Friends Doing the Twist
By Gilmoregirl1979 (the reigning Quote Queen)
Provider of QUALITY Fan FICTION!
Rating: PG-13
Hi this is your friendly disclaimer: I REJECT ASP's REALITY AND SUBSTITUE MY OWN! Once again, I don't own (DAMN IT! DAMN IT DAMN IT DAMN IT DAMN IT!), No Harm No Sue. (JUST GIVE ME A JOB and we will call it even!)
R/R: yes please I love reviews; I wanna marry them (as previously stated, I have strange passions.)
Luvz: I miss you
FEATURING BETA: localizy, this girl can read at like 200 WPM … I just want to put her on display and sell tickets! BABY, you're the GREATEST! (read her fics What can I say and Can't Buy Me Love, I Helped!)
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Chapter 4:
Not Hungry
As Luke started to wake up,he was certain it all had to have been a dream… a trick of his subconscious to take his mind off his marriage troubles, to distract him with a delightful fantasy of Lorelai … then he felt her arm on his chest. He opened his eyes, and saw that Lorelai had dropped the conservative holding his hand for being huddled up right against him… still naked, skin against skin, in his small bed. Once again, he could feel her breasts on his chest, her cold nose was in the crook of his neck, and she had a leg slung over his.
Luke was trapped; he couldn't crane his neck enough to see what time it was without the risk of waking her up. He knew he was scheduled to open the diner today, even before Nicole's indiscretion landed him in jail and consequently in bed with Lorelai. Lorelai looked so peaceful asleep beside him, almost happy, but the uncertainty and discomfort of having to talk more about what happened last night loomed again.
Luke could see the sun just peaking up, also seeing that he should get up and deal with the diner first. He decided to risk the uncomfortable conversation, if only he could promise to talk to Lorelai later, if he could get to his chores down in the diner. Luke tried to slowly peel Lorelai off him, but she felt him shift. "Don't go…" Lorelai whispered as she clung tighter to Luke in her sleepy daze, not realizing that when she woke up things would still be awkward and they would still have to talk about everything. She just wanted him to stay with her… and keep her warm, make her feel loved.
Luke wondered if she knew he wasn't Jason, if in her sleep she had rolled over because she thought she was with her boyfriend. "I'll be back," Luke promised, wondering if that was something Jason would say to her. He left the bed and her grasp, but before he walked too far away, he stopped and took in the abnormal sight before him. Lorelai Gilmore sleeping naked in his bed; the bed sheet was now down around her waist giving him an ample view as she slept on her stomach, cuddling with Luke's pillow since he was now absent from the bed. He couldn't help but admire the beautiful contrast of Lorelai's exposed bare back as her long dark curls draped over her fair skin. He wanted to commit the image to memory since he didn't know if he'd ever see anything so beautiful ever again.
Luke put on some jeans and a T-shirt, and as he headed toward the kitchen, he noticed the wad of clothes carelessly tossed onto the couch… then Luke seemed to remember Lorelai mentioning there were still clothes downstairs in the diner, so he went to check and clear away all the evidence of his own indiscretion before the townies noticed and started hitting them up for details.
Reluctantly, he left Lorelai alone upstairs, to let her sleep a little longer. As he entered the diner, it looked entirely new to him. He tried to image the diner as it would be later in the day, busy with patrons who would be none the wiser of what happened the night before between the long time friends.
Luke had neglected his regular closing chores, what with being in jail, getting drunk and having …relations with Lorelai. All the chairs were still down from the night before, and he debated if he should put them up anyway… to mop the floor, he heard Lorelai's words again, now in an almost seductive whisper … behind the counter…
Widely spread behind the counter, Luke found the stray bits of evidence of their first time together, the articles of clothing an inebriated Lorelai had missed. He found one of his red stripped socks, which of course reminded him of the sock man… and Nicole's infidelity. He found the belt he had been wearing, the same belt that Lorelai bought for him when she went to Bloomingdales with his credit card and got all those ridiculous GQ clothes for him. There were two items he knew weren't his, Lorelai's bra and her white lace camisole she had on under her blouse.
He found them by the kitchen door way, carelessly discard in the throws of passion. The weight of his actions last night forced Luke down to the floor, he sat by the kitchen doorway and held the camisole in front of him, and he could clearly see it on Lorelai. He pictured Lorelai beneath him, Lorelai kissing him, Lorelai unbuttoning his shirt, his own hands unbuttoning and removing her blouse. In his mind he saw Lorelai modeling the camisole as it was revealed for the first time to him and the phantom sensation of Lorelai's hands inching toward his belt, the belt he held in his other hand. Luke put down the camisole, and saw his father's handwriting on the side of the back counter, and Luke swallowed hard. He could almost feel his father's eyes from heaven, and felt shame prickle through him, needling him of how he failed; failed to be a good son, a good husband and a good friend. He didn't know whose idea it was, but he was certain things would never be the same again between Lorelai and him.
Luke returned upstairs, and snuck another look at Lorelai in his bed, still sleeping soundly. Luke went to the couch and separated the boy clothes from the girl clothes. Luke was a little uncomfortable handling her … undergarments, but recalled he had no trouble removing them last night from their owner. With more guilt, he dutifully folded her clothes to be ready to hand to her when she woke up.
Luke decided on breakfast and since he had "company" it was only considerate to make Lorelai something too. Considering his guest's tastes, he brought up some bacon and sausage from the diner, and started cooking his first order of the day in the privacy of his apartment. As he cooked his mind wandered back to last night, the more he thought about it, the more he remembered, the more he wished he and Lorelai were really together. Luke quickly decided not to daydream and focused on making breakfast.
As the eggs firmed up, he heard Lorelai groan from the bed. This is it… this is the moment where everything will be shot to hell.
Luke watched her, as she slowly rolled onto her back, the sheet now pulled up to her chest, and he saw her eyes blink open. How she suddenly sat up and remembered she wasn't at her house or Jason's. How she seemed to feel Luke watching her, and how her head instinctively shot toward him and met his gaze with a mixture of embarrassment and fear in her eyes.
Not knowing what else to say, Luke announced, "I'm making you some breakfast."
Lorelai pulled up the sheet around her, to make sure she was covered, "Umm thank you…"
"Oh and I separated out …our … umm clothes." He picked up her bundle and delivered to her at the bed.
Lorelai didn't know what to say and shyly smiled as she accepted yesterday's outfit from him. She almost looked resentful that he was dressed and she wasn't.
"Umm you can get dressed… I'll have bacon for you in a minute…" he awkwardly segued and he went back to the kitchen. Luke felt that weight in his chest, again not knowing how Lorelai felt about all this… if he should tell Nicole about last night …beating up the Sock-man's car, getting arrested, being with Lorelai in the diner….about all of last night.
As Luke was setting plates on the table, he accidentally caught another glimpse of Lorelai's bare back as she sat in his open bedroom on his bed and hooked her bra and the sight disappeared under the camisole and her wrinkled blouse. Luke went back to watching his pans and finished her breakfast, still unable to make heads or tails of how the last 24 hours had gone so awry.
Luke knew he cared about Nicole… but he knew when he married her, he wasn't in love with her. He knew that when Nicole suggested they put the divorce on hold, and he only hoped that he would grow to love her someday, or that they could make it work, or that his feelings for Lorelai would just disappear. After last night, he was pretty sure no matter how the chips fell, his "marriage", if he could really call it that, was over, and he would always be in love with Lorelai… even if their friendship ended today.
Lost in his thoughts Luke was startled when Lorelai came up beside him, she had never been so quiet before, "Jeez!"
"Sorry, umm I have that effect on people with day old make up…" and she shyly sat at the table, waiting for Luke to serve her, aching for the comfort of their old routine… for something that seemed normal.
"No, you just… surprised me…"
Yeah me too, thinking again of last night's events. Lorelai sat at his kitchen table, and watched him finish cooking. Lorelai didn't understand… if Nicole had a passionate husband like Luke… why did she need a sock man?
Passionate …
Lorelai thought that was the best way to describe Luke. He only gave Lorelai lectures on healthy food because he cared, he wasn't afraid to stand and speak up at a town meeting if Taylor was acting out of line with his megalomaniac demands on the town. That was who Luke was, he believed in every word he ranted. It would be only natural that such passion would translate to all aspects of his life. Now, after being the recipient of that passion… twice… Lorelai was looking at Luke with new eyes.
Luke noticed Lorelai's strange expression and intense gaze as he put her plate on the table "What?"
"Nothing…" she said quickly, and forced her eyes to her plate Luke had placed in front of her and stared her cheesed eggs, bacon and sausage … my favorite.
There was a few minutes of nervously poking at their respective breakfasts, if Lorelai was staring at Luke too long, he'd feel her gaze and look up, to which she would instantly look down and vice versa. This routine when on a few more times till finally Luke put down his fork and suggested, "Lorelai… we should… talk about … this…?"
"What's to talk about?" she shrugged, unable to read him, trying to stay focused on her eggs, "we got drunk, we had sex… it happens every day," only you're married… I'm … seeing someone else… it does happen every day, she realized.
"Not for me it doesn't… I can't just… forget about it… you're the one that said we have to deal with this…" repeating her emphasis and gesture from last night.
"I know… It's just…" Lorelai seemed to squirm in her seat, truth was Lorelai didn't want to deal with it. She wanted to bury it, keep it secret, keep it hidden, maybe, just maybe pull out the memory from time to time when she really needed some cheering up. She hated change and the unknown, she liked the banter and routine she and Luke had established over the years. She didn't know how hung up on Nicole Luke still was… Sure he was angry and hurt… but he married her… for some reason… what if he still loves her…despite the Sock man, "it's too soon…"
"Too soon?"
"Yeah well, you just found out about Nicole… so you two will need to you know… sort that out or… go to counseling… you know the first two years of marriage are the toughest…and Jason just gave me his key… and then you and I, well we just … sorta collided… it's a lot to take in … in so short a time…"
"So what are you suggesting?"
"Well that we… take some time… process… digest … everything…talk with our… respective partners… "
Luke could only hope Lorelai was rethinking the whole relationship with Jason, she confessed last night some of her doubts… but she wasn't eating, she was poking at the eggs, and moving them around her plate, but nothing had really gone into her mouth; which meant she was taking her looming decisions and their impending consequences very seriously. She wanted to consider everything and that included what last night meant for the big picture down the line.
Luke didn't touch his breakfast either, "I've got to open…" and he stood up, before he left the apartment door he offered, "You can go out the back, through the storage room if… you don't want… people to see you leave."
"Oh okay… thanks…" she smiled, afraid of the hurt in his eyes. Was that from Nicole… or from her dismissal of last night?
But both had significant others to consider.
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"Lorelai?"
"Huh?" her headshot up from resting on her hand, her eyes went from her plate to meet the eyes of her boyfriend, Jason. She was taking more bites from her fingernails than the meal he had cooked for her.
"You okay? You seem…. distracted…"
"Do I? ..." That's because I had sex with another man… "I'm sorry… Inn stuff you know…"
"Actually I don't… you haven't said two words in 20 minutes… I was about to call an ambulance… have a doctor give you the once over," he smiled.
"Yeah… yeah…okay?" as she stared intently at her vegetable side dish.
Seeing she wasn't listening, Jason continued, "…And then I was gonna put babies and puppies on spikes in front of the building… you know really deter visitors."
"Yeah, that sounds great," and Lorelai pushed her food around her plate with her fork again, like she had at Luke's.
"Lorelai?"
"Huh?" she snapped up again.
"Come on… what is it?" and he gave her that boyish smiled that always seemed to work before.
Lorelai found it hard to focus on Jason… she kept seeing images of her and Luke together at the Inn. She was trying to think of the Inn, but her mind wandered to when the Inn would open… and of Luke, helping her christen all the rooms with more of his passionate displays.
"Nothing… I'm just worried, you know about the Inn… opening… finishing on time."
"How's your budget?" now that she was talking again, "I mean your grandmother kinda had me worried for a second…"
Only for a second? I wonder that you turned your mind to it at all… Lorelai thought resentfully. Lorelai forced herself to take a bite of garlic bread "Yeah, we're fine, I got a loan", from Luke. Then the whole thing started over again. She was picturing the different choices of comforters and bed sheets for the Guest's Rooms; she was trying to decide which fabric would bring out Luke's eyes the best. She pictured waking up with him, how his tousled brown hair and blue eyes would match with the fabric in the morning light.
"Lorelai?"
"Huh?" she came back to the present again with Jason.
"Seriously, are you okay?"
"I just have a lot to do… back in Stars Hollow" taking her napkin off her lap, she put it over her unfinished meal to hide that she hadn't eaten, "Umm I'm just gonna go…"
"You're leaving before dessert?"
"I have a lot to do," she shrugged, not wanting to be there for another second, for fear she's start calling Jason Luke.
"Lorelai… no dessert…?" Jason said slowly.
Lorelai shook her head, "Not hungry" not understanding the significance of his observation.
"Lorelai, If you are in trouble… or need my help, I'll gladly do anything…"
Where was this offer three weeks ago? "Jason really I'm fine… hey box-up some dessert for me and I'll eat it when I get to the Inn."
"…but you said you're not hungry," almost like he was now trying to catch her in a lie.
"Well I'm bound to be …eventually," Jason was really getting on her nerves now. He kept staring at her, waiting for her to crack, "Jason" she laughed politely and nervously, "Obviously I can't win here… and I have to go."
"Take a break… Stay the night… I got some new DVDs for your bedroom…" he enticed.
My bedroom? Now all of a sudden it's mine? My bedroom is in Stars Hollow Mister! "Jason…" and she wanted to confess right there, I slept with some one else… and I can't get him out of my head… I don't love you, I don't want a future with you, please leave…Oh wait it's his place, "I have to go…" and Lorelai hastily got her coat and purse and was out the door.
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"That was all God given talent..." why thank you Luke!
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R/R: PLEASE, I like to better myself. To quote The Princess Bride,
"...Remember this is for posterity ... so be honest."
Please be specific with R/R; name one (or as many as you can think of or want to mention..…) At least one specific thing you liked
Please! It makes me feel good...inside (Dirty!)
Hence the Rant option below.
Insert Rant here V
A/N: if not completely satisfied with this chapter, please return unused portion for a full refund...