Incoming
Disclaimer: I don't own any of it. Not even the computer I wrote it on.
Summary: Jess shows up at Richard and Emily's vow renewal. Luke has something to say about it. Rory is less than happy. Lorelai has to deal with Christopher. And the day is definitely not everything Emily hoped it would be.
Feedback: Reviews are fun. Like a barrel of monkeys. Why anyone would put monkeys in a barrel…I don't know, but it's supposedly a lot of fun.
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Lorelai felt tears well up in her eyes as she hugged Rory and Jess as tight as she could. "This is so amazing. I love you guys." She pulled back and looked at Jess. "I swear to God if you tell anybody I said that, I will kill you."
Luke waited until she stepped away before giving Rory and Jess each a hug then moved back to Lorelai's side. "Thanks. This is great." He told them.
"You guys deserve it." Rory smiled at them.
"Yea." Jess added. "Congratulations…oh, sorry." He looked at Luke. "Congratulations." He turned to Lorelai. "Best wishes."
Luke glared at him. "Shut up."
He just smiled as he took Rory's hand and led her over to one of the snack tables.
"What was that about?" Lorelai looked curiously at Luke.
"Just...something I said to him at your parents wedding."
"My parents wedding. Not one of our finer moments."
"No." He looked over her shoulder to see Sookie and Jackson heading towards them. "Ready for the town insanity?"
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"Presents!" Lorelai squealed happily when Sookie asked her if she and Luke wanted to open their presents yet.
"I'll take that as a yes." Sookie nodded and went to tell Lane to turn off the music.
She turned to Luke, who was standing behind her and grabbed his hand to drag him over to the corner where all the presents sat. "C'mon." She plopped herself down on the floor and pulled him down next to her.
"You know, I'm pretty sure they set that couch up over there for a reason." Luke told her.
"But it's all the way over there." She pointed to the couch that was about fifteen feet away. "And the presents are all the way over here."
"So, we're sitting on the floor because you don't want to wait four seconds for someone to carry a present from here to the couch."
"Yea." She said like it was obvious. "When have you ever mistaken me for a patient person?" She looked up when the music cut off then started pushing on Luke's legs until he moved them enough for her to sit between them with her back against his chest. "It's present time." She said giddily as she turned her head to look at him.
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Luke smiled as he watched Lorelai take another present from Rory. She had worked her way through most of the pile, passing a box to him every so often, because she felt some need to let him open a couple presents, even though she knew he'd much rather watch her open all of them. He kept his eyes on her since he saw the way her face light up when Rory handed her the first present, but when he saw the glint in her eyes that she always got before she said something dirty, he knew he had to look. So his gaze slid down Lorelai's arm and to the box that was sitting on her lap. All spread out in the box were four animal print thongs that he immediately knew weren't for Lorelai. "Oh, God." He quickly looked away, keeping his eyes on anything that wasn't that box.
Lorelai turned her head and kissed the side of his mouth before looking back at the rest of the town. "Thirteen shades of red. Thanks Patty."
"Oh, not a problem, dear. Just make sure to get pictures."
She looked back over her shoulder at Luke when he muttered a quiet "Ah, jeez," in her ear and grinned. "I can't wait to get you into these." She gave him a long, sweet kiss when he blushed again then whispered, "Twenty-two shades. We're doing pretty good."
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Rory looked around the room for Jess and spotted him leaning against the wall near the door. She walked over and leaned next to him. "What'cha doin' over here?"
He shrugged. "Just watching."
She looked around the room to see what he was looking at. Lane and Kirk were standing in the corner of the room, where they had set up the stereo system, arguing about something or other. Miss Patty was talking to Zach and Brian over by the drink table. Sookie, Jackson, Babette, Morey, and a few others were in the area in the middle of the room that had been turned into dance floor, slow dancing. And finally her gaze landed on her mother and Luke who were sitting on the floor, surrounded by presents and wrapping paper and boxes and bags and tissue paper, smiling and laughing. She smiled at that then leaned into Jess's side. "We did good."
Having also been watching Luke and Lorelai, he slid his arm around her shoulders and nodded. "Yea. We did."
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Around eleven, Lorelai grabbed two drinks off one of the buffet tables and made her way through the crowd to find Luke. She saw him sitting on the couch that had been set on the far side of the room and walked towards him. "Hey." She handed him one of the drinks and settled herself on his lap. "You okay?"
"Yea." He gave her a long kiss on the lips. "This just isn't my thing."
"Well, mister, you're gonna be married to me pretty soon, so you better make it your thing." She smiled at pressed her forehead against his. "I love you, Luke Danes."
He closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Lorelai?"
"Yea?"
"I wish my parents were here."
"Luke…" She took their drinks and set them on the table next to the couch. "Oh, hon…" She said sympathetically as she slid her hands up his chest and around his neck then settled her head on his shoulder. "I wish they were here too."
"They would've loved you." He said softly.
She brushed her lips against his neck. "At least someone's parents would."
He ran his fingers up her spine and felt her shiver against him. "Lorelai, I know you want…you should…" He sighed. "I think you should tell them."
"I know. I just…I'm so happy, Luke. You make me so happy and I don't want them to destroy this." She closed her eyes and pressed her face against his shoulder then sat up, but couldn't meet his eyes. "I don't want them to turn this into another one of my screw-ups."
He took her face in his hands and turned her to look at him. "Do you think this is a screw-up?"
"No. Luke...never."
"Then, that's what matters."
"I want them to be happy about this…about us."
"I know. Me too."
She nodded then stood up and grabbed his hand, pulling him to his feet. "C'mon. I know what we're gonna do."
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Rory walked out the door of Miss Patty's and saw Jess sitting on the stairs, holding a beer. "Hey." She sat down next to him and laid her hand on his thigh. "The party too much?"
He took a sip of his beer then set it beside him. "Nah, just thought I'd get a little fresh air."
"Miss Patty was hitting on you." She said knowingly.
"God, that woman doesn't give up."
Rory laughed as she laid her head on his shoulder. "I gotta go back to school."
He nodded. "I know."
"I don't wanna go."
"I know." He reached over and intertwined their fingers. "Do you want me to drive you?"
"No, my car's here, so…" She shrugged. "I wish I could stay here to help clean up."
He looked at her skeptically. "Really?"
"Well…no. But I do feel bad leaving you guys to do it."
"You have class. That's more important. Besides, I could probably get Kirk to clean up for twenty bucks."
"Give him at least fifty." She said then squeezed his hand and stood up. "I have to get going. I have a class at seven."
He grabbed her belt and pulled her down to him, and gave her a slow, sweet kiss before releasing her. "Bye."
She stepped back with a big goofy grin on her face. "Bye, Jess."
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Luke fidgeted on the front step while Lorelai shined a flashlight on the front door. "Lorelai." He said. "I'm really not comfortable breaking into your parents' house."
She stopped what she was doing to look at him. "We're not breaking in. I have a key." She told him before turning back to the door.
He heard a soft click before she flashed him a triumphant smile and pushed the door open. "Ah, jeez."
She started inside but stopped when she realized he wasn't following. "Come on." She whispered loudly. He just stood there, so after a minute she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him onto the house.
"Lorelai…" He said quietly.
"Would you chill out? This was your idea, you know." She said, leading him towards the stairs.
He froze at the bottom step. "Oh, no. Breaking into your parents' house at twelve o'clock in the morning was definitely not my idea."
She let out an exasperated sigh then walked back down to him and started to push him up the stairs. "You wanted me to tell my parents, so that's what we're doing. Now, let's go."
He grumbled about her being crazy, but let her push him upstairs.
"Okay." She stopped in front of her parents' bedroom door. "I can do this. We'll go in, tell them we're engaged, then leave." He nodded and she reached for the door but stooped and looked back at him. "Oh, and if my father is wearing ass-less chaps and my mother has a whip just slowly back out of the room." She smirked at him before throwing the door open and marching into her parents' room.
Both Emily and Richard shot up in bed and looked in their daughter's direction. "Lorelai?" Emily said as she turned her light on. "Luke?" She noticed him standing behind Lorelai. "What are you doing here? It's the middle of the-"
"We're getting married." Lorelai interrupted then held up her hand when her mother started to speak. "Don't say anything. I know you don't like Luke because he's not rich and he's not Rory's biological father, but I love him and Rory loves him, and he loves us, and that is all that matters." She handed Emily a piece of paper. "That, uh…it says the date of the wedding and, umm, well, you'll get a real invitation when we send them out, but I – we – we wanted you to know that we are getting married because you're my family and I don't want to push you out of my life, so, umm, that's it. We'll let you guys go back to sleep. Goodnight Mom, Dad." She nodded at them and walked out of the room.
Luke gave them an awkward wave and followed her.
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Neither of them spoke all the way back to Stars Hollow, until they got to Lorelai's house. She turned off the Jeep's engine and looked over at Luke. "That went…well, right?"
"I don't know. Neither of them tried to kill me." He offered.
She leaned across the seat to hug him tightly…well, as tight as she could with the awkward angle they we sitting at. "That's not subtle enough Richard and Emily Gilmore." She muttered against his neck.
He smiled into her hair then let her go and climbed out of the car.
Lorelai watched him then pushed her door open and walked around to the front of the car where Luke pulled her back into his arms. "Mmm." She sighed contentedly. "Much better."
He splayed one hand across her lower back and ran the other over her hair. "So, you wanna go back to the party?" He joked.
"Ugh." She groaned. "God, no. It's like one in the morning. I'd be a heap on the ground if you weren't holding me up. Literally and in all those sappy metaphorical ways." She let out a slight gasp of surprise when he lifted her into his arms and started carrying her towards the house. "Look at you." She grinned. "Sweeping me off my feet."
He just looked down at her and shook his head.
