[momo3069]

Das gefiel mir richtig gut!!!
Die Aufwach-Scene war total gut *g*. Sie hat ihn jerk genannt *lol* und kurz darauf gibt sie ihm ein Mini-Küschen, wie süsssssss! Aber er hats verdient.
Und ich glaub sie und Rory müssen sich gar keine Gedanken machen, was sie Luke gutes tun können, damit er nicht zum Butler wird. So ein kleines Küsschen ab und an und er ist bestimmt wunschlos Glücklich!!
Naja und dann das Ende nochmal "Pretty" Ja ja das ist er. Er hat ja auch Flügel! Und nen Heiligenschein.
Will auch meinen Butler Luke!!! *bei ebay schauen geh*
LG

[>Lauren<]

Juhu! Wieder ein neuer Teil.

Also ich muss sagen es wird immer besser. Besonders gut hat mir die Aufwachszene gefallen. Man hat so einen richtigen Vorgeschmack darauf bekommen wie das später zwischen den beiden werden kann. Und man merkt wie gut die beiden sich ergänzen, bzw. wie Luke Lorelai. Aber ist schon süß das Lore nachher happy und smilend in der Küche sitzt.

Klasse fand ich, dass diesmal Luke von Emily wegen seiner Kleidung angemeckert wurde. Also nicht das ich es schön finde wenn Emily Luke fertig macht, aber es war mal richtig lustig die Zitate auf ihm bezogen zu sehen. So hätte ich mir das anfangs gar nicht vorgestellt. Eine wirklich sehr gute Idee!

Ich frag mich ja wie die beiden abends einschlafen... Hoffentlich kommt bald der nächste Teil!

[wohnraumheldin]

Muhaha! Wie cool Erst dacht ich schon, oh schade, da entfällt ja die Szene mit den Klamotten beim Schulleiter, wenn Luke ihr Zeug geholt hat, aber SO isses natürlich noch besser Ich fand den Teil auch wieder voll super

[karana]

na dann wollen wir mal wieder das mal etwas Schwung in die story kommt

Danke für die reviews!

Chapter 10: Burn everything down…

A week later Lorelai was woken up when Rory poked her in the side. She slowly opened first one eye then the other.

“Evil child”, she muttered and turned around, buried her face in Luke’s chest, who was still lying beside her. She didn’t wonder about it, in her dazed state of mind, but just used his chest to block out Rory.

“Mom! Luke! You have to get up! The baking sale is today”, Rory said and took her mother’s blanket away.

“Made all cakes… last night”; Luke muttered, thinking back to his late night baking, because Lorelai had told him and Sookie really short notice about the baking-sale, because she had forgotten about it.
Luke had come to bed around three in the morning and was grateful that Ceasar was to open the diner that morning.

“But we still have to pick up Sookie and her tons of cake. How are we gonna do this?” Rory asked and took Luke’s blanket away as well.

“Truck bed”, Luke mumbled, took his pillow and buried his face underneath.

“Mom! Get up! Right now or I’ll tell Luke what you said yesterday”, Rory threatened and Lorelai bolted up in bed.

“You wouldn’t dare!” she yelled at her daughter and threw her pillow into her face.

“Oh yes I would!” Rory grinned and threw the pillow back.

“But… but… I had to sit with these horrible people last night and drink this disgusting coffee which your teacher made. You owe me!” Lorelai shot back, referring to the parent’s night at Rory’s school the day before.

“I guess that’s what “being a parent” brings along. And now for the last time: Get up!”

“All right, all right”, Loreli muttered and got out of bed, when Luke stopped her by grabbing her arm.

“What did you say to Rory?” he wanted to know without opening his eyes.

“Go back to sleep, Luke”, she smiled, petted his head and pulled her arm away.

“Go downstairs and make coffee, spawn of Satan, I’m gonna take a shower and will be down in a few”, Lorelai instructed Rory, grabbed her clothes and disappeared in the bathroom.

~*~

“Sooo, it’s really true what you told me, huh?” Rory smiled at her mother while they sat at the kitchen table, both with cup of coffee, waiting for Luke who was taking a shower.

“What do you mean?” Lorelai played dumb.

“Well, you looked pretty cosy up there, in bed with him. No wonder you don’t want to get up in the morning since he moved in”, Rory grinned.

“Oh shush you, I never said that. You must have misheard”, Lorelai said, but smiled widely.

“So only friends, huh?” Rory teased her further.

“Only friends”, Lorelai nodded, but asked herself at the same time how long she could keep pretending, when Luke was sleeping beside her every night, cooking for her and Rory, living with them. It was like playing house, without the playing part. They really felt like a family and she knew that if Luke would make a move, she would be happy to go along with it.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Luke entered the kitchen, fully dressed, the car keys in his hand and ready to leave.
He took the several plates with cookies and cakes that he made the night before and securely stored them in the bed of the truck.

“You’re right, he really smells great when he’s out of the shower”, Rory whispered to Lorelai when they grabbed their stuff to follow Luke.

“Hey, he’s way too old for you”, Lorelai laughed and swatted Rory’s arm playfully. “And I didn’t say great, I said hot”, she muttered while she left the house and Rory was out of earshot.

~*~

”Ok, we've got our French fantasies, American treats, and our Italian taste sensations and the stuff that Luke made. Well, what do you think?” asked Sookie and dismissed Luke’s cakes with a hand wave.

”Amazing”, Rory nodded.

”Incredible”, Lorelai agreed.

”It is good, isn't it? Well, final touch”, Sookie said and prepared to light a swan shaped dessert on fire,when Luke took the lighter out of her hand.

“No way. Rory didn’t start this school for you to burn it down after a few weeks”, he said and stuck the lighter in the back-pocket of his jeans, what didn’t go unnoticed by Lorelai and she wiped her mouth when she snapped out of her daze, to check if she was really drooling.

”Very Henry the Eighth”, somebody suddenly said and Lorelai turned around and came face to face with Max Medina, Rory’s English teacher, who she had met the day before.

”Well we're not into subtle”, Lorelai shrugged and extended her hand to greet him.

”Good to see you, Lorelai”, the teacher said and Luke’s head shot up when he heard the familiar greeting.

”Good to see you, Mr. Medina”, Lorelai remained formal and Luke concentrated back on cutting the cake, relieved.

”Max”, the teacher insisted and Luke’s head shot up again. Who was this guy and what was he thinking? Hitting on Lorelai like that when for all this guy knew Luke could be her husband.

”Mr. Medina”, Lorelai said.

”Max”

”Mr. Medina. Meet Sookie, the cheft at the inn. And Luke my, uhm, a.. uhm.. friend. Guys Mr. Medina, Rory’s teacher”, she introduced them and felt stupid when she didn’t know how to introduce Luke. She had wanted to say “my fiancé”, but was that really what he was? Yes, they were getting married, some day and they were living together, but they weren’t a couple. She wasn’t sure if Luke would freak out when she would introduce him as her fiancé. That was a big step and so far they hadn’t discussed this.

”Hello”, Sookie greeted him, happily as ever and Luke shook his hand while giving him a death stare, but it didn’t seem to bother Max.

”Hello. Lorelai, could I borrow you for a second?” he asked instead and Lorelai sought out Luke’s eyes. When he just shrugged and kept cutting the cake, she agreed.

”Oh, yeah, sure,” she shrugged. ”Oh! Hey I'll be right back”, she informed Sookie and Luke and followed Max into the courtyard of the school, which was pretty deserted.


~*~
”You know, Lorelai, I would love for the ice to thaw”, he said as soon as they were alone.

”There's no ice”, she shook her head.

”Well you repeated my full name four times. That's ice”.

”No, that's not ice, it's wintry”, she replied and wondered why she was having such a discussion with Rory’s teacher. Why did he care if there was ice or winter? They didn’t know each other.


”I really do think Rory's a great kid and I'm going to do my damnedest to make sure she gets through Chilton in one piece”, he said, referring to Rory’s difficulties with her class-mates, who seemed more competitive than was good for them.

”I appreciate that”, Lorelai said with a polite smile.

”And I'd like us to be friends”, the teacher went on. “Oh my…” Lorelai thought, closely followed by “Luke where are you?”.

”We are. Me too”, she said then, having no idea what else to say.

”Yeah?”

”Yeah. Really, truly, I swear. There's no more ice. We're walking in a pool of tepid water”, she assured him and wondered if that was the moment where she could go back to her real friends.


”I'm going to propose something here. I'm not sure how you're going to take it”, he started and Lorelai knew that she had to stay now.

”Oh wow, intrigue”, she joked lamely and glanced over her shoulder, checking if she could see Luke to give him a sign, that he should come and save her.

”I'd like to see you sometime. Away from the ivy, away from the gargoyles, away from here”, he told her and Lorelai felt her cheeks flush.

”Are you asking me out on a date?”, she asked and couldn’t believe it, but was flattered at the same time. This guy here knew her for one day and asked her out, while Luke was sleeping beside her for weeks now and hadn’t even asked her out to dinner yet. No move, not even the try to become something more than friends. It was frustrating her, that he didn’t do something, especially since they were living together.

”Yes”, Max nodded and smiled. He had a nice smile, that she had to admit. Although Luke’s smile was… she had to stop this, she told herself. Luke wasn’t interested in her and this guy here was her daughter’s teacher!

”Mm. Well, uh, I don't want to go out on a limb here, but I'm guessing the headmaster would probably frown on a teacher dating a mom”, she reasoned.

”I do my job well, I'm dedicated to my students, and there's nothing in the Chilton book of ethics that prohibits it”, he smiled again.

”Yeah but I'm guessing it's sort of an unwritten rule”, she said.

”Do you want to go?”, he asked her directly.

”And Rory would probably freak at the thought", she went on with her reasons why this wasn’t good idea. ‘Luke wouldn’t even care’, she thought sadly.

”Do you want to go?”

”And the other parents would have a field day with this kind of thing”

”Do you want to go?”, he asked again and looked her in the eyes. He was there, he liked her and she hadn’t been on a date in months. And Luke… he wasn’t interested in her, she told herself again. Marriage, or no marriage. Just friends.

”Yes”, she said.

”Good”, Max smiled even wider.

”Um...how about coffee? You like coffee?”, he asked her then when she remained silent.

”Only with my oxygen”, she replied honestly.

”Can we drink some together? A sort of pre-date. Very casual, no strings, no obligations. We'll just see if it's even worth going down the road of including food in the deal. Just coffee. Decaf? There's nothing safer than decaf”, he suggested.

”I'm going to be in town tomorrow because I take a class at Hartford State and there's a coffee shop across the street that I sometimes, almost all the time, go to around 4:00 and usually exactly 4:12. I could not stop a person from entering said establishment around that time, nor would I avoid them if I knew them if they did”, she said and asked herself if she only felt guilty because this was Rory’s teacher, or also because she would get married… to Luke… who was just her friend.

”You know the wordsmith thing -- that's something we have in common”, Max laughed and squeezed her arm gently.

”See you around, Max”, she smiled back.

”Indeed. You will”, he said before she turned around and walked back to the cake stand, not aware that the goofy grin was still plastered on her face.

“What did he want?” Luke’s gruff voice brought her out of her thoughts.

“Oh… uhm… nothing”, she lied and gave him a quick smile. Why was she lying to him, she asked herself.

“Yeah, sure”, Luke snorted and handed a piece of cake to one of the other parents.

“Hey Sookie, you’ve got everything under control here? Luke and I should head back to the Inn and the diner. I’ll pick you up later, like we planed, okay?” Lorelai turned to her friend who just passed out recipes to some of the mother’s.

“Yeah sure. Just go”, Sookie waved her off and then turned the attention back on the recipes. Luke handed out one last piece and then turned to Sookie before he followed Lorelai to the truck.

“Here take this. Burn everything down if you like and make sure you don’t miss out the English classroom”, he whispered to Sookie, an angry undertone in his voice, handed her the lighter and marched off to the truck.

During the drive back the tension was so thick in the truck it could be cut with a knife. Lorelai wondered where Luke’s sudden bad mood was coming from and she stopped talking when he snapped at her for the fourth time in ten minutes. Maybe all the snooty people at Chilton had caused his bad mood, but she wasn’t sure and hoped it would vanish when they were back in Stars Hollow.

Luke on the other hand ranted internally. What else did he have to do that she would see him? He had agreed to marry her; he had moved in with her, he cooked her breakfast, lunch and dinner. He cared for Rory, he repaired things in the house and he even shared her bed, although it was driving him crazy that while she was allowed to snuggle up to him every night, he couldn’t do anything without breaking all gentleman rules. And now there was this stupid teacher, hitting on her right in front of his eyes, and she introduced him as “a friend”.
That evening when he came home from the diner, Lorelai was already upstairs, waiting up for him. He got his clothes, took a shower nd then went downstairs to sleep on the couch. He couldn’t sleep in one bed with her when she was dating another guy, and he was sure that’s what her goofy grin had meant.

Lorelai wondered when she heard the bathroom-door close and Luke didn’t come in the bedroom. She got up and walked downstairs quietly, as not to startle him, whatever he was doing. She stopped dead in her tracks when she was halfway down the stairs and saw him sleeping on the couch. It hurt her that she suddenly seemed to repulse him so much, that he couldn’t even share a bed with her anymore.

She missed him beside her, she missed her human pillow which she could snuggle up to.

He missed her beside him, he missed her head on his chest and the smell of her hair.

They both didn’t sleep that night

TBC

[wohnraumheldin]

Woohoo, jetzt gehts los... Endlich mal bisschen Konflikt hier, der arme Luke... Soll er doch endlich mal was tun... Weiterschreiben!

[momo3069]

OMG OMG OMG OMG
I totaly loved this chapter!!
Das ist ja nur toll. Warum endet es nur da? Oh sie tun mir beide so leid und gleichzeitig möchte ich beiden mal ne kräftige Backpfeife verpassen. Wie kann man nur so blind sein!!
Das ist übrigens der Schreibstil, und die Ideen, die dich auf dem Olymp (für mich) leben lassen.
Es war einfach göttlich und ich bin hart auf meine 4 Buchstaben geplummst, nur weil es nicht weiterging. Das heißt du bist schuld, dass ich nen blauen hintern hab *grr*.
Mach weiter so, ja??!! Und wenn du wirklich mal nicht weißt was du machen sollst, schreib ein Buch. Ich verspreche ich bin die erste die es ließt.
LG

[Norma399]

Hi Jessi, selbst im Urlaub kommt man nicht von den FFs los , schon gar nicht von dieser hier.

Endlich kommt ein bisschen Action in die ganze Sache. Ich habe mich schon beim letzten Kapitel gefragt, wann Max Madina seinen Auftritt wohl haben wird. Und da ist er auch schon und verursacht genau den "Ärger", den ich mir vorgestellt habe. Liegt aber nur daran, dass Luke und Lorelai eben zu doof sind, um Mal ihren Mund aufzumachen. Man möchte die ganze Zeit rufen: Hallo, aufwachen! Die Zeit ein Gentleman zu sein, ist vorbei. Go for the girl! Und Lorelai soll aufhören, so unschuldig zu denken. Welcher Kerl, der dich nicht mag, kümmert sich um dein Haus, dein Kind und dein leibliches Wohl?

Und dann hörst du einfach auf. Das ist ja schon irgendwie gemein, gerade jetzt, wo es spannend wird. Luke hat in meinen Augen übrigens das richtige getan. Erst kuschelt sich Lorelai jede Nacht an ihn und dann wird er als "Freund" vorgestellt und sie verabredet sich für alle Augen offensichtlich mit einem anderen Kerl. Jetzt ist es ganz klar mal Lorelais turn. Nun ja, die Möglichkeiten sind vielfältig, du musst uns nur ganz bald eine davon präsentieren.

Liebe Grüße und mach bitte ganz bald weiter, die Norma

[karana]

Hi Jessi, selbst im Urlaub kommt man nicht von den FFs los , schon gar nicht von dieser hier.

Du bist ja schon fast besessen, das macht mir Angst... Vielleicht sollte ich dich hier auf Entzug setzen und länger kein Kapitel mehr posten?! :confused:

[Norma399]

Das darfst du auf keinen Fall!

Zu meiner Entschuldigung: Die Freundin, die ich hier besuche, muss halt diese Woche wieder arbeiten und irgendwie ist Boston nicht die Stadt, um sie allein unsicher zu machen. Daher bleibt mir nur das Internet. Auch das können Ferien sein Und außerdem bin ich ja nur nach gewissen FF süchtig, nämlich den englischen, weil sie sich einfach so viel besser lesen, wenn man die Serie immer nur im Original gesehen hat. Also, sei nicht gemein und schreib bitte schnell weiter

LG Norma

[karana]

Na dann will ich einige "Suchtis" hier mal nicht länger warten lassen Danke für die reviews!

Chapter 11: Accidentally


The night had been long and horrible for both Luke and Lorelai. Neither had slept and both had tossed and turned all night long.

Luke had been even grumpier in the diner than usual and Sookie had asked Lorelai several times what was wrong with her, since her friend hadn’t been her bubbly and cheerful self.
But Lorelai hadn’t answered and just mumbled something about a headache.

In the evening she had her business class and her “non-date” with Max. She contemplated if she should really stop at the coffee shop, but then she thought that maybe some attention and affection, opposed to Luke’s cold shoulder, would do her some good.
She was relieved when he wasn’t home when she changed and dressed a bit fancier than she normally did for her business class.

When she entered the small coffee shop Max was already sitting at the counter, waiting for her. She sat down two stools beside him and took the menu out of the holder.


”Lorelai?” Max said and feigned surprise.

”Max! Hi!”, she played along.

”Small world, huh?” he asked and smiled at her.

”Absolutely! What are you drinking?” she asked.

”Coffee”, he replied

”Plain coffee?”, she asked surprised.

”I wanted some cream but that prompted a very elaborate foam conversation. And the look of disapproval I got when I said I didn't want foam, just cream, rivaled the one I got from my dad when I told him I wanted to be a teacher”, he explained.

”Wow, so it's been a tough outing for you, huh?” Lorelai laughed and found it nice how easy it was to talk and joke with him.

”Well it's getting better”, Max laughed as well and then silence followed.

”Should we cut the cute and just get right to it?” Lorelai asked, wanting to know what he wanted and expected from this.

”I think we should date”, he told her bluntly.

”Why?” she asked him.

”Because I think we both want to”

”Well I want to be in the Bangles but that doesn't mean I’d quit my job and get a guitar and ruin my life to be a Bangle, does it?”

”The Bangles broke up”, he said and she was pleasantly surprised that he knew stuff like that. ‘Luke doesn’t even know who the Bangles are’ she thought.

”Yeah, that's not the point”, she said.

”Well it's got to be part of the point if there's no band anymore”, he deadpanned

”I repeat my question: 'why should we date?'” she asked again and gave him a flirty smile.

”Because we're clearly attracted to each other”, he said and mirrored her smile.

”I'm attracted to pie. It doesn't mean I feel the need to date pie”, she replied.

”OK then because we are …“ he started and had to think about it.

”Yes?” she laughed.

”…of similar heights”, he shrugged and had to laugh at the stupid argument.

”Wow! Round one and already tapped”, she grinned, but thought about Luke again. How he was taller than her and that he was just tall enough so she could wear heels but not so tall that he looked strange.

”Look I know that you are concerned about the appearance of us dating” he started.

”Yes I am”, she agreed. ‘Because I’m getting married to my best friend, who isn’t attracted to me in a few months’

” Well I can tell you that I am the soul of discretion when it comes to delicate relationships”, he promised her.

”Dated a lot of Chilton moms, huh?” she grinned and wasn’t surprised that she wasn’t jealous.

”No, I meant any relationships -- work, family”, he said.

”Oh so you have things to hide in all aspects of your life -- very interesting”.

”Do you have any hemlock back there? Arsenic, something quick?” Max asked the waitress and Lorelai laughed whole-heartedly

”Rory is my life. She's my pal, my everything. And I would never, ever do anything that would hurt her”, Lorelai decided to cut right to the chase.

”I understand, but Rory’s not a baby anymore”, Max said.

”Don't say that! She's eight! She's eight and her favorite hobby is making necklaces out of gum wrappers”, Lorelai joked.


”OK, when my uncle was a young man, there was this girl who lived across the street from him and he was completely in love with her -- but he never talked to her. But he knew in his gut that this was the girl he wanted to spend the rest of his life with”, Max started a story.

”This is gonna be sad isn't it?” Lorelai interrupted him

”Let me finish”, he said and lay his hand on her arm.

”It's gonna be sad”, Lorelai stated.

”So anyhow my uncle watches this girl, waiting for the right moment to approach her. Next thing he knows, he gets drafted”.

”Oh, going for Kleenex”, she joked and started searching her purse, but he stopped her by taking her hand in his.

”No. Now he thinks 'this is perfect. I'll come back, I'll have a career, I'll have served my country, I'll be worthy of her love.' When he gets back -- she's gone. Moved away. No one knew where and he never saw that girl again. Now my uncle, he didn't say much to me, but the one thing he did say was that if there's something in your gut that you know you feel is right you gotta go after it, no matter what. What do you say?” he asked her after finishing, her hand still in his, while he stroked with his thumb over the back of her hand.

”Maybe dinner wouldn't be so bad” Lorelai sighed and got out one of her business cards and wrote down her cell-phone number.

”Dinner? You mean we could sit together? Even drive together?” he teased her.

”Just take the card”, she laughed and handed it to him.

”I might frame the card”.

”Just use the card”, she told him.

”I definitely will”, he told her and got up to leave. Lorelai stopped him when he was a few feet away.

”Hey, that story about your uncle -- is it true?” she asked.

”Goodbye Lorelai Gilmore”, Max grinned and left the coffee shop with a smile.
Lorelai remained in the shop for a while longer. She ordered a cup of coffee herself and contemplated her situation while she sat there and drank her favorite beverage.
Max was good looking and he had a really sexy voice, that much she had to admit. He was also fun to hang out with. At the same time though she couldn’t get Luke out of her head.
The argument, or actually the non-argument, of the day before was still in her head. He had already left that morning when she had got up and she hadn’t found the courage to go to the diner.
She had missed him this morning and she was having withdrawal, not only because of the lack of his coffee.
She loved the routine they had developed; she loved the family they had become, although now she had to admit that this was all just in her head.
She and Luke weren’t a couple and it seemed like they never would be. She asked herself if her mother would also keep paying for Chilton if she decided to date Max. Or if she and Luke should maybe make an arrangement about the terms when one of them was dating somebody else. Would the date be able to sleep in the house? Would they go to the apartment above the diner? She knew that she and Luke would have to talk about that sooner or later, but then again the mere thought that Luke could date someone else and hold HER then like he was holding her now at night, made her sick to her stomach.

~*~
When she arrived at home she parked the jeep and was surprised when Rory ran out and hugged her.

“Hey, what happened?” Lorelai asked and hugged her daughter to her.

“Where were you?” Rory asked and pulled back to look at her mother.

“At my business class, like every Wednesday”, Lorelai told her.

“But you’re three hours late! Luke is going crazy!” Rory said and hugged her again, before she stepped back completely.

“Luke’s worried?” Lorelai asked.

“Yeah he was home waiting for you, but then you didn’t show up and he called me at Lane’s asking if you were come home later, but I didn’t know anything. He called me at least ten times asking if you had called me and I think he even tried your cell-phone, but as always you turned it off during the class”, Rory explained while they walked into the house. Lorelai immediately went into the living room, then upstairs, while calling for him.

“He’s not here anymore mom. He had to close the diner and said he’ll be back later. I gave him a quick call when I heard you pull up”, Rory said and Lorelai sat down on the bed, glanced over her shoulder to his side of the bed. She felt horrible because of her date with Max.

”Hey mom”, Rory interrupted her thoughts.

“Yeah?”

“Did you and Luke have a fight? He was really weird today”, Rory said.

“Nah, not really. He was just in a mood after the Chilton thing yesterday. I think I’ll go and see him at the diner and see how he is”, she decided and got up from the bed.

“Okay, I’m going to sleep though” Rory said and gave Lorelai a kiss on the cheek.

~*~
The sign was already flipped to close by the time she arrived at the diner, but as usually that didn’t stop her. She just walked right in and the sound of the bells gave her a warm and fuzzy feeling. It always felt like home when she entered the diner, everything was so familiar.
Luke came out of the kitchen when he heard the bells ring and knew already that it was Lorelai. No one else would come in when the sign was flipped to close.

“Hey Luke”, she smiled at him a bit unsure.

“Hey. Coffee?” he asked, because he lacked anything else to say.

“Do you even have to ask”; she smiled and sat down on her usual stool.

“So, Rory said you were worried about me. I just stopped at a coffee shop after the class”, she explained and took the first sip of coffee, which was so much better than the coffee she had at the coffee shop.

“You always do, but you’re always home earlier”, he shrugged.

“Yeah… I am… I met someone there… accidentally”, she said and avoided his eyes. But Luke knew her so well; that he knew that she was lying. Combined with the fancy clothes and the short skirt she wore, he knew she had been on a date and hadn’t met someone accidentally.

“Okay”, he nodded nonetheless and decided to let it rest. She obviously didn’t want to tell him, so he wouldn’t ask. He cleaned the diner while she sipped her coffee and told him stories from the Inn. They left the diner together and walked back home in silence.

“We have to be quiet Rory’s already asleep”, Lorelai whispered while she opened the door. Quietly they hung up their coats and Lorelai trailed behind him, anxious to know if he would sleep on the couch again or if he would come back to their bed upstairs. She was afraid to ask him, so for once she kept her mouth shut.
She smiled when he walked up the stairs and waited by the door when he got his clothes and went into the bathroom. She was still standing in the doorway when he came back out and walked to the bed. Her smile got wider.

“What?” he asked her when she wasn’t moving but observing him.

“Nothing. I was just. waiting for you to get out of the bathroom”, she said and walked to the closet to get her clothes for the night. She dressed as fast as she could in the bathroom, brushed her teeth and washed her face before she went back out, relieved when he was still lying on his side of the bed, reading.

“Still the same boring book?” she asked him and got in on her side.

“Yup, still the same book. Unlike some people I’m so beat in the evening from working that I can’t read for hours and hours”, he said and raised his eyebrows.

“Hey, I’m beat as well, I just have more energy than you”, she shot back and lay down. This felt right. It felt right that he was back on his side of the bed. It felt right that he was reading his boring baseball book and she could tease him about it. It felt just really really good that he was back, even if it had been just one night without him by her side.
She had the urge to snuggle up to him, lay her head on his chest and burry her nose in his shirt to breathe him in. But he wasn’t interested in her and she wasn’t a woman who threw herself at the men she wanted.
She was really aware now of the fact that she somehow wanted Luke as more than her best friend, every morning when she woke up safe and happy in his arms made that clear to her. She wanted him to want her-which he didn’t.

“You tired?” he asked her

“Yeah” she nodded and didn’t tell him that she hadn’t slept last night.

“Ok, me too. Good night”, he said, put the book on the nightstand and switched off the light.

“Good night”, she said and waited for his breathing to become deep and even, so that she could snuggle up to him, when he was finally asleep, accidentally of course.

TBC