Part 6

Lorelai had avoided Rory the night before, saying she was tired and wanted to make it an early night. That morning Rory had been in a rush but had made her mother swear that she would tell her everything about talking to Luke.

She sank down onto one of the stools in the inn's kitchen. "I did everything all wrong."

"What do you mean, hon?"

"Everything. Max, Luke. I got married and he's just, he's been standing there, all these years and I never noticed. And then after yesterday, I couldn't even face him this morning and I need--"

"Coffee. Here. Now slow down and tell me what happened with Luke." Sookie instructed calmly, giving Lorelai a pat on the shoulder.

Lorelai took a shaky breath and a sip of coffee. "I went to talk to him last night, like you said. And we kissed again--"

"What? Oh my God! Did you all…" Sookie hinted.

"Huh? Oh no. No. I asked him what the hell we were doing and it turned into this whole big thing." Lorelai continued to explain the spat to Sookie, who was nodding. "And I couldn't sleep last night. I just sat up and thought about what he said: that he had waited six years for this. That's amazing, it's—it's unfathomable to me. I can't even wait five minutes for coffee and he's waited six years." She shook her head in amazement, blinking back tears.

"Oh, hon. So what does all this mean?"

"I'm not sure. We're not—we're not on the best terms right now, obviously. I didn't go to the diner this morning because I was afraid we would just get into again and I don't want it all over the town. I'll just, I'm giving him time."

"But do you think…would you date Luke?"

"I—if you had asked me that 24 hours ago, I would have said no. But now…yeah maybe. A little piece of me has always wondered how it would be, I think." Lorelai admitted, her cheeks turning pink.

"Ahh!" Sookie squealed a little. "Sorry, that's just so—that's great. I'm sure Luke will come around soon."

Lorelai nodded and tried to go concentrate on work for a few hours.

It had been almost a week and Lorelai hadn't stepped foot in the diner. So on Saturday afternoon, while Rory was off with Dean, Lorelai put in a call to a certain town establishment.

"Luke's."

"My roof's leaking."

"It's not raining," he sighed. "And it hasn't rained in two weeks."

"Oh fine," she pouted. "But a shingle did fall off the roof yesterday and almost took me out."

"Lorelai…" He warned. Why couldn't she just say she needed to talk? They both knew that was what this was about.

"Will you please come fix it? I would, but it's hard walking on the roof in heels."

"Ah geez. Don't kill yourself, I'll be there after the lunch rush."

"Good," she smiled. "Bring Burt."

Luke showed up a little after one. "I'm beginning to think you have some sort of psychic powers."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you all these years…" She stopped talking at his look.

"I was going to say because it's getting ready to pour." Luke finished. Lorelai glanced behind him and saw the clouds were looking rather dark and menacing.

"Maybe it'll blow over."

"Maybe." Luke set down the toolbox and shifted awkwardly.

Lorelai brightened. "I have sandwiches. Want one?" Luke followed her into the kitchen, a little worried about any sandwich she might make. "They're just peanut butter and jelly." She said as if she could read his mind. "I doubt even I can screw that up."

Luke couldn't help but chuckle. "I haven't had a peanut butter sandwich since I was about ten."

"I don't think Rory would have made it to high school without PB and J." They both munched on their sandwiches quietly for a minute, listening to the pitter pat of the falling rain on the windows. Lorelai got up to pour drinks and Luke finished his sandwich.

"I've been thinking." Lorelai looked at him with a raised eyebrow as she set his cup down. "It's not right for me to pressure you about this. I knew that and I still—I'm an ass."

She shook her head, shutting the refrigerator. "No, you're not, Luke. You're not. I was just—I'm confused and I didn't want to lie to you about…it's been a long time, Luke. Us, I mean. And I didn't want it to get screwed up before we had a chance to—and it did anyway."

Luke smiled a little at that. "Just a misunderstanding. But I will—if you're worried that we shouldn't do this, I'll wait. I'll do whatever."

"I appreciate that. But if we—I don't want to screw this up. I always manage to--" Lorelai admitted, tears pricking her eyes.

"Hey, it's not your fault. This thing with Max, it's not your fault. Okay?" He soothed, placing a hand on her knee. "It happens to a lot of people."

"I know, I just—with Rory, I didn't want her to have to go through that. I just want her to have a family, Luke. A real family—a mom and a dad and I don't know, a dog."

"You're not planning on moving to the suburbs soon, are you?"

Lorelai chuckled. "No, not any time soon."

"I want this to work too. That's why I want you to take all the time you need."

"I think…I just need you, Luke."

Luke squeezed Lorelai's arm and pulled her up into a hug. "I'm here. You know that, right?"

"Every morning. With coffee," she managed a smile.

"For coffee, for whatever you need." Luke said softly.

"I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"I've been a mess lately. I hate feeling so…" She shook her head, trying to clear her mind. She'd been running in emotional overdrive ever since her birthday and it was about time she landed.

"So let me make it up to you," he offered, putting a hand on her knee.

"I should make it up to you, Luke."

"But I can't let you pay for dinner."

Her mouth gaped open at that. "What dinner?"

"The one we're having this weekend."

Lorelai smiled at him, her blue eyes twinkling, but then she dropped her head into her hands. "Oh Luke, that's sweet, but Dean's going out of town so Rory and I had this whole big girly weekend plan." She grimaced. "Sorry."

"Oh no, it's fine. Have your weekend." He assured her, knowing how important spending time with Rory was to her.

She still looked unsure. "Would it be….a date?"

"Only if you want it to be. It can be just simple. I can even bring food over and we can watch a movie."

"Really?" Lorelai looked impressed at this suggestion.

"You already made me watch The Way We Were," he shrugged.

"And you loved it. Admit it." Luke rolled his eyes. "Well, I'm not sure I feel entirely right in calling it a date…"

"I get that."

"But if it were a date, a date like thing," she went on, trying not to smile. "I'd want it to be less…well, we've done the movie and dinner thing as non-dates and it might be weird to…I mean, it doesn't have to be fancy either."

"No, that makes sense. So we'd go somewhere. For dinner. Together." Luke said slowly and Lorelai nodded as he went on.

"And then watch a movie." She added, beaming. He chuckled and they were quiet for a minute, listening to the rain still falling outside.

"So much for the roof."

"Don't worry. There'll be time enough for that." Luke caught her meaning.

"Yeah. There will."