Authors Note: Thank you guys for the awesome reviews! You all rock! Here's another chapter for you! Enjoy, and keep reviewing please!! Thanks again!
Just A Reminder: I wish they were mine, but they aren't. Watch the frog!
Chapter Thirteen: A Very Random Encounter
It was around 7 when Lorelai woke up the next morning. She didn't see Luke around, but she did see his flannel shirt and baseball hat sitting on "his side" of the bed. Lorelai got up, threw his big button down shirt over her, and put his baseball hat on backwards. She followed the scent of coffee to the kitchen where she saw Luke making breakfast. He didn't see her at first, so she walked up behind him, wrapped her arms around his stomach and gave him a small kiss on his neck. He turned around to return the greeting.
"Good morning," she said, going to fix herself a cup of coffee. "Don't I look cute?"
"Yes you do."
The phone rang, so Lorelai went to grab it.
"Hello?"
"Hi Mom!"
"Oh hey Rory, how are you?"
"I'm great, how are you?"
She glanced over at Luke and smiled, "I'm...great. How's Chicago? Hit up any parties yet?"
"Well, not yet. But we did meet some cool people out in town last night."
"Ah, you rebel. What have you guys been doing? Seeing cool places?"
"Yeah, well, we're having fun. We've been taking it easy, and lately just walking downtown. We've done a lot of shopping already. We're headed more towards the city today. We want to see they skyline at night, so, we're thinking of going out to dinner and then walking around."
"Sounds like you're having a great time. I miss you!"
"I know mom, I miss you too. But I'm sure you're just fine with Luke."
"Yeah, I am. We had a dance last night. I forgot to tell you! It was so funny, I got Luke to come! He danced with me! In front of everybody! Oh and he danced with this other girl but more details about that later."
"Another girl?"
"Yeah," she said quietly, "her name is Jen. She used to go to school over here with Luke. She 'borrowed him from me' but it's okay I met this other guy who occupied me later."
"What other guy?"
"I don't know, his name is Justin. He just moved here, and he was already trying to hit on me! That scandal."
"I'm sure."
"Well babe, I'll let you go. Email me later, okay? Or call. Or just come home, whatever suits you."
"Love ya mom."
"Love you too."
Lorelai walked back into the kitchen. Luke set two plates of food on the table, where he had already started eating.
"Rory?" He asked looking up.
"Yup!"
"Is she having fun?"
"Sounds like it."
"Good. Well, I'm going to get going. Sorry I couldn't stay longer. Come by after work, okay?"
"Will do!" She stood up and kissed Luke goodbye. Shortly after eating and showering she was headed to work. She went straight to the kitchen to find Sookie cooking something. So unusual.
"When things couldn't get any better...boom!"
"What? Is everything okay?"
"...They get better."
Lorelai smiled at Sookie. Sookie knew off the bat what she was talking about. It's one of those freaky friend looks that only the other person know's what you're talking about.
"You didn't!"
"We did."
"That's it, I'm picking out wedding invitations tomorrow."
"Sookie! It doesn't mean anything like that. It was just...the right time, and...it happend."
"Well good for you sweetie! I'm glad it made you happy."
"Okay, this conversation has taken a slightly weird turn. I'm going to get going now."
"Oh Lorelai!"
"Bye Sookie!"
It wasn't until about 4 that Lorelai left the Dragonfly. She had to do a little grocery shopping, for she only had running water in the house, so she headed to Dooses. While 'passing through' the candy isle, Lorelai bumped into somebody, knocking over there groceries.
"Ah, sorry!" She said bending over and picking up the things that had fallen out. She looked up and saw that Justin character.
"It's okay...Lorelai."
"No, no, I shouldn't be searching for the biggest bag of marshmallows."
He glanced over at her basket which was half full with junk food, he laughed a little and nodded. "You like candy?"
"Oh it's right below coffee on my list."
"Good to know." He winked at her and starting walking away. "It was nice to see you again."
'Gosh, you're cute and all, but Luke is way cuter. Don't you know I have a boyfriend?'
"You too!" She managed to say.
When finishing up over there, she went to Luke's. She took a seat at the counter. It was very empty for a Friday evening. 'Good' she thought.
"Luke!!" She screamed.
He came out as soon as he heard her. Although it appeared to her that he hated her constant loudness and incessant need to always talk, at heart, he really loved it.
"What?"
"Want to make one pretty little girl reallllly happy?"
"Not really, why?"
"Well...I was just looking around and it looks, oh I don't know, a little...empty."
"Your point is?"
"Why don't you come with me to my parents for dinner tonight!"
"Lorelai, no."
"Come on!" The bells jingled over the door and she saw Justin walk through. "If you don't come with me, I'll have to ask him."
"Fine, I'll come."
"I'm glad I can make you jealous."
She walked behind the counter and served herself a cup of coffee. She saw Justin staring at her from the counter so she grabbed the pad of paper and pen and walked over to him.
"Welcome to Luke's diner. How can I help you?" She said in a high-pitched voice.
Luke walked out and started blankly at her.
"Wait, wait, wait." She said, she walked over to Luke and took his plaid shirt off, revealing him only in a tee-shirt. She put his shirt on her, and walked back over to Justin. "Now, I'm ready. So what can I get for you?"
"Lorelai, what are you doing?" Luke asked.
"Isn't it clear to you? I'm helping you so we can go to my parent's house tonight."
Luke rolled his eyes and walked back to the kitchen, leaving Lorelai with Justin.
"So...." She started.
"I'll have a burger and coffee."
"Ah! You're my kind of guy!" She wrote it down on the pad and walked back through the kitchen.
"Lorelai, get out of here! You shouldn't be in here. You might...set something on fire or something."
"Oh Luke! Now that's the very worst thing. You have got to be kidding."
"No, I'm not. Out!" He gently pushed her through the door and she walked back to the counter and got Justin his cup of coffee.
"Here ya go."
"Thanks," he said smiling at her.
"Mmm hmm"
"So, what can a guy do around here to have fun on Friday night?" He asked trying to make simple conversation.
'It's not like your 20.' She thought to herself. 'Why do I think he's so annoying? He's nice, Lorelai. Be nice.' "Uhm...I don't know. Something's usually going on in this crazy town. There's gotta be something. I waste my Friday's going out to Hartford to go to go my parent's for dinner. I'm sure you can find something much more exciting than that."
Luke walked out through the kitchen and gave him his burger. Lorelai stood up and walked around the counter to give Luke a kiss goodbye.
"I'm going. Come over by 6:20. We can't afford to be late. Oh, and no plaid or baseball hats. As sexy as it may be, my parent's would probably have a heart attack."
"Yeah, yeah."
"See you around" she said to Justin.
"Bye, Lorelai."
Luke didn't really like the guy from the start. He thought he had something for Lorelai even though he just met her, but then again 'who wouldn't?' He thought.
They got to the Gilmore's right before 7. They walked hand in hand up to the door, and Lorelai rang the bell, impatiently waiting to get the evening over with.
"Hey," she turned to Luke before somebody answered the door, "thanks for coming with me tonight. Really...I appreciate it."
"No problem." Right when he leaned in to kiss her, the maid opened the door.
"Your parents are in the living room." She took their coats and they walked over to find Emily and Richard laughing on the couch.
"So sorry if we interrupted anything." Lorelai said.
"Oh hello Lorelai, Luke." Richard greeted them.
Emily glanced over and smiled at Lorelai. "I'm so glad you could join us, Luke."
"Glad I could come." He said.
"Can I get you two a drink?" Richard asked.
Lorelai glanced around the room, "Actually, I think I'm going to give Luke a tour around the house."
Lorelai grabbed Luke's hand and took her upstairs. Their first stop; her room. Lorelai opened the door, and slammed it behind her.
"So! Surviving alright so far?"
"Lorelai, we've been here for 5 minutes. Everything's fine."
"I know, I just...my mom keeps glaring at me. She keeps looking at me, thinking she's the smartest thing in the world. Well guess what mom, you aren't!"
"She's just happy for us. Why is that such a problem?"
"I hate when my mom's right."
Luke began to walk to the window, glancing outside to the balcony.
"Ah, you found my secret hiding space." She walked over and opened the window, crawling out.
"What in the world are you doing?"
"Come out here with me."
Luke apprehensively crawled out the window. Lorelai was pressed against the front of the balcony, looking over at the block. It was a nice night out, and she didn't mind the breeze.
"I used to spend a lot of time out here. Nothing better to do, but sneak out the ole' balcony window. You know, my parents never really caught on that I snuck out through here. They were kind of scared to enter my room. After I threw my porcelain doll at my dad when he walked in here without asking, they just let me have my personal space. But that didn't last as long as I hoped."
Luke walked up and put his arms around her from behind. "But things are okay now" he whispered in her ear.
She turned around, there faces only inches apart. She kissed him, and smiled. "Yeah, they are."
Right when they walked down the stairs, Lorelai's parents were walking to the dining room. They sat down in there seats, where Lorelai sat in hers, and Luke sat where Rory used to.
"Rory, you look so different!" Lorelai joked.
"Speaking of Rory, how is she?" Emily asked.
"She's good. She wants me to say hi. It seems like she's having a really good time in Chicago. I think she needed a little break." Lorelai felt safe saying that. She thought that now that her parents were getting along better, that Emily wouldn't mind so much.
"Very good to hear."
The rest of the night was easy, which is very unusual. Emily and Richard acted as if they were a perfectly fine couple. Emily, surprisingly didn't say one insulting thing to Luke, and Richard didn't weasel him into some business talk. Things were...good.
At around 9, they pulled up to Luke's. It was pretty empty, so Luke sent Caesar home, and him and Lorelai started cleaning up. When the cleaning was done, Lorelai sat down at a table for two at the back of the diner. Luke followed her and sat at the seat directly across the table.
She sighed, and looked up at Luke, smiling. Whenever she stared at him, it always resulted in a smile.
"Let's talk." She suggested.
"About what?"
Lorelai thought for a moment. She didn't know. "I don't know. Just something." They were both quiet for a second. "Luke. Why did it take us so long to be together? Really."
He knew exactly why it took so long. He thought it would be okay to tell Lorelai though, because they were at that point where he felt safe that she wouldn't think he's stupid.
"I never thought that you'd want to be with me. I didn't think that I deserved you, and that I couldn't make you happy enough. You deserve so much better than those guys that you've dated before though. And I knew deep down, that if you were ever with me, I'd treat you the way you'd want to be treated, but I never thought you saw that in me. I watched you go out with all these guys, and I always just thought, will she date everybody but me?"
Lorelai felt like she had just been punched in the stomach. She felt so bad for him. Is that really what he thought? She felt guilty for making him feel like that, when she had absolutely no intentions to in the first place. She flashed him a quick look of confusion.
"Luke..." she said quietly, lost on words. "Why would you think something like that? You are so incredible. Rachael and Nicole were so lucky to have you. You are such an amazing guy. I can't imagine there ever being somebody better than you, because there isn't. And I know that if something ever happens between us, that I'll never find somebody like you, ever again."
He smiled at her and leaned across the table to kiss her. She placed her hands on his face and slowly wandered.
"What do you say we go up for the night?" He said, pulling her up.
"Let's go."
Right before Luke started to walk up the stairs, she walked over to him and gave him a huge hug. She never wanted to be so close to somebody.
"Gosh, it's freezing up here!"
"Here..." Luke walked over to his closet and pulled out a red and blue plaid shirt and put it on her. She loved when she wore his clothes. Something about it made her feel, extra cute.
Luke sat down at the end of the couch, legs open a little. Lorelai sat down sideways inbetween his legs and they began to watch TV. Luke rested his hands on the inside of Lorelai's thighs. 5 minutes into the TV show, she leaned in and kissed him deeply. Not breaking any interactions, he turned so that he was almost lying flat down on the couch. She laid on top of him, closing the gaps between them. She threw his baseball hat onto the floor and ran her fingers through his hair, while he placed his fingers right below the end of her shirt. He lifted his fingers so that he was lightly touching the bare of her back, moving up slowly, when all of a sudden Luke's phone rang. They broke apart, and Luke looked confused.
"Who's calling?" He asked himself, out loud.
"Ah, well look who turned into Mr. Popularity overnight."
He walked over to the phone and answered. "Hello?"
Lorelai laid impatiently on the couch twirling her hair. She got up and walked over to Luke's dresser pulling out a pair of sweat pants that he rarely wore. Although they were huge on her, she took off her skirt, and changed into his sweat pants while he was just staring at her like she was an idiot. She rolled them up and tied the drawstring so that they would actually stay on.
"Yeah, hold on." Luke pulled the phone away and handed it to Lorelai, "it's for you."
"For me?" She asked, while grabbing the phone.
"Hello?"
"Lorelai, hi, sorry to disturb you, but you're cell phone was off, and you weren't answering at home, and I needed to ask you something."
"What Sookie?"
"Did the party for tomorrow want Strawberry Shortcake, or Strawberry Cake tomorrow? I just...I know it sounds stupid, but I have to get baking, and I have to get the right ingredients."
"Sookie...has it occurred to you that it's 9:30, don't you think you can wait till tomorrow? What's open now?"
"I know, but I didn't want to bother you on your day off tomorrow."
"Strawberry shortcake, goodbye Sookie."
"Thanks, bye. You two kids have fun."
"Oh Sookie..."
She hung up the phone and tossed it on the bed. She walked back over to the couch where Luke followed her.
"Sorry about that," she said lying beside him on the couch, beginning to re-enact what they were once doing.
It was around 3:00 the next day when Lorelai was just leaving a party store in Hartford. She had to pick something up for one of the parties at the Inn next week. She drove to a near by coffee shop to get a cup before heading back home. She sat down and waited for somebody to attend to her.
"Lorelai?" A familiar voice asked.
She looked over, and her eyes widened. "Wow." That was pretty much all she could get out.
Up Next: It's Too Late
