I truly apologize for the delay. What can I say? Cold, ear ache, fall and eventually there was a field trip to the hospital. But I'm back so I hope you guys still want to read this.

More changes in this chapter. Reviews please if you are so inclined.


A Friendly Wager

"Michel Girard?" Lorelai asked painting a falsely bright smile on her face.

"Uno momento," replied the man standing behind the desk and went back to talking on his headset. Given his blonde hair and blue eyes, she was sure he was posturing with affected hipness for the clientele. "Name?" he questioned her.

"Lorelai Gilmore."

"He will arrive like the wind." He inclined his head, indicating she should move off to the side.

Lorelai rolled her eyes and gratefully moved away from the main reception. Truth was there were so many people scurrying about she felt better being out of the main traffic pattern. The salon was so pretentious, just like Michel. She had been surprised he was unhappy here and eager to join her and Sookie in their venture.

"What are you doing here?" Michel's voice broke into her thoughts.

"Just looking to rub elbows with Celine Dion and tell her how much you looooove her," Lorelai teased.

"Don't you dare," Michel hissed.

"Okay, okay," she conceded. "I was actually hoping you could help me out."

"With what?" he asked suspiciously.

"I need some help making decisions about the Inn," Lorelai admitted. "Sookie has too much to handle with Davey. Will you help me?"

"Happily, no," Michel sing songed.

"Michel," Lorelai exclaimed, "you're going to be a profit participant! Helping me out will help you out in the long run."

Michel smiled indulgently at her. "Yes, while I look forward to the day I can leave this place and the economic windfall this new position will bring me, I cannot permit myself to get involved in the minutiae your are struggling with now."

"Why not?" Lorelai demanded.

"I know you too well," he frenched. "My taste is Crème Brule while yours peaked at Ho-Ho's. I would never hear the end of it if I chose something you did not like."

"Michel…" she said faintly.

"My break is over," he said turning away from her and retreating down a hallway. He turned back to deliver his parting salvo, "Don't forget to call me once the renovations and the decorating is complete."

Lorelai stamped her foot in annoyance.


Lorelai dragged herself into K.C.'s. She'd spent an exhausting day trying to make some choices. She had drunk gallons of coffee trying to stay focused on the tasks at hand but was still no closer to making final decisions than when she started out that morning.

She looked around, surprised at how packed the local town watering hole was. Miss Patty had certainly gotten the word out. Most of the town regulars were sitting at tables, having a good time. She spied Miss Patty, Babette and Morey sitting together. She joined them.

"Nice turnout," Lorelai observed as she sat down.

"Yeah, it's nice to get out and socialize, dear," Miss Patty agreed. "We don't do it often enough."

Lorelai refrained from commenting. She knew she was in the company of the two main town gossips. Almost all information came from these two and she was pretty sure that all they did was socialize.

"So Lorelai, doll, ya gonna take the test?" Babette asked.

"Of course!" she said brightly. "I may not beat out you two but I think I'll score pretty high. I'm hoping to beat out Kirk at least."

"Oh, I don't know, Sugah," Babette disagreed. "Kirk knows a lot about this town. Don't let his looks deceive ya."

"Hmmm," Lorelai reconsidered. "Okay, maybe not Kirk, then." She glanced around and spotted Luke walking in and heading to the bar. "Luke!" Lorelai decided. "I bet I can beat out Luke!"

"He said he wouldn't participate," Miss Patty said. She watched Luke order a beer then she looked sideways at Lorelai. She was sure Lorelai's comments the other day had somehow managed to convince him to show up at the bar. She, like most of the town, was secretly rooting that the two of them would get together someday. Patty was sure there was interest on both sides but they persistently ignored it. Maybe with the right encouragement they would finally see what the rest of the town saw. All we have to do is keep them in each other's path, Patty thought. "Maybe you can convince him before Taylor arrives with the tests," she said aloud.

"Hey, I'll give it a shot," Lorelai replied.

Lorelai got up and joined Luke at the bar. She signaled to the bartender and he brought her a beer.

"Hey," she greeted Luke, nudging him before she sat down next to him. "I didn't expect to see you here." She was actually elated and the feeling surprised her. It wasn't often that they could converse socially. Usually he was waiting on her at the diner or they exchanged the occasional greeting as they passed each other in town.

Luke gave her a sidelong glance and shrugged. "Why are you surprised that I'm here?" Luke countered gruffly. "I told you I go out and have fun. I just decided to come watch the current train wreck that Taylor has planned."

Lorelai cocked her head to one side. "Uh-huh," she nodded playing along as if she accepted his answer then gave up the pretense. "Ha! I knew you'd show up here tonight! I talked you into it!"

"You did not talk me into it," Luke argued. "You tried bullying me to come then practically declared that if I didn't I would be the town hermit and forever ostracized. Like I care." He sipped his beer.

"And yet, here you are," she speculated thoughtfully. "Hmmm, maybe you do listen to me." she returned good-naturedly as she nudged him again and then again.

"Stop that," he growled at her. She seemed even more keyed up than she usually was. "What's the matter with you?" he asked. "Aside from your natural flakiness, of course."

"Hey!" she mock pouted at him. "You're lucky someone came over here and sat next to you. Otherwise you would be drinking alone."

"Trust me, I'm fine with that," he replied even though he was secretly happy she had joined him. He noticed she looked a little antsy. "Really, what's up with you? You're behaving strangely even for you."

"Tough day, tough week, tough everything," she sighed. "Too much stuff to do for the Inn and too little of Lorelai. I can't believe I'm saying this but if I have one more cup of coffee…."

"Wow," he remarked, truly surprised. Her tolerance for caffeine seemed limitless. "Can't you get Sookie to help?"

"Sookie is extremely busy with Jackson and a new baby," Lorelai told him. "Every time I go over there it's a bust. I was even desperate enough to try and get Michel to help but he is useless." She stared at him thoughtfully.

"Can't argue with you there," he agreed. "Can't Rory help you? You guys do a lot of crazy stuff together." Luke queried, vainly trying to latch onto some solution to help her out.

"Uh, Yale?" Lorelai reminded him. "She can't support me in my old age if she flunks out of that hoity-toity college she goes to."

"Okay, I'm out," he shrugged.

"I don't want to think about that now. I'm here to have fun," she declared. "So, you gonna take the test?" she asked.

"No." Luke gestured to the bartender to set him up with a shot.

"C'mon, Luke," Lorelai urged him. As the bartender poured the tequila shot, she indicated that she wanted one too. The bartender put the salt shaker and a bowl of lime wedges nearby. She leaned closer. "You know you want to," she said conspiratorially.

"I don't do town events," he declared. He licked his wrist, shook some salt onto it, licked the salt then downed the shot. As he reached for a piece of lime, he saw Lorelai toss back her shot in the same manner. She slammed her glass on the bar and motioned to the bartender to set them up again.

"Loosen up a little," Lorelai wheedled. The bartender brought them both another round of beer and shots. "It might be fun!"

"Taylor Doose come up with something fun?" Luke snorted. "Your idea of fun is pretty strange. Here." He raised his shot and she did the same. "Cheers." They downed the shots together.

"Fine," she conceded after a moment, "but maybe you could just unbend for once. Suck it up, do your civic duty." Her tone was slightly irritated. The tequila was making her bold.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Luke asked. The bartender approached again, but he waved him away. The way he was feeling, he needed to pace himself. "What are you after here?"

"I want you to play so I can beat you," Lorelai confessed.

"No way," Luke snorted again. "I am not doing it."

"Aww, be man, grow a pair," Lorelai said tipsily, elbowing him. "I bet I can kick your ass," she whispered near his ear.

Luke shook his head at her alcohol-fueled bravado. "You wish," he snorted.

"Care to make it interesting?" Lorelai challenged him.

"What a side bet between you and me?" Luke asked, slightly intrigued. "You wanna put money on it?"

"Oh ye of stale, limiting opportunities," Lorelai teasingly mocked him. "Think bigger, bolder. Go crazy!" Lorelai saw him pondering her words and got excited. "The possibilities are limitless! Ooh when you lost you would have to do all the fix-it jobs around my house for a month! Or attend town meetings for a year!"

Her enthusiasm was infectious. Luke was having a hard time keeping up with her chattering. The tequila and the beer had definitely lowered his guard. He found her smiles and hair flips eroding his resistance. He knew under these conditions it would only be a matter of time before he caved; he found his resolve weakening as he stared into her mischievous eyes. Suddenly her last statement sunk into his brain.

"Wait a minute," Luke protested. "If we do this, there should be a time limit." He was not going to attend town meetings for a year. He eyed Lorelai suspiciously. "You'd keep changing your mind about what you wanted anyway. You wouldn't stand firm on the terms."

"I most certainly would!" Lorelai huffed in indignation, hauling herself upright onto her stool. As she met his knowing gaze, her posture sagged and said sheepishly, "Okay, maybe not. We could write our wagers and put them in sealed envelopes! Let's do that now!"

Luke looked at her confused. "Where in the heck are you gonna get envelopes in a bar?"

Lorelai rummaged in her purse and whipped out envelopes. Luke shook his head in disbelief. The junk she carried in her purse. She got two sheets of paper from the bartender and passed one to Luke.

"Where is the pen you take your orders with? Use that," Lorelai prompted.

"How many times do I have to tell you, I don't carry that pen with me," Luke groused at her. Lorelai fished out another pen from her purse and handed it to him. She watched Luke pause, pen poised over the paper, trying to come up with a suitable wager.

"Ask for the moon and the stars bucko. Doesn't matter cuz you are going down," Lorelai predicted. "Down, downtown, lowdown, so down…" she trailed off running out of words.

"You so cannot pull off the trash talk," Luke told her.

"I can so!" Lorelai declared.

"Whatever," Luke shook his head then remembered what they had been talking about. "Time limit. I am not doing some crazy stunt for months on end just for your amusement."

"One month," Lorelai decided. "Deal?"

"Deal," Luke agreed. Lorelai held out her hand. He looked at her before finally grabbing her hand and giving it one firm shake.

"Let's drink on it! One more," Lorelai coaxed him.

"Fine," Luke agreed even though he was already feeling pretty good with what he already had in the short time he had been there.

The bartender set them up again. As they downed their shots and finished off their beer, Taylor walked in with a large envelope.

"Ooh, it's almost time!" she exclaimed loudly clapping her hands in glee. The tequila was giving her a warm glow. "We need to write down our wagers!"

Lorelai settled back on her stool and chewed the end of her pen for a moment then looked over at Luke. What to wager she wondered. She thought about all of the little odd jobs Luke routinely did for her. He already fed her, sometimes three times a day. She scrunched up her face wracking her brain for what she needed most.

The answer came to her quickly but she immediately nixed it. He'd never agree. She looked over at Luke who was sitting at the bar, idly sipping his beer, not overly concerned about writing down a wager. She could see the paper was still blank.

Still the idea persisted. In her slightly fogged state, her mind twisted with devious logic. If she couched her wager just right, if she got him to agree before she had to explain herself…it could work.

"For the next thirty days, Lucas Danes…" she said aloud as she was writing. She gave him an evil grin and finished writing in silence.

Luke watched her as she was writing. She had cupped her hand around the paper so he couldn't see what she wrote. She quickly folded the paper and stuffed it in the envelope and sealed it then wrote her name on it. She gave him an innocent look which dissolved into a dazzling smile, one that made him unconsciously tighten his grip on his beer, affected by her obvious beauty and worried about what hare-brained stunt she had written down.

"C'mon," she urged him. "Write something, anything! This is your big chance!" she told him then got cocky, "Doesn't matter cuz you're not gonna win!" She was practically vibrating she was so keyed up. "Write whatever you want!"

Luke paused, watching her, considering. A slow, evil grin spread across his features and he put pen to paper. As he began writing, Lorelai craned her neck like she was peeking. He copied her method of hiding what he was writing. He quickly finished and stuffed his wager in his envelope. He sealed the envelope and wrote his name on it.

"What do we do with them now?" he asked curiously. He continued giving Lorelai that same evil grin.

"I'll keep 'em!" Lorelai declared. She grinned back at him. She was having fun and realized she was glad he was there. She grabbed Luke's envelope and put them both back in her purse as Taylor walked up to them.

"Hello, Lorelai," he nodded at her then gave another nod. "Luke. Lorelai, do you want to take the test now?" He had noticed that both Luke and Lorelai seemed a little drunk. "You may want to have your wits about you. This test isn't easy."

"We'll be fine," Lorelai proclaimed. "Give us the tests."

"Luke, you're taking the test?" Taylor eyebrows rose in surprise as a smug expression crossed his features. "Well—"

"Shut up Taylor and give me the test before I change my mind," Luke barked at him. He enjoyed barking at Taylor as a matter of principle.

Taylor handed them both a test. "Good luck," he said and walked away.

"No peeking," Lorelai waggled a finger at him.

Luke just gave her a look. He motioned to the bartender to set them up for another round while they both started on the test.

"Wow," Lorelai commented, sipping her beer, "some of these questions are really easy and some of them…Name the first family that founded Stars Hollow? Is Taylor kidding?"

"There are some easy ones," Luke glanced over the test. He rolled his eyes at one of the questions. "In fifty words or less, recount the story behind The Firelight Festival. Oh for the love of…," he groaned.

Lorelai chuckled at his tone. "What business occupied the spot before Luke's Diner?" Lorelai asked. "Well, duh."

"Remind me to yell at Taylor for putting my business in this stupid test," Luke said tossing back another shot.

"Name the manufacturer and product that Stars Hollow is noted for?" Lorelai boggled at the difficulty of the question.

After about fifteen minutes they both finished their tests. As they did so, Taylor glided up and quickly snatched them away. "No comparing answers," Taylor warned. "We'll be announcing the results at the next town meeting," he told them.

"Oh, joy," Luke deadpanned. Lorelai giggled.

"One more drink!" Lorelai declared. She leaned up against Luke. "C'mon, one more."

He was feeling a little fuzzy. Belatedly he realized they were in a public place. He was enjoying the fact that Lorelai was leaning up against him a little too much. She did seem more relaxed than when she first approached him and he considered it a triumph that he had calmed her down. He was afraid he might have to scrape her off the ceiling. As the bartender set them up yet again, Luke said, "Last one."

"Spoilsport," Lorelai pouted.

Once they downed their last shots and finished off their beers, Luke vaguely remembered that he was opening the diner in the morning.

"I have to go," Luke said. He tossed some money next to his glass to cover their drinks and stood up. He hung onto the bar to keep himself steady.

Lorelai's lower lip made an encore appearance as she wordlessly pouted at him again. She got to her feet as well and immediately pitched backward. Luke threw out his arm and pulled her against him, steadying her.

"I think we've both had enough," he said looking down at her.

For a moment they stared into each other's eyes, each quietly wondering what the other was thinking. The press of their bodies against each other had the effect of a splash of cold water, but Luke didn't let her go. Lorelai felt that familiar feeling, that they were having one of those "moments" that seemed to spontaneously pop up whenever they were together.

"You didn't drive did you?" Luke asked finally.

"No, I walked here. And I think I can crawl back," Lorelai bobbed her head as if agreeing with her own words.

"I'll walk you home," Luke offered. Lorelai looked at him strangely that fluttery feeling again taking root inside her. "Just to make sure you make it," he added.

"Who's gonna make sure you make if you make it back to the diner?" Lorelai wondered.

"Don't worry, I know how to crawl too," Luke assured her.

They looked at each other for a minute, completely serious, then burst out laughing and headed towards the door.

"Look at that," Miss Patty nudged Babette. They watched Luke and Lorelai stagger out of the bar, leaning against each other. "Do you think…?"

"Nah, they're too drunk," Babette said regretfully. "But boy, it's nice to dream."

As they walked outside the cool evening air caused them to sober up a bit.

"We can do this," Lorelai giggled but the distance to her house seemed very far.

"Or die trying," Luke laughed.

A car glided smoothly to the curb in front of where they were standing. After a moment, Kirk got out.

"Need a ride?" Kirk asked.

"Kirk?" Lorelai blinked at him in confusion. "What are you doing?"

"I sometimes offer my services as town designated driver," Kirk explained in a no-nonsense voice. "I noticed both you and Luke appear to be a trifle unsteady on your feet probably from imbibing too much alcohol."

"We have not!" Lorelai said indignantly as she swayed into Luke. She relaxed against him, comfortably. "We're fine! We just finished taking the trivia test!" Lorelai announced, as if taking the test proved they were sober.

"Oh," Kirk shook his head, "not the best venue for taking the test. You should have taken it at Weston's like I did earlier in the week. There is no way you could beat me." Kirk prided himself on winning the dance contest every year and this was no different.

"I'm not going to beat you, Kirk," Lorelai admitted, "But I'm going to beat Luke! We bet on it and everything!"

"Really? What did you bet?" Kirk asked, intrigued.

"You'll find out after I win," Lorelai answered smugly.

"Kirk, we don't care about beating you, we don't care about the bet, we care about getting home," Luke piped up. In the short time they had been standing there, he decided he couldn't walk Lorelai home and make it home himself. "Are you going to take us?"

"Get in," Kirk said as he got back behind the wheel.

Luke stumbled over to the rear passenger door and opened it. He waited for Lorelai to get in and slide over before getting in himself.

"Such a gentleman," Lorelai twittered in a southern accent.

"Don't get used to it," Luke returned, half-laughing to himself.

They both relaxed into the seat as Kirk drove away. In a few minutes, they were pulling up to Lorelai's house.

"Gilmore residence," Kirk announced. He picked up a clipboard and began writing on a sheet, like a cab driver logging his time.

Luke blinked in surprise at how fast they had arrived at Lorelai's house. He looked over at her, she had her eyes closed. Not sure if he could walk around the car and open her door and sure that Kirk wasn't going to do it, he leaned across her and opened the door. As he moved back he noticed her eyes had opened and she was staring at him. He froze; their faces just inches apart.

"You're home," he said in a quiet voice.

Lorelai didn't speak. She had gotten lost in his eyes, his beautiful blue eyes. The flutter was back. She finally dropped her eyes; her face felt warm.

"Meter's running," Kirk hadn't looked up. Luke moved back.

"Thanks, Luke for…well thanks," Lorelai smiled at him. "See you tomorrow." She got out of the car and shut the door. Luke watched her carefully walk up her steps and let herself into the house.

"So Luke, care to make another wager on the test?" Kirk asked.

Luke did not reply. He slumped back into the seat and closed his eyes.


tbc