Reunion

Chapter Seven – The Karma of Misdeeds

XXX

"Luuuukkkkke." Lorelai cried out. As soon as the word had escaped her throat, she threw her eyes open. Max jerked his head up to look her in the eyes.

"What?" He panted. His eyes growing dark and fear taking residence in them just as the hunger left. "Did you just say what I think you just said?" He stammered out. He reached behind himself and grabbed one of Lorelai's ankles and pulled it from its spot; the feeling of it pressed hard into his back lingering. He then extracted his member from her and she quietly slid down the wall, landing gracefully on her feet.

"No. I, uh… Oh boy!" Lorelai gasped out. The animosity between Luke and Max came flooding back to her and she looked down, fearing the inevitable. She knew this was a bad situation, and only bad things were about to happen.

"Oh boy, Lorelai? That's what you have to say, 'Oh boy'?" Max trudged over to the chair where his clothes sat in waiting, barely stopping on the way to gather the briefs that hadn't quite made their way to the rest of his things. He pulled them on angrily, quickly followed by his pants.

"Max, wait. You aren't aware of the situation!" Lorelai padded over to him and placed her warm hand on his arm. "Luke and I ha—"

Max didn't wait for her to finish her sentence. "What the hell am I doing?" Max flung his arm away from her, breaking their contact.

"Me. I thought." Lorelai quipped. She forced a half-smile and he turned to glare at her.

"Here I am, thinking that you want this too. I came in here, and you came in here, knowing full well what would happen, and you didn't stop it. Why, Lorelai? What is your problem? Why can you never make up your mind?" Max turned from her, stepping into his untied shoes.

"Ouch. That's unfair, Max. You don't underst—" She was, again, cut off by his harsh glare and cold words.

"Oh, I understand perfectly." Max bent down and gathered up his socks and shirt. Breaking eye contact, he glanced around the room. Once satisfied that he had collected all of things, he marched for the front door. Lorelai quickly grabbed her pink overcoat and threw it on, wrapping it tightly around her naked frame. She followed Max to the door, calling for him to stop.

XXX

Luke turned the last corner, now just yards from Lorelai's driveway. He looked down at the hot pink cast still adorning his arm. He laughed, knowing that it made her smile. He loved making her smile. Hell, he loved her. Wait, what? I love her? I love her. I love Lorelai. The first time he thought it, it was as if he was asking himself. However, the last time he thought it as if he was letting the world know. He loved her.

He pulled into the driveway. His heart was pounding at his recent revelation and he was almost sure that if you were to open up his stomach, you would find butterflies the size of sand dollars. However, when he finally pulled in, he saw a dark blue Mustang sitting in front of Lorelai's Jeep. He knew he'd seen the vehicle before, but just where was a mystery.

Luke turned off his truck, and opened the door. Placing one foot on the ground outside, he climbed out and swung the door back to its closed position. Just then, he heard the front door swing open. When he looked up, his heart nearly stopped.

XXX

Max ignored Lorelai's pleas for him to stop. He was mad. She had handed him something. She had willingly given it to him, and somehow, just like she always had, she took it back. He knew that she wanted to explain herself out of it, that she would say anything. Anything, that is, other than admit the truth.

Max finally reached the door, and firmly grasping the handle, he threw it open.

"Max! Please stop!" Lorelai yelled out, jogging after him. She slowed for a second, hoping he would turn around and talk to her. She clenched the overcoat around her tighter, willing it to shield her from the oncoming quarrel.

"It's always been Luke, hasn't it, Lorelai? Every time we get anywhere, it's Luke." Max spouted, turning to face Lorelai just outside the front door. She approached him, fully intending to respond with something quippy and charming. However, when she finally reached him and opened her mouth to retort, her eyes wandered over to Luke standing in the lawn by his truck.

"Luke." Lorelai said, barely above a whisper. In that very instant, her heart sank. She looked into Luke's eyes and found pain looking back at her. Instantly, her body went completely numb.

"You see what I mean, Lorelai? It will always be Luke." Max shouted, then he turned, with every intention of walking away, but when he saw Luke standing on the lawn, he stopped cold in his tracks.

"Oh my God," was the only thing Luke managed to choke out.

"Luke, what are you doing here?" Lorelai cooed, she forced a look at Max as she stepped around him. His eyes were filled with contempt and fury. She placed a bare foot on the top step, completely unaware of her attire, or, lack there of.

"That's a really good question. What the hell is going on?" Luke yelled, giving Max a glare laced with disdain. The fact that Max was holding his shirt and not wearing it suddenly became very eye-catching. Hurriedly, Luke looked back to Lorelai who was approaching him cautiously.

"Luke. I can explain." Lorelai declared, finally reaching Luke. Her eyes flicked across his cast, and in any other circumstances she would have teased him about it again, but she knew that this was hardly the time.

"Right." Luke asserted. He then turned back to his truck. He wanted nothing more than to get into it and forget everything. It was then that the night's revelation weaved its way back into Luke's coherent thoughts. He shook the concept from his mind.

"Luke. You don't understand." Lorelai stammered. She grabbed Luke's eyes with her own.

"Really, Lorelai? Because to me, it looks like you were just in there having… having… with… with him." Luke couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Luke, no. He just showed up here. I didn't know he was coming, I mean, it was so sudden. Please, Luke, you have to believe me." Her eyes pleaded with him. She was begging him to not hate her.

"Oh my God, Lorelai." Luke broke their eye contact to stare at his shoes. His good hand flew to his head, rubbing it in contemplation.

"Please, Luke. I have been sitting here, day after day, missing you. I felt so alone. Then Max showed up on my front porch and I let my loneliness take over. I wasn't thinking, Luke. I wasn't." she attempted to regain Luke's gaze by tilting her head down, but he refused to look at her.

Max was almost completely to his car now, not wanting anything to do with either one of them. He just wanted distance from Lorelai. He was hurt. He had let himself fall into this hole that he simply wanted out of. He had let himself think that she loved him too. He looked back up at Luke, whose eyes were on the ground. He glared at him, willing envy through his gaze.

"And to think, I was coming here to tell you I… that I love you." Luke finally tore his eyes from his shoes, but they fell not on Lorelai, but on Max. "What the hell are you staring at?" Luke's fist clenched tight as it fell to his side.

"You… do?" her eyes grew, looking into Luke's to search for something, anything, to indicate what he was thinking.

"Jeez, Lorelai, I don't know. I show up here and you are dressed like that coming out of your house with… God, I don't know what the hell to think." Luke looked back at Lorelai. "You're boyfriend is leaving." He finished lamely. Lorelai clasped her hands again around her jacket at Luke's mention of it.

"He's not my boyfriend. He's not my anything, Luke. You are. You are my everything. You have to believe that." Lorelai wanted nothing more than to throw herself at Luke, to be held by him as he stroked her hair and told her everything would be just fine. But she knew he wouldn't, he couldn't. She was very aware that she had screwed things up pretty badly this time. She mentally kicked herself.

"I wish that was true, but I just don't know what to believe anymore." Luke turned from her, not to his truck but away from her. He took a few steps in no particular direction. His hand lifted and his fingers glided into his hair.

Lorelai felt a tear escape and run down her cheek, quickly followed by another. "Luke. I love you." She cried out to him.

Hearing these words, Max tore his eyes from Lorelai, and slipped into his car. His own hands found their way to his forehead, rubbing it gently.

Luke was lost. He loved Lorelai, with all his heart, but he felt betrayed. He was deeply hurt, and she had done it. She was the cause of this ache that was manifesting in every inch of his body. He wanted to pretend that none of this was happening. He closed his eyes, squeezing them tightly, hoping that when he dared to open them, he would find that this was all just a really horrible dream. With his eyes still closed, he turned back to Lorelai. When he opened them, to his dismay, he still found her near nakedness and crying.

"Lorelai, you don't know how much I wish this wasn't happening." Luke ejected. He said it quietly, almost solemnly. Lorelai could hear the betrayal in his voice, and it pained her.

"I know. I wish it wasn't either." Lorelai looked to her feet, unsure of what to do next. "I can't believe that it is. I can't believe I let myself do this to you. I never wanted to hurt you. Never! I can't believe it. I am a jerk. I am stupid. I am so, so stupid!" Lorelai found that her hands, too, had pulled into fists. She let out another breath, trying to choke in more air between sobs. As she spoke she was repeatedly thrusting her fists down to the ground and pulling them back up again, is if she were a child throwing a fit.

"Lorelai, you aren't stupid." Luke said as he reinstated their eye contact. He looked at her with heavy eyes.

Tears were now freely falling down her red cheeks, and she did nothing to stop them. "No. I am. I am so stupid. I did something without thinking. I had s—I did something stupid and irresponsible. And I hate myself for it." Lorelai put one of her fists to her forehead. It was throbbing with pain, and she needed some sort of painkiller, but she pushed on with her self punishment. "I shouldn't have done it." Lorelai pulled her coat tight, feeling the frigid air for the first time.

"I can't be here right now." Luke said, turning from Lorelai and sliding into his truck.

"No!" Lorelai whispered, not wanting him to give up on her. She approached the truck. "Please, Luke, give me a chance to explain this to you. I can make you see, please." Lorelai pleaded, her eyes filled with tears.

"I can't right now. I need to think." Luke pulled the door shut and started the engine. "I will talk to you later." Luke looked at her again. She knew that he was telling the truth, and he, indeed, would talk to her later. It was just that she was afraid of what he would say.

He pulled the truck's gear into reverse and backed away from her. Tears were pooling in his eyes as he looked back at her. Finally, he looked away. He reached the road, and without giving another glance, he drove out of view.

Lorelai looked back to see Max sitting in his car. She didn't know what to say to him. She was confused and hurt. She had no intention of hurting anyone, and she had hurt two people. Way to go, smart one. She thought to herself.

"Max." She squeezed out. Her lungs hurt and her eyes stung, but she felt the need to talk to him. She took a few more steps towards his car. He finally looked up at her, and she instantly saw the raw emotion dancing in his eyes. She stopped her footwork, and stared at him. There were no tears on his face, but she could tell he was near it. "Max." She repeated.

"No." Max said. He was unsure if Lorelai could hear him, but when she dropped her head again, he could tell that she had. She looked back up at him. "I'm leaving. I can't be here." He said. Lorelai took a few more steps and she was now a mere ten feet from his Mustang.

"You love him." Max managed to say. Lorelai nodded and again looked down, almost as if in shame. "Then that's all I need to know. Goodbye, Lorelai." She didn't even attempt to look up at him as he pulled away from her. She was hurt and emotionally drained. She needed to do something other than stand there. But she couldn't move.

Lorelai didn't know how long she stood in her front lawn for, but she was finally shaken from her trance when her cell phone rang. She had forgotten that it was in the overcoats pocket. She instinctively grabbed it and looked at the screen.

'RORY' it told her. She didn't know if she wanted to talk to anyone at the moment, but her hands didn't listen to her and they pulled the phone open.

"Hey, Kid." Lorelai croaked out. Her voice reeked of pain and fatigue. "I need you to come home."

XXX

TBC

I bet you didn't expect such a quick update, huh! Well, I though since you guys are SOO GREAT, that I would give you one. Continue to read and review. Cause like I said before, when you review, it makes me smile. And a smiling writer makes a happy writer. And a happy writer makes a happy story, and a happy story makes a happy audience. So, really, you reviewing is just a way to reward yourself! Okay. Thanks! More soon!