Rory had left twenty minutes ago. Lorelai wanted her to stay the night, but she had a Philosophy final at 7:30 the next morning. A Saturday morning exam, Rory thought was punishment enough, but God had more exciting things up his sleeve, didn't he.
Lorelai was sitting in her tub upstairs, while Luke sat on a stool scrubbing her back. She rested her chin on her knees. Luke couldn't see her face, but he knew her eyes were raw from crying for so long.
"Luke?" she asked in a nasally voice.
"Yeah?" he asked soothingly stroking her back in circles with the sponge.
"Tell me about your parents." She paused… "I mean, how they died."
"Lorelai, I told you I don't really like to talk about it."
"Please, I need to know this," she said. She had so much pain and hurt in her voice, Luke relented.
"Well, my mother had a spot on her hand. She grew up in California, where of course sunbathing was the law. I remember it was she and my dad's 20-year anniversary, and they'd both gone to get physicals for their cruise to Hawaii. My dad didn't really like to travel much after he got out of the service, but she somehow talked him into this. He was always giving in to her."
Lorelai turned around to look at Luke. "I'm getting off of the subject, aren't I?"
Lorelai grabbed his free hand and kissed the top of it. "No, I love hearing this. I was just realizing where you got the patience to put up with a crazy woman like me." She turned back around using both of her hands to wipe her eyes dry.
"Keep going."