Disclaimer: ASP's creation not mine. Don't own anything! If I did, I would want to own, Scott Patterson or Luke Danes. I'm totally fine with either! ;p Also, if I did own GG, there would be no such existence of the Nardini's and LL would be happily married at the end of S6, while making Lorelai's dream in S3 become a reality in S7.
P.S.
My disclaimer is always the same.
Authors Note: Thank you all so much! The reviews and follows are very motivating and I am eternally grateful. I love how most of you fixated on the character Billy. That was a goal of mine, so great to see I accomplished that. Also, I apologize for the first chapter lacking LL interactions. I promise this chapter will have more than just a call. Enjoy!
Vital Company
Chapter 2: Awkward Homecoming
Lorelai threw a hand over her mouth in an instant at the sudden unwanted, boiling sensation deep within the pits of her stomach that desperately wanted to make its debut into the world. She quickly concluded that, that horrid feeling was caused by the immense amount of alcohol she had consumed last night, as she struggled to keep her feet planted beneath her.
She heard a faint sound of the ships horn blow as she clutched her stomach with her free hand, and felt it rumble angrily beneath her fingertips. She drunkenly felt her way over to the side of the ship. The rise and fall of the waves surrounding them caused not only the boat to sway back and forth, but the liquid in her stomach to churn as well.
As she made an effort to swallow down the warm pool of water that had made its way up her throat and into her mouth, she groaned in agony and slight annoyance as she heard the faint horn, sound off yet again in the distance. Sadly, her efforts went unnoticed as the heat from the alcohol blazed upward in warning of what was to come.
She bent at the waist, while she removed both hands from her mouth and stomach as she braced herself on the railing to expel the revolting heat of substance that no longer was a welcomed guest to her insides.
Once she felt every last drop had been released from her body, she unsteadily reassembled herself to an upright position as she allowed her eyes to gradually settle on a landmark to take in her surroundings.
When she finally let her dreary gaze come to rest on an object, and her once blurred vision had now cleared, she came face to face with one of Luke's sailboat canvas paintings. She remembered she told him he could hang it in the bathroom, since a sailboat couldn't sail without water and the bathroom had lots of it.
Her face took on a look of confusion as she came to grasp the fact that she wasn't on a boat, she was just looking at one.
The inside of her head felt like it was the sea vessel itself, being rocked side to side by the waves that sloshed up against the perimeter. She unmistakably heard the annoyingly loud sound again, notifying all that were around of its presence.
She squeezed her eyes shut at the pounding of her heavy head that evidently could not be ignored, she realized the sound wasn't the ships horn, but the ringing of the phone that sat waiting to be answered. She groaned softly and felt her way back into her room.
Once she had somehow managed to reach her destination, she wrapped her fingers around her whining cell phone right before she plopped herself stomach downwards onto the bed. The incredibly unpleasant feeling of actually witnessing the world spin on its axis crashed into her at high-speed.
She didn't know whether she wanted to cry herself to sleep or die on the spot from the enormous sized anvil that she felt had landed on her head. All because she permitted her emotions to get the best of her, thus causing her to overdue the amount of alcohol consumption the previous night.
She flipped over onto her back and allowed her thumbnail to flip open her phone as she lifted it to her ear, "What?" She groaned hoarsely into the mouthpiece.
"Whoa!" Came the gruff voice over the phone, surprised at her greeting, "Good morning to you too."
"Ughhh–" Lorelai groaned in response not quite piecing together exactly whom the voice belonged to as she still tried to prohibit the room to stay still.
"Lorelai?" The unsure, yet worried voice of none other than her fiancée, came through the device.
Lorelai sat up quickly at the sound of his voice, only to regret it a second later as the blood rushed to her head and caused it to throb uncontrollably, making her groan out in pain and fall back onto the bed.
She felt as if she was on one of those weird corny rotating beds like in Austin Powers and she couldn't find the off switch for it. She braced a hand over her forehead as she gripped lightly at her temples to massage tiny circles there.
"Lorelai?" Luke's concerned voice came through the line once again, seeking her response, "Are you okay?"
She tried to clear her throat, but the dry roughness caused her to wince at the sudden pain, "Luke?" She croaked out softly.
"Yeah, it's me." He said, smiling slightly into the phone, "Hey!"
She rolled her head to look over at her nightstand. When she saw a half a glass of water and a bottle of ibuprofen sitting pretty, she breathed out "Thank God!" as she slowly sat up to retrieve the two objects.
"Miss me that much, huh?" He flirted, assuming her previous comment was towards him.
Lorelai grunted out in frustration as she reached for the ibuprofen bottle, only for it to be empty. She made a mental note to head over to Doose's after she checked in with Sookie at the Inn.
"Hmm?" She mumbled, slightly confused as she opted to take a sip of water. She brought the glass down away from her mouth as she registered his flirting and what brought it on, "Oh, uh, yeah. Yes, of course. Miss you." Lorelai stammered out, sounding much clearer thanks to the water.
"Good." He said with a smile still present in his voice, "Then this will be good news for you. April's teacher, Mr. Munster, just informed the rest of us that one of the students' grandmother passed away in her sleep last night. The family wanted to be there, which of course is understandable, so instead of coming home tomorrow morning, we'll be home in about 45 minutes or so. We're packing the kids on the bus now and we'll be heading out in five minutes." Luke finished with enthusiasm.
Lorelai's head was swirling with all the information he had given her, given the state she was still in. She looked over towards the alarm clock on the nightstand and it read 10:15AM. She presumed that she must've fallen back to sleep after her crack of dawn conversation that morning with Luke.
Luke would be back in Stars Hollow a little after eleven o'clock, and she felt even worse than before he left. She needed to wake herself up and pull herself together before he could see her like this.
Lorelai could still taste the foul remnants of the limitless amount of coffee and tequila she chugged down just hours ago. And even at the mere thought of both liquids, caused her to involuntarily cringe. She sighed at the realization of her having to play keep away and her cat got my tongue bits all over again.
Her once sparkling eyes now full of misery, her witty word-filled mouth now silent and her once open and warm heart now pained and broken as it barricaded itself. The wretched feelings she was currently being subjected to were caused by the one and only man that she had allowed into her heart.
"That's great, Luke." She answered as she strained to add excitement in her voice, "Well, not about the grandmother part, but you coming ho-" She paused, cringing at the thought of knowing Luke still didn't even consider the house they renovated together as their home, "I mean back. It's good you guys are coming back." She corrected and rolled her eyes at her own pathetic words.
"Yeah. Hey, are you feeling okay?" He asked a bit concerned with her hesitation.
She squeezed her eyes shut, mentally beating herself up for her cheerless sounding voice, "Yeah. Yeah of course." She answered quickly, "I uh, just have a headache, but I'll be fine." She reassured him as best as she could.
"Okay. You sure?" He asked, still a little skeptical.
"Yup." She answered trying to get away from the subject, while rolling her eyes at the fact that the one time in a long time, he actually picked up on her emotions was when she didn't necessarily want him to, "Hey Luke, I'm actually running late. I need to head out to the Inn for a bit to finish some things there and check in with Sookie-" She began.
"Oh yeah, sorry. I just figured I'd give you a heads up on the latest news." He said as his voice sounded a bit disappointed, which caused her to throw a hand, palm up as if silently asking him, what the hell?
She shook her head slowly, "No. That was good. I appreciate it." She replied, pressing her lips into a line.
"Okay. Well, I'll see you soon?" he asked.
"Definitely."
"Lunch? At the Diner?" He asked with a hint of hopefulness.
"Yeah sure, sounds good." She breathed, "I'll see you then."
"Okay great." He smiled again.
"Bye." She snapped her phone shut, releasing a huge sigh, "Great."
She slowly willed herself out of bed and headed for the shower in hopes to wash away most of her drunken ruins, before attempting to set foot out the door.
She dressed in her beige and navy blue silk blouse, along with her navy blue slacks as she threw on her beige trench coat to top it off. She opted to keep her hair down pinning her long bangs back with pins, hoping it would alleviate the throbbing pressure that caused tightness on her head.
Once she was through with her usual morning rituals, she gave herself a once over in the mirror, before she lazily made her way to her jeep and headed towards the Inn.
"Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh. My. God!" Lorelai groaned into the palms of her hands as she sat on the stool, waiting for Sookie to pour her hot water into a mug, "Please tell me you have ibuprofen?" Lorelai asked, hopeful to rid her massive headache.
Sookie grabbed the bottle from under the counter and handed a few pills to Lorelai, "Here you go, Sweetie."
Lorelai gulped down the pills with a sigh, "How?" She asked, lifting her face to look at Sookie.
"How what?" Sookie questioned as she refilled the mug in front of Lorelai.
"How could you have let me drink that much, to the point where I have to experience this wonderful state of hangover central?" She whimpered.
"Let you?" Sookie asked with a giggle, "Sweetie, you challenged anyone to an arm wrestling match if they even tried to get close to removing the glass from your hand."
"What?" Lorelai asked hesitantly as her face showed a terrified expression.
Sookie giggled with a slight wince, "Yeah Hon, and when no one wanted to take you up on your challenge, you crowned yourself, Arm-wrestling Champion of the World." Sookie recapped as she tried to hold back her smile.
"Oh-my-God!" Lorelai whined softly, embarrassed of her previously drunken tirade.
"It's okay. You were the talk of Lane's wedding." Sookie said, nodding encouragingly.
"Talk?" Lorelai looked towards Sookie as if she had seriously gone insane, "I was a raving lunatic, Sook." She retorted shamefully. Then a memory struck her as she gasped, "And that toast…" She groaned.
"Don't worry about the toast." Sookie shook her head, "And you weren't a lunatic. You were a character, honey. What's Stars Hollow if not a haven for colorful characters? You had everyone singing along with you as if you were an actual celebrity or something. " Sookie said, trying to console her.
Lorelai had her head in her hands again, "Is that supposed to make me feel good?" She muffled incredulously.
"I've seen you wasted before, but never like this. I mean we had you chugging down coffee, but it was making you energetically wasted. Fun to watch, but still, it was a first."
"I should borrow the reception video to see what a fool I made out of myself. That way when someone comes up to me in the street and asks me what color I feel like today, I can tell them the exact shade."
Sookie giggled, "Yeah and check out your audition."
Lorelai snapped her head up and looked at Sookie with wide eyes, "My what now?"
Sookie winced again as she slowly informed, "Well when you spotted the videographer, you got suddenly very excited to film your audition tape for America's Next Top Model."
"Oh, my God!" Lorelai said, horrified, "I thought that was a dream. Oh God, the posing, the strutting, the inappropriate gyrating?"
Sookie pressed her lips together as she nodded her head, "All caught on video, and several of Zack's buddies' camera phones."
"Dear God, I'm probably all over the internet by now." She whined
"Nooo." Sookie replied weakly.
"They'll be calling me Stars Hollow's Train Wreck."
"And then after that… " Sookie began again.
"There's an after that?" Lorelai asked in disbelief.
"You tried to start a secret club for Super Cool Party People only, but Christopher and Rory scooped you up and got you home." She finished, "He got you in bed okay?" Sookie asked a little wary.
"Christopher?" She asked a little nervousness in her voice, "Yeah. Well he and Rory. So um… is there anything else I did that I need to know about? I want to be fully informed." She asked, exhausted from hearing about her shame filled night.
"No." She shook her head, "I told you everything."
Lorelai exhaled loudly, "Good." She nodded.
Sookie gave Lorelai an off look as if she was holding back something else.
"What?" Lorelai questioned cautiously, "Is there something else? Tell me." Lorelai demanded.
"No… well, I mean…" Sookie started a little hesitant, not wanting to overstep her boundaries.
"What is it, Sook?" Lorelai asked, fearing the worse.
"Well, are you- you know… okay? You and Luke, I mean." She asked gaining a sharp intake of breath from Lorelai, "I mean, I know it's none of my business, but you know you can talk to me, right?" Sookie soothed quickly, trying to let her friend know she only wanted to help, "If you need an ear… or two." She gestured to her ears jokingly, "I'm here, Hon."
Lorelai smiled at her, "Thanks, Sook." She let out an exasperated breath, "I don't know. It's so…" She paused to think of a word, "I don't know. I really don't know what it is, but I think I need a break or like a small vacation, you know. Away from my problems, away from work, responsibility, stress, just away from everything and… everyone." She told her friend softly, "Sort through my thoughts and have some alone time, you know? I mean I know I have that now, but I want to be able to process everything on my own…" She finished.
Sookie nodded understandingly, "Yeah, I know. You should do it. You deserve a break, Lorelai. Michel and I can handle things here just fine. You let me know when and we'll set it up. However long you need, you take it, sweetie." Sookie comforted.
"Thanks. I just might take you up on that. So don't be surprised if I come out of left field saying I'm out for a while." Lorelai said lightly, her words more of a warning than a joke.
Sookie giggled, "I've been warned."
Lorelai smiled in thanks, then suddenly remembered something… or someone, "Hey, do you happen to know a guy named Bob or Benny or Benji?" She asked, trying to recall the name she was unsure of.
"I know a few Bob's, no Benny or Benji's though. Why?" Sookie replied, curious in Lorelai's abrupt topic change.
"Last night, I vaguely remember having a conversation with a man at the bar." Lorelai answered as she tried to recall the man.
"Oh, was he one of the Yummy Bartenders?" Sookie asked with a teasing smile.
"No." Lorelai shook her head, "He was just a guest." She looked as if in thought, "I remember he said he was born and raised here and he was visiting for a while." Lorelai began, trying to remember, "He had at least a decade or so on us. He was dressed comfortably, but nice." Lorelai briefly remembered that this man had reminded her of her fiancée in some ways, "Very casual, but it suited him. Construction boots, jeans, t-shirt and a jacket, but I remember he looked like James Bond, just with salt and pepper hair and stubble." She recapped distantly, purposely not mentioning the similarities with the guy and Luke.
"Ooouh! Double-O seven?" Sookie smiled appreciatively at the description, "Wait! Sean Connery or Pierce Brosnan?" She asked for clarification.
"Pierce." Lorelai confirmed, "Definitely Pierce. He looked to be late fifties. Maybe, early sixties, but if so, sixty has welcomed him very kindly." Lorelai said as she gave Sookie a pointed look, causing Sookie to raise her brows and smile, "He had this really low voice, it was pretty hot, actually." Lorelai laughed, "He sounded like… hmm…" she tried to think of someone in comparison besides Luke, "Oh!" She snapped her finger, "Sam Elliott." She said, giving Sookie the full picture.
"Ooouh!" Sookie nodded her approval, "Very sexy! How did I miss him?" Sookie asked in wonder.
Lorelai shrugged, "I don't know, but I was talking to him for a while at the bar."
Sookie's face contorted into confusion, "Really? I didn't see anybody with you."
"What?" Lorelai looked at her bewildered, "What are you talking about? I was talking with him for at least twenty minutes, minimum." Lorelai recalled
"Hmm are you sure- Oh! Wait!" Sookie said as she remembered something, "Maybe you were talking to him, while I rushed over to make you coffee. I was gone for at least that long. I might've just missed him." Sookie suggested.
Lorelai nodded uncertainly as she tried to piece together her memory, "Yeah. Maybe."
Just then one of the kitchen staff members walked in.
"Sorry to interrupt, Ms. Gilmore and Mrs. Belleville, but Harry Fredrickson is on the phone for you, Ms. Gilmore. He said he wanted to go over the new billing policy for the linen deliveries. Mr. Gerard asked if I could get you, since I was on my way back here." He informed Lorelai.
"Billy!" Lorelai shouted as she remembered the visitor's name.
"You okay, sweetie?" Sookie asked, surprised at her sudden outburst.
"That was his name." Lorelai smiled, happy to have gotten a piece of her memory clarified, "Billy. Double-O's name was, Billy." Lorelai explained.
"Oh, Billy." Sookie nodded, "Hmm. Good name. Billy what?" she questioned, still not knowing any Billy's.
"Huh…" Lorelai stopped to think, "I don't know." She responded, shrugging her shoulder.
Sookie laughed, "Well, at least now you have a name to the face."
"Yeah, I guess." She said then turned towards the door, "Thanks Tim. Can you tell Michel, I'll be there in a minute?" She said, gaining a nod as he walked out to relay the message.
"Now if you'll excuse me," She faced back to Sookie, "I'm gonna go take care of this phone call, then head over to the place that is now almost equivalent to the Gilmore manor."
"Excellent." Sookie gave a small smile, "Super cool party people bid you super cool adieu!" Sookie cheered, causing Lorelai to look at her in confusion, "That's how you were saying goodbye to people at the party." She explained.
"Super." Lorelai said lacking enthusiasm.
After finishing up her phone call with Harry the linen guy, Lorelai slowly headed over to the Diner. She really did miss Luke, but the old Luke, the loving, caring, gruff Luke.
Her Luke.
Either way she knew seeing him was inevitable and it wasn't like she could avoid him… right?
She rounded the corner and made her way up the steps opening the door, causing the bell above it to ring as it announced her arrival.
"Finally!" Came Luke's greeting, "I thought you forgot about me." Luke teased as Lorelai walked in.
"Forget you?" She played along, "How could I forget about you, Mike? I mean, Phil. I mean Luke." She gave him a smile as she teased him right back.
"Mmhm." He mumbled as he slipped an arm loosely around her waist to give her a quick kiss, only to pull away quickly.
He turned and made his way back behind the counter, before Lorelai could even reciprocate. "Really?" She asked as she held her arms out to the side furrowing her brows, "Almost two weeks away and that's all I get?" She asked him, obviously disappointed in the lack of affection from her man.
"I'm working." He stated on cue.
"And I'm a lady in waiting." She said, Luke laughed softly, but made no move. Lorelai pressed her lips together and nodded her head, "Yup, feeling the love, babe. Thanks."
Luke rolled his eyes and gave her a smirk, "Can I get you anything?" He asked, by passing her comment.
Lorelai made a face as if in thought, "Hmmm yeah, you can actually. You can get me a boyfriend who will actually be happy to allow me to give him a proper welcome back kiss." She replied with a smile as she rested her elbows on the counter and placing her chin in her palms.
"Later." Luke replied briskly as he glanced around the diner, then back to her, "Besides, I'm not your boyfriend. I'm your fiancée."
Lorelai feigned surprised as she gasped, "Oh my God! Seriously?" She replied then added, "And here I thought you had forgot that little fact." In a soft mumble.
"What was that?" Luke asked leaning in a bit.
Lorelai plastered on a smile as she replied, "Oh nothing." She replied, looking at him innocently, "I was just saying I'm gonna head into Woodbury to go shopping for some new clothes." She sort of lied.
"Oh yeah? Maybe I could come along. Keep you company." He suggested, causing Lorelai to look at him in shock.
"Really? You want to willingly come shopping with me?" Lorelai asked skeptically as she narrowed her eyes at him.
"Yeah." He shrugged, "I actually need to get a gift, so it works out perfectly." He said, smirking at her.
"A gift, huh?" Lorelai asked with a smile. She thought he forgot about her birthday, what with him being on the trip and with April, and because of the fact that he hadn't even remembered to tell her Happy Birthday, instead he called to tell her about one of the math competitions April had done well in. "And who might this gift be for?" She asked him, a smile forming on her lips.
"April." He answered calmly, causing Lorelai's smile to drop instantly.
"April?" She asked, clearly confused by his answer.
"Yeah. I was dropping her off this morning and her mom had mentioned to me that she was taking her to her grandmother's to celebrate. She couldn't swing a party here with her friends, so I figured I know her friends now. Why not I throw her a party." He explained to her.
"You? Throw a party?" Lorelai questioned, still in shock.
"Yeah," He challenged a bit offended, "why not?"
"No–" She shook her head, "I think that's great." She recovered, pushing past her disappointment in him for forgetting her own birthday, "And um… I mean if you want a consultant, I've been known to throw some rockin' preteen parties in my time, so…" Lorelai began to offer.
"I think I can handle it." Luke dismissed her quickly and added, "I've got it under control."
Lorelai nodded, "Okay." She said softly, looking down to her lap, trying to mask her hurt eyes.
"What time did you want to go?" He asked, changing the subject with ease.
Lorelai to looked back up at him, "Um, whenever you're ready, I guess."
"Okay. I'm gonna let Caesar know, then we can head out." He informed her, "You want a cup to go?" He held up the coffee pot ready to pour.
"Uh- no thanks." She swiftly denied, "I'm good. I'm actually a little coffee'd out at the moment." She said, not going further into explanation.
"That's right." He put the pot down and smiled, "Battling the hangover." He teased.
"What?" She looked at him in surprise of his knowledge of her current state, "Did I mention my hangover?"
"No." He shook his head and nodded over towards Ms. Patty, who sat at the table nearest to her, "Patty filled me in."
"Oh." She said shortly, more embarrassed than anything, "Luke, I drank a lot and I said some things-" She began only to be cut off.
"It's fine." He waved her explanation off, "She said you turned the whole town into a raging concert show."
"Concert?" She asked, a bit lost.
"Yeah, I heard everyone sang along to the song as if you were Neil himself." He replied with a smile.
"Uh– yeah." She let out a nervous laugh, "You know me."
"And I heard you gave an audition for some modeling show. I'm gonna need to see that. I'm also gonna have to track down those guys that recorded it on their phones. That's for my eyes only." He said, giving her a pointed look.
"Yeah. Yeah. You." She answered distantly, then suddenly, she shouted, "No!"
Luke reared his head back at her outburst, "No, what?"
"Um- no, don't watch the video." She started nervously as her eyes darted around the diner searching for a good enough reason.
"Why not?"
"Uhh because… why- watch the video when you could get the live thing?" She countered, applauding her quick thinking.
Luke smirked, "Yeah?"
"Yeah." She nodded, pleased he took the bait, "Everyone knows the live show is always the best."
"Good." Luke nodded, "I look forward to it." He said, smiling, "I'll just be a minute, then we can go." He winked at her, just before he disappeared into the kitchen.
Once he was out of earshot Lorelai let out a deep breath and muttered, "Oh man."
Patty quickly got up from her seat and stood next to Lorelai, "Okay, I've already gotten to the whole town, and they're all telling the Sweet Caroline story. He'll never know." She assured Lorelai in a hushed tone.
"Oh, Patty, I owe you." Lorelai sighed a breath of relief.
"Oh honey, please. I've given more drunken toasts than Colin Farrell." She told Lorelai, "You owe me nothing." She patted Lorelai's hand softly, flashing her a smile.
Lorelai's thumb began fiddling with her engagement ring, "Thanks, Patty."
"That Luke…" Patty began, tossing a glance towards the kitchen, "It may take a village, but if anyone can get him to the altar someday, it's you honey. It'll happen."
"Yeah… someday." Lorelai whispered as she forced a smile on her face in return, but her hazy blue eyes displayed the opposite.
"You doing okay over there?" Lorelai asked, looking over at Luke as they walked along the sidewalk passing a few shops.
"Yeah. I'm great." He responded, smiling like an idiot, "Especially after that last store."
"Well, I am a woman of my word." She said as they continued to walk.
"Yeah, I just thought you would've waited until we got back to your place, that way I could appreciate your display in private and show you just how grateful I can be." He answered with a smirk as he thought about how Lorelai had lured him into the fitting room to show off her choice of lingerie that then led to their impromptu heated make out session.
Lorelai winced at his mention of her place. He still didn't call it home. He didn't even consider it home.
She sighed audibly as she painted yet another fake smile upon her face, "Well once we're finished, maybe I could give you VIP access."
Luke flashed her a smile, then turned to look into a store window to his right, "What do you think of that?" he asked Lorelai as he pointed to a toiletry kit in the window display.
Lorelai scratched her head a bit, "Um… what do you mean?" She questioned him in confusion.
"What do you think of that as a birthday gift for April?" He asked in detail.
Lorelai looked at him as if he was crazy, "Umm… Are you uh," She cleared her throat, "trying to tell her that she smells?"
"What?" Luke snapped his head back to look at her, "No! Of course not."
"Well, that's the message you'll be sending her if you give that to her, especially on her birthday." Lorelai informed him.
"What are you talking about?" He shook his head, "It has cats on it. It's cute."
"Come on, Luke." Lorelai tried to gently urge him away from the hideous gift with words, "It'll say, Happy birthday! Now go clean yourself up, Pete."
"What?" He asked, not getting her joke.
"Luke, there are a lot more stores just a few shops over, why don't I take you and you can choose the perfect gift for April there." She encouraged, trying to help him and April.
"Why can't this be the perfect gift?" He asked gruffly, "I'm gonna get it."
Lorelai shrugged, "Okay, I'm just trying to help."
"I know and I know you're also an expert, but she's my daughter and I know what she likes." He told her, with a hint of cold undercurrent in his voice.
"Okay, that's great, Luke." She tried to back up, "I'm just saying, I can help."
"No." His answer was short, but clear and he didn't look at her.
"What?" She asked, trying to see if she heard him correctly.
"No." He repeated, this time looking at her with firmness.
"Why?" Her voice carried the hurt that she automatically felt, with his curtness.
"Because," He shrugged stubbornly, "it's too soon." He explained shortly.
"Too soon." she repeated incredulity
"Yeah, because the minute you get introduced into her life, things for me will be all over." He stated in a matter of fact.
"What?" Lorelai's head was spinning, "Luke, what are you talking about? That's insane!" She said looking at him in shock at hearing his supposed logic.
"It's not insane." He fought back, "It's the truth. You're colorful and funny. You're practically a cartoon character. Kids love you. I wouldn't hang out with me either after meeting you. She'll like you better. That's just a fact." He reasoned haughtily, his face showing no remorse to his words.
"Luke?" She tried to object, "You're her dad!"
"Yes, I am and this is how I want it to be." He retorted, not leaving room for her to defend her reasoning.
Lorelai shook her head and looked away as she felt the heated wetness building in the backs of her eyes, "Okay." She surrendered softly, tucking a stray lock behind her ear.
Luke didn't even look at her, knowing if he did, he would back down and not get his wanted time alone with his kid, "I'll just be a couple minutes." He said as he pointed into the store.
Lorelai nodded, still not looking at him, "I'm gonna walk down there. Grab a water or something." She asked, not meeting his eyes as she started to slowly walk away, "You want anything?"
"No." He watched her walk away, "I'll find you." He told her.
Lorelai nodded as she headed off, further down the street not once looking back.
Authors Note: Hey guys, thanks for the continuous love. I'm finding that these first couple of chapters had a bunch of errors, so it's going a bit slower in editing, but as the chapters get higher, it should get easier, since I was actually trying to pay better attention to the little grammar things. You all rock and thanks again. - KISF
