Title: Baseball
Author:  Megan Reilly
Rating: PG
Summary: Lorelai and Luke spend an evening together, after Sookie raises a question about Luke's baseball cap.
Disclaimer: Gilmore Girls and its characters do not belong to me. This story, however, does.
Archiving statement: OK for Mystic's archive. Other archives, NO. Please do not archive this story without my permission.

Sookie was staring at Luke's baseball cap. Lorelai noticed this, and finished her sentence. "...So then I decided that maybe I'd cut my hair. And dye it purple. Then maybe shave it. Into a mohawk. What do you think?"

"Mm-hm," Sookie replied, the same sort of distracted response Lorelai might have gotten if she'd interrupted Sookie during the crucial moment of inflating meringue. Or a souffle.

"Sookie!"

"Yes!" Sookie jumped, and looked at Lorelai.

"Is there something about you and Luke that Jackson and I should know about?" Lorelai asked.

Sookie glanced at Luke, who was flipping burgers on the grill. "No. No!" Sookie protested. "I was just thinking about baseball."

"Really?" Lorelai asked, because it seemed unlikely.

"Do you think Luke takes off his baseball cap when he goes to bed?" Sookie asked.

"Yeah," Lorelai answered, without hesitation. "Why wouldn't he? Nobody goes to sleep in a hat. Not even Abe Lincoln." She stopped for a second to think. "Why did Honest Abe wear that big hat, anyway? He wasn't tall enough?"

"I think it was the fashion," Sookie suggested.

"Screw fashion! When you're ten foot nine, you don't really need a big old top hat."

"Stovepipe," Luke said.

Sookie and Lorelai glanced at each other, slightly worried. Had he been listening the entire time? He hadn't so much as looked up from the meat frying on the grill, so his face didn't give them any sort of clue. After a moment, he finished up and went to take a couple of plates to a couple sitting near the window.

"Anyway," Lorelai continued in a hushed voice, "I think Luke wears the hat for cosmetic reasons, so there wouldn't be any reason to wear it to --" She stopped as she realized something. "You did mean to sleep, didn't you?"

Sookie giggled. "You know how some guys keep their boots on. Or their socks, or their hat."

Suddenly Lorelai couldn't get the image of Jackson's striped, knit cap out of her mind. It was worrisome. "I don't know," Lorelai said, trying to think of anything but Sookie's boyfriend. The more she tried to think about dirty dishes or salt, the worse it got. "Why ask me, anyway?"

Sookie got that fake-innocent look on her face. "Oh, I don't know," she said, which meant she did know. Lorelai knew, too.

"Sookie, I don't know anything about Luke. I'm sure everyone in town knows more about Luke than I do. Ask Taylor, he can probably tell you."

"That is so disturbing," Sookie said.

"Yeah, it was, kind of, wasn't it?" Lorelai gave it another thought. Just because Taylor was the town busybody, it didn't mean he went around peeking in windows when people were doing personal things. Although he might, you never knew.

Luke returned to stand behind the counter. "You know," Sookie said, "I just remembered I'm making pudding for dinner tonight at the inn and that takes forever to prepare, so I..." She scooted toward the door.

"Pudding?" Lorelai asked, but Sookie was gone, so she was talking to herself. And to Luke, presumably. "What's to prepare? Open the box, add milk, put in fridge. Bill Cosby could tell you that."

"What were you two whispering about while I was gone?" Luke asked, his voice gruff as though he was trying to elicit a confession.

"Taylor being a peeping tom," Lorelai said quickly, and gulped down the rest of her coffee, smacking the cup back down on the counter. "Look at that, I'm done." She stood up.

"You're blushing," Luke said.

"I am not! I do not blush!" Lorelai informed him.

"Your face is turning red," Luke told her.

"It is not!" Lorelai insisted, digging through her purse to try to find some money to pay for her meal. She located some and looked up and it seemed like that blue baseball cap -- the one she'd given him! -- filled her entire field of vision. She glanced down, but it didn't help, because she was just picturing Luke up in that little apartment of his upstairs, getting ready to have sex.

"Hey, Lorelai, remember that poker game we started?" Luke asked nonchalantly as he got her change from the cash register.

"What about it?" Lorelai asked, fidgeting. All she wanted to do was run straight home and take a nice, cold shower. Although returning to the inn and having a conversation with Michel would have the same effect.

"I was wondering if maybe you were up for another game? Tonight's PTA night, so it'll be pretty dead around here." He looked her in the eye after several seconds of looking at the dimes and nickels in his hand as though he expected them to do tricks.

"Sure," Lorelai said, feeling breathless. She smiled. Luke smiled. He tried to hand her the change, but she missed it, and it spilled all over the floor. Luke bent down to pick up what fell on his side of the divider and cracked his head on the counter coming back up. "Oh, are you okay?" Lorelai asked. His hat had been knocked askew on his head and Lorelai fought the strong urge to pick it up and resituate it. She couldn't, though, because she could hardly even breathe.

"Fine. A bit dazed, that's all." He put Lorelai's change safely on the counter.

She picked it up. "Bye, Luke."

"See you later, Lorelai."

She could feel those words resonating through her body the entire drive back to the Inn.

"I can do this," Lorelai said, facing herself in the mirror later that day. After all, it wasn't like she was going on a date. She was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. No special effort. Not even the seductive lipgloss. Just the plain old lipgloss. "Baseball caps are not erotic," she whispered to herself. She wasn't that convincing. "Damn Sookie."

"Who are you talking to?" Rory stopped at Lorelai's door to ask.

"The ghost. That lives in my closet and borrows my clothes. Oh look, my blue dress is still here," Lorelai said, turning to the closet and pulling out the hanger. "Isn't that lucky you got here before the ghost made off with it?"

"Very lucky," Rory said, with a small smile.

"So, what are you and Dean up to tonight?" Lorelai asked.

"Nothing," Rory said. Lorelai looked at her. "Nothing much," Rory specified. "Just a movie. Maybe some popcorn. The usual." Rory looked uncomfortable talking about it. Cute, thought Lorelai. He'd been her boyfriend for a while now and it still made her embarrassed to talk about it. She would never have to worry about Rory being a bad girl, Rory would be too embarrassed to do anything truly bad like the things Lorelai had done. "What about you?" Rory asked.

"I was thinking about getting some coffee," Lorelai admitted.

"You know, Dean asked me about the logic behind having a coffeemaker when we always go to Luke's for coffee," Rory said.

"Dean doesn't understand," Lorelai said. "But you can change that! You could have a blind taste test."

"I think Gilmores just have a more refined palate," Rory said.

"Now you sound like my mother," Lorelai teased. She looked at her daughter and smiled. "That dress is going to look beautiful on you, sweetie." Rory glanced down at the dress, which was the same blue as her eyes. She looked surprised. Lorelai put down her brush and turned out the lights in her bedroom. "Anyway, I should go."

Rory frowned as they went down the stairs together. "Are you having coffee at a specific time?" she asked.

"No," Lorelai said. "Why?"

"Because you're acting weird," Rory said. "Are you going out on a date?"

"Do I look like I'm going on a date?" Lorelai asked, indicating her casual clothing.

"You are wearing the Offspring concert tee that's a little too tight," Rory pointed out.

"It is not!" Lorelai protested, looking down at her chest. Her shirt was not too tight.

"Maybe you should go change, young lady," Rory said playfully.

"What time is Dean coming?" Lorelai asked, glancing at the clock, which said 8:04.

"Eight," Rory said.

"Good thing he's always late," Lorelai pointed out with a smile. Rory saw the time and scrambled for her room. Lorelai picked up her keys and headed for the door. "Later, babe!" she called to Rory.

Lorelai walked the few blocks over to Luke's. From a distance, she could see the flurry of cars gathering at the school for the PTA meeting. The PTA was a big deal in Stars Hollow. Even people who didn't have kids went, for the amusement. Lorelai looked toward the diner and saw that as promised, there was no one in the entire place.

Except Luke.

In his baseball cap.

Lorelai took a moment to compose herself and flush all images of tousled sheets and baseball caps behind, then pushed the door open with slightly damp palms.

"Starting to think you weren't coming," Luke said, his expression brightening when he saw her.

"Minor fashion emergency," Lorelai said. He had the coffee ready for her by the time she crossed the restaurant. "Thank you." She sipped it. "Mm, do a taste a secret ingredient in this coffee?"

"I was hoping to win this time," Luke said.

"Ha! Little did you know that alcohol only heightens my poker-playing prowess," Lorelai said. She was lying. She could already feel it going to her head, and she set the cup down on the counter, determined not to pick it up again. The hard stuff made her do bad things. Well, not bad. Naughty. And if she did them with Luke, they'd never be able to eat there again and be restricted to Al's pancake world, and she and Rory would both starve to death.

Luke dealt the cards, and for a while they played in near-silence. "So, you like baseball," Lorelai remarked innocently. He looked at her. "The hat," she said.

"You gave me this hat," Luke said.

"Yes, but it's not like I'd never seen you wear a baseball cap before," Lorelai pointed out. "It wasn't a revolutionary idea." Suddenly she wondered what had happened to the green hat he used to wear. She'd given him the blue one as a backup, but she'd never seen the green one again.

"Not a lot of other kinds of hats," Luke said.

"Why wear a hat at all?" Lorelai replied.

"You're right, I could wear a hairnet," Luke said.

The image of Luke with a hair net pulled down to the middle of his forehead like the lady in the cafeteria from when she was in high school made Lorelai laugh out loud. And Luke chuckled, too. "There's cowboy hats," Lorelai said.

Luke shook his head like he thought she was crazy.

"So you don't wear a hat to cover up your...hair?" Lorelai asked. It came out more awkward than she'd intended and she reached desperately for the coffee to save her. It hit her like a mouthful of fire. She'd forgotten it was spiked.

"What are you trying to say?" Luke asked.

"Nothing," Lorelai replied, trying to hide the fact that her eyes were watering. "More coffee?" She handed the cup to Luke, who dutifully refilled it. It's okay, Lorelai told herself, although her heart was beating too fast. They give coffee to drunk people to sober them up. If you mix them, it cancels it out. She looked at her cards, but all thoughts of strategy had flown out of her head. Lorelai looked up again in time to see Luke pouring more of the hard stuff into her coffee.

"I wanted it straight," Lorelai said.

"That works, too," Luke said. But he must have misunderstood, because he took the coffee from her and poured her a pure glass. Then he poured one for himself. Fascinated, Lorelai watched him drink it. He gave her a quizzical look.

"I've never seen you drink before," Lorelai said.

"I don't, usually," Luke admitted.

"Tryin' to get your courage up?" Lorelai quipped, before she realized it was the wrong thing to say. She downed her drink, then regretted it. "I really shouldn't have done that," she said, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand.

"Why not?" Luke asked.

"Alcohol has this bad way of making me...loose," Lorelai admitted. Luke's eyebrow went up. She had to look at her cards again. "In my younger, wilder days," Lorelai added, trying to save face, even though those younger wilder days extended to as recently as Christopher's visit. "So, you never said whether you liked baseball."

"Of course I like baseball," Luke told her.

"Well, yeah, it's not like you're wearing a golf hat," Lorelai said. Did they have golf hats? "Or a polo hat."

"A polo hat?"

"Like Prince Charles has," Lorelai said.

"I guess I'm not familiar with that part of Prince Charles' wardrobe," Luke admitted. He tossed down his cards. "Fold."

Lorelai scooped the pennies they'd been playing for into her pile. She toyed with the notion of arranging them, then gave up. Too much trouble. "Isn't it interesting how all the good cliches about sex come from baseball?" Lorelai noted.

When she looked up, Luke was halfway across the room. As though he'd jumped there like a gazelle. But, being Lorelai Gilmore, she couldn't just let a stupid comment lie. No, she had to add to it. "I mean, like 'strike out' or 'hit a home run' or all those bases..." She watched Luke turn the sign around to "Closed" and twist the lock on the door. Then he hit the switch and the lights dimmed and Lorelai jumped. "What are you doing?"

"Closing up," Luke said, as though it was the most natural thing in the world. He ambled back to the counter and started shuffling the cards. "Thought this might be safer with the door locked."

"What?" Lorelai asked, thinking he meant, talking about baseball and sex.

"Gambling," Luke replied, tossing out a couple of pennies and picking up the cards he'd dealt himself.

"It's just for pennies," Lorelai pointed out.

"Still illegal in this state," Luke said.

"Then maybe we should close the curtains," Lorelai suggested. Luke glanced up, as though agreeing, so Lorelai slid off the stood she was sitting on. The floor seemed uneven for a second. "God, what did you put in the coffee, Everclear?" she asked, pulling the gingham curtains closed. "Wait, Everclear's a band." She shook her head, unable to recall from her high school days the name of the fabled 190-proof booze.

"So where'd we leave off?" Luke asked when she got back.

Sex, Lorelai thought. "Do you ever take your hat off?" she asked.

"What's the fascination with my damn hat?" Luke demanded.

"Sookie was curious. She asked me," Lorelai said.

Luke pulled it from his head and tossed it. Its bill gave it lift and it sailed across the room like a frisbee. He ran his hands through what was undeniably hat-hair. "Happy?" Luke demanded.

Lorelai's lips curved into a smile. "Very," she stated.

Luke looked at her, his eyes bright. "Wanna play strip poker?" he asked.

"There is not enough booze in that bottle," Lorelai answered without missing a beat. She thought the matter had been settled, but then she looked up and there was Luke, not looking very much like Luke at all. He looked strange without his head covered up. Like he was going to do something that involved not wearing a hat. Like take off his clothes and have a shower. Or have sex.

No! Lorelai scolded herself. Bad girl! There was no way she was going to slink into the kitchen of the inn tomorrow morning and have to confess to Sookie that she now knew the answer to her precise question. This was just Luke. But she couldn't seem to convince herself.

"I think...I need to use your bathroom," Lorelai said, staggering to her feet again. She realized she'd never been to the bathroom at Luke's before. Didn't even know if he had one.

"It's upstairs," Luke said. She must have looked confused.

"Right. Okay. Back in a sec," Lorelai said, going up the stairs to what she knew was Luke's office-slash-apartment. It was strange being up there, she thought, as she had thought the only other time she'd been up there. But then it had been strange because Rachel was there, and Rachel was Luke's girlfriend. Now it was just strange.

Impulse won out and on the way to the bathroom, she opened the top drawer of the dresser. Sock drawer, Lorelai thought. It's fair game. If people let you use their bathrooms, they had to expect you to look in the sock drawer. Lorelai looked down. There were socks. Tube socks, the kind with three stripes at the top. "Athletic stripes" they called them, even though she didn't think she'd ever seen an athlete wearing such socks. If athletes did wear them, they could make them with red and blue stripes for the Olympics. There were a couple of lonely pairs of black socks shoved in the back of the drawer.

Lorelai was going to shut the drawer when she saw the corner of a white envelope poking up amidst the socks. Knowing she shouldn't, she pulled it out. Inside were black and white photographs. She almost put them back, worried they'd be pictures of Luke and Rachel. Not what she wanted to see just then.

But these photographs were older. Black and white because of their age, not due to their artisticness. In them, she recognized the Stars Hollow. The trees were smaller, the cars looked different, but it was the same town. And there was the diner, with its familiar "William's Hardware" sign out front. But these pictures were from when it was a hardware store. A row of people lined up in front, like the stonefaced pioneers in her own old family photographs, which she hadn't seen for many years. A man and several sons, standing in front of the hardware store.

Luke, his brothers, and his dad.

Lorelai shoved the envelope back in the drawer and went into the bathroom. She turned on the tap and lowered her head to splash water on her face. She had just enough time to complete the maneuver before Luke reached the top of the stairs. She hoped he hadn't heard the drawer slam.

"You all right?" Luke asked, leaning against the door of the bathroom, which she'd left open.

"Yeah," Lorelai said, shutting off the tap.

"Seemed like you were gone for a long time. I just wanted to make sure..." Luke trailed off, looking like he felt awkward about it. He took a step to go. "I didn't mean to interrupt."

"I was finished," Lorelai said. For good measure, she reached for the handle on the toilet to flush. The lid was down; he'd never know. But nothing happened.

"You have to jiggle the handle," Luke said, stepping into the small bathroom with her. He reached past her and shook the handle, and the water began its familiar rushing sound.

"Thanks," Lorelai said, and had to laugh.

"What?" Luke asked.

"This place used to be a hardware store, which means presumably you would know how to fix things, and you don't," Lorelai said.

"Well, I'm used to it," Luke told her.

"No big deal," Lorelai said. She couldn't stop the smile, although she knew it was unwarranted. Sometimes the things that amused her were not really that amusing. "God knows there's enough crazy things at my house that need fixing." She flipped her hair back over her shoulder. "What time is it?"

"Rory have you on a curfew?" Luke asked, teasing her. He raised his hand to check his watch and came centimeters from touching her, as they were still standing in the small space.

"No, I just...there was a movie I wanted to catch on TV later. But it's no big deal," Lorelai added as she realized how incredibly rude that was. "I can always rent it or get a copy from Sookie or something."

"You know, I have a TV," Luke said.

"Do you now?" Lorelai asked. Flirting. It made Luke smile.

"It's over by the couch." If she didn't know better, she would think Luke was flirting back.

"Interesting development," Lorelai said.

"Lorelai," Luke said in a soft voice that made her jump. He was gazing at her. And Luke didn't gaze. Not usually.

"Maybe we should get out of the bathroom, huh?" Lorelai suggested. She took two quick steps and was out. She sat down primly on the couch.

"What movie?" Luke asked.

Lorelai smiled, feeling embarrassed by her choice. "Oh, it's nothing...just a TV movie..."

"What channel?" Luke asked, turning on the TV and settling on the couch next to her.

Lorelai wished she hadn't brought it up. "Seven," she answered. He pushed the buttons on the remote control. A shameful television movie staring trashy, out-of-work soap stars came up on the screen.

"Is this Danielle Steel?" Luke asked, keeping his voice even.

"Close," Lorelai offered. "Really, it's no big deal. I'm sure Sookie's taping it, I can borrow --"

"It's fine," Luke told her.

"No, seriously, I don't want to watch it anyway --" Lorelai reached for the remote control, but Luke wouldn't let her have it. And it was too late. They'd gone to a commercial and the announcer was saying, "Based on the novel by V.C. Andrews --"

"V.C. Andrews," Luke said, and he was trying not to laugh. Lorelai could tell.

"I told you we didn't have to watch it," Lorelai said. She grabbed for the remote control again and managed to turn the television off. Plunging the room into near-darkness. And to reach the remote, she was practically laying across Luke. On his couch. In the dark.

"You don't seem the type," Luke said, and she wasn't sure they were talking about crappy novels anymore.

"Everyone's the type," Lorelai breathed, and then either she kissed him, or he kissed her. She wasn't really sure, but there was definitely kissing going on. Lots of it. Very nice kissing.

Rory was sitting on the couch with a bowl of ice cream, watching the last few minutes of the really terrible movie on channel seven when Lorelai eased the door open, to try to sneak in. "Must have drank a lot of coffee," Rory remarked.

"I, uh, yeah," Lorelai said. She tugged at her shirt and pushed back her hair, just to make sure. "Man, I won't sleep tonight. How's Dean?"

"Fine. He's a fan of the blue dress," Rory reported.

"I knew he would be," Lorelai said. "Don't stay up too late, babe." She leaned down to give her daughter a goodnight kiss before she went up to her room. Rory returned the kiss on the cheek, then stopped, looking at Lorelai curiously. "What?" Lorelai demanded.

"You smell like..." Rory frowned, as though trying to place the scent.

"Coffee," Lorelai finished for her, backing away quickly. Before Rory figured it out. Before Rory didn't have to figure it out, because she would probably blurt out a confession to making out with Luke for the length of an entire TV movie. "Just coffee," Lorelai added from the stairs. "I swear." She reached the top, and closed the door to her room quickly, to prevent any more sentences from coming out of her mouth.

Lorelai picked up her pajamas, but then found herself drawn across the room to the window. To see if she could see Luke's from her window. To see if his lights were on. To wonder if he was standing at his window, looking out into the night, thinking of her, too.

"This is crazy," she told herself firmly. But she didn't care. Lorelai loved crazy. Everyone knew that. "Crazy is nice," she said, continuing to gaze out into the darkness. Wondering what would happen next.

Lorelai overslept the next morning, so she had to go straight to the inn and drink her coffee there. She heaved an enormous sigh once she'd chugged the entire cup.

"You didn't go to Luke's," Sookie said, sharp-eyed.

"So?" Lorelai asked.

"So, that's your first cup of the day. I can tell," Sookie told her.

"I overslept," Lorelai confessed. "I was dreaming..." She interrupted herself before she shared just what she had been dreaming, but she couldn't help the small shiver she felt, remembering it.

Sookie's eyes widened. "Who was it?" she demanded.

Lorelai's eyes went just as wide. "No one," she said.

"I'm your best friend. I can tell when there's a new guy, Lorelai," Sookie pointed out.

"Hey, did you tape that movie last night?" Lorelai asked, trying to change the subject. "Can I borrow it?"

"Who was it, Lorelai?" Sookie demanded. She crossed her arms stubbornly. Waiting. Then she jumped a little, using her stirring spoon to point at Lorelai accusingly. "Luke!"

"You're crazy," Lorelai said, refilling her coffee cup.

"It was bound to happen," Sookie said.

"You're cracked," Lorelai replied.

"So..." Sookie said conspiratorially. "Did he take his hat off?"

"I'll never tell," Lorelai swore, heading out for the desk.

"Ah-ha!" Sookie yelled, following Lorelai, who ducked past Michel and used him as a shield. "Lorelai, I can't believe you," Sookie said.

"Michel was born to be a human shield, come on. It's fair," Lorelai argued.

"So was it nice?" Sookie asked.

"Very nice," Lorelai replied, with a little smile, remembering.

"Are you dating now?"

"NO!" Lorelai cried.

"Why not?" Sookie demanded. Lunging again, so Lorelai shoved Michel to keep him between them.

But Michel ducked and sprinted to the other side of the desk. "You've lost your minds," he sneered.

"It's complicated," Lorelai told Sookie.

"You like him, he likes you, what's complicated?" Sookie asked.

"There's more to it than that," Lorelai protested. Sookie waited. "I haven't told Rory."

Sookie's expression became serious. "Why not?"

Lorelai shrugged helplessly. "How can I tell her?"

"You really like him, don't you?" Sookie asked, and Lorelai nodded, irritatedly. "You like him so much you can't admit it. Or face him. Honey, you can't avoid him forever."

"I know," Lorelai said. "I just...don't want to change things. But then, I do want to change things. And we were drinking, so he probably..."

"You won't know until you see him," Sookie told her.

"This is all very interesting, but I'd like to check out," said a businessman standing on the other side of the desk, dangling his keys. Lorelai took them, and Sookie headed back to the kitchen. But she mouthed, "See him!" as she went.

Lorelai trudged into Luke's around ten-thirty, once the rush of people making their check-out time was over with. Luke looked up when the bell over the door rang and they locked eyes. Lorelai wanted to run right out of the diner.

"Missed you this morning," Luke said, handing her the customary cup of coffee.

"I can't do this," Lorelai said. Luke looked surprised. "You're supposed to rag me for drinking coffee, and then I'm supposed to charm you into letting me have it."

"Give it back, you can charm me," Luke told her gruffly.

"It's not the same," Lorelai said miserably, drinking her coffee.

"Lorelai --" Luke said after a moment.

"I know," she said, meeting his eyes. She wanted to climb up on the counter and kiss him senseless. But she couldn't. "We'll figure something out," she promised.

"Yeah. Okay," Luke said. Nodding. He seemed to relax at that decision, and so did she. Lorelai even smiled at him over her cup of coffee. The initial weirdness passed, and everything was still good.

She and Rory wouldn't starve, after all.