"Oh my God! This is so exciting!" Rory squealed as she sat cross-legged on her mom's bed, surrounded by clothes.

"I know, I know. I'm so nervous though," said the usually confident Lorelai.

Tonight was her first date with Luke and she wanted it to be special.

"Okay, we have it down to two options. Blue dress, brown belt, black heels or pink dress, white belt, black flats," Lorelai said alternating the options.

"Hm," Rory said tapping her chin, "I say pink, it's girlier and more functional. I mean, what if you decide to go skydiving and you're wearing heels? Then you might trip out the plane while not being fully balanced and not have your parachute fully on yet. Then everything would be ruined."

"He said he was taking me out for dinner."

"Yeah, well, sure. That's what all skydiving kidnappers say!"

"What?"

"After your date, Luke could kidnap you and take you to the plane. Torturing you would so much easier thus having your heels be exploiting."

"Yes I'm sure that's it."

The clock ticked slowly, but her heart beat fast. She'd been on dates plenty of times before, why was this time so different? Deep down she knew though. This time was different. This time it was… Luke. Luke. Simply the sound on his name made her feel alive and excited about everything. Finally the doorbell rang at exactly 8:30. 8:30. He was prompt. Did she know that? She knew he was always nagging her to be on time. But that was other Luke. That wasn't dating Luke. She knew they were the same, but yet, she couldn't place them together. Just then the doorbell rang, giving her a fresh round of energy and nerves. Though it took all of her power, she forced herself to wait a few seconds and walk slowly to the door. She didn't want to appear too eager.

She opened the door. Now, she didn't know what she expected to see, but it sure wasn't this.

"Hey-hey Luke," she stumbled. He looked….gorgeous. No, gorgeous was underestimating. He looked absolutely and completely ravishing. Instead his usual flannel, jeans, baseball cap get up he had on khakis and a button down shirt with brushed hair.

"Hi Lorelai," he said coolly, but not trying. "You look…stunning," he said. It wasn't the usually 'you look fantastic and I say this because I am trying to impress you and am kind of obligated to' usual guy talk either. It was real.

"And you look amazing," Lorelai said. Now if Lorelai had been watching this conversation in a movie or in her town it would have made her gag with the overkill of fluff, but since it was happening to her, she enjoyed it…a lot. It had been so long since she had felt this was. In fact she had never felt this way about a guy before. There was so much passion and wonderful tension surrounding them.

"Shall we go?," Luke said opening her side of the truck like a chauffeur.

Lorelai giggled, "We shall."

The ride to the restaurant remained relatively quiet, but it wasn't awkward. It was actually very comfortable and peaceful. Sitting in silence was enough for them. Just being together said things that words couldn't express.

Everything was going great, everything meaning about the first eight minutes of the date, just driving in the car. Luke was a really good driver, Lorelai observed, he was focused on the road. He was focused on the road and her at the same time.

"So," Luke started, "how's Rory?" Luke asked.

"Good, she's good." Lorelai replied. God, was this guy perfect or what? He cared about both her and Rory. Especially Rory. He treated her like she was his own kid. If Rory was sick, he'd be the first to help. If she needed comforting, he'd be the first to give it to her. If she got into trouble (which hardly ever happened, but if it did) he'd be the first to talk some sense into her and tell Lorelai. That made her trust him. But trust also made her scared.

"That's good."

"Yeah," Lorelai said, "it really is."

"How are things at the-," his question was cut short by a sudden banging sound and jerk of the back bumper.

"What the-" Lorelai started.

"Okay, I'm going to go see what happened and get this straightened out," Luke said.

"Here, I'll come with you," Lorelai said grabbing her purse and opening the car door.

"Are you sure? I can go by myself. You don't have to," Luke said.

"No it's fine. I want to know what's going on. Plus if it's a gang or something, Lukie is gonna need some protection," Lorelai teased.

"Yeah, a gang four minutes outside of Star's Hollow. I'm sure that's what it is."

It wasn't a gang, obviously, but two boys that looked to be just a bit older than Rory.

"Ello mates! Fancy meeting you here!," The driver, an obviously drunk young Australian boy yelled.

"I'm sorry do I know you?," Luke said, starting to get ticked off.

"Well, I don't recognize you, but I'm Finn and this is Logan," Finn continued.

"How do you do?," Logan said, mockingly bowing. He was obviously drunk as well.

"What do you two think you're doing? You're driving, obviously drunk, and obviously underaged," Luke said yelling now. He was mad about his car and the papa bear in him was starting to come out, even though he didn't know the boys.

"We are very sorry sir," Logan said extending his arm.

"Hear! Hear!," Finn yelled.

"Okay, Lorelai can I talk to you for a second?" Luke said unsure of what to do.

Lorelai nodded confused.

"Don't move!" Luke barked at the boys.

Luke and Lorelai walked over to the truck.

"What should I do?" Luke asked desperately.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean do I call the cops, give them a ride home, let them drive? What?"

"Okay, we definitely not letting them drive."

"And I doubt they can remember their addresses."

"So…what are we going to do?"

"We could call the cops."

"That's an option," Lorelai said thinking, but not too fond of the option.

"What would you want someone to do if they found Rory like this?" Luke asked.

"Well, first off, Rory would never be like this," Lorelai said defensively.

"Well, I know, but just imagine."

Lorelai took a deep breath. "I guess I would want someone to take care of her until I could be reached," Lorelai said.

"So are you saying we should take them back to Stars Hollow?" Luke asked for verification.

"Uh…I guess I am."

"I don't really have room in my apartment but I guess I could-"

"Don't worry about it," Lorelai said, "they can stay at my place."

"Are you sure?" Luke asked.

"Yeah no problem," Lorelai said. She wasn't doing this to impress Luke, though it did. She'd been there before. Her and Chris had been there, done that. These boys didn't need to be arrested, they just needed somewhere safe to stay the night.

"All right, then it's settled. We'll drive them to your place, they'll stay the night, and then we'll try to reach the parents tomorrow morning," Luke said.

"Sounds like a plan."

"All right boys, we're bringing you to Stars Hollow to get some rest and then tomorrow we'll bring you home," Luke reported to Logan and Finn.

"Excellent, bloody good!" Logan and Finn retorted.

After Luke got them loaded in the truck, he turned to Lorelai.

"Sorry our date got screwed up," Luke said.

"It's all right. It was a nice adventure."

"I guess so."

"Hey Luke."

"Yeah?"

"Someday you're going to make a great father. You've been a great father figure to Rory the past years and tonight you proved you have a soft spot for kids. Luke, I'm so honored to be with you," Lorelai beamed.

Now, Luke would never admit it, but Lorelai could've swore she saw a tear in his eye.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"Well, I guess we're home."

"I guess so."

"I'll unload them. Where do you want them?" Luke asked.

"One on couch and one on chair maybe?" Lorelai said.

"Can do."

"I'll go set it up," Lorelai said turning and walking into the house.

She was greeted with Rory curled up on the couch with a book.

"Back so soon? What's wrong?" Rory said concerned.

"Nothing, just found some boys that need a place to stay so they're going to stay the night here and we'll call the parents in the morning," Lorelai said like this kind of thing happened every day. With the Gilmore's you never knew.

"Okay," Rory said accepting this fact. "Here, I'll help you set up." Rory loved how much her mother strived to help people. Just then Luke came in with the tipsy, almost passed out crew.

"Thanks again for doing this," Luke said.

"Don't worry about it. Night Luke," Rory said in her naturally sweet way.

"Goodnight Rory," Luke said waving.

"Goodnight Luke."

"Goodnight Lorelai," Luke said giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Lorelai glowed and smiled at him. And all was right in the world.

Rory awoke the next morning to the sound of vomit.

She walked into the kitchen to see her mother pulling tacos and coffee out of a Luke's bag.

"Good morning my beautiful offspring," Lorelai said from across the kitchen.

"What's going on?" Rory asked groggily.

"Well, the two hungover strangers are in our bathroom spilling the contents of their poisonous drinks from last night."

"How long have they been in there?"

"About a half hour. I should probably go check on them and tell them the hangover food has arrived."

"You do that. I'm going to go to Lane's."

"You aren't going to stay for breakfast tacos? I obviously haven't raised you right."

"No it's just that if I stay any longer, I'm afraid I might be sick."

"Okay then. But be home in time for lunch at Luke's."

"Will do."

When Lorelai opened the bathroom door she had a very vivid painful flashback. She could still remember what alcohol poison did to young bodies. "Uh, sorry to interrupt, but I have some food ready. I know, I know, you don't want to eat. But trust me, food is vital."

Finn sat up. "I'm coming," he'd obviously done this before. He looked just a little flushed but not awful. It could defiantly be worse. He could be Logan. Logan looked as white as a ghost and didn't have the willpower to leave his familiar place leaning over the toilet.

Lorelai walked over to him. He reminded her of Chris. She could help feel a little compassionate. She started rubbing his back. He looked up, and uttered two words, "thank you," and then proceeded to throw up yet again.

Did you like it? I really hope so! This chapter took me A LONG TIME, so please review. I'll love you forever if you do! Sorry I didn't update very quickly. I've been super busy, but I hoped you like this one! I am going to bring Jess in a little later, and possibly Tristan. Did you like how I introduced Logan and Finn? Yeah, please review!