Luke heard some shouting, then Lorelai appeared at the door, her face flushed. Even though she was wearing just a pair of jeans and a tight blue t-shirt, she looked radiant as ever. "Come on in," she greeted Luke, motioning for him to follow her inside the house.
"I guess I should get started," Luke said. "I brought my toolbox with me."
Lorelai gasped and twirled around. "Dirty!" she exclaimed, her eyes twinkling devilishly.
"Geez," Luke swore. "Are you like this all the time?"
"Pretty much," she answered proudly. She pointed towards the kitchen. "Would you like something to eat?"
Luke nearly gagged when he saw the disgusting display of junk food spread across the table. There were chips, candy, cookies – essentially, anything that could give a person an instant heart attack. "You're actually going to eat this crap?" he gaped.
"Of course. We need our nourishment." Lorelai grabbed one Oreo from a pyramid of them and began munching on it.
"This is not nourishment. This stuff will kill you. Do you have any idea how bad this is for you? You should not be eating all this as a snack," Luke ranted.
"Oh, it's not a snack." Lorelai shook her head, dark curls bouncing. "It's our dinner."
Luke, at a loss for words, stared at a grinning Lorelai until interrupted by Rory's cries of, "Hi, Luke!"
He turned to see a pretty pink bedroom. The sweet girl was sitting at a desk, open book in front of her. "Oh, hey, Rory. I'm just over to fix some stuff around the house."
Rory smiled. "I know. Mom told me. I'm just working on some homework here."
"Oh, right. Well… study hard."
"I will."
They remained locked in an awkward silence for a few moments until Lorelai chimed in with, "Luke, why don't I put you to work?"
Luke followed Lorelai around the house (trying not to stare at the back of her figure too much) as she jabbered endlessly, pointing out one thing after another that needed to be fixed. They ended up in the front hallway, where Lorelai informed him that the front door lock was ineffective. Luke set to work on fixing the lock, and Lorelai went into the family room and settled down on the couch to watch TV. As he worked on the lock, she periodically yelled things at him. Once he'd finished, she put him to work at securing the fireplace mantle, which precariously wobbled whenever touched.
Luke heard giggling coming from behind him. "What?" he sighed, turning to glare at Lorelai.
"Nothing. Just keep working." Lorelai pressed her lips together. A small giggle escaped, and Luke's reproving glance prompted her to add, "Sorry."
Luke started hammering, and was interrupted by a snort from Lorelai. "What is wrong with you?" he grumbled.
"Sorry, it's just…" Lorelai appeared to be trying very hard not to burst into peals of laughter. "I can see your butt moving as you hammer those nails."
"My butt is not moving."
"Yes it is."
"No it's not."
"Yes it is."
"You're delightful, you know that?" he scoffed sarcastically.
"Don't be ashamed, Luke. It's a very nice butt! I'm enjoying watching it. Really."
Luke sighed. He didn't think he'd sighed this many times in a 36- hour period ever before. "Stop lookin' at my butt. It's distracting."
"You can't even tell."
"Yes. I can."
"Okay," Lorelai finally conceded. "I'll stop looking." Her roguish grin told him otherwise.
Luke worked around the house, fixing various things and fending off Lorelai's obnoxious questions and silly flirtations, trying to pretend he wasn't enjoying them. Even though he had to get up early the next day, he couldn't bring himself to leave. He loved being in this house with funky furniture and decorations that paid homage to her colorful personality. Plus, he loved being around her. In addition to being crazy, she was also fun and warm. Repairing items around her home was a great excuse to be near her. Finally, once Rory had said goodnight to Luke, kissed her mother on the cheek, and disappeared into her bedroom with enough candy to make Willy Wonka sick, Luke regretfully told Lorelai that he was leaving.
"Okay, well, thanks so much for helping me out." Lorelai reached for her purse. "How much to I owe you?"
"Oh, you don't owe me anything," Luke said, waving his hand casually.
"Come on, Luke, what do you want for this?" Lorelai persisted.
How could he tell her that just being near her was all he really wanted? Instead, Luke settled for, "Nothing. I didn't mind doing it."
"Well… thank you. You're wonderful. Would you at least like a beer?" Lorelai offered.
"Sure. Thanks." Luke swallowed hard as Lorelai led him into the family room, a cold beer in each hand, and dropped down onto the couch.
Luke perched awkwardly on the couch and took a swig of beer as Lorelai shockingly said very little, compared to her usual pace. "I appreciate you coming out here," she said softly, mellowing with the late hour and the alcohol. "I've never owned a home before. My kid and I used to live in a shed at the Independence Inn, where I work."
"You mentioned that," Luke nodded.
"We moved there just after Rory was born. I had her when I was sixteen."
"Sixteen? Wow." Luke's mind reeled for a few seconds. Pregnant at sixteen? This woman had been through a lot. And yet, here she was, cheerful, bright, annoying, and beautiful. Luke sort of thought she was amazing.
"Yeah, it was really tough." Lorelai tugged absentmindedly at a curl with her fingers. "The toughest part, though, was dealing with my parents. They are these incredibly strict and judgemental people, and they were so worried about 'the social ramifications of Lorelai's mistake,'" she said mockingly, adopting a high pitch which, Luke assumed, was meant to imitate her mother's voice. Returning to normal speech, she added, "I had to get away from them. So I ran, and I took my daughter with me. I got a job at the Inn, and I worked my way up, and, well, that's how we got where we are."
Luke sat silent for a moment, processing Lorelai's life story. "That must have been tough." He looked at her in the soft, dim lighting with compassion, treasuring this more vulnerable side of Lorelai and wondering why he, of all people, was lucky enough to see it.
"It was hard sometimes," Lorelai agreed, her voice tender. "But I did what I thought was best for Rory. And I really love the Inn, and this house, so I guess you could say things have worked out perfectly."
"Perfectly, huh? How lucky for you."
"Well, not perfect exactly… but pretty damn close." Lorelai smiled. "Living here in this town, with so many friendly people who are so concerned about us – I feel like I've finally found a family who loves me for who I am, you know?"
Luke didn't know. He'd always thought the town was pretty crazy, and that the people were awfully pushy and overbearing much of the time. And love? What did he know about that? He'd only been in love once, and it had left him feeling, well, not good. But Luke didn't want to burden Lorelai with tales of his emotional life; he hated telling anyone those things. So he nodded in agreement, and they sat calmly for a few moments, just sipping beer and enjoying each other's company.
Luke reached the end of the bottle and set it down, empty, on the coffee table. "I really should get going. I have to be there really early to open the diner tomorrow," he explained.
"Oh, right," Lorelai mumbled. She followed him to the door. "Oh – don't forget Bert!"
"Bert?"
She picked up his toolbox and handed it to him.
"You named my toolbox Bert?" Luke asked incredulously.
"It just seems like a Bert," she mused. "Or do you think it's more of an Edward?"
"I think that you're more of an insane person."
"Hey! I am not insane. I just… like to have lots of friends. Even inanimate ones."
"I'm not going to ask." Luke opened the front door.
"Hey," he heard Lorelai breathe. He turned to see her, inches behind him, one hand on the door frame. "Thanks again."
"Uh… you're welcome." Luke braced himself, realizing that he was dangerously close to leaning in and kissing the gorgeous woman before him, and at the same time realizing that this would probably be a really bad idea. "I guess I'll see you at the diner sometime?"
"Tomorrow," Lorelai nodded. "I'll be there for breakfast. Now that I've had your coffee, I'm hooked."
Luke smiled and looked at her for a long moment, just taking in her beauty, before uttering a hasty "Good-bye" and ambling away.