Disclaimer: I do not own nor do I have any association with the Gilmore Girls or any of its characters. Dreaming about them is a totally different thing...
A/N: This chapter was inspired by Liz Phair's "Why Can't I?"
Chapter 4
Luke let out a sigh as he walked down the stairs, buttoning his flannel shirt. Liz heard her older brother stumbling downstairs and looked up. She noticed he was wearing his favorite and nicest flannel shirt. It was blue and brought out his eyes. He only wore it on game days because he thought it would bring him luck and it almost always did.
"Who's the girl?" Liz asked as she put Jess in his bassinet.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Luke replied grabbing his hat and put it on backwards.
Liz faced her older brother. "Look at yourself Luke. You're antsy. You don't smell. You're wearing your best flannel shirt. And by the looks of it, you shaved. There's got to be a girl involved."
"I'm just helping out a friend. She's new in town and…"
"She. So there is a girl in the picture. Who is it? Is it Taylor's niece again? Or Miranda? Or Betsy? Oh no. Is it Nicole Leahy? It's Nicole isn't it? God I hate her. Luke, you can do better than that."
"Liz! It's not Miranda or Betsy or Taylor's niece Monica. And it is definitely not Nicole Leahy. And before you ask, it's not one of your friends either. Especially not Carrie."
"This is the girl with the stroller Patty saw you with yesterday isn't it?"
"She's a friend and she's new in town. I'm just showing her around." A grin appeared on her face. "Don't look at me like that. She's a friend and that's it. I swear."
"Not according to Patty, Babette, Taylor, and everyone else in Doose's when you declared that she was your girlfriend at the register."
"She needed money and Taylor put me on the spot."
"Sure he did. When did you meet her?"
"About a month ago."
"Where?"
"Hartford."
"When I was in the hospital?" He looked away from his sister's glare. "Oh my God. This is the girl isn't it? This is the girl you went to the delivery room with."
"Her name is Lorelai Gilmore and she needed my help. At the hospital and at Doose's. She is my friend and just my friend. I have to go. I'm supposed to pick her up at six. When Dad gets home, tell him I'll try not to be late." He took his keys out of his pocket and headed for the front door.
Luke wasn't sure why he was so defensive. He figured it was just his nerves getting the best of him. God this was going to be a long night.
Lorelai ran around the shed, desperately trying to find something to wear. She didn't want to be too dressed up, but that the same time she didn't want to be too casual. She grabbed a few tops and bottoms to go with them. She placed the tops on the bed and put a few respective bottoms with them until she was down to three outfits. Eventually she decided on the blue top and jeans. It was five forty-five and Luke was picking her up at six, so she got dressed as fast as she could.
Afterwards, she grabbed a few bottles and some clothes for Rory and tossed them in the baby bag. She picked up Rory, her purse, and the baby bag and headed toward the door. When she opened it, she came face to face with Luke.
"Uh, hi," he greeted a little nervously. "I didn't know if I was supposed to meet you here or at the inn, so I came here."
"Yeah, we never really specified that. I was just going to drop Rory off at the inn. Mia said she'd babysit while we were out."
"I'll walk with you. Can I carry the baby bag for you?"
"Sure. Thank you." Lorelai handed Luke the baby bag and they headed to the inn.
Present Day
Rory loved hearing this part as a little girl. She listened intently as Patty prepared her fairytale version of what happened when she heard someone walk up behind her. "I hear this is a good part," a familiar voice whispered in her ear.
Rory quickly turned around to come face to face with her mother. "Mom!" Rory squealed as quietly as she could as she threw her arms around Lorelai.
"Hey there kiddo," Lorelai smiled as she hugged her daughter back. "I thought you were coming home next week."
"I decided to come up a week early."
"Oh honey, I wish you had called before you came."
"I wanted it to be a surprise. Besides, I couldn't miss Miss Patty's version of the story."
"You of all people would know this story by heart."
"I can't get enough of hearing it. Man, it's so hard to believe that the Luke in Patty's story is the same Luke that runs the diner."
"Yeah, well, things change." Lorelai's smile faded for a second, but she recovered quickly, hoping her daughter didn't catch it. "Hey, let's listen. This is the good part."
1984
Luke and Lorelai strolled down the street side by side, keeping a safe amount of distance between eachother. He pointed out some places and followed up with little stories. The tour was coming to a close as they neared town square. "That place down the street was Weston's Bakery," Luke informed. "Kinda fruity, but makes great pastries."
"It's not one of those really weird chirpy diners with the freakishly happy waitresses that think everything in the world is good and always smile?"
"It's not that fruity. They do, although, have ceramic cow creamers. That's enough fruit for me. Ok, you know about Doose's, the studio across the street is Miss Patty's Dance Studio. She teaches just about all types of dance. Another little tidbit about Patty, she's the town gossip so if you ever need to know something, go to her. That's Kim's Antiques. Mrs. Kim is really scary- short, Christian Korean woman-, but they have nice furniture. Across the street is Stars Hollow High School." He led them to the gazebo in the middle of the square. "And this is the town gazebo. It's been here for over a hundred years."
"Wow, it's beautiful." Luke took a seat inside the gazebo and Lorelai sat next to him.
"The store down the street is the bookstore. My buddy Andrew works there so if you ever need a book, ask for Andrew and tell him you know me. Then there's the flower shop. And last but not least, the charming store at the end is where I work."
"William's Hardware?"
"Yup. My father owns the store and I help out when I can."
"So you're gonna take over the store when your dad retires?"
"I don't know. Maybe. I kinda want to start my own business. A diner or something."
"A diner? That's a major turn around from a hardware store."
"I'm not as passionate about the hardware business as my father is. I really like cooking so I should at least make a few bucks while I'm at it."
"Good point."
"The rest of town is basically home and the lake. Everyone loves to go down there for a swim. And it's got this great view at night with the moon on the water. It's great."
"Then let's go."
"Go where?"
"To the lake. If this view is as great as you say it is, I want to see it."
"Uh, ok."
Luke stood up and offered his hand to Lorelai. She slipped her small into his large one and he helped her to her feet. He couldn't stop thinking about how soft her skin was. He unconsciously rubbed his thumb over a small part of her hand. Snapping out of his trance, he led them down the street, never letting go of her hand.
"Are you having fun?" he asked, breaking the silence that had been created between them.
"Yeah," she replied. "Who knew a small town like this would have so many stories behind it?"
"Not many people." Luke carefully hopped off the sidewalk. "Ok, watch out for that dip."
"What di..." The tip of Lorelai's shoe got caught in the dip and caused her to trip. Luckily, she fell right into Luke.
"Whoa! Are you…" Luke trailed off when Lorelai looked up at him and their eyes met. Suddenly, he couldn't breathe and he forgot how to speak. They stared at each other for a moment. "Are…are you ok?"
"Yeah. I'm ok. Thank you for catching me."
"You're welcome." Their faces were an inch apart by now. Luke wanted to lean down and kiss her, but in the corner of his eye he spotted Patty and Babette watching them from Patty's studio. He couldn't further feed their rumors about him. He helped her back to her feet. "Come on, we better get going before it gets too late."
The walk to the lake was silent after that awkward moment after Lorelai tripped. They both felt the electricity between them, but they were both too stubborn to admit, let alone act, on it. Instead, they walked in silence, keeping a safe distance between each other. Luke was especially cautious. He didn't know where he and Rachel stood. What the hell was being "on a break" mean anyway? Were they together? Were they broken up? Were they being "casual" about their relationship? Why did women have to be so confusing?
They sat on the bridge with their legs swinging back and forth over the edge as they enjoyed the sight before them. Luke was right. The night moon reflecting off the still water was amazing.
"Can I ask you something?" Luke finally asked.
"Sure," Lorelai replied.
"If you tell a guy you're 'on a break', does that mean…"
"You're broken up. It's another way of saying, 'I want to see other people, but have you in my back pocket in case things don't go well'."
"I can't believe I'm a back pocket guy." Lorelai couldn't help but laugh. "Why are you laughing? This isn't funny."
"If you saw your face, you'd be laughing too. You didn't know you were broken up?"
"I do now! You women need to be clearer on what you want."
"Oh and guys are just open books right?"
"Hey, breaks are like calling time-out in a game. You take a moment to figure out a plan and then you're right back into the game."
"Why does dating have to be a game to guys?"
"If dating was a game, it'd be one sport I wouldn't play. On a break. What a joke."
"Don't act like guys don't have back pocket girls."
"They're called friends with benefits. We don't use that break crap. I've never felt so pathetic."
"You're not pathetic."
"My girlfriend, or should I say ex-girlfriend tucked me away in her back pocket. How much worse can this get?" As if on cue, there was a roll of thunder and rain started to fall from the sky. Luke lowered his head and shook it. "I just had to ask."
Lorelai laughed. She patted him on his back and shouted above the sound of the heavy falling rain, "Cheer up. It's not so bad. Come on. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe it's what you said. She's taking time to think about what she wants. You're not broken up until you say you're broken up."
He didn't seem to be cheering up. Then she came up with an idea. She stood up and took a few steps back. Luke looked over his shoulder to see what she was up to. His eyes widened in shock when she started to shed her clothes. "What are you doing?"
Lorelai looked down at Luke, wearing nothing more than her bra and panties. "I'm going swimming. What does it look like?"
"It looks like you're getting naked."
"Then why are you looking?" He returned his focus to the water. "Take your clothes off."
His head shot up. "What? No."
"I don't want to swim alone."
"Then don't. Come on Lorelai, it's raining. Put your clothes back on and let's go home."
"Take your clothes off and swim with me."
"No."
"Luke, we're already wet. We might as well go swimming."
Luke stood his ground. He said no and meant it. He refused to give in, but when she looked at him with those pleading, beautiful blue eyes, any chance of him standing firmly with his decision was shot to hell. With a sigh, he got up and started to strip down. "I can't believe I'm doing this. If I die of hypothermia, I'm coming back to life to haunt you."
"You're not going to die of…" Lorelai trailed off when he took off his last shirt, revealing his well built body to her. Good Lord he was cut!
"What?"
"Nothing. Nice boxers," she said, pointing to his plaid boxer shorts.
"I'll put my clothes back on and go home."
"What? I was complimenting you."
"Sure you were."
They walked to the edge and looked down at the water. "Ok, on three." She took his hand. "One, two, three!" They held hands as they jumped into the water. Lorelai started to shiver when the water hit her. "Oh my God! It's cold!"
"What were you expecting? A jacuzzi?"
"I didn't think it would be freezing!"
Luke started to laugh and Lorelai playfully slapped his chest. She was gonna use any excuse to touch him. "Come here."
"Why?"
"Because it's cold and body heat makes you warm." He was going to use any excuse to get close to her too. Lorelai swam over to him. When he wrapped his strong arms around her, she shivered at the body to body contact. "Still cold?"
Feeling his chest pressed against hers and his arms wrapped around her warmed her up in a second. "Nope. I guess swimming in the rain was a bad idea."
"I don't think it's that bad."
He smiled at her, warming her body again. A minute ago she thought she was going to turn into a icicle, but the minute he held her, smiled at her she felt like she was burning up. They looked into each other's eyes again, feeling the connection from earlier. Luke was about to kiss her when they heard two pairs of footsteps walking on to the bridge. They looked up to see Kevin Gleason and his girlfriend looking over the bridge with an umbrella over them.
Kevin grinned and shouted over the rain, "Nice night for a swim?"
Next time on "The Broken Road": In 1984- Luke and Rachelcome to a conclusion about their relationship.Lorelai meets Sookie St. James. Luke invites Lorelai to a party.
A/N: I know Lorelai's definition of being "on a break" isn't true. At least, in my opinion it's not. I thought it would be funny to bring up the classic Ross and Rachel "We were on a break!" dispute with a Gilmore Girls twist.
