From:73pixie@rogers.com Thought I'd introduce myself to the GG groups by sending out a bit of fic I just dashed off this evening. Enjoy! "Everywhere" (1/?) by Pixie Rating: PG Disclaimer: I don't own them, I just like to play with them for a little while and then return them relatively unharmed. I make no money off writing this, so no point in suing me! :) Feedback: Please! I love it! Archive: Sure, just ask first please! It'll also be available on http://www.pixies-bookshelf.com/fic/archive.asp. Summary: Christmas brings about some changes for Luke and Lorelai. Spoilers: everything up to "The Bracebridge Dinner", speculation on "The Bracebridge Dinner" Category: Luke/Lorelai, romance Notes: After seeing the promo for "The Bracebridge Dinner", it pushed me to actually get writing my fic series for L&L that has been sloshing around in my brain for the past month or so. This is the first story in the series. I get the title of this fic from the Michelle Branch song of the same name since WB had been playing it so much over the last while with the promos for GG and it just suits L&L so well. On with the fic! ---------- Lorelai weaved her way through the people, attempting to keep a smile on her face when all the while she just wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. Finally making it past the last of the dinner guests, she wandered aimlessly and ended up at the sitting room. There she found Luke sitting on one of the couches, attempting to slouch but finding it difficult because of the distinct non-comfortableness of the seat. She dropped herself down beside him, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Can you stop me from wanting to ring my mother's neck like a chicken?" He looked at her. "Is it the wanting you want stopped or the actual act of ringing?" he asked, adjusting his arm so it was now around her. "A little from column 'A', a little from column 'B'," she responded, then let out a tired laugh, making him smile. They didn't speak for a couple of minutes, just enjoyed the silence. When Lorelai sighed, Luke spoke. "You want me to get some coffee?" She turned her head to look up at him, beaming. "You know me so well." She noticed the tinge of red on his cheeks at her words and that brought a mischievous glint to her eyes. "But you'll have to make a new pot." "What's wrong with Sookie's?" he queried. "There's no more," she replied matter-of-factly. Luke shook his head and gave her a gentle nudge, making to get up. "C'mon, let's go get that coffee." Lorelai gave him a pouty look. "You mean I have to move?" "If you want the coffee, you do. You're kinda on my arm." "You didn't have to put it there." "And you didn't have to sit down here." They stared each other down, seeing who would win. Of course, it was the desire for coffee that won out, as always. Lorelai stood up and gave her hand to Luke, helping him stand. They walked hand in hand for a moment without realizing it, then when she felt his fingers move, Lorelai suddenly felt self-conscious at what they were doing. She glanced over at him to see a small smile playing on his lips, like he was trying desperately not to break out in a huge grin. Her heartrate jumped at the sight, remembering Sookie's words only a few weeks before. [Just look in his eyes and you'll see it] She was right, and part of Lorelai liked the idea of him liking her as more than a friend, but part of her was scared to death. She and Luke had been friends for years now, and the possibility of having more was exciting, but there was always the danger that she'd screw it up and she'd lose him forever. She wasn't sure if she could handle that. Their hands parted and returned to their respective sides as they approached the rest of the evening's guests, the moment of Luke and Lorelai as potential couple gone and Luke and Lorelai, longtime friends was firmly back in place. They managed to make it through the crowd to the kitchen in little time and with even less chatter. Lorelai leaned against the counter as she watched Luke wander about the kitchen, scooping the right amount of coffee grounds (extra strong, the way she liked it), pouring the water into the machine and then starting the blissful process of the coffee brewing. She couldn't stop her lips from curving into a smile. This was the way things were meant to be. Simple, uncomplicated..with coffee. He stood back and glanced over at her, noticing how she seemed to have a far off expression on her face. "You really are a sad, sad woman, you know that?" he teased, breaking her out of her reverie. "What do you mean?" "You look like you're headed to Nirvana because you're getting coffee." Lorelai actually blushed, causing Luke to wonder what he had said to get her to react that way, and if he could repeat it. "Mom?" Rory stuck her head around the door at this moment, saving Lorelai from any attempts to explain the look on her face. "Hey honey," she said as Rory entered the room. Her daughter looked between the two of them as she approached. Her expression was unsure as to whether she should be in here. "If you guys were having a private conversation, I can..." Rory waved in the general direction of the door. "No, I was just making coffee," Luke blurted out, gaining an odd look from Lorelai. The look didn't go unnoticed by Rory, but she filed it away for future reference. "Coffee's good." "Yeah." There was an awkward silence as both Luke and Lorelai tried not to look at each other, but tried to make it look like they weren't trying not to look at each. "I'll, um, get some cups?" Rory suggested, breaking through the quietness of the room. "That's a great idea, sweetie, let me help you with that," Lorelai suggested, moving toward the cupboards. Rory watched her mother take off to the other side of the room, then briefly looked over at Luke, who was paying a great deal of attention to the coffee pot, before she joined Lorelai. She shook her head at the non-verbal language that was screaming from them both. They wanted to be alone, but were too afraid to admit it aloud, especially to Rory. The two women returned with the cups and Luke poured into them, putting the pot back on the burner when done. He took hold of the one Lorelai was holding for him and let his fingers brush across her hand. Lorelai quickly glanced at Rory to see if she had noticed, but her daughter seemed engrossed in her mug, blowing on the hot liquid in an attempt to cool it down. She felt herself relax. Last thing she wanted was Rory to see them in this sudden heavy-duty flirt mode. She was sure that it would freak her daughter out. Hell, it was kind of freaking HER out. Maybe it was just the night..Christmas season..yeah, that's what was bringing this all on. Lorelai returned her attention to her own mug, contented to be in her little land of denial. ~ * ~ "Ugh. No matter how much fun that was, I'm glad we're home now," Rory commented as she came into the house. "YOU may have had fun, little miss, but I had to actually work." "It wasn't all work," the younger Gilmore stated, a cheeky grin on her face as she headed for her bedroom. "What do you mean by that?" her mother asked, following her. She stood in the bedroom doorway, watching Rory. "You had a good time, for some of it." "What ARE you talking about? Didn't you see the very badly hidden murderous look to my eyes?" "You and Luke," Rory replied, smiling wider as Lorelai's eyes widened and her mouth opened in protest. It took her a couple of seconds before she formulated a response. "I don't know what you're implying," she finally said, then promptly turned away from her daughter's gleeful expression and made her way to the stairs. "I don't know why you just don't ask him out.." Lorelai paused on the bottom step, looking back at her daughter's room. Rory hadn't moved from it. "Now why would I do that?" "Because he likes you." Lorelai walked back to Rory's bedroom. "Of course he likes me, he's my friend, and I'm his." She looked at her daughter who was still grinning. "Don't play coy with me, mom. I can see the signs." "Oh, and when did you get psychic, Miss Cleo?" she mocked, placing a hand on her hip. "I see many things," Rory stated with a bad Eastern European accent, to which Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Goodnight, I think you need sleep more than I do right now," she said as she turned back around and went up the stairs this time. "Night mom! Sweet dreams!" Rory called just before she shut the door to her room. "Crazy child," Lorelai commented to herself as she entered her bedroom. "Of course, what does that say about me?" She changed into her favourite Hello Kitty pajamas and slid under the covers, closing her eyes and hoping that when she woke up in the morning that her world would be back to its nice, normal way of working. End of Part One -- From:73pixie@rogers.com Disclaimers and such in Part 1. You guys are lucky, the muses smile upon me once again late this evening. Pixie --------- Lorelai opened the door to Luke's diner, Rory impatiently pushing her inside. "Where's the fire?" Lorelai asked as her daughter slipped past her and into a seat at an empty table, right before some unknown guy took it. Rory gave the man a triumphant look, to which he snorted and walked away. Lorelai approached the table and smiled at the younger Gilmore. "My daughter, the seat stealer," she teased, putting her purse over the back of her chair. "You're lucky I have that talent, otherwise we would have been forced to stand while we ate," she said, taking off her coat and gloves. "And standing while eating is just not right," her mother stated in mock-solemnity as she sat, removing her jacket and gloves as well. "Not at this time of the morning, it isn't. Now go bother your boy-toy to get us coffee," Rory replied, a mischievous grin appearing on her face. Lorelai groaned and hid her face in her hands. "And here I thought my day was going so well." She looked up at her daughter who still had a beaming smile and promptly stuck her tongue out at her. Rory giggled. "Who's the adult here?" she queried, still giggling. "I don't know who told you there was an adult here..." Lorelai began, but stopped when Jess approached with two big mugs and the coffee pot, then placed the mugs on the table. "My saviour!" she exclaimed, loud enough for the rest of the diner to hear. She got some interesting looks, not that she cared. Jess on the other hand actually looked embarrassed. "It's just coffee," he commented as he poured. "Ah, THAT is where you're wrong. Coffee is the Elixir of Life," Lorelai stated. Jess looked at Rory, his expression somewhere between amusement and confusion. "Is she for real?" "Oh, very real. Coffee is Ambrosia to us." He gave the young woman an interesting smile, something her mother latched onto, but waited until Jess was far enough away before she said anything. "I think he likes you," Lorelai said, leaning across the table and speaking in a conspiratorial whisper. Rory made a face. "Ugh, don't remind me." "You mean you knew this and you didn't tell me!?" she questioned loudly. More stares, and this time Lorelai talked back. "Private conversation, do you mind?" The people looked away, but not without a few heads shaking. Lorelai turned back to Rory, but didn't get another word out before her daughter spoke. "THIS is why I didn't tell you. You'd make a big deal out of nothing." "Doesn't look like nothing from his end," Lorelai stated, turning to look at Jess whose eyes kept darting their way from time to time. "I think he's got it B-A-D, BAD for you little miss. How's Dean taking it?" Rory gulped some coffee before responding. "What makes you think he knows or cares to know about something that means absolutely nothing to me?" She returned her gaze to her mug. "Oh god, he hates it, doesn't he? Did they have some sort of caveman fight over you?" "I think I need to get some more coffee," Rory responded, standing up and taking her mug over to the counter before Lorelai could stop her. She heard her mother laughing to herself from the table and she flushed red. Well, she guessed she deserved this considering how much she had teased her mom about Luke last night. Didn't make it any better though. She watched as Luke came out of the kitchen and walked over to her mother. But loads more teasing about Luke could help it, she thought, grinning. "Hey." Lorelai looked up to see Luke standing beside her. She smiled. "Hey, yourself. You want to sit? My ungrateful daughter has deserted me to get some more coffee, so she won't be needing the chair." "Why is she ungrateful, or should I dare to ask?" Luke queried, taking the offered seat. "For not sharing. And not getting me more coffee too." He laughed, shaking his head at her. "Why is it that people shake their head a lot at me? They don't quite believe that such beauty, brains, and sharp wit can be in one package?" she wondered aloud, making him laugh harder. "Yeah, that's gotta be it," he responded as the laughter abated. "Glad to see you recognize my sterling qualities," she teased. She took a drink of her coffee, keeping her eyes on him. He watched her as she drank, finding himself smiling. "You're in a good mood today," Lorelai stated, putting the cup down. "It's a good day," he replied mysteriously. "Hey, mom, I've gotta run, Lane needs me," Rory interrupted, reaching around Luke to grab her coat and gloves. "You haven't had any breakfast!" The young woman held up a donut. "Okay, just be careful going over there. It's a bit slippy on the sidewalk still." "Yes, mom. See you later, see you Luke!" she called as she headed out the door, throwing her mother a final grin before the door closed. "That girl..." she commented quietly, looking at the now-closed door. "Hmm?" Lorelai glanced back at Luke. "Oh, she's had this weird notion since last night and she won't let up on it," she told him. "'Weird notion'..." He moved his hands as if to encourage her to clarify. She sighed, trying not to blush as she began to speak. "She seems to think that I should ask you out, because she thinks you want to go out with me." She paused, gauging his expression. He seemed pensive. "See, told you it was crazy!" she stated, forcing a laugh. The laugh broke him out of his thoughts. "Why would it be crazy?" Lorelai felt her whole world suddenly shrink down at his question. This was not her nice, normal world like it was supposed to be back to today. This was some freakish, Star Trek, alternate universe that was meant to throw her off-balance. "Wh..what?" she stuttered out. "Why would it..?" Lorelai stood up quickly, practically tossing her chair over. "I heard you the first time. I was..I just..I should go. To work. Work is good. Work is normal. Non-freakish," she replied. She gathered up her stuff and made to leave, then, realizing she hadn't paid, went back to the table and left some bills. That done, she quickly turned and left. Jess walked over to where his uncle was still sitting. "What was that about?" Luke looked up, a smile back on his face. "Hopefully a step in the right direction." ~ * ~ Lorelai made her way back to the kitchen once she entered the inn, ignoring Michel's pleas for her attention. She needed to talk to Sookie, and NOW. "Hey sunshine, how'd you sleep?" Sookie queried, handing her a mug of coffee. Lorelai grabbed hold of it and clung to it like it was a life line. "Sleep, sleep was good. This morning, totally different matter," she babbled, then took a gulp of the coffee. "Did you say something to Luke and he denied you coffee?" her friend asked, a worried expression creasing her features at the way Lorelai was acting. "Ha! I should only be so lucky!" she exclaimed, drinking more of the beverage. "Okay, sweetie, you're starting to scare me, slow down," Sookie stated, taking the cup away from her friend and put it on the counter. "Oh god, I'm such a spaz," Lorelai said, pacing back and forth in front of the chef. "Okaaay.." "The morning started out fine, you know, get up, get dressed, go to Luke's for breakfast. That's when it all went to hell," she told her, stopping her pacing. "What did you do?" Sookie asked. "I..it's all Rory's fault, that's it! She started the whole 'tease your mother about asking Luke out' thing last night..." The chef let out a little yelp of excitement. "You asked him out!? When!? Why didn't you tell me!?" "No, no, I didn't actually ask him out, she just got it in her head that I should ask him out because he likes me." "And you're no longer denying he likes you, right?" her friend asked. "After what he said to me at the diner I can't live in denial any more." She sighed. "And it was such a lovely piece of property too." Ignoring Lorelai's attempt at humour, Sookie brought her back to what Luke had said to her. "Diner. Luke. Words. TELL ME!" "Wow, you could give Luke a run for his money," she joked, gaining a frustrated sigh from her friend. "Okay, words. Well, I told him what Rory had said to me last night.." "How did this come up?" "Excuse me, trying to talk here," Lorelai stated, managing to get Sookie to keep her mouth shut. "So, I tell him, he gets all Deep Thoughts looking, I say, 'See, it's crazy', to which he says 'Why would it be crazy?'. And then I spazzed." "He actually said that? Luke, Mr. I-SO-Don't-Talk-About-Emotional-Romantic-Stuff?" "He's not ALWAYS like that," Lorelai replied, blushing at her defending him. She made a grab for her coffee mug, but Sookie blocked her. "This is cruel and unusual punishment. I NEED that coffee." "Why did you spaz?" "What? Didn't you just hear what I...?" "Yes, I heard you say that he asked you why it would be crazy for you to ask him out. So why spaz on it if the thought hadn't crossed your mind but you didn't want to admit it, hmm?" "Stop trying to make sense. My day is freakish enough as it is," Lorelai grumbled. Sookie moved out of her way and let her take hold of the mug. "Just as long as you acknowledge I AM making sense. And do something about it." The chef smiled, gave her friend's arm a gentle squeeze, then turned away to get back to cooking. "Now, go make me proud and try to get through the rest of the day without spazzing." "Only if you promise you won't," she joked, then promptly disappeared out of the kitchen when her friend mockingly-glared at her. End of Part Two -- From:73pixie@rogers.com This is the last bit to my first GG fic, but just the first in the series, so yes, there will be more. Disclaimers in part one. ----------------- Lorelai walked over to Michel who stood behind the front desk. He, as was usual for him, ignored her presence as he flipped through a magazine. It seemed strange though as she was sure he had been calling for her when she had come in earlier. "Everything okay?" she asked, stopping beside him. "Everything is fine," he replied in a bored tone. "Okay, good." She began to walk away, then stopped herself, turning to face him again. "There was nothing wrong earlier?" "Earlier?" he queried, looking up from the magazine. "Oh, you mean when you ignored my requests for your help," he commented, the sarcasm dripping from his voice. "Sorry, I had..something to take care of." "I'm sure your coffee could not wait," he stated, then returned his gaze to the magazine. She sighed. "What was it?" "The banister has a crack in it, and, since I do not want lose my job if this inn is forced to close due to a possible law suit that it can not recover from, I took care of it." "Good," she responded, then got a pensive look on her face. "By 'took care of it', you don't mean you actually..." "Of course not, I do not do such laborious things. I called your friend Luke." "That's..oh god, when did you call him!?" she questioned with a rising voice. "Someone call for a handyman?" Lorelai looked in the direction of the door to see Luke approaching with his toolbox. She put on a calm expression, trying to quell the sudden urge to run away and hide. "Hi." "Hey. So, where's the break?" he asked, looking between Lorelai and Michel. "It is right here," Michel stated, walking over to the stairs, demonstrating the odd manner which the banister moved at a certain point. Luke joined Michel, placing the toolbox on the floor beside him. "Alright, give me a few minutes and I'll let you know if I can do anything for it." Michel simply nodded and returned to his position behind the desk. Lorelai stayed behind the desk as well, but watching Luke. She seemed to come to a decision and walked over to him. "So, what do you think?" she queried, making conversation. Luke looked up from his kneeling position. "Well, after only thirty seconds, I can't say for sure, but I may be able to fix it without you having to replace the whole banister." She seemed to ignore the sarcastic tone he had. "Good, that's good. A fixed banister is a good thing. Don't want law suits or anything like that," she babbled. He gave her an odd look. "How many more cups of coffee have you had?" "Not..oh, sorry, I'm bugging you. I'll, um, go, and, you know, let you do that work thing you do so well," she replied, letting out a nervous laugh. She turned around quickly, then back again, grabbing Luke by the arm. "What the...?" he began. "We need to talk," she told him, dragging him toward a door, shoving him inside and quickly shutting the door behind her. "It's kinda dark," Luke ssaid. A light came on and he saw where they were. "A linen closet? What the hell was so important that you dragged me into a linen closet?" Lorelai turned away from the doorway, which she had been facing all this time. "Earlier, in the diner, my spaz attack." "Oh," he said, a smile playing on his lips. "What's with the smiling?" she asked. "What, I can't smile?" "Not if it's in relation to my spaz attack!" Luke laughed. "And no laughing!" He tried to keep a straight face, but was failing miserably. "Lorelai, me laughing over your spaz attacks is part of our..'thing'," he stated matter-of-factly. "But this is different. This is a spaz attack over you," she responded, waving a finger at him. She realized what she was doing and put her hand back at her side. "Look, if it makes you feel any better, I think it was kinda sweet." Lorelai was stunned into silence at the compliment. "Are we done here?" he queried after a minute of silence. "Um...no, no we're not," she finally said. When she didn't elaborate, Luke got frustrated and reached around her to open the door. She leaned back against it, blocking him from doing so. "Do you want to go out with me?" she asked, looking up at him as she was effectively pinned in by him. "Didn't I say it wasn't crazy?" he replied with a question, looking into her eyes. "That's not an answer." "You want something more than that, is that it?" Luke leaned closer and Lorelai's breath caught in her throat. "Yes." She let out a moan, but not one that sounded like anything good. He moved back, staring at her with an odd expression on his face. "What the hell was that?" "I'm sorry, it's just...you know I suck at dating, we've had this conversation, remember?" she said, trying to pace as best she could in the confined space. "Yeah, and so do I. But with us, I don't see it as dating. We've known each other for too long to call it dating." His statement made Lorelai stop and really look at him. "Not dating?" "No, more like..non-dating," he replied, his whole body joining in the effort to get the term out as he waved his arms. "Non-dating," she repeated, contemplating the term. "Yeah." Luke leaned against one of the shelves, watching her. It was almost like he could see the wheels turning as she came to her decision. "Non-dating sounds good," she said, sounding confident. "Good. Now, am I allowed out of here?" he teased. She giggled. "Yes, of course..um, so when should we plan for our first non-date?" Lorelai wondered as he approached the door. He stopped before opening the door, looking back at her. "See, that's what's so different about non-dating, you don't need to plan. It just..comes up," he stated, gaining a smile from her. "I like that. Unpredictable." "Thought you would." Luke grinned and she gave him a mock-glare. He turned back around and left the room, Lorelai not far behind. She closed the door behind her and watched him walk back in the direction of the front lobby. "I think I'll like this," she commented to herself. She finally felt the tension and anxiousness that had been plaguing her since Sookie had told her about Luke's feelings abating. Lorelai smiled happily as she made her way to her office. Things may not be exactly the same any more, but that didn't mean that her world was not nice and normal. THE END -- Visit my fic archive at http://www.pixies-bookshelf.com/fic/archive.asp