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Written by: CIAChick
Disclaimer: All characters and situations from Gilmore Girls are properties of Amy Sherman-Palladino, Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions and Hofflund/Polone in association with Warner Bros. Television. No copyright infringement intended.
The prompt is strangers. Thanks to Lula and KinoFille for their suggestions.
A Late Night Cup of Coffee
It took her a couple trips to the diner before she could decide whether she liked the owner or not.
When she was young-- and stupid--she would sneak out of her house, and bum a ride from Chris or someone else to the closest party. Most of the time, when she would walk in, all male eyes turned towards her. She’d never thought of herself as particularly pretty, but something in her wanted that attention, craved it, and she giggled, flirted, looked up through thick lashes at these guys that would tell her she was something special. She had lived on the edge for too long and everything had come crashing down around her. Now, she shuddered when she thought of the ways those boys looked at her, how she had been so dumb as to flirt back and accept the drinks they gave her.
She’s still used to being the center of attention, that hasn’t changed, but she hopes it’s for her bubbly personality and her quick wit, rather than her looks. They still get attention, although not for the same reason. Now whenever she walks somewhere with Rory, she can see the people doing the mental math in their heads.
But when she walks into Luke’s its different. He doesn’t pay any attention to her yammering about needing coffee instead barking at her to wait her turn. She brings in Rory that week, expecting the usual reaction, the baffled look, the questions. Nothing. He serves them their burgers and pie, keeping his word quota under twenty-five. By then, she’s hooked.
She’s not so sure why she craves this particular man’s attention. He hasn’t been exactly friendly to her but she’s seen him smile at some of the older customers. He’s also not too bad to look at, this Luke.
She watches him, wonders if there is something she can do to make him really look at her. Pay attention, she thinks. I could change your life.
Or maybe it was the other way around.
*
“Hey Duke.” She calls one morning as she and Rory come in.
She doesn’t have time to watch his reaction, though, because Rory is pulling on her sleeve and whispers to her as they sit down, “His name is Luke.” And her daughter, not to be fooled by anyone, points to the menu now in her hand. Lorelai laughs and tosses her hair as if Rory said the funniest thing in the world. She locates Luke and finds him busy with customers. Dang it.
“I know, hon,” she whispers. “I’m teasing him.”
“Oh. Okay.” Rory’s eyes grow wide and she nods, glad to be included in her mom’s grown up plans. She watches with glee as he comes over to their table and Lorelai says it again. Rory puts on her poker face and orders her pancakes like a pro. Lorelai gives her a thumbs up as she thanks “Duke.”
After a couple months, Lorelai’s patience is wearing thin. Somewhere along the line, it became less about getting Luke to notice her and more about trying to find out why he kept up such a front. Something about him intrigues her. Every time she thinks she’s gotten closer, he pulls away. He’s hovered around their table, he might even shoot her a smile as she left, but she still felt like she hadn’t broken the surface yet.
All too soon it’s Christmas, and after spending dinner faking smiles and conversations with her parents and their friends, she needs a cup of Luke’s coffee. By the time she drops Rory off at Lane’s for their bi-weekly sleepover, its growing late and she makes a mad dash over to Luke’s. She collides with him at the door as she tries to come inside and he tries to turn the sign to ‘closed.’
“Please, please, I know you’re closed, but make an exception just this once, I’m begging you.” Luke just looks at her with a ‘why should I?’ expression on his face and Lorelai continues. “I just spent a horrible evening with my parents, I’m really not sure how I can explain to you how horrible it was without you being there, but all the way home I just kept thinking how I wanted a cup of coffee. And not just any coffee, your coffee.” She pauses for a breath. “Please?”
Luke shakes his head and moves aside. “I don’t think I can deny anyone who is that adamant about coffee.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” She bounces through the doorway to the counter.
“I’ll have to start a fresh pot, I guess.” Luke sounds annoyed a little as he says this and Lorelai almost wishes she had gone home instead of coming here. It was silly to think that coffee and Luke could make her evening better.
“Oh,” her momentary good mood falters. “Well, I’ll pay extra.”
“It really means that much to you?”
“Yes, yes, yes.” Lorelai notices a twitch at the corner of his mouth and then he’s smiling and it takes her a moment to realize that the sound emanating from him is laughter. His laughter isn’t strange sounding, just strange sounding coming from Luke. She smiles and rolls her eyes at him. “You were teasing me.”
“A little,” he admits. “It’s payback, I guess. You call me Duke everyday and I’m pretty sure you know my name is Luke.”
Lorelai blushes, surprised to be caught in her own game. “I do.”
“Good. Otherwise, you’d be a lot dumber than I thought you were.”
She laughs now, then sort of scoots to one side of her stool, placing her chin in her palm watching him as he waits for the coffee to finish perking. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to come here after all. He takes down a mug from the tray of clean ones on the back counter and pours her a cup. “Thanks.”
“Wait. You need cream, right?”
“Actually, yeah, that would be great.”
He holds up a finger. “Be right back.” She nods and spins the stool around slowly, pushing off the counter with her foot. The diner’s different at night and the town, too. They’re both quiet and dark, except that the streets are lit up by the white lights and decked with garland. “Here you go.” He sets the small cup, filled with half and half, in front of her.
“Oh, thanks.” She turns back around, focusing on him. He shifts under her gaze, obviously uncomfortable.
“So uh, I didn’t know you had family in the area?” Lorelai swallows her coffee quickly and she winces as it burns her throat.
“Yeah,” she nods. “My parents are just in Hartford.”
“You don’t see them often?”
“No,” Lorelai thinks about explaining, but decides he could probably care less. Although these questions are more than she’s ever received before besides what she wants on her burger or how Rory is doing in school.
“You don’t get along.” She notices he says this matter of factly, not as a question.
She raises her head in surprise, her eyes connecting with his. “I guess not. They weren’t too thrilled about the whole getting pregnant at sixteen thing. Do you get along with your parents?”
Lorelai can’t read the expression that crosses Luke’s face. “Not all the time, no.”
She nodded and finished her coffee in silence. “Thanks for the coffee. It was perfect.” He nods and she glances back down at the dregs in her cup.
“It started snowing again.” he comments and Lorelai turns towards the windows.
“Pretty,” she cocks her head and rests it on her hand again. “You know for a long time, it was just me and Rory. I didn’t know many people here, besides my boss. Winter’s always been my favorite season, but it was different suddenly. It was too quiet, I had too much time to think. Maybe I just went a little stir crazy.”
He chuckled again. “Maybe.”
“But I like it now, it’s so still.” They’re both quiet for a minute and Lorelai can feel Luke’s eyes on her instead of outside. “Sorry, I’m keeping you from cleaning, aren’t I?” She stands up and gathers her scarf and gloves from the seat next to her. “Thanks again for the coffee.”
“Not a problem. Have a good night.”
“You too.” The bells ring over her head and she hasn’t taken two steps into the swirling flakes before she realizes he was the one receiving all the information tonight, asking all the questions. She pauses, her mouth half open in surprise, and then she just shakes her head and laughs, racing across the square to her Jeep before heading home.
*
She thought Luke seemed like he needed someone to talk to. He had been different that night. She had never seen him act that way around his customers in the daytime and she wondered as she was leaving why he seemed so rooted here if he was so lonely. Maybe, like her, he didn’t have any other place to go. Whenever she could, she began dropping by on Friday nights for her regular caffeine fix and conversation. One week she had Lane and Rory on hand, but wanted to stop by the diner to tell Luke she had her hands full for the evening. She got the girls settled at a table and snagged a seat at the counter.
“Hey.” Luke greeted her as he emerged from the back.
“Hey.”
“The regular?” He asked, picking up the almost full pot. “I would go down my list of why coffee is bad for you, but I know you’ve heard it all before.”
“Maybe to go? I’ve got the girls tonight.” Luke glanced over her shoulder and nodded at Rory.
“That’s fine. You didn’t have to come by.”
“I know, but I just wanted to…let you know, I guess.” Why had she stopped by? Because she knew Luke made that pot of coffee just for her and that he would be disappointed if she didn’t show up by closing. He would never say so, but it would be clear when he was quieter than usual when she came in for breakfast on Saturday morning.
“You didn’t have to come just because you were worried about me. I’ll be fine.” She notices the irritated tone in his voice and she wants to apologize, but she’s not sure for what.
“Oh. Okay. Well, just the coffee to go then and we’ll be out of your way.” Lorelai replies stoically, glancing over at the girls who are making plans for playing outside the next day.
He sighs as he pours her coffee. “Do you want anything else? You know, you can stay for a little while if you want.”
“I’ll have to ask the girls.” She slides off the stool, hoping she is hiding her excitement better than she thinks. He wants her to stay. He’s sorry he got irritated with her and he wants her to stay. “Hey,” she nudges Rory as she sits down at their table. “Do you want anything to eat? Dessert, maybe?”
“I guess I can have some pie with Lane.” Lane nods enthusiastically.
“What kind?”
“Cherry?”
“Hey,” Lorelai yells. “Do you have any cherry pie left?” Luke nods. She gives him a thumbs up. “Okay. I’ll just be a few minutes. Tell me if you want to go.”
“I don’t mind. I like Luke’s.” Rory smiles, her mittened fingers dancing across the table.
“Okay. I just want you and Lane to have time to watch your movie.”
“We will,” Lane replies. Lorelai gives Rory a squeeze before heading back up to the front.
“The pie goes to the table in the back,” Lorelai intones teasingly.
“I can’t believe you’re letting them have sugar this late.” Luke rolls his eyes as he cuts the pie and places it on a plate.
“Well I have to stay up with them, not you.” Luke nods and delivers the pie to the girls’ table. Lorelai concentrates on the snow falling outside until Luke returns. He notices her gaze.
“It’s so quiet.” He says softly, his voice almost reverent and Lorelai isn’t sure if he means the girls or the town. “Still.”
“Yeah,” she said softly, her eyes connecting with his. “Still.” She smiled, remembering their conversation the first Friday Lorelai had come barging into his diner for a late cup of coffee. He remembered too. Lorelai felt it then, the ice beginning to break a little, their shields lowering. In his face, she saw something familiar, something that made her believe she could trust him. Maybe he didn’t always seem to be paying attention, but what Lorelai was beginning to learn, and what she would continue to realize over the next few months, was that Luke noticed the things that mattered. Maybe he thought she was beautiful, like she was at sixteen, but he saw beyond that. He saw her.
It was the little things that struck her. He seemed to carefully catalogue all the information he knew about her and store it away for future use, often taking her by surprise with the things he could easily recall about her. He remembered her problems with her parents almost better than she did, proving that he did listen to her when she came to the diner for their late night chats. He could tell when she had a bad day at work, a fight with Rory, and sometimes even, a broken heart. He always gave her a little container of half and half with her coffee, even though she never asked for it, and he would put extra cheese on her fries if she was quiet that day. Lorelai even noticed that Luke had stopped putting tomatoes on her burgers, because he must have figured out it was her who always put them to the side. Sometimes even, Rory would come home with a bag of brownies or an extra piece of pie if Lorelai hadn’t been able to make it to the diner that day for her usual meals. With Luke, she realized this was the kind of attention that mattered, that could warm her when she was feeling her lowest, her most useless.
It only took a couple more trips to the diner and eight years of friendship to realize she loved him.
fin
A Late Night Cup of Coffee
It took her a couple trips to the diner before she could decide whether she liked the owner or not.
When she was young-- and stupid--she would sneak out of her house, and bum a ride from Chris or someone else to the closest party. Most of the time, when she would walk in, all male eyes turned towards her. She’d never thought of herself as particularly pretty, but something in her wanted that attention, craved it, and she giggled, flirted, looked up through thick lashes at these guys that would tell her she was something special. She had lived on the edge for too long and everything had come crashing down around her. Now, she shuddered when she thought of the ways those boys looked at her, how she had been so dumb as to flirt back and accept the drinks they gave her.
She’s still used to being the center of attention, that hasn’t changed, but she hopes it’s for her bubbly personality and her quick wit, rather than her looks. They still get attention, although not for the same reason. Now whenever she walks somewhere with Rory, she can see the people doing the mental math in their heads.
But when she walks into Luke’s its different. He doesn’t pay any attention to her yammering about needing coffee instead barking at her to wait her turn. She brings in Rory that week, expecting the usual reaction, the baffled look, the questions. Nothing. He serves them their burgers and pie, keeping his word quota under twenty-five. By then, she’s hooked.
She’s not so sure why she craves this particular man’s attention. He hasn’t been exactly friendly to her but she’s seen him smile at some of the older customers. He’s also not too bad to look at, this Luke.
She watches him, wonders if there is something she can do to make him really look at her. Pay attention, she thinks. I could change your life.
Or maybe it was the other way around.
*
“Hey Duke.” She calls one morning as she and Rory come in.
She doesn’t have time to watch his reaction, though, because Rory is pulling on her sleeve and whispers to her as they sit down, “His name is Luke.” And her daughter, not to be fooled by anyone, points to the menu now in her hand. Lorelai laughs and tosses her hair as if Rory said the funniest thing in the world. She locates Luke and finds him busy with customers. Dang it.
“I know, hon,” she whispers. “I’m teasing him.”
“Oh. Okay.” Rory’s eyes grow wide and she nods, glad to be included in her mom’s grown up plans. She watches with glee as he comes over to their table and Lorelai says it again. Rory puts on her poker face and orders her pancakes like a pro. Lorelai gives her a thumbs up as she thanks “Duke.”
After a couple months, Lorelai’s patience is wearing thin. Somewhere along the line, it became less about getting Luke to notice her and more about trying to find out why he kept up such a front. Something about him intrigues her. Every time she thinks she’s gotten closer, he pulls away. He’s hovered around their table, he might even shoot her a smile as she left, but she still felt like she hadn’t broken the surface yet.
All too soon it’s Christmas, and after spending dinner faking smiles and conversations with her parents and their friends, she needs a cup of Luke’s coffee. By the time she drops Rory off at Lane’s for their bi-weekly sleepover, its growing late and she makes a mad dash over to Luke’s. She collides with him at the door as she tries to come inside and he tries to turn the sign to ‘closed.’
“Please, please, I know you’re closed, but make an exception just this once, I’m begging you.” Luke just looks at her with a ‘why should I?’ expression on his face and Lorelai continues. “I just spent a horrible evening with my parents, I’m really not sure how I can explain to you how horrible it was without you being there, but all the way home I just kept thinking how I wanted a cup of coffee. And not just any coffee, your coffee.” She pauses for a breath. “Please?”
Luke shakes his head and moves aside. “I don’t think I can deny anyone who is that adamant about coffee.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” She bounces through the doorway to the counter.
“I’ll have to start a fresh pot, I guess.” Luke sounds annoyed a little as he says this and Lorelai almost wishes she had gone home instead of coming here. It was silly to think that coffee and Luke could make her evening better.
“Oh,” her momentary good mood falters. “Well, I’ll pay extra.”
“It really means that much to you?”
“Yes, yes, yes.” Lorelai notices a twitch at the corner of his mouth and then he’s smiling and it takes her a moment to realize that the sound emanating from him is laughter. His laughter isn’t strange sounding, just strange sounding coming from Luke. She smiles and rolls her eyes at him. “You were teasing me.”
“A little,” he admits. “It’s payback, I guess. You call me Duke everyday and I’m pretty sure you know my name is Luke.”
Lorelai blushes, surprised to be caught in her own game. “I do.”
“Good. Otherwise, you’d be a lot dumber than I thought you were.”
She laughs now, then sort of scoots to one side of her stool, placing her chin in her palm watching him as he waits for the coffee to finish perking. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to come here after all. He takes down a mug from the tray of clean ones on the back counter and pours her a cup. “Thanks.”
“Wait. You need cream, right?”
“Actually, yeah, that would be great.”
He holds up a finger. “Be right back.” She nods and spins the stool around slowly, pushing off the counter with her foot. The diner’s different at night and the town, too. They’re both quiet and dark, except that the streets are lit up by the white lights and decked with garland. “Here you go.” He sets the small cup, filled with half and half, in front of her.
“Oh, thanks.” She turns back around, focusing on him. He shifts under her gaze, obviously uncomfortable.
“So uh, I didn’t know you had family in the area?” Lorelai swallows her coffee quickly and she winces as it burns her throat.
“Yeah,” she nods. “My parents are just in Hartford.”
“You don’t see them often?”
“No,” Lorelai thinks about explaining, but decides he could probably care less. Although these questions are more than she’s ever received before besides what she wants on her burger or how Rory is doing in school.
“You don’t get along.” She notices he says this matter of factly, not as a question.
She raises her head in surprise, her eyes connecting with his. “I guess not. They weren’t too thrilled about the whole getting pregnant at sixteen thing. Do you get along with your parents?”
Lorelai can’t read the expression that crosses Luke’s face. “Not all the time, no.”
She nodded and finished her coffee in silence. “Thanks for the coffee. It was perfect.” He nods and she glances back down at the dregs in her cup.
“It started snowing again.” he comments and Lorelai turns towards the windows.
“Pretty,” she cocks her head and rests it on her hand again. “You know for a long time, it was just me and Rory. I didn’t know many people here, besides my boss. Winter’s always been my favorite season, but it was different suddenly. It was too quiet, I had too much time to think. Maybe I just went a little stir crazy.”
He chuckled again. “Maybe.”
“But I like it now, it’s so still.” They’re both quiet for a minute and Lorelai can feel Luke’s eyes on her instead of outside. “Sorry, I’m keeping you from cleaning, aren’t I?” She stands up and gathers her scarf and gloves from the seat next to her. “Thanks again for the coffee.”
“Not a problem. Have a good night.”
“You too.” The bells ring over her head and she hasn’t taken two steps into the swirling flakes before she realizes he was the one receiving all the information tonight, asking all the questions. She pauses, her mouth half open in surprise, and then she just shakes her head and laughs, racing across the square to her Jeep before heading home.
*
She thought Luke seemed like he needed someone to talk to. He had been different that night. She had never seen him act that way around his customers in the daytime and she wondered as she was leaving why he seemed so rooted here if he was so lonely. Maybe, like her, he didn’t have any other place to go. Whenever she could, she began dropping by on Friday nights for her regular caffeine fix and conversation. One week she had Lane and Rory on hand, but wanted to stop by the diner to tell Luke she had her hands full for the evening. She got the girls settled at a table and snagged a seat at the counter.
“Hey.” Luke greeted her as he emerged from the back.
“Hey.”
“The regular?” He asked, picking up the almost full pot. “I would go down my list of why coffee is bad for you, but I know you’ve heard it all before.”
“Maybe to go? I’ve got the girls tonight.” Luke glanced over her shoulder and nodded at Rory.
“That’s fine. You didn’t have to come by.”
“I know, but I just wanted to…let you know, I guess.” Why had she stopped by? Because she knew Luke made that pot of coffee just for her and that he would be disappointed if she didn’t show up by closing. He would never say so, but it would be clear when he was quieter than usual when she came in for breakfast on Saturday morning.
“You didn’t have to come just because you were worried about me. I’ll be fine.” She notices the irritated tone in his voice and she wants to apologize, but she’s not sure for what.
“Oh. Okay. Well, just the coffee to go then and we’ll be out of your way.” Lorelai replies stoically, glancing over at the girls who are making plans for playing outside the next day.
He sighs as he pours her coffee. “Do you want anything else? You know, you can stay for a little while if you want.”
“I’ll have to ask the girls.” She slides off the stool, hoping she is hiding her excitement better than she thinks. He wants her to stay. He’s sorry he got irritated with her and he wants her to stay. “Hey,” she nudges Rory as she sits down at their table. “Do you want anything to eat? Dessert, maybe?”
“I guess I can have some pie with Lane.” Lane nods enthusiastically.
“What kind?”
“Cherry?”
“Hey,” Lorelai yells. “Do you have any cherry pie left?” Luke nods. She gives him a thumbs up. “Okay. I’ll just be a few minutes. Tell me if you want to go.”
“I don’t mind. I like Luke’s.” Rory smiles, her mittened fingers dancing across the table.
“Okay. I just want you and Lane to have time to watch your movie.”
“We will,” Lane replies. Lorelai gives Rory a squeeze before heading back up to the front.
“The pie goes to the table in the back,” Lorelai intones teasingly.
“I can’t believe you’re letting them have sugar this late.” Luke rolls his eyes as he cuts the pie and places it on a plate.
“Well I have to stay up with them, not you.” Luke nods and delivers the pie to the girls’ table. Lorelai concentrates on the snow falling outside until Luke returns. He notices her gaze.
“It’s so quiet.” He says softly, his voice almost reverent and Lorelai isn’t sure if he means the girls or the town. “Still.”
“Yeah,” she said softly, her eyes connecting with his. “Still.” She smiled, remembering their conversation the first Friday Lorelai had come barging into his diner for a late cup of coffee. He remembered too. Lorelai felt it then, the ice beginning to break a little, their shields lowering. In his face, she saw something familiar, something that made her believe she could trust him. Maybe he didn’t always seem to be paying attention, but what Lorelai was beginning to learn, and what she would continue to realize over the next few months, was that Luke noticed the things that mattered. Maybe he thought she was beautiful, like she was at sixteen, but he saw beyond that. He saw her.
It was the little things that struck her. He seemed to carefully catalogue all the information he knew about her and store it away for future use, often taking her by surprise with the things he could easily recall about her. He remembered her problems with her parents almost better than she did, proving that he did listen to her when she came to the diner for their late night chats. He could tell when she had a bad day at work, a fight with Rory, and sometimes even, a broken heart. He always gave her a little container of half and half with her coffee, even though she never asked for it, and he would put extra cheese on her fries if she was quiet that day. Lorelai even noticed that Luke had stopped putting tomatoes on her burgers, because he must have figured out it was her who always put them to the side. Sometimes even, Rory would come home with a bag of brownies or an extra piece of pie if Lorelai hadn’t been able to make it to the diner that day for her usual meals. With Luke, she realized this was the kind of attention that mattered, that could warm her when she was feeling her lowest, her most useless.
It only took a couple more trips to the diner and eight years of friendship to realize she loved him.
fin
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