A/N: Thank you all for reading and for leaving such great feedback! I'm trying to keep these updates pretty consistent, but I've started a new job so I apologize in advance if they are a little slower. And thank you as well to guest reviewer Rory Smith for the "kind" review. I do appreciate that even though you would never in a trillion years recommend this fic to your meanest enemy, you still stuck around to read all seventeen chapters. That's true commitment right there! And Cindydaly, I do actually appreciate your constructive criticism, that is without the sarcasm. I thought I'd write this here so everyone can kinda get the gist of it if they are thinking the same thing. In this fic Anna is still in touch with a few people in town, they are her friends, not Lukes. Doesn't mean they like that she kept a kid from him or agree with it, but they would take her side because a lot of the time friends do that even when it doesn't make sense to. And I just went with the town being friendly to Anna because they know Luke is trying to make it work and honestly, they didn't seem that mad at her in the show either. As far as Luke being nice to Christopher (don't get me wrong here, I hate his character just as much as any other LL shipper) but at this point in time Luke didn't seem to have an issue with him. He thinks he's an idiot for bailing on Rory, as I even had him mention, but he wants him to be in Rory's life because he knows that is something she wants, so he's putting in the effort. But geez, I'm gonna end this much too long note and let everyone get to the chapter. Hope you all enjoy, let me know what you think!

After last week's blowout at Friday night dinner, Lorelai wasn't even surprised at her mother's ability to pretend as though nothing had happened between them. Yesterday's dinner went on as usual, without an apology or any mention of Luke, just a simple brush past, true to Gilmore fashion.

Honestly, she preferred it that way. With most matters she would enjoy picking at her parents for as long as possible, and then some. But when it came to Luke, she was happy keeping their relationship in a nice little bubble far from them, especially after her mother's behavior toward him. She didn't want anyone or anything changing the great dynamic they had going.

Now that it had rolled into the weekend, it was their Saturday visit with April. They usually would hit up the diner then some other place in town, but today April had asked just to hang around the house instead. Lorelai could tell that something was going on with the young girl, her usual chatty self replaced with a rather bland version.

It was clear Luke had noticed too. He made several attempts at conversation, but only received few word answers back. When none of the suggestions any of them made sounded pleasing to her they settled on watching The NeverEnding Story, though even that sparked little interest to her.

"April, you not hungry?" Luke asked as he looked over at his daughter's barely eaten plate of pretzels and gummy bears, one of her favorite snack combos.

"Not really." April said, shaking her head.

Lorelai leaned in closer to April, pretending they were talking in secret but still speaking loud enough for everyone to hear. "Y'know, if you change your mind, I bet we could talk him into making us those really chocolatey milkshakes with the whipped cream and sprinkles."

"No, thanks. I don't really feel like anything."

"Alright, but you're missing out on one of the best sugar comas of your life." Lorelai said, leaning back on the couch as April went back to watching the movie. She glanced over at Luke who was watching his daughter, a concerned look on his face. "Okay, who needs popcorn refills?" She asked, standing up.

"Oh, I do." Rory said, handing her the bowl.

"I'm good, thank you." Anna said, smiling over at her.

Lorelai looked down at Luke, who was still transfixed on April. "Luke, you wanna help me with the popcorn?" She asked, getting his attention.

"Yeah, sure." Luke said, standing up and following her to the kitchen. "Are you sure you aren't getting too dependent on me? I seem to recall you knowing how to make popcorn long before I came around." He asked, pulling out a pack from the cupboard.

"I didn't really need help." She said, taking it from him and removing the wrap before tossing it in the microwave. "You looked like something was on your mind. More specifically, a little girl with glasses that usually talks your ear off during movies, nearly as much as I do."

"You noticed that too, right? That she's not acting like herself."

"Yeah, but she's a kid. They get into moods, sometimes for no apparent reason."

"Just kids do that?" He asked, pointedly.

"And a select few adults." Lorelai said with a smirk. "Trust me, by next weekend she'll be back rambling to you about how although Mars has many similarities to Earth, without extremely advanced technology it is unlikely to ever be a habitable planet." She said, pulling out the bag of popcorn and emptying it into the bowl on the counter.

"What if she's not? What if this is just the beginning of her realizing she liked life better without me in it?"

"Luke, that's crazy." Lorelai said as she looked over at him, hurt he would think that. "That little girl loves you so much, just like you love her. That is never going to change." She said, pausing to take his hand into hers. "You have to stop doubting yourself. You might not believe it, but when it comes to having someone in your life, you're a good one to have around. Maybe thee good one." She said, smiling over at him as she gave his hand a squeeze.

"Thank you." Luke said, smiling back at her till they heard footsteps behind him and looked back.

"Sorry." Anna said, noticing that she caught them in something of a moment. "Didn't mean to interrupt, I was just coming to grab a water."

"Oh, you're not interrupting anything." Lorelai said, letting go of Luke's hand before going over to the fridge and grabbing out a water bottle. "Luke is just freaking out because he's worried April doesn't like him anymore." She explained, holding out the water for Anna.

"Don't worry, it's not you that she currently dislikes." Anna said, looking over at him after she took the water.

"What's going on?" Luke asked.

"A new pool opened up at our community center a few weeks ago and I promised her we would finally go tomorrow. But Connie, the woman who usually covers the shop on Sundays when I'm off, called me this morning and said she's not gonna be able to make it in because her husband is having emergency surgery. Which means I have to work tomorrow, leaving April at the store with me, instead of going swimming like she wanted."

"I could take her." Luke suggested. "I mean, if that is something you are okay with."

"You aren't busy last minute like this?"

"No, not really. I have to open the diner, but I'm off early enough that that shouldn't matter."

"If you don't mind."

"Not at all, I'm happy to take her."

"She is gonna be really excited to hear it." Anna said, smiling.

"Well, let's go tell her before she goes to a really dark place and starts tearing the heads off her gummy bears." Lorelai said, grabbing the bowl of popcorn before they all walked back into the living room.

"Hey, April?" Anna said, getting her daughter's attention. "Your dad wanted to ask you something."

"Yeah?" April said, looking up at him.

"I was wondering if tomorrow you wanted to hang out with me again? We could go check out that new pool you have by your place."

"Really?" She said, her whole face lighting up.

"Yeah. I could bring some lunch over from the diner then we can go make the most of the center's day fee." Luke said, watching as she stood up and ran into a hug with him. "I take it that's a yes on going?" He asked, chuckling at the tight grip she had on him.

April pulled away, a big smile on her face. "Yes, definitely." She said, looking over at Lorelai as she sat down on the couch next to Rory. "Are you guys coming too?"

"Ah, I don't know." Lorelai said as she looked to Luke, getting a nod from him. "I guess we could, if Rory wants to."

"Yeah, sure." Rory said with a nod.

"Yes!" April said, excitedly. "I saw a brochure for it and they have this huge slide and a diving board and one of those ropes that you swing on into the pool."

"Wow." Rory said, surprised. "The pool here doesn't even have a ladder."

"It doesn't have a ladder?"

"No, our town selectman Taylor claims they are unsafe."

"Isn't it far less safe not having one?" April asked.

"That's what we asked. Which then launched him into a lengthy example of a rowdy teenager ramming into his float and sending him straight into the ladder, breaking four of his toes."

"I wasn't being rowdy." Luke defended. "I shoved him because he wouldn't change his Windsor to a station with less static and it was driving me crazy."

"That was you?" Lorelai said, smirking up at him.

Luke shrugged. "Didn't have to worry about the static once the radio sunk to the bottom of the pool."

"God, what I would have given to live here in the eighties." Lorelai said, grinning at the thought of it.

"You guys, I think we talked through the end of the movie." Rory said, nodding toward the television that now had rolling credits.

"Doesn't matter, I have planning to do." April said, going over to her bag and pulling out a notebook. "I've already crunched the numbers and depending on the amount of people there, we should still be able to get in at least six goes on the slide an hour, nine on the rope swing, and thirteen on the diving board. Of course, now that there are four of us I'm gonna have to rework it a little, plus if we wanna mix them up it will change things." She said, sitting back on the floor and opening up her notebook on the coffee table.

Luke glanced beside him at Anna, whispering, "You are certain she's my daughter, right?" He asked, getting a smile in response.

"I have no clue where this one gets it from either." Lorelai said, pointing toward Rory. "I don't know what it is with the next generation, they're all smarter than the rest of us."

"You're right about that." Anna said, all of them looking over at April as she scribbled in her notebook.

Lorelai looked up at Rory as she stood up off the couch, starting to walk out of the room. "Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna go see if I can find my bathing suit." Rory replied.

"Do you have a bathing suit?"

"Of course I have a bathing suit."

"When was the last time you wore it?"

"I don't remember."

"Ah, did it involve a rubber ducky?"

"No." Rory said, pausing. "I don't think so." She said, walking away and heading to her bedroom.

Lorelai smiled, leaning forward toward April. "So, what's the numbers, kid? I wanna know how many chances we get to see Luke slip on the diving board."

"It's gonna take a few more equations to get a good estimate." April said, looking up at Luke. "Hey, dad? While I work on this, could you make us those milkshakes Lorelai was talking about?" She asked, causing Luke to glare over at Lorelai.

The next day after a quick lunch together, Luke and all his girls piled into Lorelai's Jeep and headed to the community center. He was glad to see that his daughter's sour mood from yesterday was gone for good, getting an earful the whole ride there about every specificity of the pool. He was fairly certain she knew more about the place than the designers at this point.

When they pulled into the parking lot Lorelai hardly got the car into park before April flung off her seatbelt, eagerly rushing them to do the same. They hurried to get out of the car, gathering their bags from the back before Luke took April's hand and she dragged him into the center. He paid for the four of them then they all quickly changed into their bathing suits and headed to the pool area.

"Oh my god, it looks even cooler in person than it did in the photos!" April said, beaming with excitement. "Which thing should we try first? The diving board only has a couple people lined up right now."

"Remember, I've got a quarter of a century on you in age." Luke reminded. "I'm gonna need to do some warmup laps before I start jumping off of things."

"Oh, that's actually perfect. I've been wanting to see if I can get my laps under half a minute. I even brought a waterproof timer."

"Before you two start trying to qualify for the Olympics, can we find a spot to sit so we can put these bags down?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, mine is really heavy." Rory added.

"What could you have possibly brought to a pool that is heavy?" Luke asked.

"The kid's a freak, she brought seven books." Lorelai mocked.

"Hey, I narrowed it down to six." Rory defended. "And one of them is yours."

"Here." Luke said, grabbing the bag from her and carrying it as they went and found some lounger chairs.

"Thanks, Luke." Rory said, taking the bag back from him as she took a seat. She pulled out a book and handed it over to her mom as she took a seat next to her, then one for herself.

"Aren't you guys going to swim?" Luke asked, looking at them getting all comfortable.

"Us, swim?" Lorelai said with a laugh. "You must be confusing us with other people that like to be voluntarily active."

"Then why did you both put on swimsuits?"

"For sunbathing, duh."

"We are inside."

"Skylights." She said, pointing to the ceiling.

"Okay, well, just make sure you put on your SPF 2 so you don't get a sunburn." Luke joked.

"Got my timer." April said, zipping up her bag. "You ready?" She asked, looking up at her dad.

"Yeah, one sec." Luke said, reaching to the hem of his tee and pulling it off over his head.

Lorelai glanced over her book as he did so, looking him over. She wouldn't admit it to anyone else, but she never got tired of seeing a shirtless Luke.

"Ready." Luke said, snapping Lorelai out of her trance as he walked with his daughter to the edge of the pool.

"Now, according to the rules, there is no diving allowed. But I looked into it and they are only referring to dives where your head enters the pool before your body, so we still have a lot of good options." April explained.

"Let's hear 'em." Luke said.

"Well, there's the pencil dive where you jump in with your body straight like a pencil. Or the belly flop, but that one is ill advised. Or there are classics like the cannonball or flips, but they tend to be overused."

"Which one is your favorite?"

"I'm partial to the helicopter."

"Let's do that then."

Lorelai smiled as they watched their interaction, April showing Luke how to swing his arms for the dive. "That's so sweet, isn't it?" She said, looking over at Rory.

"Sure, when April goes over the diving rules you think it's sweet, but when I used to do it you'd just push me into the pool." Rory said.

"Hey, you never said there was any rule about not pushing people in."

"Yes, I did. And then you pushed me in again." Rory said, making Lorelai smirk as she shrugged back at her.

A little over an hour had passed since Luke and April had wandered off and started swimming, already trying the diving board multiple times and the slide twice. When the line finally died down for the rope swing they made their way over to it, April getting ready to do it first.

"Lorelai, Rory," April called out, getting their attention. "Watch this!" She said, grabbing onto the rope and taking a few steps back before doing a running jump onto it and swinging herself into the pool.

"That was amazing!" Lorelai said as her head came back out of the water.

"You must have cleared like ten feet with that swing!" Rory added.

April grinned as she swam out of the way, looking back at Luke. "Dad, it's your turn."

"How much you wanna bet he loses hold of the rope the second his feet leave the ground and he falls in?" Lorelai asked her daughter with a smirk.

"You're awful." Rory said.

Lorelai smiled, looking back at Luke as he got ready. As if the water making his bare skin glisten wasn't already enough to handle, his arm muscles flexed perfectly as he gripped tightly onto the rope. She watched as he gave himself a running start, holding onto the rope as he swung far into the pool. When he came up from under the water he brushed his hair back before swimming over to his daughter. She was about to look back down at her book when she noticed a blonde woman sitting off on the edge with her legs dangled into the pool, staring at Luke. She waited a few seconds to see if she would look away, but her eyes remained trained on him as he swam around.

"Hey." Lorelai said, getting Rory to look over at her. "What do you say we go swim with them?"

"Why?" Rory asked, confused. "We hate swimming."

"They look like they are having fun."

Rory looked over at them then back at her mother, noticing she wasn't even looking their way. She followed her glare over to a blonde woman, noticing how she was eyeing Luke. "Ah, I see, feeling the need to claim your territory?"

"What are you talking about?" Lorelai asked as she looked over at her, seeing her nod toward the woman she had just been watching. "That is not what I'm doing. Luke is not my territory, he is his own territory, which is why random women shouldn't be ogling him."

"You have been drooling over him the whole time we have been here."

"Have not!"

"You still got a little on your chin." She said, pretending to wipe some away and getting a swat to her hand.

Lorelai glanced back over toward Luke, seeing April wave at him to come closer before she whispered something to him. She watched as Luke nonchalantly glanced over at the blonde that had been staring at him, getting a smile from her. Luke nodded at her, giving a quick smile back to her. "That slut!" She said, offended.

"See!" Rory pointed out.

Lorelai saw Luke glance over at her, nodding to April before they started swimming to the steps and climbed out of the pool. "What is he doing?" She asked, noticing Luke take April's hand and start to walk her towards them.

"Maybe he is dropping off April with us so he can go talk to blondie?" Rory said.

"If he is even considering that I'm gonna drown him in the pool."

"Told you, territorial!" She said just before the pair reached them.

"Hey, can I sit?" April asked Rory, pointing to the end of the lounger.

"Sure." Rory said, moving her feet aside so she could take a seat.

Without a word Luke set his hand on Lorelai's upper back, moving her forward so he could climb behind her and sit. He set both his legs on the sides of her and placed his hands on her bare arms, running them up and down them lightly. He watched as she glanced back at him, a look of shock on her face. "April told me I had to come over here and show off that I'm taken." He explained.

Lorelai glanced over to the blonde woman, noticing as she looked away awkwardly. She looked over at April, smiling at her. "Thanks, kid."

"I could tell she was bothering you." April said, making Rory smirk at her mother.

"I've pushed you into the pool before, I will do it again." Lorelai said, pointing at her daughter.

"Oh, the line for the slide is short again." April said, excitedly standing up. "Rory, you wanna come do the slide with me?"

"Ah, sure." Rory said, not wanting to turn down the young girl.

"Awesome, let's go."

"Be careful, okay?" Luke said, looking at Rory as she stood up. "Keep an eye on her."

"I will." Rory said as she glanced over at him and her mother, still in their close embrace. "Enjoy your kid-free time, love birds." She mocked, walking off with the young girl.

Lorelai waited till the girls got into the line before she laid back, resting on Luke. She felt as he brushed her hair off to the side away from him, causing her to turn and come face to face with him. She shared a smile with him, absentmindedly leaning in to give him a kiss on the lips.

Luke had gotten so used to the greeting kisses that it only took him a split second to respond, kissing her back. As they pulled away he opened his eyes, looking straight at her. "Y'know, I don't actually think April's attention is on anything but that slide right now. We could probably cool it a little on the pda."

"Well, I figured I should kiss you just in case the blonde was still throwing eye daggers at you." Lorelai defended.

"You're not happy with other women looking at me?"

"No, no, that's not it. I'm just concerned that she might be a spy."

"A spy?"

"Yeah, y'know, Anna could have hired her to test you. She might have been sent here to try to lure you in and prove that you weren't fully committed to me."

"Huh, makes sense." Luke said with a nod. "Actually, we should be careful what we say. She might have already planted a bug." He joked, smirking at her.

"You're hilarious."

"I'm serious. Remember that 60 Minutes special we watched, they have those listening devices that look just like pens." Luke said, starting to peek through the bag on the ground next to them. "Did you see anyone lurking around over here? They could have dropped one in this without you noticing."

"Okay, I'm moving to my own chair." Lorelai said, starting to get up.

"No, what message is that going to send to the spy?" Luke said, pretending to look in the direction of the woman. "Wait, Lorelai, she's pulling out a camera to snap pictures of us."

Lorelai ignored him, switching over to Rory's lounger. She glanced over at him, an amused look on his face. "You're really enjoying yourself right now, aren't you?"

"I am." Luke said, the both of them smiling at each other before she shook her head and looked away. He glanced over toward the slide, seeing April coming down it and into the water with a big smile on her face. "I should get back out there with April." He said, standing up from his chair. "You can have your spot back."

"Yeah, like I'm really going to get up a second time." Lorelai said, wagging her hand toward her book. "Can you hand me that?"

"Sure." Luke said, picking up her book and setting it in her hand as he leaned down near her and went in for another kiss. He could tell she didn't expect him to initiate it but welcomed it as her hand went up to his cheek to deepen it. He pulled back, leaving his face mere inches from hers. "Thought we should do one more just in case the spy is still watching." He said, smirking as he stood up straight.

"Hey, if you need an idea for a new dive, you could try the cannon. It's similar to the cannonball, except this one involves you being forcefully launched into the pool." Lorelai joked, getting a smile from him before he walked away. She watched as he went over to the girls, jumping in right next to them and splashing them. She chuckled as both the girls started splashing water back at him, sending him swimming off in the other direction.

"You have a really cute family." An older woman from beside her said.

"Thank you." Lorelai said. First smiling at her, then to herself when she looked back at them all.

Later that evening after they were done swimming they dropped April back off with her mom then headed home. Rory told the two that she was gonna take a quick shower then get to bed for school tomorrow, having to get in earlier to work on a project. After they told her goodnight they headed upstairs, Lorelai to her bedroom and Luke to the bathroom for his own shower.

"I've washed my hair three times and it still smells like chlorine." Luke said, drying it with a towel as he walked into Lorelai's room.

"At least you know you didn't catch Motaba in the pool."

"Motaba was spread by a monkey, not by contaminated water." He said, grabbing his deodorant off the dresser and applying it. "Oh, and, it was a fictional disease."

Lorelai shrugged, looking over at him as he put the cover back on and set it down. "Y'know, I had a really good time today."

"Yeah, me too." Luke said, smiling over at her. "It was nice to be able to take April out on my own. I wasn't sure when that was ever going to happen."

"You gotta face it, Luke, that girls in your life for good now."

"Yeah, she is." Luke said, walking over and sitting at the end of the bed next to Lorelai. "And it got me thinking, with how everything is going, how good it is all working out, that it might be time."

"Time?" Lorelai asked, holding her breath as she waited for him to speak again.

"Time for us to break up."

Lorelai's face dropped, somehow not expecting that to be what he was going to say. "You think we should break up?" She asked, sadly.

"Yeah, I mean, things with April have been going great. I've been getting to see her on a regular basis for a couple months, and she surprisingly still wants me around, and Anna is giving me more independence to be her father now. It just feels like it's time."

"I'm not sure it is yet."

"What do you mean?" Luke said, confused. "It's the perfect time."

"No, I don't think it is." Lorelai said, shaking her head. "We should give it a little longer."

"Why? What is stopping us?"

"It doesn't feel right. I think we need more time."

"The whole plan was to get April into my life and then we could do our fake break up. She is in my life now, it's permanent, even you just said so." He pointed out, pausing a moment. "If we do this now, everything can go back to normal. We won't have to pretend anymore."

Lorelai's eyes lined with tears as she stared back at him, his last few words hitting her the hardest. "Okay, fine." She said, angrily standing up from the bed. "If you think it should be over, then it's over." She said, starting to storm off toward the door.

"Lorelai, hey, wait." Luke said, hopping off the bed and grabbing her arm to get her to stop. "What is going on? Why are you so upset about this?" He asked, concerned.

Lorelai closed her eyes and took a deep breath before turning around to face him, his arm dropping from hers when he knew she was staying put. "Because, I don't want it to be over."

"Lorelai, we were never really engaged. How could something that never existed be over?"

"I don't know, I just, I don't want it to be."

"Why? Why don't you want it to be over?"

Lorelai swallowed hard, trying to fight back the tears she felt forming in her eyes. She knew that she was already in too deep, it was now or never to admit everything she had been thinking. "When you came to me that night you found out about April, and you asked me for this favor, I really thought playing the role of an engaged couple was going to be hard. I thought it was going to feel weird to act that kind of way with such a close friend, a guy that I had spent nearly every day with for the last five years, who I ran to for everything, and who I could count on no matter what. But it never felt weird, not once, not even a little. It just felt," She paused, taking a breath. "Right." She said, causing Luke's eyebrows to raise slightly. "And all these ideas I had come up with in my head on how we were gonna convince everyone in town that we were together, I no longer needed. It just came so naturally. And the more time we spent together, and the closer we got, the less it felt like a lie. I don't know when it even happened, but at a certain point, it stopped feeling like we were pretending." She admitted. She waited a moment then looked to him for a reply. Instead, he just stood there completely speechless in a shocked looking state. "Okay, well, I guess I'm the only one who felt that way then." She said, turning to leave again.

Luke reached out and grabbed her arm again, this time pulling her back to him and straight into a passionate kiss. The shock of the moment passed rather quickly, the both of them pulling each other in closer, Luke with his arms wrapped around her body and Lorelai with hers around his neck.

This was not a simple greeting kiss, this was a kiss that held every emotion imaginable. It was every pent up feeling they had for each other over the last five years. It felt like everything they had shared together. Every genuine smile, every witty joke, every flirtatious remark, every heartfelt conversation, every missed opportunity, all rolled into one.

When there was no air left in their lungs they pulled back slightly, leaving their foreheads rested on one another's as they stared deeply into each other's eyes.

"I was never pretending with you, Lorelai." Luke stated before they kissed again.