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 18- What's your problem?
1985
Kevin, Jackson, Andrew, and Kirk were headed to the quad when Sookie ran up to them in the hallway. She had a big grin on her face and she was bouncing around like she always did when she had something "exciting" to tell them.
"You are not going to believe what we saw!" Sookie squealed.
"Have the penguins returned to pick at out brains until we slowly go insane?" Andrew joked.
"No."
"Then I'll believe it."
Jackson shoved Andrew. "What'd you see Sook?" Jackson asked.
"Ok, me and the girls were heading to the quad to meet up with Lorelai like we always do and that's when we saw Luke and Lorelai." The guys just stared at Sookie. "Kissing."
"Now that I don't believe," Andrew remarked. "Luke never shows any kind of affection in public."
"It's true! I swear! They were right in front of his locker making out! And his hands were in her back pockets."
"Was he looking for something?" Kirk asked innocently.
Jackson rolled his eyes. "Sook, it's hard to believe Luke would make out with Lorelai in the middle of the school's halls. It's even harder to believe he was groping her. Hell, it took the man three years to hold Rachel's hand in front of people," Jackson commented.
"His hands were in her back pockets while they made out in the middle of the hall. If you don't believe me, you can ask the other girls," Sookie said firmly.
"Where are the other girls?" Andrew asked.
"In the quad watching Luke and Lorelai play tonsil hockey." They stared at Sookie as if they still didn't believe her. "Fine. I'll prove it. Come on."
Sookie led the four guys to the quad where Sarah, Gypsy, Lulu, and Liz were. Their mouths dropped at what was before them. Lorelai was sitting very close to Luke- practically sitting on his lap- as they made out for the whole school to see. For years they had tried to get Luke to be more open about his relationships, but now that they were seeing it they weren't sure if it was what they wanted to see.
"I don't believe it," Jackson said in shock. "How long have they been like that?"
"Fifteen minutes," Sarah replied. "We tried poking them with a stick, but it only seems to get Luke irritated."
"Can they breathe?" Andrew asked half jokingly.
"I hope so," Gypsy replied.
"They're really starting to make me sick," Liz remarked. "It's bad enough I have to watch them do that at home."
Kevin cleared his throat a few times before it finally broke the couple apart. "Oh, hey guys," Luke greeted with a goofy grin plastered across his face.
"Your lung capacity must be a medical wonder," Andrew joked as he sat down on the bench.
"Shut up Andrew. You act like you've never seen me kiss a girl."
"That was no kiss lover boy. That, my friend, was sucking face," Jackson teased.
"Thank you for the commentary Jackson," Lorelai laughed. She turned to Kevin and smiled. "Hey Kev. You're awfully quiet today."
"Yeah, uh, I'm not feeling so chatty today," Kevin remarked.
Luke stared at his friend for a while and noticed something. He immediately got up and walked over to Kevin. "Excuse us," Luke said as he started to drag Kevin aside. "We'll be right back."
Luke finally let Kevin go when they were across the quad. "What's your problem?" Kevin bit.
"You're drunk aren't you?"
Kevin tried to walk past Luke. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Luke grabbed him by the arm. "Don't lie to me. You've got that glassy look in your eyes and your breath reeks of vodka!"
"So I had a few drinks! What's it to you?"
"What's it to me? You're wasted at school dumb ass! Do you know how much trouble you can get into for that? Is everything ok? Are you having problems at home? Are you and Sarah fighting?"
"Lay off me already Danes! Jesus Christ!"
"I'm just trying to help you!"
"Well don't! It's none of your business."
"Kev, we've been best friends for sixteen years. We tell each other everything. What's going on?"
"It doesn't matter. Why don't you go back to your girlfriend," he spat before walking away, leaving a dumbfounded Luke behind.
Present Day
Dinner had gone fairly well. By fairly well, I mean there was no blood shed. Although, Luke did imagine ripping his only nephew to sheds with his bare hands. Lorelai took it a step further and acknowledged Jess and made somewhat small talk. Luke was good for a few grunts here and there. Mikey, bless his eight year old heart, chatted up a storm with his beloved cousin Jess. He was intrigued with the stories Jess had brought home. But Kelly didn't even make an attempt to talk to Jess. She wouldn't even look up at him. She remained silent throughout the whole dinner. Her anger at Jess spilled over to Rory, so she gave her sister the silent treatment too.
It was sometime later that night when Kelly headed to the kitchen for something to drink. Everyone had already retreated to their bedrooms. She pulled a glass out of the cupboard and poured herself some water from the pitcher in the refrigerator. She was shocked when the lights suddenly turned on.
"You really shouldn't be walking around in the dark," Jess joked.
"What are you doing here?" Kelly spat.
"I'm getting some water. Jeez. What's you're problem?"
Kelly's eyes followed Jess as he got himself a cup of water. "What are you doing here?"
"I told you." He held up his glass and swished the water around. "Water."
"No. I meant, here. In Stars Hollow. Why'd you come back?" He took a big gulp of water instead of answering. "I know you're not here to celebrate Mom and Dad's anniversary."
"What if I am?" She gave him a 'I'm not buying it' look. "Rory asked me to come ok?"
"Oh. Sure. You'll come if Rory asks."
Jess put his cup down on the counter and stared at his cousin. "I'm really not liking you attitude. You don't have to talk to me, but what the hell Kelly? Rory's your sister."
"She of all people knows how this family feels about you and she still brought you. She thinks you can come back and all will be forgotten. Well, if she's stupid enough to think that, I'm not gonna waste my breath breaking the news to her."
"Why do you guys all hate me?"
"Do you even have to ask? After what you pulled two years ago, you've become a four letter word around here. You hurt every single person in this family with your antics Jess. You knew Rory would go after you. You knew and you didn't care. You didn't care you hurt Mom and Dad. You didn't care that you crushed a little girl's heart. Or did you forget that you promised to spend the whole summer with me?"
Kelly got angrier when Jess didn't respond to her last spat. She slammed her cup onto the counter and was about to leave when he grabbed her arm. "I didn't mean to hurt Rory or Luke or Lorelai or you. You're my little cousin Kel, I'd never intentionally hurt you."
"Well you did." Kelly shook off Jess's hold and started out of the kitchen. She stopped and faced him. "Believe it or not, I used to look up to you Jess. But when I look at you now, I can't believe how stupid I was."
She switched off the light and left Jess in the dark to think about what he had done to the only people that ever gave a damn about him.
1985
"You and Luke seem to be getting rather cozy with each other," Sookie teased. All the girls went to Sookie's after school and now they were in her room talking girl talk.
"I think we're as shocked as you are," Lorelai laughed. "I mean, at first it was going really slow. Now we're making out everywhere."
"I gotta know. Is he a good kisser?" Sarah asked. She laid on her stomach and propped up on her elbows, resting her chin in her hands.
"He's amazing," Lorelai smiled.
"You're like him a lot don't you?" Gypsy accused. "I've never seen someone more starry-eyed over him than you."
"I like him a lot, a lot. He makes me feel…alive. He makes me feel so special and…I don't know. He's just amazing."
"So this thing between you and my brother, it's serious?" Liz asked. Lorelai nodded with a smile.
"How serious?" Sarah inquired.
"It's pretty serious. I mean, I see us together for a long time," Lorelai replied.
"Have you two…" Sookie hinted.
"Have we what?"
"Have you…you know." Lorelai raised a brow. "Have you had…sex?" Sookie whispered 'sex.'
"No."
"Are you going to?"
"Maybe one day. If he didn't want to rush our first kiss, I'm sure he isn't going to try to get me into bed anytime soon."
"I'm sorry, but can we please change the subject?" Liz asked. "My brother's sex life isn't at the top of my list of things to talk about."
They all started to laugh and talk about something else, but Lorelai's mind was still on Luke. She was always thinking about him. When she was with him, she couldn't get enough of him. And when they were apart, he occupied her mind. It wasn't much of a surprise to Lorelai when she realized she was falling in love with Luke Danes.
Present Day
"All I'm saying is you could have at least tried to say something to him," Lorelai said.
"Oh believe me, I wanted to. I had a few choice words for him," Luke said.
Lorelai shook her head. "Rory thinks we're mad at her."
"I'm not mad at Rory. Ok, maybe a little. But I'm more angry at Jess."
"Do you think we're overreacting?"
"Hell no. We're giving Jess more attention than he deserves."
"Maybe we are, but there's something you're forgetting."
"What's that?"
"Rory. She still thinks there's some good in him. If you want to break her heart after she tried to do something nice, then go ahead. I, on the other hand, am going to make the best of it."
Luke scratched his head as he walked over to his side of the bed. "He can stay," he sighed.
Lorelai smiled at Luke across the bed. "Thank you."
They both pulled down the covers and were about to get into the bed, but stopped when they realized they were getting in at the same time. "I'm sorry," Luke said, taking a step away from the bed. "You can…go ahead."
"No, no," Lorelai said, also stepping back. "You first."
"Really. You first. I don't know if you've changed your sleeping space…position…whatever."
Lorelai shook her head. "I haven't moved. Do you, uh, still sleep on your side of the bed?"
Luke nodded. "Let's just get in at the same time. I'll stay on my side and you stay on yours."
They got in the bed at the same time, keeping to their sides. They switched off the lights on their night stands. Lorelai was lying on her side with her back to Luke. He was on his back with his head turned toward her. He had a sudden urge to touch her. Not in a dirty way. He just wanted to touch her. He was about to, but felt so foolish he pulled his hand back. He turned his head the other way and closed his eyes as he drifted off to sleep.
Just as he turned his head and fell asleep, Lorelai laid on her back and turned her head toward him. She watched him as he slept. She watched the rise and fall of his chest like she did so many times before. Before things got complicated. Before the accident. Before she cried herself to sleep because he wasn't in the same bed as her. She wanted to touch his face so badly it hurt. It had been so long since she had, she'd forgotten what it felt like. She reached out to touch his face, but as she was about to touch him he turned to his side. She pulled her hand back quickly, cursing herself for the way she was acting. She turned to her side again. They lay with their backs facing each other, so neither of them knew the other was awake. They thought of each other that night, letting the memories of the better days carry them away into a dream state.
Next time on "The Broken Road": In 1985- Lorelai and Rory are snowed in at the Danes house after having dinner with the family and spend the night. Luke has something VERY important to tell Lorelai. Present Day- Luke calls a truce with Jess and takes him fishing. Lorelai talks to Kelly about the way she's treated Rory the night before.
A/N: I forgot someone- rather many people- commented on Luke's maternal grandparents, namely Grandma Lena. I wasn't even thinking of The Sisterhood when I wrote it. It was seriously pure coincidence. Lena's the name of a main character in this story I'm writing. And Dounas is one of my childhood friend's last name. The guy's like a brother to me so I had to represent. Lol. And as for what's going on in this story, you'll find out what happened to make Luke and Lorelai hate Jess in the chapter after the next. After that, I'll be dropping hints about the main story line like crazy. There are some people that have already figured it out, but don't know it. Hahaha. And I'm sorry it took so long to update. I had to pick up extra shifts at work and my friends set me up on a blind date I so graciously refused to go on, but ended up going to because they brought him to my birthday dinner on Friday.
