"Explain what?" Luke uttered as confidently as he could, trying not to seem too obvious. Oh, who was he kidding? Lorelai's not stupid, and she's certainly not someone who backs down so easily. He's cornered, and doomed...
Ah, evasive measures, I see... Well, not good enough, bucko, "Explain why you agreed to be in the play," that's right, Lorleai: be straightforward and to the point, now he has nowhere to hide. Mwaha, Mwahaha, Mwahahahahahahahahaha.
Damnit! Hm, well, perhaps if you speak really, really quietly, she won't hear you... Luke would soon have followed that advice, but, realizing who it was coming from, chose to ignore it, completely. 'Will you just shutup! Like I'm gonna keep listening to the little narrator in my head...' Still, Luke, you have to answer her... 'I know, okay!' "Um, yeah, I'll tell ya, but you can't laugh, okay?" You can't laugh? What, are we in kindergarten?
Ha, what, are we in kindergarten? Well, I'll at least ENDEAVOR to keep a straight face... Heehee, yeah right... "Um, sure, I won't laugh, Luke..." Unless It's really funny.
"Okay, yeah, uh... I'm in the play because of my mother..." It's all out there now.
Oh, that's really not funny... "Oh, um, I'm sorry, I didn't know... If you don't mind me asking, what does The Music Man have to do with your mother?
"Well, when she was alive, she just really loved musicals. The Music Man was her favorite, and she always told me how much she would love to see me playing that lead role someday. I tried to put it on once for her as a kid, but it, uh, didn't go too well."
"What happened?" she asked, truly interested.
"Well, first of all, I asked Liz to play Marion. Kinda gross, I know, but, yeah... We were, uh, we were putting on the play for her when she just... collapsed. We didn't even know what happened. One moment, she was smiling, and watching us, and the next... she just closed her eyes, and fell out of her chair. We brought her to the hospital, and that's when they diagnosed her. They told us she had cancer. A brain tumor, actually. She had surgery, and they tried to remove it, but nothing worked. Three months later, she died. She never saw the end of the play, so I just... I dunno. I guess I feel like I owe it to her. I never really wanted to put on the musical, in the first place, but I would have done anything my mother. I just feel like..." Luke paused for a while, contemplating, and trying to get himself together, and keep from crying in front of Lorelai, "I feel like it was her dream. At least, she told me it was. It just seems wrong to not follow through on her wishes."
"Oh my God, Luke, I am so, so sorry. If I had known... well, I wouldn't have bugged you aboud it so much," she, too paused, half worried that she might say something totally Lorelai-like, and totally insensitive, and half afraid that he was mad at her, "You know, Luke? You're a really good son. I'm sure your mom's proud of you, and I'm sure that, wherever she is right now, she's looking down on you and smiling."
"Yeah, well... Are you still in?"
"In?" A/N: haha, kind of reminiscent of Written in the Stars, huh?
"Yeah, do you still want to be in the musical?"
"Oh, of course. You bet I am."
"Good, good... thanks. So, do you want more coffee?"
"What?" she was understandably confused, still trying to be the comforting friend, " oh yeah, sure. Thanks, Luke." Just then, Ms. Patty came into the diner.
"Oh Luke, darling, how's our little Harold this morning?"
Oh jeez... "I'm fine, Patty, thanks..." he said, returning to his usual grumble, after his uncharacteristic outpour of feelings.
"Good... And who is it that you're having play Marion?" she shot a knowing sideways glance at Lorelai, who only smiled back at her.
"Well, uh-" he was cut off.
"I am, Patty," Lorelai answered confidently, honored to have been chosen after hearing that story.
"Well of course you are, dear. Who else would he choose? We would have asked you anyway. We only asked him to choose because we knew he'd ask you, and we knew he could convince you to do it. Now, why he ever agreed to do it, himself, is a mystery to us, but it certainly is convenient..." she dropped the not subtle hint that she would love to know the gossip behind his agreeing.
Luke shot a sideways glance at Lorelai, saying 'Please don't tell her.' She smiled, silently answering him, 'I never would.' Patty noticed the exchange between the two, once again giving Lorelai a knowing smile. Luke just rolled his eyes, "so did you just come in to ask that, or did you want some food, Patty?"
"Pancakes and toast, dear." Luke shook his head, slightly, going to the kitchen to start the order.
As he returned, Lorelai walked up to the cashregister to pay him for the coffee. She spoke to him quietly, saying, "thanks, Luke; thanks for telling me..."
"It's no problem," he answered in the same hushed tone, failing to mention that she was the only person he'd ever told that to. Somehow, she still knew she was, and she smiled at him with this knowledge. As she handed him the money, he whispered to her, "it's on the house, and thanks for listening."
Lorelai smiled once again, and began to walk out. Desperately wishing that she had been close enough to hear what they had just been saying, Patty called after her, "practice is tomorrow at three."
"I'll be there," she said, and the bell above the door jingled behind her.
A/N: Okay, so I guess that chapter had a bit more of a point to it. I know it seems kind of out of character to have Luke talking so much about the experience to Lorelai (and INCREDIBLY out of character to have him in the musical, but too bad), but it's about his mother, so who knows. Thanks for reading, and please drop a review with your thoughts. Should I continue, or not? I barely have any reviews on this story, so I'll only keep writing if more people start reading it.