CHAPTER 6
"So I figured, we'll hit Luke's first, then we'll drive down to the Westfarms Mall and try on stuff at bebe and Lord and Taylor..." Lorelai rambled as she bounced on Rory's bed.
Rory's head emerged from under her pillow and reached out for the bedside clock. The small hand was on the five and the long hand was at nine. Rory groaned, returning the Hello Kitty clock to its former place.
"Mom, the sun isn't up yet," she said, her voice muffled by the pillow. "You know you love sleep."
"Ah, yes, but this is an exception. It's Black Friday and mommy needs to find a brand new purse for Santa to give to her," she mentioned.
"Mom, you don't buy the presents Santa gives to you. You earn it. Second, aren't you still upset with me from last night?" Rory inquired.
"Silly girl. You think I will trust Luke to buy me the present I so deserve?" Lorelai scoffed at her. "And besides, I can either be upset with you about last night and have this day ruined or you could tell me what happened over coffee and we'll exchange notes on how the night transpired since your disappearance."
Rory sat up from her sleeping position to face her mother. "Are you saying you're not angry with me?"
"What I'm saying is, I'm over it... Unless you drag your butt here in the room and make me miss the underwear sale at Victoria Secret," Lorelai marched out the room to give Rory her privacy.
"You don't need any more underwear!" Rory called out.
"But I need one that Luke hasn't seen me in before!" she yelled back.
'Ew! Too much information.' Rory shuddered as the mental picture emerged in her brain. Sighing, she started her day.
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Lorelai and Rory arrived at Luke's diner half an hour later. They were surprised to see the place packed.
"Wow, people actually wake up this early by choice. Unbelievable," Lorelai commented.
They spotted Luke wiping a table on the far right corner of the room. He looked up and acknowledged them. "Be with you in a sec unless you are in a hurry. You can go to the office and I'll serve you breakfast there."
Lorelai had a wicked gleam in her eye. "Hurry home, Rory. I think I can get lucky this morning."
"Mom, why are you trying to gross me out?" Rory questioned her mom.
"Because I can," Lorelai said. "Besides, since you've been doing the horizontal lambada with Nasty MacBlondie I have to shock you some other way. Ooh, an open table. Run!"
The couple ran to the table before someone else claimed it. Luke came over and set up their respective coffee cups effectively.
"I'll bring you your breakfast in a moment," he said gruffly.
"How could you bring us breakfast if we didn't tell you what we wanted?" Lorelai asked.
"Because it's the same thing over and over. And if you want my opinion, you should stick to eating a broccoli quiche and an orange juice rather than that greasy egg and biscuit and gravy you've been addicted to for ages," he lectured.
"Broccoli for breakfast? Now that's nasty!" Lorelai gagged.
"Ooh, daddy, can I get a milkshake if I eat a healthy breakfast?" Rory joined in her mother's teasing. She was met with a skeptical gaze from Luke.
"Do you want me to deny you guys coffee?" he threatened.
"Now that's getting personal," Lorelai grumbled.
"Two breakfasts and coffees coming up," he huffed before walking away.
The two girls stared at him walking away.
"So," Lorelai said, "which Brawny guy do you think Luke look is? The one with the porn 'stache or the recent edition, the manscaped, very emotionally in tuned with himself guy?"
"Definitely the 'stache guy. Can you picture Luke manscaped?" Rory queried.
"Ew! Definite no-no. I don't think I'll like Luke being all sensitive anyway," Lorelai shuddered.
Rory laughed at her mother. Fortunately, the image disappeared when Lane served them coffee.
"I am so glad to see you guys," Lane said.
"So how was your Thanksgiving?" Rory asked her best friend.
"Can you stuff tofu in tofu?" Lane asked.
Lorelai and Rory looked at each other before answering. "I don't think so," Lorelai said.
"Well, tell that to my mother," Lane said, rolling her eyes. "We had tofu in the shape of a turkey. And there was lemon grass mixed with rice and some other organic thing," she rambled on.
"I'm sorry we didn't have Thanksgiving at home this year," Lorelai apologized.
"That's okay," Lane said. "Sookie came up with this brilliant excuse that Jackson needed to be rushed to the hospital and Zach and I had to baby sit the kids."
"That's horrible!" Rory exclaimed.
"Well, he didn't really have to go to the hospital but Sookie prepared so much food she might as well have cooked for an entire hospital," Lane replied.
"That's Sookie for you," Rory said.
The little bell behind the counter rang.
"Ooh, there's your breakfast. Let me get it," Lane walked away hurriedly from them. At the counter, they witnessed Luke and Lane do a hand-off of plates and coffee.
In a few moments, Luke brought their hot plates to them. "Grease, what's not good for you."
The two seated gleamed at Luke. "Thank you!" they chorused.
Luke grunted and walked away.
"So, are you going to tell me why you left with Rebel?" Lorelai asked.
Rory chuckled. "Mom, 'Rebel' as you fondly call him, is Tristin. Remember? Bible Boy?"
Lorelai's eyes got big. "That was Bible Boy? Oh my God, he has definitely filled out."
"Mom, are you saying that you were checking him out?" Rory asked in half screech.
"Can't help it, his nipples stuck out like missiles with you cozying up in his coat," Lorelai said wickedly.
"He was just being gentlemanly," she defended him. "Anyways, Tristin wanted to leave the party to avoid Duncan and Bowman," Rory explained.
"And?" Lorelai fished for information.
"And I wanted to make sure he didn't ruin dad's bike," she lamely said.
"Oh you're so goody two shoes," Lorelai grumbled. "You mean I actually offered my head on the guillotine for you to baby sit Christopher's bike?"
Rory broke eye contact with her mom.
"And grandma sent Logan away so I didn't see why I had to stick around," she mumbled.
"She did?" Lorelai queried. "She caught him stealing dad's thirty year old scotch?"
"She just doesn't like him, I guess," Rory sighed.
Lorelai wrinkled her eyebrows. "Strange. I wonder why she hates him. Has she met him before?"
"Once, on campus when she and gramps came for a visit and they caught us kissing," Rory confessed.
"And you didn't tell me?" Lorelai screamed. "Are you sure you were just kissing?"
"Lips together, clothes on. Nothing more than that," Rory promised.
"It's a really scary thought that mom and I see eye to eye," Lorelai mused. "And you think that's the reason why mom and dad don't like Logan?"
"All I know of," she said.
"I'm sorry," Lorelai blabbed.
"For what?" Rory asked.
"For being pissy at you last night," Lorelai admitted.
"You got the right," Rory managed to say between bites. "You were worried."
"But I should've trusted you more," Lorelai muttered.
"Mom, I can't believe that I'm saying this, but the day you stop worrying about me, I'll be very upset," Rory confessed.
Four coffee cups later and plates almost empty, Rory's cell phone rang. Luke's flannelled arm shot out and pointed to the door. Rory excused herself and hurriedly answered her phone without looking at the caller.
"Where did you go last night?" Rory asked.
"I was with you, Mary, what are you talking about?" Tristin asked from the other end.
"Tristin!" Rory blushed. "I am so sorry."
"You thought I was Wannabe?" Tristin asked. "Ouch."
"I-I," she stuttered. "How did you get my number?"
"I have ways, Rory. Now, do I get a good morning?" he teased.
"Good morning," Rory mumbled. "So did you get home well?"
"Your dad took me home in one piece," he informed her. "So, is your mom upset with you?"
"Not really. How about yours?" Rory asked.
"They're not up yet, so I don't know," he muttered.
"For all it's worth, I'm sorry," Rory apologized.
"Don't apologize. I had one of the best nights of my life," he said. "But you can make it up to me by going out with me tonight."
"Tonight? Tristin, last night was a fluke, a one night stand," Rory rambled.
"And you still have a boyfriend, I get it," he rationalized. "What's wrong with two old friends hanging out for a weekend?"
Rory mulled over his question. She hesitated. With a heavy heart, she responded, "I can't, Tristin."
"Please?" he asked. "With whipped cream on top?"
"No," Rory said firmly.
"Come on now, Rory. Don't tell me you didn't feel anything last night," he begged.
"I'm hanging up now," she said in a singsong voice.
"Rory-," Tristin tried catching her.
"Bye," she said shutting her cell phone off. Why did he always make her smile?
She dialed Logan's cell phone. She didn't care that it was just a little past seven o'clock. She just had to talk to him.
"Hello," Logan's sleep-laced voice rang in her ear.
"Good morning, sunshine," Rory greeted. "Miss me?"
"Rory!" he exclaimed. "Hi! Uh- how are you? What time is it?"
"Too early to talk to you," Rory said. "I know you're not a morning person but I wanted to know where you went last night."
"I went back to the campus when your grandmother asked me to leave," he said.
"I'm sorry about that," she muttered.
"That's alright. No harm done," he replied.
"How can I make it up to you? I mean, you didn't even get dinner!" she whined.
"Don't worry about it," he calmed her.
"Meet me and my mom at the mall today. I know you hate malls but I'll make time for you," Rory bribed.
"Hmm, very tempting. Where is it?" he asked.
Rory gave him quick directions to where Rory and her mother were going to be.
"Alright, I'll see you in a while," he said.
"Bye," she said, hanging up and walking back into the diner.
Logan hung up on the other end and laid back on the bed. He cuddled up next to the blonde still asleep next to him.