Title: Returns
Author: Megan Reilly (eponine119@worldnet.att.net)
Rating: G
Spoilers: Refers to events in "PS I Lo..." and mentions Bert.
Pairing: L/L
Summary: Lorelai and Luke head to the mall, then have some coffee. 
Disclaimer: Gilmore Girls belongs to Amy Sherman Palladino, Dorthy
Parker Drank Here, and the WB. This story, however, belongs to me.
Archive statement: Mystic's archive, yes. Others, NO. Please do not
archive this story without my permission, or without this archive
statement attached.

Returns
by Megan Reilly

"You. Come with me." Luke's hand wrapped around Lorelai's arm and he
pulled her toward the door.

"I - what -?" She reached desperately for the coffee, still sitting on
the counter, just out of her reach. "Is this a kidnapping?" Lorelai
demanded as he pushed her through the door of the diner. She frowned as
he shoved her toward his truck, which was parked out front. As though
he'd planned this. "Luke, are you having some kind of brain aneurysm or
psychotic episode?" Lorelai demanded.

"We're going to the mall," he said. Lorelai looked surprised. "Get in
the truck."

"Luke?" Lorelai said. "Are you feeling all right?" But she was smiling.
This was about the clothes she'd bought for him. Maybe he'd liked them
so much, he was going back for more. Although the fact that he was
wearing his usual jeans and plaid flannel didn't really make that case.

"You bought them. You're taking them back," Luke said.

"You didn't have to rip my arm off back there," Lorelai told him. "You
could have just said please. Give them to me and I'll do it."

"Not so fast," Luke said. They were conversing over the top of his
truck, since neither of them had yet gotten in. A few people on their
way to the diner gave them interested looks. Lorelai couldn't wait to
hear the gossip later and see what the townspeople thought had been
going on between them. "You'd have to use my credit card again."

"So? Give it to me, too," Lorelai said. She was disappointed about the
clothes. Yes, she'd gone on a crazed shopping binge, but it had been fun
and Luke had looked so nice, and she'd really thought he'd like them.

"No way," Luke told her, and got into the truck.

Lorelai got in, too, shoving the shopping bags onto the floor. "You
don't trust me," she declared. Luke shot her a look that very clearly
pronounced "duh" as he coaxed his truck into starting.  Lorelai opened
her mouth, feeling shocked as the realization struck her to the core.
"You really don't trust me."

"Don't look like that," Luke told her.

"Like what?" Lorelai asked.

"That. That face," Luke declared.

"What's wrong with my face?" Lorelai demanded.

"It makes me feel sorry for you," Luke said gruffly. More gruffly than
usual. Then he fell silent. Driving.

Lorelai crossed her arms and looked out the window. Wished there was a
radio. "Do you even know how to get to the mall?" she asked, watching
them pass the same mailbox for the third time.

"Yes," Luke told her. "I've lived here my entire life, before they had a
mall."

"Wow, that's a long time," Lorelai teased. "So it must be old age that
prompted you to turn right when a left was clearly called for."

"It wasn't old age," Luke informed her, but she relaxed as he turned up
a driveway so they could turn around and try it again. They'd fallen
into their usual pattern of teasing or bantering or whatever, and it was
more comfortable.

A few minutes later, the massive structure appeared on the horizon and a
few minutes after that, they were parking near the door. Lorelai got out
of the truck and started gathering up the bags. How had she ever managed
all of them when she was here before? "Luke, I think they're
reproducing," she called.

He easily scooped up all of the bags, carrying them as though they
weren't numerous and heavy. Lorelai looked at him, surprised. "What?"
Luke demanded, catching her look.

"You're good at this," she said. "Next time, I'm bringing you with me."

"There won't be a next time," Luke said. He tried to hold the door open
for her, but with his hands full of bags, it was impossible.

"Nice try, Lancelot," Lorelai told him, pulling the door open for
herself and then waiting for him to go through it.

Luke stopped just inside the door, as though overcome by the miles of
hallway and the neon signs, the faint wafting scent of pretzels and air
conditioning. 

"Are you feeling faint? Come on," Lorelai said. She took a couple steps,
then stopped and looked over her shoulder at him. "Luke?"

"This place is bigger than Stars Hollow."

"I thought you said you'd been here before," Lorelai said. He'd lived
his entire life without going to the mall? Luke needed to get out more.
A lot more.

"I guess I...forgot," Luke said, catching up with her. But he still
looked sort of weirded out. "People could live here."

"Maybe they do," Lorelai said with a small smile.

That smile was not lost on Luke. "Let's hear it."

"Nothing. Just that when I was a little girl, I wanted to run away and
live in the mall. I thought it would be so fun to not have to leave. And
then I read that book, 'From the Mixed Up Files...'" She checked with
Luke, but this was clearly all going over his head, but once she was on
a roll, she couldn't just stop. So she went on. "In it, these kids run
away and live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Well, I already felt
like I was living in a museum, so I tried it."

"You ran away to live in a mall," Luke said. With the flat tone that
belied his incredulousness, as though she'd confessed to running away
and joining the circus.

"Yeah, you don't believe me?" Lorelai demanded.

"How long were you gone?"

"Overnight."

"How old were you?" Luke asked.

Lorelai shrugged. "Eight."

"Your parents must have been frantic."

"Turned out to be good practice for them," Lorelai noted, with the wry
expression she always wore when thinking of her bad-girl past. Luke knew
she said she didn't have any regrets about it, but there was always some
small note of sadness. Maybe because she did regret hurting her parents.
"Here we are."

They were standing in front of Bloomingdale's. "I had a treehouse," Luke
offered. 

"I always wanted a treehouse. I wanted to see my father go out and build
one. It would have killed him," Lorelai said, looking at Luke.

"Yeah, well, I had all the hardware I needed, so I built it myself,"
Luke said. He coughed a little as they wound their way through the
perfume department. "Took a whole summer."

"Then what happened?" Lorelai asked. Luke looked at her. "It sounds like
there's a 'and then'."

"Then I found out that sometimes wanting something is better than
actually having it," Luke said. Suddenly thinking it would be a good
time to change the subject. Because there were still things in his life
that he wanted. But he knew he couldn't have, so the anticipation was
all there would ever be.

He stopped and looked around. "Where the hell are we?"

"Shoes," Lorelai said. "Beautiful shoes." 

He watched her look at a pair and then turn to him. "No," he said.

"But --"

"No," Luke repeated. "Where did you find this stuff?"

"Menswear. Third floor," Lorelai replied.

"They have floors," Luke said weakly, following her to the escalator.
Once they stepped on, he sighed.

"If those are heavy, I'll take them," Lorelai offered.

"They're fine," Luke said.

"Then what was that sigh about? Huh?" Playfully she leaned over and
bumped him with her shoulder.

"Hey," Luke protested, but he elbowed her back. "Is that it?" He spotted
the department in the distance.

"It is indeed," Lorelai said. She turned to Luke and put her hands on
his shoulders, very seriously. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I'm sure," Luke told her, with confidence.

"'Cause they were really six trillion percent off."

"Not this again," Luke said. He set the bags down. Obviously they were
going to be here awhile. "I don't need the clothes, Lorelai."

"I know," she interjected.

"I have clothes."

"Obviously," Lorelai said.

Luke wondered if she was going to feel the need to answer every
statement he made. "And even if I didn't have clothes --"

"You'd be pretty cold then," Lorelai said.

Yes, she was going to answer everything he said. Terrific. At least she
wasn't repeating it back to him, like they were little kids. Luke looked
at Lorelai and qualified the thought: yet. "I run a diner."

"Sure do. Good coffee."

Luke frowned at her. "I don't have anywhere to wear clothes like that."

"You could get somewhere," Lorelai said.

Luke looked at her closely, but she didn't seem to be joking. He sighed,
again. "Where do I go to return these?"

"Right there," Lorelai said, determinedly. She raised her arm to point
to the cashier, and Luke wondered what was in her mind.

The actual business was done rather quickly. "Why are you returning
them?" the salesclerk inquired.

"She bought them for me," Luke said.

"Oh," said the salesclerk, and he realized how it must have sounded.
Luke glanced at Lorelai and she was smiling now, too. The clerk handed
him his receipt. 

"That's it?" Luke asked. The clerk nodded, and then wandered away to
help another customer. Alone now, Luke turned to Lorelai. "What now?"

"What do you mean?" Lorelai asked. "It's done." The clerk had hung the
clothes up on the rack near the register and Lorelai put her hand on the
sleeve of the soft, black sweater. "Bye, pretty clothes."

"You're crazy," Luke said, but he was smiling.

"Thanks," Lorelai said as they got onto the escalator. "You hungry? They
have a food court."

"You want me to eat at a food court?" Luke asked.

"When was the last time you ate something you hadn't cooked for
yourself?" Lorelai inquired.

"I don't want to think about it," Luke replied.

"That long ago?"

"No, I went to Al's Pancake World."

"Poor Al," Lorelai said. They'd reached the far border of the department
store and stepped out into the mall. "Anyway, it'll do you some good.
Come on." She touched his arm.

"Yeah, okay," Luke said. "What the hell."

_ _ _

"They call this food?" Luke asked doubtfully, eyeing what sat on the
plastic tray Lorelai set in front of him. He'd known it was a mistake to
let her choose for him, claiming a superior knowledge of what to eat at
the food court. 

On the tray was a hot dog, piled high with various toppings that seemed
to include potato chips; an order of fries; and a cup with soft-serve
ice cream, also piled high with various toppings. No potato chips there.

"Eat it. It's good," Lorelai said. Even though she had a tray with
similar food on it, she raised her spoon and took some of his ice cream.
He still looked doubtful. "You're as bad as my mother."

"It's not a crime to have some degree of standards."

"Oooh, add an accusing 'Lorelai' to that, and you'll sound exactly like
her."

"Lorelai --"

"Emily!" Lorelai cried with pretend joy.

"You're impossible," Luke grumbled, digging into the food. "Is there a
Sears here?"

"Why did you say 'Sears' like that?" Lorelai asked.

"Like what?" Luke replied.

"Like it's bad. I mean, I've seen the softer side and it's not that
great, but --"

"My dad hated Sears," Luke said. Lorelai looked blank. "Tools.
Paint-by-number stores. All the same, everywhere you go. No character.
He would have hated a place like this."

"What's your verdict?" Lorelai asked.

"This is good," Luke admitted with his mouth full.

"There is a Sears. I guess you don't want to go there, though. Since
Daddy wouldn't approve," Lorelai said.

"What just happened here?" Luke asked. Lorelai shook her head, not
understanding. "You just got really snippy."

"Snippy?" Lorelai challenged.

"Definitely snippy," Luke said.

Lorelai took a moment to contemplate what she was going to say, but then
said it anyway. "Luke, you talk about your dad a lot."

"So?"

"So..." Another hesitation. "I feel like I know more about him that I do
about you," Lorelai said.

"What do you want to know?" Luke asked.

Lorelai blinked. And said nothing. Her mind went completely blank, with
him looking at her like that. "I - um, well, what about...read any good
books lately?" 

"This is about books?" Luke asked, not understanding. Which pretty
common when he was with Lorelai.

"No," Lorelai said. Did he have to be so literal? "Never mind. You want
to go to Sears, we'll go to Sears. What do you want there, anyway?" She
crumpled up her napkin and tossed it onto the wreckage of her meal. They
got up and found a trash bin.

"I need a new toolbox."

"No you don't," Lorelai said as they started walking toward Sears.

"I don't?" Luke asked her.

"What about Bert?" Lorelai asked.

"Bert?"

"The toolbox you left at my house after your crazed 6 a.m. repair
festival a couple weeks ago. It's been sitting in my hallway so long we
named it Bert."

Suddenly Luke remembered hearing that name before. Bert. Lorelai had
said something about this before, but he hadn't understood. He'd been
focused on other things at the moment. "Bert," he said.

"Yeah, he's at my house. You want to go get him?"

Luke stood there for a second. "Sure," he said. He looked around,
confused. "Where the hell did we leave the truck?"

_ _ _

"This is weird," Lorelai said as she walked up to her front door with
Luke.

"What's weird about this?" Luke asked.

"We're not at the diner," Lorelai said.

"You have seen me away from the diner," Luke pointed out.

Lorelai pulled out her key and unlocked the door. "I feel like I should
be asking you in for coffee."

"You mean, like we were on a date," Luke said what she was refusing to.
Lorelai didn't say anything. "Are you embarrassed?"

"Why would I?" Lorelai said. She picked up Bert. "Here's your toolbox."
She patted it. "We'll miss ya, Bert." She continued holding it. "Luke?"

"I thought you were going to make me some coffee." It took all his
courage to say that, so he was amazed at how easy and natural the words
sounded.

"You want me to make you coffee?" Lorelai chuckled. It was absurd. She
liked absurd. Although it made her nervous, too. So what if everyone in
town had invented some kind of fictional relationship between her and
Luke? That was fine; they didn't know. But if Luke was going to
start...she shook her head. She was thinking too much. Sometimes coffee
was just coffee.

"It's not as good as yours," Lorelai told him, starting the coffeemaker
in her kitchen.

"I don't drink mine," Luke replied.

"You're missing out," Lorelai told him. They fell into silence,
listening to the coffee percolating.

"Where's Rory?" Luke asked, glancing around and catching sight of the
open door to her room.

"Library," Lorelai said.  "That kid." She shook her head, but she was
smiling. "Sometimes I have no idea where she came from."

"She's good kid," Luke agreed. 

"Yeah," Lorelai said, leaning down to check impatiently on the coffee's
progress.

"You did a good job with her," Luke said.

"You give me too much credit," Lorelai told him. Finally, the coffee was
done. She hadn't had coffee at the mall and she really needed a fix. She
pulled down a couple of mugs and filled them, then joined Luke at the
table. "Here, you can have Fred."

"I'm honored," Luke said, taking a sip of the coffee out of Fred
Flintstone's head.

"You should be. Somehow it's just not the same drinking out of Barney,"
Lorelai told him.

"This is good," Luke said, for lack of anything else to say. "You ever
think of having more?"

"More coffee? I think you know I'm always thinking about having more,"
Lorelai said. Thinking he was teasing her.

"Another. Child," Luke specified. His eyes firmly fixed on the carefully
sculpted likeness on the cup he was drinking from.

Lorelai looked at him, surprised, as though she'd never thought of it.
But she had, of course she had. "Sometimes I think it would be the
greatest thing. Rory's so amazing. Another kid like her...I should be so
lucky."

"But?" Luke supplied the word she'd left unsaid.

"But, I think when the spring chickens left the barn, they forgot to
invite me," Lorelai said.

"You're not old," Luke told her.

"Old enough to be too old to do it again," Lorelai said. "What about
you?"

"Me?" Luke practically choked on his coffee.

"It's not that strange a concept," Lorelai told him. "You'd be a great
dad. I mean, hey, you learned from the best." 

He looked at her, surprised but the honesty he heard in her tone and saw
in her face. Thinking of his dad. "Thanks." He swirled the last of the
coffee around the inside of Fred's head, then set it firmly on the
table. "I should go." He stood up.

Lorelai put her coffee down and got up. "Oh," she said, sounding a bit
surprised. "Okay." She followed him to the door. "Think about what I
said." She waved at Luke as he headed down the walk to his truck, then
closed the door.

And saw Bert. Still sitting there, waiting to be claimed.

Lorelai shrugged. "Another time," she said to Bert.

the end.


Okay, well, I feel like that ended up like all my other Luke and Lorelai
stories. They talk, nothing happens. So, what did you think? Send
feedback to eponine119@worldnet.att.net
--