Disclaimer: Luke, Lorelai, or any other character in this story belong to Amy Sherman-Palladino et al. I'm just borrowing them for a little while. I'm sure they won't mind.

A/N: This is my first ever GG or any other show fanfiction, so please be kind. Also, I have nowhere near as much wit as ASP does in her dialogues, so if you find Lorelai, Rory or Luke a bit out of character it's just me attempting to be funny but not succeeding, OK?

Oh, and lastly, I would like to dedicate this to my MSN gang (y'all know who you are): Anne, Ana, Jen andJo because... well, just because. 'K, I'm done rambling, on with the story


Lorelai Gilmore slipped quietly into Miss Patty's Dance Studio, very, very late for the town meeting, as usual. Not that she cared, though. Getting there late meant annoying the hell out of Taylor, and could easily rank as one of her hobbies, right next to drinking coffee and having movie nights with Rory. This time, however, no one noticed her lateness. Everyone seemed to be quite immerse in what Taylor was saying, so she quickly sat down in an empty chair next to Luke Danes, the owner of the diner she practically lived in, and tried to catch on what was being said. However, it wasn't long before she realized she couldn't understand a word of what Taylor and a guy in the front row were discussing, so she gently tapped Luke's shoulder.

"Luke?", she called quietly. "I'm lost. What are they talking about?"

"It's just Taylor", he answered in the usual gruff manner she was already used to. "What do you think he's talking about?"

Lorelai gasped in mock surprise. "Don't tell me he assembled us here just to tell us about the new town rule that he just dreamt about, which is funny considering how Taylor looks awfully similar to a pig."

Luke looked at her, utterly confused. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Well, duh, 'Animal Farm', of course! It's this movie about a farm with talking animals that's actually and allegory to what happened in a war or a revolution or something and at the beginning there's a pig. . ."

Luke rolled his eyes. "I don't need a full recap, thank you. I just wanted to make sure you hadn't lost your mind and started talking about pigs for no reason at all."

"Your undying concern touches me"

"Well that's good to know. Anyways, Taylor's not announcing a new town rule, he is announcing a new town event".

Lorelai's eyes finished losing the little interest she'd been having in what Taylor might have to say to them. "Another one of his famous events? I'm so out of here, he won't even let me participate. Remember what happened at the Festival of Living Art?"

"Actually, I think this is kind of different from that Festival", Luke said.

"Really? How?", asked Lorelai.

"This is some sort of dance"

"Dance?" Lorelai asked again, very confused. The only event that took place in Stars Hollow regarding dance was the Annual Dance Marathon, and that wasn't it, because Taylor wouldn't have called a town meeting to tell them about an event they already knew.

"Yeah", replied Luke. "Like a formal or something like that. You know, of those which you bring a date and dress up in a suit and all that stuff."

"Really?", Lorelai asked, her eyes lighting up instantly. "Wow, that has been Taylor's best idea so far. So when is it?"

"Next Saturday night. That gives people about a week to get a date which is not much time, so I guess it is not Taylor's best idea so far. In fact, I seriously doubt if Taylor will ever have a good idea."

Lorelai smiled at him. "What are you talking about? A week is more than enough time to get a date for the dance. I'm definitely in."

Taylor had evidently stopped talking and adjourned the meeting by now because the people were starting to get up and leave the studio. Luke and Lorelai did the same and started heading almost simultaneously towards the diner, he to serve the customers and she to have dinner. "So, who are you going to ask?" He tried to sound casual, like a friend asking another friend who they were taking to the prom. She had said she was definitely going, so she had to take someone with her and he desperately wanted to know if there were any new men in the horizon. He even had the tiniest bit of hope that she would ask him to go with her. Or even he might have the courage to ask her to go with him. But wait, what was he thinking? He was married, for God's sake, he'd even gotten an apartment with Nicole, so what was he doing thinking about Lorelai?

The truth was, Luke couldn't get Lorelai out of his head, not even when he was with Nicole. As much as he liked her, he had never been able to love her as much as he knew he loved Lorelai. That made him feel guilty sometimes, but he couldn't control his feelings, even when he knew that Lorelai wasn't ever going to notice him as more than just a friend. That was the reason he decided to marry Nicole. That was the reason he had asked her out in the first place. Still, he couldn't help stealing glances at Lorelai when she was sitting at the diner, with or without Rory; and his heart couldn't help performing a triple mortal every time she got too close to him or she even just looked at him with those amazing blue eyes of hers that made him forget what he was doing every time they rested on him.

Like right now, during their brief walk to the diner. Luke tried to ignore his nervousness as he waited for an answer to his question. "I don't know yet, but I have a week, it's plenty of time". It was fine for her to say that, she could get any man she wanted with just a flip of her hair and a simple smile. That's how she got him, although she didn't know that. "What about you?", she asked Luke. "Are you even going to show up selling coffee of something?" Se chuckled, remembering the Dance Marathon, when she had considered him to be his partner but he had denied it violently.

"I don't know, this is different. I could go with Nicole, although she's probably going to be out of town this weekend, so I don't know". Lorelai flinched at the mention of Nicole's name. She didn't know why, but every time she was brought up a rock fell really hard on her stomach and she desperately wanted to change the subject. She didn't know why she didn't like her, she just knew that there was something about Nicole that didn't seem right and that she definitely wasn't supposed to be with Luke. Luke didn't deserve her.

Anyway, she was saved the trouble of looking for an answer that did not involve a scowl because they arrived at the diner. Luke opened the door and she entered and settled down at a table by the window. Luke walked behind the counter. Several customers started to arrive too. Lorelai stared out the window, dreamily. She suddenly forgot about Luke and Nicole and how mad she had felt a few moments ago because she started thinking about her date to the dance. Although she had told Luke she didn't know who she was going to ask, she had already come up with a name, a man that she knew would be willing to go with her and with whom she knew she was going to have a great time. Jason Stiles. They had started dating a few months back and she felt very comfortable with him. A smile appeared on her face as she thought about him but she was immediately zipped back into reality when she heard some voices shouting in the background. Luke, as usual, was arguing with Kirk for some reason she couldn't quite understand. It was a good thing she didn't think of telling him who she was planning to ask to the dance. Luke's day would have sucked even more.