A/N: Here's the second chapter guys I hope you enjoy! P.S. same disclosure as before, these guys aren't mine but I wish they were. Especially Luke
Four beers later and Luke was still sat with Lorelai, laughing with her at an anecdote of his latest run in with Taylor earlier in the day. " Man I'm sorry I missed that, I love seeing angry Luke. You're so funny when your face goes all red and your arms are gesturing wildly all over the place"
"Oh well I'm glad my discontent amuses you" Luke said with an eye roll.
"I think it's great that you get so passionate about things" She said seriously as she put her hand on his arm. Lorelai felt Luke's muscle flex beneath her hand as she lightly stroked his forearm, and what initially was meant as a comforting, friendly sort of gesture suddenly felt very intimate. Luke looked down at her hand on his arm, the delicate ivory of her skin looked almost luminous next to his. When he looked up again he found Lorelai staring at him intently as if she was studying his face for something.
"You have very pretty eyes, you know that?" she finally said, surprising him with her comment.
"Lorelai" Luke said in a warning tone but blushing nonetheless.
"No I mean it, they're a beautiful colour, and you have such great eyelashes too! Man I'd kill to have your eyelashes, I'd save a fortune on mascara! I wonder why I've never noticed before"
"You're drunk"
"Yes I am, you got a problem with that big boy" She said with a giggle and a wink.
"I'm going to get you some water, stay there" Luke said standing up, already missing the contact as her hand fell away from his arm.
"Here you go, I got you these too, I thought they might help soak up some of the alcohol" Luke said holding the bottle of water and a plate of graham crackers out to Lorelai.
Taking the offering in front of her Lorelai greedily started eating as if she she hadn't seen food for days. "Woah there, take it easy and drink some of that water too, you don't want to choke". Her playful eyes met his concerned ones and she reached out and hugged his middle, pulling him to her and knocking him off balance in the process. Luke tumbled down onto the couch next to Lorelai where she was now practically on top of him. "Oh Lucas you look after me so well!"
"Don't call me Lucas!" Luke groaned half out of annoyance and half out of arousal. Lorelai was still hugging him, pressing her warm soft curves against him and she was looking at him with such an adoration in that moment. She looked like a drunken angel. Drunken being the key word Luke thought. Fighting back the urge to act on his desires Luke picked up Lorelai's abandoned water bottle. "Drink" he urged as he pressed the bottle back into her hand. Knowing he should probably leave he started to stand up only for Lorelai to reach out and grab his hand.
"Please stay with me a bit longer" She urged, not wanting Luke to leave but not really understanding why. She just felt it, in her stomach, that she wanted him there. Luke had never been able to refuse Lorelai anything and so against his better judgement he stayed.
Luke woke up early the next morning feeling groggy and disorientated. He was still in Lorelai's house he realised as he took in his surroundings. His neck ached from the awkward angle he had slept in, half propped up in the corner of the couch. Looking down he remembered the reason for his unusual sleeping position. Lorelai had fallen asleep with her head in his lap, her curls fanned out across his jeans and her hand resting on his knee. She looked so perfect and peaceful, Luke had never seen her so still before. Almost the second that this thought crossed his mind Lorelai shifted in her sleep and nuzzled her 'pillow', lightly pressing against Luke's crotch in the process. Realising what her close proximity to that area could do and not wanting her to be woken up by an early morning surprise Luke gently slid out from underneath her. He replaced his lap with a throw pillow and pulled the blanket from the back of the couch over her slumbering form. Before he left he gathered a 'hangover kit' for her; leaving another bottle of water and some Advil within easy reach for her on the coffee table. Taking one last look at her he couldn't resist gently brushing aside a rogue curl that had tumbled across her face, her brow puckered slightly at the contact but she didn't wake up.
As Luke backed his truck down the drive he failed to notice one of Stars Hollow's residence gossips as she let her cat out the front door. Unfortunately for Luke and Lorelai, Babette didn't fail to notice him.
...
Anyone with a cat will tell you that they have a habit of waking their owners up nice and early; sometimes they want food, sometimes they want to play or sometimes they just want some attention. That particular morning Cinnamon had spotted a nice juicy looking bird outside the window and so had made his desire to go outside known very noisily in the Dell household. Babette was still rubbing the sleep from her eyes when she opened the door that morning, and when she saw Luke coming out the door of her neighbour's house she rubbed them again thinking she was seeing things. Lorelai's house had been in darkness when Babette and Morey had gone to bed last night, had Lorelai been out with Luke she wondered to herself. It certainly looked like Luke had spent the night there, and wasn't that the same shirt that he was wearing when she saw him in the diner yesterday?. Bursting with excitement from her discovery Babette hurried inside. She internally debated if it was still too early to call Patty, Stars Hollow's other reigning gossip queen valued her beauty sleep. Babette was desperate to tell someone and as much as she loved her husband, Morey just wouldn't appreciate how hot this gossip truly was. Looking at the clock on the wall Babette crossed her fingers hoping Patty would forgive her for waking her up once she heard the news. "Patty I've got a juicy one for ya" she called out in her raspy voice before her friend could tell her off for waking her up so early.
And so the rumour mill started turning and the news swept through town that the local diner owner was seen leaving the Gilmore house in the early hours of the morning. Once Patty had been informed it was only a matter of time before the busybodies of Stars Hollow were filling up the diner. If Luke noticed any of the whispering or meaningful looks his customers were sharing that day then he didn't acknowledge it. What he did notice however was how busy it had been all morning with people lingering over their food and ordering refill after refill on their coffee. If they were waiting for Lorelai to show up then they were going to be disappointed that morning, as the lovely Gilmore girl had overslept and was running too late to stop by for her usual Luke's coffee fix.
Lorelai had woken up that morning, much the same as Luke had, feeling dazed and confused. She could tell from the amount of light in the room that she had slept late, and when she finally opened her eyes properly she realised why. She was still downstairs on the couch, a whole floor separating her and her alarm clock, no wonder she had slept through the alarm. As she sat up she felt a thumping in her skull and was immediately grateful to see the Advil and a bottle of water in front of her. Smiling to herself as she realised that Luke must have left them there for her.
Twenty minutes later after a shower and the pain relief Lorelai was feeling marginally more human. However it felt like one step forward and two steps back the moment she stepped out onto her porch and remembered that she didn't have her car. Damn it! She thought as she set out on foot for the inn, thankful that she had opted to wear flats rather than heels that morning. By the time she got to the inn she was well beyond late, she was so far past late that they should be grateful that she showed up at all that day. Avoiding the lobby and therefore delaying any snarky comments from Michel, Lorelai headed straight for the sanctuary of the kitchen to worship at the altar of the coffee machine. She had barely taken one sip of the precious nectar before a squealing Sookie was at her side.
"Sookie sweetie, tone it down a touch I think you may have just gone super sonic" Lorelai winced as the pounding in her head returned with a vengeance.
"Oh I'm sorry I'm just so excited! You need to tell me what happened last night!" Lorelai was used to her friend's perky and bubbly attitude but this seemed excessive even for her over the thought of Lorelai going speed dating. Confused by Sookie's enthusiastic question Lorelai took a long swig from her coffee mug before responding.
"Oh Sook the whole thing was just terrible from start to finish" Hearing this Sookie's face fell.
"What?! Really? God I never imagined that! Not that I imagined you and Luke having sex before, well not really. But I'd have thought it would have been hot you know, full of passion. The way you guys flirt sometimes you can cut the sexual tension with a knife…" When Lorelai's brain finally caught up to what Sookie was saying she nearly choked on her coffee.
"Sook what are you talking about? Why do you think I had sex with Luke? I was talking about the speed dating event I went too!"
"Ohhh yeah, I'd forgotten about the speed dating thing. Well it's all over town that Luke was seen leaving your house this morning in yesterday's clothes. Jackson heard it from Mrs Cassini, who heard it from…"
"Sook I don't need to know the whole gossip train. Oh my god Luke is going to kill me if he hears this! It's all my fault, I got drunk at speed dating and asked Luke for a lift and then last night I was feeling needy I guess and asked him to stay with me. We must have both fallen asleep on the couch. Fully clothed I might add. Why has everyone assumed that we slept together, Luke is my friend it's not a ridiculous idea that he could have just crashed out at mine?"
"Really there was no sex? Aww man Kirk is going to be so disappointed to give the pool money back" Sookie looked genuinely disappointed to have the gossip refuted by her friend. She could see the attraction between Luke and Lorelai as clear as day, she really felt that it was only a matter of time before one or the other of them took the plunge.
"Pool? What pool?" Lorelai asked with a hint of panic in her voice.
"Oh it's been going on for years, half the town have bets on when you guys would finally hook up. People have to keep updating their guesses because you guys have danced around this for so long…" Noticing the growing anger in her friends disposition Sookie's voice trailed out to barely a whisper.
"What the hell Sook, please tell me you haven't taken part in this? Why did you never think to mention that half the town has a running bet on the state of my love life!"
"No Kirk made a big fuss about me possibly having insider knowledge. Lorelai sweetie don't get upset about this. This may sound like everyone is a little too involved, but in their own kooky way it shows how much they all care about you guys. Everyone can see what a great couple you guys would make. We all just want to see you happy"
"I'm still mad about this" Lorelai said pouting but she said it with a softer tone than before and with much less conviction. "If Luke finds out about this though he's going to flip! Oh god I need to go speak to him"
Most of Lorelai's anger dissipated on her way over to the diner. She was still on foot so the journey took longer than usual and it gave her time to do a lot of thinking. Sookie had said that half the town was willing her and Luke to get together, maybe it was time for her to give some serious thought to the matter. Luke was an attractive guy, she could admit that. She had caught herself checking out his impeccable ass on more than one occasion and throughout their friendship there had been plenty of special moments between them. She had often thought over the years that Luke looked on the verge of kissing her but always one or the other of them would pull away and break the moment. He could also be incredibly sweet when he wanted to be, especially towards Rory. She still remembered how he took time out of his busy day to attend a caterpillar's funeral just because Rory had invited him. That bond that he shared with Rory was unique to any other man in her life, he genuinely cared for and was interested in Rory for her own brilliant personality irrespective of the fact that she was her mother. He was a great friend to both the Gilmore girls. Always willing to help them out when they asked, sometimes even when they didn't ask. He had a knack for being able to produce a slice of pie to put a smile on the face of either one of the girls when called for. Yes Luke was a great friend, but could he be more than that?
Bracing herself for the news she was about to impart Lorelai took a deep breath as she stepped into the diner, the bells overhead jingling to announce her arrival. As if on cue a hush fell over the crowd and all eyes were on Luke and Lorelai as she approached the counter. Noticing the weird shift in the atmosphere Lorelai leaned in towards Luke and said quietly
"Hey you got a minute to talk?" Then quickly adding "In private"
Luke raised his eyebrows and nodded "Sure. Caesar I'm taking a break." Gesturing towards the curtain Luke led Lorelai upstairs and away from the prying eyes and ears in the diner. The moment the curtain fell closed behind them the gossiping re-commenced with a vengeance.
"Did you see that? Definitely something going on" "Probably going up there for a nooner…"
"What the hell is going on with people today, they've been acting nuttier than normal all morning" Luke said rubbing the back of his neck.
"Well that's kind of what I came to talk to you about." Lorelai looked at him uncertainly and took a deep breath. "Everyone in town apparently thinks we're sleeping together"
"What else is new, Babette and Miss Patty have been making comments like that for years" Luke replied with a sceptical expression.
"No I mean they really think it now, Babette saw you leaving my house this morning"
"Oh god!"
"Hey don't sound so offended buddy!"
"That's not what I mean. I just hate being the topic of gossip"
"Yeah I know, erm this gets worse actually. Do you want some tea? Some nice calming tea? Camomile or something.." "Lorelai I don't need tea just tell me what the hell is going on?" Luke interrupted her rambling.
"Erm well see the thing is, apparently there's this pool and half the town have made bets on when we were going to get together"
"THEY WHAT!" Luke exploded. The customers downstairs looked up at the ceiling then quickly rushed to pay before a furious Luke came downstairs and unleashed his rage on them all.
"Hey don't shout at me! I'm not the one running this thing. I've only just found out myself and I thought it would be best if you heard this from me so that you wouldn't murder anyone, because I really don't think orange is your colour and then who would make my coffee?"
"I still might murder someone" Luke said, his face was red and his hands were clenched. "What gives any of them the right to discuss this? Surely our relationship only concerns me and you?
Luke was angry, really angry. But was he angry that people would think that they were together or just angry that they had an opinion at all? Sensing this may not be the time to explore any potential more than friendly feelings between them Lorelai decided to let that train of thought drop. But just for the moment.
"Hey do you want to get out of town with me for a bit? I still need to go collect my car and I think some space between you and the citizens of Stars Hollow might be wise for the moment"
Huffing out a big sigh Luke hung his head. Was that all he was to her? Somebody to run around after her? When she says jump I say how high he thought to himself. He had thought they had a moment last night, when she was looking into his eyes he thought he could see sparks there. But maybe she had just been drunk? Who knows he thought sadly, realising that once again he was too scared to push for something more at the risk of losing her friendship when she rejected him. She was right about one thing though, getting out of town for an hour or two did sound like a good idea.
A/N: So they're still not admitting anything to each other, but we're getting there. I'm part way done with the next chapter so I'll hopefully have it up soon. In the mean time please let me know what you think in your reviews.