Morning After
Sam awoke to a blaring alarm and the first glow of sunrise. Taking a quick look at the alarm, he groaned, it was only a quarter to five in the morning. He hadn't woken up that early since he was a kid, or at least since he leaped into himself as a kid living on the farm with his folks. Shaking the cobwebs and memories from his head, he quickly went about getting ready. Grabbing a shirt and a pair of jeans from the closet, he jumped into the shower. At five 'til he was making his way down the stairs to get things started in the diner.
Firing up the grill and prepping the coffee, he was thankful that he'd spent some time as a short order cook in one of his past leaps, at least he had an idea of what he was doing. He was in the process of putting the chairs back down on the floor when he heard a small tap on the glass. Looking up he found Lorelai smiling and waving at him before pointing toward the deadbolt that held the door shut.
Quickly flipping the lever, he let her in and locked the door behind her. "Good morning," He smiled at her, not sure if he should give her a kiss or not. He hadn't quite figured out where the couple stood on PDAs just yet.
Lorelai just smiled up at Luke, enjoying the brief moment of uncertainty that passed across his face before she took the initiative to lovingly peck him on the cheek. "Good morning," She smiled sleepily, she was not used to being up this morning, but figured he might need the help. Giving the man a once over she chuckled, "What are you wearing?"
"What's wrong with it?" Sam asked, looking down at the jeans, and button down shirt he was wearing.
"Well first of all, your hat is missing." Lorelai stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Sam remembered the faded blue cap that he had set on the dresser the night before, not realizing the importance of the clearly well-worn article. "Secondly, what is with the shirt?"
"Oh I must have forgotten to put the cap on when I got out of the shower, I'll grab it in a little bit." Sam made his excuses, "But what's wrong with my shirt?"
"Not that I'm complaining, mind you, because believe me, that shirt is really working for you," Lorelai started, "But you usually go with the lumberjack look during diner hours. Looks liked you pretty much have everything in order down here and Caesar will be here soon, why don't we head upstairs and try again, Angel Boy."
Angel Boy? Sam wondered at the nickname not sure if it was one she usually used on Luke, but let it go. He gave her a slightly concerned look then shrugged before heading towards the curtain that led back to the stairs to his apartment.
"Don't worry, I won't make you look too dorky." Lorelai teased, following him, "Not that I think you could look dorky, and I've seen pictures of you from high school wearing that Star Trek t-shirt. Man did you make that think look good too. Must have been all that sporty stuff you did in high school."
"Sporty stuff?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, you know. Track, baseball, I think you played a little basketball too, if I'm not mistaken." Lorelai smiled up at him, "I'm glad Start Hollow High still had that picture of you from when you made all state. You made those goofy looking 80's short shorts look sexy."
"Jeez, Lorelai," Sam blushed, "Now you gonna help me out here or what?"
"Alright, not a morning person I see." Lorelai quipped, "Me either, but thought I'd try to help you stay under the radar for a bit longer. The thing about small towns is…"
"Everyone notices everything." Sam finished for her, "I know, I grew up a small town boy."
"I know that, Silly," Lorelai's melodious giggle washed over him, "You grew up here, which only means you need to be extra careful because Patty and Babette have known you since infancy and would immediately start up Hello Magazine's gossip section if anything was the slightest bit off." She shook her head as she opened the closet door and grabbed a dark green flannel that brought out his eyes. "Catch," she called, tossing the shirt to him.
Sam caught the flying shirt readily and laid it on the bed as Lorelai retrieved the infamous hat from the dresser. He could hear her audible gasp the moment he took of the shirt revealing his bare chest. "What?"
"T-shirt," Lorelai stated, shaking her head in a wordless command to wait to put on the flannel, "You always have a shirt under the flannel, especially during the summer. That way if it gets too hot down stairs you have the option of losing the flannel without Patty trying to molest you too badly." She explained, grabbing a light grey shirt from one of the dresser drawers and tossing it to him. The shirt wasn't overly tight but still showed the carefully maintained muscles of Luke's torso. Lorelai did her best not to drool, reminding herself that this wasn't really her Luke and she couldn't take advantage of him.
"Better?" Sam asked, buttoning up the flannel just high enough for the t-shirt underneath to still peak through before sliding the hat on his head.
"Ooh," Lorelai frowned, "Other way, Hun. The only time you ever wear a hat forward is when you're out playing softball with the guys."
"Oh," Sam blushed under her scrutiny and quickly reset the hat backwards on his head, "Now?"
"Perfect," Lorelai beamed, "Now, I believe someone owes me coffee."
"One cup, coming right up." Sam smiled down at her before following her into the diner.
"One cup," Lorelai chuckled, "Surely you must be joking."
"I'm not joking," Sam responded without thinking, "And don't call me Shirley."
The shocked look Lorelai gave him stopped him in his tracks, he immediately knew he'd said something wrong, but wasn't sure as to what it might have been. The pair stood silently, looking at each other before another tap on the door earned his attention. Taking a quick glance at the clock, he realized that the diner should have been open 10 minutes ago. He quickly made his way to the door and flipped the sign before unlocking the door to allow a peculiar man of indeterminable age in.
Lorelai gave a small smile to Kirk who sat a couple stools down from her and ordered the omelet special, no peppers, no onion, no meat, just cheese and a hot chocolate. She watched as Luke quickly wrote down the order and slid it through the service window to his jovial cook. Definitely not Luke. She thought, Luke doesn't make b-movie references, and he always argues with Kirk, especially when he orders that omelet. Oh, Angel Boy, you are gonna be a lot of work, aren't you. Lorelai quickly finished he cup and held it out for a refill, which Luke quickly gave her without comment about it being the cause of her eventual, early, demise.
"Oh, before I forget, I called my Dad this morning." Lorelai spoke up after watching him serve Kirk his not-so-special cheese omelet and hot chocolate.
"Really?" Sam responded, intrigued, "What did he say?"
"That he was glad to hear me sounding happier than I did last night." Lorelai shrugged, "But when I told him about the reason for my call, he said he knew just the guy." She reached into her purse and pulled out a Hello Kitty! Post-it note and handed it to him. "He said this guy is the best family law guy in the state, he'll help you get what you want and not drag Anna through the mud in the process."
"An honorable lawyer?" Sam quirked an eyebrow at her as he looked at the name and number scrawled in Lorelai's loopy script, "That's a rare breed."
"Yeah," Lorelai nodded before glancing at her watch, "Oops, gotta go. Michel said that Paw-Paw and Chin-Chin have a vet visit today, so I'm on the early desk today." She quickly explained before leaning over the counter, "Kiss?"
Sam obliged her with a quick peck on the lips and a "Have a good day," before grabbing her now empty cup that had been refilled at least three times that morning and setting it in the window. He spent the rest of his day serving customers. He quickly found his rhythm and found the repetitive nature of the job soothing in its own way. He could see why Luke enjoyed this work so much, especially when you added in all the strange characters that inhabited the town, most of whom came through the diner at some point or another, creating a constant form of entertainment. Sam had to remind himself on more than one occasion that he was supposed to be grumpy and not laugh at their ridiculous antics.