KC's Henley
Luke bounded up the stairs. This weird day-good weird, not bad weird, but weird nonetheless-was finally over and he had a date with Lorelai that night. Thank God he'd found time after they left for Hartford to go upstairs and take a shower. He couldn't recall the last time he'd changed clothes so many times in one day. It started this morning following his 'walk of shame' from Lorelai's house, then clean clothes after the breakfast rush was over, followed by his evening shower and now the date.
He touched up his scruff at the places that needed a little cleanup. In spite of the scruffy look, which garnered the occasional snide remark, Luke was more careful with his beard than people imagined. It took effort for scruffy to look good. Leave the soul patch or remove it? He left it, remembering that he'd seen Lorelai focused on it more than once.
Luke Danes felt uncomfortable whenever (and it happened too often) anyone talked about him being 'a good-looking man.' While occasionally flattering, most of the attention he got from women was untimely and unwanted. Make no mistake about it-he was a red-blooded, vital American heterosexual male, with all of the wants and desires that came with the territory, but he knew what he wanted, and it wasn't women throwing themselves at his feet.
He scoffed at the idea of love at first sight, but he let his gut feelings about people determine who he was willing to date. If he didn't quickly have a positive gut feeling about a woman, he didn't bother with her. That method worked for Luke Danes, and it worked well. He never lacked for a girlfriend when he wanted one, and that knowledge gave him a quiet confidence in his method, until Lorelai Gilmore ran into his diner and erased his confidence with a flash of her blue eyes like Agent K used his neuralyzer.
As he pulled his navy blue Henley shirt out of the closet, he let himself hope. That's why he chose the Henley, he knew without vanity it was his best casual look. He hoped the effort wouldn't be lost on Lorelai. No flannel tonight, just the full impact of the Henley.
A splash of aftershave and he was ready to run down his checklist. Hair (no cap tonight), teeth, clean nails, all check. Wallet has enough cash for most events she might drag him to-check. Sliding the wallet into his back pocket, he did his standard pocket slap check: front right, front left, back right, back left-keys and wallet was all he needed tonight.
One last look around the apartment showed that everything was put well-enough away, oops get that last wet towel hung up, everything was clean enough. Ready.
He exited the apartment and, turning after he locked the door, he saw Lorelai coming up the stairs. She obviously liked what she saw, until he put up a hand and said, "Stop right there!"
As usual for Lorelai, she didn't stop, so he leapt down the last few stairs between them, meeting her about two-thirds of the way down. Lorelai put her hands on his chest, smiling up through her eyelashes, then lifted one hand to his cheek, fingering his scruff. His hands went automatically to her waist, pulling her closer as she kissed first his cheek, then his soul patch, tugging sweetly on the longer hairs.
Luke answered her kiss, highly aware of the risk he took by doing so. After a moment, he managed the strength to push her back an inch or two. "Lorelai, as much as I want this right now, let's go have that beer first."
She gave in to his request despite not being especially happy about it. "What does it matter anyway?" she pouted.
"When we tell our grandchildren about our first date, I don't want to have to lie to them about never actually making it to the date because we collapsed on the stairs and …"
"I could live with that lie," she said as she smiled impishly. "I remember when I realized that my parents talked about kissing, kissing and more kissing before they married, but what they really meant was pre-marital sex. It scarred me for life."
Luke laughed as they reached the bottom of the stairs. "Let's spare the grandkids this one, OK?"
Locking the diner door again after them, they walked to KC's, each with an arm loosely wound around the other's waist, enjoying the privacy that the cover of darkness brought.
KC's Tavern was set off a little from the main drag in Stars Hollow, but it was a nice place on the outside as well as the inside.
"Hey Luke," called Kevin as the couple came through the door. Kevin's eyes grew momentarily large as he saw who accompanied his friend, but he quickly recovered and welcomed Lorelai too. Luke showed her to a corner next to the kitchen entrance. Thanks to an error in construction, there was just enough room to put seating for two; the back of the benches served as a wall hiding them from the rest of the room. No one but the staff passed by there, which made the corner a favorite place for people who wanted to be alone.
"Hmm, cozy. I've never seen this seat before. The couple of times I've been here, it's always been Sookie and I playing truly terrible games of pool. How do you know Kevin?"
"We've been friends since before he opened the tavern, before he met Natalie." He moved in his seat, aware of her closeness. "Lorelai, I don't want to talk about Kevin." He leaned in and kissed her, barely touching her lips at first, then pressing harder as she responded to his invitation.
"Me neither," she said. "I'm just glad to be here with you. Finally," she added.
"Beer? Or something else to drink?"
"Beer is great."
Lorelai watched Luke go over to the bar and chat with Kevin while he pulled the draft beer. At the bar a woman came out from the kitchen and stood next to Kevin. That must be Kevin's wife Natalie. Wonder why I never met her. Natalie said a few words to Luke, who looked a little uncomfortable. All at once, Natalie snapped her head towards Lorelai, looking her over. She sank back in her seat, trying to make herself invisible, wishing herself someplace else.
When Luke returned, she asked, "What was that about? I felt like I'd grown an extra head or something."
Luke put his arm around her. "Lorelai, no. Natalie, Kevin's wife, just wanted to know who you were. I haven't ever brought anyone here and they were curious. Kevin's a good friend…he'd never want you to feel uncomfortable here."
"Natalie obviously doesn't feel the same way."
"That's not true. She's never met you, doesn't know you at all. Even if she didn't like you, though, it wouldn't matter to me. Now clink."
"To our date." "Our date." They tapped the bottoms of their glasses and drank.
"Luke, why did you ask me out?"
"After last night, that should be obvious, Lorelai."
"Well, I guess I meant, why didn't you ask me out sooner? We've known each other for years, and …"
"And the whole town says I have a thing for you, right?"
"Right, sorta. I don't care what the town thinks. I care about why, if that's true, you didn't ask me out before."
He looked uncomfortable, and took another draft on his beer. "You sure you don't want to talk about first date things, like favorite movies?"
"This is a perfectly normal first date question."
"But this is not a perfectly normal first date, Lorelai. We went from first gear to warp drive overnight."
She laughed, and moved closer to him, leaning up against his body, resting her hand on his thigh. "Beam me up, Scotty. I'd still like to know, though? Is it me? Did I do something wrong?"
Luke's protective instincts switched on. He couldn't let Lorelai blame herself for his failings.
"It's not that. I'm actually not very good at asking women out."
Lorelai scoffed. "With that body? With your good looks?"
"My 'looks,' as you call them, made it easy to not have to learn how to ask women out. A woman would make it pretty clear that she wouldn't mind going out with me, and that was all the signal I needed." This line of conversation embarrassed Luke, and he felt color rising in his cheeks. It sounded both vain and arrogant at the same time, but it wasn't. He really felt uncomfortable asking women out and hated dating even more.
"Poor Butch. That's what they called you in high school, right? At least, that's what Sookie said. Is that how you met Rachel? How many hearts have you broken?" Her teasing voice belied her real curiosity.
"Lorelai, I really don't want to talk about this anymore. It's in the past anyway, since the woman I'm interested in now never sent me a signal. I guess I'm past my prime."
Lorelai was flustered. She hadn't known of any woman in Luke's life. What happened last night if he's interested in someone else? "Um, I uh, can't imagine that you're past your prime. From where I sit, you're very much still in it. What are you going to do about her?" That question hurt her to ask. Crazy thoughts were swirling in her brain, none of them making any sense.
He looked at her intently, then spoke slowly and deliberately. "What I DID was grasp at a straw. When she called me with an emergency, I ran over as quickly as I could, thinking this was the signal. It wasn't, but we got lucky and managed to get together anyway. Thank God for Stella."
Lorelai's swirling crazy thoughts became a maelstrom of emotion. The crazy thoughts that whispered 'he wanted someone else' gave way to Sookie's 'Jump. Jump now.'
She jumped. "Don't forget to thank God for the lemon lamp and your poor skills at hurdling. If you hadn't been lying there unconscious, I never would have had the courage to take advantage of you." Her witty remark disguised her relief at misunderstanding his earlier statement.
Luke's laughter boomed out, reaching Kevin's ears over the Bono playing on the jukebox. Watching him take Lorelai in his arms and kissing her, Kevin couldn't remember the last time he'd seen his friend so happy. Someone had chosen the Bangles' Eternal Flame for the next jukebox song, probably that group of women playing pool on the far side of the room, judging by their happy reaction.
Watching out of the corner of his eye while opening a half-dozen bottles, he saw Luke and Lorelai move toward the postage stamp Kevin advertised as a dance floor. Luke looked over at Kevin as they walked by hand in hand. He shrugged, a smile on his face, as he allowed Lorelai to lead him to the floor.
Washing glasses was both the most important job in the bar and the most boring. Kevin could wash glasses in his sleep. He happily washed every glass he could get his hands on for the four minutes of the song, because it meant he could watch his friend maneuvering his date around the busy dance floor. Lorelai chattered animatedly through the first minute of the song, letting Luke find their rhythm and pace. Some vague memory popped up in Kevin's mind; didn't Lorelai and Sookie recently see the Bangles in New York? She was probably telling him some story or other about it, if Luke had told him the truth about Lorelai's ability to tell a story that was uniquely funny, lively, and very, very long.
Eventually Luke managed to shut her up, and they moved closer, less dancing than hugging and kissing. He took one of her hands in his and pressed it against his heart, following the lead of the lyrics. Kevin knew what to expect next; he'd seen it a hundred times on his dance floor. He didn't need to know how to read lips to see Luke tell Lorelai that he loved her, nor did he miss her affirmative response. Yes, Luke had it bad, but it was the kind of bad he'd always hoped his friend would find.
As they took their seats again, Lorelai said, "Tell me about your family. How did you settle here in Stars Hollow? Where did your parents live?"
Luke finished his beer and looked at the walls of the bar. "Over this direction is my parents' house," he said, pointing toward the east wall. "My grandparents lived about a block past the Twickham house, which is … hmm. Why don't I show you? Finish your beer and let's go."
They walked over to the bar, where Kevin stood near the cash register. Luke pulled money out of his wallet, but Kevin brushed it aside. "My treat tonight. You've covered for me often enough, especially after Katie was born. I'm in your debt." He pulled out a picture of his daughter to show Lorelai, who oohed and aahed over the very cute infant. Luke stuffed the money into the tip jar, shook Kevin's hand and they went out into the cool air.
He led Lorelai to the diner, where they entered and climbed to the roof. On the way he stopped in at the apartment to take a flannel for Lorelai and a light jacket for himself. Looking over the dark town, Luke was better able to point out former homes of the various relatives on both sides of his parents' family. She shivered as a breeze cut over the roof, and Luke removed his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. Standing behind her, Luke wrapped his arms around her waist, sharing body warmth.
"The Danes empire." Lorelai said.
Luke snorted. "You're standing on the empire. One run-down hardware store. No houses, no yards, not even a driveway. All that out there-just the past."
"OK, the Danes castle. Is there a moat?"
"No moat."
"A tower?"
"Right here beneath our feet."
"Dragons?"
"Yes, dragons. There are dragons everywhere."
"You need me to protect you from these dragons?" she queried, leaning against him, feeling secure in his arms.
Even in her fantasy world, she has more confidence than anyone else I know. "Yes," he replied simply.
"I'll have to lock you up in the tower so the dragons can't get to you."
"Will you be there with me?" he countered. Barely whispering, his lips against her ear, he added, "Stay with me tonight."
Lorelai shivered, not from the cold. His low whispered voice was the sexiest sound she'd ever heard.
"What about the coffee? My magic powers need your coffee."
"You've locked me in the tower. How can I make the coffee?" Again the whisper, "Stay."
Her knees began to grow weak, but the thrill of the 'battle' to come gave her the strength she needed to stand her ground.
"Tomorrow, if we're up very early, I think the dragons might still be sleeping. You could sneak past the sleeping dragons and make the coffee then."
"I can see you've battled dragons before. Is 5 a.m. early enough? I have to open the diner."
"I'm pretty sure the dragons sleep in on Saturdays. We'll be safe at 5."
"Let's storm the castle."
"Do you know what I'd like to do on our date tomorrow?" Lorelai was wide awake and ready to talk.
"Mmm, what." Luke was neither awake nor in a talking mood.
"The Danes Stars Hollow tour."
He rolled over and looked at her briefly, bleary-eyed. "What?" He closed his eyes again, still half-asleep.
"I want to see it all. Where you lived, where you played, your schools, everything."
"Seriously? You don't just want to go see a movie or something?"
"Oh! Let's visit the cabin too. I want to see your private retreat."
She lay beside him, actually almost on top of him in the tiny bed. Her head propped up on her elbow, she looked at his face, eyes closed, still half-asleep.
"There's no point in going back to sleep," she said. "It's five minutes before five."
"Unh. Lorelai, what are you doing? I've never seen you this awake at 9 a.m., much less 5 a.m." He turned his face into the pillow, wishing those last five minutes had been sleeping minutes instead of talking minutes.
"I'm pretty sure my body is thinking 5 a.m. is 'still up' instead of 'waking up.' What about you?" she asked, poking him gently. "You're the 'early delivery' guy, the guy who always has my coffee ready. Why aren't you little Mary Sunshine?"
He opened one eye, then closed it again, blinded by her smile. There should be a dimmer for that smile at night. "When have I ever been chipper in the morning? I get up, feed the customers, pour the coffee, take the money. Nowhere does it require service with a smile. And don't poke me. It hurts."
"A little poking is better than falling out of bed. Which I did. Twice." She chuckled. "Poking. Dirty."
The falling out of bed part woke him completely. Luke sat up, turned off the alarm clock and faced Lorelai. "Are you hurt? How did you fall out of bed?" He protectively pulled her close to him, covering them both with the sheet.
She snuggled up against him. "Well, someone rolled over, and since his shoulders are almost as wide as the bed, there suddenly wasn't any room left for me. At least I landed on my softest spot, so no damage was done."
"Oh, God, sorry. I'll take care of it. It won't happen again." Stop at the furniture store on the way to get supplies this morning. "Aw, geez, it's past five already. Get dressed, I'll drive you home," he continued.
"You don't have to drive me home, Luke. I can walk."
"Not in that fruity outfit you won't. It screams walk of shame, and I did that yesterday. No need for you to do it as well."
Lorelai reluctantly began dressing.
"Hey Luke," she started, going over to him and wrapping her arms around his waist, rubbing her hands gratefully over the planes of his back.
"Is this something else we're going to have to lie to the grandkids about?" she asked, kissing the nearest convenient spot on his body.
"Nah, probably not. They're only going to be interested in how we got together and what our first date was like. We don't have to tell them how the first date ended."
"But if they ask, I'll tell them, 'we kissed'."
"I don't think they're going to get that far, since the story of how you enticed me to your house will take away every notion they had of you as a sweet little granny. That's how we'll scar them for life."
In a hurry, he shooed her to get dressed while he took care of his personal needs in the bathroom.
On the short drive to Lorelai's house, he asked, "You really want to see all those things? My parents' house? The cabin?"
"Yes, Luke, we talk about these things occasionally, but it makes it more real to see them. I want to see them."
"OK, then, let's see, we probably ought to leave around 4. Is that too early for you? Seems like a weird time for a date."
"Luke, one of these days you won't be able to resist taking me on a date to the batting cages. That will also be early. We can date during the daytime as well as at night. Just relax. Have fun. Remember, we got through the hard part last night. Twice," she finished suggestively.
He pulled the truck up at the edge of the driveway, with the passenger side sheltered by a hedge. Coming around and opening the door for her, she slid to the ground while leaning on his shoulders.
"Do you plan to sleep all day?" he asked, finger-combing her hair with his right hand.
"Probably, unless Rory needs me for something. I might not make it to the diner for a while, which means I'm going to miss your pretty face." She kissed his pretty face, feeling a small thrill as his deep blue eyes smiled into hers. He looks happy. I like happy Luke.
"Four o'clock at the diner, then? Wear shoes you can walk in," he added, stepping back into his truck. One last kiss through the open window of the driver's side and Lorelai went in to bed.
"Mom!" Rory flopped hard onto Lorelai's bed. No response. She repeated the flop, saying, "Mom! Wake up!"
"Rory, go away, it's the crack of dawn." Lorelai tried to roll over, but Rory was in her way. She poked her mother. Hard.
"Hey! Stop hurting Mommy!"
"It's not the crack of dawn, it's 8.30 in the morning. I want you to confess your lies so I can study in peace."
"I'm not lying to you. I'm sleeping."
"Sleeping is the only time you haven't been lying to me in the past two days. Now spill. What's going on?"
"Arrgh. Bring me coffee and I'll answer all your questions, you little dragon. Except for the reason why Gigli was ever filmed. I don't have any answers for that."
Lorelai had two glorious minutes of peace before Rory returned.
"Here. Coffee." Rory extended the cup to her mother.
"Why did you lie to me?" she demanded.
"Tell me the lie and I'll tell you the truth," Lorelai sighed.
"Stella. How did she escape?"
"I don't know. I got back from Luke's and she was gone. I looked for her, but couldn't find her, so I called Luke. He came over and helped me find her."
"That was it for Stella? Doesn't seem worth lying about."
"Well, I thought you'd get mad if you knew she'd escaped."
"Why did you fight with Luke? Did you really throw things?"
"No, we didn't fight. It was just an excuse to explain the mess that we made while looking for Stella."
"Oh. OK, I guess. Something seems a bit weird, though. Can't quite place my finger on it." There was something more there. What was the missing puzzle piece?
"I'm hungry, Mom, let's go to Luke's and get some pancakes."
"No, I wanna sleep. I'm tired. It's Saturday, my day of rest," Lorelai whined.
Rory grabbed her mother by the foot and started pulling. Lorelai tried holding on to the bedpost, but when Rory threatened, "I'll tickle!" she knew she had to give in. Chasing Rory out of her bedroom, Lorelai took the phone and went into the bathroom, dialing Luke's number.
"Luke's!"
"Hi, it's me. I have to warn you."
"Hey. I thought you planned on sleeping all day."
"I did, but Rory had other ideas. She's insisting that we come over for breakfast, she wants pancakes."
"Did you tell her?"
"Partially. She hasn't figured out you and me yet, but she's close."
"Why don't you just tell her? It takes two seconds to say it. Do you want us to tell her together?"
"No, I'll tell her on the walk over. Be prepared for some fireworks."
"Got it. Chocolate chip pancakes ought to help. See you in a few."
"Mom!" Rory stormed into the bathroom. "You're supposed to be getting ready, not talking on the phone. I'm hungry!"
Lorelai dragged her feet on the way to the diner. Rory stayed a few steps ahead, mumbling to herself, trying to figure out that last vital piece of the puzzle.
"Mom, why did you go for a beer with Luke?"
Here it is. Time to feel the wrath of Rory. Lorelai wasn't concerned that Rory wouldn't like her being in a relationship with Luke. She was going to be angry that Lorelai hadn't told her earlier.
"Punkin, we just …" Lorelai didn't get even the first sentence out when the key question occurred to Rory.
"If you and Luke hadn't been fighting, then why did he come to our house on Friday morning? It wasn't even 6.30."
Suddenly Rory turned on her heel and got up in her mother's face. "He didn't COME to our house. He was already there, wasn't he?"
"Yes, I was just trying to tell you about it."
"Why was Luke at our house at 6 in the morning, Mom? Especially after he'd stayed late hunting for Stella and threatening Dean."
"Threatening Dean? He didn't really threaten Dean."
"Forget Dean, Mom. Luke was there because he hadn't left yet, right?" Lorelai nodded. "So Friday night at KC's was …" Rory thought for a second. "A date? Are you dating Luke?"
"Yes! I'm dating Luke!" Lorelai grinned. "And it's great! I love dating Luke, and I'm so glad we can finally talk about it. You are the smartest child in the universe!"
"Finally talk about it? How long has this been going on? Oh my God! Dean was right!"
"Since Thursday evening. Everything went really fast. First we were hunting for Stella, then we were kissing … Wait, what? Dean was right? What was Dean right about?"
"Enough!" barked Rory, taking her mother by the hand. "We need to talk to Luke right now."
Rory dragged Lorelai down the last block until they could see the diner. Luke was standing at the window, looking out for them. He met them on the sidewalk.
"Hey, Rory, your pancakes are ready." Luke stopped cold when he saw her face. Looking over at Lorelai, he asked, "You told her?" Lorelai nodded.
Lorelai turned back to Rory. "Dean was right? Right about what?"
"Last night Dean tried to tell me you two were dating. I didn't believe him." She looked at Luke. "Were you playing footsie with Mom in the diner yesterday?"
Reading the answer on his embarrassed face, she said, "Never mind. Dean was right."
"Did I just hear you say, 'Dean was right?' That's a good thing for my girlfriend to say." Dean had come around the corner and walked over to Rory, putting his arm around her.
"Your breakfast is ready, Rory, let's take this inside. Dean, you, too. Breakfast on the house." Relieved that Rory finally knew, Luke was ready to move on.
He went over to Lorelai, who had been standing there in a sleepy daze. Putting his arm around her, he asked, "Hungry? Or do you want to go home and sleep?"
"Coffee. I don't think Rory's done with us yet."
Fresh chocolate chip pancakes in front of Rory improved her attitude. Getting the truth from her mother and Luke made her downright pleasant. She and Dean enjoyed a couple of moments teasing the older couple, which both embarrassed and relieved Lorelai and Luke.
"When is your next date?" Rory asked, her mouth full of pancakes.
Lorelai, brought closer to normalcy by three cups of coffee and some personal attention from Luke, told her about the Danes history tour, as she had christened the date.
"I wouldn't mind seeing that. Luke, can I come along?" Rory called to Luke as he passed by delivering plates to other customers.
Coming back, he stopped at their table. "You want to go see a bunch of old houses that my family doesn't own anymore? Doesn't sound like much fun to me."
"It's not about the houses, Luke, it's about you. This will help us understand you better, and if you intend to see more of my mother, you'd see that it's a good thing."
"Well, the cabin at the lake is nice. You know, on the way back there's a town that has a gourmet pizza restaurant. Do you want to have dinner afterward?"
"Yoohoo, mother and girlfriend over here. Are you really inviting yourself along on my date with Luke?"
"Turnabout fair play, Mom. I seem to recall you setting up a date with Dean before asking me. The three of us spent a lovely evening watching movies."
Ignoring Lorelai's grumpy face, Rory turned to Dean. "Can you come too?"
Dean shook his head. "I work until 5."
Luke suggested, "We can do the Stars Hollow sights at four, then meet you to drive out to the lake. I know a place to have pizza afterwards. Will that work?"
"Chaperones, just what we needed," grumbled Lorelai.
Dean replied in the affirmative, and the evening was set. Double dates with the Gilmore girls.
After breakfast Lorelai collapsed on the sofa, trying to get a little more sleep, hoping that the TV playing the Saturday cooking shows would bore her to sleep. Rory had barricaded herself in her room to focus on her math homework. Pulling a quilt over her body, Lorelai soon drifted off to the banter of the Two Fat Ladies.
A couple of hours later, Rory took a break and made fresh coffee. Seeing her mom dead to the world on the sofa, she figured it would be a good place to start her comparative literature assignment, an Elizabeth Gaskell – Jane Austen throwdown. Turning the TV off, she settled on the empty end of the sofa.
One giant coffee and six nineteenth century novels comprised the fortress Rory built for herself. Even though the literature comparison was a trivial task for Rory, who'd read all of these novels several times, it was hard for her to stay on track today. She slid her toes under the quilt, warming them on her sleeping mother's legs as she had done countless times before.
Looking at her mother, worn out by the delights of her new romance, Rory began wondering which Austen character fit best to the story of Lorelai and Luke. Luke was no Darcy; pride was not one of his faults. Neither Bingley nor Frank Churchill fit either. Knightley seemed to be the best choice for him, but could Lorelai fill Emma's shoes?
"Are you Luke's Emma?" she said softly.
"Mmph, Luke," mumbled Lorelai, still deeply asleep. "Love Luke." Lorelai's and Rory's freakish mother-daughter connection was so strong that Lorelai automatically responded to her daughter's questions, even in her sleep. Not going to let this chance get away from me.
"How long have you loved Luke?" she asked, to which Lorelai responded simply, "Love Luke."
"Are you going to marry Luke?" Rory probed. "Uneyahs," was her cryptic answer.
"When are you going to marry Luke?"
"Mrgl, gah, Marry Luke."
"But when?"
"As soon as I throw my nosy daughter out of the house," retorted Lorelai, throwing a pillow at her daughter.
"Hey! I'm trying to study here."
"You should have thought of that before you started interrogating me in my sleep." Lorelai stood up, stretched, and headed to the kitchen for some coffee. One cup and two Mallomars later, she settled back onto the sofa, still pleased with her little prank.
"What made it happen with Luke this time, Mom?"
"Aah. This time? What do you mean, this time?"
"Oh, Mom, you know what I mean. Compared to all the other times you've had a moment, or he's flirted with you, or you've flirted with him."
Lorelai fingered up Rory's copy of Emma. Am I Luke's Emma? She hadn't missed a word Rory had said when she thought her mother was asleep, Lorelai had been just too tired to respond with more than grunts and groans.
"Do you remember when Knightley and Emma danced? It feels like that with me and Luke. We come together, then suddenly we're pulled apart again, like Mrs. Kim interrupting us during Sookie's date with Jackson. We start whirling around each other, sometimes we're in sync, sometimes we're far apart and can't even understand each other."
"On Thursday night, it was amazing. It was just the two of us in the diner, and we were really in sync, dancing our dance. He opened up to me, talking about his family. That would have been one of those moments we'd go spinning out of control, but not that night."
Rory was fascinated. "Did you kiss him then?"
"No, I bolted."
"You bolted?! I thought you were in sync, there was the weird dancing?"
"Yeah, I got scared, so I went home."
"What were you scared of?"
"It was all there in his face, in his eyes, everything I wanted. I mean, I know him. I know what it's like to argue with him, laugh with him, spend time with him, we'd done all of those things already. He knows the worst of me, but he was sitting there, next to his father's list, smiling at me. He was offering me everything I wanted, so naturally I ran."
"What's natural about running away from everything you ever wanted? His father's list? What list?"
"Sometimes when you want something really bad, and then you get it, it's hard to accept it, to believe it's really coming true. You think that if you grab it, it will have all been a dream and it just fades away, so rather than face that, I ran away."
"But you're together now. What happened?"
"When I got home and found Stella was missing, I called Luke. It never occurred to me to call anyone else. While we were looking for Stella, we had another moment, but this time, I knew what was waiting for me, so I jumped. It was the point in the dance that we came together again."
"And …?"
"We kissed. Everything after that has been a crazy happy blur. That's why I need a dragon. Do you know which of the porcelain unicorn shops has dragons?"
"Dragons? I think the store at the corner of Pine and Larch has dragons."
"You really do have a freakishly good memory, but that's kinda weird even for you. Let's go, I'll tell you about dragons on the way."
"And the list. Don't forget the list."
Tom, Andrew and Luke were walking toward the diner when they ran into Dean, getting a coffee on his break from Doose's Market.
"Hey Dean," Luke called. "Got a minute? I could use your help getting something upstairs."
The four men went through the curtain and out the back door of the diner, where Luke's truck stood, his new mattress, box spring and bed frame in the truck bed.
"OK, Tom, you and Andrew guide the fronts, Dean and I will lift the other ends up the stairs." Luke and Tom took the box spring, leaving the mattress to Dean and Andrew. Four pairs of strong arms made it easy work and they got the bed upstairs into Luke's apartment within a couple of minutes. Tom ran downstairs to get the bed frame.
Andrew looked at Luke questioningly. Luke nodded almost imperceptibly, and Andrew turned to Dean.
"You're going to play softball with us?" he asked.
"Uh, yeah, looks like it," Dean answered. "Whenever there's another game."
"We kind of have a side group going on with a handful of the players, and we'd like it if you'd join."
Dean looked over at Luke, wondering what was going on. Luke kept himself busy taking his small bed apart and moving it over to a far corner. Tom came back with the metal frame. He and Luke started assembling the frame, keeping their eyes on Dean's reactions.
Andrew continued, a little nervously. "If you don't want to do it, just say so, but I need to get your complete promise of secrecy first. You can't tell anyone-no family, no girlfriend, nobody. OK?"
Dean wasn't thrilled with the promising thing, but since he wasn't otherwise obligated, he agreed.
"Great," said Andrew. "We've got a group that plans little surprises for Taylor. You know, pranks."
"We like to keep him on his toes," added Luke, "and it keeps us from strangling him in a dark alley when he starts his really crazy shit."
"Tom's the idea man, but the coordination all goes through me," explained Andrew. "We'd really like to have you as our inside man in the market. We won't put your job in jeopardy, though. Are you in?"
"Oh yeah, I'm in. Taylor really drives me nuts sometimes. Do we have regular meetings or anything?"
"Nah, nothing regular," said Tom, "we just get together whenever we get a good idea. Sometimes after a game, we have a beer and plan the next prank. Right now we're working on a plan to put false bottoms in all of Taylor's trash cans so he thinks his trash is increasing. Got some kinks to work out there, but we'll figure it out."
The four men shook hands on the deal and went downstairs to the diner. "Coffee's on the house, guys," said Luke. "Thanks for the help with the bed."
After their trip to the unicorn store, Lorelai and Rory arrived at the diner just in time to see the four men coming from behind the curtain. They'd found two tiny dragons, had them gift-wrapped, and they were tucked into a lacy pink paper gift bag along with a card from Lorelai.
Lorelai gave Luke a kiss, asking, "What's with the male bonding? Belch contest? Did you win?"
"No belch contest, although I would have won. I always win the ones after softball games. Something about the exercise, healthy living and the beer."
"Mostly the beer, I'm sure," laughed Lorelai. "You certainly do have skills."
"It's just one of my many hidden talents. The guys were helping me move some stuff."
Dean got his coffee to go, since his break was over, but Rory walked him to the door and gave him a goodbye kiss, adding, "See you after work, then. Meet at the high school?" Dean nodded and ran across the street to Doose's.
Luke was pouring coffee for the girls as Lorelai started in on Stars Hollow's absurdly high number of ceramic unicorn shops.
"The weird thing is, every time I go into one of the shops, they're busy. Where are all of these unicorns going? Are there homes in Stars Hollow where there are thousands of ceramic unicorns, their little beady ceramic eyes following you all around the room? I mean, who even likes ceramic unicorns anyway?" ranted Lorelai.
"Rory likes them," replied Luke as Rory came back to the table.
"Rory likes what?" Rory asked.
"Ceramic unicorns. You sure seemed to like the ones I gave you for your birthday a couple of times." Luke smiled as he remembered Rory's sweet thank-yous for her gifts at birthdays past.
Rory looked from side to side guiltily, then said, a little too animatedly, "Well, of course YOUR unicorns were special, Luke, I'll always treasure them because you gave them to me."
Luke looked at Lorelai, a puzzled look on his face. "Did I just hear someone say she hates ceramic unicorns?"
Lorelai put her hand on Luke's arm and patted it sympathetically. "No, no not at all. She's just saying they're not quite as wonderful as the monogrammed towels you gave her last year."
"She hates the towels too? God, I really suck at buying gifts." He rubbed his hand down his face, trying to wipe this knowledge away. He put his arm on Lorelai's shoulder, leaned over and said, "You probably ought to decide now. Would you rather have lame gifts or no gifts? I can work with it either way, but I don't see a chance of you ever getting good gifts again in your life."
She slapped her totally fake "customer-is-always-right" smile on her face and looked up at Luke with Betty Boop eyes. "I don't think I'd love you as much if you were an expert gift-giver. I'll take the lame gifts any day of the week. As a matter of fact, you might want to start giving me gifts every day. You could use the practice." Rory chuckled.
Her effort garnered a sigh from Luke. "You've got a gift right there," he said, pointing to the pink bag. "Isn't that enough?"
"Not my gift. It's for someone else." Rory and Lorelai looked at each other.
"Good, I hope she likes it, whoever she is." Luke went to the counter to wash his hands and bring out their food as the girls couldn't hold their laughter back any more.
Promptly at four p.m. the girls rolled into the diner. Caesar let them know that Luke was already upstairs and they should just go up.
Lorelai and Rory knocked before going directly into the apartment. Luke was at the fridge, loading drinks into a cooler.
"Coke or tea, Rory? We'll want something up at the lake." He'd already put beer in the cooler.
"Coke for both Dean and me, thanks, Luke."
He snapped the lid of the cooler closed and, meeting Lorelai halfway across the room, gave her a kiss that was respectable enough for Rory, yet loving enough to make Lorelai feel desired. Rory looked away, but didn't have to resort to catcalls or plead with her mother to stop the PDA. Rory moved to the leather sofa and sat down.
"OK, let me just go take care of my personal needs and I'll be ready to go," he said, walking into the bathroom and closing the door.
"Quick!" Lorelai whispered. "I've got to put these on his nightstand." Lorelai pulled the pink bag with the dragons out and placed it beneath his nightstand.
She stopped and stared. The bed she'd slept in that very morning was gone and a new queen size bed stood in its place.
"Luke! You bought a bed! How did you do that? Weren't you working all day?"
He walked out of the bathroom, drying his hands on a towel and stood next to her as she surveyed his new sleeping arrangement. He stood a little taller and smiled like the cat that ate the canary.
"I had to go pick up some things in Woodbridge, so I stopped by the furniture store. It only took a few minutes. Try it out," he said as he waved his hand at the mattress.
"Very nice," she said as she bounced up and down on the mattress. Knowing that Rory was out of sight on the sofa, she slid seductively backwards, enticing Luke to join her. He simply reached over the bed, grabbed her feet and pulled her off the bed as she squeaked 'Hey!' in protest.
"Time to go," he said. "Rory, are you ready? What do you want to see first?"
"The list. I want to see the list that Mom talked about. She said that was the most beautiful and special thing in the diner. After the owner, at least," she giggled.
Absorbing Rory's words, Luke looked at Lorelai, his eyes dark with the same emotion she saw the night they sat in front of his father's list. This time, however, the kiss was inevitable.
As they walked down the stairs, Lorelai asked, "Luke, when you said 'Thank you' that night, what did you mean? I hadn't done anything."
He stopped on the stair and waited until their eyes were on the same level. "It was code for 'I love you.' I figured you'd bolt if I told the truth."
"But I bolted anyway," she replied. "I felt the words you didn't say. I'm glad we can both say what we mean, now."
"I love you, Lorelai Gilmore."
"I love you, Lucas Danes."
"I'd love to get past the schmoopy part of the evening. Save it for when you're alone, OK?" interjected Rory.
They showed her the list on the side of the cabinet, Three hammers, Phillips-head screwdrivers, and three boxes of nails in assorted sizes. She took it all in as if she were on a tour of Harvard: data, data, data. Rory didn't miss the fact that the two people standing behind her, pointing out the details, were having a very different experience.
Luke and Lorelai stood practically attached at the hips as he recited the words he'd committed to memory a decade ago. Today he read Lorelai's eyes instead. The message in those overpoweringly blue eyes was different from last Thursday's message. It had changed from something he couldn't quite understand to a Morse code. Dit-dah-dit-dit, the shortcut code used for I love you. Seeing the love in her eyes made him so happy that he could no longer detect the sadness he felt when he read those words years ago, just after his father died.
Luke poured two coffees in to-go cups, handed them to the girls and they went outside. Passing by the Jeep, Luke put the cooler inside and Lorelai locked the car. Stars Hollow had exactly one hill, at the top of which was a haunted house. He took them directly up the hill, stopping in front of the decrepit veranda-wrapped house. Only a few windows still had glass, and the porch rail was literally falling apart.
"Looks like this house could use the Luke Danes handyman's magic," Lorelai joked.
"This was my mother's aunt's house thirty years ago. Harry the mayor lives next door, and when we'd come to visit Aunt Ginny, he'd be out in his front yard working. One day when we were visiting, I was about five, I guess, I went over there and started watching him. He was building a wooden fence and he let me help. He sent me back to my aunt's when I dropped the hammer on his toe, though. I learned some new words that day."
"Who owns this house now?" Rory asked.
"I don't know. There must have been a cousin or someone who inherited it, but no one ever told me. It wouldn't be bad if someone would raze the house and put up a new one. Maybe Taylor knows who owns it."
They continued, cutting behind the not-so-haunted house and down the hill on the other side. Luke pushed his way through some overgrowth to reach a creek that was no wider than a trickle. They easily stepped over it and came out on a dirt path behind another neighborhood. They walked eastward along the path.
"This is where we played every day, Andrew, me, Bootsy, and a bunch of other guys. In March the creek would swell to about two feet wide. It was like a river to us when we were just eight years old. We built dams and bridges, had battles, looked for tadpoles and frogs, all those things that kids today rarely get the chance to do. One year we found a snapping turtle. It scared the heck out of us, so we got my dad and he showed us the strength of its jaws by letting it snap onto a stick. He lifted the turtle straight up in the air, with it holding onto the stick the whole time." He held up a branch about two inches thick and demonstrated.
They stopped behind one smaller home, with a large jungle gym in the backyard. Kids were playing on it, screeching and having fun. "That was my parents' home. Dad built the first climber, no more than monkey bars, but the current family has expanded it a lot. They asked for my dad's plans, and I helped them figure out the best way to enlarge the climber. Nice family." He watched the kids playing for a long moment, then pulled Lorelai in for a sideways hug, letting her go again when he continued on the walking path.
They went further, looking at houses, Luke occasionally pointing out the childhood home of a relative or some townie. At one point he stopped, picked up a smaller stick and broke it into pieces as they continued, tossing the bits into the stream. He grew quieter, almost brooding. Lorelai caught up the few steps to him and silently took his hand.
"Run out of words, big guy? We haven't heard you talk this much in a long time. I don't recall you often saying anything about your family," she said after a moment's silent walk. She slid her hand up to the inside of his elbow, which caused him to instinctively bend his arm, giving her hand a place to rest.
Something about the fact that he hadn't told Lorelai these things before bothered her. She felt bad, a little guilty, that she hadn't been a better friend to him, when he had been a good friend to her.
Lorelai's statement bothered Rory too, mainly because she had heard some, maybe most of these stories already. Luke and Rory had many discussions in the diner, and he'd shared many of these stories with her. Why wouldn't he have shared them with Mom?
Luke looked off to the side, then back at Lorelai. "What? No. I mean, a tour needs a guide. You wanted a tour, you get the guidance," he said with a lighter tone.
He began again, a little more cautiously. "This path is where I started to love running. After my mother died, I'd come out here to be alone. Sitting didn't help, but running did." Rory came up alongside them and patted Luke's back in sympathy.
"At the other end of the path is the cemetery. I'd run as far as I could the other direction, then turn around and run to the cemetery to visit her grave. I did that almost every day for a good six months. It really helped me work through things. It also made the track team an easy choice when it came to sports. That and baseball, I loved both of those."
They turned onto another well-worn path, leaving the creek behind. After a short distance they reached the sports fields of the high school, where some kids were playing or just hanging out.
"Dean's probably waiting for us in front of the school," Rory said. "It's right at five o'clock." She ran on ahead as Luke and Lorelai took their time, skirting the fields and watching the kids as they went.
Lorelai stopped at a corner of the fence where they could see the baseball game. As they stood watching the kids, she took the chance to apologize.
"I'm sorry, Luke, I feel like you've been a better friend to me than I was to you. Why couldn't you tell me these things before?"
Luke looked at her for a long time, trying to find a reason to cover up a truth that was still raw to his emotions. "Part of the reason is that I'm hard to get to know, and even once someone gets to know me, it's still hard to talk about some things. The other part-can I tell you about that in private some other time, when we're alone?"
Lorelai still felt a barrier was there, something he couldn't bring himself to say, but she cared for him too much to push it, so her hollow-sounding reply was, "Sure, sure. We can talk about it later, no problem." Both of them knew it was a problem.
The baseball game suddenly became fascinating. She watched Luke watch the game, his eyes darting back and forth, knowing the next important thing to look at, coaching the players in his head, softly speaking the next instructions.
"You're amazing," she said. "That comes so natural to you. Did you ever think about coaching?"
"Nah, I don't have patience for kids."
"You have tons of patience for kids, you just don't know many. I've seen you with Rory, so kind. You really treated her well from the first moment you met her."
"Well sure, it would be easier if they were my kids," he said. He looked out at the teams again, trying to put himself in the position of Dad/coach. "That would be fun."
He doesn't even realize he all but called Rory his kid.
"A couple more kids would be great," she added tentatively. "I think we need to go find the current kids, though. C'mon. You can play baseball again some other time. Will you wear those tight pants for me?"
Both of them feeling smug about having successfully navigated the 'kids talk,' they went looking for the current kids. At the front of the high school, Dean and Rory were nowhere to be seen. A 'Debate Today' sign on the door encouraged Lorelai to look inside.
"We should just wait out here," said Luke.
"Why? The door's open, there are lights on. They could easily be inside." Lorelai knitted her eyebrows together for a moment. "What's in there that you don't want me to see, Luke?"
He looked down, shuffled his feet, trying to find an excuse to stay outside. Lorelai peered into the window of the door again, then called out, "Ha! There they are!" She took Luke's hand, adding, "C'mon, this is the last stop on the Stars Hollow leg of the tour. It can't possibly be that bad."
"Oh yes it can," he mumbled as he acquiesced.
Rory and Dean were looking inside a trophy case. Seeing Lorelai and Luke approaching them, Rory and Dean began grinning. Luke narrowed his eyes, suspecting the worst. Dean began to say something, but Rory elbowed him, whispering, "Let Mom do it. She deserves to discover it for herself."
"I hated high school. Here's my high school. You've seen it. Let's go."
He moved in front of the display cabinet and faced Lorelai, blocking her view.
"Mom, look! Here's a picture of Lane as a cheerleader." Luke breathed a sigh of relief as Lorelai walked to the opposite side of the lobby to see what Rory was pointing to.
"That's not Lane. How could you mistake her for your best friend? On top of that, Lane's the only Korean in Stars Hollow High, and she's not a cheerleader."
"Oh, my mistake, I remember now, she was only thinking of going out for cheerleading. She hasn't tried out yet." Rory looked over at Dean, who winked and took over.
"Hey Luke, is this a picture of you? You were on the baseball team, right?" Dean indicated a display case at the middle of the lobby, on the same side where Luke stood.
Luke's head snapped to that case as Lorelai scurried over to look. "Luke, come here. Is this really you? He's a real cutie. Look at those tight pants!"
Luke stood his ground, saying simply, "That's not me."
"Come here. You can't even see which boy I'm looking at."
He sighed and joined his girlfriend at the display case. "What are you and Dean talking about? This is a picture from 1997. How old do you think I am? I went here in the early eighties."
"Oh, right, I didn't notice. Dean, why didn't you see that?" Lorelai asked.
"Oh, my mistake," Dean replied, shrugging his shoulders.
Trying to move things along, Luke said, "We need to go before the sun goes down. We won't be able to enjoy the lake if it's dark."
He took Lorelai by the elbow and started guiding her to the door, making sure he stayed between her and the first display case. Rory and Dean remained a moment more, crestfallen that Luke had outmaneuvered them.
"Luke, you still didn't tell me about your high school days. I thought you were into sports, but I don't see any evidence of that in these display cas …" Turning her head toward him a photo in the first display case caught her eye. "Oh. My. God. Luke, is that you?"
Luke put his hands on his cap and groaned. Dean and Rory joined them at the display case, laughing at their reactions until the tears came.
"Butch Danes, State High Hurdles Champion 1985. Butch? They really called you Butch? Your nickname was so well-known that even the track officials called you Butch? Sookie was right, they really did call you Butch."
"You're going to mock me for the rest of my life, aren't you?"
"Oh, much longer than that. Rory, look at those shorts! And that tank top! How precious!"
"It's not precious, it's what we wore. It was state of the art in 1985."
"More like ready for the 70's disco floor. Didn't leave much to the imagination, did they, Butch?"
"Kill me now."
"You're more biceps than thighs, now, Butch. Was that the baseball influence, swinging those giant bats? Dean, are there any pictures of Butch in his baseball uniform?"
"I'm outta here." Before Dean could find any more incriminating evidence, Luke strode to the door.
Lorelai ran after him, calling, "Oh no, don't walk away, Butch! If I thought you didn't care, I'd just die!"
The mocking continued during the drive to the lake. At one point Luke whined, "Please stop. We're going to my lake cabin. This is my happy place. Please leave me my own little Walden Pond."
At the phrase 'happy place,' laughter erupted again and a whole new round of mocking began.
The lake was far more beautiful than anticipated, and the cabin was far more rustic. Opening the door, Luke became painfully aware of what happens to a modest family cabin when it's used by a single male for over a decade. It was rustic less in the sense of Robert Redford's cabin at the Sundance Film Festival, and more in the sense of crap pile. With a healthy whiff of fish guts.
"You, my friend, have been single far too long," said Lorelai as she watched Rory walk in, sniff the air, turn on her heel and exit immediately.
"Well, it might benefit from a spruce," suggested Luke.
"A spruce won't benefit this place unless it's a spruce tree and it falls flat onto the middle of the roof. That would at least air the place out a little."
"Hey, I thought you liked the 'Luke' scent," he said. "At least that's what you said last night," he added, pulling her to him.
"This is not the 'Luke' scent, this is Moby Dick swallows Luke whole, barfs him out again, then dies and rots under the porch. We need to deep-clean this place."
He winced under the truth of her observations. "You know, this whole 'get-to-know-Luke' tour thing isn't really working out very well for me. And it's a terrible first date."
Rankled, Lorelai looked at him. "How in the world do you think we're ever going to figure out what our 'first date' was? We see each other every day, we've done a million things together, had countless 'moments' which might have shown us our love for each other, and we argue like an old married couple. I think the first date ship sailed a long time ago and we ought to just skip trying to label our dates."
"Tell you what," she continued, "Let's go outside, enjoy the lake and some of that beer and leave the cabin for some other time." She pulled his face to hers for a kiss, but broke it off quickly. "Tastes a little like fish. Let's get some fresh air."
After showing Rory and Dean a path around the tiny lake, Luke and Lorelai settled on a pebbled beach with their beers. He tossed a waterproof pad on the ground for Lorelai and chose a low boulder for himself.
"It really is a beautiful place, Luke, I envy you that you had this your whole life. We always bounced around from rental to rental in the summers, and it always had to be the right place. Fun was never as important as social climbing."
"It was fun. As much as I love fishing, it was more fun as a family. Most of the time Dad and I would fish, but Mom always had plans and there was plenty to do. I'd also spend time searching out the right branches and whittling, or I'd take Liz exploring."
"You'll have a chance for that fun again," said Lorelai. "Once we get the cabin up to snuff, Rory can have parties here, or we can spend weekends when you can get away from work. It can be as busy and full as you like. Just say the word, I'm here for you."
Luke blinked hard several times as he stared across the lake. Rory and Dean could be seen winding their way on the path. Lorelai watched as Dean took a picture of Rory with the digital camera borrowed from his father. They'd finish their walk around the lake within half an hour.
"Lorelai, there are two things in my life that I've loved. My family, and … you. I couldn't share stories about my family with you because I didn't trust myself. The line between loving them and loving you isn't always clear to me. If I started talking to you about them, I thought I wouldn't be able to resist telling you how I felt, and that scared me." He paused to take a drink of his beer and catch his breath.
"I hate making a big deal out of the words 'I love you.' Growing up, we said it all the time, in the small moments. We were comfortable with each other, really connected. I'd be reading Liz a book and Mom would come by, sit for a minute, smooth my hair and tell us she loved us. When I'd run through the kitchen, going outside to play baseball, I loved grabbing Mom and hugging her and telling her I loved her. Dad and Mom would sit together in the evening, and whoever felt it would just say it whenever, for no reason other than they were happy and wanted to say it."
"When I was thirteen, I thought I felt that comfortable with Carol Ann, my first girlfriend. One day we were just hanging out, and I let it slip. She bolted."
Luke drew her into a close hug, looking past her across the lake, his chin resting on the top of her head. "The last week Dad was in the hospital, I was sitting beside his bed as he drifted in and out of consciousness. At one point he looked at me, and I said it. He smiled."
"Lorelai, the only person outside of my family that I ever truly felt that connected and comfortable with was you. My dream is to have that same love with my own family, with you. I didn't want you to bolt, so I did everything in my power to not scare you by letting it slip again."
Lorelai knelt beside him, placing her hands on his thigh. Taking his chin in one hand, she pressed her lips against his in a loving, careful kiss. She squeezed his free hand and held it.
She whispered, "That's where our moment came from last Thursday. You were talking about your father, then suddenly I saw so much more in your eyes. You slipped, but at just the right time."
He nodded. He gripped her hand tightly.
"Oh Luke." Scooting him over so she could join him on the boulder, she lifted his arm and wrapped it around her shoulder. As she pressed her body against his, he could feel her strength and confidence flowing to him.
"It scares me how far we've come in just two days," he continued. "After so many years, to have everything I dreamed of. I can hardly breathe when I think of how happy I am, and how scared I am of screwing something up and destroying what we have."
"Me too. There's only one thing I'm even more scared of, and that's not trying. We can run away from what we have, or we can work to make sure we succeed. I want us to succeed." Lorelai didn't have the crazy confidence she usually had when starting something new, but she still had enough to move forward in spite of their shared fears.
Both grateful and surprised at Lorelai's ability to turn fear into determination, Luke jumped on her suggestion. "I want us to succeed too. We'll figure it out together?"
"Together," she agreed. Relieved, Lorelai's confidence in their relationship and her hopes for the future began to grow.
"Do you have any idea what we have to figure out first?" Luke was always more comfortable when his spontaneity came with a plan.
"Nope."
"Me neither."
"Maybe we should start with dinner. Here come Rory and Dean."
Luke laughed. "Dinner sounds like a good place to start anything with a Gilmore girl. I'll lock up the cabin and meet you at the car, OK?"
"The way to a Gilmore girl's heart is through her stomach," she smiled, holding her lips against the back of his hand.
"Problem is, no one's ever actually survived that journey," he countered, pressing his mouth against hers, his kisses drinking in more of confidence she now had in abundance.
By the time everyone was settled with orders and drinks at the pizzeria, the lake cabin project had been fully planned by Lorelai and Rory. Luke nursed his water with lemon, listening with satisfaction as they chattered on with ideas and plans.
The cabin definitely needed work, which quickly became a project that Rory and Dean volunteered for as soon as school was out. They discussed picnics and afternoons at the lake in the summer, while Lorelai and Luke debated what had to be done so several people could stay there at once.
"I declare the Danes Tour a success, said Lorelai, toasting the group with her wine. "It was a very good day."
"It's my turn now," Luke said, "When is my Gilmore Tour?"
Lorelai froze, then looked at Rory. Neither of them had considered this.
"A Gilmore tour? What could you possibly expect to see?" asked Lorelai. "It's just snobs sitting in Hartford, doing snobby things." The thought of showing Luke her Hartford past was daunting.
"Actually, Mom, there's a little history. I just started a project for school about our family's history. I'm doing the research now, later I have to make a family tree with pictures."
"There's also your history in Stars Hollow. You've lived here what, 14-15 years now?" added Luke.
"But you hate big cities. Hartford is a big city. I can't subject you to that torture," Lorelai rationalized.
"I'll survive. Rory, would you do me a favor and set it up? Clearly your mother is going to do everything she can to keep this from happening."
"I'm just thinking of you, Luke. It could scar you for life. Really, this is a bad idea." Lorelai sensed that her fast-paced chatter technique was not going to get her out of this.
"Got it, Luke. Dean, you want to come too?" asked Rory.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world," he chuckled, looking at Lorelai's discomfiture.
Dean dragged Rory to the salad bar, Lorelai took a sip of her wine and spoke in low tones to Luke, who was sitting next to her on the padded bench seat.
"Changing the lake cabin and a Gilmore tour-that's a lot of change for an easy-going guy like you, Luke. We're kind of taking over your life here," she said, rubbing his thigh. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"
"Ready for love, a family and happiness? Duh, can I get back to you on that?" He stretched his arm out and lay it across the back of their seat, letting his hand lightly touch Lorelai's shoulder. "Lorelai, I'm not expecting some fantasy family. I know you and Rory, we've all fought and argued before. My sister is a basket case as a mother and a sister. You have stories of your parents that would make a therapist cry. We have just as good a chance at making it as most people. Of course I'm not ready for what's going to happen, nobody ever is. You aren't ready either. We just take it as it comes."
"OK, OK, Luke, no need for a full-on rant. We talked this out this afternoon already. I was really just asking if I should dial the kids' plans back a little. "
"Oh. In that case, no. I can handle it." He paused, thoughtful. "Look at it this way, we get the cabin cleaned up for free, and I get to know you better."
"Parenting lesson number one, my friend – nothing ever comes for free with kids. You'll find that out soon enough. And the Gilmore history tour may be one of the worst things that ever happen to you."
"You mean ever happen to YOU, don't you? Look, I got through today; you can handle it when it's your turn."
"I see dead people…" said Lorelai in a spooky voice.
"We're doing it. End of story."
Rory and Dean returned with salad for Dean and a bowl of grape tomatoes for Rory. At the same time, the waiter brought the individual pizzas.
Lorelai stared at Luke's pizza as he started to cut into it. "You're not going to send that back?"
"Why would I send it back?"
"Someone spilled a salad on it."
Luke chuckled. "No they didn't. That's the arugula. They make the pizza, and after it comes out of the oven they add the arugula lettuce."
"Seems like a waste of a perfectly good pizza to me."
"Here, try a bite." He carefully prepared a fork with the pancetta, goat cheese and arugula lettuce. Lorelai, looking doubtful, tried it.
"Hey, it's actually pretty good." She took a couple of pieces of the lettuce and added it to her own sausage pizza. "Not as good as yours, but not too bad. Next time I'm having yours."
"Good, I'll remind you." He smacked her hand lightly as she reached in for more. "Next time. I'm hungry tonight."
"Hey Luke," Dean said, "Did you get that bed set up all right?"
"Yeah, it didn't take very long. The twin bed I got completely apart as well."
"What color sheets did you buy?" asked Lorelai.
"Sheets? Man, I forgot the sheets!"
"It's a queen size bed, isn't it? I've got plenty of queen size sheets if you want to pick them up tonight."
"Sounds good. I can stop by before I go home." Luke was feeling tired from the last two crazy nights and the emotional depths of the day.
After paying for the meal, Lorelai asked, "Who wants to drive? I've had too much wine to drive."
Dean spoke up quickly. "Is it OK if I drive? I've wanted to drive your Jeep for a while now."
"Works for me," said Luke. "I'm pretty wiped."
Luke was asleep almost as soon as they reached the highway. Lorelai and Rory, sitting in the back, watched as he struggled to stay awake, his head falling to his chest several times before Lorelai reached forward and reclined the back of his seat for him. They drove the rest of the way in relative silence, their full tummies and busy days making them all a little tired.
At the Crapshack, Lorelai tried to wake Luke, but barely got him to acknowledge her. Asking Rory to stay with him for a minute, she ran upstairs and got some sheets for his bed. By the time she got back outside, he was standing outside the Jeep, sluggish but awake.
"Want me to drive you home?" she asked.
"No, the walk will do me good. Thanks for the sheets." He pulled her close but ended up leaning on her more than masterfully embracing her.
She smiled, wrapped her arms around him, saying "Poor baby. You need to get some sleep. Call me when you're safely at home in bed, OK?"
"Lorelai, I can get home by myself. Been doing it for years. I don't need anyone checking up on me."
"Maybe I'm the one who needs to check up on you. Make sure there were no dragons on the way home."
He sighed. "All right. If I promise to call, can I please go home?"
"Yes, sleepyhead. I'll see you tomorrow, right?" She kissed him as he nodded, rubbing his temple. "Goodnight, Luke."
NO. This is not acceptable. I refuse to feel this way. I am not going to be one of those girls. No, no, no, no way.
Lorelai sat on the sofa with the phone in her hand after Luke left.
It's not been even ten minutes since he left. I am not going to sit around and worry that he might not call. For God's sake, Gilmore, he was exhausted. He probably fell asleep on the unmade bed. I'll just do something else for a few minutes, then I'll go to bed, too, and I'll see him tomorrow.
She looked around the room.
What to do? Cleaning? Not hardly. I'll get ready for bed.
Getting ready for bed took a grand total of 4 minutes, timed by too-frequent looks at the alarm clock. Just before she was about to admit to herself that she was one of those girls who waits for her boyfriend to call, the phone rang.
"Hey." He still sounded sleepy.
"Hey. How did those sheets work out?" Why did I not hear the sexy in his voice years ago?
"Fine. They're on the bed, and I'm in bed. They're sheets."
"I have some Hello Kitty sheets if you'd prefer."
"I like trucks. Got any trucks?"
"Sorry, no trucks. Did you run into any dragons?"
"No dragons."
"Are you sure? Maybe some dragons hiding under your nightstand?"
Luke flipped the light on and looked over the side of the bed. There, underneath his nightstand, was the pink lacy bag he'd seen that afternoon in the diner.
"Hey, isn't that the gift for your girlfriend?" he asked.
"Nope, you're the friend, and you're definitely not a girl. It's for you."
"Ah. There are dragons here, and a note. Just in case real dragons aren't available when you need rescuing."
"Yes, do you need rescuing?"
"Not tonight, they look like they're sleeping, like I need to be. I think we'll be safe until tomorrow. You'll come by to check to make sure I'm safe tomorrow?"
"You bet. Make sure the coffee is ready to restore my magic powers. Goodnight Luke."
"Goodnight Lorelai."