Title: Delicate
Author: Karleen
Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Warner Brothers, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions and Hofflund/Polone. This was just written for fun.
A/N(s):
(1) italicized texts are part of a flashback.
(2) Thanks for your response with the last chapter. Glad you enjoyed the route I took with that one, it was a blast to write!
(3) I'd love to hear what you think so please leave me your thoughts, comments or questions... and I can't stress this enough... Thank you to those who've reviewed the previous chapters, they help me move the story forward.

Chapter Eleven: Down Memory Lane

"Tell me the reason why you're going camping with Luke again?" Rory paused. "You and nature don't exactly go together like peanut butter and jelly."

"I told you, I lost the bet." She said as she walked around the inn with her cell phone.

"What bet?"

"See, Taylor and Kirk were arguing or should I say, have been arguing at the diner about what they were going to call the end of summer festival since his new position of temporary co- chairman of the board."

"Scary."

"Yeah.. Anyway, Kirk said that End of Summer Madness was a ridiculously long name so he wanted to shorten it. The problem is that he couldn't come up with a name at that moment and stormed out. So I bet Luke that we were going to keep the name. He disagreed and sided with Kirk."

"That's weird."

"Yeah I know."

"So what is the event called now?"

"Welcome Fall Festival." Lorelai said dryly.

"Are you serious?"

"As an aneurysm."

"Hey, what would Luke have done if he'd lost the bet?"

"Well..."

"Actually, don't tell me... By your tone, I don't think I'd want to know."

"Hey, my head isn't always dirty." She scoffed. "It would have been quite funny actually, I said that if I won, he'd have to walk around the diner in a French maid uniform for an entire day." She grimaced. "But since he won, now I have to go camping with him."

"Good luck." She said with sheer sarcasm. "You're certainly going to need it."

"Mean." She said as her daughter laughed in the background.

- - - -

"I just brought everything we need for this trip. Even a new inflatable bed so we won't have to sleep on the ground." He said as he sat by her side on her bed. "You all packed?" She was reading something then she placed it next to her.

"You mean ready for the wilderness? I don't think so."

"You are so dreading this trip, aren't you?" He asked with a grin.

"Not dreading, sheer anticipation, nervous anxiety... You know the normal stuff."

"Don't worry, there won't be bears... At least not that I know of lingering in the area. I also brought a new insect repellent machine to ward off the mosquitoes."

"That's a nice picture you just painted." She sarcastically said.

"You did generate this bet."

"I know." She paused. "I won't say anything again."

"Wanna bet?" He grinned.

"Hey, don't start." She playfully whacked his arm. He leaned in and kissed her. "What's all this?" He noticed the papers beside her.

"Divorce papers. Just needs my signatures." She paused. "Hey, when you had gotten divorced with Nicole did it feel weird?"

"It was more of a 'How did I get myself into this?' feeling than anything else, really."

"Yeah exactly that."

"So once those are signed and notarized..."

"The marriage is dissolved."

"Good."

"Yeah, very good." They smiled at each other.

- - - -

Friday Night.

"Lorelai." He gently shook her awake. "Lorelai."

"Huh?..what?"

"We're here." He said as he attempted to wake her up.

"Where?" She opened her eyes and saw a cabin. "I thought you said we were going camping?"

"We are."

"Where's the woods?"

"The whole backyard is the woods." Luke said as a matter of fact tone.

"But.."

"You thought that you would have to sleep in a cold tent out in some forest, didn't you?"

"Well you didn't exactly refer to a cabin. Why did you pack your tent if we were going to stay there?" she pointed.

"Just to freak you out." He laughed.

"The inflatable bed was actually enough to do that."

"Did I forget to say electrical?"

"Purposely I might add. How would I know that this is where you meant by camping. Luke Danes, you've been holding out on me." She said as they got out of his truck. "Where exactly are we?"

"The Poconos."

"Cool." She smiled.

"I told you." He said as he draped his arms over her shoulder.

"So is this yours?" She asked as they entered the cabin.

"My father brought it when Liz and I were still kids. A summer getaway from Stars Hollow. It's a simple place."

"Cozy." She said as she looked around. "It's beautiful and tidy."

"Needs to be looked after more. I mean, I come over here once in a while to clean it out."

"So this is where you were a few weekends ago when you said you had to do some business in Pennsylvania?"

"Yeah." He said as she sat on the couch. "I've been meaning to invite you here for a while now."

"But that was way before this bet even started, you planned it since then?"

"Yeah, I figured that you'd want to make a bet about Taylor and Kirk's argument" he paused. "Which by the way was all part of the plan"

"Wait a minute..."

"I paid off Taylor to let Kirk win."

"I knew there was something off when you began siding with Kirk." She paused. "You went through all that just to get me all distraught about having to go camping all week instead of just simply inviting me here?"

"Fun, isn't it?" He grinned.

"I'll get you back, Danes." She said.

"I'm sure you will." He leaned in and kissed her.

- - - -

Saturday Morning.

"You know I could get used to this." She said as she hugged him from behind.

"You're up early."

"Your side of the bed suddenly got cold." She kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks for conning me into coming here... though you know that I would've voluntarily agreed to come for future references." He smirked.

"You hungry?"

"Do you even have to ask?" She paused. "Wait, you didn't bring your freeze dried spaghetti pouches did you, 'cause those things just gives me the creeps."

"Nah." He chuckled. "That only goes in my back country emergency bag."

"Sometimes, I forget how much of a dork you are."

"Yeah, but you love me because of it." He teased.

"You bet your sweet behind I do." she grinned.

- - - -

"Where are we going?" She asked for the third time as he lead her down a woodland path.

"The concept of surprise just doesn't cut it with you, does it?"

"Simple question..." she pointed to herself. "Long winded answer in a form of a question." She pointed at him.

"We're close."

"To what? A ditch you're going to leave me in?" They walked further and ended up by a dock.

"We're here." He led her to the docks. "What do you think?"

"Is that your boat?"

"Yeah, Never really finished my father's boat, some of the parts I needed were still backordered... So I brought that motor boat about a year ago. Easier, actually... I didn't have to assemble anything."

"A year ago?"

"I.. I actually planned to bring you here longer than I led on." He assisted her to get into the boat. "Last May, actually..."

"Oh."

"Well.." he paused. "We're here now right?"

"Yeah." She said before he started the engine.

- - - -

'We don't belong together... Let's just stop fighting it.' The words rang in her head, louder than the church bells they conspired to break. It had been a couple of days since she'd seen him since the night at the supermarket. 'I'll go back to being the guy in the diner who pours you coffee.' His words stuck to her as if they were glued to her brain.

As she heard the door open, she tried to hide the fact that she had been crying. Rory sat by her side.

"I'm sorry for what I said earlier." Her daughter whispered and drew her close for a hug. "Are you okay?"

"I saw him at the supermarket a couple of minutes ago."

"Who?...Luke?" She nodded slightly.

"I went to get more ice cream.. Not at Doose's..." Her voice cracked. "It's really over this time."

Lorelai watched him as he slept soundly. He snored, but it soothed her more than anything else. Moments like this, simple as sleeping next to each other, naked or not, reminded her of how lucky she was to gain what she thought she'd lost once and for all. She was grateful to have him back in her life, and her back in his.

'I love you.' she whispered before she went back to sleep.

- - - -

"I can't believe the weekend's over." She said as she helped him put their luggage on his truck.

"We can come back whenever you want."

"I'm sure to take you up on that."

"Good."

"Man, I haven't seen your truck this loaded since... Well never mind." Lorelai didn't finish her thought as they got in the truck to go home.

"Since when?" He paused. "Since I came to your house that morning?" He said that with emphasis knowing exactly where her thought was headed.

"We don't have to talk about it..." she closed her door.

"We can, you know." He assured her as he started the engine. "We're beyond not talking about anything on our minds, right?"

"Right." She looked at him. "Did you really think we were ready then, that morning that you wanted to elope?"

"I always had the picture of us being married in the back of my head since the day I brought the Twickham house. A lot of things had just gotten way out of hand in between."

"So why didn't you just agree the night before?"

"Truthfully, I don't remember what was running through my head then." They hit traffic on the freeway.

"Why didn't you go after me?" She asked softly.

"You were upset. I figured that you would go home and cool off, like you used to. Then we'd talk things over..." He sighed and she nodded her head slightly.

"You know...When you didn't say yes.. I don't know.. I felt whatever future I saw for us then shattered that night... Cheesy as that may have come out."

"Not cheesy." He said as the traffic moved slowly. "It was how I felt when I saw that you had a wedding band on your finger."

"Just for the record, I didn't intend to tell you that way."

"And just so you know, I didn't say never."

to be continued . . .