I'm finally resurfacing, and for you're enjoyment... I've revamped and revised and added to Chapter 8/9, forming one big chapter. I'm not quite sure where I want to take this with the goings on of the current season, so if anyone has any ideas, I'd be happy to hear them! Just drop me a review!
As usual, I don't own anything (aka. Characters), but I do own the plot line. :)
"What's up hun?" asked Lorelai, when her and Rory were out in the lobby of the Dragonfly.
"Um…" Rory started, still debating whether or not to tell Lorelai that Logan was back, or that she really did want him to join her in Stars Hollow—a place that he'd only heard about, and never seen (well, except for that brief limo ride to drop her off). "Ror—Just spit it out."
"Okay. Logan's back." she said.
"That's great. How long is he back?" Lorelai asked, happy for her daughter. This time, in the relationship department, the apple obviously fell far from the tree.
"I don't know. Maybe for a few days, maybe for a few weeks." Rory shrugged her shoulders.
"Is that all, hun?" her mother asked, not understanding why this was such a big deal.
"No. I was wondering if Logan could stay at the Dragonfly."
"Sure, but if you want, he just come and stay at the Crap Shack."
"Mom, are you sure? That'd be awesome if he could."
"Rory, it's not a big deal. He's never been to Stars Hollow, right?"
"Right."
"So what's the big deal?" asked Lorelai, going to the desk to sort through the mail. Rory followed her, "I didn't want to upset you more than you already were. I didn't want to make anything worse."
"Rory. I'm fine. I'm okay." Surprisingly, the mail was sorted and the necessary bills had been mailed—probably by Sookie or Michele.
"No, Mom, you're not. What about the baby?" Rory asked, authoritatively.
Quickly, Lorelai put her finger to her mouth, "I don't even know if I'm pregnant."
"You have to get a test done, and soon." Rory said.
"Fine. I will… Later." Lorelai said now occupying herself at the front counter. Rory looked at the clock and rolled her eyes, it was only 7 PM. They had to wait at least another four hours before they could go back into town—most people are asleep around 11 PM. She walked into the kitchen to lend a hand to Sookie; heaven knows, Rory wasn't any better in the kitchen, but over the past month, she'd gotten better and was a willing and rapid learner.
Lorelai also looked at the clock, four hours to go, she thought. Just incase there is somebody up, we'll take a cab. I'm just not ready to see anyone yet. I wonder how Paul Anka is… She left the desk and went back into the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee and to find out about how Paul Anka was.
"Hey Sookie." Rory said as she walked back into the kitchen.
"Hey sweetie!" Sookie replied, "what can I help ya with?" She stuck her finger in a sauce occupying a large sauce pan to taste its potency, "Needs salt and a bit of pepper. What do you think?" Sookie held up a wooden spoon full of the sauce out to Rory. She tasted the sauce, "You're right. It does need salt and a bit of pepper."
"Thanks."
"You're welcome. Actually, Sookie, I was wondering if I could help out. Maybe something simple?"
"Um… something simple… how about chopping some onion or maybe some chives? Or both?" Sookie chuckled.
"Easy enough. Sure." Rory said as Sookie set up a chopping board for her and handed her a duller knife as well as a handful of chives and two white Maui sweet onions. "When you get done, sweetie, just put the chives in this bowl and the sweets in that bowl."
"Okay." Rory hit her temple with her hand and remembered that she had to call Logan back. She dialed his number and pinned the phone to her shoulder with her ear, and began to chop the two ingredients.
"Hello?" Logan asked on the other side of the line.
"Hey there." Rory said happily, trying not to chop her fingers as well.
"Hey yourself, Ace."
"I told you that I was going to call you back."
"Your word's good in my book."
"Guess what I'm doing?"
"I don't know. Reading? Studying? Shopping?" Rory scraped the chives into a small glass bowl.
"No. I'm cooking."
"Cooking? Ace and cooking, that's new."
"Yup. I have good news." Rory picked the first onion up and started chopping it.
"What's that?"
"You can stay at the Dragonfly, or you can stay at the Crap Shack with my mom and I." she said as she put the onion into a different glass bowl, and the started on the second.
"Sounds good. Crap Shack?"
"Our house. We didn't know what to call it, so we named it 'Crap Shack'. It's home, though."
"I see. Put me down for a room at the Shack."
"Will do. What time is that for, sir?"
"I don't know, surprise me. When are you guys getting back?"
"There. I'm done," said Rory as she scraped the onion into the onion bowl with the other onion, "Around 11. And…"
"I'll be there."
"You know the place right? Wait. I know the answer to that."
"Yeah, Ace. I do. I'll see you later."
"Bye, Logan." Rory hung up the phone and went back to helping with cooking. Sookie was a wreck, because right about now was the dinner rush; she needed all the help that she could get. Helping Sookie will use up a few hours, thought Rory as she handed the bowls to Sookie. She dumped them into a sautéing pan, "Thanks Rory!"
"Hey Sookie, what else do you have for me to do? Is there anything else that I can help with?"
"There's lots." Sookie said as she abandoned her pan and gathered up three bell peppers for her to chop just as Lorelai walked through the door.
"Hey Lorelai. What's up?" Sookie asked.
"Sook, what do you have my kid doing?" Lorelai asked watching Rory with amazement while she chopped up the red, yellow, and green bell peppers.
"Cooking. She wanted to help. Do you?"
"Huh," Lorelai asked, "Me in a kitchen? Not a good idea."
"Yeah…" Sookie replied.
"I was wondering, could we get Paul Anka tonight? I'm going to need a friend to cuddle up with. How is he?"
"Sure. He misses you two. Paul Anka's really good with kids. You can come over and get him when you guys go home. When is that?"
"Oh, tonight. After the sun goes down."
"And Taylor, Babbette, Patty, Kirk, and hopefully Luke are asleep?" finished Sookie.
"You got it, babe." Lorelai replied walking back out the door and into the lobby.
The remaining four hours passed by boringly. At around 10:30, Lorelai had called a taxi to come and take them back to their house. She and Rory were just going to leave their cars at the Dragonfly. It was easier, and the town gossips didn't come in contact with the Dragonfly very often. And if they did since they had left, they wouldn't be able to find Rory and Lorelai's cars; they were parked behind the stables—a place where the town gossips would almost certainly not look. Luke, maybe, but the gossips would never look there.
Sookie had left around 9 o'clock, and told them to drop by to get Paul Anka when they're on their way through town; Jackson and the kids would be in bed, but they should stop by anyways, according to Sookie.
"Ready?" Rory asked Lorelai when the taxi was there.
"Not really, but it's something that I have to do. I guess that I'm ready as I'll ever be."
"Let's go." Rory took her mother's hand, and walked with her to the taxi. Lorelai seemed to pause—wanting to dart back into The Dragonfly, safe territory; somewhere she could be safe from the sure to be gossip aimed towards her, and strike her, like arrows.
"Mom, it's okay. I doubt that anyone is up. Everything will be fine. Logan is probably waiting for us."
"Fine. Let's go then, before I decide to turn back." Lorelai joined Rory in the taxi, and they were off for the Crap Shack.
The night was still in Stars Hollow. The traffic light, the only one in town, blinked yellow, much like it did at night when there weren't normally any cars driving around in the town.
All was quiet—Doose's… the bookstore… the park in the middle of town… even Luke's seemed to be dark, desolate, and deserted. Thank God, thought Lorelai at the sight of the lifelessness of the town.
"Hey cabbie?" asked Lorelai. She always had wanted to use the word 'cabbie'. It was right up there with the diner talk on the cool-factor scale.
"Yeah, ma'am?" he replied in a semi-annoyed tone.
"Can you turn your headlights off?"
"What for, lady?"
"Um… This town has a no-headlights policy."
"Sure. Whatever, lady." the cab driver said, turning off his lights. Just in case, thought Lorelai.
A minute later, the taxi stopped in front of Sookie's house. Lorelai quickly got out and knocked on her door. "Sookie!" she whispered, trying to not wake anyone up. The white oak door opened, and Sookie appeared. "Hey, hun."
"Can I get Paul Anka? You can go back to bed."
"Sure." Sookie said as she disappeared for a second. Lorelai could hear Sookie whisper Paul Anka's name, and they both reappeared. "Thanks Sookie. See you tomorrow."
"Bye sweetie!" Sookie said, waving goodbye to Lorelai. She waved back and rushed Paul Anka into the taxi.
A few minutes later, the taxi pulled up in front of Lorelai's house. Surprisingly, they were not alone. A shadow walked out to the taxi, and opened the door for Lorelai and Rory. The light in the taxi revealed his face; Rory got out ahead of her mother and jumped into a hug with Logan, almost causing him to lose balance. (Which would have been bad, especially with his hurt leg). "Nice to see you too, Ace." said Logan, hugging her tightly and running his hands through her hair. He brushed his lips gently against hers, conveying a loving feeling.
"Can we move this inside?" Lorelai asked, not wanting the light from the taxi to wake up Babette. She knew that if she did, the entire town would know of her arrival before morning. Rory and Logan looked at each other, and chuckled a bit; agreeing that the entire episode should be moved into the house.
Fumbling through her purse, Lorelai found her keys and walked up towards the house. She paused a moment—that darn chuppa was probably mocking her five feet away right now. That darn chuppa that Luke had made her. Luke—there were so many memories just on the outside of the house, now illuminated by a full moon; however, there were even more inside.
Lorelai gathered up the courage to walk up the stairs, unlock the door, and walk into the house. Behind her, Logan followed with his arm around Rory's shoulder. All of their belongings had been extricated from the taxi, which had left, and onto the grass.
For the second time, Lorelai froze. Only this time, she froze in the foyer. Looking around, she could feel the tears coming—tears which she was trying extremely hard to choke back.
Seeing that she wasn't okay when they got into the house, Rory and Logan helped Lorelai up to her bedroom. They helped her lay down on her bed. By the time they had laid her down onto the bed, her body was wracked with painful tears and shaking. Rory kissed her mom's forehead, took Logan's hand, and led him out of the room and downstairs, leaving her mom alone for a few minutes; something that Lorelai greatly needed—a moment alone.
Lorelai looked at the closet through the burning waterfall of tears on her face, and also at the wallpaper rolls along the wall—the wallpaper that Luke had chosen after a long, heated debate. The alternate was the purple wallpaper that she had wanted. Unknown to Luke, Lorelai had still bought the purple wallpaper and had hidden it in the closet—the closet which she was now staring at; the same closet which was getting to her head, and making her sadder than she already was. Lorelai thought that she was ready to come back, but now she thought—no, she knew that she wasn't ready to come back.
Wanting the pain that she was feeling now to go away, Lorelai took off her shoes and curled up with Paul Anka (who had followed them upstairs), and eventually fell asleep.
"I'm worried about her, Logan. I've never seen my mom like this; not ever. I heard her stop crying, so that is a good sign, right?" Rory said, still holding Logan's hand. She walked with him, noticing that he had gotten better at walking with his cast-laden leg.
"Ace, she'll be okay. Time heals all." He replied, stopping on the stairs and looking her straight in the face. "If you're anything like your mom, then I can say that she's strong. She can get over anything; just like you."
"I'll take that as a compliment." Rory said with a smile.
"You should." Logan replied letting go of Rory's hands and walking down the stairs to get the remainder of the bags. It took him about ten minutes to bring all five of them into the Crap Shack. "Now, why don't we get comfortable, and you can tell me all about London?" Rory said leading him over to the couch.
"What's there to tell?" he replied plopping himself down on the couch, and pulling Rory down with him. "It doesn't matter what it was like. You aren't there—so it doesn't matter. I love you, Ace." He finished as he caressed her cheek.
"I love you too." she replied happily. Both looked at each other lovingly and Logan took her head into his hands. He brought his lips to hers, giving her a kiss that made her go weak at the knees. She returned it, and their kiss began to get deeper and more passionate. Neither wanted to break the kiss, but one of them had to; Rory broke it up, "Not on the couch."
"You're right. Not on the couch" Logan said agreeing with her, looking for a place to have a little fun.
"We can't… your leg. And you need to recuperate. The doctor said no excitement for a while."
"Ace, I'm fine." Logan said giving her a light kiss on her lips and putting his arm around her shoulder. She loved the way Logan's lips felt upon hers. Rory really didn't want him to stop. She craved being near him. "I have a nosy town."
Logan looked at her, "And that means?"
"My town looks for movements in this house… noises… lights… the works."
"And the problem with that is…" he started.
"I… I mean… Mom and I don't want anyone to know that we're back yet."
"Oh. I see. So that means we can't—"
"Exactly. So tell me about London." Rory said resting her head on his shoulder.
"I thought that we've been down this road before."
Rory traced circles on his jacket, "we have. Please? Tell me about the paper. Your apartment… something."
"Well… I have a great view. It's a penthouse. A beautiful view of London Bridge… and some small rose garden. The sunsets are amazing, something you should really see…" Logan looked down at Rory; she was fast asleep. He brushed the brown hair from her face, and gave her a kiss on her forehead. He closed his eyes too, and a few minutes later, they were both fast asleep in each others' arms.
Sun shone brightly through the windows, signaling that it was morning. Rory opened her eyes and rubbed her eyes, but not without hitting something warm—Logan—and waking him up. From the kitchen wafted an aroma of fresh brewed coffee. It filled her nose, and beckoned her. She got up and sauntered to the kitchen.
Lorelai was sitting at the table with a coffee mug in her hand, staring at her ring… the table… the wall. She looked sad and disgusted at the brown liquid that sat in front of her. "Hey hun."
"Hi. Can I have some?" Rory asked taking the coffee pot from the coffee maker.
"Better not. It's pure poison." Lorelai said making a sour face at her coffee cup.
"I've never heard you talk like that about coffee before." she replied putting down the coffee pot again and taking a seat next to her mom, "I wish that we had Luke's coffee right now. I could use it."
"Sorry, kid. We'll just have to do with the poison for now." Logan walked into the kitchen and gave Rory a quick kiss and took a seat next to Rory and across from Lorelai. "Hi." he said.
"Hi." Rory replied, "you know, Mom, I bet Logan could use some coffee." He cocked his head in confusion. I could use some coffee, thought Logan.
"I think that you are right. And he especially doesn't want our coffee."
"Right. He deserves Luke's coffee." Rory said with emphasis on the word Luke's.
Logan spoke tiredly, "What do you guys want?"
"Remember how we didn't want anyone to know that we're back?" Rory said.
"Yes."
"Well, there's this diner that we love to get food from—but the entire town gathers there… so it'd be impossible to not go without noticing. We need our morning fix."
"Ya! Ya!" said Lorelai, hoping that she could get her coffee from Luke's—he was the only one who had the coffee that satisfy her craving—as well as eggs with bacon and chocolate chip pancakes. She had a craving for chocolate chip pancakes—a craving which Rory most likely shared. "So, I'm asking you if you will go get us our morning fix at Luke's. For me… and for my mom, who is in dire need of the coffee. I wouldn't mind some chocolate chip pancakes myself… nobody in this town has seen you yet. So, you can go around unnoticed. What do you say?"
"You owe me." said a groggy Logan getting up to go get dressed, giving Rory one more peck on the forehead.
"Yay! Logan's going to get us breakfast." said Rory getting up and pouring the poisonous coffee that Lorelai had concocted down the drain. "Mom, are you okay?"
"Huh? Breakfast?" Lorelai replied, awaking from almost a trance-like state, "I'm fine." Rory had found that her mom had been slipping in and out of these trance-like states easily throughout the month. "You were so excited for breakfast."
"I am. I like chocolate chip pancakes—I want chocolate chip pancakes. I need coffee. Eggs and bacon wouldn't hurt either. So bring on the breakfast."
"Good. I want the same thing. What's on the list to do today?" Lorelai didn't answer. Logan walked back into the room dressed, with an 'Am I really going to have to do this' look on his face, "Do I really have to do this?"
Rory walked up to him, "Yes. It's a personal favor. And remember, I owe you." She said, playing with his shirt.
"Fine. I'll go," he said, Rory smiling and giving him a kiss and returning to her seat, "What do you guys want?"
The two girls looked at each other, nodded, and smiled at their breakfast orders, Lorelai spoke first, "Two orders of chocolate chip pancakes with eggs and bacon. Two extra large coffees. Oh, and maybe a muffin or a doughnut each." Logan sighed.
"Logan," Rory said as he was turning to leave, "don't forget to get breakfast too." She gave him one last kiss and he walked out the door.
Logan walked out the white oak front door and out into the morning sun. It was a beautiful morning. He walked down the pathway from Rory and Lorelai's house, and started towards the center of the town.
Rory had told him that Stars Hollow was a nosy town, buthe hadn't expected anyone to be out at that time of the morning (7:15 AM); a very reason why he didn't see Babette crouching in the bushes (probably taking up residence there after hearing the door open and close in a house that hadn't had any activity for a month). Like any good mole, she ran quickly back into the house to deliver her information—and to call Patty. The news that there was somebody coming out of Lorelai's house would be around town in fifteen minutes at the most.
A thought came to Logan's mind. He didn't know where Luke's was. It's a small town, he thought, it can't be that hard to find. Rory hadn't told him where this diner was. He'd heard all about it—but she'd never told him any detail about where it was. He continued on his walk to the center of town, surprised that so many Stars Hollowians were up at 7:30 AM. There, on a corner was Luke's Diner. I was right; it's not that hard to find. With a smirk on his face, Logan walked to the door and went inside.
"Take a seat wherever you want." somebody said as Logan walked into the diner. He recognized the voice—it was Luke, Lorelai's fiancée; or fiancée of a month ago. But clearly, nobody wanted to bring that up. Who could blame them?
Logan did what Luke told him to, and took a seat anywhere; anywhere happened to be at the counter. Luke walked out using one crutch with the arm that wasn't in a sling. It looked like he had hurt his ankle and wrist badly. "What can I get you?" Luke asked him.
"What do you have?" Logan replied. This shocked Luke and anyone sitting around Logan. Almost nobody asked that question—or at least nobody in Stars Hollow. Luke handed him a menu, "You new around here?" He looks familiar, thought Luke. He grabbed a two glasses of water, one for Logan and the other for himself. The Vicadin that he had taken a half hour earlier had made him thirsty. It was also making him a bit loopy in the head, which was probably the reason why he could not directly place Logan's familiar face.
"I'm just staying for a while," Logan said not sure if he wanted to hint that Lorelai and Rory were back. If I hint at all, I wont be lucky for a while, he thought. "I'm um… helping a friend for a few days. Then I have to fly back to London. Looks like you got hurt." Logan perused the menu, finding that a Denver omelet with bacon sounded good.
"Oh. This," Luke laughed, "I broke a dish, tripped, or something like that."
"I think I'm ready to order."
"Okay, what can I get 'cha?"
"The Denver omelet with bacon and an extra large coffee, and two orders of chocolate chip pancakes, eggs, bacon, and two extra large coffees," Logan counted off on his fingers trying to remember all that Lorelai and Rory had told him, "oh, and two doughnuts and two muffins."
That's a lot of food. This guy eats like Lorelai and Rory. "Coming right up." the diner proprietor said, getting Logan his coffee in a chipped green mug. None of the mugs matched. "So, you're here to help your friend?" Luke wasn't normally chatty, but for some reason, he was with this guy.
"Yeah," Logan tried to think of a viable excuse to why he was here. The house, he thought and continued with the conversation, "I'm just trying to finish a few things up for her. For the past month she stayed out at Martha's Vineyard… I went and paid her a visit a few days ago. Her mom… she got her heart broken by some shmuck of a fiancée. I feel bad for her, but if she's anything like my girlfriend, she'll get over it—but it doesn't look like it's going to be soon."
"I wish you luck with that." Luke said, thinking hard to where he saw Logan. It's these damn painkillers. I hate the way they make me feel. If I wasn't on them, I could recognize his face. I've never been good at faces. I feel like he's trying to tell me something… "Here's your food." he said handing the plates to Logan.
"Um… can I get those to go?" Logan asked munching on a piece of his bacon.
"Sure…" Luke replied. He watched Logan check his watch—an expensive watch, probably a Rolex.
The gossips of the town suddenly flooded the diner. All saw the new blonde man sat at the counter dressed in a black leather jacket, jeans, and some shirt underneath with a cast on one of his ankles. Patty was the first to reach him, followed by Babette, Taylor, and Kirk. "Hi sweetie." Patty said in her normal mellow tone to the man.
He put down his piece of bacon as Luke sat his take-out bags on the counter next to him. "Um… Hi?"
"Got a name on you, hot stuff?" asked Babette pushing her way to the front with Babette.
"Yeah. Logan." That name is extremely familiar—isn't that Rory's boyfriend? thought Luke. He stood there and let his inhibited mind run over that speculation for a few minutes.
"Well, sweetie, where 'ya stayin'?" asked Patty.
"Um… Some old house. I think its owner called it the 'Crap Shack'." said Logan, a bit afraid of the crowd around him. He's staying in Lorelai's house? Luke thought, adding it to the many thoughts racing through his mind.
"That's Lorelai's house." said Babette, familiar with the name.
"I hope that you have the proper papers for rental, young man. Or else I'm going to have to ask you to come with me."
"Whoa. Who said I was renting it?" Logan asked, now starting in on his omelet.
"Well, Lorelai's not back, so we just assumed…" Taylor said, taking a step back.
"I'm just staying there for a few days. Lorelai said I could." he replied. Lorelai said he could?, another thought entering Luke's mind. Now the four made a semi-circle around him.
"So you know Lorelai, sweetie?"
"Yes. I do." She's Rory's mom, Logan silently added.
"So, are you going to tell us how?" asked Taylor and Patty.
"Let me think about this—hmmm. No. I'm not." Logan put down two twenty dollar bills, grabbed the to-go bags and coffee cups and walked through the mini-crowd and out of the diner back to Lorelai and Rory's house.
After Logan had walked out of the diner, and the gossips (or freaks as Luke called them) had dissipated, Luke thought harder. His mind rolled over everything he'd heard. He's staying at Lorelai's.
He knows Lorelai… which means that he probably knows Rory.
He walked out of here with two bags of food and two coffees….
His name is Logan.
Logan… Martha's Vineyard… Rory…
There's only one conclusion… "He's Rory's boyfriend!" Luke said out loud—probably a bit louder than he should have. The gossips, residing at a corner table heard him, and rushed over. "What did you say Luke?" He waved them off, and yelled back to Caesar that he'd be back in a few minutes. Slowly, he hobbled as best as he could out of the diner and off towards Lorelai's house.
Caesar heard him leave and came out to take care of the diner while he was gone. "I always have to pick up his slack." Caesar exasperatingly said, getting tired of Luke disappearing so frequently. I should be paid more, he thought walking to take an order.
It took Logan about five minutes to walk back to the house. "I'm back! Come get the food!" he yelled closing the door. He saw Rory running out from the kitchen, Lorelai walking behind her. "Food!" Rory yelled, taking the bags from Logan and planting a generous kiss on the lips, "You're our savior. We should build a statue for you."
"She's right. We should," Lorelai seemed to be in a better mood with the sight of food, not much, but she had a bit more of her trademark wit this morning, "where should we build it?"
"Right here in the living room, so all can see who brought us food to save our stomachs."
"Ya!Ya!" said Lorelai, quickly running to the kitchen with her steal of food. Rory quickly followed in pursuit, acting like a robber who had jewels instead of breakfast in the bag. Logan walked behind them, in wonder of how protective they were of their spoils. Stealing a fry from them would probably be a bad idea, he thought. He chuckled a bit. Lorelai and Rory love food. But he already knew that.
Upon entrance into the kitchen, Logan took a seat in one of the chairs at the table. They were uncomfortable chairs. From Rory and Lorelai's addictions to food that is less than good for you, Logan guessed that they probably didn't see much use. "Food good." said Lorelai in-between bites. Rory and Logan to laugh a bit.
"So, Mom, what are we doing today?" Rory said finishing the last bite of her pancakes. Lorelai gave a shrug in reply and went back to her food. She eyed the doughnut and the muffin—which one should I choose?, she wondered, if I eat the doughnut, the muffin will be lonely, so Rory would have to eat the doughnut too, so that it wouldn't be lonely either...doughnut it is then. "Let's eat the doughnuts!" said Lorelai. Rory nodded in agreement.
"I'll let you guys enjoy your breakfasts." Logan said getting up to leave. Rory caught his arm, "No, don't leave. Stay. Tell us about your trip to Luke's."
"Hmm... what's there to say? I almost got beat up by four of your neighbors..."
"Taylor, Babette, Patty, and Kirk?" Rory guessed. Lorelai nodded in agreement.
"And Luke... he looked like he was in bad shape. His arm was in a sling and he was walking around with one crutch."
"Poor Luke!" Rory gasped. Lorelai shrugged, He deserved it. Wait—no. That's mean. He did deserve it, but I'd never want him to get hurt.
"That's pretty much it. Your town must not see very many new people does it?"
"Not really." said Rory, smiling a bit behind her coffee mug.
"Oh, and the town thinks that I'm packing up your house," he said, and Rory smiled wider.
Normally what would have been a five minute walk to Lorelai's house took fifteen. Luke was frustrated at walking with a crutch; he felt like he'd never get used to it. He'd come close to throwing the crutch a few times. Everyone knew that Luke wasn't the most patient of people. His temper had been on edge for the last few days: learning how to get around when injured AND June 3rd coming and going... most people knew that it wasn't a good time to cross Luke's path. Well, not if you wanted to come out unscathed.
Finally, he was at her house. Now it was the path to her house that was proving problematic. Great. Gravel, thought Luke. It was a new challenge—there wasn't anymore flat pavement. He really didn't like change—or new challenges. Despite that, Luke continued up the walk.
If there was one thing that Luke hated more than gravel right now, it was stairs. Stairs were evil. He leaned his crutch up against the railing on the porch (that he had fixed countless times) and looked around the yard. There was the chuppa—the chuppa that he had made for Lorelai (he didn't know quite why)—sitting five feet from the pathway, but Lorelai's jeep was gone. It confused Luke, but he carried on, clunking up the stairs one at a time, each one with a wince.
Once he got to the door, Luke hesitated. What now?, he thought, Open it, you idiot. Luke reached down to get the key out of the turtle and unlock the door.
Lorelai and Rory had finally finished their breakfasts. They had consumed a large amount of food—more than Logan could ever eat, making him wonder if they had bottomless stomachs. Rory had cleaned up all of the bags and thrown them away.
"Hey Ror, I'm going to take a bath." said Lorelai leaving the kitchen and heading upstairs.
"Okay, Mom." she replied. Now Logan and Rory were left alone. "So..."
"So... what?"
"We're alone now."
"When has that ever been a problem?" Logan asked her, bringing her close to him. He brought his lips to hers, and the kiss just got deeper from there. Their tongues clashed in each others mouths, and Logan's hands found their way underneath Rory's shirt. She started unbuttoning his shirt. "We should really stop..." she said taking a break from the kiss for air.
"We should..." Logan said moving onto kissing her neck gently. She wrapped her arms around Logan's neck. He leaned her back, to give her another knee-weakening kiss on the lips when the front door suddenly opened. "Lorelai!" the voice yelled. Immediately Rory recognized it and Logan recognized it too. Crap, they thought at the same time. A pseudo-panic released, and not realizing what he was doing, Logan let go of Rory who fell to the floor. "Ouch!" she said, hitting the hardwood flooring, "What did you do that for?"
"I... Sorry, Ace." Logan apologized while helping her up.
"Did I just hear what I think I heard?" she asked him. Rory took note of the heavy footsteps coming towards the kitchen. If Rory was slightly panicked by the sound of Luke approaching, she and Logan couldn't imagine what Lorelai was feeling at the moment. Along with the footsteps of Luke approaching, she heard a door close upstairs—most likely her mother's bathroom.
"Why are we just standing here?" Rory asked Logan, who shrugged in reply. "Go!" Logan whispered with force, and they retreated into the sparse pantry, closing the door.
Luke finally made his appearance in the kitchen; he stopped and took in the entire scene. There was nobody in the room. It was deserted, but the food was eaten on the table. Somebody had defiantly been here.
In the pantry, Logan and Rory had to hold back their laughter with as much force as they could muster. "What are we going to do now?"
"Why don't we make the best out of a bad situation?" he asked, moving towards her and brushing her lips with his.
"What if he finds us?" she whispered back.
"For all he knows, nobody's home." She reciprocated, giving him a more passionate kiss. They stopped for a moment and heard Luke's footsteps coming closer to the pantry door. "Ace, hide behind that shelf, and stay close to the wall." She nodded in compliance and flattened herself against the wall behind the tallest shelf's end. Logan turned on the light and made it look as if he was alphabetizing the cans and boxes, of which there were few. The door was finally pulled open.
"Logan?"
"Hi Luke… just organizing these cans—seeing what I need to buy over the next few days. You know, just housekeeping stuff." He walked out of the pantry, turned the light off, and shut the door.
"Cut the crap, Logan. Where is Rory?"
"Rory? She's up at Yale. I just visited her the other day. Very pleasant conversation. We had shrimp for lunch."
"She's here," Luke's anger rose, "there's too much food there for one person, and you don't eat like a Gilmore."
"How would you know? Luke, I can honestly say that she's not anywhere in this room."
"Uh-huh," the Vicadin was making his blood boil a bit more than he wanted it to, "Now, cut the crap and tell me where she is. She's here and her mother's here too. I really need to talk to Lorelai. Tell me where she is… or else."
"I haven't seen her lately," replied Logan, stretching the meaning of 'lately'. He suspected that Rory was listening on the other side of the door.
"That's it. I can't stand this anymore," Luke said as he released the crutch and cuffed Logan, sending him backwards into the table. "Damnit. Logan?" He mentally slapped himself, he hadn't meant to lose his temper, but over the past few weeks, his level of self-control over his anger had become virtually non-existent, and the town knew this. It was his fault for getting in my way, thought Luke as he left, deciding that he'd be back later. As he left, there was a look of utter desolation upon his face.
In the pantry, Rory had resorted to the trick that Lane taught her in the third grade: peeping through a keyhole. She watched the entire exchange. Logan was trying really hard not to hint on that the Gilmore girls were home. He kept it up until Luke knocked him back into the dining room table. Logan was always the strongest of the men she knew, but Luke had cuffed him unexpectedly. When the blow hit, she could hear herself whisper, "Damnit," rather loudly, and immediately cover her mouth.
The Luke she knew wasn't the Luke she saw walk out of the kitchen. That Luke was kind, caring, funny on occasion, loving, and compassionate. This Luke was dark, depressed, aggressive, impatient, and violent. She was glad that she agreed to stay in the pantry, though she knew that Luke wouldn't hurt her. He never would. He wouldn't hurt her mother either. Rory didn't think that he would hurt a fly, and that's what was so surprising about him decking Logan. After she was sure he was gone, she rushed out of the pantry and to Logan, who sat beneath the tipped table with a bit of Denver omelet in his hair. "Ace, what just happened?"
"You got socked by Luke because you wouldn't tell him where I was. You have your breakfast in your hair." She brushed it off and helped him up.
"I don't want to be around when he comes back."
"I wonder what will happen if he sees Mom."
"Don't know, but I doubt that he'll hurt her. If you'd been out here, I think that he probably would have broken down at the sight of you." He stood and brushed himself off, "I'm fine. Go check on your mom." Rory left the room and headed up the stairs.
I hope you liked it... I decided to show how lost Luke was without Lorelai. I'm open to ideas, and I'll update soon. Drop me a review, por favor! Make my day:D