A/N Hi everyone! I know...it's been a while! Getting back to regularly scheduled programming here. Hope you enjoy the next installment!
Later that afternoon, Lorelai and Rory were at Doose's stocking up on Halloween candy. They wove their way down each of the narrow aisles, death grips on both their baskets that were brimming with every assorted miniature candy imaginable.
Rory held out another package enticingly, "How many bags of Snickers?"
"Huh?"
Lorelai had been in a daze all day. She could still feel Luke's kiss tingling on her lips, and her insides were buzzing in anticipation.
Ever since she left the diner, she'd been practicing how she was going to tell Rory about dating Luke. She was sure, pretty sure, that Rory would take it well. Rory loved Luke. And she knew that he adored her just as much.
After lugging their heavy Doose's bags home, they put away all of their treats and plopped down onto the sofa in the living room. Rory teed up the first Halloween movie for their annual pre-Halloween movie marathon and squished around in her seat comfortably.
They watched the opening credits for a minute before Lorelai felt her anticipation physically bubble up inside. She couldn't keep her leg from bouncing and couldn't stop her hands from fidgeting in her lap. With a click of the remote she hit pause and shifted on the couch to face her daughter.
"Hey kid."
Rory looked over at her mother wide-eyed, "What's up?"
Lorelai nervously pushed a loose curl behind her ear and toyed with the fringe of the afghan thrown across her lap, "I have to talk to you about something."
Sensing her mother's nervousness, Rory furrowed her brow and scooted closer.
Lorelai shook her head to clear the fog and looked down at her daughter's earnest expression, "Um, what do you think of Luke?"
"Luke?" Rory tilted her head in confusion, "Luke's the best," She said with an easy shrug.
With eyes sparkling, Lorelai nodded in agreement, "I think so too," she murmured.
"Mom, did something happen with you and Luke?"
Lorelai tried to hide her smile, but it slowly spread across her entire face as she stumbled over her words. "Luke and I…me and Luke…We're um, we're dating."
Rory squealed and jumped into her mother's lap, wrapping her arms around her neck into a tight hug.
"Rory!" Lorelai exclaimed, wrapping her daughter up in her arms to cuddle her close. She kissed the top of her head, "Seriously, are you ok with this? I mean I want you to be really comfortable with this."
Rory pulled back and looked at her questioningly, "Mom, I've been waiting for this day!"
"Really?"
Rory nodded her head vigorously, "Luke's perfect for you."
Lorelai chuckled, "You're perfect. You're the best kid in the world. You know that?"
Rory snuggled close to her mom, "When's your first date?"
"Saturday," Lorelai said with a smile playing on her lips as she sifted her fingers through her daughter's silky soft hair. "Sookie's going to come over and hang out with you for the night, is that ok?"
Rory smiled widely and offered her a Red Vine from the pack sitting next to her, "Can I help you get ready?"
Lorelai tickled her daughter and smirked, "Uh, obviously!"
XXXXXX
Lorelai stood in front of her open closet doors clad in just a matching pale blue strapless bra and panty set, scanning the selection of brightly colored detriments with disdain. She ran a manicured fingertip along the garments hung up haphazardly on mismatched hangers in her over-stuffed closet.
It was Saturday night.
She had a date with Luke. She had a date with Luke. She shivered with anticipation.
With a bright smile playing on her lips, one that hadn't seemed to falter all week long, she marched over to her dresser and unearthed a very specific pair of jeans out of the drawer: dark, tight, with subtle stitching on the back pockets.
She tugged them over her hips, her grin turning devilish as she thought back to the last time she wore them to the diner, Luke stumbling over his words as he stalked over to take her order.
"Mom, I found it!"
Lorelai had just finished fastening said jeans when Rory burst through her door and bounced on top of her bed, a clear plastic dry cleaning bag cast aside next to her. Lorelai spun around on her heel, hands on her hips, still half dressed.
"You're sure about the blue sweater right?"
Rory nodded her head earnestly, "The blue halter-neck sweater, matching cardigan, obviously," She opened the bag and leaned over to carefully hand the items to her mother, "With your dark jeans, and the pointy toed black boots it's the perfect date look."
Lorelai pulled on the rest of the outfit as Rory dictated, and studied her appearance in the full length mirror hung on the inside door of her closet. The sweater clung to her curves in all of the right places, but not outlandishly-so. She smirked to herself when she imagined Luke's response when she planned to shrug out of the cardigan and reveal her bare shoulders and back.
One step at a time, Gilmore, she reprimanded herself lightly.
"You look so pretty mommy," Rory said in a small voice as she jumped down off of the bed and walked behind her, "Just one more thing though."
Rory searched through Lorelai's cluttered jewelry box on top of her dresser and pulled out a dainty silver chain dotted with small interspersed diamonds that went all the way around, it was a gift from her Aunt Hope.
Her maternal Aunt was one of the only people in her family she had felt a true connection with growing up. Hope was a global citizen, she lived in Paris but made friends in every corner of the world. Lorelai used to pour over every letter she'd sent, and on the one time a year she would come to visit for the annual Gilmore Christmas party, Lorelai would stick to her side all night, in complete awe at how she could work the entire room with none of the haughtiness of her mother. Hope had a bright, enchanting smile, and always gave the most perfect gifts: a hand painted Matryoshka doll set from Russia when she was 7, a first edition of Pride and Prejudice when she was 11, and the very same diamond chain adorning her neck when she was 14, the same year Hope was diagnosed with the breast cancer that would take her life later that year.
Lorelai touched the chain, her brow furrowing ever so slightly, she'd sometimes wondered where she would be in her life if Hope hadn't gotten sick. If she'd followed through on her plan to leave Hartford for Paris, spending the summer with her Aunt before starting boarding school away from the same prep school kids she'd grown up with all of her life.
Rory petted the soft blue sweater, smiling indulgently at her mother through the reflection of the mirror, "Can I borrow this for my first date too?"
That thought certainly jolted Lorelai out of her own head, "No way missy!"
Lorelai walked through her bedroom door and over to the bathroom to touch up her makeup and tame a few fly aways. Rory stayed hot on her trail, "Why not?"
"You're not dating until...well...for a very long time," Lorelai said, her voice slightly garbled as she swiped some lipgloss over her pout, "And mommy gets approval over who, and definitely what you wear."
"Boys are gross anyways," Rory said with a resigned shrug, the 10 year old was wise beyond her years but luckily for her mother, she was no where near the boy crazy phase just yet.
Lorelai laughed in the mirror, and Rory picked up a tube of mascara, handing it to her mother like a nurse handing a scalpel to a doctor.
XXXXXX
"You're sure I look okay?"
Rory sighed, and marched up to her mother, grasping both hands in her own. "You've tried on twelve dresses, two different tops, and six mini skirts. Believe me mom, this is the winner."
She eyed herself critically. The outfit really did seem to tick off all of the boxes on the patented Luke Danes Dinner Date list, at least the one she'd built up in her head after the ever-so-vague details she'd managed to coax out of him throughout the week.
Dinner. Somewhere far enough away from Stars Hollow we'll have our privacy, not too far away from Rory for the evening. Sure jeans are okay, especially the dark ones with that stuff on the back pockets.
He'd said the last phrase with a certain husky timbre to his voice that she'd become especially enamored with.
Check. Check. Check.
Lorelai smiled, "Thanks kid."
The doorbell rang as Lorelai was upstairs dumping the contents from one handbag to another. Rory rushed down the stairs to open the front door for Sookie, who arrived with a wide dimpled smile and an armful of goodies for the younger girl to indulge in while her mom was out.
Sookie had skipped upstairs to give Lorelai yet another pep talk while they sorted through her selection of handbags and evening clutches, finally landing on a sleek leather one she'd found for 15000% off on Black Friday the year before. The two were busy gabbing when two little feet scurried back up the stairs a short time later and whispered loudly, "Luke's here!"
Luke looked up at the Gilmore home, taking note of a few minor repairs he made sure to mentally file away for later. Two bouquets of similar autumnal flowers wrapped in matching kraft paper with rich burgundy bows wrapped around them were grasped in either hand. He took the few short steps up to the front porch and rapped on the door in three short knocks.
He quickly glanced down at his outfit, a pair of dark jeans, a soft navy blue sweater, and a trusty leather jacket that he'd had seemingly forever.
The front door opened with flourish and revealed the smaller of the Gilmore girls. He jerked his head up and was met with Rory's bright smile. She had her hair tied up in pigtails, an ice cream themed pajama set on, and a pair of fluffy pink slippers on her feet. With her mouth slightly ajar, she stepped aside to let Luke inside and then offered him a shy smile.
"Hey Rory," He said, ducking his head slightly in embarrassment when he saw her eyes scan his clean shaven face, his hair sans-baseball cap, and the flowers in both hands. He offered her the smaller one, and her shy smile turned into a megawatt grin, "These are for you."
"For me?" She breathed in awe. She gently plucked the bouquet from his hand, and stuck her nose in the fiery mix of red, orange, and yellow roses, freesia, thistle, and berries. With eyes sparkling, she smiled over the top of the flowers at Luke, "These are the prettiest flowers I've ever seen."
"Well good," he murmured, a smile tugging on the corners of his lips.
Rory bounced on her heels happily, "I'll go get mom!"
A few moments later, Rory and Sookie descended the staircase. Luke busied himself by looking around the living room, his eyes landing on the VHS tapes scattered across the couch cushions and trying not to grimace at the array of of snacks and appetizers that filled the entire surface area of the coffee table.
The telltale click of high heels he had long since associated with Lorelai had his eyes fixed to the top of the staircase. He felt the wind knock out of him at the sight of her carefully teetering down the wooden stairs. Lorelai's eyes locked with his, and he felt his heart skip a beat.
"Hi," She breathed out when she was finally in front of him.
"Hey," He murmured softly, "You look beautiful."
"You look hot," She said with a decisive nod and an arch of her eyebrow which earned an eye-roll from him in response.
She was grateful Sookie and Rory had come and gone from the room for a moment to search for suitable vessels for the bouquets of flowers. It gave a her a moment to really soak it all in, the way he looked at her, really looked at her.
Her smiled entered dazzling territory as she accepted the larger bundle of flowers from him and stuck her nose in the flowers to inhale deeply. Luke smiled to himself at the one more parallel between mother and daughter.
After saying their goodbyes, Luke led her down to his truck and helped her up. When he moved to close the door, she pulled on his arm, wove her hand behind his neck and pulled him down to her level, pressing her lips to his firmly. Her eyes fluttered closed on contact, and she couldn't help but smile through the kiss.
"What was that for?" He whispered.
When they parted, she searched his eyes, they were stormy blue and absolutely mesmerizing, "I can get used to this."
He winked. Luke winked at her. And shot a smile over his shoulder as he made his way around to the driver's side of the truck.
On the drive to the restaurant, Lorelai bounced excitedly in her seat regaling a few guest horror stories from the week as Luke sped out of Stars Hollow and merged onto the highway.
He listened intently, as he always did whenever she spoke. She gestured wildly, mimicked voices back and forth to a hilarious degree, words tumbling out of her mouth a million miles an hour. Briefly, he wondered how she went on so long without so much as a breath or pause. Yet another one of the many things that fascinated him about her.
A beat of silence later, Lorelai prodded his buttery soft sleeve with her index finger, "So where is this mystery place you're taking me mister?"
He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, with one hand clutching the steering wheel confidently, "Somewhere special."
She bit her lip and glanced down at her tiny handbag, "Soo how many U2 songs away are we?"
The darkened scenery whipped past them, "Huh?"
She pulled a tape out of said handbag and quickly inserted it into the ancient sound system before he had a chance to protest.
"Lorelai," He growled as she adjusted the volume and shot him an innocent smile.
"Hmm?" She flipped her hair over her shoulder, smiled to herself when she noticed his Adam's apple bob. "I knew we were in for a bit of a drive, seeing as you wanted to take me far far away from the mean streets of the Hollow for the night."
"You just happen to travel with a set of cassettes wherever you go?" He changed lanes, and Bono's voice wafted through his hardly used speakers.
"A girl's got to have her emergency tape stash with her, for moments like these you see. When her super hot boyfriend takes her for a drive, she's got to have her trusty soundtrack. Don't worry," She opened the near-empty glove box with it's emergency set of tools and small stack of napkins and slid couple more tapes inside, closing it with a soft click, "You'll be begging me to fill the gaps in your collection in no time."
"So what you're saying is, I should just resign to the fact I'm on the fast track to losing my hearing by 40?"
"How many songs away are we again?" She teased, scooting closer to him on the bench seat. He spared another glance her way. The scent of her sweet perfume invading his senses and the wicked gleam in her bright blue eyes had him wrapping an arm around her shoulders, pulling her even closer, "Three more," He murmured.