I hate to be alone
A/N: I saw the lyrics from this song somewhere, and it reminded me of Luke and Lorelai. When I listened to the actual song, it wasn't what I had expected, but the lyrics still fit. If you want to hear it, it's called someone that you're with, by Nickleback. Some things will be different in here, by the way, but I will try to stick to the show as much as possible.
i I reside in 209, you're in 208
You moved in last Friday night,
And I just couldn't wait /i
November, 1985
It was a cold November night when he first saw her. He was picking up some things for thanksgiving from Dooses. She was carrying a squirming pink bundle and a large suitcase, and she looked very lost. Now, normally, Luke Danes was really not the kind of community service person who stops on the street to help people with their groceries and whatnot. But there was something about this girl.
Had his hands not been full of other stuff that was potentially going to drop at any moment, he most likely would have stopped to ask her if she needed help. But he didn't, and he didn't see her around town much after that.
9 years later
"Luke where is my burger?" Mrs. Patty yelled over all the noise.
"I ordered fries with this."
"Coffee!"
"I wanted two lemons in my iced tea."
"Coffee!"
"I need you to take my order!"
"You need him to take i your /i order? I ordered mine 40 minutes ago!"
"Coffee!"
"Luke, I want my burger or I'm leaving right now."
"Coffee!"
Luke finally turned in the general direction of the voice. "Hey! Sit down, shut up, I'll get you when I get to you," he told the woman without really looking at her. He poked his head into the kitchen. "Ceaser! What are you, on your lunch break? Get moving! Mrs. Patty wants her burger, Andrew wants fries, Kirk wants a second lemon, and there are three people not-so-patiently waiting out there who still need me to take their orders, some really not-so-patiently."
"What are i you /i doing?" Ceaser shot back at him.
"I'm-"
He was cut off by the voice. He turned around to find the girl standing directly behind him.
"What's your birthday?"
"What is my birthday? What the hell kind of question is that? And why are you standing behind the counter?"
"What is your birthday?" She asked again, more persistently.
"October 29th!" Luke finally yelled back at her. He didn't hear her say anything for the next few moments as he was taking orders, and thought she had finally gone away. The next thing he knew, there was a small square of paper being waved under his nose. "What is this?"
"Read it."
Luke sighed. Looking down at this paper, he saw it was his horoscope. Under Scorpio, she had written 'You will meet an annoying woman today. Give her coffee and she will go away.'
"Promise?"
"Yes."
"Fine." He took out a to-go cup and filled it with coffee. "There." He stopped short because he had finally really taken a look at the woman. It was the girl he had seen standing with the baby so many years ago. It had been a long time, but he recognized her immediately. He had seen her occasionally. Across the street, through the crowd at the town meetings, inside a shop window, sometimes accompanied by a small girl, sometimes alone. "Here," he said, giving her back the horoscope.
"Nope, keep it. Put it in your wallet. Someday it will bring you luck!"
He rolled his eyes but took out his wallet and stuck it in anyway.
"Happy?"
"Very."
She took another sip of the coffee.
"Great coffee, by the way," and then she was gone, out the door, and around the corner.
He stood there for a long moment before Kirk's voice brought him back down from his cloud.
"Luke? Where is my second lemon?"
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3 days after their initial meeting, and Luke still had not seen the mystery woman. He had read and reread the horoscope every chance he had. If not for it, he might have thought he had dreamed up the occasion.
It was a dull moment in the diner, only two customers, teenagers, sitting in the corner talking baby talk to one another. It was disgusting. He checked his watch for the hundredth time that night. 8:26. It was 8:26. nobody had come into the diner (except for the teenagers) since 7:14. Luke had just decided to close early as soon as the girl and boy left when he heard the bell tinkling above the door.
When he looked up, he was somewhat surprised to find the woman standing in the doorway with the girl he often saw her with.
She smiled. "I bet you don't remember me."
"You're the crazy coffee lady."
"So he does remember me," she looked around the mostly empty diner. "Are you closed?"
"No. We don't officially close until 10. 11 on Fridays and Saturdays."
"Well then, I will have a burger, fries and coffee, and Rory will have, um," she turned to the girl. "What do you want?"
"Um, chicken fingers, French fries, a small chocolate milk extra chocolate, and a small coffee," she rambled off while looking at the menu.
"How old are you kid?"
"I was ten three weeks ago," she answered proudly.
"No coffee for anyone under the age of 11."
"You just made that up!" The woman cried.
"What does it matter if I made it up three seconds ago or three years ago? It's still a rule."
"Fine, just milk for her."
Luke smiled. "Coming right up." He went back into the kitchen to start making their orders. When he came back out, the first thing he saw was the woman sitting down abruptly on the stool. The second thing he saw was a mug in the child's hand.
"That better not have coffee in it."
"Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't."
"You came behind the counter, took out a mug, and filled it with coffee!"
"Maybe, maybe not."
"Here's your food."
"Thank you."
After the girl took a sip of the coffee, she commented, "You were right mom, he does make good coffee!"
"Wait, you're her mother?"
"And proud of it." After observing his surprised look, she added, "what did you think I was?"
"I don't know, her nanny or something."
Both girls laughed at this.
"Nope. I'm Lorelai, by the way. Lorelai Gilmore. And this is Rory, my i daughter /i ."
"I'm Luke."
"Nice to meet you Luke."
"Mom, I have to go to the bathroom."
"Right back there," Luke said, pointing to his left. Rory slid off of the stool, leaving Lorelai and Luke alone together.
"She's cute."
"She's me." Luke smiled.
Now that he thought about it, Lorelai and Rory really were very alike. Besides the obvious similarities in their appearance, with both having the same blue eyes and brown hair, they also seemed similar in their personalities. Not to mention the shared love of coffee.
"You don't seem like much of a kid person," Lorelai said.
"What makes you say that?"
"I don't know, first impressions."
Awkward silence.
"So, where is Rory's father?"
"Somewhere in California by now, I think."
"So your not married?"
"No, he proposed once though."
"And you said no?"
"The bell rang."
"What?"
"Never mind."
Luke was going to ask her what she was talking about, but Rory walked back into the diner, and he got the feeling her father wasn't the best subject.
"Hey sweets. It's getting late and you have school tomorrow. We should get going."
Rory nodded. Lorelai started to take money out of her purse to pay the bill.
"How much do I owe you?"
"Nothing, first time customers are on the house, as long as you come back."
"But I had coffee the other day. This is my second time."
"You paid for the coffee. I forgot my first time rule. So this is your first time not paying."
"Ok. I won't pay, but I'll be back."
"I'll have coffee ready and waiting."
The Gilmore Girls left the diner and crossed the street. Luke watched them go. Watching Lorelai in particular. She really was pretty. Whoever this Christopher was, he certainly had good taste.
It was then that Luke noticed the teenagers were still sitting in the corner. He checked his watch again and was surprised to find it was 9:52. The diner closed in 8 minutes. Turning around, he still had a full pot of coffee. He didn't drink coffee. He took the pot over to the couple and refilled both of their cups.
"Drink up, and take as long as you want," he said to their surprised looks.
And he walked away smiling.