Okay so I post on Thanksgiving and manage to catch a review or two before I head out to my family. I get home late and say Please Lord, I know it's Thanksgiving but it would be nice to have maybe 5 reviews waiting when I get home? I underestimated you guys! I got a lot more than 5 so I was very happy! And I appreciate every single one. Thank you!

This is the last chapter of the "common" storyline. Some of it's the same, some different.

Like to hear your thoughts, again if you are so inclined.

Ground Rules

Luke wasn't sure how long they stood staring at each other. Luke standing behind the counter, Lorelai rooted to the spot outside the diner. Luke could tell that he had definitely crossed a line by Lorelai's stunned expression. Standing there staring at her, Luke went through a range of emotions from fear, regret, uncertainty and dread then suddenly he was angry. He was angry at Lorelai; he knew her child-like impatience had prompted her to swipe the envelope because she couldn't wait to read it and he was pissed at himself for letting her work him into such a state that he had written down his crazy wager in the first place. Now he would have to deal with the consequences.

He realized that he had just jeopardized his entire friendship with Lorelai with one huge drunken mistake. He needed time to think, to find some way to spin it so he wouldn't lose her altogether. He hoped he would get the chance to talk to her alone and she wouldn't walk into the diner and start screaming at him. If she did that, it was over for both of them with this town.

Lorelai stood mesmerized, staring at Luke. Her heart was beating very fast and she could feel her cheeks burning. She wasn't sure if she should feel flattered or outraged. Of all the things he could have possibly wagered, she never imagined this. Her mind was running in all directions. She never knew he was attracted to her like that.

As soon as she thought it, a little voice in her head contradicted her. Then her head was filled with other voices. Sookie's voice: "Luke's had to watch you go from one guy to another and then get engaged and then break that off and date a young kid and it's like everyone in the world is better than he is…." Rory's voice: "Everyone knows Luke has a thing for you." Hell, even her mother's voice: "… he was looking at you like you were about to give him a lapdance…" Everyone had told her and she had conveniently fluffed it off.

Her shock over his wager was slowly receding and she thought about how they interacted with each other over the years. She had always teased and flirted with him but it never occurred to her that he could possibly fall victim to her charms. They had flirted, harmlessly or so she thought, but Luke had always seemed impervious to the obvious feminine ploys she had used on lesser men.

Then she found herself reconsidering those "moments" that had been occurring more frequently between them over the years. She remembered the many times when they had just looked at each other and she had turned away confused and feeling all fluttery inside. She remembered the night at K.C.'s just a few short days ago. She had been almost certain Luke was going to kiss her when they had gone to her home. She wondered what might have happened if Kirk hadn't been there…and the flutter was back.

Lorelai had to admit she had always secretly wondered what it would be like to be with Luke. But she had never acted on it. She had kept her feelings to herself because of their friendship. In light of the bet though, she knew she could no longer ignore their situation. She had to face the fact that there was definitely interest of some sort on both sides. But she needed to know what Luke was thinking when he made his bet.

She knew she had to go back into the diner if for nothing else: her purse was sitting on the counter in front of Luke. They had to talk about this but still she couldn't move.

"Hey, Sugah," Babette greeted her as she stopped next to her on the sidewalk. She noticed Lorelai had her cell phone in her hand. "Luke make ya come outside to take your call? Boy he sure knows how to stick it to ya."

"What!" Lorelai gasped, startled out of her reverie. With Luke's wager still uppermost in her mind, Babette's words suddenly took on a whole new meaning.

Your call honey," Babette said, confused. "Luke always makes ya go outside. Someday, ya should hide that sign a his and really screw with 'im.

"Babette!" Lorelai said in a shocked voice.

"What? It'd be a hell of a joke," Babette shrugged still confused over Lorelai's behavior. "C'mon doll," Babette urged her back into the diner. "Ya must be hungry. Ya aren't yourself. I'm sure Luke will take care of ya."

Lorelai knew she had to snap out of her current mindset. She was reading something into everything Babette was saying and it wasn't helping her with her current dilemma. She allowed Babette to pull her back into the diner and on rubbery legs, she tottered back to the counter and her purse where Luke stood, apparently waiting for her return. Their eyes locked as she gingerly sat down. She was acutely aware of there was still a fair number of people in the diner and was grateful they were there.

"Before you go ballistic on me, just calm down," Luke said in a low voice that only she could hear. "We'll talk about this once everyone leaves, okay?"

Lorelai felt that flutter again. Her eyes dropped to the counter.

"Lorelai," As Luke leaned over she caught her breath and he noticed. "Relax. I am going to go make your food okay? We'll talk later."

She nodded and Luke went back to the kitchen. His mind and stomach were churning over the upcoming confrontation. He knew he had to face the music but his mind desperately searched for a way that would allow him to address the newly-formed dynamic of their relationship and still keep Lorelai in his life.

He waved Cesar out of the kitchen and absently began completing the orders waiting to be filled, letting Cesar wait on the customers while he contemplated what to do. Now that it was out in the open, he considered being honest with her and telling her how he really felt but then he recalled how skittish Lorelai had been when she came back into the diner. No, that would scare her even more.

Luke sighed as he finished up with Lorelai's order. He put extra cheese on both her burger and the fries before handing the plate over to Cesar to deliver it. He continued working on auto-pilot, wracking his brain for a way to handle the mess he had gotten himself into.

It was too bad their friendship hadn't strayed into an unsuccessful romance in the past, he thought. If they had been together previously, he could chalk up his bet to getting together for old time's sake.

He stopped what he was doing as he suddenly realized he had hit on a plausible excuse. Hell, there were plenty of people in the world who were friends and were occasionally lovers, no strings attached. Luke wondered if he could offer her that explanation; that way when she backed out, maybe she wouldn't be freaked out and he might still be able to retain their friendship. If he could convince her, he could at least save face.

A new thought surfaced in his brain. What if she didn't back out and went through with the bet? If he maintained a casual status, maybe they still could have the next month together. The possibilities were too tantalizing to ignore. He recognized that he'd have to hide how deeply he felt for her. Lorelai usually bolted when things got too serious.

Luke needed to be ready, to have all the answers just in case hell froze over and Lorelai would agree to spending her nights with him in bed. He'd have to make sure he planned out everything ahead of time taking into consideration all potential stumbling blocks from day-to-day for the next month as well as the night-to-night.

Luke continued cooking up orders, thoughtful, with a distant smile playing on his face.

Lorelai slowly ate her dinner. She noticed the extra cheese and wondered if Luke added it to placate her. The diner slowly cleared out as she finished her meal but she didn't notice. Her mind was focused on the upcoming discussion between her and Luke and what he would say. She had no intention of leaving until they discussed the current situation.

The diner was completely empty when Cesar wordlessly came out of the kitchen, cleared her plate then topped off her coffee and served her up a piece of boysenberry pie. Lorelai was mildly curious that there was still no sign of Luke.

As Cesar began putting up the chairs, Luke finally appeared. He glanced over as if to confirm she was still there and went the door and flipped the sign to Closed then started to help. Between the two of them, they made quick work of readying the diner for the next day.

When they were done, Cesar headed towards the door. "See ya tomorrow Luke," he said then nodded to Lorelai, "you too. 'Night, Lorelai." He paused at the door. "Should I lock up?" He regarded the two of them curiously.

Luke had already gone back behind the counter and grabbed the coffee pot to refill Lorelai's cup. "No, I'll do that when Lorelai leaves. Thanks."

After Cesar left Luke came around the counter and sat a few stools down from her. He wasn't sure if he should start or wait and let her start so he could gauge her reaction and respond accordingly. He looked at her expectantly.

He didn't have long to wait.

"Are you kidding me with this bet?" she burst out.

Luke took a deep breath, glad he had taken the time to think this through. "'Fraid not," he gave her a twisted smile.

"How could you pick something so…." Lorelai paused searching for the correct word. Crazy? Inappropriate? "...out there?" Lorelai finished. "I thought you'd pick something a hell of a lot tamer like I did."

"What was your wager?" Luke asked, curious.

Lorelai took her envelope out of her purse and slid it down the counter towards him. He ripped open the envelope and skimmed the page.

"For the next thirty days, Lucas Danes has to serve me coffee whenever I want it, 24/7." Luke's eyes widened. "Sheesh you would have put me out of business."

"Well it's better than what you wagered," she pointed out. "What were you thinking?"

Luke shrugged. "I wasn't,' he admitted. "But with the way you were hanging on me at the bar, it seemed like the perfect wager at the time. You were the one who encouraged me to write down whatever I wanted," he reminded her.

"And you just expect me to just go along with this?" she asked with narrowed eyes.

"Lorelai Gilmore would never welsh on a bet," he quoted her words back to her. She glowered at him. "You would've made me serve you coffee if you'd won," he told her. He paused, collecting himself. "Look, it occurred to me that we're both between dates right now," he explained. "I just thought we could give each other a little helping hand to get past a dry patch."

"That is one hell of a helping hand," Lorelai grumbled. He was right though; she would have made him honor her bet if she'd won. Her words were coming back to bite her in the ass. She wasn't sure if she could go through with it but was cornered and she knew he knew it. Since she had given her word she had no choice but to hold up her end of the bet. "Thirty nights?" she questioned incredulously as her mind went over his wager again. "Talk about ambitious. We'll kill each other."

Luke's face registered his surprise. It sounded like she really was going to go through with it. Luke was suddenly hopeful. This might actually work. "Yeah, but what a way to go," he said giving her a lazy smile.

Lorelai watched him fully take in her appearance from head to toe. She kept perfectly still but she felt an indefinable tremor run through her as she watched him.

"You're not at all worried about how this will affect our friendship if we become…" her voice trailed off, unable to find the correct way of saying it.

"Friends with benefits?" he supplied, taking the more polite route.

"Fuck buddies," she returned in a last attempt to scare him off.

"No, I am good with it," he answered, even though he knew neither of them was the kind of person who just slept around. After all the years he spent watching and wanting Lorelai Gilmore, he decided even if they might not have a happily ever after, at least he could have a chance at being with her. And maybe make her see what she is missing. Hell, even if they didn't end up together, maybe having a month with her would finally help him stop hoping and get over her once and for all.

"Oh." She was surprised he was treating this so casually. Maybe she had been wrong about all those previous moments.

"So, do we have a deal here?" he asked wanting to get confirmation that she would be honoring the bet.

Lorelai paused suddenly wary of what the next thirty nights might bring.

She took a deep breath. "Deal," she said.

Luke was stunned but quickly recovered. "Okay, then we need to set up some ground rules."

"Ground rules?" she asked confused. "What sort of ground rules?"

"First off, no one can know about this. If Miss Patty and Babette find out, we'll never hear the end of it. That also means no Sookie."

That made sense. The town would have a field day with this if they knew. "What about Rory?"

Luke paused. He knew Lorelai told Rory practically everything and he was sure that if Lorelai did tell Rory, his own relationship with her would change as well and probably not for the better.

"If you have to, if you need to, tell her," Luke allowed. "But obviously I think you'd rather not."

Lorelai absently nodded in agreement. She couldn't imagine telling her that she and Luke would be doing it for the next month due to the outcome of a bet. Rory had objected the one time she asked if she thought Luke was cute. She was pretty sure Rory would object and strongly. Lorelai also knew that Rory loved Luke. She didn't want this to affect Rory's opinion of him.

"Second, during regular daytime hours, when you come into the diner or we meet up on the street, we have to behave normally," Luke told her. "Well, if you can call your behavior normal," he amended attempting to lighten the mood.

"Hey!'

"If we act differently people, especially people in this town, will suspect something is going on."

That made sense. "Okay, agreed."

"You'll come to the diner every night and we will spend every night in my bed upstairs. I'll leave the time up to you, but remember: there will be nights when we'll have to go to bed pretty early," Lorelai felt that flutter again, "since I'll have early deliveries that I have to be up for."

"I'm usually kind of a night owl," Lorelai pointed out off-handedly. She was reeling slightly from Luke mentioning the two of them in his bed. "I'm not sure I'll be able to go to bed that early."

"Well you may want to start. You'll be getting up at quarter to five every morning when I do."

"No way," Lorelai put her foot down. "Why do I have to get up that early?"

"You need to be out of here and back home before the diner opens," Luke explained. "Again we don't want the whole town knowing. You can always go back to your house and go back to sleep."

"Why do I have to be the one who has to venture out every night?" Lorelai challenged him. It seemed like she was the one who was going to be greatly inconvenienced for the next month.

"Because I won," Luke replied simply. "I won so we play by my rules."

Lorelai narrowed her eyes at him. She really wasn't going to have any say in this. "Fine. Thank god we live in the safest town in America."

"Just make sure no one sees you enter or leave the diner," Luke added. "Maybe you should use the back door." He went behind the counter and rummaged around in a drawer. "Here's a key."

"I'm not good enough to use the front door?" Lorelai asked.

"Sure, go ahead," Luke shot back flippantly. "Just make sure you are wearing your "We're Having Sex" sandwich board. Patty will love that."

"Alright, agreed," Lorelai conceded.

"Last thing," Luke paused steeling himself. This one would be tricky. "Uh, protection."

Lorelai swallowed nervously. All the rules and her griping faded away. This suddenly brought what they were about to do even more sharply into focus.

"Uh," Lorelai stammered uncomfortably. "We're okay on that front. I'm on the pill and we're both…" she paused delicately, "clean?"

Luke nodded in agreement. For the first time he colored slightly but immediately got a hold of himself. He couldn't allow his normal sensitivities to over run him, not if he wanted his plan to work.

"Uh," Lorelai stammered again, even more uncomfortable, "there will probably be a few nights were we will have to," again she paused delicately, "uh abstain."

"Why?" Luke asked cluelessly then it occurred to him. "Oh. Well. Uh, okay we'll deal with that when it arrives." He felt his face warm up once again and saw Lorelai's pinken too.

"Anything else?" Lorelai asked hoping that was it. The number of rules and conditions he proposed surprised her. He must have given the situation some serious thought since he covered all the bases. It amazed her that he was so detached about the whole thing. She realized if she was going to go through with this, she would have to be as equally detached.

"No I think that covers it, unless you've got something you want to say?" Luke asked.

"I'm good for now," she said shortly thinking furiously trying to come up with something.

"Once the 30 nights are over, we go back to the way things were before, no harm, no foul," Luke said. He got up and moved away from her, puttering behind the counter as he spoke. He didn't want her to see how much he was hoping that they would continue on after the thirty days in a more permanent relationship. He knew he was taking a big chance here but he knew he had to do it. The alternative of watching her with someone else was just too painful to consider. "Agreed?"

"Agreed," Lorelai confirmed. She grabbed her purse to pay for dinner but he waved her off. She nodded and got to her feet, heading for the door, suddenly keenly aware that he'd followed her. She turned and he was right behind her.

"So….we start tomorrow?" he questioned.

She stared up at him, unable to find an excuse to put this off. She nodded, "Tomorrow."

tbc

A/N: I took some liberty with Lorelai's method of birth control here. Hope y'all don't mind.