TROUVAILLE ... l.danes (REWRITE)

chapter thirty-six; the present

This might just be the life she's always dreamed of.

Luke drops back down onto the bed beside her. She nudges his arm so that he'll lift it and she can burrow right into him. He's so warm. She doesn't want to move. She never wants to move. She's never fit anywhere so perfectly before. Two jigsaw pieces who were lost in different boxes, finally getting the chance to slot together again. Let her bask here in the sun and never move again. Rot here, lay her to rest here, let a tree grow from their bodies, roots intertwined.

Luke tugs the duvet up to her shoulder when she notices her shiver. She thanks him, whispering it into his shoulder, finishing it with a kiss to the bone. She could get used to this.

"So, should we tell anyone–"

The door is thrown open. "Luke!" Jess yells, kicking the door shut behind him. He's got his headphones clamped over his ears so he's louder than he needs to be. Her doesn't look up as he heads for the kitchen. "I'm back! I spent the night with Rory. Lorelai made me sleep on the couch! Again."

He tugs his headphones off and lets them sit around his neck, allowing the couple in the bed to hear the far-too-loud Metallica ringing from the speakers. He spins around, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, and freezes.

Then, he starts laughing.

"Took you long enough." He turns to grab a Red Bull from the fridge. As he spins back around to face them, he pops it open and downs half a can in the process. Luke huffs.

"That stuff's bad for you. You'll have heart problems before you're 25."

Jess rolls his eyes at his uncle. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. So, how did it happen?" He leans against the kitchen counter. Luke, perpetually annoyed by his nephew, grabs the pillow beneath his head and launches it at him, telling him to get out. Jess doesn't stop laughing as he leaves, muttering something about telling Rory.

They're never getting back to sleep now.

"You want some coffee?"

She grins and swings her legs over the side of the bed. "I'll get it." She tugs on his red plaid shirt and her underwear sitting nearby. Luke tries to stop her, reaching for her arm, trying to pull her back into bed, but she waves him off and tells him to stop being silly. She'll get him some tea too. Maybe she can even steal a cake or two.

She pads downstairs, buttoning up his shirt, into the empty diner.

Except it's not.

Her hand grips the curtain that separates the staircase from the diner, staring at everyone who stares back at her. The normal flow of morning traffic is taking up all the space in the diner, digging into pancakes and eggs and bacon. Cesar leans over the kitchen door to wave his spatula at her, grinning. Jess, behind the counter, is still laughing, grin splitting open his face. He waves too. Autumn, pouring coffee all over a table instead of into a mug, stares, slack-jawed.

A presence appears behind her and she feels Luke's warmth on her back before she twists her head to look at him. He's zipping up his jeans. But his eyebrows are furrowed and he's gone back to grumpy him.

"I told you," he whispers in her ear. It sends shivers rolling down her spine. Okay, maybe she doesn't need that coffee just yet. He takes her by the wrist and tugs her back upstairs, leaving behind the explosion of noise in the diner. Their names float up after them.

If they wanted to keep things quiet, they've just failed. She's pretty sure Babette and Miss Patty were in the diner. By the end of the day, everyone in town will know about it.

She pulls out one of the chairs at his kitchen table and falls into it. "They'll hold a town meeting, won't they?" He chuckles and nods, and she watches the muscles in his back move as he reaches up to rummage through his cupboards. "What are you doing?"