Dedicatations: Copperboom107
----------------------------------Too Hard to Touch-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lorelai had entered the diner that night with the intention of coffee. Just simply that, the thought of skipping Friday night dinner hadn't even crossed her mind. Okay well that may have been a lie, but she didn't care. She had made up and excuse and then it was time to celebrate, with coffee. Lorelai ignored the "closed" sign in her usual manner. She peered through one of the near by windows and spotted the flannel clad dinner man wiping down the counters in usual manner. She waited while smiling at him unknowingly to herself. After he turned around she snapped out of her daze and pushed on the turned doorknob.
She was quickly greeted by the ringing-bell over head and a gruff, "We're closed." from Luke. She smiled at this while closing the door behind her before making her way to her favorite counter seat.
The diner owner then turned towards the door thinking he was once again alone only to find Lorelai sitting down in front of him.
"I said we're closed." Luke said while recovering from the unexpected appearance. He knew that there was no point in repeating it to her and that it was highly unlikely that she would oblige, but it was a mechanical reaction only because that fact. The fact that she wouldn't leave, the fact that he would never ask her directly do so, and the ever looming fact that she had no idea why none of these events would ever occur.
"I know you're closed." she said matter-a-factly. "But that's beside the point, it's celebrating time!"
"Celebrating?" he said after a pause of thought. "wait, isn't it Friday, shouldn't you be at dinner or something?"
"Nope not tonight, it's time to shake things up, paint the town red, play U2 songs till the cows go home, watch the Rocky Horror Picture Show and dance the Time warp Again, you know Funky town."
"I'm guessing that you'll want coffee then." Luke gave his usual look of disapproval to her.
"You've got it."
"So how did you manage it?"
"Manage what?" Lorelai began fiddling with her coffee cup.
"Getting out of Friday night dinner."
"Oh that, I told them that the florists made a mistake on our orders for our next formal dinner and that Sookie needed me at the Inn to sort it out."
Luke looked her up and down suspiciously, " I would think that it would take more than that." After pausing his gaze on her he quickly turned away as she noticed the direction of his stare.
"Yeah well, we had some other company coming besides Rory and I today so Emily was more than happy to make sure that I didn't prolong the dinner any more than it had to by." Lorelai looked side ways at Luke with a curious expression.
He could here it in her response that she had caught him steeling a glance of her. Luke stared at the coffee pot in front of him hoping that she would leave the incident alone.
She didn't, his sudden retreat intrigued her now rampant curiosity. She followed his stare to the coffee pot and decided that she wanted to find out what had caused his sudden withdrawal in the conversation. "Afraid the coffee pot's going to get up and dance away or something?" she inquired lightly.
He froze at the expression in her voice, clueless of what to do. He'd gone through this kind of situation with her many times before, but he wondered if he could avoid his revelations yet another time.
"That coffee must be really captivating."
"Well it must be, you drink it every day." He marveled at his recovery, he then heard the coffee maker stop. The room went quiet, as did its residents.
"So…are you going to serve me or what?"
"Oh yeah, um here." Luke pored the coffee steadily into her out held mug.
Lorelai took the mug to her lips eagerly and sipped too soon, "Aiie! Hot!" The coffee then spilled in result of her exaggeration. "Oww…"
Luke broke out into a smile at the site of the commotion after seeing she was fine. "You all right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Lorelai smiled to reassure him and looked down at her now stained top, "Do you have a towel that I could use?"
"Sure no problem." He looked around while fidgeting.
"Here I got it, I'm fine." Lorelai entered behind the counter and picked up a towel.
"No, let me get you a clean one. That towel's been all over these tables." He put his hand on the towel as she had brought it to herself, placing his hand over her heart. Seeing this Luke paused and blushed, only to pull away seconds later. "Here, um…I've got some shirt's upstairs you can borrow."
Lorelai had still stunned by his touch, short as it may have been. She watched him escape up the stairway. She then looked back down at her shirt and then at the towel she held. Slowly snapping out of her thoughts she began to scrub intently on the stain.
Luke entered his apartment through the "William Hardware Office" doors and searched through his closet for a suitable shirt, thinking about what he had just done. He had touched her, not anywhere that he could regret or think that she may take the wrong or, more correctly, right way. It was just always a rush felt in fantasies, …not that he had any… Who was he kidding, he had touched her, they were alone, and he was searching for a shirt. "Come on Danes, just take a step."
"Find a shirt yet?" Luke heard the voice come softly behind him and paused.
"Yeah," He pulled out a blue flannel. "Hope you don't mind flannel, it's about all I've got." Luke prayed that he hadn't spoken that step part out load.
"No problem," Lorelai took the shirt out of his hands gently, as if to tease him with the slide of her hand against him. She then began to tug at the buttons of her own shirt, seeing this Luke quickly turned around to find him-self blushing. "Keep it together Danes." He thought.
Lorelai saw him turn and smiled at the gentlemanly gesture, though she had planned on going into the bathroom before hand, here was as good as place as any. "Plus," she thought. "We're just friends right, who cares if he sees me." So she proceeded to change, completely oblivious as Luke silently suffered.
Luke felt as if another one of his revelations were coming on. The feeling that if he would just go over there and tell her, kiss her, heck even touch by accident that he would be back to normal, never wanting more. But of course this was a false assumption of comfort. For if just one honest word or gesture were openly shared they would always want for more, as he would soon find.
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-TBC- If you want me too