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by WritingJustBecause

Luke and Lorelai spend Thanksgiving together. Set during season 4. Things you need to know: Luke and Nicole are divorced and the Dragonfly is still a work in progress. I moved the timeline up to fit the story. Just pretend that all of this happened in November 2003.

A/N: I was reading CrispyCritter88 's story called Merry Thanksgiving a while ago and after I was done I couldn't get it out of my head. I loved the storyline and just wanted to know more about it. The story stayed with me and I found myself just extending the scenes in my head. Before long, I was writing it down just to keep track of my thoughts. I never intended to do anything with what I wrote, or for anyone besides me to see it. But, I kept writing, and it turned into a full story, and I thought why not? I give full credit to CrispyCritter88 for the storyline and characters (and obviously Amy Sherman-Palladino for creating Gilmore Girls in the first place). Please, please go read Merry Thanksgiving and give it some love! It's a great story, you won't be disappointed. I'm just a fan paying homage.

Thank you for reading! :)

SUNDAY: AFTERNOON

Lorelai went into the diner and took a seat at the counter. The place wasn't packed, but it wasn't empty either. Luke set her up with a cup of coffee on his way past her to deliver someone else's food. She smiled in appreciation and waited for him to return. When he did, she promptly requested,

"More coffee please!"

"What? How could you have finished that already, I just poured it!"

"Yeah, like 2 minutes ago…and now I need another cup," she replied slowly.

"What, did you inhale it?"

"Yes," Lorelai said as if it were obvious, "I thought that was already a well-established fact…"

"Lost cause," he muttered, refilling her cup.

"Why thank you kind sir," she tipped an imaginary hat at him.

"You eatin' today?"

"Uh yeah…I'll just have my usual burger—uh make that 2, Rory's coming."

"Ok," he headed back to the kitchen to make their food. Rory came in about 10 minutes later and sat down on the stool next to her mother.

"Ugh! You didn't get me coffee?" Rory asked. Though it was obvious…Lorelai was holding only one mug in a death grip.

"Um yeah right, what makes you think Luke would believe me if I said one cup was for you?"

"Well it's worked before."

"Yeah but after the third time he caught on."

"Coffee hoarder."

"What did you just call me?"

"Ha ha," Rory said sarcastically.

"Hold on I'll get you a cup," Lorelai looked towards the entrance to the kitchen and raised her voice, "Luuuke! Rory needs coffee!"

"Hang on! I'm coming out in a second!" he called back.

Lorelai giggled, "Rory did you hear that, Luke's coming out."

"Jeeze," Luke heard the tail end of her comment on his way to the counter.

"How old are you?" Rory asked her mom, sadly shaking her head. Luke set their plates and another coffee in front of them and went to tend to other customers. When he returned to his post behind the counter he heard Rory say,

"Well we can start packing tonight, do some laundry, and still have time to watch at least 2 movies. Does that work?"

"I guess," Lorelai said, "but I really wanted to watch the whole trilogy tonight."

"Maybe we can, I can switch the laundry out in between movies?"

"Where are you guys going," Luke interrupted.

"I sadly am not going anywhere. Rory's going to the Bahamas with my parents for the holidays. Although…you will be stuck with my parents for 10 days…so I'm not that sad." Lorelai said.

"Oh wow, the Bahamas!"

"Yeah…it was a pretty spur-of-the-moment sorta deal. They just told me last night," Rory explained.

"And why aren't you going?"

"Well besides the fact that I don't want to spend 10 days with my parents, I have to hang around here until Tuesday, there's a few deliveries coming for the inn," Lorelai said.

"Convenient excuse," Luke smirked.

"Exactly! And it's the best kind of excuse because it's true."

"But you would've made somethin' up if it wasn't anyway right?"

"Circle gets the square."

"And I'm leaving tomorrow night so we're trying to figure out when to get everything done," Rory supplied.

"Right, right" Luke said, nodding.

"Which means…" Lorelai paused for dramatic effect. "…you my friend, have the great honour of my company for thanksgiving," she continued enthusiastically. "You're still doing dinner at the diner right?"

"Yup, every year."

"Great," she beamed. "Make sure to save me an extra roll!" Luke rolled his eyes in response. The Gilmore girls finished their meal and headed home, by way of the video store. About an hour after they left, the diner phone rang. It was Luke's Aunt inviting him to thanksgiving dinner at her house. He tried to tell her he couldn't go because he had to work, but she wasn't exactly taking no for an answer. He gave in. After he hung up he realized that he should probably tell Lorelai as soon as possible so that she could make other plans. He checked the time; the dinner rush would be starting soon. He could probably make it to her house and back in enough time though. He told Caesar he was going out and left.

Lorelai heard a knock on the front door and hurried over to get it. She was surprised to see Luke staring back at her.

"Oh hey!" she smiled.

"Hey, you got a minute?"

"Yeah, come on in. What's up?" They walked into the living room and she settled on the side of the couch that was closest to the front door. Luke remained standing; he wasn't planning on staying long.

"I got a call from my Aunt up in Caledon, inviting me over for thanksgiving. Well, me and Liz, but nobody can get a hold of her, so just me." Seeing that Lorelai didn't know where he was going with his explanation, he continued. "I usually go the day after thanksgiving to celebrate with them, but she wants me to come up early this year. My Uncle Mitch isn't doing too well right now, he'll be in the hospital over the holiday…and I think she kinda just wants people around, so I told her I'd go."

"Oh," Lorelai said as she realized what he was trying to say.

"Yeah…I'm sorry. I tried to tell her I couldn't come but…yeah…anyways; I'll have to close down the diner. I'm gonna spend a few days up there."

"No, of course you have to go!" Lorelai said genially, but he could tell she was disappointed. He hated to disappoint her.

"So I guess that means Sookie now has the honour of your company for thanksgiving, right?" he joked.

She smiled at him. "Uh, no actually. She's celebrating with Jackson's family this year."

"Oh," Luke did some quick thinking. He couldn't let Lorelai spend the holiday alone. "Why don't you come with me?" he spit out.

"What?"

"Come with me to my Aunt's for thanksgiving," he said with more confidence.

"Oh, no, Luke, it's ok, I'll be fine. You don't have to—"

"No really, come. I know she'd love to have you. She's always saying the more the merrier."

"Luke, it's a family time, I mean if your Uncle's in the hospital…"

"Honestly, you'd be doing me a favour. I love my family, but a long weekend with no back-up?"

Lorelai chuckled. They both knew he was exaggerating. "Really I can figure something out—"

"I think you should come," he interrupted once more. Lorelai looked at the earnestness in his face. She took a moment and thought about it. She didn't have anywhere else to go…and she really didn't like the idea of spending the holiday alone. It was too Bobby Vinton. Plus Luke seemed so genuine in his invitation. She sighed in resignation, "Ok."

"Yeah?" Luke was a little surprised that he had actually talked her into something for once.

"Yes," she squinted at him, still unsure of her answer, "If you're sure it's not an imposition…"

"Of course it isn't!"

"Can you run it by your Aunt?"

"Don't have to; she'll be fine with it."

"Humour me then."

"Fine I'll call her," Luke said, rolling his eyes.

"Thank you."

Luke looked at his watch. "Well I'd better get going, dinner rush starts soon."

"Right, well thanks for stopping by, and for the invitation."

"Don't worry about it," by this time they had made it to the door. "Alright, see ya."

"Bye," Lorelai closed the door behind him and walked slowly back to the couch, thinking about what a good friend Luke was. Rory walked in a minute later.

"Hey did I hear Luke out here?"

"Yeah, he just left."

"Oh, what did he want?" Lorelai explained the situation and by the time she finished, Rory was giggling.

"What's funny?"

Still giggling, she said, "Oh nothing…it's just almost like Luke is taking you home to meet the family."

"Ok, it's not like that at all."

"Sure," Rory said, raising her eyebrows.

"Alright," Lorelai narrowed her eyes at her daughter. "I think all this time off from school is making you loopy. Let's just get back to packing. Rory continued giggling and went to do just that.

MONDAY EVENING

Lorelai had just gotten back home from dropping Rory at the airport and seeing the rest of her family off, when her landline rang. She ran for the phone and answered slightly out of breath.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's Luke."

"Yeah I caught the voice, how's it goin'?"

"Good, I'm good. You?"

"I'm good," Lorelai said sitting down in the chair by the phone. "Just dropped Rory off at the airport."

"She took off ok?"

"Yeah, she's all excited. She'll get to check a new country off her list of places to go."

Luke chuckled, "She must be so happy."

"So happy you couldn't even tell she's about to spend 10 days with Scarlett and Rhett, who suddenly decided they wanted to be the next Hart to Hart," Lorelai smiled, "So what's up?"

"Oh uh, I just wanted to know if you wanted to leave on Wednesday?"

"Uh…" she thought for a moment, "the last shipment is coming in on Tuesday, so Wednesday's fine with me."

"Ok, good. I figured we'd leave around 1?" he asked, "Take our time getting there."

"Sure, that works."

"And there are pretty much no hotels or anything in their immediate area…I think the first one' s about 20 minutes away…I can book you a room if you want, but it'd probably be easier if we just stay with my Aunt. She has plenty of room, and she'd probably be upset if you stayed anywhere else. I usually stay with her when I visit."

"I don't mind staying at her house if she doesn't mind…did you talk to her yet?"

"No I totally forgot," he said sheepishly, "but I'll call tomorrow, I promise."

"Okaaaay," she dragged out, "let me know what the verdict is."

"Ok I will. I'll talk to you later then."

"Yeah, later."

"Bye."

"Bye," They hung up and both got ready for bed satisfied with their plan. Lorelai just wanted to be sure she wouldn't be interrupting their family time. Luke knew she wouldn't be. As they both lay in their beds alone with their thoughts, they couldn't help but look forward to spending the entire weekend with each other, away from Stars Hollow.

TUESDAY AFTERNOON

The after lunch lull was in full effect as Luke idly wiped down the already clean counter. He remembered that he was supposed to call his aunt, so he told Caesar he was heading upstairs for a couple minutes. He settled on his couch and dialled the familiar number.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Aunt Jane, it's Luke."

"Oh Luke! How are you dear?"

"I'm good, how are you doin'?"

"I'm good!"

"And Uncle Mitch?"

"I'm just about to head over there now."

"Oh ok…tell him I said hi."

"I will…oh Luke, before I forget…"

"Yeah?"

"I um…kind of did something," she started cautiously.

Luke was instantly wary at her tone. "Okaaay," he dragged leadingly.

"When I was coming out of the post office earlier today I saw someone familiar coming my way, and wouldn't you know, it was Jolene Baker! Remember her?" Aunt Jane asked with forced enthusiasm. On his end, Luke rolled his eyes. He wished he and everyone else could forget that blemish of his past.

"Yeah I remember."

"Right. Well, she had seen me and just came over to say hi, sweet thing. Anyway, we were chatting and she mentioned that she and her boyfriend...I think his name was Noah, or something…you know, the one you and Matt used to play baseball with,"

Jolene and Noah? Weird pairing, Luke thought…but maybe he could see it…they did all used to hang out together when they were kids. "Uh huh," he murmured.

"Well she said they would be in town over the weekend," Aunt Jane continued. "But they didn't have any strict plans so I invited them both over for Thanksgiving dinner," she hastily finished.

Luke's head snapped up. Oh God, he thought. He hadn't seen these people in a very long time and he really didn't want to see them this weekend. He and Noah had been friends, but now he was dating Luke's ex, so that would be weird. And Jolene…that was a different story. Looking back on it now, he couldn't believe he had actually gone out with her. Turned out she wasn't a very nice person. And they hadn't ended on the best of terms. He had managed to see her very infrequently over the years, and even that, he thought was too much. Now he had to see her this weekend? And he'd be at a disadvantage too. He was single and she wasn't. He hadn't had any type of romantic feeling towards her since they broke up when he was 16, but nobody wanted to be alone when seeing an ex. Regardless of how inconsequential the relationship was.

"And I swear I didn't remember that the two of you had dated," Aunt Jane continued, "but I just got off the phone with Jenny, and she reminded me." Luke remained silent, his mind trying to find a way out of this.

"Oh I'm so sorry Luke. I really hope it's not going to be a problem…I mean, I know she'll be there with her boyfriend, but you won't be alone, we'll all be there," she said with enthusiasm, trying to cajole a good response out of him.

"Uh, that's ok Aunt Jane…I um, was actually calling to ask you if I could bring someone with me this weekend…my—my girlfriend," he blurted out. Oh God, what the hell was he doing?! He slapped a hand to his forehead, rubbing it stressfully. He was well aware of the fact that Lorelai was not his girlfriend. He was reminded every day. They were friends...oh this was not going to end well; he silently kicked himself for speaking so thoughtlessly.

"Oh Luke, of course you can bring her to Thanksgiving! You know you didn't have to ask!" Aunt Jane replied genuinely excited. The last girl Luke had brought home was Nicole, his ex-wife…and no one had cared for her too much. She was happy to know that Luke was moving on, and with someone better she hoped. She was also relieved that Luke wouldn't be alone the year that she had invited his ex-girlfriend. Oh she couldn't wait to tell Jenny the good news!

"Yeah, I know, that's what I told her, but she didn't want to intrude so she wanted me to ask," he said. He sighed inwardly. Well he was stuck with the story now…he couldn't really see a way out of it without looking like a complete idiot. Maybe Lorelai wouldn't mind pretending for the weekend….who was he kidding, of course she'd mind. Sure she did crazy things sometimes, but this was beyond crazy. God….how was he even going to bring the topic up with her?

"Well you tell her the more the merrier; and we can't wait to meet her!"

"I will…one more thing, uh, I was thinking we could be there by tomorrow afternoon, maybe around 4? Does that work?"

"That's perfect! I'll have the house ready. You are staying here right?"

"If you don't mind," Luke said a little sheepishly.

"Of course not, don't be silly!...Ok, well I've gotta get going to see Mitch, but I'll see you tomorrow ok?"

"Yeah, see ya." They hung up and Luke lowered his head to his hands, elbows resting on his knees. What the hell just happened….? It was like somebody hit him with a stupid stick right before the phone call. He knew he wasn't going to come up with any good explanations so he just decided to tell Lorelai the truth and take his licks. She probably wouldn't want to go anymore. He sighed again and grabbed his keys. The sooner he told her the better.

---

Lorelai was walking idly from room to room watching a construction crew put together her dream. It felt a little surreal watching the decisions she and Sookie had made for their inn come to fruition. Their inn. Crazy, she thought, it was actually happening. She had been helping to paint before, but some of the tiles for the kitchen were due any minute so she decided to take a break from it while she waited. She was in the living room ensuring that the detailing in the fireplace was what they had wanted when she heard a "Hey" from behind her.

She looked up to see Luke in the lobby of the inn and went over to greet him.

"Hey," she beamed back, "what are you doing here?"

"Sorry to interrupt…the place looks great," he said nervously. Stop stalling, he thought. "I uh...I need to talk to you, you have a minute?"

She gave him an odd look. He was acting weird, she thought. "Uh, yeah, sure…follow me." She sensed that this would be a private conversation so she led him around the bottom floor until she saw that the dining room was free of people and took him in there.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Well um..," he started ringing his hands. "uh…man, I don't even know where to start."

"Just start at the beginning, what's going on?" Now she was nervous too. It was weird to see Luke lose his cool like that.

"Ok, ok…I'm just gonna say it then."

"Ok," she focused all of her attention on him.

"I called my Aunt to ask her if you could come over because you said you wanted me too,"

"Right," she interjected with a nod.

"Right. But before I could ask, she started telling me that she ran into an ex-girlfriend of mine when she was at the post office, Jolene." Lorelai smiled wickedly at the name but bit her tongue on the Dolly Parton reference.

"And wouldn't ya know," he said mocking his Aunt, not that Lorelai would know that. "Jolene and her boyfriend, an old friend of mine by the way, would be in town for the weekend so she invited them over for thanksgiving. Only she didn't remember that it was my ex-girlfriend until my cousin told her. And then she started going on about how sorry she was and that I shouldn't worry about Jolene bringing a date when I'm still single because the rest of the family would be there and I wouldn't be alone, and the next thing I know I'm telling her that I'm bringing my girlfriend home for thanksgiving this year." He ended the rant with a huge sigh. There, he'd said it. He hadn't been able to look her in the eye the entire time, but he'd said it.

Lorelai was stunned. Her smile had gone slack and her wide eyes were glued to Luke's face. "You mean me?" she got out.

He winced at the disbelief he could hear in her voice. "Yes."

"Oh…oh, ok, I—I" Lorelai stammered, trying to form a sentence.

"No, it's ok, you don't have to say it. You don't want to come with me anymore. I completely understand. It's crazy! This whole thing is crazy. I don't know what happened to me. I didn't even think before I said it, I just said it. And I don't know why because I'm not that guy!" he finished vehemently.

"What guy?"

"That guy! The guy who has to prove something to his ex and to his family! I never care what they think about my love life. I mean I care a little, but not to this extent! I just couldn't take hearing my Aunt sound so worried that I was alone again. It's that voice you know? It gets to me. That sympathetic 'poor-Luke, he can't make a relationship stick, he'll probably end up a lonely grumpy old crank, but don't tell him, we should give him some hope' voice. And usually I don't mind, but it's different when it's coming from someone who actually knows you, you know?" By the time he had finished his rant, Lorelai had composed herself. She got the picture now. And she couldn't really blame him. She knew how it felt to have your loved ones look at you in pity and sorrow because you were still single. Not only was it annoying, it was insulting. It was a crazy thing he did, but who's to say she wouldn't have done the same?

"It's ok Luke—"

"No it's not," he interrupted, "it's stupid."

"Well, maybe it was. But this is the situation we're in now, so we'll deal with it," she said frankly.

Wait 'we'll?' he thought. He finally met her eyes, and aloud he said, "Are you saying…?"

"Yeah, let's do it," she responded. He immediately felt both relief and guilt that he had roped her into this.

"Are you sure? I mean…we don't have to, I'll just—"

"What?" she cut him off. "What are you going to tell them that'll be better than us just pretending to be together for the weekend?" He sighed in resignation and shot her a look. He knew she was right; he just hated himself for putting them in the situation at all.

"Exactly. It'll be fine. It's just one weekend, and then we can have a pretend break up and it'll be over. Nobody in town has to know about it." Luke looked at her, grateful that he had such a great friend.

"Thank you for this," he said.

Lorelai smiled, "No problem!"

Luke waited a beat letting everything sink in, then gestured over his shoulder, "Ok I'm gonna get going. Sorry I interrupted. Thank you again, I really appreciate this."

She smiled kindly at his nervousness, "I'll see you later Luke."

"Bye."

"Bye." Luke left and Lorelai made her way back to what would become her office. The drywall was still visible and the room wasn't done by any means, but it had a pseudo-desk—which was actually a fold out table—and a chair, and most importantly, a door. She promptly closed said door and flopped down into the chair. Well, she wasn't expecting that, she thought letting out a breath. It would be ok, she reassured herself. It was just like she'd told Luke, it was one weekend. They could manage that right? Of course they could. Over the years she'd wondered what it would be like to date Luke. Of course she never dwelled on it long enough for anything to take shape, but she always concluded that it would be nice. Besides, she knew she would do anything for Luke, regardless of any small trepidation she might have. He was always there for her and for Rory. She owed him a million times over. So if he was asking her to pretend to be his girlfriend for a family weekend with his ex, then that's what she would do.

WEDNESDAY: MIDDAY

Luke and Lorelai ended up leaving her house after 1PM. It had taken some time for Luke to wrangle Lorelai's luggage into the truck bed. They'd been on the road for about an hour and had already made 2 stops. One for food, and another to take a picture of a cool looking tree that Lorelai had insisted she needed to show Rory. Lorelai had offered to drive after their last stop but Luke had declined. So she sat with her bare feet up on the edge of the dash. She thought Luke would tell her to take them down but he didn't seem to mind. They spent the time chatting amicably and listening to the radio. If she knew the song, Lorelai was singing along, bad on purpose she claimed, or trying to get Luke to sing along, to which his answer was always a firm no. After their third stop—for coffee—Lorelai thought it would be a good time to get everything straight.

"Ok so what's our story," she asked as Luke pulled out of the rest stop and back onto the highway.

"What do you mean?"

"I meaaan, what's out story? What are we telling people when they ask about us as a couple?"

"Oh. Right. Um…I was thinking we could just tell the truth about everything…except that we started dating a few months ago…" he trailed off, quickly glancing at her but turning his attention back to the road.

"Ok, so we met at the diner…wait, you're you and I'm me right?"

"What….?"

"I mean, you didn't tell them anything specific about me right? Like do I have to pretend I have a tick or an accent or something?"

Luke chuckled. "No, don't worry, you're you and I'm me."

"Ok good. So then, we met at the diner and have been friends for years, and a few months ago we started dating?"

"Yeah, is that ok?" he asked cautiously. He had come to terms with the fact that they were actually going to pretend to be a couple, but it was still a weird conversation to be having.

"Yeah that's good I think. That way we won't have to remember too many lies."

"Exactly."

"But how did it happen?"

"How did what happen?"

"How did we become more than friends?" she asked cautiously. Her stomach did a little flip at the question. She felt like they were narrating a movie or something…only they were the characters.

"Uh…I don't know I haven't really thought of that part," he replied. That was a half lie. He had thought about becoming more than friends with Lorelai countless times, he'd just never thought about it in terms of their fake relationship.

"Ok um…." She said thinking out loud. "…we were….hanging out at the diner one day and—"

"And I just asked you out?" he filled in.

"Yeah…" she said unsure, "…sounds kinda flimsy doesn't it?"

"Sounds a hell of a lot better than the reality," he said bluntly.

"Well that's true." They smiled teasingly at each other. Lorelai continued, "So do I get to hear about the family?"

"Uh…"

"Because as the girlfriend, I would probably have heard a little about them, right?"

"Right, you're right," Luke said nodding. "Ok well…we're going to my Aunt Jane's place…"

"Aunt Jane, got it. What's the relation?"

"She's my mom's little sister."

"Ok right…so she's not a Danes…what was your mom's maiden name?"

"She's a Murphy, but she married my Uncle Mitch. Mitch Hewitt, so she's a Hewitt."

"Ok, Aunt Jane and Uncle Mitch Hewitt," she repeated quietly, cataloguing the information.

"Yeah, and they've got 2 kids, my cousins Jenny and Matt. Jenny's about my age, and she's married to Mark, and they have a little girl named Claire. They still live in Caledon. Matt's younger, not married or anything and he lives in Chicago."

"Ok, I think I've got it all," she starting making an invisible family tree in the air, "On the Murphy side of your family is your mom's little sister Aunt Jane. She married Mitch Hewitt and they had Jenny and Matt. Jenny married Mark and they had Claire, and Matt is livin' it up in Chicago." She smiled proudly at him.

"Wow that was impressive," he said genuinely.

"I do what I can," she shrugged, then prompted, "So tell me about them." Luke usually didn't like talking about his private life with anyone, but it was Lorelai, so he obliged without any protest.

"Um…we're pretty close, my immediate family and theirs. We used to go up to Caledon every summer to spend time with them. And sometimes they came to Stars Hollow. And we'd see them throughout the year too, as often as we could."

"How did they get up here, I thought your mom grew up in the Hollow?" Lorelai inquired.

"Yeah she did, but my Aunt had met Uncle Mitch in college and he was from Caledon. She says he took her to visit once and she fell in love with it, so after they got married they moved out there."

"Ah, makes sense."

"Which of course my mom hated," he chuckled. "They were remarkably close, kind of like you and Rory actually," he glanced over at her and she smiled in acknowledgment. "They were different, but they liked a lot the same things, and they just got along really well. I remember when I was a kid, they could be on the phone for hours at a time…I never really understood it then, but I guess they just missed having the other one nearby." Lorelai was reminded of the current state of her relationship with Rory. They'd been missing each other a lot recently. Rory was busy at Yale and Lorelai was busy with the inn, and their schedule's just never seemed to fit together. Even their scheduled meeting times were being cancelled more frequently. Lorelai fought the melancholy that was threatening to take over and focused on Luke again.

"We still went over as often as we could after my mom died, but it wasn't that much. Dad had to work more and he wasn't able to get away as often. We still stayed close though. They'd come up to Stars Hollow more and when I got my licence I sometimes went to visit them by myself. Aunt Jane's like a second mother to me. She's always looking out for us."

"That's really nice," Lorelai was touched that he had shared something that was obviously very personal to him, with her. "What's she like?"

"She's…really smart. And funny. And just a no bullshit kind of lady."

Lorelai laughed at his assessment. "Ah my favourite kind."

Luke smiled back at her before continuing. "And Uncle Mitch? He's great too. Really into the outdoors, fishing, camping, sports, that sort of thing…Well he used to be, he's been having some back issues. He went in for a check-up earlier this week and ended up having a small surgery…they kept him in for observation. That's why he won't be at thanksgiving this year."

"Oh right, is it serious?"

"I don't know all the details, but my aunt doesn't sound extremely worried about it…I'll ask her when we get there."

"Well if you want to go visit him in the hospital, I'll go with you…sit in the waiting room or something," she offered. She knew Luke hated hospitals.

"Thanks," he said, touched that she would go with him. Lorelai just smiled softly in response and asked,

"What about your cousins?"

"Uh…Jenny's a lot like her mom. No bullshit. And she's that girl that gets along with everyone. Everywhere she goes she makes friends. And she's always been really protective. When we were kids and something happened? She'd defend us to whoever it was immediately no matter if we were wrong or right, and then when we were alone she'd tell us what she actually thought about it." Luke smiled ruefully. Lorelai chuckled in response.

"It was kinda always me and her and then Liz and Matt, cause they were about the same age too. Matt's always been a little shy at first, but once he gets more comfortable he can be really outgoing. Super outdoorsy too…which is why we all thought it was weird that the moved to a city. His job transferred him out there a year or 2 ago and he liked it so he decided to stay."

"That's really nice," Lorelai repeated genuinely.

"What?"

"To have family like that…My mom has a sister too, but they weren't as close as your mom and hers sound. And my aunt lived in Europe so I didn't really know her or the one first-cousin I do have. I have a few second-cousins on my dad's side, but they're all older so it wasn't like we were hanging out together. Actually I'd say that no one in my family has ever hung out together," she sniffed the air primly, turning her nose up and put on her best upper-crust society voice. "It's much too undignified." She didn't say it to play the martyr; she was stating a fact, sharing about her family, just like he had done with his. Luke laughed at her dramatics.

"It's a double-edged sword though. Having close family like that means that they all know your business all of the time, and they all feel like they can talk to you about it, ask whatever they want…"

"Still nice," Lorelai smiled.

"Well you've got that with Rory."

"Yeah," her smile widened, "I do, don't I?...Plus, Sookie's practically my sister, so I've got her too," she ended matter-of-factly. Luke smiled in response. Lorelai waited a moment before she asked her next question.

"So do I get to hear about Jolene?"

Luke groaned, "Ugh, no, living it once was enough."

"Come on," Lorelai cajoled. "I'm pretending to be your girlfriend here! I can't go in there with no ammo, what if she says something? I'd have no information to retaliate with!" Luke thought about how quickly that could actually happen and relented.

"Fine,' he sighed.

"So how'd you guys meet?" she asked quickly before he changed his mind.

"We came up to visit one summer…I think I was 15? Anyways, Jenny introduced me to a bunch a people from her school, and Jolene was one of them. It was me, Jenny, Mark—"

"Her husband Mark?"

"Yup…and this guy Billy, Jolene and Noah, who's her boyfriend now."

"Ooh, weird?" she asked scrunching up her face.

"Yeah a little….anyways we dated that summer but agreed we weren't gonna be together when I went back to Stars Hollow; and then the same thing happened the next summer. The summer after that I had my licence and I had met Rachel, so I drove me, her and Liz out to Caledon. I guess Jolene just assumed that it'd be the same deal again because she was pretty pissed that Rachel and I were together, and she made it her mission to let us know it. She was horrible to us, to Rachel especially. Called her terrible names and insinuated a bunch of other stuff. Then she started trying to make me jealous, bringing other guys around. Of course that didn't work, I was with Rachel. Then she started trying to get me back, and I lost it. Told her off and went back home. I didn't see her for a few years after that, but she tried to apologize when I did. I saw her again a few years later, one of those times Rachel and I were back together and she was just as mean and insensitive as she'd been in high school. Again, she apologized after…so I guess technically we should be ok now, but she always manages to slip in little comments or snubs whenever I see her. And unfortunately she and Jenny still keep in touch so we do run into each other from time to time."

"Wow, she sounds…"

"…Like a piece of work? That's because she is. I can't believe I ever dated her."

"Neither can I," Lorelai chimed in.

"I was young and stupid. A girl liked me so I went along with it," he said by way of explanation.

"Ah the wisdom of youth," Lorelai teased.

"Yup," he said dryly.

"I get it, ya know. I wouldn't want to face that alone either; does not seem fun."

He looked over at her but could only see her profile. "Definitely not fun."

"Well besides her, everyone sounds great, I can't wait to meet them!"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure you guys will get along," he replied. They shared a smile and continued on their way.

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON

Over 2 hours and about 4 more stops later, Luke was pulling his truck into the driveway.

"Alright, here we go...I apologize in advance for whatever happens with them."

"Luke, you're not instilling a lot of confidence in your family there..."

"Naw, I mean they're fine, it'll probably be fine," Luke said trying to backtrack.

"Ok, we'll have to work on your delivery."

"Alright," Luke sighed looking ahead of them. Lorelai turned too, and looked out the windshield in time to see an older woman with dyed brown hair and glasses, sitting on the porch of a beautiful old country home, waving and smiling widely at them. Lorelai smiled and waved back.

"Is that your aunt?" she asked Luke.

"Yeah...I hope she's not mad that we're late."

"When did you tell her we were coming?"

"Late afternoon, maybe 4-ish," Luke said, pulling the truck to a stop in front of the house.

"Well she doesn't look too mad." Lorelai waited for Luke to jump out first and trailed behind a little nervously.

"Lucas! You finally made it; I was starting to wonder if I'd gotten the days wrong!" Aunt Jane called out as she finished coming down the front stairs.

"Sorry if we made you worry, we had to make a few more stops than I anticipated," he replied giving his aunt a big hug and shooting a mock angry glare in Lorelai's direction.

"And you must be Luke's girl! Luke, don't be rude now, introduce us!" chastised the aunt.

"Sorry, sorry, I was gettin' there," Luke says dryly. "Aunt Jane this is Lorelai Gilmore, Lorelai this is my Aunt Jane." Something clicked in Jane's head, she recognized that name.

"It's really nice to meet you, and thank you for having me over for Thanksgiving!" Lorelai said; the latter half of her sentence being muffled as Aunt Jane pulled her into a big hug.

"Oh dear the pleasure is all mine! I'm so happy you could make it! Now let's get you all inside, Luke get the bags!"

"Yes ma'am."

Aunt Jane put her arm around Lorelai's waist to lead her into the house. With her head bent towards Lorelai's, she lowered her voice and said, "I really am glad to meet you. Luke doesn't bring too many of his girls over, and I worry about him you know? Living all by himself above the diner, I'm sure it can get lonely sometimes. Not that he'll ever admit it. And you are a pretty thing aren't you. I'm glad I finally have a face to put to all the stories we've heard."

Lorelai knew the Gilmores could babble but she wasn't prepared for a babbler in Luke's family. The monosyllabic thing must be a Danes trait, she decided. She really liked Luke's Aunt already. For a first meeting she seemed very warm and friendly. Both of which were clearly reflected in the house itself, she observed. The home exuded warmth and family and comfort. It was like being enveloped in a huge hug as soon as you entered the front door.

With an amused smile and slightly flushed cheeks, she took in her surroundings and said, "I'm really glad to meet you too! I haven't met much of Luke's family, only Liz, TJ and Jess really."

"Well there's not a lot of us, but you'll definitely meet some more this weekend!"

"Wow! I really love your house Mrs. Hewitt! It's beautiful!" And she really meant it. As Aunt Jane was leading her into the kitchen, she caught glimpses of some of the other rooms. The house was much larger on the inside than it looked on the outside. There were random knick-knacks and throws on various antique and more modern pieces of furniture, and there were family photos everywhere; the walls, the mantel above the fireplace, on top of tables. And even though the place looked clean, it also looked lived-in and homey. She instantly felt at ease there.

"Oh dear you're much too kind. This place has needed a spruce for a long time now. And please call me Aunt Jane."

"Ok, I will!" Lorelai said smiling.

"Good. Now would you like some coffee? I know you love it and I just made a fresh pot."

"I'd love some! It is about time for my next hit."

Aunt Jane poured her a cup full and slid it across the counter to where Lorelai was sitting on a stool. Both ladies looked up abruptly when they heard a loud bang and an "Aw jeeze" coming from just outside the front door. Lorelai tried to hide her giggle in her mug as Aunt Jane inquired if Luke was alright.

"Yeah I'm fine! Just trying to get all of Lorelai's bags in. Jeeze! I still can't believe you brought all this stuff, we're only here for a few days!" He said turning the corner into the entrance of the kitchen.

"Well I wasn't sure what we'd be doing, and besides, I need options!"

Luke sighed. He shouldn't have expected a different answer from a Gilmore girl. Rory probably would have said the same thing.

"Where do you want these Aunt Jane?"

"Oh I made up the bed in your old room, you can just put them there."

"Where should I put Lorelai's stuff?" He asked stealing a quick glance at his fake girlfriend.

"Oh Luke! I'm not under any impression that you two don't share a room, your room is fine!" Aunt Jane laughed. "I'm old but I'm not stupid!"

Luke blushed and caught at Lorelai's eye again. She could see the question he wanted to ask but didn't really have an answer for him. She had just assumed she and Luke would be in separate rooms, but it looked like they didn't really have an option. They were supposed to be a couple. And couples shared a room, and a bed. When she didn't look away, Luke nodded slightly, said "ok" and began making his way up the stairs with all of their stuff.

As he climbed he started figuring out a sleeping arrangement. He didn't want Lorelai to feel any more uncomfortable than she probably already was. None of this was her idea. Sure it had started out as him inviting her along so she wouldn't be alone on Thanksgiving, but it had quickly turned into her helping him save face with his family and an ex who he really didn't care about anymore. She was such a good friend he thought. She could have easily said no to pretending to be his girlfriend but she didn't. Instead she was putting herself through all of this just to help him out. He could probably handle sleeping in the same bed as her, right? Even though he knew that he wanted more out of their relationship and even though sometimes it felt like she might too, the threat of losing her friendship if something went wrong was just too much. She meant too much to him. Maybe he'd sleep on the floor. Yeah, that would work. Throw a blanket down, grab a pillow? He'd make it work.

Lorelai finished off her coffee chatting idly with Aunt Jane about the house and the town. After, she went in search of Luke and found him in a bedroom kneeling over his suitcase, unpacking some of his things. The room was light and airy and welcoming. Save for their heap of luggage, everything was neat and tidy. There was a queen sized bed in the middle of the room, a closet to the left of it and what she assumed was the door to a bathroom off to the far right. Remembering what Aunt Jane had said downstairs, she glanced around again. Except for the family photos strewn about there was nothing to suggest that it would be Luke's room.

"Hey."

"Oh hey, how was the coffee?"

"Not as good as yours, but...so this is your room huh?"

"Yeap this is it."

"Hmm...cool..it's-"

"What?" Luke interjected.

"It's not what I expected."

"What did you expect?"

"I don't know...maybe some posters, books, trophies...mega man protein powder..?" She said looking around.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Why would I leave protein powder here?"

"Well I don't know what you were like as a boy, I'm just going off of the information I already have."

"This isn't really my room, it's just where I used to stay whenever we visited, so they started calling it my room."

"Ooh gotcha. So I shouldn't expect to see any remnants of a young Luke Danes around here anywhere?"

"Well maybe a few." At that Lorelai looked over and saw the teasing twinkle in his eye. She didn't quite know what he meant by that. But she had a feeling she might be finding out soon. She zoned out, and a few moments later it occurred to her that she'd been staring at him maybe a beat too long. Realizing Luke was still talking, she tuned in just in time to hear him say,

"...but, I'm sorry."

Confused she asked, "Sorry about what?"

"Aunt Jane. And I hate to say it, but when everyone else gets here it'll probably get worse," Luke grimaced.

"...What are you talking about?"

"Aunt Jane. All the questions…"

"Oh Luke please, it's fine. I really like her by the way."

"Yeah she's great, but if she asks too much—"

"Actually she didn't ask me anything...well only if I wanted some coffee. But I promise I was not the least bit offended by the offer," Lorelai joked. Now Luke was confused.

"Really? She didn't ask you for your life story, or any of the questions we prepared for in the car?"

"Nope. But I'm sure those will come. And that's totally fine, all of that is pretty standard when meeting the new girlfriend."

"Yeah you're right. I'm being paranoid."

"Just a little."

"Sorry."

"Luke it's ok!" Lorelai laughed, "And besides I like talking about myself, it'll be fine!"

Luke laughed too. She was right. She did love to talk, and anyways, if things ended up going wrong she could talk her way out of it. He'd seen her do it countless times. Avoid answering a question by distracting the other person with a joke or obscure reference. That, coupled with her charm, meant that Luke shouldn't be worried at all. Lorelai started unpacking her clothes as well. Rifling through her open suitcase on the bed, she asked Luke,

"So what's the plan for the rest of tonight?"

"Well uh, I was just going to finish unpacking this and then go see if Aunt Jane needed any help making dinner. To be honest I'm kinda beat, you mind if we just hang around here tonight?"

"Oh no that sounds perfect, I'm kinda tired too. Ok well I could help with dinner—"

"No please, no one wants you to help with dinner," Luke said, looking at Lorelai like she was crazy.

"Are you sure? Cause I don't mind."

"I'm sure...we'd like the food to be edible."

"Ha ha" Lorelai says sarcastically. "But you're probably right."

"Oh I'm definitely right."

"So is it cool if I just hang up here for a while? Take a shower, make myself presentable for dinner?"

"Yeah, take your time, I'll just call up or something when the food's ready."

"Ok cool." The two worked to unpack their belongings in comfortable silence. Before long Luke finished unpacking and went downstairs to see about dinner. Lorelai quickly finished as well and grabbed her toiletries bag along with her towel and a change of clothes to take into the bathroom with her. She saw the tub, but decided to jump in the shower. Even though Luke had told her to take her time, she didn't want to make a bad impression. And maybe she could help set the table or something...she couldn't cook but she wasn't completely useless in the kitchen. She tried to turn off the nagging little voice in her head as she got dressed. Playing on a loop was Rory's voice implying that she wanted to make a good impression so that Luke's family would like and accept her. Why? Well she knew what Rory would say...and Sookie and pretty much anyone in town. But she didn't really think Luke felt that way. Sometimes she could really see them together. It could be great, she thought. After all, they were already best friends. They knew each other so well and genuinely liked spending time together. Besides, Luke was just a great guy. A guy like him was rare, she knew. But she also knew that her track record with dating wasn't the best. She didn't trust very easily, and it tended to cut a lot of potential relationships short. Of course she trusted Luke already, but would adding dating to their relationship change that? That, she didn't know. And she was scared to find out. She depended on Luke, couldn't fathom a life without him in it. She didn't want to screw that up. Plus he didn't feel that way about her. There was no way. They'd been friends for years. If he did he would have said something right? Lorelai put the finishing touches on her make-up and surveyed herself in the mirror once more. Satisfied, she put the make-up away, turned off the light and headed downstairs.

Meanwhile, Luke had made it down the stairs to find his Aunt at the cutting board chopping up some vegetables.

"Hey, you need some help? What are we making?"

"Oh that's ok, I've got it covered, you go make sure Lorelai's all right and I'll call you kids down when the food's ready."

"Naw she's fine, went to go shower and change and stuff; told her I'd call her when we were done."

"Okay then we're making pasta, is that ok? Just something simple you know. Don't want too many leftovers taking up space in the fridge. There'll be plenty after thanksgiving."

"Yeah that's fine, Lorelai will eat anything."

"Ok I've got the sauce going, you can put the noodles in and start on the salad if you want."

"Sure" Luke moved quickly around the kitchen getting everything he'd need. He knew this kitchen just as well as his own. He put the noodles into the boiling water and started cutting up the lettuce for the salad.

"So how much of this am I making? Is it just us tonight?"

"Unfortunately yes, Jenny can't make it. Mark's working tonight and Jenny has to run Claire around to all of her lessons. But she called and said they'll all be over for dinner tomorrow night."

"Oh great! I can't wait to see them. Feels like it's been a lot longer than it has."

"And wait until you see Claire! She's grown up so much since the last time you saw her."

"Oh I bet."

In the lull in their conversation Jane stole a glance at Luke but couldn't decipher his mood. She tried to make her voice sound casual as she prompted, "So..."

Luke could hear the question in the word. He looked up, but his Aunt was just checking on the garlic bread in the oven.

"So...?" He repeated.

"So tell me about Lorelai." Luke had already started cutting up the garnish for the salad and was very glad he was. His aunt was behind him at the stove and she couldn't see his face. He had instantly turned red at the question. He didn't know how to answer. His aunt was usually very good at detecting bullshit and if he laid on the girlfriend stuff too heavily, she might figure out that it was a lie. But, if he went with something more akin to the truth, he might reveal too much about how he actually felt. He didn't know what the balance was so he just decided to go with saying as little as possible.

"What about Lorelai?"

"Tell me about her!"

"Oh I'm sure she'd rather do that herself."

"Hmm...so you're giving me permission to ask her all of my questions?"

Luke thought about it for a moment. "Well...maybe not all of your questions, we don't wanna scare her off."

Aunt Jane giggled and accepted those terms. "Ok, well then can I just ask you one thing?"

"What is it?"

"Is she the same Lorelai that you've talked about over the years? Or are there a lot of Lorelai's in Stars Hollow?"

Luke chuckled and blushed again. "No it's the same Lorelai."

Aunt Jane smiled to herself at the admission. She had heard the way Luke talked about her and knew that this girl meant a lot to him. She must be something special. Aunt Jane was even more anxious to get to know her better. Luke had always felt like another son to her and she just wanted him to be happy. To find someone he could share his life with that loved him too. But she knew Luke wouldn't give too much away, he could clam up fairly quickly if he wanted too.

"Ok" she said in response. They worked quietly for a minute or two before Aunt Jane started filling Luke in on some of the family stories he'd missed since his last visit. About 10 minutes later they heard footsteps on the stairs. Luke was tossing the salad and Jane was putting the pasta and sauce into serving dishes. Both looked up to see Lorelai rounding the corner into the kitchen. Luke's breath caught. She looked beautiful. She was wearing a navy blue long sleeved t-shirt over what he assumed was a white tank top. He could only see the edges along her neckline, so he couldn't be completely sure. She had on a pair of worn jeans that moulded her hips and legs perfectly. She was barefoot, had very little make-up on, and hidden behind her loose curls were small dangling earrings. It was a normal outfit, something she probably would have worn hanging around in her own house, but in its simplicity, it seemed to shine a light on her natural beauty. As she walked further into the kitchen, Luke was struck by how easily it all seemed to fit together. His Stars Hollow life and his family life sometimes seemed like two different worlds, but Lorelai, standing barefoot in the kitchen of the place he used to spend his childhood summers, talking about nothing important with his aunt, just fit. She looked like she belonged there. Luke had zoned out of the conversation, but was quickly brought back into it when Lorelai walked away. She was going to set the table he heard his aunt say. He snapped into action and followed Lorelai to the table, taking the salad and pasta with him on the way.

Luke had been staring at Lorelai so intently since she'd entered the kitchen that she almost wasn't aware of what was coming out of her mouth. Even though she looked away, she could still feel his eyes on her. She managed to insist on helping to set the table at least, despite Aunt Jane's protests, and moved quickly to do so. If she stayed much longer she would've looked at Luke again, and that could be dangerous. She liked having all of his attention like that, but she wasn't sure how to respond to it. She was setting plates down when she heard someone enter the room behind her. She instantly knew it was Luke, she could feel his stare again. He came around to the other side of the table and put the pasta down before she gave into the urge and looked up at him. She caught his eye immediately and before she could come up with something witty to break the tension, she heard,

"You look really nice."

A gasp got stuck in her throat, but she managed a grainy, "Thank you."

Luke looked at her a beat longer, put down the salad and went to go get the rest of the food. Lorelai finished setting the table by herself. It was one of those moments, she thought. They had them sometimes. Recently they'd been happening more often. One of those moments where it seemed they were both acknowledging the feelings or connection that seemed to exist between them, without really acknowledging it. It was like an unspoken language that only the two of them understood. It was never mentioned after, but they both knew it had happened. It was like they had tiptoed to the line for a second, almost crossed over, but tiptoed back just in time. And it was time to tiptoe back, she thought. They were about to have dinner with his Aunt.

---

They were well into their first course by the time Aunt Jane started asking the questions Luke wouldn't answer before. Lorelai had already complimented the chefs profusely and was ready for seconds.

"Oh dear please take more! I don't want there to be any leftovers. Have to keep some room in the fridge for all the Thanksgiving stuff."

"Oh great, I was just thinking I wouldn't mind some more."

"I don't think you'll have to worry about having leftovers with Lorelai here," Luke teased.

"Ha ha" Lorelai said sarcastically before turning to Aunt Jane and saying seriously, "But he's right. When food is this good you can't waste any of it."

"What are you talking about? You eat like this all the time."

"Yes I know, but this food is eeextra good. Why would I deprive myself of something this good?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "I don't know why I bother."

Lorelai grinned saying, "Neither do I."

Luke responded with a small smile of his own. Lorelai loved that smile. And the teasing look in his eyes that went with it. Hell, half the time she was just trying to see what she could say or do to illicit that smile. Aunt Jane stayed quiet for this exchange. They were amusing, teasing back and forth like that. None of it was said maliciously and it was all taken in stride. And it was cute, she thought. It was easy to see how well they got along. She figured now might be a good time to get some of her answers.

"So Lorelai, tell me about yourself."

"Oh brother," Luke grumbled. Here we go... he thought.

Lorelai laughed at his obvious discomfort. She didn't mind the questions though, went with the territory of being the girlfriend. ...Fake girlfriend, she mentally corrected.

"What do you want to know?" She inquired smiling at Aunt Jane.

"Well we've heard so much about you but Luke's decided this trip he wasn't going to give anything else away."

"Well I'm an open book, ask anything you want," Lorelai said shrugging her shoulders.

"Where did the two of you meet?"

"Oh we met at the diner," she replied politely.

"Yes but what's the story?"

Lorelai flashed Luke a huge smile and asked, "Do you want to tell it?"

"No you go ahead," Turning back to Aunt Jane, Lorelai launched into the story.

"Ok well, it was about...8 years ago?...yeah 8 years ago cause I had just moved into my house. Anyways I had been walking through town on my lunch break, but I lost track of time. I didn't have a car yet so I needed to start walking back to work, but it suddenly seemed like an extremely long way to walk without some coffee, so I went into the diner and asked for a cup to-go—"

"More like burst in and demanded a cup," Luke interjected

"Hey I did not burst in."

"Uh yes you did. The place was packed, it was the middle of the lunch rush, and you wouldn't stop yammering on about that damn cup of coffee."

"Well that is true...I did talk a lot."

"More like babble."

"To which you said, and I quote, 'You're being annoying. Sit down, shut up, I'll get to you when I get to you.'" Lorelai said in a gruff tone trying to mimic Luke.

Aunt Jane chuckled and said wistfully, "Ahh Luke, such a charmer."

"Isn't he though?" Lorelai sarcastically agreed.

"Alright, alright, just get on with it," Luke grumbled.

"Well, long conversation short, I kept talking, he wasn't giving in, so finally I asked him when his birthday was. Of course he wouldn't tell me right away, but I eventually got it out of him. I saw there was a newspaper lying on the counter, so I tore off the Scorpio section from the horoscope page and wrote, 'You will meet an annoying woman today, give her coffee and she'll go away.' So he gave me the coffee, and I gave him the horoscope and told him to keep it, that it would bring him good luck one day."

"And did it?" Aunt Jane asked Luke. Luke instantly locked eyes with Lorelai, holding her gaze as he said quietly, "Yeah, I think it did." He smiled, happy that Lorelai remembered their first encounter as well as he did…he didn't think she would, it was so long ago.

Lorelai's heart did a flip and a faint smile took form on her face. The look in his eyes made her think that he really did just imply that she was both the reason for the luck and his prize for holding onto the horoscope. She didn't imagine that right? It was probably just a part of the boyfriend act, but boy did that feel real. Wait. Did that mean that he actually held onto it? Tearing her gaze away, she continued,

"Anyways, I…uh, walked outside, took a sip and couldn't believe it. That grumpy diner guy made the best coffee I'd ever tasted. So I went back as soon as I could of course, which turned out to be a few days later, and I think after that time was when I brought Rory in for the first time. We've been going ever since."

"That's a lovely story, and quite a memorable one!"

"Well I like it," Lorelai said smiling sweetly at Luke.

Aunt Jane watched them for a moment before getting up and saying, "I think it's time for dessert now, excuse me."

"Oh I'll help you."

As he watched them leave, Luke thought back to the day he met Lorelai Gilmore. She had definitely burst into the diner that day. He remembers that after she left it felt like a flash tornado had just gone through the diner. And she certainly had been annoying...but he remembers feeling like he had just witnessed something great that he couldn't quite define. He had only hoped she'd come in again. The ladies returned to the table. Lorelai poured coffee for herself and Aunt Jane and some tea for Luke. Aunt Jane dished out some apple pie and ice cream for herself and Lorelai and placed a small fruit salad in front of Luke. When they were settled, Aunt Jane started in on her questions again.

"So Lorelai, you said you had just moved into your house when you met Luke, where were you before?

"We were living at the Independence Inn."

"Mia Holloway's place?"

"The one and only!"

"Oh I just love Mia, such a sweet lady!"

"Yeah she's the best," Lorelai said genuinely.

"I didn't know she made some of the rooms into residences as well!"

"Oh she didn't, Rory and I lived out in the potting shed for a while, until I saved up enough money for a place of our own. I'm so grateful I met Mia, I don't know what I would've done without her help."

"If you don't mind my asking dear, what happened that you were living in Mia's potting shed?" Aunt Jane inquired cautiously.

"Well see, I'm originally from Hartford, and I've never really gotten along with my parents— "

"Lorelai," Luke interrupted. When she looked at him, he continued, "you don't have to..."

"Oh I'm sorry," Aunt Jane said quickly. She understood Luke's hint. Maybe her questions were getting a little too personal.

Lorelai alternated looking at both of them. "No no it's fine, really, it's just a part of the story." She looked at Luke to see if he had any more objections. He nodded slightly and she continued, though somewhere in the back of her mind it occurred to her that maybe Luke might be embarrassed by his girlfriend's...fake girlfriend's, she corrected, past, and didn't want the rest of his family to know about it. Maybe his Aunt was more old-fashioned than she seemed, and wouldn't be ok with the whole getting pregnant at 16 thing. However, she had already started, so she went on.

"Yeah so, I've never really gotten along with my parents...like at all. I love them, but I knew from a very young age that I was moving out as soon as possible. I always figured that would be when I left for college, but after I had Rory I knew I couldn't stay any longer. So I left. Didn't really have a plan, but I found my way to the Independence, told Mia my story and asked for a job. She made me a maid and gave us the potting shed for however long we'd need it. It took about 10 years before I finally had enough to buy us a decent place."

Aunt Jane was fascinated by this girl. Lorelai had told that story so casually. With an air of fact, a this-is-who-I-am-warts-and-all type attitude that Jane found refreshing.

"That's a remarkable story. You're very brave."

"Or very stupid," Lorelai chuckled, getting shy under Aunt Jane's compliments.

"No dear...it's brave to fight for the life you want. And it looks like it turned out well for you."

Lorelai smiled wistfully. "Yeah...it did." The rest of dessert went by amicably. Jane had stopped her line of questioning and together they all cleaned up.

"Alright," Jane said, putting the last dish away. "I think I'm going to head upstairs, read a little before bed. You two make yourselves comfortable and I'll see you in the morning!"

"Alright goodnight Aunt Jane!" Luke called to her retreating back.

"Night!" echoed Lorelai.

"Goodnight kids!"

"So...it's early still, you wanna watch some tv or something?" Luke asked.

"Sure."

They made their way to the living room and flopped down onto the couch that was facing the tv. Luke picked up the remote and started channel surfing. Before Lorelai could give it a second thought, she heard herself saying,

"Luke, can I ask you something?"

"Sure" he said, still watching the screen.

"Why did you try to stop me from telling your Aunt about living in the potting shed?"

He looked over at her. He wasn't expecting that.

"Uh...I-"

"Is it because you didn't want her knowing that your girlfriend had such a messy past? Because she didn't seem like-"

"No! No of course not!" Luke vehemently denied.

"Then what was that all about?"

"Lorelai I think it's amazing what you've done for you and Rory. You have a great life that you worked very hard for, and a great kid who worships you. You should be proud of all you've accomplished, I know I am!...I just, didn't want you to feel like you had to give up information about your life that you didn't want to just because she asked you. I mean you're in this whole situation because of me, and I just don't want you to be any more uncomfortable than I'm sure you already are," he finished sheepishly.

"What are you talking about?" Lorelai asked confused. "I'm having a great time! I love your Aunt, she's so warm and kind. And I love this house! It's comfortable and homey…it's really great!"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Really, I'm happy to be here."

"Ok, well good." Luke said with a small smile. He went back to flipping through the channels. "Tell me if you see something good." A minute passed before Lorelai spoke again.

"Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"For what?" he asked looking at her again.

"For all the stuff you said before." They held each other's gaze for a moment longer before Luke nodded his head slightly in acknowledgement and they both turned back to the tv.

They watched for a while before Luke made sure the house was locked up properly and they headed upstairs. They took turns getting ready for bed in the bathroom. Luke went first, and when Lorelai was done, she found Luke spreading a blanket on the floor. He had another blanket to cover with and a pillow. It was obvious, but she asked anyway.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh I figured I'd give you the bed. I know we weren't planning on sharing a room. Sorry about that. I didn't think she'd make us share…but she does think we're a couple, and I guess if we're a couple it'd be weird it we didn't share right?" He was rambling he knew, but he was nervous. He never thought he'd be in this situation, pretending to be in a relationship with Lorelai Gilmore. If anything, they should've been in a real relationship together. But he knew that was probably too much to wish for so he tamped the thought down. Still, he was nervous. He didn't know what the rules were for a situation like this.

"Oh no that's ok. She didn't really give us an option. But you don't have to sleep on the floor! We can share the bed, I promise to only kick you once," she joked. Luke chuckled.

"Well as enticing as that sounds, I'm good on the floor. Me and Matt used to do that sometimes so I'm used to it."

"Okaaaay," She replied doubtfully. "If you change your mind just hop on in!"

"Ok thanks." They both settled in to their respective beds. Minutes later, Lorelai was steadily falling asleep but she could hear Luke tossing and turning.

"Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you just come up here?"

"No, no I'm fine really."

"Ok, the floor can't be comfortable at all."

"It's good enough."

"You're going to toss and turn all night."

"That's ok."

"And not get any sleep."

"I'll manage."

"And you'll hurt your back. Sorry to say, but sleeping on the floor as an adult is much different than it is as a kid." Sighing, he got up and folded up his makeshift bed, placing the extra blankets on the bench at the foot of the bed.

"You're right. Move over." Lorelai shifted down towards the right side of the bed, closest to the bathroom. Luke got in on the left side. When both were settled, Lorelai looked over to find Luke lying on his back staring at the ceiling, much like she had been doing. She estimated about 6 inches between them and swiftly shot her right leg out to kick him in the calf.

"Hey!" He protested. Lorelai giggled.

"What? I told you I would only kick you once!" Luke sighed, thankful that the dark hid the smile on his face as he grumped, "Goodnight Lorelai."

He could hear the smile in her voice as she replied, "Goodnight Lucas." With that, he started to drift off. He had been nervous and reluctant to get in the bed with her. He was unsure of how to act or how his body would react to having her so close, but her kick somewhat diffused the tension he was feeling. Well, enough that he could fall asleep at least. As he went off to dreamland, he willed himself to stay on his side of the bed. It would be ok if he just stayed on his side.

Lorelai heard Luke drift off to sleep and smiled at his light snore. She was nervous. She wasn't prepared for the comfort she felt having Luke next to her in the bed. It was different when she'd slept over at his place after the inn burned down. He was in the room then too and of course she'd felt comfortable. She always did with Luke. But he wasn't this close before. She was now close enough to discern the distinct smells that made up his overall Luke-ness, if she wanted to. Mint, cocoa butter, and maybe some kind of masculine shampoo? Ok so she wasn't the best at discerning smells, the point was that she was close enough to do it. It was nice, she thought. Getting to be this close to him and not having to come up with a joke or an explanation as to why they were. It was really nice, she decided as she too drifted off.

THURSDAY MORNING

Lorelai woke but didn't open her eyes right away. It took her a few seconds to remember where she was and why she was there. And in her pre-caffeinated state it took her a moment to realize that there was a weight on her. She opened her eyes to investigate and found that she was lying face to face with a sleeping Luke. His right arm was slung around her waist, holding her close to him. She noticed that they weren't quite pressed up against each other, but a few inches would do it. She was surprised, but probably not as shocked as she should have been. She was more caught up in the feeling of being even closer to him. It was definitely over the unspoken line of boundaries they had created in their friendship, but it didn't feel weird; quite the opposite actually. It felt good. She felt safe, warm and tingly from the heat of his arm. However she knew that if she moved he might wake up and they'd have to deal with it. So she decided to stay put and live in that feeling for a little while longer. Plus if she was up before Luke it was definitely too early to be up.

---

About two hours later, Luke woke up to a knock on the door. He saw the position they were in, and immediately started moving. So much for staying on my side, he thought with an eye roll. Aunt Jane knocked again and called,

"Luke?" On the other side of the door Luke started whispering to Lorelai.

"Lorelai? Wake up," His arm was still on her waist so he shook her a little. "Hey, come on, wake up."

"Hmm, it's early Luke go back to sleep," she mumbled. He heard another knock and called out, "Just a second!"

He turned back to Lorelai and raised his voice to a raspy tone just above a whisper, "No don't go back to sleep, my Aunt's at the door." That woke her up. She snapped her eyes open and found that they were still in the same position they'd been in earlier that morning. She turned on her back and said "ok." Luke called for Aunt Jane to come in. She came in a bit timidly.

"Good morning! I'm sorry kids, I didn't mean to wake you! I thought you'd already be up. I just wanted to know what you wanted for breakfast."

"Oh you don't have to make us something, I can do it," Luke replied.

"Nonsense, I've already started."

"Well whatever you've made will be fine, right?"

"Yeah anything is good," Lorelai chirped. All she could think about was how surreal it was that she was in bed with Luke, talking to his Aunt, who thought they were a couple.

"We'll be down in a few minutes."

"Oh no, take your time, you're just waking up, I'll have the food ready whenever you come down." Aunt Jane smiled at them, interpreting their somewhat flustered state for her just waking them up, and went back downstairs. As the door closed, they looked at each other. Luke broke the silence.

"I'm uh, sorry about before," he said gesturing to his arm being on her waist.

Lorelai smiled shyly. "I think we both just move a lot when we sleep."

"Yeah…so should we?" Luke asked, motioning to get up.

"Oh yeah, you can go first."

"Ok," Luke got out of bed. "We should probably just go straight down cause the food's probably already done if she was coming to wake us up."

"Ok sure," Lorelai replied. Luke went into the bathroom and she heard the faucet run. Lorelai quickly looked down to make sure that she was wearing Aunt appropriate pyjamas and was happy to see that she was wearing her cotton coffee pants and her matching java t-shirt. There was little she could do about it now, Aunt Jane had already seen her, but it gave her some peace of mind. When Luke was done, Lorelai went in to wash her face and brush her teeth. Luke decided to stay in the blue-gray t-shirt and gray sweatpants he had worn to sleep, so he just sat on the bed waiting quietly for Lorelai to be done. They were both still a little sleepy so the walk downstairs was amicably silent. They found Aunt Jane sitting at the kitchen island already eating. In front of her was a huge stack of pancakes, a bottle of syrup, butter, some pastries, a bowl of fruit, and 2 empty plates. Lorelai immediately went for the coffee while Luke put a plate together for her. He piled on a generous amount of pancakes and a pastry onto her plate, as Aunt Jane told them about the bakery she bought the pastries at that morning. To go with his tea, he took only 2 pancakes and lightly drizzled them with syrup.

After her first pancake was gone, Lorelai needed more syrup, Luke noticed. He slid the bottle over to her. In turn, she slid the bowl of fruit his way. He smiled and refilled her cup of coffee wordlessly in thanks. Neither one once losing track of the conversation they were having with Aunt Jane.

As they ate, Jane continued to watch them. She'd never seen Luke this happy and at ease with someone before. Well besides the family, but that was different. There was definitely something special about this girl. Not that she needed to read Luke's moods to know that. In the little time they had spent together, she could already see what a bright, genuine and funny girl she was. Not to mention beautiful. And she seemed to really care for Luke which was above all the most important trait to have, in her opinion. She was a good counter to the more gruff and grumbly attitude Luke wore most of the time. They seemed to balance each other out.

"So what do you guys have planned for today?" Aunt Jane asked.

"Uh…haven't really thought about it. I don't know…maybe we could go into town or something and I can show Lorelai around."

"That sounds good," Lorelai chimed in, "maybe I can pick up a souvenir for Rory."

"From Caledon?" Luke said looking at her like she was crazy.

"Yeah! It'll be great! I'm sure she'll bring me back a Bahama Mama t-shirt or something, so I should get her a Caledon one."

"I don't think they sell those dear," Aunt Jane replied, scrunching up her nose.

"Oh, well, then a magnet, or a keychain or a cup or something."

"I doubt you'll find those either."

"They have to have something with the word Caledon on it!"

"Or, we can save a bunch of time, and just buy a plain t-shirt and you can write Caledon on it," Luke suggested.

"Yeah that'll work," Lorelai agreed. "Coffee?" She asked, holding her cup out to Luke. It was out of her reach or else she would've poured it herself.

"What? No! You already had 2."

"Exactly. I only had 2…I should at least be on my 4th by now, I'm falling behind!" she replied, putting the mug down.

"Come on, you know this stuff is bad for you. I know you know too, cause I tell you every day! How can you still drink it?"

"Very easily because it's delicious."

Luke sighed. "You have a problem."

"I have many problems, but the solution to all of them starts with this cup of coffee," she said, tapping the rim of the mug.

"Junkie." He grumbled as he poured.

"Angel." She took a sip and turned to see Aunt Jane highly amused by the exchange. "It always takes a little work to wear him down," she said. Dirty! Her eyes widened slightly at the thought. That totally did not come out the way she meant it to. Nobody picked up on it though, thank God. Time to change the subject really quickly…

"What are you up to today Aunt Jane?" she asked.

"Oh nothing too much, I've got a few errands to run and then I'm going to see Mitch for a little while."

"When are you going to see Uncle Mitch, maybe we can go with you," Luke inquired.

"Oh sweetie you don't have to, I'll be fine."

"Of course I was planning to see Uncle Mitch while I was here," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Well then you can go some other time. You should spend the day with Lorelai, take her out. Have a day to do whatever you want. I know you don't take many days off." Lorelai didn't want to get involved too much in the family matter so she let Luke do the talking for both of them.

"Please," Luke scoffed, "It's no trouble at all, we—"

"Lucas," Aunt Jane cut him off with a warning tone. "Please leave me alone with my husband for a little while. You take your girl out, and you kids have fun! Take her to the lake or something; it really is beautiful this time of year."

"Fine," Luke said defeated. He couldn't really argue if she wanted some time alone with her husband. Jane knew that though, that's why she said it. She really just wanted Luke and Lorelai to have some fun, she didn't want to monopolize all of their time. Besides, they could always go see Mitch in a day or two.

Breakfast was finished rather quickly, but they lingered over their coffee, chatting about nothing in particular. They were all just enjoying having a leisurely morning together. At about 10 o'clock, Aunt Jane announced that she was going to get ready for her day while the couple retreated to the living room to watch some tv. About half an hour later, Jane set out to start on her errands. Lorelai and Luke went to get ready and it was about 11:30 before they had piled back into Luke's truck and were heading towards the busier part of town. Around 10 minutes later they pulled up to what was clearly the town's main intersection.

"Wow this place is probably smaller than Stars Hollow!" Lorelai exclaimed looking out the windshield.

"Yeah I think it is, but the next town over is not that far and it's bigger so I think they can get stuff there if they can't find it in Caledon.

"So is there any place to eat around here? I'm getting hungry."

"I am too… there's a few places. Uh if I remember correctly, that way there's a fish and chips place, over there is a burger place, and down here is a steak house, but they also sell pizza and stuff." Luke said pointing to the different directions.

Lorelai gave him a sidelong glance. "If I say I want to go the steakhouse are you gonna give a lecture the whole time we're there?"

"Would it make a difference if I did?"

"No."

"Then steakhouse it is!" He said with false enthusiasm. When they got there, Lorelai was surprised. She was not expecting it to look so fancy. Mind you, it was basically empty, it was midday on a Thursday, but it definitely had more or a suburbia vibe than a small town one. They were seated at a table, and a waitress came to take their order a few minutes later.

"Uhh I'll have the personal pan pizza with extra cheese and extra chicken please," Lorelai said smiling at the waitress.

"And you sir?"

"Uhm…I'll have the sirloin. Medium Well, with whatever vegetables you have instead of the baked potato please. Thanks." Luke handed over the menu to the waitress as she left. He turned to see a shocked Lorelai. "What?"

"You..y-you ordered a steak?!" She spit out, trying to regulate her voice.

"Yeah."

"You ordered a steak."

"Yes."

"You ordered a steak."

"Yes, jeeze. Lorelai I know what a steak is," He was starting to get annoyed.

"Do you?"

"Yes."

"Do you?"

"Yes."

"DO you?"

"Oh my God can we please stop with the repeating thing?"

"Sorry, I just—I just can't believe it." Lorelai said, still incredulous. "You are aware that steak is red meat right?"

"Well I'm not an idiot."

"Red meat can kill you." Lorelai brought out her bad Luke impression again.

"Yeah it can, when you eat it as often as you do. I stand by that." He said with a decisive nod.

"Right right…but how can you still eat it knowing it's bad for you?" She asked echoing his words from breakfast. He caught her drift and gave her a knowing look.

"Because it's my day off, Aunt Jane said so." He replied smugly. Lorelai narrowed her eyes. "Plus," he continued, "I didn't get it with all that crap you normally do, I got vegetables. That's way healthier."

"Alright," Lorelai said loftily, "whatever helps you sleep at night..."

They finished their meal in about forty-five minutes, and decided to leave the truck parked there and walk around for a little bit. It was sunny out, but there was a chilly autumn breeze in the air. Lorelai was wearing her knee-length light pink coat, with a grey hat and scarf, over a pair of jeans and a silky, deep pink blouse. She looked elegant, Luke thought. He, on the other hand was wearing his usual uniform of jeans, flannel, and backwards baseball hat under his green army jacket. They walked around aimlessly for a little while, just exploring. Lorelai ended up buying both Rory and Sookie plain trucker hats so that she could write Caledon on them when they got back to the house. She figured they'd practically pay for themselves the next time they watched a Dukes of Hazzard marathon. She and Luke walked around the town, talking and window shopping for a while, Lorelai taking pictures of anything she wanted Rory to see.

Since they were by themselves they didn't have to pretend to be together. Not that it was that difficult, Lorelai thought. It wasn't like they were being especially touchy-feely in front of his aunt or anything…was that weird? If they were a couple there'd be some kind of touching…a hug at the very least; maybe an arm around the shoulder? Waist? Hip? No the hip was too much. Holding hands maybe? She made a mental note to bring it up with him later. With the truck in sight, it seemed their tour had come to an end.

"So that's about it, I think we've covered everything," Luke said.

"Aww it's still early," Lorelai complained.

"You wanna drive to the next town, there's shopping and stuff there…we can catch a movie or something…"

"Why don't we go to the lake your aunt was talking about?"

"You sure? It'll take us a little longer to get there; it's in the opposite direction."

"Yeah let's go!" Lorelai spent the 20 minute drive over singing along to the radio. For once, she wasn't trying to annoy Luke by singing loudly or badly on purpose or trying to get him to sing along. She was just looking out the window, taking in the scenery. She looked calm. Like the singing was an afterthought. Maybe she didn't even know she was doing it, Luke mused. He didn't want to disrupt her though, so he didn't comment on it. When they got to the lake, Luke parked and they had to walk down a short slope to get to the main area.

"Wow," Lorelai breathed. Once in the clearing she could fully take in the scene before her. It was breath taking. The lake was huge. It went so far back that the waterline seemed to blend into the horizon. The entire perimeter of the lake was covered in pine, cedar, elm and maple trees of all different colours. The green, red, orange and yellow hues made the blue of the water more vibrant as well. The ground was covered with fallen leaves, and she could hear some birds in the distance.

"This is beautiful," She said serenely. They both took a moment to admire the view. And when they spoke, it was quietly; the stillness of the lake seemed to demand it.

"Yeah… it's one of my favourite places," Luke said looking around. He never got tired of the view here, whatever season it was. "We used to come down here all the time; me, my dad, Uncle Mitch…everyone."

"Yeah?" Lorelai snapped a picture then sat down on the ground. She was about halfway between the truck and the lake's edge. She patted the spot next to her, inviting Luke to sit.

"Yeah, around that way there's a small dock," He pointed to a spot to the distant right of where they were, as he settled in next to Lorelai. "We used to go fishing."

"So the fishing thing runs in the family, huh?"

Luke chuckled, "Yeah. A lot of us enjoy it. Nice and quiet out here…plus, it's a good way to spend time with your dad." Lorelai looked over at him. He wasn't that far away, maybe half a foot? But she couldn't see his face; his head was still turned toward the dock. She knew the pained look he'd be wearing anyway though. She'd seen it before, when he talked about either of his parents. It didn't happen as often as she suspected it did years ago, but she hated that look, and hated that there was nothing she could really do to fix it. She still liked to try though. Knowing Luke wouldn't really want to get into it just then; she nudged his shoulder with hers and said, "Thanks for showing me your lake."

Luke smiled at her and welcomed the change of topic. "It's not my lake."

"Well it is to me," she smiled back. They both turned back to the scene before them. "I really like it here. It's so calming…I haven't been this relaxed in a long time," she said thoughtfully.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"How come?" Luke asked, looking at her with genuine interest.

"Oh you know, things with the inn are a little hectic. There are all these decisions to make, accounts to set up...permits I'm still waiting on that are holding up the outdoor renovations. Things are starting to pile up and the test run feels like it's right around the corner. I don't know if we'll be able to finish everything in time. And we've been so caught up with this inn that Sookie and I haven't hung out just to hang out in so long! I miss her, and I really miss having time to just be friends with her…which is stupid, I know, we see each other every day. But it's different. And my parents are going through this thing…I don't even know what you'd call it…all I know is that they've been acting stranger than usual for a while now, and I found out my mom's been staying at a hotel. Now they're on this trip to the Bahamas pretending everything is fine for God knows what reason…And I'm not supposed to know about it so I don't know if I should talk to them or not or what, but it's just weird. And I really miss Rory. Which I know I'm not supposed to think as much as I do, but I do. I miss her. I hate not being able to see her as much, or at all some weeks. And lately we've been playing phone tag which is extremely annoying. We've been so out of synch recently…And it hit me the other day; I don't know all the little things about her life anymore. She tells me the big headlines sure, but the small things were always really important to me too. Like if she likes the new book she started, or if she bought a new bracelet, or found a really good study spot, ya know?"

Luke nodded in acknowledgment and she continued, "Feels like I'm missing out on a part of her life sometimes…I don't wanna miss it."

For what she had revealed, Luke was glad to see she wasn't crying. He'd only seen her cry a handful of times over the 8 years he'd known her, but each time it felt like someone had punched him in the gut. This time it seemed that she just needed to vent. That, he could handle. He didn't know she'd been feeling this way. It was hard to tell; she was so bright and upbeat most of the time. Sure, he knew the inn was stressing her out, he wasn't blind, but he didn't know about the rest of that stuff. He should've been paying closer attention, he chastised himself. Maybe he could've done something.

"Anything I can do?" he offered.

Lorelai threw a brilliant smile his way. "You already are."

Luke smiled back sheepishly. "I meant anything specific."

"Nah, you've done more than enough already. I mean with the money alone—"

"We don't have to talk about it again," he interrupted quietly.

"Ok," Lorelai conceded. She knew he didn't like to talk about it, or any other generous or kind act he did for that matter. He just liked to do them and move on. No thanks necessary, and certainly no fanfare. If you did thank him, there was about an 80% chance that he'd just brush it off. Luke helped people because he could and because it was the right thing to do, and that was it. He was a genuinely good person. How rare, Lorelai thought.

"The inn stuff will sort itself out," he said nodding determinately. "It'll get done. And if it doesn't, well that's what a test run is for—work out the kinks. And if you decide that you don't like something anymore, you're not stuck with it. I mean, it's your inn…you can change anything you want whenever the hell you want to."

"Hmm…I never thought about that option before."

"Yeah, and your parents…well, I don't know them as well as you do, obviously. But I find that talking things out can really help."

"You do? Mr. Monosyllable man?" Lorelai teased.

Luke chuckled. "Not all the time and not to everybody…but yeah, sometimes talking things out works."

"Well, the Gilmores aren't really the 'talk-it-out' kind of people."

"Yeah right!" Luke scoffed incredulously, making Lorelai laugh.

"Ok me and Rory are the 'talk-it-out' kind of people, but the elder Gilmores? They're more the, 'never-talk-about-it-let-it-fester-then-hold-onto-your-caps-for-a-huge-explosion' kind of people."

Luke laughed too. "Well that's one way to go." He shrugged. "Then don't talk to them. Maybe they're trying to work it out between themselves…you are still their kid, they might not want you to know about it in case they can fix whatever's wrong before they have to resort to involving you." She thought about it for a moment. She would likely do that too, if she was in the same position. He was probably right. She shouldn't be so worried yet, they were the parents, and they'd tell her when they were ready.

"And this Sookie and Rory stuff," he paused, "I think it's just growing pains."

"Growing pains?"

"Yeah, you know, an adjustment period. Things with the inn are crazy right now, but after you open it'll calm down. You guys will have a system and you'll have more free time for girlfriend stuff or whatever it was you said." She gave him a small smile.

"Same with Rory: growing pains. It's her first year away at college. Of course there's gonna be an adjustment period, for both of you. Sure, you might miss some of the small things, but the big stuff is what she's gonna remember in 10 years. You're not missing the important stuff. I know things will get back to normal soon."

"How do you know?" She asked, catching his eye.

"I know." He said with conviction.

"But how do you know for sure?"

"I just do." Somehow she believed him. She knew she could hang her hopes on Luke's word. Her eyes held his for a moment longer before she looked down, but quickly met his eyes again, this time with a smile.

"Thanks," she said nudging his shoulder again.

"For what?"

"For listening…and the pep talk. I needed both."

"You know, if you need me to do something, I'm around. I don't mind." He hoped it wasn't too late to help.

Her smile widened. "I know you don't." She continued, "And I'm fine, really. I think I just needed to get that out. I'm good now," her sparkle and shine were back in full force. "And sorry for going all crazy venting girl on you just now."

"That's ok, I'm used to your crazy," he teased. Her smile widened into a giggle.

"You wanna head back now?" he asked.

"Can we stay a few more minutes? I really do like it here." Luke looked at his watch. He guessed that they had about 30 minutes before they had to be back. He wanted to help make dinner.

"Yeah we can stay." They sat together quietly just enjoying the view. Lorelai making the odd comment on things she saw. A short while later Luke got up to leave.

"You ready?"

"Yeah just one sec," she said pulling out her camera again.

"I thought you already took one," he grumped.

"I did, but we weren't in it. And now we can get the beginning of the sunset in the background, come on Luke! Just one!" She stood slightly in front of him, and positioned the camera trying to get the proper angle.

"Fine," he mumbled.

"Ah, now there are the monosyllables we know and love," she teased looking at the camera and smiling. Luke chuckled, looked at her, and saw a flash out of the corner of his eye. As Lorelai checked the photo, he began to walk away, but Lorelai grabbed his wrist and pulled him back.

"Wait! You're not looking at the camera! One with you looking at the camera and I promise I'll put it away for the rest of the night."

"Fine," he sighed, pretending to be very put out. Lorelai snaked her right arm around his shoulders, pulling him close, she flipped the camera around in her left hand and angled it trying to get both of them, the sunset and the lake in the shot.

"Aw yay you actually smiled! I like this one" she said as they walked back to the truck.

---

In the late afternoon traffic, it took them longer to get back to the house. They arrived in time to help Aunt Jane unload and pack away the groceries she had just bought. She insisted that Luke and Lorelai go get ready for dinner while she started making it. Luke grumbled but marched upstairs anyway. As he was in the bathroom washing up, he thought about his day with Lorelai. He'd had fun. Hadn't had a day like that in a long time. Just getting to relax and do whatever they felt like, on no time schedule. He'd forgotten how nice it could be. Good food. Good weather—for fall anyway. Good company. Really good company. He loved spending time with Lorelai. That was no surprise though. Most people knew that about him. She was fun to be around, even when they were having serious conversations. And she got him too. She knew when to push and when not too. Like today, he thought. Even though she was one of the only people he would feel comfortable opening up to about his parents, he appreciated that she could recognize when he didn't want to. And for the millionth time since he'd met her, he wished they could be more than friends. They'd been getting even closer lately too. Sometimes it felt like they were so close to crossing that line. Maybe when they got back to Stars Hollow he'd bring it up. He didn't want to ignore it anymore.

When Luke came back downstairs, Lorelai headed up. She had helped Aunt Jane wash the lettuce and tomatoes for the salad. She passed the baton to Luke and went upstairs to find a new shirt to wear. As she was rifling through her stuff, she thought about her day with Luke. She'd had fun; was so happy to be spending the day doing nothing with one of her best friends. He was fun to be around. Easy to talk to, and he'd gone along with most of her bits; which was a huge plus in her books. She had a good time teasing him, annoying him, seeing what she could say that would make him smile, or better yet laugh. And after they talked at the lake? She'd just been overcome with a sense of gratitude. She was grateful for the view, the relaxing day, for a friend who cared enough that he invited her to spend thanksgiving with his family so that she wouldn't be alone. It was a good day. And there had been 'moments,' she thought. They all went overlooked of course…but they were there. They existed….There was something there. She knew it. She didn't exactly know what to do about it, but maybe when they got home and they weren't pretending to be a couple, she'd bring it up. She didn't want to overlook anything anymore.

Lorelai settled on a deep purple sweater. She changed and touched up her make-up, and was back downstairs in time to help set the table. A few minutes after she came down, the doorbell rang.

"Oh that's Jenny!" Aunt Jane said as she went to answer the door.

"Hey Mom!"

"Grandma!" Jane pulled her granddaughter into a tight hug and then greeted her daughter and son-in-law. Lorelai walked in from the dining room in time to see Luke's cousin rounding the corner into the kitchen.

"Where's Luke?!" She exclaimed.

"I'm here, I'm here" Luke wiped his hands on a dish towel and hurried over to give his cousin a big hug.

"Ugh, it's so good to see you! Feels like it's been forever," Jenny said, her voice muffled by Luke's flannel. Luke stretched his right hand out and shook who Lorelai assumed was Jenny's husband's hand, saying,

"Hey man."

"Hey, how's it goin'?"

"It's goin' pretty good," Luke smiled. He caught his niece's eye and let go of his cousin to crouch down to her level. The girl was about 5, Lorelai guessed, and looked just like her mother, light brown hair, green eyes and everything. She ran into Luke's awaiting hug and both smiled.

"My God you've grown, what has your mother done to you?" Luke asked mock seriously. The little girl giggled in response.

"Ha ha, I'm not even here for 5 minutes and you're already on my back?" Jenny teased back. She looked up and finally saw Lorelai. "Aaaand we're being extremely rude." Pulling Lorelai into a hug she said, "Sorry, hi, I'm Luke's cousin Jenny. This is my husband Mark, and this is Claire." Lorelai was still in the hug, so she waved at the rest of Jenny's family.

Lorelai smiled at her. "I'm Lorelai, Luke's girlfriend," She was kind of surprised at how easily that came out. So was Luke. "It's really nice to finally meet you guys!"

"Yeah, we were so bummed we couldn't come over yesterday. Had to take this one to her dance class," she said gesturing to the little girl who was shyly hiding behind her mom's legs. Lorelai's attention went to the girl.

"You dance?" Claire nodded back shyly.

"What type of dance?"

"Ballet" she answered quietly.

"Hmm, a ballerina huh?" The girl nodded again.

"My daughter used to do ballet too. But she wasn't any good. Couldn't tell her plié's apart from her second positions." She said shaking her head in mock sadness. Claire giggled.

"Are you any good?"

"Well I know the difference between a plié and second position," Claire piped up.

"Well now you're just bragging," Lorelai teased. Claire giggled again.

"I can show you!" She offered.

"Ok!" After showing off her ballet skills, Claire had warmed up to Lorelai and insisted on helping her finish setting the table. Mark, Jane and Luke had been talking and had missed the exchange, but Jenny caught the whole thing. Like her daughter, she too took an instant liking to Lorelai. She already seemed to be a hell of a lot more grounded and likeable than Luke's ex-wife was…or even Rachel for that matter.

Before they sat down to eat, Luke pulled Lorelai into the living room across the hall to talk.

"What's up?" She asked.

"I just wanted to say sorry in advance for my cousin."

"What are you talking about?"

"She's gonna be asking a lot more questions about us than Aunt Jane did. She can be pretty nosy."

"Oh my God, Luke stop apologizing, it's fine! We went over everything right, we've got this." She said putting her game face on.

"Ok, yeah, we've got this." Luke agreed with a determined nod as he turned to walk away.

"Oh wait!" Lorelai said stopping him. "I meant to bring it up earlier," Lorelai lowered her voice even further, and Luke had to lean in close to hear her. "I think we should be acting more like a couple."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, all we've really done is said that we're a couple."

"Ok…"

"Couples touch."

"What…?" A million things popped into his head.

"I don't mean touch touch…well yes, I mean couples do touch touch, but that's not what I meant for us," Lorelai sighed, trying not to blush. Regrouping, she continued, "I'm not saying we should like, jump each other, but maybe a hug, or you can put your arm around me or something…I don't know. Just something affectionate, you know? So that we can actually sell it…"

Luke didn't say anything for a moment. Too many things were flying through his head. Did he just get permission to be openly affectionate with Lorelai Gilmore? Not that he was an overtly affectionate guy, but he liked that he now had the option to be.

Lorelai saw the spaced out look on his face. "Luke?"

Crap. He'd been silent for too long. "Yeah?"

"What do you think?"

"I think…you—you're right. We should act more like a couple."

"Ok good. So we're on the same page?"

"Yeah," he nodded. They went into the dining room where the rest of the family was already seated.

"There they are…and what were you two doing?" Jenny asked suggestively as the couple took their seats.

"Oh now Jenny," Lorelai said, pretending to chastise, "a lady never makes out and tells." Jenny, Mark and Jane all laughed.

"Oh jeeze. We were not." Luke stated clearly.

"Ah ha! 12 shades of red! A new record." Lorelai smiled smugly. Luke rolled his eyes and sighed saying,

"New topic now, Mark how's work goin'?" Lorelai giggled and dug into her food.

"Same old. Nothing new to report really. Just waiting for Christmas break now. Jenny tell you? We're gonna head down to Florida, see my folks." As the guys continued catching up, Jenny looked towards Lorelai.

"So Lorelai, Luke told us a few months ago that you were opening your own inn? How's that going?" Jenny inquired.

"Oh it's good! Uh, the place itself already existed, so we bought the building and we're restoring it. It's a little slow going right now, but we're making progress," she snuck a glance at Luke at the mention of their conversation earlier. He was still talking to Mark, but he heard the mention too and they met eyes, gave each other a knowing look. Jenny caught that too. She was trying very hard not to miss anything. She was naturally very protective of her loved ones, and after the girls Luke had brought home before? She was going to have his back, make sure they were actually good together before things got too far.

"It's called The Dragonfly," Lorelai continued, "My partner Sookie, she takes care of all the food and I handle things on the business side," Lorelai smiled. She was proud of them, they'd come a long way.

"Wow! That sounds great!" Jenny said genuinely. "So when are you guys planning to open then?"

"March we hope, but there's still a lot to be done, so the actual date is tbd. We're hoping to do a test run beforehand…invite some people from town to critique the place, you know, that sorta thing."

"Wow that sounds…like a lot of work…"

"Yeah it is, but I really enjoy it, so, it's not that bad. Plus I've got a lot of help," she said meaningfully, looking over at Luke and nudging his arm with her elbow. Luke had heard that too. He smiled softly, caught her eye, and they shared another look. He was trying to talk to Mark, but also listen in to what the girls were talking about. He didn't want Jenny to bombard Lorelai with questions. He knew she meant well, but sometimes it came across as too invasive. He knew because he'd been on the receiving end a few too many times. Luke and Mark's conversation had wound down, and Aunt Jane jumped in.

"Oh Lorelai dear tell them the story about how you two met!" she said excitedly. Lorelai laughed,

"Uh ok, uhm…well it was about 8 years ago, and—"

Luke groaned. "Ugh don't tell that story again."

"Why not?" This was Lorelai.

"It's a lovely story," Aunt Jane said.

"Oh come on Luke, I want to hear it, Mark wants to hear it," Jenny said. Luke looked at Mark.

"You wanna hear it?" He questioned.

"Well since you don't want us to…yeah, I think I do wanna hear it," Mark teased. Luke rolled his eyes.

"You wanna tell it this time?" Lorelai asked him, amused by his family.

"Again no…" Luke grumbled, less than amused. So Lorelai told the story, and despite what he said, Luke jumped in again and told his side of their first meeting.

"So after I found out how good the coffee was, I had to take Rory…and we've been going to the diner ever since," Lorelai smiled.

"I thought you said your daughter was young when you met Luke…she was drinking coffee then?" This was Mark. Luke chuckled at his observation.

"Well she did start young, but not that young! I took her in for hot chocolate first. I figured if he made coffee that good then he couldn't screw up hot chocolate."

"So then what happened?" Jenny asked. She was riveted. Her mom was right; it was a really good story. And seeing them tell it together was really funny.

"What, you want the 8 year story?" Luke grumbled at his cousin.

"I'll settle for the gist."

Lorelai smiled in Jenny's direction. "Then we became friends," she stated simply.

"Well not right away," Luke countered.

"Pretty much right away."

"Are you counting the Duke years?"

Lorelai laughed as she remembered, "Oh yeah! I forgot about that. Man that was good! …I pretended to think his name was Duke for a while, even though his name was on the sign out front," she explained to the rest of the table. Everyone chuckled along with her. Well except for Claire, but she had brought some toys to the table and was doing her own thing.

"A while? It was years," Luke argued.

"It wasn't years," she scoffed. "Maybe 1 year at the most."

"Ok that is still too long. Way to overkill a joke."

"If you could've seen your face when I did call you Duke…definitely wasn't overkill, it was too funny."

"Anyways," Luke sighed, "After all of that ugliness, we became friends….best friends." He looked over to Lorelai for confirmation, and she nodded. She thought there was something a little vulnerable in his voice when he said it, like he wasn't sure if she'd agree that that's what they were. She frowned inwardly. She thought he knew.

"So then how'd you get here?" Jenny spoke.

"Where?" Luke asked.

"To dating."

"Oh, uh…well, it just seemed like the right time," he caught Lorelai's eye again, and she couldn't help but think that he was thinking the same thing she was. It did feel like the right time now…in their real life, not in fake coupledom. They were both single, Rory and Jess weren't living with them anymore, there was nothing standing in their way. What she worried about was screwing up their friendship.

"Oh hey," Jenny said, "Before I forget, Billy's in town so we were going to meet up with him after this, you guys want to come? The only thing is he already invited Jolene and Noah…"

"Oh, uh, sure, what do you think?" Luke asked Lorelai.

"I'm game," she said with a smile.

"Ok great," Jenny smiled too. Together, the 6 of them finished their dessert, chatting amicably. After, Jenny, Mark, Luke and Lorelai all piled into Mark's SUV and headed into town. They arrived at a small tavern and went inside. Billy walked up to them and shook Luke's hand, clapping him on the back.

"Luke! Can't believe it's you man! What's it been, 3, 4 years?"

"Yeah that sounds about right, good to see you Billy. Oh and this is my girlfriend Lorelai. Lorelai, Billy, he went to school with Jenny and Matt."

Lorelai shook his hand as well. "It's nice to meet you," she said politely.

"Oh no the pleasures all mine," he responded. "Let's get you two a drink!" Billy led the way to the bar and ordered them 2 beers before he went back to talk with Jenny and Mark, leaving the two of them alone.

"Wow, I'm digging the semi-grunge vibe of this place," Lorelai commented.

"Yeah, it's not the classiest but they have beer, so we used to come here all the time when we were kids," Luke chuckled. They heard the door open and a thin blonde walked in on the arm of a dashing brunette guy. They greeted Billy and Lorelai heard Luke mutter something. She had already guessed, but asked anyway.

"That's Jolene?"

"Yup."

"She's pretty." Lorelai observed.

"Pretty horrible," Luke amended. Lorelai had to smile.

"Ok look at me." Luke turned around to face her. "You ready?" she asked.

"Yeah," he nodded once.

"Alright, let's do this." She slipped her right hand into his left and entwined their fingers. When he looked up in surprise, she winked at him and led the way back to their group.

"Oh my God Luke!" Jolene enveloped Luke in a big hug. Or tried to…he was still holding onto Lorleai's hand, so it ended up being some sort of awkward half hug.

"Hi Jolene," he said politely.

"Luke it's so good to see you! You look great! How have things been?"

"Thanks...uh, I've been good. Oh um, this is my girlfriend Lorelai," he tugged on her hand, pulling her forward.

Lorelai graced them with a huge smile, and purposefully made a show of letting go of Luke's hand to shake Jolene's.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you." She promptly re-entwined her hand with Luke's.

"Oh, yeah you too," Jolene replied, a little flustered. She turned back to Luke, "Luke I didn't know you were seeing someone?"

"Oh, well, I am," Luke said awkwardly. He didn't really know what to say to that. Noah came up behind Jolene and put an arm around her.

"Babe you want something to drink?" He asked her.

"Yeah," she looked back at Luke, pointedly ignoring Lorelai's existence. "Luke you remember Noah." She said, by way of introduction. Luke looked at her like she had lost her marbles. She did remember that they had all been friends before right? Of course he knew Noah.

"Uh…yeah. Hey man," he said shaking Noah's hand.

"Hey,"

"This is Lorelai," he introduced her again.

"Oh hi, it's nice to meet you," Noah said politely.

"Likewise," Lorelai responded. There was an awkward beat before Noah thankfully dragged his girlfriend away to the bar.

"That was…" Lorelai trailed off, looking at Luke.

"Something," he filled in.

"Definitely something."

"This is gonna be a long night, isn't it?"

"Looks like it might be…"

"Fabulous," Luke grumbled. He softened his tone and quietly said, "And just in case I forget to say it a thousand more times, thank you for doing this."

"Stop thanking me," Lorelai dismissed, tugging on Luke's hand, leading him over to the table where Jenny and Mark were already seated. It was a circular table so Lorelai sat beside Jenny, across from Luke. Mark was on the other end. Jenny smiled at her as she sat down. Lorelai really liked Jenny. She was nice, funny and could be pretty blunt. Lorelai could already tell from the little time she had spent with her, and from what she'd heard from Luke, that she wasn't afraid to be honest with you. Lorelai could appreciate that. It was much better than trying to decipher what someone was actually trying to tell you by way of whatever game they were playing. Her eyes landed on the blonde walking towards her from the bar. She had a distinct feeling that she'd be in for some of those games tonight. She knew girls like Jolene, had grown up with them. Entitled girls who thought they could have whatever boy they wanted just because they wanted them. Now that might've been a stretch, as she had little to go off of, but Lorelai was willing to bet money that that was the case with Luke's ex. And anyways, she'd find out soon enough, she was sure of it.

Lorelai and Jenny were chatting quietly when Billy, Noah and Jolene returned from the bar. Billy took the seat between Lorelai and Mark, and Noah sat next to Jolene as she quickly claimed the empty spot next to Luke. Jenny rolled her eyes at Lorelai, acknowledging Jolene's obvious motive. Lorelai grinned shyly back. She was relieved that someone else didn't really care for Jolene besides herself and Luke. She felt like she had an ally at the table. They all talked for a little while, catching up. Lorelai chimed in when she could. Jolene was still pointedly ignoring Lorelai's existence though. Every time she talked to Luke she touched his arm, or nudged him. She said his name so many times Lorelai had lost track. She looked desperate. Luke wasn't bothering with her slight advances, but she kept trying. Or maybe she was just trying to see how much it would take to irk Lorelai. She didn't take the bait though. Lorelai remained calm and cool, but she kept her guard up. If Jolene went too far, she was ready to step in.

During their second round, Billy and Noah decided to take a smoke break, so Mark and Luke went with them. Lorelai could sense a shift in the air as she watched them walk away. She could feel daggers pricking the side of her face, and sure enough, when she turned to face forward again, Jolene was glaring at her. Her antennas were definitely up. Jolene softened her expression and smiled sweetly at Lorelai.

"So Lorelai…I haven't heard much about you… where'd you happen to meet our Luke?" Jolene asked saccharinely.

Lorelai took note of her word choice. The game was definitely on. She smirked and said confidently, "We met at the diner." Jenny noticed that she didn't offer any elaboration on the story like she had earlier in the night, and she decided she liked Lorelai even more. While she had gotten along with Jolene as kids, Jenny thought that the way she'd treated Luke as they got older, was horrible. They barely kept in touch now, and were something more akin to acquaintances than friends. She'd also thought Jolene was over Luke, after all, it was almost 20 years ago…but with the way she was acting tonight, Jenny knew she wasn't. She could tell Lorelai knew it too. After Jolene had asked her question and slipped in the 'our Luke' for good measure, Jenny had seen a look of confidence and determination settle in on Lorelai's face; she definitely wasn't going down without a fight. Jenny smiled softly at her, she liked this one.

"Oh that's nice," Jolene said lamely. "So you live in Stars Hollow as well?"

"Yeah I do."

"And you and Luke have been going out for how long now?" Jolene asked with a patronizing innocence.

Lorelai decidedly did not like this girl. Luke had already explained why he didn't care for her and it was clear that Jenny didn't much either. The way she'd been acting the whole night just rubbed Lorelai the wrong way. And now she was asking questions like she had some kind of claim on Luke? Like Lorelai was the outsider in his life and she somehow needed this girl's approval to be with him. Nope. Lorelai wasn't going to let her think that. Or let her think that she had Luke in any way at all.

"It's been a few months," she replied. That was the answer she and Luke had decided on when they were on their way to Caledon.

"It's nice that Luke's bringing you out to meet his family so soon…I know the last time he did that, with his ex-wife, it didn't work out so well…" There was that fake innocent tone again. Jolene was clearly trying to prove that she knew information about Luke that Lorelai probably did not. Or make it seem that she was a bigger part of Luke's life than one might've thought. To Lorelai, who saw him every day, a few times a day at that…this was laughable. She settled on a smirk instead.

"Who, Nicole?...Yeah I wasn't too fond of her myself."

Jenny's head snapped towards Lorelai. "You knew Nicole?" she inquired.

"Yeah…I didn't spend much time with her…but, I knew enough," Lorelai replied tactfully.

"Yeah, we only met her twice, but good riddance!" Jenny said vehemently, "They really were not a good match."

"I completely agree."

"You two seem to work much better," Jenny smiled.

"Thanks," Lorelai blushed, softening at the compliment. She shrugged modestly and said, "I think so"

"Well Rachel lasted a while," Jolene jumped in, trying to get whatever handle she thought she had on the conversation back again.

"Now her I liked!" Lorelai responded.

"You knew Rachel?" This was Jolene.

"Yeah," Lorelai was enjoying the confused look on her face, but decided to fill in the blanks for her a little. "I've known Luke a pretty long time. She was a sweet girl."

"Yeah I liked her too…but she could never stay put could she?" Jenny said.

"No…can't say I hate that about her though…." Lorelai said honestly with a rueful smile, causing Jenny to laugh.

"I bet you can't!" Lorelai laughed along with her. Jolene sat there irritated but was trying to look like she wasn't. They were interrupted when they heard a "Lorelai," being called out.

All three women looked towards the door to see Luke approaching, holding out a cell phone. Luke had agreed to keep it in his pocket because Lorelai didn't want to take her purse, and after a too long explanation about what she deemed 'fashion pockets' –the kind that were sewn shut and were just there for appearance sake—he finally just took it and stuffed it into his own fully operational pockets. He also had one of her credit cards and some cash.

"She's here, hang on," he said into the phone as he approached the table. "It's Rory, I already said hi."

"Who's Rory?" Jolene asked.

"My daughter," Lorelai said with a smile, as she got up to get the phone.

"You have a daughter?" Jolene was shocked.

"Yeah," Lorelai said nonchalantly. Luke handed her the phone and sat in one of the empty seats beside Lorelai.

"Hey sweets!" Lorelai beamed, her mood instantly better.

"Hey!" Rory paused, "Uh…where are you? It sounds loud!" she half yelled into the phone.

"Sorry! We're at a bar and there's music playing. I'll go outside," Lorelai was manoeuvring her way among the mess of empty chairs at their table.

"You're at a bar?...um, is Luke still around you?

"Yes he is!" she sing-songed.

"Can I talk to him again really quick?"

"Sure," Lorelai stuck the phone out at Luke. "She wants to talk to you again."

"Oh, uh, sure," he put the phone up to his ear, and plugged his other ear with his finger in an attempt to hear her better.

"Luke?"

"Yeah, hey Rory!"

"Hey, sorry, I just wanted to know…Mom's not drunk right?"

Luke chuckled and looked up at Lorelai, causing her to narrow her eyes inmsuspicion. "No, she's not," he confirmed.

"Oh ok good, cause I—"

"And you know I've got it covered if anything happens."

Rory smiled. "I know, just gotta make sure she's behaving herself," she joked. She softened her tone and said, "Thanks for taking care of her Luke."

"Ah it's no big deal," Luke said blushing. Comments like that from Rory always got to him. Lorelai saw the blush and tried to figure out what they were talking about… she'd just get it out of one of them later.

"It's nice to know someone has her back when I'm not there."

"You know I do," Luke said firmly.

"I know," she waited a beat, "So is mom just standing there watching you talk to me?"

Luke looked up again and caught Lorelai's eye as she put on her coat. "Yup, pretty much."

"Right. Well can I talk to her again please?"

"Yeah, I'll pass you over," he paused, "Be safe Rory."

"I will."

"I'll see ya soon."

"Yeah, bye Luke! Happy thanksgiving!"

"Happy thanksgiving!" He smiled and handed the phone back to Lorelai.

"Thanks," she said to him. She started walking, and into the phone she said "Hey."

"Hey," Rory responded.

"Where are you?! There is absolutely no background noise coming through this phone."

"I am on the beach under a cabana, reading!" Rory said smugly.

"Well look at you, Cher Horowitz! You find your Paul Rudd yet?"

"No! I cannot believe that it is so hard to meet a cute intellectual on a beach vacation with your grandparents," Rory said sarcastically in her best posh rich-girl voice.

"Ah, see, that's where you went wrong…you're supposed to snag a cabana boy," Lorelai had reached the entrance to the bar and passed Billy, Mark and Noah on their way back inside. Mark held the door open for her and she smiled in thanks.

"Ah, you have much to teach me," Rory said nodding sagely.

"So how are thing 1 and thing 2?"

"They're good. Civil, you know, considering everything…currently out shopping."

"Why aren't you with them? You know I'm expecting a souvenir," Lorelai warned.

"Oh don't worry, I went shopping with grandma yesterday. You're covered."

"Oh good! So are you having a good time?"

"Yeah it's great so far! But too much to tell you right now…don't worry I've documented my findings through photos."

"As have I!" Lorelai giggled at how different their pictures would be.

"You sound like you're having fun!"

"I am!" Lorelai said. Rory could hear the smile in her voice and it made her smile.

"That's what Luke said too."

"He did?"

"Yeah." Lorelai paused. She really wanted to talk to Rory about Luke. Well, about how she was feeling about Luke. She really wanted to talk to him about it when they got back to Stars Hollow and they weren't pretending to be together anymore, but Rory would still be gone for a few days. She knew that it was better to talk about it in person, but she really didn't want to wait…so it was better to ask her about it now, right? She needed to make sure Rory was ok with everything. Normally she wouldn't be asking her daughter if she could date a guy, but this wasn't just some guy. Luke was pretty much as involved in Rory's life as he was in hers. So, if anything happened between them, she would be affected too. Her opinion really mattered. If Rory didn't approve, she knew everything would be even more complicated than they already were. An anxious wave settled in her stomach. She really hoped Rory would be ok with it.

"Hey kid, can I talk to you about something?" Lorelai began nervously.

"Yeah, as long as it's quick, your long distance bill is gonna be huge…"

"Right. Ok…well," Just say it, she told herself, "…The thing is I've..."

"You've what?"

"I've um…I-I have feelings for Luke."

"What?!"

"Wow, that feels good to say out loud," Lorelai sighed, not hearing Rory.

"Mom?!"

"I have feelings for Luke."

"Mom!" Rory yelled.

"Yeah?"

"Backtrack it a little for me? You—you have feelings for Luke?"

"Yeah," Lorelai's nervousness returned.

"Like more than friend feelings?"

"Yes. Like romantic, cheesy, more than friend feelings."

"Uh…wow…I don't—really know what to say…"

"Well what do you think?

"I've always thought that you had feelings for him…I just never thought you'd admit to them…Or you would, just not now."

"You did?" Lorelai was relieved to not completely blindside her daughter.

"Yeah, I mean it was obvious. There's always been a connection between you two,"

"There has, right?"

"Yeah, the whole town's been trying to point it out to you guys for years!"

"I know…and I've been thinking about it. I think these feelings have been here for a long time…I've just been ignoring them or repressing them or something, because I was scared."

"What are you scared of?"

"All of it. He's one of my best friends…if something happened and we broke up? We might lose the friendship, and I don't think I could live like that, not having Luke? That wouldn't work at all. And then what if we don't break up? What if we date and fall in love and everything works out and I get my whole package? Because let me tell you kid, there is definitely potential for the whole package here. It's scary.

"Yeah but that's a good kind of scary, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is," Lorelai said with a smile. Rory could hear it again.

"Well I think you know what you need to do."

"What's that?"

"You need to talk to him about this…tell him how you feel."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. Maybe when we get back to Stars Hollow…"

"Just don't wait too long,"

"Right," Lorelai paused. "So you're ok with all of this, if something were to happen with me and Luke, you'd be a fan?"

"I am definitely pro you and Luke," Rory said firmly. She continued, "I'm glad you finally saw the light!"

Lorelai laughed, "I am too."

"Ok, mom I'm gonna let you go…I'll call you again later. Enjoy your weekend with Luuuke!" Rory teased, then added, "And I want details by thy way!"

"Of course. Ok I'll talk to you later sweets. Be good, stay safe, find a cabana boy, and happy thanksgiving!"

"Happy thanksgiving! Love you!"

"Love you too kid," With that, Lorelai snapped her phone shut, ending the call. She thought about what Rory said. She didn't want to wait too long to tell him. Now that she knew how she felt and she had the go ahead from Rory, she was itching to tell Luke himself. She didn't want to pretend to be his girlfriend anymore; she just wanted to be it. Sure she was scared, but every time he looked into her eyes with his soft blue ones, the scared feeling diminished more and more. It could work, she thought, they could work. She took a deep breath of the chilly night air and headed back into the tavern.

---

When Lorelai had left to take her call outside, Luke reclaimed his spot at the table in between Jenny and Jolene. He took a swig of his beer and noticed the surprised, bordering on incredulous look on Jolene's face as she stared at him.

"What?" he asked.

"How serious are you about this girl?" Jolene blurted out.

"Lorelai?" he asked again. Jolene nodded.

"Well…not that it's anyone's business…" he muttered. Returning to his normal voice, he said firmly, "but I'm very serious about her." He knew that if they were really dating that would be his answer. There was no way other way to categorize his feelings for Lorelai.

He saw Jenny smile wide out of the corner of his eye and turned to look at her. He blushed profusely when her smile grew knowingly. He looked back at Jolene and saw that she had gone silent. He didn't have time to question it though because just then Billy, Noah and Mark were coming back over to the table. Relieved, he started talking to the guys and Jenny about the last baseball season. Jolene just sat quietly, occasionally drinking her beer. Soon Lorelai returned and reclaimed her seat.

"What'd I miss?" she asked no one in particular.

"Nothing we've just been talking baseball," Jenny replied. "How's Rory?"

"Oh she's in heaven! She's currently relaxing ocean-side, under a cabana, reading. I told her she needs a cabana boy to complete the picture," Lorelai said proudly.

Luke rolled his eyes at her. "Please tell me you didn't actually tell her that."

"Of course I did."

"Jeeze, why would you do that?! She doesn't need some punk cabana boy, she brought her books, she should study, spend time with her grandparents!" Luke ranted. Lorelai smiled widely at him. He was so cute, she thought. She loved a good Luke rant, but she loved it even more when he was protective of Rory. Many people were protective of her daughter, hell she'd always had the whole town watching out for her, but Luke was the only one who was protective of Rory with a fierceness that came anywhere close to her own.

"Please, you know Rory," Lorelai scoffed. "She's got a book and she's happy."

"Yeah you're right," Luke nodded, mollified.

"Who's Rory?" This was Noah.

"My daughter," Lorelai supplied.

"How does that work with you guys, I know Luke's never really been into kids," Jolene finally spoke, blurting that out. Everyone turned surprised faces to her, except Lorelai. She had known something along those lines was coming and she was ready.

"It's great. Luke's practically been like a father to her…and she's not really a kid anymore, she's 18," Lorelai responded. She made sure to keep her tone nonchalantly conversational and not snipe at Jolene's insensitive question like she wanted to. She meant it though; Luke was the father Rory never had. He was always there for her, no matter what. He was there to celebrate her wins and to offer comfort and a slice of pie for her losses. Lorelai was grateful that her daughter had that kind of person and relationship in her life, and that's what Luke saw when he met her eyes; sincerity. He nodded his head slightly hoping she knew how much that meant to him to hear. He really did love Rory. However, their moment was short lived.

"She's 18?" Jolene spluttered with tactless incredulity, "But you're what? 35? You can't be older than Luke…So that means—"

"That I had her when I was 16? Yeah, I did," Lorelai smiled, though Luke could tell that the comment got to her a little. Jolene smirked smugly like she had just pinned down the type of woman Lorelai was.

"16? Wow that's…really young. And you've always been a single mom?" Jolene asked snidely.

What did she think she was doing here, Lorelai wondered, trying to point out how slutty and irresponsible she was? Well she'd heard it all before. Lorelai steeled herself, ready for the battle. She handled Emily Gilmore all the time…this girl didn't stand a chance. "Yeah, I have," she replied succinctly.

Jolene scoffed. "Must be hard teaching your daughter not to repeat your own mistakes when you've got no leg to stand on, I mean 'do as I say, not as I do' can only go so far, right? If she's anything like you then—"

"That's enough," Luke cut her off, his voice quiet and demanding. He'd restrained himself from jumping in because Lorelai seemed to be holding her own, but he couldn't sit idly by anymore and just watch while she insulted the character of each Gilmore girl. Not Lorelai and most certainly not Rory.

"First of all, Lorelai's a great mother, and Rory's a great kid," Luke started. "I don't hate kids, and I certainly didn't hate Rory when I met her. She's one of the nicest girls you'll ever meet, and that is directly because of her mom. She's sweet and funny and thoughtful, and really smart! She's at Yale! She is the furthest thing from a mistake."

Lorelai looked over at Luke warmly. She could've handled Jolene herself, but was happy she didn't have to. She knew that was how Luke felt about Rory, even if he didn't make a habit of coming right out and saying it like that. And she knew Luke had her back…would support her when she needed it…it was just nice to know that he was also there when she didn't.

The rest of the table had been silent during the exchange, a little stunned that Jolene would say something that was so blatantly offensive. At Luke's last comment, Jenny took the opportunity to change lanes to a hopefully more appropriate place, and asked about Rory.

"Right, Luke mentioned she was at Yale, what's she studying?"

Lorelai knew Jenny was trying to diffuse the situation so she followed along accordingly. "She wants to be a journalist…one who reports on serious issues, like Christiane Amanpour she says," Lorelai replied.

"Wow that sounds really cool," Jolene said lamely. It was obvious that nothing Luke said had sunk in, but she saw that he was getting mad, and she didn't want tick him off anymore. She shot Lorelai another dirty look before she motioned at the bartender for another beer.

"And she'll get there too," Luke said firmly, still defending Rory.

"Of course!" Jolene muttered dryly, before gulping down the rest of the beer that was in front of her. After that, Jenny managed to successfully change the topic. The mood picked up again and Luke calmed down. He hated when anyone spoke badly about either of the Gilmore girls, but he let it go, he didn't want to ruin the night. Soon, Lorelai and the rest of the table were on their third round of beer while Jolene was on her 6th. She had chugged a few back after the whole Rory thing and it was showing. She wasn't a mess yet, but she was definitely sloppy. She drunkenly got up and went over to the jukebox in the corner of the room. A slow cheesy love song that Lorelai couldn't place came over the speakers. Jolene walked over to the table and ran a finger slyly along the length of Luke's shoulders across his back. Luke looked up startled.

"Heeey Luke you wanna dance? They're playing our song," she slurred. She looked over at Lorelai, "That is, if it's ok with your girlfriend."

Luke looked over at Lorelai with a smile and raised his eyebrows, she did the same. She smiled wickedly and said, "Of course."

Luke's smile immediately turned into a grimace. "Lorelai," he warned. He could see that she was messing with him.

"No Luke, you should go dance, it is your song!" Lorelai smiled. She knew he didn't want to go, but he would, so as not to be rude. She didn't want Jolene to think she'd be jealous or anything…plus it was fun teasing Luke a little. He glared at her, but she just smiled back. It was just a dance, right? She thought. And that's what he told himself too as Jolene dragged him onto the small dance floor by the jukebox. Jolene immediately snaked both her hands around Luke's neck and his went to her waist. He figured he could get away with barely moving, she was drunk and he didn't want to dance with her. That much was obvious to anyone who was watching them.

"Hey do you remember the time we all went to that carnival…" Jolene asked, blinking hard as if trying to focus on Luke's face.

"Yeah, I remember."

"…and you won me the bear?" she continued.

"Yup."

"I loved that bear," she smiled blearily up at him.

"Oh good, I'm glad you did," he said politely.

"You are?" she said sounding hopeful. Hopeful for what Luke didn't know.

"Sure," he said. He wasn't in the mood to reminisce with her. He heard her continue talking but blocked her out as all of his focus went to his girlfriend…fake girlfriend, he corrected. She was being led onto the dance floor by Mark. He saw Jenny and Billy coming up behind them as well. A quick look back showed that Noah was on his way to the bar again. He watched as Lorelai settled onto the dance floor with his cousin-in-law. She was beautiful. She had a huge smile on her face that turned into a laugh at something Mark said. It lit up her whole face. Somewhere in his mind it registered that Jolene was still talking, but it was more like white noise to him at that point. He watched in awe as he saw Lorelai turn and share a laugh with Jenny and Billy as well. He had always kind of viewed the time he spent with his extended family and his everyday Stars Hollow life as two separate things. Of course there was some overlap, but they were very different in his mind. But watching Lorelai dance and drink with his cousins and old friends, he realized that she fit in both worlds. She fit into every part of his life. And surprisingly, it didn't scare him in the least. Quite the opposite in fact; he wanted her in every part of his life. She was in most of it already, and he loved it, loved sharing it with her.

Lorelai settled onto the dance floor with Mark. Aside from Jolene, she was having a great time! Luke's friends were great and she really got along with his cousins. She hadn't had a night out with people her own age in a long time. It was really nice to just hang out, talk and do nothing, she thought. Plus, the cocktail of feelings she had for Luke were only getting stronger. Every time she looked at him she wanted to say something. Flirt. Do something to ease the tension between them. She was however, keenly aware of the fact that they were not alone. He had to be feeling it too, right? She'd felt like this around him before, but never this strongly, and never for this long. They'd usually be interrupted or one of them would break the moment or something. But none of that happened this time. And she couldn't blame it on the alcohol, she wasn't drunk, and she knew Luke wasn't either. Both were probably way too sober for a night out of drinking. She laughed as Mark's joke brought her back to the current moment. She could feel someone staring at her and figured it was Jolene again. She'd been doing it all night. She looked up and her breath caught in her throat. Luke was staring at her with such a blatant longing, and she was not prepared. She recovered quickly and smiled brightly back at him. He smiled too, that soft happy smile that only came out once in a while. They stayed that way for another moment before Luke raised his eyebrows and shot her a pleading look, his eyes darting towards his dance partner to make his message clear. She giggled in response but stopped short when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Luke saw Lorelai's face fall as her eyes strayed to his side. He furrowed his brow and looked down in time to see Jolene's lips quickly approaching his own. They were about 3 inches away when he pulled back abruptly, simultaneously pushing her away.

"What are you doing?!" he asked more loudly than he intended. Everyone stopped dancing and turned their attention towards him. They didn't see what happened, but they certainly heard Luke.

"Luke I—"

"No!" he cut her off more quietly, trying not to make a scene. He had kept his hand on her arms when he pushed her away because she was still drunk and she probably would've fallen if he hadn't. Her own arms went around his neck again, tighter than before, as she pulled his face down closer to her lips. No way is she trying again, Luke thought.

"No," he firmly repeated and pushed her back even further. She stumbled a little as he released her. Luke looked towards Lorelai and saw her surprised face. He walked over to her, grabbed her hand, and said, "I need to talk to you," before he dragged her out of Mark's arms and out to the front of the tavern. They both shivered slightly as the cool air hit them.

"Sorry I just needed to get out of there," he said gruffly, letting go of her hand. He leaned against the front window and Lorelai joined him.

"It's ok…" Lorelai trailed off. Luke just shook his head in frustration. She waited about half a minute then asked cautiously,

"Are you ok?" He nodded but stayed quiet. She stayed quiet also, thought it was best. Plus for once, she didn't really know what to say. Normally when she didn't know what to say she could get away with a random thought or anecdote, but this hardly seemed the time for any of those. Frankly, she wasn't feeling that great about it either, she didn't like seeing another girl make such a blatant move on Luke. Jolene had been talking all night, but that was just talk. Acting on it was different. She looked back over at him and could see the gears working in his head. She knew he'd speak when he was ready, so she waited quietly. He shifted slightly, resting his right arm directly against her left. Even through her clothing Lorelai could feel his body heat. A tingle shot up her back, and she had to duck her face down to hide the slight blush that warmed it.

"This is exactly what I was dreading happening, ever since Aunt Jane said Jolene was coming for thanksgiving," Luke suddenly said. He was too wrapped up in his head to notice the heat radiating from where their bodies touched, or Lorelai's reaction to it. Lorelai's head shot over to look at Luke as he continued.

"She's done this before, try to get to me, or get back with me, or whatever the hell it is she's doing. And I just—I just," he sighed, "don't want her to think she can just have me whenever she wants."

"Can she?" Lorelai asked before she could stop herself.

"No," he said without hesitation, looking her right in the eye. Lorelai nodded her understanding. Luke looked away first.

"And then there's you, you've had to go along with all of this! Her sniping at you and Rory, which is unacceptable by the way, and that stupid patronizing tone… a-and you've just been great! Really great about all of it, and I feel horrible because you're only in the situation because of me—"

"Luke," she interrupted, "it's—it's not bad…pretending to be your girlfriend? It's…not bad."

"No?" Luke asked, his voice barely above a whisper as he held her gaze.

"No," she confirmed just as softly, "it's not." As she stared into his eyes, the need to kiss him washed over her. Of course she'd felt that way before, but she'd always managed to tamp it down fairly quickly. This time, it was not going away. And she didn't want it to. She moved to stand in front of him, and in seconds her lips were covering his, brushing the softest kiss against them. Lorelai tilted her head back to see his reaction. He was already looking at her, his widened eyes searching her face for some kind of explanation.

"Just go with it," she whispered softly. To her own ears it sounded like a plea, and to herself she could admit that it kind of was. That first kiss just made her want to kiss him again. She wanted more. She kissed him more firmly this time and was relieved when he started kissing her back. She stepped even closer to him, laying her hands on his chest and deepening the kiss. Luke braced against the window for support as his hands found their way to Lorelai's waist. Both lost awareness of everything but their joined lips, the feel of the other's hands on them.

The door of the tavern opened and a couple walked out. Luke and Lorelai, startled by the intrusion, jumped apart as if they'd been scalded. They stared at each other wordlessly, trying to decipher what the other one was thinking for a moment, before something caught Lorelai's eye. They had removed some of the condensation from the window when they leaned against it, and as a result, she had a clear view to inside the tavern. Just over Luke's shoulder, she could see their entire group staring at them avidly. She blushed and looked back at Luke saying,

"I, uh, think we have an audience." Luke turned and saw the 5 people quickly try to pretend they had been doing something else.

"Aw jeeze," he muttered, turning about 3 shades of red darker than Lorelai had. She waited a moment, and saw that everyone had returned to their table, before she asked,

"Think we should go back in now?"

"Uh, yeah," he said glancing up at her. He took her hand in his and led the way back over to their table. They sat down and waited for the comments, but no one said anything about it. And why would they? Lorelai thought. To them, she and Luke were a couple, so that was completely normal. But she knew that something extraordinary had just happened between them, and wondered if Luke knew it too. Both she and Luke were trying to act normally for the rest of the evening but were failing. They kept stealing glances at one another, trying to gauge what the other was thinking. It was a fruitless endeavour, but that didn't stop them from trying.

Sometime after they had all settled in at the table again, Noah got up, chugged the rest of his beer and announced that it was time he took Jolene home. It definitely was, she was even sloppier now, having had some shots after the attempted kiss. The comments she directed at Luke and Lorelai became respectively more suggestive and snarkier as the night progressed, and it was clear to everyone that she needed to go sleep the alcohol off. Mark helped them call for a cab and made sure they got into it ok. Knowing he would be driving everyone home, he had stopped drinking a while before. After they left, everybody else finished their round, piled into Mark's SUV and headed home. Billy was dropped off first and the rest headed to Aunt Jane's house; Jenny and Mark had to pick up Claire as well.

They got in kind of late, and the house was dark and quiet. Jenny knew Claire would be asleep next to her grandmother so she said her goodbyes and went to get her daughter. Lorelai said bye to Mark as well and headed upstairs to bed, while Luke stayed behind to lock up after they left. When they did, Luke shut the door behind them and heaved a huge sigh. He had kissed Lorelai Gilmore tonight. Actually, she had kissed him first. His head was all over the place. It was a great kiss. Passionate. Better than he'd ever thought it would be, and that was saying a lot. But should he have made the first move? No, who cares, he thought. Whatever had happened, it had happened, and he was damn glad it did. He'd kick himself if this turned out to be a dream. He was pretty sure it wasn't though because he could still taste her on his lips… What if it meant nothing to her? What if she was just trying to be a good fake girlfriend? God, he hoped not. Because now that he knew what it was like, it was going to be way harder to restrain himself from kissing her again.

After Lorelai had said her goodnights, she quickly went upstairs to Luke's room, closed the door, leaned against it, and sighed softly. She'd kissed Luke. She'd meant to, but now she wasn't so sure. She was sure about her feelings for him, but she didn't know now if kissing him straight out like that was the right thing to do. He'd looked shocked…but then he'd kissed her back, so who knew what he was thinking? It was a great kiss. Electric. She could still feel his lips on hers. God, she wanted to kiss him again. She pushed herself off the door, grabbed her coffee pyjamas and went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. She knew there was no way that they could avoid talking about it. They were best friends who'd crossed the boundaries of a regular best friend-ship. It would be a serious talk too. She hoped it went well… because she really wanted to get back to the kissing.

Luke arrived in the bedroom as Lorelai was leaving the bathroom, freshly changed for bed. She stopped in her tracks at the sight of him. They stared at each other a moment before Luke gestured to the bathroom and said,

"I'm gonna…"

"Oh, yeah," Lorelai managed. Luke took his turn in the bathroom and walked out in his sweats to find Lorelai perched on her side of the bed rubbing lotion into her hands. She looked up and their eyes met again. She broke the silence this time.

"We should, um…talk, right?" she asked nervously.

Luke nodded slightly and said, "So…what was that, exactly?"

"It was a kiss."

"Right, but…why did you—?"

"Because I wanted to," she cut him off. She figured if they were having this talk she was going to be completely honest, no matter how vulnerable it made her feel.

"You wanted to," he repeated, absorbing the information.

"Yeah." He nodded in response but didn't say anything.

"I mean…there's—there's something more between us…right?" she asked. Her skin was tingling in anticipation of his answer.

"Yeah," he replied immediately, his face softening, "there's something more."

"Really?" she asked, letting out a breath.

"Yeah."

Lorelai took another breath and looked him nervously in the eye. "It scares me," she said quietly.

"Me too," he replied honestly.

"I don't want to screw this up. It's you….I—I need you to be in my life. I don't want this to screw that up," she paused wrinkling her brow, thinking over what she had just said, then muttered, "ok…that didn't make sense. I meant—"

"No I got it," he reassured her. "I don't want to screw up what we have either. But I think, we…should give more a try at least."

"I think that's a good idea," she smiled at him.

"Yeah?" he smiled too, and started making his way closer to where she was sitting on the bed.

"Yeah," she replied. He braced his left hand on the bed beside her as he leaned over her body and kissed her softly. Soon, Luke traced her bottom lip with his tongue asking permission. She opened her mouth and his tongue found hers. The kisses got deeper as she sucked on his tongue softly then let him go, lightly nipping at his bottom lip along the way. They stayed kissing like that for a few minutes before Lorelai grabbed a fistful of his t-shirt and lay back on the bed, dragging him down with her. She was sandwiched between the bed and Luke's solid chest, and she couldn't be happier. But she remembered where they were and smiled through the kiss. Luke opened his eyes and found her beaming. It made him beam too.

"Hi," she breathed.

"Hi"

"We're um…at your Aunt's house," she said, gesturing with her head towards the door of the bedroom. "We shouldn't..."

"No you're right," he said. He pulled his body off of hers reluctantly and walked around to his side of the bed. He took his watch off and then climbed in next to her. He turned on his side and immediately pulled her close to him, much to both of their delights. They were in the same position they had woken up in, only this time they were much closer. Lorelai's head rested on the crook of his shoulder, her left hand on his t-shirt covered chest. She snuggled into his neck further and thought that maybe she'd be able to discern the specific smells of his Luke-ness with her new proximity.

"This is nice," he said in a gravelly voice.

"Mmhmm," she murmured. And they both fell asleep, the beer and the emotions of the day finally catching up to them.

FRIDAY MORNING

They were both in such deep sleeps that they didn't hear the knocks on the door in the morning. Aunt Jane decided to take a chance and slowly poked her head in the door. She saw them snuggled up in the same position they had fallen asleep in, except that their legs had become entwined during the night. They looked tangled but very comfortable. Lorelai's head was tucked in the crook of Luke's neck, and Luke had his right arm slung protectively over Lorelai's waist. They were such a sweet couple, she thought, smiling softly to herself. She hated to wake them up, but it was already fairly late. She wanted to visit Mitch, and they needed to have breakfast before she could start making their thanksgiving feast. She looked at them again, stepped back out into the hall, left the door open, but knocked as loud as she could. When she heard movement, she stuck her head back in and noticed that Lorelai had stirred. Well, she thought, 1 out of 2 wasn't bad.

"Good morning dear!" she ventured into the room, keeping her voice hushed. Lorelai turned towards where she heard the voice, eyes still blinking blearily. Luke still hadn't moved.

"Good morning," she responded in a gravelly voice. Her eyes focused, and she saw Aunt Jane at the foot of the bed. Lorelai sat up a little, still not disrupting Luke at all.

"Oh no, honey don't get up," Aunt Jane said, "I just have to start making dinner soon, and I know Luke will be mad if I start it without him."

"Oh ok," Lorelai smiled. Dinner? How long had they been asleep? She glanced at Luke then back to Aunt Jane. "I'll wake him up."

"Ok, thank you Lorelai…sorry to wake you up," Aunt Jane said apologetically.

"No, no we should get up now anyways," she said kindly. Dinner time? Maybe she had drank more beer than she thought last night…

"Ok, I'll see you in a little bit then," Aunt Jane smiled and closed the door softly on her way out. Lorelai looked behind her to the clock on the nightstand. 10:37 AM. Now she was really confused. Was the clock wrong? Why is she making dinner already? Lorelai turned and settled back into Luke's neck for a minute, but she couldn't get back to sleep. Luke still hadn't relinquished his hold on her and she smiled thinking about how much things had changed since yesterday morning. She tilted her head back and watched him for a few minutes. She didn't often have the chance to look at Luke this openly, so she took the moment to memorize as much of his face as she could. She'd always thought he was handsome and she was right, she concluded again. He was definitely handsome. But he was so much more than that. He was good, and kind, and decent. Generous. Adorably grumpy, and smart, and sparing with his smiles. And a million other wonderful things. And he likes me, she smiled. Well…he didn't exactly say those words, but he agreed there was something more between them…But that meant nothing unless they did something about it right? They didn't make it too far in the conversation the previous night, she remembered, because they had started kissing again. Her smile widened as she thought of the perfect way to wake him up. She leaned back down and brushed his lips softly with hers. He didn't stir. She kissed him a little more firmly and he hummed softly. She tried again and this time he murmured her name. Smiling, she parted his lips with hers and kissed him passionately. That one worked. He pulled her even closer and started kissing her back. Lorelai hummed her approval but had to pull back after a moment in need of air. She pecked his lips again and whispered,

"Good morning."

"Yes it is," he whispered back smiling down at her. His eyes were still closed so she kissed him softly again.

"You have to wake up now."

"Mmm, why?"

"Because your Aunt came in and said she needs to start dinner soon…said you'd be mad if she started without you."

Luke opened his eyes to find hers already on him. "She came in here? And we were…"

"Like this," Lorelai supplied. Luke looked down at their bodies and blushed at the position they were in.

"Oh, it's fine," Lorelai dismissed, "She didn't seem uncomfortable with it at all. Plus we both have our clothes on so we're good," She said, patting his chest with the hand that rested there. She looked up and saw that his blush had deepened at her comment and smiled softly, closing her eyes and snuggling back into him. He caught her teasing smile and rolled his eyes in an attempt to hide his own. It didn't work. He looked at the clock on the nightstand behind her. It was a few minutes to 11.

"11? Yeah I guess it is a little late to be starting on dinner…" he said idly.

"Now no one has ever mistaken me for Emeril but, why would you need to start making dinner 7 hours in advance…?"

"Well it normally takes a while to get everything ready for thanksgiving, especially when you make everything from scratch like Aunt Jane does."

Lorelai rolled her eyes in realization. "Oh God, of course! I completely forgot it was thanksgiving today."

"You did? It's like the only holiday that focuses on eating…this is your time to shine," he teased in mock incredulity. She slapped his chest lightly as she chuckled along with him.

"You're right…I wonder what made me forget?" she said slyly as she kissed him gently.

"Mmm, I did that?" Luke said when they separated, "man, I don't know the power I wield, do I?"

Lorelai laughed again but said seriously, "You don't." Luke caught her tone and smiled before he kissed her firmly again and moved to get up.

"We should get going, she's probably waiting."

"Wait," Lorelai pulled him back down, though now he was farther away, much to her disappointment. "Can I ask you something really quick?"Shoot," he said, settling back down.

"We never really finished talking last night….and, I was wondering, um, what exactly are we doing?

Luke was a little lost. "What are we doing?"

"Yeah, you know…are we dating, friends with benefits, or, something else…?" she trailed off nervously. She didn't want to come off too strongly, but she was really hoping he said something else; something more permanent than dating.

"Well I don't what friends with benefits is, and dating seems a little too flimsy for me," he replied matter of factly, "I want more than that."

More. There was that word again. "Me too," she replied relieved. She could see a surety settle in his eyes.

"Good," he sighed. He was relieved she felt the same way. "What if we just go with a relationship? We're in a relationship, together, a couple…whatever you want to call it."

Lorelai smiled brilliantly at him. "I like all three of those options."

Luke's smile mirrored hers as he said, "Good. …I mean I know we haven't even been on a date yet, but—"

"Well yesterday could be considered a date," Lorelai interrupted.

"How do you figure?"

"Well we spent the entire day together…there was a restaurant and a pretty lake and drinks at a bar…"

Luke grimaced. "Ok, yeah but I mean a real date. Where we both know it's a date beforehand, and I pick you up and take you out, and we don't have drinks with a bunch of other people and some other girl doesn't try to kiss me."

"Alright, well when you put it that way," Lorelai grimaced as well at the mention of Jolene.

Luke chuckled. "Ok then…when we get back to Stars Hollow we will have our real first date as soon as possible."

"Yeah that sounds good…and that'll give me some time to fill Rory in." Luke closed his eyes tightly for a second. How could he have forgotten about Rory? Jeeze. Get it together Luke, he told himself. His nerves returned full force. Had they just started something that had no staying power? No, he knew that wasn't true, he knew Lorelai was the girl for him, but if Rory didn't like the idea? Well, that he wasn't sure about…he knew how important Rory's opinion was to her mother, and it was important to him too.

"Do you uh…think she'll be ok with this—with us?"

"Yeah she'll be fine," Lorelai answered immediately. He was surprised at her nonchalant tone.

"You think?"

"Yeah, I already told her a bit of it."

"You did? When?" He'd been with her all night and couldn't figure out when she'd have told Rory about them.

"When we were at the bar and she called, remember? You handed me the phone…you talked to her too."

"Yeah I remember, but nothing had happened yet…"

"I told her about what I was feeling and asked if she'd be ok if something were to happen between us."

"You did?"

"Yeah."

"And what'd she say," he asked nervously.

"She said that she always knew there was something between us."

"She did?"

"Yeah."

"But is she ok with it?"

"She said she is definitely pro you and me," Lorelai smiled up at him. He let out a sigh of relief. He'd been worried for nothing. Man did he love Rory.

"Good," he smiled softly at her. Then something occurred to him. "So you planned it?"

"Planned what?"

"The kiss."

"I didn't plan it, it just happened," she said a bit defensively.

"But if you asked Rory if she'd be ok with something happening between us…you knew something was going to happen between us…" he ventured. He wasn't accusing, just curious.

"No I didn't…That was just in the moment. I saw you and wanted to kiss you, so I did," she said shyly. "Before that happened though…I knew what I felt, and I didn't want to wait any longer…but I figured now probably wasn't the best time to be telling you that…while we were pretending to be together…so I was going to bring it up when we got home," she confessed. "But I knew Rory wouldn't be home by then, so I just asked her…pre-emptively." Luke chuckled.

"What?" she asked.

"I was going to bring it up when we got home too," he confessed.

She laughed with him, then said, "Great minds…" She kissed him quickly and moved to get up.

"Ok, let's go, or Aunt Jane's gonna think we're doing more than sleeping in."

Luke blushed again at her quip, and Lorelai laughed having successfully returned them to a less serious mood. She brushed her teeth, washed her face and came out. Luke took the few extra minutes in bed and then did the same. He grabbed her hand, and they headed downstairs together. They found Aunt Jane kneading some dough at the kitchen counter, already dressed and ready for the day.

"Did you start without me?!" Luke asked as they rounded the corner into the kitchen.

"Just the dough for the rolls, you know it has to rise!" Aunt Jane shot back. "I have done absolutely nothing else because I knew you would say that!"

"Yeah yeah," Luke said good naturedly. He noticed that his Aunt hadn't made them food this morning. He started pulling out pans, utensils and ingredients. "Did you eat yet?"

"I ate a while ago, sorry, I wasn't sure when you'd be up, but I can whip us up something now!"

"No no, you sit, I've got this." Lorelai who had headed straight for the coffee pot, turned back and asked Aunt Jane if she'd like a cup.

"Sure, thank you sweetie," Aunt Jane replied, taking a seat at the island. Lorelai joined her there with her own mug.

"Sorry to wake you up this morning, I normally would've let you sleep in, but we needed to start making everything."

"Oh that's ok, we should've been up a while ago," Lorelai responded.

"Well you did come in pretty late so it's understandable."

"Oh no, I hope we didn't wake you up, were we really loud?" Dirty! Lorelai thought, but she hid her blush in her mug as she took a sip. She didn't know why she was blushing, she'd said and thought much dirtier things before. Maybe it was because she thought them in the presence of Aunt Jane…there was something about the lady that demanded respect. Lorelai really wanted Luke's family to like her…she suspected that their approval would go a long way in Luke's book, no matter what he said. And Luke could probably be her guy, the one that would last, so she only wanted to be on good terms with his family. She didn't think she was off to a bad start, she seemed to get along with everyone, but you never knew…All she could do was be herself, and hope that was enough…Great. And now she sounded like a reject from an after school special.

"No no, Jenny woke me up! Claire was sleeping in my bed so when she came to get her I woke up as well. Hazard of being a mother, you know, I can be a light sleeper when I'm listening for them."

"Oh yeah," Lorelai pleasantly commiserated, "I know what you mean…I'm like that with Rory."

"Lorelai you want bacon or sausage?" Luke interjected.

"Is that a real question?" she asked, looking at Luke like he was crazy.

"Right, what was I thinking. Aunt Jane?"

"Sausage is good for me," Aunt Jane replied.

"Ok." Luke plated the food and brought it over to the island. Lorelai got up to refill their mugs and pour some tea for Luke. As Luke slid Lorelai's plate to her spot, Jane noticed that he had put both bacon and sausage on her plate. She smiled again at how cute their dynamic was. They all settled in and ate in a comfortable quiet for a few minutes. Aunt Jane broke the silence.

"So did you kids have fun last night?"

"Yeah, it was fine," Luke responded.

"Just fine?" Aunt Jane asked.

"Yeah you know…it was good to see Billy again."

"I always liked him, funny young man."

"Really funny," Lorelai chimed in.

"So it was just the 5 of you?"

"No, um…Jolene and Noah were there too." Luke said.

"Right," Aunt Jane twisted her face, "I forgot about that… how was it?"

"It was…Jolene."

"Oh God, she didn't try anything did she?" Lorelai's raised her eyebrows at that. She knew Luke and his Aunt were close, but she didn't think they were close enough for Luke to tell her the details of his relationships…he barely told anyone stuff like that.

"What do you mean?" Luke inquired. He didn't know that Aunt Jane knew about anything that had happened with Jolene over the years.

"Well I know she was awful to Rachel when you brought her around, and to you…"

"You do?!" Luke asked incredulous.

"Well yeah…Jenny told me." Luke rolled his eyes at that. Of course it was Jenny. He should've known.

"Oh now Luke, come on," Aunt Jane continued, "that was the first time you ever left here earlier than expected, I pestered her for an explanation. And I don't think she told me everything so don't worry. And anyway there's no reason to fret about it now, that was 20 years ago. I'm sure you've got more important things to worry about," Aunt Jane swiftly put him in his place. Lorelai hid her smirk behind her mug but stayed quiet. They were talking about stuff that happened before she even knew Luke, she did not need to be in this conversation. Luke shot her a look of defeat before he turned back to his Aunt.

"Fine," he sighed in resignation, "you're right. Yeah she was pretty bad then, and—"

"And was it like that last night?"

He debated a moment then decided to go with vague honesty. "Pretty much, yeah…and then add a few more beers to that."

Aunt Jane let out a long breath and shook her head sadly. Clearly she knew enough of the older stories to read between the lines. "I'm sorry Luke…honestly I didn't remember that all of that had happened when I invited her. You know I would never have if I did."

"I know," he said genially. "It's ok, we'll manage."

"You too, I'm sorry Lorelai. I'm assuming she directed some of it to you as well."

Luke jumped in before she could respond. "At Rory too," he said, traces of anger evident in his face. That would never be ok. "I don't know how she the nerve to even think those things, let alone—"

Lorelai put a reassuring hand on Luke's and murmured a soft "hey," effectively cutting him off before he got too buried in his anger. She looked back to Aunt Jane and said, "No it's ok, really. We can handle it!" She smiled. "Besides that, I had a really great time last night!" her voice perked with genuine enthusiasm. "With getting the inn set up, I haven't had much spare time, so it was nice to just hang out for a while."

"Good. I'm glad it didn't ruin your weekend!" Aunt Jane responded.

"No," Lorelai replied, "it'd take a lot to do that." She met Luke's eyes as she said it. She saw the warmth in his eyes and knew they were mirroring her own, because he gave her a small smile back. Of course Aunt Jane caught the whole thing. Their affection for each other was obvious, and it made her smile too.

Lorelai had successfully brought them back to a more light-hearted path, and they finished their meal chatting amicably. Lorelai insisted on doing the dishes, while they started prepping the rest of the food for that night. As Luke was chopping carrots, he realized that he should call the diner to check-in. He had planned on closing the diner altogether, but Caesar had insisted on opening for at least until after lunch, and then he'd go home and spend the holiday with his family. Luke figured it couldn't hurt to give him some over-time, so he agreed. He looked around a little but couldn't find their cordless landline.

"Just use my cell, I brought it down," Lorelai said.

"I am not using a cell phone," he responded adamantly.

"Why not?"

"You know I don't use cell phones."

"Yes, but if you can't find the house phone…it's right there waiting to be used."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because there's a landline around here somewhere; and doesn't that defeat the purpose of a cell phone? They're supposed to be used when you're out, not when you're at home and there's another option. Even then, they're unnecessary most of the time, and they make people anti-social. You get a cell phone and all of a sudden it's an extension of your hand? Like if you put it down the world will come to an end? Gimme a break! And somehow everyone's ruder with a cellphone. Ordering while on the phone? So disrespectful!"

Lorelai watched him in amusement. "Well we're not in the diner, so I think you're safe.

"Safe? What about the health risk? Holding a device like that to your ear cannot be good for you."

"Ok well, you didn't seem to mind using it last night!"

"I wanted to make sure Rory was ok!" he said defensively.

"Oh you talked to Rory? How's she doing?" Aunt Jane directed her question to Lorelai with genuine interest. She too was used to Luke's rants and didn't pay his spiel about cellphones much attention. Lorelai giggled as she saw Luke's rant come to a close as he continued to look for the landline. She was still stationed at the sink, and Aunt Jane was beside her at the counter, seasoning the turkey.

"Only for a few minutes, but she sounds great. When she called she was laying ocean-side under a cabana reading a book. I think that's pretty much heaven for her," Lorelai said.

"For me too!" Aunt Jane replied with a chuckle.

"Yeah, I told her all she needs to complete the picture is a nice cabana boy."

"Jeeze. I can't believe you actually told her that…" Luke grumbled. He had located the phone and was waiting for Cesar to pick up on the other end.

"Come on," Lorelai scoffed. "She's with my parents, they've probably got her attending galleries and stuff…it's my job to remind her to have a little fun while

she's there too."

"Cabana boys are not fun."

"Maybe not for you…" Lorelai said under her breath. Luke heard her but couldn't respond because Caesar had finally picked up.

"Don't worry dear, we'll get Luke his own cabana boy for Christmas and he'll see the merits for himself," Aunt Jane said seriously. She met eyes with Lorelai

and both burst out laughing at the thought. They were still joking about it when he finished his call.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"Nothing, Lucas," Aunt Jane covered for them, "come here and help me with these cans, will you?" Luke looked at them sceptically, but neither gave anything

away so he stopped thinking about it. Seeing that Lorelai had finished her dishes, Aunt Jane enrolled her to help as well.

"Lorelai you come help me with the pies. The recipe is right over there, but you tell me if you need any help." Lorelai shot Luke a panicked look.

"Uhhh…I don't, know how to cook…" Lorelai said to Jane.

"Oh that's ok, it's just following the recipe."

"Uhm…"

"Let's switch. You open the cans," Luke said, handing her the opener. To Aunt Jane he said, "I've seen her follow a recipe before…not pretty. If we want the pies to be edible she should go nowhere near them," he said seriously.

Lorelai started in on the cans. "I can't even argue with that. This is definitely more my speed."

Aunt Jane looked at them amused. "Really? You can't make anything?"

"Well I wouldn't say anything…I can make a mean pop tart…tater tots…pizza pocket…really anything that goes in the toaster, or a baking sheet in the oven."

"Really?" Jane laughed.

"Yeah. We'd probably starve if it wasn't for Luke and Sookie."

"Who's Sookie?

"Oh she's my friend, the one I'm opening the inn with?"

"Oh right, you mentioned her."

"Yeah, she's a great chef,"

"Really good," Luke added. Some time passed as Aunt Jane made the filling, Luke the crust, and the finished pies were set aside, ready to be put in the oven later on. Lorelai helped to clean along the way, but her official title was taste-tester, and she was damn good at her job. After the pies were done, Aunt Jane sent Luke outside to cut some wood for the fireplace. Lorelai was happy to just watch him chop the wood—she could only imagine he'd look even more rugged than usual—but Aunt Jane asked her to cut up some of the ingredients she'd need for the rest of the meal. Shortly after Luke left, it was clear that Lorelai had been asked to stay for a reason.

"You don't have to keep cutting those," Aunt Jane said glancing at Lorelai. Lorelai responded by raising her hand to dismiss the notion in a 'no-big-deal' manner. She could handle cutting up a few vegetables….once she was shown how to do it.

"I just wanted a moment alone with you," Aunt Jane continued.

"Oh, sure," Lorelai said a little nervously. In her experience, 'I just wanted a moment alone with you' almost never ended well.

"If you don't mind that is…I know Luke would just get shy or uncomfortable...probably both," she chuckled.

Ok this didn't sound like bad news…now Lorelai was just curious, "Of course I don't mind!"

Aunt Jane paused to collect her thoughts before she spoke. "You see, Luke's always been like a son to me—especially after his parents passed, and like any parent, I just want my kid to be happy." Lorelai looked over, but could only see her profile. Despite her more serious tone, Aunt Jane was just calmly cooking.

"Luke's a good person," she continued, "always has been. But he hasn't always had it easy, especially when it comes to his love life." Ok, Lorelai thought…maybe she was getting the 'you-better-treat-him-right-or-else' speech.

"The girls he's dated…I mean, you met Jolene right?" Aunt Jane looked over at her and grimaced. Lorelai giggled.

"She's a real piece of work," Aunt Jane stated matter-of-factly.

Lorelai laughed a little harder. "That's exactly what Luke said."

"Well the truth is the truth," she paused, "There was Rachel…sweet girl—"

"Yeah she was really nice."

"Oh you knew her?"

"Not well, but I saw her a few times, hung out with her once—"

"You did?"

"Yeah, it was years ago though…back when Luke and I were just friends." It occurred to her that she could say that in all honesty now. She smiled softly at the thought.

"Did Luke know about it?" Aunt Jane inquired, now she was curious.

"Oh yeah, he knew. She'd taken some great photos of an old inn and offered to show me where it was. I fell in love with the place and showed it to Sookie, and it immediately became the inn we wanted to own. It's the one we're fixing up right now."

"Oh wow!"

"Yeah, I'm so happy she showed it to us."

Not to be diverted, Jane asked, "And Luke was fine with you spending time together?"

"Well I wouldn't go right to fine," Lorelai's smile turned into a chuckle, "he did seem pretty uncomfortable with the idea…but I asked him if he had a problem with it and he said no, so—"

"You asked him?"

"Yeah." Aunt Jane caught her eye and gave her an amused smile.

"What?" Lorelai asked.

"Nothing, I just love that you asked him. Called him on it…I would have done the same thing."

"Yeah well, he was acting weird about it…I asked him straight out as soon as we made the plans, but you know how stubborn he is. I mean, if he really didn't want me to go and he told me, of course I wouldn't. Rachel's not my ex-grlfriend," she shrugged, "he had dibs."

Still amused, Aunt Jane said, "So if you knew Rachel, then I'm assuming you knew Nicole as well…"

"Yes I did," Lorelai said with a tired sigh, like just the thought alone exhausted her. She'd moved onto a carot, but was still slowly dicing at the counter. Aunt Jane was all over the place, her experience in the kitchen showing as she moved around the kitchen preparing multiple dishes.

Aunt Jane laughed at Lorelai's tone and asked in mock innocence, "Did you like her as well?"

"Umm…" Lorelai paused as if pondering the question. There were so many things to say about that relationship…the short answer? "No."

"Neither did I, I don't think anyone did. She was so stern and formal, hard to talk to…and a lawyer?! Who would've thought Luke would be with a lawyer!"

"I know," Lorelai scoffed, "I was shocked too. They definitely were not a good match."

"To say the least!"

"Mmm," Lorelai hummed her agreement.

"Well what I was trying to say is that I'm really happy he's finally with you."

Lorelai smiled and said a soft but genuine "Thanks." As she shared Jane's warm look, something occurred to her, "What do you mean finally?"

"Oh Luke's been talking about you for years, Rory too. We knew something was there." Lorelai's heart started to beat a little faster. Luke had been talking about her to his family for years? The off-hand comments she'd heard since they got to Caledon were starting to make sense. Aunt Jane had had coffee waiting for them when they arrived because she knew Lorelai was a caffeine fiend. And later that evening she had said that she'd heard a lot about her but that Luke wasn't giving anything else away this time…At the time Lorelai hadn't given those comments a second thought—really, how much information could private, monosyllabic Luke give away?…but now it made sense.

"You did?"

"Oh yeah, mind you, he didn't offer up very personal things—it's Luke, he wouldn't do that, but just things." Surprise registered on Lorelai's face, but she didn't say anything, she just listened as Aunt Jane continued.

"You know, like how much you love coffee, or when the Independence burned down…or something funny you said at the town meeting that managed to tick Taylor off…" she chuckled, "or when Rory made valedictorian, he was so proud!"

"Yeah he was," Lorelai replied softly.

"Things like that…but I could tell there was something more there," she paused in reminiscence. "His whole face would just kinda light up whenever he talked about you girls. And Luke's not really a light up kind of man."

"Mmhm," Lorelai responded. She probably would've come up with something better, but the butterflies in her stomach were distracting. And besides, she didn't know if she agreed with that, Luke could light up. She'd seen it, could cajole it out of him…she just didn't know she was one of the things that did that to him. And it was a good thing, she thought, cause she was feeling pretty lit up about him too.

Aunt Jane saw Lorelai's eyes and smile get a little hazy, no doubt thinking about Luke, Jane mused. She smiled to herself, they really were cute. "And the funny part was; he didn't know he was doing it, the lighting up or the stories about you. Jenny commented on it one time and he clammed right up…we didn't hear about you for a while after that," she chuckled, "but he forgot he was mad one day, slipped up, and the stories were back. And we never commented on it again."

Lorelai could feel Aunt Jane's eyes on her and when she looked up she noticed that Jane had stopped what she was doing and was turned toward her, so Lorelai did the same.

"This is just my very long winded way of saying that I'm happy you two found your way to each other. And I know I don't know you very well—yet!" Both ladies smiled and Jane continued. "But I think you're the right girl for him...someone who'll call him out when he needs it, who obviously cares deeply for him and will be there for him..."

"I'll always care about Luke. He's family, always has been," Lorelai said a little fiercely. Aunt Jane caught the protective note in her voice, and her smile widened.

"I know." Aunt Jane flashed her a teasing look as she checked on the food. Lorelai noticed, and returned to her chopping as well. "I had a feeling I'd like you if we ever met…I was right," she finished smugly.

Lorelai laughed. "Thanks, the feeling is completely mutual."

"Not that my opinion matters at all, I just wanted to put my two cents in."

"It matters," Lorelai said firmly. They shared another smile and went back to their tasks, this time talking idly about nothing in particular. About 10 minutes later, they heard the front door open and saw Luke walk in carrying a huge pile of logs.

"Man, that walk to the shed seemed a lot longer than it used to," he said with a bewildered sigh. He'd deposited the logs by the fireplace in the living room across the hall and flopped down into a stool at the kitchen island. Jane handed a glass of water to her slightly winded nephew.

"Aw sweetie, you're just getting old," Aunt Jane teased.

"Yes I think that is absolutely true."

Lorelai half turned away from her station and used her knife to point at him. "Hey, you are not old. Because if you're old, then I'm old, and I am not old."

"You're younger than me," he pointed out.

"Still, the gap is way too close for a comment like that." Luke rolled his eyes and Lorelai returned to her chopping.

"Oh my God, are you still doing that?!"

Lorelai turned to face him again. "Yes," she said in an 'isn't-it-obvious' tone.

"You should've been done that like 20 minutes ago!"

"Ok, I've been making my way through it, and I haven't even cut myself once!

"Well I guess that's something," Luke said dryly.

"Luke give her a break, she's doing a very good job," Jane defended.

"Thank you Aunt Jane," Lorelai said meaningfully, before she turned around and stuck her tongue out at Luke. Luke raised his eyebrows suggestively at her in return, the warm teasing look in his eyes letting Lorelai know just what he wanted to do with that tongue. Lorelai blushed profusely. She was totally unprepared for flirty Luke. They'd flirted before, but that was innocent. They both knew that neither was going to take it far, and nothing was going to come of it. But now they were together, and something could come of it. And that fact was making it very hard for Lorelai to get rid of the blush. She chanced a look back at Luke and saw that he was already watching her, trying to hold back a smug laugh. Of course he had seen the blush, great, she thought sarcastically. She smiled back at him ruefully, she'd get him back later, that was for sure. Man, she though, this dating-Luke was surprising her, kept her on her toes.

Aunt Jane had thankfully, for once, missed the entire encounter. She glanced the time and did one last check on the food.

"Luke dear," she broke them both out of their silent exchange, "I'm going to run out and see Mitch, can I leave you in charge for a little while?"

"Of course, what else needs to be done?"

"Um, not much…just the scalloped potatoes—cause you know those taste better as fresh as possible."

"Mhmm," he agreed.

"And the cranberry sauce, and the vegetables…and just keep an eye on the turkey, I'll do the gravy and finish the pies when I get back."

"Ok."

"Oh! And the stuffing needs to be finished"

"Ok."

"Oh! And the rolls!"

"Alright."

"Are you sure? That actually turned out to be a lot…"

"Nah, we'll manage. Lorelai's chopping and I've got everything else," Luke said dryly. Lorelai smiled happily, completing missing his teasing.

"Ok, if you're sure then I'm off!" Aunt Jane left and Lorelai and Luke were left alone for the first time since they'd woken up. Luke came around the island and wrapped his arms around her from behind. Lorelai leaned back into him, attempting to continue her chopping as he kissed her cheek. When he moved down to her neck she had to stop.

"Ok, see the kissing thing is not helping with the holding a sharp cleaver thing," she said.

"I can see that," Luke mumbled into her skin. She could feel the hum of his words vibrate all the way to her toes, and had to force herself to say more words.

"Do you care?"

"Not at all," he said unapologetically. Lorelai laughed, dropped the knife to the cutting board, and turned in his arms to face him. He braced her against the counter and kissed her firmly.

"Ah now that's better," she murmured when they broke apart. They stayed that way for a few minutes, kissing at the counter. It quickly turned passionate, but it didn't escalate any further. Both knew it wasn't the time or place, and were simply content with the others lips for the moment. Much too soon they broke apart. Luke leaned his forehead against Lorelai's, and quietly said,

"Ok, I'm gonna check on the food and start the rest of the stuff. I don't want it to burn." He released her with a kiss on her cheek and went to the stove to do just that.

"Yeah imagine explaining that one," Lorelai teased, "Sorry for ruining dinner, but we had to make out. It had to be done, there was no getting around it."

Luke laughed at her mock severity. "Yeah I don't think that would go over too well." He moved further down the counter and starting rummaging through the cabinets near the stove for the pot he needed.

"No definitely not."

"Would be worth it though," he said with quiet conviction, meeting her eyes from his crouched down position.

"You're sweet," she said softly.

"I am not sweet," he disputed, rolling his eyes.

Lorelai smiled knowingly at him and said firmly, "You're sweet."

"Alright, alright enough of that, come help me peel these," Luke said placing a few potatoes on the island. Lorelai had been cleaning up the area where she'd been cutting the vegetables up, but stopped and went over to the island.

"I don't know how to."

"I'll teach you." Luke proceeded to do just that, and it took some very misshapen potatoes, but she eventually got the hang of it. Kind of…ok so Luke ended up doing it, but at least she tried. After they were done, Lorelai watched as Luke picked up where Jane left off. She loved watching him cook, she decided. He was confident and graceful, so at ease with what he was doing that she found it hard to tear her eyes away. And the end result was a delicious meal…what was not to love? Luke put the beginnings of the cranberry sauce in a pot on a burner and let it sit for a few minutes while the stove heated up.

"Hey can you stir this for me?" He asked, putting more ingredients into the pot.

"Me?" Lorelai asked incredulously.

"Well I don't see anyone else here."

"But that's actual cooking; remember, 'if we want the food to be edible Lorelai should go nowhere near it'?" She said in her Luke voice.

"Yeah and I stand by that, but this is just stirring."

"I'm gonna screw it up!"

"No you won't."

"And then I'll really have to come up with a reason for why I ruined dinner!"

"You're not going to ruin dinner! I'd do it myself, but I need to keep checking the rest of the food, and this kind of cranberry sauce needs to be constantly stirred."

"Ok…" Lorelai said doubtfully, gingerly taking hold of the spoon.

"Thank you," Luke said kissing her cheek. Lorelai smiled in response and then returned to her task, determined not to ruin dinner. If the food sucked, it was definitely not going to be because of her. A minute later, Luke heard,

"Hey Luke, what are the chunky things?"

"What chunky things?"

"These," Lorelai said, scooping a few onto the spoon and showing him. He looked at Lorelai like she'd sprouted another head.

"Those are cranberries…" he said slowly.

"Oh!"

"You've never seen a cranberry before?" he asked dubiously.

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "No of course I've seen a cranberry before, I've just never seen them like this, you know, cooked, in a sauce."

Luke narrowed his eyes at her. "It's cranberry sauce…what did you think would be in it?"

"Well I don't know! I've only ever had cranberry sauce from a can."

"That's not true, you eat at the diner every year and I make the cranberry sauce from scratch."

"You do?"

"Yeah…I just don't leave the whole cranberries in. When it thickens it looks more like the stuff from the can."

"Oh cool!" Lorelai said in genuine interest. "Then this is a different kind we're making right now?"

"Not really, I just know that Aunt Jane likes her sauce a certain way. It's on a low heat and it needs to be stirred the whole time. Plus we want to make sure that there are still pieces of the whole cranberries in the sauce when everything's done and it's hardening."

"Dirty!" Lorelai giggled. Luke gave her a pointed look, but kept moving. They worked in silence for a minute or two before Lorelai spoke again.

"Hey Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for what you said about me and Rory last night." She'd meant to tell him last night, but the kiss and the change in their relationship had taken precedence in her mind.

"What?" Luke asked, still catching on to her random topic.

"Last night at the tavern, when Jolene was saying all that stuff…thanks for sticking up for us." She tore her eyes away from the pot to meet his for a moment.

"Of course I did, she was being ridiculous," he said defensively, "She doesn't even know you guys and she thought she could say that you—" he shook his head, "It was completely uncalled for."

"I agree. I guess I'm just used to fighting my own battles all the time…and you didn't have to, but, it was nice to have someone there with me."

"I did have to," he said firmly. He moved over to her and sealed the statement with a just as firm kiss.

When they parted, Lorelai softly said, "Thanks."

Luke nodded once and went back to checking on the food. Lorelai was still stirring the sauce a little while later when Aunt Jane came back home. When she opened the front door, the first thing she heard was,

"Luke am I doing this right?"

Luke sighed audibly. She'd been asking questions every few minutes. "Just make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom," he told her.

Aunt Jane chuckled and called "I'm back!" as she rounded the corner. "How's it going in here?"

"We're good, got everything under control," Luke replied. He was crouched down looking at the turkey and then moved onto the scalloped potatoes while Lorelai stayed stationary at the pot on the stove.

"You sure? There's some time before we have to get ready, I can take over for a little…"

"No no, we're good, you go get dressed, take your time…I've got the big stuff, and Lorelai's stirring so we're covered," he said rolling his eyes. Lorelai smiled proudly over her shoulder at Aunt Jane before turning resolutely back to the pot.

Highly amused, Aunt Jane said, "Ok well I'm going upstairs then, leave the gravy, I'll do it when I come down."

"Ok," Luke replied. As Aunt Jane walked away, she heard,

"Hey Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it supposed to be swirling like this?"

Luke sighed again. "What are you talking about swirls, sauces don't swirl. Let me see it." Jane laughed quietly so they wouldn't hear her. She figured she missed some good bickering while she was gone.

An hour later, Aunt Jane was back downstairs and ready to take over. She sent the couple upstairs to get ready. Luke jumped in the shower first and then changed while Lorelai took her turn. Turned out they didn't have that much time before everyone would arrive so they had to rush a little. Luke was fixing his hair at the dresser when he heard Lorelai come out of the bathroom. His breath caught in his throat as he watched her walk to the nightstand and put her jewellery on. She felt him staring and was met with that same longing look he had thrown her way at the bar the night before. Her breath caught too. She watched as Luke took in her outfit. She was wearing a silky maroon short sleeved blouse that tied in the front and showed off a bit of cleavage, but was still modest enough for a family dinner. She paired that with a plain black pencil skirt that hugged her curves and ended about 3 inches above her knees. For jewellery she wore a silver charm bracelet and a pair of silver rhinestone dangling earrings. She was barefoot, so he could see her pale blue nail polish, she had a little bit more make-up on than her usual look, and her hair was down in those long loose curls he loved so much. She somehow looked sexy and classy at the same time, he thought, not that he was about to tell her that.

"You look amazing," he rasped instead.

"Yeah? Not underdressed? I don't know how formal your family does thanksgiving…" she trailed off.

"No, you look perfect," he said walking slowly over to her.

She blushed and said, "Thanks, you look really great too," with a soft smile. Luke was wearing a dark grey sweater that was just tight enough to let you know he was fit but not enough that it was like a second skin. On his lower half he wore black slacks that hugged his butt a little, much to her delight. He wore black dress socks, had forgone the hat, and as he came closer, Lorelai could smell a musky cologne. He looked damn sexy, she thought. She was about to tell him too, but was aware that might be a little too forward for such a new relationship. They hadn't even been on their first proper date yet. So she dialled it back and repeated, "Really great."

"Thanks," he murmured as he wrapped his arms around her waist and ducked his head to kiss her heatedly. Lorelai was unprepared for the intensity of the kiss and had to grab onto Luke's shoulders to keep her balance. He pulled away when the need for air became too much and beamed at her flushed face.

"Ok," she breathed, swallowing hard.

Luke's smile widened at her breathy tone. He loved that he could rattle her a little too. "Ready?" he asked.

"Um, let me just go re-do my lip stick…" she said, reaching her hand to his mouth to wipe the evidence of their kiss away.

"Ok," Luke chuckled. With her lipstick reapplied, they headed downstairs hand in hand. Jenny, Mark and Claire had already showed up, and were all in the kitchen helping to set everything up.

"There they are!" Jenny called. "Wow, you guys make a handsome couple. Lorelai looked over and caught Luke's faint blush. She laughed but gave his hand a reassuring squeeze before dropping it to give Jenny a hug.

"Thanks!" Lorelai said, "You look great tonight! I'm lovin' your top!" She turned to Mark and said almost as an afterthought, "you look great too," while giving him a hug.

He chuckled a good-natured sarcastic, "Thanks," but was interrupted by his daughter running in and hugging Lorelai's legs. She broke away from Mark with a laugh and bent down to greet the girl properly.

Lorelai gasped exaggeratedly. "And you, Miss, look beautiful!" She took Claire's hand and spun her around so her dress flew out a little.

"Alright honey," Jane said to her granddaughter. "Can you help me take these rolls to the table please?"

"Let's go," Lorelai smiled and took the girl's hand, leading her further into the kitchen. Luke had stood back and watched all of it happen. He was once again struck by how easily she fit in with his family. He had a surreal moment where he could see them in the future, like this, at family dinners, together. It fit.

"Luke! LUKE!"

"Yeah?"

"You gonna come in?" Jenny asked.

"Oh, yeah." Luke walked further into the kitchen and gave Jenny a quick hug and shook Mark's hand.

"You ok man?" Man inquired.

"Yeah, why?" He had been standing back quietly frozen to the spot where Lorelai had let go of his hand, seemingly observing the rest of his family.

"You looked kind of dazed."

"Oh no, I'm good," he replied nonchalantly.

Aunt Jane smirked from her post at the island. "Oh he's fine, he was just staring at Lorelai."

Luke blushed deeply at being caught, but tried to deny it anyway. "I wasn't, uh…"

Mark and Aunt Jane laughed at his feeble attempt.

"I don't know Luke…you did look a little lovestruck…" Jenny teased, grinning widely.

"Alright, alright…that's enough," he waved them off.

"What's enough?" Lorelai asked innocently, as she and Claire came back into the kitchen.

"Nothing," Luke supplied quickly before anyone could answer. The other 3 burst out laughing.

"Oh come on Luke, just tell—"

"No!" Luke replied firmly cutting Mark off.

"Why not?! It was so cute!" Jenny said still laughing.

"It was not cute!" Luke said with so much disgust infused into the words that it made everyone laugh even harder. Lorelai grinned and walked over to him; trailing her left hand from the hair at the back of his head, down to his upper back, her other hand on her hip. Her gesture was affectionate, but the teasing smile and tone of her voice gave away her amusement.

"Aww, sweetie are they making fun of you?" Luke scowled at her in response which only made her laugh along with the rest of his family.

"Not you too," he said gravely. But her eyes were twinkling up at him in uncontained laughter, and that stole his focus, embarrassment forgotten.

"What?" Lorelai asked.

"Don't encourage them," he said lowly, but loud enough for the rest of the room to hear.

"Aw, but that takes all the fun out of it!"

Luke rolled his eyes, grabbed a stack of plates from the island, and walked to the dining room to set the table. "You know it's a real shame we don't all get together more often. I just love family time!" he called out sarcastically, happy that his retreating back hid the small smile on his face.

Claire had followed him out, and together they set the table. In the kitchen, the 4 adults were still chuckling over Luke's embarrassment as they returned back to their preparations.

"Oh man, I've missed doing that to him!" Jenny said nostalgically, once she'd caught her breath.

"What? Embarrassing him?" her husband asked.

"Yeah!"

"It is really fun," Lorelai chimed in, "and easy."

"Tell me about it!" Jenny replied. "When we were kids, all it took was a vaguely inappropriate joke, or calling him out on something that wasn't even that embarrassing, and he'd be beet red in a second!"

"Oh yeah I know what you mean, sometimes when I'm bored, I like to play this game where I see how many shades of red I can get him to go." As soon as it was out of her mouth Lorelai shut her eyes tight. That was so dirty, she thought, and for once, unintentionally so. And now Jenny was giving her a knowing smile, confirming that she had indeed caught onto the dirty-ness of the statement.

Lorelai shook her head slightly to ward off the tangent her train of thought was threatening to go on. "That, um, wasn't what I—that came out wrong," she explained sheepishly.

Jenny's smile widened at her obviously flustered state. "Nah, I know what you meant." Lorelai smiled a little more brightly at her, but before she could reply, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Mark said.

Lorelai frowned blankly and asked Jenny, "Who's that?" She didn't need an answer though, because in walked Jolene. "Oh right."

"Yeah…" Jenny replied.

"I completely forgot they were coming over."

"Well it looks like it's just her…"

"Hey!" Jolene called after she broke from her hug with Mark. She embraced Jenny, pointedly ignored Lorelai and then went to greet Aunt Jane.

"Jane!" she called out exuberantly, like she was greeting a long lost friend.

"Hello Jolene, I'm so glad you could make it, you look lovely," Aunt Jane said; the picture of politeness. Now that she was aware and had remembered some of the things Jolene had done to Luke, Rachel, and now to Lorelai, she wasn't too thrilled to be spending the holiday with her. However Jolene was already there, and she'd never want to be rude…she'd be polite, Jane decided…and keep an eye out in case her guest tried anything again.

"Thank you for having me over! It was so nice of you!"

"Oh it's no problem," Jane smiled. "Where's Noah?"

"Oh, um…he wasn't feeling too well after last night…and I think he's coming down with a cold or something…anyway, he didn't want to make anyone else sick, so…it's just me tonight!" she finished happily. A little too happily Lorelai thought. She'd been talking to Jenny and Mark during that exchange, but had kept an ear on Jolene's conversation. Lorelai's antenna was up, way up, and to her trained ears, Jolene's excuse was flimsy at best. She filed the information away and listened for more clues. Who am I, Nancy Drew? She thought to herself. Rory would definitely be making fun of her super sleuth ways. But it didn't feel like she was being overly dramatic…after what Jolene said and tried last night, Lorelai wasn't going to take any chances.

"Oh Lorelai, hi," Jolene said patronizingly, "I didn't see you there."

Lorelai smiled at her confidently and said, "Hi, how are you?" Jolene's tone was a bit annoying, but Lorelai was going to play it cool. She was officially with Luke now, and that fact made her that much more secure in her ability to handle whatever Jolene could dish out.

"I'm good, how are you?" Jolene asked saccharinely sweet.

"I'm great!"

"Hey Lorelai, I was telling Claire about that time that you and Rory had—" he stopped abruptly when he saw the new addition to the room. "…Oh, hi Jolene."

"Heeey Luke," Jolene dragged, beaming at him. As he got closer, he saw Jolene start to come around the island, probably going in for a hug, he thought. He quickly but casually snaked his right arm around Lorelai's waist as he settled in beside her at the island. Mark, Jenny and Claire weren't paying attention, but Jane was. She raised her eyebrows in amusement at Luke's gesture and turned away thinking about what an interesting night it might turn out to be. Jolene saw the move and backed off. She was a little put out, but recovered quickly.

Immediately getting her footing again, Jolene met Luke's eyes and said, "You look great."

Luke nodded once and replied with a curt, "Thanks," unfazed by the compliment. "Where's Noah?" he asked.

"Oh he wasn't feeling well after last night," she gave Luke a knowing look, "and he was already coming down with a cold or something so he didn't want anyone else to get sick."

"Oh that's too bad," Luke replied. Lorelai couldn't help but smirk, both at Jolene's attempt at an inside joke with a clueless Luke who didn't pick up on it, and at the clearly rehearsed explanation of why her boyfriend wasn't present.

"Poor guy, it's the worst getting sick around the holidays," Mark said. He and Jenny had clued in to the conversation by then. Jenny caught Lorelai's eyes and narrowed her own, shooting her a 'that-was-weird' look. She too had noticed that Jolene didn't seem the least bit upset about being at a dinner with her ex without her new boyfriend for back-up. A small smile appeared on Lorelai's face. She was grateful to have another perceptive lady around; at least she knew she wasn't being paranoid. Mark and Jolene reached a lull in their conversation, and Aunt Jane sprang into action, delegating and handing the remaining dishes over.

"Ok, Mark you take the turkey, Jenny take the coke, Luke water, Lorelai salad, I've got the gravy, now let's go!" As everyone filed out of the room, Jolene trailed behind them and noticed that Lorelai lingered at the island, put the salad bowl back down, and pulled Luke back in to talk to him privately. She tried to listen but was already too far away to make out their hushed tones.

Lorelai waited until Jolene was almost out of the kitchen before she pulled Luke back in. "Hey, you don't have to do that," she said softly.

"Do what?" he asked, just as softly.

"Stake your claim."

"What are you talking about?" he looked at her blankly.

"You know, when she was going to hug you and you put your arm around me?"

"Oh yeah," he smirked.

"You don't have to do that. I'm not worried, I can handle her, we both can."

"What if I want to stake my claim anyway?" he asked teasingly, his smile turning a little bit cocky. Lorelai definitely liked flirty Luke.

She matched his smile. "Then that's ok too." He was still holding the pitcher of water, but managed to kiss her lightly. He pulled back and smiled at her while he slipped his right hand into her left to lead her into the dining room. But she tugged on his hand and pulled him back in again.

"Come here, you have a little…" she wiped away the faint trace of lipstick on his bottom lip with the pad of her thumb. He kissed it lightly and she smiled happily in return.

"Ok, let's go," she said.

They walked in and saw 3 empty chairs. Aunt Jane was sitting at the head of the table, closest to the kitchen. To her left was Jenny and Mark, to her right, Claire and Jolene. There were two empty spots beside Mark and Jolene at the other end of the table, and one directly across from Aunt Jane. Lorelai correctly assumed that that was usually Luke's uncle's spot, so she opted not to sit there. Luke went around to the side Jenny and Mark were on and shot Lorelai a look over everyone's heads as he put the water down and she the salad. Lorelai understood that he was asking if she was ok with sitting beside Jolene and she nodded slightly. He smiled at her warm look and took his seat next to Mark. Lorelai knew that Luke sitting next to Jolene would've been too close for comfort, who knew what she would try having him within arm's reach for the entire meal. She slid into her chair and quietly ignored the displeased look Jolene sent her way at having to sit next to her, and joined everyone else in watching Mark carve the turkey.

"Wow this really looks amazing," Mark said as he carved.

"It really does," Luke said.

"Yeah, I think you might've outdone yourself this year mom!" Jenny chimed in.

Mark started dishing out the turkey. Lifting her plate up for a piece, Aunt Jane said, "Oh now, you know this is just the same thing I always make…" She was a little uncomfortable with the praise.

"Yeah but it's always so good," Jenny replied, making her mother blush. Once everyone had some turkey on their plate, dishes started being passed around as everyone continued to take their share. Jolene finished spooning some stuffing onto her plate and paused when she realized that they had missed a step, so she posed the question to the whole table.

"Aren't we supposed to go around the table and give thanks?" Everyone except Lorelai started chuckling at the ridiculousness of the question. After a moment or so, Aunt Jane composed herself enough to respond.

"No dear, we don't do that…we prefer to eat our food while it's still hot."

"My kinda people," Lorelai giggled. She didn't understand the laughter before, but she was definitely on board with their tradition of bypassing that tradition. "My mom made us do that once when I was a kid," she continued chuckling, "and it did not go over well at all. There were way too many people, so by the time we got through everyone; the food had to be re-heated."

"Yeah, that's pretty much what happened with us…and then everyone got really cranky," Mark said.

"Exactly. That's why—oh my God," Lorelai interrupted herself, "Aunt Jane this turkey is sooo good!" She had finally finished making her plate and was able to start eating. Aunt Jane and Luke both smiled at her genuine enthusiasm of the food, both thought it was really cute.

"Thank you sweetie," Jane said quietly.

"So Lorelai do you normally spend thanksgiving with your parents?" Jenny asked fairly oblivious to the previous conversation. She wanted to know more about Luke's girl.

"Uh no, not really…They're usually out of town this time of year."

"Right, right, of course, they're in the Bahamas this year."

"Why didn't you go with them?" Jolene asked abruptly.

"Oh well, they left before I could get out of work so…"

"So you sent your daughter? Didn't you want to spend the holiday with her?

"She wanted to go so she went; her decision. I can't really blame her; we've never been to the Bahamas. And she needed a real break, school's been keeping her busy," Lorelai said politely. She knew that the conversation could easily turn ugly, and she was pretty sure Jolene was banking on it going that way. She wouldn't let it get that far though. If there was going to be a scene that night, it definitely wasn't going to be her doing.

"She works hard, definitely needed the break," Luke said with a slight edge in his voice. However only Lorelai noticed and she shot him a calming look, silently telling him not to take the bait as well. So he didn't. "It's a little weird though, this is the first year since I've known her that I don't get to see her for thanksgiving."

"Oh so you guys always spend it with Luke?" Jenny asked curiously. Finding out about their relationship was intriguing to her, especially since she had suspected Luke's feelings about Lorelai for years, even if she'd never met her or seen them together.

"Um yeah, but me and Rory always celebrate a little differently...there are 3 places we usually go to."

"3?" Jenny asked a little incredulously.

"Yeah, there's Sookie's…unless she's visiting her family or something…then we hit up the Kim's,"

"Who are the Kim's?" Aunt Jane asked.

"Oh their daughter Lane is Rory's best friend. They met in kindergarten and have been inseparable ever since, so they're basically family…well at least Lane is," she shot Luke a look of thoughtful indecision, "you'd have to meet Mrs. Kim to understand why," she said at Luke's chuckle.

"She is quite the character," he chimed in. Lorelai smiled in appreciation.

"And then of course we go to Luke's."

"You have 3 thanksgiving dinners in one night?" Jenny asked, incredulous again.

"Technically yes...but not really, I mean, Sookie does hers early in the day, so that's more like lunch…and we don't really eat at the Kim's because they make tofurkey—"

"What's that?" Mark asked.

"Turkey made out of tofu."

"Oh gross, that sounds disgusting!" Jenny exclaimed, screwing up her face.

"It is," Luke responded, "They brought me back some one year and made me try it, because apparently misery loves company," he said looking pointedly at Lorelai. When she smiled happily back he continued, "worst thing I've ever tasted."

"I wholeheartedly agree," Lorelai said with a decisive nod. "And then Luke's is really the main event; can't beat the classic thanksgiving dinner."

"Still, that's a lot of food," Jolene said eyeing Lorelai's figure a little, "how can you eat that much?!" It was a tactless thing to say, but Lorelai didn't really expect anything more from her.

"It's a talent," she replied, shrugging a shoulder.

"It is something…" Luke said, "you should've seen last year, they went to 4 places!"

"You did?" That was Jenny.

"Yeah, my parents were in town last year, so we had to squeeze them in too, but," she looked over at Luke, "we still ended up only having 3 meals." Luke thought back to last year. He remembered how disappointed he was when he found out that the Gilmore girls weren't going to be there for thanksgiving that year, and how he knew that Lorelai knew it too and managed to fit him into their schedule. And while he felt like kind of a putz, he was grateful and didn't really try to stop her. The Gilmore girls were always the best part of his thanksgiving.

"You did?" He asked, his thoughts returning to the present conversation.

"Yeah, because of the upset, remember?"

"Oh yeah, yeah," he nodded.

"What upset," Jenny asked. Lorelai grimaced a little, as she realized she shouldn't have said that last part. Normally she wouldn't have cared, but Jolene was there and she didn't really want her knowing anything more about her life than was necessary, so Lorelai answered as vaguely as she could,

"Oh, um…thanksgiving with my parents is just different; very formal, and my dad usually invites some business associates…anyway, we had a little thing, but it's fine now," she finished quickly with a smile. Jolene sensed an opportunity to get some dirt on the new girlfriend. She decided to go with sugary sweetness, after all, she thought, you catch more flies with honey right?

"That must've been really hard for you, fighting with your parents over the holidays? Must've been awkward too, with all of their friends and colleagues there as well…" she trailed off. Lorelai looked at her and smirked at yet another of Jolene's attempts to get under her skin.

"Not really, it wasn't that big of a deal. And everything worked out, so it's all good," Lorelai said with a shrug and a smile. Jolene rolled her eyes away, annoyed that nothing was getting to Lorelai. She was just breezing past everything, it was extremely irritating.

If she was trying to be subtle it didn't work, everyone at the table saw her reaction, and became instantly more annoyed with her. Aunt Jane and Jenny shared a look of aggravation at the words coming out of Jolene's mouth. It was obvious what she was trying to do. And while it was also obvious that it wasn't working, they both knew that she wasn't likely to give up. Aunt Jane had heard enough, and skilfully changed the topic by asking Mark about his job, and the conversation picked up from there. The dinner went by without any major mishaps, blow-ups or blunders. Everyone enjoyed the food, and kept up steady conversation. Luke and Lorelai stole glances at each other, and Jolene kept an eye on them getting increasingly upset. By the time dessert was served, Jolene had a seemingly permanent scowl on her face. Lorelai and Mark had helped Aunt Jane clear the table and bring out dessert. There was coffee and tea, apple and pumpkin pie, vanilla ice cream, and sugar cookies made especially with Claire in mind. Aunt Jane dished out slices of pie for everyone and even Luke took a piece; a small sliver of pumpkin pie with no ice cream, but it was still something. By this time everyone had switched their seats around. Luke ended up sitting in his uncle's chair so he could be closer to Lorelai. Jolene was still on her other side keeping a watchful eye on the happy couple. For the most part they ignored her. Lorelai was happy Luke had sat closer; she never passed on an opportunity to tease him.

"Heey Luke?" she said taking a bite out of her apple pie.

"Yeah?" he smiled back.

"Want a bite?"

"No I'm good, thanks. I've got my own."

"No you don't."

"It's right here," he said gesturing to his sliver.

Lorelai scoffed. "That is not a piece. I can barely even see it on the plate."

"You're exaggerating," Luke replied with a roll of his eyes.

"Not really! ...Come on, just one bite! I'll make sure you get a good piece of ice cream with it!"

"Wow now I really want to have some," his voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Oh my God, one bite will not kill you."

"You don't know that."

This time Lorelai rolled her eyes. "You're so dramatic."

"Me?!" Luke said incredulously.

"Fine, point taken. But you should have some, it's really good!"

"I know it's really good."

"You've had it before?!"

"Of course I've had it before."

"So then what's the big deal? Have some now!"

"No thanks."

"Why not? You've had it before."

"When I was a kid…now that I know how unhealthy it is, I try to limit how much I have."

"Limited pie? …And you have no ice cream?"

"And I have no ice cream," he confirmed.

"Sounds horrible," Lorelai paused long enough for Luke to think it was ok to start eating again. "Just one bite!"

"Jeeze. I knew you wouldn't have given up that easily!" He laid his fork back down and Lorelai held up a piece of pie smothered in ice cream in offering.

"Oh no, I know better than to try to take pie away from you," Luke said kind of smugly. He decided to try a different tactic; there was no way she could dispute that.

"Normally I would agree with you, but it's a holiday and I'm feeling generous," she replied just as smugly. He wasn't going to get away that easily.

"Still no."

"Oh come on Luke, one bite! After all, you are on vacation, it's ok to splurge a little…"

Damn, he thought. He should've known that conversation would come back to bite him in the ass. He looked up and was met with the glimmer of challenge in Lorelai's eyes. They both knew she had won again because there was no way he could not eat the pie now. He knew it, she knew it, there was no use arguing…he silently opened his mouth. Still holding her gaze, he watched as she fed him the bite of apple pie and ice cream. After he swallowed, she threw a victorious fist in the air and exclaimed,

"Yes! I got Luke to eat pie and ice cream!" He rolled his eyes as the rest of the table clued into their conversation, but his small smile gave his amusement away. He loved to see her happy, but couldn't resist a little justification.

"Only because Aunt Jane makes such good pie," he said gruffly. Lorelai giggled.

"Yeah ok Luke, whatever you need to tell yourself." She took another bite. "It is damn good pie though, better than yours, and that's sayin' somethin'."

"Definitely better than mine," Luke agreed. Everyone had gone back to their other conversations, and no one was really paying them any attention. Lorelai glanced up at the rest of the table, turned slightly more towards Luke and lowered her voice.

"Thanks for eating the pie."

"Anything for you," he replied just as softly, a warm look in his eyes. At Lorelai's faint blush, he lowered his voice even more. "Come here" She leaned in and closed the gap. They kissed softly but were interrupted when they heard a chair, rather noisily, being pushed back. They looked up to see Jolene standing at the table, visibly tense and working her jaw like she was trying very hard not to say something. Lorelai raised her eyebrows in half amusement half befuddlement; Jolene looked like a petulant child.

"Luke can I speak to you for a moment," Jolene asked, though it didn't sound like a question, more like a demand. She'd heard Luke and Lorelai's entire conversation, the 'cuteness' of which really grossed her out. When she saw them kiss she decided that she'd had enough.

Luke quickly flashed his eyes to Lorelai and then the rest of the table before he replied, "Yeaaah, surre," his words dragging out in doubt. Lorelai gave his hand a supportive squeeze as he got up and followed Jolene out of the dining room. Nothing was said as he followed her out the front door and onto the landing.

"Sorry, I just wanted a little privacy," she said turning to face him. She crossed her arms and met Luke's eyes.

For what?, he thought, but he said, "Sure."

They continued to stare at each other in silence a moment longer before the awkwardness got to be too much for Luke and he shifted his gaze to just over her shoulder. Jolene continued watching him, trying to figure out exactly what he was feeling.

It looked like he was going to have to be the first one to talk, so he said, "Uh, what's up, you wanted to talk…?"

That seemed to snap Jolene out of her revere. "Oh yeah, right…I just wanted a moment alone with you so I could ask you—" she said slowly.

"Ask me what?" He was getting impatient now; he really didn't want to be outside with her…or even be talking to her for that matter.

"What's the deal with you and Lorelai?"

"What do you mean?"

"What's the deal, how serious is it?"

"We've already had this conversation."

"I know," Jolene interjected, but Luke continued on.

"…and I said it then, we're together, it's serious, and I am most definitely serious about her."

"For now."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"For now. You're serious about her for now, but then you'll move on," she said matter-of-factly.

"What? What are you talking about?!"

"Luke don't pretend that you forgot what we had!" she said in a frustrated huff.

"I'm not pretending Jolene. I know that we dated." His bewildered look made her scoff.

"It was more than dating!"

"No it wasn't!" he said incredulously, "We dated for a little when we were kids and it didn't work out. It was nothing!" He shook his head adamantly. "That was 20 years ago Jolene. It's time to just leave it in the past!"

"It was something," she argued petulantly, "We were good together, we had a good time together."

"Yeah, we had a good time, but it was never gonna work. Not then, and not now."

"You don't know that."

"Yes I do."

"How?"

"Lorelai exists." He said it like it was the most obvious answer, because to him it was.

"What? So you're saying that if you had never met her then we'd have a chance?" She tried to sound annoyed, but just ended up sounding exhausted. There wasn't much fight left in her any more. Between Luke showing up with Lorelai, getting drunk the night before and fighting with Noah…it'd been a long weekend.

He hesitated for a second as he thought of how to say what he was thinking. If he said the full truth he knew it might be too mean, no one wanted to hear that they were not really a nice person, or that they were disliked and unwanted, right?; even if it was the truth. So, he decided to go a different route "No, I'm not saying that at all. Jolene, we're not right for each other. We're too different, want different things, live different lives. I mean, I live in the same town I grew up in, work in the same building my dad did and don't really wanna change any of that, I'm happy this way."

Jolene took a moment to consider that. "Yeah you're right, I wouldn't be able to do that…small town life," she said a little disgusted at the idea.

"See?" Luke said hopefully, maybe she was finally starting to understand and they could put this all behind them.

Maybe he's right, Jolene thought, it probably wouldn't work out in the long run…and who even said she wanted a long run? Maybe all she wanted was a fling? But Luke was a long run type of guy, that, she knew for sure. She took a moment to let it sink in; looked like that was it for them then, she thought a little sadly. However that didn't change the fact that she didn't like Lorelai.

"Luke, can I just ask you one more thing?

"Sure."

She paused for a moment, making sure she had a clear lock on his face to see his genuine reaction. She knew they weren't together, but she still considered them friends, and she just genuinely wanted to know because she didn't see why everyone else seemed so enamoured with her.

"What's so great about Lorelai?

Luke was a little taken aback by the question, but promptly shrugged his answer, "Everything." Jolene continued to look at him; clearly she was waiting for more.

"She's…Lorelai," he continued, "She's sweet and kind and infuriatingly annoying at times…but that never really seems to matter. She's always there for me, can always make me laugh, and, is ridiculously smart and beautiful…I don't know, she's just…" he trailed off, shaking his head a little frustrated. Trying to put into words how he felt about Lorelai wasn't that easy. Everything he came up with in his head didn't seem like enough. He was quiet for a moment as his thoughts drifted to Lorelai. He kind of forgot that Jolene was still standing there, but her voice brought him back to the present.

"I think I get it," she said quietly. Not really, she thought, but she had never heard Luke talk about anyone like that, not Rachel and certainly not her. And that hazy look he got when he was talking about her only, unfortunately, proved his sincerity.

"I uh, broke up with Noah..." Jolene said, though even she didn't know why. Maybe to fill the silence, he still hadn't spoken.

"Oh Jolene, no, why would you do that?"

"Well it wasn't really working…and he said I tried to kiss you last night."

"Yeah you did."

"Yeah…I don't remember that…" she trailed off, seemingly embarrassed, Luke thought.

"No, you wouldn't."

"Anyway, he didn't take that too well."

"No, I guess he wouldn't."

"Yeah…"

"Well, I'm sorry. I thought you guys were good together," he said just to be polite. He didn't really know what to say anymore and he really wanted to get back to his girlfriend and family inside. She nodded and gave him a polite smile in acknowledgment.

"Ok," she said, and took deep breath, "well, I'm gonna take off."

"Oh you don't have to do that, we're in the middle of dessert," he said, point back at the house.

"I don't really feel like sticking around right now… plus I know I interrupted a family time."

"No you, didn't," he said lamely, they both knew he was lying though, not that he was mad about it; because of her interruption he got to spend the weekend with Lorelai and they took their relationship to a new, better level, he thought.

"I did. You don't have to be polite." He smiled sheepishly and she continued, "Ok, well…let's go back in then…I've gotta get my stuff and say goodbye. She walked past him to the door, but before she opened it she turned back. "Bye Luke," she said giving him a hug; he lightly hugged her back and she gave him a faint smile when she pulled back but didn't meet his eyes.

He followed her in and took a moment to re-lock the front door behind them. Jolene made it back to the dining room before him and was met with several curious stares.

"I'm gonna take off," she said to the general room, forcing a smile.

"Oh so soon?!" Jane asked, "you haven't even finished your dessert yet!"

"Yeah, I'm sorry, I've got an early morning tomorrow." Everyone knew it was a lame excuse, but no one questioned it. "The food was delicious though! And thank you for having me over," she said leaning down to give Jane a hug, "it was great."

"Oh of course dear," Jane said as she pulled back, "let me walk you to the door."

"Bye everyone," Jolene called out. She turned to Jenny, "I'll um, talk to you later?"

Jenny nodded, "Yeah, later."

Jolene turned towards Lorelai next, "It was nice meeting you," she said politely. She chanced a glance at Lorelai's eyes but was merely met with surprise.

"Yeah, you too," Lorelai replied, wondering just what happened out there that made Jolene up and leave immediately. She caught Luke's eye as he reclaimed his seat. He gave her a warm look and a small smile that she returned. She knew something had happened, maybe something good? Based on his smile…

With that, Jolene picked up her purse and followed Jane out. When she was out of sight, Jenny quickly turned to Luke.

"So what happened?" She asked in a hushed voice.

"Nothing we just talked," Luke replied.

"Well I know that," Jenny said rolling her eyes at him. "But what did she say?"

"Come on Jenny, at least wait until she's out of the house," he chastised. Jane and Jolene's distant voices could still be heard.

"Luke, she can't hear us, we're practically whispering. And besides I wouldn't have to ask if you'd just stayed in the house, I would've already heard," she said rolling her eyes again. At his questioning glare she quickly filled in, "…I heard the front door close."

"Wasn't my idea, I just followed her out...said she wanted some privacy, can't imagine why," he said sarcastically. Lorelai ducked her head to hide her smirk.

Jenny ignored his little joke and continued her line of questioning. "Privacy for what? Did she try something again?"

"No…well not like last night," he looked over and saw Lorleai relieved face, "she asked what the deal was with us."

"She did?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah."

Jenny wrinkled her forehead. "I thought you already had that conversation."

"Yeah so did I…apparently once wasn't enough." Aunt Jane returned to her seat and Luke hesitated about continuing the conversation in front of his Aunt, but he figured she already knew some of it so it didn't really matter. "Anyway I told her again how nothing was going to happen between us and I think it finally sunk in this time."

"Thank God," Jenny sighed.

"Tell me about it."

"That was all she said?" Mark asked.

"Uh yeah, pretty much…oh, and she and Noah broke up."

"Oh no," Aunt Jane said, concerned.

"I knew something was off when she said he was sick!" Jenny exclaimed, triumphant.

"Yeah, that makes sense now," Lorelai replied to Jenny. Luke could see the things clicking into place in her head. Mark just looked a little confused.

"Did she say why?" That was Aunt Jane.

"Well she said that it wasn't working out, and that Noah wasn't too thrilled with the stunt she pulled last night," Luke said tactfully.

"She pulled a stunt?" Jane asked innocently.

"She tried to kiss Luke."

"Jenny!" Luke admonished blushing slightly.

"In front of Lorelai. Twice." Luke shot her a pointed look and then gestured with his eyes towards his niece. Sure, she was playing with her toys and not really paying attention, but she could still hear! And he was never really good with talking about stuff like this in front of his aunt anyway. Jenny just rolled her eyes and said, "Well she did."

It was Luke's turn to roll his eyes. "Yeah well, apparently she doesn't even remember doing it."

"I wouldn't think so, she was pretty far gone by then," Mark said.

"Wow, that was…an eventful night you had," Jane said, shaking her head slowly, kind of at a loss for what to say. She'd heard stories, but she'd hoped they were overdramatized.

"Yeah well, I can do without that kind of eventful in my life." That was Luke.

"At most I thought she was a big talker…maybe rude and over the top, but just talk. I never thought Jolene would actually try to act on anything."

"Oh she was acting on it alright," Jenny said suggestively.

"I think everyone's got it Jenny," Luke shot her another pointed look, which she once again ignored.

"I'm so sorry Lorelai, Luke, I never would have invited her over had I known…I'm sorry I've caused so much trouble for you this weekend." Lorelai saw the worry and remorse etched into Aunt Jane's face and knew she needed to set the record straight.

"Are you kidding? I'm having a great time!" Lorelai said genuinely, "Really, no work, good food... I got to meet all of you," she said to the table, "I'd say it's been a pretty good weekend." She looked around the table then met Luke's eyes. He smiled at her sincerity.

"It has been a really good weekend," he agreed, eyes still locked on Lorelai's. He looked back to his family and saw his aunt smiling at them.

"Well you two are easy to please," she stated.

Lorelai's smile turned up a notch. She turned to Luke excitedly and said, "Luke she said we're easy to please!"

He didn't know if the laughter in her eyes was from a supressed 'dirty' at his aunt's statement, or if she was thinking about all the times he'd said she was difficult. Either way, he smiled back, rolled his eyes and teasingly said, "Yeah right, me maybe, but definitely not you."

"Oh yeah, cause you're mister congeniality," she quipped. They shared another smile, while the rest of the table chuckled.

"She's got you there Luke" Mark said.

"Yeah yeah," Luke grumbled good-naturedly. After that they all finished their desserts and headed for the living room. Luke put on a fire, Jenny put on some low music, and they all sat around telling stories. Much to his dismay, Lorelai got to hear some of Luke's childhood stories and she was not disappointed. Jenny told her about the time a big fish on the end of his line threw him into the lake when he couldn't reel it in, and how he had to wear a wrist guard for the rest of that summer. Mark told the story of the first time Luke got really drunk. He'd passed out at a party and they had to sneak him back into his room at the house but got busted by Uncle Mitch in the morning anyway. Aunt Jane told her about toddler Luke and his penchant for taking off his diaper and running around naked. Luke had really loved that one. Embarrassment coloured his face. Lorelai couldn't figure out why though, he was a baby, and it wasn't like he still did it. When she said as much, he'd given her a teasing, coquettish look that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, and she'd needed a second before she could pay attention to the conversation again.

As Jenny and Mark were telling a story of a party they'd gone to a few years back, Lorelai realized—with a sense of content wonder—that she'd never had a thanksgiving like this before. Growing up she spent the holiday surrounded by her parents' friends and colleagues, wearing a poofy dress that she wasn't allowed to play in, and had to eat "gourmet" food that she'd never really developed a taste for. Usually she was the only kid—not that she got on with Hartford society kids anyway—and was expected to be seen rather than heard. Not heard at all. And she was a talker…everyone knew that. Suffice to say it'd been nothing like her current thanksgiving. Then when she and Rory lived at the Independence, they'd usually have whatever leftovers they could get from the inn's kitchen, take it back to the potting shed and watch movies until bedtime. After they moved into the crapshack, they'd developed their tradition of going around and having multiple meals. Sookie's, if she was in town, the Kim's started inviting them, if they were in town they'd attend dinner at her parents' house, and eventually Luke's got added to the mix as well. She and Rory had their traditions, but they'd never had the traditional, sit-around-the-table, sharing food and laughter, family thanksgiving dinner that you'd see in a tv-movie. Dinner at her parents' involved a ceremonial carving of the turkey and then it being taken away and served on individual plates. She smirked inwardly at the look of disgust sure to be on Emily's face had she even suggested they eat family style. She thought it was a little surreal to be sitting in the midst of a movie thanksgiving; the fire, the music, the kid playing, the family telling stories…it was dream-like and really nice. The only thing missing was Rory.

It was after midnight before Jenny and Mark decided to leave. Everyone was too deep in discussion to notice how late it'd been getting. Luke and Lorelai put out the fire, took off the lights, locked up, bid goodnight to Aunt Jane and made their way to their room. The door shut and Luke promptly pulled Lorelai in and kissed her breathless.

When he finally pulled away he said, "I've wanted to do that all night."

"Mmm why didn't you?" she asked, pecking his lips.

"Riiight, and how would that look, me pulling you away to make-out?"

Lorelai giggled, "Well I wouldn't have minded." They kissed for another couple of minutes before Lorelai brought up what she'd been wondering since his vague explanation at the table.

"So are you going to tell me about what happened outside with Jolene now?"

"Yeah," he punctuated with a quick kiss, then pulled away and grabbed his clothes to change into. He'd entered the bathroom, left the door open and was changing but he hadn't continued.

"Well?"

"Yeah sorry," she heard clothes rustling, then he continued, "well we went outside and she asked what the deal was with you and me."

"What the deal was?"

"Yeah, like how serious we were,"

Lorelai head shot up in the direction of the bathroom door, awaiting his answer.

"So of course I told her I was very serious about you," he says casually.

She instantly let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. Thank God he felt that way. With that information, she continued taking off her earrings and getting ready for bed.

"You are?" she called out, still a little timidly.

"Of course I am!" Luke said coming back into the room. He threw his thanksgiving outfit on the bed and went over to Lorelai. She nervously tucked her hair behind her ear and he caught her hand, intertwining their fingers. "I thought you knew that."

"I think I knew…" Lorelai blushed, "well I know it's serious for me…"she shrugged, "but, you know…it's always nice to hear."

Luke brought his other hand up to her cheek, to make sure she was looking right at him. "Well then let me say it again, I am very serious about you."

Lorelai smiled softly at the not so subtle intensity in his eyes, her heartbeat speeding up. "I'm very serious about you too," she replied with a quiet seriousness.

"I don't know how not to be, ya know?"

"Yeah," she leaned in and kissed him softly, "I know exactly what you mean." He smiled back and kissed her again before going back and picking up his clothes from the bed.

"So was that it, that's all you guys talked about?" Lorelai asked as she took her own pyjamas and went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. She too left the door open so she could keep talking to him.

"Uh, then she brought up our old relationship…tried make it seem like something it wasn't."

"And what's that?" She asked through a mouth full of toothpaste.

"Something special."

"What?"

"It wasn't anything more than two kids spending a few summers together, one getting the wrong idea and then harbouring a grudge about it for forever."

Done changing, Lorelai left the bathroom and settled into bed on the side she was in the previous night. She chuckled a little at Luke's description of his time with Jolene and watched him move around the room and finish his nightly routine. "Well I can't exactly blame her…I'd imagine you'd be very hard to let go of."

Luke blushed and made his way into the bed beside her. "Thanks, but with her it's more like a leech type situation."

They each turned off their bedside lamps and Lorelai smiled as Luke pulled her close. She ended up with half of her back on his chest as he wound his arms around her. Their new position called for a more intimate tone, and both abided.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble this weekend."

Lorelai shifted slightly so that she could look at him. "It's fine, are you kidding? I could never be mad about this weekend, it brought us together! Tomorrow I'm leaving with you."

"You also came with me," Luke said dryly, stating the obvious.

It wasn't even a second before she shot him a teasing smile, winked and said, "Well not yet."

"Oh jeeze Lorelai!"

She couldn't help but laugh at the immediate redness in his face. "Oh come on, it was right there!" She turned back around and settled against him again. "You can't say something that dirty and not expect me to say something about it!"

"Silly me," Luke grumbled good-naturedly. Her laughter faded and they lay in silence for a minute before she broke it. She was quickly falling asleep, but she had to ask.

"You think she really got the message this time?" Lorelai yawned. She wiggled a little getting more comfortable. He sunk further into the bed and rested his head on the side of hers.

"Yeah. I think she did. Finally."

"Good, that's good. I'm glad it's over."

"Me too." Luke took a deep breath as he felt Lorelai settle into him even more. There was something about holding her like this that made him want to keep talking…made him want to tell her more than he probably should after only being officially together for just over 24 hours. "Lorelai?"

"Hmm?"

"I…are you," he paused and tried again, "are you—"

"Mm sleep Luke," she mumbled.

Luke sighed. He wasn't sure if he was relieved or not. But she was half asleep and now clearly wasn't the time for whatever was going to tumble out of his mouth. "Ok," he whispered, "goodnight Lorelai."

"Night Luke." Luke listened for a little while as she fell asleep in his arms; and only when he was sure she was, did he allow her deep breathing to lull him to sleep as well.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON:

The late night meant a late morning for everyone the next day. Luke, Lorelai and Aunt Jane all overslept. Usually for Luke and Jane sleeping in was really anything past 8 AM. That's when Jane got up. She decided to let them sleep in, they had nothing pressing to do that day, and she figured that with the weird tension from the night before, a little rest was due. Luke made it to 9AM before he woke up, but he was in no rush to get up. He revelled in the feeling of waking up next to Lorelai. They'd shifting during the night and she was a little farther away than he would've liked, but it allowed him the chance to watch her sleep for a little. She looked so calm. He was used to the mile-a-minute Lorelai that he sometimes had trouble keeping up with. She was usually so animated, telling jokes, stories, teasing him. And crazy as she was, he loved all of that about her. She was great company and it wasn't long before he missed that company and he had to wake her up. It took some cajoling, but the promise of coffee eventually got her out of bed and by 10:15 they were downstairs having a late breakfast with Aunt Jane.

They lingered over breakfast, but broke abruptly as Aunt Jane realized she had to leave. She had plans to meet with some friends during the day before she went to the hospital to see her husband, so Luke and Lorelai were left to their own devices. They decided to just head over to the hospital earlier to visit. By 2 o'clock they were dressed, had driven over and were entering the front doors of the hospital.

As soon as they'd left the car and were walking up to the building, Lorelai had noticed a change in Luke's behaviour. He was a little quieter. Granted for a usually non-talkative man it wasn't that alarming, but Lorelai knew that there was more to come. Luke and hospitals did not go well together. She'd learned that about him years ago when he'd taken her to see her dad after his heart attack; when he'd stayed to make sure she was ok despite his apparent nausea.

When they'd made it to the lobby of the hospital, an older man in a wheelchair was rolled past them. He was hooked up to a machine and a travelling I.V. …there was nothing gruesome, but it made Luke flinch. He'd stopped abruptly and quickly averted his gaze to the floor. He stayed that way until Lorelai walked the few steps back to him. She slipped her right hand into his left and held his upper arm with her other hand. He looked over at her and she smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring way. She tilted her head in the direction of the elevators and said "Come on."

She led him over and as they waited she felt Luke relax a little…only to tense up once again as the elevator doors opened and a middle-aged woman that was hooked up to and I.V. and wearing a back brace walked out with what Lorelai assumed was her family. Luke's hand instinctively clutched Lorelai's a little tighter and Lorelai felt a rush of emotions run through her. She could completely understand Luke's aversion to hospitals. Sure when he'd taken her to visit her dad he'd said he didn't like hospitals because of the smell and seeing all the people hooked up to stuff…but from what she'd heard around town, both of his parents had ended up there before they'd passed away. He'd been through a lot…had lost a lot at such a young age. Though she suspected it'd gotten better over the years, it couldn't be easy going back to a place that held such bad memories. She snuck a peek at him from the corner of her eye…from the outside he seemed ok. In fact, if it wasn't for his tight hold on her hand and his stopping-short in the lobby, she would've believed he was fine. Luke wasn't one to make a big deal out of his emotions and she knew she should follow suit. She just hoped that she could offer him some of the comfort and support he'd given her all those years ago.

It was a bit of a walk to his uncle's room from the elevators. They'd put Mitch on the rehabilitation floor, which meant that there were a lot less patients hooked up to things than on other floors. The hallways were bright and airy and most of the people they passed in the hallway were smiling and happy. Some walked with canes, crutches and walkers, but it was definitely one of the happy floors. Thankfully Luke noticed that too and he seemed more at ease by the time they made it to the waiting room area. Lorelai still held his hand, but his grip had loosened significantly.

She turned toward him and used her head to gesture at the mass of chairs to her right. "So hey, I'm gonna wait here."

"No n-no, come in, I'm sure Uncle Mitch wants to meet you." He tugged on her hand.

"Oh I want to meet him too! But I can wait."

"No you don't have to."

"It's ok, I don't mind, really!"

"Aunt Jane probably already told him you're here."

"Ok," she said patiently, sensing a rant coming her way. Lorelai knew what he was doing: stalling, just as she had when she was afraid to actually go in the room and see her dad. Understandably so; it was incredibly unnerving to see someone you'd always known to be healthy and strong laying in a hospital bed, even if you knew they were ok—as was the case with Luke's uncle—hospital beds always had a way of making a person seem smaller. She understood. But she also knew he needed a push.

"So he'll gripe about how she met you first and got to spend time with you while he was stuck here, and then when I finally come to visit I leave you in the waiting room."

"You're not leaving me in the waiting room."

"That's what he'll think."

"I promise I will come in later, you should go see him first."

"Lorelai—"

"Luke…go spend some time with your uncle."

"Are you sure?" he sighed. He scanned the waiting room for a reason to make her come with him. He knew Uncle Mitch was fine, but he was still a nervous

about seeing him.

"Yeah."

"You'll be bored, looks like the tv's out," he said pointing to the sign on the darkened screen.

"There are magazines, I'll be fine."

"You'll go through those in 5 minutes, then what are you gonna do?"

"Luke," she gave his forearm a reassuring squeeze, "go." Luke took a breath and resignedly nodded.

"And if you need me I'll be right here," she said calmly. Luke gave a small reluctant smile. He knew he wasn't going to get very far with an adamant Lorelai, so started off towards his uncle's room.

Lorelai went further into the waiting room area and sat in a chair facing the tv even though it was out. She rifled through the magazines on the coffee table in front of her and stopped when she found a months-old edition of Cosmo. She'd flipped through about a third of it and was doing a make-up quiz when through her peripherals she saw someone quickly walking directly up to her.

"Lorelai? Hey!"

"Jenny hi!" Lorelai smiled brightly back. She closed the magazine and rested it on her lap as she sat up.

Jenny slipped into the seat beside her, and asked "What are you doing here?"

"Finding out what exactly my make-up habits say about my personality," Lorelai quipped gesturing to the Cosmo. She got a chuckle from Jenny and then continued. "Luke's in with your dad."

"Yeah I figured he'd make it here at some point this weekend," she said hurriedly, unbuttoning her jacket, "How come you're not in there with him?"

"Oh you know, just wanted to give them some time alone…I've been tagging along this whole weekend." Lorelai watched curiously as Jenny quickly deposited her jacket and purse onto the chair beside her.

"Sorry can you watch my stuff? I'm just gonna run to the bathroom."

"Oh uh yeah, no problem," Lorelai stuttered, but Jenny was already across the room. Lorelai chuckled amusedly and turned back to her magazine.

She finished the quiz quickly, and having found her results to be boring, she threw the Cosmo back on the mess of magazines. She rummaged through her purse, popped a mint in her mouth and saw her camera. She pulled it out and started looking through the pictures. There were a few of the progress happening at the Dragonfly that'd she'd taken just for posterity's sake so she could look back on the transformation, but she soon got to the pictures from her time in Caledon. She was flipping through the ones she'd taken around town when Jenny returned.

She flopped into the chair beside Lorelai with a content sigh. "Thanks, sorry about that."

"That's ok," Lorelai laughed, "You gotta go, you gotta go."

"Yeah," Jenny laughed too. She looked around waiting room. It wasn't too packed, and everyone there seemed to be chatting. She was happy to see many smiling faces; it was rare for a hospital, even on the rehabilitation floor.

She turned back to Lorelai and gestured with her head. "So how long has he been in there?"

"Oh um, not that long…just enough time for me to get bored with Cosmo."

"Are those the pictures from last night?" Jenny asked again.

"And before that, want to see?"

"Sure," Jenny smiled. Lorelai still held the camera, but leaned in so that Jenny could see as well. Lorelai went back to the beginning of their road trip and flipped through steadily, both girls making comments about the random pictures. When they reached the picture Lorelai had taken of the front of the restaurant she and Luke had eaten at, Jenny said,

"Oo! I love that place! Great food."

"Yeah I had their pizza, it was pretty good"

"Why'd you take a picture of the steakhouse?"

"Because I knew Rory would never believe me when I told her that this happened." Knowing which one was next, Lorelai clicked the button to change the picture. She'd had to take it sneakily, but the flannel and baseball cap were unmistakeable. It was Luke looking down at his plate, cutting into a steak. She flipped to the next one—also taken sneakily—and it was a half-blurry shot of Luke putting that cut piece of steak into his mouth. Lorelai giggled at having successfully caught the moment on camera but Jenny was confused.

"Okaaay….what wouldn't she have believed?"

"That Luke ate steak!" Jenny looked at her blankly, unaware of where she was going, so Lorelai continued animatedly. "I've never seen Luke eat a steak. In 8 years I've maybe seen him eat beef like 5 times! If that."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah," Lorelai reassured, "He lectures me daily about how bad red meat is for you. He's even tried to sneak me turkey burgers instead of the real thing." She scoffed, "Like a little seasoning could make turkey taste like beef."

"Huh," Jenny said consideringly, "I mean I know Luke likes to eat healthier than most, but he never makes any fuss when he comes over…just eats whatever my mom makes usually."

"Hmm," Lorelai narrowed her eyes and looked over at Jenny, "I'm gonna need to hear more about this. 'Cause if he has an undercover sweet tooth…well, that's just the kind of ammo I need." Jenny chuckled and Lorelai continued on, steadily but absentmindedly flipping through the photos they'd taken from their walk around town.

"Wow," Jenny said quietly, "That's a really great shot."

Lorelai's mind had drifted a little but she clued back in and noticed that they'd reached the pictures she'd taken by the lake. More specifically the one she'd taken of her and Luke before they'd left.

"Oh yeah," she smiled, "I like this one too." Her eyes got a bit hazy as she saw the way Luke was looking at her. She blushed a little as she remembered what that felt like, unaware that Jenny was watching her. Jenny hadn't anticipated having any time alone with Lorelai, but now that she did, she decided to make use of the opportunity.

"I haven't seen him that happy in a long time," Jenny commented looking back at the photo and pulling Lorelai out of her reverie. "You seem happy too."

Lorelai met her eyes and smiled shyly, "I am, very happy."

"Good," Jenny nodded. She leaned back in her chair and Lorelai followed suit, figuring they were done with the camera. There was a pause before Jenny chuckled, "I can only imagine what Luke's told you to explain away how nosy I can be."

Lorelai let out a humorous breath. She wasn't sure how to respond to that and that always made her a little uncomfortable. Thankfully Jenny didn't seem to be looking for a response, and just continued.

"He always hated it when we were growing up…but I'm the oldest, you know? Out of the 4 of us…I know it's only a year, but, I always felt like it was my job to watch out for younger ones. And I know we're all well into our 30's now but," she shrugged, "I still have to watch out for them. It may come across as being nosy but I'm just really protective."

"That's what Luke said…that you're protective," Lorelai clarified.

"Weell…then I guess I didn't give him enough credit," she chuckled, "Thought I'd still be dealing with the Luke who'd get annoyed and tell me to butt out and mind my own business."

"Oh he still might."

"Yeah that's true," they both laughed.

"Anyway," Jenny continued, "I know it's not my place…"

"But?" Lorelai prompted.

"But I just wanted to say that I'm glad he has someone to take care of him, make him happy." Lorelai's expression softened in sudden shyness.

"I mean you're sitting in the waiting room while he visits my dad."

Lorelai shrugged. "Luke doesn't like hospitals."

"I know," Jenny nodded and smiled at her, "I'm just glad you know, and are…you know, here with him." She didn't want to get too sappy, but she had to say something. Having seen the girls Luke had brought home before, and knowing all that he went through…she was really happy to know that he had someone supportive in his life now. She knew Luke could survive on his own, but everyone needed someone to look out for them…have their back. And she suspected he'd found that in Lorelai.

"I couldn't let him go alone…and besides, he'd do the same for me, has done the same for me."

Jenny nodded her acknowledgment. "It's really nice to see him so happy…relaxed. Usually he errs on the side of too tense."

Lorelai turned to Jenny. She hadn't planned on saying anything, but she knew she had too. "Jenny I really care about Luke….I-I have for a long time. He's my best friend. And I'm gonna do everything I can to not screw this up. I don't want him hurt either."

Jenny smiled widely, her assumptions having been confirmed. "Good." Then, trying to lighten the mood, she shrugged and said, "That's all an overbearing cousin wants to hear."

The serious moment broke with their laughter. Still giggling, Jenny checked her watch. "You ready to go in? I'm sure Luke's had enough one-on-one time."

"Yeah let's go," Lorelai shoved the camera back into her purse. They both gathered up their things and headed down the hall.

---

Jenny pushed open the door to her father's room and entered confidently. Lorelai trailed behind her, visibly more cautious. On the walk over from the waiting room her nerves had taken over. Meeting Luke's Aunt had been easier. She felt out of place…it was rare to meet someone for the first time while they were in the hospital. Those visits were usually reserved for family and friends…or at least for people they actually knew. The importance of the moment wasn't lost on Lorelai; she knew that Mitch meant a lot to Luke. It wasn't like he spent time gushing over his Uncle, but he spoke about him with an air of respect and deep caring. In Luke-speak that meant Mitch was very high up on the list of people who matter. It was really sweet, and the reason why she couldn't help the growing nervousness in her body. This was the last of Luke's family she'd have to meet this weekend—unless his other cousin randomly showed up—and she really wanted to make a good impression.

"Dad!"

"There's my girl!" Mitch's deep voice rang out. He opened his arms and Jenny went into them, hugging him carefully. Luke smiled at them from his chair on the other side of the bed. When he turned and met Lorelai's eyes, his smile widened. Lorelai returned it, but still stood back, not wanting to impose on the father daughter conversation.

"And where's my granddaughter?"

"She has a big project due on Monday that she hasn't started yet. She and Mark had to drive out to the art store in Eastford for supplies."

"My God, she's in kindergarten, why are they giving them projects already!"

"It's an art project. It's supposed to be fun! She gets to do a little presentation to the class; parents get to come and everything. She's very excited about it."

"Well when is it? Maybe I can come too."

"Probably Monday or Tuesday…I don't know if you'll be out of here by then," Jenny said gently. Mitch rolled his eyes and grumbled something about a stupid hospital policy and how he was fine to go and sit in a classroom for a few hours. Luke and Jenny shared an amused glance. His semi-rant over, Mitch took a sip of his water and finally noticed Lorelai in the back corner of the room, as she moved to lean on the wall behind her.

"I'm being terribly rude my dear, you must be Lorelai," Mitch smiled. All traces of his previous annoyance gone.

At the sound of her name Lorelai stood up straight. She smiled nervously and stepped forward to shake his outstretched hand. "That's me! It's nice to meet you Mr. Hewitt."

"Oh the pleasure's all mine, it's not often Luke brings someone home to meet the family." He shot a teasing look at Luke, making him blush. "And please call me Mitch, or Uncle Mitch, or hey you or whatever…just not Mr. Hewitt," he said with a note of disgust, "it's too formal."

Lorelai smiled and hoped that it was more confident than she felt. "Well I'm already going with 'Aunt Jane' so 'Uncle Mitch' it is! 'Cause you know, it would be weird to refer to her as an Aunt but you by just your name…not that it's a bad name! Mitch is a great name–very um, distinguished! There's uh, Mitch Vogel, you know, from "Yours Mine and Ours"? Or uuuh, Mitch Hurwitz! He did Golden Girls and that new one…um arrested somethiiing….uh...oh! "Arrested Development"! It's pretty good, although Buster kind of reminds me of Kirk, but I guess it's good for him to see someone like himself on screen. Maybe he'll finally see how ridiculous some of the stuff he does is…Or hey, 'hey you' works just as well, it's always good if—"

"Lorelai," Luke interrupted.

"Yes, right, stopping now." Lorelai let out a small breath she didn't know she was holding, trying to figure out just what exactly was wrong with her. She hadn't been this nervous to meet the rest of Luke's family. In her opinion, those meetings had gone well; there was no reason to worry about this one. Or maybe those had been easier because she and Luke hadn't really been a couple yet and there was less pressure attached to the whole thing. Either way, this felt like the last hurdle she had to face before she got the full seal of approval. It wasn't something she would broadcast, but she did want Luke's family to approve. She really wanted it. And apparently that made her babble like an idiot. She hazarded a look at Uncle Mitch. He looked highly amused and like he was about to respond but the room door swung open and they were interrupted by a nurse. The nurse checked the machines surrounding Mitch's bed and updated her notes. Before she left Jenny asked to speak to the doctor and followed the nurse out.

Luke looked over at his uncle. "Actually I'd like to hear that…you mind Uncle Mitch?"

Mitch nodded towards the door and smiled like he expected no less from his nephew, "Go ahead."

Luke followed his cousin out, patting Lorelai's arm as he passed her. The door swung closed behind him and Lorelai and Mitch were left alone. Lorelai remained standing there awkwardly near the foot of the bed unsure of what to do.

"You don't have to keep standing," Mitch said kindly, pointing to the chair on his left that Luke had just vacated.

"Oh um, yeah—yeah, I'll sit," Lorelai stuttered out. She awkwardly made her way to Luke's seat and perched on the edge of it. She absently noted that she was sitting very upright. He could probably see her discomfort. Some impression she was making, she thought sarcastically. She really needed to get over her nerves. There was no reason for them, she reminded herself. The thing was, she didn't know what to say…not a feeling she was particularly familiar with, but there it was. Usually when people were in the hospital it was ok to ask them about why they were there. But seeing as she had known Mitch for about 5 minutes, she didn't feel comfortable asking about it. So, determined to return to her chatterbox ways, Lorelai went with what she hoped was appropriate small talk.

"So I'm sorry you had to be stuck here on thanksgiving."

"Oh I complain but it's not so bad really… a lot of people have it worse," he paused as his mouth formed a frown of consideration, "the food is absolutely terrible though. I did miss that."

Lorelai chuckled a little at his candour, "Well I hate to rub it in, but I have to say, your wife is a great cook, dinner last night was amazing!"

"Yes she is, it's one of her many attributes," he replied fondly. "She's supposed to be sneaking some leftovers into the hospital for me today so I can have a proper meal. It's not thanksgiving without some of her apple pie."

Lorelai smiled politely in response and dropped her eyes to where her fingers were tracing the inseam of her jeans. She was happy when Mitch spoke again.

"So how are you enjoying your time in Caledon, is this your first time here?"

"Oh yeah, it is. It's been great, Luke showed me around town, we went to the steakhouse…" she trailed, "the lake was my favourite though."

"Mine too, it's beautiful."

"And it's been really nice meeting all of you. You have a wonderful family," she said genuinely.

"Thank you my dear," he smiled proudly at the compliment, "they seem to have taken a liking to you too."

Lorelai gave a shy smile at the mention of her not-so-secret hope, "Well they're easy to get along with."

"I hope they haven't been grilling you with too many questions," he said kindly, a fond twinkle in his eye. He loved his family, but he knew how they could get, especially when it came to Luke or Liz.

"No," Lorelai breathed out, any anxiousness she'd been feeling instantly eased by his knowing look. She'd been worrying for nothing. Mitch didn't have a hidden agenda, and this wasn't some test she had to pass, he was being upfront and honest with her. That, she could handle. "It hasn't been too bad," she smiled confidently, "besides, I can take it."

"From what I've heard, I'd have to agree with you on that."

Lorelai felt her cheeks tinge pink as she wondered what exactly he'd been told. …Everything, she presumed. She leaned back in the chair, finally comfortable enough to relax. "Sorry about the whole name thing before, I'm a little nervous."

"Oh there's no need to be nervous. I'm not that scary am I?" he joked.

"No, I know it's silly, I just…know how important you are to Luke and I wanted to make a good impression…and I ended up babbling like an idiot."

"I don't think you have to worry about that, you make a great first impression."

She gave a sheepish "Thank you" to what she was sure was just his kindness. Uncle Mitch started to ask her about the inn, but he was interrupted by the door swinging open.

"So what'd we miss?" Luke asked as they walked in. Jenny returned to her seat and Luke went to stand beside Lorelai, his hand instantly resting on her shoulder. Lorelai absently brought her hand up to smooth over his as they continued to talk with everyone. They looked to be subconscious actions, and while they didn't notice, Mitch did. He'd heard from his wife that they were a sweet couple, and though that was hard to gauge in the short amount of time he'd seen them together, he couldn't definitely see traces of it. He loved his nephew, but the man wasn't exactly known for his sunny personality. On this visit however, he'd noticed that Luke was having a hard time keeping his smile at bay. And when Lorelai came in? Oh he didn't stand a chance. He was glad to see his nephew so happy, it was about time.

Mitch focused his gaze on Lorelai and sent her a wink, "I'm just getting to know Lorelai here, don't you worry about it Luke."

"Not you too," Luke groaned, "She's been getting harassed by Aunt Jane and Jenny since we got here."

"Hey I resent that!" Jenny objected.

"Me too!" Lorelai chimed in, "They haven't been harassing me!"

"God Luke, you make us sound so bad, we're just trying to get to know your girlfriend. You know, since you're very serious about her," Jenny deepened her voice to sound like Luke's. Luke's resulting blush meant that her teasing had worked, but she kept going anyway, she really had missed bugging him. "Remember, you were telling us when we went out the other night that you were very serious—"

"Yeah yeah I remember, jeeze" Luke cut her off. He rolled his eyes and willed the redness in his face to go away. Sure he'd told Lorelai as much, but that was a private moment between the two of them…it was a completely different thing hearing his cousin announce it. "Can we move on now?"

"Sure," Jenny giggled. Mitch and Lorelai couldn't help but chuckle along with her. It was way too easy to embarrass Luke, and always fun to watch.

They trio stayed about another hour with Uncle Mitch before they decided to let him get some rest. They left together and since Jenny didn't have to be back home just yet, they decided to waste the time together and get coffee.

Jenny walked ahead as they exited the elevator into the lobby. Luke and Lorelai meandered behind her, both a lot more relaxed than when they were in the lobby before. Luke slung his arm around her and when she looked over she was met with a soft look in his eyes.

"Thanks for coming with me today…I was a little nervous about seeing him in there."

"I know," she replied softly, "I'm glad I could be here too."

Luke kissed the side of her head near her temple and they caught up to an impatient Jenny.

---

Their impromptu coffee date went by with more teasing and laughing and unfortunately for Luke, more of his childhood stories. Not that that mattered much, Jenny could tell every story she knew for all he cared, he was way too happy to really be bothered by it. Lorelai was his future, and she was bound to hear all about his past eventually, who cared if it was now. His smile widened as he watched his cousin and Lorelai so engaged in their conversation that they practically forgot he was there. He loved that they got along so well. He shouldn't be surprised though, he thought, both of them could make friends with anyone, but still, it was nice to know that he wouldn't have to worry about their dynamic. In fact, all of his family seemed to be enamoured with Lorelai. Granted, not as much as he was, but then, no one was. Yes, grumpy, rant-driven Luke was feeling unusually optimistic about the road ahead. Not that he'd tell anyone that…he did have a reputation to uphold.

Draining the last of her now cold coffee, Jenny finally glanced at her watch.

"Oh jeeze, I have to get going….I didn't realize it was this late! Mark's going out tonight, so I'm home with Claire." She got up and put on her coat. Lorelai did the same, and Luke gathered their garbage and took it over to the bin.

"You guys are leaving tomorrow right?"

"In the morning I think," Lorelai nodded.

"Well I don't think I'll see you before then so," she gave Lorelai a hug as she continued talking, "have a safe trip back. It was really great to finally meet you. Hopefully I'll see you soon."

Their hug ended as Lorelai answered, "It was great to meeting you too, and I'll definitely be seeing you soon! Tell Mark and Claire I said goodbye!"

"I will," Jenny smiled.

Luke walked back over and Jenny threw her arms around her cousin. She leaned in a little closer to his ear and lowered her voice, "I like her," she whispered.

Luke smiled happily, his eyed drifting to the beautiful girl standing just beyond his cousin's shoulder. He didn't bother to lower his voice, "Me too."

Lorelai hadn't heard what Jenny said, but blushed anyway at the look Luke was giving her.

---

On the way back to Aunt Jane's house, Luke and Lorelai decided to go back to the lake. They knew Aunt Jane was planning on visiting Uncle Mitch, and lounging around on the couch didn't hold the same appeal as taking in the beauty that was 'their lake' as Lorelai had started calling it. Again, there was a calmness about the scene that drew them in. They were stationed almost in the same spot they had been in a few days before, only this time Lorelai sat in between Luke's legs, her back resting against his chest, his arms circling hers as they rested on his bent knees. They talked a bit, but mostly stayed in a comfortable quiet…both enjoying a stillness that they knew would not be there that time tomorrow.

---

Later that night, Lorelai insisted that she take Luke and Aunt Jane out—her treat, as a thank you for letting her crash their weekend. They both maintained that she hadn't, but she still wanted to do something for them to show her appreciation. And seeing as how she couldn't cook to save her life, she figured this was the next best bet.

They ended up at a place a little outside of Caledon—Aunt Jane's choice. It was a pretty big place, and seemed to be well liked, based on how busy it was. If the décor was anything to go by…with its checker tablecloths, drippy candles, cartoon sayings and caricatures on the wall, Lorelai had high hopes for the food. Though by the first bite she could tell the packaging was prettier. The food was probably on par with Al's regular menu back in the Hollow, but it wasn't as bad as the time Al tried making actual pancakes so all and all it wasn't the worst. Either way, all three were having a great time sharing stories.

"So Aunt Jane where did you meet Uncle Mitch?" Lorelai asked curiously.

"Ah well…we met at a party."

"A party? I didn't know that," Luke said.

"Mm," Jane acknowledged before she dove into the story, "I was in my second year of college, and my girlfriends dragged me out to this party. I didn't know whose party it was, and I wasn't really keen on going."

"Not a party animal huh?" Lorelai asked teasingly.

"No," Jane said consideringly, "I liked a good party…but I wasn't really in a social mood. I'd just broken up with someone who I'd thought really liked me, turned out he really liked a lot of girls."

"What a jerk," Luke interrupted, frowning retroactively that some putz had treated his aunt so poorly.

"Well that's a story for another day," she dismissed. "Anyway, they dragged me there promising that they weren't going there to pick up guys, they just wanted to dance, have a good time…and we'd all leave together. So I went and things were starting to look better, I was having a good time. And out of nowhere this guy comes up to me and asks me to dance."

Lorelai smiled in anticipation, she already knew the guy mentioned was Mitch but she was still curious about the rest of the story.

"I barely glanced at him…turned him down and we each went back to our friends. I didn't think much of it until a little while later when he came and asked again. This time I actually looked at him, saw how handsome he was," she smiled ruefully, "still I turned him down. Then later on, when my friends were well on their way to being drunk…I was still on my first drink, and he showed up again—offered to get me another so I let him. I figured there was no harm in simply talking to him…"

"Do you remember what he said?" Lorelai asked.

Aunt Jane smiled fondly. "He introduced himself formally and told me that he was actually from a different school and he and his friends were just crashing the party. He said it as though it was an undercover mission and he was letting me in on the secret. It was goofy and cute and it made me laugh. We talked for a while and then he asked me to dance again. Now by this time I really did want to dance with him…but I told him about the deal I'd made with my friends, which he accepted and then very politely pointed out that the girls I came with were already on the dance floor. Our girls night plans were out the window, they'd each found a boy and I didn't even notice because I was talking to Mitch." Jane sighed softly, her eyes going hazy as she got lost in the memory. "So we danced; to a few songs actually…but it was late and the party was winding down, so he offered to walk me home, which, that night meant my friend Marcie's house." Jane shook her head wistfully, "Marcie's house was only a few blocks away—but it took us at least a half hour to get there. We just lost track of time. When he dropped me off he asked if he could see me again…I said yes, gave him my phone number…when he was leaving he kissed my hand, and he called the next day. The rest, as they say, is history!"

"Wow," Lorelai breathed, "I love that story."

"Me too," Jane replied.

Luke smiled at the fondness emanating from his Aunt's face. He'd never actually heard that story before but he was glad he had. Leave it to Lorelai to help him learn more about his family, he thought ruefully.

"Do you guys still dance together?"

"Oh absolutely! Dancing is still one of my favourite things to do with him."

"Men who can dance are very underrated, it's very romantic."

"Oh sweetie between the dancing and the kiss on my hand, I felt like I was in a movie!"

"Thank God Jenny's not here," Luke said good naturedly, finally chimimg in, "she'd be telling me to take notes."

"Nah, I think you're plenty romantic."

"Is he?" Jane asked, ever curious to hear more about their relationship.

"I am?" Luke asked, wondering what she could be talking about. They'd only been officially together for about 2 days and had been surrounded by his family for most of that time…that didn't leave much room for romantic gestures. Even in past relationships he knew he wasn't the most romantic guy…he never knew the right thing to say.

"Yeah I'd say you are." Lorelai stated simply. She was met with expectant states from both aunt and nephew. And though she felt a little put on the spot, she didn't even have to think before examples were flooding her brain. "I mean, how many times have you brought me food to the inn when I couldn't get away?"

"Well you have to eat, I don't want you to starve," he dismissed.

"Or all the times you let Rory take over a corner of the diner after school to do her homework while she waited on me…even though you hate when people take over multiple tables."

"That's not romantic. And it's Rory," Luke said with a shrug, like that explained it all, "she was doin' homework, it's not like she was disrupting anybody," he mumbled, dismissing the idea again. He hadn't been prepared for her to use real examples…he thought she'd maybe make something up. He was getting increasingly uncomfortable with the conversation, especially since his aunt was quietly observing the whole interaction. It felt like something they should be talking about in private…or not talk about at all. He'd be more comfortable with that.

Lorelai continued on undeterred. "Ok, well, what about the time you made me a Santa burger?"

Luke sighed, not really knowing how to get around that one.

"What's a Santa burger?" Jane asked. Luke groaned quietly and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Not that Lorelai noticed.

"Long story short, a few years ago around Christmas time, my parents and I weren't really on great terms and I'd been uninvited to their Christmas party."

"Oh," Jane commented, a little taken aback that someone would actually do that.

"But Rory still went and I was feeling bad about the whole thing so I went to the diner and asked Luke if he had anything Christmas-y on the menu, which he didn't so I just ordered my regular. But he came back with an open-faced burger, he made a Santa hat with cream cheese and ketchup and it had a face and everything. Just to cheer me up. It was disgusting but I loved it," she smiled fondly.

"Oh Luke," Jane said sweetly, "that was very romantic of you."

He'd been fidgeting throughout the story and quickly decided he needed to escape the awkwardness. "I, uh, I'm gonna go to the bathroom, excuse me." He slipped out of his seat and was gone before anyone could respond.

Both ladies chuckled watching him leave.

"I think I embarrassed him," Lorelai said ruefully.

"Well it's not a very hard thing to do." There was a quiet moment before Jane continued, "The little things were always my favourite too…big gestures are great, don't get me wrong, but romance can live just as much in the small everyday things."

Lorelai just continued to sit there quietly with a faraway look on her face, so Jane asked, "What?"

"Oh no, nothing," Lorelai shook her head, snapping out of it, "I was just thinking that Luke's good at the big gestures as well…"

"Sounds like you have a specific moment in mind," Jane said leadingly.

"Yeah kind of," Lorelai replied letting out a breath and smiling, "but Luke will get really embarrassed…"

"Well then tell me quickly before he comes back!"

Lorelai chuckled before she took a breath and scanned the room for him. She couldn't really believe she was going to tell Aunt Jane this, it was a really special memory to her and in reality she'd only known Luke's aunt for a few days. But she felt so comfortable with Jane and she really wanted to tell someone about it…the only people that knew the true story were Sookie and Rory, and at the time that it happened she couldn't really gush about how much it meant to her like she wanted to, because she and Luke were just friends and she knew that people would twist the gesture into something it wasn't…or, she mused, maybe it did mean more than she thought it did at the time.

"Uh Luke made me a chuppah a few years ago when I was um…engaged" she said tentatively. She knew that they'd heard stories about her life from time to time from Luke, but she was almost 100% sure that he wouldn't have told them about her almost-wedding.

"A chuppah?" Jane asked, carefully bypassing the news of her previous engagement.

"It's an archway canopy-like thing that Jewish people get married under."

"Oh are you Jewish?"

"No, I'm not."

"Oh so was your…?" Jane trailed, not really knowing how to politely refer to someone's ex-fiancé.

"No, he wasn't," Lorelai said amusedly, "I think Luke just thought I would like it." Jane nodded and waited for her to continue.

"I was engaged to this guy, and in hindsight it seemed kind of quick…we hadn't known each other as well as we should have to be getting married, but I was really excited about it…at first. And Luke was decidedly not excited about it. I didn't know why, I just kind of assumed he was being grumpy Luke. But anyways, time went on, we planned the wedding and all these red flags kept popping up and I was getting less excited about it. I didn't tell anyone though, just kept planning, focused on the decision I'd made to go through with it. And Luke was adamantly against it. Not that he came out and said that to me, but I could tell. I had a really hard time getting him to come to the engagement party…I even brought Max, that's his name, into the diner, you know, tried to make him apart of the routine. I hoped that it would help get him into Luke's good graces but it didn't work…probably made it worse actually," she chuckled, "Around the time of my bachelorette party, Luke went on a crazy rant about how marriage is nonsense and the only species that mate for life were ducks and who cared about them anyway?"

Jane furrowed her brow at that. That didn't sound like the Luke she knew…Luke was the marrying type. Sure he'd gripe about the spectacle that went along with having a wedding, but when it came down to it, she knew he'd still want one. She even remembered him talking about having a family when he was younger.

"And then one day Luke showed up at my house and started unloading this beautiful structure from the back of his truck. And I was just…amazed," she said in awe, "Nobody had ever made me anything before. I mean Rory made me cards and pictures and stuff like that when she was little, but this was…" she paused, remembering back to that moment in her front yard with Luke. She looked over at Aunt Jane and continued, "He'd covered it with intricate carvings, even put a goat on it," she smirked, "I couldn't believe that he had spent so much time and effort making something for me even though he didn't agree with what I was doing, just to show his support." She paused again. "And we sat down on my porch steps and talked, and he told me that he didn't really mean what he said…that marriage could be ok if you found the right person."

"Now that sounds more like him."

"Yeah."

"Then what happened?"

"Then, I um…I called off the wedding."

"You did?"

"Yeah, I just…I knew I couldn't do it. Luke was right. I think I just got caught up in the idea of having a wedding that I didn't think about anything beyond that. And when I did…when I thought about actually being married to Max…well I knew it wasn't right."

"It's good that you realized that before the wedding."

Lorelai nodded. "I never meant to let it get that far…things just kind of got away from me."

"It sounds bad, but I have to say I'm glad things went wrong with that Max. Otherwise we might not be here! And I haven't seen Luke this happy in a very long time."

"I'm happy too," Lorelai blushed.

They shared a smile. Jane had a feeling that Luke and Lorelai had a lot of stories together and she couldn't wait to hear all of them. Though she'd probably already heard all the stories she was going to for this trip. It was best not to push her luck. Besides she could wait…she felt instinctively that their relationship had staying power. This definitely wouldn't be the last time they were all together.

Luke returned a few minutes later claiming there was a long line-up at the bathroom, but both ladies suspected that he'd also taken some time outside to make sure he wasn't going to return to the same topic of conversation. They smiled, accepted his excuse and Luke let out a sigh of relief as his Aunt continued telling Lorelai about Claire's last dance recital.

After dessert they returned to Aunt Jane's house. Jane left the couple to pack their things, but neither really wanted to and after a few minutes they too headed to bed with plans to finish packing in the morning.

SUNDAY MORNING:

Lorelai woke the next morning before Luke and took a moment to watch him lightly snoring before quietly slipping out of his arms to brush her teeth. She packed more of her stuff away and thought about how happy she was to be going home. She'd loved every minute of their time in Caledon…sure she could've done without the whole wannabe man-stealer ex-girlfriend portion of the holiday, but she couldn't be mad about any of it really. All of that had somehow led to her and Luke being officially together, after so much time. After years of avoidance and denial, she was somehow waking up in Luke's arms. She smiled at how surreal it all felt. If someone had told her that this was what would happen when Luke first invited her for Thanksgiving she would've scoffed and called them crazy. However those special moments with Luke had been prevalent enough in the past year that she would've wondered, maybe even hoped. But she never would have guessed she'd give voice to those feelings. The fear of changing the dynamic of their relationship would've stopped her. Even now the fear was still there, but it was like someone had diminished its light to almost nothing and told it to go sit in a corner. And besides, she was much too happy to pay it any attention. She was happier than she'd felt in a long time…and so ready to bring that happiness into their not-out-of-town real everyday lives.

Lost in thoughts of kissing Luke over the counter in the diner, Lorelai walked into the end corner of the bed frame and let out a loud yelp and she grabbed for her stubbed toe. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!"

"Are you ok?" Luke asked groggily

"Yeah I'm fine," she flopped down onto the edge on the bed still holding her foot, "Sorry, I was trying not to wake you up. Stupid bed post," she grumbled petulantly.

"S'ok, here let me see," he moved closer to her on the bed a reached for the effected foot. Lorelai watched as he gently massaged her foot and slowly moved the tow back and forth. When she didn't make any painful noises, he said, "I don't think it's broken." He'd meant it teasingly, but his early just-woke-up voice made it sound sincere.

She let out a humorous breath. "No, I think it'll be fine." She softly ran her hand over his still gently massaging her foot. "Go back to sleep, you've still got a few minutes before we were supposed to be up."

"Nah, I'm up now," he dropped a kiss to her shoulder and slid out on the other side of the bed. He made his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth, then left the room with a quick "I'll be back."

10 minutes later, Luke returned with a steaming mug of coffee. He dropped a kiss onto her lips with a simple "Good morning," on his way to his suitcase.

"Good morning," Lorelai replied softly. She took a sip of the brew and took a moment to really enjoy that first sip of the day. "Mmm, thank you."

"You're done packing?"

"Almost. I've just got to finish this suitcase and put in my toiletries…but that'll be after I take a shower."

"You hungry?"

"Always."

He threw one of his typical outfits down on the bed for later. "Want to go grab something to eat, food's already done."

"Yeah let's do it!" Lorelai led the way down the stairs and they found Aunt Jane setting out dishes in front of a huge spread of food. They talked and lingered over their last meal in Caledon, no one in a rush to start the rest of their day.

After breakfast Luke and Lorelai returned to their room where Lorelai continued packing and Luke jumped in the shower. He came out in the outfit he'd laid on the bed before and Lorelai took her turn in the shower. As Lorelai packed the last remaining things in her luggage, Luke did a sweep of the room making sure they didn't forget anything.

On their way out Lorelai technically helped Luke take their bags out to the truck, but it wasn't much of a help as she only carried 1 and Luke was left with the rest. It took him a little time to get all of her stuff resituated and properly secured in the truck bed again, but he managed.

The pair wandered back to the house and met Aunt Jane on the front porch.

"Well I think we're about ready to go," Luke said.

"I'm so happy you both could make it this weekend, thank you for coming!"

"Oh no, thank you! For having me over and stay in your home, I had a really great time!" Lorelai replied genuinely.

Aunt Jane pulled her into a hug. "Well honey, you're welcome here any time! I hope you'll both be back soon."

"Don't worry, we'll be back before you know it," Luke said as he too hugged his Aunt.

Jane lifted a thermos from the floor of the porch and thrust it into Lorelai hands. "For the road," she explained with a furtive wink.

"You're the best," Lorelai smiled widely. She gave the older lady another quick hug in thanks then bounced down the steps to where Luke was waiting. Together they walked back to the truck.

"Don't forget to call me when you get there," Jane called out, "so I know you got home safely!"

The couple turned and smiled at her. "I will," Luke called back. They settled into the car and as they drove down the driveway, Luke stuck his arm out the window and waved.

As they turned onto Caledon's main road, Lorelai uncapped the thermos and took a sip.

"Mmm, oh man, Luke this almost tastes as good as your diner brew." She looked over in time to see a small smirk on his face. "…But it didn't taste this great at breakfast…did you do something to it?"

"I might've added a few things," he replied coyly.

"Oh, my God Luke! I didn't know you could make diner coffee when you weren't in the diner!"

"If she had the same beans that I use it'd be exactly the same."

"Luke! This couldn't definitely be the thing that gets you to superhero status."

"What, like: faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, can pour without spilling?" he asked with amused sarcasm.

Lorelai chuckled at his knowledge of the old slogan. "Yeah, but more like: grouchier than Oscar, hunkier than Rock Hudson, able to make the perfect cup of coffee anywhere in the world!" Luke laughed with her.

"Those are some powerful abilities my friend!"

"Crazy lady," he muttered, shaking his head ruefully.

"Ah you love it," she countered. He shot her a small smile and looked back to the road. He really couldn't argue with that.

The radio played softly in the background as a peaceful quiet fell between them. Lorelai rummaged through her purse and pulled out her camera. She flipped through the photos from past couple of days reliving the moments captured and deleting a few blurry ones. The flipping came to an abrupt stop as she came across the pictures from their first trip to the lake. The pictures didn't properly capture the majesty of the scenery, she mused, but they were still beautiful shots. The next photo was the one she'd taken with Luke, where she was looking at the camera and he was looking at her. So much had changed since they'd stood there on the grass and she'd had to coerce him to be in the photo. It was kind of unbelievable that that was only 3 days ago. She looked more closely at it, at him. Luke looked happy. She did too, but his smile… She ran her thumb over his face on the screen. It was decided; she'd go to the store tomorrow and get it printed. Then she'd stop by Kim's Antiques and see about a well-deserved frame. It wouldn't be one of those loose photos that got left behind in some old shoebox that she forgets about. It would be preserved, kept safe in something permanent. And it'd go on the mantle of the fireplace, where it belonged, right next to the picture she'd taken of an 8-year-old Rory playing in the leaves.

-END-