Chapter 14

"Luuuke?"

"Oh my god." Lorelai formed the words with her mouth, "You didn't lock the door?" she asked Luke, whispering.

"No." Luke shook his head, still trying to catch his breath.

"Great. You switched off the lights but you didn't lock the door? Very smart of you." Lorelai asked again, her voice not above a whisper.

"I got distracted… somehow."

"Somehow? Really?" a smile began to form on her lips when she looked up at him, noticing some of her lipstick on his lips. With a finger she rubbed it away and whispered, "Let me do this. Just play along."

With a puzzled expression he followed her down the stairs.

"But Luke, I really need your pipe wrench. Where is it?" Lorelai asked while she walked down the stairs back into the Diner, trying to sound as casual as possible. "Oh, hi Rachel."

"Uhm… hey Lorelai." Rachel said confused when she saw both of them coming downstairs.

"Hey." Luke said before he turned back to Lorelai, clearing his throat. "Uhm… I told you that... if it's not in my toolbox, it's still at your house."

"But it's not." Lorelai put her hands on her hips.

"Where did you look?"

What are you doing. Just play along. Don't ask questions. "Well, I looked… you know… I looked everywhere." She gestured with her hands.

"Okay…" They were still looking at each other and Luke noticed how beautiful she was in her dark red silk blouse, her tight black skirt and the matching black blazer. Her curly hair was falling over her shoulders with just a small clip on the top her head.

Lorelai noticed his look and swallowed, "Fine. Then I'll look again."

"This is probably a good idea." Luke nodded, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah…" she said and her eyes travelled over to Rachel, giving her a smile.

The three of them stood in the middle of the Diner, an awkward silence between them.

"That's why I wanted to talk to Luke in the morning." Lorelai explained with a shrug.

"I see." Rachel answered, smiling. "I'm sorry he couldn't help you."

"It's okay."

"You can ask Tom." Luke suggested.

"Yes." Lorelai pointed her finger at him. "Maybe I'll do that. I'm sure he knows where his tools are."

Luke rolled his eyes, trying to hide a chuckle. "I know it too. I know that they're not in Be… I mean in my toolbox."

"How funny." Lorelai grinned, hitting him playfully on his chest. Meeting his eyes again, she quickly pulled her hand away and continued. "I… I better go now."

"Okay." Luke nodded. "Let me know if you found the tool at your house." He said and walked with her to the door.

After slipping into her coat, she opened the door and turned to look at him again. "Yep but I told you I don't have it." She grinned and bit her lower lip.

"Just look, okay?"

"Okay. Bye Rachel."

"Bye Lorelai."

When she was sure that Rachel couldn't see her, she blew Luke a kiss and added whispering. "Bye."

Luke smiled, "Bye." He waited until she climbed into her car and drove away, before he closed the door and locked it, switching the sign to 'closed'.

"What are you doing?" Rachel asked.

Luke turned back to her and began to put the chairs onto the tables. "What do you mean?"

"It's seven. You wanna close this early?"

"Yes, you know I'm tired from dragging all those boxes from Liz's apartment, down the stairs, in my truck, up the stairs again and into her new apartment." He emphasized everything with a gesture of his hands.

"My poor Luke." She smiled.

"It's okay. I mean, it's not that I have to do this every day."

"Fortunately not." She smiled and watched him, placing the chairs on the tables. "You know what? Why don't you go upstairs, I can finish this."

"No, it's okay. I can do that."

"Please. Let me do it. Just go upstairs."

"You sure?"

"Rachel nodded, smiling. "Yes. And now go." She shoved him towards the stairs.

Before he disappeared behind the curtain, he stopped and said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

xxxxx

After Rachel finished everything, she checked that the door of the Diner was locked and switched off the lights before she headed upstairs into Luke's apartment.

Still wearing his clothes, Luke was asleep on the couch. His head was resting on his right arm, while his other one was hanging over the edge of the sofa.

With a smile, Rachel watched him for moment and listened to his steady breath. He must have been very tired because it didn't take more than thirty minutes to clean the Diner downstairs and he was already asleep.

As quiet as possible she walked over to him, taking the blanket which was lying on the bottom of the sofa, and threw it over his sleeping form.

He shifted slightly, rolling on his back, his hand above his head. His expression was fully relaxed and he was smiling.

Rachel couldn't resist and run her fingers through his hair. She looked at him and realized that it was right to come back. To come back to Luke.

Hesitantly she bent forward and kissed him slightly on his lips.

"Mmmhh…Lorelai…" Luke mumbled after Rachel pulled apart.

Eyes wide in shock, Rachel's mouth fell open and she made a step back. Lorelai? What's that supposed to mean?

"Lorelai…" Luke mumbled again before he turned on the other side, drifting off to sleep again.

Luke and… and Lorelai?

She put a hand on her forehead and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. With a sigh she sank onto a chair and tried to think about the previous days. How blind was she, that she didn't notice anything?

"But things have changed now, Rachel."

"Rachel, look. There's someone..."

"Oh, I think he knows my number very well. Thank you."

"Oh god." She sighed. It was so obvious how they looked at each other earlier when they came downstairs from his apartment. And when she thought about it thoroughly, she was sure that both of them looked flushed and breathless. They did god knows what before she interrupted them.

She got up and walked over to the closet, where she knew Luke kept his toolbox. With one look over her shoulder she made sure that Luke was asleep. She opened the closet and knelt down to open his toolbox. And there it was. His pipe wrench. And god, she believed every word of it. Damn it.

xxxxxxx

Next morning

Luke stood behind the counter when Rory entered the Diner. She walked over to him and sat down on one of the stools, "Hey Luke."

Luke looked up at her, "Hey Rory. What can I get you?"

"Blueberry pancakes and coffee." She said and placed her bag on the stool next to her.

"Okay." He scribbled it down on his notepad and looked outside. "Uhm, did your mother get lost on the way here?"

"What? Oh no, she stayed at home."

"Why?" he asked worried, "Is something wrong?"

"No, she's fine. She has some paperwork to do for the Inn , so she decided to do it at home without Michel annoying her and all that kind of stuff, you know." Rory told him.

"Oh yeah, sure."

"But she'll call you later to tell you either if she'll come to the Diner before she heads to the Inn or not. Depends on Michel and if he calls her for any 'emergencies'."

"I see." He said smiling before he turned around to grab the pot and poured her a cup of hot coffee.

"Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm so glad that you and Mom… you know."

"What?" Luke looked at her, wiping the counter.

Rory glanced around before she bent forward and said whispering, "That you and mom, you know… that you're together. Finally."

"Yeah?" Luke looked down, blushing slightly. "So, this is okay for you?"

"Of course." Rory nodded smiling and took a sip from her coffee before she continued, "I haven't seen her like this… forever. So you're definitely good for her."

"If you say so." Luke smiled at her, "I go get your pancakes now." He said and walked into the kitchen. A few minutes later he came back and brought Rory her pancakes and refilled her coffee cup.

"Morning Luke." Rachel said when she came down the stairs and walked behind the counter.

"Morning." Luke replied and grabbed the coffee pot to make his way to the tables.

Grabbing a doughnut, Rachel looked at Rory and started hesitantly. "Hey, you're Lorelai's daughter, right?"

Rory looked up at her, "Yes. Hallo." She smiled and continued eating.

"You're alone today? Where's your mother?" Rachel asked, raising her eyebrows.

"At home. She starts with her work later today." Rory told her, "Why?"

"Oh, just asking."

"Okay." She gave her a smile.

Playing with a curl of her hair, Rachel watched Luke pouring coffee and talking to some customers. "Uhm… Luke, do you need my help right now?"

Luke looked around the almost empty Diner and shook his head, "No, why?"

"I wanted to make a walk through the town. Just wanted to look if something's changed or if there are some shops I haven't seen before."

"You won't find anything new. Everything is exactly the same." He pointed out and filled the empty pot with water again to make new coffee.

"Well then…" she said, shrugging. "I thought about making a few pictures or something. Only if you really don't need me here." Rachel said, looking at him.

"I told you it's okay. The morning rush is over anyway, so you can take a walk around."

"Good." She grabbed her camera from behind the curtain and headed towards the door. "I won't take long. Bye."

"Uh-huh." Luke answered and shifted his gaze to Rory, "More coffee?"

Rory nodded grinning and held her cup out to him.

xxxxxx

"No Michel, don't even start with me." Lorelai said, holding the cordless phone between her ear and her shoulder while she walked down the stairs into the living room, a pile of folders in her hands.

"I have the impression that you're coming and going whenever you want." Michel answered her in his significant French accent.

"So what if? I'm the manager, Michel." she walked into the kitchen and dropped the folders on the kitchen table. "Besides this, what do you think I'm doing? Making myself a nice day?"

"Some could have the impression…"

"No my friend, I'm doing paperwork for the hotel. The accounts for last month, new orders and all that kind of stuff. And I'm doing this at home because I don't want you to get on my nerves while I'm working on it. It pretty much annoys me without your comments already, understand?"

"That wasn't really nice." Michel muttered into the phone.

"Do you want me to call Tobin?" Lorelai threatened him.

"What? No, you can't do this to me."

"Then Michel, answer the phone when it's ringing. If the guests ask you any kind of question, don't curse something in French, answer them. And of course, stay friendly and nice all the time. Then, my friend, we won't have any problems."

Michel rolled his eyes, "Fine."

"Good. I'll be at the hotel at…" she glanced at her watch, "…I don't know. Around lunch time."

"Hm-hmm."

"Bye Michel." Lorelai rolled her eyes and let herself fall on the chair. With a sigh she opened the first folder, flipping through the pages, when the doorbell rang.

Frowning, she got up and headed to the door. "I'm coming." She pushed the door open and was surprised to see the person who was standing there.

"Rachel. Hi."

"Hey, uhm… I hope I didn't disturb you."

"Actually…" she looked at her, shrugging, "…I was catching up with some paperwork."

"Oh."

"No, it's okay. Michel is grumpy already, so it won't change anything. Come in." Lorelai made a step to the side to let her in.

"Thanks. Who's Michel?" Rachel asked while she entered the house.

"My front desk manager." Lorelai closed the door and rolled her eyes, taking a deep breath before she followed her.

"Your front desk manager?" Rachel asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah, of my hotel."

"You have your own hotel?"

"No, actually I'm the manager but somehow you could say… yeah, it's my hotel." Lorelai smiled.

"Wow." Rachel nodded, forcing a smile.

"You want something to drink? Tea, coffee?" Lorelai asked while she walked into the kitchen. Rachel followed her.

"Coffee would be nice." Rachel said, sitting down on one of the kitchen chairs.

"Great. Just made new one." She poured two cups of coffee and sat down on the table, across from Rachel. "So?"

"Well, I was walking around the town to take some pictures when I came to your house. I knew it was yours because I read the name on your mailbox. Then I thought, why I don't visit one of Luke's friends when I'm around."

"Yeah, why not." Lorelai attempted a faint smile before she took a sip from her coffee.

"So, this is your house." Rachel began, looking around. "I like it."

"Thanks."

"But what is broken?"

"Huh?"

"You wanted to borrow Luke's pipe wrench, so I assumed that you need it to fix something."

"Oooh, yeah sure. That. It's nothing big."

"What is it?" Rachel asked

"It's just uhm…" Lorelai's eyes roamed around the kitchen, tapping with her fingers nervously on the table. "It's the sink in the bathroom. Yeah, the sink. It's kind of clogged up or something. I always tell Rory that she shouldn't wash her hair in the sink." She shrugged with a small smile.

"Oh, okay." Rachel nodded. "Bad habit."

"That's what I'm saying."

After Rachel took a sip from her coffee, she began. "I met Rory at the Diner. I like her uniform. In which school she's going?"

"Chilton."

"In Hartford, right? Very impressive building, I passed it a few times. And how's she doing there?"

"Fine. More than fine. Rory is a smart kid. Everything seems so easy for her. When she changed from Stars Hollow High to Chilton this year, she had a lot to catch up on. Even the headmaster told her that she might won't take it. And now she's one of best students." Lorelai told her.

"Oh, you must be very proud of her."

"Yes, absolutely. She wants to go to Harvard someday. This has been her dream since she's four. I bought her one of those big Harvard shirts and…" she trailed off and looked at Rachel, "…I'm sorry. Every time when I'm talking about Rory and Harvard I get all excited.

"It's okay. I'm sure she'll do great in Harvard."

"I know."

"Uhm, do you mind if I use your bathroom?" Rachel asked smiling and stood up.

"Of course not. It's over there." She pointed into the direction of the hallway.

"Thank you."

Lorelai shoved her hands over her face before she got up and poured more coffee into her mug.

"Lorelai?"

"Do you want more coffee too? I love coffee, I would marry it if it would be…" she turned around and looked at Rachel and Luke's flannel shirt she was holding in her hands. Swallowing hard, she placed the coffee pot back onto the counter before she would drop it on the floor.

"Is there something you wanna tell me?" Rachel asked, her eyes were focused on Lorelai.

This is so not happening!

"Why? Is there something wrong?" she asked carefully, playing with a strand of her hair.

"That's what I'm asking you." Rachel held out Luke's shirt. "I found this in your bathroom. I didn't notice you're wearing flannels, too."

"Uhm, see… they're not mine."

"You don't say."

"Yeah, you know… it's from… well, from… Rory's dad who… came by last week. Seems if he left it here." Lorelai smiled at her nervously, shifting with her feet.

"Really? Well, then tell me the name of Rory's dad."

"Why?" Lorelai frowned.

"Just curious."

"Christopher. His name is Christopher. Why do you wanna know that?" she put her hands on her hips. "You don't believe me?"

"Not really. Can you see the initials on the inside of this shirt?"

"There are initials?"

"Yes, there are. And I know that because this is the shirt I bought for Luke years ago. With his initials. L D, like in Luke Danes."

"This must be a coincidence."

"Oh I don't think so. Why do you have Luke's shirt?"

"I told you it's Christopher's."

"Oh c'mon. I recognize Luke's shirt, the label and even with the initials and you wanna tell me that it's not Luke's?"

Lorelai let out a sigh and rubbed her temples. "If you really think it's Luke's, then maybe it is."

"And you're telling me…?"

"I'm telling you that it's Luke's. What do you wanna hear?"

"The truth would be fine. What's going between the two of you?"

"Between me and Luke? Oh, there's nothing going on between us. We're just friends, and you know that." Lorelai let out a nervous laugh.

"That's funny, because I had the impression that you two are more than just friends."

"Oh please." Lorelai turned around and took a sip from her coffee.

"Yesterday night, I finally got it. I thought about how Luke always wanted to talk with me about something. Must have been really important. Or how you reacted when you first saw me at the Diner when Luke was in New York, helping his sister. Then yesterday, when both of you came downstairs from Luke's apartment. Your performance was so ready for the stage, I believed everything. Until I found this mysterious pipe wrench. And do you know where I found it? In Luke's toolbox. Funny, huh? And if this wouldn't be enough, Luke had some kind of dream of you. I kissed him when he was asleep and instead of saying my name, he said yours. Yours." Rachel threw Luke's shirt on the table, still staring at Lorelai.

"Just because he said my name doesn't…."

"Doesn't mean what? I'm not stupid, Lorelai."

"I didn't say that, it's just…" Lorelai stopped and let out a sigh, leaning against the countertop of her kitchen. "You're jumping into conclusions."

Rachel laughed, "Are you listening to yourself? Do you believe one single word you're saying?"

"It's…" she looked down on the floor, trying to think what to say. There was an awkward silence between them. But after a minute, Lorelai looked up again. "Fine, you're right."

"So Luke and you are having an affair. How great." Rachel threw her hands into the air.

"I wouldn't call it an affair." Lorelai shook her head, frowning slightly.

"Then what? You jumped into our relationship and stole my man. How do you wanna call it then?" Rachel remarked upset.

Lorelai's mouth dropped open. She shook her head and closed her eyes, "Oh my god, I don't believe this."

"Who you're telling this?"

"First of all…" Lorelai started, "… steeling my man? We're not talking about an object, we're talking about Luke. You don't possess him so it's definitely wrong to say that I stole him from you, okay? Next thing, I didn't jump into anything. There was no relationship between the two of you because you left. So whatever you guys had in the past, was over. Over!" she emphasized clearly before she continued. "Or did you believe that after you left him all those years ago, that he was waiting for you? That he had nothing better to do as wait for the day until you're ready or not to come back? Ready for sharing your life with him? Caring for him? Because then you're wrong. What you're doing is just selfish. You can't go away and assume that nothing has changed in the time you were gone. Luke has a life. And this life hasn't stopped because you had your reasons to leave town. Reasons which apparently were more important than Luke. Otherwise you would've stayed with him in this crazy little town. Because when you're really in love with someone, you have to put back things to make the other person happy. That's what you're doing when you're in a real relationship. Assure your partner that you're there for him, no matter what." Lorelai finished a little out of breath, giving Rachel a fretful look.

"You have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh please." Lorelai shook her head, pressing her fingers to her eyes.

"Luke will come back to me. I know he will. You were just a fill-in. Nothing serious, just a distraction."

"That's not true." Lorelai shook her head.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course." Lorelai glared at her. "Luke and I are dating. We're seeing each other if you like it or not. We're together now. "

"I wouldn't be so sure about it." She took one quick glance at Luke's shirt and then back to Lorelai. "You'll see." She added before she turned on her heels and rushed out of the house.

Lorelai breathed out heavily before she ran her fingers through her hair. Hesitantly she grabbed Luke's shirt and walked into the living room where she fell onto the sofa.

A few minutes later she reached for the phone and dialled Luke's number.

"Hallo?" he answered.

"Hey, it's me." Lorelai said and laid her head back on the sofa, rubbing her forehead with one hand.

"Oh hey."

"Bad time?"

"Nah, it's okay. Is something wrong?" He asked, worried.

"Uhm…"

"Lorelai?"

"Do you remember what you told me that day when you broke into my room? That you lo… like me and that I'm the one you want?" Lorelai asked carefully.

"Yeah sure."

"Just promise me that you won't change your mind."

"Of course not. What makes you think that?"

After a few seconds of silence Lorelai said, "She knew everything."

"Who knows what? Can you talk in sentences that make some sense please?" He told her laughing.

"Rachel was here and… she knows about us now. "

"What?"

xxxxxxxx

To be continued...
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