're right. I'm off to catch him." He then gave both Lorelai and Luke a very stern look and said, "Remember, only YOU can prevent our pleasant, serene, close-knit town from being overrun by street rats and completely going to the dogs."
"Well that was an interesting take on Smokey the bear's slogan," Luke stated while watching Taylor ride away at a pace easily equaled by a baby snail. He turned to Lorelai and watched her watching Taylor slowly creep down the street until she turned and noticed him.
"Luke…" she uncomfortably said, and seeing that he didn't understand her reluctance, continued, "I don't think it's a very good idea to be, well, public about this whole us thing. I mean, you know how everyone in this town is about gossip- if one person who isn't as oblivious as Taylor is sees us lying on the ground together, everyone will think we're sleeping together within the hour. Plus we aren't even sure if we're going anywhere with this, so---"
"Yea, you're right. I agree," Luke interrupted. Secretly, he'd been hurt by Lorelai's last comment. He'd thought, after what she'd said before the skateboarding incident, that she was interested in him, even if she was a little confused. Now he wasn't so sure. "Well, I should probably get back to the diner," he said, eager to get away from Lorelai and the way he was feeling at the moment and in need of a little time to think. "I should probably make sure Caesar hasn't burned down the whole place with the whole pancake batter thing."
As he started to head back to the diner, Lorelai called out after him, "Wait, we haven't finished discussing everything yet! What will I tell Rory when she asks?"
"Just tell her we worked everything out. We'll talk at the movies tomorrow, if you're still interested in seeing one. Seven alright?"
"Um….sure, I'm still going. Seven's---" Lorelai stopped, interrupted by Luke entering the Diner and slamming the door behind him.
"Seven's fine."