Like Wildfire

By Ellie J.

Disclaimer: Not Mine. I'm just playing with them. I'll give them back. Honest.

A/N: Ok, I'm a compulsive liar. Here's one more chapter. It's really more of an epilogue to the Christopher chapter than anything else.

Epilogue: Luke and Lorelai

Luke was standing in Lorelai's kitchen, slicing the pie that he had brought over earlier as he fought the urge to go outside and pound Christopher into the ground. He consoled himself with the thought that Babette had already done a pretty good job of kicking Christopher's ass that evening. Still, he would have liked to have at least thrown one punch at the guy.

Everything had been going so well that evening. It hadn't been a fancy date, just dinner and a movie. They talked and laughed. He let her go on and on about how she was sure that there was a government conspiracy to deprive her of Red Vines. She had let him rant about the prices of movie concessions. He had felt so content when they had arrived back at her house.

But now Chris was here, and Lorelai was talking to him, and Luke was honest enough with himself to admit that it bothered him. He trusted her. He did, but he also had to admit that Lorelai wasn't at her most rational where Christopher was concerned. She had always forgiven him in the past, no matter what he had done, and had welcomed him back into her life with open arms. And there was the problem. He really didn't want Christopher back in Lorelai's life. After the reconciliation they had mostly talked about her relationship with her parents. She had only mentioned Christopher when had told him about his email to Rory saying that everything had been a big misunderstanding. (They both had agreed that was bullshit).

Still, he couldn't help but remember Lorelai coming into his diner one night a few years earlier on the verge of tears. She had been so upset that Christopher was going to marry another woman. When Christopher had confessed his feelings at the vow renewal, Luke's mind had flashed back to that night and her saying that the universe was out to stop her and Chris from being together. A tiny part of him couldn't help but wonder if he was some sort of roadblock on the path to Lorelai and Christopher's true love. The thought had made him ill. Even now, in the recesses of his mind, Luke wondered if he could really compete with that stupid star-crossed lovers thing that they had going on. He kept on reminding himself that he and Lorelai were back together because they were miserable without each other and that she had chosen to be with him.

Luke headed to the coffee maker and began to make a pot as he tried to occupy his mind with anything else besides what was going on between Lorelai and Christopher on her front lawn.

He heard the front door open and looked up to see Lorelai enter the kitchen. She smiled at him, but he could see the sadness in her eyes. He went over and gave her a big hug. She wrapped her arms around him, buried her face in his neck, and inhaled deeply.

"You always smell so good," she said into his neck. "I missed that while we were apart."

"Really?" he said.

"Uh huh. You left one of your shirts here, and when I really, really missed you I would take it out and smell it."

"That's really, really disgusting," he said, and she laughed.

"I know. That just shows how much I missed you."

He smiled and kissed the top of her head. "Are you going to be all right?" he finally asked.

She pulled away a little and looked up at him. "Yeah. I'm kind of glad that he came." She felt him stiffen and she hurriedly continued, "I just mean that there were some things that I really needed to say to him."

He let her go and went to the pie. "There's some coffee there," he told her, and she couldn't help but notice that his expression had become a little guarded.

"Thanks," she told him and poured herself a cup. He took the plates with the pies and put them on the table. She sat down next him and watched him for a moment.

"So do you want to know what Chris and I talked about?" she finally asked

He sat back in the chair and folded his arms in front of him before he replied. "Only if you want to tell me."

She smiled. "I do. I don't want there to be secrets between us, especially where Christopher is concerned." She took a sip of her coffee before continuing. "He wanted to see if we could save our friendship." Luke nodded his head. He had expected that.

"But I told him that wasn't possible," she continued.

Luke looked up, his surprise apparent. He took a moment before responding.

"Lorelai, I'll be the first to admit that I would be very happy if you never talked to the guy again, but you've known him forever. You have a child together, and that's not something that you can just ignore. I don't want you to do something that you'll end up regretting just to try and please me." She smiled and raised her hand to gently stroke his cheek.

"Luke, I'm not doing it just to please you. I'm doing it because I think it's what's best for both of us. Yes, Chris is an important part of my past. But you are an even more important part of my present and future, and that's what I told him. Rory is grown up and making her own decisions. She doesn't need me to be close friends with her father."

"Yeah, but …"

"My feelings are important to you, aren't they?"

"Of course they are," he replied, wondering where the question had come from.

"As much as Christopher says he cares about me," she began, "I'm not sure if he's ever really considered my feelings in a lot of his decisions." She stopped for a moment, lost in memories. "After Sherrie got pregnant, he kept on calling and leaving me messages, not even trying to understand why I couldn't talk to him. Even now, Rory had told him that we were happy, but that didn't stop him from charging in there and saying all of that crap at the wedding."

"Lorelai…"

"But you, my friend, are different. You always pick up on how I'm feeling, even if I don't tell you. When I'm happy, you're there being happy with me. When I'm angry you always let me vent it out. When I'm sad, you're there with a Santa Burger or a homemade ice rink to cheer me up." She smiled ruefully. "Honestly, you're too good for me."

"Lorelai …" He paused for a moment. He wasn't always good at expressing his deep emotions and he wanted to get this right. "You make me happy. I never thought I could be as happy as I am when I'm with you." Lorelai smiled at him and then looked down at the table as if she was considering something.

"Luke?"

"Yeah."

"I love you," she said with a catch in her voice and then smiled as she saw his eyes widen at her words. "I do. I am completely in love with you, Lucas Danes. You are the most amazing person that I have ever met. I should have told you a long time ago, but I'm not good with that word. It scares me, but for once, not saying it scares me even more."

Luke remained silent during her speech, but a few tears had started streaming down his face; Lorelai was not surprised by them. She'd seen him cry before, and she loved that even though he was such a "macho" man, he was not ashamed to cry in front of her.

She got up, moved onto his lap and wrapped her arms around him. Luke moved his hands from her arms to her face and leaned in to kiss her, at first gently, but passion soon overwhelmed them and they lost themselves in the kiss. Eventually, they pulled apart to breathe, and Luke, panting slightly, rested his forehead against hers.

"I love you too, Lorelai Gilmore," he whispered

Lorelai was speechless. She had known that Luke loved her, but hearing the actual words had robbed her of her ability to speak. Through tears of her own, she gave him her most brilliant smile and kissed him again. She then rested her head on his shoulder, and they both just enjoyed the moment.

After a few minutes she gave a little laugh, and Luke glanced down at her. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing really. I was just thinking that you were right."

"I'm always right." He smiled as she playfully smacked him for this remark. "What was I right about in this particular instance?"

"That someday I'd get my 'whole package'." Her expression became serious as she looked into his eyes. "You're 'it' for me Luke. You have been for a long time. I told Christopher that too."

"You're 'it' for me too, Crazy Lady," he said with a smile.

She smiled as she lightly kissed his lips and then his cheek and then made her way to that sensitive spot just below his ear. "Since we've just had an important relationship milestone, and we know each other so well, I'm willing to bet that you know exactly what I'm thinking right now," she whispered seductively.

"I do," he said, smiling. "You're thinking that you still have a plate full of pie that needs to be eaten before we take this any further." Lorelai laughed delightedly and kissed him again.

"It's spooky how well you know me."

The End. Really.

A/N 2: I would choose Luke over the pie, but this is Lorelai and we all know how she feels about her pie.

A/N 3: I got lots of responses about Rory's last name, saying how they think Lorelai did it because she's a feminist girl power woman. I agree that was a huge part of it, but I don't see why it can't be both that and the fact that Christopher is a weenie. I think it is because Lorelai is so strong and secure that she didn't really care if Rory was a Hayden or not. However, I don't think she would have objected if Chris had wanted to give Rory his last name. I can totally see her hyphenating Rory's name if Chris had wanted to add his name. All evidence points to the fact that she wanted and encouraged Chris to have an active part in Rory's life. She dreamed about someday sharing a life with him (pre-Luke, of course). The guy was just a deadbeat and didn't show up. I just don't see her saying to Christopher, "My child will be a Gilmore, no matter how you feel about it." I more see it as, "Lor, my dad won't let me give our child my last name," and Lorelai, while thinking that he needs to grow a spine and that her child doesn't need his stinking name anyways says "That's okay, Chris. I am thrilled that this child will be a Gilmore. It's a good name that's always worked for me." In my little world she wasn't disappointed that Rory wasn't a Hayden, more that Christopher wasn't man enough to stand up to Straub. So that's my thinking process. I hope it makes sense. Besides Chris is a weenie and I wanted to make him look as weenieful as possible while trying to not make him one-dimensional. (Hee, I just added weenieful to my spell check dictionary).