Chapter 10 – Of Movies and Reconciliation

"All of the stars are fading away
Just try not to worry you'll see them some day"

Oasis, 'Stop Crying Your Heart Out'

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Getting over her anger and calling Luke to invite him over for a movie ranked right up there in the list of 'hardest things she'd ever had to do', just behind telling her parents she was pregnant. He sounded normal on the phone, if a little distracted by the happenings in the diner. Luke accepted her request, and was due to arrive any minute now.

Lorelai was nervous. What was she supposed to say to him? The last time she'd seen him he had yelled at her about her failed love life. She was still angry with him, hardly believing calm and docile Luke was capable of such a verbal bashing. But Lorelai desperately needed to talk to him, to find out what he was thinking, especially after Rachel's impromptu visit.

At exactly 8:05, Luke knocked on the front door. She was there in a flash to let him in. Opening the door wide, their eyes fell on each other for the first time in weeks. Luke carried bags of food, a thermos of coffee in his left hand. Lorelai's smile widened when she saw this. Weeks without Luke's coffee had left her bitter; no other coffee was as good as his. Standing in the frame of the door, she didn't know what to say.

"Um… can I come in?" Luke asked carefully.

Jolted from her thoughts, Lorelai moved aside with a nod to let him pass. Luke brushed by her and she followed, allowing the door to fall closed behind her. She trailed behind him to the kitchen, and when she entered, Luke had the food out of the bags and spread on the table. He looked up when he heard her shoes squeak on the floor.

"Eating in here or in the living room?" he questioned.

Lorelai swallowed, heading towards the table to help him gather the food.

"Living room's fine," she said.

The tension between them didn't go unnoticed. Luke cleared his throat and handed her the junk food before finding the salad he brought for himself. Seated at opposite ends of the couch, Luke noticed immediately that Lorelai hadn't made a move to turn on the movie. Instead, she was silently eating her cheeseburger, not looking at him.

"Ah… Lorelai?" Luke asked.

"What?" she replied.

Luke looked at her carefully for a second, noticing how she avoided his gaze. They fell into silence when he didn't respond to her question, instead choosing to look away and pick at his food. A few tense minutes later, he spoke again.

"Rachel left," he stated.

"I know," she responded.

"What?" he was a bit surprised. "How did you know?"

Lorelai looked at him seriously for a moment, her burger abandoned.

"She told me," she said. "She came here, to my house, and told me."

Luke was stunned. As far as he knew, Lorelai and Rachel weren't the best of friends. Why would she come to Lorelai's house and tell her she was leaving? Luke voiced his questions.

"Why would she do that?" he asked.

"I don't know," she said, with a shrug of her shoulders.

Luke was enormously curious.

"What did she say?" he questioned yet again.

"Geez Luke, enough with the questions already!" Lorelai responded, a bit angered.

"Sorry," he said softly.

Lorelai was quiet a moment before replying with the answer.

"She said she couldn't stay in one place, that she needed adventure," Lorelai paused, "and that she thought she loved you but she didn't."

Luke let this information sink in. It surprised him that he wasn't more upset by this revelation. Rachel's confrontation of him, accusing him of feelings, should have been a heads up. Processing this information, he was quiet. Lorelai startled him when she spoke again.

"She said she wasn't going to interfere anymore," she said.

Luke knew exactly what that statement meant, and wisely chose not to respond right then. They were quiet for a long time, but this time it was he who spoke first again.

"I'm sorry," he declared. "I shouldn't have said those things to you. It wasn't in my place to judge you. They weren't true, and-" she cut him off.

"Of course they were true Luke! You basically summed up all of my relationships in a paragraph!" she yelled, rising from the couch to pace.

Luke watched her as she walked away. Apparently apologizing wasn't going to be enough.

"I thought you were my friend, but a friend wouldn't say something like that, even if it was true," she had started to cry. "Do you want to know what else Rachel said? She said you cared about me and you needed me to go to the diner everyday. I guess she was wrong," Lorelai stopped talking, blue eyes flashing with anger.

By now, Luke was standing also, hands clenched in fists at his side. The couch separated them, but he closed the distance in two steps. Her chest was heaving as she struggled for breath, tears burning trails in her flushed cheeks. Luke hesitated a moment before reaching up a hand to brush them away. She jerked her head away, spinning on her heel so her back was towards him. Hurt, Luke let his hand fall back to his side. They stood like that for the longest time, Lorelai struggling to get control of herself, Luke hovering behind her, trying to think of something to say.

"Lorelai, she wasn't wrong. Of course I care about you. You're my best friend," he paused. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

Before him, her shoulders slumped forward. He could hear that she was still crying with muffled sniffles. Hesitatingly, he reached out his hand and laid it on her shoulder lightly. The faintest touch, and she turned around to bury her face in his flannel shirt. Her tears came freely now, and Luke knew what he had to do. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. Murmured words of comfort were whispered into her hair, and he pulled her down to sit on the couch.

He held her like this for the longest time, his arms moving so that one was in her hair, the other around her shoulders, her face beneath his chin on his chest. When her sobs finally softened, she sniffed and looked up at him, a small smile on her face.

"I missed you, Luke," she said.