So much happening, so much coming together and falling apart. I have this story written, completely. And thanks to the reviews that are coming in, I'm able to realize where I'm missing beats or scenes. So thank you, for allowing me to make it better as I go. Also, I'm loving seeing where you guys are thinking it's going. So please, keep it up.
Part 5: It's My Party...
"What's going on?" Sookie demanded of her friend as soon as they were seated at the table, "I thought this was a fake marriage. I thought this was for Rory!"
"It is. It was. I don't know Sookie, I don't know what's happening."
Lorelai couldn't recall having ever seen her friend look so disappointed in her. "You spent the night with him, Lorelai. And you kissed him for the entire town to see! This isn't a game. You can't just play with him! He cares about you and Rory and here you are playing with his emotions. This isn't you. And what about Rory? She's going to hear about what happened today. She's going to think that this is going to stick. What are you thinking?"
"I don't know!" Lorelai shouted, feeling trapped by her best friend's arguments that sounded a lot like her own. "And I know. I don't want to get Rory's hopes up. And I don't want to make him think I want something that I don't know if I actually want. This is my mother's fault."
"Not entirely."
"Hey, you're suppose to be on my side here!"
"I am. I'm just worried about you, and Luke and Rory. And the town. Your mother might have kept you in this situation but you got here on your own and you're getting deeper all on your own here too. Talk to me, what's going on?"
"I don't know. Something happened out there, on that ship. Something that I don't know if it's real or if I'm just trying to make real. I mean it's Luke. He's the last person I want to hurt or lose. And I don't know if I'm just lonely and he's here or if he's here and I'm no longer lonely." She sighed, "What am I going to do?"
"You'll figure it out. And probably quicker than you'd think. Just, don't forget that you're not alone here. Don't shut him out and try to deal with this on your own. Because no matter what you might be going through, I'm sure he's going through the exact same thing."
"Worse," she corrected, putting her head in her hands, "He has to deal with my mother."
There was a loud, almost panicked, knocking on the door. Not waiting for someone to answer, Babette rushed in, winded and looking around, wild-eyed, for Lorelai.
"There you are Sweetheart, you have to go."
They were helping her to sit, worried about what was coming over the older woman, "Babette, what's going on? What's wrong?"
"That lawyer chick that Luke was seeing..."
"Nicole?" Lorelai prompted when Babette paused for breath, "What about her?"
"Patty and me just saw her coming out of the diner. Poor thing looked like she had been crying. Luke took off right after, looking horrible. Got into his truck and drove off without a second thought. I've never seen him looking like this."
"Where would he go?" Lorelai asked, fueled by the knowledge of the history between the pair mixed within her own emotions and Babette's panic.
"His fishing spot from the looks of it. Do you know where it is?"
"Yeah."
"Take my car," Sookie offered, tossing the brunette her keys, "I'll stay with Babette."
"You think I should go after him?" Uncertainty filled her. Would he rather be alone than see her. What if had wanted to get back together with Nicole? She had ruined that for him. If their places were reversed, Lorelai knew she wouldn't want to see the cause of that.
"Only one way to find out."
~G.G~
He was sitting on the bridge over the lake, feet dangling mere inches over the water line. He was lost in his thoughts, unsure how long he was in the same position, staring at his reflection in the cold water. Even through the haze that surrounded his thoughts, he heard her.
Sighing, he looked up at her and waited.
She shifted her position, hugging herself tightly, not sure what to do. But he was looking at her. She wished that he would do something, say something. But she came to him. It was up to her to break the silence.
"Hey."
"Hey," he looked back to the water and she cursed. Was it an invitation to join him? Was it his way of telling her that he wasn't up for company? How could she still not know him after all this time? How could she not read him as well as she knew he could read her? It was true that she hadn't really seen him like this. Luke was a lot of things, but hidden with what he was feeling wasn't one of them. Even when he tried to hide it, his emotions leaked through the cracks, bleeding out into his mood, into his interactions with other people. Usually Lorelai knew how to deal with him. She would egg him on until he could vent whatever was bothering him or pissing him off. She understood that. Their sparring matches was as much good for her as she knew it was for him, it was a dance that they knew all the steps of.
But this wasn't the same thing. She hadn't seen him this closed off, this dark. She knew that she could still push his buttons, egg him on until he reacted. But something within her, something that understood the expression that lived in his eyes, told her that she wouldn't like what would happen then.
"I heard about what happened," she started, not daring to move closer. Instead she pushed her hair behind her ears and focused on him like she would a cornered animal, trying to see any indication that he might strike or flee. "And I just wanted to make sure that you're okay."
His jaw clenched, but his gaze remained fixed. She took a tentative step closer.
"But I don't know. I've never really seen you like this. I didn't know if you wanted to talk or sit or yell or walk... or if you wanted to be alone. I know that you like time to process things, and I get it. I do. But I also know how it can be, when you're stuck inside your own head when it's really not healthy to be stuck there. And I don't want to worry that you're going to do something rash or stupid. And I know that you're you but you did buy a building just to piss Taylor off and you pushed Jess in a lake, not that I blame you for it."
She took a deep breath when he didn't react. Again, she wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not. "I can go if you want. And I'll stay away if you need that time. I just need for you to tell me, Luke, that that's what you want. If it's not, then I can stay and say I'll stay quiet although we both know that that is one promise I'm really not good at keeping. Or I can stay and talk if you want. Either about what happened or about other things. I'm good at distraction.
"Luke..."
He straightened, weighing his options. He looked at her again, watched the concern in her expression, the guilt about the possible pain that she thought she had caused him. Sighing, he stood and walked to her. He put his hands on her shoulders, rubbing the skin lightly down to her elbow and back up as he studied her eyes. Allowing a faint smile to cross his lips, he leaned forward and kissed her forehead lightly.
"I'll see you tomorrow. Suit and tie?" She nodded, not breathing for fear of making him stop talking, "I'll meet you at your house. 6?"
"Whenever, yes. If you need me..."
He nodded, squeezed her arm and then turned and walked away.
It was July, and it was late into the morning. But when he walked away from her she felt nothing but cold. She felt like she was walking away from where she was supposed to be.
~G.G~
Lorelai took a deep breath before picking up her phone.
She had maintained radio silence with her mother as much as possible since the ultimatum was given, since the threat was made. But, even though their interactions were scarce, it was enough to know that Emily was planning something. And considering how far she had pushed Luke already, she knew she owed it to him to make tomorrow night as painless as possible on him.
"Hello Lorelai," Emily answered, her voice tired and untrusting.
"Emily."
"Calling to give me the news about your divorce?"
Lorelai rolled her eyes, "We haven't filed yet."
"Good, then you're still coming to the party." There was a beat, "He does own something not flannel, I hope."
Oh yes, there was the word that Lorelai had been dreading: party. She should have known. "Mom," she began, her eyes squeezed tightly together, her head pounding in anticipation of the conversation ahead of her, "Please don't do this."
"Do what?"
"You know what."
"I assume you're telling me not to throw you a simple party."
"There is no such thing as a simple party when you're the one throwing it."
"Really, Lorelai, it is only a small gathering of some of your father and my friends who want to come together to celebrate the marriage of my daughter. It's nothing grand since I only had a week to throw it together. It is what's expected."
"Luke isn't the party type."
"I don't care what type he is Lorelai. He is now a part - be it a temporary part - of this family. He has to do his duty, just the rest of us, to this family until such a time we can be rid of one another. That duty is tomorrow night. Now, make sure you do your duty in making sure he's appropriately dressed."
~G.G~
When Rory came home, it was to find her mother on the couch, re-watching The Two Towers. There was a tub of ice cream mostly gone on the coffee table and a pack of cookies forgotten beside it. After everything Rory had heard - the kiss, Nicole, Luke storming off, the fight with her grandmother - there was a lot of things that she had been expecting to come home to. Moping mom was not on the list.
"Mom?"
Lorelai looked up and reached out to her daughter, needing a hug from the younger woman. They were silent for a long moment, together on the couch, the movie playing as their soundtrack in the background.
"Mom, are you okay?"
Lorelai sat back and looked at the blossoming woman before her, "There is something I have to tell you." She had thought about this a lot since leaving the lake and her conversation with her mother. She thought about the past, all the fights that had sprung up between the pair, and the distance that had grown between the best friends. She could see a future, if the growing trend didn't change, where she was to her daughter what her mother was to her. That thought made her as sick and depressed as her situation with Luke. And, considering the thoughts of the future she could also have with Luke that flicked through her mind almost unwillingly, she knew that there was only one thing she could do. She had to tell Rory the truth.
"Now, before I do, I need you to understand that I'm not telling you this so that you hate your grandmother. But because I don't want to lie to you. I've lied to you too much about this already. And I'm sorry."
"Mom? What's going on? Why would I hate grandma?"
"She read the article in the society column. She knows about me and Luke and so do her friends."
"So?"
"She's worried that by divorcing Luke quickly I'll be tarnishing the family name more than I already have by marrying him in the first place."
"That doesn't make sense."
Lorelai smiled. There were times when Rory still proved herself to be far too innocent for the demons of Emily Gilmore. "In her world it does, Kid. I don't understand it any more than you do. I don't want to understand it any more than I already do. But this, to her, is a really big deal."
Rory stood, "What is she doing?" She demanded, knowing that whatever her mother was saying was going to get a lot worse, "How is she getting you to stay married? How is she getting Luke to stay married?" There was a beat of silence as she figured it out. "It's me isn't it? I'm not being vain here, but I know she's using me to make you do what she wants! How?"
"Rory…"
"Tell me!"
"Yale."
Rory sank down into the chair, not believing her grandmother could have really been able to sink to the level she just had, "What?"
"It's an empty threat," Lorelai assured her, "She'd never do anything to hurt you or your brilliant future. We both know that."
"But then..."
"It was the easiest leverage she had readily available at the time. Tomorrow night I expect her to have something else up her sleeve. Did you know that she's throwing a party for Luke and me? Because I didn't until I talked to her today. I just didn't want you going in there blind. And I also didn't want you to get your hopes up about me and Luke. He loves you, and he would do anything for you. Even put up with me and my mother."
That woke Rory out of the stunned silence she had settled into. "No, that's not the only reason he's doing this. I mean you guys had sex last night."
"How did you..."
"Babette. It's all over town," Rory explained with a shake of her head. She sat in silence for a long moment taking in what she had heard, "How could Grandma do this?"
"She has her pride. Tons of pride. And I risked that. Again. It's nothing more. She wanted to ship me off, when she found out I wouldn't marry Christopher, did you know that? It was Dad who made her keep me around, despite the humiliation that came from the situation. Even still she didn't tell anyone I was pregnant until the last possible moment.
"And like it or not, she's currently controlling the purse-strings to your education. She knows that and knows that I would do anything for you. It was an easy ace up her sleeve. I'd be impressed if I wasn't so angry about it."
"How's Luke taking it?"
Lorelai stiffened. She had tried to call him, to let him know what to expect at the Gilmore house. He hadn't answered. Instead she had left three rambling messages to him. By the third time, even his answering machine sounded annoyed. "Luke... has had a long couple of days. He's processing, says he'll see us tomorrow, even if he does have to wear a suit."
"You don't think he's going to change his mind, do you? I also heard about Nicole showing up."
"The only thing you should worry about when it comes to Luke is the fact that he's likely to try and kill my mother tomorrow at the party. But if he did then you'd be that much closer to inheriting all your grandparent's money and we wouldn't have to worry about this issue at all." She thought a moment, a smile finding its way over the frown she swore she'd wear all evening. "You know I was going to suggest you helping me keep my mother and Luke away from each other, but I'm thinking I like my new plan a little better. Oh, I know. We could lock them in the kitchen together. Give Luke an edge." She reached over and pulled Rory from the chair to the couch beside her. "Look, don't worry about Luke or me or your grandmother. I want to know how you feel. Are you okay?"
"No, because I am worried about all this, and I can't believe you expect me to not be!" Rory stormed off towards her room, slamming the door behind her.
Lorelai knew that all she needed was time to process what was happening and how she should best deal with the situation. "And that, Kiddo, is why I didn't wait until tomorrow... Man, tomorrow is going to suck." She cast her gaze to the television screen where Sam was standing, feeling helpless, stuck between Golum, a ring-obsessed Frodo and the journey still ahead, all under the eye of Sauron itself. "Trade you."
~G.G~
Luke didn't speak when he arrived at Lorelai's house the next evening, dressed up in a monkey suit, the one that Lorelai helped him pick out on the cruise. She recalled the way the light blue pin stripes on the black material brought out the blue in his eyes. Before then she hadn't really paid them any more attention than absolutely required from moment to moment, but when she saw him wear it, paired with a black shirt and light blue tie, she knew she would never forget those eyes again. She smiled at him, wondering if the fluttering in her stomach was caused only by the evening before them, the uncertainty that still lingered from the day before or if she would feel the same had he shown up to take her somewhere else as well.
He had spent the remainder of Thursday and most of Friday alone. Thinking over the situation, wondering how things had spiraled out of control so quickly. He knew he couldn't blame Nicole for her reaction to him and Lorelai. After he had spent so long telling her that she was crazy for thinking that there was something between the long time friends, here he was, only weeks after they were separated, married to the woman who had been the biggest divide in their relationship. But was he so wrong to have denied the possibility of this as long and as fiercely as he had? It was true that in the back of his mind Lorelai was always there. She was a draw to him, a pull, a constant beacon in his life. And there were moments, so many precious moments that he had tucked away, where he swore that she felt the same, that there was a spark that separated them from all the other people in both their lives.
Being married to her, he came to fully realize, was not the best thing he could have done. For while he had been aware of the power she had over him before, now that he knew what she was capable of, what they were capable of together, he knew that he had only ever experienced the tip of the iceberg that was Lorelai Gilmore. Now he was drowning in her. And damn him, he wanted more. Even as it was killing him - the lies, the party, the playing, the displays, the sex - he wanted more, wanted to have all of her that he could before she got what she wanted from her mother: her freedom. Luke wasn't as concerned as he should have been with Emily's rule hovering over him, of being paraded out to people he knew would look down upon him, whispering their sympathy and opinions of her bravery to the elder Gilmore for having to welcome such a man as him into her family. He was already a slave to her daughter, and he would continue to play along to make her happy, his own emotions and pride be damned.
And that was what scared him the most. It had dawned on him as he nervously dressed for the torture that was this coming evening. It wasn't that Nicole had been right. It wasn't that he had been wrong. It wasn't even that what he was doing was for all the wrong reasons. It was that he wanted it to be right. And even though he knew that when it ended he would be broken, he would continue on. Because hope was the only thing he had left.
"My car?" Lorelai asked, clearing her throat along with her own thoughts, not sure if she should broach any of the subjects she wanted to discuss. She was nervous and uncomfortable, feelings that she found strange when being in the presence of Luke Danes.
He nodded, "Yeah, sure. Is Rory coming with us?" He added when she stepped out to join him on the porch.
"Ah Rory, no, she's most definitely not coming with us. She needs time and space. She will be meeting us there. I told her the truth last night. I didn't want to lie to her."
"How did she take it?" He asked, concern filling his tone as he followed her to the jeep.
"Better than I did. She's a worrier, that kid of mine. I don't want her to have to worry about this. She's too young to have to worry about her grandmother's evil plans and her mother having sex with her step-father."
He fumbled with his seatbelt. "What? How did she... Babette? Ah jeeze. I'm going to kill her."
"I'll add her to the list." She paused, waiting until they were passing the diner before starting again, "How are you doing? About everything? About tonight and my mother and this marriage thing and Nicole..."
He inhaled deeply, nodding vacantly, "Don't worry about how I'm doing."
"Can't. See, I have to know how closely I have to watch your alcohol consumption tonight. There's going to be a lot of rich people, and I know how much you hate rich people. My mother is also going to be there, and I figure she's ranking above even Babette on your kill-o-meter. Tonight isn't going to be fun, for any of us. Least of all you. And don't think I'm not aware of how much I'm going to owe you after this. I mean I know I already owe you more than I'll ever be able to pay back, but now, just for this evening, a king's ransom! That is how much I owe you. I would offer you my first born, but she's kind of old and I'm somewhat attached."
"Lorelai-"
She smiled. His tone had relaxed and she could see the tension release from his shoulders. Sometimes she had to wonder at the power her babbling had on him. "You'll be okay?"
"Just don't leave me alone with any of these people."
"You have yourself a deal! And I expect rescues in return. Oh!" She added almost as an afterthought, "So I think I might have a perfect revenge plan for my mother."
"I'm interested, go on."
"Mom is going through all this to save her reputation. But, I know she probably has my father secretly drawing up divorce papers for the earliest possible moment for us to sign. So, I was thinking if tonight we played loving couple, she might think her plan is backfiring and have a Gilmore-class freak out. That will encourage her to let us get on with our lives and honestly, there is very little in life I enjoy as much as seeing my mother have an aneurysm."
"You want to play happy couple?" He asked dubious.
"I was thinking it could be a game." Her eyes sparkled as she explained, "Every time you feel like punching someone, put your arm around me. Every time you feel like ranting you kiss me. Every time I visualize my mother dying I will stare longingly into your eyes. And every time I want to choke her I will pinch your butt."
"Please don't pinch my butt."
She rolled her eyes, "Fine. I will stick to caressing your crotch."
"I don't want you anywhere near my crotch when you're thinking of choking," he said, knowing that it was the wrong thing to say even before he had finished saying it.
She laughed, "Dirty."
~G.G~
"You're late!" Emily chastised as soon as they entered the foyer. The party was in full swing around them.
"Well mom, you know us newlyweds, had to stop for a quickly on the 85."
"Really Lorelai," she groaned, taking her daughter's coat, "Hello Luke. Where's Rory?"
"On her way. Wow, there's a lot of people here.'
"All to see you," she said, urging them forward.
"Just a second, Mom," Lorelai said before turning her attention to Luke. In slow, deliberate movements she adjusted his tie, and smoothed down his collar, allowing her hands to rest against his chest as she met his eye, "Remember what I said."
A half-smile broke over his lips, "Rescue for rescue," he winked, taking her hand, bringing her palm to his lips. "You're looking well Mrs Gilmore."
~G.G~
Luke had never been good at parties. He never understood them. He always felt lost and uncomfortable at them. He knew that had he been with someone else, this one most likely would have been ten times worse. The room was filled with friends of Richard and Emily, business associates and other members of the social elite, all of whom had no understanding or want of understanding for the life that Luke lived, that he enjoyed living. But with Lorelai there he could stop thinking of it as party, and start thinking of it as a game. Games were something he understood.
Rory was on grandparent duty, being shown off and distracting the hosts as much as possible as Luke and Lorelai tag teamed the guests. Whenever one of them was alone more than a couple of minutes the other would approach with a hand around her waist or up his arm over his shoulder, brushing his hair. The contact grounded them, reassured them, told them that they weren't there alone. They were a part of a team. And for someone who had lived most of his life solo, Luke was quickly learning the benefits of the Gilmore team.
"You're lucky," Lorelai's cousin, Marilyn, complimented as Luke left to get them a refill, "You caught yourself a handsome one there."
"You think?" Lorelai asked, her eyes following her husband as he crossed the room. She had long thought that he was attractive in many ways that she, herself, found appealing, but it surprised her to hear that someone who had grown up in the world that she had always rebelled against sharing the same opinion. She guessed that certain things were universal.
"Rugged, and a little rough, but that's vogue now. Tell me, is he handy? I always wanted a man around who was good with his hands."
Lorelai couldn't help the blush that filled her cheeks as she watched Luke get ambushed by her parents, one of Richard's business associates and his wife, thinking how appropriate the response 'dirty' would have been to that statement, "Yes, he's very good with his hands. Sinfully so. Excuse me, please."
"Franchising is a really excellent step in the restaurant business these days..." Richard was telling the group when Lorelai came upon them. Luke was shifting, and she knew that he was uncomfortable. Not fighting the content smile on her lips, she ran her left hand up his arm, circling around his shoulder, marveling at the sight of her ring catching the expensive lights.
He cast her a thankful look, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her to him snugly. Her smile widened and she wondered if that was a sign that there was someone nearby that he was thinking of hitting. "Miss me?"
Luke leaned forward, "Thank you," he whispered before kissing her temple.
"Dad, are you trying to talk business tonight?" Lorelai playfully warned, "Because Luke was being a very good husband and getting me another drink. I'm sure you'll have many more chances in the future to talk to him about what you'd like to see him do with his business."
Richard cast a look to his wife when Lorelai leaned forward and kissed Luke, laughing as she wiped the lipstick from the corner of his mouth.
"Excuse us," Lorelai said with a wink, leading Luke away from her parents. She was going to bring them towards the bar when she paused, getting an almost wicked idea. Tightening her grip on Luke's hand, she turned direction, and, well aware that Emily was watching, snuck away from the party.
~G.G~
"Rory," Cousin Marilyn called, pulling the teenager from her conversation with an elderly gentleman she remembered meeting briefly when her grandfather had taken her golfing, "There you are!"
"Hello, how are you?"
"I'm fine dear. I was just coming to check on you."
Rory could only shrug, her eyes searching the crowd for her grandmother. "I'm fine."
"I must say, you're taking all this better than I did when I was a girl."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, after my mother died, my father remarried someone who, I admit, wasn't nearly as sophisticated as she should have been for marrying a Gilmore."
Rory ignored the barb. Even if she didn't know what Luke was doing for her, she didn't like him being called anything that most of the crowd wanted to call him. That was the difference between her worlds, she knew: the measure of worth. While her grandparents measured it by what they had, Stars Hollow measured it by what they gave. And in that way, she knew, that the diner-owner was worth more than anyone else in the room. "My situation isn't quite the same as yours."
"Oh, I know. Your father is still alive."
She could only shrug, "Alive yes, but he was never really around. In fact, Luke's been there for me long before his getting involved with my mother." A small smile graced her lips as she thought about the truth of that statement. Luke had gone to her graduation, and warned off the boy who broke her heart, and protected her from even his own family. Luke had made her favourite foods when she was sick, built her bookshelves without having been asked and even attended the funeral of a caterpillar. All for her. All because she needed him to. All things that her own father hadn't done.
As a girl, she had wished more than once for her father to be more like Luke. Dependable, strong, stable, there. Now, she reasoned, she didn't have to. All these years spent missing her father, she knew, was wrong. "I'm lucky," she admitted, "Having him around."
~G.G~
"Where are we going?" Luke whispered as he followed his wife up the stairs, looking around, afraid of being caught.
Lorelai giggled when she stopped in front of a door, a sign to both of them that she had had a little too much to drink. "Now, I need you to promise me that you are not going to laugh at what you are about to see." Not waiting for an answer, she opened the door and led him into her old bedroom.
"Whoa."
"I didn't decorate it. And I was also sixteen at the time. And it was also the 80's."
"This is your room?"
She sat on her bed, "Yup."
"It doesn't look like you." He said as he moved around the space, hands in his pockets, feeling as uncomfortable as he used to feel back when he was a teenager sneaking into girls rooms.
"I've grown up a lot since then. But, I think it looks a lot better with a boy in it."
He paused, turning to look at her, propped up on her bed, watching him. "Have many boys up here?"
"Only the one, and you've met the outcome of that. So maybe we should take that as warning for no hanky panky."
He sat beside her and she saw the tension draining out of him. "Does anyone actually say hanky panky anymore?"
"No one young enough to enjoy what it means. I just wanted to tell you that I think you're doing great tonight. You almost fit in here."
"Only almost, and only when I don't say anything. Have you talked to your mother?"
"No more than I've had to. I've actually been enjoying myself enough to not want to start that war tonight even though I can feel it coming. But, on the bright side, rich people feel obliged to give gifts on these occasions. My purse is currently filled with enough cheques to cover the cost of divorce lawyers for this and my next failed marriage."
He wrapped his arm around her, his hand rubbing her back gently. It felt so easy to do now, touching her like that, reassuring them both through the contact. She leaned into him, soaking up the warmth and comfort that he provided, probably without even being aware. But that, she figured, was what made him Luke. It was what he was willing to do and give to those he cared about without even thinking of wanting something in return.
"I don't think you have any more failed marriages in your future," he assured her, his tone low and gentle and perhaps a little sadder than he would have liked. But the thought of her being in another marriage was hard for him to take. At least in that moment while she still wore his ring.
Inhaling a steadying breath she met his eye, knowing that she wasn't ready for what she might possibly see there. Smiling, still feeling nervous, as nervous as she did that first night together on dry land, she leaned forward and risked seeking a kiss. A kiss that wasn't fueled by booze or the ocean or impulse or revenge. A kiss that was soft and reassuring and questioning and pure and feeling of home. A kiss that she knew could only come from Luke.
And he didn't disappoint her. He never had, she reasoned as the kiss deepened and she was following him back against her mattress. There was nothing rushed, no lust fueling their lips, there was nothing akin to the heat of their arguments that had transfer into their lovemaking. Here they were on the same page, in the same moment, feeling for the first time since being married, a bit of the magic that had led them together in the first place.
"Mom?" Rory asked, coming into the room, watching with an embarrassed blush as her mother and Luke guiltily pulled away from each other. "You disappeared. Grandma wanted me to make sure you hadn't snuck out the window."
"Well," she allowed, "Experience has proved that I might have."
"The guests are starting to leave," the 18 year old continued, shifting feet awkwardly.
"We're coming. What's wrong?"
Rory's blush deepened, "I think Grandma thought you two might have been coming up here to do more than just sneak out of the house. She told me to hurry and to make sure I knocked."
Lorelai cast Luke an embarrassed, but also triumphant, smile, "Oh Sweetie, I'm sorry that your Grandma made you think of your mother having sex. I'll give you a stiff drink of whiskey before we go home to wipe that image from your mind."
"Can you make it vodka? I don't really like whiskey."
"Anything for my little booze-hound. Come on, let's go say goodnight to the guests."
~G.G~
Emily had kept a watchful eye on the newlywed couple as she tended to the guests at her party. There was a weariness mixed unease in Rory's behaviour that made her wonder if Lorelai had told her the reasons behind the marriage lasting longer than that of most Hollywood unions. And while her expectations for the pair hadn't been set overly high, she had been impressed at how they had conducted themselves.
Luke had cleaned up well, so much so that she had hardly recognized him in the suit that brought out the handsome features of his face and complimented his athletic build. That he and her daughter played well off of one another, going from group to group, guest to guest, with an ease and grace that Emily had never seen in Lorelai, was surprising. She didn't think that the brunette knew how to talk to people she didn't know well without saying something that could be taken the wrong way or contained a tasteless joke. But Luke allowed her to be the centre of attention and gave her the comfort necessary to make a good impression while taking him out of the spotlight where Emily figured he never liked to be.
That they seemed to be enjoying their game, both delighting in the contact that posing as a young, loving couple offered, was unsettling. And for the first time she saw the danger in her plan. She also saw how Rory was also watching them, smiling shyly to herself at seeing them interacting so well.
As soon as the last of the guests left, Emily turned to her granddaughter, "Rory, why don't you give Luke a tour of the house. I'm sure he'd like to see more than just your mother's bedroom. Lorelai, come with me."
Luke went to protest, wanting to be there when Emily dropped the other shoe. Lorelai merely shook her head, knowing that if he went along there would be more damage done than the normal casualties of the warring generations.
"Don't worry Luke," Rory assured him, leading the way, "You can usually hear them across the house anyway."
Inhaling deeply, smiling at the last reassuring look that Luke threw her way, Lorelai followed her mother into the kitchen. She waited in silence as Emily sent the catering staff out to help clean up, readying herself for the battle that would begin when they were left alone.
"What are you thinking?" Emily began quickly, all the frustration she was feeling being able to finally be vented, "Acting like that in front of all those people?"
"Acting like what, Mom? A woman who didn't just get married by mistake? I thought that's what you wanted!"
"Please, you two were practically pawing each other. I know he's only one step above a barbarian, but you! You should have known better."
"Really? Because I can think of more than one party that I behaved worse at. I don't know what your problem is! You're getting what you want!"
"Hardly, Lorelai. Stop being so selfish. You never think of anyone else. You go and get married to this man who we would never be able to acknowledge outside of the occasional holiday gathering, a man we wouldn't be able to have a relationship with, with no regard to my feelings or your father's or Rory's feelings or Christopher's..."
"Christopher? How... how can you think that he has a say in what I do?"
She stomped her foot. Her daughter surely couldn't have been that dense. "You were suppose to marry Christopher! You know this!"
"But I didn't! He married Sherry."
"So you're punishing him?"
Lorelai's fists clenched. Surely, her mother couldn't be that clueless. "No Mom, I'm not. Me and Luke - what's happening between me and Luke - has nothing to do with Christopher. Me and Chris... we would never have worked!"
"But Rory..."
"Stop it Mom! You wanted me to stay married to Luke. You threatened me to stay married to Luke! And now that I am, now that I seem okay staying married to Luke, you think I'm betraying something with Christopher that never happened. That I'm hurting Rory's chances at having a father!"
"Christopher is her father."
"I know that Mom! But I gotta tell you that it takes more than a marriage proposal, a few phone calls and a broken condom to make a dad. And Luke has been a better father to Rory than Christopher ever has been.
"He's been there for her during the chickenpox and the flu, he's built her book cases and fixed her bike, he worries when she's with boys and he's proud of her achievements. He was at her graduation, Mom, Luke not Chris. He protects her. He cares about her. Not as a friend of her mother's or even her friend. It's more than that. He's made sacrifices for her, ones I know hurt him. And if anything ever happened to me, I know that she'll be okay as long as she has him in her life. That is what a father is suppose to do, Mom. That is what Chris has never been good at doing."
Emily was silent, uncomfortable with the outburst she just heard from her daughter and the passion and conviction in her tone as she said it. "That is no reason to stay with him," she continued, her voice lower and strained.
Breathing deeply, Lorelai tried to calm herself, "You're the reason I'm staying with him, Mom. Because you threatened my daughter. Now, I'm only here to find out what you're going to threaten us with next."
"Don't be so dramatic. I didn't threaten you, Lorelai."
"Really? And what would you call it? Self-preservation? Because right now you're looking a lot like those animals who eat their own young to keep themselves alive. So let's have it. Let's hear the next hoop you want me to jump through to protect your reputation."
"You're hardly being fair. Besides, there are no more hoops, as you called them. You're free."
Lorelai was taken aback. She paused, blinked, and tried to run through her mind all the different ways that she could be walking into a trap. "I'm going to regret this," she mumbled, deciding to jump right into the lion's den, "Free?"
"Yes, all I wanted was this party, a chance for everyone to celebrate and for me to wipe the egg off of my face. You are free now to go and separate and go through the proper channels to divorcing one another."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that. Lorelai, don't you believe me?"
"Based upon our previous history, I don't think I should."
"I've done my duty, and I've shown my support of this crack union. Now what you make of it really isn't on my hands. From what I understand of divorce proceedings however, I hear they can take several months to complete, especially when there are family assets in the picture."
Lorelai nodded, now understanding. She was going to drag out the divorce as long as possible with all the family money and red tape she could find, all while safely tucked away from the prying eyes of her society friends. She had to hand it to her mother, Emily was good.
"So that's it? No more threats to Rory?"
Emily smirked, "Do you really think I would deprive my grandaughter of her future, of the future you should have had, just so you can stay with the diner man? Tell me Lorelai, do you really think that little of me or are you grabbing at any excuse you can to stay married?"
"I don't trust you."
"Well one sees what they want to see, Lorelai," she finished with a cocky tone, hiding the worry that clung to her heart. 'What's happening between me and Luke,' that's what Lorelai had said. And she was worried about what that meant.
"We'll see once her tuition is paid."
Lorelai was torn as she stalked away from her mother. She was hoping that it was just the mind games that Emily was so good at playing that was the source of her confusion. But she wasn't sure. Did she want to stay with Luke? And was she really so certain about her lack of a future with Christopher?
~TBC~
Up next: Recouping from the party. Also, from here on in the chapters are shorter.