Taken In - GG, AU, Gen, G
Title: Taken In (A Discussion)
Author: Piratelf
Rating: G
Fandom: Gilmore Girls (GG)
Genre: Gen AU
Disclaimer: I do not own the Gilmore Girls, they used to belong to the Palladinos, I'm not real sure who gets the check now. But it's still not me!
Beta: Nadnewraid
Xposted to: gg_fic
Author's Notes: I was just thinking, what if Luke had to raise Dean, instead of Jess? I don't go into any long explanations in here, I just drop hints about what has happened and when. I think it's more interesting that way. I intended to write about Luke and Dean, but then Lorelai came in and took over. What a shock, eh? *LOL*
“This is STUPID! You KNOW I can handle this!”
“That’s not the point.”
“What IS the point?!”
“Dean. I said no. That’s it. The discussion’s over.”
Luke tensed slightly, ready for this confrontation to escalate. Dean’s hands balled into fists and he opened his mouth to say something, then apparently decided against it and spat out, “FINE!” through clenched teeth. Then turned on his heel and walked, not stomped, toward his room. Luke was actually pretty impressed with the way Dean was holding his temper, until he slammed the door hard enough to shake the clock off the wall, and probably rattle the chairs in the diner. Still, not bad for a seventeen year old.
Luke let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and rubbed his eyes as he walked back down the stairs to finish mopping the floor. It was an hour to closing on a Tuesday night. He thought he might just close early, there weren't likely to be any more customers anyway. Most of Stars Hollow would have been at home in their pajamas, falling asleep in front of the TV by then. So he was a little surprised to see Lorelai as he opened the door. “What are you doing here?” he growled.
She was used to the growling, so she ignored it. “This is my performance art piece, girl waiting for coffee.”
Luke grabbed the pot and poured her a cup. “Why do you need coffee at nine o’clock at night?”
She slid onto a stool at the counter. “Why did all the silverware just do the earthquake dance?”
“Oh you heard that, huh?”
“Heard, felt and saw it.”
“He’s pretty strong for a skinny kid.”
“So, what’s going on?”
Luke shrugged. “He wants to get a second job.”
“And?”
“And I said no.”
“Why? What does he want to be, a drug dealer?”
“No.”
“Oh, too bad, Stars Hollow could use a nice crack house. Maybe next to the Market, one stop shopping.”
“He wants to take the bell boy position at the Inn.”
“What’s wrong with that? We’d love to have him. It’s between Kirk and Kirk right now, and Kirk’s looking better all the time.”
“There’s nothing wrong with it, but he already has a job.”
“So? Maybe he wants to make some extra dough to spend on his honey!” she grinned, speaking of her daughter.
Luke just shook his head at her.
“No, really, what’s the problem, Luke? Most people would love it if their 17 year old would get ONE job, much less two.”
“It’s too much. He’s got a job, he’s got school, he’s got Rory, he’s got softball on Saturdays, he plays basketball with his friends on Thursday nights, he hangs out at his garage lot and messes with whatever he’s building out there. It’s enough. Kids need to have some free time. And a little extra studying wouldn’t hurt him in the math department either.”
“But if he really wants to, I don’t see why he shouldn’t. It’s not like he’s applying for Help Wanted at NASA. It’s just a few more hours a week.”
Luke poured her more coffee. “You just don’t get the situation.”
“What’s the situation?”
Luke sighed. He grabbed a cup, filled it with hot water and threw in a tea bag. Then he walked around the counter and sat at a table, motioning for Lorelai to join him. He threw a glance toward the door to his apartment and moved to another table farther away.
Lorelai sat down across from him. “Do we wait for the cone of silence to descend now?”
“He’s trying to run away.” Luke said leaning in and speaking softly.
“Run away? From here? I’m pretty sure anyone in Stars Hollow who saw Dean with a handkerchief tied on the end of a stick would stop him.”
“No, no no! I don’t mean like run away as in ‘run away’. I mean, he’s trying to get away from his problems by filling up his time.”
“Ooooh, so he doesn’t have time to think, you mean.”
“Right, exactly.”
“But if he doesn’t have time to think, then he doesn’t have time to brood. Not brooding’s good, right?”
Luke took off his cap and ran his hands through his hair. “I don’t know. His grief counselor says that’s the problem. He’s NOT brooding. He’s not grieving. She says he needs to take time to reflect and absorb and process. And you know I hate words like reflect and absorb and process, so you can imagine how much fun it is for me talking to her. I have to keep pinching my arm just to stay awake.”
“Dean seems fine, maybe she doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”
“No. I wish it was that simple, but, I think she’s right.” He shot another look a the door and leaned closer to Lorelai. “He doesn’t cry.”
“Well, he IS a guy, maybe you just haven’t seen him.”
“It’s a small apartment Lorelai, I’d know. And he doesn’t talk about them. He won’t go down that street. Everything they salvaged from the house is still in the packing boxes. It’s been four months and he hasn’t even opened them to see what’s there.”
“Well, it’s a hard thing, losing your entire family Luke, and to do it at 17? He’s gotta be devastated.”
“I know that, I know. But working more isn’t gonna help him get through that.”
Lorelai nodded, “I can see your point, or rather the grief counselor’s point, which you are clinging to like a monkey with a Velcro banana.”
“You got that right.” They clinked cups. “Some days I just hope I’m not screwing him up too bad.”
Lorelai smiled. “I’m sure you’re not Luke, all teenage boys put squirrels in the freezer.”
“Shut up.” He took a sip of his tea. “So, how’s Rory?”
“Rory’s good.” Now it was her turn to whisper, “She’s thinking about asking Dean to take her to the Chilton Junior Prom.”
“Really?” Luke looked partly pleased and partly alarmed. “How much does that cost?”
“Uh, I’m not sure. We could split it, they could go dutch.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Rory’s not gonna go dutch to her own prom. Dean would never go for that anyway. I’m just asking so I know if I have to mortgage the diner.”
“I don’t think it’s that much. Couple thousand maybe. For the cheap seats. No dinner, no dancing and no lifting your eyes when the rich kids walk past.”
“What does he have to wear? Is it a tux? He has to wear a tux, doesn’t he?”
“You’re kinda jumping the gun here, mister, he hasn’t even accepted yet.”
“You know he’ll go. If Rory wants him to, he’ll go. He’d go to the freakin’ ballet for that girl.”
“Hey, maybe Dean likes the ballet.”
“If they added monster trucks, maybe.”
They heard the door that led to the apartment close and turned toward it. Dean stood there in a new t-shirt and black sweatpants. Everything he owned was new now.
“Hi, Dean.”
“Hi, Lorelai,” he nodded and went toward the kitchen.
“I thought I told you to wear shoes down here!” Luke called after him. He was ignored.
“Bet you lose a lot of inventory this way,” Lorelai chuckled.
“He’s not going in there to eat,” Luke said, frowning.
“What’s he doing?”
“Checking the grill and the gas lines.”
“Oh,” Lorelai answered, quietly.
“Every night. He can’t go to sleep until he does.”
“Poor Dean.”
“I know.”
They sipped from their cups in silence, each thinking about a boy trying to fight his worst nightmare after it had already come true. After a few minutes, Dean padded quietly out of the kitchen. “Night, Lorelai.”
“Night, Dean.”
“You going to bed?” Luke called.
Dean was just reaching for the door handle. He stopped but didn’t turn around, “Yeah.”
Luke thought of ten or twelve things he could say just then, but settled for, “Sleep tight.”
Dean nodded once and went through the door.
“I think I should be going,” Lorelai said, taking a last sip of coffee.
“Yeah, I have to finish this floor and get the lights out before any more performance artists decide to pop in.” Luke picked up the cups and stood.
Lorelai reached out and put her hand on his arm. “Luke, forget the floor.”
“What?”
“Listen, I don’t claim to know everything about this parenting thing, but I do know that you should be going right now too.” She shifted her eyes to the ceiling, “Up there.”
“He doesn’t wanna talk to me.”
“No, but he wants you with him.”
“Where are you getting that from?”
“Luke, read the signs. He checks the kitchen because he gets scared, at night, that something might happen while he’s asleep? Hello? You’re right, he probably doesn’t want to talk to you right now. And he would never tell you this himself. But I guarantee you he feels a lot better about going to sleep if he knows you are close by. God, Luke, wouldn’t you?”
“You really think so?”
“I’d stake my morning cup of coffee on it.”
Luke frowned thoughtfully at the door. “Yeah, okay. Makes sense, I guess.”
Lorelai leaned close and kissed his cheek. “Good thinking, Cool Hand.”
Luke smiled at the kiss. “See you in the morning, Lorelai.”
Taken In - Not Good Enough
Gilmore Girls Fic
Author: Piratelf
Rating: G
Fandom: Gilmore Girls (GG)
Genre: Gen AU
Disclaimer: I do not own the Gilmore Girls, they used to belong to the Palladinos, I'm not real sure who gets the check now. But it's still not me!
Beta: Nadnewraid
Xposted to: gg_fic
Author's Notes: I was just thinking, what if Luke had to raise Dean, instead of Jess? I don't go into any long explanations in here, I just drop hints about what has happened and when. I think it's more interesting that way. I intended to write about Luke and Dean, but then Lorelai came in and took over. What a shock, eh? *LOL*
“This is STUPID! You KNOW I can handle this!”
“That’s not the point.”
“What IS the point?!”
“Dean. I said no. That’s it. The discussion’s over.”
Luke tensed slightly, ready for this confrontation to escalate. Dean’s hands balled into fists and he opened his mouth to say something, then apparently decided against it and spat out, “FINE!” through clenched teeth. Then turned on his heel and walked, not stomped, toward his room. Luke was actually pretty impressed with the way Dean was holding his temper, until he slammed the door hard enough to shake the clock off the wall, and probably rattle the chairs in the diner. Still, not bad for a seventeen year old.
Luke let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and rubbed his eyes as he walked back down the stairs to finish mopping the floor. It was an hour to closing on a Tuesday night. He thought he might just close early, there weren't likely to be any more customers anyway. Most of Stars Hollow would have been at home in their pajamas, falling asleep in front of the TV by then. So he was a little surprised to see Lorelai as he opened the door. “What are you doing here?” he growled.
She was used to the growling, so she ignored it. “This is my performance art piece, girl waiting for coffee.”
Luke grabbed the pot and poured her a cup. “Why do you need coffee at nine o’clock at night?”
She slid onto a stool at the counter. “Why did all the silverware just do the earthquake dance?”
“Oh you heard that, huh?”
“Heard, felt and saw it.”
“He’s pretty strong for a skinny kid.”
“So, what’s going on?”
Luke shrugged. “He wants to get a second job.”
“And?”
“And I said no.”
“Why? What does he want to be, a drug dealer?”
“No.”
“Oh, too bad, Stars Hollow could use a nice crack house. Maybe next to the Market, one stop shopping.”
“He wants to take the bell boy position at the Inn.”
“What’s wrong with that? We’d love to have him. It’s between Kirk and Kirk right now, and Kirk’s looking better all the time.”
“There’s nothing wrong with it, but he already has a job.”
“So? Maybe he wants to make some extra dough to spend on his honey!” she grinned, speaking of her daughter.
Luke just shook his head at her.
“No, really, what’s the problem, Luke? Most people would love it if their 17 year old would get ONE job, much less two.”
“It’s too much. He’s got a job, he’s got school, he’s got Rory, he’s got softball on Saturdays, he plays basketball with his friends on Thursday nights, he hangs out at his garage lot and messes with whatever he’s building out there. It’s enough. Kids need to have some free time. And a little extra studying wouldn’t hurt him in the math department either.”
“But if he really wants to, I don’t see why he shouldn’t. It’s not like he’s applying for Help Wanted at NASA. It’s just a few more hours a week.”
Luke poured her more coffee. “You just don’t get the situation.”
“What’s the situation?”
Luke sighed. He grabbed a cup, filled it with hot water and threw in a tea bag. Then he walked around the counter and sat at a table, motioning for Lorelai to join him. He threw a glance toward the door to his apartment and moved to another table farther away.
Lorelai sat down across from him. “Do we wait for the cone of silence to descend now?”
“He’s trying to run away.” Luke said leaning in and speaking softly.
“Run away? From here? I’m pretty sure anyone in Stars Hollow who saw Dean with a handkerchief tied on the end of a stick would stop him.”
“No, no no! I don’t mean like run away as in ‘run away’. I mean, he’s trying to get away from his problems by filling up his time.”
“Ooooh, so he doesn’t have time to think, you mean.”
“Right, exactly.”
“But if he doesn’t have time to think, then he doesn’t have time to brood. Not brooding’s good, right?”
Luke took off his cap and ran his hands through his hair. “I don’t know. His grief counselor says that’s the problem. He’s NOT brooding. He’s not grieving. She says he needs to take time to reflect and absorb and process. And you know I hate words like reflect and absorb and process, so you can imagine how much fun it is for me talking to her. I have to keep pinching my arm just to stay awake.”
“Dean seems fine, maybe she doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”
“No. I wish it was that simple, but, I think she’s right.” He shot another look a the door and leaned closer to Lorelai. “He doesn’t cry.”
“Well, he IS a guy, maybe you just haven’t seen him.”
“It’s a small apartment Lorelai, I’d know. And he doesn’t talk about them. He won’t go down that street. Everything they salvaged from the house is still in the packing boxes. It’s been four months and he hasn’t even opened them to see what’s there.”
“Well, it’s a hard thing, losing your entire family Luke, and to do it at 17? He’s gotta be devastated.”
“I know that, I know. But working more isn’t gonna help him get through that.”
Lorelai nodded, “I can see your point, or rather the grief counselor’s point, which you are clinging to like a monkey with a Velcro banana.”
“You got that right.” They clinked cups. “Some days I just hope I’m not screwing him up too bad.”
Lorelai smiled. “I’m sure you’re not Luke, all teenage boys put squirrels in the freezer.”
“Shut up.” He took a sip of his tea. “So, how’s Rory?”
“Rory’s good.” Now it was her turn to whisper, “She’s thinking about asking Dean to take her to the Chilton Junior Prom.”
“Really?” Luke looked partly pleased and partly alarmed. “How much does that cost?”
“Uh, I’m not sure. We could split it, they could go dutch.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Rory’s not gonna go dutch to her own prom. Dean would never go for that anyway. I’m just asking so I know if I have to mortgage the diner.”
“I don’t think it’s that much. Couple thousand maybe. For the cheap seats. No dinner, no dancing and no lifting your eyes when the rich kids walk past.”
“What does he have to wear? Is it a tux? He has to wear a tux, doesn’t he?”
“You’re kinda jumping the gun here, mister, he hasn’t even accepted yet.”
“You know he’ll go. If Rory wants him to, he’ll go. He’d go to the freakin’ ballet for that girl.”
“Hey, maybe Dean likes the ballet.”
“If they added monster trucks, maybe.”
They heard the door that led to the apartment close and turned toward it. Dean stood there in a new t-shirt and black sweatpants. Everything he owned was new now.
“Hi, Dean.”
“Hi, Lorelai,” he nodded and went toward the kitchen.
“I thought I told you to wear shoes down here!” Luke called after him. He was ignored.
“Bet you lose a lot of inventory this way,” Lorelai chuckled.
“He’s not going in there to eat,” Luke said, frowning.
“What’s he doing?”
“Checking the grill and the gas lines.”
“Oh,” Lorelai answered, quietly.
“Every night. He can’t go to sleep until he does.”
“Poor Dean.”
“I know.”
They sipped from their cups in silence, each thinking about a boy trying to fight his worst nightmare after it had already come true. After a few minutes, Dean padded quietly out of the kitchen. “Night, Lorelai.”
“Night, Dean.”
“You going to bed?” Luke called.
Dean was just reaching for the door handle. He stopped but didn’t turn around, “Yeah.”
Luke thought of ten or twelve things he could say just then, but settled for, “Sleep tight.”
Dean nodded once and went through the door.
“I think I should be going,” Lorelai said, taking a last sip of coffee.
“Yeah, I have to finish this floor and get the lights out before any more performance artists decide to pop in.” Luke picked up the cups and stood.
Lorelai reached out and put her hand on his arm. “Luke, forget the floor.”
“What?”
“Listen, I don’t claim to know everything about this parenting thing, but I do know that you should be going right now too.” She shifted her eyes to the ceiling, “Up there.”
“He doesn’t wanna talk to me.”
“No, but he wants you with him.”
“Where are you getting that from?”
“Luke, read the signs. He checks the kitchen because he gets scared, at night, that something might happen while he’s asleep? Hello? You’re right, he probably doesn’t want to talk to you right now. And he would never tell you this himself. But I guarantee you he feels a lot better about going to sleep if he knows you are close by. God, Luke, wouldn’t you?”
“You really think so?”
“I’d stake my morning cup of coffee on it.”
Luke frowned thoughtfully at the door. “Yeah, okay. Makes sense, I guess.”
Lorelai leaned close and kissed his cheek. “Good thinking, Cool Hand.”
Luke smiled at the kiss. “See you in the morning, Lorelai.”
Taken In - Not Good Enough
Gilmore Girls Fic