I Love You

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Author's note: This a one-parter. I'd appreciate any comments and reviews you have for me.

Luke stood in Lorelai's shower, trying to hurry up and get clean before Babette or some other town gossip figured out that he was here. They were already hassling him for details about him and Lorelai; this would just give them ammunition. Damn, his stupid old plumbing in his tiny little office apartment. He was getting out of the shower when he heard someone pounding on the door. He rolled his eyes, but couldn't help smiling. Lorelai probably forgot her keys again. It was a good thing he hadn't left for the diner yet. He wrapped a towel around himself and headed down the stairs to let her in.

Emily knocked again on Lorelai's door, sighing impatiently. It shouldn't be this difficult to see her daughter. You would think she could answer her door. She sighed again and began looking around the porch. "Where is that key kept? It's hidden in something ridiculous. A frog or a turtle. Something bizarre like that. " She nodded when she found the key. "I'll just let myself in." She stuck the key in and opened the door. She glanced up when she heard someone walking around upstairs. Her eyes went wide when she saw Luke pounding down the stairs in only a towel.

"Lorelai, you've seriously got start remembering your key. What if I hadn't been here? You'd have been- Oh my God." Luke stared in shock at Emily. "Uh, Hello Mrs. Gilmore."

"Hello. Luke, is it?" He nodded.

"Right."

"So, where is my daughter?"

"Well, she went to the inn early today. Something about a delivery problem."

"I see. I guess I'll go over there to talk to her."

"That's probably a good idea."

"Well, good-bye, Luke."

"Good-bye, Mrs. Gilmore." Emily turned to leave when Lorelai burst in the door, rummaging in her purse.

"Luke! I can't believe you haven't left yet. There's a group of customers outside the diner and Taylor is ready to organize the lynch mob and-" Lorelai looked up and saw her mother. "Oh, hi, Mom. What are you doing here?"

"Just getting to know your friend, Luke."

"My friend Luke? Well, that's- Oh my God, you're naked!"

"No, he's not. He has a towel on."

"Thanks, Mom. That's very helpful."

"I'm just trying to insert a little levity on an incredibly embarrassing situation."

"Well, thank you, Mom. I'm glad you can see the humor in this situation."

"Oh, I don't see anything funny about this."

"Mom-"

"No, Lorelai. I don't want to hear it. How could you allow some strange man to walk around in your house?"

"He's not a strange man. He's Luke."

"Well, that explains everything." Luke decided to intervene in the conversation.

"Look, I realize that this is an uncomfortable situation for everyone, but-"

"This is really none of your business." Emily looked at him, and then quickly looked away.

"Mom, you will not talk to him like that." Luke smiled gratefully at Lorelai.

"It's okay, Lorelai. I really think that we can talk about-"

"Luke, stay out of this." He rolled his eyes. The three of them began to argue intensely, talking over one another.

"Things like this happen. I know it's embarrassing-"

"Really, Lorelai. This is so immature. You've got-"

"This is my house. I don't have to explain anything. I'm an adult-"

"We can get past-"

"I don't need for you to come in here and-"

"You've got to grow up, Lorelai. This-"

"Don't tell her to grow up. You don't have the right-" Lorelai decided that it was time to stop all the fighting.

She shouted at the top of her lungs. "Hey! This is my house! You two really need to stop this right now!"

Luke started to speak. "Lorelai-"

"Will you just go get dressed?"

"Are you sure? I want to help."

"Well, things will be a little bit better if you've got clothes on. Wow, there's a sentence I never thought I'd say." Luke smiled.

"Okay, I'll be right upstairs." He walked up the stairs back to Lorelai's bedroom.

"All right, Mom. Now, we can discuss this calmly."

"There's nothing to discuss. This was incredibly irresponsible. Having a man walking around your house-"

"Mom, you act like I'm doing something immoral. Luke and I have been together for awhile. So, naturally, we spend the night with each other sometimes. It's not the end of the world. We are two consenting adults."

"Oh, really? Well, what about Rory? What kind of example are you setting for her? What if she had seen Luke walking around? She's an impressionable young girl."

"Okay, first of all, she's not a little kid and secondly, she's not even here."

"What?"

"She and her friend Lane went to New York. There are some bands they wanted to see."

"Still, this is inappropriate behavior for you." Luke, now fully dressed, started walking down the stairs.

"Mom, you need to stop it."

"Lorelai-"

"No, I'm an adult in an adult relationship. This is my house. You will not talk to me like this in my house."

"Having a casual relationship-"

"Casual? No, this is not casual, okay? I care about Luke. I care about him a lot."

"Lorelai-"

"No, Mom. This is not some fling. This is serious. I love Luke." Emily looked surprised and slightly happy.

"I-" Lorelai sighed and shook her head.

"Mom, I'll call you later. I don't want to fight, okay?"

"All right. Good-bye Lorelai." Emily walked out of the door and smiled. It seemed her daughter had finally gotten a clue.

Back in the house, Lorelai turned around and saw Luke. "Oh, hey."

"Hey. Pretty intense, huh?"

"You have no idea."

"I guess I'd better get the diner."

"Yeah, I need to go back to the inn." Luke walked over to her and kissed her quickly on the mouth.

"So, are we still on for tonight?"

"Of course. I can't wait."

"You do know how I feel about town events, right?"

"Yes, and you know that I like them. This is called a compromise. We're going to go, but we aren't going to stay the whole time." Luke sighed.

"Fine, fine."

"Oh, don't act like it's a big sacrifice." She kissed him deeply. "There's a lot more where that came from." He grinned.

"I guess it won't be so bad." He paused. "We had better go. God knows what Taylor's going to say to me."

"No kidding. You walked over last night so I guess I'll have to drive you. I like that. Driving my man to work."

"Wow, how gallant of you." They walked out the door together.

Later that night, Luke and Lorelai walked through Stars Hollow, hand in hand. "They're staring at us," Luke whispered in Lorelai's ear. She rolled her eyes.

"They are not." He pointed and she saw Kirk and Lulu looking at them. "Okay, maybe they are. But who cares? This is Stars Hollow, land of the gossips. They will probably always look at us. At least until they catch us having sex in the gazebo. Then they'll get over it. Maybe we should just-"

"No."

"Oh, you ruin all my fun."

"Can we get outta here now?"

"Come on, I want to see the fireworks. What's the point of going to the annual Stars Hollow Fourth of July extravaganza if we don't watch the fireworks? That's the best part, Luke."

"We can see them from where we are going."

"You have something planned?"

"Yes."

"Something romantic?"

"I suppose. Although, I'm not really fond of that word."

"Okay, let's go. You do realize that everyone's going to think we went off to have sex. They might even follow us."

"Whatever, I've got my gun."

"Dirty!"

"Yeah, Yeah."

"So, do you actually have a gun?"

"Oh, yeah. I've got a big gun." Lorelai giggled.

"Okay, we're at the bridge," Lorelai said, looking around. "Not to be rude, but I've seen the bridge before. I don't know how romantic this is."

Luke picked up a picnic basket that he had hidden and pulled out a blanket, which he spread out and gestured for Lorelai to sit down. "Satisfied?"

"Never."

"Here, take this." He handed her a glass and pour some wine into it.

"Ooh, I like."

"Good." He put his arm around her and she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"So, that thing with my mom this afternoon was pretty awkward."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that."

"Hey, it's not your fault. You were walking around my house. My mom had no right to say anything to you about it."

"Yeah, but it just caused an argument between the two of you."

"Let's be fair. My mother and I always argue. If it hadn't been about that, it would have been about something else. It was not you."

"Still, I'm sorry."

"Thanks, but you don't need to be." She hesitated. "Um, did you hear the last part of the argument?"

"You mean, when you said that- that-"

"That I loved you. I guess you heard?"

"Yeah, I did. But I understand. You were just emotional. You didn't really mean-"

"No, I did. I did mean it. I was emotional, but I did mean it."

"You- You did?" Lorelai sat up and looked Luke straight in the eyes.

"Yeah, I did. I love you, Luke." He smiled.

"Really?"

"Really." She smiled back at him uncertainly. "Do you love me? You know what? Never mind, there's no good answer to that. You can't say no or I'll look pathetic. But if you say yes, I wouldn't know if you really mean it. You know? I think I screwed up a really romantic moment here. Maybe I should just go." She tried to stand up, but Luke grabbed her arm.

"Would you just shut up?" She stared at him.

"Excuse me?"

"I love you, too. And I know I don't have to say it, I want to. I love you, Lorelai." He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. She pulled back and smiled.

"Wow."

"I knew I was a good kisser, but did it really merit a wow?"

"Oh, absolutely." She looked up into the sky. "Oh, look. The fireworks."

"I still don't see what the big deal is with these things are. It seems like a waste of time and energy."

"They're pretty."

"You really are easily amused, are you?"

"Oh, shut up and watch the pretty colors."