Sorry about the delay, but life happens sometimes at the most inappropriate times

Chapter 7

Lorelai and Emily headed to the diner in complete silence. Emily was bracing herself for her confrontation with Richard. Lorelai was stewing over her mother's words, she wasn't afraid to say the L word, she wasn't afraid to tell Luke anything. But why mess up the good thing they had going right now? Why did she have to throw the L word at him, when she knew it would only cause a big awkward moment? Why did she keep referring to it as the L word? Before they knew it they were at the diner.

Luke looked up when he heard the door open and welcomed the wave of relief he felt. Luke and Richard had been sitting in silence for the last ten minutes, and that was almost more disturbing than actually talking to each other. The silence continued though, only now there were four people instead of two. Luke watched as Emily and Richard just stared at each other. The tension was getting thick. He looked to Lorelai, who usually had something to say, and noticed that she looked distracted or a little upset. Finally Luke cleared his throat and rounded the counter to stand next to Lorelai. He looked back at Lorelai's parents, "We'll just be outside if you need us," he grabbed Lorelai's hand and started leading her out the door, "Take your time." With that he made his escape.

As soon as the door closed Emily lifted her chin, "What are you doing here Richard?"

Richard replied, "I came to drop off the things that you asked for."

"You could have just sent them over you know. You didn't have to trouble yourself." She said trying to sound indifferent about the whole situation. "Anyway, you could have just left them at the inn."

"Well when I got to the inn and said that I was looking for you, Michel told me that you were here. I figured that it would be rude to just dump off your things and leave, so I thought I'd let you know that it was here." Richard said trying to sound professional.

Emily looked at him bewildered, "You figured that would be rude?" she let out a forced laugh. "You wake me up, tell me it's over, throw me out like the trash….but you figured THAT was rude?" Emily was getting very angry now, "Really Richard, sometimes I just don't understand how your mind works."

"You don't understand how MY mind works!" now Richard was getting upset too, "You tell me that we should separate, you move me to the pool house, and then you go out with one of my business associates!"

Emily put her hands on her hips, "You have been going out for dinner with Penalyn Lott for years!"

The arguing continued to get louder and louder. Lorelai and Luke even decided to move across the street and out of earshot. They stopped and sat on the bench. Lorelai still hadn't said anything since she arrived at the diner and Luke was getting concerned, "Are you all right?"

Lorelai turned toward Luke but didn't make eye contact, "Yeah, I'm fine." She then turned and tried to feign interest in the surrounding festivities. Luke figured she was upset about her parents and decided to give her a moment, so he also sat there and pretended to be interested in the surroundings.

Meanwhile, the arguing back at the diner had reached new levels. They just continued yelling over top of each other until there was nothing left to yell. Then all there was left was a deafening quiet and a lot of tension. They both just stood there and tried to catch their breath. Richard expected Emily to walk out and slam the door, and was totally surprised when she walked over and took a seat at one of the tables. After a few more long moments of silence Emily slowly and calmly said, "The dinner meant nothing. I need you to understand that." Then she stared back at Richard.

Richard also exhausted from the previous exchange, sat down on a chair beside her. "Then I need you to understand that my lunches with Penalyn Lott were innocent as well." Emily just sat and stared at her hands, which were folded on her lap. Richard slowly leaned closer and put his hand on top of Emily's. Emily's head snapped up surprised. Richard gave her hand a squeeze, "Emily….Let's go home."

Emily wasn't sure what to do, she was still upset about many things. But she missed the way Richard was looking at her. She missed talking to him, eating dinner with him, even arguing with him. She sighed and looked at Richard, "Let's go home." She agreed.

LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

Lorelai had been silent for so long that Luke felt he had to say something, "Well the gazebo sure looks nice from here, huh?" Still nothing. "Should we go see if we can find Rory and Sookie?"

Suddenly Lorelai turned towards Luke, "I'm not afraid of you!" she said.

Luke was confused, "Uh…..OK." 'What the hell is she talking about now.' "Did I do something…….?"

Lorelai reached out and grabbed his sleeve, "No….I mean….ugh!" she was getting flustered trying to find the right words. She took a deep breath, "Luke. You and me and this thing we're doing, it's good, right?"

Luke still unsure of where this was going cautiously answered, "Very good."

Lorelai fidgeted, "Good." She paused looking for the right words, "And you know that I think it's good. I mean, we eat together, we sleep together, we talk about everything, we have fun…" She noticed the confused look on Luke's face, "You know that you're my best friend, right?"

Luke smiled, he was unsure of where this was going, but that just sounded so cute. "Yes, and you're my best friend."

Lorelai kept stumbling through, "It's just….everything seems perfect right now…it feels perfect. I just don't want to say 'anything' that might ruin it. Do you understand?" Just then Taylor and Jackson stepped up to the microphone and started their speech, drowning out the end of Lorelai's sentence.

Luke winced as feedback from the mike rippled through the square, "Do I what?"

"Do you understand what I'm saying?" Lorelai shouted back, because now the band was playing as the countdown to the tree light up started.

Luke shook his head and smirked, "Not usually!"

Lorelai anxiously tucked her hair behind her ears, "I've never been good at talking about…" between the music getting louder, and Lorelai not being able to find the words, she tried to end the painful conversation. "I just wanted you to know that you're the best thing that's ever happened to me, Luke. That's all." Then she exhaled. She was disappointed that she couldn't find the words. She gave Luke a small smile and turned to watch as the countdown continued.

Richard and Emily emerged from the diner exchanging shy smiles and headed towards the car. Emily noticed Luke and Lorelai across the street and turned to Richard, "I'll be right back, I just want to tell Lorelai that I won't be staying." Richard nodded and Emily headed across the street.

Luke stared at Lorelai's profile for a second and then smiled. He stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her stomach. He liked the way she fit him. He leaned down and whispered in her ear, "I love you Lorelai, I always have." He felt Lorelai tense up, "If that's what you're afraid of saying, don't worry, I already know."

The music stopped as Jackson walked over to plug in the tree. Lorelai turned around and looked at Luke. He was looking back at her with sweetest look on his face. She knew that if she said nothing, things would still be the same between them, because he was Luke and he was the only one who ever truly understood her. "I love you." she said. The tree lit up and the crowd gasped in delight. When the words came out, it took her a second to realize that she actually said them out loud. She was also surprised that no lightning bolt had come from the sky and struck her dead, and even more surprising was the fact that she actually felt happier, and she couldn't help but smile.

Emily heard it. She was just crossing the street when the music stopped and clear as a bell she heard it. Emily watched as her daughter and the diner man kissed each other, and smiled at each other like lovesick teenagers. She stopped and sighed. She hadn't pictured Luke as the future for her daughter. She must be getting soft she realized as she took in the picture before her. Luke and Lorelai happily wrapped up in each other, while little children dressed up as angels dance to Christmas carols in the background beside a giant beautifully decorated Christmas tree. Although not Emily's caliber of party, she found comfort in the quaintness.

Richard was waiting at the car and saw Emily stop and turn around. When she got back to the car he asked, "Weren't you going to talk to Lorelai?" Emily looked back over her shoulder at her daughter, "I'll just leave her a note at the inn." Richard shrugged confused, but not about to ask. Then they got in the car and left.

THE END