CHAPTER 5
Luke was beside himself when he looked at his beloved Lorelai crumpled on the floor.
"Lorelai!" he exclaimed as he ran to her side.
Her bleary eyes focused on him, blushing as he caught her unaware.
"Luke, what are you doing here?" she asked, trying to get up. She wiped the rivulets that marred her perfect skin.
"Figuring out why you're not at the diner," he quietly responded. He knelt in front of her, trying to get a hold of her hand. "Want to talk about it?"
Lorelai hesitated. For once she felt vulnerable in front of him.
"For the longest time, I have learned to live the life of a salmon," she said prophetically. "You know, swim against the current? This time, I just wish that I would be eaten by a bear."
"Watched Animal Planet again, didn't we?" Luke teased, trying to cheer her up. She flashed him a wan smile placating the man in front of her.
Luke sat next to her on the floor quietly. They contemplated what they are getting into permanently.
"You know, if you think we should call the engagement off..." he lead in.
"Bite that tongue, Buster," Lorelai threatened.
"Lorelai, we have to be practical here," he pointed out. "As much as I love you, I don't want to get between you and your parents."
"I've remedied that a long time ago, buddy," Lorelai snorted, playing with the robe's belt. "I just wish for once that my parents would be happy for me."
Luke nodded in silence. "That's what they're doing."
"You have a funny way of mistaking misery for happiness," Lorelai said, the side of her lip curled into a smile.
"Think about it," Luke said sadly. "I am definitely not Prince Charming. I don't drive a Porsche."
"I have Tristin for that," she finished the thought for him.
"Yeah. Let's talk about you borrowing your daughter's fiancée to cure your whimsical needs," Luke chuckled. "That kid indulges you too much."
"He's a great kid," Lorelai smiled. She couldn't have asked for a better man to marry her daughter.
"Back to me," Luke segued.
"Yes, back to you," Lorelai agreed. "So what if you don't drive a Porsche. I didn't date you because you drove one."
"But I'm not from a prominent family with good breeding," Luke pointed out.
"If I wanted breeding, I'd go to the Westminster kennel show," Lorelai declared. "Last time I checked I wasn't the princess of Monaco either so we're even."
"I just want to be sure that you know what you're going through," Luke said.
"I do. Now let's get this show on the road," Lorelai sad bravely, not knowing how she's going to tough it out.
.xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
Tristin watched Rory from across the room. He thought it was rather strange that the small town he always thought was just a black dot on a map is now a place he called home. He was going to miss it when he and Rory move to New York.
"So how did the luncheon go?" Graham broke Tristin's reverie.
"Good. Finally announced to Rory's grandparents that we're getting married," Tristin updated Graham. "Lorelai also announced her engagement to Luke."
"They're getting married, too?" Graham asked enthusiastically.
"Shhh! I don't think the town knows yet," Tristin hushed his cousin.
"Not even Miss Patty?" Graham grinned.
"Especially Miss Patty," Tristin said, chuckling.
"Well I am glad that Richard and Emily are seeing the ladies off to good people," Graham ribbed his cousin.
"I won't celebrate yet, if I were you," Tristin warned him.
"Why?" a frown broke on Graham's forehead.
"They're not too keen about Lorelai marrying Luke," Tristin grumbled.
Graham was about to say something but he clammed up. He knew the tale too well. It was just a pity wealthy people didn't see Luke as a rich man. Graham had the utmost respect for the diner man. Luke, along with Lorelai and the rest of Stars Hollow, welcomed and adopted the motley crew Rory brought home from Yale every now and then. They were labeled the 'rich orphans' but they were never treated as outsiders.
Suddenly, the bells on the front door of the diner chimed.
"I know you are not starting a party without me!" Lorelai announced to the crowded room.
Everyone burst in greeting, giving the mother of the graduate hugs and kisses. Luke trailed behind her, smiling. That was Luke to everyone; the man on the side, giving Lorelai the floor.
"Hold up, before anything else…" Lorelai said in the loudest voice she could surmount.
"You are not saying anything until these get popped!" Logan entered through the doors holding up champagne bottles. Madeline and Louise squealed in delight. Immediately, they scrounged up glasses from the back room, disregarding the evil looks Jess shot them.
Luke smiled wide. "Logan, what are you doing? This is a diner, not a pub."
"But at this moment, it isn't and you're closed for business. Thus, it's a residence," Logan rebutted playfully, shooting him a wink.
"Fine, fine," he surrendered without putting up a fight. "If Taylor finds out…"
"Luke, you think I'll set you up for failure?" Logan asked. "Man of little faith, I can do a thing or two to get Taylor to mind his own business."
"Just don't tell me what it is. I don't want to be incriminated," Luke guffawed.
Jess was surprised to witness the banter between Luke and the man named Logan. Uncle Luke is part of the cool crowd? Jess thought the town had gone mad.
However, the truth was stronger than fiction. He was overwhelmed with the town that he thought he knew; uncaring and selfish. Maybe he shouldn't have judged them quickly all those years ago.
"Alright, alright," Lorelai quieted the room down. "Now that Logan had provided us with proper beverages," she winked at the blonde, "I would like to give a speech. I know you'd like to know the dinner special at the Inn."
The whole room laughed.
"Rory, where are you, honey? Come here," she ordered her daughter who separated herself from Lane.
"As you can see, this woman before you has graduated today and without all of you watching over her, I bet she wouldn't have done as well," Lorelai announced.
"Aww," the room chorused. Miss Patty, Sookie, Babette and anyone who could shed a tear did. Rory was so touched she herself sobbed and tried to hide the tears escaping from the corner of her eyes.
"So I thought that I should share the greatest news of all," Lorelai paused. Her voice got soft and wobbly. "Rory is going to be my maid of honor the same time I become hers!"
.xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
Christopher thought the drive back to Boston seemed twice as long as he remembered. He looked at his rearview mirror to check up on the tiny bundle sleeping away in the child seat. Gigi.
His mother asked them to stay one more night. He had to decline the invite, fearing he would spoil the one thing he promised herself he'd never do: interfere with the lives of the Gilmore girls. Sure, they were his love of his life, his firstborn and the woman of his dreams. But they're gone. All he is to them is a memory.
Even his voice was alien to him during lunch. The words "She's mine!" echoed in his head when Lorelai announced her engagement. She said she loved Luke and it hurt. He knew this wasn't like her engagement to Max. This time he knew it was for real. She wasn't hesitant to proclaim to the world that she was in love with a man her parents would never approve of and she didn't care.
He wanted to slug Richard and Emily. God, what kind of fool is he? Despite the years of heartache he shared with Lorelai, he still wanted to be her knight in shining armor. He wanted Lorelai to run to him and have her brace up against him as their spiteful words were hurled against her. But that's what Luke's there for now. Again, he looked at the backseat of his car. He wished he would never lose Gigi the same way.
.xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Jess could feel a vice grip around his heart. He stared at the room that burst out in joy at the announcement. Luke lifted Lorelai off of the table and gave her a big kiss in front of the crowd. At the same time, he bore witness to the blonde cocky guy who he served coffee to moments ago kiss Rory like his life depended on it.
That was supposed to be him.
He took a step back. He laid the towel on the counter top. Then he took another step back. As soon as he thought he wouldn't be missed, he ran out of the back door to the only place that provided him solace.
Luke was elated that the truth had finally come out. Kissing Lorelai in front of everyone might as well have been the wedding kiss he'd been waiting for. He was standing right by the woman he loves and close to the woman he called his daughter. He, too, was gaining a son through Tristin. He smiled. There are times when the blonde reminded him of Jess.
"Jess!" he mumbled as he planted another kiss on Lorelai's lips.
"I hope you're not thinking of kissing your nephew," Lorelai teased as she licked her lips.
Luke's sharp eyes surfed the crowded room in search of his nephew.
All he saw was the back of a man breaking his stride for the bridge.
"I'll be back," he promised as he gave Lorelai one more kiss.
"You better or we're going to make you wear a pink tux with a ruffled shirt!" Lorelai called out to him.
She watched him retreat to the back room. In silence, her daughter stood next to her and hugged her. They both knew why Luke had to go seek the brooder.
Hot tears blurred Jess' vision. He shouldn't feel this way. He reminded himself that he's over her. She was part of a past that he buried the moment she said she wanted him to leave.
He fumbled though his pockets in search of the lighter and cigarettes that kept him company in times of frustration. He pulled out a crushed cigarette stick. Sobbing, he wiped the tears blurring his vision. "Damn her," he mumbled, the stick on his lips, wobbling. The flint of the lighter had to be struck three times before the spark lit the wrapped tobacco.
"Jess, wait up!" he heard Luke call out to him.
He ignored his uncle's plea.
"Jess!" Luke called out again.
Jess filled his lungs with the acrid smoke before stopping on his tracks. Who was he fooling? He can't run away from a town he can circle in half an hour walking.
"Jess, didn't you hear me?" Luke asked, gasping for air.
He eyed his uncle from head to toe. "Congratulations, Luke. You could've warned me."
"I didn't know Lorelai was going to announce it today," Luke said in honesty.
Jess snorted and sat at the edge of the bridge like he had done countless times when he lived in the town. He took another drag from the stick before he spoke again.
"You know what I liked about this town, Uncle? I was invisible and yet visible."
Luke grunted as he sat next to his nephew. "You never were invisible."
"Well, to the girls, I was," he said.
"I doubt it," Luke said. "You intimidated anyone who'd want to get close to you."
"Rory didn't shy away," he pointed out.
"Because she is Rory," Luke defended her. "She doesn't have a malicious bone on her body. She sees the good in everyone."
Jess took one more puff before flicking the cigarette butt away. "Yeah. Well, she should've stayed away."
"Would you have wanted her to do so?" Luke asked quietly.
A sarcastic retort was on the tip of his tongue when he decided not to say it. He wanted Rory to hurt the way she hurt him.
"I- I loved her, Luke," he confessed. "I tried my best to forget her when I left for California but she said she loved me."
Luke listened intently to the words Jess professed. "I don't think she said them in malice."
"But if she truly loved me, why is she marrying that guy? Why won't she have me?" he asked, full-fledged tears started rolling down his cheeks.
"Oh boy," Luke mumbled, trying to come up with words to comfort Jess.
"Do you know why I love coming to this bridge?" he asked. "Because Rory and I had our first date here when I bought her basket. It was here where she lost Dean's bracelet and didn't even try looking for it until two weeks later. It was here where she stole my heart and I didn't have the nerve to ask it back."
"Jess, if there is one thing that I know about Rory is that she did love you," Luke comforted his nephew. "She waited, Jess. But she can't put her life on pause until you made up your mind."
Jess wiped the tears away with the back of his hand.
"She's moved on and I want you to do the same," Luke hinted, patting him on the back. "Do it for me. I want you to be my Best Man."