Rating: PG
Characters: Luke and Lorelai
Genre: Post-Ep, LLR
Spoiler Warning: A House Is Not A Home (season 5 finale)

Summary: What followed the mother of all cliffhangers…

Disclaimer: Like all of the other characters I write about, these are not mine, nor were they ever. I make no profits, other than the rewards of imagination stretched.

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Home
By xenoprobe

Suddenly it was there… in the middle of his rant, (how I love his rants) that turning point, that moment of truth. Lorelai knew it would be impossible to shut out thoughts of Rory altogether but something in his rant sparked the shift in her. She saw it, his unfailing belief in her, his devotion and the sincerity in the way he cares, about her, about Rory and suddenly there was nothing left to do.

Luke exhaled, his body visibly shaking from the intensity of his overflowing emotions during his off-the-cuff plans to help Rory back to her life. Then he saw Lorelai’s face, that soft curve at her lip and the beauty that overwhelmed him each and every time he took a moment to really see her.

“What?”

She paused only briefly, enough time to mark the moment as serious.

“Luke, will you marry me?” There was the slightest of inflections on the ‘me’.

“What?” He repeated, not understanding the question, or rather not believing it had just come from her beautiful lips. Lorelai let out a tiny laugh, not to mock or make light, but to release a little of the build up of air between them. She glanced at her pretty pink shoes then looked him in the eyes, deeply, profoundly and asked again.

“Luke,” she paused on his name, making certain he was really hearing her, “will you marry me?”

“Lorelai?” He was still too stunned to put it all together.

“Yes. Me. Lorelai… Marry me,” she stood and took his hands between hers, firmly, “please?”

“You’re serious.” It wasn’t a question or a discouragement. It was a statement. A clarification. He needed air. His brain was racing and suddenly he had the thought that he might have to take that big bat to his own head if he didn’t say the one word he most desperately wanted to shout out. “Yes!”

“Yes?” The tears in her eyes spilled down her soft cheeks. She felt weak, physically weak in the knees.

“Yes. God yes!” His smile was unprecedented. He took a step backward, still joined to her at the hands, then quickly stepped forward again; excitement, elation, love, love, love… “Yes.” He repeated, almost as an afterthought.

Her mouth found his and he let go of her cool fingers to wrap himself around her, his arms at her waist, hands traveling up her spine, feeling out the ends of her long dark hair. Her mouth sealed his. Her hands went to his cheeks and she felt, rather than saw, tears on him too. The kiss spun out of control, teeth bumping and lips locking, and their happy, salty tears mated with their mouths. Luke broke away first, literally gasping for air.

But before he could swallow another breath, his palms found her cheeks and he clutched her face in his hands, showering her with tiny, perfect kisses. Eyes, nose, forehead and mouth. He kissed her everywhere and she was bathed in his love.

“Luke,” She shook her head and freed herself from his excited ministrations. “Do I tell you enough that I love you?” She was smiling, but she was deadly serious.

“Each and every time you say it, I can’t quite believe I am that lucky.” She wiped the dampness from his cheeks with the pads of her thumbs. “How much is enough anyway when I already know it in here?” He took her hand and placed it over his heart.

“You do know it then? I mean really know it… ‘Cause I do, I love you Luke and I don’t ever want you to doubt that fact.”

Once again, he enveloped her in his embrace and pulled her tightly to him. “Lorelai,” he whispered into her hair. “I love you.” He kissed the top of her head. “Come with me,” he took her hand and led her to the stairs to his apartment. “I need you to see something.”

She left her coat and purse where it was and shuffled her feet behind him as they made their way behind the curtain.

As he closed the door behind them, mouths met and bodies merged and soon there was nothing between them but clothing. All the upset, danger and disappointment of the last few days was shed in an avalanche of emotion and hunger. Lorelai’s hand felt for his belt buckle and he stilled it with a firm grasp.

“Lorelai.” He was panting. “I need you,”

“I need you too…”

“No, I mean, yes I need you, but I need you to sit.” He guided her to the edge of his bed. “Here. Sit here. I need to show you something.”

She was so tempted to say ‘dirty’ but understood the seriousness on his face.

He walked away briefly and returned with a stack of papers and an old wooden box with initials carved on the surface. Luke pulled over a kitchen chair and sat facing Lorelai. He placed the box aside on the floor and handed her the stack of papers. She looked at him, confused.

“Wow, if this is a marriage license…” she started to leaf through them.

“It’s a house.”

“Funny, looks a lot like papers to me.” She was grinning.

“It’s the deed to the Twickham house. I bought it.”

“You bought it? You bought a house?”

“For you. I bought it for you, us.” She set the deed aside and stared at him. There was nothing jokey in his eyes.

“You bought me, us, a house?” (Breath in, breath out…) “You do know I already have a house right?” He nodded, he felt a wave of trepidation come over him, (shoulda told her, shoulda said something sooner…)

“I know, I know.”

“So, why buy this? You know you can live with me, move in to my place with me. Heck, you can move in tonight of you can pack quickly!”

“I know. I know.” He repeated, not quite certain of what to say. “It’s just… It’s…” He slid his hands over his face, rubbing the feeling back into his cheeks, sending his ball cap to the floor. His hair, overdue for a cut, was messed and matted. Lorelai looked at him; seeing how real he was, how real all of this was, and was struck by her total absence of fear.

“Luke, it’s ok. Just talk, it’s me,” she assured.

“Ok. It’s just that your house is your house. I know that house inside and out, probably better than you do. I’ve both broken and fixed that house a million times and have watched you and Rory grow up there. It’s your house.” She nodded, following his train of thought. “And I never really thought about it much, it being your house and this” he glanced around, “this being my apartment. I never dared to think that someday I could tell you how much I love you and how much I want to build something with you, a life, a family.”

“’What about the kids.’” She half whispered, clarity upon her.

“And the Twickham house was that house, the house I’d always wanted, for a life, a real life and a family and when it became available, I fought for it. I fought for it and bought it for us. And I didn’t even tell you.” Their eyes were level again. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you Lorelai.”

“It’s ok. Well, I mean, I think I understand.”

“I never let myself plan, you know, not more than a few days ahead; no big disappointments, no dreams dashed that way.”

“Uh-huh,” she agreed, remembering a long ago conversation about Rachel.

“But I’m so in love with you- with you Lorelai, and I had to have that house.” He chortled to himself, “I even went to the town elders.”

“There are town elders?” a quizzical look crossed her face.

“There are. And I went to them and basically plead my case about why I should get it and not Kirk.”

“Kirk wanted the house too? Where’d he get the money?”

“Funny little side note, Kirk’s rich.”

“Kirk’s rich?” Lorelai threw up her hands. “I asked the wrong guy to marry me?” She swatted at him in jest.

“Funny girl.” He paused to kiss her, to regain his footing, to pull them back into the weight and seriousness of this moment. “I got the house. I signed for it yesterday and today I told Taylor to toss it all out and find someone else to buy it.”

“What? Why?” She didn’t know how to react.

“Well…” He stood finally and started to pace. “You were at the Inn, talking about being wooed and maybe taking that job, selling the Dragonfly and all and there I was thinking ‘she doesn’t want this… she doesn’t want a house and kids and me… she wants travel and wooing and business suits and corporate rates at big chain hotels.’ So I turned around and told Taylor to scrap everything.” He took his seat again. “And then, here you are, telling me about Rory and Yale and your back-stabbing parents and your asking me to marry you.” He smiled widely, “you did ask me right? That wasn’t some hallucination?”

“I did ask and you said yes. Well, technically you said ‘what?’ but eventually you did say yes.” She ran her fingers through his lovely thinning hair and smiled. Her Luke, this beautiful, wonderful man.

“I did say yes.” It was increasingly difficult to stay on track with all the yeses and proposals flying around.

“But you gave away the Twickham house?” She pouted.

“I did.” He closed his eyes and sighed.

“But you really wanted that house?” She leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

“I did.”

“And you bought it for us?” she whispered in his ear then paused to sweetly kiss the corner of his mouth.

“I did.”

“Luke,” she kissed the other corner, “do you still want that house for us?” Another kiss on his left eyelid, so soft.

“I do” he responded, his voice coarse and breathy.

“Then I think we should have it.” She leaned back and smiled, watching him open his eyes to her.

“Yeah?” He stood up suddenly and grabbed the stack of papers, looking like he might dash off somewhere. Then he sat down again. “I can tell Taylor tomorrow, I had three days to make it final.”

“And there’s still time?”

“There’s all the time in the world.”

Lorelai inched up to the edge of the bed and peeked down at the wooden box on the floor. “If you tell me there’s a minivan in there, the deal’s off.” She chided. Luke bent down and handed her the box. “What is it?”

“This,” he presented, “is yours Lorelai.” She ran her fingers over the engraved initials on the cover, ‘L. D.’ “Actually, it was my mother’s but I saved it for you.”

“L.D.” she whispered, (Lorelai Danes...)

“My mom’s name was Lena, Lena Danes.” Lorelai clutched the box to her breast in appreciation. “I made it for her after she got sick.”

“You made this?” Tears threatening behind her blue, blue eyes. Luke nodded.

“I told her it was hers, a special place to keep her important things.” The seriousness of the moment was palpable. “Open it.”

Lorelai opened the box and inside it lay a rolled up price of paper with a blue ribbon tied around it.

“Go ahead,” he urged, “read it.”

Lorelai lifted the paper up and found something tethered to the end of the ribbon. A ring. The paper read:

“My dearest boy. My Lucas.

Tradition would dictate that this should go to your sister. But somehow, Liz is not the natural recipient. I want you to keep this ring Luke. Keep it safe and someday, when you least expect it, someday while your busy doing something else, it will come in handy. Your father bought me this ring when we had little money for anything. I told him not to worry but he bought it none-the-less, pig-headed as he is. You’re a lot like him, Luke. Strong, decisive and patient. But do not forget that you are also like me. Someday, someone special will come to you and you’ll want to give her the world, as I always wanted to give it to you. This ring is for her as it is for you.

Don’t ever be afraid to love my sweet, sweet boy.

Yours forever”

Lorelai let out a strangled sob and fell forward and into the arms of her lover. Her tears were hot and uncontrolled and Luke cradled her head to his chest and let her ride it out.

“Shh… shh… Lorelai, I want you to know, believe, that everything will work out. I promise you that.” She leaned back, the note still in her clutch. “We’ll figure it all out. Together. Rory will have all that she ever wanted and so will you. I promise.”

“You are an amazing, wonderful man Luke Danes and I love you.”

“And I love you. And although you beat me to the punch line, I’ve been wanting to give you this ring for a long, long, time.” Luke took the paper and placed it back in the box and untied the ribbon from the ring. He took her hands in his and made a vow in his heart to never love anything, anyone with the same ferocity. “Can I put it on you?”

“Please” her voice only above a whisper.

He slid the ring, a timeless understated band of white gold with small white and blue diamonds, onto Lorelai’s wedding finger. Then, he brought her hand to his mouth and kissed the ring and her finger in a moment of quiet reverence.

And when he looked back into her eyes, there was no question about this love. No room for any doubt that this was the most amazing woman to grace his life and this time, when his mouth sealed hers in a breathless kiss, there was nothing else to distract them from tumbling to the sheets in a mess of whispered declarations of devotion.

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Note: What can I say… like millions of viewers, no doubt, I just had to sit down and fantasize about what could possibly follow the popping of the question. I was compelled to attempt to weave in a few loose ends and add a few twists of my own. I hope this helps to temper the long wait until the start of season six. Please send me feedback… lots and lots of feedback… I need it! maloax@yahoo.com