Title: You Raise Me Up
Author: Cooper666
Summary: Lorelei convinces Luke to take her dancing at the Spring Swing Fling.
Dislaimer: none of it, including the song, is mine, except the idea...which isn't really mine anyway, read the A/N2.
A/N: This is for Heather's first challenge in the ficathon for Changing Destiny. I know, I'm late, I couldn't help it. I had actually finished it earlier and then my comp messed up and I lost it all. Sorry!
A/N2: My school held a Spring Swing Fling several months ago. It was really fun, everyone was dancing and You Raise Me Up was one of the songs we performed. I didn't name the two girls singing it in this fic but they actually did sing it really well (Yay J and T!). The reason I put in the disclaimer that the idea isn't really mind is b/c my conductor (who I describe accurately in the fic) has been doing it for years and other schools.
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Lorelei shivered slightly. The frost had come to Stars Hollow before she'd even noticed that the snow had melted. She took tiny steps along the sidewalk, head high, her tiny black heels clicking along the pavement.
She had been waiting eagerly for the night to come for weeks. Luke knew of little less than two of those weeks, but it wasn't necessary for him to know all of her little secrets. Her knee-length dress swished around her legs. She'd bought the dress especially for the Dance, knowing she'd need something trendy, black and strappy. The description fit nearly half of her closet but Luke had seen the majority of them. She wanted something new.
So she'd bought the dress. Then she saw her bill and flinched. But the look on Luke's face would make it worthy. The thin ebony straps were straight up and over with another longer one making a halter-like top. The dress fit her perfectly, a large over-the-top belt attached in the middle, sewed to the dress, before the soft material spilled down her legs. Oh yeah, it'd be worth it.
Quietly, Lorelei stopped outside of Luke's diner and peered in the window. Luke was sitting at a table, a soft black tuxedo gracing his form.
She reached out and grasped the doorknob with her newly-manicured hand and pushed opened the door, stepping inside while a smile tugged at her lips.
"Booyah!" She exclaimed enthusiastically, striding in and sitting down across from him.
Luke glanced at her quickly but he couldn't help but stare. The dress was… It fit her… She looked… Damn, he'd better think of some adjectives. "Lorelei," he greeted, his throat suddenly dry, "You look…"
"…gorgeous, hot, beautiful, pretty, amazing, fantastic," she finished, with a wave of her hand, "But don't mind me, I tend to be modest."
"Yeah," Luke agreed, "So where are we going again?"
Lorelei brightened considerably, "The Spring Swing Fling, soon to be annual, a swingin', jazzin' party and," she paused for effect, "naturally, one with alcohol."
"Thank God for small favors."
"Exactly. A couple school jazz bands are going to be playing all night. It's to raise money for their music programs, although it's probably going to go towards paper. Do you how expensive paper is when you have to photo copy sheet after sheet of music onto it? Can't be cheap." Lorelei commented, nodded profusely.
Luke smiled, "I never thought of it. We should get going, we going to be late otherwise."
"I'm comfortable with that." Lorelei clarified, her elbows relaxing against table's hard counter, "What? Being late is fashionable."
"C'mon," Luke said, rising, and offering her his hand while straightening out his suit with the other.
Lorelei smiled and took his hand, "How can I possibly refuse such an offer?"
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Luke couldn't help it. It was Lorelei's fault, she was the one that had brought him here. The Spring Swing Fling. It wasn't even spring yet.
Lorelei had gone off to talk to someone, naturally trying to include Luke by taking him with her. That went sour. He went to get some punch and accidentally spilt it on some girls dress. Said some girl was the one that Lorelei had gone off to talk to.
So he'd tried to keep his distance since. Not from Lorelei but from people in general. So far he hadn't had to dance. That was good. That was very good.
The band wasn't as bad as he'd assumed they were going to be. The jazzy feel to the evening was encouraging even the most stock still of people to dance. There couldn't have been any more then thirty students, all in black. The conductor was a short chubby man in a black suit. He was the only person part of the entertainment that wasn't wearing a standard black hat.
The song ended and he joined in with the round of applause as the soloists stepped down. The conductor motioned for two girls to stand up and take a microphone each. There was a small platform off to the side of the band set up for the soloists. The girls each stood ready, smiling at each other nervously. The song began slower than the last one. One girl swallowed timidly and lifted the microphone to her lips.
"When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary/ When troubles come and my heart burdened be. / Then, I am still and wait here in the silence/ Until you come and sit awhile with me." Her voice rang through the large room, slow and patient.
Luke spied Lorelei across the room weaving through dancing couples towards him. She'd want to dance. He glanced back up at the two girls. The second, taller one was tapping her foot and raised the microphone up as the chorus began and girls sang together.
"You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains. / You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas. / I am strong, when I am on your shoulders. / You raise me up...to more than I can be."
Lorelei squeezed in beside him and slipped her hand around his waist. "C'mon!"
Automatically on guard, he tried to protest as she pulled him towards the dance floor. She slipped her arms around his neck, "It's easy, relax,"
Stiffly, Luke wrapped his arms around her petite waist and she beamed up at him. He hadn't properly danced for years, there had been odd occasions, weddings and such, but he hadn't gone out for the sole purpose of dancing since he'd been a teen. Lorelei pressed against him, her thin dress swishing at her knees as they twirled slightly.
The girls repeated the chorus again, the smooth voices gliding throughout the room. Luke held Lorelei tighter. She'd been coming to his diner since Rory had been born, he'd come to rely on her giddiness; her hyper, I-need-coffee attitude and bounciness had worked it's way into his routine day.
"You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains. / You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas. / I am strong, when I am on your shoulders. / You raise me up: To more than I can be." The girls rang out from their platform, the sweet jazz washing over their audience.
"Lorelei?" He whispered into her ear.
"Yeah?" she mumbled, her head resting on his chest.
"You're a wonderful dancer."
Lorelei lifted her head, an estranged expression on her face. They were barely swaying to the slow beat, not exactly her kind of dancing but Luke seemed deadly serious. "Uh, thank you," she accepted awkwardly.
"You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains. / You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas. / I am strong, when I am on your shoulders. / You raise me up: To more than I can be."
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