Authors Note: Hope you guys are still hangin in with me! Thanks for the reviews! Here's more for you to read! Please review! Pretty please! lol, thank you to everybody that has in the past at least! It means a lot to me!

Just A Reminder: They'll never be mine.

Chapter Eleven: The Word That Changes Everything

It was about 9:30 when Lorelai rolled over and put her arm on...a big lump. 'What the heck is in my bed?' She thought to herself. She opened up her eyes slowly, and turned her head to see Luke still sleeping next to her. 'Ah, yes...she thought.' She sat up, trying not to wake Luke up to see what time it was. '9:30! He needs to get to the diner!'

"Luke..." She whispered in his ear.

"Lorelai?" He opened his eyes, confused. Where was he? 'Ah, yes...he thought.'

She looked around the room, looked outside the window, and then at Luke. Everything seemed much clearer, and prettier in and outside. The sun was gazing through the window, and you could hear the birds chirping outside. And although Lorelai found that annoying, today was different.

"Good morning," She said smiling, and brushing her hand through his hair.

"Morning," He said while sitting up. 'She even looks good when she wakes up'

"It's...9:30," She said hesitantly.

"9:30? I've gotta get to the diner! People are going to wonder why we aren't open!" He said, frantically getting out of bed, and throwing on his clothes.

"Ah, so this is how it's going to be." Lorelai said, nodding her head, "You get drunk last night, sleep with me, and then ditch me? I see how it is." She said grinning.

"What? I didn't get drunk, and...what are you talking about?"

"Don't worry. I was kidding around. Go, go, go. I'll meet you there soon." She got up and gave him a quick kiss goodbye. When she heard the door slam, she peeked out the window and watched him drive out.

"That didn't happen, but I know something that did!" She said in a singsong voice.

Right then, the telephone was ringing. And of course, she couldn't find it, so right before it stopped ringing, she grabbed it and answered.

"This better be good!" She said out of breath from running around.

"Hi Mom!"

"Rory, hey! How are you? Where are you? What's up? Are you okay?"

"Wow, calm down! I'm great! Me and Lane are about to leave the hotel and go walk downtown. I just want to let you know that we got here fine."

"How was the ride?"

"It was good. Long, but good. We're staying at the Hilton in Chicago. I can't believe I'm giving money to the woman who carries her dog in her purse."

"Ah, you always were the nice one. How's Lane?"

"She's good. She's really anxious to get out though. She wants to see everything."

"Good, good. Well, I hate to take away your time, but I've got something to tell you."

"What? Is everything okay?"

"Everything is...perfect. Last night...I went streaking!"

"Not funny...what really happend."

"Oh, Uhm...well I went out to dinner with Luke, and then he said he loves me, and then I started spinning, and I actually got him to spin with me but it was only for a few seconds, but still the point is he spun with me!" Lorelai said quickly.

"Wait, wait. He said he loves you?" Rory squealed.

"Mmm hmm!" Lorelai said, smiling to herself.

"And what happend?"

"I said I hate you."

"Mom..."

Slowly, and smiling to herself, "I said I love him too, kid."

Rory knew that was a word her mother never threw around. She only used it with sentences that included the words burger, coffee, or Rory. It was a big deal for her. A really big deal.

"Mom...that's great. I'm so happy for you guys!"

"Thanks. But I don't want you to waste all your time talking to me. I wrote you an email, did you ever get it?"

"Yeah, I wrote back. So write me, and I'll call you later, bye mom!"

"I will! Bye babe, tell Lane I say hi."

Lorelai walked up to her room and got out her laptop, immediately wanting to write Rory the details of her night.


"So honey, I saw your truck outside of Lorelai's house this mornin. What were you doin over so early?" Babette asked Luke.

"Nothing Babette. Nothing that's your business. So don't go writing anything up for the web page about how you saw my car parked outside of her house all night."

"But darlin,..." She began.

"Nope."


Dear Lorelai,
I mean mom. Sorry. How are you? I'm glad to know you thought I got in a car accident. But no, I'm fine. We just got at our hotel, and I'm so tired. But I knew that you would be mad if I didn't write something, so here I am, writing to you. I miss you already! I've got to get to bed though because I'm so tired, and we're getting up early to go walk around downtown. So I'll call you in the morning. I love you, mom.
Rory

Unsure of where to begin, or what to include, Lorelai started her email back to Rory.

Where oh where to begin. I could start right after I said I love you too, or I could start from this morning, but I guess you want to hear the details. Do you, do you, do you? I miss you. I'm going through some phase. I wish you weren't going to be gone so long! I'll live. Well, we went out to dinner last night. And we drove over to Elpine Park. Pretty park. You know what I'm talking about. We had been talking about saying things at the right time, or else you may regret it, and before I knew it, he was whispering I love you in my ear. I was so...stunned, Rory. I didn't know what to do. I felt somewhat numb, like I had just been in an accident. I've thought about saying it to him, but I thought maybe it was too soon? What do you think? So I turned around, and being me, I got all emotional, and stared to 'tear' up and I said I love you too. Go figure. You think it was right, right? I hope so. We sat at the park for a very long time, just looking up at the stars, until I started to spin. You know the Sally story. He spun with me a little. That was good...then he came back here, and I was very, 'in the moment' and I invited him to stay over. I know you don't want those details...just kidding. Nothing happend. And I'm not here to creep you out. I just wanted to share my story! I hope you're having a good time. I'm going to head over to Luke's. Enjoy the city, babe.
Love, Mom.

Lorelai took a quick shower, and got ready to go over to Lukes. She wore a little summer dress that she only wore once, and it was last summer. Surprisingly enough, she still had. It was light blue and had small white polka dots on it. She slipped it on, threw on some make up, a pair of flip flops and walked to Luke's. Bad idea.

"Oh Lorelai, Lorelai sweetie!" Patty called from behind Lorelai.

'Oh no' she thought to herself. She turned around, and put on a big smile. "Hi Patty! How are you?"

"I'm just great, how are you?"

"I'm good, thanks."

"I bet! I heard that Luke was at your house all night last night."

'What? How could she possibly find out so quickly.' She thought. "Patty, I've got to go. I'll see you later!" She said running from Patty. She did it often. Patty knew her way around things though.

Lorelai walked quickly the rest of her way, and plopped down at a seat at the counter. When Luke came out of the kitchen, she gave him a quick kiss, since he wasn't the whole PDA kind of guy.

"Coffee! Muffin! Now!" She ordered.

"Tea and toast." He said going to the kitchen.

"Not funny!" She walked behind the counter and got her own cup of coffee which was a privilege. She always poured too much coffee, and got the biggest muffin. She sat down and ate by herself. She enjoyed it though because she didn't want to be bothered with more questions by any of the nosey townspeople. But just then, Taylor walked in.

"Lorelai! I'm glad to see you. I don't know if you heard, but our town meeting has been pushed up to today. So I'll see you there at 6."

"We'll see about that." She mumbled.

"What was that? You do know you have to attend. Patty told me you were on the party committee."

"Oh crap," She said softly. "Yeah, see ya later Taylor."

"What was that about?" Luke asked while walking out of the kitchen.

"Me, you, town meeting, tonight. Come to house before, we'll walk there together."

Luke grunted, he hated the meetings. "Fine."

Lorelai didn't stay to long. She had some errands to run, and it was already almost 11. She went to the grocery store, the dry cleaners, the mall to do a little reward shopping, and to the Inn just to check up on things with Sookie.

"Take a lunch break, come with me, I've got to talk to you." Lorelai said, grabbing Sookie's arm and dragging her out of the kitchen. They headed back to Lorelai's and just ate some food that she had just bought.

"What is it?" Sookie said when the finally settled down.

"He told me he loves me."

Sookie's eyes widened and mouth dropped. She always got so excited when it came to Luke and Lorelai. She was just so happy for them.

"And I said I love him too."

Not sure of what else to say, she just waited for Sookie to respond.

"That's great! Really, I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks, it just seems so great. Everything's moving along perfect. I couldn't be any happier."

They exchanged all the details, and then it was time for Sookie to get back to the Inn.

At about 5:50, Luke got to Lorelai's house. The door was open so he just walked in.

"Lorelai?" He called, but didn't get a response.

"Lorelai, are you here?" He was about to walk up the stairs but heard the bathroom door open from above. Lorelai quickly ran downstairs in only her bra and a small pair of shorts. She seemed like she was in a rush, she ran down, gave Luke a quick kiss, pushed him out of the way and ran to the laundry room.

"Uh, what are you doing? Why aren't you wearing your clothes?" He said walking towards the laundry room.

"My clothes are in the dryer! I have to hurry though, we're going to be late and then we won't get a seat, and I hate standing up. You know that."

Before he knew it, she was standing in her bra and underwear. He turned away uncomfortably, while she threw on a pair of jeans and a tee shirt.

"I'm not 3. I'm a big girl, Lukey." She said embarrassing him.

"I know, I just didn't know if you wanted me too--"

"Let's go!" She said cutting him off and running out of the door. They were walking quickly, running a little bit until Lorelai hurt her foot and started to yell like a baby.

"It hurts!" She said while trying to walk, "Pick me up! Please!"

Luke rolled his eyes, and picked up Lorelai with her legs dangling over the side of his arm, and her arms wrapped around his neck. "I can't believe I'm doing this," He said while walking towards the town hall.

"That's cause you love me!" She matter-of-factly.

"I guess so."

Luke walked in, still holding Lorelai, which was obviously a mistake.

"Oh look at how cute you too are!" Patty screamed across the room from the top of the podium.

They both just ignored her, and Luke put Lorelai down in a seat in the back, and he sat right next to her.

"You're late." Taylor called out.

"Who care's Taylor, just go on with whatever stupid thing you were doing." Luke mumbled.

Lorelai looked over at him and laughed a little. She loved watching him get mad at the town meetings.

"We are having a dance to collect money for the bridge, yet again."

"The stupid bridge might as well be gone already!" Luke yelled.

"Now Luke, that's no way to talk about the bridge. But like I was saying, we're having a dance on Thursday starting at 5. So grab your dancing partner, and be ready to dance from 5-10."

"How is having a dance going to save the bridge?" Luke asked. He hated dances. There was no way that he was going to participate in this one.

"You have to pay a fee or 5 dollars to get in, for you and your partner, and then every time you want to request a song, you have to pay 1 dollar. We're just trying to get a little extra cash." Taylor replied.

"I love dances!" Lorelai said to Luke. She was smiling suspiciously at him.

"Well, I hate them."

"Too bad, because you have to be my partner for this one. You are my...boyfriend." She said in a high pitched voice, fluttering her eyelashes.

"There's no way that you can get me to go to this."

"Come on Luke, please, please. Just come with me, you don't have to dance...a lot. And we don't have to go the whole time." She said, pouting at him.

How could he resist? "Fine."

After the meeting ended, they headed back to Luke's. Lorelai stuck around till closing, and helped him clean up a little bit. They headed back up to Luke's apartment and watched TV on the couch, both drinking a couple of beers.

"Ah, my head hurts!" Lorelai said while putting down her second beer.

"Maybe you shouldn't have had another one." He said pointing to the bottle.

She laid down so that her legs were on Luke's lap, and she closed her eyes and pressed her head against the couch. Before he knew it, she was sleeping. He glanced over at the bed. He smiled to himself when he remembered how not to long ago, he had gotten a bigger bed, ever since he got married to Nicole. 'Finally' he thought. He picked her up, and brought her over to the bed. She was still wearing her clothes, but he didn't even want to bother. She looked so comfortable. He went to the bathroom, got ready for bed, and joined her. 'So is this how it's going to be for the next 3 weeks?' He thought to himself, and then began to try and fall asleep.

At around 3 in the morning, Luke found himself tossing and turning, not being able to fall asleep. He went on the couch, and turned the TV quietly towards him. He was scared of waking up Lorelai, but looked like she was in a pretty deep sleep. It was at around 3:15, when Lorelai woke up, and sat up looking around. 'Ah, I must of fell asleep here' she thought.

He looked over at her and saw that she was beginning to sit up. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up, but I couldn't fall asleep." He said, turning off the TV but staying on the couch. It was pretty dark in the apartment but Lorelai could still make her way around. She stumbled out of the bed and walked over to Luke. Her eyes, half shut still, sat on her knees, turning and facing him. She looked so tired. Her head was pounding, and her ankle still hurt a little. She leaned her head against his arm. He could tell she was so tired, and had to get up in the morning for work, which she hated. He put his arms around her and laid her down, while he was tightly laying next to her. He grabbed a blanket from the top of the couch and covered both of them. Lorelai snuggled next to him, afraid of falling off, and quickly fell back asleep, where Luke kissed her on her head, and stayed up a little longer until comfortably falling asleep.

Up Next: Dancing, Jealousy, and Love

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