A.N. I KNOOOOOW it took forever! But here it is... Thank you so much for reading and reviewing every chapter! And I especially love when you quote what you liked best! Makes it easier for me to really understand what you want!
Maddy, thanks for being there for me! Thanks for going along with my weirdness... And I hope you'll be there in 28 days at the airport also...
Disclaimer: Well, well... What can I say? Christmas is coming soon. Maybe then it'll be mine.
Chapter 6
And Then They Were Two
Lorelai was out of breath. She had run from the diner as fast as she could. She had no idea why she was so exhilarated but she couldn't wait to see Miss Patty's reaction when she'd tell her she had saved the play.
As she entered the studio, she immediately saw her sitting at the table, staring in front of her. She didn't notice Lorelai coming in. She only snapped out of it when Lorelai exclaimed, "He will do it!"
Patty let out a sigh and in a slow, desperate voice, responded, "Oh, Lorelai. Thank you for trying to cheer me up, but it would take me years and years to make Kirk look remotely as attractive as a smurf and we've only got a couple of weeks."
"No, not Kirk! Luke. Luke will do it!"
Miss Patty hesitated between laughing and laughing out loud.
"Luke? Your Lu... our Luke?"
"Yes," Lorelai nodded vigorously. "I asked him and he will do it."
"Luke... playing Kyle?"
Miss Patty couldn't believe it. Even in her wildest dream –and God knows she had wild ones- she would never have imagined a more perfect opportunity...
"Luke and Lorelai as love interests..." she said, repeating it in her head over and over again.
A laugh got stuck in Lorelai's throat and it came out in a weird mid-chocking, mid-squealing sound.
"Well... when you say it that way, it sure sounds... weird and... kind of disturbing, but I saw him act once and he was actually pretty. I mean good. Prettygood. He was... that." What was that, Gilmore? "I know there are only a couple of weeks before the premiere but I'm sure he'll learn fast."
Miss Patty didn't listen to a word Lorelai had just said. She was still imagining the hit it would be...
Lorelai wondered why Patty wasn't more thrilled about this. An opportunity to see Luke act would certainly make every single person in Stars Hollow buy a ticket. Oh, Lorelai really didn't make Luke do this play so that he'd get laughed at. She didn't know why she did it, but she was convinced of one thing: if he acted on stage as intensely as he did when he helped her out, he would blow them all away.
"Luke and Lorelai..." Patty pondered out loud.
Unconsciously, Lorelai was now holding her breath waiting for the director's verdict.
"... Well, if I edit a scene or two I guess it would work out," she finally said.
"Edit? You mean, change the text?" Lorelai was a little confused, but Miss Patty's excitement for the project was back.
"Well, darling, those kisses between Kyle and Sarah..." Patty dragged out.
"Oh." She had completely and sincerely forgotten about that. Lorelai blinked a few times, mouth slightly open. Okay, maybe she hadn't entirely forgotten about it... But it wasn't the reason she asked Luke! Oh God. I hope Luke doesn't think I want him to act so we can kiss... Wait, wait, wait! Miss Patty just said she would edit the kisses. That's good. Right? No kissing Luke. Patty knows it would be too weird for two old friends to kiss on stage when everyone in town knows them. It wouldn't seem real. No kiss. No kiss? Oh my God, Lorelai! Is that disappointment I feel in your stomach? Of course not. It's the lack of food. Okay then... Why are you even thinking about this? Because Luke will be relieved when I tell him the kisses are being edited.
"Yeah, you're right. Edit all you want," Lorelai said.
"Of course I will, don't worry about anything. Okay now, Luke hasn't participated in any kind of costumed events in town since he was a kid, so we don't know his grown-up vital statistics. You're in charge of finding out."
"Finding out his vital statistics?" Lorelai repeated.
"Oh! Don't sound so scandalized! We need to know his measurements for the costumes."
"Well, I'm sure he's large." As soon as it came out of her mouth, Lorelai closed her eyes shut tight. But too late, she had already seen the huge grin on Patty's face. Hearing her laugh made her blush even more, if humanly possible. She forced herself to open her eyes again and said, "Why don't you just ask him what they are?"
"You really think he knows them?"
"Then, why don't you take care of his measurements yourself?"
"Don't be silly! Luke will never let me touch him, damn shame..." Patty pouted.
"Well," Lorelai argued, "he won't let me either! I'm sure we can make an approximation..."
Patty acted as if she hadn't heard and cut her off, "I'll need the statistics tomorrow."
Since when was she taking orders from Miss Patty? Lorelai repressed a sigh and went straight home.
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She stared at the phone for quite some time, waiting for an idea. How could she tell Luke she needed to "measure" him without it sounding so dirty? Maybe she could just invent some numbers to give to Patty... but then, if the costumes didn't fit, it would be bad. She had to do it. She couldn't go to the diner for this, though. She needed to be in her own territory. As she got the nerve to pick up the phone, there was a knock on the front door.
Relieved to have to postpone that phone call, she got off the couch and walked to the door.
Oh.
She didn't need to call. He was there.
"Kirk told me you needed me for something," Luke stated.
She let him in and followed him after he had walked passed her.
"Kirk? How did he..." She shook her head. "Okay, never mind. In fact, I don't need you, I need your body."
Luke frowned and abruptly stopped moving. Lorelai nearly bumped into him.
"Measurements!" she quickly added. "Your body measurements!"
Would things ever go back to normal? Since when was she so nervous when Luke was around?
"What for?" Luke asked, more relaxed, as he turned to her.
"To play. I mean, for the play! Costumes, you know..."
Luke, a little amused, squinted his eyes. "Ookay..." he said, unsure.
"Well, make yourself comfortable. I'll be right back," she said, heading to the stairs.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm getting my measuring tape, obviously."
"Can't you just look at my clothes' tags?"
"I wish..." she muttered before running upstairs.
Was it only him, or was there some real tension in there? Maybe it's about that Doug thing. She's probably still uncomfortable since I know some details about her... Oh, no! Stop that right now, Danes! he thought, rubbing his eyes, trying to repress those Lorelai images.
When Lorelai came back in the living room, Luke was still in the exact same position. She had no idea what he was thinking about; she was way too absorbed by her own feelings. Maybe she was just over analyzing the situation. It wasn't that big of a deal, was it?
When she instructed him to extend his arms so she could measure their length, she noticed that he was clearly avoiding her eyes... Not that she was searching for his, or anything. In fact, she was probably also avoiding eye contact, though glancing at his face every few seconds.
"Could you relax a little, Luke? You're making me nervous," she asked as she did everything possible not to touch his arm with her fingers.
I'm not gonna make it, Luke thought. She's gonna kill me brushing her fingers on me like that. Can't she hurry up?
She was concentrating so hard on not touching him that it made every little contact worse. When she moved to the other arm, she realized she should have been writing the numbers down... but if Luke understood she had forgotten the main reason she was doing this in the first place, he would think she was enjoying it, which she was not. How could she enjoy feeling her stomach twist so much, making it difficult to breathe normally? How could she enjoy having to force herself to stop shaking? How could she enjoy that burning sensation in her gut? Luke saved her.
"Shouldn't you be writing this down?"
"I have an incredibly good memory," she replied.
"Lorelai, please write it down, I don't wanna go through this again."
She laughed at him.
"What are you whining about? I'm the one working, all you have to do is stand there!"
But she went to the kitchen to find a piece of paper and a pen. It gave them both time to take a deep, effective breath.
This situation was so ridiculous. They were both adults. They should have been able to dismiss the tension with a joke and a laugh or two, not to make it thicker with silence.
Standing before him, she was now measuring the length between his neck and his shoulder. At this point, she didn't even know if that measure was relevant or not. Her fingers touched his bare neck. She fought her first instinct that was to yank away her hand immediately because her brain told her, "If you don't want Luke to know how disturbing this is for you, you better act like everything's fine. Plus, it's only Luke..." She had placed the measuring tape the wrong way so she had to read the number on his neck's side. She leaned forward and breathed out at the same time. Maybe she did it on purpose, just to test him.
Luke couldn't help but close his eyes at the contact of her warm breath on his skin. He did everything he could to prevent it, but he shivered. Terrified, he glanced at Lorelai by the corner of his eyes.
She felt a slight, discrete but noticeable, wave under her fingers. A quiver ran through her entire body. Horrified, she caught Luke's eyes on her. They both quickly looked away and Lorelai took her hands off of Luke, the measuring tape falling on the floor. She turned away and leaned over the coffee table to write a number she had just made up because –she was embarrassed to even confess it to herself- she didn't remember seeing any number on the measuring tape.
What was that?
The silence was killing them, but neither could find anything to say. They both prayed for the phone to magically ring at that moment to make a distraction, but it didn't.
"Is this gonna take long? I've got a diner to run, you know, and I'm not a Barbie doll. Why do we need exact measurements, anyway? I'm a normal sized guy, just give me normal sized costumes, for Pete's sake!" Luke gruffly ranted.
Is Luke babbling? That's a first...
She took the measuring tape, which was at his feet and got up, rolling her eyes.
"Gimme five minutes, Darla," she said.
She looked at his chest thinking that if the arm-part was awkward, this one would definitely be worse.
"How many inches is your waist?" Lorelai asked, hopeful.
He looked down at her and said nothing.
"Okay, then," she gave up, "hold on..."
She put her arms around him to place the measuring tape. They were too close. She slid her hands on his side, following the tape, and took a step back. She couldn't look at his face, and that was a good thing since he couldn't look at her either because he really was concentrating so his body didn't react.
"32 inches. Can you remember that?" she asked him, focusing on her hands.
He mechanically cleared his throat.
"32, got it."
He felt five again, needing to ask, "Are we there, yet?" as she lowered her hands to his hip. He clenched his fists.
She read the number and quickly stepped away to write the numbers down.
"I'm almost done," she said, more to herself than to Luke.
Jeez, what is left to measure?
She was about to freak out as she looked at his thighs. I can't. I can't. I can't.
"Uhm... We have 2 options for this one," she explained. "I can do it myself and it will take us a month to get over it, or you can help me and we can have a beer after."
"I'll take the beer," he chose quickly.
She almost sighed in relief.
"Good. Hold this end, would you?" She handed him the tape.
"What are we measuring?" he asked, almost scared.
"..."
Wait, she told herself. Make sure your voice sound casual.
"The inside of your legs. You have to hold the tape up... well, up to your... uhm... groin." Way to go casual. That sounded really relaxed.
Luke didn't really notice how she had said it. This was so embarrassing. But he thanked God she didn't measure this one herself. There were limits to what a man could bare without having his body react uncontrollably. He tried to relax but his throat tightened as he watched the top of her head go down slowly, following her hands on his thigh and leg, down to his ankle. To Luke, it really looked like a weird kind of lap dance. And that's probably why he let out a nervous snort when she announced she was done.
"Want that beer now?" she proposed. She didn't wait for his answer and hurried to the kitchen.
Once alone, she threw her head back, looking at the ceiling and letting out a short breath. That was not supposed to happen. She was not supposed to react to Luke this way. And neither was Luke to her. She felt so stupid when she thought about how she was the one who proposed him doing the play. And the way she felt was all Luke's fault. Ever since he knew she had slept with Doug, he was always looking at her like she was naked. His eyes were constantly wandering over her body and she really felt like she had no clothes on. This was unfair. She was the one who usually had the power over him. When had she let things change?
She opened the refrigerator and saw there was only one bottle of beer left. She brought it to Luke who was now sitting on the sofa.
"Here," she said, handing it to him.
"Thanks."
She sat at the other end, almost on the arm of the couch.
"So," she started, "you'll have time to do the play even with the diner and everything?"
Luke only shrugged his shoulders. Lorelai really wished she had a beer too. That way she could play with the tag like Luke was doing.
Suddenly, they heard the kitchen door slamming open followed by a smoky-rough voice.
"SWEETIE!"
"Living room, Babette!" Lorelai shouted.
Still out of sight, Babette yelled, "Your magic powers over Luke succeeded once again! I will never truly understand how you can make him do whatever you want him to do. Imagine all the great sex you could have with him with those powers!"
When Babette arrived in the living room, panting, she didn't even seem embarrassed.
"Oh, hey, Luke!" she greeted.
Lorelai was trying not to laugh, looking at her feet, while Luke slightly waved at Babette.
"Good thing you are both here. Patty wanted me to tell you that she needs you two in a private coaching session tomorrow afternoon at 3," she started. "Oh! And, Lorelai, Patty changed her mind about the measurements. She says she doesn't have time for made-to-measure costumes now. He just has to tell her what size he wears."
Luke and Lorelai shared a dumbfounded look. Babette continued, "Okay, well, have fun you, love birds."
And she left by the side door.
"Of course. That was meant to happen," Lorelai told Luke, referring to Patty changing her mind too late.
Luke handed the beer to Lorelai.
"Do you want it? I have to go back to the diner if I wanna take part of the afternoon off."
"Oh, okay." Lorelai took the bottle, making sure their fingers didn't touch.
Luke got up, replaced his baseball cap and asked, "Can I borrow your script tonight? I'd like to read it a couple of times, you know..."
"Well, it won't be really useful since Miss Patty told me she wanted to edit it."
"Why?"
"She wants to take off all your lines because she has no trust in you," Lorelai replied, seriously.
Luke didn't buy it.
"She wants to edit the... kissing scenes. She probably thinks they're too much."
They were okay with Doug but not with me? Luke didn't know if he had to be relieved or upset.
"Good," he said, upset.
She knew he would be relieved.
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The next afternoon, when Luke arrived at the studio, the door was closed and Lorelai wasn't there yet. He sat on the stairs. Why was he doing this? He hadn't even agreed to it. It was so not like him to sit outside, waiting for the opening of a dance studio to rehearse a play... He was about to laugh at himself when he saw Lorelai walking toward him. He checked his watch.
"You're late," he blamed her.
"You're annoying."
She sat next to him.
"Hi," she smiled up to him. "You nervous?"
How does she know?
"No," he lied. "Why would I be nervous?"
Because I am? she thought.
"I dunno. You haven't done this kind of thing since you were in High School."
"I'm fine. You look nervous."
"No, I look pretty," she rectified, tilting her head.
Luke rolled his eyes. The door behind them opened.
"There you are! I thought I had heard voices... We don't have all day, come on, let's get started!" Patty said.
Luke turned to Lorelai.
"I swear she wasn't there when I arrived."
They walked in. Patty was standing in front of the table, the lights were dimmed and there were 2 yoga mats on the floor. Neither Luke nor Lorelai knew what to do or where to stand. They didn't expect the studio to be so quiet and... scary. Miss Patty was jubilant.
"Okay," she almost whispered, "since you two never worked together as you're about to do for the next few weeks, I have a bunch of exercises for you to get comfortable. Lorelai, I know you did some of them already, but keep in mind that every partner is different."
Was she still talking about the play? Because that sounded extremely dirty. Luke was obviously freaked out by all this. Patty didn't bother.
"You can sit on the mats, I'm going to put some music and turn off the lights completely. You two just relax and do exactly what I tell you to do."
As she finished her little instructions, the studio went really dark. They had a hard time finding the mats but they both sat down and waited for Patty to tell them what to do. The music started. It was some kind of weird creepy piano music. They couldn't see each other at all. Lorelai moved and accidentally hit Luke's hand with hers.
"Sorry," she whispered.
"This is so weird. Did she make you do this with Doug?" he asked quietly.
"No." She looked around but didn't see anything. Not even her own hand when she put it up to her nose. "Luke..."
"Huh?"
"I think I'm invisible."
He chuckled. Miss Patty's voice rose from afar.
"It's important to stay quiet during this exercise. The only noise you're allowed to make are sounds of pleasure."
"What?" Lorelai murmured.
"Did she say pleasure?" Luke was scared now.
"Shhhh," Patty interrupted them. "Okay, now when you're ready, I want one of you to turn your back to the other and the other is going to massage you."
"Oh, Jeez..."
"No need to take off your shirts. Just feel the other, don't be afraid of his body, don't be ashamed of yours..."
Lorelai was fighting so hard not to laugh. To hide it, she turned around. Luke noticed it and sighed. Why did she have to be the first to get the massage? And why did he have to be the first to touch the other? He was afraid of the other's body, dammit. Afraid of what it could do to his.
Even if it was pitch black all around, she closed her eyes, waiting for Luke's hands on her. She shivered even before the contact occurred. And when it did, she jumped slightly.
He searched for her shoulders, really afraid to touch anything else. He found her bare neck and felt her tremble. His thumbs worked into her skin in a circular motion, his other fingers laying somewhere on her throat.
She took a deep breath. Her chest rose.
He closed his eyes and forced his fingers not to touch anything under her collarbones, although as he motioned toward her shoulders, his fingers brushed lower.
Lorelai fluttered and opened her eyes. This was an exercise to get more comfortable! It was not going to work.
Luke moved to her back where her shirt was covering all her skin. He didn't notice how rough he was massaging.
"Ouch!" Lorelai yelped. "You think you can rub harder?"
"Lorelai," Patty warned, "is that the pleasure sound you make?"
As she heard Luke starting to laugh, she hit him on the thigh. Patty continued, "You don't need words to communicate. When you're an actor, you find other ways to express yourself. Now, switch roles."
It's about time, Lorelai thought.
Her hands landed directly on his shoulders. She was going to get back at him for all those past few days when he made her feel like a teenager under hormonal disorder. She slowly slid her fingers under his flannel shirt and massaged right under his collarbones.
Luke clenched his teeth, repressing any sound that might have wanted to come out.
Since Luke didn't react, she moved up to his neck, her thumbs brushing just behind his ears. He lowered his head to give her easier access.
How can he be so alright with this? She sighed angrily. He didn't wanna react, she was going to make him scream. And she pinched him on both sides of his waist, right where everyone's ticklish.
"Hey!" he yelled, sweeping away her hands.
Lorelai's evil grin stayed hidden in the dark.
They heard Patty sigh in discouragement.
"Okay, it's worse than I had expected..." she said to herself. "Let's move on to the next exercise." She gradually turned the lights back on and explained the next step.
"Lorelai, you remember the exercise you miserably failed; the one where you let yourself fall backwards in the man's strong arms?"
Lorelai closed her eyes, wincing. She hated that one.
"Everything is going to be fine, gorgeous. Today no one is here to watch you fail. You trust Luke, don't you?"
Lorelai looked at Luke. Yeah. She did trust him.
"You better not let me fall," she threatened him as she positioned herself in front of him.
Patty explained to Luke what he had to do and after a few seconds, they were waiting for Lorelai to decide to fall. She kept glancing behind her to make sure Luke really was ready. He was starting to get impatient.
"Come on, Lorelai. The floor isn't even that hard," he said.
She stayed in position, feeling his smirk on her back.
"Very funny..."
Okay, Lorelai. If you don't get it right this time, Luke is going to make fun of you for a week. Let's go. 1... 2... 3...
She let go. She might have screamed. And she fell for a really long time and freaked out until Luke caught her really close to the floor. He thought it was funny. As he helped her up, Lorelai turned to him and hit his chest over and over again.
"You scared me to death, you idiot! I trusted you and you scared me!"
"Did I catch you?" he cut her off.
She stopped hitting him.
"Yes... but you really scared me."
"I'm sorry. When it's my turn to fall, I'll let you do the same thing to me," he joked.
Lorelai smiled. Miss Patty continued the session, not even surprised that Lorelai had let herself fall back this time.
"Now, you will get up and stand at about one foot away from one another. You will stare into each other's eyes. You can't break eye contact."
They stood up and waited for Miss Patty's approval on their position before staring.
One foot really is close. Lorelai's heart was pounding and she was afraid Luke would see it in her eyes. Then, for a split second, Luke's eyes wandered over Lorelai's lips.
"Cheater..." she whispered. His gaze moved back to her eyes.
"How long are we supposed to do this?" Luke asked.
"As long as it takes for one of you to give up," she answered.
Lorelai replied, "But we really are great at this game. We could do this for days. We are stubborn and we practice every day..." She thought she was joking, but because of Luke's smile, she realized she was not.
They were still studying each other.
"Take a little step forward," Patty ordered.
Lorelai could feel his breath on her face. That's how close they were.
"Now, hold each other's hands."
Lorelai couldn't talk, she felt her heartbeats in her throat. Luke tried to grab her hands. She dodged so he would look away so they could stop this stupid exercise. It didn't work. Luke didn't flinch. And he tried again. This time, he grabbed her fingers and she slightly opened her mouth and he heard a little gasp.
She saw him look at her lips again.
"Stop cheating!" she begged loud enough so Patty would hear.
"Kids, kids!" she separated them. "You two are impossible!"
"Why are we even doing this, Miss Patty? I've known Luke for years! We don't need exercises to get to know each other."
"Oh, you two are fine when you are standing with a counter in between, but as soon as there's close proximity involved you are scared to death."
Luke snorted. Lorelai disagreed.
"That's not true!"
"You are so afraid of physical contact that you start bantering or joking or doing anything possible to break it. You need to get over that shyness. You need to open up to the other, accepting the physical attraction that's between you two."
Both Lorelai and Luke were too stunned to respond. Where was she getting all this crap!
"How are you supposed to act like two lovers when you can't even hold hands without laughing because you're too nervous? You know what could greatly improve the play?"
They remained silent, still unable to tell if she was kidding or if she really believed what was coming out of her mouth.
"You really should sleep together."
"Huh?"
Lorelai's head jerked toward Luke. Eyebrows frowned, they were both wondering if the other had heard the same thing.
"Have sex. That's your homework for the week. To break the uneasiness between the two of you." Patty left them alone and walked to the table.
"You're kidding, right?" Lorelai asked Patty who didn't answer.
"It worked with Doug..."
Luke couldn't believe he had just let this slip. Lorelai didn't look mad. Her shoulders dropped, she pursed her lips together and nodded slowly. She was clearly hurt. Luke looked down. He was a jerk.
Patty came back from the table with two scripts.
"Here. I spent all night editing them. You two are such an inspiration!"
"Thanks," Luke said, taking the sheets.
Lorelai took hers without a word.
"I'll see you two in a week, same time. I hope you'll know all your lines."
Luke waited for Miss Patty to turn away. But when she did, Lorelai was already outside.
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How could he have said that?
She wasn't spending her days thinking about Doug, but when she did think about him, she felt disgusted with herself. She felt weak and stupid. She felt guilty. And that made her even madder. She should not feel guilty about it because it was nothing! But she couldn't help it. She felt like she had betrayed Luke and herself for something that wasn't even that good.
And for Luke to say something like this? It worked with Doug. What was that supposed to mean? Was she supposed to be hurt? Was she supposed to laugh? That was the biggest problem with Luke. She knew him by heart but she didn't really understand him. What was going on in his head? And why, WHY was she always analyzing him? Why couldn't she just take what he said with a grain of salt? Why did everything that came out of his mouth have to get to her this way? GAHHHHHH.
And her stupid keys didn't want to unlock her stupid front door! Why were her stupid hands shaking? If she had been a man, she would have hit the stupid wall with her fist and made a stupid hole in it! She walked her way on the porch, sat on one of the chairs next to the side door and threw the new and kiss-proof stupid script on the stupid table.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid! Why did I have to react this way? Now Luke will think I'm upset, which I am, but he will ask me why I am upset and the truth is that I DON'T KNOW! Okay, calm down. Find a reason. Find something you can tell him. Find a believable explanation to your reaction... ... ... Man! How am I supposed to explain my reaction when I don't even know what he meant?
Okay, did he imply that I slept with Doug to improve my acting? Well, then maybe he's right. I did act during... hahahaha okay, that's not what he meant. Oh boy. Uhm... Did he mean that I didn't even know Doug when I slept with him? That's possible. Then I could say I am upset because... the truth hurts? No, maybe he was just reminding me that I slept with his best friend and lied to him about it in case I had forgotten. Can't he just get over it once and for all? Can't I just get over it too?
She lowered her head on the table and rubbed her neck, eyes closed. She jumped when she heard footsteps on the porch.
"My massage wasn't effective?" Luke said.
"It was hardly called a massage." She knew her voice sounded cold. When she acted mad, she almost believed herself.
"I'm sorry." He sat down across from her.
"For the non-massage?"
"For what I said earlier."
"What did you say earlier?" Maybe he didn't remember what he had said and he was just apologizing because she looked upset.
"Lorelai..."
Or maybe he did remember. She sighed.
"You think I'm a slut?" Whoa! Where did that come from? You know that's not what he meant at all!
"No!"
"Then why would you say that?"
I don't know!
"I just don't like the fact that you and him..."
He couldn't even say it.
"But he's your best friend!"
"So what? I hate to think you did."
"Well, don't think about it!" Do just like me.
"I'm just not comfortable with this, that's all."
"Why?"
"Same as with you and Nicole, I guess..."
Lorelai snorted. "Nicole was hardly my best friend!"
"Well... that Chilton mom from the booster club, then. And she hardly even talked to you about me. How would you have felt if she had told you she had slept with me? With details!"
Lorelai thought about it. And she realized...
"We're so screwed up."
They stayed quiet, unsure if anything was resolved. Lorelai decided it was not.
"What details?"
"What do you mean, what details?"
"What did Doug actually told you?"
"You were there, you don't need a re-enactment."
"I wanna know what you know. I have the right to know."
"No."
"You just said that so you could make it rhyme."
"You don't want me to tell you what I know."
"He said you were impressed..." She looked at him in the eye.
"I was not!" he defended himself.
"Neither was I..." As soon as it came out, Lorelai put a hand over her mouth and repressed a laugh.
Luke looked away so he could smile.
"I'm sorry I made that promise to you, I shouldn't have. I just..."
"It's okay," he brushed off.
"It really was nothing," she felt the need to clarify. "I'm sure you had some one-night stands with women you don't even remember their last names..."
"I always remember the last names."
"So do I. Uhm..."
"Whitman."
"Thanks."
Feeling that the subject was now talked-out, Lorelai took the script.
"So... we have one week to learn our lines, huh?"
"Yup."
She opened it and went through the pages. Miss Patty had put post-its on the pages she had re-written... Lorelai looked at one of them.
"Oh, my God!"
"What?" Luke leaned over to see what she was looking at. He read...
"Oh."
They had always known Stars Hollow people were crazy. They just had never fully understood how much...
TBC
A.N.2 Please continue to let me know what's working and what's not. In next chapter, you'll read a real rehearsal... I really feel like ASP right now imagining your reaction to what's coming up! insert evil laugh
