I must apologize for not posting this earlier. I actually completely forgot about this story, which is pretty lame considering I've had up to chapter 15 written since early September. (And the reason for not posting all at once is b/c I'm still stuck after Chapter 15 and was hoping I'd be able to use the time to write new chapters. Except I haven't. Grr! Damn those best laid plans of mice and men.)

The Summerfest mentioned later on is actually a nod to MST3K's ep "Soultakers," an unbelievably bad yet strangely amusing piece of crap from the 80s. So you can imagine how jazzed I was when a similar idea popped up on the GG season premiere. Maybe Amy also shares a love for bad Joe Estevez flicks.

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Chapter 14 (aka, the Twinkle Light Chapter)

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Lorelai spent the rest of the afternoon helping to decorate the square for July 4th. Red, white, and blue decorations had been scattered around the town for weeks now, but they were going all out on the square for tomorrow. After it was discovered she couldn't really tie a bow because of her cast, she'd been moved from ribbon duty to hanging the red, white, and blue twinkle-lights.

The sun had started to set, and the twinkle-lights were lit up to make the work easier. She worked her way down, wrapping the lights around the pre-hung wire; all she had to do now was connect it to the other line at the top of the street lamp and she'd be done. Then she could go get coffee.

She told her stomach to stop its stupid fluttering at the thought. It wasn't like she hadn't seen Luke in forever; she'd already seen him three times that day. Hell, she'd spent the night on the couch with him. Okay, don't think of that, she told herself, when the fluttering increased.

It actually felt like she was going to throw up.

She climbed down from the small step stool she was using, intending to move it closer to the lamp so she could finish.

"You're not using this, right?" Kirk asked, walking by and taking the step stool without waiting for an answer.

"Wha-?" Lorelai couldn't even finish the word before Kirk was gone. "I was using that," she called out, even though in the dusk she couldn't distinguish him from anyone else at a distance.

She walked over to the street lamp and looked up at it. The end of the other twinkle-light strand mocked her from its elevated position. "Well, Rune thought I was a super tall freak," she muttered, and jumped, trying to plug her end into the one up there.

She missed by a good two feet. She tried again, imagining she was Michael Jordan, just in case that helped. "Holy crap," she exclaimed when she reached the top of the street lamp. Then she felt the hands on her waist. She looked down. Luke had snuck behind and lifted her, settling her onto his shoulder.

"Thanks," she said, somewhat bewildered.

"You gonna plug it in or not?" Ah, the sweet-talker of the town emerged.

She shoved the plug into the other end. "All done."

He gave his shoulder a jerk and she slid off; he caught her with ease. "Wow," she commented, slightly out of breath. "We could totally be figure skaters with moves like that." She saw the look on his face. "Or we could avoid any activity that would involve you and a pair of tights completely."

Luke set her on the ground. "If you know what's best for you," he asserted.

"What brings you out here amongst the festivities? Or did you have a little speech planned about how all the festivals are stupid?"

"You," he simply stated. He didn't like how it sounded; who was he, Hugh Grant in some chick flick? "I saw you. Figured you needed some help," he elaborated.

"Yeah, especially since that little gremlin Kirk took the ladder I was using."

"I saw that too. Don't worry; I tripped him when he was walking by me."

"Really?" Lorelai was a little surprised, but also disappointed that she missed it. It would have been quite an amusing scene.

"No," Luke admitted.

"Maybe next time then." Lorelai looked at her wrist, which didn't have a watch on it. "Ooh, looks like it's break time. Coffee?"

Luke pointed to a nearby bench. "Got it covered." There were two cups and a bag resting on it.

"Okay, which one's the coffee and which is the herbal tea?" Lorelai asked, heading over to the bench. Luke picked one of the cups up and handed it to her. She took a deep sip. "Oh my god, that is amazing. Let me guess, nutmeg?"

"Cinnamon and some almond powder. I was feeling creative."

"Get creative more often." She looked inside the bag, and discovered a chocolate chocolate-chip muffin. Any food that had the word 'chocolate' appearing more than once in its name was high up on her list of favorites; she took a huge, very unladylike bite.

Since she couldn't speak with her mouth full, she looked around the square, which was almost done. It really looked good. And with the twinkle-lights providing the only lighting until the streetlamps were turned on by their timers, it seemed almost perfect.

"What are you thinking?" Luke asked, not used to her being quiet. He could be quiet for hours, but for Lorelai anything past thirty-seven seconds was rare. Even with food in her mouth. Thinking might lead to plotting, which made him nervous.

"How eerily picture perfect this looks. You could take a picture and put it on the cover of Time."

As if on cue, there were camera flashes. Luke saw Kirk wandering around, taking pictures of everything from Miss Patty and Babette having an animated discussion to a garbage can. He hoped the lens cap was on this time, too.

Lorelai finished the muffin, and the silence weighed heavy on her. She wondered if this was the same bench they'd been sitting on at her and Max's engagement party. She couldn't remember.

"Hey, Luke?" she asked.

"Yeah?" He turned to look at her. She tucked her legs under her and turned to the side so she could see him.

"Would you have come to the wedding?"

"What wedding?"

"My wedding. With Max."

Luke turned his face forward and looked again at the activities. She thought he wasn't going to give her an answer at all as the silence stretched, until he gruffly admitted, "No."

She was hurt by his answer, and that surprised her. Didn't it insinuate he hadn't been supportive of her and Max getting married? Wasn't that what she wanted, for him to have opposed the wedding? "You wouldn't have come at all?"

Luke didn't like this. He felt like every possible answer was a trap. "Probably not. What does it matter? You didn't have a wedding."

"I know, but…" She swallowed nervously. "Maybe I had this little fantasy in my head, where I'm about to marry him, and they do the whole 'if anyone objects' line, and you show up and say 'I object.' Because you knew it wasn't right, and you were the only one with the guts to do it." She laughed, a little too hysterically. "It's silly."

Luke shrugged. "Most fantasies are." He put his hand on her knee and squeezed gently. "It's okay." He took a deep breath. "It might even have happened."

"Really?"

He looked at her. "Well, now you'll never know."

"Evil."

They sat quietly, until out of the blue, Luke spoke up. "Rachel left because she thought I didn't love her."

"Funny. Max implied the same thing. That I didn't love him," she quickly clarified, "not that Rachel left because you didn't love her. He didn't even know Rachel. And now I'm babbling. So I will shut up."

"She was right."

"So was he."

Dusk had become night, and the twinkle-lights provided only the barest illumination from where they were sitting. She wondered if anyone could even see them, or if they were only shadows on the bench. The sound of music hit her ears; the troubadour was wandering down the path, approaching them.

"Oh Jesus," Luke mumbled.

Lorelai frowned. "Hey, I like him." She listened harder. "Except the song he's playing; I don't like that. It's the most depressing song on earth. Depressing people in a depressing bar, blech. Talk about your buzz kill. Plus, he's playing the guitar, so that just doesn't work with the song."

The troubadour came closer, the strains of Billy Joel's "Piano Man" carrying nicely on the summer breeze.

"Hey!" Luke called at him. The troubadour came closer, never missing a note.

"Hi, Grant," Lorelai greeted when he was a few feet away. Luke hadn't even known the guy had a name. Grant nodded back.

Luke skipped the pleasantries. "I'll give you five bucks to not sing that song."

"I don't play for money," Grant told him, still strumming the guitar, "or not play."

"Fine. Just play something else then."

"Any requests?"

"Something more upbeat than that," Luke suggested.

"YMCA!" Lorelai provided. Luke rolled his eyes.

"Do not listen to her. Just play anything else that's not depressing"

Grant nodded. "Anything you say." He walked a few feet off, changing the chords on his guitar. "Well I guess it would be nice," he sang, "If I could touch your body, I know not everybody has got a body like you. But I gotta think twice, before I give my heart away, and I know all the games you play, because I play them too."

Apparently, Luke didn't find it as amusing as she did. "Get the hell out of here!"

"Hey, I just play off the vibes I feel." Grant wandered off, the guitar never missing a note.

Lorelai giggled when she saw how hard Luke's jaw was clenched. "Oh, loosen up," she instructed him, "the whole town thinks we had sex already."

"What?" And what did she mean by 'already?' That would imply that they had done by now something that they were going to do; was she really expecting to sleep with him in the future, instead of just torturing him for years with flirting?

"Yeah, Babette saw your car parked in front of my house two nights in a row. I'm sure Patty's spread it all over town by now like jelly on a roll." After a brief pause, she added, "Damn. Now I'm hungry."

Luke missed the whole jelly induced hunger since he was still trying to process the gossip information. Didn't anyone in this town respect privacy? He didn't want to get mad, though, because he'd probably end up yelling at Lorelai even if it wasn't her fault. Which would trigger another fight, and he didn't think he could make it through another month like the last one. Instead, he just said, "There are all these comments I heard today that are suddenly making sense."

The streetlamps chose to go on at that moment. Taylor refused to change the timers, claiming the town was saving energy. Luke had actually agreed with him for the first time in a town meeting, although he had been highly disturbed by the fact that Taylor had control over the streetlamps.

Lorelai saw that the diner was closed. "Closed early, I see?"

"National holiday tomorrow. It would be un-American of me to stay open late."

 "So, are you gonna make an appearance at the festivities?"

"If when you say 'festivities,' you mean where everyone gathers in the square and shoves their faces full of red meat and hot dogs, and then have the nerve to look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them what's in those things, while little children run around with burning sticks in their hands? Then no."

"Burning sticks, you sound like a crotchety old man. They're sparklers, they're harmless."

"I still say you don't give a kid a burning stick."

"But tomorrow is the day we celebrate our independence and the intrinsic freedom which entitles all of us the right to play with fire."

"I donated some hamburger meat, a few apple pies, and a ton of brownies. I've done my share."

"Did you-"

"Save an entire apple pie for you? Yes."

They were interrupted by Miss Patty, who had finished rehearsing with her dance class, and left the little girls behind to visit Luke and Lorelai. "I'm so happy for you two!" she told them.

Luke groaned and Lorelai took pity on him. He hated public displays of anything. "Patty, we're not sleeping together."

Patty winked. "Oh, just fooling around then. No harm in that. Of course, if I were you, Lorelai, I don't think I'd be able to hold out-"

"Patty!" Luke was practically growling.

"Sorry, honey, but it's true. If I were young and thin like her, I'd be all over you like icing on a cinnamon bun."

Luke was saved from further embarrassment when Taylor called Patty. "I never thought I'd be so grateful to see him," Luke said once Patty had walked away.

Lorelai started laughing. "What?" Luke asked. She shook her head and laughed harder, wiping tears from her eyes. "Lorelai," he growled.

"Nothing," she managed to say after gulping down some air. "It's just…" she giggled, "I got this mental picture…of you, with icing all over, and Patty was licking you, and for no good reason you had those little Princess Leia buns for hair," she explained, and laughed harder.

"That's not funny," he automatically responded. She started to calm down, wiping under her eyes so she wouldn't look like a raccoon. Luke smirked. "Was I wearing the gold bikini?"

A flash blinded them both. "Kirk, get the hell out of here before the only thing that camera can take a picture of is your colon." Luke threatened.

"Why would…oh," Kirk paled and scurried away.

"My coffee's empty," Lorelai said once Kirk had left.

"And?" Luke asked, looking for her point.

"And, I think we should go to the diner and get me more coffee. Then we could mock everybody from inside, because we're special and get to come in, and they're un-special and get left out."

Luke stood up. "Sounds good to me."

As they walked to the diner, Lorelai asked, "So where's Jess? I haven't seen him in a while." Her lust factor was running fairly high; just in case anything did happen, she didn't want him around.

"If a while is a day and a half. One day of which you didn't even leave your house."

"So what's he up to?" Lorelai inquired, ignoring his logic.

"He spent yesterday working after school, and read some book all night."

"Wow. His life is almost as exciting as yours."

"Hey, I slept with a good looking woman last night."

Lorelai tried to hide her grin. "Can't argue there. So what did he do today?"

"He was at school. Do you want to put a Lo-Jack on him?"

"Sorry. I was just getting used to his snarky wit. Kinda miss it."

Luke unlocked the door to the diner and let her in. "Really?"

"No, that was sarcasm," Lorelai informed him. "Have I lost my touch?"

Luke shrugged, and headed behind the counter to start a pot of coffee. "He's busy tonight."

"Oh, what's he doing? Helping little old ladies across the street?"

"He's on the fireworks team."

Lorelai laughed. "I'm sorry, I must have gone temporarily insane because I thought you said he was on the fireworks team. As in the team that is in charge of the fireworks. Fireworks, as in those things that explode."

"I did."

"Why?"

"Because he is."

"Again, why?"

"Taylor was afraid he'd steal the fireworks, or set them off, so yesterday he offered Jess one of the jobs."

"I retract my earlier statement about the American right for kids to bear big sticks of fire."

"I think Taylor's just going with that 'keep your enemies closer' theory. He lights a few fuses, so he gets to have his fun while he's completely supervised. Besides, Kirk was supposed to help but he chickened out, so they needed someone. Someone not afraid of fire and loud noises."

"But that's like putting Hannibal Lecter in charge of catering."

"Maybe that's a slight exaggeration. Desperate times, desperate measures." He realized he still hadn't turned on the lights, and started to flip the switch.

"Leave them off," Lorelai suggested. They could see well enough with the lights from outside. "You don't want the whole town coming over and demanding food."

"Oh, right, because that would be bad for business."

"Hey, you're the one who decided to close."

Luke put a paper cup in front of her. "It's not that big a deal. There's a town meeting in ten minutes, so I would have been closed anyway."

Lorelai frowned. "Is this another one of those secret town meetings? Because I wasn't invited," she pouted.

"It was announced yesterday. Word on the street is they want to add another festival to make up the gap between July 4th and Halloween." The distaste was evident in his voice.

"Ooh, someone's excited," Lorelai teased.

"Only because I'm going to vote it down." He filled her cup. "Let's go."

"We still have," Lorelai looked at her imaginary watch, "eight minutes."

"Seven, and we still have to walk there."

"You can walk to anywhere in Star's Hollow in two minutes or less. Besides, my coffee is very hot and if I walk with it, it might slosh over and burn me." They had plenty of time.

"With logic like that…" Luke grabbed a lid from under the counter. "You're gonna be early for once in your life."

"I was two days early with Rory," she protested.

"For what?"

Stupid male. "For pushing her out of my uterus."

Luke looked highly uncomfortable. "I'm going now, you and your uterus can stay if you want to be late."

Lorelai put the lid on her coffee and got up. "You shouldn't trust me with your coffee stash," she said.

When they walked into Miss Patty's dance studio, Lorelai thought Taylor was going to have a heart attack from the surprise of seeing her early. She smirked, and nudged Luke so he wouldn't miss it.

"If you came in ten minutes early, you probably would have killed him," Luke commented as they took their seats.

"Good thing I procrastinated so much in the diner. If he died before the meeting, I'd miss the requisite Luke-Taylor argument scene."

The seats were already half filled, and people were streaming in, quickly claiming the empty ones. Lorelai noticed that many of the townsfolk were looking at them.

"This must be what Brad and Jennifer feel like," Lorelai said. Luke looked confused. "Don't look now," she told him, "but people are staring at us."

"Why?" Luke immediately asked, being the type of person who hated attention. Then he remembered the rumors that Patty and Babette had started circling. "Oh."

"Yeah," Lorelai confirmed. She leaned over and whispered, "Bet I can get the whole room buzzing with just one movement of my hand."

Luke really wanted her to try it, but not with the entire town looking on. "No."

Lorelai sat back. "You're no fun."

"And this is a revelation?" he sarcastically asked.

Taylor banged the gavel. Lorelai figured he avidly watched Judge Judy. "Let's begin the meeting. First, I'd like to congratulate Lorelai on being early for the first time since she's moved here." He clapped his hands, and the rest of the town followed suit.

"It's a once in a lifetime thing, I promise," Lorelai responded. "Like Hailey's comet."

"Now," Taylor began, "as most of you know, there is a severe lack of holidays or festivals between July 4th and Halloween."

"There's Labor Day," Luke dryly informed him.

Taylor rolled his eyes. "That is hardly a celebratory event."

"You could celebrate it quietly. Without a festival," Luke suggested.

"That's no fun," Lorelai said.

"Thank you, Lorelai. Festivals are about community, and we need to keep community spirit high."

"Pot festival," Luke suggested, sotte voce to Lorelai.

"And since it's a community issue," Taylor continued, "as a community, we can decide the theme of the new festival."

"But we haven't even voted on whether or not we should even have a new festival," Luke pointed out.

Lorelai nudged him with her good arm. "Killjoy."

"That would be a waste of time," Taylor haughtily replied. "Everyone is for it."

"I'm not," Luke countered.

Taylor gave an exasperated sigh. "Everyone besides you."

"I'm not for it either," Kirk piped in, getting up from his seat.

"What? Why?" Taylor was shocked. From Luke he'd expected it.

Kirk crossed his arms. "Festivals emphasize the gaping loneliness in my life." He sat down.

Lorelai shook her head. "I guess that date didn't go well for him."

Taylor leaned on the podium. "Fine, we'll vote. Who would like a new festival to take place between July 4th and Halloween? Raise your hand." Taylor surveyed the multitude of raised hands. Lorelai put up both of hers, until her bad arm started throbbing and she had to put it down.

"Okay," Taylor concluded, "Everyone is for a new festival with the exception of Luke, Kirk, and Mrs. Lanahan."

Mrs. Lanahan, who was sitting behind Lorelai, was startled from her dozing state with the sound of her name. "What?" she asked.

Lorelai turned around. "Do you want a new festival?" she asked her.

"Now?" Mrs. Lanahan asked, confused.

Lorelai gave up and turned back around.

"Not that there's any need, but all opposed, raise your hand." Taylor instructed. Luke and Kirk raised their arms. Lorelai tugged on Luke's, trying to lower it.

Taylor banged the gavel. "Motion passes, the new festival is a go. The next matter is choosing a theme. The floor is open to suggestions."

Patty stood up. "Summer theater," she said, looking at Luke.

"NO." He adamantly said, crossing his arms.

Lorelai stood up. "Leprechaun Day!"

Taylor rolled his eyes. "Serious suggestions only, please."

"I was serious. Rory also votes for Leprechaun Day."

Taylor rolled his eyes again. "Rory can't vote, she's not even here."

"She sent in an absentee ballot," Lorelai quipped before sitting back down.

Jackson got up. "Summer fruit festival?"

Lorelai stuck her tongue out. "Bleh. Fruit." Then she got an idea. She stood up again.

Taylor banged his gavel. "You already pitched an idea."

"So? I'm pitching another one. I'm a big pitcher. Like…uh," Lorelai struggled to think of any name.

"Nolan Ryan," Luke offered.

"Yeah, like that guy," Lorelai finished.

Taylor wasn't swayed. "Let other people have a chance." They waited. No one else stood up. "Fine, what is it?"

"How about a Days of Summer/End of Summer type thing? The theme is summer, and summer related stuff. Like lemonade! Summer lovin'! Picnics! We could play Don Henley's 'Boys of Summer.' We could worship the sun, like the Aztecs! Ooh, human sacrifices!"

Taylor cocked his head to the side. "Somewhere in that insanity lies a good idea. Summerfest?" he pitched. The town murmured and nodded their assent. "Does anyone object to August 31st as the date?" The town shook their heads. "Excellent," Taylor said, and banged his gavel.

He looked at his watch. "Well, that went a lot quicker than expected, so I'll use the remaining time to discuss an issue on town population. As many of you know, Mrs. Mills is pregnant; however, she's recently found out that she's having twins, which means that when both babies are born, Stars Hollow will have exactly 10,000 registered residents. So I'd like to take this opportunity to remind you that while community growth is generally a very good sign of economic and social productivity, rapid growth can be detrimental. So think carefully about the size of your family."

Lorelai's eyebrows raised. "Are we in China?"

The meeting adjourned, people began getting up and leaving. Andrew walked by Lorelai and Luke on the way out, and said, "Luke, I thought you'd never get the courage. I owe Bootsy twenty bucks."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"The two of you," Andrew explained, gesturing to each with his hands, then rubbing his hands together, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

"Keep your twenty bucks, since we're not together. Not that it's your business," Luke grumbled. Andrew held his hands up in surrender and walked away.

Bootsy, unfortunately, was nearby as well. "Hey, I wanna thank you guys. Now Andrew owes me twenty bucks," he gloated.

"We're not together," Luke said to his retreating form.

They were almost out the door when Al came up to them, a knowing smile on his face.

"I don't want to hear it," Luke said, before Al could say anything. He turned around and saw the rest of the people looking at them. He knew there wasn't much privacy in small towns, but he'd been spared from most of their curiosity by being the supposed town hermit. Now that the attention was on him, he wasn't used to it; he didn't like it one bit. "That goes for all of you. Don't you people have anything better to do? Reality shows to watch? I am not dating Lorelai!"

"They're just fooling around," Patty informed anyone close enough to hear her mutter under her breath.

Luke hadn't heard her, and continued in his rant. "You want to know what's going on, fine, I'll tell you what's going on, but after that you mind your own damn business. We'd got in a fight a while back-"

"Everyone knows that," Patty said, in that 'boy you're stupid' tone.

"But now we've made up, and she hurt her arm, so I'm helping her out, okay? We are not sleeping together-" he saw Patty's mouth open, "or fooling around," he quickly added. "Lorelai and I are just friends so find something else to bet on or talk about because you're wasting your time." He was still angry, but if he stayed there any longer, he'd just get angrier, and his words wouldn't make any sense, so he stalked off.

Once outside, he realized Lorelai wasn't next to him. He looked out over the street and saw her walking away. She must have left while he was yelling. Walking fast, he caught up the twenty feet separating them.

"Is there a sale on donuts or shoes?" he asked once he was by her side.

"No," she said, irritation in her voice.

"What then?"

"Nothing." She walked faster.

So did he. "You usually like public attention; I thought they wouldn't have bothered you."

Lorelai shook her head angrily. "Oh, they didn't."

Luke stopped suddenly. "You're mad at me?" he asked incredulously. "I defended us!"

She turned around. "Defended? Us?" She scoffed. "You defended yourself. You insulted me."

Luke couldn't remember his exact words, since they'd been fueled by anger, but he didn't recall saying anything insulting about her. "What the hell did I say?"

"Everything short of pointing at me and shouting 'leper'! It doesn't matter if they think we're sleeping together. Let them think what they want, because they will anyway. But I'm glad I found out that you find even the idea that someone thinks we've had sex revolting. It's good to know, really. I'm surprised you're even standing this close to me. You might get infested with cooties!" With that, she took off, leaving Luke standing in the road, completely confused.

-end Ch. 14-

The next chapter is rated R. Not for sex, but for heavy drug use and excessive violence. Just kidding. Start digging the Barry White albums out of the closet!