Chapter 2: Sharing the Secret
*****Stars Hollow*****
Neither one of them wanted to go home to bed, so they walked into town even though it was dark. Rory kept hold of the book her grandpa gave her, but she kept the cover of it toward her, so no one could see it.
"When did we start being afraid of the dark?" Rory wondered as she felt unusually scared.
"You heard Gran. This town is super safe," Lorelai said. "No monsters here."
"That's good, I guess," Rory said. "Can I tell anyone?"
"I don't know that anyone would believe us," her mom said. "You can try. It would sure piss off the grandparents."
Rory smiled. "That's a bonus," she said.
Lorelai threw her arm around her daughter. "I don't know if our family is totally certifiable or if there's truth to what they said," she said. "All I know is that whatever happens, we'll face it together."
Rory nodded, grateful for her mother. They walked in silence into town, the night air a bit chilly, but it wasn't too cold yet.
She went to Lane's house and debated on if she should knock. Then she decided it would be better to just climb the tree and go to her window. Lane's mother would interrupt them, forcing them to keep the conversation short if she knew Rory was there.
Lane grinned as she heard the knock on her window and saw Rory. Her best friend rarely resorted to such measures to talk to her, so it must be important.
"What's up?" Lane said after she opened the window. "Do you want to come in?"
Rory sat on the ledge of the lower roof. "Nah. This is fine. I needed to talk to you about my family dinner," she said. "My grandparents and great-grandmother told me something that's totally insane. I don't want you to freak or think I'm crazy."
"Of course, you're not crazy," Lane said automatically.
"You might change your mind once I tell you what they said or rather told me about myself and my possible destiny," she said.
"Destiny? You have a destiny?" Lane said. "That sounds both cool and ominous."
"It's ominous, completely ominous," Rory said. Then she shared with Lane all the crazy things she learned at dinner.
"Oh, my God," Lane said when Rory stopped talking and showed her the vampire slayer handbook.
"Yea. It's insane," Rory said.
"Why would they make up something so elaborate?" Lane wondered.
"So you think it might be true?" Rory asked.
"I don't know," she said. "The bible talks about men with super strength and even giants—in Genesis. Sons of angels mating with sons of God and producing powerful people. Who knows what that exactly meant?"
That Lane didn't laugh and dismiss Rory shook her more than anything. If it was true, what was she going to do?
At Luke's Diner, Lorelai was unburdening herself in a very exuberant manner, and Luke was snickering.
"Vampires? Demons? Slayers? Are you sure they weren't drunk?" he asked, amused. He walked over and locked the door, changing the sign to closed.
"No, they weren't, Luke. You weren't there—they were very serious," she said. She sipped her coffee. "I need an Irish coffee. Do you have any whiskey?"
"No, I don't have any whiskey," he said. "I have a beer or two upstairs."
She said nothing else, getting up and moving toward the stairs that led to his apartment. Luke followed after her complaining. "That's my beer, and I don't want to share it with a loon!"
"This loon needs to be medicated," she said, opening the fridge and grabbing a beer. She twisted the top off and guzzled it down. Then she reached for a second as Luke protested.
"Slow down, Lorelai. Getting drunk won't make you feel any better," Luke said, grabbing a beer and shutting the fridge.
"It will make this entire night seem less clear, and then maybe I can forget," Lorelai said.
Luke didn't know why her family would tell her such a crazy tale, but Lorelai choosing him to confide in meant something. A part of him wanted to draw her closer or even ask her out. However, he wasn't sure as she never seemed like she felt the attraction he did.
"Why did you tell me this?" he said. "We're not that close, are we?"
"I've been coming into your diner daily since you opened it three years ago," she said.
"Yes, but you've never shared personal things with me before—we haven't been those kinds of friends," Luke said.
Lorelai looked away, trying to explain what made her tell him of all the people she met. Miss Patty or even Babette would have believed every word. Sookie probably would have also. However, there was just something so solid about Luke—she knew that no matter what she could depend on him. "I didn't want to upset Sookie—she would worry herself sick. I also don't trust Patty or Babette to not tell everyone," she said. "And I knew you wouldn't tell anyone. I had to have some to tell this insane stuff to because Rory needs me to be strong."
"I think you shouldn't worry about it. Nothing is going to come of this—it's just preposterous," Luke said.
"I hope you're right," she said. "What should I do? Should I sever her ties with my parents? Would that be the right thing here? She'll have to withdraw from Chilton, but wouldn't that be better?"
Luke was silent a long moment as he considered the situation, pushing down his incredulity. "Okay, so the chances that this story is true are slim. However, let's speculate about the possibility that it's true. What does that mean? If you let her be trained to learn some dead languages, what's the harm? So she does some exercise that might be unnecessary, that's only a good thing for her healthwise. Since her eating habits are atrocious, exercise can only be beneficial," he said. He had been failing to get the Gilmore Girls to eat better for the past three years, and he couldn't resist pointing that out once again.
"I guess that's true," Lorelai said, letting him get his dig in without joking about her love of food. That alone let Luke know how confused Lorelai was feeling as she never let an opportunity to argue with him go by. She sat down in one of the chairs in his kitchen, too distracted to even look around at his apartment—a place she'd never been.
"And then there's the other side of it," Luke said as he rubbed his hands together in the one nervous tic Lorelei found endearing.
"What's that?" she asked.
"Well, even though the chance of it being true about the whole vampires and demon bit is very slim, you have to consider the remote possibility that it is true," he said. "Wouldn't you want her to be as prepared as possible?"
"Yea, I know," Lorelai said with a sigh. "That's what they said, too. I just hate the whole idea of her being alone in some mystical destiny that could get her killed."
"Who says she has to be alone?" Luke pointed out. "You and she are the closest mother-daughter duo I have ever seen. Be there with her every step of the way."
"I have a full-time job, Luke. I don't think I can," she admitted.
"Not everything, but I'm sure you could do one day at your parents, and you could work with the trainer," Luke said. "It's never too late to exercise."
She gave him a glare. "You just see this as an opportunity to get me healthy!" she accused, finally rising to the bait.
Luke fought back a smile. "Hey, exercise it a good thing—so is eating right," he said. He could never convince her to try something healthy, but he kept trying.
"I don't see you out in the morning jogging," she pointed out.
"I work at the diner at five in the morning some days, but I could join you probably three days a week," he said.
"You'd do that?" Lorelai asked.
"Sure," he said with a shrug. "I used to be very athletic and ran all the time."
"Oh, yes, that's right. I've heard a few rumors about the mythic Luke Danes, who played and ruled nearly every sport," she said, batting her eyelashes at him with a smile.
Luke looked embarrassed. "I do run some, but not as regularly as I did since I opened the diner," he said.
"I might need a lot of mocking to get going," she said.
"I am an expert mocker," Luke said with a grin.
"Don't hold back," Lorelai said. "I have to be able to help Rory in some way—no matter how minor."
"It's probably not real," Luke said.
"Probably—I hope so," she said.
"I have pie. Do you want some?" he asked.
"You know that I do," she said. "Coffee." Immediately, she stood and heading to the door leading downstairs to the coffee.
"You won't be able to sleep," he reminded her as he trailed after her.
"Sleep? I don't think I'll be able to sleep ever again," she said, pausing to look back at him, looking forlorn. Then she moved into his diner, sitting on her favorite stool.
Luke went around his counter and sat on the stool next to her. "It will be okay," he said, putting his arm around her shoulders.
She leaned her head against him. "Promise?"
"Yes," he said.
They both hoped his words would be true.
*****To Be Continued*****
If you've seen Gilmore Girls, you know that although Lorelai and Luke almost get together in season 1, Lorelai pulls back and dates another guy. Then we wait until season four or five to have them together. Since she chooses in my tale to tell him right away, their relationship will be severely altered. Luke and Lorelai have always been two of my favorite TV characters. However, the show writing them as a couple was severely up and down. Review if you like.
