Chapter Text
“You showed me colors you know I can't see with anyone else.”
“Alright, hon. Keep me posted, okay? Okay.” Lorelai said before ending the call. She put her phone into her dark red purse that matched her heels and walked towards the crowd in Patty's dance studio.
It was a town meeting night and going to a town meeting without her daughter was not something she liked. But having a kid smart enough to be in DC in the middle of summer was pushing her to it. Not that she didn't like town meetings, she honestly loved them. She was just feeling utterly alone now that her daughter was in college.
Town meeting meant that there was going to be chaos and jokes and a very annoyed Taylor. And the snacks she would bring, of course. What was there to not like?
She raised her hand and waved with a smile on her face when she saw her best friend and her husband. “Sookie! Jackson!” She called their names as she walked to them as quickly as she could with her heels.
“Hey!” Sookie answered energetically as she took her purse from the empty seat next to her.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Lorelai said as she sat down and started to listen to Sookie and Jackson’s banter about the fruits and vegetables of the season. Summer was coming and all Lorelai could understand from the conversation was that it was a good season for fruits.
She looked at the couple and sighed. Even their clothes were matching and it was possible that they didn't even notice that. Jackson was wearing jeans, a brown sweater and a green coat while Sookie was also wearing jeans with a green sweater that had flowers on it and a brown fluffy jacket.
Lorelai wanted to have this. Not talking about fruits with someone but having a bond like Sookie and Jackson’s with someone. Having someone to banter with, someone to annoy but someone who would still keep loving her. And if that person wanted to talk about fruits? Well, Lorelai was a fast learner. All she needed would be some books or some movies or something like that about fruits and she would be okay.
She thought about Max for a second. He was cute, smart and charming. Maybe she judged him too quickly. Maybe, things wouldn’t go as wrong as she thought they would for Rory. But still it might have caused problems for her and she couldn't take the risk. After spending years not dating anyone because it might have affected Rory, dating her teacher would not be very smart.
Aside from a few interactions with Max, Jason and Alex were the only relationships she had since she had Rory. And those two were not some unforgettable relationships either. Jason was her father's business partner and she had only dated him to annoy her mother. Though she couldn't say she didn't like him at all because she did. Alex on the other hand was actually a great guy but it didn't really work either.
Taylor's voice was the thing that pulled her out of her thoughts and started the meeting. The first topic of the night was a fight between two store owners whose stores were next to each other. Lorelai chose to open her Ben&Jerry's instead of paying too much attention. She knew Taylor always put the real important and interesting things to the later parts of the meeting. She needed energy for them.
Next topic was an abandoned house and what they were going to do about it.
“So we have three options about it, people. Please, vote carefully. Our purpose here is to enhance our town, to make it better. Leave your personal feelings and thoughts aside and focus on whatever you think will be the best for our town.” Taylor talked with a voice that he thought was very professional and on-point.
He waited for people to talk to each other about their choices for a minute or so. Then he started the voting process.
“Please, raise your hands, the ones who vote for the house to put into public sale.” He said and then waited for Miss Patty to count twenty two people who raised their hands.
“Alright,” He said with a growing excitement on his face. “Please, raise your hands, the ones who vote for the house to turn into a museum.”
Miss Patty counted the ones who raised their hands. “Twenty nine ” She said to Taylor.
Taylor nodded with a little less excitement on his face this time. “Lastly, the ones who vote for the house to turn into a beautiful ice cream parlor, please raise your hands.”
There was no trace of his excitement when he saw the amount of people raising their hands. “Five people, Taylor.” Patty said with a hidden smirk.
“Oh, well… You should add me, too, Patty. And you know you can vote too.” He said, stuttering.
Patty's smirk was not so hidden now. “Oh but I did vote, Taylor. And you are one of those five people.” She said.
Taylor's face turned red in a way that made Lorelai more cheerful than her snacks did at that moment. “Maybe we should vote again, Taylor.” She said loudly. “You know, just in case.” She was having way too much fun now.
Taylor looked at her with excitement for a second before he talked with annoyance. “This is not a place for jokes, young lady.”
“It's always time and place for my jokes, Taylor. You should’ve learned that by now.” She said, ignoring Taylor rolling his eyes. “Also why do you want this place? Weren’t you going to open your holy ice cream place in William’s building?”
Taylor's face reddened even more with fury this time. “William's ignorant son decided to not sell the building.”
Everyone was listening with full attention now that they have heard about William's son who was a successful baseball player. “Wait, Lucas is back?!” Babette shrieked happily.
Lorelai turned to Sookie with a not so happy face. “Geez, why so happy about a guy who didn't even come for his father's funeral?”
Sookie looked at her, surprised. “Haven't you heard, honey?”
“Heard what?”
“Lucas had an accident the day his father died. He was in a coma during the funeral. That's why he couldn't come.” Sookie explained.
Lorelai’s face turned into a sad one. “Oh God… You would think I would have heard something about it with all that gossip in this town.”
Lorelai was silent for the rest of the meeting. She felt really bad about how judgmental she was to William's son. Prejudice was not a nice trait of her, that much she knew.
In a really short time after that day, Lorelai learned about the situation as much as she could with gossipers being a bit scared to talk now that Lucas was in town.
One of the biggest discussions was, weirdly, that it turned out that no one ever found out which terrible thing had happened first. Luke's car crash or Will's last breath in hospital.
Some of the townspeople said that Luke may have felt his dad dying and crashed his car, some suggested Will felt his son's crash and that was the last trigger. Others said that it was just a terrible day that lots of terrible things happened.
Lorelai didn't know which was true. But she wanted to believe that Will didn't die thinking his son was in pain. All those years she knew him, she was aware of how much he loved his kids and she didn't want to imagine the last thing he ever felt being such a pain.
She stood on her toes to get the key from its usual place over the door frame. When she got it she smiled victoriously. One of the many benefits of being a tall woman. It was already dark outside and the street was empty. Lorelai wanted to keep it that way, so she tried to be as quiet as she could've been.
She closed the door after herself and walked in the empty room which used to be a hardware store. She wondered where all the tools William owned were. There used to be some kind of counter in the middle of the small room that seemed larger than ever now, being empty. She remembered Will giving her one of the best coffees she ever had as she sat down on a chair next to the counter like it was some kind of cafe or diner.
She shook her head to get rid of her thoughts and the flood of emotions as she walked towards the curtain separating the room from the office. She had been in the office a few times before. Having a cup of coffee, chatting with William; dropping Rory there because the daycare was closed…
She didn’t have a huge mission as she came to the building that used to belong to one of her dearest friends. No, she was there because the last time she was there, which was right after the funeral, she forgot her notebook and lucky pen with snowflakes on it there. They were there for the speech she gave and she was too busy crying to remember taking them with her.
But now that crying and grief was over, her love for her pen and her need for the notes she had in that notebook had been increased. The wedding plans and all the other work-related stuff were on that notebook.
The notebook and the pen were not even in the office back there but on the table next to the office's door. So it must have been easy, she thought. She could just grab her stuff and leave before Lucas could realize she was there.
Well, for someone who planned lots of weddings and other events, she was a pretty bad planner it turned out.
“Who the hell are you?” A gruff voice cut the silence off. The voice didn't surprise her as much as the person it belonged to did.
She had listened to lots of stories about Lucas Danes before. But none of them had him in a wheelchair before.
“I, uhm…” She stuttered as she tried to think of an answer. “I'm Lorelai. Gilmore. I, uh, work at the Independence Inn. I have a daughter, Rory. She-” She rambled as she tried not to look so stupid in front of this stupidly hot guy with a wheelchair.
“What are you doing here and how the hell did you get here?” He asked, his voice still gruff and icy.
She blankly looked at him for a few seconds until her brain comprehended the question. “I actually- It's a funny story. Or not so funny. I forgot my notebook and pen here. And that notebook is pretty important to me. So I just decided that I could come here and take it. And I knew where the keys were, so…” She didn’t stop rambling but kept it going as she thought it might make him leave his gruff posture. But it was obvious that she didn't succeed.
“How do you know where the keys were? Is this some game of Taylor?” He asked, now looking and sounding angrier.
“No!” She almost screamed. “I have nothing to do with Taylor. Seriously, I'm just here for my notebook and if you let me get it, I can prove it.” She talked surely. Her last purpose that night was to look like a criminal who broke into someone's house. Even though that was technically very close to what she did.
He stared at her for a few seconds, he looked uncomfortable, it was pretty clear. And it was also clear that he wanted her out of there. But she had a mission to do. And the building didn't really belong to him, like really belonging. It belonged to William. And William would let her in there, give her a cup of coffee, make her a delicious meal and listen to her problems. And William was not there anymore.
“Just answer how did you know where the keys were and I’ll let you get your damn notebook and leave.” He said and looked at her eyes in a way that made her swallow her rambling instinct. His eyes were deep blue in a spectacular way that she was sure her eyes were simply not.
She took a deep breath before she answered. “William told me. For emergencies, you know.” She directed her eyes to the ground as she said his father's name. She didn't want to cause the man in front of him any kind of pain. But to answer his question, she had to.
“You knew my father?” He asked with a bewildered tone. He didn’t look that grumpy now. He looked… Vulnerable.
“He was my friend.” She answered, trying to stop her eyes from watering.
Lucas watched her for a while. She couldn't read his face, so she hoped that he would let her take her stuff and leave soon.
He sighed sarcastically. “You broke into your dead friend's house to get your diary. Jeez, Stars Hollow never stops amazing me.” He smirked as he pushed a button on his wheelchair and turned his back to her before heading towards the office. Lorelai stood where she was standing, shocked before walking with quick steps after him.
When she caught him, he was holding her notebook and pen. “It is not a diary.” She said with an eye roll. Not that she thought it would make him apologize or something. He was Lucas Danes, Butch, famous baseball player. Or, you know, he used to be.
“Thanks.” She said as she took her notebook and pen from him swiftly and turned her back to him to walk away as quickly as she could.
Suddenly she stopped moving and turned back at him. “Hey, so, not trying to be rude or something. But could you maybe tell me your father's secret ingredient of coffee? I really need it. Not that you owe me anything or something. But you know-”
“It's a secret as you said.” Lucas said with a boyish smile and an eyebrow raised.
Lorelai puffed in a not really surprised way. “It's a bummer that you are not letting the holy industry of coffee use his beautiful secret and just letting it go to waste.”
Lucas kept his eyes focused on hers. “You can taste for yourself how much of his secret went to waste really soon and then discuss it with the industry of black death.” He shot back. Lorelai looked at him and tried to understand what he meant. But he didn’t seem like he was going to explain himself any further.
So she raised her hand to give him a small wave and left the building.
She expected the memories of her friend haunting her as she stood in front of his unofficial home. But her mind was already filled with other stuff. Not really haunting stuff. Good stuff.
Maybe even great stuff.