A/N Thank you so much to everyone who commented on part one. Your reviews made my day! My thanks again to three excellent betas NicoleMack, Monnie and Undisclosed.
Part Two: Where Thou Art
Fifty-two days down, only three more to go. Luke wandered over the door of the diner, locking it and turning the sign to "Closed". It was late, and his last customer had left an hour ago. Outside, the streets were almost empty, with only the occasional person dashing down the street to escape the rain that had been persistently falling for the last two days. He moved back behind the counter and into the kitchen to clean up as had been his routine for the last who knew how many years.
Only three more days until he found out if she would be returning for good or making a decision that could mean she was leaving him for good. In the last fifty-two days he had had a running battle with himself, trying to work out what emotion he was feeling most prominently as each day went by. Happiness that each passing day brought him closer to the day that she would return, bringing back with her joy and warmth and more than her fair share of craziness; or dread that she would decide to sell the Inn, that Stars Hollow wasn't the place where she wanted to be or that he wasn't the person she wanted to be with.
Luke sighed as he drew a weary hand across the stubble on his face. His shoulders ached; he felt old. For the past week, he had felt drained of energy, as what he considered to be the Day of Judgment drew nearer. It had always been in his nature to get on with life and take each day as it came, as it had seemed easier to him that way. A lifetime of his loved ones leaving through death, like his parents, or by choice, like Rachel, Jess and Liz, had meant that he lived for the moment, without thinking too much about the next week, month or year.
But as his relationship with Lorelai had developed, he had found himself considering his future more often; especially when they had reconciled after that stupid incident at her parents' wedding. For the first time, he'd actually started to think about having kids, that maybe, with that right person, he was ready for 'the discussion' and that he was ready to deal with jam hands and all they entailed. However, in all his plans for the future, he'd somehow forgotten the most important thing. He'd forgotten to find out what Lorelai wanted.
It had been a strange few days what with Rory's meltdown (complete with the stolen boat and Yale-related fallout), the shock of finding out about Lorelai's job offer and the possibility that she would sell the Inn, his stupid plan to surprise Lorelai with a house and then backing out of said deal with Taylor. To top it all off was the most astonishing occurrence of all, the event that had completely floored him; Lorelai had proposed.
Luke finished cleaning the kitchen and headed back into the diner to wipe down the tables and refill the condiments bottles. Unbidden, his gaze drifted to the place that Lorelai had sat, with hope and what he had thought was also desperation in her eyes. It took a hell of a lot to surprise him, but her words had stopped him cold. That wasn't to say that he hadn't thought about marriage, but he hadn't expected her to be the one to propose to him and certainly not just then.
Turning his back on the table, Luke wiped down the counter vigorously instead, before heading over to clean out the coffee pot. Once the shock had worn off, they'd talked until the early hours of the next morning. The more they had talked, however, the more it had become obvious that they'd been keeping secrets from each other. Although they had had years of friendship where Lorelai had talked to him about almost anything, it seemed that now they were together, they'd both forgotten to communicate about the most important of things. So he'd told her about the Twickham house and she had revealed the pregnancy scare. As with each time he thought about that revelation, he hastily pushed down a feeling of disappointment that she hadn't told him about it sooner, before the thought that he was scarcely one to cast the first stone quickly followed behind.
In the end, though, Luke came back to the same thing: it hadn't been the right time. There were so many issues for both of them to deal with; for Lorelai in particular. However much Lorelai said she didn't want to sell the Inn, he didn't want her to regret a missed opportunity. He didn't want to hold her back. He knew he wouldn't be able to bear it if she decided, a couple of years down the road, that she wanted more than this town. More than him. Particularly since her proposal had come in the face of her conflict with Rory and her parents. Her parents, he didn't know how to deal with. He knew they didn't like him, value him, or accept him. He could live with that, and he felt that Lorelai could too. But he didn't want what should have been one of the best moments in his life to have come about because Lorelai thought that she had lost Rory, the most important person in her world. Therefore some time away had seemed the best thing, in order to gain perspective and to try out the job opportunity.
At least Lorelai and Rory had reconciled somewhat before she left for Europe and through his conversations with Lorelai while she'd been gone, he knew that they were in contact by e-mail. He had only seen Rory once in the diner in that time. She'd come in about a month after Lorelai had left, with tears in her eyes, a sheet of paper in her hand.
He'd struggled with himself, unsure whether he should say anything to her, but in the end he had merely headed over to give her a cup of coffee. Without talking, she had handed the paper to him. It had been an e-mail from Lorelai, telling Rory that no matter what she did she would always be proud of her. She knew her daughter could do anything she put her mind to and she shouldn't let her future be decided by one man who didn't even know her. Lorelai knew her and Lane, Sookie, Jackson, Miss Patty, Babette, and even Kirk knew her. And Luke knew her. And they all knew what she was capable of, and their opinions were the ones that mattered. But what was most important of all, was what Rory herself felt she was capable of.
Rory had looked up at Luke and asked him what he thought she was capable of. He'd replied with one word: "Anything."
She had smiled at him for a second and replied, "That's what I think, too."
He'd given her another cup of coffee to go and hadn't seen her since, but he knew from Lane and from Lorelai that she'd been working as an intern since then and that Lorelai was hopeful she was going to return to Yale. The mother-daughter closeness was not yet what it once was, but if anyone could work it out, it would be those two.
That didn't leave him any closer to solving his own problems however. At times he felt like kicking himself, like ranting and raving as he usually did at Taylor. Sometimes, he cursed himself for saying that they weren't ready and that they needed to wait until they'd both had some time to think about what had happened those past few weeks. Why the hell had he said that? But it always came back to the same thing: he didn't want to say yes only to discover that Lorelai regretted her rash proposal and for it all to end with her running away from him. Then he'd be left alone. Again. He just hoped that when she did come home in three days, she wouldn't have changed her mind.
Finally finishing his cleaning up for the night, Luke tossed his cloth in the kitchen sink and headed towards the back to turn the diner lights off before heading upstairs. As he did so however, he heard a persistent tapping at the door. Who on earth could that be at this time of night? He trudged over to the door and peered through the blind, freezing when he saw who it was. Huddled at the step under a black umbrella was Lorelai. She was peering anxiously through the door, her hands clutching the handle of the umbrella tightly.
For a moment, Luke was unable to move as he soaked up his first sight of Lorelai in what seemed like an eternity. Then finding momentum once again, Luke fumbled at the door, unlocking it and swinging it open. He took a step back and allowed Lorelai to enter before closing the door behind her. She closed the umbrella, placing it by the door and then stood there looking up at him. Her hair was down and was curled slightly from the rain outside, framing her upturned face. Her hands were by her sides, clenching and unclenching with nervous energy. For long moments neither of them moved. Then whatever ties held them back seemed to break and they were in each other's arms, holding on tightly to each other. Lorelai had one arm around his neck, the other clutching the soft flannel covering his chest. Luke's arms were wrapped around Lorelai, his hands splayed across her back.
His eyes shut, Luke savored the feeling of Lorelai in his arms, his cheek resting on the top of her head as she tucked it into his neck. He only loosened his grip when he felt her stir in his arms. Pulling back slightly, he stared into her eyes, his face breaking into its first smile for more than seven weeks. Her face was inches from his and her expression mirrored his own.
"Lorelai," he muttered before pulling her closer to him, one hand coming up to cradle her face before he lowered his lips onto hers. She responded instantly, her mouth opening under his, the hand around his neck moving higher to knock his cap to the ground. They kissed hungrily, almost desperately, Luke pushing her back against the diner door. Eventually Luke pulled his lips away from Lorelai's to trail soft kisses across her jaw before continuing down to push away the damp collar of her shirt to nuzzle her neck.
"Luke, wait," Lorelai gasped, speaking for the first time. Luke froze, stopping instantly. Loosening his grip on her he moved a short distance away, running a hand through his disheveled hair and trying to catch his breath. He dreaded hearing what she had to say, but then she moved forward, her hands clutching at his.
"Now the last time I asked this, the scene didn't turn out quite the way I had imagined," she began, her tone confident, but her hands trembling. "This time, I'm hoping that we've both read the same script." She took a deep breath. "Luke, regardless of whatever else happens in my life with Rory, I will always be there for her and she for me. And you Luke, I want to be there for you. You are such an important part of my family now and I want that for the rest of my life. I don't want a full-time consulting job. I liked the travel, but I love this town more. I love you much more. Luke, will you marry me?"
The expression on her face was full of hope, and this time, Luke didn't see any desperation. What he saw was peace and love. He smiled, a genuine smile he was sure was unlike any he had worn before. He probably looked like an idiot, but he didn't care. Without hesitation, he pulled Lorelai into his arms again and said firmly. "Yes Lorelai, I will marry you."
She returned the hug strongly before muttering into his shoulder. "Whew! Right answer."
Luke laughed softly in her hair before muttering gruffly, "I love you, Lorelai." She tightened her grip on him, nodding in his chest to acknowledge that she'd heard him.
They stood there for long minutes before they finally pulled away from each other. Lorelai wiped away the tears that had formed in her eyes and allowed Luke to lead her over to the counter to sit down.
"What are you doing back so soon? I thought you weren't supposed to be back for another three days," Luke asked, his voice rough with restrained emotion.
She smiled up at him. "Caffeine withdrawal. You know, Europeans may claim to have the world's best coffee, but theirs doesn't stand a chance next to yours."
Luke wandered back to the door to pick up his baseball cap, fixing it firmly on his head before heading back to the counter.
"Don't you know how bad that stuff is for you?" he grumbled, willingly slipping back into their old routine.
"I plan on spending the rest of my life finding out," Lorelai replied brightly.
Luke turned away to brew a fresh pot of coffee, then opened the fridge to pull out a piece of cherry pie that had been left over from that day. It wasn't the freshest, but he was pretty sure Lorelai wouldn't mind. Putting it on a plate, he slid it across to her, smiling as he saw her face light up.
"My hero!"
She began eating immediately and he watched, the tight feeling that had been gripping his chest for the past fifty-two days slowly beginning to ease. Turning back to the coffee maker, he poured her a cup of coffee and smiled at the ecstatic expression on her face as she took her first sip.
He took a deep breath. "So, no selling the Inn and living the high life on the Riviera then?"
Lorelai shook her head emphatically. "Nope. You know, the glamour of Europe just can't compare with Firelight Festivals, re-enactments and dance marathons." She paused before glancing up at him. "I wouldn't mind doing a week or two of consulting every year though. They're happy for me to do that and the money is great."
Luke nodded. As long as she wanted him, whatever else she wanted was fine by him. Who knew, maybe he would even shock the hell out of her and actually come along on one of those trips.
She ate another bite of cherry pie and then hesitated briefly before asking, "Luke those jam hands you thought you'd have a short discussion about with the right person. Did you have any idea when such a discussion would be?" She rushed on before he could reply. "Cause I was thinking that might be nice, you know, in maybe another year or two?"
Luke leaned his hands on the counter and replied, "I was thinking something like that myself." They smiled idiotically at each other for a moment before he continued. "You know, we'll actually have to live together when we get married. Do you think your house can handle a full-time male occupant?"
Lorelai smiled, "I'm sure if I give the house plenty of warning and I break it to it gently, remind it that said male occupant has been looking after it for years, it might come around. So……you don't want the Twickham house, then?"
Luke had had plenty of time to think about that damn house and now he really didn't know what he had been thinking. It was way too big and grand for him. If they needed a bigger house in a few years, they could deal with it then.
"Nah, not really. Too big. Besides, your house and I have an understanding. Anything breaks, I fix it. It holds itself together for about a month then falls apart again. We've got ourselves a nice routine going now."
"Our house," Lorelai replied quickly.
"Our house," Luke echoed. He knew they still had a lot to discuss, particularly about Rory and Lorelai's parents, not to mention how they would react to news of their engagement, but that could wait until the next day. They had plenty of time now. "You know if you've just gotten off a plane, you must be exhausted. We should head up to bed so you can sleep."
Lorelai stood, sauntering around the counter to stand closely next to Luke. Her voice dropped provocatively. "Bed sounds like a great idea, but the very last thing I want to do in it is sleep."
With that she reached up and pulled his head down for a deep kiss. Luke drew Lorelai to him then they stumbled quickly up the stairs, pausing at the door to the apartment to start shedding their clothes. Finally they made it into the room, falling onto the bed, eager to make up for lost time. Before Luke became completely distracted, it occurred to him that he should give her the ring that had been sitting in the drawer beside his bed for the last few months. But as Lorelai shed her shirt and began to work on his jeans, he pushed it to the back of his mind. There'd be plenty of time for that tomorrow. After all, they had the rest of their lives now.
End
Where thou art – that - is home.
- Emily Dickinson
A/N I really hope that Lorelai doesn't go away for the summer on the show, but after this idea got into my head, I just had to write it down. I also have to confess after years of reading in various fandoms, this is the first fan fic I've written. It's been fun!