Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls. Or any of the characters. All I own is the first three seasons on DVD. And I don't own the song "I Think I Love You."

A/N: This is my first story. If you review, and I REALLY hope you do, please be brutally honest. Tell me what needs to be fixed and what was good. Seriously. I want to improve and the only way I can do that is if you guys tell me what you think. And if some one wants to beta for me, I'd gladly accept. Leave a comment or email me. Thanks!

This is a one-shot, and kind of AU.

That being said, on to the story…

Initial Crush

In order to be completely honest with herself, she had to admit there was an initial crush. Back when they first met, when he considered her to just be an annoying crazy lady with an affinity for coffee, when she considered him to be grumpy man named "Duke." That was even part of the reason why she called him Duke. She loved the attention, and the fact that he would always notice her then. Even though he gave her attention at other times, the "Duke attention," as she liked to call it in her head, was different. It was special. It was attention she had never received before…and she liked it.

However, Lorelai was too wrapped up in Rory's life (and trying to make it on her own) to delve much into the crush. She and Rory had just moved into their house, and she was still struggling to make ends meet. She had been promoted, yes, but she still wasn't in charge of the inn. Rory was demanding a lot of attention at the time, and she simply decided that she didn't have the time or energy to have a boyfriend or go on dates. Besides, she was a twenty-eight year old with a twelve-year-old daughter. She was having a hard time getting anyone to stick around just to be friends. How hard would it be to get a guy to stick around? And she had seen the look on his face when she first brought Rory in and introduced Luke to her. His eyes widened slightly as he handed them coffee—but that might have been because Lorelai was giving her twelve year old coffee.

By the time Rory was thirteen though, Lorelai was more confident about their lives. Mia had recently confided in her that if she kept up the work she was doing, then she would be in charge of the inn in a year's time. She and Luke had gotten into a routine and it seemed to work for both of them. While she still liked him, she was afraid of losing his friendship, something that was becoming more and more important to her everyday. Luke was her second real friend in Stars Hollow (after Sookie, of course), and the last thing she wanted to do was lose that. He was her wall; she did not know what she would do without him.

That being said, she could not help but imagine what life would be like if she were actually dating Luke. Rory would have a stepfather figure…someone who would be in her life continuously, not just a phone call on her birthday, Easter, and Christmas. She would not be alone when it came to making decisions, and she would have someone to kiss, and hug and do other things with. Other relationship things, she thought with a smirk. He could cook for them…but he pretty much already did that. She would always have coffee at her house. Not just any coffee, but the best coffee in the world in her opinion.

Scenes started playing in her head, over and over. She saw a marriage in the town square with Luke as the groom, her as the bride. She saw Christmases with Rory and Luke and little Luke/Lorelai mixes. Rory could have a little sister or brother…or maybe one of both. Or even more. Maybe a dog…or a fish. She was not picky. Just no cats. Anything but cats. It was obvious Rory already thought of him as her father more than she thought of Christopher…

…Christopher was the only problem though. Lorelai couldn't give up on the idea that the three of them would one day be a family. He was Rory's father…didn't she deserve to have a mother and father, together? Didn't Lorelai deserve to have the functional family she had always dreamed of? She had hoped for that dream to come true more and more as Rory got older. She still thought that she did the right thing at sixteen, refusing the marriage proposal. It would have never worked, getting married that young. Now that they were older though…

Before she could make the pro/con list for dating Luke though, she received a phone call that changed everything. She was having a hard day at the inn, and decided that she would come home during her lunch break to grab some medicine to soothe her pounding head. When she walked in the door, she noticed that she had a message on the (new!) machine that she and Rory had decided to buy as their splurge of the month. She absentmindedly pressed the button and walked off to get the medicine from the kitchen.

"You've reached the house of Lorelai and Rory. Leave a message if you'd like, and once we figure out how to listen to the messages, we'll get back to you."

"…Lorelai. It's Chris. I got your number from the Internet. Handy little thing, it is. I'm going to be in Hartford next week, and I was wondering if you'd like to get together for lunch or dinner, or coffee. Or whatever you want. We can go bowling even. Just…lemme know. I'd like to see you. And Rory. I'm ready Lorelai.

Well, I hope you figure out how to get messages before I leave town. If you do, and you want to meet up, give me a call. I'll be waiting…"

In the other room, Lorelai scrambled to get a piece of paper and pen to write his number down on, all thoughts of dating Luke gone from her head. She could have the family she and Rory deserved! In her fantasies, Christopher started replacing Luke slowly. The little siblings for Rory started to look more like Christopher…she sighed. Maybe things would work out for her and Christopher Hayden…Lorelai Hayden. Rory Hayden. She had to admit that the names had a certain ring to them.

---

Across the square, in his apartment, Luke thought about Lorelai. He liked her. He'd better just admit it now, and figure out where to go. He didn't think she had a boyfriend at that point. Maybe there was a chance…? He reached out for a sheet of paper and a pen, and started thinking of what to tell her, and how to go about it. He couldn't help but smile as he thought of how her lips would feel against his.

The following Monday he was all ready to tell Lorelai and start their relationship. He had spent the better part of the previous weekend figuring things out. He had gotten maybe six hours of sleep the past few nights. When Rory and Lorelai walked in for their morning cup of coffee before work and school, he took a deep breath and walked over. It was obvious something was going on—they were both happier than he thought he had ever seen them. He caught sentence fragments from the two of them as they sat down.

"…Do you think he meant it?"

"Yeah, kid, I do."

Luke stopped beside their table and quickly figured out the best way to go about announcing his crush to her. Lorelai beamed up at him, and said cheerfully, "Just a cup of coffee for us today. We're about to leave for Hartford where we have a pressing social engagement." The two girls collapsed into giggles and suddenly Luke had a sinking feeling in his chest.

"But doesn't Rory have school today?" He asked, baffled.

"Yeah, but this is more important than anything she could learn there. Her dad is in Hartford and we're gonna all spend the day together!" Her happiness was evident.

Luke's heart sank, and he forced a smile. "Well, have fun you two. Don't scare him away." Lorelai and Rory, his girls, collapsed into giggles again, and continued talking about Christopher. By the sound of it, Christopher was ready to commit to the two of them. Shoulders sagging, Luke walked back to the back to get their coffee. Maybe some other time he would get his chance with Lorelai Gilmore.

"This morning, I woke up with this feeling I didn't know how to deal with, and so I just decided, I'd hide it to myself, and never talk about it, and did not go and shout it when you walked into the room.

I think I love you…"

The End

Lyrics are from the song "I Think I Love You," which I said in the beginning I didn't own. There are many different covers, so take your pick of singers.