A/N: Hi everyone…hope you're all having a nice holiday. Here for you is chapter 4. We hope you all enjoy it…As always; the feedback has been incredible thus far…we really appreciate it. I know it encourages us very much. With every passing chapter, your questions are being closer and closer to finally being answered. So stay with us, and we hope you guys are all still reading! Please, continue reviewing! It'd be the best present you could give us! Thanks again!
Disclaimer: Gilmore girls belongs to the Palladinos, and the WB. Watch the frog!
Chapter 4: Take a Shot
It was around 6:00 when Lorelai's alarm clock went off the next morning. There was an extra breeze passing threw the room, she noticed, as she walked to the closet to grab her robe. She wrapped it around herself tightly and walked to the window taking a large sniff of the air before closing it.
"Yep, it's definitely going to snow soon." She closed the window and headed into the bathroom, turning on the shower.
She glanced at herself in the mirror before undressing and getting in. She looked pale, tired, emotionally and physically drained out.
She took off her robe and slipped into the shower.
She didn't feel like adjusting the temperature this time.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
About an hour later, ready to go, she got in her car and drove towards the center of the town. She sat at the red light, waiting to turn right to park on the side street she always parked at. Before the light changed, she quickly reconsidered her decision about going to the diner. The last person she wanted to see right now was Luke. She had just about enough of him and his mouth to last her a good week.
She took a left instead of a right.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
It was close to 7:30 by the time she got to the Inn. She took the extra long way to work, reminiscing about her fight with Luke the previous night. This had been their first fight since the breakup, and this time they were still filling the file as a 'fake couple.'
She walked into the Inn and Michel was on her back the second she stepped up to the front desk.
"You're 30 minutes late."
"Well aware." She snapped, not in the mood to get into a fight with him.
"You're 30 minutes late and…"
"…why don't you tell the boss on me?" She cut him off. "Oh, oops, wait…that's me."
"You know, I really don't care if you're 30 minutes late. It means 30 more peaceful minutes to myself."
"Good, quit your complaining then."
"And quite frankly, I don't mind if your 30 minutes late everyday. But I'm sure Mr. Nielsen would."
"Oh crap!" She put her hand on the side of her face, eyes closed. She completely forgot about her meeting with Mr. Nielsen at seven. "Is he still here?"
"No. He left about 10 minutes ago."
"Crap. I'm so sorry. I was on my way but then I--"
"Your lame excuses are something else I don't care about. Explain to Mr. Nielsen. I'm sure he'd love to hear them." He said handing her the phone.
Damnit Luke, for distracting her.
"…alright, and once again I'm sorry," she laughed, "you're something else…you sure Mrs. Nielsen won't share ya…alright…yeah I'll live…thanks again, bye." She hung up the phone, smiling proudly to herself.
"Thank God for my damn good looks." She said to Michel who just rolled his eyes. "I'll be in the kitchen if you need me."
She walked into the kitchen, dipping her finger in a bowl on the counter before walking to the coffee pot and pouring herself a cup.
"Sook?"
"Be right out!" Sookie called from the pantry.
"Lorelai, great, come here!" She said from the other side of the kitchen. Lorelai took her coffee and sat on a stool.
"Boy do I have news for you."
"Hold on before you start," she took a large sip of her coffee hoping it'd help her headache go away, "sorry this is the first cup of coffee I've had all morning."
Sookie stopped stirring and looked up at Lorelai. "Are you saying you haven't been to Luke's this morning?"
"Uh, no, didn't have time." She said nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders.
"So you guys aren't in a fight?" Sookie pestered.
Well sure they were in a fight, or…mad at each other…but Sookie and the rest of the town didn't know that. She wasn't going to let their personal fight interrupt there game of pretending, and since Sookie didn't know about the two of them, she played along as if everything was fine.
"No, we're great, why?"
"Well, I just thought that maybe, what I'm about to tell you, would be the cause of a fight if you were in a fight, but clearly you're not in a fight, so the whole theory about you being in a fight over what I'm about to tell you isn't the problem."
"Oh my, on with the story, Sookie!"
"Sorry. Anyways, you'll never guess who I saw."
"Oh sweetie, please don't tell me Norman Mailer is back. I don't think I deal with another one of your 'you're a very fortunate yet untalented writer who uses words I cant pronounce but you have enough money to buy me all the dictionaries in the world though you won't buy more than a cup of iced tea' rants because believe it or not, one is enough."
"It's not Norman Mailer." She said quickly.
"Then who is it?"
"Uh, think red…hair…" She said very slowly.
"Oh please don't tell me Mariah Carrey's here. I don't think I could deal with her. She'd probably con me into recording her next message to the fans."
"No, no, it's not Mariah Carrey," she lowered her voice and whispered to Lorelai, "its Rachel."
Lorelai smiled and took the last sip of her coffee. "Oh, I know."
"What do you mean you know?"
"Well, I saw her."
"What? When?"
"Well, she came up to the front desk yesterday afternoon. Surprisingly enough, I recognized her, talked to her, gave her a room, and went out to dinner with her and Luke."
"You're kidding! I was positive you didn't know about this one."
"Sorry…got anything else you want to share?"
"Ooh, yeah…you missed your meeting this morning!" She cooed.
"Know that too." She said winking at her.
"Damnit!"
"Sorry babe."
"That's alright. So tell me, why is Rachel here!"
"Well she's writing an article for work about winter in small and large cities. She already did the work on the New York half of her article, and she came here to finish it up."
"Cause nothing says small better than Stars Hollow…"
"My thoughts exactly. So, she's writing about Stars Hollow in the winter, and photographing some pictures when it snows, and she asked Luke and I if we could help with the picture part."
"You're kidding."
"Not kidding at all. So, we said yes and to thank us for it, she took us to dinner last night." Lorelai grimaced at the words of it, but didn't let Sookie see her face.
"That was nice of her."
"Yeah, we had a great time." Big…fat…lie.
"Sounds like fun."
"Yeah, when did you see her?"
"I saw her come down this morning. I didn't say hi to her, I just saw her walking out the door, besides…I wasn't positive if it was her. So I decided to take a look at the computer and saw that she was staying in one of the rooms."
"Very smart of you."
"That's what I thought." She said smiling proudly.
"Well, I'm off to go work. Come visit me soon!" Lorelai said waking out of the kitchen.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
It was around 7 when she finally left work. She had just finished talking to Rachel, where they made plans to have lunch together at the Inn tomorrow.
It had been a long, tiring day. She got into her car and leaned the seat back so it was lying down completely. She took her shoes off and laid back for a few minutes before leaving.
A lot had been on her mind lately. The Inn, her parents…but mostly, and just about always, Luke. She couldn't figure whatever it was she was trying to figure out, out. Pretending was a lot harder than she ever imagined. She wanted so badly for everything to be okay but wasn't sure of how to come across talking to Luke about it. She hurt him. Badly. And she hurt herself badly. So here are these two, incredibly hurt people, pretending to be together.
'What's the good in that?' She thought to herself.
She figured if she'd talk to Luke about them working things out, or at least trying to, that he'd automatically change the subject. Or if he wanted to be even worse about it, he'd say, 'forget this pretending crap. I quit.'
She didn't want to risk that.
She leaned her seat back up and put her keys in the ignition.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
She pulled up to the diner around 7:30. She didn't want to go in but knew she should. Maybe, somehow, she could speak to him alone and apologize for last night.
She walked into the diner and when spotted him, changed her mind. She didn't want to apologize to him. If anyone were to apologize, it would have to be him.
She sat down at the counter next to Patty.
"Hey Patty."
"Oh hello gorgeous! How are you?"
"Fine, how are you?"
"I'm great, thanks."
It was then that Luke walked up to her, smiling though he looked pissed beneath it all.
"Hey." He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss.
"Hi." She said, trying to act cheery though she could have sounder a little happier.
"Oh, no, no Luke." Patty said, putting her drink down on the counter. "That's no way to kiss a girl…especially Lorelai. They don't get much better looking than her, and if you plan on keeping her, you better try that kiss again. I know if I were your girlfriend," she said laughing a little, admiring the redness flushing to Luke's cheeks, "I would be offended. You don't want this gorgeous woman to be offended do you?"
Luke rolled his eyes and leaned across the counter kissing Lorelai for a second time, this time a little longer.
"Much better Luke, but you still need a little work."
"What can I get for you?" He asked Lorelai.
She looked up at him, cold-heartedly.
"Burger…" she paused a little, "to-go."
He sighed and went into the back to cook her food, coming out a few minutes later with a bag stuffed of food she didn't even order.
She took out her wallet but he pushed it back. "I've got it tonight…" she looked up at him, analyzing his face to see if he really meant it. It looked like he did. "Listen, can I talk to you, uh…upstairs for a few minutes?" He asked considerately.
She didn't want to get into something with him.
"Sorry, I've got to go home. I'm expecting an important call from Rory."
He nodded his head, and watched her lie straight to his face.
"See you later though."
He locked eyes with her as she backed up to the door, still staring at him. She turned around and left the diner.
'Hope that didn't look too suspicious.' She thought. 'Neh, Patty was too busy drooling over the guy next to her.'
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
It was around 3 am and she had been tossing and turning for the past hour, unable to fall back asleep. At first, she thought she forgot to lock the door, not that that would be such a big deal. Then she thought she left the sink on in her bathroom because she kept hearing something drip.
But after minutes of thinking about these things, she figured it was just her imagination. She knew it wasn't the sink, and she knew she locked the door. It was something else…something she couldn't quite think of.
She opened her eyes and got up, suddenly realizing what it was. She walked over to the window and opened it widely, smiling to herself.
It was snowing.
She watched it from her window for a few minutes, enjoying every second of it until she realized the mere image of it wasn't satisfying enough. She put on her robe and slippers and walked downstairs. She opened the door and headed out to the swing on the porch, rocking slowly back and forth.
She smiled to herself, thanking the weather Gods for bringing the snow a day early. It wasn't Thursday yet…technically it was very early Wednesday morning. Wednesday, November 23rd.
Her smile instantly turned into a serious face, looking down from the snow to her hands. She closed her eyes and leaned her head on the back of the swing.
It would have been their 7 month anniversary.
She walked inside and put on a pot of coffee knowing she wouldn't get much more sleep that night.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
By the morning, it had snowed at least 2 inches. Not much, but it was certainly something.
The forecast said they expected it to snow for the rest of the day and night, eventually equaling up to a good 7 or 8 inches by tomorrow morning. The thought alone made her smile.
She was in the kitchen drinking her 6th or 7th cup of coffee for the morning. That was the only possible thing to keep her from passing out on the couch in the lobby. She was extremely tired after her adventurous night with the snow.
She was meeting Rachel for lunch in the dining room in a few minutes so decided to take a quick stop in the bathroom before sitting down. She took a few minutes to freshen up, and even sat on the closed toilet, leaning her head against the wall because she was so tired.
She got up, put on her energetic face and made her way to the dining room where she saw Rachel already sitting at a table. Damn, she was good.
"Hey!' Lorelai said taking a seat across from Rachel. "Sorry to keep you waiting."
"Oh, you didn't, don't worry. I just got here."
"Great. So, how are you?"
"Good. I'm glad you could take some time to eat with me. I've been a little bored up there." She said pathetically laughing at herself.
"Not much to do in Stars Hollow, is there?"
"Which is one of the reasons I left."
"We all have our reasons."
They talked a few minutes until the waiter came up and took there order.
"So, how does tomorrow look for you?" Rachel asked.
"Tomorrow?" Lorelai asked, confused.
"For the pictures."
"Oh, right. Tomorrow…yeah, tomorrow still looks good. I usually get out of here early on Thursdays, and Luke…he can take a break whenever." Crap. She had somewhat forgotten about the pictures.
"Great, what time do you think you'll be done around here?"
"Probably close to 3:30."
"Alright great, well I'll come down around 3:30 and we can go to the diner and get Luke. Or you could stop home and change or something if you'd like."
"Want me to wear anything special?"
"Winter wear's good for me."
Lorelai smiled. "I love winter clothes."
"Well, good. Though I don't know if Luke does..."
Lorelai waved her hand in the air. "Oh don't worry about him. I'll get him to wear anything you want."
Rachel smiled, appreciating everything they were doing for her.
"So, I want to know all about you two."
"Oh me and Luke?"
"Yes you and Luke," Rachel said laughing. "I watched you guys. I saw how he acted around you…"
"What?" Lorelai played stupid.
"I don't know if you remember, but the first time I met you, he could hardly mumble up a sentence regarding you. You were the one who had to finish it off for him."
"I think he was just stunned to see you."
"Or he didn't know how to describe you. Friend, friend I wish was more…" Rachel supplied.
Lorelai laughed, blushing lightly. "I don't know about that…"
"I do. So, tell me…how did you guys finally come upon dating? I want to know everything."
"Well, you already know about the test run…when we kissed…" Lorelai smiled thinking about the moment. "And, that night the next afternoon, I called him at the diner and we basically said we'd talk about us. But that was cut out when he called and left 5 messages on my machine, explaining that he had to go help his sister and her husband out in Maine cause they got in a car accident…"
"5 messages, huh? He's got it bad for you."
"And if that wasn't enough, he bought a cell phone to leave those messages."
Rachel's mouth dropped. "Anti-cell phone Luke got a cell phone to talk to you?"
"Guess so."
"Wow. You've got him wrapped around your finger. Soon he'll through out his plaid for you!"
"Oh, no way. I love that plaid." She raised her eyebrows suggestively, though wishing she didn't moments later.
"And we talked while he was gone…"
"How long was he gone for?"
"7 weeks."
"Wow."
"Yeah, it was…hard. But he took me out on a date when he got home…"
"Aw, where did you guys go?"
Suddenly becoming uncomfortable, Lorelai looked around the room aimlessly. She didn't want to say they went to Sniffy's. Though she somewhat said they did last night, she didn't think Rachel would remember so she tried covering it up by saying somewhere else.
"We went to a cute little restaurant outside of Hartford. It was very nice."
"I bet it was."
"And, we went to his apartment afterwards," she really didn't want to get into details, so she assumed Rachel could take it from there, "and ever since then…we've been together."
"Well, I think that's great. It looks like you guys are really happy. I mean, you seem very happy, and I know Luke must be. After all, it seems like he does anything you'll say. Take these pictures; go out to dinner though he probably didn't want to go to…"
"Oh no, he wanted to go…" Lorelai said.
"And not to mention, showing signs of PDA. It's like he's a new man."
"Yeah…it's like he's a new man." Lorelai said, taking a bite of her food.
They spent the rest of their lunch talking about Rachel's work and life in New York. They talked about a few men she had dated, but how she was currently on the dating market though not really looking--at the moment.
They had a nice time and Lorelai was glad she could finally spend some time with somebody. She hadn't gotten to spend so much time with Sookie lately, and she and Luke tried to avoid the public eye.
It was nice to talk.
It was close to 10. She thought about going to bed but decided to go outside to watch the snow fall instead. It had been snowing all day and watching it made her in a good mood. She had the portable phone outside with her because she was talking to Rory before. She looked at her watch reading 9:54 and picked up the phone, dialing a familiar number.
"Hello?" He answered.
"Hi, it's me."
Luke sat up in his bed, surprised to hear her voice. "Oh…hey, hold on." He turned the TV off and walked over to sit on the couch. "Sorry."
"No problem."
There was a silence. She closed her eyes and listened to him just breathe. After a few minutes of realizing how awkward this was, she decided to talk.
"How are you?" She asked.
"Uh, not to bad. How are you? I didn't see you today."
They never really talked on the phone. People would see them be together during the day, and certain nights, but never was somebody around while they were on the phone so they never bothered calling each other.
"Fine." Her voice was still cold…still upset about the night before. "I just wanted to tell you that tomorrow we've got to do those pictures with Rachel."
"Oh crap…yeah…what time?"
"We'll come to the diner after I get out of work around 3:30. We're just going to go by the gazebo. She said it wouldn't take long so you can get back to the diner."
"Oh, well…alright, so I'll see you tomorrow then? Will you be in, in the morning?" Sad but true, he missed not seeing her over the past day. He was well aware that she was still upset about the dinner with Rachel, but he tried to apologize. She was just too damn stubborn to let him say something.
"Probably not…I want to get there as early as possible so I can leave earlier for the pictures."
"Oh," she could tell he sounded disappointed, "alright well I'll see you guys tomorrow."
"Yep, bye."
"Bye."
She hung up the phone and watched the snow fall for a few more minutes before going inside.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
It was exactly 3:30 the next afternoon when Rachel came down from her room to find Lorelai who was sitting at the front desk flipping through a magazine.
"Hey." Rachel said, greeting her.
"Oh hey! God, I'm so glad you came down, I was getting so bored and my master over here," she said pointing to Michel, "thought I was annoying for some strange reason."
"Oh, please." Michel said from the computer as Rachel just laughed.
"So, ready?" Lorelai asked.
"As long as you are."
"Great, let's go. Michel, I'm leaving."
"As if I couldn't tell…"
"Didn't think ya could. I'll see you tomorrow."
She grabbed her purse from underneath the desk and they headed out to the car.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
They got to Luke's a few minutes later and sat at the counter while they waited for him to come out of the kitchen. He walked out and noticed them right away and walked over to them.
"Hey." He leaned over and gave Lorelai a kiss as Rachel admired the scene from her seat.
"Hey, you almost ready?" Lorelai asked.
"Let me grab my coat."
As Luke put on his coat, they all began to walk across the street towards the gazebo. It was snowing very lightly, but there was a good 8 inches or so on the ground. Perfect for the pictures.
"So, uh, what exactly are we supposed to be doing?"
"Don't worry. They won't all be of you. And though I'll probably take a lot, that's just cause I'm a photo freak, but I won't use all of them…probably just a few. But I've got to get enough to have a good selection."
"Fine by us, right?" Lorelai said turning to Luke.
"Okay, let's see…I never actually want you guys to look directly at me. These are supposed to look natural, so that's what we're aiming for."
Luke walked over to Lorelai and whispered. "God this is weird."
"You're telling me." Lorelai said laughing a little.
"Meaning…you guys are going to have to look natural." Rachel said laughing at the awkward way they were standing next to each other.
"Uh, I don't know what we're supposed to do."
"Uhm, okay Lorelai walk a little," she moved her hand to the right, trying to get her closer to Luke, "okay good, now Luke put your arm," she walked over and tried adjusting Luke's arm around Lorelai's waist but it wasn't exactly working the way she planned, "here, Lorelai will you hold this for a second." She said holding out her camera, as Lorelai took it from her.
"Here, if you don't mind…" She said looking towards Lorelai who nodded her head, unaware of what she was going to do.
Rachel walked up to Luke and put his arms around her waist as she put hers around his neck and smiled faintly at him, while he smiled back. Meanwhile, Lorelai stood in the corner watching, rolling her eyes and accommodating to the feeling of her stomach. Deep with jealousy, she watched them gaze at each other.
"Like…that." Rachel said stepping away and taking her camera from Lorelai.
Fully aware, and still jealous, Lorelai walked over to Luke and pushed his hands low on her waist. She leaned on her tip toes and put her arms around his neck. She looked up at him, smiling, and he smiled back, feeling like a complete fool.
Rachel started clicking away the second they got into position. When she paused, Lorelai leaned in a little more and kicked her right leg back so that the heel of her foot was touching her butt.
"Good…" Rachel cooed from the corner, still taking pictures like crazy.
"Alright, let's see. I love profile shots. So here, Luke, stand behind Lorelai and wrap your arms around her stomach from behind. And Lorelai put your arms over his."
As they posed like that, Rachel took a few shots. Luke leaned down and Rachel thought he kissed her ear, but really, he was whispering something to her.
"Hey listen, I'm sorry about the other night."
Lorelai opened her previously closed eyes.
"I didn't mean the things I said."
Lorelai jerked her head around so she was looking at Luke, meaning to say something though Rachel thought it was an elaborate plan for the photo shot.
"Oh, that's good Lorelai."
Lorelai laughed at how unaware Rachel was. She looked up at Luke and decided to believe the guy, but not wanting to get into a heart to heart apology.
"It's okay." She said quietly enough for him to hear.
He nodded his head and kept his gaze on her as they heard Rachel form the background.
"I know this is weird, but this would be a perfect opportunity to get that kiss every photographer wants…" She said, asking with her tone of voice.
Luke leaned down and as he held Lorelai close, kissed her for a few seconds while Rachel took some pictures. After a minute, Lorelai pulled away and turned to Rachel.
"I swear to God if there are on the E-Bay…" Lorelai said smiling. "You better let me know so I can bid the highest for me and my little baby." Lorelai said playfully hitting Luke on the arm.
Good…things seemed to go back to normal.
"I'll be sure to let you know. Now, I've got all the still one's I want…so now, if you could just mess around for a few that would be great."
"Dirty!"
Lorelai leaned down and made a snow ball, then quickly threw it at Luke where it landed on his face.
"Ah, jeez Lorelai."
He leaned down and made another snowball but Lorelai ran away from him quickly. Rachel stood behind and photographed the whole thing. Giving in, Luke started chasing after Lorelai and finally got her and threw her down into the snow, then throwing the snowball at her. She crawled over and grabbed his leg, dragging him down on top of her. He leaned between her legs and she held him by the top of his coat.
"Perfect." Rachel said.
Lorelai laughed again…at her…and stared at Luke straight in the eyes. He knew the look she was giving him wasn't for the pictures. And it wasn't for the pretending.
It was the more realistic expression he had seen from her since they dated.
"Alright, I think you guys are all set."
Lorelai's eyes gazed down towards Luke's chest, almost as if she was sad their time was up. Luke quickly got up, helping Lorelai up as well.
"I've definitely got some good shots." Rachel said putting the cover on her camera. "You guys looked great."
"Good." Lorelai said, slowly walking towards Rachel, Luke close behind.
"Thank you guys so much. You really helped me out."
"Glad we could." Lorelai said.
"Well, I'm going to let you guys go for the night…I'm going to go around and take some more pictures and then head on back to the Inn."
"Alright, well I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah, I'll be there…though I think I'm leaving tomorrow."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah, I've got to get back. My article's due on Monday and I've got to write the other half, as well as get these pictures developed."
"Alright, well…I'll see you in the morning then."
"Yes, you will." She looked over at Luke. "I'm not sure if I'll see you again though."
"Oh, well…"
Rachel walked up and gave him a hug goodbye, whispering in his ear, "It was nice to see you again, Luke."
He hugged her back, whispering, "you too, Rachel. Take care."
Lorelai stood from behind watching them, thanking God that she was leaving.
This was enough jealousy to last a lifetime.
Rachel pulled away and started walking away from them.
"Bye guys." She said, turning around and waving. "Thanks again."
"No problem."
When she was out of reach, Lorelai turned to Luke.
"Well, I guess I'm going to get going."
"Oh…alright."
"So, I guess I'll see you later."
"Yeah…later."
She bit her lip, and smiled innocently, relieved that they had made up.
"Bye Luke."
"See ya Lorelai."
She got into her car and drove off.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
The next morning at work, Lorelai went into the kitchen to find Sookie.
"Hey."
"Oh hey Lorelai…how are you?" She said putting down her spoon.
"Tired. And this coffee isn't doing the trick."
"Well, why don't you go visit your boyfriend? I'm sure his coffee will do the trick." She said, raising her eyebrows suggestively, nudging Lorelai in the side.
"You've got a dirty, dirty mind little lady."
"And nothing to do with it. Being pregnant sucks."
"Shh, don't let your baby hear that." She said pointing to the bump in her stomach.
"God, you sound just like Jackson."
"Uh, thank you?" Lorelai said, unaware if that was supposed to be good or bad.
"He's so crazy about the baby that's…not even a baby yet!"
Lorelai bit her lip. "Uh oh, what has he done this time?"
"Well, the other night I got up in the middle of the night because I had to go to the bathroom but I realized that Jackson wasn't in the bed with me…"
"Maybe he was with his mistress at the local Motel 8." Lorelai suggested.
"…so I went downstairs to the kitchen to see if he was there, because sometimes you know he has those mid-sleep brainstorms and run's to the kitchen to experiment…"
"…At 4 in the morning."
"Exactly. But he wasn't in the kitchen so I went in the living room and saw him tossing and turning on the couch."
"Ah that sneak."
"So I walked over to him and woke him up and asked what he was doing."
"Was he having dirty dreams about you?"
"No, as a matter of fact, he was sleeping down there because he said he's noticed that I've been rolling in bed, and he was afraid that I'd roll right off and squish the baby, so he wanted to give me enough space without worrying that I might fall off the bed."
Lorelai tried holding back the laugh but couldn't resist. "God, what a gentleman."
"I don't know, I'm starting to get a little sick of this."
"So divorce him."
"That'd be sweet."
"He just cares about you, sweetie."
"A little too much. He's actually making me have a baby shower early because he thought that the last time I had one, there was too much pre-excitement for the baby."
"You're kidding."
"No. Which is why, I want to give you this." She walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed the envelope that said Lorelai.
She handed it to Lorelai who ripped it open and began reading the invitation for Sookie's baby shower being thrown by Jackson.
"Isn't someone like, oh I don't know, me, supposed to throw this shin-dig for you?"
"He wants to make it perfectly safe for the baby."
"Well, consider me there…this," she took the envelope out to read the date again, "Tuesday."
"Great and the invitation's really for you and Luke! Do you think you'll be able to get him to come?"
Lorelai thought for a second. She didn't think Luke would want to come to this with her. She considered telling Sookie the truth. The truth about everything. The breakup, the pretending…everything. Sookie's her best friend…she deserves to know the truth…
"He wouldn't miss it for the world." Lorelai said smiling, kicking herself in reality.
Maybe not telling her would be better. The thought of having Luke, personally, to herself, without anyone--except for the exception of Rory--knowing they weren't really together seemed best to her. She didn't want to lose the opportunity of acting the way she did around Luke without someone really knowing the truth.
Holding on to him was all she wanted most.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
As Lorelai walked back to the front desk, she wondered if Rachel was still there. She hadn't seen her all morning, but figured she was still there. She looked in the computer and saw that Rachel was still staying in her room, no signs of her leaving yet.
She liked Rachel. She really did. But she wanted her to leave. She wanted things to be normal, without a touch of weirdness with her and Luke.
But most of all, she wanted her to leave because she was jealous when Rachel was around Luke.
She then came clear with her feelings. Realizing what exactly jealousy feels like…
First Week of September…
"Hey." She gave him a quick kiss and let him inside.
"Hey back." Luke said walking in the house and setting the food on the table before taking his coat off and hanging it on the hanger.
"I brought food."
"Good, I'm starving."
They walked into the living room and sat on the couch.
"I got the movie in already. Let me just go get some plates and forks."
Lorelai walked into the kitchen and came back with a few plates and forks for them to eat with. She set down a plate in front of Luke before setting down her Petunia Pig plate in front of herself.
"Petunia Pig?" Luke asked, reading the script on the plate.
"Oh, yeah. I just washed it actually. This is Gigi's favorite plate."
Luke's face dropped. "Oh, you were watching Gigi again?"
"Well, her and Chris stopped by today. Gigi forgot her toy from the other day and she can't sleep without it. It's crazy how kids function, isn't it?" Lorelai said laughing before putting her burger on the plate.
"I thought you said you wouldn't see him this week."
Lorelai looked up, confused but then thought for a moment. "Oh, who Chris?"
"Yeah, Chris. I mean you were with him just about all of last week…"
Suddenly aware of where this was headed, she tried to make things better before they took a turn for the worse. "I told you I was helping with Gigi. Which reminds me, do you know I, Lorelai Gilmore, am the proud woman whom taught Gigi how to say momma? Of course she doesn't call me momma, well sometimes, but only when I talk in that annoying voice that Sherry probably cooed to her before the bimbo jumped on a plane and left."
Luke rolled his eyes and looked away. "No, I didn't know."
"And the other day, oh gosh, it was the funniest thing- the other day Chris and I were in the living room talking and Gigi tried running, cause for some reason she thought that would work better, over to us and she tripped, and I know that's a horrible thing for me to say, that I thought it was funny, but the poor innocent little girl didn't know any better…"
"Are we going to watch the movie or what?" Luke said hastily.
"What's the matter with you?" She said a little harsher than intended.
"Nothing."
"Luke," she said quietly, scooting closer to him and putting her hands around his waist, "what's the matter?" She kissed him softly, first on the cheek, then moving closer to his lips, wanting to figure out why the sudden attitude and she knew hostility wouldn't get her those answers.
"Nothing." He said quietly.
He thought telling himself that would make it the truth.
"Luke." She tightened her grip around him. "Talk to me."
He turned and stared at her straight in the eyes. "I haven't seen you much lately. You've been busy with the Inn, and when you're not at the Inn, you're constantly with Christopher and Gigi. You've seen Christopher more than you've seen me lately." It came out selfish sounding, but he didn't care. It was the truth, and after all, she was the one who asked.
"He hasn't been around that much." She said flatly.
"Oh please. He's been around for the past few weeks. You've been spending all your free time with him and the baby. Can't he take care of her by himself? I mean look at you, you raised, probably the greatest kid I know all by yourself, and that was when you were sixteen. Don't you think he can do it by himself?"
"Of--of course I think he can. But I think that me helping him and spending time around Gigi is only for the better. She loves having me around."
"Yeah, well so does Chris." He shot.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You know half of the reason that Chris is coming here is because he wants to see you. If that wasn't the case, he would have hired a babysitter a long time ago. But instead he wants to be with you."
"Christopher doesn't want to be with me. He knows I'm sweet to his kid, and he likes having somebody he knows around. Chris and I have a past, ya know, we're friends too."
"Believe me Lorelai, I know you guys have a past. I'm reminded every time I see him, or hear his name. It's pretty obvious that he wants more from you than the role of a babysitter though."
"Luke." She said warningly.
"I don't think you guys should be spending so much time together."
It was now that she realized that this was all because Luke was jealous. Jealous of Christopher spending so much time with Lorelai. And who knows, maybe it was because he was afraid that something would happen with the two of them.
"You don't trust me." She accused.
Luke swung his head up and looked at her. "It's not you I don't trust."
"You think that Christopher is going to make a move. That suddenly he's going to call me Carol, and I'll call him Mike, and we'll be together, with our happy little family…with Rory, and Gigi, and who knows maybe we'll find another 4 to make the bunch complete."
"That's not what I said."
"Well then what is it you're trying to say?"
"I've seen you guys before. When he came back around Sookie's wedding. I know what happened with you. Miss Patty doesn't have the quietest mouth. I heard what happened with you two, and I know how hurt you were. The guy doesn't necessarily bring out the goodness in you. He hurt's you. And now, here he is again. He's trying to start something with you Lorelai even though he knows I'm your boyfriend. He knows you're not single, which only raises the stakes higher. He's testing your limits. And he's pushing you over the edge. You don't know it, but he's slowly trying to ease his way back into your life, and you're sitting there, letting him."
"That's not true at all. Me helping Chris is nothing more than a friendly act, Luke. And he knows I'm with you. He's not trying to get in the way of us. He knows how happy you make me."
"Well fine, but you know what. I'm just going to say this, and you don't have to listen to me, because chances are you won't. But I'm just going to say this out loud, for anyone to hear…consider it a friendly warning…I don't think you should be spending your time with Christopher."
"You can't tell me who I can and cannot see."
"I know I can't. And I'm not. I'm just saying, I think you shouldn't. You've been around him long enough. I know what's going to wind up happening…"
"What? Huh, Luke? Since you seem to be Mr. Fortune Teller himself, tell me, what's going to happen?"
"Nothing. Just turn on the movie already."
"No, come on tell me."
"I'm not going to continue this with you. Turn on the movie or else I've gotta go."
Lorelai picked up the remote and sat up on the couch, arm pressed against Luke's as she pressed play.
They watched the first half of the movie without saying a word. Lorelai at some point grabbed a hold of Luke's hand and was holding it ever since.
Neither of them were paying attention to the movie, but they didn't want to turn it off.
"It's not you I don't trust." He said blandly and quietly, looking straight ahead.
Lorelai squeezed his hand a little tighter.
Now she suddenly realized what wanting somebody to leave felt like.
Though her personal learning experience wasn't nearly as bad as Luke's.
As if on cue out of consideration, Rachel walked down the stairs, luggage in hand.
"Hey, Lorelai, great! I'm so glad I caught you!"
"Oh, Rachel, are you leaving?"
"Yeah…it's my time. But I wanted to say goodbye to you before I left."
"Good, good. I'm glad you could find me!" She felt that being nice would outlive her guilty feelings of wanting Rachel to leave.
"Well," she put down her bags and grabbed the key from her pocket, "here's the key."
Lorelai took the key from her and walked around to give her a hug goodbye.
"It was so great seeing you again!"
"You too. Thank you so much for everything."
She pulled back and smiled politely.
"We were glad we could help. Now," she hit her playfully on her arm, "don't be a stranger."
"I won't, I won't. I'll come visit you guys sometime before the next 4 years…who knows, maybe you and Luke will be married by then!"
Lorelai raised her eye brows, and nodded. "Maybe…"
"So thanks again."
"Of course."
"And, I'll keep in touch with you guys." She took a business card off the front desk. "I've got your number."
"Take care, Rachel."
She smiled and nodded. "You too, Lorelai. And take care of Luke…like you have been doing."
"I will."
She watched Rachel leave. She actually went to the window and watched her drive off, just to make sure she was actually leaving. Not that she wanted her to leave, though well, she did, but just because she wanted to see her leave for good, before the pounds fell off her shoulders.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
"…and then when he left, he turned to her and said if you ever think you're sleeping with me again, you must be kidding."
Lorelai called to Luke in the back who was getting something from the kitchen.
It was close to 10 and Lorelai was the only one in the diner. She had stopped by close to 8 and was doing some work while she sat and enjoyed her coffee.
As he came out from the kitchen, smiling, she finished the last sip of her coffee. It felt good being there. They were getting along without anybody watching. And that's all she wanted from this. To be able to get along with him.
"Well, I should get going."
Luke glanced out the window and saw that it was snowing.
"I'll walk you home."
Before she could respond he was putting his coat and scarf on.
"It's late outside." He said as she watched him.
"Fine by me."
They walked outside, close to each other, enjoying the silence of the night. As they approached Miss Patty's, they saw her standing outside smoking a cigarette.
"Luke, Lorelai, isn't it a little late for you to be out?"
"He's just walking me home, Patty." Lorelai said smiling politely.
Luke grabbed a hold of Lorelai's hand as she leaned in closer to him.
"Well you kids have a nice night."
"Thanks, you too."
As they got closer to Lorelai's house, the snow came down quicker. By the time they reached the door, they were both covered in snow.
"Come in for a few minutes so you can dry off."
"Well, alright."
They walked inside the house and went directly to the kitchen.
"Want some tea?"
"That'd be great."
She began making the tea as Luke hesitantly took a seat at the kitchen table. They hadn't been alone much…not ever since the break up of course. And though they were pretending, nobody was around to notice that they weren't together at night.
As the tea finished, Lorelai poured two glasses and set them down at the table. She opened the fridge and took out a pizza box and a plate from the cupboard.
She walked back to the table and set it down. It was the Petunia Pig plate, and it caught Luke's attention right away, though Lorelai didn't seem to notice as she happily set a piece of cold pizza on the plate.
"So listen," she looked up and smiled, "Sookie's having a baby shower Tuesday…I sort of told her that you would come. So, I was hoping that you would."
For some reason he couldn't take his eyes off the plate. He was thinking about everything that had happened between them. The first time Lorelai lied to him about where she was, the first time that Christopher was over at her house with Gigi, the time that they had a fight over Christopher, the very same time that the Petunia Pig plate was used…the night that they broke up…and it was as if he couldn't take it anymore.
He threw his cup down on the table and stood up, putting his coat back on which was draped over the chair next to him.
"This is beginning to be too much for me."
He pushed in his chair and headed towards the walkway of the kitchen.
"I can't do this pretending crap anymore."
Before Lorelai could even get a word in, she heard Luke slam the door behind her.
She walked quickly to the door, intending on chasing after him and asking him what happened back there, but by the time she got to the door, she saw his shadow disappear around the block.
Just to make sure he was out of sight though, she opened the door and stepped out, realizing it had stopped snowing.
She crossed her arms and sighed loudly before heading back upstairs.
She walked into her room and quickly got out of her clothes, rummaging for something to wear in her closet.
Then, she came across it. The shirt that she had grown accustom to. The shirt that she practically lived in. The shirt that brought back all the old memories.
She slid out of her pants and current shirt, replacing them with his blue flannel button up shirt, only.
She slowly walked back downstairs to clean up the mess she left in the kitchen. She put the cups of unfinished tea in the sink, and walked back to put the pizza box in the fridge.
She grabbed the plate and set that in the sink, then realizing which plate it was.
A/N 2: So…don't hate us. We have good intentions, scouts honor. We're just as big of JavaJunkies as you all are. Happy New Year!