Disclaimer: See first chapter.
Rating for this chapter: M! (sexual content)
AN1: I know, I know, I promised to update much sooner. I'm horrible.
I'm starting college in about two and a half weeks and I had so much preparation to do for that. But the most important reason why it took me soo long to update is because I finally brought some passion (if you know what I mean;) ) back into the story and this stuff is a lot harder to write than the normal stuff. I didn't want it to sound to slutty or too … I don't know. Anyway I think I did a pretty good job and I hope you think so as well.
And I hope to get a lot of reviews. I'm getting about ten reviews per chapter and but I'm on the alert listof almost30 people! And more than 40 people have me on their favorites list! Now I'm not saying that you should write a really long review, one short sentence would be enough already even just one word! I don't care. I always try to leave reviews on the stories that are on my alert list.
But nonetheless there are a few people who constantly leave reviews. Thanks to all of you and especially thanks to those, who left a review for my last chapter: Allways a huge 'thank you' to ProFfeSseR: your opinion is so important to me; that70slover: thank you soo much; everwoodgirl04: thanks for such a nice review, makes me feel special ;) ; Courtney: glad it wasn't boring ;) doens't it feel good to be right? drama keeps a story alive we don't want it sound too mushy; LukeNlorelaifan: again thanks for reviewing!; Suz22: thanks a lot and don't worry as long as you review I don't care when you do it ;) ;irishdancingvolleyballchick: thanks for your review ;) ; ultimategilmoregirl: that's a very nice compliment, I can totally understand you're feelings for pie! ;Baby Girl Gellar-Green: Thanks so much for reviewing again, that story in the office was one of my favorites in that chapter; RogueHoney: Thanks for reviewing, tell me what you think about the way I let Jess turn out; and last but not least: J.Stone: Thanks so much for reviewing chapter 10! I'm glad you enjoyed it ;p I hope I didn't forget anyone, and if I did, I apologize big time, but I'm only human.
On with the story! This actually turned out a lot longer than any of my other chapters! And PLEASE review begging on my knees
ENJOY!
Chapter 21 – Maine
'Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!'
"Uuugghhh! Wha the hell!" Lorelai mumbled into her pillow.
Luke switched off the alarm quickly and soothingly stroked over her arm and gently pulled the covers back over her shoulders with the other arm. "Shh, go back to sleep. You don't have to get up yet."
"I hate you for waking me up, I really, really hate you." Lorelai mumbled into her pillow again.
"I know, I know, go back to sleep for a little while." Luke brushed a strand of hair out of her face and placed a soft kiss on her cheek.
Lorelai patted his head behind her and snuggled back into the sheets.
Luke smiled at her and got out of bed.
An hour later, Luke walked back into the bedroom, fully dressed and carrying a cup of coffee that he placed on the dresser opposite the bed. He walked over to her side of the bed and knelt down in front of her, gently stroking her cheek with the back of his hand.
"Good morning, sleepyhead. Time to wake up."
"Go away."
"Come on, get up. I'll make you some pancakes as soon as you get up."
"With bacon and eggs?" Lorelai mumbled into her pillow.
"Yeah, with eggs and bacon."
"Will you bring me some coffee?" She asked, facing him now without opening her eyes yet."
"I already brought you some. It's on your dresser."
"Thanks."
"Welcome. Will you get up now?"
"Only when I get a kiss."
"I guess I wouldn't mind a kiss either," Luke smirked at her.
At this Lorelai finally opened her eyes and smiled at Luke. "Morning."
"Good morning." Luke rested his arms on the bed frame and leaned into her, kissing her tenderly.
Lorelai placed her hand on the back of his neck and deepened the kiss.
Luke placed his hand on her cheek, gently sweeping his tongue over her bottom lip, asking for entrance.
Lorelai gladly granted him access and a soft moan escaped their throats as soon as their tongues met. Lorelai knocked Luke's cap off of his head and pulled him on the bed with her. As soon as he was next to her, his free hand started to wander downwards to the hem of her shirt, where he caressed her soft skin. They kept kissing like that for a while until they had to break apart for the need of oxygen.
Luke leaned his forehead against hers. "Wow." He said still panting slightly.
"Yeah, wow." Lorelai replied and started kissing him again, but Luke pulled away, resting his free hand against her cheek.
"As much as I'd like to continue this, we have to get going."
Lorelai looked at him with a pouting expression. "Can't we leave a little later? I miss making out with you in the morning."
"I know me, too." He told her leaning down to kiss her. "But we have to get going. I promise you that we will have enough time to make out over the next couple of days." Luke said raising his eyebrows suggestively.
"Dirty." Lorelai giggled.
"I know, that was my intention."
"Luke." Lorelai pulled him down by his neck for one more kiss.
"I love you," she told him when they broke apart.
"I love you, too." Luke gently stroke her cheek and bent down for another kiss. Then he got off the bed and pulled Lorelai up with him, into his arms. He hugged her tightly and rested his chin on top of her head. "Why don't you go shower and I'll make us some breakfast."
"All right," Lorelai replied reluctantly and dragged her still sleepy body into the bathroom, taking the coffee, Luke had brought with him earlier, with her.
About forty-five minutes later, Luke had stored the rest of their luggage in the jeep and they were just about to leave. Lorelai walked out of the house, "Did you bring everything to the car?" she asked him before locking the door. Luke told her that he had, so she walked over to the passenger side of the car and got in next to him. "You know I actually like the fact that for a change I'm not the one who has to do the driving." She told him getting comfortable in her seat.
"I know, that's why I offered to drive."
"And that was really sweet of you." Lorelai looked back to the house for a second to check if she had really closed all the windows. Luke started the car and drove out of her driveway.
"So where's the coffee?" she asked looking at him, when the house was out of sight.
"You can't be serious. You just had two cups at the house."
"I know." Lorelai rolled her eyes at him. "I didn't say I wanted any, I just wanted to know where it is, so in case I want any, I know where you put it."
"It's in the bag behind my seat. As well as bagels with cream cheese and scones."
"Aww, you're the best boyfriend ever!" Lorelai squealed and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
"I only brought it, so we wouldn't have to stop every half hour because you want some coffee or something to eat. The only stops we will make are for using the bathroom."
"I told you that was fine with me as long as you provided food and coffee, and since you did I won't need that much stops. So thanks for all that stuff." She said putting her hand on his leg and smiling at him.
Luke looked at her briefly and then squeezed her hand with his own. "You're welcome."
"So are you looking forward to our weekend?" He asked her.
"Very. I'm glad to get out of town for a little while. I mean, not that I don't like our town or my job, it's just…"
"I know what you mean," he told her squeezing her hand.
"Yeah, I've just been so busy at the Inn the whole time and I didn't really have much time to be with Rory and especially with you."
"Don't worry about that, Lorelai. I know how busy you've been with the Inn. You have a new business and you have to invest a lot of time at the Inn."
"I know, still, I'm really glad we could get away for a while. You know, spend some time together, with you family and especially with Rory."
"Yeah, me too. I haven't seen my family or Rory for quite a while."
"Yeah, I know."
"I mean, I'm not that fond of spending that much time with TJ, but I haven't seen Jess in such a long time. I don't even know what he's up to at the moment."
"Well, this weekend will be a good time to find out. I'm sure you'll guys will have some time to talk."
"Yeah." Suddenly Luke got a little quiet.
"You ok?" Lorelai asked, touching his knee.
"Oh, yeah."
Lorelai knew that he wasn't fine, but she knew that the car wasn't the best place to have some quality talks. She decided to let the topic rest for now and asked him about it later when they were in Maine.
"So how much longer 'till we get there?"
"I'd say about two hours. Depends on how much snow there is."
"Snow?" Lorelai beamed at him happily.
"Yeah. There usually is quite a lot of snow in Maine around Thanksgiving."
"This weekend is gonna be awesome. I have my boyfriend with his family and my daughter around me and on top of that, there is snow." Lorelai sighed contently and made herself more comfortable. She turned her body towards Luke, rested her head on the back of the seat and closed her eyes.
Luke glanced at her and smiled. "Tired?" He whispered.
"Mhmm, a little."
"Why don't you sleep for a while?"
"Yeah, I think I will." She yawned.
About two and a half hours later they had almost reached their destination. Lorelai was still sleeping soundly in the seat next to Luke, but the world around them had changed a little. Luke had slowed down a little, because the world around them was now covered in a thick layer of white, glistening snow. Lorelai had curled up on her seat and during a quick stop at a gas station Luke had put a blanket around her, which he had also placed in the car before they had left Stars Hollow.
Since they were only a couple of minutes away from their destination Luke decided to wake Lorelai.
Keeping his eyes on the road he gently squeezed her hand. "Hey, wake up, sleepyhead, we're almost there."
"Five more minutes," Lorelai mumbled to him.
"Hey, we're almost there, open you're eyes." Luke tried again.
"Why?"
"Because I think you'll like what you see when you open your eyes. It's white and sparkling."
It took a few moments for Lorelai what Luke was talking about, but then her head rose quickly and she looked out the window. "It's snowing!" she exclaimed smiling widely. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" she asked him pouting.
"Because I didn't want to wake you up, you looked you could use some sleep."
"Aww, that's sweet," she said rubbing her still sleepy eyes.
Right at that moment Luke steered into a driveway and stopped the car in front of a big wooden house, which was now also covered with a thick layer of snow.
"Wow, that's a beautiful house, and so big." Lorelai said, taking in her surroundings.
"Yeah it is pretty big actually. Liz wanted to have some additional rooms for guests and children, in case they decided to have more children."
"Wow, that's nice."
"Yeah, I guess." Luke nodded.
"You don't like the idea of TJ being the father of your future nieces and nephews?" Lorelai asked him reading his expression immediately.
"No, not really. But I don't think I have any word in that department."
"I don't think so either." Lorelai said smiling at him.
"Come on, let's get our stuff inside."
They got out of the car and to the back of the jeep to get their bags.
"Man, it's much colder here than it is at home."
"Yeah, it told you it would be. You'll be fine once you've changed into your warmer stuff."
"Yeah."
Just at that moment the door of the house opened and Liz came out to greet them.
"Hey there strangers," Liz greeted them when they stepped on the porch.
"Hey little sis," Luke said and embraced his sister in a big hug. "Haven't seen you in quite a while."
"I know, I know, where so glad you were able to come." She replied, hugging him back.
"We're glad to be here." Lorelai chirped in.
"Hey, Lorelai," Liz said giving her a hug as well.
"Hey, Liz." She smiled at her.
"Come in, come in, it's freaking cold here." She said ushering them inside.
Inside Luke put their stuff next to door for the moment and they followed Liz into the living room where TJ was watching TV.
"Hey TJ, look who's here!" Liz said, trying to get TJ's attention.
TJ got up from the couch and stood next to Liz. "Hey, Luke." He shook Luke's hand.
"Hey, TJ, you remember Lorelai, right?" He asked him, reintroducing them again.
"Yeah, of course. You were Luke's date at our wedding. So he actually managed to keep you, huh. Let me tell ya, I think you're much hotter than that Nicole chick was."
"TJ!" Liz and Luke said at the same time.
"Sorry," TJ said taking a step back and holding his hands up in defense. "It's the truth." He mumbled towards Liz, who hit him lightly on the arm in response.
"So," Luke said trying to change the subject. "Is Jess here already?"
"Yeah, he is." Liz told them. "He's just getting some wood from the back porch for the fireplace.
Just at that moment the back door on the other side of the living room opened and Jess walked inside, carrying a large pile of firewood. Not noticing Luke and Lorelai, because he wasn't really able to look over the pile of wood, he placed it in front of the fireplace and turned around, seeming surprised to see them standing on the other side of the room.
"Oh, hey." He said and came towards them.
Luke stepped towards him and hugged him, which surprised Jess for a second but then he gladly returned the hug, taking it as a sign that his uncle didn't hate him completely. Lorelai watched them and smiled, knowing that Luke was much happier to see Jess than he would admit right now.
"How ya doing?" Luke asked releasing him from the hug.
"Pretty good, you?"
"I'm pretty good, too."
"Good."
Luke looked at his nephew for a few more seconds, recognizing that he pretty much looked the same since he had last seen him, and then turned towards Lorelai.
"Oh, hey, uhh, you know Lorelai." He gestured towards her.
"Yeah, of course, do you think I have Alzheimer's?" He said reaching his hand out for her to shake which she took smiling at him, with mixed feelings.
Luke just ignored his nephew's last comment.
"Hey, Jess, good to see you."
"Yeah, you too." He said looking down to the floor not knowing what else to say. He was sure that Lorelai wasn't too excited to see him after all that had happened between him and Rory.
"All right," Liz broke the somewhat uncomfortable silence. "Jess, why don't you bring their stuff upstairs and show them their room so that they can rest a little for a while after the drive.
"Nah, that's fine." Luke told her. "Just tell me which room we are in and I'll bring our stuff up."
"All right, it's the room at the end of the hall on the left when you get upstairs. Take your time. The three of us have to go back to the Renaissance Faire."
"Oh, really?" Lorelai looked at them surprised. "I thought the Faire was closed around this time of the year."
"Well, it was over the last couple of years, but there are still so many tourist out here they we decided to keep it running until the beginning of December. But we'll be back around six or seven tonight. It's closing earlier tonight and we're closed tomorrow for the holiday. So we'll see you in a couple of hours."
"I'll make some dinner for when you guys get back tonight." Luke told his sister.
"Aww, you don't have to do that bro', you're supposed to be our guest over the weekend."
"It's no big deal. Really, it's the least I can do."
"Well, thanks." Liz said getting her stuff for the faire. "So we'll see you tonight. Come on boys." She said turning towards TJ and Jess. Jess obviously wasn't too happy to help them out, but didn't say anything about it.
"Yeah, we'll see you tonight," Lorelai said waving goodbye to them. "So, you wanna go bring our stuff upstairs and lay down for a while? You must be tired from the drive."
"Yeah, why not. Come on." He said getting their stuff and walking up the stairs with Lorelai following close behind him.
Upstairs they walked into the room they were staying in and Lorelai let herself fall onto the bed. Luke watched her and smiled and after he had put their bags into the walk-in closet he lay down next to her on the bed. Lorelai immediately scooted closer to him and rested her head on his chest while he put his arm around her shoulders, and pulled her closer to his body.
For a couple of minutes they simply enjoyed the silence and the comfort of being in each other's arms.
"Do you hear that?" Lorelai whispered, looking up at Luke.
"No, what is it?" he whispered back.
"Exactly my point, I don't hear a thing."
"Ahh, that." Luke said. "I like that it's so quiet." He added after a couple of moments.
"Yeah me, too. I'm just not used to it being so quiet. I was so busy with the Inn all the time that I hardly had any quiet moments, where I could just sit down and enjoy it."
"Yeah, I know." He replied, kissing the top of her head.
Lorelai snuggled closer to him. "Luke?"
"Mhmm?" he mumbled without opening his eyes.
"This is really nice."
"Mhmm, it is."
Lorelai propped herself up on his chest resting her chin on top of her hands which she had placed on his chest.
Luke opened his eyes and smiled at her. "Hi."
"Hi." She moved up a little more and kissed him softly.
Luke put his arms around her body and pulled her upwards so that she was almost lying on top of him. Lorelai gently caressed his cheek with her left hand while roaming his body with her other hand. She softly glided her tongue over his bottom lip eager to deepen the kiss. A soft moan escaped their throats as soon as their tongues met. Luke changed their positions, so that he was on top, when their kiss became more passionate.
"What time did Liz say they would be back?" Lorelai asked panting when they stopped kissing for the need of oxygen.
"Not for a couple of hours." Luke told her also panting, while he trailed kisses down her throat.
A soft moan escaped the back of Lorelai's throat when he had reached the magic spot between her neck and shoulder. "Good, that's good." She said in between breaths.
"Yeah? Why?" he looked at her with a smirk on his face.
"Oh you'll see." She said grinning back at him. "Come here." She pulled him back down to her for a passionate kiss, working to get his jacket off of his shoulders.
When he was finally out of his jacket she rolled them over again, straddling his hips. Still kissing, Luke helped her to shrug out of her coat as well. As soon as he had gotten rid of her jacket her pulled her sweater over her head and began to unbutton the buttons on her blouse, brushing it off her shoulders as well. Lorelai leaned back down and captured her lips with his, simply enjoying the feeling of his lips on hers. Both of them had been really busy over the last couple of months and many nights were spent apart because Lorelai had come home very late and had to leave for work really early in the morning. Since she always tended to come into work later after spending a night at Luke's she had slept at her own place a lot. This was probably the longest time in over two weeks they were able to spend time alone together without having to rush because of work.
After a few more minutes of passionate kissing Lorelai sat back up, panting heavily. Luke smiled at her and let his hands roam over her body. He traced her soft curves beginning at her shoulders over the swell of her breasts and down over her tummy, to which she reacted with a sharp intake of breath at the contact, down to her legs. Lorelai smiled back at him and reached behind her to unclasp her bra. She brushed the straps down her arms and threw it on the floor next to the bed on top of the growing pile of clothes. Lorelai entwined her fingers with Luke's pulling him up into a sitting position.
"You're wearing way too much clothes," she whispered into his ear before placing a soft kiss on his neck, right below his earlobe. She sat back on his legs to have better access to his shirt. She could feel his growing arousal and shifted again to tease him a little bit.
"Geez, Lorelai." Luke said taking in a sharp breath.
"Yeah?" She asked him with an innocent smirk and began to unbutton his shirt, which also landed on the pile of clothes next to the bed, soon followed by his grey undershirt.
But Luke wasn't able to respond anymore when his bare chest came in contact with her bare breasts. He dipped his head down to her neck, kissing a trail down to the top of her left breast, leaving wet kisses all over her chest except for her breasts.
Lorelai led out a frustrated sigh and pulled him back up on eye level crashing her lips to his, their tongues dueling wildly. They both knew that this wasn't going to be slow and sensual love making. After such a long time of not being able to feel the other one their only desire was to make up for the last two weeks, leaving the slow love making for later occasions.
After they broke apart again, Luke started to kiss her neck again, but this time he didn't stop on his way down. Lorelai let out a loud moan when she felt his tongue finally making contact with her left nipple. Luke broke the contact again for a second to push her down on the bed. Holding her hands above her head he brought his lips back to her left breast while caressing the other one with his free hand. He altered between licking and softly sucking, driving her crazy in the process. Lorelai tried to get out of his grasp wanting to touch him but Luke didn't let go. He bend down to kiss her and whispered into her ear, "Just enjoy it, baby." Lorelai looked into his eyes, she knew that he would never do anything that she didn't want, and so she simply nodded and let out another groan when she felt his lips kissing a wet trail down her neck, in between her breast and down to her belly button. Lorelai decided that just because she couldn't touch him with her hands wouldn't make her stop from giving him some pleasure as well. With Luke straddling her and her hands held above her head with his left one, she wriggled her hips a little so Luke would rise up onto his knees a little more. Surprised by her actions Luke raised on his knees and gave Lorelai the opportunity to raise one of her knees, which immediately came in contact with his groin, slightly rubbing up and down in the process. This time it was Luke who let out a soft moan and loosened his grip on her hands. Lorelai freed her hands from his and immediately let them roam all over her body. She stopped at the waist of his jeans and worked to open them but was stopped, once again, by Luke's hands.
"Luke, plea…", but Luke had stopped her with his lips on hers. Lorelai snaked her arms around his neck. She brushed her tongue over his lips, asking for entrance, which Luke granted with a soft groan when their tongues touched again. She could feel his growing arousal against her leg. "Luke, please?" she panted breaking the kiss. Luke saw the desire in her eyes and got off the bed for a second quickly getting rid of his jeans and boxers, while Lorelai shrugged out of her jeans and panties as well, throwing them on the pile the next to the bed.
Lorelai looked up and caught Luke staring at her. "What?" she asked a little self-conscious, reaching for the sheets to cover her naked body.
"No don't," Luke said suddenly. "I'm sorry, it's just… you're so beautiful." He said looking straight into her eyes, smiling at her.
"Well, you don't look too bad yourself." She smirked at him. "Come here," she said holding her hand out to him. Luke crawled back onto the bed with her and took her hand intertwining their fingers. He lied down next to her and stroke her side with the back of his hand, to which Lorelai let out a soft giggle.
"Ticklish?" he grinned at her.
"Yeah. Hey come here." She said pulling him to her for a kiss.
Luke deepened the kiss and caressed her cheek with one hand while stroking her soft curls with his other hand.
Lorelai pulled him on top of her body and their kisses became more and more passionate with each second.
Luke started to kiss down her neck, but Lorelai pulled him back up to her, looking deeply into his eyes. "Luke, please, I need you." He kissed her again and gently separated her legs entering her in one swift motion. Lorelai gasped softly and both of them stopped their movements for a moment savoring the feeling of being joined together again. Lorelai pulled Luke down for a kiss, after a few moments. Luke looked into her eyes and after an approving nod from her, started to move slowly. Lorelai pulled him down for a kiss, pressing her body into his. She let her hands roam over his body, the strong muscles of his back and shoulders. Lorelai shifted her lower body and put her legs around his torso, causing Luke to enter her even deeper, the sensation of their joined bodies even more intense at this new ankle. Lorelai felt the familiar tingles in her stomach and encourage Luke to pick up the pace of their lovemaking a little more. Knowing that he couldn't last much longer, Luke captured her lips with his and slipped his tongue in between hers, deepening their kiss. He felt her breathing become heavier against his lips and after a few more long strokes and look into his eyes, that showed her nothing but endless love, Lorelai reached her climax with a load moan, pulling him over the edge with her. Filling her with his hot liquid he let out a load moan and collapsed on top of her, careful not to crush her under his weight.
Luke raised his head from her shoulder and kissed her tenderly, wiping away a few pearls of sweat that had formed on her forehead. "That was…."
"Yeah…" She replied, smiling into his shoulder. "I guess it was worth waiting, huh."
"Definitely." He told her placing another kiss on her cheek. "But that doesn't mean that I liked waiting that long."
"I know me either."
Luke wanted to move off of her, but Lorelai stopped him. "Not yet."
"Are you sure? I don't wanna hurt you." He asked her looking at her questioningly.
"You could never do that. I like it when you're that close to me. It makes me feel so safe."
Luke smiled at her and bend down to kiss her. "I love you."
"I love you, too." She told him smiling back at him.
After a few more moments Luke eventually rolled off of her and lay down next to her, pulling her into his arms immediately.
Lorelai sighed contently and placed a small kiss on his chest.
"Are you happy?" Luke asked her, gently squeezing her arm to get her attention.
"Very. I'm really glad we came here."
"Yeah?"
"Oh yeah, I like spending time with your family, and I think you like it too, even if you don't wanna admit it." She grinned up at him to which Luke only rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, well I don't really get to see them that much."
"I know, honey." Lorelai knew that she was right about him missing his family, even if he would never admit it to anyone.
They just lay there for another couple of minutes, enjoying the afterglow of their previous love making, until their peaceful moment was interrupted by the ringing of Lorelai's cell phone.
"Ugh," Luke groaned, "why did you bring that stupid thing?"
"No one except Rory knows that I brought my cell phone, and I will turn it off as soon as she gets here." She told him crawling out of bed to receive her phone from their luggage. Wrapped in the bed sheet she sat down back on the bed and leaned back into Luke's arm. "Hello, favorite daughter of mine." She said into the phone.
"Wow, you are cheery, today."
"Yeah, well…"
"Do I wanna know why?"
"Mhmm, I don't think you do." She said giggling into the phone.
"Eww, mom!"
"What?" she replied innocently? "I didn't say anything.
"No, but you giggled, that's all I need to know."
"Well, we didn't do anything unnatural, you know? And as far as I know you belong to that club as well."
Luke looked at her rolling his eyes.
"That doesn't mean that I wanna know those certain things about you." Rory told her mom with a slightly disgusted undertone.
"Well was there a reason you called or did you just not wanna talk about my sex life."
"I'm just gonna ignore that. Actually I did call for a reason."
"Well, are you gonna tell me about it?" Lorelai asked her leaning back into Luke's arm.
"Grandma called me about twenty minutes ago and told me that they had to attend some charity function and that she had to cancel dinner."
"She did what?" Lorelai asked surprised and sat up.
Luke, surprised by her sudden movement, sat up as well and asked her what was going on.
"Emily canceled on Rory," she whispered back to him.
"She just called and told me that she was sorry, that it was so last minute to cancel on me and that she tried everything to get out of it but they had to attend that function."
"Yeah, sure…" Lorelai snorted sarcastically. "And she didn't know about that before? I don't believe her. I'm gonna call her, I'm sure this is about our fight. God I hate when she's taking our problems out on you, that's so typ…"
"Mom, its fine. I wasn't too fond of going there anyway. As long as it's ok that I come up to Maine a day earlier, I don't really care."
"Of course, honey. That way we still get to spend Thanksgiving together. That's so awesome." She told Rory happily.
"I know. I'm really happy, too. But are you sure Liz or Luke are not gonna mind me coming up earlier?"
"No of course not, sweetie. They're really happy to see you."
"Are you really sure?"
Lorelai rolled her eyes and held the phone to Luke's ear. "Luke would you please tell Rory that you or Liz would be ok with her coming here a day earlier."
Luke looked at her puzzled. "Hey, Rory. We'd love to have you here on Thanksgiving. Don't worry, there's plenty of room and food for you."
Lorelai put the phone back to her ear. "Believe me now?"
"Yeah, thanks. I guess then I'll pack my stuff and get on the road. Then I'll be there tonight around nine or ten."
"That's great, sweetie. I can't wait to see you."
"Me either, mom. I haven't seen you for such a long time. So I'll see you guys later tonight."
"Yeah, you will. Drive carefully, there's quite a lot of snow down here."
"Really? That's awesome, it hasn't snowed here yet. And don't worry, mom, I'm always careful."
"I know, just wanted to make sure, babe. See you tonight."
"Yeah, say 'hi' to Luke."
"I will, bye."
"Bye."
Lorelai put her phone on the nightstand and leaned back against Luke's shoulder.
"Why did Emily cancel on Rory?" Luke asked her, pulling her closer to his body.
Lorelai sighed, "she told Rory that they had to go to some charity function that they couldn't get out of, but I'm pretty sure that this is about our fight, and she's afraid that Rory's gonna confront her about that."
"Well, at least she's gonna be able to spend Thanksgiving with us now."
"Yeah, she is. I'm really happy."
"And I'm glad that you're happy." He told her, pulling her down for a kiss.
Lorelai smiled and glanced over his shoulder to the alarm clock on the nightstand. "As much as I hate to say this," Lorelai said looking back down at him, "but I think we should get dressed, I'm sure they're gonna be back soon."
"Yeah you're probably right."
Lorelai leaned over him to retrieve their underwear from the pile on the floor and passed his boxers to Luke, putting her own underwear back on.
"So what time is Rory gonna be here?" Luke asked her while getting dressed.
"Probably around ten or eleven tonight."
Lorelai looked at Luke and caught him frowning. "Is everything ok, Luke? Do you not want her to come?" she asked him a little concerned.
"No, god no. I'm really happy to see her. It's just…" he paused and sat down on the bed.
Lorelai, now also dressed, sat down next to him and gently squeezed his knee, urging him to continue. "It's just what?"
"Jess. The last time he came to Stars Hollow, he wanted to talk to her, but he never did. Well he told her something and then drove off, without waiting for her answer."
"Oh, Rory never told me about that. What did he say to her?"
"He told her he loved her."
"Oh…" Lorelai said surprised and shocked as well. Neither of them said anything for a few moments, until Lorelai cleared her throat and continued, "Well, maybe you should talk to him."
"Yeah, that's what I thought about. I'll talk to him after dinner."
"Ok."
"Maybe, you could talk to Rory sometime this weekend." Luke suggested.
"Yeah, I will, definitely."
Luke nodded and stood up. "Come on, let's go downstairs. I'm sure they'll be back soon. I'll make us some dinner."
"Can I help?" Lorelai asked jumping up excitedly.
"You can watch," Luke told her.
"What you don't trust my cooking skills?" She asked him pretending to be hurt.
"You don't have any." He told her, pulling her to his body.
"Yeah, you're right." Lorelai stepped on her tip toes and pecked his lips. "Come on," she said pulling him with her towards the stairs.
Just as Luke was putting the pasta into the boiling water, Jess, Liz and TJ stepped into the front hall, covered in snow.
Lorelai walked out into the living room, laughing at the sight of them. "Wow, you look like a little snow family."
Jess glared at her. "Really funny, it's freakin' cold out there and it doesn't stop snowing."
"I take you're not a big fan of snow Jess?" Lorelai asked him still grinning.
"No. And who is? It's cold and wet and causes power outages and car accidents." He told her, while taking of his wet boots and coat.
"What? Have you never experienced the magic of snow?"
"Noo! 'Cause there's no magic to it."
"Jess, you better don't argue with her about that," Luke said coming out of the kitchen. "The Gilmore girls and their thing about snow is one of the many things you should better not argue about, cause you're definitely gonna loose this one."
Lorelai put her arms around Luke's midsection and grinned up at him. "Better listen to your uncle, Jess, never argue with a Gilmore, there's no chance you're gonna win."
"Whatever, I'm gonna go upstairs to get out of these wet clothes. Call me when dinner's ready." With that he was out of the room.
"Whatcha, cookin' Luke?" TJ asked him while peering into the pots.
"Pasta with meatball sauce and stay out of the kitchen TJ."
TJ put his hands up in defense. "This is my kitchen you know? O can be in here as much as I want."
"Yeah, but I'm the one making dinner right now, so it's my territory."
"Yeah, yeah." He said and got a beer out of the fridge. "I'm gonna go watch some football."
Luke gave Lorelai a little squeeze and went back into the kitchen by both Liz and Lorelai.
"Thanks for making dinner, bro." Liz told him.
"It's no big deal."
"I miss your food." Liz said and sat down at the table and watched him.
"Well, you should come and visit me more often, and then you would get to eat my food more often."
"Well, maybe I will."
"You should, Liz." Lorelai piped in. "Even if he doesn't like to admit it, I think he misses you."
"You do?" Liz asked him surprised."
"You could come by more than once or twice a year, you know. I wouldn't mind that."
He told her not taking his eyes off the stove.
Lorelai smiled at that and went back upstairs to let them have their little moment as brother and sister.
"I always thought you didn't want me to visit." Liz told him.
"What?" Luke said surprised and turned around to face her. "Why would you think that?"
"Well, you never seemed really happy when I came to see you."
Luke sat down next to Luke. "That's 'cause you always came when you needed money or when you needed me to get you out of trouble again. I don't think you ever came just to see me."
"I did, didn't I?"
Luke nodded silently.
"I sorry, bro." Liz answered him, her eyes tearing up.
"It's ok," Luke said brushing away her tears and pulling her into a tight embrace. "Even if I don't always agree with what you do or who you marry," Liz chuckled at that, "I still love you, you know. You're my little sister, I will always love you. Just come by more often."
"I love you, too, and I promise you to come by more often, just to see you." Liz pulled away slightly and kissed his cheek.
"Good," Luke patted her knee and went back to the stove. "Will you call the others? Dinner will be ready in a minute."
Liz smiled at him and went into the living room to call the rest of the family for dinner.
After dinner Lorelai excused herself to read a little in their bedroom to kill some time until Rory would arrive. Jess, TJ and Liz where watching some TV, while Luke was cleaning up the kitchen.
After he was done in the kitchen he went into the living to the others. "Hey Jess, help me get some more wood for the fireplace, will you?"
"Luke, you don't have to do that, TJ can do it tomorrow."
TJ looked up from the TV for a second. "Let the man do it if he wants to, I don't mind."
"That's something new," Jess mumbled under his breath.
"What did ya say?" TJ raised his voice towards Jess.
"Nothing, Gary. Come on." He said to Luke, got his jacket and went outside. Luke got his jacket as well and followed Jess outside, who was already getting some wood.
"Jess, leave the wood for a sec. I wanna talk to you."
Jess sighed and went to sit next to Luke on the porch swing.
"What have you been up to? I haven't seen you in a long time."
"Didn't do anything special."
"Did you stay with your dad?"
"Yeah, for about a year."
"What are you doing now?" Jess wasn't very talkative and Luke felt like he had to squeeze every answer out of him.
"Moved back to New York, took a few college courses…"
Luke nodded until Jess's words sunk in. "Took a few college courses?" He turned to Jess surprised. "How did you get into college without finishing High School?"
Jess shrugged with his shoulders and put on his gloves that he had taken out of his coat pockets. "I went back to high school in California and got my diploma."
Luke was stunned. After a few moments of digesting the news, he finally got his voice back. "What changed your mind?"
"You." Jess replied barely above a whisper.
"ME?" Luke asked even more surprised. "What did I do?"
"I guess the whole you're not dumb you can do something with your life, don't screw up talk you constantly gave me made me think about my life."
"Wow. That's great news, Jess."
"Yeah, well." Jess said with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Soo, what courses are you taking? Do you know what you want to major in? I mean what do you wanna do with your life? And where do you live?"
"Whoa, that's a lot of questions there Luke!" Jess said a little defensive.
"Jess." Luke said annoyed by Jess's tone.
"I got a scholarship. Went to NYU, I live in a dorm room, even though I hate it and I wanna go into journalism."
"That's great Jess. I'm sure you'll be a great journalist one day."
"We'll see."
Luke smiled to himself; he was glad that Jess got back on the right track again. He turned back to Jess.
"But that's actually not all I wanted to talk about with you?"
"All right, I'm listenin'."
"You know that Rory is gonna come tonight, right?" He asked Jess.
"Tonight? I thought she wasn't gonna be here until tomorrow."
"Yeah, well, Emily canceled their dinner, so she's coming tonight already."
"Oh, ok."
"But that's not what I wanted to say."
"Well, what is it? I'm kinda freezing my butt off out here."
Luke sighed. "I guess I just wanted to know, if you would be ok with her being around for the next couple of days. I mean I know you haven't talked to her since…."
"No I haven't." Jess interrupted him.
"Are you planning on talking to her?"
"Yeah, if she wants to."
"Do you think you guys will…"
"I don't know." Jess interrupted him again.
"Oh ok."
"Is that it?" Jess said getting up to get the fire wood.
"Yeah, I guess that's it."
"All right, I'm gonna go inside." He said and walked towards the front door.
"Jess?" Luke stopped him before he went inside.
Jess stopped in the doorway but didn't turn around.
"Just don't hurt her."
"I could never hurt her." He said sincerely and went inside.
Luke sighed and went inside as well.
Luke found Lorelai in their room, reading on the bed.
"Hey," she said when he came in. "How'd it go?"
Luke took his shoes off and lay down next to her on the bed. "You won't believe what Jess told me."
Lorelai put her book on the nightstand and sat up against the headboard. "What kind of trouble did he get himself into now?"
"No trouble at all." Luke told her.
"What then?"
"He went back to High School in California, got his diploma, received a scholarship and is now studying Journalism at New York University."
Lorelai's jaw dropped. "Wow!"
"Yep, that's pretty much what I said when he told me." Luke replied and closed his eyes for a few moments.
Lorelai lay down on her side, propped her head up on hand and placed her other hand on his chest. "So are you happy about that?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"That doesn't sound convincing."
Luke opened his eyes and looked at her. "I just hope that he's gonna stay on this track."
"Did he tell you why he changed his mind about going back to High School?"
"Yeah, apparently I did." He said shaking his head in disbelieve, Lorelai smiled at that.
"What?" he asked her seeing her smile.
"I'm really sorry, but I told you so."
"What?"
"Remember when you came to my house after Jess had left and you thought that you had failed him?"
"Yeah, I think I do."
"And do you remember what I told you about that?"
Luke shook his head 'no'.
"Well, I told you that you didn't fail him, that you did everything to help him. That you didn't do anything wrong."
"Ah."
"And I was right."
"Are you doing a happy dance in your head?" Luke asked her after seeing her expression.
"Maybe," she said grinning at him.
"Crazy lady." Luke said rolling his eyes at her.
"Yeah, but you love my craziness." She told him pecking his lips.
"Maybe," he pulled her back down for a longer and deeper kiss. And just as their kisses became heavier there was a knock on the door.
"Come in," Lorelai said, laying back down next to Luke.
The door opened and Rory stepped in, covering her eyes with on hand. "Are you guys decent?"
"RORY!" Lorelai yelled and jumped to pull her daughter into a tight embrace.
"Ugh, mom. Need air."
"Sorry, kid," Lorelai laughed and loosened her embrace a little. "I'm just so happy to see you."
"Still, I'd like to stay alive here."
"Aren't you happy to see me at all?"
"I am very happy to see you; I was just teasing you a little. I kinda missed that." Rory told her mom and hugged her again.
"Thanks a lot." Lorelai said pouting, pretending to be mad.
Rory grinned at her mom and went over to Luke, who had gotten up from the bed and was standing next to the two women. "Hey, Luke." She said putting her arms around his waist for a hug.
"Hey, Rory." Luke greeted her, returning the hug affectionately.
"Awe, look at the two of you." Lorelai said when she watched the people she loved most share a hug.
Luke gave her his 'I'm not really mad you for this, but I pretend to be' look at which Lorelai had to smile even more. She knew that Rory was like a daughter to Luke and she
regarded her more as a father figure than she did with Chris.
"Hey Rory, are you hungry?" Luke asked her. "I left you some extra pasta with meatball sauce."
"Awe, thanks Luke! I'm starving. I haven't eaten since this morning, I was so busy with packing and I didn't really have anything left to eat at my dorm room."
"Yeah, that's what I thought. I'll go heat it up for you."
"Thanks I'll be down in a minute. I'm just gonna freshen up a little bit."
"I'll come with you," Lorelai said to Luke and pulled him towards the stairs.
Rory smiled at them and went to her room to change into some more comfortable clothes. Rory heard the faint sounds of Coldplay coming out of the room next to her. She stepped closer and took a deep breath when she saw Jess reading on his bed through the opening of the door. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door. 'Now or never,' she thought to herself.
"Come in," Jess said but didn't look up from his book.
"Hey, Jess." Rory said softly and stepped into the doorframe.
"Rory," Jess said surprised and put his book down.
"Can I come in?" She asked him and gestured towards his room.
"Oh yeah, sure." He said and got up from his bed. "Come on in."
"Thanks," she stepped inside and closed the door behind her.
"So…" Jess said after a few awkward moments of complete silence.
"So…" Rory replied casting her eyes around the room avoiding his eyes.
TBC….
AN2:
I know I'm evil to end it with a cliffhanger again. :)
But I'd really like to know your opinion about Jess. I haven't yet decided on how to continue the Rory/Jess storyline, so I thought I'd let people vote about it. So when you review tell me what you'd prefer. (I will take that as a strong suggestion)
- They talk about everything and get back together eventually
- They talk and decide to be friends
- They never talk to each other again if they don't have to
Other suggestions are always welcome.
Well tell me what you think. I hope to get a looooottt of reviews ;)