A/N: As you know, I usually update my fics over all fandoms in a rotation, but I felt a little bad about leaving you guys hanging. Last chapter was sort of a Part 1 of 2 deal, and this is the other half. Since it's done, I feel the need to post it now. Maybe I'm feeling sentimental; I have just seen the finale episode of Gilmore Girls. That's it, I've watched it all. Wow. So much fanfic to write! lol

(For disclaimer, etc. - see Prologue)

Chapter 20 - Talk Flirty To Me

Luke had let go of Lorelai's sleeve when they hit the stairs, just assuming she would follow to the apartment above, which she did. Of course, when they got up there, neither was sure what they were going to say. That wasn't altogether strange for Luke on any normal day, but he had sort of a vague semblance of a plan when he all but dragged Lorelai up the stairs - and didn't that just sound dirty in his head now that he thought about it! As for Lorelai herself, she always had something to say, and said just about anything, even if she didn't have something sensible or useful in mind. The fact they were now both silent was just ridiculous.

"So..." she started eventually, watching Luke's back as he paced around a little, adjusted his hat, looked stressed somehow even from behind.

"I'm sorry," he said suddenly turning to face her, so suddenly in fact that Lorelai physically jumped. "I'm sorry that things were weird last night, or that they're weird now. I never meant for anything like that to happen," he told her definitely.

"Okay," she nodded once, taking a step further into the room and closer to him. "But, er, Luke? Could we maybe start with exactly what did happen?"

That shocked him. Lorelai took one look at his face and she knew he was positively and genuinely shocked. Maybe he hadn't realised how out of it she was last night, or maybe she just made him feel worse about potentially taking advantage of a situation. So far, this really wasn't going so well!

"Er, I wish I knew," he shook his head then, pressing his hat down hard on his head as if that was helping him think. "One minute you're asleep all over me and the next..."

"Yeah, the next is the part where I'm a little fuzzy," Lorelai admitted, coming ever closer. "Now, I'm going to go ahead and blame painkillers, sugar, and back spasms for this, but I'm honestly not sure how much I was dreaming and how much actually happened, so..."

Luke felt awkward. He was pretty sure he never felt this awkward in his whole entire life actually, and there had been some moments of real painful awkward in his past. The talk he had with Jess about the birds and the bees was right up there, as was a truly mortifying moment concerning Liz and certain women's items that were to be found at the drug store. Still, this right here may in fact just blow them all out of the water, because this was the moment when he had to admit to kissing Lorelai and potentially then tell her why.

"You, er... I don't know exactly what you were dreaming," he said, looking everywhere but at her, hand rubbing the back of his neck a moment. "I could make a pretty good guess, but... well, you were there, head in my lap and... and you asked me why I wasn't kissing you."

If Luke could blush, which he was pretty sure he couldn't, he would be doing it right now, he was certain. Of course it was flattering and did his manly pride some good to know that Lorelai had dreamt of him in such a way, but facing her like this, explaining their first kiss to her because she couldn't remember it, or rather didn't know if it had been real, that just burst any balloon of ego he might otherwise let himself have right now.

"Ah," Lorelai nodded once. "So, I asked why you weren't kissing me, which led to... you kissing me," she summarised, sure now that she knew where the dream ended and reality kicked it. "Which resulted in the making out that rolled us both clean off the couch," she added, complete with a hand gesture for 'rolling' when she spoke of it.

Luke nodded that she was right, but couldn't bring himself to say anymore. There was a smile forming on his lips when he met her gaze again, and it was somewhat of a relief to see her sharing the expression. It was kind of silly when you thought about it, two grown adults, rolling on the couch like teens and landing up on the floor, only to be caught by the kids, rather than the other way around that you would usually expect.

"Oh, Luke," said Lorelai, laughter in her voice. "How long have you been waiting for that moment?"

"Since around the day I met you," he replied like an instinct.

Immediately the words were out there, his eyes widened with shock, and Lorelai's were similarly afflicted. She could tell by the way he was acting and by what happened last night, that clearly he had been into the idea of making a move with her. She just assumed it was a recent development. Maybe not then.

"Wow!" she gasped with surprise. "I didn't... You never said anything to me about us being... well, more than friends."

"Neither did you," he shrugged. "But you were the one all over me last night."

She opened her mouth to protest but closed it again fast. He had a point. He said she asked why he wasn't kissing her, pretty much asking for that to happen, and Luke wouldn't lie, not to her, not ever. Besides, last night wasn't the first dream she had about him. Sometimes they made out, once or twice things had gotten particularly sexy and she could barely face him the next day without blushing. She had other dreams too, domestic little scenes with the two of them and the kids. Lorelai never really thought anything of it and just put it down to the fact they were just so close and saw so much of each other. It was only recently she had started to wonder if there was more to it than that. Perhaps it was just because Jess and Rory's relationship was changing, she couldn't be sure, but she didn't plan on wasting any time in figuring things out with Luke. They weren't teenagers, they didn't need to take things slowly anyway. They were adults, they liked each other, that ought to make things pretty simple.

"So," she said as she had when they first walked in, though by now she was an awful lot closer to Luke than she had been then. "What happens now?"

"I think you need to dump the lit teacher," said Luke with a smirk he couldn't help.

"Meh, I never did get that first date set up anyhow," she waved away the concern. "I mean, Max is a great guy but... he's not you, Luke. No guy could ever be what you are to me."

When he kissed her then it was just because he couldn't bear to wait another moment to do so. They had a lot to talk about, that was a given. They were best friends about to become more, and there were the kids to consider and all. Still, in this moment, none of that really mattered. Finally it seemed they were both in the same place at the same time, both confessing in a round about way that they were wanting the same thing from each other. If they could make this work, it might just be the one relationship they had both been waiting for their whole lives.

For two people who had decided they needed to talk, Rory and Jess were particularly silent when they first sat down and faced each other. It wasn't that they didn't have plenty to say, on the contrary, their minds were full of words, it was just that none of them seemed to want to come out of their mouths!

This was a big deal, a very big deal, in fact. Jess had told Rory that he was in love with her, and honestly, she knew it was on her to answer that before anything else was said. She might, if she knew where to begin. After a while of looking at every other point in the room, her eyes landed on Jess the moment his landed on her. They shared a half a smile, and Rory took a deep breath.

"Jess, I'm... I'm sorry that when you said what you said that I didn't take it so well," she told him, awkward as she ever had been.

"I'm sorry I dropped it on you like that," he admitted. "It wasn't supposed to come out the way it did."

She nodded that she understood, but didn't offer to say anything else. Jess couldn't stand the tension anymore. So far Rory had said she was sorry for her reaction but she wasn't offering him anything concrete. She hadn't said she didn't feel the same, but she hadn't exactly acted like she did either. It was frustrating to say the least!

"So, what now?" he prompted her for some kind of reaction, but still none really came.

"I don't know," she sighed hopelessly. "I just... I never really thought about you that way."

"Thanks," he turned away, but her hand on his arm had his attention back in a second.

"That's not supposed to be insulting," she complained, frustrated with herself because she knew it was all coming out wrong, in spite of her best efforts. "I just... You're Jess. You've always been there, as my best friend," she tried to explain. "I never thought you'd look at me any other way either," she shook her head, a thought then suddenly occurring to her. "Is it Dean? Is it just because you were worried I'd spend all my time with him...?

"It's not Dean!" Jess practically exploded. "Damnit, Rory, I've always... Even when we were kids, I knew you were special," he told her, trying his best to be calm when he told he something so important for her to understand. "Somewhere in my eleven year old head... well, I wasn't exactly thinking 'hey, that's the girl I wanna marry' or anything, but I knew it was always going to be you and me. Somehow, I just... I knew."

He was being so sincere and it was such a beautiful thing for him to say, Rory felt her eyes well up and a lump form in her throat. Guys didn't say things like this, not to her, especially not Jess. This was so crazy, and yet she loved it.

"That's so sweet."

"Great," Jess scoffed at that. "'Cause that's what every guy wants to hear."

He was up from his seat, clearly about to walk away from her, but Rory couldn't have that, not now.

"Jess, don't," she grabbed at him but he wouldn't turn back. "I'm sorry, I..." he suddenly looked back at her, his eyes on hers, their bodies suddenly closer than she'd intended, Rory swallowed hard. "I... I don't want to lose you from my life," she told him definitely.

"That's not going to happen," he promised her, shaking his head almost imperceptibly. "If you don't feel it, Rory, then you don't, but..."

It was as far as he got with his sentence when suddenly she grabbed him, her arms looped under his as she crashed their lips together. Jess wasn't dumb enough to miss his chance. He pushed in closer, hands going to Rory's face, keeping her close as he kissed her back with all the passion and love he felt for her. She had to understand. The way she was kissing him right now meant she had to feel the same way too, at least on some level. When they parted, both breathless a moment later, they were each of them smiling.

"So, you never thought about it?" he asked her, smirk on his lips, eyes sparkling as he teased her.

Rory knew she was blushing, but she couldn't care. A burst of girlish laughter escaped her lips as she leaned into Jess, hiding her face in his shoulder a moment.

"Maybe a little, just lately," she confessed, tucking her hair behind her ear in a nervous gesture Jess knew so well. "I mean, that day on the bridge, when I asked you to kiss me, I never expected to feel so much. With Dean it was... well, it was nice, but it wasn't the same. I guess, well, because he's not you. God, I sound so corny and stupid!" she said then, feeling foolish and literally trying to hide behind her own hands.

Jess gently pulled her fingers away from her face and smiled.

"No, you don't," he promised her.

This time he kissed her, his arms wrapping around her and holding her as close as he could. The best friends who had just realised they had to be more and certainly could be, just fell into the moment and allowed themselves to get lost in it. For now, it was all they wanted to do.

To Be Continued...

A/N2: Please review and let me know if you liked it. You can also let me know if you hated it, but I hope that's not the case! The story could have ended here, but I am so far from done - hope that suits you all?

The poll on my Profile page closes tomorrow, so vote now or don't vote at all ;)