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...
Chapter 7
1984
Lorelai groaned as she woke up to the annoying buzzing sound of an alarm clock. That alarm set off the alarm in her head. That wasn't her alarm. Her alarm was blue, fuzzy, and never made noise even though it was supposed to. She opened her eyes. She definitely wasn't in her house. There was a guitar in the corner of the room, a uniform hanging over the back of a nearby chair, and…were the sheets flannel? Better yet, was she wearing a flannel shirt? Man her head hurt. She shut her eyes and tried to shut out the noise and remember what happened last night.
Suddenly, she felt something shift beside her and let out a manly groan. Oh no. She reached behind her, hoping to get a fist full of sheets, but boy was she wrong. She gasped when she grabbed…something other than sheets and quickly retreated her hand. Please be a dream, please be a dream, she begged in her mind.
"Stupid clock," the man that was 'just a friend' said as his bare arm reached over her for the alarm clock. His fist slammed down on the poor defenseless machine and silenced it. Lorelai immediately shot up and looked at the man lying next to her. It only confirmed what she had feared. She was in bed with a naked Luke. Well, a shirtless one at least.
"Ah!" she screeched.
"Ah!" Luke yelled, surprised as he was jolted from sleep. He was surprised by Lorelai's scream and fell out of the bed. "Damn it! Stupid boots!"
Lorelai looked over the edge of the bed to see if Luke was ok- and naked. He'd fallen on his boots and wearing sweats. "Oh my God. Are you ok?"
"I'm fine. Luckily, my boots and this high heel broke my fall." Luke reached underneath him and tossed the shoes aside. He pulled himself up and rubbed his back.
"What am I doing here? Did we...we didn't…"
"No!" Luke said immediately. "We didn't…no. You were drunk and I didn't want Mia to see you like that, so I brought you here. You don't remember…anything?"
"I remember my drink tasting funny and sitting on a bench next to you and looking at your eyes and…" Lorelai gasped and covered her mouth. "Oh my God. I grabbed you! I groped you in the middle of that party!"
"You were drunk. You didn't know what you were doing."
"I'm so sorry Luke. I never would have come onto you if I was in the right frame of mind. Not that you're not an attractive guy because you are…but I don't think of you…like that."
"I understand."
"I'm sorry."
"I told you. It's ok." Luke grabbed a shirt from his drawer and put it on. "I don't think any less of you because of what happened last night."
"Thank you. That means a lot to me. Luke?"
"Yeah?"
"How did I end up in your room…wearing your shirt…in your bed…next to you?"
"Well, after the scene at the party, we got in my truck and left."
"You drove drunk?"
"I only hit a mail box and a couple of trash cans, but I think I was aiming for them."
"Why do you say that?"
"They were Taylor Doose's." Lorelai laughed. "Well, anyway, I brought you back here and you sorta threw up. Your clothes reeked and Liz was already in bed, so I changed you into one of my shirts and tossed your clothes into the washer. When I got back, you were asleep. I tucked you in and when I tried to leave, you grabbed my arm and wouldn't let go. So I laid down next to you. I was only gonna stay until you were sleeping, but I ended up felling asleep."
"You're one amazing guy Luke Danes. Any other guy would have taken advantage of me. They would have said, 'She's drunk so what the hell?' and they would have had sex with me. But not you. Why didn't you?" Her tone wasn't accusing, but serious. She wanted to know why he was the great guy he was.
Luke stared at Lorelai for a moment. "Honestly?" He sighed and sat on the bed next to her. "If you had asked me to have sex with you, I would have. Drunk or not, I would have slept with you if you asked. I was having a lousy night and I didn't care."
"What stopped you?"
Luke took a deep breath and left the room. When he returned, he was carrying Rory. "She did. After I put your clothes in the washer, I realized Rory was still with Mia so picked her up. I got back and saw you asleep. You looked so...peaceful. My brain kicked in and I knew I couldn't do anything to hurt our friendship. Then I thought of Rory. I wouldn't want some low life doing something like that to her so I couldn't do it with her mother. I have more respect for you than that. I shouldn't have even thought about it, but God help me, I did. And I'm sorry."
Lorelai smiled at Luke and kissed his cheek. "You really are an amazing guy. One in a million."
He smiled. "Thank you. You're not so bad yourself."
Present Day
Though Patty left out the drunken Luke and Lorelai and the details of their "night together," everyone had heard one version or another. Rory heard the story from her mother the first time she and her best friend Lane Kim went to a barnyard party. Lorelai didn't mind much that her teenager daughter and her best friend were going to a party she had a past with, but Luke was a different story. When Rory mentioned the hay ride, Luke went nuts. He was screaming to the point where his face was all read and the veins in his neck popped out. He even said something about locking Rory in her room and standing guard on the porch so she couldn't leave the house, but Lorelai talked him out of it. Rory asked what his sudden burst of insanity was about, Lorelai told her the story of her first barnyard party.
Rory turned toward her mother and noticed she was biting her bottom lip and slightly crying as she stared at Luke's in the corner of her eye. "Mom?" she called.
"Yeah sweets?" Lorelai asked, facing her daughter.
"Are you ok?"
Realizing there was moisture in her eyes, Lorelai wiped away the tears. "Yeah. I'm just…" She paused to take a deep breath. "He was only like that around me."
"Huh?"
"Your dad- Luke. He was only like that around me. He wouldn't have done what he did for me that night for anyone else. He told me that once."
"Dad loves you. He'd do anything for you."
"Yeah. He'd do anything. It's like he's two different men. When he's around people, the town, he's this grumpy, mean guy that's only good for a few monosyllable grunts. He's a totally different guy behind closed doors. When it's just the family, he's sweet, caring, romantic, and an all around happy guy. He loves to play around and tell jokes and smile. He's Mr. Family-Guy. He's perfect. Just not when people are looking."
"I wish people knew him like we do. Then, maybe people wouldn't be so judgmental. Or scared."
"People aren't scared of Luke."
"Uh huh."
"Like who?"
"Dean."
"He was your first boyfriend, Luke was supposed to threaten to kill him."
"Did he really have to describe it like something out of a Wes Craven movie?"
"It wasn't that bad."
"I had nightmares. For two years."
"Dean is one guy. It doesn't mean the whole town is afraid of Luke."
"Taylor, Jackson, Andrew, Lane, Lane's band especially Zach, Mr. Benson and his dog Skip, my elementary teachers, my junior high teachers, Peach Street, the Stars Hollow High PTA, the west wing of the West Hartford Mental Institution…"
"Ok, I get it. Luke can be grumpy, but the town knows that. He has his moods. They should know when to leave him alone."
"We're lucky to have you around to keep Luke in check."
"Yeah. Lucky."
"Mom, are you sure you're ok?"
"Rory, I'm fine. It's just been a long day."
"You're sure that's it?"
"I'm sure."
1984
Lorelai walked downstairs with Rory in her arms, still wearing Luke's shirt. She jumped a little when she saw Liz in the kitchen. Liz looked up at Lorelai and gave her a quick smile.
"Morning," Liz greeted casually.
"Uh, morning," Lorelai replied as she slowly made her way to the table. Why wasn't Liz surprised to see her there…in the morning…wearing Luke's shirt?
"Luke made coffee if you want some."
"Ok." Lorelai poured herself some coffee and sat at the table. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"When I came down here, you didn't seem too surprised that I'm here…in your brother's clothes."
"It's not the first time he's had a girl over."
"Oh. So, a lot of girls spend the night with him?"
"No. Just Rachel and his other ex Nicole. He told me what happened last night when I saw him this morning and he said not to pry. I was expecting you and I'm not going to pry."
"So, he told you…"
"Enough. You're a really nice girl Lorelai. Better than a lot of other women my brother was involved with. If anything were ever to happen between you two, I'd be overjoyed."
"That means a lot. Thank you." Lorelai took a sip of her coffee. "Oh my God."
"What's wrong?"
"This is the greatest cup of coffee I've ever had! Sookie was right."
"What was Sookie right about?" Luke asked as he entered the kitchen pushing up the sleeves of his flannel shirt to his elbows.
"This coffee. It's awesome."
"You shouldn't drink so much coffee. It's bad for you."
"How can a guy that makes this heavenly experience in a cup hate it?"
"It's going to kill you."
"What a way to go. I should marry you just for this coffee."
"Of course, because what's love got to do with it? Your clothes are in the dryer. They should be done in about twenty minutes."
"Great. Thanks Luke…for everything."
"Don't worry about it." Luke walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a bowl and some cereal.
"Hey Luke?"
"Yes?"
"I noticed you have a lot of Harvard things in your room."
"That's because Mr. Athletic over there is going to Harvard," Liz explained.
"Oh really?" Lorelai said with a smile.
"It's not because of my grades, because God knows I'm no genius," Luke joked.
"No. Just an animal. He was banned from the football team his freshman year," Liz remarked.
"Liz, shut up."
"You were banned from the football team?" Lorelai asked.
"Kicked off," Luke corrected. "I got a little too physical and they said I had anger issues. So, they kicked me off the team and sent me to anger management. I mean, come on. It's football! I was supposed to be rough."
"You almost put someone in a coma," Liz remarked.
"He shouldn't have been playing with a concussion."
"You almost took his head off in the previous play!"
Luke rolled his eyes. "Well, Harvard won't have to worry about me hitting people. They're offering me a full scholarship for baseball. Come next school year, I could be outta this town."
"Oh. That's…that's great," Lorelai said in disappointment and lowered her head.
Luke looked up at Lorelai and noticed she seemed a little down. "But I might not take it. It's a good offer, but I could turn it down."
"You're kidding right? You have to take it. This is Harvard you're talking about. You'd have to have a real good reason not to."
Luke continued to stare at Lorelai. Maybe he did have a reason.
Next time on "The Broken Road": In 1984- Luke takes matters into his own hands when he finds out who was responsible for Lorelai's drunk behavior. Lorelai invites Luke to celebrate Thanksgiving with her and Rory. In the Present Day- Rory has a surprise for her parents.
