Willow Danes

Church Bells & Townhouses

Willow's POV

Another day working at the diner. They fixed the church bells, just like Stan wanted. They are so pretty.

"Luke?"

"Yeah, Kirk."

"What time is it?"

"I'm not saying, Kirk."

"Why not?"

"Cause I just told you 30 seconds ago."

"More like forty five seconds if you add in all the bickering."

"Three fifty eight," Luke replies.

"Only two minutes until the bells,"

The bells are no longer pretty. I hate the bells. The bells are annoying. Someone please kill the bell... or me, I don't care at this point.

"Unless of course I'm fast," Luke tells Kirk.

"You're cruel at times, Luke."

"Only when poked with a stick."

I walk behind the counter passing Luke.

"I'm about to beat him with a stick," I mumble.

The diner bell dings and Lorelai walks in.

"Coffee, big cup, and hello," she says.

"Lorelai, what time do you have?" Kirk asks her.

"Do not tell him. He already knows," Luke tells her.

"I do not."

"If you just wait for the bells, you'll get to hear the bells, and you'll know what time it is," Luke replies.

"Actually, that's not true. The other day I stood too close to the bells, and they rang so loud that there's now a persistent ringing in my ears. Now I can't tell which are the church bells and which are the Kirk bells."

"So, instead of whatever weird voice he normally hears in his head, it's bells now," I whisper to Luke, making him laugh a little.

"Oh, no. Did you go to the doctor?" Lorelai asks.

"Yes, he says I have tinnitus. I looked it up on the web at Celebrities who share your disease and found that William Shatner is likewise afflicted."

"Really? Kirk and Captain Kirk?"

"The irony wasn't lost on me. Was that them?" he asks.

"Relax. The church bells will be the loud, obnoxious ones," Luke replies.

"Somebody doesn't like the bells," Lorelai says.

"Not everyone likes bells."

"No, actually, they do," she replies.

"I hate them," I tell her, as I lean on the counter.

"They enjoy the constant interruptions in conversations, the monotonous drone of the same tones hour after hour?" Luke questions.

"Yes, can you believe it? There are the same freaks who like sunsets and the moon and the stars. What are the paint chips for?" she asks.

Shit, she doesn't know.

"Oh, I'm just painting," Luke tells her.

"Oh, really? You mean, you're not gonna collect and trade them amongst your friends? What are you painting" she asks.

"Um, our apartment."

"You and I? We're getting an apartment?" she jokes.

"No. Me and Nicole. We're getting an apartment. One where Will has her own room."

"Oh. That's great. When?"

"When what?"

"When are you getting an apartment?"

"Three weeks ago."

"Three weeks a- you moved already?"

"Yes."

"Huh. uh... wow. So, uh, where is the apartment?"

I stand next to him.

"Litchfield," I reply quietly.

He walks away. This is going to turn into an argument.

"You moved to Litchfield?"

"Yes," he replies.

"Three weeks ago, you moved to Litchfield?"

"Yes."

"Litchfield is another county."

"Yep."

"And an extra twenty minutes on the bus," I add.

"Three weeks ago, you moved to another county, and an extra twenty minutes from Willow's school?"

"Yes."

"Were you gonna mention this to me anytime soon?"

"Sure."

"When?"

"When it came up."

"When it came up?"

"Yeah."

I walk to the stairs. Instead of going up I sit and listen to them talk. I don't like the idea of them fighting.

"Nothing's changed," Luke tells her.

"Yeah, nothing's changed, except you don't live here."

"So what!?"

"So I don't even have your phone number."

"I'll give you my phone number."

"I don't even know what you live in. An apartment, a trailer, a batcave."

"A townhouse."

"A townhouse? Sure, cause when I look at you I think common driveway."

"It's fine. You'll come over and see it eventually."

"Will I? Will I come over? Because me coming over implies we're friends."

"We are friends."

"No, we're not. We're not friends. Friends tell each other at least the most basic things, like where you live and when you moved away. I thought we were friends, but I guess we're not."

Tears fill my eyes.

"Where are you going?"

"I can't say."

"Lorelai! Damn bells!"

I stand up and walk out to Luke. Tears rolling down my face.

"I told you we should have said something to her! I told you she'd get mad!" I cry.

He comes over and pulls me to his chest. He doesn't say anything to me, just holds me as I cry.

I end up going upstairs until closing.