Author's note: Thank you for all the reviews! I am glad you liked the story so far and I hope you like how it continues!
pen2starshollow: And once again: Thank you so much for your help, suggestions and beta-reading! bighug
Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls. I wish I did like most people here, but I don't. The only thing that I own that could be linked to GG is my coffee machine.
Breaking down the wall - Chapter 3
Rory was in her dorm-room, reading an article for one of her seminars. She hadn't dropped out of Yale. She had spent the summer in her grandparents pool-house.
Grandpa and Grandma had been nice. Surprisingly enough, they had not tried to interfere much. They had not tried to talk her into or out of her plan.
Logan, on the other hand, did. He had told her that it was crazy to drop out of Yale because of one lousy internship. He said that she had a lot of potential. She had talent. She was funny and smart, and she should stick with her dream because he knew that she could make it true if she just started believing in herself again. She had turned him into boyfriend-material. If she was able to do that, she would be able to do anything, he joked. And even though he had hardly ever met Lorelai, he defended her and told Rory that it would be best to sit down and talk with her mother.
But Rory was stubborn. That was something that she had definitely inherited from her mother, or grandmother, or both. Deep down inside she knew that her mother had been right. It had been a stupid idea to drop out of Yale and she didn't want to become anything else than a journalist. But still, her mother had said all those hurtful things, including that Rory should not come crawling back to her. And so she didn't call, visit, or write.
She felt miserable. She missed her mom. But, on the other hand, she thought, 'Mom has to realize that I am not a child anymore and I can make my own decisions - even if I end up making the decision she suggested in the first place.'Rory had spoken with Lane a couple of times. One time she and Zach had come over for a visit. But as soon as Lane had tried to talk about Lorelai, Rory changed the subject and sooner or later Lane gave up.
Now she was back at Yale and the semester had started again. Logan tried his best to get her out of her dorm from time to time. They went to a party, a movie, the theatre. But often she just wanted to be alone. Logan respected that, and she loved that about him.
Looking down at the article in front of her, she realizedshe had just stared at one sentence for 10 minutes without even reading it. She sighed. Damn. I have to concentrate harder.
She heard a knock on the door. Please let that be Logan. Right now I could really use some distraction, she thought.
She stood up from her desk. Another knock, this time louder.
"Yeah, I'll be rightthere. Patience, please!" She opened the door and suddenly losther breath. She hadn't expected him.
"We need to talk!" Luke exclaimed anxiously, pointing his finger at Rory. "You need to listen!" He passed Rory and entered the room. "It can't go on like this!"
Rory closed the door. She was puzzled. What was Luke doing atYale? How didhe found out where she was anyway?
"Luke, uh, what are you doing -"
Luke cut her off before she could finish. "You didn't drop out of Yale! Why did you not drop out of Yale?" He was pacing the floor now, turning to face Rory occasionally.
Rory felt offended. She feltthe need to defend herself.
"Because I figured that it was a stupid idea. I should stick to my dream. I had time to think about it when I was at the pool house, and I talked with Logan, and he said it was a crazy idea. And then I talked with Grandma and Grandpa and I decided not to do it. Okay?"
"Okay! Okay?" Luke was extremely angry. "No it's not okay, Rory. Lorelai told you that it was a stupid idea to drop out and you told her to shut up and leave and never call you again. And now you did exactly what she had advised you to and still you won't call her? That's crazy!"
"Well she said that I shouldn't come crawling back if I changed my mind. Don't blame this on me, Luke, okay? She's not picture-perfect, you know? There's never just one person in a fight!" Rory knew that she was a bit unreasonable, but she was stubborn and she couldn't let her guard down just now.
"No, she's not perfect. But she knows that, and she's sorry for what she said. She didn't mean those words. Rory, do you really believe that Lorelai would let you down, ever? She loves you, Rory. You are the most important thing in her life. You are her life! She was afraid that you would throw your life away. She wanted to protect you. That's who she is. That's what she does. You know her!" Luke spoke in a gentle voice, trying to calm down for the both of them. But Rory was still upset.
She couldn't give in. She couldn't admit that maybe she had been wrong too. "Well, if she is so sorry, why didn't she call and apologize? Huh?"
"Because you two are the biggest pigheads I have ever seen." Luke was becomingangry again. How could two people be that stubborn? Why couldneither of them just move one inch? "She couldn't call you, because you had told her not to. And you didn't call her because she had told you not to come crawling back to her? God, this is crazy. It's absolutelycrazy. Rory, please! You have to do something. It's not a sign of weakness if you call her. I know she will be thrilled. I know she doesn't even want an apology from you. She just wants to know that you are okay. She wants you back in her life." He was begging her now.
"Well, if it's not a sign of weakness, she can call as well, right?" Rory wasn't sure why she was still pretending to be upset. The truth is she wanted to call her mother. She wanted her back in her life. She needed her, too. But she couldn't. She just couldn't yet.
"Oh, this is unbelievable!" Luke started yelling now. He had lost all patience. He wanted to fix this. He wanted to fix this so badly and yet both of them – Lorelai and Rory – made no effort to help him. "She couldn't call you, Rory. She was upset. She was hurt. Thatwas supposed to be a great night, okay! She onlywent to thatstupid Friday night dinner because she knew that you would be there, and she wanted to tell you something. She was so excited. She was so happy. And then she arrived and you drop that bomb on her and toldher to leave. How should she have called you? This fight ruined a great day for her. She was devastated. She still is!"
"Well, then what was great news that she wanted to tell me? Did she buy a new pair of shoes?" Rory was upset. She wasn't used to people yelling at her. And Luke had never yelled at her. Besides, this was her dorm. He shouldn't yell at her. She was stubborn. Very stubborn.
"No, Rory. She wanted to tell you that we wanted to move in together and that she had told me that she loved me. She thought you would be thrilled and excited and she wanted to ask you if you were okay with the whole moving in thing, but apparently you don't care anymore what Lorelai hasto say"
And with this, Luke left the room. He had had enough. He couldn't fix it. No matter how hard he tried. He couldn't fix it. He was frustrated. How could two people be so stubborn?
Rory winced asthe door fell shut. She looked at the closed door. The whole conversation and Luke's last words were spinning in her head. She was breathing heavily. She stoodthere for at least 10 minutes, not moving at all. Slowly her breathing calmed down.
"Rory, please! You have to do something. It's not a sign of weakness if you call her. I know she will be thrilled. I know she doesn't even want an apology from you. She just wants to know that you are okay. She wants you back in her life." She heard Luke's voice. She wanted her mother back in her life. She wanted to know that her mother was okay. She wanted to care what her mother wanted to say.
She picked up her phone and dialled Lorelai's cellnumber.
Lorelai was at the Inn, in the middle of an argument with Michel. The umpteenth that day.
"Fine, I will go. But I am not happy about it!"
"Great, fantastic, super! Now get out of my sight before I do something really ugly with this pen!" Ever since her fight with Rory, Lorelai was always on the edge, and although Michel didn't know what exactly made Lorelai so cranky nowadays, he realized that it was best for his medical condition to leave when she asked him to. He muttered some French curse words and left the reception hall.
Lorelai watched him leave and let out a deep breath. God that was annoying!
Just then her cell phone rang. She was still caught up in the argument and was too distracted to check the caller's ID when she picked up.
"Hello? Whoever it is, you better not mess with me because I'll hunt you down and kill you!" She didn't care who was at the other end of the line. She was just angry. Angry and worn out and tired!
There was a brief silence at the other end of the line.
"Hello?" Lorelai said impatiently.
"You told Luke you loved him?"
Lorelai almost dropped the phone when she realized who just talked. She covered her mouth with her free hand and sat – or better fell down on the sofa in the reception hall. Her knees didn't support her anymore. She felt tears in her eyes.
"Mom?" Rory had takenthe first step. Please let her take the next one, Rory thought.
Lorelai swallowed hard. Then, she took a deep breath. Rory had acted first. It was her turn now.
"Yes, I did." her voice was shaking. Her hands were trembling. Lorelai started to smile.
Rory sat down on her bed, her knees weak. She was relieved. It felt like a whole big mountain had just been lifted of her shoulders. Her mother had taken the next step.
"And you asked him to move in with you?" She began to smile.
Lorelai's hand moved from her mouth down to her chest. She needed to feel her heart beat. To try and calm it down a bit. She was about to cry. And yet, she had the broadest smile on her face. She bit her lower lip to stop herself from whimpering, while her eyes were slowly filling with tears.
"Yes, I did." She answered, this time a bit more confidently. She even let out a small laugh. This was good!
"And he said yes?" Even though she didn't know it, Rory felt just like her mother. She, too, was welling up. Almost not able to hold back the tears.
"Yes, he did." Lorelai nodded, even though she knew that Rory couldn't see it.
"So, you're living together?" It was more a rhetorical question. Rory was smiling now. She was happy for her mother. Lorelai deserved to be this happy!
"Yes, we are." Lorelai nodded. "We are."
"Mom?" – "Yes?" – "I'm sorry."
Lorelai let out a whimper. She tried to be strong, but this was hard. "You don't have to do that, okay? It's okay. I'm sorry too. Let's forget about it, okay? Let's not talk about it. We were both stupid? Let's agree on that. Stupid and stubborn.We're the king and queen of stupid- and stubbornness. No wait, that's not good. We're the queen and princess of stupid- and stubbornness. The Siegfried and Roy of stupid- and stubbornness. No, that was a weird reference. God, I can't think straight. I'll come up with a better reference later, okay? Big promise." She breathed in and exhaled through her mouth, desperately trying to stay calm.
"Mom?" – "Yeah?" – "Can I come home tonight?" – Lorelai heldher breath.
"We could watch a movie together? You, me, andLuke? Maybe celebrate the whole moving-in together?"
Lorelai nodded "That would be great. Yeah. Luke can cook something. And we can pick a movie that will annoy him and wait for him to start one of his famous rants. Or we'll order lots of junk food, and I'll buy lots of pop tarts and popcorn and ice-cream and stuff and we can mock Luke for only eating carrot sticks. That will be fun. Seven-ish?" The knot in her throat was getting bigger by the second.
"Seven-ish it is." Rory was happy. They had made up. The way they always did. They both knew that they had made mistakes. There was no need to talk too much about it. They could just forget it and be "them" again.
Rory was about to hang up, when she remembered something.
"Oh, hey mom?" – "Yeah, kid?" – "I did not drop out of Yale." And with this, Rory hung up the phone. She looked at the phone in her hand and smiled. Everything was going to be fine.
"I did not drop out of Yale." Rory's last words were echoing in her head. Lorelai heard Rory hang up. Slowly, she let down the phone. Her breath was getting heavier again and her whole body began to shake. She started crying. All the tension that was there during the last two months was gone. All the sadness, all the sleepless nights -everything forgotten. They had made up. They were talking again and Rory had not dropped out of Yale. Lorelai was unbelievably relieved. But the sleepless nights, the exhaustion took their toll. Lorelai was crying, and she couldn't stop. Her cell phone fell to the floor. She covered her face with both of her hands. Resting her elbows on her knees. Her body was shaking.
Michel entered the room to find her like this. He didn't know what to do. Had she lost her mind? Did she need help? Should he hug her? He had done it once and it had been a strange feeling. He went to the kitchen to fetch Sookie.
"Stop pushing me, Michel. I was just cooking and I could have easily spilled that hot oil on you. You should be more careful! What is wrong with -" Sookie spotted Lorelai who was still crying on the sofa.
"Oh, honey? What happened? What's wrong?" She rushed to Lorelai's side and stroked her hair. "What have you done, Michel?"
"Nothing. I swear. We had an argument. She told me to go. I did. I came back. She was crying. This is not my fault!"
"Hey, honey?" But Lorelai couldn't speak. She was crying and she sure as hell didn't know how to stop. Sookie could only think of one person who could help now. She picked up Lorelai's cellphone and searched for Luke's number.
"Hello?"
"Luke? Uh, hi, it's me, Sookie."
"Oh, hi, Sookie. What's up?"
"Uh, listen, Luke. Could you come to the Inn. Like, really fast?"
"Why? Something wrong?"
"Well, uh, yeah. I don't know. It's Lorelai. I don't know what happened. But she's sitting hereand she's crying and she won't stop and she won't talk and I'm kinda worried…"
"Okay, hold on, Sookie. I'm in my car right now. I'll be there in 15 minutes!"
"Oh, well, okay. Yeah. Bye. Hurry!"
A few minutes later a worriedLuke entered the Inn. He looked around the corner and immediately spotted Lorelai on the sofa, still crying, with Sookie sitting next to her trying to comfort her best friend.
"What's wrong?" Lorelai suddenly looked up when she heard Luke's voice.
She stood up slowly and stumbled a little because he knees were still so weak. The crying had slowed, but new tears were just around the corner.
Luke stepped closer. "Hey, you okay?"
Lorelai let out a deep breath. She smiled a little before she flung her arms around Luke. She began to cry harder again. She knew that he had done it. She had no idea how, but it must have been him. How else should Rory know about the "I love you"s?
Between sobs she let him know, "She called, Luke. She called! She called!"
Luke held her tight, stroking her hair with one hand. He closed his eyes. Thank God. It had worked! He opened themagain and saw Sookie standing next to the couch where Lorelai had been sitting. She looked confused and concerned, but began to understandwhat had led to this big meltdown. Luke started to smile at Sookie, who smiled back.
This is gooooood, she thought. "Hey, uh, Luke. Why don't you bring Lorelai home? I think she needs a break, right? We can do without her for a day."
Luke smiled at Sookie and simply nodded. He let go of Lorelai with one arm, slowly pushing her to the door with the other. Lorelai didn't look up, but Luke made sure she didn't stumble. He sat her in his truck and drove to their home. Lorelai looked out the window during the drive, a small smile on her face. She had stopped crying.
Luke pulled into the driveway and stopped his truck. Both of them stepped out ofthe car, and Luke went to the front door to open it. He turned back and saw that Lorelai was still standing on the lawn. She was looking at the house, smiling.
Rory is coming home, tonight, she thought. Then she looked at Luke and gave him a big, bright grin.
God, she looks beautiful, he thought and smiled back at her.
Lorelai went up the steps to Luke and walked through the now open door. When she passed Luke, he bent down a little and whispered into her ear.
"I missed that smile!"
Lorelai looked into the living room. It had changed. Something had changed. The dark shadow that had hung in the air for the last two months was gone. She felt so relaxed and relieved and happy. She couldn't stop smiling.
She felt Luke's hands on her shoulders. She closed her eyes and just let that feeling of comfort flow through her body for a second. It felt good, extremely good. She opened her eyes again and turned around to face Luke, who put his hands on her shoulders again, rubbing them slightly.
"She's coming home tonight. Seven-ish. Movie night. Loads of junk food and other crap you disapprove of." Lorelai gave Luke a warm smile.
"Ah, well, we'll see about that. Maybe I can cook something for you that will not rot your insides?" He smiled back at her. God, she's beautiful when she smiles. I'm so glad that smile is back.
"Nah, mister! We'll need junk food. You can cook something healthy another time. Tonight will be all about burgers and pop tarts and cookies and lots and lots of coffee!"
Lorelai looked Luke into the eyes and suddenly becameserious again. He had been there the whole time. He had been there for her when she felt miserable, when she cried. And it hadn't been the first time. And he never asked for anything in return. She needed him and he was there. And she hadn't even thanked him. She was a terrible person and still he seemed to love her.
"Thank you, Luke."
"For what?"
"For what? Are you serious?" she laughed. "Luke, you moved in here because I couldn't stay alone. You held me when I cried and didn't even ask why I was upset, because you knew that I didn't want to talk about it. You made sure that the town left me alone. You made sure that I ate at least something. You were there for me the whole time. And before that! You have alwaysbeen there for me without asking for favours, and I just think it is time to finally thank you!"
"Well." Luke blushed slightly. He was never comfortable when receivingcompliments. "You don't have to. That's what I'm here for."
Lorelai smiled and suddenly she realised something else. "Hey Luke?" – "Yeah?"
"You moved in here." - "Ahm, yes." Luke was a bit confused. She stated the obvious.
"You moved in here. We're living together." – Luke shook his head. What was she trying to say?
"You and me. We're living together. We should finally celebrate this!"
"Yeah, we should celebrate this!" he said in a husky voice and leaned in to kiss Lorelai.
But Lorelai wasn't waiting for a small peck. She wanted the whole thing. She was happy again. She was herself again and she wanted to celebrate. So she put her hands around Luke's neck and pulled him into a mind-blowing kiss. Luke was startled at first, but soon he gave in and the kiss deepened. God, this feels great. They hadn't kissed like that since Lorelai had asked Luke to move in and he had said yes. And somehow it seemed that the two months that had gone by were forgotten.
The kiss got more and more heated. Lorelai pulled Luke into the living room and to the stairs. Luke tried to follow her, not wanting to break the kiss. Their hands were exploring each other'sbodies. They stumbled upstairs, one never letting go of the other. God, it is good to have her back, was the last clear thought that Luke had before Lorelai pulled him into the bedroom.
How was that? Are the characters still in character? Were the Luke/Rory and Lorelai/Rory conversations believable? Did you like it? Reviews please!
