A/N: Thanks to allthingsholy for the beta-read!

Disclaimer: I do not own these character/settings. I just like to play with them.

A/N2: Picks up right after "To Live and Let Diorama".

Green

Late April, 2005

He's never done this before, not in a long, long time anyway, and it seems out of character even to himself, but she has changed him. Well, not exactly changed him, but she draws out parts of him that have been repressed since he was a boy. The last time that he went on a picnic, he was about ten years old. His mom and dad had takenhim on a day-trip to northwestern Connecticut. In the morning, they had gone fishing, and then built a campfire, where they cooked what they caught, and ate it along with the other food that his mom had packed.

They sat on a blanket spread over the grass underneath the thick green trees. He could still, to this day, hear the babbling sounds of the small river behind them. He could still smell the water, and the way that the summer heat caused the trees and the green moss and the dirt to cast off their sweet scents.

Luke knew that Lorelai had never been a huge fan of the whole nature thing, but he did know that she enjoyed surprises, and pie. So he was sure she would enjoy spending an afternoon with him, picnicking, as long as he brought along the pie. He couldn't waste a day like this-- warm, sunny, and breezy-- a typical Connecticut spring day.

…………………………………………….

Lorelai sat in her office at the Dragonfly, staring at the monthly paperwork, wishing she were somewhere else rather than cooped up inside on this beautiful spring day.

There was a knock at her office door, and then the sound of Michel's annoyed voice. "Your unsociable boyfriend is here to see you, and I'd also like to add that I am not your personal messenger."

Lorelai smiled like she did every time she thought of Luke. "Alright, I'll be right there!"

She met Luke in the lobby. He was looking a bit sheepish, and asked Lorelai if she could get away for lunch.

"Of course," she answered, smiling. "But I usually come in to the diner to see you at lunchtime anyway."

Luke motioned for her to follow him outside. "Yeah, but I thought I'd do something special today."

"Luke Danes, no matter what anyone says, you are a true romantic," she cooed.

Luke turned a bit red. "I am not a romantic. I just wanted to spend some time with my girlfriend in the afternoon, away from the diner for once."

"Ooh, are we going to do something dirty?" Lorelai mischievously grinned and grabbed onto his arm, waiting for his reaction.

"Ah, jeez!"

She skipped up to stand in front of him, walking backwards, her index finger pointed in his face , and said, "Hey, noon was what 'nooners' were invented for, my friend."

"We are not going to have a…" Luke trailed off, motioning with his hands.

"Why won't you say the word?" She was giggling now, clearly enjoying his embarrassment over a silly word.

"What word?" he acted as if he didn't know what she was talking about.

"Nooner!"

"I'm not going to say that." His voice contained that gruff tone that she knows means that he's getting annoyed, but that she still hasn't gone too far.

"Come on Luke, just say it!"

Luke sighed as they reached his truck, green and shiningin the sunlight. He opened the passenger side door. "Just get in."

Lorelai gasped when she saw what was in the back of the truck. "Luke! Is that a picnic basket!"

Luke looked at her sideways. "Yes..."

"Since when do you have a picnic basket?" Her mouth hung open a little in surprise.

"I bought a stupid basket at the store, and by putting food in it, it became a picnic basket."

"Who are you, and what have you done with Luke?" Lorelai giggled, smiling.

……………………………………………….

"What's this? What is this!" Emily Gilmore yelled to the maid. "I asked you to put these flowers on the dining room table! Does this look like the dining room to you?"

"No, Mrs. Gilmore," the maid replied, wringing her hands nervously.

"Move them, please. And what on earth are these green things? This is not a cheap dining hall that perpetually smells like hospital-cooked chicken. We don't enjoy looking at ferns in our flower arrangements!" Emily was on her usual annoyed tirade, waving her arms in the air, making it clear what an imbecile she thought the maid was.

"Sorry, Mrs. Gilmore." If the maid had a tail, it would have been tucked between her legs as she retreated to the kitchen with the flower arrangement.

Emily sighed, made herself a drink, and sat down. It had been six weeks since the "shut up" incident, and still no apology from her daughter. She sat down and tried to remember the last time that she had ever beentalked to in that way.

Richard walked through the room on his way to the kitchen. His face was buried in some business papers, and he heard his wife sigh loudly. Stopping and looking up from what he was reading, he noticed that Emily was clearly bothered. "Something wrong?" he asked

"No, nothing's wrong." She stubbornly waved him off, not wanting to admit right away that she was upset.

Richard regarded her for a few moments, and then replied simply, "Alright," and began to walk away. He knew she would talk when she was ready, and he had too many things to do at the moment to sit around and try to get her to confess to what was wrong.

"Why can't I have with Lorelai what Lorelai has with Rory?" Emily blurted out as Richard reached the doorway. She quickly cast her eyes down to the floor, a bit embarrassed.

Richard moved to sit down next to his wife. He had never actually heard Emily admit to being envious of Lorelai and Rory's close friendship, even though he knew that envy existed.

"You and Lorelai are two different people, Emily, that's really what it boils down to," Richard replied gently.

"I do so much for her, though, Richard," she said more softly, raising her eyes to his. "I try to make her see that she can do more with her life. She could have a life like ours, and have enough money to not have to work at that inn of hers." Richard silently nodded, listening. "She could make those societal connections that are so important, but she doesn't get it. I do this for her own good, and all she can do about it is to tell me to shut up. What is wrong with her?"

Richard remained silent for a moment. He had a feeling in his gut that this was what was driving Lorelai away. They were trying to change their grown daughter regardless of her happiness, and that wasn't really right. Still, he felt obliged to be on his wife's side. "She'll come around someday. We just have to wait."

Emily took a sip of her drink. "I don't want to wait."

…………………………………………………

SLAM!

Rory groaned. "Paris! Do you have to slam the door so hard?"

"Don't tell me you're still hung-over. It's been a day and a half."

Rory lay on the common room couch with her arm slungover her eyes and mumbled, "I am not hung-over." Her books and homework were scattered on the floor beside her, neglected.

"You certainly look hung-over, and the last time I saw you, you were looking pretty green."

"I am never drinking that much again," Rory murmured, and added, "You weren't too far behind me, wandering the streets of my town barefoot, begging for money for the payphone."

"Shut up!" Paris said forcefully, plopping herself down on the chair across from the couch. After a short pause, she spoke up again. "We're pathetic. You know that?"

"Why?"

"Just because of some dumb guys, we go and get drunk off of some stupid party punch, make idiots of ourselves, and then suffer hangovers that last for days." Paris sat at the edge of the chair facing Rory as she spoke, in order to get her point across, "For what! We're better than that!"

"Yes, we are, but right now I need to sleep."

Paris stood up again quickly, and began to pace the floor in front of the couch where Rory lay. "You don't care that we've turned into those girls who sit by the phone waiting for the guy to call, and when he doesn't, they go all 'Boo hoo for me', and go out with their friends and get drunk, which gives them another thing to complain about the next day when they have hangovers, and don't get anything done, and everything goes to crap, and before you know it, they're living on the couch of their best friend because they failed out of school, and have no job?" Her hands waved in normal Paris-fashion throughout her rant.

"Paris, I think you're exaggerating a little," Rory said with her eyes closed.

Paris walked into her bedroom in a huff and slammed the door.

Rory winced at the sound and closed her eyes again, waiting to be oblivious of her headache and her thoughts of Logan.

……………………………………………

"Pie!" gasped Lorelai as she rummaged through the picnic basket. Luke had driven them to a quiet, wooded area just outside of town, and spread out a green, plaid flannel blanket on the grass to sit on (which Lorelai mocked mercilessly forten minutes. "Is everything you own made out of flannel!").

Lorelai couldn't wait to see what he had packed for their lunch. The first thing she took out was a salad. "What's this? You know I don't eat anything green unless it's round and has an "M" stamped on it."

"That's mine," Luke said, "but I wish you would eat more vegetables." Luke knew he was fighting a losing battle, but he always thought that maybe, someday, what he said would stick.Lorelai wrinkled up her nose in disgust.

Next, she pulled out a hamburger. "Eww! You put lettuce on this! You tried to trick me!" She made a face as she picked the lettuce off and threw it into the woods. "The bunnies can eat it."

Luke rolled his eyes, "Hey, I can try, can't I?"

Luke couldn't help but smile at her gleefulness as she pulled out the pie, though. He never quite understood her enthusiasm for pie, but it always made him laugh. He always loved how Lorelai could become so happy over the most ordinary things.

They started on their lunch, and after a few moments of silence, Lorelai spoke up. "Luke, this is really nice," she said as she smiled. At the same time, she wondered what made him want to do this for her.

He returned her smile. "Yeah, it is."

"You never cease to surprise me. I never would have thought of you as a picnic kind of guy." There was a flirtatious tone in her voice, and that mischievous smile.

"I've always had the picnic spirit buried within me somewhere," he replied, flirting right back.

Lorelai loved that this was a side to him that he only showed to her, and to no one else. It made her feel special, and she couldn't help smiling at him, and holding his gaze for a few long moments.

Luke broke the moment first. "So, they already closed that stupid museum at the Twickham house, and Taylor's going to be selling it soon." He hoped Lorelai didn't hear the nervousness in his voice.One of the reasons why he had wanted to take her on this special picnic lunch was because he hoped to discuss the house with her, but first, he wanted to get a feel for whatshe thought of the house before he let her know that he hoped to live there with her.

"Oh, yeah? That is a pretty house," Lorelai replied.

"I've always liked that house ever since I was a kid. I used to imagine what it would be like to live in it."

"Really? It seems a little too fancy for your taste."

"Fancy? It's not fancy. I don't like fancy," he replied a bit defensively. Luke never wanted to be associated with anything that hadto do with the word "fancy".

"Whatever you say there, bucko. But that house is fancy."

Luke was starting to feel a bit discouraged. Did she like it? Did she hate it? She admitted that it waspretty, but that didn't mean that she would ever live in it. Luke wasn't sure what to do. He didn't think actually buying the house and then telling her about it later would be the best of ideas, but he really wasn't sure about how to approach the subject and let her know that he wanted to live there with her.

Lorelai was lost in thoughts of her own. Talking about houses made her wonder if it was time for her and Luke to move in together. They spent so much time with each other already that they might as well. It wouldn't be much different. They already woke up next to each other almost every morning, they saw each other multiple times every day, and they spent time with each other just about every night. Lorelai was surprised at the feeling of comfort and happiness that overcame her when she thought about Luke living with her in her house. Something like this a year ago would have freaked her out, but now, with Luke, it felt right.

Now if she could just figure out how to ask him. Little did she know that Luke's mind was occupied with the same subject, but thathe had a completely different idea about where they'd be living.