Title: A Wedding Story, Chapter 15 – The happy dance
Author: Gluglug
Spoiler Warning/Timing: Late Fourth Season
Rating: PG-13
Summary: His sister's impending wedding leads Luke to make some decisions about his own life. SPOILER WARNING
Disclaimer: Gilmore Girls and all characters are property of The Dubba Dubba Dubba WB, Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions and Amy Sherman- Palladino. They don't belong to me, just borrowing.
===============
Lorelai walked out on the porch and found Luke sitting on the wicker bench. He seemed a little nervous but he smiled when he saw her return to him. She approached the bench and sat down.
"Sookie's putting the roses in a vase for me. She's in the kitchen cleaning up."
"So, how was the party?"
"Well, Taylor was a pain in the ass as usual, Kirk hit me up for a job and Shel hit on me. But the food was delicious and it was great to have all these people around congratulating us and wishing us luck. And believe it or not, my parents didn't have one single negative thing to say. In fact, it was just the opposite – they said they were both very proud of me. You could've knocked me over with a feather."
"Well, they should be proud of you. You worked really hard to make this a reality. I'm sorry I missed it, Lorelai."
"It's okay, Luke. So, I'm assuming that since you were coming back from your cabin that you weren't off somewhere with Nicole celebrating her birthday?"
Luke shook his head. "No, I haven't seen Nicole since last weekend. We're getting a divorce."
Lorelai was relieved. "For real this time?"
"For real. She's gonna take that job offer in Chicago. I told her that I couldn't go with her, so the only logical thing to do was split up."
Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, logical." She reached over and put her hand over his in a gesture of comfort. "Luke, I'm sorry about you and Nicole."
In truth, she wasn't sorry at all to hear this, but doing the happy dance in front of Luke right now wouldn't be appropriate. And she was so used to playing the role of the supportive friend that she didn't know what else to do. She figured somewhere inside he must be in pain.
Luke felt her hand touching his and turned his hand over so their palms were facing each other. He entwined his fingers with hers and they both instinctively closed their fingers until they were holding hands. It felt like second nature to both.
He looked at her concerned face and spoke. "Thanks, Lorelai. I realize now that Nicole and I should've gone through with it months ago, when we returned from our ill-fated cruise. I should've said no to her when she wanted to start dating again. You were right when you questioned me about it. You were also right when you told me that I hadn't moved in with her."
"So I was right being a judgmental nudge?" She chuckled. "Some people have to learn the hard way, huh?"
Luke sighed. "The hard way is right. But I guess it was worth it, in a way."
"What do you mean?" Lorelai asked.
Luke let go of her hand and got up from the bench. He took off his baseball cap and ran a hand through his hair and replaced it the cap. Lorelai could tell he was gearing up for a patented Luke Danes full on rant.
"Lorelai, when I was up at my cabin, I did a lot of thinking. Maybe I'm having a mid-life crisis or something but I realized that Jess was right - I do spend a lot of time trying to fix other people's problems and haven't spent a lot of time looking at my own. Seeing my sister finally get her life together was a real wake up call for me, too. For the longest time, I was the good one and Liz was the screw-up. But I began to wonder if it's not the other way around."
"Luke, you're not a screw up." Lorelai interrupted him.
Luke put up his hand. "Let me finish, please. Maybe I'm not a complete screw-up but I definitely screwed up big time with Nicole. But ending my marriage was only the first step I needed to take to fix what's wrong. Even then though, she was the one who said that we should divorce." He took a breath.
"I'm tired of sitting around and waiting for things to happen. I need to be the one who's in charge of my life and where I want it to go." Luke returned to the couch and sat facing Lorelai.
"What do you want?" She asked, hoping, wondering if this was the moment she was waiting for.
Luke took a deep breath, it was now or never. "Lorelai, do you remember when you told me that you wanted the whole package and I told you that you'd get it someday?"
Lorelai nodded, her heart pounding.
"What I didn't say that night was that I wanted to be the one to give it to you. But I wasn't ready to tell you that, I was afraid of ruining our friendship. But I realized that I can't spend the rest of my life wondering 'what if.' I need you to know how I feel about you and I want to know how you feel about me."
Lorelai's eyes filled with tears upon hearing Luke's confession. He wanted to give HER the whole package. She was hoping he would say at least that he liked her and wanted to take her out, but the whole package?
Luke watched the tears falling from her eyes, wanting to wipe them away but he couldn't tell if she was happy, sad or just overwhelmed.
"Lorelai, please say something." Luke said anxiously. "Usually I can't get you to shut up."
Lorelai chuckled and wiped away some of her tears with the back of her hand.
"I'm sorry I'm speechless, Luke. I just wasn't expecting all of this."
"What were you expecting?"
"I don't know. I've been waiting all week to talk to you, practically dying of curiosity over what happened that made you hightail it out of here. I figured that something must've gone bad with Nicole but I wasn't sure just exactly what. And then you didn't come to the party but you just show up here with a dozen roses, tell me you're divorcing and throw in a confession of love for good measure? It's a little much for a girl to take in all at once, especially since this has been a pretty emotional day already."
"Bad timing, huh?" Luke asked, preparing himself to be let down.
"Luke, there's never a good or bad time to tell someone how you feel. Sometimes you just have to just do it." She paused and had an idea how to tell Luke just how she felt.
"Remember that toast that I wanted to give you today at the party? I don't have any more champagne or remember exactly what I wrote so I'm just gonna wing it."
Lorelai raised her hand in the air as if she were holding a champagne glass.
Luke gave her a confused look. "What's with the hand?"
"I'm giving you a toast, just use your imagination."
"Your arm is gonna get tired like that, Lorelai."
"This is my toast, just shut up and let me embarrass you, okay?"
Luke already felt embarrassed, wondering where she was taking this. "Okay, toast away."
Lorelai took a deep breath. "Dear guests, I want to make a toast to someone. He gets easily embarrassed but I don't care because it should be known to everyone just how great he is. Two and half years ago, I told him that I was ready to start making my dream of owning an inn a reality. When I asked him if I could hack it as a business owner, he replied that I could hack anything. He also offered to help me out, being the entrepreneurial type himself. And being me, I took him up on that help many times. And whenever I started to freak out, he told me that I could do it. So I kept doing it."
Lorelai paused and put down her arm. "You're right, this hurts." She said, rubbing her upper arm. "Where was I?"
"You kept doing it." Luke said, crossing his arms.
"Right, so I kept doing it. And then one night not long ago, I hit a wall. I started to think that I couldn't do this and was running out of money. I thought I was a failure. Well, he listened to me and comforted me and told me I wasn't a failure. He helped restore my faith in myself. And not only that, he wrote me a big fat check so I could continue to pay the crew who were working night and day to get this place open on time. I owe him so much; he's always been there for me and has always given his time and his friendship, not just the Inn but with everything else in my life."
Lorelai felt her eyes fill with tears again. "For a long time, I didn't realize just how much he meant to me. But I've always needed him in my life and recently I started to understand that need. It's friendship but it's so much deeper. It's love. Real love and it's been right in front of me for years. I'm so sorry that it's taken me so long to figure it out. So here's my toast to you Luke Danes, my knight in shining armor. For all you have given me in the past, and what I hope I can give you in the future. Cheers."
Luke stared at Lorelai, now he was speechless. He reached out and cupped the side of Lorelai's face with his right hand, gently wiping away her tears.
"Haven't you done enough crying today?"
"I'm sorry, I know it freaks you out." She reached up and stroked the hand that was cupping her face. She pulled it down and entwined her fingers with his. He reached over and took her free hand in his.
"So that was your big toast? I'm glad you gave it to me privately. I think I would've been pretty embarrassed to hear you say all that in front of everyone."
"Luke, even if I had given that speech in front of everyone, I would've left out the last part. That was something I would save for in private."
"Is there anything else you want to tell me in private?" Luke smiled.
"Yes." Lorelai leaned over and whispered in his ear. "I love you."
"I love you, too." Luke replied, not quite believing that he could finally tell her.
Lorelai pulled back and just looked in his eyes. Among the intense blue of his gaze she saw so many emotions, but mostly she saw his adoration and need for her.
"We haven't kissed yet, have we Luke?"
"Not yet."
"What are we waiting for?"
Holding her hands in his, Luke leaned in and kissed Lorelai for the first time. He gently brushed his lips against hers and she brushed hers against his. They took their time, savoring this contact at last. When neither could take the anticipation anymore, they let go of each others hands.
Lorelai wrapped her arms around Luke's neck and he took her face in his hands, deepening the kiss. They kept at it for several more seconds until they thought they heard something, it sounded like squealing or someone clapping.
Lorelai pulled away from Luke and turned around, looking where the sound was coming from. Sookie and Michel were watching them from the front window, applauding them. She shot them a look while Luke turned crimson.
Lorelai walked into the inn and Luke followed. "Have you two been watching us the whole time?"
Sookie shook her head. "No, we just heard from the toast onward. I'm sorry but we couldn't resist, do you know how long we've been waiting for the two of you to come to your senses?"
"Speak for yourself, Sookie. I didn't even know that she liked the flannel man until you told me that she turned down the poultry guy." Michel pouted. "But it's nice to see young love, or even not so young love."
"I'm glad you're both happy for us, but it would be nice to have some privacy." Lorelai said.
"Well, we have a vacant room upstairs." Michel suggested. "It's cozy and has a romantic view."
Luke's face turned even darker. "Thanks, but we'll take a rain check. Uh, Lorelai, I think I should get going."
Luke turned and walked out to his truck. Lorelai shot Michel a look and ran after him.
"Luke, wait. Please don't be mad."
"I'm not mad. Just embarrassed."
"Well, since you've practically turned purple I figured that out. Sookie and Michel meant well, they really do. And no matter where we go from now on, the town will be watching us. You might as well get used to it."
"Lorelai, the town has been watching Bachelor Butch for years. It's something I'll never get used to."
"Bachelor Butch?" Lorelai chuckled. "Is that your idea for a new reality show? It's got a nice ring to it. I could help you come up with a catchphrase like "you're fired!"
"Lorelai, this isn't a joke or some stupid reality show. This is our lives."
"I know that. But you need to have a sense of humor about this. It's the only way we're going to deal with living in a fishbowl. And since you have no plans to move to a big city like Chicago, you're gonna have to deal."
Luke sighed. "You're right. But when I take you on our first date, can we go somewhere outside of Stars Hollow?"
"First date? Luke, you hate dating."
"I do, but maybe it's because I wasn't dating the right person."
Lorelai smiled. "I have an idea. Why don't you take me to Danbury? Then you could introduce me to the Fran look alike and her flower stand?"
Luke grinned. "That's a good idea. I wish I'd thought of it."
"Well, that's why you need me around. I'm free tomorrow afternoon – how about you?"
"Well, I have to get the diner up and running again tomorrow, but if I can get someone to cover for me in the afternoon, we're on."
"So I'll let you go, just give me a call and let me know."
Luke leaned down and gave her a kiss before getting into his truck.
Lorelai waved and watched him drive away and then looked at the Dragonfly. Her dreams had finally become reality.
It was the right time to indulge in the happy dance.
The End
Author: Gluglug
Spoiler Warning/Timing: Late Fourth Season
Rating: PG-13
Summary: His sister's impending wedding leads Luke to make some decisions about his own life. SPOILER WARNING
Disclaimer: Gilmore Girls and all characters are property of The Dubba Dubba Dubba WB, Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions and Amy Sherman- Palladino. They don't belong to me, just borrowing.
===============
Lorelai walked out on the porch and found Luke sitting on the wicker bench. He seemed a little nervous but he smiled when he saw her return to him. She approached the bench and sat down.
"Sookie's putting the roses in a vase for me. She's in the kitchen cleaning up."
"So, how was the party?"
"Well, Taylor was a pain in the ass as usual, Kirk hit me up for a job and Shel hit on me. But the food was delicious and it was great to have all these people around congratulating us and wishing us luck. And believe it or not, my parents didn't have one single negative thing to say. In fact, it was just the opposite – they said they were both very proud of me. You could've knocked me over with a feather."
"Well, they should be proud of you. You worked really hard to make this a reality. I'm sorry I missed it, Lorelai."
"It's okay, Luke. So, I'm assuming that since you were coming back from your cabin that you weren't off somewhere with Nicole celebrating her birthday?"
Luke shook his head. "No, I haven't seen Nicole since last weekend. We're getting a divorce."
Lorelai was relieved. "For real this time?"
"For real. She's gonna take that job offer in Chicago. I told her that I couldn't go with her, so the only logical thing to do was split up."
Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, logical." She reached over and put her hand over his in a gesture of comfort. "Luke, I'm sorry about you and Nicole."
In truth, she wasn't sorry at all to hear this, but doing the happy dance in front of Luke right now wouldn't be appropriate. And she was so used to playing the role of the supportive friend that she didn't know what else to do. She figured somewhere inside he must be in pain.
Luke felt her hand touching his and turned his hand over so their palms were facing each other. He entwined his fingers with hers and they both instinctively closed their fingers until they were holding hands. It felt like second nature to both.
He looked at her concerned face and spoke. "Thanks, Lorelai. I realize now that Nicole and I should've gone through with it months ago, when we returned from our ill-fated cruise. I should've said no to her when she wanted to start dating again. You were right when you questioned me about it. You were also right when you told me that I hadn't moved in with her."
"So I was right being a judgmental nudge?" She chuckled. "Some people have to learn the hard way, huh?"
Luke sighed. "The hard way is right. But I guess it was worth it, in a way."
"What do you mean?" Lorelai asked.
Luke let go of her hand and got up from the bench. He took off his baseball cap and ran a hand through his hair and replaced it the cap. Lorelai could tell he was gearing up for a patented Luke Danes full on rant.
"Lorelai, when I was up at my cabin, I did a lot of thinking. Maybe I'm having a mid-life crisis or something but I realized that Jess was right - I do spend a lot of time trying to fix other people's problems and haven't spent a lot of time looking at my own. Seeing my sister finally get her life together was a real wake up call for me, too. For the longest time, I was the good one and Liz was the screw-up. But I began to wonder if it's not the other way around."
"Luke, you're not a screw up." Lorelai interrupted him.
Luke put up his hand. "Let me finish, please. Maybe I'm not a complete screw-up but I definitely screwed up big time with Nicole. But ending my marriage was only the first step I needed to take to fix what's wrong. Even then though, she was the one who said that we should divorce." He took a breath.
"I'm tired of sitting around and waiting for things to happen. I need to be the one who's in charge of my life and where I want it to go." Luke returned to the couch and sat facing Lorelai.
"What do you want?" She asked, hoping, wondering if this was the moment she was waiting for.
Luke took a deep breath, it was now or never. "Lorelai, do you remember when you told me that you wanted the whole package and I told you that you'd get it someday?"
Lorelai nodded, her heart pounding.
"What I didn't say that night was that I wanted to be the one to give it to you. But I wasn't ready to tell you that, I was afraid of ruining our friendship. But I realized that I can't spend the rest of my life wondering 'what if.' I need you to know how I feel about you and I want to know how you feel about me."
Lorelai's eyes filled with tears upon hearing Luke's confession. He wanted to give HER the whole package. She was hoping he would say at least that he liked her and wanted to take her out, but the whole package?
Luke watched the tears falling from her eyes, wanting to wipe them away but he couldn't tell if she was happy, sad or just overwhelmed.
"Lorelai, please say something." Luke said anxiously. "Usually I can't get you to shut up."
Lorelai chuckled and wiped away some of her tears with the back of her hand.
"I'm sorry I'm speechless, Luke. I just wasn't expecting all of this."
"What were you expecting?"
"I don't know. I've been waiting all week to talk to you, practically dying of curiosity over what happened that made you hightail it out of here. I figured that something must've gone bad with Nicole but I wasn't sure just exactly what. And then you didn't come to the party but you just show up here with a dozen roses, tell me you're divorcing and throw in a confession of love for good measure? It's a little much for a girl to take in all at once, especially since this has been a pretty emotional day already."
"Bad timing, huh?" Luke asked, preparing himself to be let down.
"Luke, there's never a good or bad time to tell someone how you feel. Sometimes you just have to just do it." She paused and had an idea how to tell Luke just how she felt.
"Remember that toast that I wanted to give you today at the party? I don't have any more champagne or remember exactly what I wrote so I'm just gonna wing it."
Lorelai raised her hand in the air as if she were holding a champagne glass.
Luke gave her a confused look. "What's with the hand?"
"I'm giving you a toast, just use your imagination."
"Your arm is gonna get tired like that, Lorelai."
"This is my toast, just shut up and let me embarrass you, okay?"
Luke already felt embarrassed, wondering where she was taking this. "Okay, toast away."
Lorelai took a deep breath. "Dear guests, I want to make a toast to someone. He gets easily embarrassed but I don't care because it should be known to everyone just how great he is. Two and half years ago, I told him that I was ready to start making my dream of owning an inn a reality. When I asked him if I could hack it as a business owner, he replied that I could hack anything. He also offered to help me out, being the entrepreneurial type himself. And being me, I took him up on that help many times. And whenever I started to freak out, he told me that I could do it. So I kept doing it."
Lorelai paused and put down her arm. "You're right, this hurts." She said, rubbing her upper arm. "Where was I?"
"You kept doing it." Luke said, crossing his arms.
"Right, so I kept doing it. And then one night not long ago, I hit a wall. I started to think that I couldn't do this and was running out of money. I thought I was a failure. Well, he listened to me and comforted me and told me I wasn't a failure. He helped restore my faith in myself. And not only that, he wrote me a big fat check so I could continue to pay the crew who were working night and day to get this place open on time. I owe him so much; he's always been there for me and has always given his time and his friendship, not just the Inn but with everything else in my life."
Lorelai felt her eyes fill with tears again. "For a long time, I didn't realize just how much he meant to me. But I've always needed him in my life and recently I started to understand that need. It's friendship but it's so much deeper. It's love. Real love and it's been right in front of me for years. I'm so sorry that it's taken me so long to figure it out. So here's my toast to you Luke Danes, my knight in shining armor. For all you have given me in the past, and what I hope I can give you in the future. Cheers."
Luke stared at Lorelai, now he was speechless. He reached out and cupped the side of Lorelai's face with his right hand, gently wiping away her tears.
"Haven't you done enough crying today?"
"I'm sorry, I know it freaks you out." She reached up and stroked the hand that was cupping her face. She pulled it down and entwined her fingers with his. He reached over and took her free hand in his.
"So that was your big toast? I'm glad you gave it to me privately. I think I would've been pretty embarrassed to hear you say all that in front of everyone."
"Luke, even if I had given that speech in front of everyone, I would've left out the last part. That was something I would save for in private."
"Is there anything else you want to tell me in private?" Luke smiled.
"Yes." Lorelai leaned over and whispered in his ear. "I love you."
"I love you, too." Luke replied, not quite believing that he could finally tell her.
Lorelai pulled back and just looked in his eyes. Among the intense blue of his gaze she saw so many emotions, but mostly she saw his adoration and need for her.
"We haven't kissed yet, have we Luke?"
"Not yet."
"What are we waiting for?"
Holding her hands in his, Luke leaned in and kissed Lorelai for the first time. He gently brushed his lips against hers and she brushed hers against his. They took their time, savoring this contact at last. When neither could take the anticipation anymore, they let go of each others hands.
Lorelai wrapped her arms around Luke's neck and he took her face in his hands, deepening the kiss. They kept at it for several more seconds until they thought they heard something, it sounded like squealing or someone clapping.
Lorelai pulled away from Luke and turned around, looking where the sound was coming from. Sookie and Michel were watching them from the front window, applauding them. She shot them a look while Luke turned crimson.
Lorelai walked into the inn and Luke followed. "Have you two been watching us the whole time?"
Sookie shook her head. "No, we just heard from the toast onward. I'm sorry but we couldn't resist, do you know how long we've been waiting for the two of you to come to your senses?"
"Speak for yourself, Sookie. I didn't even know that she liked the flannel man until you told me that she turned down the poultry guy." Michel pouted. "But it's nice to see young love, or even not so young love."
"I'm glad you're both happy for us, but it would be nice to have some privacy." Lorelai said.
"Well, we have a vacant room upstairs." Michel suggested. "It's cozy and has a romantic view."
Luke's face turned even darker. "Thanks, but we'll take a rain check. Uh, Lorelai, I think I should get going."
Luke turned and walked out to his truck. Lorelai shot Michel a look and ran after him.
"Luke, wait. Please don't be mad."
"I'm not mad. Just embarrassed."
"Well, since you've practically turned purple I figured that out. Sookie and Michel meant well, they really do. And no matter where we go from now on, the town will be watching us. You might as well get used to it."
"Lorelai, the town has been watching Bachelor Butch for years. It's something I'll never get used to."
"Bachelor Butch?" Lorelai chuckled. "Is that your idea for a new reality show? It's got a nice ring to it. I could help you come up with a catchphrase like "you're fired!"
"Lorelai, this isn't a joke or some stupid reality show. This is our lives."
"I know that. But you need to have a sense of humor about this. It's the only way we're going to deal with living in a fishbowl. And since you have no plans to move to a big city like Chicago, you're gonna have to deal."
Luke sighed. "You're right. But when I take you on our first date, can we go somewhere outside of Stars Hollow?"
"First date? Luke, you hate dating."
"I do, but maybe it's because I wasn't dating the right person."
Lorelai smiled. "I have an idea. Why don't you take me to Danbury? Then you could introduce me to the Fran look alike and her flower stand?"
Luke grinned. "That's a good idea. I wish I'd thought of it."
"Well, that's why you need me around. I'm free tomorrow afternoon – how about you?"
"Well, I have to get the diner up and running again tomorrow, but if I can get someone to cover for me in the afternoon, we're on."
"So I'll let you go, just give me a call and let me know."
Luke leaned down and gave her a kiss before getting into his truck.
Lorelai waved and watched him drive away and then looked at the Dragonfly. Her dreams had finally become reality.
It was the right time to indulge in the happy dance.
The End