AUTHOR'S NOTE
long chapter because i haven't posted in a while! 🫶

•

DISCO NIGHTS !
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
LUNCH RUSH

________________

THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRETY of the morning, Maeve had been extra sensitive to Luke's feelings.

His uncle sadly passed away two nights ago, and Maeve could tell that Luke was maintaining his usually tough and uncaring exterior through all of the pain.

So, in order to make this current period of time easier for him, Maeve and Marjorie had devised a carefully constructed plan for them, plus Delaney and Flynn, to finish everything on Luke's 'to-do' list for the day.

The plan wasn't entirely foolproof, as Luke had expressed his many protests throughout the day, however whenever he would even attempt to do anything 'owner-like'—that was not strictly consisting of handing out people's food or refilling coffee—Marjorie would mercilessly scold him until he just gave up and let them take over again.

Luke, with unfounded reluctance, eventually accepted defeat, and allowed Maeve and Delaney to take over most of the diner's duties. He tried to organise a payment plan for Delaney, however the girl had stubbornly insisted that he was not allowed to pay her a single cent for her time—much to Luke's exasperation.

Flynn was where Luke drew the line, however, so the boy just watched Maeve and Delaney work as efficiently as they ever had before.

Maeve would force Jess to help out too, and the girl ensured he stayed on the floor by asking Marjorie to keep a watchful eye on him and call him back down whenever he would attempt to go back upstairs.

The day started with Maeve, Delaney, Marjorie and Flynn waking up as early as Luke usually did, and the girls had practically forced Luke to go back upstairs and sleep in while they, plus Flynn, took care of the usual, opening routine.

They cleaned every inch of the kitchen, behind the grills and under the fridges—when they were done with the kitchen, Marjorie even started helping out with the food preparation—, polished practically every surface, swept the floor and rid it of any trace of dust that the naked eye could catch, cleaned every single table and countertop three times, and after completing all of those arduous tasks, they even managed to organise and unpack some boxes in the back room—all within the span of four hours.

It was safe to say that the diner was utterly spotless when Luke resurfaced for the day.

While they knew that the diner would, most definitely, get just as dirty within less than an hour, which the group ensured they would stay on top of, they simultaneously knew that Luke was relieved at the relinquishment of responsibilities that they had gifted him with—probably for a month, due to the state of the place.

"My Uncle Louie died two days ago, and I'm arranging the funeral for him." Luke softly started after he made brief small talk with Lorelai on the phone.

Marjorie sent Luke a sympathetic look as she sipped some of her coffee from her seat.

"You weren't babbling." Luke spoke up again, still talking to Lorelai over the phone.

"Can you just take a minute to breathe?" Flynn huffed out a chuckle as he watched Maeve hurry around the diner from his position sitting on one of the counter seats.

"Nope. No breaks." Maeve simply shook her head in refusal on her way.

"A normal person can't do all this without burning out at some point, just relax." Flynn raised his eyebrows at her rushed, practically out-of-breath, actions.

"I can relax tomorrow." Maeve quipped as she walked back past him and towards the counter.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Luke raised his eyebrows as he glanced at Maeve and Delaney, the teenagers running around the diner and serving customers while Marjorie was keeping her eyes sharply trained on Jess. "I'm convinced Maeve's gone nuts, her, Delaney and Margie have completely taken over the diner. Do you wanna know what I've done today? Served food to three customers. That's it. I'm not even kidding, you could probably eat off the floors, that's how clean they are. Yes, I just said that...yes, the 'health freak', why would you even call me that? No, I'm not being held hostage. How would you even see me if I 'blinked three times for help'?"

"You deserve the break, Luke!" Maeve called, the girl smiling at how she knew Lorelai was trying to cheer him up from the other end of the phone.

Jess furrowed his eyebrows as he approached Maeve and spoke up, keeping his, slightly terrified, eyes on Marjorie. "Your grandma is oddly intimidating."

"Good. It's working." Maeve stared at Jess as she answered calmly, the girl waiting a beat to only instil more fear in his mind before she plastered on a tight-lipped smile, whipped around, and continued her previous task.

Maeve knew that she achieved her intended goal without even having to look at Jess' reaction, and his eyes slightly widened in disbelief as he watched her leave for a moment, blew out a bewildered breath, and just got back to work.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Luke voiced, still talking to Lorelai. "No, the rooms are help enough. The rooms are all I need. Thanks. Well, I gotta go. I will. By the way, that French guy is a putz. Alright, see ya. No, I won't tell her that before I hang up. Lorel- fine, if it'll get you to stop houndin' me, Maeve, Lorelai wants you to know that you're scaring her."

Maeve just raised her eyebrows at Luke. "What happened to 'hello, how are you'?"

With that, Luke just shook his head amusedly, hung up the phone, and let out a deep breath, the man internally preparing for the rush of business that the day would inevitably bring.

•

"Can I get another cup of coffee?" A customer blurted out right as Maeve walked past him.

"Sure, just give me a second." Maeve absentmindedly responded as she sped past him and handed another customer their food, the girl letting out a deep breath as she squeezed past the line of customers at the counter.

Luke was currently on the phone and simultaneously trying to do his job, however, everyone in Stars Hollow seemed to all want meals and coffee at the exact same time as each other, consequently causing the diner to be effectively swamped with business.

Delaney seemed to be panicking way too much, the girl wiping the back of her hand against her forehead to rid herself of the nervous sweat that beaded across it as she passed by Maeve to grab more plates over the clamouring customers. "How do you do this every day?"

Maeve briefly met Delaney's gaze as she handed a customer their food. "You get used to it."

"I don't think I want to." Delaney furrowed her eyebrows as she raised the plate above a person's head to avoid someone taking a plate of food that wasn't theirs.

Flynn's eyebrows raised as he watched Maeve pass by him. "Maeve-"

"I'm so sorry, Flynn, but I really can't stop right now." Maeve steadfastly interjected as she turned around, missing the dejected look in Flynn's face as he slightly slumped down.

"Hey, is that my food?" A man spoke up, pointing to the plate in Maeve's hand as she walked past him.

Stopping, Maeve couldn't restrain her exasperation with everyone's insistence today, especially since this man had been trying to peer over every plate she brought out, and she glanced down at the plate before facing the man again. "Does this plate of bacon and eggs look remotely similar to pancakes?"

"Well...no..." The man furrowed his eyebrows as his tone fell defensive.

"And you ordered the pancakes three minutes ago, right?" Maeve raised her eyebrows as her tone swiftly hardened.

"Yes, I did." The man crossed his arms over his chest.

"Okay, so when your pancakes are ready, I'll actually come over to your table and hand you your food," Maeve's tone was now fully condescending as she couldn't withhold her frustration with the audacity, that somehow everybody possessed, from growing. "Believe it or not, we're super busy, as I'm sure you can probably tell, so like I just said, I'll come over to your table when your pancakes are done."

Without waiting for the man to utter out a protesting statement, Maeve just walked away and continued her previous tasks.

"More coffee here, please!" Kirk called out to Luke.

"In a minute." Luke absentmindedly replied as he tried to balance the several things in his hands while talking on the phone.

"Where's my food?" The same man from earlier called out to Luke.

"More coffee for me." Kirk interjected.

"Shut up, Kirk." Luke firmly stated right as Lorelai and Rory walked in to witness the chaos.

Marjorie had left earlier to take care of the gardening at the house, which Jess gladly took as the perfect opportunity to hide back in the apartment.

Maeve, Delaney and Luke were way too busy with the diner to retrieve him, and when Maeve and Delaney asked Flynn to, the boy rejected the request with an unfounded haste.

It was no secret that Flynn hated Jess, it seemed as though most of Stars Hollow did, however it was surprising that the boy was so stubborn in his insistence not to interact with Jess. He was not a stubborn person by nature, so it was a momentary shock to the girls that he was so firm.

"Is that my food?!" The man called again.

"Yes, Sy, that's your food." Luke deadpanned exasperatedly.

"Can I have it?" The man questioned aloofly.

"We're doing all we can here, folks," Luke turned around, telephone still pressed to his ear, with the several plates of food and the coffee pot, only to abruptly stop mid-way when Maeve wizzed past and grabbed two plates from his hands, Delaney following right behind her and mirroring her actions, leaving Luke with just the coffee pot. "Thanks, guys."

"That's what we're here for, Luke." Delaney affirmed with a nod on the way to a table.

"I asked nicely." Kirk sighed, causing Maeve to roll her eyes as she placed the plates of food down on the table of the people that ordered them, hurried over to grab the coffee pot from Luke's hand, and filled Kirk's cup.

"There." Maeve snapped, narrowing her eyes at Kirk as she continued her previous journey.

"Hey, Maeve..." Rory let her voice trail off as her eyebrows furrowed at Maeve's quickness, and neither her nor her mother even questioned the fact that Delaney was currently working.

"Hi." Maeve stated, curt voice indicating her stress as she couldn't even send the girl a small, introductory smile due to the craziness of the diner.

"Don't have an aneurism, hon," Lorelai added with slightly widened eyes as she watched Maeve whiz past them. "Remember, we're donating your brain to science one day."

"And that can't be done if she bursts a blood vessel or two." Delaney piped in humorously as she flashed a grin at Lorelai.

"She'll be good, she's way too smart, she'll probably figure out a way to somehow avoid it." Flynn smiled as he followed Maeve's movements with his eyes from his position sitting at the counter.

"I'm trying not to freak out, but I'll be honest, it's an uphill battle right now," Maeve quipped in response, smirking a little as she glanced between Lorelai and Rory. "At least we have a backup brain in Rory."

"Watch the cord." Luke called as he made his way around the counter with another three plates in hand, the telephone cord hitting a customer's head accidentally on the way.

"Hey, whatcha doin'?" Lorelai widened her eyes as Luke almost bumped into her and Rory, the Gilmore's both scrambling to take the plates out of his hands before they could clatter to the ground.

"I'm- I'm on the phone." Luke stammered out as he tried to keep the phone pressed to his ear during his movements.

"We noticed." Lorelai let out an entertained laugh.

"I can't serve and be on the phone," Luke gestured to Maeve and Delaney with his head. "Which is why the kids have been helpin' me this whole time, like I told you earlier."

"We noticed that too." Rory affirmed as the girls then followed him towards the counter.

"But your reenactment of Jerry Lewis in 'The Diner Guy' is gonna wow the critics." Lorelai joked, the girl glancing between Rory and Maeve as she finished her sentence, earning herself a huff of a chuckle from Maeve in response.

"Where should these pancakes go?" Rory chimed in curiously, gesturing to the plate in her hands.

"Crank in the hat." Luke deadpanned.

"Hey, I'm not a crank, you're a crank, crank." The man protested loudly, catching the girls' attention.

"He's a crank." Maeve sent the Gilmore's a tight-lipped smile.

"He is a crank." Rory repeated with raised brows as she handed the man his food.

"And the French toast?" Lorelai inquired, glancing interestedly between Luke, Maeve, and Delaney.

"Lady with the giant purse." Luke answered as Delaney pointed to the woman, Lorelai hurrying over to the woman with her food.

"This is not good." A customer complained right as Luke tried to advance to another table, the telephone cord extending across the same man's chest.

"Fall back, cowboy." Lorelai caught the action and intelligently intervened, the woman grabbing the back of Luke's collar and pulling him back before he could cause any further damage.

"What- what are you doing?" Luke frowned at her puzzlingly as he stumbled back.

"Come here," Lorelai pushed him towards the telephone's receiver and collected the plates from his hands. "Just stay on the phone and give me these. Where do they go?"

Luke just accepted the command and let Lorelai take over, the man gesturing to the table in question. "Table by the window."

"Don't you number your tables?" Lorelai furrowed her eyebrows in inquiry.

"No." Luke deadpanned, already expecting Lorelai's following criticism, and Maeve's instant agreement.

"You should number your tables." Lorelai added, Maeve widening her eyes at Luke and gesturing to Lorelai.

"Thank you, Lorelai. See, Luke? I'm not 'actin' crazy' for asking for a system." Maeve agreed with Lorelai as she grabbed the coffee pot from its position and imitated Luke momentarily.

"You always act crazy, Maeve." Luke unenthusiastically raised his eyebrows at her, earning himself narrowed eyes from the girl.

"Yeah, you running around the diner all morning and freaking out isn't really helping your case, M." Delaney chimed in as she walked past the counter.

"Whose side are you on?" Maeve scoffed as she threw one arm out to the side momentarily, the other occupied by the coffee vat, before making her way to a table.

Lorelai and Luke then engaged in a bickering session over the fact that 'all restaurants number their tables', according to Lorelai, and effectively keeping the diner's patrons somewhat entertained.

"Hey, Maeve, where's Jess?" Rory approached Maeve and walked alongside her on her way back to the counter.

"I'm guessing upstairs," Maeve answered with an uncaring shrug. "It's been impossible getting him to do anything, and we all actually ended up being slower with him down here."

"Oh, wow," Rory raised her eyebrows at the assertion. "I'm surprised he doesn't want to help, even a little."

"Really? I'm not." Maeve scoffed.

"By the window, Wilma." Lorelai interjected as the girls approached the counter again, handing the plates in her hands to her daughter.

"Got it, Gertie." Rory affirmed with a nod and twisted around to undergo waitress duties.

"Welcome to the team, Gilmore." Maeve sent Rory a tight-lipped smile on her way, Rory huffing out a chuckle in response before suddenly remembering that Jess was upstairs.

While Luke and Lorelai, again, engaged in friendly bickering—this time over how strong the diner's coffee now was—, the teenagers were now faced with, somewhat, of a break.

Maeve blew out a breath as she approached Flynn sitting on his counter chair, who glanced up at her, smile spreading across his lips, and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him as a consequence. "You good now?"

Maeve met his eyes as she gently squeezed one of his shoulders before wrapping her arms around both of them. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just super tired and annoyed at everyone, but fine, nonetheless."

Flynn raised his eyebrows as his hand squeezed her waist supportively, and Delaney took that as a sign to make her way over to the couple.

The girl placed her hands on her hips and furrowed her eyebrows at Maeve as she spoke up. "You're insane for willingly putting yourself through this every day. I'm never gonna do a favour for you again."

Maeve huffed a chuckle at the words. "Thanks again, Del."

Flynn shifted in his seat, the boy glancing up at Maeve again as he decided to change the subject after Delaney sent Maeve a wide smile in response. "Hey, you still like reading and stuff, right?"

Maeve let out a small chuckle at the words, and when Flynn didn't laugh back, Maeve's small smile faded. "You're serious?"

"So that's a yes?" Flynn glanced away as he blew out a breath. "Oh."

"What's wrong with liking reading?" Maeve furrowed her eyebrows in minor offence, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable at his 'oh'.

"Nothing, nothing's wrong with it. I didn't mean for it to come across like that," Flynn raised his eyebrows when he realised that Maeve got offended at his words. "I just meant, like, at my football games, you're always reading, and recently, you haven't been as much, so I was just wondering if you still liked it..."

Maeve's eyebrows creased further inwards in utter confusion. "What?"

"The boys also mentioned that they've watched you at the games when you do bring your books, and you seem like you're not really watching," Flynn continued, causing Delaney to slightly narrow her eyes at the boy in bewilderment, as his tone slightly shifted into a more defensive one. "I was just wondering, it's not a big deal."

Maeve just blinked a few times, comprehending the entirety of the sudden, odd exchange, and she just stuttered out a perplexed answer. "I- I do still like reading. And I'm sorry if I made you feel like that...I really do pay attention, I swear."

"Yeah, I know you do, my friends are just trying to help me out, y'know?" Flynn shrugged casually.

"Okay..." Maeve let her voice trail off as she was still utterly puzzled. "I guess I won't bring books to your games anymore...I didn't know it bothered you so much."

"It's whatever, don't worry about it," Flynn played the whole off as his attitude seemed to have steadfastly improved.

Delaney and Maeve shared bewildered looks for a brief moment, both of them trying to conceptualise the conversation that just took place, however before they could even begin to, they were interrupted by Jess stumbling down the stairs as a result of Rory shoving him down.

"You're very graceful." Lorelai started sarcastically from her position behind the counter and beside Luke.

"She pushed me." Jess unsatisfactorily snapped, gesturing to Rory as his eyes flickered between Lorelai, Maeve, Flynn and Delaney, only momentarily pausing on the couple before his attention was quickly stolen by Rory.

"Sue me." Rory shrugged nonchalantly.

"I could've broken my neck." Jess fired back as he met her gaze.

"As long as it's not your arm," Rory quipped as she grabbed another coffee vat and held it up for Jess to take. "We need your arm."

Jess let out a deep sigh as he reluctantly grabbed the pot and walked past Lorelai, Rory pushing his back on the way. "Despot."

"Wow," Maeve raised her eyebrows, the girl impressed as she untangled herself from Flynn's grasp and made her way around the counter to rejoin Lorelai, Delaney continuing with her temporary work tasks for the day. "Rory's here for five minutes, and she gets him to actually do something. I've been here since five a.m., and the most I've gotten him to do is serve coffee to five people."

"She's a miracle worker, hon." Lorelai let out a small chuckle at the compliment.

Maeve just sent the woman a small, tight-lipped smile as she internally disagreed, but decided to outwardly show her concurrence—the woman was her mother, after all.

•

© voidvaleska