"Mystery Woman – part 8"

* * *

As Luke walked into the kitchen, Lorelai walked back over to the table. "The search for the missing scarf was successful," she announced as she sat down. She waved the scarf toward Sookie.

Sookie smiled. "Oh, good. Is that the one you bought at the rummage sale?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yup. It must've slipped off when I took my coat off."

"Yeah, that happens sometimes," Sookie said.

Luke walked over with their drinks and set them down on the table. "Here ya go."

"Thanks, Luke." Lorelai looked up at him. "And thanks again for. . .you know. . ." Making out with me in the storage room, was what she wanted to say, but instead she gestured to the scarf and finished, "For taking good care of Scarfy here."

Luke shrugged it off. "Oh, sure."

Sookie tapped Luke on the arm. "Hey, I lost a pair of black leather shoes a few months ago. Any chance you have 'em back there somewhere?"

Luke narrowed his eyes at her. "How do you leave somewhere without your shoes?"

"Yeah, I'm curious about that, too," Lorelai added.

"They were brand new," Sookie explained. "I'd just bought them at Sissy's, and then I went to a few other stores afterwards and I must've left the bag at one of them because when I got home – no bag with the shoes."

"Aw, bummer," Lorelai said sympathetically. She looked up at Luke. "Got a bag of shoes back there in the storage room?"

Luke shook his head. "I'm pretty sure I don't, sorry."

"Are you positive?" Lorelai leaned forward on the table. "'Cause I could come back there and help you look around." She took a sip of her soda, and after a brief glance to assure that Sookie wasn't looking, she licked her lips suggestively.

Luke quickly glanced down to hide the smile he knew was forming on his lips. God, does she know what she does to me? He cleared his throat and gestured toward the back. "Well, I guess it couldn't hurt to check the – "

Sookie interrupted by waving him off. "Nah, forget it. I don't even think I came in here that day anyway. They're gone forever."

"Okay, well, I'll go check on your food," Luke said. He turned and walked toward the counter.

"Poor shoes," Sookie frowned. "They probably got thrown away without ever getting to be worn."

"Aw, no, don't be sad about it," Lorelai consoled her. "I'm sure they're up in shoe heaven having fun with the millions of pairs of jellie sandals that everyone threw out in the eighties."

Sookie giggled. "I hope so." She stared at Lorelai for a moment, then smiled and nudged her with her elbow. "So what's up with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've undergone some sort of miracle mood transformation in the past week," Sookie replied.

Lorelai scoffed. "I have not."

"You have, too," Sookie insisted. "The last few weeks you were moody and grumpy and. . .not yourself. And now, suddenly, you're back to normal."

Lorelai smiled. "Normal?"

"Well, as close to normal as someone like you can get," Sookie clarified with a smile. "The point is, you're back to being happy. So what happened?"

Lorelai aimlessly stirred her drink with her straw and thought about the real answer. Oh, well, Luke and I are secretly dating, and it's only been a few days, but I can't remember the last time I went out with someone where everything felt this . . .right. Lorelai shrugged and said, "Nothing happened. I was in a funk, but it went away."

"Okay, it went away," Sookie repeated. "Now that it's gone, you wanna tell me what was causing it?"

"Uh, well. . .no, not really," Lorelai replied. She smiled and added, "But thanks for asking."

Sookie tilted her head to the side. "Lorelai, come on, what was it?"

Lorelai spotted Luke walking toward them. "Oh look, food's here, let's eat." Luke set the plates on the table and they thanked him.

When he had walked away, Sookie said, "So you're really not gonna tell me? I'm your best friend."

Lorelai sighed. Yes, you are, and that's why I need to get out of this one with as little lying as possible. "Look, Sookie, I am gonna tell you," she said. "I promise. But not yet."

"Not yet?"

"No, I don't wanna talk about it yet."

"But someday?" Sookie asked hopefully.

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "Someday I will definitely disclose to you the mysterious reason for the funk, but until then. . .please. . ."

Sookie nodded understandably. "No more mentions of the funk."

Lorelai gave her an appreciative smile. "Thank you."

* * *

That night, Lorelai was sitting on her bed talking on her cell phone. "So I just told her that I would tell her someday, but not yet."

"And she was satisfied with that?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, she said she wouldn't bring it up anymore."

"Wow. That's good."

"Yup. Let us be thankful that she's not as persistent in her pursuit of gossip as Patty is, or else I'd still be sitting there trying to fend her off," Lorelai said. "So what about you. . .anything eventful happen today?"

"Uh, not really. Kissed a customer in the storage room."

Lorelai giggled. "Oh yeah? How was it?"

"Highlight of my week."

"How'd the customer like it?"

"No complaints as of yet."

"None to come either," she confirmed.

"Good to know," he replied. "So, uh, about this whole 'real date' idea. . .let's talk about it."

"Yes, let's, because I get the feeling you don't wanna do it," Lorelai said. "So. . .what's up?"

"I didn't say I don't wanna do it."

"Well, you didn't seem too thrilled about it."

Luke exhaled slowly. "Yeah, well. . . I just. . .I want to go, but it seems dangerous."

Lorelai let out a laugh. "Dangerous? Luke, it's a date, not an undercover mission where we have to locate and deactivate nuclear bombs."

"No, I just meant that. . .us going out somewhere together ups the chances of us being found out," he explained. "And I'm reluctant to take a risk like that since. . .well, I kinda like things the way they are."

His words surprised her. "You do? I kinda figured you'd hate the sneaking around."

"I know, I didn't expect to like it," he admitted. "But come on, think about it - you know the minute that this all comes out, we'll have Babette and Patty following us around, asking us about every stinkin' detail of every moment we spend together. It's nice being able to walk down the street without being harassed."

"Yeah, but it'd be nice at some point for us to be able to walk down the street together," Lorelai pointed out. "I mean, you're making it sound like you want it to be like this forever."

"No, not forever, but it wouldn't hurt to keep it like this for awhile. Things are going fine the way they are. And us going out somewhere risks that changing."

"But Luke, don't you remember the reason that we're keeping it secret in the first place?"

"Yes, I remember the reason."

"The plan is for us to have some time to see if we'll work as a couple," Lorelai reminded him. "Thus, we have to actually go out and do something as a couple in order for the plan to make sense."

Luke sighed softly. "Yeah, I know."

"I mean, we can't just keep it at this 'talking on the phone every night and kissing once in awhile' stage and expect the relationship to grow," Lorelai said. "We need to move things along and make a decision one way or another – either it'll work or it won't. Yes, being the prime fodder for the gossip mill will be annoying, but still. . .the sooner we figure it out, the better. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I hear ya," Luke replied. "Makes sense."

"So. . .I think that going out tomorrow is a good idea," Lorelai said. "Like I said earlier, we'll go to another town. Plus, it's a weeknight, so not too many people'll be out anyway." She paused a moment, then added, "And if you're still not convinced, I have a new skirt I wanna wear and it's pretty short."

Luke smiled. "Yeah, okay, you're right. We should go."

"See, I knew you'd come around. Was it the skirt comment?"

"So. . .what should we do?" he asked.

Lorelai laughed. "Ah, skillfully avoiding the question. Nice."

"I thought so," he replied. "Listen, I think we should stay away from a movie."

"Not a movie guy?"

"No, I like movies, but we should make the most of the time that we'll be out together. We don't get that much time to ourselves to, ya know, talk and. . . stuff," Luke said.

Lorelai giggled. "What does the 'stuff' category include?"

Luke continued, "So if we go to a movie, it'll be us sitting in a theater for two hours, not being able to talk. It's a waste of time."

"Hm, good point," Lorelai said. "But we could just talk through the movie like I usually do."

"I'd rather not," he replied. "We should just go somewhere where we can eat, hang out, talk without being shushed. . ."

"Okay, no movie, then," Lorelai said with a shrug. She thought for a moment, then smiled. "Oh, hey, I know. You like pizza?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I know this place that's about thirty minutes away," Lorelai said. "It's kinda like a pizza place, bar, and game room all in one."

"Game room?"

"Yeah, it has pool tables, air hockey tables, stuff like that," Lorelai explained. "It's fun. Completely casual."

"Uh huh."

"And even if you don't like the game stuff, the pizza's excellent," Lorelai added. "What do you say?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Luke replied.

"You sure? We can find somewhere else if you – "

"No, it's fine," Luke interrupted. "It sounds good."

"Mom!" Rory's voice called from downstairs.

Lorelai's eyes widened. "Just a second!" she called back. She lowered her voice as she spoke into the phone, "I have to go. Tomorrow, I'll give you the directions and we can pick a time to meet."

"Okay."

"Bye Luke." Lorelai turned off the cell phone and jumped up from the bed. "Coming!" she called as she walked out of her bedroom.

Rory was waiting at the bottom of the staircase with a bag of tater tots. "I had a craving. Do you want some?"

"Absolutely," Lorelai replied. "As I always say, nine o'clock at night is tater tot time."

Rory smiled. "I'll go put 'em on." She started walking to the kitchen, and Lorelai followed behind her.

"Uh, so. . .do you have plans for tomorrow night?" Lorelai asked casually.

Rory shrugged. "Why, you wanna do something?" She spread the tater tots on a pan and slipped it into the oven.

"Uh, no. . .actually, I'm going out somewhere," Lorelai said hesitantly.

"Oh yeah? Where?"

"Uh, just. . .out to dinner," Lorelai replied.

"By yourself?"

"No, no, not by myself." Lorelai sat down at the table. "With. . .someone."

Rory sat down across from her. "Sookie?"

Lorelai shook her head. "Uh, no. . .actually, it's kind of a . . .date-type situation."

Rory's eyes widened with surprise. "Really? Who is he?"

Lorelai shrugged. "Uh, just this guy I met. . ." Wow, you're pulling this off without lying at all so far.

"Met where?"

Ooh, that's a toughie. "Uh, well, I met him. . .here in Stars Hollow."

"At work?"

"Um, well, I have seen him at the inn, yeah." Ooh, good – that's not technically a lie.

"What's he look like? Is he cute?"

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "Yeah, real cute. And sweet. And funny."

"Sounds like a good guy," Rory commented.

"Yeah, he is."

"What's his name?"

Lorelai wrinkled her nose and waved Rory off. "Uh, listen, I don't really wanna talk about him yet, not even his name. You know, why bother wasting my breath on him if it's not gonna get serious, right?"

"You don't think it will?" Rory asked.

"Well, I don't know yet," Lorelai replied. "It might. . .and if it starts to, that's when I'll gladly play twenty questions with you about him – deal?"

"Deal. So where are you guys going?"

"Um, just out for pizza and drinks," Lorelai said. "Just a casual date."

"Sounds good." Rory smiled. "First dates are exciting. Do you know what you're gonna wear yet?"

"I have a general idea," Lorelai replied, standing up. "You wanna come up and evaluate my choice?"

"Yeah, sure, show me." Rory followed Lorelai out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her bedroom.

* * *

The following night, Lorelai pulled into the parking lot of the pizza place slightly after seven. She turned off the engine, then scanned the parking lot for Luke's truck. "Aw, Luke, I hope you could follow my directions," she muttered. She glanced in the rearview mirror and checked her makeup.

A few minutes passed as Lorelai sat in her Jeep, intently watching the entrance of the parking lot, waiting for that familiar truck to pull in.

When it finally did, she smiled and climbed out of the car. Luke parked his truck a few spaces down from her, and she walked over to greet him. As he climbed out of the truck, he apologized, "Sorry I'm late."

"That's okay. Did you find it all right?" Lorelai asked. "I know my directions aren't always easy to follow."

"Yeah, the 'turn onto Brown Street, then make a left at the toilet' confused me until I saw the porta potty on the corner."

Lorelai giggled. "It's a well-placed landmark. Shows up in many a person's directions around here."

"I can imagine." Luke closed the truck door and slipped his keys into his pocket. "So. . ."

Lorelai took a step toward him and touched his face. "You shaved."

"Yup."

"I like it." She stroked the smoothness of his cheek as she pressed her lips against his. Not breaking their contact, Luke brought his hands to her waist and leaned back against his truck, pulling her against him as the kiss deepened.

When Lorelai finally pulled back, she smiled up at him. "So. . .like the skirt?"

Luke glanced down at it and nodded approvingly. "It's nice." He brought his gaze back up and cleared his throat. "Uh, so. . .should we eat?" Lorelai nodded and they started walking to the entrance.

* * *

Half an hour later, they were talking in their corner booth when the waitress set their individual pizzas in front of them. Luke glanced down at his broccoli-covered pie. "Wow, this is bigger than I thought it'd be."

"I told you the medium-sized was pretty filling," Lorelai reminded him.

Luke glanced at her even-bigger pie. "I can't believe you got an extra large. Are you gonna eat all that?"

Lorelai shrugged. "I don't know, maybe. Will you be impressed if I do?"

"Impressed, no. Nauseous, yes," he said.

She smiled and picked up a slice. Before she took a bite, she asked, "So. . .where did you tell Jess you were going?"

Luke took a sip of his beer. "Uh, actually, out with Leslie."

Surprised, Lorelai swallowed her food quickly. "Oh. So. . .he doesn't know that you guys broke up?"

"Nah. Never came up, so. . ." Luke's voice trailed off and he shrugged. "You know, it's better this way, though. I mean, I can still use her as a cover for something like this."

"Yeah, it works out," Lorelai agreed.

"Yup. What'd you tell Rory?"

"That I had a date," Lorelai replied. "I didn't give her any details besides that it was a guy that I met in town. Hardly any lying at all. I just told her I didn't wanna talk about it yet, and she understood."

Luke nodded. "Good. That's good."

* * *

When they had finished eating, they walked over to an air hockey table. "So, are you any good at this game?" Lorelai asked as she slipped four quarters into the slots.

"I haven't played in awhile, but I used to be able to hold my own," he replied with a nod.

"Oh yeah? Well, I happen to be pretty good at it," Lorelai warned. She picked up a paddle and tapped it on the table a few times. "Are you scared?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, I'm shaking all over."

"Good. Let's play."

* * *

After a few games of air hockey, Luke gestured toward the line of pool tables. "How are you at pool?"

"Well, if the purpose of it is to get the white ball in the hole, then I'm a master," Lorelai said.

"Come on. Let's play a game." Luke started walking across the room.

Lorelai followed behind him. "Aw, Luke, but I suck at it."

"So? It's just a game."

"Tsk. You know, I bet if I said I was great at it, you wouldn't be in such a hurry to play," Lorelai remarked. "But you just wanna try to get back at me for beating you three outta four times at air hockey."

Luke glanced over his shoulder with a smirk. She waited by one of the tables while he walked to the counter and paid for it. When he returned, he started racking the balls.

"I call solids," Lorelai declared.

"You don't get to pick," he reminded her. "It's whatever you get in first."

"But solids are much more attractive than stripes, everyone knows that," she argued. "I love solids. I have to be solids. I'll be able to concentrate better on the game if I'm solids."

"How so?"

"Because if I'm stripes, I'll just be staring at all the solid balls wishing I was solids, and then that will directly affect my shooting performance," Lorelai explained. "If your mind's not in the game, then you might as well just quit, right?"

Luke rolled his eyes and raised his hands in defeat. "Fine, be solids, I don't care."

Lorelai grinned. "Thank you."

They each grabbed a pool stick from the wall. Luke went first, and his forceful stroke scattered the balls around the table. One of the solid balls was sunk, and Lorelai clapped. "Yay, point for me."

Luke folded his arms across his chest. "Just take your turn."

"Okay, let's see. . ." She walked around the table, eyeing the position of the balls. Finally, she prepared to shoot.

After watching for just a few seconds, it was clear to Luke that she wasn't kidding about her skill level. "Aren't you right handed?" he asked.

"Yeah, why?" she replied.

"You're holding the stick wrong," he pointed out. "I think you might do better if you put the stick on the other side of your body." He demonstrated how to hold it. "Do it like this."

She stared at his grip for a few seconds, then tried to recreate it. "Like this?"

"Nah. Hold on." He rested his pool stick on the edge of the table, then walked over to her and helped position her hands on the stick. He pointed to the hole formed by her curved index finger and her thumb. "Now, you wanna keep this hole loose so that the stick can slide into it smoothly."

Lorelai giggled and glanced at him over her shoulder. "Oh my God, that was so dirty."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Come on, try it." He took a step back from her.

She positioned her hands on the pool stick and leaned forward over the table. Luke swallowed hard as he tried to keep his eyes on the table and not her skirt. He moved over a few feet to the side to help avoid the temptation.

She tried to shoot, and the stick missed the cue ball completely. She sighed and stood up straight. "I can't do it," she pouted.

"Yes, you can. Come on." He walked over and stood directly behind her. "Which ball are you going for?"

"The red one," she replied.

"Okay, get your hands set up on the stick." Lorelai complied. "Good. Now, lean forward and line up the shot," he instructed her. She did, and was surprised when she felt his arms reach around her waist. "I'm gonna help you."

Wow, someone turn down the thermostat, 'cause it just went up like a billion degrees in here. Lorelai cleared her throat and said, "Yes, I noticed that." His large hands covered hers on the pool stick, tightening around her delicate fingers. Lorelai shut her eyes as Luke closed what little distance there was between them by leaning over her. Oh my God. He was pressed up against her tightly, and a surge of excitement ran through her body. Her heart was racing and she took several deep breaths to control her arousal.

Behind her, he was having just as much trouble controlling it as she was, and the addictive smell of her perfume wasn't helping any. He tried to push all impure thoughts out of his head as he continued instructing her. "Uh, so. . .when it's all lined up, you just wanna.. . .like this. . ." He helped her shoot, and the red three-ball rolled swiftly into the corner pocket. He let go of the stick and stepped back from her. "Simple."

Lorelai turned around and smiled. "Wow, you're a good teacher." They stared at each other for a moment, both of them breathing a little more heavily than pool players normally do. They leaned toward each other at the same time and kissed passionately.

When they pulled apart, Lorelai nibbled on her bottom lip for a few seconds as she stared at him. She finally gestured toward the door. "Uh. . .do you wanna get outta here?"

Luke shrugged. "Do you?"

Lorelai nodded. "Mmhmm."

"Let's go."

* * *

As they walked out into the parking lot, Lorelai said, "I know a place we can go. Follow me in the truck."

"What is it?"

"A nice little secluded parking lot," she replied.

They got into their cars, and Luke followed Lorelai through the town. Oh my God, Lorelai, what are you doing? You're gonna go parking – how old are you, fifteen? You really want things to happen with Luke like this – in the front seat of his twelve-year old truck? Lorelai shook her head and rationalized, No, we'll just have some fun, a little making out, we won't let it go that far. A little making out never hurt anybody.

She turned down a dimly lit, narrow road, with only a few houses scattered along it. When she reached the end, she turned into an empty parking lot surrounding a large church.

Luke parked next to Lorelai's Jeep and watched as she climbed out. She pulled open his passenger-side door and stuck her head in. "A parking lot," she announced. She climbed in next to him and shut the door. "My God, I feel like we're teenagers."

"Speaking of God. . ." Luke said, glancing up at the church looming in front of the truck. "Not only are we acting like teenagers, we're acting like them right in front of Him."

"Anywhere we do it, it's in front of God, Luke," she pointed out.

"Yeah, well, being right in front of a church makes it seem more . . ." His voice trailed off as he stared at her sitting next to him. Lorelai Gilmore is sitting a foot away from you, looking incredible, waiting for you to kiss her – and you're talking about churches and God? What's wrong with you?

Her body was turned slightly toward him, her head resting against the seat, her soft curls hanging over her shoulder. She rubbed his knee and said, "What are you thinking?"

Well, I'm mainly focusing on the fact that your hand is on my knee and I never want you to move it. Luke shook his head. "Nothing." She smiled and beckoned him toward her with her finger.

He put aside his disappointment that she moved her hand and he scooted closer to her. He slipped an arm behind her back, and she pulled his face downward, guiding his lips to hers. "Mmm," was the soft sound that escaped her throat, the sound that encouraged him to kiss her with more intensity.

As he moved his lips down to her neck, she fumbled with undoing the buttons of his flannel shirt until she finally gained better access to the T-shirt underneath. She ran her hands over the thin material, feeling the muscles of his arms and chest.

When she slipped a hand underneath his shirt, Luke's body trembled at the feeling of her hand directly against his skin. While she stroked his stomach with her fingertips, he deduced that a little hand exploration on his part would also be acceptable. He began running his hand up and down her leg, always stopping just below the hemline of her skirt.

He moved his hand up to her waist and hesitated a moment. Is she gonna think I'm moving too fast? He pulled back from kissing her and stared into her eyes. Well, she did stick her hand up my shirt first. His hand soon disappeared beneath her shirt.

She leaned her head back and exhaled loudly toward the ceiling of the truck. Luke's hand. . .my stomach. . .the rubbing. . .oh my God, that feels incredible.

When he finally worked up the courage, he started to move his hand upward. She lifted her head to look at him. Tell him before it goes too far, Lorelai. "Wait, Luke. . ."

Luke quickly pulled his hand back and an embarrassed look washed over his face. "Sorry. That was too fast, I'm sorry."

Lorelai shook her head. "No, no, that's not it. Seriously, there's nothing I want more than for you to put your hand back where it was, but. . ." She panted slightly to catch her breath. "But before things get more heated, you should know that. . .Well, I don't want this to be. . .I mean, I don't think our first time should be when we're cramped in the front of a truck, you know?"

Luke nodded understandably. "Yeah, no, that's fine, that's. . .yeah. You're right. It shouldn't be like this."

"Are you mad?"

"Why would I be mad?"

Lorelai shrugged. "I don't know. Because here I am, acting like an older version of Trishelle or something. I mean, bringing you to a parking lot, acting all. . .well, I feel like I was leading you on a little. I should've mentioned right away that I hadn't planned on. . .it going too far."

"It's okay." Luke narrowed his eyes at her and added, "Acting like who?"

"Never mind. But, I mean, I wanna keep doing what we're doing, but just not. . .ya know, I don't wanna. . .I don't think we should. . ." Lorelai rolled her eyes and sighed. "God, I can't even form a complete sentence."

Luke held up his hand. "Don't worry, I get it."

"Okay, good." Lorelai leaned back against the seat and commanded, "Put your hand back." Luke smiled and complied as he leaned in to kiss her.

* * *

Not long after, Lorelai and Luke both climbed out of the truck. Luke walked over to Lorelai's side and she smiled at him. "How cute are you walking me to my car? My car, I should add, that's only three feet away."

Luke shrugged. "What am I gonna do, just push you out of the truck and say 'see ya later'?"

"Some guys probably would," she replied.

"Yeah, well, I'm not some guys," he replied.

"No, you're not." Lorelai draped her arms over his shoulder as she kissed him softly.

He gripped her waist and pulled her closer. He pulled back from the kiss and said, "So. . .the date. . ."

"I think it was successful."

"Seemed to be," he agreed.

"Would've been more successful if we'd gotten ice cream, though," she added. "Ice cream always makes a date better."

"Unless you're allergic to it," he countered.

"Good point."

"Lactose intolerant."

"Another good one."

"Or you don't like ice cream."

Lorelai gasped. "As if that kind of sick person exists!"

Luke smiled. "So. . .uh, we should probably get going."

Lorelai nodded. "You gonna follow me?"

"Yeah, probably 'til we get near Woodbury, then I'll break off and come home through the back roads," Luke said. "So it doesn't look like. . .you know. . ."

"Right, good plan." They were both quiet for a moment before Lorelai said, "So. . .I guess I'll see you tomorrow at the diner."

Luke nodded. "I'll be there." He leaned down and kissed her. "Bye."

Lorelai smiled. "Bye Luke." He waited for her to climb into the Jeep, then he closed the door for her and walked back to the truck.

* * *

That night, Lorelai walked into the house slightly before eleven. Rory, hearing the front door shut, walked out of her bedroom calling, "Mom?"

"Yeah, it's me." She hung up her purse and dropped her keys on the hall table.

Rory walked over and kissed her on the cheek. "Hey, how was it?"

Lorelai smiled. "Uh, well, it was pretty great, actually. We had a lot of fun."

Rory smiled. "Yeah? You going out with him again?"

Lorelai nodded. "Probably." She walked into the living room and sat on the couch.

"Wow, finally met someone worthy of a second date," Rory commented. "Haven't seen that happen in awhile."

"Gee, thanks, kind daughter, for bringing up just how pitiful my dating life has been as of late," Lorelai said, rolling her eyes.

"Oops, sorry," Rory said. "But it looks like it's picking up, right?"

Lorelai smiled. "Yeah, maybe."

"Good, I'm glad. So, do I get to find out his name yet?"

"Uh, maybe next week," Lorelai said quickly. "How was your night?"

Rory shrugged. "Just another regular night in the life of an overachieving private school girl. Lots of reading and writing."

"Ooh, my favorite kind of night," Lorelai said. She stood up and started walking toward the kitchen. "I need ice cream."

"You didn't get ice cream on the date?" Rory asked, following her. "Doesn't he know that ice cream makes – "

"Any date better," Lorelai finished. She smiled and nodded. "I told him, so now he knows for the next date."

* * *

To be continued. . .

Thanks so much to everyone for the reviews. I really appreciate the feedback. :)