Chapter 19 – Some Advice

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Luke hoped that their date at Sniffy's would be the turning point. He was sadly disappointed when Lorelai never came to the diner the next day. When she did drop by after two days, she still acted cordially friendly to him and sat with whichever townie was around, instead of her usual seat at the counter.

He was nearing his wit's end and had no idea what to do, and decided to go to Dragonfly on the day he knew Lorelai was not working. He had to talk to Sookie.

"Luke! What are you doing here?" Sookie asked, surprised when she saw who was knocking at her kitchen door. "Lorelai is off today, she's not here."

"Yeah, I know," he replied, embarrassed. "I… uh, actually wanted to talk to you."

"Okay, sure," she said easily. "Manny, look after this sauce for a moment. Stir slowly! Don't burn this, or I'll burn your ass!" she hollered to her sous chef.

She gestured to Luke to follow her to the library. "We should talk here, it's more private."

Luke cleared his throat. "I don't really know what to do anymore."

"What?" Sookie asked, surprised. "Are you giving up on Lorelai? Again?" Her tone was sharp and she looked angry.

"No, no, nothing like that," he explained quickly. "I just don't know… I don't know how to get her to trust me again. How to get her to give us a chance again. I mean, she's been back in Stars Hollow for, what, five months now, and there's barely any progress. She's still… polite." He paused and tried to find the words to explain. "She would start teasing me sometimes, but before we can start really bantering like we used to, she would suddenly pull back. She won't let me fix things at her house. I don't think the two of us would even qualify as friends at this point. I'm just the guy who pours her coffee who keeps asking her for a date, which she still refuses."

"But she said yes once, right? You went to Sniffy's?"

"I know, I know, and she did promise to go with me to take April shopping next week. I'm not complaining, and I am going to wait however long it takes. I just… I wish there was a way to get things back to how it was before. Believe it or not… I'm ready to be married. Right now. I'm ready to start our middle. But I feel like she's given up."

Sookie was silent. "Luke, I don't know what to say. I can't help you."

Luke sighed, defeated. "I understand."

"But I don't think she's given up. To be honest, she doesn't seem… sad anymore," she replied thoughtfully. "She's back to her old self. She smiles when she talks about you and April. I know she's been spending time with April at the diner, and that makes her happy. And she is looking forward to next week."

He looked at Sookie gratefully. "Really? That's… that's good to hear."

"She still loves you, you know?" Sookie said softly. "We went to a bar last week. Man, all the guys there were just hitting on her. We didn't have to buy a single drink all night. But she kept telling the guys she wasn't interested."

Luke felt relief coursing through his veins. He didn't like the thought of Lorelai in a bar, getting drunk, with guys hanging around, hoping she'd notice them. "I hope you guys didn't get too wasted or anything."

Sookie giggled. "Lorelai didn't. Believe it or not, she really paced herself this time. She said she's done too many embarrassing things when she's drunk, so after the second martini, she switched to club soda. I, on the other hand…"

Luke looked uncomfortable, not sure if he wanted to hear the rest of the story.

"Never mind about that, but let's just say the night ended with Jackson picking us up from the bar and there was zucchini involved."

Luke groaned. "I really don't need to know anything more, Sookie."

She giggled again, then made an effort to get back to their discussion. "Hey, did you know Christopher tried to get to her by using his kid?"

"What?"

"Yeah, somehow he figured out that one of the reasons you guys broke up was because you kept April away from Lorelai. He knew that made her very insecure as a mother, because why would her own fiancé do that unless he thought she was a bad mother?"

"I never thought she was a bad mother…"

"So he kept calling Lorelai to ask for her help to take care of Gigi. He would say that he didn't know what to do with a daughter, that he knew Lorelai was the expert, that she was a super-mom, and so on."

Luke couldn't speak. He was angry at Christopher for trying to take advantage of his mistake. But he was also angry at himself that he made Lorelai insecure. "So what happened?" he asked with much effort.

"To be honest, Lorelai very nearly said yes," she said. "I mean, he was really persistent. He came here several times, he visited her at her house. That guy knows how to woo a girl. He had flowers and chocolates, the whole she-bang. But… she said no. She kept saying no until he got the idea."

"I'm glad."

"Don't hate me, but there was a time when I wasn't glad that she kept saying no," Sookie admitted. "I thought she deserved such… attention after all she's been through. But I guess the attention is worth nothing if it's not from the guy you want."

"So do you think that's what she wants? Flowers and chocolates and that kind of thing?"

"No, not from you… That's not you, Luke. She wouldn't want you to be anything other than the same Luke who has been her friend for so many years."

"I don't really know what else I can do."

"I know, Luke. And I know you've been patient and you've been trying really hard. That's really sweet, and I know Lorelai appreciates it. Maybe… maybe she just needs some more time."

"Yeah…"

"Luke, she's not trying to decide whether to give you another chance or find someone else to build a life with. You're it for her. There isn't anyone else, and there won't ever be anyone else…" Sookie said kindly. "Just, just show her you're there. That you're ready. That you're not going anywhere. That even though you have April, let her know that she and Rory – they're also your family."

Luke nodded slowly. "I get it. Thanks, Sookie. This really helps."