Resilience
Disclaimer: The names, situations, and people affiliated with Gilmore Girls belong to Amy Sherman Palladino. I only wish that I could take created for Luke Danes.
Summary: Each chapter deals with a different time in Luke's life. It is a chance to find out his thoughts about the many women that have influenced him.
A/N: Thanks to cmbarrytx, for all her help.
Chapter 6: Places In The Heart
Luke is in his truck driving on the highway at night. The traffic seems light, which is good, because Luke seems to be distracted with turning knobs inside the cab.
"If I've told her once I've told her twenty times if she is going to be allowed to use my truck she has to learn to keep her hands off the radio. There is no way in hell I left it on a station that would play a song that would tell you to take off all your clothes because it is so hot. I would consider it an accident if she hadn't left the only cd to be Adam Ant. That pirate dressing freak. I have one rule, and she loves messing with it." Luke rants to himself, but the look on his face shows everything but anger. There is a small smile on his face while he shakes his head.
The sound of a cell phone breaks the silence of the moment. Luke considers ignoring it, since it is a driving hazard and everything. A rant he had a while back. He looks down at it, but curiosity gets the better of him, and he picks the vile item up.
"Hello! TJ? How did you get my number?"
"Well now I have a new reason to disown her"
"Sorry, no can do, I have some things I have to take care of"
"None of your damn business!"
Luke briefly closes his eyes in response to the comment made on the other end of the phone. "I'm sorry. Quit pouting. I promise I will help you out later in the week." (Pause) "Liz? Oh why is he getting you involved?"
"I told him that I was sorry."
"Oh trust me; I know that he is sensitive." 'Mental is more like it,' he thinks to himself. "Living with him for several weeks brought me insight into his personality that I don't think I will ever recover from the knowledge. The fact that he has a stalker-like obsession on Haley Mills is something I could have died happilywithout knowing."
"I am not exaggerating. When he asked me if I wanted to watch The Parent Trap, and I made the mistake of asking him which one. He gave me a look that made Travis Bickle seem harmless in comparison. And seeing him crying during Pollyanna was beyond disturbing."
"Yes, I know that in the big picture that these are minor things. Yes, I am glad that you are happy. You know that is all I have ever wanted for you. Tell Mr. Mills that I am sorry, and that I will help him with the fence Thursday afternoon. Good night Sis".
Luke clicks the phone off and then rests both hands back on the steering wheel letting his long fingers curl around it. As he stares out at the highway a realization hits him. 'Boy we Danes sure are late bloomers when it comes to relationships. Neither of us has ever been good at making decisions when it comes to our own happiness. It isn't like we were using the same technique either. Liz has always been the free spirited never maturing teenager looking for love everywhere, and anywhere it was humanly possible to do so. I on the other hand was born an adult taking charge of everything, and as a result was spending more energy trying to avoid any human contact that I was really running the risk of missing any chances of connecting with anyone. I am glad that luck seems to have changed for both of us, and that it happened before we were both sojaded that we lost out. Strange twist of fate where we could manage to live our lives completely differently, but now somehow we are both at the same place in our lives. It is like we have traveled two completely different paths, but in the end the paths have merged.
I guess when you get past his oddities; the thing that makes TJ different from all the other guys is that he loves Liz for herself. He shows a sincere interest in what she likes. For once she can be herself and be loved for it. Maybe all of this is why she is able to come home because she has finally realized that leaving here wasn't the way to find herself. It is amazing how wonderful life is when you have finally found someone that you have a connection with, and that allows you to be yourself. Not only allows, but loves you for it.'
He has been speaking of Liz, but his words are filled with his own personal understanding. "God I am beginning to sound like a Hallmark card. What the hell has happen to me?" The look on his face shows that he already knows the answer to this question without having to say a word.
This last part of the drive Luke has left the highway, and is currently seeking out a particular driveway. It isn't that he doesn't know where he is going, but more feeling of uneasiness about reaching his destination. The larger than life house comes into view, and Luke turns into the driveway. Before he gets out of the truck Luke reaches over to the passenger side, and grabs for a bag that he had brought with him. The trek to the door is uneventful which Luke is grateful for because it would be his good fortune to fall into a rose bush or something and have the whole thing captures by some security camera. 'That so would be my luck.' Just before he knocks on the door Luke takes one very deep breath and says to himself, 'there is no turning back now.'
After he finally does knock the wait for a response seems endless, and he begins to think his trip was all for not when the door swings open.
"Luke?"
'Hi Rory."
"What are you doing here? Is everything alright?" A look of panic spreads across her face. "Is Mom okay?"
"Everything is fine. Your Mom is at the Inn"
While walking back into the pool house to allow Luke entrance another thought hits Rory. "Did she get you to come here to talk to me?"
"No I am here all on my own. She doesn't even know I was coming here. I won't lie to you she did tell me all about your decision to drop out of Yale, and you're lucky that I have calmed down since I was given the news. You are right that your mother isn't happy right now, but we are both are trying to stand back and let you handle this matter." Luke knows that this isn't a time to revive into rant mode, but also doesn't want to miss the opportunity to put his two cents in as well. "You have to understand this isn't easy for Lorelai because all she has ever wanted in this world is for you to have a better life than she had. She feels that her life is filled with so many missed opportunities, and the last thing she wants is for you to follow down that same road."
"So you came all this way to tell me that you are going to stand back?" Rory asks still trying to grasp the situation.
"No, my reason for being here has nothing to with you going or not going to school. I came here because I need to talk to you about another matter completely."
"You are making this all sound all Cloak and Dagger."
"I don't mean to, but I am a little nervous," Luke takes a deep breath. "I plan to ask Lorelai to marry me, but I want to get a blessing from her family first."
"Oh I see, this is a practice run for when you ask Grandpa."
"I have no intention of asking him, or your Grandmother, anything. You are the one that I have come to talk to. Your blessing is the only one that matters. You are very important to me, and your approval is required." Luke pauses for a moment before continuing. "I want to make one thing very clear -- I don't want to try and replace your father. I know that things are strained between Christopher and me, but I don't want you to ever feel like you have to make a choice or anything. I just hope you are able to accept me."
Rory can tell by his eyes that he is dead serious, and his willingness to show his true feelings touches her deeply. "The only thing I want for my mother is for her to be happy, and I know that you are really the only one that can do that. When it comes to Dad, don't worry, the only one that can really come between him and I is Dad himself. Plus to replace him would imply that you aren't already in my heart. Luke you have been like family from as long as I can remember that only difference is that I now have a name that I can call you." She delivers this last line with a devilish twinkle in her eye.
"Dare I ask what name that could be?" he says with his right eyebrow up.
"Pops," she says with big eyes," or maybe Papa Luke, then your name would sound like Papa Smurf."
"I would like you to smurf up about the name." With this playful banter the tension that Luke was feeling on the drive here is completely lifted. "Keep this up and I will change my mind about giving you this." He holds up the bag that he brought with him.
"What is it?"
"A gift"
"Why are you giving me a gift?"
"Well I had two reasons for coming here tonight. One was to get your blessing. If that went well which it seemed to, I was going to give you this as a way to welcome you to my family."
"You don't have to give me anything."
"I was just talking to some of the members of my family. Trust me that bribery is necessary." He passes the wrapped package to her, and watching while she opens it.
"It is a record album." Turning it over to see the front cover. "Dusty Springfield?" Rory appears puzzled as to the meaning of this gift.
"This record belonged to my mother. I wanted to give you something that had a family connection plus I know that you love music so it practical and has sentimental value too."
"Oh Luke it is a perfect gift. Thank You." It came out sounding more like thank yo since the last word was muffled by her face being lost in his flannel due to the rather powerful hug that she was giving him. When they release, something occurs to Rory. "You are acting very confident that she is going to say yes."
"Well considering that she has already asked me to marry her, I feel that I have an ace up my sleeve."
"She did what?" Rory is beyond shocked by this news.
"It is just like her to try and steal my thunder."
"What did you say to her?"
"I told her that there was nothing that I wanted more than to marry her, but that I felt that there were things that we needed to take care of first. In so many ways we are in sync which made me forget to check to make sure that we were in step on other things. I found out that while I was out planning things like we had already set the date, she has been taking care of her life as though she was still a single entity. So we have agreed that we both want the same thing, but that we need to step back and work on our communication skills. My being here is one of the first steps in my improving my ability to communicate because I realized that I never spoke to you about my intentions."
Rory is trying her best not to smirk at Luke using the word intentions. "Sounds like you have a great deal of work ahead of you."
"Don't I know it; but I have never run away from a little hard work, and what I get in the end makes it all worth while." He gives Rory a quick wink and shows a look of great happiness on his face. With this pause in the conversation Luke thinks of how much he adores this young lady. 'I can only hope that my children are even half as great as this woman in front of me. My children! Cart before the horse Danes. Cart before the horse. I really have a lot of work ahead of me.'
TBC