A/N: This is it. The last chapter... I hope you brought some crackers! Thanks for reading
Thanks to presssecretary for the beta.
The next week flew by rather uneventfully for Lorelai, who busied herself with wedding plans and making dresses and making sure the inn was still running smoothly. Planning a wedding in less than two weeks turned out to surprisingly easy. Since Lorelai owned the Dragonfly, she could do whatever she wanted with the space, and decided to do most of the decorations herself. Babette and Patty had volunteered to help with flowers, tablecloths and ballerinas. (Lorelai wasn't sure about the ballerinas part, but she figured it might be worth the free entertainment). Sookie had grown restless in her post-pregnancy, crying-baby phase, so she was eager to do the food (leaving a none too pleased Jackson with most of the baby sitting duties), and Lane's band wasn't leaving for their tour for another two weeks, so she eagerly accepted the DJ-ing gig. Kirk was… well, Kirk. Lorelai figured that whatever he came up with would at least be entertaining, and decided to leave it at that. Somehow, Luke had even roped Taylor into putting an announcement on the Stars Hollow web page so they wouldn't have to send out invitations. Since everyone they knew pretty much lived in Stars Hollow, that worked out perfectly.
Luke wasn't too happy with seeing Lorelai slip back into her frenzied work mode, but he figured she would calm down after the wedding, and then he could have her to himself as much as he wanted. In her first break in a couple of days, Lorelai sat in her office marveling at how much she had accomplished in just a week. She thrived on this kind of stress – she enjoyed jobs where she ran around all day, constantly having to deal with people and solve problems. She detested sitting in an office, and thought about this as she looked around her own office and reflected on how little she actually used it. She stared at the framed photo of herself, Rory and Luke that Sookie had taken at Rory's graduation, and sighed. She'd looked at that picture a thousand times, but was only now noticing Luke's presence in it. They sure did look like a nice family, she thought, and then wondered when exactly she had started thinking of Luke as part of the family. She suspected it was long before they had even started dating.
Meanwhile, Luke was busy walking around a mall in Hartford, wondering how he had gotten suckered into walking around the mall in Hartford. Lorelai had said something about making sure her dress was properly pinned, tucked and fluffed (whatever that meant), and something about a pair of shoes that would make Carrie Bradshaw jealous, and the next thing he knew, he was agreeing to pick up said shoes. Of course, once Lorelai roped him into getting the shoes, she promptly made a list of a whole bunch of other crap she needed picked up, and suddenly, Luke was spending all day at the hateful mall hanging out with twelve year old girls with their butt cracks showing. 'How did their parents let them out of the house like that,' he wondered, as he reluctantly walked up to the counter in the women's shoes section of a fancy department store.
He stood in front of the counter, watching tons of salespeople mill around the floor, but to his amazement, none of them were willing to stop and help him. Finally, someone appeared on the other side of the counter, and Luke began to try to explain what he was looking for. The weird looks he was getting from the salesgirl prompted him to add, "they're for my…" but he never got to finish, because right at that moment, he spotted Rory, and she was coming towards him. Luke wondered what Rory was doing at the mall in the middle of the day – he thought she should be looking for a job, or working at said job, or something involving the word 'job,' but he knew better than to try to lecture her.
"Luke," she said, not hiding the surprise in her voice.
"Rory. Hi."
"What are you doing here?" she wondered.
"Oh… just… you know… shopping," said Luke. He wasn't a very good liar, nor was he entirely comfortable with lying to Rory, but this was Lorelai's thing to resolve.
"At the mall? In the women's shoe department?"
Luke had no idea how to respond to this, so he decided to change the subject. "And what are you doing here in the middle of the day?"
"Job searching," said Rory, a bit sheepish.
"At the mall? In the women's shoe department?" echoed Luke.
"Yeah, well…" said Rory.
Right at that moment, the salesgirl came back with a pair of white Jimmy Choo sandals and handed them to Luke. Rory raised an eyebrow at this, but eyed the shoes with some interest. She kind of wanted them, but thought they were kind of tacky in white. In fact, she was pretty sure Lorelai hated the concept of white shoes altogether, but decided to refrain from embarrassing Luke more by asking him about it.
Both felt like they had been caught doing something they shouldn't, and were out of things to say. They regarded each other for a moment. Rory shrugged.
"I have to go," she said softly.
"Rory, wait," said Luke, "you… uh… wanna grab lunch or something?"
'This is weird,' thought Rory. She'd known Luke since she was a kid, and never in that time had they 'grabbed lunch.' She guessed there was a first time for everything, though, and indulged him.
"Sure. Food court?"
Luke cringed at the idea of eating in a food court, which amused Rory to no end.
"Are you sure you don't want to eat at a normal restaurant? My treat," said Luke, hoping to entice her into eating something normal, if not healthy.
Rory laughed at this. "Come on. You can get sushi for a dollar. It'll be fun."
Luke didn't know how to argue with that, and reluctantly followed her to the food court.
Fifteen minutes later, they were seated in uncomfortable plastic chairs eating unidentifiable junk food. Amazingly enough, Luke had found something resembling a salad, and Rory was having her usual – a cheeseburger with a side of sushi, followed by an ice cream sundae. Luke did his best not to comment on the food, even though looking at Rory's side of the table gave him an instant stomachache. They ate in silence for a while, not knowing where to begin.
"So," Luke began, "you want to work… here?"
"Not particularly," said Rory, "but it turns out that only two years of college makes you qualified for… nothing."
Luke just nodded.
"You talk to your mom lately?" he asked, deciding to change the topic altogether, though he wasn't sure that Lorelai was a safe topic either.
"No," said Rory, "have you?"
"What?"
"I don't know! You're shopping at the mall, which you hate, far away from Stars Hollow, in Hartford, which you also hate, and you're buying shoes which I'm pretty sure Mom will hate. What's going on?"
Crap, thought Luke. He was going to have to make something up, before Rory thought he was cheating on Lorelai or something. He hated lying to her, and the more he had to do it, the more irritated he was getting with Lorelai. Why couldn't she just talk to Rory already? He had no problem watching out for her, making sure she was fed and taken care of, and giving her some much needed encouragement, but he hated lying to her.
"Oh, you know… I had a day off, and I just thought I would surprise her. You don't think she's going to like these shoes?"
Rory looked at him skeptically and said outright, "No. I don't." Something weird was going on, but obviously Luke was not going to divulge any more information. Rory pushed the food around on her plate, frustrated and annoyed. Either Luke was cheating on Lorelai, she surmised, or – wait a minute. Lorelai was buying white shoes? They couldn't be, could they? She would have known about it already, right? Someone would have told her… although she and Lorelai were not speaking, Luke's loyalty to Lorelai probably prevented him from telling her, and she hadn't really been in touch with anyone else in Stars Hollow since…
Rory didn't get a chance to finish the thought, because she felt Luke's eyes on her.
"Something wrong, Rory?" he asked.
"No, I guess not," she mumbled, and continued staring at her plate. After another awkward silence, she started again. "It's just… I miss her. I'm 20 years old, I'm supposed to be on my own, and I miss my mommy. There, I said it."
Luke sighed. This conversation certainly wasn't helping Lorelai's cause. "I know you do."
Rory glanced up at him with a slight smile.
"You guys will work it out," he added.
"How do you know that?"
"Because I know."
"You don't know everything," Rory grumbled into her burger.
Luke marveled at how alike she and Lorelai were – hadn't he had the same conversation with Lorelai not too long ago? Luke glanced at his watch, realizing he still had a lot of crap to pick up, and that if he wanted to get back to Stars Hollow before rush hour, he had to get moving.
"Well, I have to get going," he said, "I have to return these shoes, apparently."
Rory nodded, and they got up to clear their trays. "Hey Rory," said Luke, before she got a chance to get away, "You'll be ok. I promise."
She nodded again and watched him leave, wishing once again that she could attach herself to his leg like she used to do to her mom when she was two, and beg him to take her home with him.
Rory trudged back home (is that what she was calling it now?), feeling not-so-inspired anymore. She had left that morning determined to just find any job, anything to tide her over until she could figure out what she was going to do. However, she had run into Luke at the mall before she could even fill out any applications, and now she was just exhausted from thinking about it. She went into her room and put on her bathing suit, deciding that the only good thing about living in the pool house was, well, the pool.
However, on her way outside, she was thwarted by a small package that had apparently arrived for her. She debated leaving it there and dealing with it later, but she noticed Lorelai's handwriting on the outside, so she took it inside and opened it. Inside the cardboard FedEx box was a small gift wrapped package, with a note on the wrapping paper.
Rory,
Saw this and I thought of you. Remember how we laughed our asses off at the naked puppets? I think that was when Luke decided to never go out in public with the two of us ever again. Although I still think that whoever decided to put Muppets on Broadway is either a genius, or should be shot. I can't decide.
Call me.
Love,
Mom
Rory rolled her eyes, but ripped off the wrapping paper anyway. 'Show tunes?' she thought, 'my mother is sending me show tunes? She must really be desperate.' The thought of Lorelai shopping in the Broadway section made Rory giggle for some reason, and she decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. She figured that her life had gotten so pathetic that she really had nothing better to do than sit around and listen to show tunes anyway. She put the CD in the state of the art, surround sound contraption also supplied by Emily, and laid down on the couch, staring at the ceiling.
What do you do with a B.A. in English?... I can't pay the bills yet, cause I have no skills yet…
The squeaky Muppets sang to her, making Rory wonder why Lorelai couldn't have just bought her a Clash CD or something. Or better yet, why she couldn't just suck it up and call her already. But she knew her mother, and she knew herself, and the Gilmore girls were nothing if not stubborn, petty, and a whole host of other not so nice adjectives. Rory reflected on this as the next few songs played, wondering how her relationship with Lorelai had gotten so out of control that she was now sitting in her grandparents' pool house, wearing Lorelai's bathing suit, staring at the ceiling and listening to show tunes provided by her mother. The whole idea was depressing, she thought, and a little bit infuriating.
Purpose… it's that little flame that lights a fire under your ass…. I don't know how I know, but I'm gonna find my purpose.
'Oh, geez,' thought Rory. She hated to admit it, but the song actually spoke to her. As she listened to the crazy puppets sing about finding their purpose in life, she imagined the evil look on Lorelai's face when she had picked out this CD. As the song played on, she was smiling in spite of herself, if for no other reason than planning how much she was going to make fun of her mother for this.
The CD continued to play, and by the time she got to "The Internet is for Porn," she was howling with laughter at the memory of the masturbating Muppets. She had to give Lorelai props for her selection – at the very least, it had made her smile. And now she had one more thing to sell on ebay when she inevitably went broke and had to sell all her belongings like Gary Coleman, she thought.
Her resolve crumbling, Rory sat down at her computer and typed an e-mail to Lorelai.
Ok, Mom, I get it. Meet me for lunch tomorrow?
She hit send, and stared at it for a little while, her heartbeat quickening. She still wasn't sure how to act around her mother, or what she was going to say to her. She wanted nothing more than to just forget about this whole problem and go home, but she still didn't know what she was going to do about the rest of her life, and she knew Lorelai would not be too pleased with that answer. She had always been the girl with a plan, detailing every second of her life until the day she died. Lorelai had gotten used to that, and now couldn't deal with seeing her daughter so off track. In fact, Rory herself had gotten used to that, and was having trouble figuring out how to take things day by day.
'Whatever,' thought Rory. Maybe, at the very least, they could be friends again. Maybe she could have her best friend back, and then they could go back to making fun of people who send CD's with relevant lyrics as gifts.
Her thoughts were interrupted, however, by the flashing on her computer telling her to read her e-mail.
You got it, kid.
Rory looked at the message, and closed her computer, satisfied with the outcome. She turned off the stereo and went outside to enjoy the last of the sun's rays for the day.
The next morning, Lorelai was attempting to work, but was having trouble concentrating on anything at all. Between the argument she had had with Luke the night before, and her upcoming lunch with Rory, she felt her world shifting once again, and it made her insides all knotty. It had been almost a week since she'd seen her daughter, and she still had no idea what she was going to say to her. Somehow, she had to convince her to go back to school, and make her understand that she loved her and just wanted what's best for her. Then there was the issue of the wedding – she still hadn't told Rory about it, but she desperately wanted her to be there.
Upon looking at her watch, she realized she needed to leave if she wanted to be semi on time to take Rory out to lunch. She left Michel in charge and ran out the door, cursing herself for wanting to meet Rory in Hartford. What if she ran into her parents, which she was bound to do since it was their house? She really had no desire to see them, talk to them, or really have anything to do with them right now. As she drove, she tried to figure out why Luke was being so annoying about her parents. He hated them too, why would he possibly want them to be there? And then it dawned on her that he was probably wishing his own parents could be there, and she felt really stupid. She had been so caught up in being angry with her own parents, that she had failed to realize how Luke must be feeling. She wondered how she could have possibly been so insensitive, and why Luke even put up with her at all.
However, she had to hit the pause button on the internal rant, because she realized she'd been sitting in her parents' driveway for a few minutes now. Luckily, the only car she saw there was Rory's Prius, so she figured she was safe from her parents, at least for the time it would take her to walk to the pool house. Grabbing her purse from the front seat, she went to check up on her daughter.
Rory answered the door immediately, and swept Lorelai up into a hug, not wanting to let go.
"Hey kid," said Lorelai, smiling into Rory's hair.
Rory pulled away abruptly, almost as if she realized what she was doing, and then thought better of it. Lorelai looked at her curiously when she realized what she was wearing. Unless Rory had two very similar T shirts, Lorelai could swear she was wearing the shirt she had left at Luke's place the other day. In fact, she was almost positive it was that shirt – she remembered wearing it… actually she remembered taking it off, to be more accurate. 'That's weird,' thought Lorelai, and then decided to finish figuring it out later so she could have a conversation with her daughter.
"Lemme just grab my purse, and we can go," said Rory, sounding very official.
Lorelai nodded, and took in her surroundings while Rory searched through her bedroom for her purse. She certainly had figured out a way to make the pool house homey, thought Lorelai, as she wandered over to Rory's desk. It was covered in papers, empty coffee mugs, and empty boxes of cookies, but something caught Lorelai's eye. She lifted up one of the empty coffee mugs, and read what was underneath it.
"Hey, what's this?" she shouted.
Rory appeared through the doorway, asking, "What's what?"
"The newspaper –"
"—oh that's really old, I forgot to throw it out. You can throw it out if you want."
"No, I mean this ad. For this internship? Are you gonna apply?"
"I don't think so. Let's go," said Rory, desperately wanting to change the subject.
Lorelai reluctantly followed Rory out the door, knowing full well that she wasn't done with that topic.
Half an hour later, the Lorelais were seated on an outdoor patio of a restaurant. They had already ordered coffee as well as food, talked about the weather, and discussed the many fine attributes of Entenmann's cookies. They were running out of safe topics, and neither knew what to say next. Lorelai decided to just get it over with already, because after all, she had a wedding to plan and an inn to run, and she didn't have all day to sit there.
"So," she said. What was with her lately? She gets into a fight with someone and her only defense mechanism is to say, 'so?' She made a mental note to go home and read a thesaurus or something.
"So…" Rory replied. Lorelai was glad to see that she suffered from the same disease.
Finally, Lorelai pulled an envelope out of her purse and gave it to Rory. "This came in the mail for you," she said, and then, "it's your class registration and housing forms for the fall."
"Throw it out," said Rory sullenly.
Lorelai had a feeling Rory was going to say that, so she tried again. "Now see, I would, but just listen to me for a second. I took the liberty of opening it for you, and it says in here that you don't have to send it in until June 10. That's not for another week or so. So just take it, and think about it, ok?"
Rory glared at her, knowing that if she didn't just take the goddamn envelope right now, she would probably get smacked in the head with it. She yanked it out of Lorelai's hand and shoved it in her purse without saying anything.
"You signed up for some interesting classes. I can't wait to hear about them," said Lorelai as she picked up her coffee mug and took a sip. Rory watched her pick up her coffee, and – 'a ha!' thought Rory, 'I knew it!'
Out of nowhere, Rory exclaimed, "MOM!" causing Lorelai to nearly choke on her coffee.
"My god, Rory, what? Is there a gigantic bear behind me waiting to attack or something?"
"WHAT IS THAT ROCK ON YOUR FINGER?" Rory shouted.
'Oh crap,' thought Lorelai. Had she really gotten this far into the conversation without mentioning the wedding? Oops.
Just then, the waiter appeared with their food, and set it down in front of them, giving them a stern look that said 'be quiet.' They looked at each other in amusement, both thinking of how much that guy reminded them of Luke, with his "rules" and whatnot.
Not wanting to annoy the waiter more, Rory leaned over her plate and whispered, "Mom, do you have something to tell me?"
"LukeandIaregettingmarried," Lorelai mumbled.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" asked Rory, a little bit smug, a little bit amused, and a little bit offended that Lorelai hadn't told her sooner.
Lorelai finally looked up at her and decided now was as good a time as any to get it out in the open. "Luke and I are getting married," she said, much slower, "next week. And I'd really like you to be there."
Rory sat completely still, her mouth hanging open, for a few seconds. Finally, she got up, walked around to the other side of the table, and tackled Lorelai, almost knocking her chair over.
"Careful," said Lorelai, "I'm not sure how they feel about public hugging in this
establishment."
"Of course I'll be there," said Rory, as she tried to regain her composure and sat back down.
Right then, Lorelai heard her phone ring from inside her purse. She knew immediately who it was, and decided to let it ring.
"You gonna answer that?" wondered Rory.
"Nope," said Lorelai.
"Why not?"
"Because I know it's Luke."
"And?"
Lorelai sighed. "We're in a fight."
"Why?"
"Luke, of all people, wants to invite Richard and Emily to the wedding, and I refused. He said things, I threw things, and now we're in a fight."
"Huh," said Rory.
"Huh? That's all you got?"
"Yep."
"Some help you are," grumbled Lorelai.
Rory just shrugged and continued eating her lunch.
"Hey, where are the Gilmores this fine day anyway?"
"Oh," said Rory, with a hint of a smile, "they went to the cape. They won't be back for another two weeks."
"Huh," said Lorelai, "well isn't that convenient."
The girls spent the next hour gushing about wedding plans, complaining about summer movies, and laughing over the look that was sure to be on Emily's face when she found out that her daughter had gotten married without her knowledge.
As much as Lorelai had missed having Rory as a friend, she knew she still had some 'mom' things to deal with. She was not going to let Rory get away with being a slacker all summer, and she certainly was not going to let her get away with not going back to school. She had promised her that she wasn't going to give up on her, and she intended to keep that promise.
When the waiter came by with their desserts, Lorelai half expected him to tell her how unhealthy they were. When he didn't, she sighed wistfully, wishing she hadn't let her argument with Luke get so out of control. Rory caught sight of the look on Lorelai's face, and said, "You thinking about Luke?"
"How do you do that?" wondered Lorelai.
"I'm your daughter. It's a gift."
Lorelai smiled appreciatively at Rory, though she didn't really feel like talking about Luke anymore.
"So," she said, attempting to change the subject, "you gonna apply for that internship?"
"I'd really rather not talk about it."
"I think you should apply."
"Which part of I'd rather not talk about it did you not get?" said Rory, growing increasingly agitated.
"It sounds perfect for you," said Lorelai, not giving up.
Rory knew better than to try to stop Lorelai from saying what she wanted to say, so she reluctantly gave in.
"I can't apply for it now anyway, because I spilled coffee all over the e-mail address," she grumbled.
"So call them," said Lorelai.
Rory had no response.
"Oh that's right," Lorelai continued, "I forgot."
"You forgot about what?"
"Your thing about calling people. Your fear that if you call someone you don't know, the phone will spontaneously combust and explode in your ear, which will somehow send shockwaves into your eyes, thus rendering you blind and never able to read again."
"I made that up when I was five," said Rory.
"So call them," Lorelai said again.
"I don't have the phone number," said Rory.
"Rory, stop making excuses and pick up the phone. You know there are about a hundred ways you could get that phone number."
"I don't want to apply anyway, ok? So drop it," Rory said, clearly angry now.
"Oh come on. It sounds like the perfect job for you – you get to follow celebrities around, read the tabloids and make fun of them – you love that sort of thing."
"I said, drop it," exclaimed Rory, and got up to leave.
Lorelai grabbed her wrist in an attempt to stop her, and said, "Rory, honey, this is me not giving up on you."
"Yeah. Fine. Whatever," griped Rory, and stormed off, leaving Lorelai with the check and a bit of a headache as well.
As she made her way home, Lorelai's headache escalated. Why did she always manage to fight with everyone she loved in the same week, she wondered. It certainly didn't help with her insomnia, and her digestive system was not agreeing with her too well either. Her thoughts slipped back to Luke, making her wonder how they were possibly going to resolve this one. She knew she had been incredibly ignorant in not recognizing his attachment to his parents, but her situation was different. Maybe it was petty, but she did not want Emily and Richard at her wedding. She wanted them to feel just as betrayed by her as she did by them, which wasn't exactly fair, and certainly was not the way one should treat family members, but there it was. She wasn't sure how she was going to convince Luke to agree with that, though.
Lorelai wasn't used to having someone be so involved in her life and her family, and it scared her. She was trying really hard to let him help her when help was needed, and to let him be a part of her life. However, this was one thing she was not willing to compromise on. Her relationship with her parents was hers to deal with – after all, the last time Luke had tried to get involved in that one, it had ended in disaster. How could he not remember that? Then again, how could she not remember that his parents could not be there, and he actually wanted them there? Lorelai pulled up in front of Luke's, and slammed her car door in frustration.
Meanwhile, Luke was busy trying not to burn Kirk's burger and Zach's fries. As he carried the plates over to their respective tables, he spotted Lorelai getting out of her car. She looked mad. He had hoped that after their argument the night before, she would come to her senses and agree with him. He knew he should know better by now, but he really didn't have the energy to fight with her right now. The diner had been busier than ever the last few days, and he was having trouble just staying awake during the day. However, he wasn't going to give in that easily. How could she not want her parents at her wedding? Fine, it was the Gilmores they were talking about, but they were her parents. They needed to be there.
Luke's thoughts were interrupted when Lorelai walked in to the diner and silently sat down at the counter. Luke put a cup of coffee in front of her, and just leaned on the counter, looking at her expectantly.
"What?" she said.
Luke wasn't sure where to start. "Where were you earlier?"
Lorelai glared at him. "I was out."
"Out where?"
"Oh, so now you need to know where I am every second of the day?" Lorelai retorted.
"Why won't you tell me where you were?"
"I don't feel like it," she said, like a petulant child.
This elicited an "Oh, that's mature," from Luke.
Lorelai just glowered at him, hoping that if she stared at him long enough, he would go away. It didn't work.
She didn't know what was wrong with her. She felt terrible, and acting like a four year old wasn't helping. She finally decided that they might as well get it over with and hash it out.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled into her coffee, "I haven't had the best day."
"I'm kinda busy here," snapped Luke. He didn't know why he was acting this way either, but something stopped him from just giving in already.
"Oh," breathed Lorelai, who began pouting into her coffee.
Luke watched her, just getting more and more irritated. He hated that pout, and Lorelai knew that. He knew she was doing it just to annoy him. Then again, Lorelai did most things just to annoy him. Only this one actually worked.
"For godsakes, Lorelai, will you stop that?"
Lorelai looked up at him, smiling a little. "It was just an argument, Luke. You don't have to act like your dog died."
Luke considered this for a minute. He'd never had a dog, although he always kind of wanted – wait a minute. What was going on? They were supposed to be discussing something important, and now Lorelai had him thinking about dogs? How did she do that? He laughed a little in spite of himself.
"I totally got you thinking about dogs now, didn't I?" said Lorelai, with a sparkle in her eye.
Luke didn't respond, trying to hide the grin threatening to escape. Lorelai caught his eye, and they both started laughing, their resolve crumbling.
"I'm sorry," they said at the same time.
Lorelai looked up at him in panic. "We really need to stop this talking in unison thing. It's creepy."
"I know," said Luke.
"So what are we going to do about our little problem here?" said Lorelai.
"How about I come take you out later? I think I may have some solutions," said Luke, almost… was that seductive? Lorelai couldn't be sure, but it made her smile nonetheless.
"You got it, babe. I gotta go check in at the inn. Bye." Lorelai paid Luke for the coffee (which she still insisted on doing, even though Luke had no idea why she bothered), and left.
Later, Lorelai was actually able to leave the inn at a normal time, and she headed home while it was still light out. However, once she got there, she was bored. Her dress was already almost done (in a burst of inspiration, she'd stayed up one night finishing it while she watched the milk spout guy), and Sookie and Lane were taking care of the rest of the plans. She decided she couldn't wait to see Luke, and an idea sprung to mind. She ran upstairs, threw on some old jeans and an old T shirt of Rory's, dabbed on a little of that perfume Luke loved (because what fun was having a fiancé if you couldn't flirt with him a little?), and ran back out the door.
She arrived at the diner in record time, just in time for the dinner rush. She immediately started taking orders and pouring coffee, while Luke watched, semi horrified.
"What are you doing?" he demanded.
"You said you were busy, I thought you could use some help," said Lorelai, as if this were the most obvious thing in the world. "Besides," she said, stepping closer to him and breathing in his ear, "I need to practice my diner talk." She kissed him quickly, and was off and running again, leaving a very confused, very turned on Luke in her wake.
Snapping himself out of it, Luke returned to the kitchen while Lorelai worked her magic on the rest of the diner. For the next two hours, Luke cooked, cleaned and poured coffee while Lorelai took orders and cleared tables. Every once in a while, she would look up at him and smile. But he was still too confused and surprised to return the smile. Instead, he just shook his head at her and avoided making eye contact as much as possible in order to minimize his distraction.
Finally, when the rush died down, and the only customers left were an old couple playing some kind of elaborate card game, Luke cornered Lorelai behind the counter.
"Ok, Gertie. You wanna tell me that this is all about?"
"I thought I explained it to you. You seemed busy, I wasn't, you needed help, you got it. Why is this complicated?"
"It's not. I just –"
"—besides, I figured the quicker we get all these people out of here, the sooner I get to hang out with you."
"Ah, the truth finally comes out. This was all done for selfish reasons."
"You bet it was," she said, as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
Luke marveled at her, knowing that this was Lorelai's way of apologizing for their fight the night before. He had pretty much already decided that being mad at her was a waste of energy, but he had to hand it to her for her effort.
Two hours later, they had managed to get out of Stars Hollow, and were seated at Luke's favorite brewery in Litchfield. They ordered their beers, along with an appetizer sampler for Lorelai and a Ceaser salad for Luke, and settled into a comfortable quiet – for the moment at least. They both knew that they had to delve into the topic at hand at some point, but were both trying to stall the inevitable.
Finally, Luke broke the silence with, "So… you said you had a bad day today."
Lorelai was hesitant to start the story, because she knew it would take a long time to tell. She was still angry with Rory, and feeling a little left out of her life, and she wasn't sure how to explain it to Luke. However, she found that once she started telling him how she felt, it was hard to stop. Not that she was surprised at her ability to talk non stop, but for a while she'd been unable to articulate what she was feeling, and now she couldn't stop. She wondered about this for a while, until she realized that at some point, Luke had actively joined the conversation, and that they were actually talking to each other. A lot. Lorelai wasn't sure when they had last done that. Actually, she wasn't sure if they had ever done that.
They sat in the darkened restaurant and talked for hours. They had a lot of things to discuss, and amazingly, by the end of the evening, most, if not all of them had been settled. Lorelai apologized profusely for the things she had said to Luke the night before, and most importantly, for disrespecting the memory of his parents. Luke agreed to stay out of Lorelai's relationship with her parents, if only to save himself the trouble of having to deal with Emily. They put the finishing touches on their wedding plans, and Lorelai begged him to take a honeymoon with her, to no avail. By the time they left, the restaurant was about to close.
The night before the wedding, Lorelai and Rory threw their own little bachelorette party. Despite their spat at the restaurant, Lorelai had decided that she wanted her daughter with her on the night before her wedding, no matter what the conditions. She had called Rory and begged her to come stay the night. Rory didn't want to admit it, but she had been thrilled at the idea and couldn't wait to spend a night in her own bed.
They ordered tons of pizza, and had a traditional Gilmore movie night. In honor of the occasion, they watched Father of the Bride (the Elizabeth Taylor version, of course), The Wedding Singer (in honor of Lorelai's dress), and Runaway Bride (in deference to Lorelai's last attempt at a wedding, and because of the severe mocking potential of any movie containing Julia Roberts). Rory felt like she was twelve again, back when hanging out with her mom was the best thing she could think of to do, and Lorelai was just happy to have Rory back home, despite the still lingering tension. By the time they finished the last movie, they were both exhausted, and fell asleep right away.
Lorelai woke up several hours later, as usual. She couldn't believe she was still suffering from her bought with insomnia. She looked around her dark bedroom, and felt small in her big empty bed. She missed Luke. As much as she hated to admit that, she missed him. She knew it had been her idea to spend tonight apart (for tradition's sake), but now she was regretting it. She also knew that she had the rest of her life to spend in bed with him, and that two months from now she'd probably be dying for a night alone, but for now, she missed him.
She got up and pulled on her bathrobe, and made her way downstairs. The irony of the situation not lost on her, Lorelai crept into Rory's bedroom and sat down cross-legged on the end of her bed.
"Psst," she whispered at Rory, who didn't budge. Lorelai watched her for a few seconds longer and then shoved her a little. "Hey," she whispered again.
Rory finally stirred, looking confused and horrified that she was being woken up in the middle of the night.
"Hi," said Lorelai with a devilish grin.
"God, Mom, what is it?"
"I can't sleep."
"So you thought that no one else should either?" asked Rory, and then, "what time is it?"
"Late."
Suddenly, it dawned on Rory what her mother was doing, and she shot up to a sitting position and turned on the light.
"Oh no."
"What?"
"No, no, no, no. You are not doing this."
"Doing what?"
"I am not getting up, I am not packing a suitcase, and I am certainly not going anywhere with you, in a car or any other vehicle. Understand? Now, go back to bed, because I'm tired and I have to look pretty for your wedding tomorrow. Which you are attending." Rory switched the light back off and turned over, feigning sleep.
Lorelai stayed where she was, her eyes boring holes into Rory's back. Rory grunted in frustration. "Mom, what?"
"I'm not going anywhere. I just… I'm bored. I need someone to talk to."
"What do you need someone to talk to at 2 am for? Go to sleep. Maybe you can talk to yourself in your dreams or something."
"In my dreams I'm not doing a lot of talking –"
"—stop right there. I'm sorry I mentioned it."
Rory tried to go back to sleep again, but Lorelai was still staring at her.
"Mom, what's wrong?"
"I'm just… I'm glad you're here. That's all."
Lorelai un-pretzeled herself to lie down next to Rory, stroking her hair like she used to when she was a baby. She remembered how that was the only thing that would stop Rory from crying.
"You know," said Lorelai, "I used to do this when you were a baby. It was the only way you would stop crying. I used to call you whiskers."
"I know. I hated that."
"You don't even remember that."
"I've heard the story enough to know that I probably hated it when you called me whiskers."
Lorelai snickered, "At least I didn't call you Morris."
Rory rolled her eyes at this, but had no response. They lay side by side, squished on Rory's twin sized bed, both staring at the ceiling.
"Mom?" Rory said after a long silence.
"What?"
"I'm sorry."
"I know, sweetie," said Lorelai with a smile. She wasn't exactly sure what Rory was apologizing for, but it still felt good to hear it, and having her back in the house felt like a weight had been lifted. Even with Luke there, the house had not been the same since Rory left for college two years ago, and the emptiness just got worse when it seemed as though she never wanted to come back.
"Mom?" Said Rory again, pulling Lorelai out of her reverie.
"What, hun?"
"Do you think I can do this?"
"Do what?"
"Life. Journalism. Yale."
"Rory, don't be ridiculous. Of course you can."
Lorelai's response made Rory giggle. Her mom and Luke really were perfect for each other, she thought. "Funny," she started, "that's exactly what L—" and stopped herself, realizing what she was saying, and not wanting to spill the beans about her talk with Luke. For some reason, she just felt like keeping that to herself for now.
However, Lorelai picked up on what Rory was about to say, and it suddenly dawned on her what was going on. She expected to be angry about this situation – her soon to be husband (!) and her daughter conspiring against her. But all she felt was relief that someone was looking out for Rory, seeing as she hadn't done such a good job of that herself recently. 'I should have figured it out sooner,' she thought, not surprised at all that Luke had taken it upon himself to watch out for her. It was what he'd always done. She'd just been too proud to let him.
"Mom?" Rory said again.
"Still present."
"Do you think… I mean, I know you said you didn't want me bumming around Stars Hollow, and I won't, I promise, but do you think… I… I really want to come home," she said, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Oh Rory," sighed Lorelai, stroking her hair again. She didn't know how to respond to this. She wanted nothing more than for Rory to come back home. She wanted to be able to hang out with her daughter, mock movies, eat junk food and talk about silly things like boys and nail polish like they always had. But things had changed. They had both grown up, and Lorelai knew that it would take a lot to get them back to that stage. She wasn't sure they ever could return to that stage, actually. Torn between wanting her best friend back and needing to make sure her daughter would be ok, her emotions took over and she said the only thing she could think of.
"Of course you can come home. You can always come home, no matter how weird things are between us. But, one condition. I don't care what you do with your summer vacation, that's your time. But you have to go back to school in the fall."
"I'll think about it," said Rory.
Lorelai was growing weary of this conversation, and decided to end it before her daughter's stubbornness got the better of her. "Fair enough," she said.
Lorelai went back to her bedroom, still not too happy with having to sleep there all alone, but decided she needed her beauty sleep. As frustrated as she was with Rory, she was infinitely glad just to have her close by, and she knew Luke had a hand in that. She was suddenly overwhelmed with love for him, which just made her miss him more. As she climbed back into bed, she noticed a big envelope on the nightstand with her name on it. She wasn't sure how she had missed it before, but she shrugged and opened it nonetheless. She pulled out the photo that Rachel had taken years ago, staring at it in wonder. She turned it over, noticing the note on the back of it.
Lorelai,
Since we never managed to hire a photographer, why don't we just make this our wedding album. I think it says all we need to know.
Luke
Lorelai was amazed that Luke had even kept that picture, even though when she noticed the way they were looking at each other in it, she saw why. She couldn't believe how incredibly insane they'd been, pretending that there was nothing between them all those years. Finally, after staring at it for what seemed like eternity, she stood it against the lamp on her nightstand, turned out the light, and grabbed her cell phone.
She turned it on and dialed Luke's apartment, even though she knew he would probably kill her. Just the sound of the phone ringing made her smile, which she thought was absolutely absurd, but decided to go with it anyway. After the phone rang and rang and rang, Luke finally picked up.
"Go back to sleep Lorelai," he mumbled.
"I love you," she said softly.
Luke sighed into the phone, and she could tell he was trying not to smile. "I love you too. Please go back to sleep."
"'Night," she said, and clicked off her phone.
The next morning, Luke woke up ridiculously early for no good reason other than he wanted the day to start already so it could end. Not that he was in any way dreading his wedding, but it was just that, he kind of was. He hated parties and crowds and large social gatherings, even more so when he had to be the center of attention. The whole idea of a party thrown just for him, which included many, if not all of the craziest people in Stars Hollow made him a little nauseous.
However, when he thought about the idea of Lorelai in a wedding dress, kissing her, holding her, even possibly dancing with her, the nausea went away a little bit. This thought propelled him out of bed, and he made his way toward the bathroom. On the way there though, he noticed a small package sitting on his nightstand, and wondered how he hadn't seen it before. He had no way of knowing how long it had even been there. However, by now he knew that most of the time there was no way of explaining one of Lorelai's schemes, so he decided not to bother trying anymore.
He started to unwrap the green and red plaid wrapping paper, wondering what the hell she could have possibly thought of this time. As he opened it, he thought, 'a book? Why is she giving me a… "Oh geez," he said aloud when he saw the cover. It was the stupid self help book he had bought over a year ago, when he was just getting over his ridiculous divorce. He knew that was going to come back to bite him in the ass. He had no idea how she even knew he had read it, since he only recalled ever mentioning it to her once, accidentally, and then offering no further explanation. Glancing at it again, he laughed at the absurdity of it, and began flipping through it, stopping when he saw the note on the inside front cover.
Luke,
This made me think of you. Can't possibly think of why.
I love you, burger boy. Always.
Lorelai
God, thought Luke, she's done it again. 'Just when I thought I had her figured out,' he thought, 'she goes and does something like this.' He didn't think it was possible to love anyone that much, and never in his wildest dreams had he thought that Lorelai would love him back just as much. The more he thought about it, the more he was actually looking forward to this wedding. Not only had Lorelai managed to brighten his day first thing in the morning, but now she actually had him looking forward to going to a ridiculous, showy party. If that wasn't true love, he didn't know what was.
Meanwhile, things were going a little differently at the Gilmore household. Lorelai had set her alarm so that she would have time to linger over breakfast, finish decorating at the inn, hang out with Rory, and primp appropriately all before the wedding. However, the stupid thing purred so softly that she turned it off without realizing what she was doing and went right back to sleep. Lorelai was exhausted after being up half the night, and was now dead to the world.
Downstairs, Rory had decided to sleep in, especially after her late night chat with Lorelai the night before. However, she woke up with a strange anxiety building up inside her, and she couldn't get back to sleep. She wasn't sure what it was she was so anxious about – after all, it wasn't her wedding day. Nonetheless, she got out of bed in search of some coffee, and was surprised not to see Lorelai in the kitchen. There were no breakfast dishes in the sink either, nor was there coffee in the coffeepot. Rory wandered upstairs, and shrieked when she saw her mom still in bed.
"Mom! You have to get up!"
"What?" mumbled Lorelai, "why?"
"Because you're getting married today, and you were supposed to get up two hours ago."
"So?"
"Mom, get up!"
"I don't wanna."
"Yes, you do. Look," said Rory, holding the clock in front of Lorelai's face, "it's already 10. You're getting married in… eight hours."
Lorelai shot up, shouting, "What? How did it get so late?" and with that, she was up and running. Rory valiantly gave her the coffee she had poured for herself, and watched in amusement while Lorelai freaked out.
Rory followed Lorelai around the house while she gathered all her crap, drank her coffee, showered, and got dressed in jeans and a T shirt, amazed at her ability to get so much done in half the time it would take most people. She reveled in the fact that she could hang out with Lorelai in their house, like she had always done. She thought about their talk from the night before, and suddenly felt inspired. She knew what had to be done, but in order to get it done in time, she needed to bolt – right now.
Just as Lorelai was flying out the door and waiting for Rory to follow, Rory started rummaging through her backpack, and then slung it over her shoulder.
"Rory, what are you doing? Come on."
Rory flew out the door past Lorelai, yelling, "I have to go. I gotta do a thing. I'll be back in a flash, I promise."
Lorelai had no idea what her daughter was up to, but frankly did not have the time or energy to care. She just hoped it was legal.
Rory hopped in her car and drove as fast as she could all the way to Hartford. She slammed into the pool house, and sat down at her computer. She rummaged into the depths of her backpack until she found the little sliver of paper she was looking for. She opened a blank e-mail message, and typed the e-mail addressinto the "to" box.
It took her a little while to locate her most recent resume, along with the cover letter she had written the week before (just in case, she had thought). The fact that her heart was beating at record speed and her insides were tying up in knots didn't make the process any faster. She typed what she hoped was a creative and witty introduction to herself into the message box, and when she was satisfied, she hit the "send" button, breathing a sigh of relief. She stared at the screen for a second longer, letting what she had just done sink in. She had no idea what was going to come of it, perhaps nothing, she surmised, but at least she had tried.
As she got back into her car, she remembered that she had one more errand to run. She pulled up in front of the post office, and found the envelope she had shoved in her purse a week earlier. She leaned on the steering wheel, and checked off all the requisite boxes, shoving the papers back into the envelope and sealing it. She felt her heartbeat return to normal as she dropped it into the mailbox. Rory had no idea what she was going to do with herself at school in the fall, but now she had the whole summer to figure that out. Maybe going back to Yale, where she got to live in a dorm, eat off a meal plan, have her day determined by the professors' schedules and read as many books as she wanted was the safe option. Maybe it was a way of keeping her sheltered, preventing her from experiencing the real world for a little while longer. But, she decided, sometimes playing it safe paid off in the long run. Besides, she thought, Paris was going to need a roommate.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the middle of attaching flowers to the chuppah, setting up chairs and wondering where the hell Rory had gone, Lorelai decided she desperately needed coffee. She drove over to Luke's, thinking that at the very least, Lane or Cesar would be there. When she got there, she was surprised to see Luke in his usual position behind the counter, in his usual uniform.
"What are you doing!" she exclaimed.
"I think they call this… working, but I'll have to look it up in the dictionary later."
"You're working today?"
"Someone has to pay the bills around here."
"Luke!"
"Are you going to order, because I have customers," he said, enjoying watching Lorelai's eyes get wider and wider. She looked like she was about to have a heart attack, which Luke found thoroughly amusing.
"Go get ready!"
"For what?"
"Seriously, Luke, there is something wrong with you."
"Yeah, well, you're marrying me, so what does that say about you?"
"That I'm taking pity on you because no one else will go near you?" Lorelai said, as she walked around the counter and sidled up to him.
"What are you doing?"
"Getting you back," she said, "I know how much you hate it when people dare to go behind your counter." Lorelai put both arms around his neck, pulling him as close to her as she could get.
"Lorelai," said Luke, his voice changing from annoyed to affectionate in a matter of seconds, "that was extremely –"
"—dirty!" She finished, with an evil grin and a sparkle in her eye.
Luke gave in, putting his arms around her waist and holding her just as close. They gazed at each other for a second, not caring that they probably looked really silly and that Luke had customers.
Luckily, just as Kirk was about to shout Luke's name, Lane appeared from somewhere in the depths of the kitchen.
"Shut up, Kirk," she told him preemptively, "are you gonna order?"
"I need Luke," whined Kirk.
Lane rolled her eyes. "No you don't. What are you doing here anyway?"
"I need to ask Luke a question!" he whined again.
"Not right now you don't, Kirk. Here," she said, handing him a bag of Oreos. "Go home and finish rehearsing saying 'I now pronounce you man and wife' or whatever it is you're going to do."
For some reason, Kirk actually listened, and scurried off. Lane watched him, proud of herself. "Someday," she said to herself, "all this will be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine."
Meanwhile, at the other end of the counter, Lorelai was still tangled in Luke's embrace, not ready to let go.
"So," she whispered, "this is it. You ready?"
"For what?" Luke deadpanned.
With that, Lorelai kissed him long and hard, right in the middle of his diner. When they finally broke, Lorelai rested her head on his shoulder, still not wanting to let go of him. Luke's fingers tangled in her hair.
"I love you," he whispered, enjoying the moment.
"I think Lane just declared herself Queen of the Kingdom over here. You better go take care of that," Lorelai responded, reluctantly pulling away.
Lorelai pulled herself together, grabbed her coffee, and started towards the door. "See you later," she called over her shoulder, and, "Bye Lane," as if it were just a normal day.
Lane watched the scene in amazement, an uncontrollable smile spreading across her face.
"What!" exclaimed Luke, back to his usual gruffness.
Lane just shook her head and went back to the depths of the kitchen to help Cesar.
Lorelai hopped back in her car, her spirits lifted, but a little worried that Lane, Kirk and Luke himself were still at the diner when they were all supposed to participate in a wedding in a couple of hours. Then again, so was she, so she decided to let it go.
As twilight began to fall over Stars Hollow, townies came out of the woodwork to congregate at the Dragonfly and witness this wedding. Lorelai, Patty and Babette had strung twinkle lights all around the perimeter of the lawn, as well as on the backs of the chairs and around the makeshift dance floor, trying to create the illusion of stars in the night sky. According to Jewish tradition, you were supposed to wait until there were three stars in the sky to start any holiday, which was what Lorelai was trying to create. Although she was pretty sure Christmas lights weren't supposed to factor into that.
As the sky darkened, the lights twinkled, and guests began to take their seats as Lorelai and Rory prepared to walk down the aisle together. Lorelai was amazed at how many people in town seemed to be interested in her wedding, but then she remembered that a lot of them were probably making lots of money off of it. Rory had invited Paris, and unfortunately Logan, who sat next to each other, but looked like they didn't want to catch each other's cooties.
Liz and TJ weren't due back at the Ren Faire for another couple of weeks, so Liz walked Luke down the aisle, and then took her seat in front next to TJ. After her accidental run in with the Broadway section of the music store, Lorelai had reluctantly decided to walk down the aisle to Sunrise, Sunset. At first, she had hated how ordinary it was, hated the fact that every bride in the world used that song, but after listening to it for about twenty seconds, she had her reasons for choosing it, and knew she had to have it.
As she and Rory made their way down the aisle to the music, Rory suddenly nudged her, and whispered, "Hey. This song is a waltz."
Lorelai whispered back, "I know," and gave Rory a knowing smile.
Finally, after what seemed like years of walking down the aisle, Luke and Lorelai stood under the chuppah. In front of… Kirk. They waited expectantly while Kirk took his time, apparently memorizing something or other. Finally, "I've known Monica and Chandler…"
"Kirk!" Lorelai hissed, "you have to at least change the names!"
"Right, right. Sorry," said Kirk, "I'll start again." He took a long dramatic pause, and then started in with, "Mawwiage… is what… bwings us…. Together… today."
By this point, Luke was already losing it, and Lorelai was looking at Kirk in terror. Luke nudged Lorelai and whispered, "Hey. At least he's not singing about spirographs and Yahtzee."
This elicited a snicker from Lorelai. "I told you we should've made him rehearse."
"Yeah, but it's more fun this way."
Luke pulled himself together, and Lorelai gave Kirk a stern look, silently vowing to kick his ass the first opportunity she got. Luckily, they made it through most of the rest of the ceremony without any more misquoted movies, and they managed to be serious long enough to repeat their vows and exchange rings. They had briefly toyed with the idea of writing their own vows, but neither one of them was too fond of making mushy public declarations, so they decided to let Kirk say whatever he wanted. Unfortunately, they got so wrapped up in each other that they didn't realize that Kirk had been babbling for ten minutes, telling detailed stories of his history with both of them.
Finally, Luke looked around at the congregation, and noticed people checking their watches. "Wrap it up, Kirk," Lorelai warned, but Kirk kept going, not willing to give up his moment in the spotlight.
"Man and wife, Kirk!" Luke exclaimed, probably a little louder than he should have. "Say man and wife!"
The reference not lost on Kirk, he obliged. "Man and wife!" he shouted.
"Finally," muttered Luke.
"Very romantic," responded Lorelai.
As Lorelai had requested, Luke stomped on a wine glass, and as they made their way back down the aisle, the congregation erupted into a lively Hebrew song that sounded like it only had about four words. "What did I tell you about singing in another language?" Luke grumbled. Lorelai laughed, not expecting any less from him.
After the ceremony, as the guests began milling around, Luke took Lorelai's hand and raced toward the back door of the inn, dragging her with him. Never a fan of running in heels, Lorelai was puzzled, and a little annoyed.
"Luke!" she cried, "slow down. Where are we going?"
"Just come with me."
When they got out of the tangle of the crowd, he slowed to a walk, still gripping Lorelai's hand tightly. He dragged her inside and up the stairs, stopping in front of room seven to rummage for the key in his pocket.
Lorelai giggled when she saw what he was doing. "Luke, we're supposed to wait till after the wedding to do that."
"Be quiet and follow me," Luke said, as he opened the door, ushered her in, and locked it behind them.
"I told you I'm not into submissive," she said.
Luke leaned against the door and gazed at her, in awe of how beautiful she was. He knew he was being a little creepy, and probably annoying the hell out of Lorelai at the same time, but he didn't care.
Confused, and a little irritated, Lorelai stood in front of him with her hands on her hips in defiance.
"Ok, stalker man, you wanna tell me what we're doing here? Did you slip some roofies into my drink and now you're waiting for them to take effect?"
Luke walked over to her and put his arms around her waist. "According to that book you were reading, the bride and groom are supposed to be locked in a room together before they join the crowd at the reception. It said something about it being the first time the couple is allowed to do that, but I just liked the idea of getting a couple of minutes alone with you, away from the party."
"Oh," said Lorelai with a grin, "like seven minutes in heaven?"
"I have a feeling I'm going to be saying this a lot from now on, but… what?"
"Don't tell me you never played seven minutes in heaven."
"I don't think so."
"In junior high? When you got locked in a closet with a boy and you were supposed to make out for seven minutes?"
"I must have missed that one."
"Lucky you," said Lorelai, as she slid her arms around his waist.
Luke tightened his arms around her, and they slipped into a comfortable embrace. "Have I told you how beautiful you look today?" Luke finally said.
Not bothering to disentangle herself from his arms, Lorelai said into his shirt, "I'm wearing Madonna's 'Like a Virgin' costume."
"Figures," muttered Luke.
Lorelai pulled away from the hug so she could look at him. "Hey," she said.
Luke reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as he whispered, "Hey back."
"Thank you," said Lorelai.
"For what?"
"Well, if I had to list everything, we'd be here all day. But mostly, for taking care of Rory."
"Ah. She told you about that?"
"No. I figured it out… why, did you think I wouldn't?"
"Yeah, well…" Luke looked embarrassed, and slightly guilty.
"Thank you, Luke."
"You're welcome," he said, and kissed her softly.
When they finally made their way back outside, the couple was bombarded with wishes of 'mazel tov' and 'congratulations' and 'when are you having kids'. Lorelai fielded the well wishers and intrusions on their sex life, while Luke went off in search of something to drink. He came back several minutes later, and grabbed Lorelai's hand, dragging her over to the edge of the dance floor. "I have something else for you," he whispered in her ear, just as a hush fell over the crowd, and Lane picked up the microphone.
"Luke requested that I play this song," she started, "and he was going to introduce it himself, but he hates making mushy speeches. So Luke, Lorelai – this one's for you."
"Reflecting Light" began to play, and Lorelai looked up at Luke in awe. She couldn't believe he had remembered this song, although by now, she probably should have known better than to be surprised. This was a man who had kept a horoscope she gave him in his wallet for eight years, wrote love notes on napkins, and made sure her daughter was okay without being asked. Yet, surprised she was. "Luke! How… you… huh?" was about all she could muster.
"You wanna dance?" he asked.
"I thought you said you don't dance," she played along.
"Well, I'm a compulsive liar," he finished.
Luke led her out onto the dance floor, and they began to waltz in time to the music. Lorelai didn't think she could possibly be happier. 'Just when I think I have him figured out,' she thought, 'he goes and does something like this.' She reveled in how comfortable they were together, and laughed inwardly at the fact that after all this time, dancing with him like this still made her stomach do that fluttering thing. She closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder.
While they danced, Rory and Lane stood arm in arm at the DJ booth, watching them. "They look happy, don't they?" Lane whispered.
"The happiest," said Rory.
As the song came to a close, Lorelai looked up at Luke. "Luke Danes, you never cease to amaze me," she said.
"Right back atcha," he responded.
The end.