Chapter 13: Big jumps and Wrong Conclusions
Lorelai got to the Inn about eleven or so. Sookie had been impatiently waiting for her so that she could find out what was going on.
"Hi" A glum voice said entering the kitchen.
"Hey hon" Sookie said as she walked over to Lorelai.
"Wow, that bad?" Sookie said as she noticed Lorelai's tear streaked face.
"Yeah it is" Lorelai said as she put her head in her hands.
"Shush" Sookie said soothingly before shouting "Get me a cup of coffee over here...stat!" to which Lorelai laughed slightly but it came out as more of a sob.
"Tell me what happened"
"Well Luke and Dean got into a fight last night and stupid me tried to stop it which I did... unfortunately I stopped it right in front of Luke's fist" Lorelai said as she turned her head and showed Sookie the bruise on her cheek. Sookie gasped, "... so then Babette saw so no doubt it's all over town by now. I didn't get talking to Luke, he just left. So I go to the diner this morning to talk to him and who do I run into but... Nicole." Lorelai said, she spat out her name. "So I'm talking to her and she's saying how she left Luke in bed because apparently he hadn't gotten much sleep the night before.... I wonder why... so I ask why the diner isn't open and get this because 'she told him to take the day off'" Lorelai said using air quotes for the last bit.
"Wow" Sookie said as she sat down in the stool next to Lorelai.
"Yeah so that's that I guess" Lorelai said sadly.
"I can't believe Luke would do that" Sookie said astonished.
"Yeah well me neither but there you go" Lorelai said. 'I knew I shouldn't have got into a relationship with Luke, especially with him on the rebound' Lorelai thought as she quietly sipped the coffee that had been set down in front of her.
"Are you going to talk to him?"
"Not right now"
"But soon?" Sookie said, she thought there must be some simple explanation to all this, musn't there? I mean Luke had wanted Lorelai for so long, why would he throw that all away?
A while later Lorelai managed to clean herself up and start working, she was already way behind. The day went slowly for her, she couldn't get her mind off Luke and the smug smile that Nicole had when she had been leaving Luke's that morning.
Luke woke up about midday, his headache still there but overall he felt better that he had gotten some sleep, he knew as soon as he remembered the previous night he would feel bad again though. He knew he had to speak to her sometime, he just needed to figure out what to say. Luke got up and took a shower to clean the stench of beer off him and to try and make himself feel a bit better... it didn't work. He got dressed in his usual flannel uniform and headed downstairs, He saw a note on the door of his apartment as he was leaving.
'Feel Better, Nicole x'
He scrunched it up and threw it in the bin on his way downstairs. He saw a few people outside waiting for the diner to open, he knew he would have to face them sometime but he decided to leave it another twenty minutes. He cleaned the counters and opened up around 12.30.
"Hey Luke" Kirk said as he entered the diner to which Luke grunted.
"Luke sugar how are you? Have you spoken to Lorelai yet?" Babette said before Miss Patty rushed in behind them.
"Luke, what happened with Dean? Did he try and hurt Lorelai? You sure gave her a shiner anyway"
Luke knew this had all been coming, the word had probably been spread the second he had left, he wondered how farfetched the actual story had become by now, this town could turn even the simplest story into something weird and wonderful.
"Leave me alone all of you" Luke said loudly and impatiently. They all knew that this probably wasn't the best time to talk to Luke, he looked like he would kill them all if they mentioned the 'L' word again.
The day was the slowest day he had ever had in the diner. He had to deal with the stares of people all day as they whispered to each other, usually he would ignore the talk of the town but when it was about him he couldn't especially about this. He felt like he was being eaten up inside every time he thought about it. He was pretty sure that Lorelai wouldn't show her face around the diner for a few days.
About 9pm that evening.
Lorelai had just arrived home, she had worked on longer at the Inn since she was in late and had lots to catch up on, she just wanted to keep her mind off things... mainly Luke. She ordered pizza and then took some ice-cream out of the freezer and started to eat as she waited for the pizza to arrive, she decided that tonight should be her time to wallow. The phone rang, she wasn't sure if she wanted to answer it, it could have been Luke or even worse... her mother!
"Hello" she said trying to swallow the ice-cream which resulted in a coughing fit as she choked on it.
"Hi you okay?" Luke's voice said on the other end. There was silence as he waited for her to say something and she waited for him.
"Just choked but I'm fine"
"Lorelai, I can't say how sorry I am for what happened, I didn't want it to be like this. I never meant to hurt you." Luke said in a soft tone that he only reserved to her.
"Yea well it's better it happened now than further down the line" she said coldly as he sat in silence.
"What do you mean?"
I was thinking that it's probably best if we are just friends" Lorelai said, she didn't want to give Luke the chance to tell her about Nicole first.
"Lorelai, c'mon, we can work this out" Luke said pleadingly, he couldn't believe she was ending it before it had barely even begun.
"This is for the best Luke"
"It was a one-time thing Lorelai, I wasn't thinking straight you have to believe that"
"Luke... I just can't really believe you would do that after what happened, it's like I didn't even know you or something" Lorelai said now with the tears welling up in her eyes as she lied to him.
"I understand" he said sadly as he gritted his teeth, and hung up the phone.
"Okay, bye" she said as she hung up the phone.
She sat back on her bed, not really believing that her and Luke had just broken up. She knew it was a stupid idea after only a few weeks but there had been something different for her with Luke, 'I thought we could go the distance' she thought. She really needed someone right now, but she wasn't sure who to call.... She had usually gone to Luke when she needed to talk to someone. She picked up the phone and dialled the familiar number.
"Hello"
"Chris?" Lorelai said crying.
"What's up Lor?" he asked with real concern in his voice, he always knew when something wasn't right with her.
"Me and Luke just broke up"
"How come?" he asked surprised.
"Let's just say his ex-wife and him are on better terms than I thought"
"Man, that sucks..."
"Yeah"
"Well he's the one losing out Lor"
"Thanks Chris. I just really wanted to talk to someone" she said as she wiped her eyes. She loved the way just talking to Chris sometimes could make her feel better, he was the only person she had thought of calling. She didn't want to call Rory and upset her when she was away, she would fill her in when she got back.
"You can call me anytime. Are you gonna be okay?"
"Yeah I'll be fine" she replied, 'I will be fine... won't I?' she thought.
"Well if you need anything I'm here okay?"
"Okay thanks Chris" she said tearfully.
"Bye" she said as she hung up the phone.
Chris set the phone down, he hated to hearing Lorelai upset on the phone and not being able to anything because she was so far away. He felt bad that things hadn't worked out for them and she was upset, he hated hearing her upset but in a way he felt good because he felt like it had given him a second chance with her. 'Is this a sign?' he thought. She had called him after all...
Luke sat up in his apartment staring at the phone as he had been since he hung up ten minutes ago, why would she do this? Didn't she believe that it was an accident? He would never have hurt her on purpose. He sat in there in shock, he couldn't believe that after all these years of waiting that it just had ended with a phone call...
The next morning Lorelai woke up early, she was really tired, she hadn't been sleeping well the last few nights because of everything that was going on. She went downstairs and started to make coffee, when she was waiting she decided to go outside and collect the mail. She put her slippers on and walked to the front door, she opened it and was surprised when she saw a small bunch of flowers lying by her feet on the front porch. She looked down curiously, were they from Luke? She wondered. She knelt down and picked them up and smelt their fresh sweet scent before she took the card out to read it.
Sorry about the fight, I hope you're okay. Dean
She felt the sides of her mouth tug upwards as she read it, 'He really is a good kid' she thought, although part of her was still disappointed that they hadn't been from Luke. She went back inside and got dressed for the Inn, she wanted to avoid Luke's for the next few days until things calmed down.
About a week later...
"Mom!" an excited voice shouted.
"Rory!" Lorelai said as she ran downstairs, they both hugged for a minute and Lorelai's eyes started to well up as she hugged her. They pulled back and smiled.
"I can't believe you're crying, I thought you wanted me home!" Rory said sarcastically.
"You're never leaving again, I mean it!"
"Except for Yale next week"
"Mmm I was thinking, maybe you should give that whole thing a miss, I mean who cares about stupid college anyway? We'll freak to Hollywood and make us famous"
"Okay, I was getting a bit tired of it anyway" Rory said as Lorelai hugged her again.
"Hello Lorelai" Emily said as she came to the doorway before turning to Rory, "You should really wait until the car comes to a complete stop before you jump out" Emily said shaking her head.
"Hi Mom"
"Sorry Grandma" Rory said apologetically.
"So are you going to invite me in or do you want me to die of the cold out here?"
"Mmm there's a tough one" Lorelai said with a frown on as if she was deep in thought, "You wanna come in Mom?" Lorelai asked smiling at her mother as she rolled her eyes.
"Finally" Emily said walking past Lorelai and Rory.
"It is looking tidy" Emily said in a friendly tone that Lorelai had rarely heard before.
"Thanks mom" Lorelai said genuinely.
"... yes well it wouldn't be hard... it's usually such a pig sty" Emily said matter-of-factly. Lorelai shot her a look of death and was about to say something back before Rory interrupted, acting as the buffer between them as usual.
"So grandma are you going to see grandpa tonight?"
"Yes I'm going to visit him later" Emily said smiling.
"Booty call" Lorelai mumbled to Rory as she gave her a dirty look, 'UGH' she thought as she just realised what she had just implied!
"You tired?" Lorelai asked changing the subject.
"No I slept on the plane for a bit, I am starving though"
"You wanna order pizza? Or Chinese?"
"Can we go to Luke's?" Rory asked. She really wanted to get some of his coffee and burgers, and truthfully so did Lorelai, she had been living on pizza and Chinese for a week.
"Um you sure? We could just get some pizza?"
"You know I know a great restaurant in Hartford we could go to, it has the best salad" Emily said.
"On second thought let's go to Luke's" Lorelai said. She knew that her mom wouldn't be likely to join them if they went there.
"Fine" Emily stated.
"Let me just go and say hello to my room first" Rory said as she went to her room and began the whole process she had done the previous year of saying hello to every piece of clothing that she had left behind, not forgetting the socks!
"So you wanna come Mom?" Lorelai asked, knowing the answer would be no but she knew if she didn't ask at least that her Mom would make her pay for it later.
"No that's okay. I will get the driver to leave the two of you off though"
"That's okay we can walk"
"No you will freeze"
"Well we'll drive"
"Well Lorelai what would be the point of driving if I can give you a lift?" Emily said as her voice got higher in pitch as it always did when her and Lorelai were beginning to get into one of their arguments about something.
"Fine mom"
About ten minutes later they all left the house for the diner, Lorelai hadn't got the chance to tell Rory about Luke yet since her mother had been there. They jumped out of the car as it rolled up to the diner.
"Driving in style" Lorelai said as she grinned as the limousine pulled away.
"Sure is" Rory said grinning as she walked into the diner. She saw Luke walking with some plates to a table, he had his back to them and obviously hadn't seen them enter.
"Hi Luke" Rory said.
"Rory... hi" he said grinning as she walked over and gave him a hug, he patted her on the back and looked over at Lorelai who just stared at them both.
"How was Europe?"
"Great. I brought you back a present?"
"Is it Jam?" he asked grinning.
"Nope sorry but I hope this is a good constellation prize" she said smiling as she handed him the gift bag. He opened it and grinned at her as he took it out and examined them. It was a blue short sleeved flannel shirt and a set of socks each saying each day of the week.
"Thanks" he said as he half hugged her again.
"Okay you two enough already" Lorelai said as she walked over smiling. She loved that Rory was home but she knew she was going have to tell her what had happened between her and Luke and she had already made herself sick going over the details in her head.
Luke and Lorelai locked eyes for a minute before she turned her gaze to Rory, 'What is he thinking? She thought as he thought the same about her. Lorelai and Rory sat down at the table, Rory gave her mom a strange look, something was going on between her and Luke and she wanted to know what it was.
"What do you want? It's on the house" he said looking at Rory. Lorelai just looked at Rory trying hard not to act strangely but doing a very bad job of it.
"Burger, fries, ice-cream, pie and coffee"
"Yes lots and lots of coffee" Lorelai said, she needed to get her fix of Luke's coffee that she had been avoiding. Luke nodded and walked back to the kitchen to get their orders.
"So...." Rory asked.
"What?" Lorelai asked innocently.
"What's going on with you and Luke? I sensed something was up, so what is it? Trouble in paradise or are you still doing the undercover thing and don't want the town to know" Rory said playfully.
"We broke up" Lorelai said as she fiddled with her cutlery.
"What? How come?" she asked, clearly shocked.
"It just... wasn't right" Lorelai said frowning, 'It was right for me.... Why wasn't I enough for him?' Lorelai thought.
"There must be a reason, c'mon mom", "Oh you have a little something on your cheek mom" Rory said as she caught the side of her mom's face. The bell on the diner door rang and they heard a familiar voice.
"Hey"
"Dad?" Rory said turning around to see Chris walking up to them, she got up and hugged him tightly.
Hey, I hope you're all liking the story.... yet again Chris returns! Read on to find out what happens next! I will try and get the next chapter up for tomorrow or monday. READ AND REVIEW :)