AN: Hey guys, I'm SO SO SO SO SO SO SO sorry this has taken so long. I've been busy. This is really fluffy and a bit longer than the past two chapters. Anyway, it's fluffy and cute (atleast I think so) so enjoy. More meat will come with the next chapter, promises! Plus, there's a good chance of a cliff hanger in the next chapter...just to keep you on the edge of your seats.
Cordially Invited
Luke woke up well before Lorelai the next morning and laughed when he saw what position she'd wound up in the night before. One arm was slung over her face, half of her body was under the covers and one leg was slung off the bed. He slid out of bed and stretched his arms lazily above his head.
There was something special about Sundays for Luke, it had always been the day the family went to church when he was little and after the family had fallen out of the habit it had become family day. They'd spend the day at the lake or just hanging out around the house and eating together. Once Liz got old enough, she stopped spending as much time with the family, so Luke took advantage of every moment he got to spend with his parents, especially after their mom got sick.
He took a long shower, taking advantage of the quiet while Lorelai was still asleep, and after shaving and brushing his teeth he got dressed. He picked up Lorelai's discarded dress and hung it over the chair in the reading corner of their bedroom along with his suit to take to the cleaners later that day. He threw their used towels in the hamper and closed the bathroom door with a faint click behind him. He flicked his eyes towards where Lorelai was still sprawled. He chuckled quietly and pulled a pair of socks on before going into the living room.
The house was still a disaster from the night before. He scoured the downstairs for the rest of the champagne flutes as well as the remaining wine and highball glasses. He found four shot glasses he didn't even know existed on the end table in the living room and put those on the counter with the rest of the glasses. He'd gotten most of the plates loaded into the dishwasher before helping Lorelai get into bed the night before and patted himself on the back for having that good sense even though he'd been a little bit drunk. He unloaded the dishwasher and loaded the last couple plates and the rest of the glasses in there before emptying what food was still edible into Tupperware and sticking it all in the fridge and loading Sookie's dishes as well.
He wiped down the sticky counter tops and tables and fixed the furniture on the deck before deciding to start some breakfast for himself and Lorelai. He started some waffles and eggs and while those were either on the stove staying warm or in the warming drawer under the stove staying warm he poked his head in the bedroom and upon noting Lorelai's still dead to the world state, he quickly Swiffered the sticky kitchen floor before starting her coffee and quickly making bacon.
He started to set everything on the kitchen table, but as he put the eggs on the table he had a better idea. He loaded two plates full of food, one with ample syrup, strawberries, and whipped cream on the waffles and the other with only a little butter and syrup, and both having eggs and bacon. He carried them into the bedroom and sat them on the small coffee table before bringing in two cups of orange juice and then making one more trip for Lorelai's vat of coffee and a flower he'd plucked from a bouquet someone had brought last night. After getting everything situated he turned to look at Lorelai, who was still sound asleep, which was surprising considering the faintest whiff of coffee normally woke her up.
He crossed the room and sat down on the edge of the bed. He smiled when it bounced and she wrinkled her nose and grunted. He moved her arm away from her eyes and kissed her palm. She sighed and smiled, but was still asleep.
"Lorelai" he whispered close to her ear. She flinched at the close proximity of his voice as she slowly stirred from her alcohol-induced slumber. He kissed her jaw softly before laying a kiss on each eye and the tip of her nose. Her eyes fluttered open and he saw her try to focus on his face at such a close range. He pulled back a little and smiled.
"Morning drunky." He said playfully.
"Ohhhh...don't yell." She said covering her eyes with her hands. He pulled them away and kissed her gently.
"I made breakfast." He said, playing with her right hand that was still in his.
"Food?" she asked, her eyes brightening a little with the thought.
"Hangover food."
"Waffles? Bacon? Eggs? Coffee?" she asked, the last of the list more or less being a plead more than a request.
"Yes, yes, and yes." He said.
"Mmm you're sweet." She said moving to sit up to kiss him but immediately regretting that decision and falling back against the pillows. "Just give me five minutes." She said, groaning and squishing her eyes up.
"Okay. Five minutes, that's all you get. Hangovers are worse if you baby them." He said. He went into the bathroom and fished out some extra strength ibuprofen and put it next to her plate. He sat down in the chair in front of his plate and stared out the big windows into the back yard.
Ten minutes later she'd managed to get out of bed, brush her teeth, and sit down to eat. They ate slowly, enjoying each other's silent company. Lorelai finished her food shortly after Luke and declared herself ready for a shower.
"I'm going to call the diner and check in and then we can just loaf all day with Rory and Logan if they want…sound good?"
"Sounds really good. I kinda forgot they were here." Lorelai said as she went into the bathroom to get ready.
Luke had left food on the stove for the future Mr. and Mrs. Huntzberger and when he went back into the kitchen with their dishes after she got in the shower he found them eating at the table.
"Morning." He called as he crossed to the counter to put their dishes in the sink. Logan groaned.
"Sounds like we have two this morning." He said, shaking his head.
"Mom's hung over too I'm guessing. She only had a bottle of wine." Rory said rolling her eyes and wiping her mouth before putting her dishes in the sink also.
"What are you guys doing today?" Luke asked.
"Probably just hang out in town for a little while and head back to school around six-ish. Do you guys have big plans?" Rory replied.
"Oh yeah, big Stars Hollow plans." Luke said, rolling his eyes. "I'm pretty sure your Lorelai will be worthless most all day. She just wants to hang out around here, probably watch a movie and just be lazy. Not that that's that unusual for her though."
Rory laughed and told Luke they were going to shower and then head over to Lane's for a little bit. He told him he'd see them later and headed back into the bedroom. Lorelai had finished in the shower and was now clad in pajama pants and a sweatshirt and was drying her hair.
"Feel better?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her, which he was rewarded for with a hot blast of air from her blow dryer as she jumped when he grabbed her. "Thanks, I was feeling a little moist."
She laughed and kissed his cheek as she put down her hair dryer.
"It's amazing what a shower and breakfast will do for a hang over."
"Told you."
"Yeah, but more coffee would make it that much better."
"Kitchen." He said simply, steering her out of the bathroom. She patted at her still dryer-fluffy hair as the two of them went into the kitchen and she fixed herself more coffee.
They were snuggled up on the couch watching I Love the 80s: 1984 (Lorelai's choice of course) when Rory and Logan came back downstairs, both dressed to go out and Logan only still looking slightly green around the edges.
"Morning" Lorelai called to them as they came into the living room.
"Morning!" Rory called cheerily. Lorelai and Logan both winced and Luke and Rory laughed at them.
"It's not nice to laugh at the ill." Lorelai said pouting and snuggling farther into Luke.
"The ill? No. But you," Rory said pointing at Lorelai, "who drank at least a bottle of wine and three glasses of champagne, and you" she said pointing at Logan, "who drank about a gallon of whiskey and decided it was a good idea to drink out of Patty's flask…"
"Oh I have no sympathy man." Lorelai interjected. "I vaguely remember the end of the party…something having to do with Patty getting fresh with Andrew and you deciding to make everybody go home when she grabbed your butt?"
Luke looked at Lorelai like she had two heads.
"Okay, maybe not. I guess that didn't happen." She said ducking her head and burying her face in his shoulder.
"Alright, we're going to Lane's. We'll be back later to grab our stuff and say bye before we go back to school." Rory said as she crossed the room and stooped down to hug Lorelai. Lorelai kissed her cheek and the two of them left.
Lorelai pulled a pillow from the end of the couch and plunked it down in Luke's lap before laying her head on it and pulling a blanket off the back of the couch to cover her legs with.
"Just get comfy why don't you?" Luke said with a grunt as he shifted underneath her to get more comfortable.
Lorelai reached behind her and flailed a little for his right hand and finally grabbed it, pulling it around her waist and putting her own hand on top of his, threading her fingers through his.
"Well, I guess that's better." He said as he idly ran his hand up and down her side for a few minutes.
The rest of the morning and into the early afternoon drew lazily past. Rory and Logan vacated the house around one and the only times that Luke and Lorelai ventured off the couch was to get refreshments or go to the bathroom.
It was nice, to Lorelai as well as Luke, to have somebody to just be lazy with at any time, but especially after a night of excessive drinking. Just to lie around on a couch most of the day was a nice change of pace for both of them and it seemed to make their normal hectic schedules melt away and pool at their feet while they watched Trading Spaces and Forrest Gump.
It was around the classic shrimp conversation when Lorelai shifted restlessly on the couch.
"Bored?" Luke asked, looking down at her and into her eyes that seemed a little clouded at the moment.
"No, just…thinking"
"Dangerous."
"Ha ha. Very funny." Lorelai said rolling her eyes and pouting a little. Luke kissed her forehead.
"Sorry. Thinking about what?"
"Last night."
"Any particular part or just the night in general?" Luke asked, a little baffled by her vagueness.
"The part where Sookie found out." Lorelai said, a clearness breaking free through the haze of the memory of last night. She put a hand to her forehead, "I probably made her feel like such shit. Dammit."
Luke ran his fingers through her hair. "I'm sure it wasn't that bad. But it does explain the massive consumption of wine on your part after she left, and why I found you teary on the deck with Rory."
"Yeah. Sorry. I would have told you but I was a little shaken up…" she said letting out a shaky breath. "Still am I guess."
He played with her hair and pressed a kiss to her temple while she toyed with his fingers.
"She would have found out eventually, and it would have been worse later. It's better it's all out in the open. It'll be easier to keep going." She said defiantly.
Luke opened his mouth to reply but was cut off.
"Did we get the mail yesterday?" she asked, abruptly changing the subject.
"I didn't. Did you?"
"Don't think so. I'm gonna go get it." She said, extracting herself from under the blanket they'd pulled over them and shoving her feet back in her slippers before heading for the door.
Luke sighed and got up off the couch. He padded barefoot into the kitchen and made himself a glass of juice and thumbed through a magazine on the counter while he waited for Lorelai to get back.
He heard the door open and close and her soft, shuffling footsteps coming towards the kitchen on the hardwood.
"Look," she said holding out a crème colored envelope.
"Mr. Lucas Danes and Ms. Lorelai Gilmore," he read aloud before handing it back to her. "And? What is it?"
"I dunno. But it looks fancy." Lorelai said grabbing a letter opener off the small side table in the kitchen and sliding it into the envelope. She pulled the contents out and put a hand to her mouth when she read the card.
"What? What's wrong?" he asked, immediately concerned and at her side with one hand on her arm.
"Who could refrain that had a heart to love, and in that heart courage to make love known," She read aloud before reopening the invitation to read the inside to him. She noted his puzzled expression.
"Shakespeare, Macbeth actually…"
"Oh." Luke replied, feeling a little bit like an idiot.
"You can thank St. Andrew's Academy in Hartford for that one." She said before continuing to read the invitation. "You are cordially invited by Mitchum and Shira Huntzberger to attend a celebration of the love shared by Logan Michael Huntzberger and Lorelai Leigh Gilmore at an outdoor Black and White Ball. May 17, 2006 at the Huntzberger Estate."
They booth stood there, clad only in pajamas, and gaped at the invitation.
"I wonder why Rory didn't mention it this weekend?" Luke asked.
"She probably did, and I was just too drunk to comprehend what she said." Lorelai retorted. She looked down and reread the invite before closing it and putting it on the counter.
"There's no RSVP." Luke noted.
"From what I understand, when you're invited to a Huntzberger gathering, you don't turn it down. Especially if you're the parents of the bride the engagement party is being thrown for." Lorelai said. She caught what she'd just said a second after it left her mouth and watched Luke to gauge his reaction.
"Yeah, I guess so." He said, putting the invitation back in the envelope. "I guess this means I have to go rent a tux."
"Yeah, it wont be so bad. Black and White Balls are typically at least good for having high quality booze. It might even be fun. Shit, I need a dress. I don't own a white dress…well an appropriate white dress." She corrected.
Luke made a face at the mention of shopping and Lorelai swatted him and looked down at the envelope again.
"My baby's getting married." She said a little sadly.
"Yeah, she is." He said, pulling her to him and hugging her tightly.
They stood there in the kitchen, Luke swaying softly back and forth for while before Lorelai pulled back and squinting, studied Luke's face for a minute.
"Is there something on me?" he asked, brushing his cheek with the back of his hand. Her face softened and she ran her hand over his other cheek.
"Nah. I was just trying to imagine what your face is going to look like when I tell you I want to go swimming….Ha! I was right!" She proclaimed when his face twisted and he rolled his eyes.
"It's too cold."
"Luke. It's like 70 something out there today, ridiculously warm, and in three days it'll be May first. I just wanna float around on a raft for a little while. You don't have to get in with me." She said, slipping out of his arms and heading for the bedroom.
Lorelai was changing in the bathroom when she heard him come in the bedroom.
"Gonna get in?" She asked, as she pulled her bikini bottoms.
"Nah, I'm gonna change and mow the backyard while you're catching pneumonia in the pool."
"Oooh sweaty Luke. Sounds good to me!" She called as she fastened her top, grabbed a towel and pranced back into the bedroom.
"You like?" she asked, turning around in a bouncy circle, excited about getting in the pool.
"Of course I do." Luke said, pulling his t-shirt over his head and unashamedly staring at her body.
"I was hoping for a bit more of a reaction than you just oogling my goods." She said crossing her arms.
Luke came around the bed and pulled her to him and pressed his lips against hers while she pressed herself against him. His hands wandered south and rest atop both of her cheeks as she pulled back from the kiss. She giggled and he slid one hand around to trace the line of her bikini.
"This actually covers more than I thought it would." He said.
"Well my string bikini is for when we swim together, besides, gotta have some coverage, it's cold out there!" she said as she took his wrist and, grabbing the towel off the bed, pulled him towards outside.
It took a good twenty minutes for Lorelai to realize that her desire to get in the pool wouldn't be happening, because she didn't want to get all the way in and they hadn't bought any pool toys yet. After a few minutes of pouting, she went back inside, fixed some ice tea for her and a big glass of water for Luke and lounged comfortably on a lounge chair and watched Luke work.
"You could help me you know." Luke said, taking a break to get some water.
"Yes, yes I could. But you're doing such a good job and you're almost done. I'll help you with the girly gardening when we get to that." She said, eyeing the flowers that were just starting to bloom completely.
Luke rolled his eyes and set off to finish the last part of the yard. It took him about a half hour to finish mowing and edge around the pool, and after he was done he sat on the end of the chair Lorelai was still sprawled out on, now reading a Cosmo, and drank the rest of his water.
Lorelai looked up and wrinkled her nose, "You're all sweaty."
"Well, physical exertion will do that do you. Something I guess you wouldn't know too much about." He quipped back. She narrowed her eyes and glared at him for a minute before playfully sticking her tongue out and going back to her magazine. Luke stripped off the sweat soaked shirt he'd been wearing and tossed it on the concrete.
"You should have done that a long time ago." She said, running her foot up his back. She grimaced when she pulled her foot back and it was soaking wet. "Seriously. Go shower or something, it's gross. Hot, but gross."
Luke sighed and got up, he moved to walk towards the house and Lorelai went back to reading the end of the article she'd been reading. Suddenly the magazine was plucked out of her hands and she was in the air.
"Luke!" she screeched, clinging on around his waist from the back as he had picked her up like a sack of potatoes. She flailed her feet for a second and tried to wriggle out of his grasp. She managed to twist around so she could see where they were headed, figuring he'd scooped her up to go take a shower with him.
She was shocked when she hit the water in the pool, and let out an ear piercing shriek. She came up sputtering and pushed her hair out of her eyes.
"YOU! YOU! YOU!" she stammered, swimming to the edge of the pool and pulling herself out. She shivered and glared at him. "That was the opposite of funny."
"Come on. It was a little funny." He said, taking two steps towards her.
"Nope, not funny at all." She said turning on her heel and stalking towards the deck. She grabbed her towel and dried off and wrapped up in the fluffy towel.
He watched her go inside, trying to read the way she walked away to see if she really was angry or if the jaunt was in her step that usually meant she was kidding. There was no jaunt, and he dismissed it as he was at the wrong angle to see it (seeing as she was on the deck and he was standing below on the cement). He put the lawn mower away and dipped the random grass bits out of the pool before going inside.
He didn't see Lorelai in the bedroom, and she hadn't been in the kitchen or living room so he assumed she was either upstairs or in the office. He stripped down in the bathroom and stepped into the shower, washing all the grass and sweat off.
Lorelai was sitting cross legged in the chair in the office, now wearing work out pants and a long sleeved shirt, with her still wet hair piled on top of her head in a knot type thing, furiously pounding away at the keyboard. The electronic reservations for the inn were taking the brunt of her frustrations. She didn't even look up when Luke poked his head in to check on her and tell her he was going to the store. She brushed him off with a wave of her hand and a "see you later" and went back to transferring the reservations to both a legal pad to her right and to a document on the computer.
It wasn't even that she was that mad at him, really. She was just miffed. He'd given her a speech about how it was too cold to get in the pool and then threw her in. She just didn't get his thinking sometimes. Granted, that was what she loved about him, but still. She sighed and rest her head on the hand propped up on the arm of the cushy desk chair. She spun around in an idle circle, bored of looking at the computer screen. She had stuck some pictures on the desk and Luke had hung her diploma from business school on the wall, framed and matted like it was from a real university. She smiled and sighed, feeling bad for being such a bitch.
After all, he did ONLY throw me in the pool.
She stretched her legs out in front of her and picked up the phone extension in the office and dialed Sookie's number. She had some shopping to do and didn't want to go alone.
Sookie said she would meet her in twenty minutes to ride together. She also told Lorelai she and Jackson had gotten an invitation, and Lorelai suspected Rory had something to do with the guest list. Not that she minded, of course. It would be nice to have people to socialize with other than the snooty Hartford elite.
Realizing she had at most 15 minutes to get ready she ran into the bathroom, and was pulling on her shoes when Sookie knocked on the door. She yelled for her to come in and that she would be out in a second.
She half ran, half hopped out of the bedroom as she was pulling on her other boot and found Sookie in the kitchen.
"Hey, let me leave Luke a note and we can go." Lorelai said, fishing in a kitchen drawer for a pen, finding one she grabbed a piece of paper off the notepad by the phone.
"Luke-Went shopping with Sookie, I'll be back for dinner. I'm sorry. I love you. Love-Me"
"You're sorry? For what? Oooh lover's spat?" Sookie asked as Lorelai stuck it under a magnet on the fridge.
"Yeah, it was dumb. Let's shop." Lorelai said, lightly shoving Sookie towards the door.
Luke got back from the store around six, and unloaded all the groceries out of the car. He began to put things away in the fridge and saw her note. Reading it, he plucked it off the counter and exhaled a sigh of relief. He hadn't been sure what he'd done wrong exactly, she had wanted to get in the pool, but he still felt bad nonetheless. He had decided before he left he was going to make her dinner to make up for being a jerk.
He wasn't sure what time she was going to be home, so he had to work quickly.
Fortunately for him, he figured Lorelai was shopping for her dress for the party, so he would have a little while. That he did, he was lighting the tapers on the table when he heard her car pull up. He checked the table and then quickly filled a glass of wine and sat it by the dozen red roses he'd bought on his way home and dimmed the lights. He stepped into the bedroom out of sight and waited for her to come in. He heard the door open and her toss her keys into the bowl by the door.
"Luke? You here?" her voice echoed through the entire house. He saw her lay a dress bag over a living room chair on her way to investigate why the house was so dark by way of the kitchen.
He stepped out of the bedroom and was walking towards her as she put a hand to her mouth. She turned around when he was about halfway to her. He stopped and tried to read her expression. He couldn't tell if she was still mad at him or what, he blamed the dark.
"Luke…" she said, her voice barely above a whisper. He crossed the rest of the way to her and stood right in front of her, taking her hands.
"I'm sorry." He said, casting his eyes downward.
"Hey, don't be. All you did was throw me in the pool. It's not like I wasn't wearing a bathing suit. I was being a bitch." She retorted, squeezing his hands.
"Yeah but I shouldn't have done it. I mean I gave you that whole speech." He said.
"Hey. It's okay. We both screwed up. But you didn't have to do this." She said gesturing at the dinner and the flowers.
"Maybe not. But I still wanted to." He said. Leading her over to the table and pulling out a chair for her.
"Wait." She said, turning around and cupping his face with her hands and kissing him gently. "That's better." She said, moving to sit down.
"You're kidding." He said, repeating the same cupping action and kissed her again, this time not letting her pull away after a few seconds. Right as he sensed she was about to deepen the kiss he pulled back and smiled.
"Food's getting cold. We better eat." He said, laughing as she pouted.