The Chaperones

A visit to the diner in the middle of the afternoon wasn't exactly a new thing for Lorelai. It was her personal version of Cheers, though privately she admitted that Luke was far hotter than Ted Danson's Sam Malone. Not that the thought was on her mind. No, her brain was full of thin file folders, of parental obligations, of all of Rory's hopes and dreams wrapped up in her actions.

She slumped down onto a stool, resting her forehead on the cool counter. There. Now everything was still.

"What can I get you?" Luke's voice rumbled above her, and she knew she had to be in a bad way if he wasn't barking at her to get her head off the counter.

"Coffee and a lobotomy," she said into the Formica top.

She heard the rustling of mugs, sniffed the siren's song of coffee. "One of those days, huh?"

"I'm a bad Chilton mom."

The coffee mug landed next to her head. "No, you're not."

Lorelai lifted her head in time to see the outrage on Luke's face on her behalf. That, more than a handful of aspirin, helped relieve the headache brewing behind her temples. "According to the tiny, thin file I am."

"What file is that?"

Lorelai pulled the coffee to her and took one deep, bracing sip. She closed her eyes and let the caffeine zing through her veins, making her nerve endings come alive again. God, the man made one good cup of coffee. "The one Chilton keeps on me. The one that says I don't fraternize with other Chilton parents."

"Who'd want to fraternize with them?"

Feeling far more like herself, Lorelai jabbed an index finger at Luke. "Exactly! And I don't make posters."

He arched an eyebrow. "Have they ever seen you draw?"

Vaguely insulted, Lorelai took another sip of coffee. "My penmanship's nice."

He pulled the order pad from where he had secured it in the waistband of his jeans and began to flip through the tickets. "I mean actually draw. I could always send them a copy of that Labor Day parade poster you did."

"Hey, I got praised for those stick figures!"

"What else did they get ya for?"

Lorelai wasn't about to forget the crack at her drawing skills. Damn it, she was proud of those stick figures. And no one ever mentioned the drums she drew for the poster. And the cymbals. "I don't chaperone school dances."

Now Luke just stared at her as if she'd grown a second head. "They do know you got had a kid at 16, right?"

"Pretty sure that scarlet 'A' is tattooed on my forehead. Anyhow, now I have to pick a group or sponsor a club or do something or I hurt Rory's chances to get into Harvard because I'm a bad mom."

"You're not a bad mom." The reply was immediate and without thought, and something warm curled inside her chest.

"Thanks," Lorelai said gratefully.

He moved from behind the counter to deliver orders that Cesar pushed through the window, and Lorelai rooted through her purse until she unearthed the folded piece of paper that Headmaster Charleston had given her. It was a list of parent-involved organizations at Chilton, and she had to pick one. More than one was preferable, but clearly Chilton had never heard of single moms working for a living.

She had read through the list at least three times before he looped back to the counter, this time with dirty dishes. He pushed back into the kitchen and returned empty-handed a few seconds later. "So, what're the choices?"

She spun around on her stool as he went to bus another table. "Um … the one that doesn't offend my sensibilities the least is the Booster Club. You know, boosting things. Like money or supporting things."

He frowned at her as he stacked dishes, then silverware on top of them. "Does Chilton really need to raise money?"

She waved the paper at him. "That's what I said! Have you seen what they charge in tuition?"

"You've only groaned about it twice a year since Rory started," he pointed out as he took the second round of dishes into the kitchen.

"Solidarity, sister," Lorelai called after him.

"I'm not your sister," Luke yelled back through the door. He came back through, shirt billowing just enough to reveal his T-shirt-clad toned chest, and her thoughts promptly scattered. They did that every so often around him, which made her stomach twist into knots. It hadn't been that long since she broke off her engagement with Max. What … three months? Not even that.

She decided to ignore the fact that he made her insides do this funny jig for far longer than she'd ever known Max.

Lorelai squared her shoulders, firmly shoving those jittery thoughts into the "not thinking about one of my best friends like that" corner of her mind. "OK, so I'm going to boost stuff. I can be a good booster."

"You'll be fine." Luke gave her that half smile that made her think she could do anything.

"Right." Her eyes dropped to the list of organizations. "Good booster."

Two days later, Lorelai slumped into the diner. She trudged to her usual stool. Seconds later, her forehead was on the counter and she was once again addressing the Fornica top. "I suck at being a booster."

This time, Luke didn't even ask. He simply reached for a mug and poured out coffee. "You only went to one meeting."

Lorelai considered herself a woman of many talents. She could run an inn and pull off any number of events. She could raise her daughter by herself. She bought a house on her own and her car. Maintenance of that house? That was on Luke. She knew how to pick her friends. There, that was a skill. She could pick friends that knew how to cook and fix her house.

Facing all those Chilton moms at that booster meeting? It was like addressing a group of young Emily Gilmores.

Lorelai pulled the coffee to her. "That meeting was enough. Why can't Chilton have a Bangles Appreciation Club? I'd totally rock at that. Or a Nora Ephron Class for Beginners? I can teach kids about good movies."

"Did they kick you out?"

She wished. "No."

"Then what's the big deal?"

Lorelai stared into her coffee cup and wondered how much she would have to bribe Luke to make it Irish. Did he even have whiskey? Perhaps upstairs. Maybe he'd let her go raid his liquor cabinet. If he had one. God, she hoped he had one. "I have to help chaperone the fall formal."

"That's the one Rory went to last year, isn't it?"

The desire to doctor her coffee intensified. "No, that one was the winter formal. This one's the fall formal, only called that because it's held in November and not in December. I forgot schools hold these dances like every month. Did you go to them?"

"No."

Lorelai squinted at Luke over the rim of her cup. He was avoiding her eyes, a tell-tale sign of lying. He was terrible at it. She really needed to give him lessons. She decided not to press in that area for the moment. "I did. Well, by dance, you smuggled in a case of Jose under the bleachers and got plastered before the chaperones could notice. I can't be a chaperone! I know every trick in the book! I practically wrote the book!"

"I think the whole purpose of being a chaperone is 'do as I say, not as I do.'"

Before she could think of a retort, Rory came into the diner, loaded bookbag over her shoulder. Just outside, Lorelai saw the commuter bus to Hartford pull away.

Rory slid onto the vacant stool next to Lorelai as Luke fetched another coffee mug. "Hey, could you make that to go?" she asked him.

"Sure," he said, switching to a go-cup.

Rory leaned on the counter, giving Lorelai a mischievous little smile. "So, I heard you're going to chaperone the dance next week."

Lorelai toasted her with her mug. "That's me. Cosmo Kramer. Oh well. At least we'll have fun mocking everyone together."

Rory thanked Luke for the coffee before winging an eyebrow at her mother. "You'll have fun. I'll be having even more fun because I won't be there."

Lorelai gaped at her, betrayed. "Oh no, kid. I'm going to the dance; you're going to the dance."

Rory wrapped her hands around her go-cup. "I can't go to the dance because the debate club is doing that overnight trip to Providence, remember? You signed the permission slip."

"So that's what I signed? I thought I was signing permission to supply DNA samples for the next NASA interplanetary expedition."

Rory slid off her stool and patted Lorelai's arm. "I'm heading over to Lane's. You'll have fun! Just … make sure everyone does the opposite of what you did in high school and you'll be fine."

Traitor, Lorelai thought a bit bitterly as her kid headed out of the diner. She wondered if she could invent some sort of excuse that would prevent Rory from going on her trip. Maybe some sort of allergy that would be deadly should Rory go to Providence. Could a person be allergic to Rhode Island? That had to be possible. Or maybe the seedy mobs that hung out in Providence had it in for Lorelai and would use Rory as ransom until she agreed to never let her kid go to Rhode Island again.

"You OK?"

Lorelai grunted into her coffee as Luke passed by her again. "No. Rory's ditched me for her debate club. Now I have to go be Frank Gilbreth in the back of the Pierce Arrow all by myself."

She watched Luke over the rim of her mug, and suddenly the answer was so simple. She wouldn't need to suffer alone after all. "Hey!"

Luke froze facing away from her, shoulders rigid. "No."

Lorelai put her mug down. "You didn't even know what I was gonna ask!"

Luke whirled around, bracing his hands on the counter and giving her his patented pissed off look. Too bad it hardly ever worked on her. "Yes, I do, and the answer is no."

"C'mon, Luke!"

He jabbed his index finger at her. "I'm not going to some Chilton school dance because you don't want to go alone."

Lorelai turned on her flirtiest smile. There were very few who could ignore her flirtiest smile. "I bet you charmed all the girls in high school with that can-do attitude."

She forgot Luke was one of those people. Most of the time. "Lorelai, I'm not even related to Rory. It wouldn't make sense for me to be there."

"You supply her food and coffee on a near-daily basis. You almost have more of a parental claim on her than I do."

"It doesn't matter. I am not going to that formal with you, and that's final," Luke informed her. And that was that.

One week later

Lorelai scrambled out of the driver's seat of the Jeep, then reached back in for her purse. She looped the strap over her shoulder and closed the door. She straightened the short skirt of her party dress as the passenger-side door slammed shut.

"Still can't believe I'm doing this," Luke muttered as he walked around the back of the Jeep to join her.

Lorelai looped her arm through his, taking a moment to admire him in his suit. Damn, the man cleaned up well. It was even better that she had been the one to buy his suit in the first place. She congratulated herself. She knew what looked good on him. "You have no idea how much I appreciate it."

"That was a low blow getting Rory to ask me."

Lorelai squeezed his arm. "I prefer to say I effectively utilized my available resources."

Luke sighed. "She used the eyes, Lorelai."

"I know."

"And then you did that hair flip."

"I know." It had taken the Rory eyes, the hair flip, and the flippy skirt before Luke finally agreed to go with her to Chilton to chaperone the dance. It was a potent and lethal combination, designed to bring down even the most hardened diner owners. "Hey, it won't be that bad. Just glower at the kids the way you do your customers, and you'll have this chaperone thing made. See, you'll be bad cop, and I'll be good cop."

He rolled his eyes. "That's not how this works, Lorelai."

"How would you know how it worked? You said you didn't go any school dances," Lorelai said as they reached the door to the gymnasium. The building was set off to the side of the main campus, and it was the most utilitarian thing about the complex.

Luke pulled away from her to hold the door open. "Well, I lied."

Lorelai smirked as she passed in front of him. "Ha, I knew it!" She giggled, feeling his glare at her back. Riling him up was her favorite pastime, and now she could do it all night. Not to mention, she had gotten out of Friday night dinner with a minimum of fuss. Her mother had accepted her excuse only after confirming with Bitty Charleston that yes, Lorelai had signed up to help chaperone the dance. That had led to a lecture about how it was about time Lorelai was stepping up to do her duty, which she half-ignored.

Students were filing in one door, and a card table was set up nearby. A bored-looking woman dressed in a sparkling gown that was way out of place for a high school dance was sitting at it, absently checking out her manicure.

"Hi, I'm checking in for my chaperone shift," Lorelai said, approaching her.

The woman flicked Lorelai a dismissive glance, then straightened as she stared over Lorelai's shoulder at Luke. Suddenly, Lorelai wasn't so pleased at the fact that Luke cleaned up so well. Something dark coiled in her gut, and for a moment, she wanted to reach out and shake glitter woman until she was looking at anything other than Luke.

Whoa. Hello, jealously.

The woman consulted a clipboard on the table. "Your name?"

"Lorelai Gilmore. Rory's mom."

"Ah, here you are." She batted her eyelashes at Luke, and Lorelai very nearly growled. "And you're her boyfriend?"

Luke was staring at the woman like she was some foreign beast stalking the land. Maybe he was just that dazzled by all the gems on the gown. Seriously, how many fake gems could be fit on the bodice of one dress?

"Uh no," he managed at the same time Lorelai said, "No, no, he's my coffee provider!"

"You brought your coffee provider?" The woman gave Lorelai a skeptical look, and she shrugged.

"I need to remain within six feet of an available coffee supply at all times, or the consequences aren't pretty."

"The best part of that is that nothing you just said was a lie," Luke muttered. He flinched as Lorelai's elbow just happened to find its way into his ribs. Then she grabbed his arm once more, not comfortable with how this other mom was eying him like a five-course meal.

"He's a friend. He supports Rory here just as much as I do. Hey, you should start a file on him!" Lorelai suggested.

"Let's not," Luke replied.

The woman handed Lorelai a ticket. She then took a second ticket, flipped it over, and scribbled something on the back. "OK, you two are supervising the area by the buffet and punch bowl. We don't want a repeat of '98 now, do we?"

"Right. We don't. Thanks." Lorelai gave her a mock salute and pulled Luke away from the table before one of those gems on the gown could detach and attack them.

"What happened in '98?" Luke asked as they joined the queue of students waiting to enter the gym.

"No clue, but I'm willing to bet it involved spiking the punch bowl." Lorelai pulled her purse away as Luke grabbed hold of it, flipping the little latch open so he could peek inside. "Hey, why are you looking in my purse?"

"Just making sure you didn't bring anything to spike the punch bowl with."

"Are you insinuating I'd do such a thing?" At his raised eyebrow, she huffed. "Well, yes I would, but not tonight. Hey, we can go back to the diner when we're done, make a batch of punch and spike it."

"That stuff's hideous. Do you know how much sugar's in punch?"

"No, but I'm sure you're about to tell me."

They handled their tickets to the parent staffing the door, another mom. The mom gazed thoughtfully at Luke before handing his ticket back. With a shrug, he stepped aside so Lorelai could enter the dance floor first.

"That stuff will rot your teeth," he informed her as they crossed the room.

"And there's my Ranty McRanterson I know and love. Want to stand by the punch bowl and hand out toothpaste and dental floss to all the kids?" Lorelai tossed a grin over her shoulder. "Why'd you get your ticket back? I didn't get mine back."

"Dunno." Luke flipped it over and sighed.

"What?" Lorelai peered over his arm and saw the phone number scribbled on it. That little green monster she was just starting to acknowledge reared its head again. She resisted the urge to snatch the ticket from Luke, ball it up, stomp back to that woman at the card table, and throw it in her face.

He tore the ticket in half and tossed it in the trash before stomping over to the buffet and punch table. Lorelai stared thoughtfully at the garbage can, nearly weak-kneed with relief. Of course Luke wouldn't want to date a Chilton mom. He had better taste than that.

You're a Chilton mom, a small part of her brain reminded her.

Yes, she informed it. But she was also Lorelai. She was better than a generic Chilton mom any day. So there.

"You're quiet."

The dance had started the way all high school dances seemed to do. The boys descended on the buffet like they hadn't had a meal in years. The girls ate daintily, doing their best not to bust out of their skin-tight gowns. Lorelai hadn't missed it one bit. It hadn't been that great of a loss when she was forced to drop out of school after her sophomore year.

Then the music started and various couples took to the floor. She leaned against the post, her thoughts drifting to the dance Rory had attended nearly a year earlier. Her baby had looked so pretty and had been excited about the dance in a way Lorelai had never been for hers. It wasn't so much the dance itself that Rory had gone with Dean. And Lorelai herself had even managed a good evening with her mother before it all went wrong.

"Yeah. I was just thinking of the dance Rory went to last year. When I hurt my back and Rory and Dean spent the night at Miss Patty's," Lorelai replied, finally acknowledging Luke's observation. He was propping up the other side of the post, sipping at a cup of water. "I messed up so badly then."

His arm brushed hers, and it felt like a hug. "You didn't mess up."

Lorelai indicated the kids on the dance floor. "Now I look at these kids and wonder which of them are going to be spending the night in a dance studio. With far less clothes. Who here's gonna sneak out with their boyfriend and wind up pregnant like I did. They want us to stand here and try to keep the punch bowl from being spiked."

"About that …," Luke said.

"And instead, I should be handing out condoms and going 'y'know, pushing a baby out really, really hurts.'"

He shrugged. "Teenagers are teenagers. They'll find a way around anything."

That's the moment she knew. Lorelai sighed. "They spiked the punch bowl, didn't they?"

Luke nodded. "About five minutes ago."

"Damn it." Lorelai walked over to the table, scooped punch into a cup and sampled, wrinkling her nose. "Ugh, it's not even the good stuff. Grab that and let's pour it out. Think there's a kitchen back there."

Luke grabbed the punch bowl and followed her into a small kitchen that Lorelai suspected was only used for events like this. An array of drinks and snacks sat on the counter. Lorelai wrinkled her nose at the tray of canapés, then swiped one to try. Just as she suspected. Sookie could do far better.

Luke poured the punch out in the sink. "You know, about Rory and Dean, you did what you could do. Doesn't excuse him from being a putz."

"You don't like Dean." Lorelai leaned against the island as he rinsed out the bowl. "You're so protective of Rory."

"She deserves better."

"Aw, that's so sweet." He carried the bowl back to her, and she ran her finger around the edge of it. "Should we make more?"

He looked around the room, then nodded. "Yeah, go see if there's some sherbet in that freezer."

She did as he asked. "You know how to make punch?"

Luke grabbed a bottle of ginger ale and a can of pineapple juice off the counter and set them on the island next to the bowl. "I run a diner, Lorelai. I know how to make punch."

Lorelai spotted the half-used container of sherbet and pulled it out. She turned back to him as he located a can opener. "You know how to make burgers and fries. And meatloaf. And pie from time to time. And coffee cake. Rory told me."

"Geez." Cheeks flushed, he twisted the top off the ginger ale and started pouring it into the bowl. "I can make plenty of things."

"I know you can," Lorelai said, putting the sherbet next to him.

"All you gotta do is follow a recipe." He three-pointed the empty bottle of ginger ale into the garbage can.

Lorelai waggled her fingers. "Hi, you're talking with the lady who flunked boiling water."

Luke shook his head and reached for the pineapple juice. "I bet I could teach you how to cook," he told her as he used the can opener to punch a hole in the top.

"You tried, remember? Spring two years ago? I think the fire department told you to never try that again."

"I can teach you how to cook," Luke repeated, a note of stubbornness in his voice. "And I can cook non-diner things."

"I believe you," Lorelai said softly, her smile disappearing as he ranted. He wasn't just embarrassed. He honestly seemed a bit hurt at her words, and she knew her teasing had gone too far. Just her diner guy, she had kept insisting all night. Nothing but her diner guy, her coffee provider. It kept her from dwelling on how good the suit looked on him or on how blue his eyes were. It kept her from acknowledging the nerves in her stomach that had nothing to do with ensuring that the kids they were chaperoning made it home in one piece.

Luke finished assembling the punch in silence, and she watched his hands, mesmerized. She had felt them on her before, but she wondered what they would be like actually caressing her skin. She shivered, pulling at the lace shrug she wore over her shoulders. On the surface, it seemed like an ordinary conversation between two friends who constantly teased each other. But something was shifting between them, and Lorelai wasn't sure if she was terrified or not.

"I can make something for you if you want," he finally said after a few minutes of that charged silence.

"Yeah?" He avoided her gaze, and those nerves evolved into near panic. It was easy to let it go. Too easy. Lorelai thought of several times she thought Luke had been about to ask her out, something always happening just as the gesture was being made. She half-expected Headmaster Charleston to come bursting through the kitchen door right at that moment.

When 30 seconds passed with no untimely interruption, Lorelai took a shaky breath. "Am I misreading things or did you just ask me on a date?"

"I said I could make you dinner," Luke addressed the punch bowl.

"Is that or is that not a date?" When he didn't reply, she knew. "Huh."

"It's stupid. Forget about it," Luke muttered, then snatched the punch bowl off the island to carry it back into the gym.

Lorelai watched his retreating back, and she had to say something. "I was going to say yes," she blurted.

Luke turned back to her so fast that punch sloshed over the side of the bowl. Thankfully, it avoided the cuffs of his suit. "Yes?"

His face was carefully blank, but his voice was so hopeful that Lorelai smiled. "Yeah."

Their gazes locked on each other, and Lorelai knew they had just crossed a threshold that they wouldn't be able to stumble back over again. She was attracted to him. He was attracted to her. More than anything in the world at the moment, she needed him like she needed her next breath. Her eyes dropped to his mouth, and she saw herself sucking his lower lip between her lips.

"Punch," Luke suddenly blurted, and Lorelai jumped.

"Right, punch! Let's go with the punch!" She shoved out of the kitchen ahead of him, doing her best to bring her racing heart back under control.

They delivered the punch without further mishap, and Lorelai decided to check the food. It gave her enough time for her hands to stop shaking. She was going on a date with Luke. Oh god. Oh my god. Well, it wasn't a date date, but it was a date. She agreed to let him make her dinner.

She wondered if he could be the main course.

Lorelai pushed at a half-devoured platter of mini sandwiches. Do not even go there, she ordered herself. It must be her proximity to all the teenage pheromones. They were driving her crazy as well.

There was only so much food rearrangement she could do, and she knew the supplies in the kitchen were depleted. A quick look at her watch told her that there was another hour to the dance at the most. Thank God. She walked back to Luke, who had been watching her the entire time. He looked down at her, and she knew he could see her nerves. That was the problem. He knew everything about her. But she knew him pretty damn well, so when she suspected he was going to give her the easy way out of the date, she changed the subject.

"So, who did you go to school dances with? Rachel?"

He winged an eyebrow at her and let her have her way. "Yeah."

That made sense. Lorelai knew that Luke and Rachel had been high school sweethearts. The knowledge didn't make her feel quite as strange as it used to. Rachel had come back to try again, but she had left. She didn't know the entire story behind it, but suspected it had something to do with the random excuses Luke kept making to spend time at the Crap Shack before she got engaged to Max.

"Rory's dad?" Luke asked after a moment, and she realized he meant high school dances.

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah. Chris and I went together a good bit of the time. When we weren't fighting." She pressed her cheek to his arm, closed her eyes, and just smelled. He didn't wear cologne that often, usually the days he had meetings at the bank. It was a scent she had gifted him a few years earlier for Christmas, and his wearing it made her feel all sorts of possessive.

The music switched to a slow dance, and Lorelai saw some of the other chaperones take to the edge of the floor. "Aww, look at Headmaster Charleston and his wife. I didn't think chaperones were allowed to dance."

"Do you want to?"

His voice was so soft she nearly didn't realize he was speaking to her. She looked up in surprise, saw the hope and nerves in his eyes. He was just as scared as she, she realized, and suddenly she was no longer terrified. There had always been something between them, and maybe her mother was right. Maybe she did look at Luke like she did a porterhouse steak every so often.

She wondered if she would ever confess that the main reason she sought out Max again was because Rachel had come back.

But Rachel was gone and so was Max. It was just him and just her. For a split second, she worried that he could be a rebound. But she dismissed the thought as quickly as it had come. With sudden clarity, Lorelai knew the truth. Luke wasn't a rebound from Max. Max had been the rebound from Luke. From all those missed opportunities between them to do something about the chemistry that sparked between them.

Lorelai always thought knowing stuff like this would come gradually. It would take a good deal of thought and consideration. Just knowing was something that was just in novels. Nice idea, but not real. Ha. The joke was on her. But the universe shifted on its axis, and that last piece of the Rubik's cube snapped into place.

Suddenly, she wasn't scared at all.

She let him lead her into the dance. There wasn't a lot of room, not without drawing a lot of attention to themselves. Her cheek was pressed against his chest. She heard his heartbeat, steady and strong, beneath her ear. They shuffled around in a slow circle, not so much focusing on the steps as each other.

When the music switched to that classic favorite "YMCA," she grabbed his hand and tugged him back into the kitchen. The moment the door swung close behind them, he was pulling her in for a kiss. Oh god, the man could kiss. It was long, deep, and hungry. She suspected it was the kiss he'd been wanting to give her for many years, and it surprised her to realize that she wanted to kiss him for just as long.

The kiss gentled as he pressed her back into a long row of counters, the edge biting into her waist. She didn't care. She ran her hands through his hair, and he boosted her onto the counter, stepping between her legs as the kiss grew more demanding. His hands skimmed up her inner thighs, and she whined beneath her breath. She inched closer, wanting what she was sure was very talented fingers to explore even more. He chuckled and bit her bottom lip.

"Not here," he scolded in a husky voice, and her gaze dropped below his belt. Oh, he wanted it to be here. He wanted it very much to be here.

Outside the kitchen, the lights suddenly cut on, and the dance was over. Thank God, Lorelai thought as she let Luke help her off the counter. They made for the door, planning to do the fastest cleanup job known to man, then fleeing the Chilton campus.

Lorelai hoped the condoms in her purse were still good.

Lorelai sailed into the diner a few days later, the news she just received failing to dim her smile. She slid onto her stool as Luke came out of the kitchen. His answering smile rivaled hers.

"Hey," she said, leaning across the counter to kiss him. It was one of the surprising things she had learned about him in the past few days. He wasn't much for PDA, and neither was she, but he was open to this.

His gaze dropped back to her lips, and she considered pulling him upstairs. They had gone bed shopping on Saturday after a very interesting Friday night post-dance. "Hey," he said in that low voice of his that was pure sex.

She squeezed her thighs together and remembered that she hadn't come in here for a booty call. Not yet. "So, I have been informed by Headmaster Charleston that my services will no longer be accepted as a chaperone for school dances," she said lightly as Luke fetched her coffee.

Startled, he placed the mug in front of her. "What? Did he find out about … you know? In the kitchen?"

Lorelai smirked. Their little makeout session had been the highlight of the entire thing. "Actually, that wasn't it. Well, partially. While we were … you know in the kitchen … apparently the punch bowl got spiked again."

"Ah," Luke said, not surprised.

"With the good stuff this time." Lorelai huffed a bit. "Can't believe I fell for the old bait-and-switch routine."

"Which is?"

"You spike the punch bowl with the bad stuff, causing the chaperones to replace the punch," Lorelai said. Or in their case, caused the chaperones to give into their suppressed lust for each other. "That lulls them into a false sense of security thinking they won't try it again but then bam, it gets spiked again with the good stuff. Can't believe I didn't recognize that."

"Well, you were busy," Luke pointed out.

Lorelai winged an eyebrow. It wasn't like she didn't have a partner in crime in all of this. "I was." She waggled her eyebrows, and finally, he flushed. Satisfied, she sipped at her coffee before heaving a sigh. "I still have to volunteer though."

"Didn't figure you were getting out of that," Luke told her.

"Nope. Leg shackled to that school until Rory gets her diploma."

"What's next on their evil agenda?" Luke asked as he took money from a customer. He thanked them, handed over change, and waved them on their way.

Lorelai waited until the customer was out the door before replying. "Organizing a fashion show."

"Really?" Luke's eyes lit up with interest, and she knew exactly where his thoughts were headed.

"No, it's not lingerie. Dirty," she teased, mentally crowing when his flush deepened. Got it in one. Lorelai did her signature hair flip, pleased when he all but stopped working to watch. "But, I can organize a private show for you."

"Yeah? Right now?"

Lorelai smiled and winked at him. She laughed as Luke ran into the kitchen to tell Cesar to take over.

Author's note: When I was on Tumblr this morning, I came across a gifset from episode 2x7 where Lorelai is lamenting to Rory about being put on the spot regarding volunteering at Chilton. My thoughts headed in the other direction, and this story was born. Just assume Jess is off somewhere doing something in this timeline and teased his uncle quite a bit about his sudden need for a larger bed.