Notes:
Is it the end? No, of course not, there's much much more. I think I have pages and pages written (mostly in my head). There will be lots more exciting Luke and Lorelai figure out how to be together, whether they should be together, what to do after they get together stuff to come. And I'm pretty sure we have not seen the last of Christopher (cuz he likes to get in the way like that), but who knows?
And here's my little secret. The Chris O'Donnell thing Lorelai and Rory talked about last chapter was actually my own personal story. I still remember the day he was on Oprah and announced he was getting married. Saddest day of my life. Robinpoppins When I was watching Grey's Anatomy and he showed up I seriously shrieked. I didn't know he was gonna be on the show. He's my first true love, him and his beautiful blue eyes.
pixiechick12 - wow you always seem to catch my mistakes ;) Let's just say that Lorelai borrowed Sookie's car or Luke's truck to go to New Haven.
Home was nice. Good to see the boyfriend. Let me tell you how annoying it is to be in a long distance relationship, especially when we used to live in the same city. Oy with the poodles already...
Luke's Diner
Lorelai walks in just as the last customers are paying. "I'm closing," Luke says to her.
"I can see that," Lorelai responds, sitting down on one of the stools. Luke stares at her for a second before understanding.
"Coffee while you wait?" Luke offers.
"Please." Luke grabs a cup, pours the last of the coffee in it and sets it in front of her. Lorelai drinks quietly watching Luke go about his business.
After ringing up the last customers, Luke follows them to the door, closing it behind them. He turns the sign over and then goes back to the cash register. He flips through the receipts for a bit and then puts them in the register. Then he walks in the back, bringing a mop and a bucket with him when he walks back in. Luke sets the bucket down in the middle of the floor and begins to mop. Lorelai has turned around on her stool and sits, still watching him, drinking in the coffee and the sight of Luke bent over cleaning. She puts down the cup, cocking her head, waiting to see if he's going to look up at her, but he doesn't. Lorelai presses her lips together as if she's pondering her next move.
Then she stands and walks quickly up to him, cupping his chin in her hand and pulling his lips to hers. Lorelai kisses Luke hungrily, letting her tongue run over his lower lip until he opens his mouth to her. Luke responds quickly, pressing deeper against her lips, letting his tongue caress hers, kissing her intensely until she's dizzy from lack of oxygen and pulls back. Luke quickly reaches out, dropping the mop, and grabs her elbows to keep her from collapsing on the floor. Lorelai smiles, laying a hand on his chest as she tries to clear her head, unable to open her eyes.
"What was that for?" Luke wonders. Lorelai slowly opens her eyes and gazes at him.
"I couldn't wait anymore," she replies in a deep rough voice, one that he's never heard before but he knows it turns him on. Lorelai smiles sweetly. "You remember that episode of Friends when Pheobe was dating Hank Azaria and he pushed everything off the table and set her on it and kissed her because he had to have her right then and there, it had to be in the moment? Well that's what I felt like. If you weren't so anal retentive, I would have thrown everything off the counter and taken you right then and there." Luke swallows, trying to moisten his suddenly dry throat. "And you didn't like it?" A faint smile plays on Luke's lips and Lorelai grins, knowing he did.
"It was spontaneous to say the least," Luke replies. Lorelai laughs. "Is this how it usually works for you? A date or two and then you have to have him at every moment?"
"We've never been on a date," Lorelai reminds him, arching an eyebrow.
"Right…" Luke realizes. Lorelai steps back and Luke drops his hands to his sides. "Where's Rory?"
"At home, she's 18, I think she can handle staying alone by herself. Except if Michael Myers is on the loose, of course," Lorelai quips, winking.
"Well I haven't heard anything about an insane asylum escapee on the news."
"I told her that I'd be staying here," Lorelai adds. Luke's eyes go wide. He takes a deep breath.
"You sure you want to be doing this?" Luke asks. Lorelai nods, confident as always. "I mean so soon after…"
"I'm not breakable."
"But Rory…"
"Is okay with this," Lorelai finishes.
"And you…"
"Are very much okay with this." Luke runs a hand through his hair. "Luke, I want this – us – I want it. I've wanted it for awhile, before I broke up with Chris, before the car crash, possibly even before I got engaged to Chris," Lorelai admits. Luke nods. He slowly reaches out and runs his fingers over her cheek. Lorelai closes her eyes, leaning into his hand, allowing his touch to send shivers down her spine.
"For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams of the beautiful Annabel Lee; and the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes of the beautiful Annabel Lee," Luke murmurs, repeating a poem they had just heard at the Poe Conference, in his soft gruff voice that she's only heard at just these moments. Lorelai opens her eyes and grins.
"Poe really turns you on, huh?" Lorelai teases. Luke chuckles. He reaches back a little and plays with a few strands of her hair staring deep into Lorelai's eyes, her blue eyes pooling black with desire. Luke sees this as a reason to reach back farther, cupping the back of her head with his hand, pulling her closer to him, their lips and tongues crashing together in hungry passion. Lorelai moans against his mouth in pleasure, her hands lightly resting on his waist.
When Luke finally pulls back, gasping for breath, he knows that they've crossed the line. There will be no mopping tonight. "Do you think we should go on a date first?" Luke asks.
"Luke, you remember that we already had sex, right?" Lorelai teases. Luke draws in a loud breath, nodding.
"Yeah… yeah I remember that," Luke manages, the memory of that night still fresh in his mind, so near that it has been haunting him every waking moment since it happened. "I just don't think we should take this too fast."
"Too fast," Lorelai repeats, as if the words are foreign to her.
"Yeah, I mean, maybe we should spend time together, go bowling, you know, something, before jumping back in the sack," Luke stammers. Lorelai stares at him, her eyebrows furrowed.
"Bowling," she repeats. Luke shrugs, running his hand through his hair again. "I'm sorry are we in Pleasantville?"
"What?"
"You think that we should go back in time, pretend that the other night didn't happen or didn't matter and go bowling?" Lorelai asks, a little hint of exasperation in her voice.
"No, it's not that!" Luke responds quickly.
"Good!"
"I don't want to pretend it didn't happen."
"Good!"
"I mean what happened was great."
"What happened was amazing," Lorelai contends, the words rolling off her tongue almost seductively. She arches an eyebrow at him.
"Yes, amazing," Luke agrees.
"But you want to go bowling." Luke chuckles.
"Not bowling exactly…"
"Oh, bowling means something else?" Lorelai asks innocently.
"No, bowling is bowling, I was just…" Luke huffs in exasperation. "I just thought that I should be a gentleman and allow the lady a chance to do something a little more demure, like date before sleeping together."
"You remember I had a kid at 16, right?"
"Yes, I know that, but you probably dated him before sleeping with him," Luke responds and then winces. The idea of her and Chris or even just Chris disgusts him, now more than ever. Lorelai smiles softly, taking his hand and squeezing it.
"Luke, don't think that I don't want to date, that I want this to just be a friends with benefits type of thing. You mean too much to me to do that to you. We've known each other too long and too well to even think of that," Lorelai tells Luke, trying to soothe his worries. Luke nods. "I just – all I could think about tonight was you and I don't know – right now I just had to have you – all of you – with me. Is that too much to ask?" Lorelai looks up at Luke, waiting for his response, hoping it will be positive.
Instead of responding, Luke lets go of her hand. He takes the mop over to the wall and leans it there. Then he walks over to the light switch and turns out the light. Turning to the door, he flips the lock. Then he walks past Lorelai over to the curtain, almost ignoring her as he passes her. Lorelai turns and watches, waiting to see what he's going to do.
Just as Luke opens the curtain, he stops and looks back at Lorelai and reaches out his hand to her. Lorelai grins and almost skips as she walks over to him, giving him her hand. He clasps her hand in his, letting his thumb run over her hand as he gazes her as if memorizing her beauty. Lorelai nods to him, letting Luke know she's still agreeing this. Luke nods back and leads her up the stairs to his apartment.