Author's Note: Sorry for the delay in posting! I have been swamped as of late, but since this is winding down I hope you'll forgive me. I still don't own Gilmore Girls or this oldie but goodie...

As Time Goes By by Jimmy Durante...

It's still the same old story
A fight for love and glory
A case of do or die
The world will always welcome lovers
As time goes by...

Three weeks later Lorelai waited in Luke's apartment while he gathered together some food for a picnic. It was Lorelai's idea, of course. Luke had fought her kicking and screaming, but he finally relented to a picnic lunch provided they brought somewhat nutritious food and that he didn't have to read her Emerson while rowing her around the lake.

"And bring cheese," Lorelai called.

"Cheese?" he asked inquisitively.

"Yes, cheese," she replied. "Diary product, usually yellow in color."

"Just cheese, not cheese and ham or macaroni and cheese?" he asked.

"You're difficult," she said holding open the picnic basket with a grin.

"And you're a lot of work," he replied with the same dopey smile.

It had been almost two months of full-blown coupledom. Sure they had their fights and they were always pretty intense, but sooner or later one of them would get lonely and realize it was because the other wasn't around.

"Ready?" Luke asked throwing a few slices of cheese into the basket.

"You bet," she said taking his arm.

"You're taking my arm? What is this, a wedding?" he asked dryly.

"If you're going to make me eat on the ground the least you can do is escort me properly," she replied.

"If I'm gonna make you eat on the ground?" he said incredulous. He looked at her for a moment, shook his head and started to walk. "Nevermind," he finally complied.

They walked down the stairs into the diner and only received a few scant glances. Seeing Luke and Lorelai together had lost its wonder for the townsfolk and, for the most part, they didn't make a big deal about them being together.

"You know," Lorelai said quietly to Luke, "they really don't care about us anymore. All that time we were the talk of the town and now," she said gesturing to the people oblivious to their entrance, "nothing."

"I'm fine with it," Luke said letting go of her arm and walking behind the counter to get some napkins for their basket.

"Yeah?" she pouted. "Well I'm not. If this keeps up I might have to start the rumor that you knocked me up," she said giving him a giddy look.

Luke abruptly stopped what he was doing and gave Lorelai a serious gaze. "You wouldn't dare," he said meaningfully.

Just then the bells above the door jingled and Rory entered the diner.

"Hey," Lorelai said surprised to see her daughter.

"Oh, hi," Rory replied.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be doing interesting reporter things? The news never sleeps my child," she informed her.

"Yes, but the news also doesn't need a lunch break and I do. I could ask you what you're doing here in the middle of Thursday afternoon," she said slyly.

"Fair enough," Lorelai agreed.

They sat at the counter while Lorelai waited for Luke to come back with their picnic basket. Luke and James emerged from the kitchen and it was clear Luke was a little apprehensive about letting James run the diner for the lunch rush.

"Now Caesar is right in the kitchen if you need anything," Luke was telling James.

"Okay, but don't worry," James replied. "Enjoy your lunch." He was speaking as if Luke had already told him how to deal with the diner crowd ten times.

"Luke, what are you so worried about?" Lorelai asked. "You've left the diner before. I'm sure they can handle it."

"Need I remind you that the last time I handed the diner over to someone other than myself it nearly burnt to the ground," he whispered. Luke knew that Caesar was perfectly capable, but he was still gun-shy when it came to leaving the diner in the hands of someone else. This was the first time that he was trusting James to take care of things.

James had been working steadily through the summer and he had proven to be a great employee. It didn't hurt that he was amiable and friendly to the customers either, although Luke liked to think that some of his influence rubbed off on him. For example, now James was the one who gave Lorelai a hard time about how many cups of coffee she drank each day.

"Okay, well if you're all set we're gonna go. I'll be back in an hour," Luke told him picking up the basket and walking around the counter to Lorelai.

"An hour? That's all I merit?" Lorelai said pretending to be offended as they walked out of the diner.

Rory sat at the counter and James walked over to her, order pad in hand and a dishrag pulled messily through his belt loop. "Let me guess," he said, "cheeseburger, onion rings and a cup of coffee," he said with a smile.

"Please," Rory said returning the smile.

"Coming up," he replied turning around to pour her coffee.

"So how are things at the paper?" he asked.

"Oh, they're good," Rory replied slightly pulling at her hair with two fingers. "It isn't brain surgery, but I think I'm getting a good idea of what it's like to work at an actual paper and not just a school paper."

"Well that's good," James replied setting the mug in front of her.

Rory and James had started out on the wrong foot with the whole book fiasco, but eventually Rory decided James was a nice guy and they talked whenever she was at the diner.

James was a year older than Rory and was going to be a junior at Harvard. His father was a well-known financial analyst, but he ran into hard times when a large company he backed went bankrupt. James was an only child and his mother had died when he was only 15. After his father lost a good portion of their fortune he decided to move to Stars Hollow to escape the shame he felt in Boston.

Rory found all this out not from James of course, but from Taylor, Miss Patty, Babette and the rest of the Stars Hollow gossip tree. James was a friendly guy, but he kept a lot of personal information to himself. So far the only things he had told Rory was that he was a business major and that he enjoyed drawing.

"Yeah, I think it will be a good experience," Rory replied taking a sip of her coffee. "But interning isn't all the glamour you'd expect," she added.

"Really?" James replied with a hint of mock horror in his tone.

"Really," Rory replied. "I don't know. I had an interesting morning already."

"What's the headline? Stolen garden gnomes? Heat wave melts gelatto? Blue Sky Festival cancelled?" he joked with her describing a few of the more colorful things he had noticed in Stars Hollow so far.

"No," Rory giggle a little. "I work with this other intern, his name is Rick and he asked me out," Rory told him. "I don't know if I should go though because I work with him."

James' sunny disposition slowly faded, but he kept a small smile on his face. "Are you interested?" he asked her.

"Well he's nice enough, but I don't know if I'm ready to jump back into dating yet," Rory confided in him. James didn't know anything specific about her past relationships with Jess and Dean, but she had told him that she had been hurt in the past.

"Well if you're not ready you shouldn't say yes," he replied definitively.

"Well I didn't say I wasn't ready. I don't know if I am. But, if it didn't work out then I'd have to see him everyday," Rory was reasoning with herself.

"So you're not gonna go then?" James asked.

"No, probably not," Rory replied finally.

"Good," he replied.

"Good?" she asked him surprised.

"Yeah, you know what they say about dating co-workers?" he said.

"What do they say?" Rory asked.

"Well, they say don't do it or it it's a bad idea or something," James sputtered out.

"Sounds very philosophical," Rory lightly mocked him.

"Yeah," James replied quickly. "I'll get your burger." He made a hasty retreat into the kitchen while Rory sipped her coffee and smiled lightly to herself.

"So how are your parents doing?" Luke asked Lorelai as he unpacked their picnic basket.

"Oh, they're great," Lorelai said taking a sandwich from him and unwrapping it. "I don't know whether to be happy or grossed out by that, but what can ya do?" she added.

"Well it's good that they're getting along," Luke replied taking a seat on the blanket they had set down by the lake.

"Yes it is and it's all thanks to you," Lorelai said leaning over to him and giving him a long, lingering kiss on the lips.

"I don't think it's all due to me," Luke said blushing a little. "I let you hang some lace around my diner, which Taylor has not let me forget I'll have you know," he enlightened her.

"I know, sorry about that," she said. "But I think I've more than made up for it," she said throwing the sandwich back into the basket and kissing him again.

Although it was a beautiful day, Luke and Lorelai seemed to be the only two around the lake and Luke felt at ease enough to return Lorelai's kiss. She leaned her weight into him and he lay back and pulled her toward him. He used his hand to gently brush the hair off of her forehead as she kissed him deeply.

After a few minutes Lorelai gave him a few quick kisses and sat back up. "We still got it," she smiled wickedly.

"We do at that," Luke sat up and returned her grin. "Any reason we're not still demonstrating that fact?"

"Well you only have an hour," she mocked him and wrinkled her nose as she grabbed the sandwich out of the basket again.

He rolled his eyes at her, although she did have a point, and picked his sandwich out of the basket.

"So, Rory has been at the diner more than usual," Luke commented.

"No she hasn't," Lorelai said taking a bit of her sandwich.

"She comes in for lunch everyday, on top of the times she comes in with you," Luke informed her.

"She does?" Lorelai asked surprised.

"Yeah," Luke answered. "I thought you knew."

"I didn't," she replied.

"Oh, I thought maybe there was something going on with James," he said.

"James?" Lorelai asked surprised. "Well I suppose it's not out of the realm of possibility, but I think Rory would have told me."

Luke just nodded his head as he continued to eat.

"You don't think she would tell me do you?" Lorelai asked him. Before giving him a chance to answer to she continued, "I mean given our past history with Dean maybe she wouldn't, but we agreed that she would be honest with me and I really think—"

"Lorelai," Luke interrupted her gently laying his hand over hers. "I was just wondering if she liked James. I didn't say she did or that there was anything going on, I was just wondering. I'm sure Rory would tell you if there was anything going on."

Lorelai took a deep breath. "You're right," she replied. "Sorry, sorry I just had a mental freak out because the last time she didn't tell me something...well we both know what happened there."

"Yeah," Luke said shifting uncomfortably on the ground.

"I'm sure she just likes the food, possibly the service, but I'm sure it's nothing," she told Luke as she tried to convince herself of the same.

"It's nothing," Luke said emphatically as she scooted closer to her and put a reassuring arm around her shoulder.

"I know," she said looking at him. "I like this." Lorelai rested her head on Luke's shoulder and snuggled a little closer to him.

"I like this too," he grinned softly.

They finished their picnic and just sat by the lake for a while until Luke had to get back to the diner and Lorelai really needed to get back to the inn.

"Will I see you later?" Luke asked as they walked to his truck.

"No," Lorelai said sadly. "I have to be at the Inn tonight for a retirement party."

"Oh, okay," Luke said. "Well then I'll see you tomorrow," he said leaning in to kiss her goodbye.

Lorelai wrapped her arms tightly around Luke's neck and pressed her lips firmly on his. She opened her mouth slowly and gently ran her tongue along the inside of lip. He hungrily returned her passion as she grazed her fingers lightly along his strong jawbone. When he finally had to gasp for air he stepped back and said, "What was that about? Not that I'm complaining at all."

Lorelai whipped the lipstick off of his lip with her thumb and replied, "I didn't want you to forget me tonight."

"Not likely, especially not now," he said raising an eyebrow and kissing her again.

"So my master plan worked," she grinned as they drove back to the diner.

Lorelai returned home later that evening to find Rory flipping through the channels on the television.

"Hey," she said throwing her purse keys on the table and taking a seat next to her daughter.

"Hey," Rory smiled.

"So I wasn't expecting to see you at Luke's today," Lorelai ventured.

"Well I thought Lane might be working, but I forgot she had band rehearsal," Rory replied not taking her eyes from the TV.

"Oh," Lorelai said noncommittally. "Luke said you've been to the diner a lot lately."

"I wouldn't say any more than usual," Rory continued to evade her mother's questioning.

"Oh," Lorelai said again. After a moment of silence she added, "Because Luke notices things you wouldn't expect. Everyone thinks he's really passive, but he's surprisingly observant."

Rory continued to stare at the television. It appeared that she wasn't going to be prey to her mother's little fishing expedition. Rory had a feeling Luke noticed her presence in the diner more frequently than usual. She had silently hoped he wouldn't mention it to Lorelai, but she should have known better. When they weren't dating Rory might have been able to get away with it, but now that Luke and Lorelai were together they seemed to share everything.

"He's especially observant when it comes to things about me," Lorelai continued. "You know like my hair, my clothes, my daughter," Lorelai said pointedly staring at Rory.

"What?" Rory finally relented looking at Lorelai.

"What's up with James?" Lorelai asked point-blank.

"Nothing," Rory said crinkling her nose.

"Nothing?" Lorelai replied. "Funny because Luke seems to think you've been to the diner a lot lately and Babette said she noticed you twirling your hair at the counter the other day."

"You're deranged," Rory replied.

"Am I really? The hair twirl? Please, I taught you the art of hair twirl!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"So you're checking up on me now?" Rory shot at her.

The conversation started innocently enough and Lorelai was curious about Rory and James, but her tone had been light and teasing. It wasn't until Rory started to get defensive that Lorelai actually started to believe that there might be a grain of truth to what Luke had told her.

"No," Lorelai defended herself. "I'm just curious."

Rory said nothing. She just looked at her mother. To be honest Rory wasn't really sure there was anything going on with James. Sure, he was friendly, smart, attractive, but he was also someone Rory would consider a friend. At this point she didn't see it as anything more.

"Rory," Lorelai said playfully nudging her with shoulder. "Come on, tell me," Lorelai whined.

"Tell you what?" Rory asked tersely.

"Tell me about James. Is he someone I should have Luke keep an eye on for me?" Lorelai tried to kid her.

"No," Rory finally said. "We're just friends."

"That isn't possible," Lorelai said adamantly. "Yalies and Harvardites cannot be friends. Isn't that in the school song or the handbook or something?"

Rory finally realized that her mother wasn't checking up on her or trying to mock her and she let a small smile escape her lips.

"See," Lorelai said seeing the smile. "That wasn't so hard was it? Look, I just want to know what's going on with you. I feel like Luke and I have been spending a lot of time together lately and I just don't want that to interfere with us talking, okay?"

"Okay," Rory said. "But really, there isn't anything going on," Rory insisted. "I go to the diner because it's conveniently located across the street from the paper."

"Okay then," Lorelai replied ready to let the subject rest. She got up off the couch and walked into the kitchen.

"You want some popcorn?" she called to Rory.

"Sure, fire it up," Rory called back.

"You know, I haven't heard from your Grandma in awhile," Lorelai called making conversation while she poked around the kitchen. "She must be awfully tied up with that gentleman caller of hers. Although hopefully not literally tied up because that would gross me out on so many levels. Just the thought of my mother and father discussing safety words is enough to—"

"Mom!" Rory yelled over her interrupting her ramble. "Please stop, you're scarring me over here!"

"Yeah," Lorelai said stopping her ramblings. "I'm scarring myself too babe. I don't know where that tangent came from but it certainly wasn't something I want to think about again."

Lorelai emerged from the kitchen with the popcorn in hand. She handed Rory the bowl.

"I am happy Grandma and Grandpa seem to be better now though," Rory said thoughtfully as she took a handful of popcorn. "Do you think Grandma is gonna move back in soon?"

"I don't know," Lorelai said crunching a few kernels of her own. "I think Grandma likes the independence of living on her own. But I think she'll probably move back home soon, especially since things are going so well. The last time I talked to her she asked me if I thought it was acceptable for her to pay for their next evening out. She's a regular Helen Gurley Brown."

"Hey, how was your picnic today anyway?" Rory asked.

"It was perfect," Lorelai beamed.

"I still can't believe some of the things you get Luke to do," Rory said. Upon realizing how her comment could be misconstrued as a double-entendre she quickly added, "I mean like how you get him to go to picnics, carnivals...I even saw him eat a piece of pizza when he was here last week!"

"I do have a way with him," Lorelai grinned.

"You're happy," Rory smiled lightly.

"Yeah, I really am," Lorelai agreed. Lorelai and Rory never really talked much about their dating relationships, but the happiness Lorelai exuded was written all over her face every time she talked about Luke.

"For a long time I was looking for the whole package. I was looking for someone who understands me and puts up with me for who I am. The funny thing is that I really think I have that with Luke. We're kind of the same, but completely different and he was right in front of me the whole time."

"Mom," Rory said.

"Yeah," Lorelai replied.

"I'm really sorry I gave you such a hard time about dating Luke in the beginning. I was, I don't know, I was scared for reasons I can't even explain without sounding totally psychotic, but I'm really happy for you and Luke and I'm sorry if I almost messed anything up."

Lorelai put her arm around Rory and pulled her close. "You are a great kid, okay? You freaked out a little, but it's fine. You had a lot going on in your life. Luke and I are great and you didn't cause any trouble between us. Okay Oedipus?"

"Oedipus?" Rory replied sitting up a little and giving Lorelai a weird look. "Oedipus married his mother. I'd think if anything it might have been more akin to Elektra."

"Oh my god, I cannot have this conversation again!" Lorelai exclaimed. "Watch the movie."

"Although, even Elektra is wrong because that had to do with her father," Rory continued as Lorelai threw popcorn at her until she stopped mulling it over. They found an old movie and they watched it together until they fell asleep.

TBC

A/N: Thanks for sticking with me. 24 down and 1 to go!