Chapter 33: Not a Mistake

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"Um, you know how you are one of Rory's favorite people in the world? Well, of course you do, but anyway, since you are, she spends a lot of time talking about you, and last night was no different. Rory, being Rory, started talking about you fixing the house up and all that stuff, and she naturally came to the conclusion that you were spending a lot of time at a house that wasn't yours… So then she proceeded to get around to the wild idea that since you were spending so much time getting the house ready, that you must be getting it the way you want it because you are… moving in… with us," Lorelai faltered off, completing her rambling. Seeing his slightly wide-eyed look, she continued quickly, "Now, don't worry. I told her that it was, in fact, just you and me moving in to the house, but then she asked me if you would be spending the night sometimes since we have more space because that is what "Jessica at school" says couples do…. And when she said that, I realized that we hadn't talked about it and that we probably should."

Processing all of what she said, Luke replied slowly. "O-kay…"

Taking his hands in hers, Lorelai pulled him to sit down on the couch. "So… what are you thinking?"

Before he could answer, the door was thrown open and Rory ran in. "Good morning Daddy Luke! It's moving day!"

"Yeah it is, Rory," he answered automatically, not taking his eyes off of Lorelai. Shaking his head to clear it, he stood up, plastering on a feign look of happiness. "Are you ready to get moving?"

"Yeah! Are you ready, Mommy?"

Still seeing the fear hidden behind Luke's smile towards Rory, Lorelai took note to bring the conversation topic back up soon. Putting on the same fake smile as her boyfriend, Lorelai answered quickly, "I sure am, sweets!" Turning to the small stack of boxes and furniture, she clapped her hands together. "Alright, Burger Boy, let's get this show on the road!"

Standing in the fully done living room at the house, Lorelai leaned back against Luke's chest, taking it all in. With Rory working in her room to organize her books, Lorelai was left time to reflect. "This is it… It's finally my home. I have a fully furnished, fully functional home."

Placing a light kiss on her temple, Luke responded softly, "You deserve it. The place looks great."

Scanning the room, she clearly saw all the work he had put into it. "And it looks this good because of you," she answered in the same tone. Hearing and feeling him yawn, Lorelai turned into his arms, placed a hand on his chest, and smiled. "You've had a long day being my servant. Why don't you head home and sleep? You can see if Rory will need more book shelves tomorrow, and we'll go from there."

"I'm fine," he reassured, squeezing her waist lightly, "I might as well find out while I'm already here."

"Luke, it's fine. There's nothing that has to be done with now, so you need to go home and rest. I know you have an early day tomorrow."

Stretching his arms, Luke groaned as he felt his body loosen. "You're right…" Turning around to make sure that there wasn't something important left undone, he scanned the room. Satisfied with what he saw, he added, "Okay… just let me say goodbye to Rory."

Quickly grabbing his arm, Lorelai stopped him from leaving the room and yelled, "Rory, come say goodbye to Daddy Luke!" Smiling, she turned to him and whispered, "I really love having so much space that I am forced to yell to call her."

The scampering of tiny feet was heard, as Rory yelled in response, "I'm coming! Don't leave yet!" Once she finally reached Luke, he picked her up and she laid her head on his shoulder. "Good night Daddy Luke. Thank you for helping me and mommy move."

"No problem, princess," he answered with a smile, planting a kiss on her forehead and putting her down. "Have a good rest of the night with your mom."

Patting Rory on the back, Lorelai directed, "Alright hon, go get your pajamas on, and I'll be back inside in a few minutes. I'm gonna walk him out."

As they made their way to the truck, Lorelai planted a kiss on his cheek then leaned on Luke's shoulder. "You know, Rory said it best… thanks for helping today, and with everything."

Putting his arm around her, bringing his body into contact with hers, he smiled. "No problem."

Deciding to take the plunge and bring back the conversation from earlier in the day, Lorelai started slowly, "So… um… we never got to finish our conversation from earlier."

Trying to hide his fear, Luke tensed slightly and added a rough, "Uh, yeah…"

Feeling his movement, she lifted her eyes to meet his. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I just had a cold chill…"

With a knowing look in her eyes, Lorelai pressed on, "I know this isn't the closest contact we've ever had, but over half of my body is pretty close to yours at the moment, so I know for a fact that it wasn't a cold chill. What's wrong?"

Sighing, Luke shot his gaze to the truck to avoid her look. "Lorelai, nothing is wrong. I just don't know what to say," he responded a bit more sternly than either of them would have liked.

"Luke, look at me," she pled, with a slight commanding tone in her voice.

"Lorelai…"

"Fine." Stepping in front of him, she stared him in the eye. "I'll just stare at you then."

"Lorelai, stop."

"Ughhh," she groaned, removing herself from his arms, "No, Luke…You've clearly got something going on in your head that you won't tell me about! Your whole "stone cold attitude" conveniently started when I mentioned discussing an important step in our relationship, so I know that it probably has something to do with that. Since I am one of two people in said relationship, I want to know what you're thinking about… so either you quite trying to give me the silent treatment when I'm just trying to help, or this will turn into a big mess. It's your choice."

Taking hold of her arm to stop her pacing, Luke spoke intensely, "I'm fine. You can just go inside and enjoy the night with Rory, and we can talk about this later."

Stepping closer to him, she pushed his hand away from her and looked him dead in the eye. "No… I know you. Instead of talking about things, sometimes you like to sit and stew and get into your own head… I need you to talk to me!"

"I don't get into my own head! I just need time to process things," Luke responded, his voice going a little louder.

"What the hell is there to process," Lorelai shot back, meeting his volume, "I didn't say, "Hey babe, why don't you abandon your hermit home right now and move in so I can force you to make me food and make love every night!" I just said I wanted to talk about the future… our future! If there's something to process, then we can do it together!"

"I know, Lorelai! But sometimes I need to think about things on my own!"

"And I would get that if it was something that you had to deal with on your own, but this is about both of us! I need to hear your thoughts, and you need to hear mine! We don't need to settle everything tonight, but I thought it might be nice to discuss it!"

Throwing his hands out to the side, Luke groaned loudly. "I know, but I need time to think before I can discuss it! Newsflash, not everyone can jump blindly into things like you can," he spat. "Some of us have to think things through before we make decisions so we don't end up making life altering mistakes!"

Lorelai visibly shuddered at sound of his words. Taking a deep breath, the fire appeared in her eyes as she shouted, "Life altering mistakes? What life altering mistakes of mine are you referring to? If you are insinuating that Rory's a mistake, let me tell you, you can march your ass to that truck, drive to the diner, and never come back!"

Realizing how his words may have sounded to her, Luke immediately calmed. Taking a step towards her and reaching for her, he stuttered, "Lorelai… I didn't… I didn't mean it like that."

Ignoring his plea, she stepped back, avoiding his touch. With a voice mixed with sadness and anger, Lorelai responded. "Why the hell did you have to say that, Luke? Life altering mistake? I can't… I just can't deal with this right now." Turning her back to him, she added quietly, "You can leave."

"I can't go. Not in the middle of an argument."

Keeping her back to him, Lorelai did her best to prevent him from seeing the tears in her eyes. "Luke, if I hash this out with you right now, I may do something or say something I don't want to. Just leave. I'll talk to you later." Without giving him a chance to answer, she began walking towards the house.

"Lorelai…" Luke called weakly. Wanting to follow, but knowing what might happen if he did, he stayed still. Hesitantly, he made a move to leave, hoping the slip of his tongue didn't cost him everything.

In the living room, tears ran down Lorelai's cheeks as she walked up the stairs to her room, her head spinning as she tried to understand how things ended up so wrong.

For the following two days, Lorelai didn't show up to the diner, leaving Luke to wonder where they stood. Meanwhile, at the inn, all things seemed right, but Sookie began to notice otherwise.

To her, Lorelai seemed happy when dealing with customers, but she could see the look on her face turn grim as soon as a guest would turn away. Walking up to the desk, Sookie placed a hand on Lorelai's shoulder. "Honey, is everything alright?"

Startling her out of her trance, she stuttered in reply, "Huh… oh, uh, yeah… Everything is fine."

With a pointed look, Sookie pressed on. "Really? Because it seems to me that you are moping."

Worried it might be affecting her job, Lorelai began to speak quickly, "Crap…. Is it that noticeable? Am I doing a bad job? Has anyone complained?"

"No, Lorelai. You're not. In fact, if I didn't know you so well, I never would have noticed."

"Okay, good."

Turning back to the reservation calendar, Lorelai tried to resume work, but was stopped by Sookie placing her hand over the cover. "But you are moping," she questioned.

"Sook… I," she began but faltered off. Taking a moment to gather her thoughts, she continued with a sigh. "I guess you could say that I am, but I'm fine."

"I know. You always are… But why don't we talk anyway?"

"I don't know…" Lorelai spoke hesitantly, trying to think of an excuse to prevent herself from breaking down at work. "I can't take my lunch for another few hours, and I don't have anyone to cover the desk."

"Oh please." Grabbing Lorelai's arm, Sookie pulled her back to the kitchen and into the storeroom. "Wait here. I'm gonna go tell Mia I need you to back here, and I'll be back in a minute."

Shaking her head in defiance, Lorelai pled, "I don't want to burden you with this. I'm a big girl, and I can handle my own problems."

"I'm very aware, but I don't really care." Guiding her over to a stool, Sookie commanded, "Stay," and took off out the door.

Looking around the empty storeroom, Lorelai slowly took a seat. Despite being able to push the thoughts of her and Luke's fight out of her head while she was working, in the quiet, the thoughts came rushing back and brought tears with them.

Reentering the storeroom and seeing Lorelai's tear-filled eyes, Sookie rushed to her side. "Oh, Lorelai… What happened?"

Wiping the tears from her face, she spoke sadly, "I had a thing with Luke the other night… No. I had a fight with Luke the other night. I may as well call it like it is."

"Okay… and what was the fight about?"

Despite her attempt to prevent them, more tears came. Putting her hands in her face, Lorelai spoke a muffled reply. "He called Rory a mistake."

Caught off guard, Sookie yelled "He did what?" a little louder than expected.

Lifting her head, Lorelai quickly spoke. "Shhh, Sookie… Please don't make me say it twice." Taking a deep breath, she continued, "He said it, and I don't know what the hell I am going to do. Rory loves him, and I love him too, but a mistake? My baby is not a mistake, and I don't want anyone who thinks that about her to be around her! Where do we even go from here?"

Leaning back against one of the shelves, Sookie crossed her arms and sighed. "I have to say… I didn't expect that at all."

"I know," Lorelai whispered, suddenly feeling very exhausted, "Do you remember the last time someone said that to me?"

Taking a second to remember, Sookie finally looked up with a grim face. "It was Christopher… right out there in the lobby."

"Exactly… and I didn't think Luke would join that club… Sook, what do I do?"

Walking over to her, Sookie grabbed Lorelai's hands in hers. "Honey… I don't know. That's something for you to decide for yourself. My advice is to give yourself today to finish cooling off, and then go from there. You're not going to be able to do anything while you're upset."

"I know," Lorelai sighed. Standing up, she gave Sookie a hesitant hug. "Thanks for listening… I needed it. I'm gonna get back to work."

As soon as Lorelai left the room, Sookie walked over to the phone to make a call, hoping she wasn't overstepping her bounds.

During the after-lunch lull, the diner was silent. Piercing the quiet air, the phone range. A slight bit of hope that it was Lorelai on the other end filled Luke, but he knew it was a long shot.

"Luke's."

The female voice on the other end was not the one he expected to hear. Before he could even respond, the other person hung up. Heeding the directions of the caller, Luke walked quickly towards the back door, calling, "Ceasar, I'm out."

Walking in to the Sniffy's, Luke panted softly, catching his breath as he looked around. From the corner of the waiting area, a voice broke through his reverie. "Well hello, Lucas… you got here fast."

"Uh, yeah. Hey, Mia," Luke responded hesitantly, giving her a quick hug when she stood. "I'm guessing she wasn't okay today?"

Knowing exactly who he was talking about, Mia replied calmly, "Oh, she was fine." Noticing his sigh and the sudden slump in his shoulders, she quickly continued. "At least that's what she wanted me and Sookie to think… but we all know that she's not."

"Yeah, I know… and I'm kicking myself for being the one who caused it."

Taking him by the arm, they walked to the table, where, along the way, not a word was said. Sitting down quickly, she spoke casually. "Just to let you know, Sookie was the one that got me involved in this, not Lorelai. Normally, I don't get concerned with other people's affairs, but I figured this time could be an exception since it involved two of the most important people to me… So, do you want to tell me what's going on, or do you want me to start with what Lorelai said?"

Sighing, Luke dropped his eyes to the table in front of him. "What exactly did she tell you?"

"Nothing directly to me. I could tell you what she told Sookie, but if I'm being honest, I'd rather hear it from you."

"Right." Taking a sip of the water on the table in front of him, Luke started slowly. "I accidentally started an argument when Lorelai wanted to talk about me spending the night or moving in… And before you say anything, neither of us brought up the topic. Rory brought it up, but Lorelai wanted to discuss it, and I wasn't ready for that."

"I see…" Mia responded evenly, not giving in to saying much until he told his whole side. "Go on."

"Well, we got in an argument over whether I needed to process it myself first or whether we should talk it out together, and while defending myself, I accidentally implied that Rory was a mistake."

Shaking her head in confusion, Mia raised a hand. "Okay. How do you accidentally imply that Rory was a mistake?"

"I told her that not everyone could jump blindly into things like she could… and then I told her that some of us like to think things through before we make decisions so we don't end up making life altering mistakes."

"Lucas…"

Cutting her off, Luke raised his hands in surrender. "I know. I realize how much of a jackass I sounded like. Listening to how it sounds now, I can see how she thought I was talking about Rory, but I swear on all that I have that I did not mean it that way when I said it."

"Lucas, I know you well enough to know that you weren't talking about Rory, but you know how defensive Lorelai when it comes to that girl… I can see where she thought you were implying that. You'll have to explain it to her."

"I want to, but she won't even talk to me. We haven't spoken since it happened." Taking a second to pause, Luke sighed and continued quietly, "Gosh I wish dad was here… He'd probably have the perfect advice for something like this."

With a small laugh Mia responded, "You and I both know that Will would tell you that you were an ass and that you need to go apologize… you might have also gotten smacked upside the head."

Despite the situation, Luke couldn't help but chuckle in response. "I know." Growing solemn again, he asked the question that was plaguing his mind. "Do you think she's done with me?"

"I don't, but you have to let her think this one out… I don't know if she'd want me to tell you this, but she had a similar blow out with Christopher at the inn when Rory was just a few months old. He came out here and attempted to get her to marry him again, and when she said no, he turned on her and Rory… But his words weren't like yours. He plainly and menacingly told her that not only was Rory a mistake, but she was too."

"No…" Luke whispered, barely audible. Running his hands over his face, he continued. "Mia, I promised her that I wasn't Christopher and that I never would be… I've got to tell her. That bastard has already hurt her too many times. I don't want to do that to her too."

"I know you do, but give her some time to sort her thoughts out. You know she is stubborn, so don't push her. She'll come around soon enough. We both know that Lorelai wouldn't end things without talking to you first."

Noticing his jaw working, Mia could tell Luke was contemplating whether or not to take her advice. Reaching across the table and taking his hands in hers, Mia spoke firmly. "It may have been said in the head of the moment, but you said it, Lucas. Now you just have to wait to see what she does next."