A/N: Woooowwww... I am mesmerised by all these reviews! So many! So many! Now normally I would say something to all the reviewers... but this time there are so many that I don't have enough time! So I think I'll just list... I still want to recognise all you gorgeous people!
Thanks to those who reviewed chapter 1; Jenn, Julians Angel, Chelsea-Lynne and kes
And another big thanks to those that reviewed chapter 2; Lorelaivictoriadanes, Jinna, Severien (don't we all!), Julians Angel, Lynn (well what else is there?!), GOThICsOCkMoNKeYs, Kimmers, screaming truth, me, Kyizi, Chelsea, ocdwithlhg, ProFfeSseR (I totally forgot about that... arg), Doris (well, you gotta love McDonalds too!), Amanda, Sama, pinkXfairie and Chelsea-Lynne (darl, I know you loved it.. but you only need to press the review button once! :p)
Thanks guys SO MUCH you are all THE BEST! Love you my babies!
Lorelai walked out of Luke's room and towards her room where she bumped into Babette and Miss Patty who were still donning their yellow robes.
"Hey sugar, what are you doing up so late?" Babette asked curiously, Lorelai's slightly dishevelled hair not going unnoticed.
"A late night rendezvous maybe," Miss Patty proposed suggestively. Lorelai forced a chuckle.
"And what are you ladies doing up so late?" Lorelai asked, quickly trying to turn the conversation away from her.
"Seeing if I can talk Luke into another round of Yahtzee in his room..." Babette said with a wink.
"My he's looking handsome this evening I could just -"
"Yep, that's nice Patty," Lorelai said, quickly cutting Patty off before she continued with her dirty notion.
"Oh those muscles..."
"Such strong arms..."
"Yeah well I've got to keep going, Rory's looking for me," Lorelai said, managing to escape Babette and Patty as they continued walking down to their room, fantasising about Luke. Lorelai walked down the stairs to see if Rory was in the lobby, and right away saw her coming through the door with a few CDs in her hands.
"Rory!" Lorelai called, walking down the stairs a little quicker to greet her daughter. Rory turned to face her and let a little smile escape, trying best to cover her guilty face. Luckily enough for her Lorelai didn't pick it up.
"Is that all the CDs you got?" Lorelai asked as she took them from Rory.
"Yeah, it was hard to pick," she replied, trying her best to cover up.
"Hmm, okay. Well, I'm just gonna go take care of these, I'll meet you up in our room, okay?" Lorelai said.
"Yep," Rory nodded, not looking Lorelai straight in the eye. Lorelai noticed this and gave Rory a bit of a look.
"You alright sweetie?" Lorelai asked, trying to catch Rory's gaze.
"What? Oh, yeah," Rory replied, looking up at her mother and forcing a smile. Lorelai gave a little sigh.
"Okay, well, I'll see you in a bit," she said before walking off. Rory took a deep breath before heading up the stairs to their room. She felt guilty for not telling her mom about what happened with Dean, she just figured she'd tell her later. This was a big thing, and she wasn't sure how Lorelai would take it. She always said that she would talk to her mom before it happened, but – it just happened. She wasn't planning on doing it, it was just in the moment. She wasn't sure how Lorelai would feel about it being with Dean – after all, he was still married. She decided it would be best to wait a while – maybe for Dean and Lindsay's separation to be definite before she mentioned anything.
When Lorelai returned to her room Rory was already in bed – but not asleep.
"Hey sleepy," Lorelai said, moving over to Rory and sitting on the edge of her bed. Rory rolled over to face her mom and forced another smile.
"Hey," she replied. Lorelai was about to tell her about her encounter with Luke but cut herself short. She didn't know if she wanted anyone knowing about this yet. I mean, she was still processing it – things were moving along so quickly, and she didn't want Rory to feel uncomfortable. What if she didn't want her to go out with Luke? What if she wanted things to stay the way they were forever? This was confusing Lorelai so she quickly tried to wipe it from her mind.
"Still not asleep?" Lorelai asked, looking down at her daughter and brushing a bit of hair from her face. She seemed so big tonight for some reason. She was growing up too quickly.
"If I was, would I be talking to you right now?" she replied, raising her eyebrow a little. Lorelai chuckled.
"Is that a rhetorical question?"
"You better get some sleep too, you still have to be working tomorrow," Rory said, rolling over.
"Yeah, I spose," Lorelai replied, "Night hun."
"Night," Rory replied with a deep sigh. Lorelai couldn't shake the feeling that something was weird with Rory. She got changed into her pyjamas and slipped into bed, unable to close her eyes. She just stared up at the ceiling, thinking. What's the matter with Rory? Why has she trying to avoid my gaze? Maybe something happened. She's been acting weird ever since she came back with the CDs – and she didn't bring many. Oh! Maybe that's it! Maybe we were robbed and she didn't have the heart to tell me... oh no I hope they didn't steal my monkey lamp! ...no wait, no one ever gets robbed in Stars Hollow. And I think she would've told me. But maybe she wouldn't have... I mean, she wouldn't want to upset me when I have the inn going on tonight and everything. Everything. Oh, Luke. Luke, Luke, Luke. Why didn't I tell her about Luke? I mean, she has a right to know about it – I am her mother after all. But what if it's all weird? What if she gets attached to Luke and then we break up and then she resents me for it? And Luke... lying there in his bed, all alone, all gorgeous and... okay need to start thinking new thoughts Lorelai. I can't be fantasising about Luke right now... oh but it's so hard not to... he's so... no STOP IT! You need to think about something not Luke related like... Ice cream. Ice cream is cold and delicious and comes in lots of different flavours. Like vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, coffee... coffee is my favourite. I absolutely love coffee. Especially Luke's coffee... Luke's coffee is the best... Luke is the best... Luke is... AH! Stop it! New thought, new thought... Taylor in a bikini... ewww now that is just wrong. Maybe I should just count sheep instead. 1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10...11...12...13...14...15...16...17...18... wait, why are all these sheep wearing Boy George T-Shirts? Ah! Lorelai sat bolt upright in her bed. She looked at the clock – 1:47am. Dammit. She sat still for a second and could hear Rory's deep rhythmic breathing, signalling that she was asleep. Lorelai slid off the bed and grabbed the room key before slipping out the door. She tiptoed down the hall, still donning her coffee pyjamas that always reminded her of Luke.
She remembered once, years ago, she was sick and Rory was away at school camp, and Luke brought her coffee and stayed with her all day as she wore her coffee pyjamas. There was something about him that day... She hadn't figured it out until now, but that was probably the day she realised she had feelings for Luke.
She got to Luke's door and knocked softly – loudly enough so that he would hear, but she wouldn't wake up anyone in surrounding rooms. It didn't take long for him to answer it.
"How did I know it would be you?" he said, standing in the doorway in boxer's shorts and a plain white t-shirt.
"Ah, kindred spirits," she replied, stepping into his room. Luke closed he door behind her and watched as she made her way over the bed and sat down on the end of it. Luke raised an eyebrow.
"Making yourself at home?" he asked, deviously.
"Well it is my Inn after all," she replied, bouncing up and down a little, as if testing how firm the mattress was. Luke smiled a little and went to sit down next to Lorelai.
"Any reason for this late night call?" Luke asked, watching her.
"Oh! Sorry! I didn't wake you up did I?" she replied, concern evident in her voice.
"Nup. Wide awake."
"I should've known," Lorelai smirked.
"So once again, any reason?" Luke asked, still watching Lorelai who was starting to stare out into space a little.
"Couldn't sleep," she replied, eyes still fixated on nothingness. She then quickly turned to look at Luke. "I think there's something wrong with Rory."
"What do you mean?" Luke said, surprised by her sudden outburst.
"I don't know, she's just been acting all distant and stuff since she got back here. It's worrying me. And I went to tell her about... this," Lorelai used her hand to signal between herself and Luke, "but something stopped me short. You know?" She said, desperately searching for some sort of reassurance.
"Umm... yeah, sure," he replied, trying to sound sure of himself. Lorelai shook her head in response.
"No you don't, I'm sorry... I shouldn't have come in like this," she said, standing up and walking towards the door. Luke quickly grabbed her shoulders and turned her around.
"I don't mind Lorelai, really. I want you here," she looked into his eyes and immediately burst into tears. This one really caught Luke by surprise.
"Woah, uh, come here," he said, pulling her into him, wrapping his arms around her tightly. She cried into his chest, trying to explain herself.
"I'm sorry, it's just... with Rory... and Jason... and the Inn... and you," Luke listened a little more intently, "everything's just happening so quickly and I... I don't... I can't handle everything happening at once... I mean, I don't know what's happening with Rory, she's acting all weird and she never acts weird and I'm worried about her and she's all grown and... and... Jason... he was just here and he wouldn't go away and... and I'm scared Luke... I'm scared about Rory and about Jason and about... about this thing with us. I... I just can't deal with it all... I can't," she sobbed into his chest.
"Hey, shh," Luke said, stroking her hair gently, "everything's going to be fine. I'm sure Rory will talk to you about whatever it is that is happening tomorrow, and everything will be sorted out. Jason won't come back again, I promise, and if he does I won't let him get anywhere near you. And... as far as us goes... I'm happy with whatever you want to happen."
Lorelai looked up from his chest, her sobs reducing to sniffles.
"Really?" she questioned.
"Really," he replied.
"Even if I wanted to walk away right now and pretend it never happened?" she asked. Luke gulped to himself hoping that this wasn't what she wanted.
"Lorelai, I want you to be happy, and if walking away will make you happy, then I'd do that for you," he replied, looking into her eyes. She didn't say anything; she just stood on her tip-toes and kissed him softly on the lips. She pulled away and smiled.
"I don't want to walk away," she said with a grin. Luke let out a deep breath.
"Good, you were getting me worried there," he replied, wiping her wet cheeks with his thumb. She smiled and took his hand, leading him over to the bed.
"Let's watch some TV for a while," she suggested, taking the remote from beside the TV and crawling onto the bed, with Luke in tow. He settled down next to her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders as she snuggled into his chest and turned on the TV. They sat there for only about 15 minutes before they both fell into a peaceful sleep.
A/N:Thanks my dears for reading! Please review, review, REVIEW! You know I love it when you do!
Tori
Keeper of:
Luke's Barbie Band-Aid, Emily's Pearls, and Lorelai's love for Luke
