Hello everyone, this a just a quick little one-shot, in which Lorelai and Luke go out with Michel and Frederick. I was quite disappointed we never got the chance to meet Frederick in person, so I came up with my own version of him. I hope you enjoy it. (:

A Dirty Dinner

"Please say that again," Luke asked after Lorelai had told him what she had planned for Monday evening. They weren't staying in as they usually would, but they were going out.

"We're meeting Michel and Frederick for dinner tomorrow evening," Lorelai told him again, trying to sound as natural and casual about it as she could. She knew how much Luke hated when his routine was knocked over. He was a man, who liked his routines, while Lorelai liked to wreck his routines ever so often.

"A double date?" Luke double-checked if he understood correctly what she was implying.

"It's just dinner with friends," Lorelai corrected and sat down on the coffee table, so she could look straight at Luke, who was sitting on the couch.

"Michel and I are no friends," he shot back, which made Lorelai frown for a moment.

"Well, Michel and I are friends. Very close friends as I like to remind you."

"God knows why," he half-sighed and half-moaned.

"Hey, no badmouthing my friends. This will get you in trouble." She raised her index finger in his direction like you would do it with little kids, who needed to be lectured.

"Alright," Luke gave in. "So, where are we going?"

Lorelai was pleased with herself and her convincing abilities. She told him the name of the restaurant, and like she had suspected she would need some more of her convincing powers. A frown was forming on his forehead.

"That is fancy," he said.

"Well-" Lorelai was about to start her convincing speech when he interrupted her.

"I'll have to wear a shirt and tie."

"A full suit, hon," Lorelai interjected. It didn't help with her reasoning.

"Even worse." Luke dropped his hand to his thighs. "You know I hate it when I have to dress for a date. Even at your mother's, I get away with just a shirt and some slacks."

"She's not exactly pleased with it." Lorelai titled her head, studying Luke.

"I never heard her complain once."

"She comes to me and complains about it all the time," Lorelai admitted, and then bit her lip. She wanted to keep that piece of information to herself. Her mother and Luke were on good terms other than that. The holidays in Nantucket had been surprisingly nice, and Lorelai was happy to notice her mother was welcoming Luke in the family. Partly, because she had learned to let all of Berta's extended family in too. Berta and her family really had mellowed Emily Gilmore down.

"She does? I thought we were finally on good terms."

"That's why I keep things like that from you," she told him.

"Good to know." Luke raised an eyebrow, and he exhaled deeply.

"Anyway, we're meeting them there at 7," Lorelai said, and brought the conversation back to business.

"I'll be suddenly very sick at 6:30," Luke informed her.

"They are not that bad," Lorelai argued. Yes, of course, Michel had his quirks, and Frederick too. Together they were a handful, but she enjoyed their company.

"Not in my top 5 people I want to spend time with."

"You don't even have a top 5 people," she accused him. She couldn't think of five people in Luke's life, who wouldn't annoy him at some point. She truly believed at some points even she as his wife would be crossed off that list.

Luke frowned, and started to count people on his fingers "You, April, Rory, Jess, and-"

"Ha!" Lorelai exclaimed when he got stuck with his right hand on his left hand's little finger.

For a moment he stuttered, and then he said, "And erm- Liz. There you go!"

"When do you see Liz without TJ? And with him there, even your sister annoys you," Lorelai argued. It was not a secret that TJ could drive Luke up a wall within a matter of seconds.

Luke sighed, and then corrected his answers, "Well, then Kirk."

"Do I have to remind you of-" Lorelai scoffed, but she got stopped by a wave of Luke's hand.

"Alright, Paul-Anka."

"And why do you refer to him as a mutt ever so often when he's in your top 5 people you like to spend time with?" Lorelai asked, a smile playing on her lips. She liked to undo Luke's logic and see him flustered. However, Luke didn't continue playing this game.

"Anyway, how long do we have to stay?" Luke asked instead.

"Oh, Luke, come on. With that attitude it will be a disaster, brighten up a bit." She threw her arms away from her, while Luke crossed his in front of his chest.

"I don't want to," he said, and it sounded like a little child, who didn't get what it wanted.

"I'd be up for some private fun after dinner, only if you behave," she laid emphasis on the last word. "You know, some private dessert." She tried her best to wink.

"Really? That's how you'll make me go?" He challenged her, jerking his head up.

"Is it working?" She asked softly, raising an eyebrow.

For a moment, Luke studied Lorelai, probably debating back and forth. She enjoyed the eye contact, which formed. She could have lingered in it for ages. A stare battle was usually hers to win. At last, he gave in, "Fine."

"You won't regret it," she said and leaned forward to put her hands on his knees, squeezing them.

"Better make our private dessert worth it," he reminded her of her promise.

"It's always worth it."

Luke was about to say something when Lorelai interrupted him with putting a hand over his mouth. "If I were you I would not say any more to that," she warned.

A smile formed on Luke's lip, and after pressing a kiss to her palm, he removed her hand from his mouth and said, "You'll be wearing a dress, right?"

"Yes, you'll be able to look at my long-long legs." She smoothed over his legs to make a point.

"Alright, then I can handle Michel and Frederick for an evening."

"Thanks, I promise it will be fun." Lorelai smiled while she pushed her hands from his knees up, going extra slow over Luke's jeans. Her thumbs were smoothing over his inner thigh; by his sudden intake of breath, Lorelai mused Luke had troubles composing himself when she came closer to his crouch.

"For you, of course." He caught her hands before they could reach the zipper of his jeans, and she sighed.

"Whose fun matters anyway?" And without thinking twice she leaned forward to press a kiss to his lips and give him a preview of the private dessert they would be sharing once Luke had been good at dinner with Michel and Frederick.

Luke was dressed in a suit. He groaned and moaned, just like Lorelai had expected him too. She didn't pay that much attention, she was distracted by the way he looked. All handsome. He looked good all GQ-ed up. The last time she had seen him in a suit was at their wedding a couple of months ago and she definitely could get used to seeing him like this more often.

"Nice butt, Danes," she said and smacked his bottom as she passed him.

"Nice legs yourself," he retorted, locking eyes with her. They smiled at each other and then Luke joined her at the door, so they could leave for dinner. He held the door open for Lorelai, like a gentleman in a suit was required to do. Luke in date-mode was definitely a Luke Lorelai liked having around.

"Mr smooth," she called as he helped her into the car. "May get a kiss before we leave?"

"Gentlemen only kiss their ladies at the end of the date," he told her and closed the car's door after she had settled into the seat. He went around the truck and got inside too.

Before he could even put his keys in the ignition lock, Lorelai pulled him at his collar, so she could press a kiss on his lips. It lasted only for a few seconds, but the molding of two pairs of lips definitely felt good. She brought a hand to his cheek, which were freshly shaved. Lorelai liked it whenever he was all smooth. It didn't last long. Better make it work now. By the end of the evening, the first stubble would already be showing. Not that she minded, but smooth Luke was a treat she could not skip.

"You are ruining my gentleman reputation," Luke said when Lorelai let got off him.

"Well, you know what they say. Your life wasn't built if you haven't a reputation to lose," she said and raised an eyebrow. She could see how his Adam's apple bobbled, but he started the engine anyway.

When they arrived at the restaurant, Luke was again in gentleman mode and helped Lorelai out of the car. The high heels she wore with the dark blue dress made it hard to walk on an uneven ground like the stones of the parking lot. Once she was out of the car, she didn't let go of his arm, and held onto his arm, pressing it to her chest. She liked keeping him close.

Once they were inside the restaurant and had discarded their coats at the cloakroom, she spotted Michel and Frederick instantly in a corner of the restaurant. She said her hellos and Luke shook hands with both of them.

Michel and Frederick were sitting already next to each other. Lorelai went to the chair across from Michel, which left Luke to the chair next to her and opposite of Frederick.

Michel filled them in on the best drinks and food, and they ordered as soon as the waiter came by their table. Frederick gave specific instructions on how he wanted his food served, which made Luke only roll his eyes. He supposedly remembered the time Frederick came to the dinner and wanted to have his pancakes on different plates for no apparent reason.

As soon as Lorelai had a drink in hand, she was toasting her glass with the others, "To a nice evening."

It didn't turn into a nice evening right away, the beginning was rather slow and it needed a lot of Lorelai's positive attitude to keep the mood light and bubbly. She did her best, spicing the conversation with fun stories of the inn.

"How about we refrain from hotel talk tonight?" Frederick said after what seemed like the 10th story of the Dragonfly, which only made Lorelai and Michel laugh. Luke seemed indifferent, while Frederick's temper was tested. His finger tapped against his glass.

"One more and then we're good. We haven't told you about today's incident. You haven't told Luke, have you?" Michel said, reaching for Frederick's hand, so he stopped tapping it.

"No, I promised I would save it for tonight." She lifted her hand to her chest.

"I'm serious, Michel, no more work talk," Frederick said and freed his hand out of Michel's grip.

"You will like it," Michel assured him, exchanging a look with Lorelai, who supported this by nodding her head and flashing Frederick a smile, whose response was cut off since dinner was served. The conversation shifted naturally to the food in front of them. They talked about how delicious it was and what kind of food they had at different places.

As Lorelai was busy trying Luke's dish, nodding in approval of his choice, she glanced at Michel, who was saving Frederick from a carrot on his plate.

Frederick couldn't stand it when a carrot touched any of his other food and had specifically asked the waiter to bring them on a separate plate, but it must have slipped his mind with all the other instructions Frederick had asked for. The potatoes were not covered in sauce, while there was some extra in a little sauceboat, so he could add more on the meat. The meat was right in between rare and medium rare. The zucchinis were replaced by green beans, and the chef refrained from putting any lettuce leaves on the plate, which only acted as decoration.

Lorelai smiled to herself and offered Luke some of her dish, but he declined the offer. "I gotta tell you, hon, you're missing out. This is delicious," Lorelai said and pointed to her plate with her fork and knife in her hands.

"More for you when I don't want any," he replied, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Fair enough." And with that Lorelai turned back to Michel and Frederick, engaging them into some light talks, but she ever so often failed to keep it up. Frederick didn't seem responsive, too distracted by the food. When they were finally done eating, she thought she could tackle another topic.

"Any news on the adoption?" Lorelai asked, putting the fork and knife away.

Michel's eyes widened, and he turned his head to Frederick, who looked down at his empty plates and replied, "Nothing."

"That's been taking quite some time now," Lorelai stated. She was not willing to give up so easily on a topic of conversation.

"It's completely normal, and I've told you all about it at work," Michel snapped before Frederick could answer.

"Okay," Lorelai said, looking at her empty plate too; she thought the adoption would be a topic of conversation, which would last a little longer than two seconds. She had been wrong after all.

"I will go the bathroom and give the chef our thanks. He's a friend of Sookie's, don't you want to say hello too, Lorelai?" Michel asked, putting his napkin on the table, already getting off his chair.

"Oh, I didn't know a friend of Sookie's worked here. Who is it?" Frederick asked.

"The one, who is a chef," Michel answered.

"Which of Sookie's friends is not a chef?" Lorelai asked, giving a side-glance to Luke, who grinned at her comment.

"We are no chefs," Michel said, pointing between them back and forth. "Fine, don't come. Be rude."

"Alright, I think I need to go with Michel. Excuse us for a moment while we say hello to Sookie's friend, the chef." She smiled at both Luke and Frederick and hoped they would be doing fine without Michel and Lorelai acting as a buffer between them. She couldn't remember one time these two had been without either Michel or Lorelai present.

Lorelai, however, had no time to worry about it long, because Michel was dragging her on one arm to a quieter place. Then he turned around in one swift motion, hissing at her, "Stop talking about the adoption."

"Why? It's not a secret."

"No, but-"

Michel could not finish his sentence, Lorelai cut him short, and said, "What is it, Michel? I thought you were finally on board with this. A little girl you could spoil rotten. A girl for your mother; she would be thrilled."

"It's not that." Michel retorted.

"So, what is it?"

"There have been difficulties."

"With the adoption?" Lorelai frowned.

"Yes, what else should there be difficulties with?"

"Well…" Her frown turned into raised eyebrows, hoping Michel would get where she was heading with this. Difficulties were a code word for the marriage was not in a good state anymore.

"Frederick and I are fine. Haven't you seen how I took the carrots he didn't like from his plate? That is true love."

"Of course, I saw." Only in Michel's world, saving someone from carrots was a proof of true love.

"Frederick and I are as madly in love as the day we got married," Michel declared.

"Got it, no problems in paradise." Lorelai sighed, bringing her hands up in defeat. "So what's wrong with the adoption? Are you getting cold feet after all?"

"No. Your socks helped."

When Lorelai had learned about the adoption and that Michel was onboard with it, she knitted some woolen socks for the possibility of cold feet. It was a joke, but deep-down Lorelai always knew Michel would wear them. They were pink and she had learned to make them look like dogs. "You're welcome."

"The adoption agency was over to our house. They've been here before, but they wanted to check one more time. We had dinner and- " He paused. "I always thought I would be the one screwing this up. But I'm not the problem. It's him."

"Frederick? Why?"

"I can't talk about this." Michel's eyes darted back and forth.

"You can't tease me like this. Spill, Michel."

Michel inhaled deeply, and then declared, "They found some dirt."

"I've been to your house, there's no dirt anywhere. Even when you still had your dogs, there was no dirt. Not even near the trash can." It was a mystery how Michel kept his home as clean, she assumed he had hired a cleaner. There was no other way to keep his high standards of hygiene up.

"You've been inspecting my trash cans?"

"That's not the point of this discussion." Lorelai abstained from answering and giving away too much.

Michel grimaced, which prompted Lorelai to distract him by asking, "What came up with Frederick?"

"He had some Wellington boots full of dirt."

"I knew it," Lorelai exclaimed, yet keeping her voice low enough so no one near-by would understand.

"Lorelai!"

"I don't understand where you're getting with this." She frowned.

"The visit went extremely well with the agency. When we returned their jackets and took them out of our closet, right there under the coats were mud covered boots," Michel told her and it sounded he was telling her the ending of very intense crime series.

"What a shocker," Lorelai interjected.

"Right?" Michel said, clearly not catching Lorelai's sarcasm. He presumed, "And the lady from the agency accused us of being outdoorsy people and lying in our application. I was about to assure them we are not, but Frederick stuttered and used phrases I have never heard out of his mouth. He told them it was his fault we hadn't include it. He said he had been out with friends. A flat lie, he doesn't go out with friends without me, and all our friends are not outdoorsy. The pool yes, but that's as close to nature as we go."

Michel was working himself up in a state as he told Lorelai, talking faster and faster. Lorelai thought his head might explode any minute. She reached out for his lower arm, and whispered, "Okay, Michel, calm down."

"How can I?" He snorted.

"Have you asked him about this situation?"

"How would I? We haven't heard back from the agency, which means he screwed it up." Michel shook his head in disbelief.

"When was this meeting?" Lorelai tried to reason before she made up her mind about this.

"Last week. It's been a week since we last heard from them, which means we blew it."

"A week is not a long time. Maybe they were busy."

"Oh come on, what are they doing all day? Looking through papers? Very stressful." He rolled his eyes and then added in a hiss, "These idiots"

"Calm down. Have you thought about calling them? Check if everything's fine before you jump to ugly conclusions?" She narrowed his eyes at him. She was trying hard to make Michel feel better, which was a difficult task. Once Michel was upset it was hard to calm him.

"I don't speak to these idiots." He crossed the arms in front of his chest.

"I can do it for you," Lorelai offered. "I'm used to speaking to idiots all the time."

"This is not the time for your jokes," Michel told her, shooting her a disapproving look, which under normal circumstances would make her laugh. But the situation seemed severe, so Lorelai tried to stay serious.

"Alright," Lorelai said. "Give me the details and I'll handle it for you. When was the meeting?"

"Friday."

"Last week Friday?" Lorelai checked.

"Yes."

"It's Monday," Lorelai stated.

"So?"

"Your meeting was three days ago. And Saturday and Sunday weren't office hours," she pointed out.

"Again, so?"

It should surprise her that Michel was making a big deal out of this. It was his style to overreact. "Michel, there's no need for you to freak out yet if they haven't called yet," Lorelai comforted him.

"Usually they call within 48 hours after this meeting."

"Technically the 48 hours aren't even over yet. They have only been back to the office for a day since Friday."

Again Michel would not listen. "You should have seen the woman's face when I handed her the coat from the robe, then she saw those muddy boots. And then she asked if we were outdoorsy people, and she didn't know that. I was never more ashamed and offended in my entire life."

"That is some accomplishment," Lorelai said, tilting head to her right and watching Michel's worried face.

"I can't believe we blew it. I mean, Frederick blew it. I'm not the one to blame," Michel remarked, his voice had softened a bit.

"You should talk to him about this," Lorelai insisted.

"I can't. I'm not ready to hear more of his lies. He knows how much I hate mud. Just thinking that his dirty boots were in the same closet as my fine jackets and coats, disgusts me," Michel hissed again. Lorelai assumed the dirt in the closet must have upset him a lot, but she couldn't comprehend it fully.

"They were not touching your coats, were they?" She asked again, but Michel wouldn't answer to it, too lost in his own train of thought.

"Who brings their dirty boots inside the house? Isn't it a rule to let them stand on the front porch if you haven't got the time to clean them right away?" He said.

Lorelai shrugged. She had never heard about such a rule, but she wouldn't start an argument about it. "I guess so."

When Lorelai finally managed to persuade Michel to go back to their table, they found Luke and Frederick in a talk and not lingering in an uneasy silence. They were talking to each other and by the pleasant look on Luke's face, Lorelai thought he was actually enjoying the talk.

"What did we miss?" Lorelai asked, brushing a hand over Luke's shoulder as she sat down next to him again.

"Ah, we just talked some," Luke said, waving it off, but the content smile was still on his lips.

"About what?" Lorelai was curious to know what these two could be possibly talking about which made Luke seem so relaxed.

When neither Luke nor Frederick was forthcoming, Michel interjected, "Yeah, about what?"

"Well-" Luke said. "Frederick asked me about fishing."

"Fishing?" Lorelai and Michel said at the same time, and then Michel turned to his husband, "Why would you ask about fishing? We don't go fishing. We don't like fishing. We like eating fish, but we don't go fishing. You have never been fishing."

"I want to go," Frederick answered.

"Where is this coming from?" Michel asked.

"Can we not do this here, sweetheart?" Frederick lowered his voice, but Lorelai was still able to catch it.

"Stop the sweet talking, I hate it when you use it on me."

"Michel," Frederick called out, but it was too late to soothe Michel.

"Is that why there were these dirty boots in the closet? Is that the reason why our chance at adoption might be blown?" Michel asked, and Lorelai held her breath. She wanted to disappear right there and then. This was a talk both of them should probably have in private and not in front of her Luke and her.

"I know it doesn't look good that we lied in our application. But when we filled out the papers I wasn't going into the wild. I promise, Michel, this is new."

"Why are you going somewhere, where there is so much dirt?" Michel asked.

"My therapist suggested it."

"What?" Michel asked, but Lorelai assumed he was not stunned that Frederick had a therapist. She wasn't either; a man with that many quirks needed someone to talk to about them.

"I want a kid, yet I'm scared of so many things. I can't stand the thought of carrots getting in touch with any other food, and a child will bring our routine upside down," Frederick explained.

"A child is what you wanted," Michel reminded him.

"I still do, but I'm aware that I have to make sacrifices and conquer some of my fears. Going to the woods and coming back with dirty boots is a way of coping. My therapist asked me to put my dirty shoes in the closet. He wanted to see how I handle it."

"Why haven't you told me?"

"Someone refused to talk to me all weekend."

Michel looked at him stunned, and it took him a couple of moments to gather control again. Then he asked, "So, Luke will take you fishing?"

"Yes, Luke offered." Frederick averted his gaze across the table to Luke and Lorelai, who both were looking at their laps. "Right, Luke?"

"Uhm." Luke sat up a little straighter. "Yeah, that's a done deal."

Before a greater pause could arise, Lorelai said, "So, the adoption is still on?"

"Of course," Frederick said and smiled back and forth at the three people. "I might have to give them a call tomorrow and explain the whole situation. I don't want them to think we are people who don't put dirty boots on the front porch when we don't have to the time to clean them right away. It's a disturbing thought to have dirty boots in the same closet as our coats."

It made Lorelai laugh, Michel and Frederick were truly a match made in heaven and definitely on the same wavelength.

"What's so funny?" Luke asked.

"You two will make very great parents," Lorelai said instead of voicing her true thoughts. Even with all their quirks, she knew a kid would make Frederick and Michel happy. She had never thought Michel would be a dog person, but he had proved her wrong, and she was sure he would prove her wrong again.

The rest of the evening was spent with talks about parenthood, which Lorelai and Luke had both plenty of stories to share. Both Frederick and Michel seemed interested, and over dessert, the whole fiasco in-between had been long forgotten.

The mood was easy and exuberant at points, so the inevitable had to happen and coffee was spilled all over the white tablecloth. It was a mess and left things dirty. Michel was feeling ashamed, turning red that something as embarrassing as this could happen to him. Lorelai took it easier since she had spilled the coffee in the first place. She shrugged and asked a waiter to take care of it. Luke rolled his eyes, while Frederick seemed amused.

They called it a night since Michel wanted to leave soon after the dirty coffee incident. They parted, exchanging hugs and handshakes, wishing a good night.

"I think Frederick might have moved into the top 5 people I want to spend time with," Luke said while they drove back to Stars Hollow.

"Because you bonded this evening?"

"It was a very sincere talk," Luke told her. "Best talk I had in weeks."

His second statement made her frown. "Wow, I really feel the love tonight."

"You know, he gets me," Luke carried on with his thoughts.

"Again, the love." She shook her head, both to Luke's statement and the ignorance of hurting her feelings with this.

"We connected on a deeper level like I've never done before."

"Do you listen to yourself?" Lorelai asked. When he presumed. Lorelai was sure he did not.

"He can't speak with Michel the way we talked tonight. There's only a handful of people I can relate to like this."

"What in God's name happened between the two of you?" She asked in disbelief, widening her eyes. There must have been more to the talk than the fishing.

"You wouldn't understand." He shook his head, still looking at the road with concentration.

"You know our private dessert is off the table. Sold out, probably for weeks until we connect on a deeper level." Lorelai told him and leaned against the window on the other side of the car.

"What? Now you're the one who's mad?" He took his right hand from the steering wheel to gesture in her direction. "I'm finally on good terms with your best friend's husband, you should be throwing a party. We can have these dinners more often."

"Are you sure? Aren't Michel and I just baggage and will ruin your special night with Frederick?" She lifted her head from the window, so she could sit a little straighter.

"Actually, Frederick and I plan to take you and Michel out for some fishing in spring," Luke revealed.

"Fishing?" Lorelai thought she had misunderstood. She knew Frederick and Luke had bonded over fishing, but she never thought she would be involved in this too.

"You've been before," Luke reminded her.

"Yes, but-"

Luke cut her off, saying, "It will be fun, and afterward we'll go to this nice restaurant. You will like it, I promise. Nothing you can't handle."

"I can handle a lot," Lorelai reminded him in a challenging tone.

"I know." For a second, Luke took his eyes off the road and glanced towards Lorelai, who shot him a smile.

"You and Frederick are best friends now?" She checked again.

"Yes."

"That's great, hon. Only took a couple of years." She reached out for his thigh, letting her hand stay there. Lorelai was truly happy Luke had enjoyed his time at the dinner even though he had been so reluctant to join in the first place.

"The best things need time." He exhaled deeply and then added, "We know a thing or two about that, don't we?"

Lorelai agreed with him, and added with a grin on her lips, "Even Rome wasn't built in a day."

For a moment, they were content with the said, and while Luke drove them home after this eventful evening, some quietness seemed like a good idea. It did feel like the end of a really good date indeed as Lorelai started to smooth her hand over his thigh up and down. They were fed and happy; nothing else on their mind than going home to bed.

Luke cleared his throat when they passed the Stars Hollow welcome sign. He asked, "The private dessert is really off the table?"

"I could be persuaded otherwise if you started talking sweet," Lorelai told him, giving his knee a gentle squeeze.

"I'm a little rusty, but I think I can do that," Luke said, and captured her hand on his leg, gripping it tightly.

"Bring it on, Danes," she challenged him after he stopped the car in the driveway at their house.

And he did bring it on.

THE END

Hopefully, you enjoyed this quick interlude. I definitely had a blast writing Michel, I appreciate his character so much more ever since the revival. I hope you liked my take on Frederick and his marriage with Michel. I'm very happy for Michel, finally, he is in a committed relationship. I think this wasn't the last time we saw Michel and Frederick pop up in one of my stories. There's still so much to discover with the two of them.

I'm also happy to write some newly wedded bliss for Lorelai and Luke, full of banter and all flirty. That's the best Lorelai and Luke in my opinion.

Thanks for reading. Hopefully, you enjoyed this and you would make my day if you shared your thoughts with me. (: