Luke grinned as he walked into the dinner. He knew he was beaming and honestly, he didn't want anyone to see, but he couldn't help himself. 'Luke Danes never beams,' he thought. But Lorelai made him feel so good. The way she smiled, how she begged incessantly for that 'last' cup of coffee.. and how she ran to him, everytime, when she felt badly. Maybe she had liked him as much as he had in the past years.. but never had the courage to admit it. But that night, the first time they kissed, he was relieved that she had taken the first step. But on the other hand, she sometimes seemed reluctant. Other times, he could feel that she wanted this to work as much as he did.

And tonight, when she had said yes, he knew that she did.

*******************************

Lorelai kicked the leaves on the ground as she walked across the middle of town. She stopped when she approached the gazebo and leaned against a stair railing. She still had a lot to sort out. Her feelings about Luke.. in the past few days, he'd been more open to her than he had ever been in the last decade. He had asked her out. Lorelai hadn't been that surprised because she had been expecting it. She had told Sookie.. and she had been ecstatic. But now, she didn't know where this hesitation was coming from. Her mother? No, she had never listened to her mother before. This wasn't the time to start. Besides, she didn't have to go to the dinner tomorrow with Gerald. Yet, she was choosing to, wasn't she? She was choosing to go to the dinner with some guy named Gerald.. instead of going out to dinner with Luke tomorrow.

'Isn't Luke who you wanted?' Lorelai sighed. She didn't want to make a mistake with Luke. She had screwed up with Max and ... Chris was gone. The last thing she wanted was to lose Luke, either as a friend or... a boyfriend.

*******************************

Tristan looked at Rory as she was reading, lying down on a couch. "Hi," he said smiling.

"Hi," Rory said absentmindedly as she highlighted a line in the book.

"Stop studying," Tristan said, frowning.

Rory grinned. "Start studying."

"Nah," Tristan shrugged and put his book in his backpack.

Rory sighed and sat up. "What are we going to tell Paris?"

"What is there to tell?" Tristan raised an eyebrow. "We.. uh.. kissed."

"That's what we need to tell her," Rory explained. "And.. maybe.. how we might be more than friends?"

Tristan smiled. "Are we?"

"I don't know," Rory said shaking her head. "I can't even think straight." She thought back to seeing Jess and Dean the past weekend. Jess had outright admitted that he loved her. And what did she do? She had... she had to refuse it. He had walked away, trying to cover his pain, like a puppy running with his tail tucked under. And his face expression.. GOd, she would never be able to put that moment away. What had supposed to have been a relaxing weekend with Lorelai had turned into the biggest relationship disaster in Rory history.

Tristan stopped smiling. "I need to know, Rory." He sighed. "You know how I feel. And now I have to know how you feel." He picked up his backpack. "Talk to you tomorrow?"

Rory smiled sadly. "Yeah."

********************************

Lorelai was still leaning against the gazebo. 'Just go in there..' She thought. She was, utterly confused about her feelings. When she was with him, she felt a warmth that she hadn't felt in ages. It told her to take a chance with Luke. But sometimes she would hesitate, afraid that she might mess up the easy going relationship that they had. 'It's too late to turn back,' she thought. And it was too late. They had kissed and held hands. True, in both cases, it was because Lorelai had been upset and she had run to Luke, but... the spark had been there. 'I don't know,' she thought. 'Maybe.. we should slow down.' She was scared.

*********************************

Luke looked up when he heard the jingling of the bell. It was Lorelai. "Hey, you," She said and smiled softly.

"Hi," He grinned.

"I.. uh.. came to talk about tomorrow," She said.

Luke finished wiping the counter and sat down on a stool. He pointed to the stool next to her. Lorelai walked over and sat down. 'God, she smells good,' Luke thought as he got a whiff of her clean, sweet scent.

"So, what's up?" He asked.

Lorelai was fidgeting with her hands. "I.. uh.. I don't know.. if I'm ready," She said slowly.

Luke's face fell. "Oh... ready, right," He nodded.

"Don't take this personally, please," Lorelai begged him as she took his hand in hers. "I do like you, Luke. But I'm scared..."

Luke let his limp hand stay in hers. 'I think I love you,' he thought. "Oh."

"I'm scared that it won't work out.. I'm scared that I might let something bad happen to you, like what happened to Max." She bit her lip. "Could you give me more time?"

Suddenly, Luke was angry. She had given Max a chance, but he was being pushed out of the picture again. He had waited for her. He had sat with her through her pain with Max, with Rory's leaving.. He didn't want to wait anymore. Yes, he loved her, but he wanted to be with her, goddamnit!

He slowly removed his hand from hers. "Lorelai," he said, sharper than he intended too. Luke tried to soften his voice. "Loreali, I like you. A lot. But.. you can't keep making me wait. I've waited. I've waited for you, I've been there for you.. and I want to be with you..." He trailed off.

Lorelai felt the tears falling down her face.

"I can't wait for you to make up your mind about us. I'm just.. too tired for this right now." Luke got up from his seat and started for the stairs. "Will you lock the door for me on the way out?" She nodded, crying and watched as he made his way up to his apartment.