I hearby declare that Gilmore Girls is not mine. (whew! glad I got that off my chest!)

4. A horse, of course

Luke sat resolutely on the log, silently watching as Lorelai flitted to and fro, tying down the horses, unfurling a blanket, and taking out the lunch he had so carefully prepared. She moved with an easy confidence that never failed to amaze him.

From the depths of the picnic basket, he heard her call out, "Ooh, Luke! Coffee?" Emerging triumphantly, she held up her discovery. "My hero!"

For half a second he considered saying something, letting one of his good old standard retorts fly, but she'd already moved on.

"And pie!"

"That's for dessert..." He trailed off, realising that a large portion of it had already found its way into her mouth.

"You snooze, you lose buddy-boy!"

"But..."

"Nope, not listening to the guy pouting on a log."

"I'm not..."

"Just sitting there like a bump on a lump, scaring the birds away."

"You..."

"Pretending he didn't fall off a horse..."

"I didn't!"

"...When all evidence says he did!"

Luke jumped up and stalked over to where she sat. "What evidence?"

Evilly, she grinned up at him. "Desdemona told me."

"The horse?"

"Of course!"

A breath of frustration passed between his lips. "Lorelai."

"What?" she asked innocently. Too innocently. "Got you to come over here though, didn't I?"

Looking down, he realised she was right. "Oh jeez." Just as he was about to stomp back to the log, she caught his hand.

"Luke." Her bottom lip pouted out slightly and she looked up at him with puppy dog eyes. "Sit. Please?" Gesturing to the spread in front of her, she continued, "You made all this food, the least you could do is help me eat it."

He stared at her stubbornly for a long moment, but then finally, reluctantly, lowered himself to the ground. As he struggled to arrange himself into a sitting position, he noticed her trying to hide the smirk that was spreading across her face. He appreciated the effort, but truthfully? He already felt like a big, fat fool. "Now what?"

Lorelai fished a sandwich out of the basket and held it out to him. "We eat."

A foolish fool. "Oh. That."

They munched in silence for a while. Well, relative silence because Lorelai faced a meal with the same amount of gusto most people reserved for things like amusement parks and birthday parties. Afterall, lunch was one of her three favourite meals of the day.

Gusto sounded an awful amount like disgusting, thought Luke, who watched in amazement as she polished off her second piece of pie. He'd seen her digestive habits many times before, but really, did she always eat like that? Honestly?

Her voice broke into his thoughts. "You my friend, are the bestest picnic maker ever!"

"Uh, thanks." So maybe things weren't so bad. He could feel her watching him and he shifted uncomfortably. "We, uh, we should probably get back."

Stuffing the last of the pie into her mouth, she nodded. "About that..."

He glanced up at her in concern.

"Does the whole not riding a horse thing still apply?"

Without hesitation, he answered. "Yes."

"Huh. Totally? I mean, you wouldn't consider riding double with me, would you?"

Oh, he'd consider it all right. Their bodies pressed close together, moving with the sway of the horse...."No!" Maybe he'd said that just a bit too quickly.

She nodded again. "Didn't think so. But you see, we've got a problem..."

"A problem?"

"The inn's not close, Luke. And we're...far."

"Oh."

"And not riding the horses means walking and that whole physical exertion thing..."

"You take the horses. I'll walk."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Very noble, but I'm not dragging you all the way out here just to leave you alone in the bush."

"Well..."

"Are you sure about the horses? I mean, if you didn't fall off." The statement hung in the air.

"I didn't!"

"Then what happened?"

"I..." He felt his face begin to warm but decided to keep going. "The horse stopped, eventually, and I got off of it. But then, it spooked or something because all of a sudden its all hooves and legs rearing up at me. It ran, I tripped over a rock. End of story."

"But, why didn't you get up?"

The warmth in his cheeks sprang into a full out flush, so he ducked his head down and mumbled, "It...just...seemed safer."

Lorelai bit her lip, "You were felled by a rock?"

"Only after watching my life pass before my eyes."

"Aw, poor Luke."

At that, he stood and shoved his hands into his pockets. "See. I knew you'd do that."

Wide-eyed, she looked up at him. "What?"

"That. That mocking thing." He gestured towards her with a vague hand movement.

"I'll mock no further. But really Luke..."

"I'm not getting back on that horse." Never, ever, again.

She rose to her feet, scrunching up her face at him. "So...we're walking?"

Seeing no better alternative, Luke gave a curt nod. "We're walking."

"Oh goody," she sighed, sadly saying farewell to the fun, relaxing afternoon she'd planned for them. If only she could get him to smile...