A/N: Here's another update! I know, I know, it's been awhile for me, but it's been a crazy, crazy week. Anyways, here ya go, please enjoy. Oh, yeah, I know that lots of people out there were kinda concerned about the whole Logan thing...well, honestly, I'm not sure if I'm actually going to bring him back, jury is still out on that one. Pleas read and review.
Disclaimer: I own nothing...
Rory wrote, honestly and openly about her feelings and once she was content with everything she folded it up and stuffed it into an envelope. She ddn't have his new address in California, but she did know how to get it. She pulled out her phone, pressed a few numbers, then held the phone to her ear and held her breath.
"Hello?" Honor's voice filled her ears.
"Honor. Hi, it's Rory." she answered, not quite sure of the response she would get from her ex's sister.
"Rory! Hi, how are you doing?" Honor asked, and Rory was a bit surprised by the friendliness she heard.
"I'm doing…I'm ok. Kind of. I'm really sorry to bother you." Rory answered, gaining confidence.
"Oh no dear, not a bother at all. You're my friend, nothing changes that."
"Honor…"
"Nope, I know you and Logan are no longer together, but that doesn't matter to me. So, what's up?"
Rory was grateful for Honor's friendship and they chatted for several minutes before they hung up. Rory smiled as she copied the address she got from Honor nicely onto the envelope; glad to know that not every Huntzburger hated her. Grabbing her purse she headed into town.
She stood in front of the mailbox for what seemed like hours, clutching the letter tightly. There was no going back after she dropped the letter into that big blue box. She knew she needed to send it, she wanted to send it, but there was some unearthly feeling in her stomach that made it impossible to actually drop it in. She stepped away instead and headed to Luke, maybe some coffee will help, she thought to herself.
She was glad to find the diner pretty much empty and she sat down at the counter. She was lost in her thoughts so deeply she didn't hear Luke approach.
"Rory, you ok?" Rory looked up surprised at the sound of his voice and only nodded.
"Rory, really, what's wrong?" Luke asked again, the tone of his voice was soft and caring, fatherly.
"I. I miss him." Rory whispered and Luke saw tears in her eyes.
"Caesar, I'm going upstairs for a bit, you're in charge." Luke bellowed into the back and was meet by and immediate "Got it boss" from the kitchen.
Luke led Rory up the stairs and into his apartment, sat her down the table and put a coffee mug in front of her. The tears were falling much faster now and Luke could only let her cry. Several minutes later Rory regained her composure and smiled tearfully up at Luke.
"Sorry."
"Oh, no sorries. If you want we can talk about it, if not that is fine too." Luke interrupted her and handed her a plate of cookies.
Rory smiled, "Luke, you're the best surrogate dad a girl could ask for."
Luke stayed quiet, not really sure how to respond to that. Rory didn't pay any attention, she just started talking.
"I was unpacking today and I came across the rocket he gave me before leaving for London last year. It was a symbol of his love for me, our love for each other and it made me think about our relationship." She paused, gathering up the courage to continue talking. She was glad to be able to get this said. "We ended everything so suddenly. I mean, one minute he was asking me to marry him and the next minute he was walking away. There was no closure, but then again, I don't want closure. I don't want things to be over. I still love him but marrying him, I'm not ready for that. Breaking up was not what I wanted to do, and he couldn't wait. That hurts."
Rory wiped her eyes, if good to be openly honest, to get the feelings out she had been holding in since her graduation day.
Luke sat in silence, listening to Rory and was mystified at the parallel he saw to the ending of his and Lorelai's relationship the previous year. Lorelai had wanted to jump in, to forge ahead with the future together, as a married couple, but he had stalled. He loved her, he'd always loved her and he cursed himself for getting so wrapped up in himself to not notice the pain she was in. He hated it even more to now see Rory going through her own version of this heartbreak.
He took a deep breath, "Rory, maybe it wasn't that he didn't want to wait when he walked away."
"Huh?" Rory asked, looking up confused.
"I've been sitting here, listening to you talk about everything that happened with Logan, and honestly, it is reminding me way too much of your mother and I, and the breakup last year."
"The ultimatum."
"Yeah," he hated that word, it brought back a lot of pain, but he knew that continuing would, or could possibly help. "You and I are a lot alike." Rory looked up baffled and Luke went on. "I needed time, I wanted time to work out all the problems I was having, and adjustments I had to make in my life after finding out about April. Becoming a dad to a 12 year old girl suddenly was scary, then knowing I was about to become a husband too, it was a lot to process. In everything I was trying to process I ended up pushing away your mother, the only thing in my life that was right."
Rory's silence gave Luke the assurance to carry on.
"Your mom and Logan however, is spontaneous, thriving on adventure. With your mom and I she needed action, she needed assurance that I was not rethinking my relationship with her. I regret now that we couldn't come to a…I dunno…an understanding before it all blew up in our faces. I wish even more that I would have gone after her when she left me that night. Rory, if you truly love him, you can't let him slip out of your life without giving it all ya got."
They sat in silence for a few minutes before she pulled the envelope from her pocket. "Thanks Luke. I love you." Rory got up and gave Luke a hug, whispering the last words in his ear.
"Love you too, Rory." He hugged back, fighting the tears and he watched her walk out of the apartment. Luke sighed and then headed back to work.
Lorelai was sitting at her desk in her office at the Dragonfly, supposedly working on payroll for the week, but was having a very difficult time concentrating. She had a hard time thinking of anything but Luke. She needed a break, she needed coffee. She headed towards the kitchen in search of her best friend and the coffee pot.
"Morning Sookie."
"Hey sweetie, how are you this morning?" Sookie asked, not looking up from the masterpiece of a wedding cake she was preparing for an upcoming wedding.
"Oh Sookie, I'm fantastic." Lorelai gushed taking a sip of her coffee and Sookie dropped the frosting.
"Spill now," Sookie demanded pushing her friend into the pantry.
"Well Sook, Luke and I are kinda, sorta, back together."
Sookie squealed. "Ah! I knew you'd get back together. I want more details. How? Where? When? Tell me everything."
"Whoa, slow down. It was right after Rory's party, well, actually kinda during the end of it. I went to thank him for saving the party and I could see it in his eyes, his love. So, I kissed him and he kissed me back, right there in front of the diner. Then we went upstairs to his apartment to talk." Lorelai explained, smiling. "And I know what you're thinking, and no we didn't. We just talked, about everything. We cleared the air, or started to."
Sookie squealed again and Lorelai laughed. "Oh Lorelai, I'm so happy for you."
"Thanks. I mean, we've still got a long way to go before everything is really really good again, but we are starting, and oh God, Sookie, I love him so much." The two friends stood there for several more minutes as Lorelai continued to happily tell all about the events of the last 24 hours before Michel interrupted them.
"Lorelai, phone call," he held the phone out as if it was a bomb ready to explode. "Oh, and I'm going on my ten."
Lorelai took the phone, scowled at Michel, then headed back to her office.
"Lorelai speaking."
"Hey," she was greeted by a familiar voice that put a smile on her face.
"Hi Luke," she felt like a giddy school girl with her first boyfriend, but she didn't care.
"How are you? How's your day?" he asked her, obviously just as nervous as she was.
"Good, busy, but good. How's the diner?" she laughed to herself, this is so stupid.
"Good, busy here too, and it's been desperately hard avoiding Miss Patty and Babette. I think everyone knows by now."
"Yeah? Well, Patty is good like that. Are you…are you upset by that?"
"What? No! I mean, yes, I'd rather my personal life not be broadcasted for the world, but it is talk about us, together, and frankly that is music to my ears."
Lorelai smiled at his admission knowing she was quite possibly the luckiest girl in all of Connecticut. Heck, the luckiest girl in the entire world.
"Well, good."
"So, I was wondering, do you want to, I dunno…go out tonight?" Luke asked.
"You mean on a date?" Lorelai questioned further, knowing the answer before it was said.
"Yes, Lorelai, on a date."
"Sounds perfect."
Lorelai had been standing in front of her closet for what seemed like days, but in all reality it had been no more than ten minutes. The longer she stood there the more frustrated she became. She had pulled several ensembles out and contemplated what to wear for her back together date with Luke.
Frustrated she yelled, "Rory, my one and only offspring, please come here!"
She waited till she heard footsteps on the stairs to move.
"Yes mother dearest." Rory answered as she entered the master bedroom and plopped down on the bed. He face was clear of all traces from her crying session with Luke, her heart however still as heavy. The letter, on its way to California.
"I have nothing to wear." She cried dramatically flinging herself on top of Rory.
"Mom, gosh, get up! You've got tons to wear," Rory answered feigning aggravation, pushing her mom onto the floor.
Lorelai gasped as she stood up, "my only daughter? You treat me so?"
Rory rolled her eyes, leaned back against the headboard and sighed. Lorelai watched her daughter, concern fueling from the distant look she'd hand in her eyes all night. She sat down on her bed, a serious tone taking over.
"Rory, hon, are you alright?"
Rory opened her eyes and she could sense the pain her daughter was in. Rory simply shrugged.
"Rory, talk to me. If you want I'll cancel my date with Luke tonight and we'll have a girl's night in."
Rory shook her head, "No mom, you aren't canceling this date with Luke. I won't let you."
"But Ror…" Lorelai started.
"Nope mom, I'm fine, or on my way to fine. I promise, Luke actually helped me understand a lot today."
At this point Lorelai looked up to her daughter, her eyes asking the questions words wouldn't. Rory took the hint.
"I was unpacking today," Rory started and Lorelai sat back to listen. "I was unpacking and I came across the rocket. When I saw it so many emotions plagued me, hurt, confusion, sadness, frustration, so I wrote I wrote Logan this long letter…"
Lorelai started getting ready again listening to her daughter share her frustrations about another failed relationship and her heart broke.
"I'm sorry to be raining on your parade."
"Oh no honey, I feel so bad. You sure you don't want me to cancel?"
"No, not at all, mom, this date is important, Luke'll be here any minute, you look great, and I'm fine."
"Rory…"
"Nope, no arguments. You're going out tonight, and maybe if you're lucky you won't be coming home."
"RORY!" Lorelai gasped, even now, it was sometimes hard to realize her daughter was so grown up, so experienced.
Both Gilmores collapsed onto the bed in giggles. Several minutes later they regained some sense of composure and Lorelai finished getting ready. Rory jumped up and ran downstairs when she heard the knock on the door. When she flung the door open, flushed and out of breath Luke laughed out loud.
"Hey Luke," Rory panted motioning for him to come in.
"Hey Rory," Luke answered, still chuckling.
"Mom'll be down in a minute, she's just finishing getting ready."
"Okay, I've learned that waiting for your mom on date night is normal. Hey, you ok?"
Rory blushed and looked away, "I'm fine. Thanks for everything again Luke."
"No big deal."
Their tender moment was shattered by a shrill scream from upstairs that had them both running up the stairs. Lorelai was standing on her bed, shoe in hand, pointing frantically to the windowsill, "spider, there. Spider over there." This sent Luke into a whole other round of laughs as he picked up a piece of paper and walked to the window. He picked the spider up, opened the window and set it down on the roof. Completely unharmed.
"Spider is now safe and sound outside."
"My hero!" Lorelai exclaimed and jumped into his arms. "Whatever would I do without you?"
Luke shrugged and Lorelai placed a gentle kiss on his lips. Rory backed out of the room silently to leave her mom an Luke alone, smiling all the way down the stairs.
When they pulled away, both were out of breath. "Wow." Lorelai breathed laying down her head on his shoulder.
"Oh yea," Luke answered and the stood there swaying, completely lost in the moment. Luke finally pulled back. "You ready to go?"
"Yeah, let's go." Lorelai and Luke left, fingers entwined. Outside the air was warm as the couple walked through thier town, neither said a word, both thinking about well, each other.
"So, what are we doing tonight?" she asked as her patience had finally worn out.
Luke chuckled, "you'll see."
"But I want to know now." Lorelai whined, snuggling farther into his arms.
"Lorelai..."
"Please Luke, please, please please tell me what we're doing." Lorelai begged. The she realized where they headed. She pulled away slightly. "We're going to the movies? To the BWR?"
Luke glanced sideways at the beautiful woman nestled in his arms, and nodded.
"Luke, you hate the movies..." Luke stopped her with a kiss.
"My plans, you just enjoy." Luke whisper against her ear and sent shivers down her spine.
"Okay," she whispered back and they walked into the bookstore. It was completely empty sans Kirk who was setting out a buffet of food, everything ranging from red vines to pizza, and not to be left out there was a coffee pot on the far end of the table.
"Luke..." Lorelai gasped.
"This is movie night." Luke whispered, relunctly letting Lorelai out of his arm to get a plate. He had to talk to Kirk anyways.
"The movie is ready to start. Press this button here and you're all set. I'll be at the arcade if you need anything." Kirk told Luke as he walked out.
Lorelai sat down on Big Red, slipped off her shoes, and pulled her feet up under her. She waited to hear the door close behind Kirk before she spoke. "How?"
"I pulled some strings." Luke answered simply before flipping the switch on the projector, he then joined her on the couch.
As the title clips came across the screen a smile spread on Lorelai's face.
"Luke, it's Casablanca."
"Yup."
"It's the first moves we ever watched together on movie night."
"Yup."
"You're such a softie." Luke just smiled as he pulled her closer to him.
As the movie finished Luke and Lorelai stayed put, lost in each other's arms and unwilling to loose the moment. Luke pulled back and looked into Lorelai's eyes and she shivered. There was just something about being in the arms of the man you love, she thought to herself as she lifted her lips to meet his.
"Luke, I...I love you." Lorelai breathed between kisses. It was the first time she'd said those words to him since the confrontation in front of the diner just over a year ago and the words made him smile broadly.
"Lorelai, I love you too. I've always loved you and I always will."
Serveral hours later, nestled in each other's arms in Luke's apartment, they struggled to catch thier breath. That had always been good, no wait great, more than great. Lorelai lay using Luke's shoulder as a pillow, tracing circles on his checst, thinking simply of the wonderfulness of the moment. They were both just about to doze off when a shrill "We are family" started playing.
"What the hell?" Luke grumbled as Lorelai got up and started looking for her phone.
"It's Rory...she's the only one who has this ring, I have to answer."
"Lorelai..."
"No, she knows where I'm at, she wouldn't call unless it was important." Lorelai protested as she searched for her purse. Locating it she dumped the contents out and pulled her phone from the pile.
"Rory what's wrong," she said almost before the phone hit her ear. "What? Ok, ok...no don't worry about...we're on our way...you stay there with the kids...I'll call you when we get there and know something...ok...bye."
Lorelai's words and tone had prompted and imediante response from Luke and he was up and getting dressed before she was off the phone. As she hung up he anxiously waited for her ramble.
"It's Sookie, she went into labor about ten minutes ago and Jackson is freaking out because she's almost a full four weeks early, we've got to get to the hospital."
They were both dressed and out the door in record speed and headed towards the hospital to be there with their best friends.
Please, please, please review. Let me know what you think! Thanks ya'll!