Title- Here Without You
Pairings- Luke and Lorelai (JavaJunkie all the way)
Set in the fourth season, after 'Afterboom' and before 'Luke can see her face'
Summary- Liz has cancer and she and TJ broke up. Who will be her savoir? And how will Lorelai react? It will start out a story then turn into a series of letters and each chapter will be in a different person's point of view.(Luke and Lorelai have been friends for 11 years.)
Disclaimer- If I owned it, there wouldn't even be an April or Christopher.
Chapter 17- Lorelai (August 28th 5:17 P.M)
"So," Luke said, turning to me. "Are you ready to meet Liz?" He asked with a dreaded tone as he took a key out of his pocket, presumably to unlock the front door of his house.
"Why are you making such a big deal about this?" I asked, slightly bemused at his anxiety. I gave him a small grin as I turned the doorknob to open the door, noticing the eerie creak that sounded a little creepy like it should be in a horror movie or Stephen King novel.
"Why do you make such a big deal about your parents?" He shot back, leading me through the front door with his warm hand placed on the small of my back.
Just as I was about to pull my jacket off, Luke, being the gentleman that he is, helped me. It was sweet, having someone care for you. "Thank you," I told him, smiling shyly. It was weird that just a simple gesture from the man in front of me could drive me crazy.
He looked a little confused and I nodded my head towards the coat rack. "Oh, that," She shrugged as if it were no big deal and placed his hand tenderly on the small of my back into the living room. As we drew closer, I noticed the loud sound of the Tv emitting through the halls of the house.
When we entered the living room, the sight before me was definitely not what I was expecting, though, to tell you the truth, I had no clue what I was expecting. Liz was spread out on the leather couch in a pair of pajama's, eating popcorn and drinking a bottle of beer with a leg slung over the top. "Liz," Luke stated loudly, clearing his throat in an annoyed fashion.
"Yeah?" She mumbled, distracted by some cartoon with a loud singing mouse on it.
"Liz," Luke shouted, startling her to get her attention. She shifted her legs under herself and leaned forward to grab the remote, not giving us any indication that she was listening.
"What bro?" She asked, exasperated, She quickly looked over at the two of us, then briefly turned back to the Tv before doing a double-take and looking back. "Luke!" She squealed. "You brought a girl home," She cried, smiling brightly.
"Liz, this is Lorelai," Luke said, trying to stop Liz from going on with her statement. He motioned to me with his free hand awkwardly as I smiled courteously, doing my best to maintain a good impression.
"We've met," I added helpfully, trying to erase the confused look off her face, but it only seemed to worsen. "Last time you were in Stars Hollow, the earrings?" I asked, desperately trying to get her to remember me.
"Oh!" She said, a sudden realization kicking in as she sat up into a more comfortable position, pointing a finger between me and Luke knowingly. "The earrings, right. Luke gave you the earrings," She stated, emphasizing her last sentence, though why she did, I have no clue.
"Yeah, yeah, the earrings, now see, you've met so we're going to go up-" Luke said, gesturing to the stairway, but was suddenly interrupted by Liz.
"I told you that you were his type, and now, here you are, with him," She stated dreamily, causing a brief flush to rise in my cheeks. "And how is Lori?" Liz asked me suddenly, the conversation change baffling me as she smiled, acting if she actually was interested. And who knows, maybe she was.
"Rory," I corrected, trying to do my best to stifle the laugh caused by the thought of Luke living with her.
"Who?" She asked, confusion replacing her interested look.
"My daughter, her name is Rory," I informed her, shooting Luke a forced smile that he returned, just as forced.
"That's what I said," Liz asked, completely unfazed by my correction.
"Right," I heard Luke grumble under his breath, obviously annoyed by his little sister.
Just as I was about to ask Luke to help me up to his room, the door just happen to open and Jess just happen to step in. "Jess!" Liz squealed energetically. God, if I didn't know any better, I'd think she was supposed to in an insane asylum, not here, being watched over because of her health issues.
"Hey," Jess mumbled, not noticing the beautiful replica of his former love standing in the living room that just happened to be me.
"Guess what?" She called into the foyer, where I assumed he was taking off his coat and shoes. When he didn't reply, Liz continued on as if he had. "Luke brought a girl home with him," She gushed excitedly. "And she's really pretty," She added, making me bite my lip in discomfiture.
"God, it's like high school all over again," Luke whispered into my ear, sounding annoyed, causing me to laugh as I pictured Luke bringing a girl home to meet Liz.
"Well at least there's no mid-terms," I added, trying to lighten the conversation. He scowled back at me and I playfully attached both my arms to his right elbow.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," I heard him grumble from the hall, his footfalls treading softly, echoing slightly. He appeared at the doorway, stopping short when he noticed me. "Lorelai," He stated, surprised. He kept still under the frame of the door, shifting from one foot to the other awkwardly.
"You know each other?" Liz asked from the couch, mildly paying attention to the conversation in progress as she glanced from the three of us to the Tv occasionally.
"He dated my daughter," I explained, trying to sound as callous as possible. I shifted my gaze around the room, noticing the odd and out of place objects placed around the room, like a freaky looking clown lamp for instance. I finally settled my gaze upon Luke, silently begging him to take me upstairs.
"You broke Lori's heart, too, didn't you?" Liz assumed, still not replacing the correct name of my daughter. She sighed sadly, shaking her head in disappointment. "Why do you have to be so much like your father? Always going around and breaking hearts,"
"He didn't," I interrupted, desperately trying to get out of this conversation. "It just- didn't work out, they parted mutually," I lied, trying to sound sure of myself.
There was an awkward silence between the three of us- Liz was back to watching Tv. "Why don't we go put your bag upstairs?" Luke suggested, noticing my not so subtle glanced towards the stairway.
"Oh, that'd be great," I smiled, trying not to seem to eager as I took hold of Luke's flannel-less elbow to lead him towards stairs, delicately sliding my hand into hers. I waved goodbye politely to Jess, deciding it was best not to interrupt Liz's show.
As we made our way up the stairs, hands still clasped together, I heard Jess call after us in a mocking tone, telling us not to be too loud or we'd be corrupting a minor, causing Luke to blush profusely and me to do my best not to laugh.
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I sat down on the queen sized bed Luke had claimed as his own and took my time to look around the room. The walls were painted a deep shade of burgundy, seeming very Luke-ish. There was a dresser, a closet barely opened and a door the most likely led to the bathroom.
I noticed the two wooden bedside tables placed on either side of me back toward the headboard. The table set to the right had a lamp and a short book with a piece of paper sticking out, most likely serving as a bookmark and the other to the left held Luke's watch, keys, cell phone, and a regular house phone with a picture leaning up against it. "What's this?" I asked, smiling, holding up the square paper.
"Just a reminder," He said, acting a bit bashful. Luke? Bashful? That sounds strange, even in my mind. Coy, sounds a bit more masculine.
"You kept a picture of me, you, and my daughter on the table beside your bed?" I confirmed, shaking my head with a disbelieving smile, obviously touched.
His shy smile was replaced by a solemn, serious look. He slowly walked from the dresser he was leaning against and made his way to the bed, sitting down and gently cupping his warm hands around mine.
I had to admit, the look he was sending me was worrying me. But I also had to admit, that crazy and irrational look Sookie mentioned to me about two and a half years ago was there in his deep blue eyes that seemed to be looking into my soul. "Luke?" I questioned in a quiet, timid voice, cocking my head to the side.
He took a deep breath, letting it drift out with his powerful words. "Lorelai, this thing we're doing here- me and you- I just want you to know I'm in. I am all in. I know we'll probably start out slow, with the long distance thing, but I want us to work," His smooth, large hands caressing mine as he allowed the words to sink in.
I tried my best not to seem intimidated by his words, to be strong, but I was terrified by the meaning behind his words. I wanted this to work what I thought was just as much as he did but now, sitting here with him, there are so many ways I could screw this up. But- he could be The One.
He gently released his hands from mine and placed it timidly on my forearm, whispering his words softly as his hand glided up and down my arm. "Does that, uh, scare you?"
I released a breath that I wasn't aware I was holding and hesitantly turned my head from its face down position to look at him. I slowly allowed my eyes to slide along the features of his face- his day old stubble, his pointed nose, strong jaw, and the small curls sticking out behind the blue hat I had gotten him years ago.
My eyes drifted to meet his and that loving and reassuring look was still there, causing an involuntary shiver to run down my spine. "Terrified," I admitted ruefully. "But it's a good kind of terrified. I want this- us- to work out, too." I watched as his face relaxed, his relief evident in the small smile tugging at his lips.
Just the fact that this man sitting beside me implied that he wanted to be with me forever, even after knowing all my crazy quirks and secrets and the things that scare me the most- like losing Rory and disappointing my parents- made my heart rate increase rapidly. I slowly leaned forward to capture my lips with his, slowly moving my arms around his upper-torso and his hands to bury into my hair.
Before the kiss could get too heated though, I leant back slightly, still close enough to feel his warm, hurried breath on my tingling lips. While my breath was matching the rapid beat of my heart, I wasn't focusing on that. The three words I breathed out, sounded barely audible in my low, husky voice. "I'm all in,"
Authors Note- I can't even begin to rant about the finale. Let's just say that horrible would be an understatement for the last episode of an entire show.
I know it was short but I wanted to end there, sorry it's been so long, I've been really busy lately and I left my notebook with a lot of the story written out in it at school the past two days but next week I have testing so that means no homework and more writing. The more reviews I get, the sooner I'll write.
I have an idea and I need you opinions- either I keep doing the Luke Lorelai POV every other chapter thing or I could do mostly Lorelai POV and Luke POV on occasion. Tell me what you think- I need some input before I begin to write.