The Next Night

Luke's POV

I was getting ready to close up when I heard the bell chime above to door signal that a customer had entered. I looked up to see Lorelai walk into the diner alone.

"Where's Rory?" I asked, truly curious.

"At a friends house." I watched as she sat on a stool at the bar. As I was about to ask her if I could get her anything she said, "Which is why I came looking for a nice looking guy to take me out and have a good time." I stared at her as I suddenly remembered the night she walked into the hardware store while I was working with tools.

I pushed the memory aside as I asked, "Can I get you anything?"

"Coffee, I can tell you now, I'll always want coffee."

"Coffee can kill I hope you know."

"So can a lot of things…coffee is the better of many evils." As I poured the coffee into a cup I thought of the accident, what I could remember of it anyway.

I saw the blinding lights of a semi in front of me and the blackness that followed. I felt a burning sensation on my hand and when I looked down I realized I was pouring coffee over the edge of the cup and onto my hand.

"Off in a moment there?"

"More like a memory."

"A shared memory?" She asked as she took a sip of her coffee…well, more like a gulp of it. She set the cup down and said, "I remember it pretty well too, considering how trashed I was."

"You weren't that trashed." She smiled and sighed.

"Well thanks for clearing my conscience." I smiled as I walked to the door to turn the open sign around. I figured it was better that Lorelai and I talk about this alone, besides it was closing time anyway.

When I returned to the counter Lorelai had emptied her cup and was holding it out for more. I poured it into her cup and watched as she took another gulp of it. She set the cup down and pushed it aside, I would guess to stop herself from drinking it so fast.

"There is something that I've been wanting to ask you since the accident." I stared at her, predicting the question that came next. "Why did you lie?" I was right. "I was the one distracting you from the road." I looked down and pinched the bridge of my nose as I thought back to when I lied to her parents, more for me then for her, but still for her as well.

"Because-" I stumbled over the thoughts that raced through my head and looked into her eyes. "I blamed myself for drinking at all…and-" I thought of how foolish the explanation after 'and' was going to sound. "I liked you too much to let you get your ass chewed." She chuckled and I saw a glow in her eyes that was a shock under the circumstances. Since she laughed, I laughed too, it seemed OK now.

"I like that answer." She looked at me and smiled. She moved the coffee cup back in front of her and in a second finished it off.

"I'm not getting you more." She smiled and said,

"That's alright…this time. I think we've talked enough." She stood and started towards the door. I followed her to open the door for her and therefore reached it before her. As I was reaching for the door handle Lorelai placed a hand on mine and looked into my eyes. She wrapped one hand around my neck and leaned forward to kiss me, I acted in the same way. We kissed passionately for a moment before we pulled apart.

"Well, time hasn't taken away that talent of yours." She smiled and walked out of the diner, I was too much in shock to open the door like I was going to. I thought of what she had said. I sat in one of the chairs and thought. Soon enough I fell into a childish fantasy of one day kissing her again, at least…I could hope to.