A/N: This wasn't an easy chapter for me to write so it took a little longer than I had anticipated but I hope it was worth the wait! Once again thanks to those who read and reviewed the last chapter, and special thanks to Jessi, for once again being a great help with writing this chapter!
Chapter 4 – Meddling lives
"So," Spencer said, when they were all seated again a week later, "last time I asked you to think of three things that changed most after you got together. Who wants to get started?"
Lorelai looked at Luke for a moment and then decided to start herself. "I guess I'll start. I think the thing that changed the most was letting each other in on aspects of our lives that we didn't share. There was a lot we knew about each other, but also a lot we didn't. Also, we had to mingle our two lives and change some of our routine. Which wasn't always as easy."
"So that are two things. Can you tell me some of the things you didn't know about each other?"
"For starters I had no idea Luke went to bed so early. There was this election in town for the new town selectman right after we first started dating. Jackson, the husband of my friend Sookie was running against Taylor and we used the diner as a base for his campaign. Anyway, after Jackson won we had this party at the diner and I felt really bad because Luke hadn't really enjoyed it as much as we did and he was upstairs in his apartment. So I went upstairs with a bottle of champagne and he opened the door in his pajamas and I realized that he was already in bed. It was like 9.30 or something. I knew that he gets up at 4.45 every morning, especially when he has early deliveries but I had no idea he went to bed that early. Of course I never thought about it because how can you get through the day waking up at that impossible time if you go to bed late? Anyway, I had no idea. And while I was standing there, watching him, I also realized that he told me on our first date that he hates champagne. I mean, who hates champagne?"
"Come on, I'm really not the only one who hates champagne." Luke defended himself.
Lorelai smiled. "Of course you're not honey."
"I'm just more of a beer guy."
"Yeah. Although you did try drinking Scotch once when you played golf with my father. That really didn't work for you. My dad got you to agree to franchise your diner, you agreed to shave and he got you an art dealer. Art would have looked so nice in all your new diners."
"I don't know why I agreed. It didn't sound right even when I was drunk."
"Well, at least we convinced my father that it wasn't you."
"Yeah. He somehow seemed to accept that although your mother…."
"Let's not get there again shall we." Lorelai interrupted him. "I know that meeting my parents finally made you realize I was right all those years. All those nights I came to the diner for coffee after Friday night dinner and I sat there at your counter, telling you all my horror stories and you never believed they were all true."
"I did believe you, just, experiencing it was different from just hearing about it. I tried to please your parents but that was just impossible."
Spencer moved his glasses to the point of his nose. "So her parents were a big part in your relationship."
"Well I did write them on my list." Luke stated.
"Good. But I think that right now that's not the subject we want to talk about. I can feel how this is hanging between you and what a big deal this is. So I want to keep this subject for a different session. Lorelai let's get back to your second point. Can you give me some examples about where it was hard to mingle your lives?"
"Well for example the going to bed early thing. Unlike Luke I'm an evening kind of person. I hate getting out of bed early and snooze my alarm clock a dozen times before I get out in the morning. And I definitely don't go to bed at 9.30. But on the nights Luke I and spent the night together, I just went to bed as well. Afraid I would keep him awake if I didn't. Of course I couldn't sleep and got bored and I started reading all the material I could find in his apartment. One night I had to choose between the oven manual and the broiler manual and I decided to read the oven manual because it looked better. Which was a good thing by the way because a couple of days later the oven broke and Luke was having a hard time fixing it so I talked him through it. Then after he found out why I knew all the things I was saying he bought a TV for the bedroom so I could watch late night Jon Stewart."
"Luke, can you give me an example as well?" Spencer asked.
"I remember the morning after we spend the night together at her house for the first time. I was making breakfast but then she walked in and started saying that she thought we'd go to Luke's for breakfast. I argued that I was making the same food I'd be making at the diner but in the end she made me pack everything into small containers and had me prepare the same food at the diner."
"I liked how things were changing, but I didn't want everything to change at the same time. Later on in our relationship I learned to appreciate having Luke's breakfast all for myself at home though. Made me feel all special." Lorelai explained herself.
Spencer smiled, watching the couple interact. "So those little things worked out just fine in the end."
Lorelai smiled back and grabbed Luke's hand in hers, squeezing it. "They sure did."
"And bigger things? Were there parts where you found it really hard to let each other in? And I know about April and that's one subject I want to save until later as well."
Lorelai thought for a moment and then said. "Luke's dark day."
"Your what?" Spencer asked, looking confused.
"The anniversary of my father's death. Every year on that anniversary... I disappear. I don't work. I don't talk to anyone..."
"I knew him for almost 9 years and I not once noticed that he disappeared on the exact same day each year." She looked down, a little embarrassed. Luke grabbed her hand in hers and squeezed it.
"I hadn't told anyone about it until I told you."
"But people knew. Miss Patty told me about when she invited me to her party."
"Oh…" He hadn't realized other people knew about his day.
Lorelai squeezed his hand this time. "It doesn't matter. They respected it. Miss Patty told me that it was no use to ask you because of your dark day. I asked you anyway because I wanted to know more about it. But you dismissed the subject and not brought it up again until the day before, when I separated you from Mrs. Thompson when you were fighting with her about your boat."
"My father's boat." He said. "I wanted to get rid of it, but you stored it into your garage instead."
"And pissing you off as I did. I thought you weren't ready to give the boat up. You kept it in Mrs. Thompson's garage for 15 years. I wanted to do something nice for you, but instead I made your dark day worse. You were so angry. It was our first fight as a couple."
"I didn't mean the things I said. I wasn't myself that day. I just felt like you didn't respect the things I was saying and you weren't listening to me. That you always feel you know things better than I do. And that's true. You partially know me better than I do myself because I wasn't ready to give the boat up. I'm still grateful you made me keep it."
"Really?" She asked, needing to know it for sure.
He nodded. "Absolutely."
"You had the fight that day? So that means you talked to her that day." Spencer noted.
Luke nodded. "I wanted to let her in, but it didn't work out the way I wanted. When I found the boat in her garage, I was so angry."
"But you did came to find me later that evening, when I was in Miss Patty's dance studio."
"I hated how things were between us."
"So you made up that evening. What happened next?" Spencer asked.
"Lorelai went back to the party and I spend the rest of the evening in her garage, looking at the boat and remembering my father. Then after midnight, when my dark day was officially over I snuck into her house and spend the rest of the night with her."
"So in the end you let her in. What about the year following, did you share another dark day together?"
"Things were different that year because I had just found out about April and I had no idea how to tell Lorelai so I felt guilty for not telling her the truth." Luke said, quilt entering his body as he remembered that time, still regretting the way he handled that situation.
"But you let me in that day." Lorelai said. "You spend the night at our house and took me to your parent's graves that morning. Then you requested to spend the afternoon by yourself and took me out that night, taking me to places that reminded you of your father. That is one of my favorite days we spend together." She then shook her head, realizing what he had just said. "Are you saying you let me in on that part of your life because you didn't want to let me in on the April part?" Hurt was evident in her voice.
"No, I let you spend that day with me because I wanted you there." He looked in her eyes directly, trying to reassure her. "Around that time things were different but that day I was really glad you were with me. I needed you that day and I'm glad you spend it with me."
She nodded, although she still wasn't completely convinced. Spencer noticed this. "Let's change the subject because this is leading to something I want to save until later. Luke, why was it so hard for you to let go of that boat?"
Luke raised his shoulders. "I don't know. I just don't really like changes. After my father died I changed his hardware store into a diner because I knew how to cook, but I kept things the same way. I didn't even paint it until Lorelai made me, years later."
"When you were already dating?"
Luke shook his head. "No, a few years before that. Taylor had been bugging me about it for years and she convinced me it would look better with a fresh paint. In the end she even painted it all by herself."
"Only because I had to make up for standing you up on our original appointment."
Luke sighed, not really wanting to remember that day. Spencer noticed this.
"What happened?"
"Let's just say that it was a very bad Friday night dinner at my parents and everything that happened afterwards. But it had nothing to do with Luke. We had picked out the paint colors together and he showed me where his father had written down an order on the wall when he couldn't find a piece of paper. I made sure I didn't paint over that" She sighed. "I really looked forward to doing the painting together with Luke, but I had to do it myself for make up for standing him up. He was really mad. And he had every right to be."
"It's okay." Luke said. "I forgave you."
She nodded and smiled at him. "I know."
Spencer smiled as well before he decided it was time to move on. "We talked about how you learned things about each other that you didn't know yet and how it was to mingle your two lives. What else did you write down on your list?" He looked at Luke directly for this.
"Well, I guess the town had a big influence on our relationship after they found out. Taylor even had a town meeting about the subject."
Spencer raised his eyebrows. "The same Taylor who send you here?"
Luke nodded. "The same man. He thinks he can control everything in town. He made me promise that I would leave town if Lorelai and I would break up. That never happened but he handed out ribbons to divide the town in two when we did break up the first time."
Lorelai nodded. "He made things worse than they already were."
Spencer sighed. "So you had some people against you in this relationship. Taylor, Lorelai's parents, maybe some more of the people in town. That must have been difficult."
"I don't think it really bothered us in the beginning. But yeah, it didn't make things easier. Luke is a private guy and he doesn't like when people mingle in his life and he doesn't like it when people talk about him. It was already a big step going from being friends to being a couple." Lorelai said. "At first I thought people would be happy about it. But they didn't bring it up until that town meeting."
"How did they found out about you?"
"The town?" She asked.
Spencer nodded.
Lorelai smiled, remembering how she walked into the diner that first morning. "Well, after our first date I spend the night at Luke's". She grinned, making Luke blush in return. "I woke up the next morning graving coffee and Luke had no coffee maker in his apartment. So I slipped into his flannel shirt, and let me add, only his flannel shirt and went into the diner, figuring it wouldn't open without him. Boy was I wrong."
"So they realized it when they saw you half naked in the diner?"
"Jeez." Luke muttered.
"Don't be shy hon'. They actually saw me and he is just hearing the story."
"I've heard worse stories, believe me." Spencer said. "Anyway, you were saying that nobody brought up your relationship until the town meeting. What happened there?"
"Taylor started talking about this couple that were local business owners years ago and they fell in love, wand when the split up, the town divided it two. According to Taylor things have never been the same since." Lorelai said.
"He even had charts." Luke added.
"What did you do?" Spencer asked.
"Luke was really pissed. He yelled at Taylor that it was none of his business. That our relationship was between him and me and that everybody else had nothing to do with it." Loerlai said and then giggled. "By pointing at their faces and yelling 'not yours'. You made that quite clear babe."
"Huh?" Spencer asked, confused.
"Not important." Luke said.
"Okay." Spencer said.
Luke sighed. "That's how it is. Taylor thinks he can control every thing in town. It's about time we're doing something against it."
"Jackson tried when he was town selectman but unfortunately he wasn't really suited for the job."
"How about you?" Spencer asked Luke.
"Oh no, absolutely not. I work at the diner and that's more than enough for me. I don't want to control town events. I don't even want to participate."
"You always say that, but you always help out if they need you. You even threw Rory her goodbye party before she left. You care more about the town than you want to admit." Lorelai argued.
"I did it for Rory." He said and then whispered. "And for you."
She laid her hand on his knee and squeezed it. "Thank you." She whispered, just loud enough for him to hear.
Spencer smiled and then checked his watch. "Time is flying when you have fun. I think I have a very clear view on your relationship and the things that changed for you, and what influenced it. Enough to work with for the next few sessions. No homework this time, but I do want you to think about what we've talked about and if you can think of any more big changes, please let me know."
"Wait." Luke said and Spencer looked at him, surprised.
"Sure. What is it?"
"A few years before Lorelai and I were together I lived together with a woman named Rachel. She and I had dated before and she came back to town and moved in with me. Back then I freaked out because she placed the milk at the wrong place. With Lorelai it was different. I liked that she wore my flannel shirts in bed. I build her a shelf so she had something to put her cinnamon toothpaste on the nights she was sleeping over. I bought a coffee maker so she didn't have to sneak into the diner for her morning coffee and I already knew her crazy food habits."
Lorelai nodded, happy that Luke was saying this. "I think what he's trying to say is that even though there were little changes when we got together, it was very easy to bring our lives together."
"Exactly." Luke said. "And it wasn't until we first broke up that I realized how easy that had been."
"We developed a routine without even realizing until it was gone. I never had that with anyone. Sookie once told me that I broke up every relationship before I let things get serious. I guess every relationship besides the one I had with Max, but even I didn't let him in my life. We were engaged, but I never spent a single night in my bed with him. He spent the night once, but I couldn't sleep and I sneaked downstairs and spent the night in Rory's bed. Luke is the first guy I spent the night with in my bed."
Luke nodded. "It wasn't so hard to bring our lives together. Not the way I thought it would be."
"I get it." Spencer said. "Joining your lives wasn't as hard you thought it would be."
"Exactly." Both Luke and Lorelai said.
"I think that's a great conclusion for this session. I know there are tons of things left to talk about but my next client is waiting so I really have to end this. We'll talk again next week."
And with that, another session was over.
T.B.C.