"It's Still There – part 5"

. . . . .

The next morning, the alarm buzzed, and after Lorelai had turned it off, she rested her head back against the pillow and muttered, "Luke, time to get up." Not hearing his usual grunt of acknowledgment, she tried to nudge him, but her elbow didn't make the usual contact with his body. Confused, she lifted her head and glanced over at his side of the bed. It was empty.

She climbed out of bed and pulled on her robe. After giving a quick glance toward the bathroom and finding it empty, she walked downstairs to look for him. Luke was nowhere to be found, and Lorelai slowly pushed open Rory's bedroom door and peeked inside.

Rory had just climbed out of bed and was gathering her school clothes. She glanced over at the door and saw Lorelai. "Hey."

"Hey," Lorelai said. She pushed the door open wider and glanced around.

"What are you doing?" Rory asked.

"Uh, looking for Luke," she replied.

"And you thought he was in here?" Rory asked, narrowing her eyes. "Uh, I prefer guys my own age. And ones that aren't married to my mom."

"I know, sorry, I just. . .ran out of places to look," Lorelai said with a shrug. "Can't find him. Do you think he was kidnapped?"

Rory rolled her eyes. "Doubtful. Maybe he went to work already. Is his truck here?"

"I didn't check." Lorelai walked over to Rory's window and glanced out at the front yard. "Hm."

. . . . .

An hour later, Lorelai walked into the diner and up to Luke at the counter. He nodded toward her. "Hey."

"Hi," Lorelai said. "Uh, so, you left pretty early this morning."

"Yeah, I helped Caesar open up," Luke said. He grabbed a towel and started wiping down the counter.

Lorelai watched him for a few seconds. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he replied with a shrug.

"You don't seem fine. You look like something's bugging you," Lorelai observed.

He looked up from the counter. "You want breakfast?"

Lorelai narrowed her eyes at his curtness, then glanced over at the muffin display. "Uh, yeah. Coffee and a blueberry muffin to go."

Luke nodded and went to get her order. As he placed the cup and bag in front of her, he said, "I'm going over to John's house tonight. I don't know what time I'll be home."

"Aw, really?" Lorelai frowned. "Rory won't be home either, so I was hoping we could hang out. . .you know, get a movie or something. I hardly saw you at all yesterday."

Luke shrugged. "Yeah, well. . .sorry. I'm busy." He was quiet for a moment as he resumed wiping the counter, then muttered, "Why don't you invite Christopher over to watch something with you."

Lorelai's mouth dropped open. "What. . ." She exhaled and folded her arms across her chest. "Is that what's bothering you? Me dancing with Christopher?"

"It's not bothering me," he replied with a shrug.

Lorelai scoffed. "It obviously is, Luke!"

Luke glanced around at the handful of customers in the diner. "Lower your voice."

Lorelai sighed. "Luke, if this is the reason behind your new attitude, which I've only had to deal with it for two minutes and already hate, we need to talk, because the sooner it goes, the better."

"What's there to talk about?" he asked. "You needed a dance partner, I don't dance, Christopher does, there you go. It all works out just great." He began scrubbing the counter with more force as he muttered, "Everything's perfect." Lorelai grabbed the towel from him and threw it on the floor, and Luke scowled at her. "Hey! I was usin' that."

Lorelai grabbed his arm and pulled him around the counter, through the back hallway, and into the storage room. She shut the door, then turned to him. "Luke, talk to me."

Luke sighed and reached for the doorknob. "Look, I have things to do."

Lorelai leaned against the door so he couldn't open it. "Luke, I'm not leaving here until we talk about this. I'm not gonna be able to concentrate at work knowing that you're here all mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you," Luke said with a nonchalant shrug.

"Well, it sure as hell seems like you are," Lorelai snapped. "And you have no right to be since you said yourself that you didn't care if I entered that contest with someone else. Do you not remember saying that?"

"Nothing's wrong with my memory."

"If we had sat down and had a talk where you had come out and said, 'Look, honey, I'd feel better if you didn't enter that contest with anyone else,' and then I went out and found a partner behind your back, then you might have a right to be mad at me," Lorelai said. "But not now – not when you knew that I'd be dancing with someone else!"

"I said I'm not mad at you," Luke repeated sternly.

"Then what the hell is wrong? You were fine all week while I was looking for partners, and then when I finally find one, you suddenly get all jealous and moody," Lorelai said loudly. "It doesn't make sense, Luke!"

Luke groaned with frustration. "Lorelai, have you gotten the hint that I don't feel like getting into this right now?"

"Well, too bad. Get into it," she demanded. "I need to know why the mood-altering drug kicked in. Is it just because you don't like Chris? What if I told you that. . .I don't know. . . Joe the pizza guy was my partner? Would you still be acting like this?"

"I don't know!" Luke replied loudly, throwing his hands up in the air. "At least Joe isn't someone you've . . ." His voice trailed off and he pursed his lips.

"Someone I've what?" Lorelai prompted, narrowing her eyes at him.

Luke shifted his feet and folded his arms across his chest. "Nothing."

Lorelai stared at him for a moment, then closed her eyes and shook her head. "Unbelievable." She opened her eyes. "So, let me get this straight – the unspoken provision to me entering the contest without you was that I'm not allowed to dance with someone I've slept with, is that it? What, 'cause that increases the probability that I might have sex with him right in the middle of the dance floor?"

Luke exhaled loudly. "No, that's not why I'm – "

"What, you think that me dancing with Chris is gonna rekindle something and maybe I'll just forget all about that silly "'til death do us part" stuff?" she asked accusingly.

Luke let out a frustrated sigh. "No. Would you just let me – "

"No, forget it," Lorelai interrupted, holding up her hand. "Glad to see there's a great foundation of trust in this marriage, Luke." She opened the storage room door and stormed down the hallway to the diner.

Luke followed her. "Lorelai, get back here. We're not done with this."

She ignored him and walked through the diner, leaving her coffee and muffin on the counter, and stormed out the door. Luke glanced around at the customers who were all staring at him and sighed loudly as he walked to the kitchen.

. . . . .

Fifteen minutes later, Lorelai walked into the kitchen of the Independence Inn. Sookie stood at the counter, stirring a bowl of pancake batter, and she glanced over at Lorelai and smiled. "Good morning, sweetie."

Lorelai groaned as she walked over to the coffee maker. "Ugh, what's good about it?"

Sookie's smile faded. "What's wrong?"

Lorelai poured herself a cup of coffee, then walked over to Sookie and sighed. "Luke."

"Uh oh. Trouble in paradise?"

"We had a fight," Lorelai said as she sat down on the stool.

"Aww," Sookie frowned sympathetically. "About what?"

"About the fact that he thinks I'm gonna have an affair with Christopher."

Sookie's eyes widened. "What? Why would he think that?"

"I told him that Christopher is my partner for the marathon, and Luke got all jealous and crabby about it, and we just had an argument at the diner," Lorelai explained. She sighed and took a long sip of her coffee.

"Christopher's your dance partner?" Sookie asked. "How'd that happen?"

"Well, I was talking to him last night on the phone and the dance marathon came up, and I mentioned that I still needed to find a partner because Luke doesn't like dancing, and Chris offered. And I told Luke and he got all weird about it and so I got mad at him for not trusting me." Lorelai told Sookie what was said at the diner.

When she was finished, Sookie nodded slowly. "Huh."

Lorelai eyed Sookie's expression curiously. "What?"

Sookie shrugged. "Nothing."

"What, Sookie?" Lorelai asked louder.

"I guess. . .well, I just see his point," Sookie said hesitantly.

"Whose? Luke's point?"

"Yeah."

"What point does he have? He told me I could enter that contest without him," Lorelai reminded her. "So I went out and found a partner, and now he's all jealous that I'm dancing with someone else."

"With Christopher," Sookie said.

"Just because it's Chris doesn't give him the right to lose all trust in me."

"He didn't come out and say that he doesn't trust you, did he?"

Lorelai paused a moment. "Well, no, but from the way he was acting all jealous, I just assumed that – "

"Aah!" Sookie interrupted, waving her hand back and forth. "Wrong! You should know by now that assumptions only lead to trouble."

"But why would he be acting this jealous if he did trust me?" Lorelai asked.

"Tsk, honey, you know that just because he's jealous does not mean he doesn't trust you," Sookie said. "You were jealous when he went out for coffee with that girl from high school, but you said you trusted him."

"No, but this is a different kind of jealous," Lorelai said. "I can accept a regular kind of jealous, where we both know he's jealous and we tease each other about it. But this one was different, it made him act all weird. I mean, he was all grumpy and trying to avoid me. . .that's not a good, cute 'aw, my husband's jealous' kind of jealous."

"Okay, honey, you need to imagine the situation reversed," Sookie said. "Let's say that Luke was the one who really wanted to win this dance marathon and you didn't want to enter it with him. Would you let him enter it with someone else?"

"Of course I would," Lorelai insisted.

"Okay, now, what if that someone else was. . .Rachel? You'd be completely, one hundred percent fine with him spending 24 hours touching an old girlfriend?" Sookie asked. "You wouldn't feel even the slightest bit jealous?"

"No." Lorelai paused a moment, then wrinkled her nose. "Well. . ."

Sookie smirked and tilted her head. "See? And you trust him, don't you?"

"Completely."

"So just because he implied that he doesn't like the idea of you dancing with Christopher doesn't mean that he doesn't trust you," Sookie said. "Give him a chance to explain."

Lorelai sighed. "Okay, now you're making me feel stupid for how I reacted."

"I'm just trying to help you realize that Luke's more-than-regular jealousy is understandable," Sookie said. "It's a natural feeling." She wiped her hands on a towel, then squeezed Lorelai's arm. "Honey, you know that he loves you more than anything in this world. You know that he trusts you. It's just weird for him and he doesn't know how to deal with it."

Lorelai sighed loudly. "Yeah, I get it now." She took a sip of coffee, then shook her head slightly. "You know, this would be much easier if Luke would just suck it up and be my stupid dance partner."

"Yeah, well, I don't see that happening, so you guys better sort it all out."

Lorelai tapped her fingers on the side of her coffee mug. "What should I do? Should I call him? Should I go back to the diner? Should I just wait until I see him tonight?"

"You don't wanna go all day with this fight just hanging in the air, do you?" Sookie asked.

Lorelai shook her head. "No."

"Then go get it all straightened out."

Lorelai hugged her tightly. "Thanks Sookie."

. . . . .

Lorelai walked into the diner and stayed by the door as she glanced around for Luke. He walked out of the kitchen carrying two plates, and he stopped abruptly when he saw her. "Hey."

"Hi."

"You're back."

"Very observant. Uh, can we. . ." She gestured to the door. "Go somewhere and talk."

"Yeah. Hold on." He delivered the plates he was holding to customers at the counter, then pulled off his apron. He leaned toward the kitchen doorway and called, "Caesar, I'm going out for a few minutes." He walked over to her, and they walked out onto the sidewalk and over to the gazebo. They stopped in front of the bench. Lorelai turned to face him, and they stared at each other for a few seconds.

Finally, Lorelai stepped forward and hugged him. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah. Me, too," he replied, hugging her back.

"I'm the one that dragged you to the storage room to talk, and then I didn't even give you a chance to say anything." Lorelai pulled back. "So. . .just tell me what's up. The truth. You're jealous? Is that what this is about?"

Luke shrugged. "I don't know, maybe a little. But it's not because I don't trust you. You know I do."

Lorelai nodded knowingly. "I know. I'm sorry I even said that you didn't."

"It's just . . .it's a little weird since it's. . .you know. . ." Luke circled his hands aimlessly in front of him. "Him. And you guys were so. . ."

Lorelai nodded. "I know. I get it." She took a deep breath. "Look, I was talking with Sookie, and she asked me how I would feel if you entered the contest with one of your exes."

"And what'd you say?"

Lorelai shrugged. "Well. . .I had to admit, even though I trust you, I know I'd feel weird about it. So. . .you know, I get it now. It's a weird situation for you."

"Yeah, it is."

She grabbed both of his hands and stepped closer to him. "So listen, if this really bugs you and you seriously don't want me to dance with him, I won't. I mean, I still have time to find someone else. Maybe I can bribe Dean or something."

Luke shook his head. "No, it's okay."

"But I'm not gonna feel right dancing with Chris if I know it's bothering you."

"It's not bothering me that much," Luke said. "I can deal with it. Dance with him. It's fine."

Lorelai cocked her head doubtfully. "You sure? Don't say it if you don't mean it."

Luke nodded. "I mean it. I don't know why I was acting like an idiot."

Lorelai eyed him for a moment, then declared, "Yes, you do. You just don't wanna tell me." She ran her hand over his cheek. "Come on. Break into sharing mode."

"I hate sharing mode," he muttered.

Lorelai pouted. "Please?"

He exhaled and quietly stroked her hair for a few seconds. Finally, he shrugged. "Look, no husband wants to see his wife run to another guy for something, especially an ex. It was like you were saying, 'Christopher has something I need, something you don't have.' And that just made me feel. . .not good enough. And I really hate that feeling." He shook his head toward the ground. "Especially when it comes to you, because. . .I wanna be the one who gives you everything you need."

Lorelai tilted her head. "Aw, Luke."

Luke waved her off. "It's stupid, I know."

"It's not stupid," she said, hugging him tightly. She pulled back. "But I didn't run to him. We were just talking and it came up and he offered. I didn't even consider him as a potential partner until he brought it up."

Luke nodded. "I know."

"You do give me everything I need," she told him. "Trust me, the only thing he's got that you don't is a slight interest in dancing. And a Volvo. Both of which I'm fine with you not having."

"Okay, good."

Lorelai nibbled on her bottom lip for a few seconds and placed her hands on his chest. "Are you sure you're okay with me dancing with him?"

Luke nodded. "Fine."

"There's no weirdness?"

Luke arched his eyebrow and shrugged. "Well, I think there'll be a little weirdness no matter who you're dancin' with, ex-boyfriend or not."

Lorelai took a step back and gestured to herself. "Because you don't wanna see another man handling your precious merchandise?"

Luke smirked. "Partly." He shrugged. "And because it means there's another guy out there giving you something that I can't."

"Aw." Lorelai frowned. "I wish you liked dancing."

"Me, too." He grabbed her waist and pulled her closer.

"Then we wouldn't be arguing over any of this stuff."

"I know."

Lorelai draped her arms over his shoulders and kissed him deeply. She reluctantly pulled back and leaned her forehead against his. "I have to go back to work."

"Yeah, me, too." He laced his fingers through hers and they walked over to the Jeep parked near the diner.

Lorelai leaned against the side of the car and pulled him into a kiss, then fingered a button on his shirt. "You're not gonna be home 'til late?" she asked, looking up at him with a slight frown.

"Well. . .maybe I can call John and tell him I'll come over another night."

Lorelai smiled. "Yeah?"

Luke nodded. "We can get a movie or something."

"Sounds good." Lorelai cradled his neck and kissed him. "I love you."

"You, too." Luke stepped back and watched as she climbed into the Jeep and drove off.

. . . . .

That night, Luke was sitting on the couch watching the movie when Lorelai walked in from the kitchen. "I'm back," she announced. "I really wanted corn chips and salsa, but we only have the corn chips, no salsa, so I had to forgo that plan. Then I was looking around the cabinets for something else to eat and I saw a Kit Kat bar, and that reminded me that we still need to buy Halloween candy for next week, so then I started a shopping list. And when I was done with that, I wasn't hungry anymore." She collapsed on the couch next to him. "What'd I miss?"

"My friends Peace and Quiet stopped by," he replied. "Funny, they always go away when you enter a room."

"Ha, ha." Lorelai stuck her tongue out at him. She watched the movie for a minute, then gestured to the screen and said, "Okay, see, now, all those ghosts of past baseball players came out just because he built that field. So, you think if I go out and build a chicken restaurant, the ghost of Colonel Sanders will come?"

"I don't know. Why don't you go outside and try it right now?"

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Nice. Nothing says 'I love you' like trying to kick your wife out of the room."

"Sorry. I'm just. . ." Luke shrugged and sighed. "I don't know. Long day."

Lorelai reached for the remote and turned the movie off. She turned her body to face him and hugged her knees to her chest. "Talk to me. Believe it or not, I'm pretty good at listening."

Luke smiled and rested his hand on her knee. "Sometimes."

She smiled. "Occasionally. So, talk. . .what happened today?"

He propped his feet up on the coffee table. "I don't know. First, this morning with the argument and everything."

"Nothing like starting off the day with a marital spat," Lorelai commented.

"Exactly. And then later I saw Taylor out in front of the flower shop with these contractor guys all looking at blueprints and stuff, so I got to thinking about how that whole thing's gonna be one big headache." He rolled his eyes.

"Aw, yeah. Do you know when they're gonna start the construction work?"

Luke shrugged. "No idea. Then later Taylor comes into the diner and starts babbling about the stupid town beautification committee wanting to send over some pumpkins to stick in front of the diner."

Lorelai smirked. "And you suggested another place for him to stick those pumpkins, I assume?"

"Yup." Luke groaned. "Oh, and then right as he's leaving, he has the nerve to ask me to set up a coffee stand at the dance marathon." Luke scoffed and shook his head. "Wants me to give free coffee to the dancers to help keep them awake. Do you believe that?"

Lorelai's eyes widened. "Huh. Are you gonna do it?"

"No, I'm not gonna do it. Why the hell would I?"

Lorelai shrugged. "I don't know."

Luke stared at her for a few seconds. "What, you think I should do it?"

Lorelai shrugged again. "I know I wouldn't mind having coffee right there at my disposal while I'm dancing. It's better than having to keep running to the diner during the 10-minute breaks."

"Well, then, I'll just bring some for you. I don't have to waste it all on the whole town."

"Yeah, I guess."

He stared at her for a moment, then sighed. "You think I should do it."

Lorelai shrugged. "Well, only if you want to. And it's not like you would have to stay the whole time – when you have to go back to the diner, Rory can keep an eye on the coffee distribution process."

Luke exhaled slowly. "I'll think about it."

"Good." She crawled onto his lap and straddled his knees, and stroked his stubbly cheeks with her thumbs. "Anything else happen today?"

"Nah, just some annoying customers."

"The ones who keep sending things back but don't realize that that's the one thing that makes the chef wanna spit in their food?"

"Yup."

"Did you spit?"

"No, but I wanted to."

Lorelai patted him on the head. "Well, I'm proud that you exercised some self-control." She pressed her lips against his and kissed him deeply.

As he eagerly returned the kiss, his hand slowly snaked up her shirt and she let out a soft moan as his fingers grazed her bra. She pulled back and muttered, "Unhook it." She kissed across his cheek down toward his shoulder and hungrily sucked on the base of his neck.

Luke reached behind her back and swiftly undid the clasp. A year ago, he would've struggled momentarily, but by now he was an expert at it. The bra loosened around her, and he left one hand to stroke her back while the other immediately resumed its position on her front.

The phone rang, and Lorelai pulled back from him with a disappointed sigh. "Shoot."

"I got it, " he told her as he reached for the phone on the end table.

She stroked his neck where she'd been sucking. "Mm, I started the foundation for a potentially good bruise."

"Yeah, well, I'd like to remain bruise-free, so pick a different spot next time."

Lorelai obligingly leaned down and began sucking on the other side of his neck. Luke hit the on button and brought the phone to his ear. "Hello. . .yeah, she's right here."

Lorelai pulled back from him. "Is it Rory?"

He rolled his eyes and handed her the phone. "No. It's your dance partner."

"Oh." She took the phone, then climbed off of him and walked toward the kitchen. "Chris?"

Luke sighed. He leaned his head back against the couch and closed his eyes.

A few minutes later, Lorelai walked back into the living room. "Okay, where were we?" She climbed back onto his lap.

"What'd he want?"

"Oh, he just wanted to know what he should wear in the contest," Lorelai said. "I told him he didn't have to wear a suit if he didn't want to, to just go with something casual but nice looking."

"Uh huh."

"And he wanted to let me know that he's gonna get to town around seven or eight tomorrow night. And I said we'd probably be at my parents' house and for him to just check in at the inn," Lorelai said. "And that Rory and I'll stop by to see him after dinner."

"For what?"

Lorelai shrugged. "To say hi. To let Rory see her dad. To make sure his alarm is set since he has to get up at 5 the next morning."

"Right," he muttered.

Lorelai sighed. "Luke, come on. You said you were fine with this."

"I am fine," he insisted.

"So why the return of the attitude?"

"It didn't return."

"Well, it looks like it's about to return," Lorelai said.

"It's not."

"Promise?"

"No."

Lorelai smiled and slapped him playfully on the shoulder. He smiled and kissed her gently, then pulled her into a hug. As his strong arms encircled her waist, she rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. He began stroking her back with his fingertips, and she let out a content sigh. "Luke?"

"Yeah?"

She pulled back to look at him. "You know how you said you wanna give me everything I need?"

"Yeah."

She kissed him, then rested her head back against his shoulder. "Well. . .this is all I need."

. . . . .

Early Saturday morning, Lorelai was checking her hair in the hallway mirror when there was a light knock on the front door. She walked over and answered it, and found a sleepy-looking Christopher leaning against the doorframe. "Hey," she whispered.

"Hey." He stifled a yawn as he walked inside, and he eyed her outfit. "Nice dress."

Lorelai smiled and glanced down at it. "Yeah. Not bad, huh? Let me just grab my coat." She walked to the living room.

"Everyone else sleeping?" he asked quietly.

As she pulled on her coat, she replied, "Rory is. She's gonna come by a little later. Luke already left to set up his little coffee stand thing."

Christopher nodded. "Right. Are they gonna have food there? I didn't have time to grab anything for breakfast."

"Yeah, they usually have bagels and stuff," Lorelai replied as she turned off the lamp. "Okay, ready?"

Christopher yawned and nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be."

They walked to the town square, and as they were standing in line for the sign-in table, Sookie and Jackson walked up behind them. "Hey guys," Sookie greeted them.

Lorelai turned around and smiled. "Hey. Oh, you guys look adorable!"

"Thanks." Sookie smiled and glanced down at her dress. "We decided to go all out."

Lorelai gestured to Christopher. "Uh, Sookie, Jackson, you remember Chris."

"Of course we do," Sookie said. "How are you?"

"Good. How are you guys?" Christopher asked.

"Fine," Sookie replied.

"Starving," Jackson replied.

"That makes two of us," Christopher said.

"Why don't you guys go scope out the snack table? We'll sign in," Lorelai said.

"You sure?" Christopher asked.

"Yeah. And while you guys are there, you can get right in line for the physicals," Lorelai said. "It'll save us time."

"Okay. We'll meet you over there," Jackson said. He and Christopher walked toward the dance studio as Sookie and Lorelai waited to sign in.

Twenty-five minutes later, the four of them were standing near the entrance of the school gym pinning numbers on each other's backs. When they were done, they walked further into the gym and Lorelai scanned the room for Luke. She finally saw him at the coffee table near the bleachers, and she turned to Chris. "Hey, can you hang this up for me?" she asked, holding out her coat. "I'm gonna go say hi to Luke."

"Sure."

As Taylor's voice began announcing instructions over the loudspeaker, Lorelai walked across the room to Luke and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey."

He turned around. "Hey." He kissed her, then glanced down at her dress. "Looks good."

"Thanks." She gestured to the coffeepot. "Coffee ready yet?"

"Yeah. Hang on." He walked to the other side of the table and retrieved the package of cups. As he pulled one out and filled it with coffee, he asked, "So, where's, uh. . ."

Lorelai gestured over her shoulder. "Oh, he's just hanging up the coats." He handed her the cup and she deeply inhaled the aroma. "Mmm. Thanks."

Luke glanced around the gym. "Getting pretty crowded in here."

"Well, it's about to start, isn't it? What time is it?"

Luke checked his watch. "5:55."

"Five minutes. Perfect amount of time to finish this up," Lorelai said, taking a sip of the coffee.

"Ten bucks says you'll have it done in one," Luke said.

Christopher walked up behind her. "So I'm guessing whenever I can't find you during one of the breaks, this should be the first place I look, huh?"

Lorelai smiled. "Absolutely."

Christopher extended his hand toward Luke. "Hey Luke."

Luke shook his hand and gave him a slight nod hello. "Chris." He gestured to the pot. "Coffee?"

"Yeah, please," he replied. Luke filled a cup and handed it to him. "Thanks."

"You gonna do that for everybody?" Lorelai asked. "Might be easier to turn it around and let people help themselves."

"Good idea." As he turned the coffee pot around, he asked, "You get those yellow cards I heard Taylor babbling about?"

"Yup." Lorelai patted her chest. "Mine's nice and secure."

"Good. So. . .you're all set then," Luke said.

"Soon as I get caffed up, I will be," she replied, taking another sip of coffee.

Christopher glanced around at some of the other dancers. "Wow, check out some of these outfits."

"Yeah, people get all dolled up for this thing," Lorelai said.

"I see that. Don't they know that Halloween's not until next week?" Christopher asked.

Lorelai slapped him on the arm. "Don't mock. They look nice."

Taylor walked over to them clutching his bullhorn. "Well, would you look at this."

Luke groaned. "Go back to your podium, Taylor."

"What a nice little display," Taylor commented. "You know, I think the dancers are really gonna benefit from this coffee, Luke. You should be proud that you're contributing your services to such a charitable event."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Oh, yeah, I'm throbbing with pride."

Taylor lifted his bullhorn to his mouth and turned toward the dance floor. "Dancers, you have three minutes. For those of you who are having trouble waking up, I'd like to suggest a visit to the table in the corner of the gym for a free cup of coffee."

Luke saw a group of dancers rushing toward the table. "Geez, Taylor. You think starting a stampede is the best way to kick off the marathon? Do you ever - "

"Hey, come on." Lorelai grabbed Luke's hand and pulled him a few feet away.

"They're gonna make a mess," Luke complained.

"So, then, you'll go find the janitor to clean it up," Lorelai said, waving him off. "Don't worry about it." She finished the last sip of her coffee and held her cup out to Luke. "Two minutes. You owe me ten bucks."

Luke took the cup and tossed it into a nearby garbage can. "You stretched it out on purpose."

Lorelai smiled and leaned her face close to his. "So, what, you're not gonna give me payment?"

"Oh, I'll give you payment." Luke slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her into a kiss.

Taylor's voice boomed throughout the gymnasium. "Ladies and gentlemen, please prepare to take your positions on the dance floor. We are at two minutes and counting."

Lorelai pulled back. "I have to go."

Luke rolled his eyes toward Taylor at the podium. "He calls for everyone to get coffee, then a second later, he tells them to take their places. Makes a lot of sense. Is he drunk already?"

"Guess he thinks they all drink it down like I do," Lorelai said with a shrug. "I have to go." She kissed him on the cheek. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck."

"Thanks. Oh, and don't give Kirk any coffee. Maybe he'll get too tired and have to drop out."

"I'll give him decaf," he promised.

"Thank you." She kissed him again. "See you later."

"Bye."

Lorelai walked over to Christopher, and the two of them walked out onto the dance floor to wait for the countdown to begin.

. . . . .

To be continued. . .