It's Right There

by CoffeeDrinker

[Complete] Luke/Lorelai. She looked him in the eye, she saw something there, and she realized she felt the same way. (Update: As of 10/31/14, the story is back to its original M-rated version)

7. Parts 34 to 38

"It's Right There – parts 34 – 38"

. . .

PART 34

. . .

While Rory continued reading, Lorelai sat quietly on the couch pondering ways to coax Luke into coming out of the diner during the festival. Several minutes passed, and soon she heard Luke upstairs walking out of the bathroom and into their bedroom. Lorelai stood up from the couch and climbed the staircase. She turned the knob of the bedroom door and finding that it was locked, she knocked lightly. "Luke, it's me," she called.

A few seconds later, Luke pulled open the door with a towel wrapped around his waist and another in his hand. Lorelai stepped into the room and Luke closed the door behind her. As Lorelai sat on the bed and leaned against the headboard, Luke walked over to the mirror and began towel-drying his hair. In the mirror's reflection, he noticed Lorelai watching him. "What's up?" he asked. He tossed the towel down and picked up a comb, then turned around to face her as he began running it through his hair.

Lorelai smiled and shrugged. "Nothing. Just hanging out until the festival starts." She pulled her knees up and hugged them tightly against her chest.

Luke nodded and walked over to his dresser. He pulled out a pair of boxer shorts and dropped the towel from his waist. Lorelai stared at his body as he stepped into the boxers and pulled them up. She leaned forward on the bed and watched him pull on a pair of jeans. As he zippered them up and fastened the button, Lorelai remarked, "Those jeans look big on you."

"Yeah, they're a little big."

Lorelai nodded. "Mmhmm, that's 'cause you've been losing weight, I can tell."

"Yeah, well. . ." Luke said with a modest shrug.

Lorelai smiled. "Look at you trying to be all shy about it."

Luke laughed. "What? I'm not being shy."

"Uh huh, you don't wanna talk about how all that working out has made you look sexier," Lorelai teased. "You don't wanna talk about how your stomach is flatter and your body is more toned and your butt is firmer."

Luke rolled his eyes. "My butt is not firmer. My butt is exactly the same."

Lorelai scoffed. "Excuse me, which one of us has the better view of your butt? Me, and I say it's firmer, so it's firmer."

Luke threw his hands up in defeat. "Fine, whatever you say."

Lorelai grinned. "Ah, my favorite words to hear." Luke reached into his dresser and pulled out a T-shirt. Lorelai climbed off the bed and walked over to him. She helped pull the shirt down, then wrapped her arms around his waist. "You know, you shouldn't get too thin. I like my men to have a little meat." She pinched his stomach through his shirt. "See, look at that – there's not enough of a love handle for me to grab onto in an emergency."

"Uh, exactly what kind of emergency would you need to grab onto my stomach?" Luke asked curiously.

"Uh, well. . .for instance. . ." Lorelai bit her lips and narrowed her eyes, thinking. Luke stared at her expectantly. Finally her eyes widened and she smiled. "Okay, say we were in a bank that was being robbed and we were being held hostage by this guy who said he would shoot us if I didn't hold onto your stomach at all times, but because you're thinner now and there's not much for me to hold onto, I accidentally let go and then . . .BAM. . .we both get killed." Lorelai shook her head disappointedly. "You really need to bulk up a little more."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Okay, I knew the scenario would be bad, but I thought you would do better than that." He pulled away from her and grabbed his hat from the bed.

Lorelai frowned. "I thought it was pretty good, and I think that maybe you should eat something unhealthy just to get a little of that meat back. You know, maybe I could bring you something from the festival?" she suggested casually.

"No, thanks." Luke grabbed his wallet from the dresser. "Okay, I really have to get to work."

Lorelai wrinkled her nose, then nodded. "Yeah, let me just brush my hair and I'll be ready. Can you go tell Rory we're leaving now?"

"Yup." Luke walked past her and went downstairs.

. . .

A few minutes later, Lorelai, Luke and Rory were walking toward the diner. As they approached the town square, they saw groups of people putting up decorations and setting up tables for the festival. As Rory and Luke walked into the diner, Lorelai, with her box of brownies in hand, walked over to one of the shaded food tables and set them down.

She entered the diner and sat down with Rory at a table near the window where they could watch people set up. They drank coffee and shared a plate of French fries, checking their watch every few minutes as they waited for the official one o'clock starting time of the festival.

When it was finally time, Lorelai stood up and walked up to Luke to the counter as Rory walked outside. Lorelai handed Luke a few dollars for the meal, then said, "Do you wanna kiss me goodnight now?"

"Kiss you goodnight?" he repeated, confused.

"Yeah, because I'm pretty sure that no amount of tooth-brushing later tonight is going to be able to remove all the junk food I plan on eating, so if you want to kiss me goodnight with a nice, clean mouth, now's the best time."

Luke smiled and nodded knowingly. "Ah, I get it." He leaned forward across the counter and kissed her. As he pulled back, he said, "Now, I expect you to pace yourself – don't try to eat everything all at once."

Lorelai waved him off. "I know, I know. Thanks, Dad."

Luke smirked. "Yeah, well, I'm not gonna be the one cleaning it up when you overdo it and make yourself sick out there."

"Oh, please," Lorelai said, rolling her eyes. She tilted her head and put her hands in the center of her chest. "Have you forgotten that I'm a professional junk food eater? I know exactly what I'm doing when it comes to managing the appropriate amount of sugar intake."

Luke rolled his eyes. "A talent I'm so very proud of."

Lorelai smiled and kissed him. "Bye."

"Bye."

. . .

Half an hour later, Lorelai and Rory were walking through the town square, browsing the tables of junk food for the second time. They each carried a paper plate that they loaded up with desserts, and when the plates were finally full, they walked over to a bench and sat down.

Lorelai took a bite of a chocolate cookie. "Mmmm, that's good," she moaned. She finished chewing it, then shoved the rest of the cookie in her mouth. She chewed it slowly and gazed toward the diner, where she could see Luke inside at the counter. "Now, are there any rules to getting him out here?"

Rory looked toward the diner and thought for a moment. "Yeah, he has to come out the front door, and you can't tell him that it's for a bet and you can't physically drag him out."

"Aw, no fair," Lorelai complained. "That was my whole strategy."

"And," Rory continued, "you have to get him to cross the street to the festival."

Lorelai gasped. "No way! You said I wouldn't be able to get him to come out of the diner, not to actually come to the festival. That's why I took the bet."

Rory sighed. "Fine, okay, but he has to at least come off the steps onto the sidewalk."

Lorelai frowned, but reluctantly agreed. "Okay, fine." She glanced toward the line of game tables. "I'll be right back." Lorelai stood up and walked over to the tables, scouring the many games that were set up. She walked back to Rory and asked, "Which do you think I'd be better at – the Hershey Kiss eating contest or the contest to see who can build the highest cupcake tower?"

"Hershey Kisses," Rory replied quickly. "You can down a whole bag in like five minutes."

"Very true," Lorelai agreed. She checked her watch. "Okay, that starts in ten minutes so I'm gonna go work on Luke for a little bit."

Rory smiled. "Ha, good luck with that."

Lorelai stuck her tongue out at Rory, then walked toward the diner. She pulled the door open and walked inside. Luke stood at the counter with several pieces of paper spread out in front of him. Lorelai walked over and sat down on the stool across from him. "Hey, whatcha doing?"

Luke looked up at her. "Oh, uh, just going over some inventory."

Lorelai glanced down at one of the sheets. "Ooh, looks like you're running out of bacon there."

"Yeah, I have to order some more," he said. He put the papers into a stack and pushed them aside, then leaned forward on the counter and smiled. "So, how's it going out there? I haven't heard any sirens, so I'm guessing you haven't started any fist fights over the last piece of cake or something."

Lorelai giggled. "No, not yet, but there's still plenty of time for that." She glanced around the almost-empty diner. "Kinda slow in here, huh?"

Luke nodded. "Yeah, well, since less than one percent of the people in this town eat healthy, the festival's grabbed most of the townspeople's attention for today."

"So. . .aren't you bored in here?" Lorelai asked. "Why don't you come out for a little bit? I'm about to enter the Hershey Kiss eating contest."

Luke smiled. "And as much as I'd love to watch you shove food in your mouth as fast as you can and then watch disgusting lines of chocolate-flavored saliva dripping down your chin, I think I'll pass."

Lorelai pouted. "Tsk, come on, Luke. What if I win? Don't you wanna be there to congratulate me?"

"I'm sure if you win you'll run in here and tell me," Luke pointed out. "I'll congratulate you then."

Lorelai sighed. "Fine, okay, well. . ." She stood up. "I better get out there before it starts."

"Good luck," Luke said. He paused and rolled his eyes. "I can't believe I just told you good luck in a Hershey Kiss eating contest. This town is so screwed up."

Lorelai laughed, then she lowered her voice. "Ooh, you know, they have a whole table dedicated to chocolate milk out there."

"Yeah?"

"Uh huh, so it made me think that next weekend when we have our own little 9 ½ Weeks-inspired love scene, we totally need to incorporate chocolate syrup into the mix," Lorelai said. "You know, rub a little here, rub a little there."

Luke groaned. "Do you have any idea how messy that's gonna be?"

Lorelai leaned across the counter and smiled. "Hey, the dirtier the better, right?"

Luke waved her toward the door. "Okay, okay, I'll think about it. Go do your little contest thing."

Lorelai pulled back from the counter. "You sure you don't wanna watch?" she asked hopefully.

"I'm sure," he confirmed, spreading out his inventory sheets again. "See you later."

Lorelai frowned as she walked toward the door. "Bye," she called over her shoulder.

. . .

Later, Lorelai and Rory were sitting on a bench eating chocolate pudding as Sookie walked over to them. "Hey," Sookie said as she sat down next to Lorelai.

"Hey Sookie," Rory replied.

"Hey," Lorelai said. "Did you just get here?"

"Yup," Sookie replied. "I dropped my pies off this morning, then ran some errands with Jackson. What did I miss?"

Lorelai frowned. "Some teenage kid beat me in the Hershey Kiss eating contest by one stupid Kiss!"

Sookie glanced at Rory. "It wasn't you, was it? Or else you'll never hear the end of it."

Rory smiled and shook her head. "No, it wasn't me, it was some guy from the high school basketball team."

"We don't know who it is, though," Lorelai said. "We want to go to his house later and throw things at it, but we can't remember his name. Maybe you can help us."

"Actually, I remembered it a few minutes ago, but I'm not telling you because I don't want you to get arrested," Rory replied.

Lorelai turned to Rory and gasped loudly. "Holding out information from your own mother! Tell me!"

"Sorry." Rory smiled and shoved a spoonful of pudding into her mouth.

Lorelai exhaled loudly. "You're so evil sometimes."

Sookie glanced around the crowd. "Where's your guy?"

Lorelai pointed toward the diner. "Work. He won't come out, no matter how much I ask."

"You know that he hates junk food," Sookie pointed out. "What makes you think he'd wanna come out here?"

"I know he doesn't *want* to come out here, but I *need* him to come out here," Lorelai explained.

"Okay, and why exactly do you *need* him to come out here?" Sookie asked.

"Because I bet her five bucks she couldn't get him to come out," Rory answered.

Sookie laughed. "Really?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, so now I need to figure out how to get him out here."

Sookie patted her on the back. "Well, good luck, but I think you're gonna be owing someone five bucks later, hon."

Lorelai frowned. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Sookie." She stood up with a sigh and handed Sookie her pudding. "Here, I'm gonna go try again."

Lorelai walked to the diner and pushed open the door. Luke was at a table pouring coffee, and he looked up when the door opened. "Hey," he said, walking over to her. "How'd the contest go?"

Lorelai frowned. "Not good. Some kid beat me out by one Kiss."

Luke smiled. "I'm sure you did your best." They walked to the counter and Lorelai sat down on a stool.

"I need a bigger mouth," Lorelai said.

"Uh, no, I think it's plenty big enough."

Lorelai smirked. "Well, then, I needed to exercise my jaw more before the contest," she said. She put her hand on her chin and pretended to think. "Hm, what could we have done to exercise my jaw? Oh, man, I can't think of - wait, I got it," she said, raising her eyebrows suggestively at Luke.

Luke blushed slightly and glanced around, making sure that no one was in earshot. Seeing that no one was, he lowered his voice and said, "Yeah, well, now you know for next time."

Lorelai giggled and patted her chin. "We should probably do it as often as possible so I can build it up nice and strong for next year."

"Hey, I'm not arguing with that," he replied with a shrug. "You want some coffee?"

"No, thanks," Lorelai replied. "It's like a hundred degrees out there."

"Water?" he suggested.

"Do you have bottles?" Lorelai asked.

"I've got a couple in the back," he said, pointing toward the kitchen. "Come with me."

Lorelai smiled and slid off the stool. She followed him through the kitchen to the refrigerator, where he pulled out a bottle of water and handed it to her. "Thanks." She glanced around the kitchen and noticed a few workers mulling around. She smiled up at Luke. "Is there somewhere we can go right now and. . . strengthen my jaw?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "Forget it."

Lorelai frowned. "Fine, but at least give me a little something to last the afternoon." She grabbed his hand and led him out the back door. As the door closed and isolated them in privacy in the back alley, Luke pressed his lips tightly against hers. She eagerly kissed him back and ran her fingers through his hair.

As they kissed, Luke's hands glided over her back until they slowly slid down and ended up in the back pockets of her denim shorts. Lorelai smiled through the kiss. "Mm, keep them there all day, would ya?"

Luke smiled. "I wish I could." He leaned forward and kissed her again.

When they finally broke apart, Luke reluctantly removed his hands from her pockets and pulled open the back door. He held it open for her, and as she walked in she opened her water and took a sip. They walked through the kitchen to the diner. Lorelai sat back down on a stool and Luke stood across from her on the other side of the counter.

"So. . . any more contests coming up?" Luke asked.

"Well, there's the one to guess how many M&M's are in the jar," Lorelai said. "They're announcing the number at two, and the winner gets to keep the jar of candy," she added excitedly. "You should see it – it's huuuuuge!"

Luke groaned. "Great, just what we need."

Lorelai laughed. "And later, there's the super fabulous ice cream obstacle course."

Luke narrowed his eyes. "Do I even wanna know?"

Lorelai smiled and shook her head. "Nope. I just hope it goes fast or the ice cream's gonna melt and that'll just make the obstacle course much more difficult. I know from experience," she said knowingly. She paused a moment, then shrugged. "Okay, so I don't, but I like saying that because it makes me sound more. . .experienced, you know?"

Luke gave her an amused smile. "Yup." He picked up a rag and started wiping down the counter in front of him.

Lorelai stared at him for a moment, then said, "So . . . you sure you don't wanna come out for a bit?"

"I'm sure," he said, continuing to wipe the counter.

"You're positive?" she asked. "It's really fun, and I actually saw some healthy stuff out there, like. . . chocolate covered fruit."

Luke looked up and let out a small laugh. "I know that you hear the word fruit and automatically think it's healthy, but just to let you know for future reference, chocolate covered fruit isn't healthy."

Lorelai shrugged. "Eh, it should be." She bit her lip for a second, then said, "Okay, I'm gonna head back out there. You're positive that you. . ."

"Nope, don't wanna come out," he answered with a slightly annoyed sigh.

Lorelai stood up from the stool and grabbed her water bottle. "Well, do you want me to come get you when the obstacle course starts? You may never get the chance to see anything like it again."

"I think I'll live," he replied.

Lorelai lingered by the counter for another few seconds. "Luke, maybe you could just – "

Luke sighed loudly. "Lorelai, I'm sorry – as much as I'd love to spend time with you right now, I have to work, and even if I didn't, walking around a festival dedicated to junk food in a hundred degree weather is not how I want to spend my Saturday."

Lorelai held up her hands in defeat. "Fine, fine. I just thought that you might want to take a break and hang out. If you want to later, you know where to find me."

"Yeah, well, don't hold your breath waiting for me to voluntarily leave work to go to a town festival that represents things that I despise," Luke said dryly. "If you couldn't tell, I've already made up my mind."

"Well, you might change it. There's a first time for everything," Lorelai said.

"Yes, and there's a last time for everything, too," Luke replied. "And for the last time, no – I don't want to go. I'll see you later." Luke turned around and walked back into the kitchen.

Lorelai exhaled loudly and walked out of the diner. She crossed the street to find Rory and Sookie, who were standing near the table of drinks. She sighed loudly as she reached them. "Hey."

"Hey Mom," Rory said. She glanced past her. "I don't see Luke, so I'm guessing you didn't have much luck?"

Lorelai shook her head. "No, there's no way he's coming out here, and now that I've annoyed him to death about it, I have a feeling if I go in there again, I won't be coming back out either."

Sookie frowned sympathetically. "Aw, sorry. Can't win 'em all, though."

"Sure I can," Lorelai replied. "It's not over yet."

Rory rolled her eyes. "You just said yourself that there's no way he's coming out here. Pay up." She held out her hand.

Lorelai pushed her hand away and said, "Hey, now, I'm not giving up yet. I just said I can't go in there anymore – I still have a few tricks up my sleeve."

"Like?" Rory prompted.

"Well, like, you can go in there and tell him I fainted and that'll get him to run out," Lorelai said. She turned to Sookie. "Or maybe you can go in there and tell him that I'm out here flirting with some guy and that'll get him all jealous and he'll run out here to see for himself."

Rory shook her head. "No way, you have to get him out here yourself, Mom. You can't get anyone else to do it for you."

"Rats," Lorelai muttered. She wrinkled her nose and glanced around the crowded festival, looking for another idea. Her eyes fell upon Miss Patty and Taylor talking near the gazebo. Taylor was biting into a brownie as Miss Patty smoked a cigarette. Lorelai's eyes widened. "Oh my God, I got it!"

"What?" Sookie asked.

Lorelai handed her water bottle to Rory and said, "You guys wait here, I'll be right back." Lorelai walked over to Taylor and Patty. "Hey guys."

"Lorelai, hello." Patty smiled. "How are you, honey?"

"Fine, good, great, how are you guys?" Lorelai asked quickly.

"Just fine," Taylor replied, taking another bite of brownie.

"Ooh, are those good? I think those are the ones that Luke made," Lorelai said.

"Mm, yes, they're very good," Taylor replied. "I have to say, I didn't think this festival would work out, but the townspeople seem to be enjoying it very much."

"See, I told you so," Lorelai replied. She turned to Patty and cleared her throat. "Uh, Patty. . . can I borrow a cigarette?"

Surprised, Patty raised her eyebrows. "When did you start smoking, dear?"

"I didn't," Lorelai replied. "It's a long story, but you'll get it back, I promise." Patty pulled her cigarettes out of her purse and offered one to Lorelai. Lorelai took it and smiled. "Thanks."

"Do you need a light, dear?" Patty asked.

"Nope, this is all I need, thanks," Lorelai said. She walked back over to Sookie and Rory.

"What was that all about?" Rory asked curiously.

Lorelai held up the cigarette. "This."

"What are you gonna do with that?" Sookie asked. "You don't smoke."

"I know I don't," Lorelai replied. "And Luke doesn't either – in fact, he hates it. He even told me he'd never date someone who smoked." Lorelai grinned.

"Oh, I get it." Rory smiled. "You really think that's gonna work?"

"Yup," Lorelai replied.

Sookie glanced back and forth between them. "What's gonna work? What's going on?"

"Me pretending to be a smoker," Lorelai said. Sookie stared at her, confused. Lorelai rolled her eyes and patted Sookie on the back. "I'll take Over Your Head for a thousand, Alex." She started walking toward the diner. "Rory, tell her what's going on."

As they followed Lorelai to the diner, Rory explained the plan to Sookie. The three of them stood together on the sidewalk a few feet from the large picture window of the diner. "Is he in there?" Lorelai asked, squinting through the window. "I can't tell."

"I don't see him," Rory said. "He must be in the kitchen."

"Yeah, that's where he went when I ticked him off," Lorelai said. She glanced down at the cigarette. "Ooh, I wish I had a candy cigarette. Those things are good."

"Mm, I love those," Rory said. "We need to get some from the store next time we go shopping."

"We definitely do," Lorelai agreed. She glanced into the diner and said, "Ooh, there he is, there he is!" Rory and Sookie both looked into the window, but Lorelai said, "No, don't look! That's too suspicious-looking."

Rory rolled her eyes. "And the fact that we're all standing here in front of the window?"

"Also suspicious-looking, but it seems less suspicious to just be talking than to have our faces pressed up against the glass," Lorelai said.

Sookie giggled. "I can't wait to see him freak out."

Lorelai smiled. "I know, it's so fun seeing him get all worked up." She glanced quickly in the window to make sure he was still in view. "Okay, here we go. We're just gonna casually walk by the window."

Lorelai, Rory and Sookie walked slowly along the outside of the diner, and Lorelai brought the cigarette up to her mouth and held it up between her lips. She took it out and pretended to blow out smoke, then she laughed. "I hope he doesn't realize that there's no smoke coming out of it. Maybe I should've took the one that Patty had already lit."

They continued walking slowly along the window, then they turned the corner and walked in front of the window on the other side of the door. Lorelai brought the cigarette to her lips and glanced into the diner, watching Luke serve some customers. He casually glanced up at the window at Lorelai, then started to walk back to the counter. Suddenly, he turned around slowly and looked at her again. Lorelai pulled the cigarette from her lips and held it between her fingers, making sure he could see it. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open, and Lorelai quickly turned around.

"Oh, we have a direct hit," Lorelai said, smiling. Rory and Sookie both turned to look through the window. They watched as Luke set down the plate that he was holding, then walked quickly toward the door.

Within seconds, Luke was rushing toward them down the sidewalk. "Lorelai, what the hell are you doing?" he said angrily. "Put that out!" As he reached them, he grabbed the cigarette from her hand and dropped it on the ground. Rory and Sookie stepped back from them, smiling to themselves.

Lorelai smiled. "Hey, what's up?"

Luke's eyes widened with disbelief. "What do you mean, what's up? You've started smoking now? The coffee and junk food addictions weren't enough bad factors to contribute to an early death, but now you want to add lung cancer and emphysema and the other eight billion problems that smoking causes? Are you nuts? You know how I feel about that crap, why would you even - "

Lorelai interrupted his rant by pressing her lips against his. He tried to pull away, but she pulled him closer and kissed him deeper. When she finally pulled away from him, Luke stepped back from her. "Knock it off. I don't wanna taste that."

Lorelai folded her arms across her chest and smiled. "Do you taste any smoke?"

"Yes, it's disgusting," he said, wiping off his lips.

Lorelai bent down and picked up the cigarette, then held it up in front of him. "Really? It must be psychological then because I don't think you can taste smoke from an unlit cigarette."

Luke took the cigarette from her and examined it curiously. As he slowly brought his hand down, he glanced from Lorelai to Rory and Sookie, all of whom were smiling at him. "What the hell is going on here?" he asked Lorelai. He waved the cigarette at her. "What is this about?"

Lorelai smiled. "I just made five bucks." Lorelai took the cigarette from Luke, then turned to Rory and held out her hand. "Fork it over."

Rory groaned and pulled a five-dollar bill out of her pocket. She gave it to Lorelai, who then handed Sookie the cigarette. "Can you guys take this over to Miss Patty while I explain things to Luke?"

"Sure," Sookie replied. "Come on, sweetie." Rory and Sookie walked away.

Lorelai turned to Luke, who had an annoyed look on his face. "Uh, hi," Lorelai said, smiling. Luke folded his arms across his chest, then pursed his lips and stared at her expectantly. Lorelai dropped the smile, then said, "Mmkay, before I start being all cute and adorable, I guess I should explain things, huh?"

. . .

A few minutes later, Lorelai walked over to Sookie and Rory. "Everything okay?" Rory asked. "He wasn't mad, right?"

"Nope, he wasn't mad," Lorelai said. She frowned and added, "But he made me give him the five bucks."

Rory laughed. "Aw, all that hard work and nothing to show for it."

Lorelai shrugged. "Yeah, well – at least I didn't give up."

Sookie nodded. "Yes, you had great determination to win the bet and you pulled it off."

Lorelai smiled. "Yes, I did. I'm quite proud of myself." She glanced around and her eyes fell on the ice cream table. "Ooh, they brought the ice cream out! Let's go."

. . .

That night, Lorelai walked into her bedroom to get ready for bed and found Luke sitting on the floor by the air conditioning vent. She sat down on the bed and asked, "What are you doing?"

"The vent's broken or something, there's no air coming out," Luke said. He used a screwdriver to remove the vent cover, then looked into the vent. "I'm not sure what's wrong though, we might need to call someone to take a look at it."

"Is it just this one vent?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, the one is Jess' room is fine, the one in the bathroom is fine, it just seems like it's this one that's acting up," Luke said. "And probably whatever else it's connected to downstairs." Luke screwed the cover back on, then stood up.

Lorelai pulled at the neckline of her T-shirt and made a face. "Ugh, I can feel it now. It's getting hot in here." She fanned herself with her hand, then smiled. "Ooh, you know what I just said. . .come on, finish it."

Luke pulled his shirt off and tossed it in the laundry basket. "No, thank you."

"Please?" Lorelai begged. "Come on, it's the only part of the song that I like. Here, let's try it again." Lorelai stood up on top of the bed and danced as she sang, "It's getting hot in here. . ." She clapped her hands rhythmically as she waited for Luke to finish it. He stared at her for a few seconds as she jumped around on the bed, and finally a small smile appeared on his lips. He walked over to the door and locked it, then walked back over to her. She smiled and sang it again, "It's getting hot in here. . ."

"So take off all your clothes," Luke said dryly, rolling his eyes.

"I am getting so hot, I'm gonna take my clothes off," Lorelai sang in a high voice. She laughed and put her hands on his shoulders. "Man, you've got that line down. Nelly's gonna be calling you up for a duet soon."

Luke slid her shirt up and kissed her stomach, then looked up at her. "No, seriously, take off all your clothes."

Lorelai smiled and pulled off her shirt, then tossed it aside. She jumped on the bed a few times, then landed in a sitting position with a loud thud. She leaned back against the pillows and smiled up at him. As he started to crawl on top of her, she said, "Hey, if you give me my five bucks back, I'll sleep with you right now."

"You're gonna sleep with me right now anyway," he said, leaning down to kiss her chest.

"Yeah, well, if you give me my five bucks back, I'll make it . . .extra good," Lorelai promised.

Luke lifted his lips from her body and rolled his eyes. "Really, how so?"

Lorelai smiled. "Here's the deal – we'll do it, and if you agree that it was in fact extra good, you have to give me the five bucks back."

Luke smirked. "Isn't that a little too close to prostitution?"

Lorelai shrugged. "I'm not an undercover cop, are you?"

"No, I'm not."

"Then who cares? But you have to be truthful about it. You can't pretend it wasn't extra good just so you don't have to pay me. Deal?

Luke stared at her for a moment, then shrugged. "Deal."

. . .

The next morning, Lorelai woke up and groggily glanced at the clock, which informed her that it was almost nine. She stretched her hand behind her to check for Luke, and wasn't surprised to find that he had already gotten up. She rested her head against her pillow and yawned loudly, then slowly sat up in the bed and rubbed her eyes. She glanced over at Luke's side of the bed and laughed at what she saw. At the bottom of his pillow sat a scattered pile of five-dollar bills. She smiled to herself, then stood up from the bed and pulled on her robe.

She walked into the bathroom, and a few minutes later she went downstairs to look for Luke. She glanced out the side door and saw him sitting on the porch bench looking through his toolbox. She stepped outside, and he looked up at her and smiled. "Hey."

"Hey." Lorelai walked over and sat down on his lap. She pressed her lips against his and kissed him deeply, then smiled through the kiss. "I take it you were a satisfied customer last night?"

Luke smiled. "You got my tip?"

"Yes, I did," she replied. "Thanks for making me feel like a high-class hooker and not one of those cheap ones on those HBO specials."

Luke smiled and gave her a small nod. "You're welcome."

"Okay, I'm gonna go eat breakfast and take a shower, and then you can send up the next John, okay?" Lorelai said.

Luke laughed and nodded. "Okay, will do."

Lorelai smiled and kissed him, then stood up and walked back into the house.

. . .

PART 35

. . .

Lorelai walked into the kitchen and fixed herself a bowl of cereal. She sat down at the table and read through the Sunday sales flyers from the newspaper while she ate. Luke walked in through the back door and washed his hands at the sink, then sat down next to her.

Lorelai put down the flyer she was reading, then smiled at him. "Hey, whatcha doing?"

"I was getting my tools together," Luke replied. "Now I gotta run to the hardware store and get some wood."

"Get some wood?"

"Get some wood," he confirmed, nodding his head.

"Just randomly felt like going out and picking up some wood?" Lorelai asked.

"Nah, it's for that little room I'm building in the apartment," Luke replied. "Remember, I wanted to get all the diner stuff together and out of Jess' way before he moves back."

Lorelai nodded. "Right, right, I remember."

"Yeah, so, I'm gonna get started on that today," Luke said. "Probably be up there all day. What are you gonna do?"

"I'm not sure yet," Lorelai replied. She glanced down at the stack of flyers. "Maybe go shopping – there are a lot of good sales out there."

Luke rolled his eyes. "You women always think that just because there's a sale, you have to go out and buy stuff. And it's never stuff you think you need until you see it in one of those stupid flyers, and then suddenly, every woman is thinking, 'Man, I should really pick up this fifty-nine piece set of picnic basket accessories while it's on sale just in case I need it someday.' But they'll never use it, and do you know why?"

With an amused smile, Lorelai leaned forward as if she was captivated by his speech. "No, please tell me, why?"

"Because men don't like picnics, and those women who are running out and spending money on the fifty-nine piece picnic basket set are bringing it home, and then their men are shoving it in the basement or a closet or the garbage so the women can't find it, and then the women forget about it and it's just yet another thing that turns out to be a complete waste of money." Luke leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest.

Lorelai smiled and shook her head slightly. "Wow. Okay, now I totally have to go out and find one of those picnic basket sets because in the future, when I tell people about your little rant there, it'll make the story a hundred times funnier if I can follow it up with a story about how, as soon as you were done, I went out and bought one myself."

Luke let out a small laugh. "Don't even think about it."

Lorelai frowned. "What, you're telling me that if I went out and bought a basket, you wouldn't go on a picnic with me?"

"I've already gone on a picnic with you, remember? And I believe I paid fifty bucks for it," he added, rolling his eyes.

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "I remember. Okay, so maybe it was a tad expensive for some Pop Tarts and Slim Jims, but think of it this way – if you didn't spend that money, someone else would've won my basket."

"Yeah. . .and?" Luke prompted.

"Well, then, I might've hit it off with him," Lorelai continued. "And then it would be him, instead of you, who'll get to watch me dance around naked on the bed tonight singing Papa Don't Preach."

Luke smiled. "So that was fifty bucks well spent."

Lorelai leaned forward and kissed him. As she pulled back, she smiled and said, "And if I remember correctly, you had a good time in the gazebo that day."

Luke smiled and shrugged. "Yeah, well. . .maybe I did. Although that's not the moment of us together that I associate with the gazebo anymore."

Lorelai giggled and shook her head. "Yeah, me either." Luke stood up from the table and walked over to the counter where he'd set his wallet earlier. Lorelai turned around to look at him. "Luke?"

Luke shoved his wallet into his back pocket, then turned around. "Yeah?"

"What would you have done if the cigarette was real?"

Luke narrowed his eyes at her. "What are you talking about?"

Lorelai stood up and walked over to him. "If I had really started smoking. . .what would you do? You said you'd never date someone who smoked. . .so, what would you have done?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa - wait a minute, what is this about?" Luke asked. "You haven't really started, have you?"

Lorelai shook her head. "No, I was just wondering what you would do."

Luke shrugged. "I'd help you quit."

"So you wouldn't . . ." Lorelai let her voice trail off.

Luke rolled his eyes. "You honestly think that I would leave you for that reason?"

Lorelai shrugged. "I don't know, I'm just going by what you said."

"When I said that I wouldn't date someone who smoked, I meant it in the sense if I was single and . . .you know, looking for . . ." his voice trailed off.

"A good time?" Lorelai suggested, smiling.

Luke groaned. "No, a date. I mean, I wouldn't approach someone who was a smoker and ask them out, but . . .ya know, it's different if you already love someone before they pick up the habit. You're not just gonna throw them out the door, no matter how much you hate what they're doing."

Lorelai smiled. "Good answer." She wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him. Luke brought one hand up to her face and stroked her cheek as he kissed her back passionately.

He reluctantly pulled his lips from hers and said, "I have to go."

Lorelai stepped back from him and nodded. "Okay. Uh, I'll come by the apartment later. . . you know, after I go out and buy a picnic basket."

Luke smiled and rolled his eyes. "Bye."

. . .

That afternoon, Lorelai climbed the steps to Luke's apartment. As she neared the door, she heard hammering coming from inside, and on top of that, she heard two male voices. One of them was Luke's, the other was one she didn't recognize. It was difficult to hear what they were saying over the hammering, but Lorelai pressed her ear against the door to try to hear them.

"I'm not kidding," Luke said. "She is."

"Right," the man replied sarcastically. "Better than Rachel?"

"Yup," Luke replied. "Hand me that box of nails, would ya?"

"Here," the man replied. "Okay, that's a little hard to believe. I was amazed that you got Rachel, now you're telling me you got someone hotter?"

"That's what I'm saying," Luke replied.

Lorelai smiled to herself. She glanced around nervously, afraid of being caught eavesdropping, before she pressed her ear back against the door.

"Here, that side's tilting," the man said.

"I got it," Luke replied. Lorelai heard him grunt loudly, then say, "Dammit, I'm dropping it. Can you get it?"

"I got it, I got it," the man said. They were quiet for a few seconds before the man asked, "So you don't have a picture of her?"

"Nah, not on me," Luke replied. "She said she'd stop by though, so maybe you'll still be here."

Lorelai smiled and pulled back from the door. She quietly walked down the hallway, down into the diner, out the front door and onto the sidewalk. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed the apartment. After several rings, Luke answered, "Yeah?"

"Hey," Lorelai said.

"Oh, hey," Luke replied. "What's up?"

"Nothing. Uh, I'm on my way to see you and I . . .just wanted to make sure you weren't too busy," Lorelai said.

"No, it's fine," Luke replied quickly. "We were just about to take a break anyway."

"Uh, we?" Lorelai asked. "Who's we?"

"Oh, me and John," Luke replied. "I think I might've mentioned him before, my friend from Woodbury?"

"Uh, no, I don't recall hearing about him," Lorelai replied.

"Oh, well. . .he's here, he's helping me out," Luke said.

"Well, isn't that nice," Lorelai said.

"Yeah. So, come on up when you get here," Luke replied.

"Okay, see you in a few minutes," Lorelai said. She hung up the phone and slipped it back into her purse, then pulled her compact out and checked her hair and makeup. She put it away and lingered outside the diner for a minute, then finally walked inside and back up to the apartment. The hammering had stopped, and Lorelai knocked on the door. "Luke, it's me!" she called.

A few seconds later, Luke pulled the door open. "Hey."

Lorelai smiled. "Hi." She stepped into the apartment and shut the door behind her. Luke put an arm around her waist and led her over to the living room area.

A man around Luke's age with short black hair was sitting on the couch, and he stood up as they approached him. He smiled at Lorelai and extended his hand. "Hey, I'm John."

Lorelai smiled and shook his hand. "Lorelai. Nice to meet you."

"Same here," John replied. Lorelai saw him give her a once over as he sat back down on the couch. Luke sat in the leather armchair across from him.

Lorelai shoved her hands into her pockets and walked over to the corner where they'd been building. "This is coming along pretty well, huh?"

"Yeah, it's almost done," Luke said. "Should only take a few more hours."

"Goes pretty fast when there's two people working on it," John added.

"Yeah, I bet," she replied. She walked back over to them and perched herself on the arm of the armchair. Luke brought his hand up and rubbed her back. Lorelai stared at John for a moment, then said, "I'm sorry – you just look really familiar. Have we met before?"

John shook his head. "No, I don't think so. I'm pretty sure I would remember you."

Lorelai smiled. "There must be someone out there who looks like you, then."

"Maybe my brother," John suggested. "He's a year younger than me, looks a lot like me."

"Maybe," Lorelai agreed. "What's his name?"

"Jake," he replied. "Jake Milton."

Lorelai's eyes widened slightly. "Oh, uh. . .yeah, I do know him, actually."

"Oh really?" Luke asked. "From where?"

Lorelai shrugged. "Oh, you know, just from . . . around." She stood up. "I should get going, let you guys get back to work. Nice meeting you, John."

"Yeah, you too," he replied.

Lorelai started walking quickly toward the door, and Luke stood up and followed her. She stepped into the hallway, and Luke caught her arm. "Whoa, what's the rush?"

"Sorry, I just forgot that I have to meet Sookie," Lorelai replied quickly. She paused a moment. "Are you friends with Jake, too?" she whispered.

Luke nodded. "Yeah, kind of. I'm closer with John, though. Why?"

Lorelai shrugged. "Just wondering." She kissed him goodbye. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah. . .later. . bye," Luke said, giving her a curious look. He watched as she walked down the hallway and disappeared down the staircase.

. . .

Lorelai walked out of the diner and walked directly to Sookie's house. Jackson was out front watering some flowers, and he turned off the hose as she walked up. "Lorelai, hi."

"Hey Jackson," Lorelai replied. "Is Sookie here?"

"Yeah, she's inside," Jackson said. "Go right in."

"Thanks." Lorelai smiled and walked past him into the house. "Sookie!" she called.

"Lorelai?" Sookie called back. A few seconds later, she walked out of the kitchen door and into the living room. "Hey, what's up? Are you okay?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about something."

Sookie sat down on the couch. "I'm all ears." She giggled and added, "Which is pretty funny because I've got some corn cobs going on the stove, so it's sort of -"

"Sookie," Lorelai interrupted.

"Sorry, go on," Sookie replied.

Lorelai slowly paced back and forth in front of the couch. "Okay, remember the guy I went out with a few years ago who looked a little like Charlie Sheen?"

Sookie thought for a minute, then slowly nodded. "I think so. I never met him, but I remember you telling me about him. What was his name?"

"Jake Milton," Lorelai replied. "Well, I just found out a few minutes ago that Jake and Luke are friends."

Sookie's eyes widened. "Ooh, and you and Jake . . ." Her voice trailed off.

"Yes, we did," Lorelai confirmed.

Sookie grimaced. "So that'll be weird if you guys are all. . ."

"I know," Lorelai said, nodding quickly.

"Does Luke know?" Sookie asked.

Lorelai shook her head. "No, Jake's brother is helping Luke build something in the apartment, and we were talking and he mentioned his brother and when I realized who it was, I left."

"Are you gonna tell him?" Sookie asked. "Or just . . .you know, let sleeping dogs lie?"

"What do you think I should do?" Lorelai asked.

Sookie shrugged. "You know Luke better than I do. Will he care?"

Lorelai thought for a moment, biting her lip pensively. "Hmm, I don't know. Part of me is thinking that he might. . .I don't know, be guy-ish about it."

"Guy-ish?" Sookie asked.

"Yeah. You know, it'll make him get this like whole, 'oh, look, I have your old girl' macho attitude thing," Lorelai explained. "It'll make him feel sort of proud."

"Luke gets like that?" Sookie asked.

"Sometimes," Lorelai replied. She sighed loudly. "I don't know, what should I do? Tell him?"

"You might as well," Sookie said. "I mean, if they're friends, you guys will probably meet again eventually and then Jake'll probably let it slip out eventually, so you might as well just tell him now so that when eventually finally gets here, he'll have already known before the eventually time reached him."

Lorelai nodded. "As confusing as that was, I understood."

Sookie smiled. "Good." She stood up and walked toward the kitchen. "You wanna stay for lunch, honey?"

"No, thanks," Lorelai replied. "Thanks for the advice."

"You're welcome," Sookie called. "Bye."

"Bye." Lorelai walked out the front door.

. . .

That night, Lorelai and Rory walked through their front door each carrying several shopping bags. Luke was in the living room flipping through a magazine, and he looked up when they entered. He stood up and walked to the front entryway. "Where'd you guys go?"

"Shopping." Lorelai set her bags down as Rory brought hers to her bedroom. "Rory wanted to pick up some new things for her trip next week."

Luke glanced at the bags surrounding them. "Uh huh, and what did you get? I know you didn't go with her just to watch her shop."

Lorelai shrugged. "Just a few outfits. I promise I didn't waste any money." She reached into one of the bags and pulled out a black tank top with pairs of bright red lips all over it. "Cute, huh?"

Luke raised his eyebrows. "Uh. . . I guess . . ."

Lorelai smiled. "I believe the reply you're looking for is, 'Yes, it is cute'." She put it back in the bag, then pulled out a light pink sleeveless shirt decorated with random rhinestone designs. "What about this one? Isn't it so cool?" she asked excitedly.

"Yup," Luke said. He turned around and walked back into the living room.

Lorelai watched him walk toward the couch, then said, "Um, Luke?"

Luke turned around. "What?"

Lorelai gestured to the front door. "Can you come outside and talk?"

"About?"

Lorelai shrugged. "Uh, just some stuff. . .come outside with me." She walked out the front door and sat on the porch steps, and a few seconds later, Luke joined her. They were both quiet for a few seconds before Lorelai asked, "So, did you get the room done?"

"Yup. Well, we got the walls up. I just have to go buy a door, but that'll only take a few minutes to put up."

Lorelai nodded. "Was John there all day?"

"Nah, he left about an hour or so after you did. Had some things to do," Luke said. "He likes you, he said you were nice."

"Nice as in friendly, or nice as in . . .nice to look at?" Lorelai asked, smiling.

Luke smiled. "Both."

Lorelai raised her eyebrows and smiled. "Oh yeah?"

"Yup."

Lorelai nodded and stared at the Jeep. "Uh, I wanted to tell you something about Jake."

"Jake?" Luke asked, narrowing his eyes. "John's brother? What about him?"

Lorelai turned to look at him. She took a deep breath and said, "Uh, I slept with him."

Surprised, Luke's face tightened up slightly. "What?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, we went out a few years ago for a couple weeks and. . . I don't know, I just thought I should tell you before we somehow all end up in a room together and then it comes out in the most embarrassing way possible." Lorelai paused a moment and stared at Luke, who was staring straight ahead at the chuppah. Finally, she asked, "Are you mad?"

Luke turned to her and shook his head. "No, I'm not mad. Why would I be mad? It's not like you slept with him yesterday or something."

"I know, but I don't want things to be weird between you guys or something," Lorelai said.

"It won't be weird. It'll actually be interesting – we can compare notes," Luke said.

Lorelai laughed and slapped him playfully on the shoulder. "Very funny."

Luke smiled. "It's fine, no big deal." He shrugged and added, "I mean, I'm sure there are tons of guys out there you've slept with. I'm bound to know one or two of them." He started to stand up.

Lorelai grabbed onto his shirt and pulled him back down. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. What did you just say?"

Luke landed back on the porch steps with a thud. "Geez, what?"

Lorelai narrowed her eyes at him. "'There are tons of guys out there you've slept with' – what the hell does that mean?"

Luke shifted on the porch and gestured aimlessly with his hands. "I just meant that, a 33 year old woman who looks like you is obviously gonna have dated a lot of guys and so. . ." Luke tried to explain. "I didn't mean that you're . . ."

"No, what you mean is that you think that I'm easy and that I've slept with every guy I've gone out with," Lorelai said knowingly. She shook her head toward the ground. "Nice. . .that's a real nice thing to think about someone you love, Luke."

Luke sighed. "Lorelai, that's not what I meant."

"If you'll remember, we went out for almost a month before we slept together," Lorelai wagged her finger at him. "Even though I'd known you for years, we still waited awhile."

"I know, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it the way it sounded. . . but, look, I'll say the same thing about me," Luke said. "There are girls out there that I've been with and . . .I mean, you might know some of them. It's just a coincidence, it's no big deal."

Lorelai was quiet for a moment, then slowly turned to look at him. "How many?"

"How many what?" he asked, confused.

"How many women have you slept with?" Lorelai asked.

Luke laughed. "What?"

"Seriously, give me a number," Lorelai said.

Luke's smile faded. "You give me a number," he retorted.

"I will – but I asked you first."

"I don't know it offhand," Luke said.

Lorelai stood up. "Me either. Let's go inside and figure it out, and then we'll each write down the number so we can't change it when the other person announces theirs."

Luke rolled his eyes. "This is stupid."

"No, this is fun," Lorelai said. "Come on." She walked into the house and left the door open for him to follow. Luke sat on the steps for a few more seconds until Lorelai called, "Come on!"

He sighed loudly, then reluctantly stood up and walked into the house. Lorelai sat at the kitchen table with a piece of paper in front of her, biting on the end of a pen. She gestured to the seat across from her, where she'd set a piece of paper and a pencil for him. He sat down, mumbling, "This is so stupid."

"Yeah, well, you should've thought about that before you called me a slut," Lorelai mumbled.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Okay, you're being a little dramatic now, don't you think?"

Lorelai smiled. "It's what I do. Now get writing."

Luke sighed loudly and picked up his pencil. "You want phone numbers and addresses, too?" he asked sarcastically.

"If you can remember them – yes, it'd be appreciated," Lorelai said.

. . .

A short while later, Lorelai looked up from her paper and announced, "Done!"

Luke was staring at her with his arms folded across his chest. He checked his watch. "I've been done for like eight minutes."

"Well, sorry, you must have a better memory than me," Lorelai said. "What's your number?"

"What's your number?" he responded.

"Okay, we'll trade papers," she said. She slid hers toward him as he did the same. They grabbed each other's paper and looked at them at the same time.

"Six," Lorelai read. She lowered the paper. "Ooh, that's a good number, not too big, not too small."

"Ten," Luke read. "Huh. . . kinda high."

Lorelai grabbed her paper back. "What are you talking about? It's not that many. . . I didn't start until I was fifteen, so that's ten guys over an eighteen-year period. When you think about it, that's not really that bad. In fact, that's probably kind of low for most people."

"Low for most people?" Luke said with a laugh. "Are you serious?"

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Please, Luke – welcome to the twenty-first century. Kids are practically having sex in elementary school. Their totals are gonna be way higher than my puny little ten."

Luke grabbed her paper back and stared at it. "Ten, huh? You still see any of these guys?"

"Only at the annual 'We Slept with Lorelai Gilmore' convention that we hold at the inn each summer," Lorelai said, smiling. "Ooh, and you get to attend this year, won't that be fun?" she asked, tapping him excitedly on the arm.

Luke crumbled up the paper and tossed it on the table. "Loads," he said dryly.

Lorelai frowned. "What's wrong? Don't tell me you're mad because I've been with more people than you," she said with a groan.

"I'm not mad," he said with a shrug.

"Oh yeah, then why aren't you looking at me?" she asked.

Luke widened his eyes. "I'm looking at you, see?"

Lorelai rolled her eyes and stood up from the table. She grabbed the lists and threw them away, then walked back over and stood behind her chair. "Would it make you feel better if I told you that. . . honestly, no lie, I swear on my own life. . .that you're better than the other nine?"

Luke shook his head. "No." He paused a moment, then looked up at her. "Seriously?"

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "Cross my heart. Be sure to tell Jake that the next time you see him."

Luke smiled. "I will." He stood up and walked over to her. He hugged her tightly and kissed her forehead before he pressed his lips against hers. A soft moan escaped her throat as the kiss deepened with passion, and as the intensity overwhelmed them, neither heard Rory's bedroom door open.

"Uh, I'll come back out when you're done," Rory's embarrassed voice said. She started to walk back into her bedroom as Lorelai opened her eyes and pulled back from Luke.

"Sorry, sorry, we're done now," Lorelai said, panting slightly.

Rory turned around. "Are you sure? I can just go wait in my room and you can give me a little signal when you're done."

Luke gave an embarrassed nod and stammered, "Yeah, uh, we're. . .I think . . ya know. . .we were. . . I'm gonna. . ."

Lorelai smiled and patted him on the back. "All very good points, hon," she said encouragingly.

Luke gestured toward the living room. "I'll be in there." He walked out of the kitchen.

"I'm going over Lane's for a while," Rory said. "Can I invite her back here for dinner?"

"Yeah, what do you want?" Lorelai asked.

"Pizza?" Rory suggested.

"Sounds good," Lorelai said. "Take some money from my purse and pick up a movie to watch while we eat."

"Old or new?" Rory asked.

"Hmm, whatever jumps out at you," Lorelai said with a shrug.

"Got it," Rory said.

. . .

That night, Lorelai was asleep in bed when she felt Luke tossing and turning next to her. She lifted her head up and watched him for a few seconds, and when he settled down, Lorelai rested her head back against the pillow and tried to go back to sleep.

A few seconds later, she heard Luke chuckle in his sleep. She opened her eyes and watched him, smiling to herself. He was still fast asleep and had a small smile on his lips, and Lorelai wondered what he was dreaming about. As she rested her head back against the pillow, she heard him groggily mutter, "Come on, Rachel."

Lorelai gasped softly. Her eyes widened and she lifted her head to look at him. "Oh my God," she whispered. She tapped him repeatedly on the shoulder. "Luke, Luke, wake up!"

Surprised, Luke opened his eyes and quickly sat up. "What is it, what's wrong? Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

"I'm fine," Lorelai replied. "What were you just dreaming about?"

Luke narrowed his eyes and glared at her. "You woke me up at three in the morning to ask me that?" He fell back against his pillow and covered his face with his hands.

"Yes, I'm just curious what you're dreaming about that would make you say Rachel's name in your sleep," she said pointedly.

Luke removed his hands from his face and looked at her. "I did?"

"Yes, you did," Lorelai said. "What were you doing?"

Luke stared up at the ceiling for a minute. "I don't know, I don't remember."

"It just happened a second ago and you already forgot about it?" Lorelai asked.

"Let me think about it," Luke said. He closed his eyes for several seconds, trying to remember the dream. Finally, he opened them and said, "Oh, I remember."

"What was it?" Lorelai asked.

Luke smiled. "Actually, it's pretty funny. You and I were standing out front on the porch, and you told me you wanted to meet the other women that I had slept with, so suddenly women just started appearing around the house. I didn't even recognize half of them, but I was lining them up in chronological order along the driveway, and Rachel was the last one and she didn't want to stand in line with the others because she was too busy trying to take pictures of all of them."

Lorelai laughed quietly. "I can see that happening. What was I doing?"

"You were standing on the porch with Rory and Kirk," Luke said.

"Kirk?" Lorelai asked with a laugh.

"Yeah, don't ask me how Kirk got in there, but he was there. Anyway, you guys were going to rank the women according to who was prettiest, but you were getting mad because Rachel wouldn't get in line, so you ran over and grabbed her camera and threw it on the roof. Then I started laughing and Rachel got mad and started to leave. . . .and that's where it ended." Luke yawned. "Can I go back to sleep now?"

Lorelai smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "Yes, goodnight." She rested her head against Luke's chest and went back to sleep.

. . .

PART 36

. . .

A few days later, Lorelai and Rory sat at the kitchen table talking as Luke stood at the stove cooking breakfast. Lorelai was making out a list of things to do for the surprise shower she was planning for Sookie.

"Where's it gonna be?" Rory asked.

"Here," Lorelai replied. "I was thinking of asking Babette if we could use her house and yard, too."

"Ooh, that'll be cool, and it'll give us more space to work with," Rory said. "Good idea."

"Have I ever had a bad idea?" Lorelai asked.

"Uh, yeah," Rory said with a laugh. "What about the time – "

Lorelai held up her hand. "Okay, stop, we don't need specifics."

Luke placed a plate of pancakes in the center of the table. "No, I'd like some specifics. Go on."

Lorelai frowned up at him as she grabbed a couple of pancakes from the stack and dropped them on her plate.

Rory smiled. "Okay. Well, there was the time that she bought that Nads hair removal gel from that infomercial and thought it would be – "

Lorelai gasped. "Five bucks if you stop right now!" she yelled, waving her hands wildly at Rory.

Rory laughed and shook her head. "I don't know, Mom. Luke looks like he *really* wants to hear the rest of the story."

Lorelai grimaced. "Twenty bucks if you promise never to bring it up again for the rest of your life!"

Rory smirked. "Deal." She glanced up at Luke and whispered, "Tell you later."

Luke smiled and walked over to the stove. "Is that enough pancakes or should I do another batch?"

Lorelai and Rory both glanced at the pile. At the same time, they replied "Another batch."

Luke rolled his eyes and mumbled, "Called that one."

Lorelai shoved a forkful of pancake into her mouth. "Mm, you know what's weird?"

"That they don't have more 24-hour marathons of the Golden Girls?" Rory suggested.

Lorelai laughed. "Good guess, but no." She stabbed a piece of pancake with her fork, then lifted it up to stare at it. "It's weird that we're eating food that we'd normally get at the diner and it tastes like it was made at the diner, yet it was made in our own kitchen."

Rory narrowed her eyes. "Um. . .okay."

"I mean, doesn't it make you feel special to know that we get to eat diner-tasting food right in our own home? It's like having a built-in diner chef. . .which is basically what it is, I guess. Ooh, this is what it must be like to live with Sookie!" Lorelai said excitedly.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Well, it certainly makes me feel special that I'm no longer Luke, but just. . .the built-in diner chef. Nice – thanks for that."

Lorelai smiled. "You're welcome. You know, I bet all of the kitchen appliances are really happy that they're finally being used after all these years."

"Or else they're really mad because they'd gotten so used to living a lazy life of nonexistence," Rory commented.

"Hm, good point," Lorelai said. "I'll talk to them later and find out how they're feeling." She shoved a forkful of food into her mouth and chewed it slowly.

A few seconds later, footsteps rumbled down the staircase and Jess walked into the kitchen. He set a book on the table and said, "Hey," then walked to the refrigerator.

"Hey," Lorelai said.

"Hey," Rory said. She picked up the book he'd set down. "Reading this again?"

Lorelai glanced over at it and her eyes widened. "Ham on Rye! Ooh, is that a book about food?"

Rory laughed and set it back down. "Uh, no, not exactly."

Jess walked back over with a plate and fork and sat down at the table. He took a couple pancakes from the pile and put them on his plate.

"A book with that name that's not about food shouldn't have that name in the first place," Lorelai remarked. "It's misleading."

"Yeah, well, I'll bring that up to the author next time I talk to him," Jess said, shoving a forkful of food in his mouth.

"Good," Lorelai said. "Thank you."

Luke slid some more pancakes onto the serving plate, then returned the pan to the stove. He grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and sat down at the table. He took a bite of it, then asked Jess, "You're working today, right?"

"Yup," Jess replied. He rolled his eyes and added, "Wait, let me guess - you gonna do your little casual drop-by?"

"Maybe," Luke retorted.

Jess sighed and muttered, "Geez."

"Hey, part of the deal is that I check up on you at work," Luke said sternly.

"I know, I know," Jess replied.

"And I'll still be checking up on you when you move out," Luke reminded him. "You lose that job, you're right back here, remember?"

"I know," he replied in a slightly annoyed tone.

Lorelai cleared her throat. "Uh, are you excited about having your own place?"

Jess shrugged. "Should be cool."

"You might get bored being all by yourself all the time, though. You can still hang out here. . .you know, if you want to. You'll still be welcome here," Lorelai said sincerely. "You know, especially since we've got the built-in chef and everything."

Jess shoved a piece of pancake into his mouth and nodded. "Thanks."

They ate for a few more minutes before Luke stood up from the table. "Okay, I gotta get to work. I cooked breakfast, so you guys have to clean it up."

Lorelai frowned. "That's not how it works at the diner."

"Yeah, well, newsflash – this isn't the diner." Luke leaned down and kissed her quickly on the cheek. "Plus, you like washing dishes anyway." He walked out of the kitchen, grabbed his keys from the hallway table, and walked out the front door.

Lorelai jumped up from the table. "Oh, shoot, I forgot to. . ." her voice trailed off as she ran out the back door to catch him before he left. Luke was already climbing into his truck as Lorelai called, "Luke, wait a second!"

He got into the truck and shut the door. He started the engine, then rolled down the window as she walked over to him. "What is it?" he asked.

"Remember, the air conditioning guy's coming today," Lorelai reminded him.

"Oh, right, right," Luke said, nodding. "What time?"

"They said between one and four," Lorelai said. "I can probably get here at like. . .I don't know, two-thirty-ish. Can you be here at one?"

Luke nodded. "Yeah, I'll try."

"Okay." Lorelai leaned through the window and kissed him. "Bye."

. . .

That afternoon, as Lorelai was driving home from the inn, her cell phone rang. She fished for it in her purse and answered it. "Hello?

"Hey," Luke replied. "They're here, so you don't have to rush home to wait for 'em."

"Aw, well, I took a half day, so I'm gonna come home anyway." Lorelai thought for a moment, then said, "Ooh, actually, you know what? Now that I have some free time, I'm gonna stop at the pharmacy and pick up my prescription."

"Prescription?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, it's a medical term used when a doctor gives you – " Lorelai started.

"Yes, I know what a prescription is," Luke interrupted with a groan.

"Okay, well, you said it like you'd never heard of it before, sorry," Lorelai said with a laugh.

"Are you sick?" Luke asked nervously. "Because whatever you have, I probably have now, too."

"No, I'm not sick," Lorelai assured him.

"You're not sick?" he asked in a slightly confused tone.

"Nope." Lorelai paused a moment, then smiled to herself. "Luke? Have you caught on yet or would you like for me to completely spell it out for you?"

"Spell it out," he replied.

Lorelai laughed. "Okay, well, I'm going to drive this thing called a Jeep over to this building called a pharmacy to pick up a little bag, and - "

Luke sighed loudly. "Get on with it, I don't have all day."

Lorelai smiled and continued, "And inside that little bag will be a container filled with magic pills that enable a certain part of your body to enter a certain opening of mine, all while maintaining a ninety-nine percent guarantee of pregnancy prevention."

"Ah," Luke replied knowingly.

Lorelai smiled. "Yeah."

"Thanks for not being too blunt," Luke said sarcastically.

Lorelai giggled. "You're welcome. Bye."

"Bye."

. . .

Twenty minutes later, Lorelai walked through the front door of her house and called, "Luke?"

"Kitchen!" he called back.

Lorelai set her purse and keys on the table near the front door, then walked to the kitchen. Luke was sitting at the table writing in the checkbook. Lorelai sat down next to him and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Thinking about your cloud underwear," Luke replied, not looking up.

Lorelai laughed. "Besides that."

"Hold on." Luke finished writing, then closed the checkbook and put the pen down. "I just paid the air conditioning people, so I had to write it in."

"Ooh, did they fix it?" Lorelai asked hopefully.

"Yup, it's all taken care of," Luke replied as he stood up. "I'm heading back to the diner."

Lorelai stood up and clasped his hand as she walked with him to the front door. Before he pulled it open, he turned to her and kissed her long and deep. Lorelai brought her hands to his face and ran her fingers over the stubble on his cheeks. As their lips pulled apart from each other, Luke fingered the diamond solitaire hanging around her neck.

Lorelai glanced down at it. "It's beautiful," she said softly.

Luke nodded. "Yeah." He slowly brought his gaze up and locked eyes with hers. "So are you."

Lorelai smiled and kissed him. After several seconds, she pulled back and asked, "Is that coming from the Luke who has to go back to the diner right this second?"

"As opposed to. . ."

Lorelai kissed him again as she slipped her hands up the front of his shirt and ran them over his chest. "As opposed to the Luke who has fifteen minutes to spare," Lorelai said, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

Luke glanced at his watch. "It's coming from the Luke who said he'd be at the diner five minutes ago."

"Aw, that's too bad." Lorelai started walking backwards away from him, casually unbuttoning her shirt.

He stared at her for a moment, then smiled and slowly started following her. "But Caesar probably won't mind if I'm a little late."

Lorelai giggled. "That's what I like to hear." She grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the staircase.

. . .

Shortly after Luke had gone back to the diner, Lorelai walked through their bedroom and picked up the clothes they had strewn across the floor. She tossed them into the clothes basket and brought the basket to the washing machine.

As she tossed his clothes into the washer, she noticed a slip of paper sticking out of his jeans pocket. She pulled it out and set it on the dryer, then finished throwing his clothes into the machine.

After she had started it, she picked up the piece of paper and unfolded it. As she read it, her eyes widened. "Huh."

. . .

A few minutes later, Lorelai walked into the diner and sat down at the counter. Luke finished with a customer at the register, then he walked over to her and smiled. "Hey, you didn't say you'd be coming in."

"Yeah, well, I didn't expect to," Lorelai replied dryly.

Luke narrowed his eyes at her expression and tone. "What's wrong?"

She pulled the piece of paper out of her purse and put it on the counter. "Who's Kathy?"

Confused, Luke picked up the paper and read it. "Oh, this is nothing." He lowered the paper and saw her scowling at him, and he let out a small laugh. "Lorelai, it's nothing, calm down."

"I'm completely calm," she said, shrugging nonchalantly. She picked up the piece of paper and added, "But I was just wondering who Kathy is, and why you have both her cell number and home number." She put down the paper and stared at him expectantly.

"Kathy's a customer who came in this morning," Luke explained.

"Oh, and customers are just randomly giving you their phone numbers?" Lorelai asked.

"No, I – " Luke started.

Lorelai scoffed. "And if that's not strange enough, you're actually keeping them? What, are you saving them just in case things don't work out between us?" she asked accusingly.

Luke sighed. "Will you just let me talk?" he asked in an annoyed tone. "She and I went to high school together. She moved out of town right after graduation and she just moved back here a few weeks ago. She wants to get together next week for coffee so we can catch up."

"Oh. . .well, isn't that nice," Lorelai mumbled. "Too bad you hate coffee."

"So, I'll get tea," Luke replied with a shrug. He tilted his head and smirked at her. "Are you jealous?"

Lorelai scoffed. "No way."

Luke smiled and walked over to the coffeepot. "Yes, you are." He poured some into a takeout cup and placed it in front of her. "I don't know why you are, but you are."

Lorelai shook her head and rolled her eyes. "I'm not jealous." She was quiet for a few seconds. "So. . . you're gonna . . .get together with this girl?"

"I don't know, maybe," Luke replied with a shrug. "Is there a problem?"

Lorelai shook her head. "Nope, no problem. You can hang out with whoever you want to."

Luke smiled. "Good."

Lorelai took a sip of coffee, then stared down at the counter. "Kathy. . .Kathy. . ." Lorelai said. "Why does that name sound familiar?"

"I don't know, maybe because it's one of the most common female names in the country?" he suggested, rolling his eyes.

Lorelai stared into space for a moment, muttering, "Kathy. . . Kathy. . . where did I see that name recently?" A few seconds later, she gasped loudly.

"Geez. . .what now?" Luke asked with a sigh.

"Kathy was girl number one!" Lorelai hissed, slapping her hand on the counter. "She was the first name on your list!"

Luke didn't reply; instead, he started wiping down the counter.

Lorelai gave him a sly smile. "Oh my God! She was, wasn't she?"

Luke smiled slightly. "Maybe she was – why does it matter?"

"Oh, it doesn't matter," Lorelai said, shaking her head quickly. "It doesn't matter at all. If you wanna go out for coffee with the girl who took your virginity, that's fine with me. Go right ahead. No problem here."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Glad to hear you're okay with it."

Lorelai stood up from the counter. "Yup, I'm fine, perfectly fine. Uh, just out of curiosity, what's her last name?"

Luke looked at her curiously. "Why?"

"Just wondering," Lorelai answered with a shrug.

Luke stared at her for a moment, then smiled. "You're gonna go home and look for my old yearbook, aren't you?"

Lorelai grimaced slightly, then turned around and walked away calling, "No idea what you're talking about." Luke shook his head and smiled to himself as he watched her walk out of the diner.

. . .

When Luke arrived home from work that night, Rory was sitting on the couch watching TV, and she looked up as he entered the room. "Hey Luke."

"Hey," he replied. "Uh, how was your day?"

"Good – worked at the inn a little, went shopping with Lane," she replied. "How was yours?"

Luke shrugged. "Eh, can't complain." He glanced toward the kitchen. "Is your mom. . ."

Rory pointed to the ceiling. "Upstairs."

Luke nodded. "Thanks." He walked up the steps and found that their bedroom door was closed. He was about to walk right in, but then hesitated and decided to knock first. "Lorelai?"

A few seconds later, Lorelai pulled open the door wearing only her bra and underwear. Luke stepped into the room and kissed her hello, and after she had locked the door, she walked over to the mirror. She turned around several times, looking at herself from all angles.

Luke sat down on the bed and watched her for a few seconds before asking, "Uh. . .this isn't gonna be one of those moments where you ask me if your butt looks big and then, no matter what I say, you get all upset and I have to comfort you and convince you that it's not, is it?"

Lorelai turned around and smiled at him. She waved him off and said, "No, I know I have a nice butt." She paused a moment, then cleared her throat and gestured for him to say something.

Luke smiled. "Oh, sorry – yes, it's a nice butt."

Lorelai grinned. "Thank you."

"So, then, what are you doing?" Luke asked.

"Just trying this stuff on. You didn't even notice that these are new, did you?" Lorelai asked accusingly.

Luke shrugged. "They all look the same to me."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Why do I even bother buying new things?"

"Got me," he replied. He stood up and walked over to his dresser. He set his wallet on top of it, then sat on the edge of the bed and took off his shoes.

Lorelai pulled on a pair of sweat pants and a T-shirt, then sat down on the bed. "So. . .did you call that girl?"

Luke turned his head to look back at her. "Have you been worrying about this all night?"

"No, I'm not worrying. . .I'm just. . .wondering. I just. . . like to know what's going on with you," Lorelai said.

"Look, if I do decide to go and meet with her, it probably won't be until next week," Luke said.

Lorelai nodded and casually picked lint off of her shirt.

Luke shook his head slightly. "Look, if you're really bothered by it, I don't have to go, okay? It really doesn't matter to me, anyway. I just didn't want to be rude."

"No, if you wanna go, you should go," Lorelai told him. "I'm not gonna keep you from going."

"Okay."

Lorelai stood up and walked to the door. She pulled it open, then turned to him, "So, do you think you're gonna go?"

Luke sighed and gave her a pointed look.

She grimaced and said, "Uh, never mind. Forget I asked that last question." She stepped into the hallway and said, "I'll be downstairs watching tv."

Luke nodded toward her. "I'll be down in a minute."

. . .

The next morning, Luke walked down into the kitchen and poured himself some orange juice. As he was about to sit at the table, the back door opened and Lorelai walked in. She smiled when she saw him. "Hey."

Luke sat down. "Hey. Where were you? Early morning jog?' he suggested jokingly.

Lorelai laughed. "Right, yeah." She walked over and kissed him, then sat down next to him. "No, I was asking Babette about using her house and yard for Sookie's wedding shower. She said it's fine."

"Good," Luke said.

"So now I have to go buy invitations and everything and get it all set up," Lorelai said.

"When is it?" Luke asked.

"Two weeks from this Saturday," Lorelai replied. "Ooh, it's gonna be so exciting! Are you gonna be able to bake stuff? Because for big parties like this, Sookie usually does all the cooking and everything, so I'm really gonna need your help."

"You sound desperate," Luke commented.

"I am," Lorelai replied. "Can you help a poor, lonely, desperate woman in need?"

"Well, it's what I do best," he replied.

Lorelai smiled. "Thank you." She walked over and poured herself a cup of coffee, then walked over to the refrigerator and pulled it open. "You know, we really have to go shopping before this weekend. There isn't anything good to have our 9½ Weeks scene with."

"Uh, the jury's still out on that idea," Luke told her.

Lorelai gasped and turned around. "What? No! I've been looking forward to it for weeks!"

Luke made a face. "I don't know."

She walked over and sat down. "Come on! You loved it when we did it with just whipped cream, remember?" Lorelai reminded him. "We'll use that again if you want – they even have fat free!"

Luke shrugged. "I don't know, I'll think about it."

Lorelai frowned. "We're doing it, even if I have to tie you down." She paused a moment, then smiled. "Hmm, there's an idea to add to the 'To Do' list for this weekend."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Please."

"Okay, I'll be the one tied up," she offered.

"Forget it."

"You don't like the sound of it now, but once we get nice and liquored up. . .you'll be into it," Lorelai assured him. "Trust me."

"So now we're getting all liquored up, too?" Luke asked in disbelief. "Geez, anything else you have planned that I should know about? Should I tell Caesar I won't be in for awhile just in case I end up getting arrested?"

"That would be a good precautionary measure to take, yes," Lorelai said, nodding her head. Luke rolled his eyes and sipped his juice. Lorelai sipped her coffee, then said, "Oh, Rory needs the suitcases from the attic. Can you get them for her sometime today?"

Luke finished his juice, then stood up. "I'll go get them now. How many does she need?"

"Well, she's going for five days, so I'd say. . .what, one per day?" Lorelai suggested.

Luke rolled his eyes. "We're talking about Rory, not you."

Lorelai smiled. "Oh, right. I'd say just the two biggest ones, then."

"Okay, come help me get 'em down," Luke said.

. . .

Later that afternoon, Lorelai walked into the kitchen of the inn. "Okay, I'm back."

"That was fast," Sookie commented. "What did Michel want?"

"He needed me to sign some things," Lorelai said. "I swear, my work is never done."

Sookie giggled. "Yeah, you're so overworked – the woman who takes the whole afternoon off just so she can pick up something from the pharmacy."

Lorelai laughed. "Hey, I told you, that's not why I took off, that's just how it panned out."

"I know, I know," Sookie said, smiling. "I'm just teasing."

"So, where was I before Michel so rudely interrupted?" Lorelai asked.

"Um, you were telling me about your dream last night. . .something about dogs," Sookie said.

"Oh, right, right," Lorelai said, nodding. "Okay, so I'm walking near the gazebo and I see a group of Chihuahuas walking from the other direction and suddenly I get this weird craving for tacos."

Sookie nodded. "Uh huh."

"Right, so I walk toward the diner to tell Luke that I'm gonna go get some tacos and I get inside and the place is totally deserted, even though it's like right in the middle of the dinner rush," Lorelai said.

Sookie leaned forward on the counter and rested her chin in her palms, captivated by the story. "Weird."

"Yeah. So I walk up to the apartment to look for Luke, but he's not up there. I come back down and look in the kitchen, and he's not in there either. So I'm standing at the counter and . . .it's like, I know he's there somewhere, it's this gut instinct that I have that he's there, you know?"

Sookie nodded. "Yup, go on."

"So I walk to the storage room and the door is shut. I turn the knob and push it open and. . . there's Luke," Lorelai said.

Sookie's eyes widened and she winced. "Ooh, please don't tell me he was all gross and bloody with his limbs only barely attached by one tiny thread of skin or something!"

Lorelai narrowed her eyes and let out a laugh. "Man, what kind of freaky dreams do you have?"

Sookie waved her off. "Go on, go on."

"So, there was Luke. . ." Lorelai paused dramatically, then continued, ". . .having sex with another woman on the floor." Lorelai pursed her lips and folded her arms across her chest.

Sookie gasped. "Oh, that rat! I can't believe he dream-cheated on you!"

"I know!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"Oh man, what was he thinking?" Sookie shook her head disappointedly. "Who was the girl? Anyone we know?"

Lorelai shook her head. "I didn't recognize her – but it was one of those things where you *know* who it is, even though you don't recognize her."

"So who was it?" Sookie asked.

"Kathy," Lorelai muttered.

Sookie rolled her eyes. "Oh God, not this again. Did we not spend half an hour on the phone last night talking about how it's no big deal that he might possibly have coffee with this girl?"

"Yes," Lorelai mumbled.

"And aren't you the one who came out and said – and I quote – 'I know Luke would never cheat on me'?" Sookie asked.

"Yes," she mumbled.

"So, then, why are you so worried about it?" Sookie asked.

Lorelai shifted her feet and sighed loudly. "I don't know. I'm just. . .I wanna know things about her. I wanna see what she looks like. I wanna know what kind of girl. . ."

"What kind of girl he used to like all those years ago?" Sookie suggested.

"Maybe," Lorelai replied. "I couldn't find his stupid yearbook anywhere. This is the first girl he slept with, Sookie, and I just . . ." She let her voice trail off as she thought for a moment. Suddenly, she said, "Help me follow them."

"What?" Sookie asked with a laugh.

"Come on, I'll find out where they're gonna meet and we'll just casually - "

"No way." Sookie shook her head. "You have to trust him and leave him alone."

"I do trust him, I just wanna see her," Lorelai said.

Sookie sighed. "I know you do, but if you do something like follow them around, you're just gonna get him mad at you," she pointed out.

Lorelai sighed and muttered, "I know."

"So you should just forget about it," Sookie said.

"I know."

"Good. Will you?" Sookie asked.

Lorelai shook her head. "Probably not."

"Didn't think so," Sookie replied.

Lorelai was quiet for a moment, then shook her head slightly. "Okay, he's not gonna see her until next week, right? So, I'll just forget about it until next week. I have the weekend to concentrate on," she said, rubbing her hands together excitedly.

"Ooh, big plans, huh?" Sookie asked.

Lorelai smiled. "Yup, it will definitely be a weekend to remember." She reached up and tucked her hair behind her ears.

Sookie glanced at Lorelai's neck and said, "Oh, finally took off the necklace, huh?"

Lorelai narrowed her eyes. "What?"

"The necklace he gave you – this is the first time I've seen you without it since you got it," Sookie said.

Lorelai put her hand on her neck, feeling for it. "What? I had it on this morning." Lorelai ran her hands frantically along her neck and upper chest. "Oh my God, where is it? It's not there!"

"You sure you had it on?" Sookie asked.

"I'm positive!" Lorelai exclaimed. She pulled on her collar and looked down her shirt. "Oh God, Sookie, that was his mother's!"

"I know, I know. We'll find it," Sookie assured her. "Calm down."

Lorelai stared worriedly into space. "Okay, I know I put it on after my shower this morning. . .I'm pretty sure I felt it when I was in the kitchen. . .I *think* I had it on in the car. . ." Lorelai grabbed Sookie's hand and squeezed it tightly. "Oh my God, Sookie, what am I gonna tell him? Man, now I totally know how Rory felt when she lost her bracelet! This is exactly the same thing. . .except that she lost a piece of leather and some scrap metal that her boyfriend made in like five minutes, whereas I lost a five hundred dollar diamond that was in my boyfriend's family for like thirty years – other than that, it's completely the same thing."

"Honey, breathe," Sookie told her. "Just relax, we'll find it. Why don't you start off by checking the car?"

Lorelai swallowed hard and nodded. "The car, good idea. I'll go check the car." She rushed out the back door and headed toward the parking lot.

. . .

PART 37

. . .

A few minutes later, Lorelai walked back into the kitchen and Sookie could tell by the distressed look on her face that she hadn't found the necklace. "No luck, Sweetie?" Sookie asked.

Lorelai shook her head and bit her bottom lip nervously. Her gaze went to the floor and she scanned the linoleum for the necklace. "Where are you, little necklace?" she muttered.

Sookie put her hand on Lorelai's back and led her to the lobby door. "Listen, I'll check in here, you go check in the lobby, okay?"

Lorelai gave one more glance to the floor surrounding her before she nodded. "Okay, let me know if you find it."

"That was pretty much my plan," Sookie assured her. "Go on."

Lorelai walked into the lobby and over to the front desk where Michel was entering some information into the computer. "Michel, I need you to help me."

"No," he replied.

"Michel, I lost the necklace Luke gave me," Lorelai whined. "It's very old and very valuable and I have to find it!"

"Why would he give you something so important?" Michel asked. "Doesn't he know that you are very irresponsible?"

Lorelai frowned. "I'm not irresponsible. It was an accident – just like the 'accident' involving a local Frenchman that will headline the papers tomorrow if you don't help me."

Michel gave an annoyed sigh. "Fine, if it will make me stop having to listen to your voice, I will do it."

"Thank you for doing 'eet'," Lorelai said, mocking his accent. He gave her a stern glare, which she ignored as she added, "Okay, I'm gonna go check my office, you check out here. Check everywhere – leave no stone unturned." Michel huffed loudly as Lorelai walked away from the desk.

. . .

Later that afternoon, back at home, Lorelai and Rory were both searching the house for the necklace. Rory was crawling around on the kitchen floor as Lorelai dug through the sofa cushions. "Anything yet?" Rory called.

"Did you hear me scream excitedly?" Lorelai called back.

"No!"

"There's your answer!"

A few minutes later, Rory walked into the living room and announced, "It's definitely not in the kitchen. I checked everywhere."

Lorelai, who was lying on the floor looking under the sofa, sat up and sighed loudly. "Did you check the fridge?"

"Yup," Rory replied.

"Inside all the cabinets and drawers?" Lorelai asked.

"Yup, everywhere. Every possible crevice of that kitchen has been checked and re-checked," Rory said. "I'm sorry – it's not in there."

Lorelai stood up and glanced around disappointedly. "It's not in here either. He's gonna kill me," she said, shaking her head toward the ground.

"No, he's not," Rory said.

"Yes, he is," Lorelai insisted. "You're gonna be an orphan and end up at some orphanage and have to eat cold mush three times a day like in Annie."

"Okay, first off, I wouldn't be an orphan – I'd probably go live with Grandma and Grandpa, and it'd probably be pretty cool since they have all those maids and chefs and stuff. Plus, I'd be right near Chilton, so that would be really convenient," Rory said. Lorelai rolled her eyes and waved for her to continue. "And secondly. . .Mom, he knows accidents happen, he knows you didn't do it on purpose."

"Yeah, but he'll still be disappointed!" Lorelai put her arms on Rory's shoulders and squeezed them. "Dammit, why didn't I feel that it was missing!"

"For the same reason I didn't feel that the bracelet was missing," Rory said. "You get so used to wearing it that you forget that you're even wearing anything at all."

Lorelai fell back onto the couch with a loud sigh. Rory started walking toward the front door. "I'll check the front porch again."

Lorelai sat on the couch, nervously biting on her thumbnail as she ran over in her mind what she would tell Luke when he got home later that night.

A few minutes later, Rory walked back into the house and said in a loud whisper, "Mom, Luke's home!"

Lorelai jumped up from the couch. "He's here? Why is he home so early?"

Rory rolled her eyes. "How would I know? Maybe he lost something and he wanted to come home and search the house for it."

Lorelai made a face, then waved Rory out of the room as she walked to the front door and pulled it open. Luke was walking up the front porch with a questioning look on his face. "Hey. What are you doing home?" he asked.

"Hey. I'd ask you the same thing," Lorelai replied.

"I left my supply ledger here and I need to do inventory later," Luke replied. "Your turn."

Lorelai cleared her throat nervously and looked down at her shoes. "Oh. . .uh, just . . . helping Rory pack." She looked up at him and forced a smile.

Luke nodded, accepting this explanation without question, and walked past her into the house. He picked up his supply ledger from the desk in the living room, then walked back to the front door.

Luke held up the book. "Got it." He smiled and kissed her. "I'll see you tonight."

"Tonight. . .right. . .I'll probably see you tonight," Lorelai said, nodding in agreement. "You know, because you live here now, and I still live here, so we see each other at night. . .because we live together." She paused a moment and shoved her hands into her pockets, then added, "Rory and Jess also live here. We all. . . you know, live here. . .in this house. . .together." She rocked on her feet and clicked her tongue. "Yup. . .that's right."

Luke stepped back and eyed her curiously. "You okay?"

Lorelai nodded. "Mmhmm, fine, great, everything's fine."

"Lorelai," Luke said sternly.

She gestured toward Rory's bedroom. "Uh, Rory and I are just gonna go pack some more." She started to walk past him, but he reached out and gently took hold of her wrist. She turned around and looked up at him nervously.

"What's up with you?" Luke asked.

Lorelai shrugged. "Nothing."

Luke gave an annoyed sigh. "Look, I know I'm not the most receptive guy all the time, but right now I can tell something's up, so what's up?"

Lorelai slipped out of his grasp and said, "Luke, everything's fine. It's just. . .you know, helping Rory pack is making me a little. . . weepy."

"Oh," Luke nodded knowingly. "Don't let it get you down, she'll be back before you know it."

Lorelai nodded. "I know." She leaned up and kissed him. "I'll see you tonight."

Luke nodded toward her and walked out the front door, pulling it closed behind him. Lorelai waited a few seconds, then yelled, "Rory!"

Rory hurried out of her bedroom over to Lorelai. "What? Did you tell him?"

Lorelai turned around and put her hands on Rory's shoulders. "No, but we have to finish searching the rest of this house and then we have to start packing for Boston because I told him that's what we were doing and if he comes home to two empty suitcases, he'll know I was lying."

"But I still need to do laundry before I can pack," Rory said.

"Then go do it!" Lorelai cried. "We have to have at least one suitcase packed before he gets home tonight!"

Rory sighed. "Okay, okay, calm down, geez. I'll go do my laundry, you keep looking."

. . .

Later that night, Lorelai and Rory were searching through the master bedroom as Jess knocked on the doorframe. "I'm done."

Lorelai turned around and anxiously asked, "Did you find it?"

Jess shook his head. "Nope, it's not in the bathroom. I tore the room apart."

Lorelai sighed, then covered her face with her hands and muttered, "Jesus, where the hell could it be?"

"Mom, we'll find it," Rory assured her as she searched through Lorelai's dresser drawers.

"No, we won't," Lorelai replied quietly. "We've been looking all day, we've combed this entire stupid house and the yard and the inn and the car and . . ." She let out a long sigh and shrugged. "Forget it, I'll just have to tell him that I lost it."

Jess shifted his feet uncomfortably in the doorway. "Uh, do you want me to check anywhere else?"

Lorelai waved him off. "No, we're done. Thanks for your help."

Jess nodded toward her, then walked into his bedroom.

Lorelai sat down on the bed with a groan. Rory sat down next to her and put an arm around Lorelai's shoulder. "Mom, he's probably not gonna be mad."

Lorelai's lower lip trembled slightly. "I know, but he'll still be disappointed and. . ." Tears formed in her eyes and she looked away from Rory. "I don't wanna disappoint him."

Rory rubbed Lorelai's back. "Aww, Mom, come on. Let's go start packing. It'll get your mind off of it."

Lorelai wiped her eyes and said, "You go start. I'll be right down."

Rory nodded and stood up. She walked into Jess' room and retrieved her clean laundry from the dryer, then brought it downstairs to her room.

Lorelai fell back onto the pillows and stared up at the ceiling. "Jerk. . .you're such a jerk," she scolded herself. "How could you not feel that it was gone!" More tears fell and she pulled a pillow over her face to hide them.

She stayed that way for a minute before she heard Rory yell from downstairs, "Mom! Come down here, quick!"

Lorelai climbed off the bed and hurried down the staircase. She rushed to Rory's bedroom. "What, what is it?"

Rory smiled and gestured to the bed, where she had spread open one of the large suitcases. Lorelai walked slowly toward it with a questioning look. "What. . .what's. . ." Her eyes, puffy and teary, widened as she saw the necklace inside the suitcase. She gasped and grabbed for it, letting out a small laugh of surprise through her tears. "Oh my God!"

Rory smiled. "Told you we would find it."

Lorelai held up the necklace in front of her and gasped. "Wait, this is just the chain. . .where's the diamond?" She looked back down into the suitcase, and spotted the diamond in the corner of it. Lorelai quickly grabbed for it. "Oh my God." She exhaled loudly as she examined it. "It looks okay." She looked at the chain and noticed that the clasp was broken. "Aw, look, that's why it fell off."

Rory looked at it. "Yeah, I see." She patted the suitcase. "But how did it get in here?"

Lorelai thought for a moment, then said, "After Luke brought the suitcases down, I opened them up to make sure they were empty. It must've fallen off and somehow slipped inside. That's the only time it could've happened."

Rory nodded. "Makes sense. I guess you didn't – " Her voice trailed off as they both heard the front door open. They glanced at each other and Rory gestured to Lorelai's eyes. Lorelai wiped them as Rory whispered, "What are you gonna tell him?"

Lorelai shrugged. "I don't know." She clutched the necklace and diamond in her fist and walked out of the bedroom.

Luke was walking toward the kitchen and he smiled when he saw her. "Hey."

"Hey," Lorelai replied. He kissed her, then hugged her tightly – an opportunity she took to wipe her eyes on his shoulder to make sure no stray tears were present.

As they pulled apart from each other, Lorelai asked, "How was your night?"

Luke walked to the fridge and pulled out a beer. "Long. Had a couple of accidents."

Lorelai's eyes widened. "Accidents? What kind of accidents?"

Luke opened the beer, then walked past her out of the kitchen. Lorelai followed him to the living room and they sat down on the couch. "Ah, well, I knocked a tray of dishes to the floor and those all broke. Then later I knocked over this huge bowl of rolls so we had to throw all those out. . . and then the cash register got jammed and we couldn't get it open for twenty minutes." He sighed and took a long sip of his beer.

"Geez, what's with all the clumsiness today?" Lorelai asked. She reached for the bottle and took a sip, then handed it back to him.

Luke shrugged. "I don't know, just. . .one of those days." Lorelai nodded as she stroked his arm. He stared at her face for a moment, then narrowed his eyes. "Your eyes are red. . . were you crying?"

Lorelai looked down quickly and cleared her throat, stammering, "What? Oh, no, I was just. . . you know. . .I had something in my eye, that's all."

Luke tilted her chin up and turned her face toward him. "What happened?"

Lorelai casually pushed his hand away and shrugged. "Nothing, it was probably a piece of dust or something. Or, you know, sometimes bugs can fly around and get in your eyes and make you tear up and stuff. I'm sure that's all it was. It's fine now, no big deal." She smiled and nodded. "So. . .what do you wanna do now – watch a movie?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "No, I don't wanna watch a movie, I wanna know what happened. Your eyes don't get that red from a piece of dust or a bug."

Lorelai turned her head away and stared at the fireplace. Luke watched her curiously as she brought her right hand toward him and unclenched her fist. She sighed loudly and said, "This happened."

He looked down in her hand and saw the chain and diamond. "What about it?"

"Look at it," she said, still not looking at him.

Luke picked up the chain and eyed it closely. "Oh. . .what, it broke? You were crying because it broke?"

Lorelai turned to him slowly. "No, I – "

"We'll just buy a new chain, no big deal. What, did you think I was gonna yell at you or something?" he asked with a laugh. "Things break all the time."

"I wasn't crying because it broke," Lorelai said loudly. "I was crying because I had lost it and spent the past four hours looking for it and couldn't find it anywhere, and I know how important it is to you and I felt like a jerk for losing it and I didn't want to disappoint you by making you think that I didn't care about it because I do! It means everything to me and I –"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Luke interrupted. "Calm down, geez."

Lorelai continued, ". . .felt so horrible and I got all upset, but then we finally found it a few minutes ago in the suitcase and the clasp was broken and that's why –"

"Okay, okay," Luke interrupted again. "Take a breath."

". . .it fell off in the first place," Lorelai finished. She took several deep breaths and looked up at the ceiling. "I'm sorry."

Luke let out a surprised laugh. "Why the hell are you sorry? The thing broke, it's not your fault."

Lorelai sighed. "I know, but I should've – "

"Lorelai," Luke said loudly.

Lorelai abruptly stopped talking and turned to look at him.

He shook his head and said, "It's not your fault, forget about it. I'll buy you a new chain for it."

A relieved smile appeared on Lorelai's face and she leaned forward to kiss him. As she pulled back, Luke held out his hand. "Here, give me the diamond. I'm gonna go get changed, I'll take it upstairs." Lorelai handed it to him, then Luke stood up and walked toward the staircase.

"You coming back down?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, I'm gonna get something to eat," Luke replied. "Find something for us to watch."

. . .

The next night, Lorelai and Rory walked into the diner after Friday night dinner. There were only a handful of other customers, and the counter was empty except for Luke, who was intently reading a small booklet. They walked over to the counter, and as they sat down, they noticed a small box in front of him. Lorelai gasped, startling him from his reading. "Geez, don't sneak up on people," he grumbled.

Lorelai smiled. "Luke Danes, you bought a cell phone."

"Uh oh, looks like you have to take down the No Cell Phones sign," Rory said as she pointed to it behind him. "You don't want to be called a hypocrite."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Please. It's not for me, it's for Jess."

"Jess?" Lorelai asked.

"Yup." Luke turned around and poured two cups of coffee, then set the mugs in front of them.

"You bought Jess a cell phone?" Rory asked.

Luke nodded. "Yup."

"How come?" Lorelai asked.

Luke shrugged. "I don't know. I just thought it would be good for him to have. . .you know, for an emergency or something."

"Does he know you bought it?" Lorelai asked.

"Yup, he saw it a few minutes ago. He's upstairs right now reorganizing the apartment," Luke said.

"Oh yeah?" Rory asked. She slid off her stool and picked up her cup of coffee. "I'm gonna go see what he's doing to it." She walked around the counter and went up to the apartment.

Luke put the instruction booklet back into the cell phone box, then leaned on the counter. "So, how was dinner?"

Lorelai nodded as she sipped her coffee. "Good, it was good. Rory was all excited about her trip so she kept talking about it. . .which kept the conversation off of us and how we're throwing our lives away by living together."

Luke smiled. "Good."

"Yup, it was good," Lorelai replied. She gestured to the counter behind him. "Is that pie I see?"

"Yup. You want some?" he asked.

Lorelai smiled and held up two fingers. Luke shook his head slightly but turned around and got two slices for her. As he set the plate in front of her, she grinned. "Thank you." She ate some, then moaned happily. "Mmm, that's good."

As she continued eating, Luke grabbed his order pad and walked over to a table of customers. He placed their check on the table and brought their plates into the kitchen, then walked back over to Lorelai. He lowered his voice and said, "So the next five days. . .they're gonna be . . "

Lorelai looked up and smiled. She spoke quietly, "All about us. We'll go out, we'll do it, we'll spend time together, we'll do it, we'll get drunk, we'll do it, we'll be wild and crazy. . .we'll do it some more."

Luke smiled. "I'm seeing a recurring theme." He leaned forward so his lips were close to hers. "And I have to say, I like that recurring theme." He kissed her.

Lorelai smiled. "Good." She shoved a piece of pie into her mouth and chewed it slowly. "Anything wild and crazy you wanna do? I'm up for anything." She leaned forward and smiled, "And you know I'm not lying when I say. . . *anything*."

"I know," Luke said with a sly smile

"Any time, any place," she said in a seductive whisper.

"I know."

Lorelai smiled. "I mean it. If we're walking along or hanging out or something, and you get the urge to just jump me for a random quickie, just go right ahead. The element of surprise is always a huge turn on," she added, nodding fervently.

"I'll remember that," Luke said, tapping his forehead.

Lorelai smiled. "Good." She took a long sip of coffee, then said, "Seriously, anything you wanna do?" She rolled her eyes and added, "Besides the batting cages. . . I know, I know. I promised."

"Yes, you did," Luke agreed.

"So, anything else?" Lorelai asked.

Luke shrugged. "Not really – we'll just play it by ear."

Lorelai nodded as Rory walked back into the diner. She smiled as she sat down next to Lorelai. "He put me to work."

"Oh yeah?" Lorelai asked. "What'd you do?"

"Helped him move some furniture around," Rory said. She glanced at her watch and said, "I have to get home soon. Dean's coming over to help me finish packing."

"Okay, I'm almost done," Lorelai said. She shoved the last piece of pie into her mouth and stood up before she finished chewing. "It's free pie night, right?"

Luke took away the plate and smiled. "Whatever you say."

"Thank you," Lorelai said in a singsong voice. She leaned across the counter and kissed him on the cheek. "See you at home."

"Bye," he replied. "Bye Rory."

"Bye Luke," Rory replied.

. . .

Early Saturday morning, Lorelai woke up on her side with Luke pressed up against her and his arms wrapped around her waist. As she shifted her body around to lie on her back, he groaned groggily. He slipped his arms out from under her and rolled over to lie on his back. Lorelai turned her head to look at him. "Hi."

Luke yawned loudly before mumbling, "Hey."

Lorelai reached down and laced her fingers through his. "I'm starting to get sad."

Luke yawned again and muttered, "About?"

"Uh, about the fact that I don't have Rosie's farewell episode on tape." Lorelai rolled her eyes and nudged his shoulder. "Tsk, what do you think?"

Luke rubbed his eyes and thought for a moment. "Ah, right, Rory's leaving today."

"Yes, she is," Lorelai said wistfully.

"And you're gonna miss her," Luke said.

"Yes, I am."

"So why don't you go down and tell her that and let me go back to sleep?" Luke suggested. He closed his eyes and pulled the covers up over him.

Lorelai frowned and snuggled up against him. "Because I don't want her to know how sad I am because I don't want her to feel bad about leaving, you know?"

"Mmhmm," Luke muttered with his eyes still closed.

"I mean, she should go and have a good time – she shouldn't be thinking about how her crybaby of a mother is being all sad and acting like a big loser because her only daughter went away for five long days," Lorelai said.

"Mmhmm."

Lorelai propped herself up on her elbow and looked at him curiously, trying to figure out if he was really listening to her. She continued, "Yeah, and I told her that we'd be having a lot of sex while she's gone and that she shouldn't call too much because she might interrupt us."

Luke turned onto his side and mumbled, "Mmhmm."

Lorelai rolled her eyes and shoved him playfully. "Tsk, you're not even listening to me."

"Mmhmm."

Lorelai sighed and climbed out of bed. "I'm gonna take a shower. . .not that you care anyway. I could be choking to death right now and you'd be lying there going, Mmhmm, mmhmm, mmhmm."

As she pulled on her robe, Luke rolled over to look at her. "Are you choking?" he asked, squinting into the bright sunlight that was shining through the window.

"No."

"Good, just checking." Luke rolled back over as he said, "Let me know if you start."

"Wow, I'm so glad I found me a sensitive man," Lorelai said, rolling her eyes. She walked out of the room and into the bathroom.

. . .

A few hours later, while Luke and Jess were at the apartment unloading Jess' boxes, Rory and Lorelai were at home waiting for Christopher to arrive. Rory lined her luggage up neatly by the front door, then walked to the bottom of the staircase. "Mom, he's gonna be here any minute!" Rory called.

"I know, I'm almost done!" Lorelai called back.

Rory walked over to the couch and fell onto it with a sigh. She picked up a magazine and leafed through it pointlessly just to pass the time. A few minutes later, Lorelai barreled down the steps. "Okay, it's done!"

Rory threw the magazine onto the coffee table and smiled up at Lorelai. "What is it?"

Lorelai walked over and handed her a small book. Rory opened it up and discovered that it was a photo album. She flipped through the pages, which Lorelai had filled with pictures of her and Rory. "Aw, Mom, this is so cute," Rory said sincerely.

"That's so you don't forget me. . .your mother. . .the woman who birthed you," Lorelai told her.

Rory laughed. "Okay, I don't think five days is long enough to forget someone you've been around for sixteen years, but way to be prepared."

"Thank you," Lorelai replied. "And it'll also remind you of all the fun times we've had together and it'll make you keep those fresh in your memory so that you don't replace them with new memories of you hanging out with Sherry, the woman who tries desperately to replace me as your primary female role model."

Rory rolled her eyes and they both continued looking through the photos, each of which seemed to have a funny or memorable story to accompany it. Ten minutes later, after having spent a good three minutes making fun of Lorelai's hair in one of the oldest photos, they were both laughing on the couch as Luke walked through the front door.

Luke smiled as he walked over and stood behind the couch. "What's so funny?"

Rory wiped the tears that had formed in her eyes from laughing so hard and showed him the picture. "We were just saying how Mom looks like an extra from Welcome Back, Kotter in this picture."

Luke laughed and nodded in agreement. "Definitely."

Lorelai smiled as she took the album back from him. "That, or a member of Bananarama."

Luke smiled and ran his fingers through her hair. "I'm glad to see you grew out of that phase."

"Yeah, well, I received several disturbing letters from people asking me to please take care of it or else a protest would be started," Lorelai said with a shrug.

Luke smiled and walked into the kitchen. The girls continued talking about the pictures for a few more minutes before a horn honked out front. Rory jumped up off the couch. "That's Dad!" She clutched the photo album as she ran toward the front door.

Lorelai followed her out onto the porch. Rory had already run over to hug Christopher, and Lorelai slowly walked over to them. "Hey."

"Hey Lor," Christopher said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Lorelai glanced inside the Volvo. "Sherry didn't come?"

"Uh, no," Christopher said. "I kind of persuaded her not to. Last time she talked Rory's ear off all the way to Boston, so I told her that this time I'd like some father-daughter alone time." He gave a sly smile toward Rory. "I saved you this time, kiddo."

Rory gave an embarrassed shrug. "I didn't mind, she was just trying to get to know me."

"Yeah, I know, which is nice – but since she was trying to learn your whole life story in a two hour car ride, I thought it might be a little easier for you this time if it was just the two of us," Christopher said.

Lorelai smiled. "So. . .that Sherry's a little over-talkative, huh?"

"Yeah, aren't people like that so annoying?" Christopher asked, giving a pointed look toward Lorelai.

Lorelai gasped and placed a hand on the center of her chest. "I hope you're not hinting at what I think you're hinting at!"

Christopher smirked, then turned to Rory. "Ready to go, hon?"

Rory started walking toward the house. "Yup, my stuff's right inside the door."

As they walked inside, Lorelai called, "Luke, Rory's leaving!" Christopher picked up one of the suitcases and started rolling it out the front door. Rory put her backpack on her back, and Luke walked into the front entryway as she was starting to grab the second large suitcase.

"No, I got it," Luke said, taking hold of the handle. "You hug your mother and try to keep her from crying."

Rory smiled and stepped back. "Thanks, Luke. And I'll try."

Luke pulled the suitcase past them out the front door. Rory and Lorelai stared at each other for a second, neither of them wanting to say goodbye. Rory saw Lorelai's lower lip start to quiver, and she quickly leaned forward and hugged her. "Don't cry, Luke'll be mad at me."

Lorelai let out a laugh as she wrapped her arms tightly around Rory. She kissed Rory's head and said, "Ahh, I'm gonna miss you, kid."

"Me too," Rory replied as she rubbed Lorelai's back comfortingly. "Don't worry, I'll call every night."

Lorelai nodded and warned, "You better, or next time I'll get one of those electronic tracking devices so I can follow your every move on a monitor that I'll carry around with me at all times."

Rory pulled back from Lorelai and smiled. "And the sad thing is, I have no doubts that you'd do something like that."

Lorelai smiled and linked her arm through Rory's, whose other arm was clutching the photo album against her chest. They walked out the front door and over to Luke and Christopher, who were talking near the car. Both doors on the driver's side were open, and Rory set her backpack and photo album into the backseat and shut the door.

"Got everything?" Christopher asked.

"Yup, I'm all set," Rory replied.

Christopher smiled toward Luke and Lorelai. "Okay, we'll see you guys on Wednesday – I promise I'll take good care of her." He climbed into the driver's seat and started the car. Loud music blared from the radio, which became muted when he shut his door.

Rory walked over to Luke and hugged him. "Bye Luke." She kissed his cheek as she pulled back from him.

Luke smiled. "Have a good time."

Rory turned to Lorelai. They hugged tightly and kissed each other on the cheek. As Rory pulled back, she said, "Bye Mom. Love you."

"Love you too, Sweets," Lorelai replied. "Be good."

"I'll try," Rory replied.

"And don't do drugs," Lorelai warned, wagging her finger in Rory's face.

Rory laughed. "Where did that come from?"

Lorelai shrugged. "Felt like a motherly thing to say."

Rory smiled and rolled her eyes, then gave Lorelai one last hug. "Okay, bye."

"Bye," Lorelai replied. She watched as Rory walked around to the passenger side and got into the car. As Rory fastened her seatbelt, Lorelai and Luke both took a few steps backwards and waited for the car to pull away. As it did, both Rory and Chris waved, and Lorelai and Luke returned the gesture. When the car was out of sight, they walked across the yard and went inside through the back door.

As they stepped into the kitchen and closed the door behind them, Lorelai turned around and smiled at him. "And then there were two." She leaned forward and kissed him deeply, pressing him up against the door as she ran her hands over his chest and arms.

Luke smiled through the kiss. "It's amazing how quickly you can go from the sad and lonely mother to the wild and sex-obsessed girlfriend. That's quite a gift you've got there."

Lorelai smiled. "You like that, huh?" She pressed her lips back against his and kissed him again. As their mouths opened, she used the tip of her tongue to massage the top of his. He reciprocated the motions, and their tongues fell into a gentle rhythm of swirling that made several short moans escape Lorelai's throat.

When they finally pulled apart from each other, Lorelai turned around and pressed her back against him. Luke slipped his hands under her shirt and ran them over her stomach. He began to kiss the back of her neck, and Lorelai tilted her head to the side to give him better access. She closed her eyes as his hands moved up to her breasts. Lorelai swallowed hard and whispered, "Luke. . .right here." She reached behind her and tugged at the waistband of his jeans. "Right now – just take me."

Luke lifted his lips from her neck. "Right here. . .in the kitchen?"

Lorelai craned her neck to look back at him. "Yes!" she urged.

Luke considered it for a moment. He stared into her pleading eyes that were eagerly awaiting his next movement. Finally, he removed his hands from her shirt and said, "No, not like this."

Lorelai turned her body around and frowned. "What?"

"Not like *this* right now," Luke said as he walked past her. "You're expecting it. You said yourself that being surprised is always a turn on."

Lorelai started to follow him. "I know, but – "

Luke quickly turned around and she almost walked into him. "So. . . I think that a scenario like this. . .well, it'll be good for . . .a surprise one," Luke told her. He grabbed a grape from the fruit bowl and popped it into his mouth. He chewed it, then smiled and said, "Wait to be surprised."

Lorelai frowned at him. "You're evil!"

Luke smirked. "I didn't say I didn't want to do it right now, I just said not like this."

Lorelai perked up and she grinned. She rushed past him, calling over her shoulder, "Beat you upstairs!"

Luke smiled to himself as he turned and followed her toward the staircase.

. . .

PART 38

. . .

As Luke rolled off of Lorelai and climbed off the bed, Lorelai propped herself up on her elbows and watched him. He glanced around the floor for his boxers, which he finally found near the foot of the bed. He pulled them on as Lorelai reached over to the nightstand and grabbed a small box. She pounded the box on her palm a few times, a noise that made Luke turn around.

He rolled his eyes when he saw what she was doing. "You know, you only have to do that with a real box of cigarettes."

Lorelai smiled and opened the box, then pulled out a candy cigarette and took a bite. "I know, but it's fun."

Luke shrugged. "Whatever. Okay, now, where's my shirt?" He glanced around the room for it, and finally found it on top of his dresser. As he pulled it on, he said, "You know, getting dressed would be a lot easier if you didn't throw my clothes across the room."

Lorelai smiled and leaned back against the headboard. "Yeah, but then I wouldn't get to watch you walk around naked looking for them."

"Oh, so it's purely for your own enjoyment," Luke stated knowingly.

"Yup."

"Great, thanks." Luke pulled on his jeans, then stood at the foot of the bed. "So, what do you wanna do now?"

Lorelai leaned forward and shrugged. "I don't know – what do you wanna do?"

Luke walked over to her dresser and picked up her broken necklace. "We can go pick out a new chain," he suggested.

"Ooh, good idea. Can we go into Hartford?" Lorelai asked.

"For what?" Luke asked.

Lorelai stood up and walked over to him. "Well, there's this really cool party store near the college and I wanna pick up some stuff for Sookie's shower, and we can go to the jewelry store that's right on that street."

Luke replaced the necklace on the dresser and shrugged. "Okay, get dressed."

Lorelai smiled. "Okay." She started gathering her clothes as Luke walked over and sat on the bed. As she dressed, she said, "You know what else they have on that street?"

Watching her intently, Luke leaned back on his hands. "What?"

Lorelai grinned. "A liquor store. . .and one of those adult video rental places."

Luke groaned. "What are you thinking?"

"Well. . . " Lorelai pulled her shorts up and walked over to him. She pushed him flat on his back, then lay on top of him. She kissed from his lips over his cheeks down to his neck. Finally, she stared him in the eyes as she ran her fingers through his hair. "I'm thinking that we can maybe pick up some liquor." She kissed him, then added, "And then, maybe pick up some dirty movies . . ."

Luke rolled his eyes. "I don't think so."

Lorelai ignored him and continued, "And then later tonight we can get drunk, watch the movies, and have some fun imitating them. What do you think?"

"I don't watch movies like that," Luke said nonchalantly.

Lorelai rolled her eyes and pushed herself up so she was sitting on his stomach. "Yeah, right – I bet. Luke, you don't have to hide things like that anymore – we live together now. Come on, fess up."

Luke gave an embarrassed smirk. "Well. . .I haven't watched any since Jess has lived with me."

Lorelai laughed. "I knew it! What did you do, rent them?"

Luke scoffed. "God, no! I just watched the stuff that came on late night cable."

"Like what, Cinemax?"

Luke shrugged.

Lorelai smirked. "Look at you being all shy about it. Have you ever watched a dirty movie with someone. . .I mean, someone you're sleeping with?"

Luke shook his head. "Nope."

Lorelai smiled. "It's fun." She leaned forward and kissed him. "You're sitting there watching it and getting all turned on and you're like, 'Man, I'm so hot right now', and then you turn your head and it's like, 'Hello!. . . there's someone right here for me to do it with!'" Lorelai nodded enthusiastically. "It'll be fun, I promise you – especially with the added effect of the hard liquor we'll be consuming."

Luke smiled and shook his head slightly. "You know, before we got together, I used to have morals and ethics and some code of decency I wanted to maintain. . .and now – "

"It's all out the window," Lorelai finished.

"Yes, it is," he agreed. He stared up at her smiling face and laughed. "You're the craziest person I've ever met."

Lorelai's grin widened. "I know! But you love that about me. Come on, admit it."

Luke's lips formed into a small smile. "Yeah, I do."

Lorelai leaned forward and kissed him passionately. As she pulled back, she poked him in the chest and said, "That's why I've made it my duty to get you to step out of that restrictive shell of dignity and self-respect and get you to partake in wild activities that would make Jerry Springer gasp with shock."

Luke rolled his eyes. "I have to say you've already accomplished that. You've gotten me to do things I never would've even thought about doing."

Lorelai laughed. "Like singing Tainted Love into a scrub brush as loud as you can while I lathered up your body with strawberry scented body wash?"

Luke groaned. "That's one of the tamer stupid things you've talked me into."

Lorelai smiled. "Hey, I've lightened you up a little. It's not so bad doing crazy things sometimes, is it?"

"Nah, I guess it's not so bad."

"Now, don't get me wrong, I don't want you to become 'all wild, all the time' like me," Lorelai explained. "I'm just trying to get you to have a little fun, but I still want you to maintain some of the sweet, thoughtful, reserved Luke-ness that I fell in love with. You still have to keep me grounded so I don't get arrested or sent off to an asylum."

"I'll try," he told her.

"Good." Lorelai smiled and nodded. "And just so you know, my next goal is to somehow get us on Taxicab Confessions – to do this we need to hang out in some big name cities late at night and have sex in as many cabs as we can."

Luke rolled his eyes and pushed her off of him. She landed on the bed next to him with a laugh and he rolled over to lie on top of her. She smiled up at him. "Okay, we'll scratch that plan." He nodded and pressed his lips against hers. She brought her arms up around his neck and moaned softly as their tongues met.

When he finally pulled back from her, he said, "Come on, let's go."

. . .

Almost an hour later, they parked the Jeep on a side street in the middle of Hartford and began walking down the sidewalk toward a strip of stores and restaurants.

They walked into the party supply store first, and Luke's eyes widened at the large display of paper plates that was set up near the entrance. He scoffed loudly and gestured to them. "Okay, do people really need paper plates in every color known to man? There are like ten different shades of every color."

Lorelai smiled and grabbed his hand. "Yes, some people are very particular about the color plate their food touches. Unlike me, of course, who has been known to eat things off the floor if the craving's strong enough."

Luke groaned. "Ugh, don't say that – it'll put a whole new image in my head when we kiss."

Lorelai smiled and pulled him away from the display. "Come on." She grabbed a basket and led him through several aisles until they reached the wedding section. She studied the display for several minutes, tapping her finger on her lips as she muttered, "Hm, hm, hm, what to buy. . ." She began tossing invitations, streamers, decorations, banners, and other supplies into her basket.

"Sheesh, okay, you don't have to buy out the store," Luke said.

Lorelai glanced down at the basket. "Yeah, but it's not a successful shopping trip until I fill up the basket completely, and there's still some room in there."

Luke reached into the basket and rearranged the items so that nothing else could fit. "Look, now there's not. Let's go."

Lorelai frowned at him. "If we don't get it now, we're just gonna have to come back here and get it another day."

"Tsk." Luke rolled his eyes and gestured to the display, encouraging her to keep shopping. Lorelai smiled at him before she picked up a few more items and shoved them into the basket. A few minutes later, they took the items up to the counter and paid for them.

They stepped outside and Lorelai led him down the street to the jewelry store. As they stepped inside, a man in a business suit immediately walked up to them. "Hi, can I help you with something?"

"Oh, yeah, thank you," Lorelai replied. She handed the party store bag to Luke, then pulled the diamond solitaire out of her purse. "We're looking for a silver chain to put this on."

The man eyed it and nodded approvingly. "Oh, very nice. Right this way." He led them to a glass counter of silver jewelry. He opened the glass case and removed several felt boxes of silver chains, then pointed past them and said, "I'll be right over there if you need anything else."

Lorelai smiled. "Thank you." As he walked away, Lorelai pulled Luke closer to the counter. "Ooh, look at them all, so many to choose from. See any you like?"

"They all look exactly the same," Luke commented. They stared at the chains for a few minutes, holding them up and seeing how they looked with the diamond. They finally decided on one, and Luke took it over to the man.

As he paid for it, Lorelai wandered over to a case of rings and stared at them. A few minutes later, Luke walked over to her and handed her the jewelry box. "Here you go."

Lorelai smiled and stuck it in her purse. "Thanks."

Luke glanced down at the case of rings. "What are you looking at?"

Lorelai pointed to a diamond ring in the front row. "Oh, that ring – it's really pretty."

Luke followed her gaze and nodded. "Yeah, it's nice." He glanced at the other rings surrounding it and was quiet for a few seconds before he said, "Aren't those. . .engagement rings. . ." His face tightened and he swallowed hard as he looked at her. "Lorelai, I don't . . .we shouldn't. . .I'm not really. . I mean, we just started living together. . ."

Lorelai's eyes widened. "No no no! I'm not talking about that, I'm just saying. . .it's nice, that's all – that it's pretty." She let out a small laugh and put her hand on his arm. "Calm down, take a breath."

Luke's face relaxed slightly and he nodded slowly, then he turned around and walked toward the exit. Lorelai followed behind him, and as they stepped onto the sidewalk, she grabbed his arm. "But just out of curiosity, have you thought about it. . .even a little?" Luke shrugged, then nodded. Lorelai smiled. "You have?"

"Yeah," he replied.

"Even though you said you don't believe in the "idea of marriage"?" Lorelai asked, using her fingers to make quotation marks.

"Yeah, well, that was before we. . .before you and I. . ." Luke started, but his voice trailed off and he sighed softly. "I don't know - I mean, yes, I've thought about it a little bit. . .about what it would be like down the line. . . but not now, not soon. . .I mean, we *just* started living together – we should give that time before we – "

Lorelai put her finger on his lips. "Luke, it's okay – I feel the same way."

Luke gave her a surprised look. "You do?"

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I mean, what's the rush, right? We're already living together – let's just give that some time first."

Luke let out a breath that he didn't know he had been holding. He kissed her, then pulled back and smiled. "Okay, good, now that that's all settled. . .what now?"

Lorelai shrugged. "You hungry? There are a bunch of cute little cafés and stuff around here."

"Yeah, I could eat," Luke replied. "You?"

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Please – this stomach's ready to eat twenty-four hours a day."

Luke smiled. "Okay, let's get some lunch. Let's go put this stuff in the car first," he said, gesturing to the bag from the party store.

They walked back to the Jeep and put the bag in the trunk, then Luke waited while Lorelai put the diamond on the new chain and fastened it around her neck. She used the car window as a mirror and fixed her hair, then turned to him and said, "Okay, ready?" Luke nodded and they walked back down the street.

. . .

A short while later, they walked out of a small sandwich shop. Lorelai was carrying a takeout cup of coffee. She grabbed his hand and led him down the sidewalk to a bench a few stores away. As they both sat down, Luke noticed that they were right in front of the liquor store, and that the video store was right next to it.

Lorelai took a sip of coffee, then smiled. "So, what do you wanna be in charge of – the liquor or the videos?"

"There is no way in hell you're getting me to go into that video store," Luke said, shaking his head. "Don't even think about it."

Lorelai smiled. "Okay, answered my question. You get the liquor."

"You're gonna go in there?" he asked, pointing to the video store.

Lorelai shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"Uh, because people might see you."

Lorelai made a face. "So what? I've been there before. One time I walked out of there and I was walking back to my car and I ran into my mom."

Luke laughed. "No way."

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "Yup. Luckily, she didn't actually see what store I'd come out of, and the video store bag is plain so she didn't know what it was."

"I can just imagine the look on her face if she'd found out," Luke said with a laugh.

Lorelai smiled. "Oh man, that'd be a total Kodak moment." She finished her coffee and stood up to toss it in a nearby trash can. "Okay, you go get the liquor, I'll go get the videos, and we'll meet back here. You know what kind of liquor I like?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "You like everything."

Lorelai smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "Good boy. Run along now."

Luke walked into the liquor store as Lorelai walked into the video store.

. . .

Almost forty minutes later, Lorelai walked out of the video store with a bag and found Luke waiting on the bench. He stood up as she walked over. "What the hell took so long? I've been waiting out here for twenty minutes!" he said in an agitated tone.

"Sorry, but I . . .where's the liquor?" Lorelai asked, not noticing any bags near him.

"It's in the car already," Luke replied. "You were taking so long that I thought you might have went there instead, so I walked over to check for you and while I was there I put the stuff away. Now, what took so long?"

Lorelai took his hand and led him toward the car. "I'll tell you when we get home."

"Why can't you just tell me now?" Luke asked, annoyed.

"Because. . .when I tell you, I need to show you something and I wanna show you at home, okay?"

"You have to make everything difficult, don't you?" he muttered.

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Yeah, it must be really difficult for you to have to wait thirty minutes to find something out. I'm so sorry – wait, let's stop at a card store on the way home. I'm sure Hallmark makes a sympathy card for people who have to wait since it's obviously a big problem in the world."

Luke exhaled loudly. "Are you done?"

Lorelai smiled. "Yes, let's go."

. . .

They arrived home and carried their bags into the house. Luke put the bag from the liquor store in the kitchen as Lorelai put the videos by the television. Luke walked back into the living room and said, "Okay, tell me."

Lorelai smiled and gestured for him to come closer. "Come here." As Luke walked over to her, she turned around so that she was facing away from him. She pulled her shirt up over her head and dropped it on the couch.

"What are you doing?" Luke asked.

"Look down," she instructed, looking at him over her shoulder.

Luke's gaze traveled down her body until they reached the small of her back. His eyes widened. "Oh my God – you didn't."

Lorelai smiled. "You like it?"

Luke reached out and ran a finger over the small heart tattoo. She flinched slightly and he pulled his hand away. "Lorelai, you didn't. . ."

"I was gonna get a little coffee cup tattoo, but then I was thinking, you're the one who'll be seeing it, not me, and you don't like coffee, so I went with something more general," Lorelai explained.

Luke stared down at it in disbelief. "Is this real?"

Lorelai shook her head. "No, but it looks it, doesn't it?"

Luke nodded. "They did this at the video store?"

"Yeah, there's this little section in the back of the store," Lorelai said. "And I walked by it, and then I was like, 'what the hell? Just do it.' They said it'll last a few weeks. They also do piercings – maybe I'll check those out next time."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Please don't."

Lorelai smiled and turned around. "What, you don't like it? You don't think it's sexy?"

Luke shrugged, but a small smile appeared on his lips. "Maybe."

Lorelai grinned. "See, I knew you'd like it." She kissed him.

Luke pulled back and asked, "Does it hurt?"

"It's just a tiny bit sore, but they said that'll go away really soon," Lorelai said, waving it off.

Luke nodded, then he asked, "Are you sure the place was. . .clean?"

Lorelai nodded. "It was fine."

Luke turned her around and looked at it one more time. "It's actually. . .kind of nice."

Lorelai picked up her shirt from the couch and pulled it on. She turned around and smiled. "Go to work."

Luke glanced at his watch. "Oh, right, I almost forgot. What are you gonna do?"

"Work on Sookie's invitations," Lorelai replied. "Bring me something for dinner."

Luke nodded. "Okay, I'll see you tonight." He kissed her goodbye, then walked out the front door.

. . .

Later that night, Lorelai was sitting on the front porch drinking a margarita when Luke pulled up. He walked over to her carrying a bag from the diner, and he smiled and pointed to her glass. "Got started without me, huh?"

Lorelai smiled and took a sip. "It's only my first one." She stood up and kissed him, then led him into the house. "What did you bring for dinner?"

They walked into the kitchen and he set the bag on the table. "Burgers and fries for you, turkey sandwich for me."

Lorelai opened up the fridge. "Beer? Or do you wanna jump right into the hard liquor?"

"Beer's fine for now," Luke replied. He took the containers out and set them on the table, then crumbled up the empty bag and tossed it into the trash can. Lorelai handed him a beer and sat down. He sat across from her and they started eating. After a few minutes, Lorelai asked, "Did you check on Jess?"

Luke, in mid-bite of his sandwich, nodded. He chewed for a few seconds, then swallowed and said, "Yup, right before I came home. He went out and bought some food and he unpacked a little bit. He was watching television when I left."

"And. . .you think things are gonna be. . ."

Luke nodded. "Yeah, I think he'll be all right."

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "Good, good."

"Did you get the invitations done?"

"Yup, they're all ready to be mailed on Monday," she replied. "And I talked to Rory, she got there okay."

Luke smiled. "Good."

Lorelai took a sip of her drink, then smiled and said, "Okay, so I was thinking. . .there are six videos, so let's watch one of the videos with no contact. . .it'll be like an aphrodisiac video to get us all hot."

Luke groaned. "You've thought about this a lot, haven't you?"

Lorelai laughed softly. "Uh huh. So the first video, we'll just watch it and get us in the mood and stuff, and then the second video we'll start fooling around. Deal?"

Luke shrugged. "You're the expert."

. . .

An hour later, they were both sitting on the couch and were halfway through the first movie. All of the lights were turned off, all of the doors were locked, and all of the window shades were pulled down. Bottles of liquor crowded the coffee table, and they both stared at the screen intently. Lorelai reached down and grabbed the bottle of vodka. She took a quick sip, then held it out to Luke. "More?"

Luke shook his head, still staring at the screen. Lorelai took another sip, then placed the bottle back on the table. She leaned back against the couch and watched the screen. As a couple started going at it in a hot tub, she swallowed hard and glanced over at Luke. Luke could hear her breathing getting heavier and he turned to look at her. As they stared into each other's eyes, they each realized how aroused they both were. Luke put his hand on Lorelai's knee and her body raced with excitement. She turned back to the screen and watched for a few seconds as his hand slowly moved up her thigh.

Lorelai turned to him. "Ready for the second movie?" Luke quickly nodded, and Lorelai jumped up off the couch. She ejected the first video and inserted the second, then walked back over to him. "Time for a clothing change." She pulled off her shirt and shorts, and sat down next to him in just her bra and underwear.

Luke stood up and took off his jeans and T-shirt, then sat back down in just his boxers. They sat close together on the center cushion, and Lorelai picked up her margarita and began gulping it down. Luke pulled the cup away from her. "Okay, okay! I don't need you throwing up on me." She frowned at him as he set the cup on the table and leaned back against the couch.

The movie started, and soon a couple was ferociously going at it on a pool table. As moans poured out of the television's speakers, Lorelai and Luke turned to each other, their mutual desire apparent to both of them. Their mouths crashed together in a passionate kiss, their tongues dueling aggressively. Luke's hands went to her waist and he pulled her onto his lap. She kneeled on the cushion, straddling his thighs, and kissed him long and deep. Luke's fingers fumbled with the clasp of her bra, but he finally pulled it off and threw it over his shoulder behind the couch.

His mouth went to her breasts, kissing and sucking on them hungrily. Lorelai leaned her head back and moaned toward the ceiling. Luke brought his hands up to her breasts and squeezed them to make them firm up. As her hardened nipples poked out at him, he alternated taking each one between his teeth and tugging on it roughly. Lorelai groaned loudly and her nails dug into his shoulders as the mixture of pain and pleasure overwhelmed her.

Luke continued licking, sucking, and nipping at her chest and neck for a few minutes until Lorelai finally pushed herself off of him and stood up. "Take 'em off, hurry up, before I explode." Luke stood up and they both removed their last remaining items of clothing. Lorelai pushed Luke onto to the couch so he was lying down across all the cushions. She stood next to the couch, running her eyes over his body. He stared up at her with hopeful anticipation as his chest heaved up and down.

She finally climbed onto the couch near his feet. She kissed up his leg to his thigh, keeping her eyes locked with his. He groaned as her fingers traveled up the other leg and her nails dragged over his inner thigh. He clenched his eyes shut tight as she squeezed his balls in her hand, something she knew drove him crazy with pleasure. His mouth dropped open and he let out a small groan as she continued to massage them gently. After a minute, he opened his eyes and reached his arms out toward her.

Lorelai grabbed onto his arms as she adjusted her body over his and lowered herself onto his hardness. She was already dripping wet, and as she easily took him in, she closed her eyes and muttered, "Oh my God." She jerked her hips slightly, allowing him to go deeper inside of her, then sat still for a moment to get used to the intense feeling of pleasure.

She opened her eyes and smiled down at him. He gave her a sly grin and he grabbed onto her waist tightly. She clutched onto his arms for support and began rocking her hips quickly. He thrust into her forcefully, matching the fast pace of her motions. He kept one hand on her waist to keep her balanced, and he brought the other hand to her chest to squeeze her breasts that were bouncing wildly as she rode him. He went back and forth between the breasts, pulling at her nipples roughly.

She leaned down and pressed her chest against his as she kissed him deeply. She slowed her pace down slightly, but continued to grind her pelvis against his as she darted her tongue into his mouth. Luke sucked on her tongue aggressively, not wanting to let it go.

Lorelai pulled away from him and sat back up straight, picking up her pace again and riding him quickly, moaning loudly and mumbling his name repeatedly.

When he finally saw her eyes close and her jaw drop open, he knew that she was close to her peak. He pushed into her harder, grunting loudly as her body jerked up and down on top of him. She arched her back and screamed out loudly with her climax, which was just seconds before Luke released himself inside of her.

Lorelai collapsed on top of him, exhausted and panting uncontrollably. She rested her head against Luke's chest, which was heaving up and down as he struggled to catch his breath. He brought his hands up around her and hugged her tightly, kissing her head several times. They lay this way for a few seconds before Lorelai finally pushed herself up and allowed him to pull out of her. When he did, she fell back against him and pressed her lips against his. They kissed deeply, neither one of them wanting to be the first to pull away.

Finally, they had to break apart, leaving both of them gasping for breath. She leaned her forehead against his and smiled down at him. "Hi."

Luke smiled. "Hey."

Lorelai glanced over at the television, which was still playing the second movie. She brought her gaze back to Luke and grinned. "This is only the second movie – there are still four more to go."

Luke glanced over at the television. "Oh yeah?"

"Yup." Lorelai climbed off of him so he could sit up, then she sat down next to him. She grabbed the bottle of gin and took a sip, then handed it to him. He took a sip, then held it in his hand as they watched the movie.

. . .

Several hours later, Lorelai was dragging Luke up the steps to their bedroom. "Lorelai, I don't want to do this," he said.

"Yes, you do," she replied, almost stumbling into the nightstand. She steadied herself, then giggled. "Whoa, when did we put that there?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "You're drunk."

Lorelai gasped. "I am not!"

Luke made a face at her breath that reeked of alcohol. He sat her down on the bed and said, "Here, just go to sleep."

"No," she said, standing back up. She walked over to her dresser and pulled out a silk scarf. She handed it to him, then held out her wrists and said, "Tie 'em together."

Luke dropped the scarf on the bed. "I don't want to."

Lorelai frowned. "Come on, just for a little while?"

Luke shook his head. "No."

Lorelai pointed out the doorway. "Go downstairs and get drunker, then maybe you'll feel like doing it."

"No, I'm done drinking – some of us know how to limit our alcohol. . .and forget it, I'm not changing my mind," Luke said sternly.

Lorelai pouted and folded her arms across her chest. "Fine, forget it, no tying up. Let's go watch some more of the movies."

"We watched all of them twice," he reminded her.

Lorelai yawned as she walked slowly toward the doorway. "Oh yeah. . . well, let's just go watch some TV then." She started to veer sideways, then straightened herself out. "Whoa, did the room just move?"

Luke rushed toward the staircase, cutting in front of her. "Whoa, let me go first in case you fall."

"Ooh, piggyback ride," Lorelai said. She pushed him down a step, then climbed onto his back and wrapped her arms around his neck. He carried her down the steps and brought her over to the couch. She fell onto it with a giggle. "That was fun." She put her feet up on the coffee table, knocking over an empty glass. "Oops."

"I got it, it's okay." Luke picked it up and set it back on the table, then pushed it and some other glass bottles away from her. He walked over to an armchair and grabbed a couple of blankets, then sat down next to her and covered them both up. Lorelai snuggled up against him and he wrapped his arm around her. He picked up the remote and started to flip through the channels. "What do you wanna watch?" When she didn't respond, he glanced down and saw that her eyes were already closed.

. . .

The next morning, Lorelai opened her eyes and glanced around the room, trying to remember how she ended up asleep on the couch. She slowly sat up straight and immediately felt a pounding in her head that she'd experienced way too many times before. She glanced at Luke, who was still asleep with his head resting on the arm of the couch. She glanced at the alcohol bottles on the coffee table and the stack of videos near the VCR, and the night's events came back to her. Barely able to keep her eyes open, she lay back down on the couch and tried to go back to sleep.

A few minutes later, Luke's eyes opened and he groggily sat up. Lorelai felt him moving, and she opened her eyes. He leaned toward her and said softly, "Hey, you okay?"

"I feel sick," she moaned.

"I knew you would," Luke replied, shaking his head slightly. "I'll go make some coffee."

Lorelai watched him take his blanket off and get up from the couch. She narrowed her eyes at his boxer shorts. "How come you have clothes on and I don't?" She gasped and said, "Were you taking advantage of me in my sleep?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "No, I pulled them on before I went to sleep, whereas you were too out of it to even realize that you didn't have clothes on."

Lorelai groaned. "Well, aren't some of us goody two shoes?" she muttered. She waved him toward the kitchen. "Coffee. Soon. Hurry."

Luke walked into the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee. While it was brewing, he brought her a cup of water and some aspirin. He set it on the coffee table. "Here, when you finally do get the strength to sit up, take these."

She opened her eyes to see what he was talking about. "Thank you," she mumbled. He walked back into the kitchen and returned a few minutes later with a mug of coffee. Lorelai was now sitting up, and Luke saw that the aspirins were gone. He handed her the cup of coffee, then sat down next to her. She took a long sip, then moaned happily. "Mm, you take such good care of me."

"Yeah, well, I have to make sure you're feeling better so you won't be able to get out of going to the batting cages later," Luke said.

Lorelai smiled. "You know, whenever I think you're being sweet, you go and ruin it."

Luke smiled. "Sorry. So, what else are we doing today?"

"Market," Lorelai replied. "We still need more stuff for our 9 ½ Weeks scene." She pointed at him and quickly added, "Don't try to back out of it – I may have been half-drunk, but I firmly remember you finally agreeing to it last night."

Luke rolled his eyes. "I know, I know. Okay, the market. . . what else?"

Lorelai shrugged. "I don't know. We'll think of something to do. And if we can't, we can always pop in those videos again."

"It's good to always have a backup plan."

"Yes, it is," Lorelai agreed. She took a sip of coffee, then smiled at him. "So, the first day of the 'Luke and Lorelai have the house to themselves' extravaganza. . .how'd it rate on the fun scale?"

Luke shrugged. "I'd say pretty damn high."

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "I agree." She leaned forward and kissed him. "And we've still got three and a half days to go."

. . .