A/N: So sorry this took so long to update. I've been busy and had some writers block, but hopefully I've worked through it! So thanks to those of you who reviewed, as always it really makes my day:D
Chapter 5: In Your Dreams
The sun had set, and darkness had settled down around outside as Lorelai finally pulled up into the driveway of Liz's house. She turned the engine off, and hopped out into the warm night, closing the door softly behind her. There had been some significant traffic on the last leg of her drive, so it was now close to 9:30, and it looked like all of the lights in the downstairs portion of the house were out. Stepping back so she could see the upstairs windows as well, Lorelai caught a glimpse of light through the curtains of Luke's room. Thinking quickly, she grabbed up a couple of rocks that were scattered around her feet, and made her way directly below the window.
She chucked the first rock awkwardly, completely missing Luke's window, and the entire house. Laughing at herself, she tried again, finally hearing a tiny thunk as the rock tapped glass. Her feet shuffled restlessly in the grass as she waited for a response, but the sound of chirping crickets was the only thing she could hear. 'What is he doing up there?' she wondered, aiming for her next shot. Lorelai threw another rock, a little bit harder this time, but she missed again. "Damn," she swore under her breath. She was never going to be able to hit the glass hard enough from all the way down there, if she could even hit the window at all. 'This seems much easier on tv,' she thought as she huffed over to a nearby tree, one that happened to be directly under Luke's window. How perfect. Lorelai put her foot onto a low branch, grabbing anything she could with her hands, but her heels were making it impossible for her to climb, and she wasn't exactly the most coordinated person to begin with. Letting out a frustrated grunt, and slapping the tree roughly, Lorelai stepped back again, looking up in the direction of Luke's window. There was no way she was climbing that tree, so she decided to try the rocks one more time. The largest pebble in her hand went hurling up and knocked soundly on the glass of the window, making Lorelai shriek quietly with joy. If he hadn't heard that one, he wasn't going to hear anything.
About five seconds later Lorelai could see the curtains being moved aside and Luke's face became visible. At first he didn't see her, but she started waving her arms around, and a smile spread across his face. Opening the window he yelled out in a harsh whisper, "Lorelai? What the hell are you doing down there?"
"I wanted to come see you!" she whispered back, trying not to wake Liz or TJ.
"So you decided to throw rocks at my window? Why didn't you just knock on the door?"
"Um because that would have been boring."
Luke just stared at her for a second, "Well, as long as you have a reason. So you want to come in?"
"No, I think I want to stay out here yelling up to you all night! Very Romeo and Juliet don't you think?"
Luke rolled his eyes, "I'll be right down." He closed his window and disappeared from view. Lorelai went back to her Jeep to grab her bag, and waited at the door for him. His head poked out a minute later, sans baseball cap, taking Lorelai a little bit by surprise. She hadn't realized from where she had been standing earlier that he wasn't wearing it, and she was a little bit surprised at how much she like seeing him without it on. They stood just staring nervously at each other for a moment, and then Lorelai broke the silence. "So, are we going to stand out here all night?" she whispered, still staring at him.
Luke shook his head distractedly, "Right, sorry. Come on in," he opened the door wide enough for her to pass him, and shut it softly behind her. "Is everything okay?"
She flashed him a smile, "Yeah, of course. I was just bored again. Stars Hollow just isn't the same without you, you know? Well actually you wouldn't know would you? Because every time you're in Stars Hollow you're obviously there so you wouldn't know what it was like when you're not there, because you're not there."
Luke gave her a quizzical look, shaking his head. "And that was supposed to make sense to anyone who's not you?"
"That made perfect sense!"
"If you say so," Luke chuckled softly, grabbing Lorelai's bag out of her hand. He pointed toward the stairs, "Let's go up to my room so we don't wake up Liz and TJ." She nodded and silently followed him up the steps and into his lightly lit bedroom. He tossed her bag against the wall and plopped down on the edge of the bed, looking in her direction. "So, you were bored huh?"
Lorelai stepped her way over to the bed to sit down next to Luke, fidgeting slightly as she nodded. "How about you? What were you doing before I so gallantly appeared at your window?"
Luke wrung his hands together, "I was just getting ready for bed actually."
Lorelai stood up, "I don't want to keep you up; I forget sometimes that you get up at the crack of dawn."
"I do not get up at the crack of dawn."
"Is the sun ever up when your alarm clock goes off?" Lorelai looked at him pointedly, her tone teasing.
"Nope, hence the fact that dawn hasn't come yet so it's actually before the crack of dawn."
"Oh because that's so much better!" she slapped him on the arm softly.
"Well, I don't like cracks." Lorelai raised her eyebrows, a certain word right on the tip of her tongue. "Don't say dirty, it's too easy."
"Ruin all my fun," she pouted. The familiar witty banter now spent, they both stood awkwardly in front of the bed.
"Um," Luke started, "let me get some sheets and I'll go downstairs. You can have the bed."
Lorelai reached out for his arm to still him from walking away. "Luke, you don't have to do that. We are both adults, we can share a bed for one night, especially since it's your bed and you shouldn't have to go sleep on an uncomfortable couch just because I decided to show up."
"Are you sure?"
"Well, unless you snore." Luke got a pensive look on his face like he was thinking about it, "Luke, I'm joking."
"Right. Well I don't think I snore anyway." He shuffled his way over to the right side of the bed, turning the covers down and rearranging the pillows slightly.
Lorelai went over to the other side, mimicking his actions. "Oh hey! I remembered pajamas this time!" she said as she fluffed her pillows generously.
"Great job Lorelai!" he said in a mock mommy voice.
"Are you making fun of me?" she asked, surprised that he was teasing her without being gruff.
"Maybe I was," he shot back.
Lorelai quickly tossed the pillow she was fluffing, aiming it right for Luke's head. It hit him square in the face, but he reacted quickly, grabbing it and yanking it hard. Lorelai came flying across the bed, still attached to the pillow with one hand. Reaching quickly, she grabbed another pillow, hitting Luke in the chest this time. He stifled a laugh, hitting Lorelai on the back with the pillow he was now holding in his hand. She shrieked, and rolled away from him, grabbing yet another pillow so she now had one in each hand. Pillows were flying in both directions as Lorelai somehow managed to wrestle Luke down onto the bed, hitting him with a non-stop attack of fluffy white blobs. He finally managed to grab her by one wrist, stopping the pillow held there, and pushing her backward until she was the one pressed into the mattress. They were both giggling like crazy by this point, completely out of breath and just staring at each other as they panted. Lorelai moved her head up quickly, pecking him on the lips, and then rolled out from under him so she was standing on the floor.
"I'm going to get ready for bed." Luke just nodded, and sunk down into the messed up comforter, his face still creased with a smile. He didn't break eye contact with her until she shut the bathroom door.
About ten minutes later, Lorelai emerged from the bathroom fresh faced and clothed in a tank-top and flannel pj bottoms. Luke glanced up from the book he was pretending to read, watching her closely as she shoved her dirty clothes into her overnight bag. He lowered his eyes quickly when she turned around to look in his direction, trying to pretend like he hadn't been staring at the large expanse of bared skin open to his view. She smiled to herself slightly, knowing full well that he had been watching her. She made her way over to the light switch, flicking it down and plunging the room into darkness.
"I was trying to read here," came Luke's voice from the direction of the bed.
"Oh you were not," Lorelai said smiling as she moved herself under the covers. Luke didn't reply, but she could hear him put the book down on the side table. She snuggled herself against her pillows, which were now back in their usual spots. "Goodnight Luke."
Luke shifted stiffly on his side of the bed, incredibly nervous to be sleeping in the same bed as Lorelai. "Uh, goodnight."
Lorelai was smiling to herself as she drifted off to sleep, he was too cute.
As Luke's mind drifted deeper into unconsciousness on the other side of the bed, his imagination (and his close proximity to Lorelai) got the better of him. A dream world unfolded behind his shut lids in the form of unnaturally bright, florescent lights burning hot against his face. His gaze fell to his right side where Lorelai was walking beside him, chattering on about shoes and clothes, pointing inside of shop windows they were passing. Luke groaned to himself as he realized where they were—the mall. Suddenly Lorelai grabbed his arm, tugging him inside of the store they were passing. Luke stopped short as realization hit him. "Uh, Lorelai," he said shakily, "what do you need to buy in here?"
She gave him a dumb look, "Use you're imagination, I'm sure you'll come up with something."
Luke surveyed his surroundings, taking in the massive amounts of pink in every crevice of the store. There were pink walls, pink carpets, pink counters, and pink underwear. Lots of pink underwear. A sales assistant approached them, giving Lorelai a wide smile, and flicking her eyes over Luke's flannel clad chest. "Welcome to Victoria's Secret! Can I help you with anything?" she asked cheerily.
Lorelai smiled just as wide and nodded, "Just one second." She turned to Luke quickly, "I'm just going to grab a couple of things to try on, I'll be right back."
Luke nodded dumbly, and watched her head over to a wall filled with multi-colored bras. Taking a deep breath, he spotted a small pink couch in the back of the store right next to the dressing rooms. Walking with purpose, and keeping his eyes on the floor, he made his way to the couch and sat down trying to appear as manly as possible. The pink and white swirls on the wallpaper next to him didn't help his cause. Although he was actively trying not to look in Lorelai's direction for fear of what he might see, he just couldn't help himself. It had been her idea to drag him into the awful pink palace so she would have to deal with him staring. As per her usual, Lorelai was grinning widely, chatting with the saleswoman with about 5 different colored bras in her hand. Luke was shifting uncomfortably on the couch as his mind started wondering what she would look like in those bras, but then he would mentally berate himself. It wasn't right to think about Lorelai like that when she was standing only a few feet away, but it was so hard not too. His dirty side was winning out when Lorelai started making her way in his direction.
She smiled when she saw him, "Hey, I'm just going to try these on really quick and then we can leave, I promise!" Luke just nodded and watched her walk into the dressing room right next to where he was sitting. He could hear her clothes rustling, and he saw her shirt drop from underneath the door. Her own bra quickly followed—a pink one with light blue polka dots. Luke's eyes started wandering again, his mind filled with hateful thoughts about all things pink when Lorelai's head peeked out of her dressing room door. "Hey Luke?" she asked softly. "Can you help me get this clasp? I don't know why I can't get it."
Luke stared for a second, unable to believe what he had just heard. Lorelai wanted him to come into her dressing room, where she was trying on bras to help her with her clasp. Like he hadn't thought of this moment about three thousand times.
He was quiet as he stood; only speaking a soft "sure" while she opened the door wide enough for him to enter. Her naked back was facing him as she tried to pull the two sides of the bra together where they were supposed to clasp shut. Luke's hands moved over hers, taking the ends between his fingers and pulling them together with a small click. Lorelai moved one of her hands to adjust the bra, with Luke's hand still attached. The result ended up being a very surprised Luke when he felt his hand against the firm side of her breast, and her fingers practically holding his in place. His breath hitched as he let his other hand slide slowly down the soft skin of her stomach, stopping when he hit the waist of her jeans. She stepped away from him then, turning to admire herself in the mirror on the wall to their left, shooting him a wicked smile through the reflection. He could see her eyes move to her chest, a look of concentration gracing her features. Luke just stared in awe, still not able to comprehend what he was seeing. Lorelai traced an idle finger along the edges of the bra cups, fingering the lace there gently.
"Hmmm," she mumbled turning in Luke's direction so he now had a full frontal view. "What do you think?"
"Um, well…" he trailed off, "I don't really have much to compare it to, but it looks good to me." He shrugged and tried not to openly stare at her chest. Instead he took in the fact that her jeans were unbuttoned and unzipped, although he couldn't figure out exactly why, and surprise surprise a pair of low pink panties were peeking out. Pink was trying to kill him today, of this he was sure.
"You mind if I try on one more? Then I swear we can go to the fishing store or whatever," she rolled her eyes dramatically, and gave Luke a hopeful smile.
Like he was going to turn her down. "Alright, one more."
She squealed and grabbed him into a quick hug, planting a kiss on his cheek. Her hands went to the clasp, unhooking it expertly. "Guess it comes off easier than it goes on."
Good to know, Luke thought. Lorelai turned away from him, hiding her bare chest from view, as she picked up another bra. She slipped it quickly over her shoulders, and then started fidgeting with this new clasp. "Need some help?" Luke heard himself say. He needed to remember to think before he spoke, because clearly touching Lorelai some more was not going to help his cause; although he sure wasn't going to mind doing it.
"Why thank you!" she said in her best southern accent. Luke's hands moved slower this time, taking in every brush of skin, every electric charge at flesh to flesh contact. Lorelai's breath was hitched in her throat as he moved tantalizingly slow, letting one of his fingers rub her back gently as the others worked the clasp together.
"That should do it," he whispered deeply just behind her ear. She shivered as she felt his hands slide down the length of her exposed arms as he pushed her gently in front of the mirror. This time he was standing behind her, still holding her shoulders, looking at her reflection with her. Lorelai's eyes watched his as they moved noticeably down from her face, to her neck, to her barely clothed chest.
"What do you think about this one?" she breathed softly.
"Well," Luke started, his voice still directly behind her right ear, "I like the way it looks right here." He moved his finger to trace along the inside rim, letting his skin brush hers for a second as he moved his way down. Lorelai stopped breathing, and watched his finger in the mirror. "And I like this little design right here," he ran his finger along the padded fabric, tracing a swirly pattern.
"Oh yeah?" she choked out.
"Mm hmm," he pressed a little harder, letting his other hand snake across her stomach, inching it toward the little bit of pink he could see poking out. She arched back against him as his entire hand cupped her chest. "I really like this part right here though."
"I bet you do," she said watching his hand touch her in the mirror. She felt his breath on the back of her ear again, and thought he was going to say something when she felt a moist, warm mouth press a wet kiss to her neck. His tongue slipped out quickly, wetting her skin as he kissed her, making her head fog up just a little more. Luke's hand started moving down her stomach again, pressing circles into her taut skin as his other hand pressed harder in other places a little higher up. Just as he reached the hem of her panties, his fingers so close to touching her, Luke released her long enough to turn her around and press her roughly against the wall of the dressing room.
Gasping loudly as her half naked body was pressed tightly between Luke and the wall, Lorelai tugged at Luke's ear with her teeth. "Let's see how good you are at getting this thing off."
"My pleasure," he spat quickly as his mouth crashed down on hers, and their hands simultaneously grabbed for each other's clothes. Just as Luke felt her bra begin to give, he also felt his shirt being tugged very roughly. Another hard tug and his eyes sprung open to find the room around him very dark and a sleepy Lorelai pulling at his t-shirt.
"Luke!" she whispered harshly. "Wake up!"
"What?" he said groggily.
"You were making funny noises in your sleep."
Luke looked at her horrified. What if she had heard what he was dreaming? "What kind of funny noises?" he asked, playing dumb.
"I don't know, I couldn't understand what you were saying."
Luke just nodded, "Um, okay. Sorry about that, I'll try to be more quiet."
"You're a funny man Luke Danes. I can hardly get you to speak in complete sentences during the day, but at night you're a chatterbox."
He just shrugged, glad that the room was dark and that Lorelai couldn't see his flushed face. "My lips are sealed."
"Okay," she said, burrowing back down under the covers. "Night Luke."
"Night."