Chapter 2: Sudden Awareness'
Luke Danes had been sitting on the front porch for 15 minutes when he saw Lorelai's jeep pull into the courtyard of the inn. Only 45 minutes earlier he had been holding her in an embrace that he had only dreamed about. And when they had kissed, the longing that had always been there poured forth a myriad of emotions that longed for more attention. He was dreaming about where the night would lead when her jeep suddenly came to a stop in front of him. He looked up and the first thing he saw was Rory's tear-stained face in the front seat. All of a sudden, the thoughts he had been having of Lorelai were replaced with a fatherly instinct to find out just exactly why she was crying and to take care of whatever had hurt her.
Lorelai saw Luke sitting on the front porch as she drove her jeep up in front of the inn. "Thank God," she thought to herself, I may not have to do this alone after all. And with that, she thought of all the times Luke had been there for her to talk through the issues on her mind, especially concerning her teenage daughter. They had always managed to talk through what appropriate action she could take. She never saw this as anything more than friend helping friend before tonight.
Lorelai: (to Rory) "will you be okay to make it up to the room by yourself?"
Rory looked between her mom's concerned expression on her face and the sight of Luke sitting on the front porch of her mother's inn and caught some semblance of meaning to what could have happened between them before her mom showed up at their house spouting off all the crazy things that were happening at the inn. And, for that moment, Rory realized just how much her mom had put all her feelings on hold to help her in her time of seeming desperate need.
Rory: (forgetting about her troubles for the moment) "Mom, is there something you want to tell me about a certain man sitting on the front porch before we get out of this car?"
Lorelai: (blushing) "Luke kissed me...," she blurted out. "And, then he had to go retrieve a naked Kirk running through the courtyard. That's when I had to come home to get my camera."
Rory: "What?! Oh my god, that's huge, mom! After all these years of flirting and smiling at each other... I am so happy for you!"
Lorelai: "We have not been flirting!" Lorelai lightly blushed and smiled at her daughter's response to what she had just told her.