Presenting … Lucas Danes?
By GilmoreGirl1979 (the Reigning Quote Queen)
Provider of Quality FAN FICTION
R/R: yes please I love reviews, I wanna marry them (as previously stated, I have strange passions.)
Friendly disclaimer: I REJECT ASP's/DR's REALITIES AND SUBSTITUTE MY OWN! NO HARM NO SUE!
77777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777
Chapter 43:
We Are So Fragile
Lorelai couldn't believe it was Friday already, in her missing Luke, the week had gone by so quickly and she had to just as quickly come up with a way to excuse Rory from Friday night dinner so her mother wouldn't find out about the car accident. Fortunately the haste had almost helped Lorelai explain to her mother how there just wasn't time to call sooner because Rory's nausea had come on so suddenly. Truth be told, it was Lorelai's own stomach knots that supplied the lie. She was on the phone with her mother only wanting to dial Luke's number knowing nothing would come of it because Luke was still M.I.A. from the town. Had Lorelai been more herself she would have tried to excuse herself from dinner too, perhaps the Gilmore girls were contagious, but Lorelai still went to face her parents and Friday night dinner, alone.
Emily escorted Lorelai into the living room, "I'm so sorry Rory isn't feeling well. Is it that flu that's been going around?"
Lorelai quickly agreed, "Oh, yes, it is." She had been desperate to come up with a story of how Rory got sick, inadvertently her mother provided one for her. If they were lucky the cast would come off before her parents ever knew there was an accident.
"Horrible strain; Bunny Carlington-Munchausen has been bedridden for two straight weeks."
"Huh. Well, it must wipe her out just toting that name around."
"I wonder if I should take a drink into Richard. I hate to disturb him while he's working."
"He's working, like work working?"
"That's right. His articles of incorporation arrived last week."
"Wow, that was fast, it seems like yesterday he was announcing," Lorelai's smile faded, her mind was a jumble of random thoughts. It was stupid, but somehow even the articles of incorporation made her think of Luke, how he had inspired her father's business, how Luke had been advising her on buying the Dragonfly, giving tips on how Sookie and her could open their own inn. The Dragonfly, where they had their basket picnic and made love out in the open forest. Lorelai strained to push these thoughts away, searched the living room for something to comment on, in case her mother had bought something new; but it was just the same, the same living room where Richard made his announcement when Luke had come to dinner. Lorelai could still see her father shaking Luke's hand, Luke in his suit, humbly accepting praise from Richard. Then Lorelai thought to the other night with Luke in his suit. How he was looking so deeply into her eyes before Rory's phone call, how he seemed to want something from Lorelai, how he could have said "I love you," if only Rory hadn't called.
That spurred Lorelai into a whole new train of thought. If Rory hadn't called then I wouldn't have known she was in the hospital, maybe we wouldn't have fought. Which would you rather have? Your daughter alone in the hospital or an evening with your guy…?
Emily merely continued, "Your father has already rented an office, and is now the president and CEO of the Gilmore Group, an international insurance consulting firm."Yes! Something to comment on, "That's great." It didn't last, dammit!
"Dammit!" was exclaimed from the hallway.
Lorelai turned to see her father enter the living room fuming, Emily got up from her seat concerned, "Richard, are you all right?"
"Aw, yes yes," Richard waved off. "Its just the office is a wreck, the launch party is coming up…I need to hire a new secretary," he grumbled.
"What about Margie?" Emily asked brightly.
"Margie? HA! She has decided to stay with the firm."
"But how could she? You were the only reason she even had a job at that firm. "
"Aw Emily really, you think naïve notions of loyalty would win out when I couldn't even match the firm's salary? The Gilmore Group is a fledgling enterprise, it would be more affordable to hire someone new and hope for the best. Frankly I don't think I could stand the sight of Margie right now!"
Emily shook her head at that suggestion, "Oh no, but you've had other secretaries; three in fact, each one worse than the previous one. Margie was a gem… but now? At this point, how can you possibly proceed," Emily said solemnly. "Perhaps you should reconsider."
"Excuse me? You're just going to let him give up?" Lorelai asked indignantly. After all, Luke had inspired this little idea.
"I most certainly will not give up!" Richard matched his daughter's tone.
"Well, he can't very well do it without Margie," Emily chided Lorelai.
"Emily Gilmore I will have you know I have been dressing myself for quite some time, if I am quite capable of picking out a tie for the day, I am most certainly capable of finding a new Margie."
"…And yet you still pick bow ties?" Lorelai realized the look both of her parents were giving her and shifted into cheering for her father from the couch; "I mean… uh, there's the old Gilmore Gumption."
"Thank you Lorelai, but when will I have time to interview a new person. The office is a disaster. Everything is in boxes. I don't know where anything is or how anything works … the computers, the phones, even my office chair… damn thing squeaks every time I move!"
"Okay, Dad, I'll tell you what. I will come to your office tomorrow and we'll get you unpacked, we'll get you settled, and I've interviewed tons of people for the Inn, we'll find you someone as good as Margie, or at least cheaper."
"Oh, I hate to see you waste your time."
Lorelai shrugged, "Well, I'll blindfold you then." Clearly her father was in a spot and Lorelai hoped this would keep her busy and her mind off Luke; on top of finishing off the bridesmaids dresses for Sookie's wedding, studying for her finals, actually graduating, and nursing poor Rory back to health. Hopefully she and Luke wouldn't be in this funk for too much longer.
Richard was reluctant, "Well, all right. Thank you, Lorelai. Well with the immediate crisis averted," Richard went to the bar to fix himself a drink, "Oh, where's Rory?" Richard finally noticed.
Emily explained, "She has the flu; She couldn't come tonight."
"Oh, well I'm sorry to hear that," Richard said with concern. Then he turned back to the bar, the wheels turning in his mind. He hid his smug smile as he poked around the bottles of the bar cart. Richard assumed the real reason why Lorelai came alone, obviously Lorelai wanted to announce her engagement. No doubt Lorelai wanted to shield Rory from Emily's reaction and flying insults over the beloved diner owner, perhaps together, he was confident that he and Lorelai could warm Emily to the idea before Lorelai picked out a dress. Richard could finally get a report, Luke had failed to call him to tell him how things went, Richard had been so busy with the new office that he never found the time to call Luke himself. "So Lorelai, how is Luke?"
"What?" Lorelai was blindsided.
"Your boyfriend? He is still your boyfriend isn't he?" Richard teased figuring this would be the perfect opportunity for Lorelai to announce her news. Richard imagined Lorelai's voice, Well, it's funny you should mention him because he's now my fiancé Dad. Richard waited for the response.
Her father's words stung, Lorelai wanted to say I don't know, honestly Lorelai didn't know what she and Luke were now. She only knew that they left things sort of up in the air, she knew she couldn't get in touch with Luke while he was out of town, fishing or wherever. Lorelai quickly fibbed, "Oh um he has the flu too… horrible strained," Lorelai echoed her mother's words.
"He does?" Richard turned quickly, disappointed with the answer. Richard finally looked at Lorelai's hand, the ring was missing and she couldn't seem to stop fidgeting over the mere mention of Luke. Damn it all, he hadn't gone through with it!
"He does?" Emily was surprised, ceasing the opportunity to attack Luke, "Well I hope he didn't give it to Rory…?"
Richard spoke up again, expressing his and his wife's concern for their daughter's beau, "Well, we are sorry to hear that," he stated cautiously, "Well please let him know he is invited to the launch party next week…if he feels up for it. Bunny whoever was in bed for two weeks…"
"Bunny Carlington-Munchausen," Emily rolled her eyes as she corrected her husband.
"I will daddy, thank you," Lorelai hated not knowing.
Richard wondered if that was an excuse Luke used to explain his weak stomach over asking Lorelai to marry him, "Well, remind him it's feed a cold, starve a fever."
"Right, Dad I'll be sure to pass that on."
"Well, can I fix you a drink?" Richard offered.
"Um no thank you, I have a bit of a stomach ache myself."
"Goodness," Emily was surprised, "Is your whole town sick? No wonder if the diner owner spreads disease among the masses."
"Now Emily, they obviously spend a lot of time together. If you recall we spent a number of hours together while we were dating."
"Uh, I'd love for the story to end there," Lorelai's stomach flipped again and she latched on to the excuse, "You know, with my upset stomach… maybe I have the flu too… I should go…"
"Lorelai, you drove all this way to have dinner with us…" Emily insisted.
Richard seemed to sense something was off, at the mention of Luke, Lorelai had gone almost pale, and there was no ring on her finger. Something must have gone terribly wrong on Saturday night, and Richard made a note to insistently call the diner or Luke's apartment when Lorelai left, "Now, now Emily, if she's caught the flu too, surely you won't hold that against her, perhaps you ought to go home and rest."
"Yeah daddy I think I will," Lorelai absently grabbed her purse.
"Do you want me to drive you?" Richard offered, wanting to take care of his little girl, the look on her face reminded him of when she was a child. "If you are ill, then perhaps you should rest, I'll take care of the office."
"No, I'll be fine. Really, I'll see you tomorrow… um, where is your office?"
"I'll call you in the morning to see if you are up for it."
"Okay, goodnight," So the elder Gilmore's let their daughter leave with her stomach ache.
"Actually I have one more phone call to make before dinner," Richard disappeared.
Emily shrugged, "Well, I'll tell the cook that we are only two."
Richard quickly went to his study and dialed Luke's apartment number. No answer.
Then he dialed the diner's number; still no answer. What could have possibly happened?
77777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777
"Aren't you back kind of early?" Rory asked from the couch when her mother came in.
"Well, I had to tend to my sick child," Lorelai gestured to her sick child on the couch.
"How was dinner?"
Lorelai shook her head vigorously from side to side.
"That bad huh?"
"I didn't even make it to dinner; I latched onto the 'you're sick' excuse and left after 15 minutes."
"A new Record!" Rory cheered.
Lorelai had driven by the diner on her way home, still no lights, still no sign of Luke. Lorelai headed straight for the stairs, "Oh, if Grandma calls you have the flu."
"Okay."
Lorelai paused at the first step and asked hopefully, "Any messages?"
"No," Rory winced. She knew her mother was praying for a call from Luke.
Lorelai sighed, "Okay, I'm going to bed… I have to help Grandpa set up his office tomorrow."
"Are you sure you are up for that? I mean, you're faking sick, and that would mean extra time with Grandpa… like outside the obligatory Friday night dinner."
Lorelai absently said, "Yeah, goodnight," and she went straight to bed.
77777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777
Lorelai was glad she was going to be spending the day in the city even if it was with her father. It kept her out of Stars Hollow. Away from questioning townies and where every corner had a memory for her and Luke, away from the Inn where they had spent several weekends, making love; Away from an empty, dark diner. Lorelai had to go to Weston's for coffee and it was like the diner had eyes and was following her every move, making her feel guilty for consuming competitor coffee. It didn't taste the same and she threw it out anyway.
Lorelai pushed the thoughts out of her head as she put the large bulk box of envelopes into her father's shopping cart. Lord knows how envelopes could make her think of Luke again, probably from all the drafts of I'm sorry letters she had started to write in his absence. Lorelai assured Richard that she was feeling much better and was quite able to push the cart around the store, since shopping always gave her a boost. Lorelai actually enjoyed helping out her father in Hartford by doing her favorite thing shopping. They picked up other essential office items, like pens and notebooks in bulk, and a brand new coffee machine.
Lorelai found comfort in the monotonous activity of shelving binder upon binder on the bookshelves while Richard was conducting business on the phone. He would speak rather loudly in her direction, indicating she should hand him whatever he was referencing. She found that very funny, her father acting like a be-all-end-all authority on figures he had to reference in front of him. He was babbling on about EuroStats and restructuring insurance markets, and looked really in his element.
Richard finished with his phone call, "I must say, I'm impressed." Richard surveyed the progress they had made in a few hours. Lorelai had set up the security on his computer, setup the voicemail system for the phones, and most of the boxes were emptied and broken down, ready for the trash.
"Well, I'm no Margie," Lorelai shrugged.
"Oh, who needs her?"
"Speaking of which, here are some resumes for the secretarial candidates for tomorrow's interviews. I've looked through them pretty carefully, and I think somewhere in there is a Margie for the new millennium. I got rid of some of the rift raff."
"Alright, thank you for organizing them."
"Well, I didn't think you wanted someone whose main objective was to be the next Jennifer Lopez."
Richard agreed, "Well, when I'm done perusing these how about we break for lunch."
"Sounds great, dad," Lorelai smiled.
"It's a shame that boyfriend of yours doesn't have a diner here in Hartford. We could go there for lunch."
At the mention of Luke, Lorelai froze in her father's office doorway, but quietly agreed, "Um yeah, pity."
Again Richard noticed the reaction to the name, "Say now that's an idea. Has he ever considered franchising that business of his?"
"I really don't know, Dad," Lorelai tried to laugh off.
"Hey, since we really aren't doing any business yet, would you like to put the night ring on and we could go to Luke's."
"Dad, it's like 30-minute drive out of the way… you'd use your whole lunch hour." Lorelai didn't know how to tell her father the diner had been closed all week.
"Well, I'm trying to celebrate, I have my daughter here… striking out on my own…"
"Well, maybe you should have set up shop in Stars Hollow if you wanted to be near the diner."
"Don't be silly Lorelai, all my clients would expect me to be in Hartford. Come on now, maybe we can just swing by and…"
"I don't want to go, Dad!"
Richard was surprised at his daughter's raised voice, "Well, why not?"
Lorelai finally shouted, "Because he's not my boyfriend any more all right!"
"I beg your pardon?" Richard said confused, knowing full well how in love Luke was with his daughter; knowing of the intended proposal.
Lorelai looked on the verge of tears, "We… we had a fight alright, we aren't speaking at the moment… we well… I don't know what we are right now… we fought, he left town on a fishing trip…and I have no way to reach him…"
Richard thought he would test the waters on behalf of his missing friend, "…and you want to reach him?"
"Of course I do… I mean the things we said… they weren't true, they were from anger and … and stupidity… and… I don't know… I never got to tell him…"
"Tell him…what?" Richard urged as he rounded his desk.
"Nothing," Lorelai couldn't believe that she almost spilled her most treasured secret to her father. "It was just a bad night for everyone…"
Richard went to his daughter and hugged her, Lorelai let go and cried on her daddy's shoulder, thankful for the rare support from her daddy. Richard patted her back, "Now Lorelai, everything will be all right you'll see."
"I'm sorry to lose it like this. I haven't seen him for a week. He just up and left and didn't tell me. … I'm sorry that this may prevent him from coming to your launch party… I know you are kind of friends now…"
"Never mind that now," Richard waved off, "Lorelai, it will be all right. How about we try that deli up the street for now?"
"Okay," Lorelai nodded as if she was a little girl, "What do you want?"
"Well, I'll have a BLT, but don't tell your mother."
"Okay," Lorelai giggled.
Richard wondered if it was Lorelai's fear of marriage that sparked the fight, the fear that Luke had been concerned about. There was only one way to get answers; to find Luke.
7777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777
Luke liked his father's old cabin. It was quiet, secluded and really let him think. He wanted to get away from town and not have to deal with questions and the aftermath. Things would die down and he would return…eventually. Luke had planned after he flipped his last burger that he would retire out here, probably die alone, his remains discovered by a lost band of teenagers, like some bad horror thriller; he had really seen to many movies with Lorelai. Retire alone like the Unabomber; that was the plan until the Lorelai dream became reality. For a few glorious months they were together, made love countless times, and he was seriously ready to propose to her and set their future together. Luke was hopeful, Luke was optimistic, Luke was freaking happy; that is why Luke was distracted and blindsided when hell came crashing down around them. Not speaking with the one he loved the most. He had made the mistake of hoping, that his years of pining and suffering were about to be rewarded with Lorelai as his wife.
Nothing good ever lasts. That's why Luke was a cynic, skeptical, practical, sane, unlike his goofball neighbors who kept wool over their eyes and happy ignorant smiles on their faces. Luke looked back up at the cabin from the shore. Behold my future, a life alone, just like uncle Louie. Luke reeled in his line again for another cast, bitterly shaking his head at how he was so close to having it all. He was mere moments from asking Lorelai to marry him, when that damn cell phone rang, a painful reminder as to why he never allowed cell phones in the diner. If only he has asked her faster.
Luke didn't feel like fishing anymore and gathered up his tackle box to head into the cabin. Luke was about to go inside when he heard the distinct sound of a car, an abnormal occurrence for the wilderness setting. Luke saw a silver Jag coming up the road and he knew immediately it was Richard Gilmore. Really, who else did he know that owned a Jag?
"Hello Luke," Richard waved as he got out of the car.
"Richard? What are you doing here?"
Richard removed his sunglasses, "Well, I thought maybe we could discuss your insurance coverage on this place, but perhaps I should have rented a car for the drive," checking the fenders for any damage from the rustic path. The last time Richard came up here was on Luke's Fishing day trip and they had taken Luke's more durable truck.
"You know don't you…"
"Know about what?" Richard feigned innocence, wanting Luke to come clean only if he wanted to.
"I didn't propose… we had a… fight, that..." Luke choked up thinking of it all again, "Lorelai and I aren't speaking… I just needed to get away from everything and everyone."
"Well, this seems like an ideal setting," Richard changed the subject stepping toward the cabin.
"Richard please I really don't want to talk about it…"
"Then you don't have to," Richard Gilmore said simply, "I just wanted to inspect the property for myself, give you any advice I could… consider this a business call, and if anything personal should come up well then, aw well," Richard smiled. "Now would you happen to have a spare reel?"
A while later, both men stood on the shore line and Luke sighed.
Richard noted the frown on Luke's face, his curiosity got the better of him, "If I may, was the fight about you know… your question?"
Luke looked over at Richard and morosely informed him, "I didn't even get a chance to ask her. We went through the whole evening: flowers, dinner, she got me to dance …we went back to the diner, I was about to pull the ring out of my pocket… then her cell phone rang…"
"Oh of all the luck…" Richard felt for Luke, "Damn cell phones, they're a scourge!"
Luke had to smile at all the times he had told Lorelai that, the one time she really should have listened to him, cost him the best thing that ever happened to him.
"So what initiated the fight?"
"Rory's car accident?" Luke said dully.
"What car accident?" Richard turned to Luke.
"Lorelai didn't tell you?" Luke didn't know anything about how Rory was. He knew she was getting a cast, he knew that he had last seen Lorelai and Rory at the hospital.
"No, Rory's insurance policy was with the old firm," a fact Richard intended to remedy as soon as the Gilmore group was fully functional, "What happened?"
Luke sighed heavily; "Well, Rory fractured her wrist."
"What? How?"
Richard seemed to grow in height and Luke tried to calmly inform him of what happened, "While Lorelai and I were at dinner, Jess, my nephew and Rory were hanging out. Rory let Jess drive her car … an animal came out on the road, Jess swerved …but it was an accident it could have been anybody, but according to Lorelai it was my fault."
"But…you were with her the whole time," Richard didn't see the logic of Lorelai's blame.
"Lorelai got upset that Jess, aka my responsibility was driving the car and resulted in Rory getting hurt… I wanted to make sure Jess was okay, we yelled and screamed…and I sent Jess home to his mother then came out here to let things died down."
"Well, naturally I wish I was hearing all this from Lorelai herself… but… you do realize you are hiding out? You have to talk to her."
"Yes, I know, I just wanted the gossips in town to get it out of their system before…"
"Aren't you fueling the gossip mill by running away, leaving everyone to speculate every angle but the truth?"
"I'm not running away?"
"No, you are just backing out of the master plan. Luke my launch party is this week. I had hoped to announce a certain engagement at that party; new beginnings and all that…"
"I know, I'm sorry, I just… I need time… I need to figure out what to say to her…"
"The key to any relationship is communication," Richard cast his line out, "and from what I've seen you and Lorelai have never been wanting for that."
"It's just this is different. She was upset and blamed me for the accident by extension… I tried to calm her down but she is just so stubborn… she had her crazy logic train and she just was riding it out. Like I had planned that from the beginning…"
"I know, and I understand if you don't want to come to the launch party. If you are uncomfortable with Hartford society, but don't use that as an excuse to avoid Lorelai forever. You need to face her and resolve this."
"What if she's still mad?" Luke could only think of the anger flashing in her eyes when she hollered Go to hell".
"Right now she's upset because she misses you."
"You've seen her?" Luke said aghast.
"Yes, she helped me at the office the other day. She only told me that you two had a fight and you left town. From what I've seen she obviously regrets whatever transpired between the two of you. Not that you should rush back, mind you, wait until you are ready and know what you want to say; then face her again."
77777777777777777777777777777777
Lorelai grinned at the drive through speaker, "Hi, I'd like a bacon cheeseburger, large fries, and a chocolate shake." Lorelai considered her other menu options.
Rory shook her head, "You know, there will be food there."
"Finger food, aka snooty little balls of attitude."
"Excuse me mam?" the speaker box squawked, "We don't have that?"
"Aw, nothing I'm done ordering."
"Drive around."
Lorelai saw the cast directly to her right, "Does your arm hurt?"
"No, I'm just tired, I guess," Rory was tired of everyone blaming Jess since she had been part of the accident too.
"I promise, we won't stay very long. Just long enough to get taken down three or four notches by my mother, then we're outta there," Lorelai took a bite of her drive thru burger and immediately regretted it; "Ugh." She spat it back out into the bag.
"Not good?"
"Really, really not good! I swear, Luke better come back soon or I'm going to starve to death." Lorelai had grown so accustomed to Luke's cooking, everything else now tasted sub par.
"I'm sorry," Rory said timidly.
"For what?" Lorelai said quickly, then she started to wipe her tongue off with a napkin to get the icky taste out of her mouth, napkin tasted better than that crappy burger.
"Luke's gone because of me. You are fighting because of me!"
"Oh, honey,…no…"
"I got into an accident and I ruined your date, then you guys had a fight. You won't even talk about that night, what happened? Where he took you? If you even had fun!"
"I did have fun, until we got that phone call…"
"Fine! I'm sorry I brought it up!" Rory huffed frustrated, feeling appropriately guilty, "I just want you two back the way you were…"
"We will be…" Lorelai said more to reassure herself, "…we will be."
77777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777
Lorelai and Rory walked into the crowded office, "Wow, A lot of people," Rory observed.
"Yeah, do you want something to drink? I think we're three martinis behind everyone else."
"Just water, I guess."
Lorelai fought her way through the cramped crowd and came upon her father doing what he did best.
"I'll have Karen draw up the contracts first thing in the morning," Richard shook the mans hand. Richard saw Lorelai and excused himself, "Lorelai."
"Swell party."
"Yes, it's mostly your mother's doing. How are you holding up?"
Lorelai knew he was talking about Luke and her mini breakdown on her daddy's shoulder, "I'm fine, really…So, um, what just went down there? Did you score a deal?"
"Well, one doesn't score deals in the insurance business, Lorelai. One builds relationships based on trust and fulfilling the client's needs. Mr. Lundquist and I, uh, just were -"
"Lundquist from Aero International?" she recalled the name from her mass amounts of alphabetizing.
"Yes."
"You bagged the Swede?" Lorelai said proudly!
"Well, just as I didn't score the deal, I also haven't bagged the Swede. We simply talked, we came to an agreement, we shook hands. I'm sending him the contracts in the morning."
"Dad, that's big! That's gigantic! It's a whole new market for you. It opens up all of Scandinavia, doesn't it?"
Suddenly Emily was approaching Lorelai, "Mom, dad just got his first big deal…"
"Lorelai what is this on Rory's arm?" holding Rory by the elbow, dragging her over to her mother for an explanation.
Rory lamely smiled at Richard, "Hi grandpa."
Lorelai winced, "Oh, yeah, I meant to tell you about that."
"It looks like a cast!"
"Emily," Richard warned as he ushered his family out into the hallway. Richard knew all about the cast thanks to Luke, but he knew Emily would have to run her emotional gamut and get answers to satisfy the dozens of questions now circulating in her mind.
Lorelai tried to explain "She hurt her arm."
"When? How bad is it?" Emily pounced.
"I only fractured my wrist," Rory tried to sooth her grandmother.
"Oh my God."
Lorelai glossed, "It's just a hairline fracture . . .it's just tiny. Teeny, tiny, microscopic…"
"When did this happen?"
Lorelai gulped, "Um, Saturday."
"Saturday? Why didn't you call me? Saturday, I can't believe you."
"Um, well, I meant to," but I was afraid you'd react like this.
"How did this happen?"
Rory was honest, and before her mother could argue "really big bees" theory, "I got in a car accident."
"Rory," Lorelai hushed through clenched teeth.
"Oh my God, how could you not tell us that she got into a car accident? Is this why she missed dinner? You said she had the flu!"
"I just didn't want you to worry, Mom."
"Yes, well, clearly there was nothing to worry about. It was that car, wasn't it? The one her boyfriend made. I knew we shouldn't have let her drive that death mobile."
"No, it wasn't the car, Mom," Lorelai wanted to add and it wasn't your call it was my call, I'm the mother I get to say she gets to drive the car.
"Well, then what was it?"
"A friend of mine and I went to get ice cream," Rory explained.
Emily turned into an interrogating grandmother, "A friend? Which friend – Lane?"
"Jess. Luke's nephew," Rory hoped she didn't make the situation worse than it already was.
Emily turned to Lorelai, "Luke's nephew did this!! He got Rory in an accident?!"
"Mom, do we have to talk about this now?"
"Emily, please…"
"Don't 'Emily, please' me," she snapped at her husband, then turned back to her daughter, "And yes, we have to talk about this now. The child has a cast on her arm. I don't understand how you could've been so irresponsible. It was your responsibility to stop this, Where were you that you couldn't have been looking out for Rory…"
"I was on a date with Luke…" Lorelai sheepishly admitted.
"So while your daughter was in mortal danger you were gallivanting with that… that …burger man!"
"Grandma!" Rory raised her voice finally, "I gave Jess the keys. I told him to drive. I was safe at home but I made the choice to go for ice cream with Jess. We were on our way home and that's when we got into the car accident. This is just as much my fault as it is his, maybe more."
"Rory," Emily admonished her granddaughter's raised tone.
"Everyone has been treating me like I'm some mindless idiot led around by a guy, I made a choice to go out with him…," Rory rushed to Richard and hugged him, "Congratulations Grandpa. I'm sorry but I want to go home. My wrist hurts and I'm grumpy…."
"All right, well, I'll drive you," Lorelai wanted to escape as well.
"No! It's still early. I can catch my regular bus and . . . just have fun …all of you," Rory started toward the elevator.
Lorelai reached out for her daughter, "Rory."
"I just want some alone time now," she hollered back.
The three adults were left in the hallway while the dust settled from Rory's outburst. I just had this image of thirty-five businessmen, six servers, one point man all leaning up against that wall with glasses to their ears."
Richard chimed in, "I don't think they needed the glasses."
Emily's tone was full of distain, "I notice Luke isn't here to account for his actions."
It sounded strange to Lorelai, "His actions?"
"Well yes, he's the reason that Jess and Rory had that car. As I recall Luke was a strong supporter of letting Rory keep it."
"Yes, the car that Dean built for her. The car was perfectly safe; Luke and dad had it checked out thoroughly," Lorelai defended.
"Well, then maybe you should have reminded Rory of her loyalty to her boyfriend before she went out on a date with that Jess!"
"It wasn't a date."
"Well, it was very convenient that Luke got you out of the way so Jess could see Rory. You could have kept this from happening!! It's your responsibility as a parent…"
Before Emily got too far into her speech, "Okay what Luke and I had, that was a date. Mom, Jess and Rory are friends. They went out for ice cream. It was an accident; it could have happened to…anybody." Lorelai actually found her self defending Jess, and by extension Luke. Somehow with her mother's hysterical accusations, Lorelai finally heard how ridiculous it all sounded.
"Well I still say whatever attraction Rory has for this boy is unhealthy, I mean if you and Luke were to…progress," Emily said with a wince, "They would be cousins how would that look."
If Luke and her were to progress, he would have to come back to town, he would have to find it in his heart to forgive the horrible things she said. If only he would come back to town. If only Lorelai had the courage to face him again.
7777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777
Rory was about to head home, walking away from the bus stop when she caught sight of a familiar truck outside the diner, she hurried over to it and its' owner "Luke! Hey!"
Luke was caught by surprised, still unloading his stuff from the truck bed, "Rory."
"You're back?" Rory was so happy to see him, she threw her arms around him in a hug. Everything would be alright now that Luke was back.
"Yeah, I'm back," Luke sighed heavily, patting Rory's back over the hug. Richard was right, Luke couldn't hide from his problems forever. He had a business to run, money to earn, responsibilities, had to face the music; but how to face Lorelai.
"You catch anything?" Rory stepped back.
"Nah. Apparently the fish went fishing also."
"Too bad."
"Yeah, well," Luke looked down and gulped at her arm, noticing Rory's blue cast for the first time, "So that's the, uh. . ."
"Oh, Yeah." Rory had forgotten all about it at the sight of Luke.
"Does it hurt?" Luke asked with concern.
"No, not really. Just itches a little."
"Yeah, I can imagine. Make sure you don't use a pencil," Luke advised.
"Excuse me?" Rory chuckled.
"Your arm . . . you know, when it itches. I broke my arm once – itching drove me crazy. Grabbed a pencil, shoved it down the cast to scratch, ya know..."
Rory winced, "Bad results?"
"Very bad results," Luke confirmed.
"Got it. No pencils, I promise," Rory could tell something was off.
"Good. So, you want some coffee?"
"Real coffee? Yes please."
Luke let Rory into the diner and Rory sat at the counter. "Real coffee?"
Rory sat at the counter, "yeah, mom and I have tried the places all over town and its official. Yours is the best."
"Glad to hear it."
"Actually I'm the one that's been sampling, mom can't drink coffee now."
"Why?"
"I think it makes her think of you…"
Luke pulled out a mug for Rory while the coffee machine brewed, "Where is your mom tonight?"
"At Grandpa's launch party."
"Right, I was supposed to go to that."
"Yeah, I figured you and grandpa are so close. The finger food was hard to maneuver in my cast though."
"How so?"
"Well, I would reach for something, and then people would ask me a bunch of questions preventing me from eating the very thing I grabbed. I mean obviously I grabbed it as a sign I was hungry… then they asked me the question…."
"Sounds problematic," Luke chuckled, "Well, grab yourself a donut," Luke lifted the plastic lid for her and with her good hand Rory picked a jelly doughnut.
Luke smiled at Rory, she looked so much like her mother as she nervously pulled apart the doughnut. "So, have you heard from him?"
"Who?" for a second he thought she meant Richard, Luke didn't know if he should mention Richard came to his father's cabin to bring him back home.
"Jess."
"Oh, no. I talked to his mom, though. He got home okay."
"Good, that's good."
"Yeah, good," Luke sighed. He was pleased to see that someone else was concerned for Jess too.
"What about his stuff?"
"Oh, I'm gonna send it."
"Right, makes sense." Rory knew why she went out with Jess. Her stupid test date theory, and look what happened. Karma was clearly telling her it was a bad idea to be romantically involved with Jess, but did karma have to be so dramatic? " Luke?"
"Yeah?"
"It wasn't his fault."
Luke touched Rory's hand, "I know it wasn't. It wasn't yours either," Luke assured, seeing the guilt she felt written on her face.
Rory got up from her seat, rounded the counter, and hugged Luke again, "I missed you. We both have."
"Thanks," was all Luke said.
"I'm so sorry, I messed things up for you guys."
It was like Luke was punched in the gut, Rory didn't know about the proposal, Jess did as he asked, just stay out of the diner and the apartment. "Rory, don't you worry about that, now."
"But it looked like you put a lot of thought into the evening… you know to make it special for her." Rory processed her words and began to wonder about that night, what would have made it so special that Luke would have dressed up, brought flowers…
"Yeah well," Luke stepped away and started wiping the counter, the way he always did when he was trying not to think about Lorelai.
Rory noticed the action, noticed he seemed to be scrubbing extra hard to clean the fight away from memory and forget that it ever happened. Rory now tired to piece together the clues that that night was very important, that there was a scheme, something bigger that the Gilmore girls didn't know about. Rory tried to run over the clues in her own mind yet knew she'd need a little help for an actual confirmation; but how to reach him?
7777777777777777777777777777777777777777777
"That was all God given talent"
well at least Luke still thinks so…
777777777777777777777777777777777777777
Taylor: I call this meeting to order. The Chair recognizes Localizy, who has a grievance… Localizy you may have the floor, and watch your language young lady.
Localizy stands in front of the crack whore community and passersby:
Dear people reading this story,
Now, when I first became Debbie's beta I did it because I loved this story. She sent me her entire outline. She told me that she wanted to rework the second season to see what would happen if Luke and Lorelai were together and all that stuff occurred. I loved the idea.
Fast-forward a year. I became too busy but still read and advise. I remember what she told me at the beginning; that she wanted to REWORK the second season. Nowhere did she tell me that she was planning to just steal the characters and put them in
Canada where Chris and everyone wouldn't bother them. Lay off your apparent issues with her following her outline and story plan. You don't like it, write your own fraking story, and I will then come and complain about it, tell you that you are horrible, and threaten to tar and feather you for using your imagination. Debbie has a plan and she is accomplishing it without ruining the integrity of the characters and the first few seasons that we all loved.
Secondly, even if Luke and Lorelai didn't get into the fight, Chris still would have been called. Rory is his daughter. He deserves to know that she was hurt. Use your brain people. This is not ASP attempting to give another F-You to the readers and viewers. The difference (for some of you who had concerns) is that Debbie loves Luke, to the point of stalking him. She would have killed Chris off in WITS if she didn't fear people making him a martyr. She can't stand Chris. However, he had to be called.
In regards to Lorelai calling him a superhero and stuff, did you ever think that she is overwhelmed? She loves Luke, got into a HUGE fight with him, and her daughter is hurt. Ever think that she is putting on an act? That she is pretending to be happy? She is glad that Chris is there, that is true. He stepped up for his daughter and finally showed up. That was a good thing. Lorelai is only happy he is there because of their daughter. This is not pod Lorelai from season 6. Stop freaking out.
Yes, Luke and Lorelai got into a fight. This happened in the show, we all saw it happen in the show in season 2. This isn't season 6, this isn't season 7. This is Debbie taking the events of season 2 and putting Luke and Lorelai together and running with it. All this drama coming up is the downward slope. A good plot has uphill slopes and then it all goes downhill. It's called life. It's called drama. So man-up, stop complaining, and trust us. We aren't going to disappoint.
To finish I use words that are wiser then myself. I will have poetry in my life. And adventure. And love. Love above all. No... not the artful postures of love, not playful and poetical games of love for the amusement of an evening, but love that... over-throws life. Unbiddable, ungovernable - like a riot in the heart, and nothing to be done, come ruin or rapture. Love - like there has never been in a play.
This is the kind of love Debbie is attempting to show.
Cordially,
Localizy
PS Playwrights teach us nothing about love. They make it pretty, they make it comical, or they make it lust, but they cannot make it true.
Thank you Localizy for those impassioned words. The views expressed by Localizy are hers and hers alone, although the management of this story modestly, reverently, and respectfully agree with the opinions therein (especially the part about stalking Luke… cause I love that man…and he has suffered TOO MUCH on that show, in my opinion.)
A/N: Life after the show…(just picture Scott Patterson with his guitar, at Luke's father's cabin. Ooooo baby! See I'm still stalking…)
I can take the rain on the roof of this empty house
That don't bother me
I can take a few tears now and then and just let them out
I'm not afraid to cry every once in a while
Even though going on with you gone still upsets me
There are days every now and again I pretend I'm ok
But that's not what gets me
What hurts the most
Was being so close
And having so much to say
And watching you walk away
And never knowing
What could have been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was tryin' to do
It's hard to deal with the pain of losing you everywhere I go
But I'm doin' It
It's hard to force that smile when I see our old friends and I'm alone
Still Harder
Getting up, getting dressed, livin' with this regret
But I know if I could do it over
I would trade give away all the words that I saved in my heart
That I left unspoken
What hurts the most
Was being so close
And having so much to say
And watching you walk away
And never knowing
What could have been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was tryin' to do
What hurts the most
Was being so close
And having so much to say
And watching you walk away
And never knowing
What could have been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was tryin' to do
R/R: PLEASE, I like to better myself. To quote The Princess Bride,
"...Remember this is for posterity ... so be honest."
Please be specific with R/R; name one (or as many as you can think of or want to mention…) At least one specific thing you liked
Please! It makes me feel good...inside (Dirty!)
Hence the Rant option below.
Insert Rant here V
A/N: if not completely satisfied with this chapter, please return unused portion for a full refund...