Thanks for all your encouraging reviews-
pOnDeReSqUe: My banter's probably so awesome, cause I talk like that a lot normally. The dirtyness is fun, right? I'm glad you like it, cause there's even more in this chapter. And I don't know how exactly I came up with the idea for this story, but there are so many ways I can go with it, and I'm really gald I did come up with it. It's fun! And I tend to "..." a lot too, hopefully not in my fics too much though.
orangesherbert7: Hmm, well, I don't know how Luke's cruise could dock anywhere where the girls are, cause I'm pretty sure Luke said it was a criuse through Canada and into Alaska. Although, he also said it was a seven-country cruise, so I don't know which is right. If it is through Canada, I guess I could still do an AU type thing. I already kinda-sorta knew what I was gonna do, but I don't know now. Maybe, some how I can combine them, and work your suggestion in. I always love suggestions, so thanks.
And thank you again to every other reviewer of the first chapter.
Okay, there's a little Italian in this chapter, and I don't speak Italian, so I had to use an online translator thing, and if it's annoyingly wrong or something, sorry, but it looks okay to me. There's only a little Italian so it doesn't matter too much.
Also you may notice this chapter is a little longer than the first. I couldn't really find a stopping point. I just typed for like four straight hours. So when my hand started to hurt, I stopped. And while yes, it kind of shows that I stopped at a random point, I think this chapter is pretty good. Just don't expect as long chapters later on. I'm not always watching SCTV and SNL while I write. Also I've had like a month's worth of break from writing fanfic, so that makes it pretty easy to come up with something to write, I guess.
Now R+R (to me this means 'you can go to sleep now!' or 'Luke and Lorelai kissing on a porch')!
Enjoy.
Rory points to a small place that looks like a diner (And we're thinking about him again!) "How 'bout over there?"
"Cute, sure."
"Yeah, cause if it's cute you'll do it right?"
"Ha ha! Dirty!"
"Yeah, I baited you for that one... Did it make you think about Luke?"
Oh yeah, totally! "For your information it made me think of Colin Farrell."
"Liar."
"You're annoying. Have I ever told you that?"
"I got it from your side of the family."
"Oh, now while I'd love to rant about how friggin' annoying my mother can be, you should know you'll always be my little Damien, ...and I'm not annoying, just chatty."
"Ladies and gentleman, the biggest understatement since you uttered the sentence 'I like coffee'."
"Or since I uttered the sentence 'he likes flannel' in reference to Luke after meeting him." And again I mention the man. "...Wait. Why am I agreeing with you? I am just chatty."
"Yeah, and Pamela Anderson's never had plastic surgery."
We reach the cafe (I'm gonna call it a cafe, cause if I call it something else, my mind'll drift to the Luke-inspired dirtyness again.), and sit down at a small metal table with two chairs. "A couple cappuccinos and a slice of chocolate cheesecake to split?"
"Awesome."
A waiter comes to the table, and asks for our order. "Due cappuccinos e una fetta della torta del cioccolato, per favore?..."
The waiter nods, "Quello sarà tutto?" ("Will that be all?")
"Sì, grazie."
He leaves the table.
"Been working on your Italian, have you?"
"What do you mean?" I reply innocently.
"When we got to Rome, all you could say was 'cappuccino'."
"You're exaggerating."
"How 'bout we switch the topic to Luke."
"Right, okay."
Silence.
Rory breaks my silence, "...Sooo. You said you talked to Luke before we left?"
"Um, yeah, we talked."
"...About?"
"You know- the cruise, him and Nicole committing..."
"Or why he couldn't?"
"Maybe, something like that."
"So he told you he loves you and doesn't want to lead her on when something he's really wanted for a long time with you could be happening instead!"
Why on Earth would I be depressed if he had said that? "You're a really bad guesser!"
"Well, it's not like you're filling me in with every last detail."
Okay, I guess I have to admit my failure out loud eventually, ...and around people that can't speak English and don't know me isn't a bad place to start the confessions. "I'll start from the beginning"
"Good idea."
Where to start... Ooh! "The first day I met Luke... I was pretty infatuated with him. There was a small crush there."
"You never told me that."
"Yeah, well, now I have..." Let's get on with it here, Lorelai.
"So when did this little crush of yours end?"
"Um, well... define end."
"Butt, bottom, rump, ass."
I give her a stare. "Rhetorical question, dear."
"Sorry, you were saying you have a six-year long crush on Luke? Continue."
"As I was saying... I think it's kind of faded over the years. It's kinda like 'Well, it'll never happen, get over it.', but lately it's been stronger again, you know."
"Sure, that's natural for you- when a man is taken, you want him even more."
"I don't 'want' Luke." She gives me a you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me-even-you-can't-lie-that-well look, and I admit it, "You're right, I want him. I want Luke!... It's just weird."
"Well, if it's been going on for six years should it be that weird anymore?"
"It told you it kind of faded. It was strongest at first, when he flirted with me too... Then one day this pretty woman- most likely not a hooker, so no Julia Roberts movie reference intended- came into the diner. He talked to her just like he talked to me, and I just felt so incredibly stupid for having the crush and unexplainably jealous of this woman- just this customer- that I lost interest. I just didn't want to hurt like that again. I didn't lose interest completely mind you, but I wasn't writing L.D.+L.G. on all my notebooks anymore." Rory now gives me a look that asks if I'm joking or not. "Metaphorically speaking, there were heart doodles with our names in 'em."
"Just metaphorically?"
"Yes... Okay, no, but I was drunk the only time I really did it."
"I think Luke and I might have a little chat next time I see him."
"You wouldn't dare!"
"Well, I'm not gonna pick truth, my friend."
"You're evil."
"Thanks... So how long had you known Luke before the 'probably not a hooker' knocked you back into reality?"
"I don't know. A month, maybe a little more."
"And you weren't as tight as you are now, then, were you?"
"No, not nearly. We had a purely dealer-to-addict relationship..."
She tries to guess what I'm thinking- very badly again, "And you really don't think he wanted more too?"
"Are you insane! No, he didn't want more with me. He hated me- thought I was insane."
"You know that's not true."
"Uh, no I don't."
"Mom, come on. Luke likes you, you know that."
"Maybe, he does now, but then, Hon... I don't think he did then."
The waiter comes to the table with our order and the bill. "Grazie." A woman spills a cup of coffee when she drop it, breaks the mug. The waiter at our table goes to help clean up the mess. "Now that's just a waste of perfectly good coffee."
"Gonna help 'em clean it up by licking it off the floor?"
"Oh, the thought crossed my mind, trust me," I say as I grab a plastic fork from the container in front of me and take a bite of the cheesecake. "Oh my god, that's the best cheesecake ever."
Rory takes a bite, and eccentrically aggress. I add some sugar and cream to my coffee, and take a sip. "Wow."
"Good, huh." She's already had some of her own.
"Don't tell Luke, but I think he's got some competition."
"You're planning on moving here?"
"Don't tell the waiter, but I think Luke is hotter than he is. Although the accent isn't bad."
"Better than the everyday-day-I-don't-make-out-with-Lorelai-is-a-bad-day accent Luke's got goin' on?"
"We've never made out."
"Exactly."
"Right, well, you're still insane."
"And Luke still loves you."
"Oh my god, stop with that!"
"Just continue your story."
"Okay, well, remember Rachel?"
"Oh, yeah. You were jealous of her!"
"Yeah I was... That was the first time since the 'pretty woman' I was jealous of any woman being around Luke- my Luke... It just hit all over again." Tears come to my eyes at the recollections of stale jealousy of his old girlfriend, and the fresher, possibly deeper jealousy of Nicole. Rachel is the scar that'll probably never heal, and Nicole- she's still stabbing me... right in the gut. I sip my coffee slowly, but it just makes me think of him more. As my eyes water more and more, it just hurts worse and worse. Rory can tell.
"...Oh, mom." She scoots her chair next to the left of mine and wraps an arm around me. I set my coffee back down. "It's okay, Rachel's gone."
"Nicole's not." My voice is breaking, but I keep talking. "Remember the night I had to say at his place, when the inn caught fire?" She nods. "I told him about my dream of us being married."
"Which one?"
"The least dirty one." A small smile actually comes to my face when I think of it and the kinkier ones.
"Sure, wouldn't want to scare him too much."
"Twins."
"What?"
"It was the one where I was pregnant with... twins- Nick and Nora."
"How did he react?"
"He asked if the dream went beyond him fixing me breakfast, hiding my hyper-coffee, and talking to my stomach, and it did- he kissed me... a couple times, but I didn't tell him that. I mean he had a girlfriend- has a girlfriend, and it would have just been wrong."
"Well, that's good, it was the right thing to do- very unlike you though, isn't it?"
"Don't be mean... He seemed happy though. I couldn't see him cause I was lying on his bed, but he sounded happy. That's another thing that was weird about that night. I mean I had pictured being in Luke's bed a few times before, but none of them were without Luke... on top of me."
"Mom! Bad visual. And you call me mean?"
"And it was definitely a good thing I wasn't looking at him. I would have pounced and straddled him- shoved my tongue down his throat." Rory makes yet another disgusted mom-stop-talking-right-now face, but I continue, "I mean he was wearing this tight sweater that you could totally see his muscles in, and the tight little sweatpants."
"I'm glad you're a little more cheerful thinking about how hot Luke is." She makes a face as she says the last part of this sentence.
"Yeah, well, that night wasn't exactly perfect."
"Sure- thinking about the inn."
"And Nicole called while I was there, but- I thought this was pretty awesome, don't tell Luke- he didn't tell her I was sleeping over..."
Rory interrupts me again, "Oh, sure. It's so weird he didn't tell his girlfriend that an attractive woman he knows is sleeping over at his apartment. Don't you think that would sound a little like 'Hey I'm cheating on you'? And I don't think Nicole would enjoy his locker-room-worthy-bragging too much, you know?"
"Gossip about sleeping with me is locker-room-worthy?"
"Definitely!" She says it sarcastically, so of course I'm offended.
"That didn't sound too serious."
"Mom, you're talking about Luke cheating, which is just ridiculous, and--"
"You were just saying Luke wanted me, and now it's ridiculous!"
"You're upset, because I think the concept of Luke cheating on his girlfriend is ridiculous? You've got to be kidding me! It is ridiculous; it's insane; it's not Luke. Luke wouldn't cheat on anyone with anyone. If Christie Brinkley was standing in front of him in only his flannel begging him for sex, he wouldn't cheat on his girlfriend."
"Oh, Christie is sooo not his type!"
"...And...?" She asks trying to get me to admit it.
"You're right, he's not the type cheat... Not even if it was with me, Hon?"
"I really wouldn't try it, but you never know. He's a very mysterious man."
"One of the things I love about him."
"Aww, you love him!"
"I will confess I love a lot of his traits... and all of his muscles."
"Geez."
"And that! I love it when he does that!"
"And when you make him do it by commenting on his big toolbox?"
"Yeah." I grin and finish off my coffee. "...You know when you mentioned Christie standing in only his flannel, it made me think of one of the dirtier dreams where I was wearing just his flannel begging--"
"Please, no!"
"No, that's not exactly what he said. It was more 'Yes, please!'"
She covers her ears in terror.
"Okay, I'll stop! God!"
She takes her hands off her ears, and I shut up... for what seems like forever.
"Now you're just gonna be silent?... I love it!"
"Well, now all I'm thinking about is him and me... together... doin' stuff, and since you don't want to hear it while it's all I can think about, I can't talk about something I'm not thinking about. You have to think when you speak, right."
"Oh, I don't know. Tara Reid seems to be able to pull off not thinking while speaking. Gary Busey too, both of the Hilton sisters, Anna Nicole Smith. Oh, and I've seen you do that from time to time too."
"Thanks, putting me on the same level as Anna Nicole Smith. That's too kind." Sarcastic, of course.
"You're talking now? Impressive!"
"Well, yeah. Mentioning Gary Busey kinda turned me off."
"Oh, sure."
Hope you liked this chapter! Leave a long review, please.