[jeany_loverin]

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Auch wenn das hier kaum noch einer lesen tut dacht ich mir sollte ich doch noch das letzte kapi posten... also bitte: (muss das kapi in zwei posts packen, da es für einen zu lang is

Chapter 10

The next morning when Lorelai woke up she found the space next to her empty. She rolled onto her back and took a deep breath. Somehow she felt lighter. It was as if a mighty rock has been removed from her heart. And now the only thing she could do was smile.
Lorelai threw the blankets aside and got up. While she put her hair into a ponytail she left her bedroom and started her way down the stairs. She stopped at the entrance to the kitchen and leaned against the wall.
Luke was in the kitchen making breakfast. He didn’t notice Lorelai watching him from the doorway. But Lorelai just couldn’t help herself. Luke was her hero… kind of. He had been the first person she had started to really trust again. He had been the first person she had talked to again. He had been the person who took a lot of her pain away. And she had the feeling that he’s the first person she’d really love. But before she could continue with that thought she was interrupted by Luke’s voice.
“Oh, hey, good morning”, he said a little insecure. He just didn’t know what was going to happen now. Would she continue talking or close up again. Would they be able to talk about her past more freely now or not? There was so much he was unsure about.
“Morning”, she answered coming into the kitchen. Luke let go of a breath he didn’t know he was holding. She was still talking.
“I made you breakfast”, he said pointing at the scrambled eggs that were still in the pan and the pancakes piled up on a plate.
“I can see that”, she said coming up behind him and snuggling up against his back. Luke smiled and intertwined his fingers with hers for a moment.
“And coffee is ready as well.” At that Lorelai perked up.
“oh, goodie.” Lorelai walked over to the coffee maker and filled a cup with her black love. Luke just shook his head.
“You know, that stuff can kill you”, he said but Lorelai just smiled at him.
“It’s totally worth it”, she just answered him and sat down at the kitchen table. Luke started to set the table for breakfast and then sat down as well. They both sat in a comfortable silence for a while enjoying their breakfast until Luke broke it again.
“So, you going to work today?”, he asked looking up at Lorelai. She chewed the last bite of her pancakes and drowned it with a sip of her coffee.
“Yeah, I mean, nothing has changed, so why wouldn’t I go?” Luke looked at her with raised eyebrows.
“A lot has changed and you know it.” Lorelai looked up to him and smiled. She took his hand that was lying on the table and started to draw soft circles on his palm with her fingers.
“You’re right, Luke, a lot has changed for me. Maybe even for you. But it doesn’t change anything at the inn. It only makes it easier.” Luke nodded his head and lifted their intertwined hands to his lips, kissing the back of her hand.
“I’d like to take you out on Saturday, you free?” He asked, smiling at her. Lorelai just smiled back and nodded her head.
The next hour was spent with cleaning the dishes, taking a shower and changing into work clothes. Lorelai decided against Luke’s offer to drive her to the inn and told him that she wanted to walk. They kissed goodbye and Luke drove his truck back to the Diner.
Lorelai stood on her porch taking a deep breath. So much had changed in such a short amount of time. She had come here with nothing and now around five months later she had a job, a house, a lot of new friends and a wonderful boyfriend who helped her to start talking again. Who helped her to trust again.
She sighed a happy sigh and started her walk into town. It was a beautiful day in May. The sun was shining and it was slowly starting to get warmer again. You could see people all around town who were doing their usual morning things. Parents bringing their kids to school or kindergarten. People on their way to work or to Luke’s or Weston’s for breakfast. While Lorelai looked around she clearly remembered the day she got here. When she had seen this town she had thought that it looked like one of those picture-perfect towns and now she knew that it didn’t just look like it.
Ms. Patty was staying on the top step of her dance studio smoking her usual morning cigarette and watching the townies when Lorelai walked by.
“Good morning, Lorelai”, she greeted her as usual and expecting her usual hand wave and smile as answer but she didn’t expect Lorelai to answer with a “morning Patty”. Patty dropped her cigarette in shock and starred after Lorelai. Did she really just hear what she thought she had heard? It couldn’t be possible, could it?
When Patty came back to her senses Lorelai was already out of sight. With her mouth agape she reached into one of her big pockets, took her cell phone out of it and frantically started to type in a number. After a few rings someone picked up.
“Babette, you will never believe what just happened!”
While Patty was still in shock Lorelai reached the inn and entered it through the kitchen door. Sookie was leaning against the middle counter with a bowl in her hand and stirring its content permanently while counting her stirs. Lorelai thought she would just say something and see how Sookie would react.
“Morning Sookie”, she tried it the easiest way but didn’t get more than a grunt as response. She frowned and tried it again.
“I said, good morning Sookie.”
“yeah, yeah, I heard ya” she answered trying to concentrate on her counting again by counting out loud. Lorelai got frustrated.
“Could you please focus for a second, Sookie?”, she asked.
“I am focusing. I’m focusing on how much I have stirred this yet.” Lorelai growled, took the spoon and the bowl out of Sookie’s hand and started to stir it for her counting the stirs out loud from where Sookie had stopped. At first Sookie was totally perplexed that someone just took her bowl out of her hand but then she looked up and saw Lorelai stirring and counting out loud.
“Oh my god”, Sookie whispered, covering her mouth with her hands. She looked at Lorelai a little closer as if she’d see her for the first time.
“Oh my god, oh my god”, she screeched this time and threw herself at Lorelai. Lorelai let the bowl fall to the ground in the progress and started to laugh when her friend gave her a bone crashing hug.
“Sookie, you’re crushing me”, Lorelai said still laughing. Sookie let Lorelai go and looked at her in awe.
“Oh my god, you’re talking. What… I mean, how did that happen?” Lorelai smiled at her.
“I’m not ready yet to tell you what caused it. Just be happy that it happened, okay?” Sookie just nodded and hugged her again.
Ten minutes, five ‘oh my god’s and two more hugs later Lorelai had been able to leave the kitchen. She was now standing in front of Mia’s office. This one wouldn’t be as easy. She had so much to say to Mia. So much to thank her for. Lorelai took a deep breath and knocked. When she heard Mia call her in she opened the door and stepped in.
“Good morning, Lorelai.” Mia said in her usual friendly voice. Lorelai just smiled at her. Why not leave her hanging a little.
“Do you have a reason why you came here?” Mia asked her and Lorelai nodded. Mia pointed at the chair on the other side of her desk for Lorelai to sit in. She sat down opposite of Mia and for a moment there was silence while both women watched each other. They both had their forearms on the desk and were leaning on them. Lorelai took another deep breath and then slowly started.
“Mia, there is a lot I have to say to you. At first I want to thank you for everything you did for me in the last five months. You met this strange girl who didn’t talk who you didn’t know at all but you still took her in and gave her a job. Gave her a home. Not everyone would do that. To be honest, there is probably hardly anyone who’d do that. But still, you did it. You took me in and gave me a new home. You made it possible for me to start a new life. I met a lot of wonderful people through you. People that are now my friends. And as if that wouldn’t be enough already you also gave me your house for almost nothing. Mia, I just don’t know how to thank you enough.” During her little speech Lorelai had held eye contact with Mia and both women had now tears in their eyes. After a minute of silence Mia got up, walked around the desk and came to a halt in front of Lorelai’s chair. Lorelai looked up to her and then stood up as well. Mia gave her a teary smile and just took Lorelai into her arms. Both women just stood there hugging each other for a while until Mia broke the embrace.
“You don’t need to thank me. Just do me a favor and never close up like that again, okay?” Lorelai gave her a teary smile and nodded.
Lorelai’s day went on smoothly. When Michel had found out that she was talking she had whished to have a camera. His face had been priceless when she had greeted him with a “Morning, French guy.” It was so much fun to tease him. Even more now.
Around lunch Lorelai was done with her shift and thought she’d go and visit her boyfriend. Maybe she’d be able to get an extra large piece of pie today. As she strolled through town she was lost in thought again. She still couldn’t believe that she was talking again. She had always thought that she’d never talk again because she was sure that she’d never be able to trust someone again. But she trusted Luke. Completely.
While Lorelai was on her way to the diner Luke thought he was going crazy. The whole town was in the Diner gathered around four or five tables they had pushed into one corner. They’d been there all morning, whispering and shooting him weird looks every now and then. If they’d at least order something but no, they only ordered a cup of coffee or tea every now and then.
He was starting to wipe the counter a little aggressively trying to block out the lunatic townsfolk when the bell over the door started to ring and the whole diner went quiet. Luke looked up and saw that Lorelai had just entered and everyone in the diner was starring at them. Luke looked from Lorelai over to the townspeople and back to Lorelai who was smiling at him. Lorelai walked over to the counter, all eyes following her.
“Hey babe”, she said before she leaned over the counter and gave him a short kiss.
“How was your day so far?”, she asked and suddenly the whole diner was buzzing again. Luke and Lorelai turned to the big table in the corner seeing that everyone was again whispering like crazy. Luke raised and eyebrow and Lorelai just shrugged. She sat down on a stool at the counter and Luke automatically filled a cup of coffee. Placing it on the counter in front of her and leaned closer to her.
“I swear, they’re driving me crazy”, he whispered as well “they have been here all morning doing nothing than whispering to each other. They don’t even order anything. This is my business for god’s sake. Do they think it’s good for my business when they take over almost all of my tables and don’t order anything?” Lorelai put her elbows on the counter, rested her chin in her hands and smiled at Luke. He looked over at her and frowned.
“What?”, he asked confused.
“Nothing, just go on.” Luke straightened up and put his hand on his hips.
“Tell me why you’re looking at me like this.” He demanded.
“Luke, calm down. I just like hearing you rant like that.” Luke relaxed again and leaned against the counter.
“Sorry”, he said, taking Lorelai’s hand “they’re just making me nervous. I have no idea what they’re talking about.” Lorelai smiled and gently stroke his hand.
“Don’t worry babe. Look at them… in the middle of all of them are Patty and Babette. You know them. They’re best at gossiping. And I bet you that they’re making up stories about how and why I started speaking again. But if this still makes you nervous I suggest you start thinking about that date Saturday night that you promised me.”
And Saturday night came pretty fast. Luke hadn’t told her where he was taking her just that she should dress up. She had been nagging him about it all week but he didn’t say a word. But Lorelai was extremely fidgety today. She didn’t know why. It wasn’t as if it was their first date but somehow she had the feeling that this date was gonna be something special.
Lorelai looked at herself in the mirror. She was wearing one of the rare fancy dresses she had because she didn’t have enough money to buy more. It was a black low cut v-neck dress that reached her knees and was flowing nicely around her legs. Her hair was down and curly. She was just fastening a necklace around her neck when the doorbell rang. Taking one last look at the mirror she started her way down the stairs and to the front door. When she opened the door her breath caught in her throat. Luke looked absolutely stunning. He was wearing a dark blue suit with a white dress shirt under it. The first three buttons of the shirt were open and she could see his chest. His face was freshly shaved and his head was cap-less. Lorelai was totally mesmerized and only when she had felt Luke putting an arm around her waist did she come back to reality.
She pressed herself against him and put one had on his chest, playing with the soft hair sticking out of the open collar.
“Wow, you look so handsome”, she said looking up into his eyes.
“And you look absolutely beautiful”, Luke said, pulling her closer.
“Thanks, but I know”, she joked and Luke just laughed and kissed her hello.
“Hi”, he whispered when they broke apart but Lorelai just kissed him again. After a few more kisses Luke pushed her away a little and Lorelai pouted.
“Let’s get going, okay?”, he asked and Lorelai nodded. They drove in a comfortable silence. While Lorelai was trying to figure out where they were going Luke just enjoyed her company. After about twenty minutes Luke stopped the truck in front of an old but beautiful building. It looked a little like an old country building and there was a big sign over the door that said “Sniffy’s”. Luke walked around the truck and opened the door for Lorelai. Hand in hand they walked over to the building. Opening the door, Luke led her in with his hand on the small of her back. Without waiting for someone to seat them he gently guides her toward a round-tabled booth.
“Your table, miss”, he said.
“Oh. Why, thank you, sir”, Lorelai said and he removed his jacket and put it aside as they both slid into the booth and sat. Lorelai noticed a small sign on the table.
“Reserved”, She said impressed.
“I told you I'd planned the evening.”
”Weren't we supposed to let someone who works here seat us?”
”Not necessary.”
”Is this like a Mafia thing?”
”Excuse me?”
”The whole coming in, special table, reserved sign. Are you gonna have to whack someone before the soup course?”
“No, I've filled my whacking quota for the week.” Luke cringed when he realized what he said.
“Dirty?” he asked and Lorelai shot him a wicked grin.
“Extremely!”
“Thought so.”
“Lukas!” They suddenly heard someone shout and an older woman walked up to their table with menus in her hand.
“How you doing, Maisy?”, Luke asked, looking at the woman.
“You just seat yourself now?”, Maisy asked him.
“I told him!”, Lorelai threw in. Luke stood up and gave Maisy a warm hug.
“We run a nice place here, Lucas, not like that hash joint of yours. And this must be your young lady. Hello, there. I'm Maisy.”, Maisy said, turning from Luke to Lorelai and both women shook hands.
“Hi. I'm Lorelai. I love your place.”
”It used to be a whorehouse.”
”Oh - my.”
”I like that it's got a tardy history. The best places do.”
”And the best people.”
”'The best people'. I like that.“, Maisy said and turned around.
“Buddy!”, she called out loud and then shooed Luke.
“Will you sit down?”
“Well, you pulled me up”, Luke said and sat down again. An older man walks up to their table.
“Buddy, this is Lorelai”, Maisy introduced and Buddy looked over to her.
“Lorelai. Well, hello, Lorelai.” Lorelai shook Buddy’s hand and answered with a nice
“Hello, Buddy.”
“This is very exciting for us because Lucas never brings his girls here”, Maisy said and Luke tried to hide his embarrassment.
“Lori, some sparkling water and champagne” She yelled to one of her waitresses.
“And a beer”, Luke ordered.
”You're on a date, you drink champagne. You're at a ball game, you drink a beer.”
”My goodness, what a big menu”, Lorelai interrupted them.
”Don't bother looking. Whatever you order, they'll just bring you something different”, Luke told her. He had experienced it a lot of times.
”Hey, what about the, uh –“, Maisy gestured with her hands in Buddy’s direction with thoughts about what to bring Luke and Lorelai for dinner.
”Oh, yeah, good. With garlic and –“. Buddy immediately knew what Maisy meant but she interrupted him.
”No, no, no garlic. I mean, give the boy a chance”, she said and Buddy went back into the kitchen a little disappointed.
“Lorelai, nice to meet you, and, uh, he's a special one, this guy”, Maisy said, gesturing to Luke with her head.
”That's the word on the street”, Lorelai answered and Maisy followed her husband.
“They know you.” Lorelai said to Luke, trying to suppress a chuckle.
”Actually, I come here two, three times a week. Yeah -- breakfast, dinner, whenever I have the time and am not eating with you.”
“Oh, my God, Luke has a 'Luke's'.”
”Yeah, well, y'know. I've known Maisy and Bud my whole life. Maisy went to school with my mother.”
”Really?”, Lorelai asked interested in Luke’s past.
”Yeah. And then four years ago when my dad died and I wanted to turn the hardware store into a diner, you know, Buddy really helped me out.”
”That's so nice.”
“He's a good guy. He really showed me how to run a restaurant, how to order -- everything, basically. I mean, I couldn't have done it without him.“ Lorelai just smiled at him and looked around.
“I love this place”
“It's a great place -- very old.”
”How long have they owned it?”
”Actually, the story of that is on the back of the menu.”
”Oh, cool”, Lorelai said, flipped open the menu and cleared her throat. “Oh, look -- "Sniffy's Tavern: A story of love", she started to read. “Oh, a story of love. "Maisy Fortnerand Bertram 'Buddy' Linds met at a high-school basketball game. She was playing, he was not. They fell in love, got married. Buddy went to work at a dairy, and Maisy worked at the school, but they dreamed to someday own a restaurant so that all of their friends and family could come and eat and visit and laugh with them every single day." Lorelai read the first part.
”Buddy hated working at that dairy”, Luke commented.
Lorelai continued to read: "One day Sniffy, their beloved dog, ran away. Maisy and Buddy searched high and low for him. Finally they stumbled past a dilapidated old tavern that had been boarded up for years. They heard a dog howling. They forced open the door, and there was Sniffy, stuck underneath a fallen beam. Maisy and Buddy pulled Sniffy free and rushed him to the vet, where he immediately went into emergency surgery." Oh my God, did Paul Thomas Anderson write this? Edit, people”, Lorelai commented the part she had just read.
”You don't have to read the whole thing. There's not gonna be a quiz”, Luke said but didn’t mind reading her at all. It was just so nice to hear her voice. He was still not really used to it yet so he enjoyed every second of it.
”I'm almost done”, Lorelai said and continued reading: Four hours later... Sniffy was dead." Sniffy was dead?! Are you serious? Where's the happy ending?”, Lorelai exclaimed and put the menu down. Luke just shrugged.
”Well, that's what happened.”
”Well, people don't read the back of the menu to find out what really happened. They read the back of the menu to be happy, to be uplifted. That's why they read the back of the menu.”
”Not that many people read the back of the menu.” A waitress came to their table and poured champagne into two glasses for them.
“Did you know about the whole Sniffy thing?” Lorelai asked the waitress and she just nodded.
“If it makes you feel better, Sniffy was 150,000 years old.” Luke said and Lorelai feigned a pout.
“You’re lying!” Luke just grinned and handed Lorelai a glass of champagne.
“Thank you”, Lorelai said, taking the glass from him.
”Hey, here's to you”, Luke said, raising his glass and Lorelai smiled.
”I'll drink to that.” They both took a sip.
”Yep, I definitely hate champagne.” Luke said, making a disgusted face and putting the glass down. Lorelai put her glass down as well and looked at Luke.
”This is nice”, She said, looking into his eyes.
”Good.” They both starred into each others eyes for a few seconds.
”Hey, do you remember the first time we met?” Lorelai asked him suddenly.
”What?”
”I'm just trying to remember the first time we met. I mean, it hasn’t been that long.” Luke nodded to tell her that he remembered.
“It was at Luke's, it was at lunch, it was a very busy day, the place was packed, and this person –“ Lorelai gasped.
”Ooh, is it me? Is it me?”
”This person comes tearing into the place with Mia on her heels.”
“Ooh, it's me.”
“And without looking where she was going she bumped into me. I tried to keep my balance but it was too late. We both fell on the ground and she landed on top of me. I got up and started complaining about her not paying attention.”
“Y'know, I bet she took that very well, 'cause she sounds just delightful.”
“When I looked at the person I immediately stopped complaining. I had never seen this young woman before but she fascinated me. Her shiny hair, falling over her shoulders in brown curls, and her beautiful face made her look like a princess. Her eyes were the most enchanting thing. I was sure that I had never seen such blue and oratorical eyes before.”
“Oh, wow”, Lorelai whispered, blushing a little bit.
“I’m not done with my story yet.” Lorelai frowned. That was exactly how they met. What else had happened that he would tell her? She heard Luke talking again and concentrated on him.
“The only thing abnormal about her was that she didn’t say a word. But I didn’t care. I liked her and so I became friends with her. One day she came into my diner, crying, her eyes all red and puffy. I took her up to my apartment and just comforted her and when we went back down she wrote “Thanks” on a piece of paper.” Luke grabbed his wallet out of his back pocket and took a small piece of paper out of it which he handed to Lorelai.
“I put it in my pocket and later on into my wallet because it was a big step for her and I was the first one she ever wrote something to.” Lorelai starred at the piece of paper in her hand. She couldn’t believe he had kept it. She looked up into his eyes and he saw happy tears glistening in them.
“You kept this in your wallet?”, she asked him for confirmation.
“The whole time”, he answered, taking he hands in his. Both their hands were playing with the small piece of paper until Lorelai looked up again.
“Luke?”, she asked, almost whispering.
“Yeah?”, he said looking back up into her eyes. Lorelai took a deep breath.
“I love you!” It was out. She had said it. For the first time in her life she had told someone ‘I love you’ and for the first time in her life she really felt that way. A smile started to spread on Luke’s face and he cupped her face in his hands without breaking the eye contact.
“I love you, too, Lorelai”, he said and now Lorelai started to smile too. They both leaned closer until their lips met in a gentle kiss. It was a slow and tender kiss until Luke started to run his tongue over Lorelai’s bottom lip and she just couldn’t stop herself from inviting him in. Their tongues were dancing around each other, sending Goosebumps through Lorelai’s body every time they touched. Neither of them heard the waitress approach until she cleared her throat. Luke and Lorelai both blushed and looked away.
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