"What are you doing?" Luke yelled across the kitchen at Lorelai. "I said to turn that over now! Do it before it's ruined!"
What she'd been doing was reading a recipe on the back of a can of beef broth just to have something to do. Slowly she put it down, turning to glare at Luke as she did so. "You realize, right, that this is my kitchen? I really don't like being yelled at in my own kitchen." To further illustrate that point, she casually sauntered over to the Dutch oven smoking on the stove. "Plus, it was your idea to come over here and make dinner, not mine," she added petulantly.
Cautiously she picked up the huge 2-prong fork thingy he'd brought over. She used it to poke at the roast being browned in the pan, finally getting a secure enough grip to raise the slab of meat and turn it over so that the other side could be seared.
"Be careful," Luke warned, just as the beef slipped off the fork and hit the bottom of the sizzling pan, causing splatters of hot fat to jump out and land on her bare legs.
She yelped in pain and hopped back, rubbing her legs.
"I told you to be careful!" Luke abandoned his prep area on the kitchen table and rushed over to grab a wet dishrag. His eyes raked over her long legs and he exhaled in relief to see she wasn't really hurt. He tossed her the dishrag while he grabbed a paper towel to wipe up the splatters on the floor before one of them could slip in it. "If you insist on wearing shorts, you should at least have on an apron."
Lorelai held the damp cloth soothingly against the thigh that had gotten the majority of the stinging grease. "And just where would I get this mythical apron you speak of?" she griped at him.
"I…" Luke let the thought trail off as he repositioned the hat on his head. He was well-aware that he'd been snapping at her since his epiphany from last Wednesday night. He didn't trust himself to not say or do the wrong thing around her, so much so that he'd gone in the opposite direction, being crabby and disagreeable just to keep a check on his emotions.
It had been his idea to show the girls how to cook and starting with their favorite, pot roast, had been a no-brainer. He'd picked this day to start because school was out and Rory would be home, and he trusted Rory to watch timers and read ingredients far more than he did Lorelai. But Rory had made up with Dean on the last day of school and in the short time since then had been largely MIA. Lorelai thought it was sweet and cute that they wanted to spend so much time together, he thought it was just asking for trouble, and Rory wandered around looking like every other girl mooning over a boy. Lorelai told him not to worry, that it'd all pass soon and Rory'd be back to normal, but he really wanted to ban Dean from setting foot inside the Stars Hollow city limits for the rest of the summer.
He took a long, slow, deep breath. "I'm glad you're all right," he told her.
"I don't know that I'm all right," she pouted. "I might be traumatized for life. Why does the pan have to be so freakin' hot?"
"Because you want to get a nice sear on it," he explained. "That's what keeps the juices in and makes it more flavorful as it cooks."
"Well, cooking's dangerous," she groused, looking once more at her leg. "What's next?" she sighed, throwing the cloth back towards the sink.
He walked over to the pan and checked the underside of the roast. "I think it's browned enough," he observed. He slipped his hands into oven mitts and lifted the big pot off of the burner. He added some sliced onions and some diced garlic to it, and then motioned for Lorelai to bring over the can of beef broth.
"Pour that in," he told her, "but stand back, and do it slowly."
Once that step was accomplished, he opened the oven door, put the lid on the pot, and slid it inside.
"Now, let that simmer in there for a couple of hours, and add the potatoes and carrots about an hour before we're going to eat," Luke reminded her. He turned back to the table, where he was trying to quickly throw together the ingredients for an apple crisp.
"What should I do?" Lorelai asked. "I feel useless."
He glanced over at her. "Peel the carrots and potatoes," he instructed.
"Um, sure," she said, uncertainty evident in her voice. She went to the sink and picked up a carrot in one hand, the peeler in the other. She studied them for a long moment before awkwardly attempting to scrape the carrot against the peeler.
Luke tore his attention away from the pastry blender he was using to cut the butter into the dry ingredients that would become the topping for the apple crisp. His plan had been to have Rory do this part while he coached Lorelai with the roast. But now Rory wasn't here and he only had a few more minutes to devote to the cooking lesson before he needed to run back to the diner. He dropped everything when he saw how Lorelai was handling the vegetable peeler. He didn't have time for this!
He was behind her at the sink in two long strides. "Don't do it like that," he chided her, reaching around her to grab her hands. "You'll slice your fingertips right off!" He picked up her left hand holding the carrot with his left hand, while his right took control of her hand holding the peeler.
"Here," Luke said. "Watch." Quickly he positioned her hand correctly on the peeler. Leaning forward, he smoothly made her hands take long, sure swipes at the carrot, peeling it cleanly. He forced her hand to drop that carrot and pick up another one. "Like this," he said, starting the process over again.
Suddenly the overwhelming scent of cherries stopped him dead. The scent, he well knew, was from her shampoo. The scent was overpowering because his nose, and his chin, and his cheek were right against her hair. He'd been so intent on the food preparation that he hadn't registered how closely he was standing behind her. His length was pushed up against her back and she was pressed against the edge of the sink, his arms enveloping her, his hands firmly holding her hands. One of the paper-thin slices peeled from the carrot couldn't have found room to fit between them.
Abruptly Luke dropped her hands. The half-peeled carrot and the peeler clattered into the sink.
He needed to step back. He knew he needed to step back. But instead he placed his hands on the edge of the sink on either side of her, for just a moment. For just a moment he gave in to the sensation of leaning up against her. For just a moment he let his face nuzzle against her silky, sweet-smelling hair.
Sanity returned in a rush and Luke forced his arms to push himself back. He took a step over to the side, folding his arms tightly across his chest. He looked down at the floor, breathing hard.
Lorelai continued to grip the edge of the sink for several moments. Finally she pushed herself away, too, stepping to the opposite side. She mirrored Luke by crossing her arms and looking down. Her cute summer top with the pink and orange polka dots rose and fell while she gasped for breath.
Eventually the blood pounding in his ears subsided and Luke could hear Morey playing the piano next door. A breeze floated through the hot kitchen from the open door. The burner on the stove made small ticking sounds as it cooled down.
"Wow," Lorelai finally said, and he could tell she was trying to laugh and sound normal. "A couple of months ago, that would have been one of those moments I was rambling on about to you." She made herself look at him. "Right?" she asked.
"Right," Luke muttered.
"I mean, it's a good thing we know better now, right?" she asked with intensity, carefully pacing her words. Her eyes searched his face.
"Right," he agreed again, too quickly.
"That's what I thought," she snapped, a bitter note evident in her voice.
"Look, Lorelai―"
They both jumped when the front door slammed.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Rory called as she ran into the kitchen. "I know I'm later than I said I'd be. I walked with Dean to Doose's and then I stopped to say hi to Lane. And Dean can't come to eat with us because he's working till they close tonight." She stopped to draw a breath. "Wow! It already smells fantastic in here!" She looked around. "What should I do?"
Luke cleared his throat. "Wash your hands and then come over here to help me with dessert," he instructed, moving over to the table.
"OK," Rory said, agreeably. She went to the sink at once. "Aw, poor carrot!" she said, holding up the carrot that had nearly gotten severed on the vegetable peeler a few minutes earlier. "What happened?"
"Nothing," Lorelai answered dully. "Nothing happened here at all."
Lunchtime the next day saw Lorelai swaggering into the kitchen. With a flourish she fished her CHiPs lunchbox out of the inn's refrigerator. She'd scored it at the town's rummage sale but this was the first time she'd had a reason to use it.
She fixed herself a cup of coffee and then sat down on a stool at the table, taking special care in arranging her roast beef sandwich in front of her. Then she waited for Sookie to finally turn around and notice her.
Sookie, however, was thwarting her plans by being too interested in whatever she was stirring in a huge soup kettle.
Lorelai's patience wore out. She took a huge bite of her sandwich. "Mmm," she moaned, loudly. "Boy, this is a good sandwich. People wish they had a sandwich this good."
Mention of possibly foreign food in her kitchen got Sookie's attention. She gave one final stir, put on the lid and turned down the heat before coming over to see what Lorelai was eating.
"Where'd you get the sandwich?" she asked suspiciously.
"I made the sandwich," Lorelai said proudly.
"You made the sandwich?" Sookie sounded doubtful.
"Not only did I make the sandwich, I made the roast beef!" Lorelai bragged.
"You made the roast beef?" No way Sookie was buying that. She leaned over and sniffed at it. "Luke made the roast beef!" she crowed.
"Luke showed me how to make the roast beef," Lorelai amended. "He came over yesterday and showed me and Rory how to make a whole meal. It was fantastic. Rory and I think now that the only reason we never liked vegetables before is because we didn't cook them ourselves. They taste better when you've slaved in the kitchen yourself over them."
"Did Luke stay and eat with you?" Sookie asked, smiling like she already knew the answer.
"Yes, and I found out all of the steamy details they'd been keeping from me about Luke's adventures at Chilton." Lorelai paused to take another bite, then continued on as she chewed. "Apparently Mr. Danes was a big hit. He got hit on twice."
"No!" Sookie shrieked, delighted. "Tell me!"
"Rory's French teacher was quite smitten, gave him her number and everything."
"What a hussy!"
"Yep. And then some former Stars Hollow High cutie made a play for him."
"Who?" Sookie's face flushed in annoyance.
"Don't know her name. You'll have to ask Rory." Lorelai grinned. "Better yet, ask Luke. I love to watch him turn 13 shades of purple."
"Well, don't worry," Sookie huffed. "Luke would never look at someone else. You'll never have to worry about that."
"Sookie," Lorelai began, immediately uncomfortable, "you know we're not―"
"Lorelai!" Sookie cried, out of patience. "What is it going to take to finally make you fall for the guy?"
The current bite of the sandwich was refusing to be swallowed. Lorelai saw that she had a blob of mayonnaise on her thumb. Normally she would have just licked it off but the fear that it might choke her if she tried caused her to wipe it off with her napkin instead. She cleared her throat and looked off to the side.
"Actually, Sook," she said, slowly, "I'm pretty sure that ship has already sailed."
It took a few moments for that to sink in. "Oh, my God," Sookie finally gasped, as Lorelai's meaning became clear. "Lorelai! You didn't tell me? You mean that the two of you are finally―"
"No," Lorelai said firmly, squashing Sookie's glee before it became too painful for her. "Not the two of us. Me. Just me."
"I don't get it. What do you mean?"
"I mean…" She sighed, busying herself by putting her sandwich back into the baggie and taking great care in cleaning up her eating area. "I mean, he's cute, he's hot, he's a truly nice guy, he's kind, he cooks, he fixes stuff, he takes care of me, and...he even loves my daughter." She slammed shut the lunchbox. "Hell, Sookie, he's perfect, and I'd be crazy not to see it."
"Then what's the problem?" Sookie asked, perplexed.
Lorelai shook her head. She gave herself a brief pep talk about how she was going to say this without blubbering to Sookie. "He doesn't want me." The words came out calmly enough but she couldn't keep her bottom lip from quivering.
"Oh, Lorelai. That's not true," Sookie disputed her.
"Yes, it is," Lorelai insisted. "He says we're not a good match."
Sookie couldn't believe what she was hearing. She plopped down on the stool across from Lorelai. "Luke said that?" she gasped. "He actually said that?"
Lorelai nodded, not trusting herself to say anything more.
Sookie was shaking her head. "You guys have talked about this?"
"We talk about lots of stuff," Lorelai said mournfully. "I asked him if he'd consider changing our friendship into something more, but he said he'd rather be friends."
"I can't believe this," Sookie said faintly. "I always thought that if he ever had the chance, he'd be all over you."
Lorelai snorted. "Please. Yesterday, by accident, we ended up like this―" She put one of her hands up against the other to illustrate. "He was horrified. He could barely look at me the rest of the night."
"My head's spinning," Sookie muttered. "I feel like I've stepped into an alternate reality or something."
"And I think something else happened the night he went to Chilton," Lorelai confessed. "I don't know what. I mean, I think he had a good time. He came back just glowing with pride over Rory, but ever since then he's been just so irritated at me. I don't know what I've done. Maybe it's because he can sense how I really feel about him. That's why I was so relieved when he suggested coming over to make dinner last night, but I don't think he would've said six words to me if Rory hadn't have been there. It's almost like we're back to square one again."
Sookie leaned across the table to pat Lorelai's hand. "Sweetie," she said sorrowfully, "I'm so sorry. What are you going to do?"
"Nothing," Lorelai said dully. "I'm going to keep on the same way that I have been, for as long as I can. I'm glad he's my friend, Sook. I wouldn't want to change that, you know? I don't want to lose that. So we'll just keep on with the friendship thing. Who knows? Maybe someday I'll meet someone else, some other perfect guy, and I'll look back on this whole thing with Luke now and realize he's right. He's not the guy for me." She could feel the pressure building in her eyes as tears threatened to spill out. She looked away, snuffling, not wanting to fall apart in front of Sookie.
"I'm so mad at Luke," Sookie said with a scowl. "I want to go give him a piece of my mind!"
"Don't do that," Lorelai implored. "It's not his fault. It's not his fault that he doesn't love me."
It was the 'love' that did it. The tears started flowing. Sookie jumped up and ran around the table to throw her arms around Lorelai.
"This is not the way things were supposed to work out," Sookie said helplessly.
Lorelai drew in a shaky breath, trying to regain her composure. "It's not all bad," she said, still trying to be positive. "I've made a good friend. And someday things will be back to normal again. I'll be able to look at him and not think about what could have been." She wiped at her face with her napkin and gulped down the remaining tears. Her hand slid down her throat, her fingers automatically searching for the heart that she deliberately hadn't worn today. "Someday I'll wear the necklace again," she promised. Her eyes came to rest on the lunchbox sitting in front of her. She swallowed hard.
"Someday," she said, looking into Sookie's sympathetic eyes, "I may even be able to eat roast beef again."
A few nights later Luke finished cleaning up the diner and looked outside. The long June day still hadn't turned fully into night. The remaining glow in the sky made him feel restless.
In no time he was striding towards Lorelai's house. Maybe she'd agree to go on a walk with him. He remembered a certain grove of trees on the far side of the lake, perfect for watching the moon rise. Secluded. Romantic.
He gave himself a shake. He was not going to act like some sort of lovesick fool and risk scaring her off. He hadn't waited for her this long to ruin it by jumping in now before he'd figured out a way to secure her heart. He needed a way to make her see that they belonged together. But until then he needed to keep on being her buddy. He didn't want her to think that anything had changed. He needed to just keep hanging around.
He laughed at himself. Like there's any way I could stay away, he thought.
As Luke approached the house he saw Lorelai sitting on the porch steps. Drawing closer, he could see she was clutching a bottle of beer. Another one waited on the step next to her.
Grinning, he settled himself down in front of her, resting carefully back against her knees. "This one for me?" he asked, picking up the bottle on the steps.
Without waiting on a reply he brought it to his lips. It was empty.
He turned to look at her then with some concern. Her eyes were vacantly staring out into the growing darkness as her fingers rubbed against the label on the bottle she was clutching. "Hey, what's going on?" he asked softly.
Lorelai's eyes skittered to his face then, as though she'd just become aware of his presence. She sighed and put down her bottle. She raised her hands and pulled her ponytail tighter, then slipped her hands down between her knees, once again staring straight ahead.
"There's this guy…" she said, very slowly.
Luke felt bands of ice form across his chest. It was hard to breathe. He knew nothing good was going to come after those three words. He grabbed what had been her second bottle of beer and raised it to up to take a long gulp.
"He's some sort of sales rep for a copier company," Lorelai continued. "His team meets at the inn about every third week. He's always flirted with me, and I…Well, you know me. I flirt back. Anyway, he finally asked me out today."
"Are you going to go?" He couldn't believe he'd gotten the words out.
"I don't know," she said, truthfully.
A small spark of hope flared in chest, melting the ice enough that he could draw a full breath. "What's the matter? Is he ugly?" he snapped, taking another drink.
She pondered that. "No," she finally decided. "He's handsome, I guess. Sort of has that Pierce Brosnan thing going on. Lots of dark curls."
Well, that wasn't what he wanted to hear. "He's short," Luke guessed next.
Lorelai's gaze landed on his head. "He's not as tall as you, but I can still wear heels with him."
"He's stupid, then," Luke tried, knowing that stupid was the one thing she couldn't tolerate.
"No, he's pretty sharp," she replied. "He can keep up with me, anyway. And he's a movie buff. That's usually what we banter about."
Luke angrily took another swig of the beer. They bantered, damn it! Bantering was their thing!
"He sounds perfect, then," he said, scathingly. "What are you waiting for?"
She sighed and looked back off across the street. "I don't know. Shouldn't I feel something? Shouldn't there be some sort of spark, or something? Shouldn't I be spending all of my free time doodling his name on the cover of my notebook or something?"
Relief shot through him. This was going to be simpler than he thought. "So don't go," he advised, breathing easier.
She rubbed her palms against her knees nervously. "It's just…" She blew out a breath. "You know how I feel about my parents, right?"
He looked at her then, relieved to see that she was looking him in the eyes. "Yes," he confirmed.
"There's nothing they have that I want. There's nothing in their lives that I'd want to copy, except…this one thing."
"What?" he asked softly.
She shrugged her shoulders helplessly. "They have each other," she sighed. "It's always been that way. The two of them are a unit. They're totally united. It's them against the world. They have each other's backs. Add any other cliché about coupledom that you can think of, because that's what they've had all of these years. You can't break them apart. And they just radiate this confidence because they know they're solid. And even though I don't agree with 99% of the stuff they do, I've always had to admire their commitment to each other."
Luke nodded, even though it had grown so dark now he wasn't sure if she could see him. "Yeah, I know what you mean. My folks were like that, too. Every single night when Dad came home, Mom would drop what she was doing and run to the backdoor to give him a hug and a kiss. And it wasn't because she was some sort of dutiful housewife or something," Luke hastened to add. "She was just genuinely glad to see him again."
Lorelai chuckled. "Well, I'm sure that Emily Gilmore never did that. But I can remember seeing them at parties, trading glances across the room. Like they were so attuned to each other that they could communicate that way. It always fascinated me."
"My parents did that too," Luke revealed, his voice low and deep. He'd forgotten the fear that had started this conversation because now it felt just like all of the other long talks they'd had with each other concerning their early lives. "We'd be at church, or at one of the crazy town festivals, and they'd constantly be looking for each other. And it wasn't because they didn't trust each other, or anything like that. They just…well, missed each other, if they weren't together."
There was a pause. The noises of the summer night became evident. Someone was still dribbling a basketball up the street. Crickets chirped and the branches of the nearby trees rustled as a breeze moved through them. The television droned on inside the house.
"God, I want that," Lorelai finally said, so wistfully that Luke felt his heart clench. "I want a guy to be happy that I've made it home. I want someone to check to see where I am, even if it's just across the room. I want to be part of a couple like that."
Neither of them said anything for a few moments. Lorelai was too busy thinking and Luke didn't trust himself to speak.
"So I've got to try, right?" she asked painfully. "If I want that, if I want to find that guy, I've got to try, right? Even if I don't think I feel anything for this guy, he could turn out to be my soulmate, couldn't he? So don't I have to try?" She raised her eyes up to Luke's. There was just enough light filtering out from the house that he could see them glittering back at him.
Luke swallowed very hard. He carefully set her now empty bottle of beer back on the step. He started to rise up from where he'd been sitting. It took a lot of effort, and he felt suddenly very old.
"I want that for you, too, Lorelai," he said, his calm, tender voice masking the torment he was feeling. "I want you to find that guy. I want you to be happy." He summoned up every bit of strength he had to make his voice sound encouraging. "You should definitely go on that date."
Lorelai nodded, but she looked as though agony was shooting through every part of her. "You think so?" she asked through stiff lips.
"Yep," Luke confirmed, putting his hands on his hips as he looked down the street. "You should go call him," he muttered. "Put him out of his misery."
She rubbed her fingers, as though they were sore from clutching at the step under her. "So, I guess that's just the way it is then," she sighed. Her eyes never left him as he stepped down to the lawn.
"Don't you want to come in?" Lorelai asked desperately. "I could…I could get you your own beer," she offered.
"Nah," Luke said. "I need to get back." He turned to her and somehow managed to smile. "And you've got a phone call to make."
"Oh," she whispered. "I guess I do."
He nodded goodbye and walked down the street, feeling her eyes locked on him as he went away from her, until mercifully the darkness hid him from her view.
The next few days zipped by in a blurred combination of normalcy and panic, and in what seemed like no time at all, Luke found himself striding once again towards Lorelai's house. This time, however, it was early evening so there would be no darkness to use as a disguise. There would be no way to hide from whatever was going to happen. It was all going to be out in the open, and be possibly front page news, too, should Babette be watching.
Luke had no plan, and that worried him terribly. All he knew was that he was out of time and he had to do something. He'd even thought, briefly, about grabbing a chain from the back of his truck and bolting her front door closed with it, but he realized that would probably be considered some sort of criminal act of confinement that would only cause the local constable to be called and not do anything towards winning her heart. Not to mention she could just walk out the back door.
He needed another idea. Desperately.
Luke's long legs combined with his agitation to eat up the distance to Lorelai's house quickly. He'd decided to walk instead of taking the truck, not only to avoid the chain temptation, but to give himself time to come up with something sensible to say to her. Some compelling reason to make her stay. Something to make her want him.
There was her house. There was her Jeep parked under the tree. Now his feet were on her grass. His boots were climbing up the steps. His fist was knocking against her door. And still he had no idea of what to say.
He felt his heart pounding at the same time he heard her walking to open the door.
"Oh, hey, Luke." Her pretty face was tilted at him in confusion. "Tonight's my 'date,' remember?" Lorelai used air quotes around 'date' and pursed her mouth. "I can't hang out tonight, remember?"
If he could just somehow breathe, Luke thought everything would be OK. But she just looked so pretty that it was killing him. She had on a dark green wraparound dress, decorated with a tropical print. It was sleeveless and her soft arms were bare, making him remember the night at the movies when it had been his responsibility to keep her warm. Her feet had on white sandals with a very small heel, and he was struck with a crazy hope that maybe this guy wasn't as tall as she said he was. Her hair was caught up in the back in one of those messy ponytails that seemed to be all the current rage, that frankly, he just didn't get. He wondered which shampoo she'd used today because somehow he'd lost track.
Abruptly he noticed that she wasn't wearing the necklace he'd given her. Of course not. She wouldn't wear his necklace to go out with another guy.
"Luke?" Her face was drawn with concern now. "Are you OK?"
He opened his mouth. Wet his lips. If he could just somehow get some words out.
Lorelai seemed really worried now. She reached up and gently felt his face with her hands, checking him for fever. "Hey, what's wrong?"
Luke closed his eyes. Leaned into her hands.
"Don't go," he whispered, so quietly that even he couldn't hear the words.
"What?" Lorelai asked, her eyes still darting over him as she tried to figure out what was wrong.
He sighed. Took her hands into his. Looked straight into her eyes. "Don't go," he begged, the words coming right from his heart.
She apparently thought this was some sort of act. She smiled and laughed a little bit. "I have to go, Luke. I said I would. But tomorrow night we can hang out together again, OK?"
Lorelai took a step further back into the foyer, but Luke didn't let go. He crossed the threshold into the entry of the house, following her. Neither of them had any hands free to close the door.
He shook his head, bringing one of his hands up to hold her face, while the other went to her shoulder.
"Don't go," he said again, more firmly. "I don't…I don't want you to go."
Her mouth opened and he could see the questions rolling through her brain. Confusion spread over her face. Her dark blue eyes searched his.
"It'll kill me if you go, Lorelai," he said gruffly, his heart nearly breaking as he gently touched her cheek. "I can't… The thought of you being with anyone else...I can't stand it."
Lorelai shook her head, helplessly. "Luke? I don't-"
"Please," he pleaded. He didn't care that he was begging. "Please."
She stared at him, breathing hard.
He felt so powerless. Words were just not his thing. He needed something else. Something to make her see. Something to make her understand.
There seemed to be only one solution, and in sheer desperation, Luke kissed her.
For the first few moments he felt nothing except for the panicked realization that he was actually kissing her. Then the thought flashed through his brain that this may well be the only time he'd ever get to kiss her so he'd better make it count. He pushed everything aside except for the delicious sensations washing over him from her lips and body, and he tried his best to return the favor, kissing her with all the passion he'd kept locked away for years.
He'd miscalculated his intensity and they crashed back against the foyer wall. Lorelai groaned and he eased up, worried that he'd hurt her, but she dispelled that notion by latching onto him so tightly that he thought maybe she was never going to let him go. Her mouth parted under his and her tongue touched his. He whimpered then. He would have liked to call it something more manly, but he whimpered, his knees feeling weak. He reached a hand out to the wall, afraid he didn't have the strength to hold them both up.
Suddenly he felt her pushing against his chest and he released her, stepping back. Her hands were still gripping his arms, but she wasn't looking at him. Her dazed focus was somewhere off in the distance. Both of them were breathing very hard.
He reached for her, wanting so very much to kiss her again, but she shook her head and stepped away, still not focusing on him.
"Shut the door," she ordered mechanically, stepping backwards into the living room.
Luke heard her but his brain was incapable of following the simplest of instructions at that moment.
He watched as she continued to walk backwards until at last she crashed into the desk. She fumbled behind her and located her purse by touch. Still not looking, she dumped her purse out on the chair. She glanced down just enough to grab her phone. Opening it, she scrolled through the numbers.
"Craig," she said when her call was answered, still breathless, still staring somewhere over Luke's shoulder, "it's Lorelai. Look, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to be able to make it tonight. A friend…" She finally met Luke's eyes. "A friend needs me tonight."
Luke took a step into the room, shaking his head emphatically. He put his arms out to her.
"Not just tonight, Lorelai," he implored her. He shrugged his shoulders, not knowing any other way to explain it to her. "It's not just for tonight. It's for… well...forever."
That made her gasp and the hand that wasn't holding the phone pressed itself over her heart.
"Sorry," Lorelai managed to say into the phone. "But I've got to go." She dropped the phone without looking at it.
She took a running step towards him and he rushed from across the room, and as they met she gave a sort of twisted leap into his arms, which knocked him off-balance and they landed together on the couch. He wrapped his arms around her to press her to him, and she leaned down to kiss him, showing him that the first kiss had been a mere warm-up.
Several long, sultry minutes rolled by.
Finally Lorelai pushed herself upright, her face flushed, her eyes glowing. That glorious, mischievous smile of hers; that smile that he so loved, was breaking across her face. "Wow," she gasped out. "Just think of all the time we would have saved if we'd just tried the foyer thing when I first suggested it, because Babe, we are really good at this!"
"Shut up," Luke suggested tenderly. He hauled her down against him again and she willingly snuggled up as close as she could.
It wasn't close enough for him, though. He was desperate to get closer to her. He rolled, pressing her against the back of the couch. She anchored her arms around him and pulled him into her, throwing a leg over his.
The wraparound dress no longer lived up to its name. Luke ran a exploring hand down to her foot and eased off her shoe, and then, for the first time, he was able to let his hand caress the silky length of one of those legs he'd devoted so much thought to over the years. He slowly moved upwards, relishing each silken inch of bliss.
"Hey, Mom, what time are you―Ahhhhhh!" Rory's scream reached a pitch that made dogs howl down the street.
Luke skyrocketed up in shock and Lorelai gave him a shove at the same time, causing him to slide off the couch and hit the floor. Lorelai scrambled up, awkwardly trying to step over him. She swayed, off-balance in just one shoe, and tried to pull her dress back together as she faced her stunned daughter.
"Rory!" she said brightly, panting slightly. "Um, Luke came over!"
"Yes, I can see that," Rory said, sounding calmer.
Lorelai looked down at Luke, who'd decided that just sitting on the floor wasn't such a bad idea. She looked at Rory, who was impatiently waiting for an explanation.
"It turns out that even though we weren't cut out to do the whole dating thing, we're actually pretty good at something else," she giggled.
"It's more than that!" Luke barked out from his seat on the floor.
"I know that!" both Rory and Lorelai said to him, at the same time. The girls looked at each other then and grinned.
Rory crossed over to Luke and offered a hand to help him up. "I was wondering just how long it was going to take you guys to see what you had going. I was afraid I was going to have to do some sort of goofy sitcom thing and lock you in a closet together or something."
"Which closet?" Lorelai asked, giving up on her disheveled ponytail and pulling it down completely. She kicked off her remaining shoe.
"I thought the big walk-in pantry at the inn," Rory said, trying to be serious. "It's cozy, but big enough to stretch out, and there'd be plenty of food. I figured I could get Sookie to help me."
"That probably would've worked," Lorelai agreed. "I don't think he could have resisted me much longer." She gave Luke a wink.
"Well, thankfully it didn't come to that," Luke commented dryly. He knew how useless it was to try and stop them once they started on one of their bits. His arms reached out on their own accord and grabbed Lorelai, pulling her against his side. He brushed a kiss against her temple before he could stop himself.
"Sorry," he then muttered to Rory, flushing.
"It's OK," Rory said indulgently. "I'd prefer if you'd keep that sort of stuff to a minimum around me, but it's OK if you slip up sometimes."
Lorelai wrapped her arms around Luke's waist, squeezing him as she laid her face briefly against his chest, momentarily hiding her beautifully happy smile.
"Well," she said, patting his shoulder before stepping away. "It appears I'm not going out to eat after all, so I'm going upstairs to change. I would suggest, Food Guru, that you get yourself in the kitchen and figure out what you're going to feed me instead." She swept grandly over to the stairs.
Luke rubbed his head as he tried to pull himself together. He looked around blankly. He really had no idea what had happened to his hat.
He started towards the kitchen, Rory following him. "Is there any roast beef left?" he asked.
She laughed. "Luke, think about that. Do you think there's any roast beef left in this house?"
He stopped and looked back at her. "No, I guess not," he grumbled. "Is there anything left? Will it do me any good at all to go into the kitchen and look?"
"I think there's still some sort of leafy, green thing in the one refrigerator drawer," she told him. "Ooh! And Pop Tarts! We always have Pop Tarts," she added.
He sighed. "We might just as well order pizza tonight, then. But tomorrow night, I'm cooking you something decent. What's your favorite meal?" he asked Rory. "Lasagna, right?"
She nodded approvingly. "Bribing the daughter. Very smart."
Luke stopped short and turned towards her. "Rory, do I need…Do I need to bribe you?" he asked nervously.
Rory smiled and shook her head. "About you and Mom?" She stepped closer to him. "No, you don't have to bribe me about that, Luke. That makes me very happy."
"Good," he sighed in relief, patting her shoulder not quite as awkwardly as he used to.
"But I'll take lasagna anytime," she confirmed. "And you know what else? We'd better really turn you into a golfer so you can always use the early tee time excuse to sneak out of Chilton, in case you have to pretend to be my dad again."
Luke cleared his throat, looking down at the floor. "That's something that I hope I don't have to pretend about someday. About being your dad. Not the golf part," he hurriedly clarified, worrying too late that he probably shouldn't be saying such things to Rory when he hadn't yet mentioned them to Lorelai.
Rory put her hands in her pockets and rocked back on her heels, looking away. When she looked at him again, her eyes were shining just like her mother's. "I hope that too," she told him. "Someday."
"So, pizza!" he said, breaking their sweet-but-awkward moment. "You might as well go order it," he told her, jerking his shoulder towards the phone. "You know what you guys want. Just add something normal for me."
"You are the one who's not normal," Rory pronounced, heading for the phone in the kitchen. "But I'll get you a veggie delite anyway."
Lorelai clattered back down the steps just then, dressed in shorts and a tank top. She checked to see where Rory was before she grabbed Luke and walked him back against the stairs. She kissed him quickly but heatedly.
"When you go home tonight, I'm goin' with you," she whispered to him.
"No, Lorelai," he insisted, "that's not what―"
"Hush, you," she interrupted, pressing a finger against his lips. "I didn't say I was staying. But I am definitely walking you back home." Her eyes twinkled at him.
He pushed back her hair behind her ears and traced his finger under the black cord that held the crystal heart around her neck, marveling that he got to do that now. "You realize that I'll just have to turn around then and walk you back home?"
"Part of my evil plan," she murmured, pressing her mouth against his skin right under his ear.
"Good plan," he sighed, closing his eyes and losing himself in the sensation.
"Daughter coming in!" Rory shouted, and they jumped apart.
She shook her head at their flushed, guilty faces. "You know, I could just go to Lane's," she offered.
"No," Luke insisted immediately.
"OK," Lorelai agreed, just as quickly.
"Wow, Mom, nice to know where I rate," Rory grumbled.
Lorelai laughed, but rubbed at her chin in frustration. "Sorry, Sweets, you know I love you. There's just a lot of big, new stuff I'm trying to adjust to."
"Will the pizza help?" Rory asked, mock-seriously.
Lorelai crossed over to Rory, throwing her arms over her shoulders in a quick hug. "Pizza solves everything," she stated. She gave Luke a long, heated look over Rory's head.
'Later,' she mouthed at him.
He nodded, trying to conceal the tremor of excitement running through him at the thought. That was one part of all the big, new stuff that he couldn't wait to get used to.
Lorelai was walking Luke home. It was taking much longer than normal because it turned out there were many, many hidden nooks and crannies between her house and the diner that were perfect for stealing a kiss or two. Or three.
His arm was draped loosely over her shoulder and her arm was entwined around his waist. They hadn't talked yet about sharing the news of their altered status, but right now they didn't care if anyone saw them or not. It felt too good and they were too happy to care.
Luke sniffed appreciatively at the clean cotton scent coming off of Lorelai's hair. That meant tomorrow would be the chocolate-cocoanut one. He smiled in anticipation.
"Can I ask you a question?" he asked.
"Anytime," she said, nearly hopping with happiness.
"That first day, when you came to me and asked me about dating. What made you do it?" He gave his head a shake. "I've been curious about that for a long time."
"Sookie really wanted to go out with Jackson," Lorelai recalled, thinking back. "I gave her this whole pep talk about how she could make the first move, you know. She didn't have to wait on him. And the more I thought about it I felt like such a hypocrite, because here I'd had this crush on you forever and I'd never thought about asking you out. And after I gave you that huge opening after the poker night, and still nothing happened, I decided that I should be brave and just take the plunge myself. See what happened."
Luke squeezed her shoulder. "You had a crush on me?" She could hear the note of smugness in his voice.
She stopped walking for a moment and glared at him. "Yes, I had a crush on you, Luke. I did everything in my power to make you notice me over the years. But mostly I think I just annoyed you."
"I noticed you," he said wryly. "I just didn't want you to know that. I didn't want you to know how much I cared."
"Why not?"
"Because I saw the type of guys you went out with. I saw Rory's dad." His fingers pressed into her shoulder as he looked off to the side. "I'm not like them."
"No, because you're perfect," she teased.
"Hardly," he scoffed.
"Perfect for me, then," she insisted with a smile.
That got her another kiss.
"I have a question for you, too," Lorelai said. She drew in a big breath in preparation.
"Shoot."
"The necklace." Her fingers rubbed over the smooth crystal. "When you picked it out, did you know what this one meant?"
"What it meant?" She could hear the confusion in his voice.
"Yeah, you know. Remember how the purple one I picked out for Liz meant 'family?'" she reminded him.
"Oh, yeah," he said. "I just thought this one was the prettiest." He paused for a moment. "So what does this one mean?"
"Love," she told him, catching her breath and waiting.
Lorelai felt him tense up for a moment. Luke stopped, and then he swung her around in front of him. He ran his fingers over her neck until he found the heart, making her shiver. He rubbed the crystal thoughtfully between his fingers.
"Well, it's a good thing it did its job then, isn't it?" he asked, his usual gruff tone laced through with emotion.
"Really good," Lorelai agreed, closing her eyes in relief, waiting for his kiss.
Luke didn't keep her waiting long.
When she opened them again she saw that they were across the street from the diner.
They'd finally made it.
Luke took her hand and she held his tightly as they ran across the street. His other hand was already reaching for the keys to unlock the door.
Their perfect friendship was perfectly ready to become something else.