Written in the Stars
By Gilmoregirl1979 (the reigning Quote Queen)
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.
R/R: yes please I love reviews; I wanna marry them (as previously stated, I have strange passions.)
Summary/ The Q: AW If you DON'T KNOW BY NOW! HURUMPH!
LUVZ: I miss you!
FEATURED BETA: Localizy, you and me are like PEAS and CARROTS!
A/N: QUALITY FAN FICTION? You tell me... R/R
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Chapter 41:
Wake Up Call!
The year turned over and it was now 1997. Lorelai and Rory used their world famous persuasion to get Luke to attend the Stars Hollow New Years Carnival in the square and win them special prizes from the games. Each girl's arms were filled with the stupid stuffed animals their hero begrudgingly won for them and all they could do was watch the fireworks display at midnight with Mia and Lane.
Later on, Luke and Lorelai had some fireworks of their own, just like the Fourth of July. It was the middle of the night and Lorelai was still awake. Sure, Luke was already dozing off after their bout of affection, but Lorelai wanted to savor the moment. She loved moments like this; Quiet, content, post coital, Luke's fingers were leisurely grazing her skin, just behind her arm and below her shoulder, his pace getting slower and slower as he was drifting off to sleep. Lorelai was similarly tracing lazy lines on his stomach and chest wondering how she ever got so lucky to have such a wonderful man all for herself. Lorelai was debating about letting her hand dip below the sheet to see if she could rally Luke's passion again when the phone rang, piercing their moment.
Luke snapped awake and groaned, "Who could possibly be calling?"
"Maybe they just want to wish us a Happy New Year," Lorelai said while she rolled away from her naked man to answer the cordless phone from her night stand, "Hello?" she asked sleepily.
"Hello? Umm, is Luke there?" a crying, sniffling woman asked.
Lorelai had never heard the voice before but obliged anyway, as the voice seemed distraught. "Oh, umm, yeah? Hang on." Lorelai turned to Luke, handing him the phone, "It's for you."
"What?" Luke's brow furrowed, knowing he never received phone calls at the new house, but he took the phone. "Hello?" Lorelai watched on a propped elbow, confused and concerned at what was going on. "Liz? What's going on? ... Will you calm down? I can't understand you when you get all high pitched like that…Hey, don't be lecturing me about people who are hard to find… Well, you found me, so obviously you were redirected to the right number… People have been know to move from time to time, Liz, jeez," he shot off sarcastically, rolling his eyes for Lorelai's benefit, who smiled lamely in return. Luke was trying to will himself awake again for his sister, "I'm here now, you found me…what do you need?"
Then Luke sat bolt up right in bed. "What?" he exclaimed, then sighed heavily. "Aw Liz…" and Lorelai's hand instantly went to rub his back as he shook his head at whatever his unfortunate relation was telling him.
Luke's sister, with another late night rescue plea. During any other phone call, if Lorelai and Luke were naked in bed, Lorelai would have tried to kiss him or touch him in an inappropriate way to get him to hang up, but seeing as this was probably an emergency, Lorelai was on her best behavior beside Luke.
"Okay, okay, hang on a minute," and Luke handed the phone to Lorelai, and she didn't know what to do with it. Luke got out of bed and put on his sweats and a shirt. Luke found his blue and white plaid flannel he had worn that evening, tossed it on the bed toward Lorelai, and gestured for her to put it on. "Trust me," he whispered, as he took the phone back. Luke sat on the edge of the bed, with a notebook he had kept on the nightstand out of habit, resting it on his knee, a pencil in one hand, and the phone in the other; slightly more awake than a minute before, ready to talk to Liz again, "Okay, start from the beginning."
Lorelai put her arms through his flannel and listened to his side of the conversation.
"Jeez, Liz!" Luke sighed again, leaning forward with an elbow in his knee as he rubbed his temples. "Why didn't you call me sooner?"
Just as Lorelai was finished buttoning the shirt, there was a small knock on the bedroom door.
"Come in?" Lorelai adjusted the shirt to make sure her essentials were covered by flannel or comforter. Luke and Lorelai apparently weren't the only ones disturbed by the shrilling phone call, as the door opened and a sleepy Rory trudged in the room in her nightgown. Lorelai now knew why Luke wanted her to cover up and was amazed how in tune Luke was to her daughter's curiosity.
"Who would call at this time of night?" Rory grumbled with squinting eyes, sounding so much like Luke. Rory plopped onto the foot of the bed with Colonel Cluckers under her arm and tried to assess why Luke was on the phone.
"Okay, okay, fine… Well, there's nothing we can do about that now… we have to deal with things as they are… now how much do you need?... Aw Liz…" Luke grumbled again scribbling down in the notebook.
"Who's Liz?" Rory whispered to her mother.
"Luke's sister," Lorelai smiled, putting an arm around her daughter as she sat with her in bed.
"Aw, right," Rory barely remembered the few references Luke made about his sister, especially when she had just woken up.
"Alright, what's the name of the place? Alright, well, it may be faster if I just drove down there and brought the money…" Luke wrote down a few more notes, and ended the call with, "I'm on my way…I'll see you in about three hours." He hung up and Rory rolled over on her stomach to hear what was going on.
"Luke?" Lorelai asked.
"My sister is being evicted."
"Why?"
"She hasn't paid rent in three months," Luke said flatly.
"Oh, well, that's a reason," Lorelai said lightly.
"She lost her job and has been avoiding her landlord the last few weeks. So the new year means a new month which means a new rent added to what she already owes. What with the rent owed and lease agreement fines, well … I'm fronting her the money." Turning his attention to Rory, "I'm sorry the call woke you, Rory."
"Is she gonna be okay?" Rory asked, now propped on her elbows at attention to the seriousness of the situation.
"Well, we'll see," Luke said mirthlessly. "I have to head down there, her land lord threatened to call the cops…if he doesn't have the money by morning."
"Wow, she likes to cut it to the wire," Lorelai was surprised.
"Yeah, same old Liz, any way I gotta get down there and sort everything out… find her a new place…again…"
"Where?" Rory asked.
"New York," Luke told her.
Rory shot up from her relaxed pose and exclaimed, "You can't go to New York! Don't you read the paper! It has the highest crime rate in America… what if you get hurt?"
"I won't get hurt."
"How do you know?" Rory challenged.
"I promise I won't get hurt."
"Well, unless you get the word of the criminals how can you guarantee that? Oh wait, you can't because they are criminals, so their word means nothing!" Rory crossed her arms.
"Rory, this is my sister. I have to go."
"Well, how long will you be gone?" Rory asked.
"I don't know…the last time she needed me I was gone a week."
Rory sunk into her mother and Lorelai hugged her.
"I can promise I will make it back here as quickly as possible."
"As safely!" Rory insisted.
"As quickly and as safely as possible," Luke promised.
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Lorelai didn't like Luke being out of town. Naturally, Luke called to check in, to tell the girls he arrived safely, and that he didn't know how things were going to play out for his sister. Caesar and Ben had the diner under control so Luke wouldn't loose any business. However, neither of them knew how to make a decent batch of coffee in Lorelai's opinion. Lorelai kept busy at work, but things kept coming up to remind Lorelai Luke was out of town. The fish in the Inn's pond didn't look healthy and a vet had to be called. Mia mentioned she wanted Luke to look at some picture frames that had to be re-bolted to the wall, as part of his handyman agreement, but Lorelai had to inform her he was out of town helping Liz. Mia seemed to expect as much, knowing how dedicated Luke was to family, knowing Luke was the only one who could look after his sister with their parents gone.
What was even worse for Lorelai were the lonely nights in bed. She had grown so accustomed to his mass on her right side, warm and willing to cuddle with her if she was cold. Without him, Lorelai would toss and turn, and sigh, would think about Luke and what he was up to in exciting New York City. She knew he wasn't a "paint the town red" kind of guy, that his sister was in trouble and might be more of a headache than he would let on over the phone. The second night he was gone, Rory had come upstairs to sleep with Lorelai because she had had a nightmare about Luke in New York City all by himself. "It will be okay sweetie," Lorelai whispered to an upset Rory, "he'll be home soon." Words of comfort for both Gilmore girls.
The fourth day of the New Year was a Saturday. Rory still had another week off before school started up again. Rory decided to be productive and started using her new recipe journal. She tried to smile as she copied down the recipes she had made up with Luke, like her popular Rorio Tacito Supremo, as Lorelai had named it. However, Rory's heart wasn't really in her transcription project because she missed Luke so much. Resting her chin on her hand Rory looked out her window and then saw Luke's green truck pull up in front of the house. Rory gasped a deep breath and hollered from her bedroom. "Mom! Luke's back!" and she ran out to meet Luke and welcome him home. Lorelai was close behind, but slowed her pace on the porch steps when she saw a woman, presumably his sister, and a young boy about Rory's age get out of Luke's truck with him.
"Hey," Luke brightly greeted Rory with a hug. "Where's your jacket?" rubbing her shoulders.
"Oh umm I forgot it…" Rory said, not noticing the cold and forgetting to bundle up for the happiness of seeing Luke.
Lorelai had grabbed the coat from the mirrored table, then came out and put it on her daughter's shoulders looking at Luke for an explanation of his company.
Luke picked up the hint in his girlfriend's gaze and introduced, "Umm Rory, Lorelai, this is my sister Liz."
"Hi," Lorelai said, still curious what they were doing in Stars Hollow if Luke had straightened everything out in New York.
"Hey," a hippie chick with bright red streaks in her brown hair waved.
"And this is Jess, my nephew," Luke gestured to the boy across from Rory.
"Hi," Rory shyly held out her hand, not really being acquainted with many boys.
Jess furrowed his brow and just stared at her hand.
Liz encouraged, "Come on, Jess, don't be shy."
"Hey," was all the boy said, limply shaking Rory's hand.
"Nice… to meet you," Rory said warmly, yet looking for reassurance from Luke.
"Umm, Hey Rory… Jess is a big reader too," Luke said. "Why don't you show him your room and all the books you have."
Rory was smart, she new the adults needed to talk about important things, so she took Luke's suggestion and showed Jess into the house.
Lorelai looked from the front door and Jess' hunched, shuffling form, back to Luke and Liz for an explanation of their presence in town.
"She's adorable…she yours?" Liz observed, looking towards her brother.
"Umm, no," Luke confessed.
"Huh?" Liz turned to Lorelai and asked, "You pregnant?"
"Liz!" Luke admonished.
Lorelai honestly answered, "Umm, no."
"But you're living together?" Liz checked again.
"Liz!" Luke rolled his eyes again at his sister's lack of tact.
"What? I leave town for a while and everything's changed. You move out of Daddy's office, you're living with a woman…How am I supposed to know?"
"Liz, I told you about Lorelai before…"
"You did?"
"Yes, I did," Luke already figured his sister's lifestyle was the very thing that made her forget important family details. Granted it was almost a year ago since he first brought up Lorelai.
"Wow, you'd think I remember if my brother, the monogamy wonder, was dating a woman with a kid. Or had moved…"
Luke grumbled, "Maybe if you paid your phone bill… I could have told you."
"Aw, don't start that again," Liz waved off. "When was the last time I called you…"
"The Charlie aftermath?"
"Aw, right. Man, he was a jerk, he totally took all the cash I had squirreled away… didn't even leave me the coffee can, he swiped it right out of the toilet."
"The toilet?" Lorelai had to ask, trying to picture it, Maybe one of those smaller coffee cans.
"Yeah, I had it hidden in the toilet tank; I got the idea from Pretty Woman. As soon as I trusted him enough to let him know where it was hidden… yonk, he stole it…and my TV and my son's stereo and half our CDs…and…"
"Wouldn't it have rusted? The coffee can?" Luke had to ask trying to be the helpful brother.
"Well, we'll never know now," Liz shrugged, with a C'est La Vie giggle. "Hey, umm can I go in to have something to drink? That was a long drive."
"Umm, sure, there's a water bottle in the kitchen," Luke automatically offered since it was now his house too.
"Ooo bottled water, fancy," Liz teased her brother and went in the house.
"So that's Liz," Lorelai said to Luke, almost in awe of the free spirit her boyfriend was somehow related too, wondering how two siblings could be so different if they had the same parents.
"That's Liz," he confirmed.
At this point Lorelai was bursting to the seams with questions, "Luke?"
"They aren't staying here," he eased. "I already explained that I'm living with you now and there's no room here, so Liz and Jess are gonna use my old apartment …for now."
"Your old apartment? Above the diner?"
"Well, yeah… it's only temporary."
"You trust your sister at the diner?"
"Well, we don't really have a choice. It's the middle of winter! What am I supposed to do? Leave em to the street, which by the way was my sister's brilliant plan before she called me no doubt to guilt me into coming down there. Look, till I can find em a new place, there isn't another option…"
"So, Liz is gonna use the bed at the diner?" The bed we use when we need alone time away from Rory.
"Well, she has her own, but we put most of their stuff in a storage unit back in New York, again only temporary…"
"Well, where is Jess gonna sleep?"
"On my old twin bed?"
Lorelai blinked, "Excuse me?"
"My old twin…"
"You still have that?"
"Yeah, I put it in storage…"
"Luke, your old mattress?"
"Yeah," Luke shrugged.
"Your nephew is gonna sleep on your 'God knows how old' mattress? … The one that we…" Lorelai looked at him pointedly so she didn't have to complete her thought, consummated our relationship on?
"Oh," Luke seemed to realize what she was saying and didn't speak for a full minute, "I umm…"
"Glad to add some much needed perspective to the situation," Lorelai grinned.
"Well, we could just get him a new one…" he shrugged.
"I would," Lorelai smiled.
"And get rid of the old one…"
"Good plan," Lorelai agreed, knowing being sentimental had its limits.
"Well, what about… you know… the new bed …I mean, Liz…"
The new double bed Luke had gotten for the diner apartment had only been "christened" a few times when they had dates where Rory was absent and needed to be alone. "Well, what she doesn't know won't hurt her." Lorelai patted his cheek, loving the fact that without her, he'd never have thought of those little logistics.
"Oh My God!" Liz came out the front door. "When you said bottled water I thought you meant the tiny ones, I didn't know you had a big one like that… that is so cool!"
Lorelai had to chuckle that she wasn't the only one who liked how the large bottled dispensed.
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Luke had a lot to juggle in his life what with the diner, Lorelai, Rory, and now his sister. He had a lot of catching up with his ordering since he had been gone, on top of finding Liz a new place. Liz made no effort to assist her brother, not even to find a new job in New York or anywhere; leaving the entire burden solely on Luke. This bugged Lorelai immensely. She saw all the time Luke was putting in for his sister, never once expecting reciprocation, taking time away from her and Rory. She saw how tired he was when he came home and went right to sleep, not having taken a real break for lunch or dinner, trying to use any spare moment to make long distance calls to New York, while Liz wasted away afternoons with her old friends from high school that were still in town. Lorelai began to wonder how often this occurred since Luke seemed so used to it; dismissing his efforts as "You take care of family." Lorelai knew Luke felt obligated to help since he was the only reliable family Liz and Jess had left with their parents long gone. Lorelai only hoped she'd have half of Luke's patience by the end of the visit.
Rory also found Jess' behavior a little strange, how he would always keep to himself. He would hang out at their house since he was also on a break from school, but he wouldn't talk to anyone, not even his own mother. Currently, Jess was self-exiled sitting on the porch, in the middle of a New England January. Rory decided to try and make some head way, being his same age, and attempt to keep him company. "Hi," Rory said to Jess as she came out on the porch, finding him reading on the porch steps in the cold.
"Hey," he said clearly annoyed with the intrusion, already bored with this tiny town after only a week.
"Can I join you?" Rory asked bundled up in her coat and gloves.
"It's your house," Jess rolled his eyes.
Rory sat on the other side of the steps and threw her scarf over her shoulder as she had seen Luke do countless times in the winter season, to protect her throat from getting sore. "What are you reading?" Rory asked politely.
"Hemingway," Jess said dully, then noting the book in her hand, "You?"
"Morganstern."
"Who?"
"The Princess Bride. Luke gave it to me for Christmas since I love the movie so much."
"Nice," Jess said in his monotone as though he wasn't impressed. "He got me some Poe." Rory couldn't tell if he was trying to one up her, or if he was simply telling her the truth. Jess was somewhat hard to read, for as sarcastic as he seemed to be, one would have thought he'd get along better with the Gilmore girls. However, Jess seemed moody, gloomy, and not very talkative.
"Luke is really thoughtful," Rory observed, finding the place she left off in her book.
Jess countered, "Yeah, I just don't know why he bails my mom out all the time though."
"That's just what Luke does, he likes to help," Rory said brightly.
"Yeah, or have someone to leech off of him, it must suck to have a sibling."
"I wouldn't know. My mom's an only child … so am I," Rory shrugged.
"Me too," and that was the first bit of common ground that put Rory at ease. Now that a rapport had been established, Jess decided to pose, "So what's the deal with your mom?"
"What do you mean?" Rory asked.
"Well, I know she and Luke are… you know," having sex, "…together? But where's your dad?"
"I don't know," and Rory sighed, the way she always did when her biological father was mentioned now, "and I don't care," starting at the top of the left page to read.
"You don't care?" for the first time, Jess' voice showed emotion, changed with surprise. "You're not curious at all?"
"Not really, I know enough…" Rory said haughtily.
"You know enough?" Jess repeated indignantly.
Rory firmly explained, "He left the state shortly after I was born, I've met him a few times, but he's very unreliable and flaky and frankly I don't need the aggravation over someone who is not interested in the fact that I share chromosomes with him. I have Luke, he has proven himself time and time again as a father figure, and he's all I need."
Jess admitted quietly, "I've never met my dad…" sounding jealous of Rory, at least she had someone to hate.
Rory sincerely said, "I'm sorry."
"I think he left when I was about a year old, my mom never talks about him… and she's always trying to replace him…"
"Wow," Rory didn't know what else to say to that. Lorelai had been so hesitant about dating, but when she met Luke, Lorelai couldn't let such a special guy slip through her fingers. Despite being skittish about marriage, Lorelai let Luke in their life, their house, and now they were a family of sorts. Her mother had made it very clear that she wasn't looking for a step father for Rory, or trying to replace the elusive Christopher, but Rory needed that void filled and was happy to have Luke as the man for the job. Merely trying to bond with Rory so they got along while he dated Lorelai, Luke had inadvertently and happily became so much more to both Gilmore girls. "Well, you know, Luke's really been a great role model to me, I wouldn't mind sharing him, since he is your uncle and all."
"Well, that's very generous of you," Jess said sarcastically.
"I'm serious. Luke is a really great guy to have around. He respects my opinions, he really listens, and he's always willing to help with anything. I mean, he really helped me sort out my feelings and make my decision about my dad. Maybe if you need someone to talk to, you could talk to Luke."
"Maybe," Jess shrugged, "I don't really know him that well, the only time I see him really is when my mom is in trouble, and he's always so busy helping her out…"
"Well, that's the joy of a small town, the pace is slower. Since you and your mom are staying for a while, take advantage of it. Talk to him and try to get to know him. I did."
Jess considered her perspective and then thought about the Luke-Lorelai situation again. "Do you… think your mom and Luke will get married?" thinking of all the times he had been a "ring bearer" for his mother.
"That's the plan," Rory said happily.
"They're engaged?"
"Oh, not yet," she admitted, "Don't say anything, but that's all I'm waiting for. My mom and Luke, they are just so in love. They're like… Wesley and Buttercup," she sighed again.
"Who's buttercup?"
"The Princess Bride," Rory clarified, holding up her book, Duh!
"Her name is Buttercup?"
"Yes. It's a fairy tale."
"You're 12 and you're still reading fairy tales?"
"Well, you're 11 and you're reading a book by a man who blew his brains out…" Rory shot back pointedly. "Maybe that's why you're so moody."
Jess considered her point for a moment, "Touché" Jess acknowledged. They nodded a truce to each other from their opposite sides of the steps and the possible future cousins both continued to read on the porch in silence.
Finally, Rory had to ask, "Aren't you cold?"
"Nah, I do this all the time in Central Park," but really Jess was only trying to sound tough, since in reality he was cold.
"Like the real Central Park?" Rory was intrigued.
"Yeah, usually my mom doesn't like me in the apartment… you know, when her boyfriends are over…"
"That doesn't seem fair."
"Well, that way it is…more convenient," Jess alluded.
Oblivious still to the relations between men and women, Rory shrugged, "Still doesn't seem fair." I've never been kicked out for Luke to sleep over…then again we have a house, and more room. "Hey, can we take this inside? I can make hot chocolate and I know where my mom keeps the mini marshmallows."
Jess had to admit, this burg was even colder than New York, "Yeah, alright," he agreed with a begrudging tone, but seemed to have a small smile now that he had a friend as smart as he was.
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A few days later, Luke was hard at work and Liz was hardly working since she was still unemployed. Since Liz had so much time on her hands on Lorelai's day off, Liz came over to Lorelai's house with Jess again. It gave her a release from the boredom of Stars Hollow, a chance to bond with her brother's roommate, and Jess had a playmate of sorts with Rory. It was much better then staying cooped up in her father's old office/apartment doing nothing. Rory had taken Jess to the bookstore, leaving Liz and Lorelai for some girl talk.
"So… Lorelai," Liz causally began, "What's your angle?"
"What angle?" Lorelai was simply trying to brew another pot of coffee as a means to continually deal with Liz; must stay caffeinated. Lorelai had to admit the loose mouth and fancy-free attitude of Liz was getting on her nerves. Lorelai understood Luke had no choice but to bring Liz to Stars Hollow and Lorelai knew if Luke could survive her parents, she could survive Liz for a few weeks.
"Aw, don't be shy now, it's just us girls. I mean, what's the deal? What's going on with you and Luke?"
"What? We are living together," Lorelai said simply.
"But how did you get Luke to agree to that? I mean, I love my brother but he's always been a bit of the straight and narrow type, you know," Liz chuckled in her scratchy voice. A voice she got from smoking so much Lorelai figured, which Luke insisted she was not allowed to do at the apartment, at the house, or around the kids.
"Well, it was apart of his birthday present," Lorelai still didn't understand what Liz ws driving at.
"Wow, now that is ingenious. Do think that will work on Tim?"
"Who's Tim?"
"My boyfriend, well my last boyfriend…that is we went out a few times and you know, well a couple times," Liz seemed to cackle. "I've only known him a few weeks, but I have a certain instinct about people, you know …"
Lorelai kept to herself, sure, instinct, that's how you have been married, what? Three times already…
Liz continued, "The times he had been around Jess, you know, I could just tell, he's a real father figure. I hope he's still interested when I get back to New York, I wonder when his birthday is…" Liz seemed to muse to herself now.
"Is that all you're after?" Lorelai asked indignantly, having kept her mouth shut for a good seven days.
"What?
"A father for your son? A fill in?"
"Isn't that all your after?"
Lorelai cried, "NO! I am in love with your brother. I never asked him or wanted him to step up and be a father to Rory. I told him that straight off, but Rory had a need and she let Luke fill it. So now we are a family, our own unique little family…"
"Well, that's all I'm after for Jess," Liz defended.
"No, you want a bed buddy to keep you warm at night!"
"Hey!" Liz was now offended.
Lorelai continued to lecture, "My God, Liz, look at your self. You are a mother! You can't even keep a roof over your head. You have a son who depends solely on you; doesn't that mean anything to you?"
"Well, I gotta take care of me before I'm good to anyone else…"
"That's just selfish and you know it!" Lorelai was angry and frustrated and that caused her to really tear into Liz. "Getting laid isn't taking care of your self! You're only focus being to find Jess a temporary father isn't taking care of Jess! Liz, I'm not shy to admit to you that I've only been with two men in my entire life. Rory's father when I was 16 and Luke! I got the best part of Christopher when he gave me Rory, and believe me, I've tried and tried to be grateful to him for that and let him in, but he was not interested in being a father, so I gave up. I left my parents house when I was 17 and I knew I had this little person who could only count on me! I found a job, I arranged for shelter, I put food on the table. I worked hard and I saved and I bought this house all on my own. I pulled it together for my daughter because I had to. I was patient and picky and avoided the temptation of dating because I didn't want Rory to get attached to anyone who wouldn't be there the next month. After 10 years, I found Luke, a wonderful steady guy who noticed me, who asked me out. I didn't have a plan, I didn't try to con him, I didn't set my sights on him. When Luke found out I had a kid he was shell shocked at first, but he knew we were a package deal and yet, miraculously, he didn't shy away from us. He accepted us and we accepted him…"
"Well, not everyone can have a Luke," Liz scoffed, knowing her brother was one in a million.
"I know it! Which is why you should wait to find someone really special! Really worthy of your time and Jess' time. Which is why for the moment, I don't mind sharing Luke, he was your brother first; but you have got to do some leg work for yourself. He's bending over backwards for you, he is stretching himself thin for you! Do something Liz! Make some calls, look through the newspaper; help him help you!"
It was then Lorelai heard the front door slam, and Luke rounded the corner into the kitchen. The look on his face and his hands on his hips clearly told Lorelai he had over heard her at least some of her little speech from the porch. "What's going on in here?" he asked evenly.
"Nothing," Lorelai dismissed, hoping he hadn't heard, but then why else would he have asked the question. Beating him to the quick, Lorelai pushed past him, grabbed her coat from the mirrored table, and was out the front door to cool off in the January air.
Luke followed Lorelai onto the frosted lawn and stopped her by grabbing her arm. "Lorelai, what did you say to her?"
"I was just giving her some perspective," Lorelai yanked her arm away.
"Lorelai, you can't just yell at my sister. I'm trying to help her out…"
"So am I!" Lorelai shot back.
"Lorelai, what do you know about her? Who are you to be giving her advice like that?"
"Well Gee, Luke. She's only told me her whole sob story for the last week while doing nothing to help herself."
"I'm helping her, she's family…"
"…and she's totally ungrateful!"
"Look, you know nothing about her situation…"
"I know nothing about her situation!" Lorelai shot back. "Hello Luke, have you met Rory? I'm a single mom too;" Lorelai gestured past him toward the house. "Your sister and I practically got pregnant at the same time! However, I grew up the minute the strip turned pink and from that moment, from the moment I first held Rory in my arms, I understood that I had to put Rory's needs above my own! A switch that obviously never flipped in your sister! You are too busy coddling her, giving her money, bending over backwards to accommodate her that she will never learn, never grow up …and she's older than me!"
"Lorelai, you can't talk to her that way, she's a crier!"
"Someone has too! You have to admit her 'laid back, whatever' attitude wears rather quickly!"
"Lorelai, you don't know what its like to have a sibling. I'm the only family she has left; she has no one else to turn to. This is my sister; I can't pick my family…"
"You picked us!"
"So, you have to take precedence?"
"No," Lorelai winced as she conceded, wondering how she got into a shouting match on her lawn with Luke when she was only trying to help Liz. "You just… have to let her … you have to straighten her out, so this won't happen again… this lifestyle isn't healthy for her, for Jess, for you…for us."
They just stared at each other for a moment. Everything that could have been said was. Lorelai turned on her heel and went for her walk.
Lorelai's "for us" struck Luke. Luke stood rooted to the spot not sure what to do to straighten out Liz, if he knew, he would have done it long ago. He didn't know what Lorelai wanted him to do if she wasn't suggesting that he turn his back on his family. He didn't know if Lorelai expected him to follow her down the street or if he should deal with his bawling sister inside.
Just then, Rory and Jess returned from another trip to the bookstore. Luke noticed how Rory nudged Jess' ribs before Jess addressed him, "Umm thank you, Uncle Luke, you know, for the book money."
Happy to have some gratitude for all he was trying to do for his relations, Luke warmly said, "You're welcome."
Rory announced, "Oh, I just remembered I have to drop some CDs off at Lane's." Rory looked pointedly at Jess for a moment longer then went back in the direction they just came from, to the center of town.
Luke looked between Jess and Rory for a moment, then saw Jess seemed to have something on his mind, as he shuffled his feet a bit. "Umm, Uncle Luke?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, umm are you, you know, doing anything right now?"
Luke chanced a brief glance in the direction Lorelai took off in, and decided, "Not really, what do you need?"
Jess let a small smile escape, Rory had been right, Luke was always willing to help,."Well, umm I was wondering if we could…take a walk… you know and…maybe talk."
Jess seemed to have hope in his eyes, a trick he must have learned from Rory over the last week. "Sure, if you want."
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Luke followed along side Jess to the lake and the old footbridge, and Luke pointed out, "So far we've done a lot of walking, but no talking."
Jess asked, "Umm, we can stop here if you want?"
"Sure," and side by side they sat down on the bridge. "Jess? What's going on?"
"Well, Uncle Luke…?"
"Please, you can just call me Luke."
"Okay, Luke, I was wondering if… you could tell me…about my dad."
"What?"
"You knew him."
"Jess really…it's not my place to say…" since I have nothing good to say about the guy.
"Please, Luke," Jess' tone sounded desperate. "Tell me he was a war hero, tell me he was dead beat, just tell me something, anything…I don't remember him at all and mom won't talk about him and I need to know…" Jess trailed off.
"Know…what?" Luke encouraged.
"I need to know… what I did."
"What?" Luke had that punched in the gut feeling again. "Jess that is not your fault, okay? Jimmy… Jimmy was young and scared and well frankly stupid… I can personally vouch you are better off without him."
"Do you think mom loved him?"
"Well, at the time I'm sure she did and they were together for about two-three years…"
"Well, do I look like him?" Jess actually looked up hopefully.
"Actually," Luke had to admit now that he could stare at his nephew, "You look like your grandpa." Luke hoped that would change the subject since he preferred to talk about Grandpa William than deadbeat Jimmy any day.
Lorelai was still fuming and cooling. She didn't know why the situation with Liz bothered her so much. It's not like her and Luke are married and have a joint checking account so then Lorelai would have to front Liz money. It was commendable that no matter what, through thick and thin, Luke would stand by his relations, despite the anger and frustration they caused whether they realized it or not.
Lorelai thought of her own family, how she had shut them out and was quite fine with that arrangement. To her that arrangement made sense considering they had just barely survived Christmas and every other meeting was like heading to the wars.
Then Lorelai saw them, Luke and Jess sitting on the old bridge across the lake, talking and so help her God, Jess was actually laughing at what Luke was saying. Lorelai saw she wasn't the only one who needed Luke. Just like Lorelai didn't want Liz to be selfish, Lorelai knew she couldn't be selfish either and try to keep Luke all to herself and Rory.
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A/N: Alright I admit it… on June 3rd I wallowed…
"Aren't I a human being, don't I yearn, and ache and shop, don't I deserve love... and jewelry?"-(name that quote)
Anyway, on the third it was Keith Urban… sigh, and many, many others:
Don't shut me out maybe baby
We should talk about it
'Cause you've got your doubts but maybe, baby
They might be unfounded
Have a little faith you'll make it through
I'd never hesitate to talk to you
If you tell me just what's weighing on your mind
Maybe it could help you sleep tonight
So don't shut me out
Don't be so proud don't ya know that
Before a fall it leaves ya
And it'll take you down baby that ain't
Where I wanna see ya
The sun'll rise tomorrow come what may
And you'll feel better than you do today
And in time you'll cry no more
I know 'cause my heart's been there before
And here I am when you need someone
My shoulder's yours to cry upon
And everybody now and then
Needs and understanding friend around
So don't shut me out
Don't shut me out maybe baby
We should talk about it
'Cause you've got your doubts but maybe, baby
They might be unfounded
Listen to your heart and clear your mind
And you will find the answer every time
Every road you travel on will lead
To where it is your heart's supposed to be
And here I am when you need someone
My shoulder is yours to cry upon
And everybody now and then
Needs an understandin' friend around
So don't shut me out, don't shut me out, don't shut me out
To ASP: you made me hate Lorelai Gilmore, I didn't think it possible… but you did!
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"That was all God given talent..." why thank you NON-POD 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...