It took me a while to get my motivation back and to find some time to write, but I finally finished Sookie part 2. It, like the first, probably could fit into my other episode extension fic, but I worked it to fit into the premise of "They Can See It." This part takes place the morning after the reconciliation in "So Good Talk." The premise is similar to Sookie part 1. To understand the significance of the end, it may be a good idea to read part 1 first. Two things to credit... First, the author of "Like Wildfire" for the phrase. I also have to credit the awesome people at FF for continuously pointing out everyone's frustration with certain plotlines that we never got to see mentioned on screen again. I thought I would throw a few of them into this fic,…for the purpose of gaining some closure.
Now that Sookie is done, back to the original format for the next one. Next up should be Taylor.
Sookie could see it
It was heading towards late morning, and Sookie was going through all the empty rooms to make sure the complimentary cookies were stocked and the flowers were fresh. She walked down the hall with her imagination in its own little world, dreaming about tonight's fabulous dinner she was going to prepare: duck with wild rice. Just as she was debating which magical spice would grace the roasted bird, she felt someone grab her from behind.
"Sookie!" the voice screeched.
Sookie turned around to see Lorelai with a giddy grin on her face.
Am I still day dreaming? she wondered. Because I haven't seen Lorelai act like this since her and Luke broke up.
"Sookie," Lorelai said again. "Don't you have anything to ask me?"
"Uh, yes, I suppose? What's with the sudden change in spirits? You look perkier than Katie Couric right now."
"What…you mean, you didn't hear?"
"Hear what?"
"Wow, I guess you left for work before Kirk started the public ribbon collection shenanigans."
"Ribbons? Oh no, is this about Luke? Hunny, are you okay? Did he move the boat again? What happened with-"
Lorelai was growing impatient letting Sookie babble on. She was dying to tell her best friend about last night.
"Sookie," she interrupted. "Oh my God, I've gotta get you caught up. Let's go in here and talk."
Lorelai took out her keys, opened vacant room number 7 and sat Sookie down on the bed.
"Luke and I got back together last night!" she blurted out, bouncing up from the bed.
"Lorelai! Oh my God! You waited a whole minute before telling me that? Are you crazy, that's a lead story! Wow! How did I not hear this yet? Word travels like wildfire in this town!"
"You got that part right," Lorelai agreed.
"Oh, wow, I have so many questions. When? How? Oh…start with where!"
"How about I just start from the beginning?"
"Okay, but if you leave out anything important –"
"I won't."
"Okay, good. Hey, Lorelai?"
"Yes?"
"Before you start, I almost forgot to tell you – I am so happy for you guys!"
"I know, Sook. And you know I love you for it."
"Good. Okay, go!"
"Alright, so I was sitting down watching the third rendition in my 'A Star is Born' series."
"Judy Garland?"
"The one and only. So, Judy's solo of 'the man that got away' comes on and I am sitting there, completely depressed, thinking about how I had let Luke get away and just reliving the past five months. All of a sudden I hear a knock on the door."
"Oh, this is getting to the good part!" Sookie chimed in. She was trying her best to keep her excitement under control. Even so, her hands were shaking and her heart was on jump away from landing in her throat.
"Well, when I first heard it I thought it might be you. I mean, Rory went back to Yale to go spend the rest of her spring break with her frisky Yale boy. So I thought maybe she called you to come occupy my poor, pathetic soul. So I sadly pulled myself off the couch and walked to the door. I opened it and – there was Luke, standing there with this look on his face. I seriously couldn't decipher his look – or even get myself to breath for that matter. And I didn't really have time to anyway. Within a second of opening the door he had walked in, grabbed me and kissed me. It was amazing, Sookie. I wanted to laugh, cry, smile, scream, run and stay there forever, all at the same time. It may have been the most aggressive, yet passionate, Luke has ever been. It was honestly the best kiss of my life."
"Ohhhh," Sookie cooed. "Wow, who knew Luke had it in him. Well, I am sure you did."
"Well, there was something just – different about it. Maybe it was because I had just been through one of the most emotionally draining months of my life. And then the guy who I had just been crying over and who hasn't left my mind since we broke up waltzes in, wraps his arms around me, picks me up –"
"Whoa," Sookie stopped her. "He picked you up? Like was there actual lifting involved?"
"Yes, actually, there was a bit."
"Wow, this sounds like it's heading toward 'Bull Durham' intensity."
"Geez, Sookie, you and that movie, I swear!"
"Damn, so no tables involved?"
Lorelai blushed a bit, looked down, and let a small grin creep across her face.
"Ohh," Sookie teased. "So there was a table?"
"Well, not exactly a table. I did hit my back kind of hard on my banister, though," Lorelai answered, rubbing the small of her back.
"Ah, sex on the stairs, this is great!"
"Sookie," Lorelai blushed a little more. She didn't know why, though, considering she is usually the one cracking sex jokes. "No, we didn't have sex on the stairs."
"Damn, always gotta pop the bubble in my imagination."
Lorelai laughed before continuing. Sookie was so cute when she was on the verge of combusting with excitement.
"So, no sex on the stairs. What did you do, exactly?"
"Well, we kissed for what seemed like an eternity. It was so intense and amazing that I lost track of time. Honestly, if you even asked me what day it was – what year it was – I wouldn't have been able to formulate a thought and answer."
"Ah, so romantic, it's like a dream."
"Yeah, it really was. Although, the dream ended kind of strangely when we finally broke apart. The first words that came out of his mouth were 'damn boots.'"
"Damn boots?" Sookie asked with a very confused expression.
"Yeah, I was just as stumped as you are – at first. But then he went on to say that he had spent his entire lunch break and most of the night before staring at the boots he had bought me before we broke up. They were delivered two days after we broke up. He said having them in his apartment as a reminder of me day and night nearly killed him – and his business. So, before he went back down to the diner to serve dinner last night he buried the boots in the back of his closet to try and maintain sanity. And then he told me something I never expected – my mother went to see him last night."
Oh shit, Sookie thought. Why does that woman insist on continually messing up her daughter's life?
"Oh God, is she crazy?" Sookie asked.
"Seriously. But before I had the chance to throw a fit about her being a reason he came to see me, he talked me down. Luke said I was crazy if I actually believed my mother, of all people, would hold that kind of influence over him. She came to tell him that he had "won," I had chosen him, and she was going to stay out of it."
Sookie felt her blood begin to boil. The nerve.
"He had 'won'? What, are you like a prize that pops out of a toy machine and they get to fight over you?"
"Yeah, I wasn't a big fan of the phrasing either. But he did tell me what she said was enough to make him think that maybe I was going through the same hell he was. So he said he went back up to his apartment and dug up the boots – again – and the shirt of his I used to wear to bed every night. He said that this time, he only needed to stare at them for a minute before realizing what he had to do."
"Hm, so your wardrobe drove him to you. Never would have thought that!"
Lorelai laughed a bit. "Interesting way of putting it."
"Oh you know what I meant."
"I gotcha, Sookie."
"Good. Lorelai, whatever drove him to you, I am so happy about it. I swear, you two are some of the most stubborn people I have ever met. That is part of what makes you perfect for each other."
Perfect.
As Lorelai went on about the previous night, Sookie thought back to the morning she found out about their first kiss, almost one year ago.
I was so damn excited. I knew they were perfect for each other even before they knew it. Stupid kids just refused to turn around and see it. Took them so damn long, but when they did finally get together, it was like the stars and planets aligned and everything in Lorelai's life finally made sense. I have never seen Lorelai let a guy in to her life so fast. Actually, I have never seen her let a guy in – period. Before Max, she wouldn't even let a guy in her house. And when she was with him she didn't even want to sleep in her room when he was there or give him a key, and he was her fiancé! And then there was Jason. He got about as far into Lorelai's life as Germany got into England. And of course, there is always Chris. Make that there always WAS Chris. Thank God Lorelai didn't fall into that trap again. But Lorelai still kept Chris at a distance. Even when she was 16, she didn't want to marry him and she took Rory so she could raise her daughter on her own terms. For the past few years, though, Chris has tried to creep back into Lorelai's life again. I mean, the guy proposed to her, and she said no. That position in her life wasn't reserved for him anymore. I don't think it ever was. It was reserved for someone better. Someone more caring – someone who would be willing and able to take care of Lorelai for the rest of her life. It was reserved for someone like Luke. Scratch that. That middle Lorelai told me she wants so desperately isn't reserved for someone like Luke – it is reserved FOR Luke.
Lorelai noticed Sookie was getting that silly grin that always came across her face whenever Lorelai was babbling about Luke and how great he was.
"Ah, crap, I am rambling on here about this, aren't I?" Lorelai said, with a hint of self-consciousness in her voice.
"Oh, no sweetheart, I was just reminiscing."
"Ah, yes, reminiscing. I've done a lot of that in the past month," Lorelai admitted, her face suddenly becoming serious.
"Well, like I told you before, when a relationship is right, things work out."
"Speaking of things you told me before. Sookie, do you remember when we talked the day after Luke and I went on our first date?"
Do I remember? Geez, woman, of course I remember! When your best friend fills you in on a date that had eight years of build up with her soul mate, you are going to remember every detail!
Sookie spoke, "Yes, of course I remember."
"Well, Sookie…I saw it."
"You saw…?"
"It."
"It?'
"Yes, it."
"Okay, your being about as vague as Bush in a political debate. I'm going to need some details to fill in the blanks here."
"I pictured it, just like you said. I was lying there with Luke's arms wrapped around me, and I saw us, 40 years down the line, living together. Well, we weren't in a Florida retirement community like you saw with Jackson. But I saw us grow old together. I saw the middle. Before last night, I had always wondered about the middle, and imagined it, but it had never been so clear…so close…so real."
"So, no more running away from what you two know is right? No more being afraid of the future and real commitment?"
"Nope. We promised each other that. We know we have things to work on. But we decided the only way to do that is together. This is it."
Sookie took a deep breath, and then let out a sigh of relief.
She's finally there. She's finally going to get to experience what it's like to have the whole package.
Sookie could ALWAYS see it.