Disclaimer: Amy Sherman-Palladino owns everything except the plot.

A/N 1: Um. Rory and Emily aren't going to Europe, kids. Sorry, it just makes it more complicated and I prefer to keep the action (hehe, get it, action? – I mean, what?) in Stars Hollow.

A/N 2: Quick shout-out to everyone who's been reviewing: You guys make my day. To say something happened just like on the show or that something someone did was in character is the absolute highest compliment you can pay me and I appreciate your feedback and your honesty and your questions so much!! A lifetime supply of coffee (it would've been cookies, but being a GG fic, I figured it was only appropriate) to you all. :)

Sing One You Know

Chapter Five

"Rory! Where are my shoes?"

No response. Lorelai cursed under her breath and continued to throw things over her shoulder from her closet, creating an impressive collection of skirts, shoes, boxes that could contain anything, really, and other assorted items. A small stuffed bunny, pink, as to be expected, even made its way on top of a pair of running shoes. Why Lorelai owned running shoes, she wasn't sure, but they were awfully cute despite their connotation, and Lorelai heaved them over her shoulder with everything else.

"Ah – watch it! Mom, what are you doing?" Rory ducked a jacket on a hanger that went flying straight at her head. Lorelai paused from her projectile searching to reply, "Looking for my shoes." A pair of boots hurled atop the pile, and Rory gingerly took a step toward her. "Mom, stop, you're making a – why do you have two pairs of the same boots?"

Lorelai looked up. Rory indicated the boots she had just thrown, then a strikingly similar pair lying in a heap by the bed. "Oh. Hmm. No clue." She stared for a moment more, then shrugged and turned back to the closet, ready to resume warfare.

"Mom! Wait." Rory maneuvered over the piles of what seemed to be everything Lorelai owned strewn about the floor. "I was trying to tell you – Luke's on the phone."

Lorelai's stomach did a flip, and she dropped the shirt was holding. "He is? Why? Why is he on the phone?"

Rory knit her eyebrows. "Well, I'm going to assume it's because he picked up the phone and called us. See Mom, when two people are in love and they want to...well, they want to, talk to each other, one of them has the option of picking up the phone - hey!" A purse with large handles came flying at Rory.

"I didn't interrogate him, Mom. Just pick up the phone."

"I can't, I –" Lorelai started to panic. "I have to get ready, we have to leave for your grandmother's in fifteen minutes – you – Rory! You're not dressed for dinner!" Her mouth dropped as she realized her daughter stood in front of her wearing jeans and a T-shirt proclaiming some club at Yale.

"That's because I'm not going to dinner, remember? I have to fill in for Paris at the blood drive festival this weekend."

"The what?"

Rory sighed. "Vamp Champs. A contest to see who can donate the most blood to the local hospital. We've had this conversation before. I said, 'I won't be able to go to dinner next Friday, I have to fill in for Paris at the blood drive festival', and you said, 'Okay.'"

Lorelai frowned. "That sounds like a very one-sided conversation."

"A conversation nonetheless."

"What are they teaching you up at that school?"

Rory ignored her. "Luke's still on the phone."

Lorelai winced. "Shoot, I forgot. You're saying not only do I only get to talk to Luke for a few minutes before I to go to dinner with my parents, but I can't even take you down with me? "

"It seems so."

"Dammit."

"I suppose. Are you ready?"

"No! I can't find my shoes!" Lorelai threw up her hands. Rory looked from the pile of about ten trillion shoes, to Lorelai, then back to the shoes. However, she knew better than to argue. "Which shoes are you looking for?"

"The black ones."

"Well, that narrows it down."

Lorelai gave Rory a Look. "Help or get out, kiddo, cause my night's on its way to sucking way more than yours is."

"All right," Rory conceded. "Boots or heels?"

"Heels."

A few minutes of frantic searching ensued until Rory finally unearthed the shoes in question from Lorelai's laundry basket, and Lorelai struggled to get them on as she rushed downstairs. She picked up the phone from where it lay on the table, and said a breathless, "Hello?"

There was a moment of hesitation on the other end, then, "Lorelai."

"Yes?"

"Sorry," he said flustered. "Are you – what's going on over there? Rory said she heard you throwing things and cursing."

"Did she, now?" Lorelai looked around for Rory, who, miraculously, was nowhere to be seen. "Yes, well, I was having a shoe emergency."

"A – what?"

"A shoe emergency. You know."

"Somehow, I don't."

"Never mind." Lorelai sighed. "So, what are your plans for tonight? I get to drive to Hartford without Rory as my deflective shield to all things Emily and have dinner with them."

"Oh, that, well – that sucks."

"Pretty much, yeah."

"I'm not really doing anything," he said, and somehow, Lorelai thought she could hear him adjusting his baseball cap over the phone.

"Just called to say hi, huh?" she teased him.

"Well, no, I just..." His voice trailed off, and suddenly Lorelai got it.

"Oh, God, did you call to ask me out?"

"I – what?" If possible, he sounded even more flustered.

"You know. That thing when you call me or I call you, and one of us asks the other if they would like to go out somewhere, hence the 'asking out' part, preferably together, and –"

"Geez, Lorelai, yes, I did." He sounded annoyed, and she softened.

"Did you think I was going to say no?" Her voice was gentler now, not enough to be patronizing him, but enough to let him know she'd backed off.

"I would hope not," he said gruffly. "Because that would really put me out after what happened the last time I saw you."

Lorelai felt a grin spread over her face at the memory; the full day since their exchange of words at the inn had been entirely too much time apart, as far as she was concerned, but the opening only three days away simply wouldn't allow it any other way.

"If it helps, I'm going to say yes," she offered.

Silence. Then, "It helps a little."

She grinned fully now. "Good."

There was another moment of hesitation, then, "Lorelai, do you want to –"

"Mom! Where are you?"

Lorelai winced. "Luke, I'm so sorry. Hold that thought." She covered the mouthpiece of the phone as Rory hurried down the steps, holding Lorelai's cell phone in her hand. "This had better be the President telling me Jen and Ben have broken up, or I might be forced to throw the phone at you just a little." She read Rory's look instantly. "Oh no – it isn't –"

"It's Grandma."

Why why why, Lorelai chanted in her head as she tried to wave Rory away, but Rory shoved the cell phone in her face and Lorelai was forced to grab it before it ended up in her eye. She took a deep breath.

"Mom?" Somewhere, for she was certain it didn't come from her or Rory, Lorelai thought she heard someone chuckle.

"Don't 'mom' me, Lorelai. You're late."

"Late?"

"Yes, late. Late as in, not on time. Dinner was supposed to start ten minutes ago."

Lorelai glanced at the Felix clock and winced again. Had she really been distracted that much by Luke? No, she decided, the shoe fiasco must've had something to do with it.

"Lorelai Gilmore!"

Lorelai jumped. "Ah, I'm here, Mom."

"I know you're there. That means that you are not here. At the house. For dinner. You know, I thought maybe we'd been doing this long enough that you would've caught on. Every Friday night, dinner at the house, you and Rory come over –"

Lorelai seized the opportunity. "Rory can't come, Mom."

There was a slight pause. Then, "What?"

"Rory. She can't come." Lorelai could barely suppress her glee at passing the blame on someone else, and she saw Rory's look of horror from out of the corner of her eye.

"Not fair!" Rory whispered. Lorelai grinned at her.

"Why can't Rory come?"

"Because she's helping with some thing at Yale this weekend. Filling in for someone."

"Oh. Well, that's perfectly excusable." Emily dismissed it. "You, on the other hand, do not have an excuse for not being here on time, do you?"

"I – what?!" Lorelai's mouth dropped, and Rory moved back from where she had been pressing her ear to the phone. She scurried off as Lorelai tried to whack her with the hand holding the home phone.

"You heard me, Lorelai. Do you have some sort of plausible excuse as to why you are not on time for your weekly dinner with your father and I?"

"If I said I was fundraising at Yale, would that be excusable?"

"I didn't think so."

Lorelai gripped the cell phone harder at the tone of satisfaction in her mother's voice. "Actually, Mom, I do. I had to pick up someone to bring to dinner."

"Bring to dinner?" The sudden confusion was much better than the satisfied tone.

"Yes, dinner. We're still on for dinner, right, Mom?"

"I – well of course, we are, Lorelai, don't be smart. Who are you bringing?"

"Well, I figured since Rory couldn't make it, I would bring a friend along."

"A friend? Which friend? Do I know them?"

"You've met before. Do you remember Luke Danes?"

Lorelai nearly dropped the house phone in her other hand at the strangled cry that came from it, and she heard "Lorelai! What are you doing?!" coming from Luke's voice on the phone.

"Luke? Yes, I remember. He seemed nice. Is he coming?"

"Nope, I just brought him up for fun. Want to know who's really coming?"

There was a pause on the other end of the cell phone, and Lorelai could see her mother struggling with it. Finally, Emily said, "Don't play games with me, Lorelai. Is Luke coming or not?"

"Yes, Mom, he's coming."

"No! No, he's not!" Lorelai heard Luke's panicked voice yelling from the house phone.

"Fine. I'll expect you here in no more than fifteen minutes."

"Mom, it takes twenty minutes to drive there."

"Well then, you should've left on time, shouldn't you have, Lorelai?" The phone hung up.

Lorelai sighed and brought the house phone back to her ear. "Luke?"

"Lorelai, what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Lorelai bit her lip. "Oh, Luke, I'm sorry, I couldn't think of anything else! It just came out!"

"You couldn't – are you insane?!" Luke's voice was getting louder, if possible, and Lorelai winced. She saw Rory standing by the stairs, her arms folded. Rory cocked an eyebrow and gave her a meaningful look. Lorelai shooed her away and turned back to the phone. "I really am sorry, Luke, I didn't mean to! She was just making me so mad, like it's my fault I'm late –"

"It is your fault," he said gruffly, though at least at a normal sound level.

"Well, yes, but – Luke, you couldn't possibly expect me to go through an entire dinner with the two of them alone, could you? Especially now that they're bickering constantly, it would've been World War IV all over again."

"Lorelai, there was no –"he stopped mid-sentence and sighed.

"Please come," she said in a small voice. "I need you there, I – I don't want to go by myself."

He softened at the tone her voice had taken on, and it both surprised and made him crazy, that she could do that to him so easily. "I swear, if this is just a ploy to get me to agree –"

"It's not," she said quietly, and sighed, rubbing her forehead. "I hate being around them when they're fighting, which is pretty much all the time now." She placed the cell phone on the table and stared at it for a moment. "Please, Luke."

She heard nothing for a moment, and was about to resort to full-fledged begging, when he said gruffly, "What do I have to wear?"

The diner lights were off when Lorelai showed up at the door, knocking repeatedly and ignoring Luke's calls from the back that he'd be there in a second, just wait, hang on a sec, dammit, wait, and finally he emerged from the apartment, striding into the kitchen to open the door. The look on his face changed to one of I should've known when he saw her standing in the darkness, a huge grin on her face.

The first words out of his mouth as he opened the door were, "I can't believe you dragged me into this."

Lorelai's grin widened, if possible and as she stepped into the diner, she said, "Oh, come on. It won't be that bad."

"Then why don't you go by yourself?" he grumbled, heading into the apartment to put on his shoes.

"It won't be that bad in the way that the Alamo wasn't that bad." She followed him in and leaned on the doorframe as he sat on the bad, tying one shoe.

"How are you suddenly making historical references?" He pulled on the other shoe.

She shrugged as he looked up at her. "Must be my extensive knowledge of events prior to the 1600's."

"The Alamo was in the 1800's."

"It's still relevant today, is it not?"

Luke sighed. He finished tying his shoes and stood up, meeting her eyes. There was silence for a moment, then, "How do I look?"

A smile spread across Lorelai's face. She didn't answer, but walked toward him, her eyes never leaving his. He felt himself grow nervous as she slid her arms around his waist and kissed him softly, gently on the mouth, her lips barely brushing his with an intensity that made him weak. She gave him a quick, mischievous smile and said, "You look great. They'll love you."

Luke became even more nervous at this comment. He suddenly remembered exactly why he was standing in his bedroom with Lorelai (a thought that registered somewhere in the back of his mind) asking her how he looked (where had that come from, anyway?) because he was going to dinner with Lorelai to her parents' house. Her parents. He remembered all the times she'd stumbled into the diner post-Friday night dinners and rambles for hours about the traumatic experience. He remembered handing her a cup of coffee silently as soon as she walked in the door and proceeding to wipe down the counters, clean up the tables, manage the books, store the food, and generally do the late-night tasks required of him while she talked. She didn't really care if he listened or not; she just needed to get it out of her system. And boy, there was a lot to get out.

Rubbing her shoulders gently, Luke sighed and said, "I hope so."

Lorelai peered up at him. "Hey," she said softly. "What is it?"

"It's nothing. Forget it; let's go. I don't want them to not like me by association of you being late." He gave her a half-hearted smile and took his jacket from the bed and walked past her to leave down the stairs, but she took his arm at the head of the stairs and stopped him. "Wait," she said, coming up behind him. She turned him to face her gently and searched his eyes. Luke looked down and tried to ignore her probing look, but when she reached up and touched his face to turn it toward her, he knew there was no escaping.

"Are you – are you nervous about having dinner with my parents?"

Luke sighed. How did she do that, damn it?

"I just want them to like me," he said gruffly. "They are your parents after all –" he heard an "Unfortunately," from under her breath – "and I would prefer they like me than not."

"They do like you. My mom remembers you. She said you were nice," Lorelai smiled at him. "With her, that's kind of like asking you to marry me."

Luke stopped at these words, trying to figure out if he'd heard the right thing, when he processed that it was a joke. Sarcasm. Come on Luke, you ought to know who you're dealing with by now.

Lorelai realized what had come out of her mouth, and gave a little laugh and looked down. "I mean, not that you – you have to marry me because she says so. Because, that would really be an incentive for you not to marry me. Not that she said you have to marry me, because, she didn't. So, I don't know why I brought up in the first place." She laughed again, a laugh about something incredibly unfunny, as she was aware, and slipped by him down the stairs. Luke followed in a bit of a daze, unsure as to what had just happened. He pushed it out of his mind to deal with later as Lorelai led the way to the Jeep parked outside. She turned briefly to grin at him as she opened the door to leave the diner, her eyes sparkling, before heading to the driver's side of the Jeep and climbing in. Luke took the passenger's side, and they drove away quietly.

"I don't want to go."

Luke sighed. "You've said that already."

"I have?"

"Repeatedly, if I remember. Some might say incessantly."

"Well, it needs to be heard."

"It has. Besides, we're almost there."

Pause.

"I don't want to go." There was a soft thunk as her head hit the steering wheel.

"Lorelai! Are you insane?!" Luke reached over to take the wheel and shake her by the shoulder at the same time, a difficult attempt.

Her head slowly came back up. "We're at a red light, chill. And don't tell me you weren't thinking it."

"What?" He turned to look at her defensively, and she grinned. "I never said I didn't want to go!"

"No, actually, I think the words used were 'No! No, I'm not!' at my suggestion you might come."

"It wasn't a suggestion, it was a declaration."

"Let me put it this way: if I'd asked you, would you have come?"

Luke said nothing, folding his arms and staring hard at the road in front of them.

"A-ha!" Lorelai raised a finger in the air triumphantly. "I knew it. What excuse would you have used?"

Luke sat in silence for a moment, then mumbled something.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that."

"Had to balance the books."

"Ah, a classic." She settled back against the seat. "That's why I love you."

Luke froze for the second time that night. She really wasn't going to make this any easier on him, was she? Lorelai's mouth opened a little when she realized what she'd said, then turned into a smile. She leaned toward him wordlessly and kissed him softly, and he gripped the door handle as the kiss deepened. She pulled away after a moment. "I like saying that," she whispered, her eyes dancing mischievously.

"I like hearing it," Luke replied without thinking, and Lorelai leaned in again, her lips barely brushing against his when a loud car horn startled the both of them, and she leapt back.

"Jesus!" Luke jumped against the seatbelt as Lorelai gunned the engine and the car lurched forward. She started laughing after a moment, and Luke glared at her. "Are you crazy?"

"Quite possibly, yes." She glanced at him and laughed again. "Oh, come on. You don't think that was the least bit funny?"

"We could've been killed."

"For making out in the middle of the road." Lorelai grinned at him and then covered her mouth, laughing again. Luke looked at her in disbelief, then looked back at the road, shaking his head. Lorelai cracked up.

"Lorelai, ring the bell."

She gave him a pouty look, making her wide eyes even bigger and jutting out her lower lip.

"That isn't going to work."

Lorelai stepped toward him, her face turning from cute to seductive in a flash, and Luke marveled at the admitted talent she possessed. She laid her hands on his chest and threw back her hair, her eyes narrowing.

"Not working."

She leaned in and began kissing his neck softly, sinking her teeth in every few times for a gentle bite, and he shivered as she slipped her arms around his waist.

"Lorelai –"

She trailed kisses up his neck, tracing his jaw with her lips and finally working her way to his mouth.

"Lorelai – geez – are you – are you insane?" He tried to step away from her, but her grip tightened.

"Take me home," she said with a slow grin, batting her eyelashes at him.

"Lorelai!" He tried to push her off in the gentlest way possible, and she reluctantly loosened her grasp on his waist. "We're on your parents' front porch, for God's sake."

"I don't wanna go," she whined, leaning her forehead on his shoulder. He softened considerably, though still annoyed.

"I know that," he said, and he realized his arm was around her waist, and he was rubbing her back. How had that happened? "Just ring the damn doorbell. The sooner you do, the sooner it's over with."

"Ooh, dirty!" she said with delight, slipping away from him with a grin. Luke rolled his eyes.

"Can be more than six years old for say, five minutes?"

In response, Lorelai turned swiftly and reached over to press the doorbell, her finger hovering over the button. She raised her eyebrows at him. "Happy now?" she said, pouting.

However, before she could press down, the door swung open and Lorelai jumped a foot in the air, startled.

"Lorelai. What are you standing out here for?" Emily's voice said sharply as the door opened. She looked at her daughter with an expression of annoyance to give Luke a run for his money.

"I was – just – showing Luke the lovely, um, door." Lorelai said. "It's so...wooden."

"Imagine that." Emily was not amused. "Well come in, for goodness sake, the food's getting cold." She turned to Luke, who stiffened.

"Good to see you again, Luke," she said with a smile that Luke wasn't quite sure how to interpret.

"Good to see you, Mrs. Gilmore." He followed Lorelai inside, marveling once more at the elaborateness of the house as a maid came and tried to pull Luke's coat off him. He struggled for a minute before Lorelai leaned over and whispered, "It's okay, you can let go of the coat. It won't protect you, believe me." He gave her a look and finally managed to wrangle out of the coat, trying to hang it up himself, but the maid yanked it away from him and disappeared with it.

Emily led them into the diner, and Luke followed Lorelai to the table as they all sat down. The main who had stolen Luke's coat came out with wine for everyone, and Emily settled in her chair and smiled. "So Luke, do you still own that diner down where you live?"

He looked up from his plate and said hurriedly, "Oh, uh, yeah. Still there."

"And how is business?" Emily placed her napkin in her lap and took a sip of wine.

"Business – business is good. It's fine." Luke took a drink of wine as well, trying to avoid having to say anymore.

"What kind of food do you serve there?" Emily asked, setting down her wineglass, but Luke was saved by Lorelai, who cut in, "Mom, you don't have to interrogate him."

"I wasn't interrogating him, Lorelai. I was merely making friendly conversation."

"By questioning every move he makes at his job?"

"I was simply trying to find out more about the man my daughter is dating, if you don't mind." Emily looked at Lorelai pointedly.

Luke nearly choked on his wine at this statement, and Lorelai promptly dropped the wineglass she held in her hand, spreading a gold stain across the white tablecloth.

"Lorelai! Honestly, why can't you be careful? Rosa!" Emily called to the maid, who hurried in.

"My daughter has just demonstrated her clumsiness once more for us all, could you please clean it up?" Emily said. Rosa nodded quickly and hurried off to get a towel.

"Mom, we aren't – I mean – what are you talking about?" Lorelai stuttered, picking up the wineglass and setting it upright. Luke looked at Emily, who was wearing a smug smile.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous, Lorelai. Do you really think I didn't notice?"

"Notice - what, Mom?" Lorelai picked up her napkin and began twisting it in her hands. Luke closed his eyes; Lorelai was hardly a master at being discreet.

"The two of you! You must think I'm dumb as a brick, Lorelai. You're obviously together. I'm glad; it's certainly taken you long enough." Emily took another sip of wine as though that was the end of that.

"What – we aren't –"

"What she means is – it's not exactly –"

"Luke and I aren't – you don't –"

"It's not – well, we really don't –"

Lorelai and Luke stumbled over each other trying to get their protests out, but Emily simply sat back with the same air of smugness and watched their feeble attempt to refute her claim.

"Enough, the both of you. Dinner's here!" Rosa came back in with two butlers, all carrying assorted dishes of food, some of which Luke had never seen before. The servants spread it onto his plate, and he quickly became very preoccupied with eating slowly to finish every last piece on the plate. The rest of dinner was spent in what must have been an uncomfortable state for Luke and Lorelai, but not so for Emily, who ate cheerfully and commented often about how good the roast duck tasted, once even going so far as to compliment Rosa on her speedy service.

The house was dark as the Jeep pulled up to it, swinging glowing beams from the front of the car across the front windows. Lorelai switched off the ignition and the car settled into silence. She glanced over at Luke, who noticed her looking at him and met her eyes. She smiled, never breaking eye contact, and reached over to squeeze his hand. He smiled back, searching her bright blue eyes carefully, finding nothing but what he recognized as seeing in his own ever since he'd embarked on this with her – happiness. It was incredible, looking at someone and seeing that you made them feel this way, and Luke reached over with his free arm, sliding it behind her and around her waist, and pulled her to him. She gave a little squeal as he wordlessly called to her, and she slipped into his lap, resting her head against his shoulder, and for once, she stayed quiet, folding herself into his arms. Luke felt her breathing against his chest, a rhythmic inhale and soft exhale that calmed him somehow, like there was nothing else in the world except Lorelai on his lap, sitting with him, breathing with him, and he closed his eyes, trying to memorize feeling he had about this moment, sure he wouldn't be able to feel quite like it again. Being calm, simply existing with Lorelai touching him, resting on him, it was something he was afraid he'd never get the chance to feel for all those years, and now here she was...she was touching him softly, letting her fingertips brush across his wrist, examining the lines and the slopes of his hand, and he watched the intensity of her gaze across his hand. She took his hand in hers and traced the lines of his palm with her finger, and he shuddered involuntarily, but she didn't seem to notice. Her fingers gently danced around his palm, and they both laughed softly as she attempted to waltz with her pointer and middle fingers across his hand. She turned it over in hers and brought it up to her lips, laying soft kisses on his knuckles, and Luke watched in half-admiration, half-confusion. This woman...he would never understand her completely, and yet somehow, he was okay with that.

When she finished with his hand, she set in his lap and laced her fingers through it, nestling her head back onto his shoulder, and kissing his cheek before resting it there. He could feel her soft curls tickling his face, and his arm around her wrapped even tighter, pulling her closer, even though he knew and she knew they couldn't be any closer in this position. Luke closed his eyes and exhaled softly, not wanting to stir her, and leaned his head back against the seat, relaxing for the first time all night.

They sat in stillness for what seems like forever, and Luke looked out the window at the Gilmore house in silence, watching the glow of the porch lights spread a dim burst of orange across the porch, the only light in the otherwise dark house. He took in the details he never noticed before about this, about her home – like the fact that the doorframe was painted white, and at the top the paint had chipped away to reveal wood like skin underneath. The curtains fell lazily across the front windows, unmoving, though Luke half-expected them to shift at any second from some unknown ghost-like apparition that might haunt the house, if Lorelai had her way. He realized a second later that this was a Lorelai thought, and the fact that he was having Lorelai thoughts lately was a detail he hadn't noticed until just now, with her breathing regulated into him, and he wondered briefly if she was asleep in his arms, and when he leaned his head against hers, kissed her hair softly, he realized she was, and he wanted her to be.

The last thing he remembered was watching the porch lights twinkle at him in the darkness, and Lorelai's heartbeat, steady against his chest.

When the sun was beating relentlessly against Luke's eyelids, he stiffened and blinked a few times, trying to get his bearings. There was something weighing down on him, so he couldn't move, and when he looked down and saw Lorelai asleep in his lap, her hand clutching his sleeve in her sleep, he jumped and hit his head on the window. Luke cursed under his breath, then quieted quickly. Lorelai stirred and made a sort of whimpering sound, but didn't move. Luke stared at her, then looked back to the house, as quiet as he remembered leaving it the night before, when they'd...fallen asleep in the Jeep after dinner.

Luke sighed and rubbed his forehead. He was completely stuck: he couldn't move Lorelai without waking her, not that he had all that inclination to move, really, but it would probably have to happen sometime, he knew. His eyes drifted to the clock on the radio in the Jeep, and he cursed again. It was 8am, no one was running the diner, he'd been gone all night, Lorelai had been gone all night - oh, shit.

If Lorelai hadn't come home that night, what was Rory going to think?! He had no choice now; he rubbed Lorelai's bare shoulder gently, whispering to her. "Lorelai...wake up. Hey. Lorelai."

She whimpered again and her face twisted into a pout. Luke stopped for a moment in disbelief that she could pout in her sleep, but he shook his head and tried again.

"Lorelai, wake up...we have to go. We have to get up, it's eight 'o clock..."

"Too early," she mumbled against his neck, and her breath tickling his skin made him even more reluctant to wake her, especially knowing how she was pre-coffee, but he sighed and rubbed her shoulder again.

"We fell asleep in the car, Lorelai...wake up. Rory will be worried, I have to get to the diner, you have to get to the inn..."

At this her eyes opened and she blinked a few times. "The inn. Damn it, the inn!" She rubbed her eyes and contorted her face again, squeezing it into a scowl. She turned and tried to crawl off of him into the driver's seat, but too much movement this early in the morning only resulted in her splayed across the front seats. Luke bit down a laugh and placed his hands on her waist, and she flinched a little at the warmth of them through the thin shirt she wore to dinner last night, but she didn't push him away, and he helped her sit upright in the driver's seat, where she proceeded to lean her forehead against the steering wheel, a mistake, Luke realized, when the blaring horn sets off in a loud, obnoxious beam of sound echoing throughout the morning.

"Damn it, Lorelai!" He reaches over to pull her off, and when she came back up he could see her laughing.

"You probably just woke up half the town," he grumbled.

"Ah, Taylor needed that. I can't wait til we see him in the diner and he starts going off about it." She laughed again at the thought, then quieted, staring out the window at the sleepy stillness of the morning. After a moment, she spoke. "You know, this seems to keep happening," she said, and air of something Luke couldn't quite identify crept into her voice.

"What, you getting us into trouble by leaning on the steering wheel?" He wasn't sure where this was going, but knew it to be more than taken at face value when her voice took on that tone, whatever the hell it was. He was surprised he could recognize such a thing, even if he couldn't identify it, surprised at all the things he was learning about her.

She laughed at his reply. "No. Well, that too," she added, "But I meant...this other thing. Us falling asleep together. Spending the night together."

Luke froze, and had to swallow hard before answering. Where exactly was she going with this? It made him nervous, trekking into unknown territory with Lorelai.

"Well, last night sort of happened by default..." he said, unsure if this was even the remotely right thing to say. It must've worked on some level, because Lorelai laughed again, with a laugh that didn't really reach her eyes.

"I guess so," she said, smiling briefly. She turned away to look out the window once more, and Luke watched the reflections of the sunlight against her dark hair, playing off the waves and projecting back into the glass of the window.

Luke sighed. He knew now there was something wrong, but he hadn't the slightest idea what it was or how to fix it. They had been doing so well, he was able to pick up thing about her he wouldn't have been able to not long ago, and now she had to go and be all cryptic about it?

"Hey," he said, and it came out gruffer than he meant it to, but in what he hoped was a gentle tone, at least. She turned to him, and met his eyes for a moment. "What is it?" he said, reaching over unconsciously and taking her hand, covering it with his own.

"It's nothing. Forget it." She smiled again and closed her eyes, looking away again.

Luke was frustrated. Now, of course, there was something incredibly wrong, and he'd be damned if he didn't get it out of her, no matter how stubborn she was going to be.

"Lorelai." He said her name with an air of urgency mixed with softness, as not to push, but rather, pry. She turned to him once more and searched his eyes for a moment, and Luke hoped to God he looked as worried as he possibly could.

"It's just –" Thank God, Luke thought – "I just...well, don't you think...I mean, we keep spending the night together...I like that. I like...I like sleeping with you," she said softly. Luke wanted badly to reach over and touch her face with the fragility she said this with, the softness beneath that sharp-tongued shell she insisted on showing to everyone. "I like it, and I like this," she continued, playing with the hand he had given her, turning it over and over again in her own smaller hand. "I...I think that, if we – if we wanted – if you wanted, I mean – that is to say, I..." she took a deep breath and raised her head to meet his eyes. "I think I'm ready," she said softly.

Luke's mind reeled at these words, words giving him...was permission the right word? for something he had never thought possible, something that, he had to admit, scared him more than anything else, and was something he wanted nearly more than anything else as well. He took in a shaky breath and looked at her carefully, her expression of fear mixed with a tumble of Oh-God-I-can't-believe-I-just-said-that. He wasn't sure exactly what he was supposed to say in this situation – what did he say, damn it? Luckily, he never found out because Lorelai started talking again, and the rambling quality was evident as soon as the words came flying out of her mouth.

"I mean, not right this second, of course –"she laughed a little, more nervous than he thought he'd ever seen her – "Because, the timing is obviously not ideal, since it's early in the morning –"Luke didn't bother to point out that in no way did eight AM qualify as early – "and it would be really uncomfortable, I mean, this car is small, and it's not really made for that type of thing – but then, what car is? Except maybe limos, I guess," she added thoughtfully, "because they're big, and you can stretch out in them, and wow, I'm really wishing I had stopped when things were uncomfortable and not after I pushed them into the land of unbearable." She laughed again and looked away, and Luke sat perfectly still, staring at his hands. There was silence in the car for a moment, then Luke finally spoke.

"I'm ready, too." He wanted to sink into the seat of the Jeep as soon as the words were out of his mouth, and he stared hard outside the window, concentrating on the chipped paint of the doorframe, noticing it made a little triangle shape on the corner. He jumped when he felt Lorelai's hand touch his face gently, and when he turned back to her, her mouth was curved into a grin, not mischievous, like every other time he'd seen that grin, but rather...happiness. Just happiness again, and he was finding there was nothing better in the world than seeing that kind of smile on Lorelai's face.

"I'm glad," she whispered, and pulled him toward her, their lips meeting softly, and she sunk into his kiss in the blinding sun of the morning streaming through the windows.

Author's Note: This one is just as long as chapter four and took about a third of time to get up, hehe! I was originally going to make this even longer, but decided against it, as the timeline wouldn't allow for a smooth transition. Please let me know what you think; I'm not sure how I feel about the overall turnout of this one. Thanks for reading :)