Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews! I really appreciate them. I also want to thank xphilehb for being an amazing beta.
Previously in "A New Beginning": Luke and Lorelai continued to grow closer with Luke opening up a little bit about his childhood.
Lorelai leaned back against the diner counter. "No one's here," she complained.
Luke nodded towards the Town Square. "Everyone's at that stupid festival. What a waste of money."
"I think it's nice," Lorelai informed him. She walked over to the window and looked out. "This town sure knows how to throw a party." She watched as a couple walked past the diner holding hands. She frowned. "I hate Valentine's Day."
He came up beside her. "It's just like any other day if you ask me."
"Not if you have someone," she stated. "Then... it's perfect. Well, unless your husband decides that will be the night he stays late at the office."
"He wasn't big on Valentine's Day?" Luke asked.
"Oh, I think he was… just not with me..." She shook her head. "It doesn't matter anymore. But, I just think the whole concept is nice. You know, having someone show you how much they love you. What's so wrong with that?"
"Nothing." Luke shrugged. "Just... if I was in love, I'd want to show her more than one day a year," he added quietly. He glanced over at Lorelai who appeared to be deep in thought. "What are you thinking about?" he asked her. He watched as a small smile graced her lips
She turned to face him. "You, actually." Before he could reply, she continued, "We should go out. To the festival, I mean," she quickly corrected herself. "It could be fun. At least we'll have Miss Patty's punch to keep us company."
"That stuff is nine parts alcohol, one part punch. I'm surprised it hasn't killed anyone yet," Luke said. "Where's Rory tonight? Maybe she can play with you."
"She's busy," Lorelai informed him. "Lane has a date for Valentine's Day."
"I don't see how that has anything to do with Rory."
"Well, there are secret codes and meeting places involved. And a whole lot of other things that I wouldn't let Rory tell me, because as much as Mrs. Kim scares me, I cannot break the 'Mom Code'."
"The what-" Luke started before thinking better of it. "Never mind. I don't want to know."
"Rory can't play with me tonight." Lorelai looked at him with a hopeful expression. "So are we going?"
"I don't know, Lorelai. The diner's still open..."
"So close it. You said yourself that everyone is at the festival." She gave him her signature pout. "C'mon, Luke," she whined.
He sighed. "Fine."
She jumped up and down. "Eee!" She grabbed his hand. "Let's go," she said, tugging on his arm, trying to pull him out the door.
"Jeez, Lorelai, it's not going to go anywhere. And I'm not drinking any of that punch," he informed her as he followed her outside.
"We'll see about that."
About an hour later, Luke and Lorelai found themselves at the bridge overlooking the icy blue water of the pond. The festival had been fun at first – Lorelai had convinced Luke to win her a stuffed cupid doll, but then, a very drunk Missy Patty and Babbette had taken to questioning Luke and Lorelai about their relationship – throwing questions and comments at them about spending Valentine's Day together. Looking for an escape, they quickly headed towards the first deserted place they could find.
Lorelai sat down on the cool wood, letting her legs dangle off the edge. She patted the spot next to her, inviting Luke to join her. He quickly took a seat beside her. She held out the cotton candy that she had been carrying to him. "Do you want some?" she offered.
"That stuff is pure sugar. It'll rot your insides out faster than that damn punch," he said with a look of disgust.
She shrugged, taking a bite herself. "But it's yummy." They sat silently for a few minutes as Lorelai finished up her cotton candy. "So..." she began.
"What?" Luke questioned.
"Patty and Babbette."
"What about them?" he asked. She gave him a pointed look and motioned between the two of them. "Oh. Their questions... They were drunk, Lorelai. Don't worry about it. Last year, they tried to set Kirk up with Taylor." This elicited a laugh from Lorelai, so he continued, "They even tried to put some makeup on Kirk to make him more attractive."
"Kirk just let them do that?"
He shrugged. "It's Kirk. They told him they would make him pretty, and he agreed."
"Poor Kirk. Did it work?" she asked through her laughter.
"He sure as hell made one ugly woman." Luke said, laughing with her. "Taylor was drunk enough that he almost kissed Kirk, but he must have had one drink too many, because he ended up falling over right where he stood, and he fell right to sleep."
"I would have paid to see that." Lorelai shivered. The cold from the wood was slowing seeping through her body.
"It was pretty funny," he admitted. Wrapping his arm around Lorelai's body, he pulled her against him. "You're cold. We should get going."
"Okay," she slowly agreed, but her mind was still preoccupied with what Miss Patty and Babbette had said.
Keeping his arm around her, Luke helped Lorelai to her feet. "You okay?" he asked her, noticing how distracted she seemed.
"What? Oh, I'm fine. Just cold," she assured him. "The warm buzz from the punch is starting to wear off. Told you I should have had one more," she stated, giving him a playful shove.
He pulled her tightly against him. "C'mon. Let's get you home. I'll build you a fire to warm you up."
"Luke make fire to prove he man," Lorelai grunted in her best caveman impersonation.
"Everything can be made into a joke with you, can't it?" Luke questioned.
"You better believe it, buddy," she responded, leaning into him as he began to lead them to her house.
"Rory?" Lorelai called as she and Luke entered her house. Receiving no answer, she said, "She must still be with Lane." She took off her jacket and shivered. "God, it was cold outside. Hmm... I know. Do you want some hot chocolate?" she offered.
Luke nodded, taking off his own jacket. "I'm going to start that fire," he told her, heading towards the fireplace.
A few minutes later, Luke had a decent size fire going. He turned away from the fireplace to see Lorelai returning to the room, carrying two mugs of hot chocolate.
"It feels good in here," Lorelai observed, handing him a mug before taking a seat on the couch. Luke joined her, sitting as close as he could to Lorelai, allowing her to snuggle up next him. She took a sip of her cocoa. "This is nice," she commented.
He slipped his arm around her. "It is," he agreed.
"I think this is the best Valentine's Day I have ever had," she told him.
Before Luke could respond, they heard Rory enter the house. "Mom, I'm home," she called. The two quickly scrambled out of their positions on the couch.
They were both standing up when Rory entered the room. "Hey, Mom. Hi, Luke," she greeted them.
"Hey, Rory," Luke said. He turned to Lorelai. "I should probably get going," he stated, shifting awkwardly. Though he had done nothing wrong, he felt like he had almost been caught doing something he shouldn't have been doing.
"Okay," Lorelai replied. "I'll walk you out," she said, following him towards the door. She watched him open the door to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow."
He paused in the doorway. Stepping back towards her, he whispered, "Me too, Lorelai." He grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze before walking out the door.
She knew exactly what he had been referring to; it was his best Valentine's Day as well. She smiled to herself as she closed the door. She walked back into the living room where Rory was seated on the couch, sipping at her mother's hot chocolate.
Rory looked up at her mother as she sat next to her on the couch. "Did I interrupt something?"
"What? No," Lorelai quickly answered her daughter.
"It seemed like Luke couldn't get out of here fast enough," Rory pointed out. "Were you two...?" she trailed off, knowing that her mother understood what she was insinuating.
"No. Nothing like that, Rory. He just had to leave. He was getting up to leave when you walked in. Early delivery," she covered.
"Oh. Okay."
"Now, tell me about Lane's date," Lorelai requested. Rory seemed to have bought her excuse. Why didn't Lorelai just tell her what had really happened? Nothing happened that shouldn't have. Lorelai couldn't sort out her own thoughts, so she pushed them out of her mind as she listened to her daughter talk about her best friend's secret Valentine's date.
To be continued. Please review! Reviews bring a smile to my face.
La prochaine fois: Rory's staying with Christopher for the weekend...