"Boo!"

"Yaaaaah! Jeez!"

"Sorry, just couldn't help myself." Lorelai giggled, watching Luke glare at her... This was so funny! She had snuck into his diner, seeing as he had spaced and left it open. Who knew you could make big, stoic Luke throw a tray up in the air, just by popping up from behind the counter and yelling? She stored the information away in her head for further use. Meanwhile...

"Lorelai, what the hell!" Oooh, he looked mad. The amusing thing was, however, that his hat was now crooked. She contemplated whether to tell him or not.

"Soooo sorry!", she said in a singsong voice, giggling again. He looked at her, trying to look mad, but she could already see his mouth getting tight, meaning that he was trying very hard not to laugh.

"Lorelai, it's five in the morning." Luke said, trying to change the subject so he wouldn't laugh and spoil his demeanor.

"So?"

"You're awake."

"Not for long if you don't get me some coffee!" To demonstrate what would happen, she swooned in her seat, flourishing her hand in the air in a dramatic wave and putting her hand over her heart.

"Oh, I'm fainting from lack of nutrition. Oh-hh-hhhhhh, save meeeeh!" Normally, Luke would have rolled his eyes and gone to get her coffee right away so she would shut up, but right now he was too engrossed in her acting. Look at that, she had just fallen on the floor in a position of ultimate suffering, her tongue sticking out at an odd angle, and her eyes crossed. He noticed that even in such a horrible position she was beautiful. He stared at her seemingly lifeless body, and remembered how close it had been to him last night, when they had kissed...Luke shook himself out of his daydream, and looked at Lorelai again. Okay, it had been about 45 seconds now, and she hadn't moved, except to uncross her eyes to see if he was there, and seeing him standing there watching her with a goofy half smile on his face, cross them again and moan something in pretend anguish, something that sounded an awful lot like 'coffee'. This was really the most elaborate coffee-getting ruse he had ever seen her do. Much more entertaining than when she threw her purse across the room in tortured despair, and it hit Taylor in the head. Somehow it had all gotten blamed on Luke. Oh, God, what if Taylor came in now? Imagine the terror...he had better get the woman some off the floor.

"Okay, you win, would you please get up now?"

She uncrossed her eyes again, and sat up with her legs stretched out on the floor.

"What, but why? I wanna have a picnic." Luke looked down at her, wondering what to do.

"Lorelai, get up!"

"No, you sit down. We can have a picnic, right here. Maybe a little more than a picnic..." She said this with a her head tilted in a way that she knew usually got Luke to do what she wanted, but this time he was nervously looking around through the windows. What, didn't he like her anymore? It had sure seemed like he did last night; that was for sure. She had had trouble getting him off of her. Not that she had minded this one little bit.

Anyway, she had gone home with the smell of him still in her nose, (a mixture of old Spice, and something else, something that was just Luke), and the memory of his hands stroking through her hair. Rory had been sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee, eagerly waiting for Lorelai to tell her all of the details of the night...

LATER THAT NIGHT

Lorelai walked in the door, singing a little song she had made up on the walk home from Luke's that went more or less to the tune, 'my bonny lies over the ocean.'

"Dum diddy dum, Luke doesn't drink rum

but he gives me lots of coff-ee,

so that I don't a-act too du-umb,

Luke owns a diner, and puts up with me!

CHORUS:

E-ven tho-ough I'm a whiner, he gives me coff-ee, coff-ee!

cu-u-u-uz, Luke the diner-man lo-o-oves me!

Hee hee!

Okay, so it wasn't perfect, but it pretty much summed up how she felt. Rory was soon singing the song with her, and making up more verses. After they were both collapsed on the couch, breathless from singing and laughing, Rory grinned at her Mom.

"Dish."

"Weeeelllll, gosh, I don't know if I should..."

"Mom!" Rory screamed, hitting her with a large pillow.

"Okay already, I'll tell you. Don't have kittens." Over a midnight snack of Twizzlers and fruit punch, Lorelai told her daughter the whole story. Rory burst out laughing when she got to the part about the massage and the witch hat.

"So where is that pesky witches' hat, anyway?" Rory wanted to know. Lorelai looked shocked.

"You mean I actually have to wear that thing?"

"Uh-huh."

"Damn." Rory grinned and drained the last of her coffee. Wake me up in the morning, I want to see you in the hat."

"Nooooooooooo..."

Lorelai grinned at the memory, and vowed to distract Luke from mentioning their previous deal, so she wouldn't have to actually produce the witch hat from the bottom of her purse, where Rory had thoughtfully stashed it when her coffee deprived Mom was taking a shower. She climbed to her feet, and clambered onto the top of the counter, sitting there facing Luke and dangling her legs. Looking at the back of his head as he was making her coffee, she burst out laughing. He had a big, fat blueberry pancake sitting on the backwards brim of his hat! Oh, joy, this was the funniest thing she had ever seen in her life. Hearing her laughing uncontrollably, (and who wouldn't with all the noise she was making?), he turned around.

"What?" Lorelai snorted, and pointed a shaking finger at him.

"How're ya doing, flapjack?" she choked out. Luke looked rather confused.

"Huh?"

"T-the hat! C-check your hat f-for d-dam-m-mage!" She could barely talk she was laughing so hard. Giving her a strange look, Luke took off his hat, and looked at it. Seeing the pancake, he tried to frown, but ended up grinning. She actually had a good reason to laugh, this time. She was looking at him, smiling that crazy smile of hers, and holding her hands out.

"That's what I want for breakfast. That pancake, right there." He sighed, and slapped it on a plate, putting the plate, some maple syrup, a pat of butter and a large mug of coffee with the little marshmallows she liked in it on a tray, and setting it down on the counter, near where she was sitting. Since the diner wasn't officially open yet, and Taylor was nowhere in sight, he carefully sat down next to her, hoping any awkward moments that might ensue would stay far away.

Between sudden giggles, as she wolfed down the pancake that had been sitting on Luke's hat, Lorelai was thinking very hard. She was thinking about whether Taylor's hair was real, about Rory's boyfriend Dean, and whether he was a good guy or not, and about the shoe sale at the nearby Payless where she had seen the cutest strappy sandals, but mostly she was thinking about Luke. Or more specifically, whether he would get mad if she tried to kiss him again. It was very tempting, considering how near he was sitting, reading the same beat up paperback book as last night, and how his flannel shirt, (blue this time) fit his muscled frame perfectly... How did the guy ever find the time to work out, anyway? He was always busy with the Diner, or Taylor, or something else that bothered him, usually her. Another thing that was slightly worrying Lorelai at the moment, in addition to all the other thoughts buzzing around in her head, was the fact that she still felt so comfortable with Luke. For example, they had kissed last night, more than once. Rory had even walked in on them, horror of horrors, and they had still been comfortable with each other excepting the "curtain" comment. Having never been with a guy that was just a friend first, Lorelai found it hard to grasp this concept. Why didn't she feel all weird and embarrassed? Why didn't she feel at all nervous about Luke, or what he thought about her hair and clothes, or where this relationship was going, like she usually did with guys? Why don't you just shut up and enjoy it, instead of scrutinizing it to pieces? Lorelai shook her head, and gulped down her last piece of pancake, along with some coffee.

"Sooo...plaid clad diner-man." Luke raised one eyebrow and closed his book.

"Are you making fun of my clothing?" Lorelai put on an innocent face, and sipped daintily at her coffee.

"Why, no, of course not. How could you even say such a thing? Don't you know how respectful I am of you?" Luke snorted softly.

"You, respectful? That'll be the day." Lorelai uncrossed her legs and hopped off the counter, putting on an extremely fake-looking hurt face, tossing her hair disdainfully, and walking away, as if to leave. Luke caught her just before she got to the door, and daringly wrapped his arms around her waist from behind hoping she still felt the same way about him as she had last night.

"Where do you think you're going?" Lorelai sniffed as if insulted, turning her head away to hide her grin.

"Nowhere, now." She could feel his heart beating against her back; that was how close he was holding her. God, this was really nice. Carefully and rather shyly, Luke started gently kissing the side of her neck, right under her ear. Lorelai tried not to laugh too much, but it tickled! He was just teasing her now. She decided to get back at him. Turning around, she got as close to his face as she could, only a paper-thin space away from his lips, and waited, grinning at the impatient look on his face. 30 seconds went by, then a minute, then a minute and a half. Luke was looking more annoyed every second, and finally he couldn't stand it anymore.

"You sure know how to irritate me, don't you?" he growled. She laughed softly, so as not to overwhelm him with coffee breath, although she had the feeling he didn't really care. She wrapped her arms around his neck, still not making their lips meet.

"It's what I do best."

"Lorelaiiii..." he whined, almost sounding like her with a bad case of coffee withdrawal for a second. Hmmm...Lorelai withdrawal. It should be in the dictionary! She decided to stop torturing him, considering that he was her only good food and coffee supplier, and also considering that he was almost trembling, which made her feel guilty.

"Okay, okay, don't have kittens." She leaned closer, and gently touched her lips to his, humming her "Luke" song in her head. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her towards him, making her gasp softly when his fingers grazed the skin exposed above her jeans, where her tank top was slightly pulled up. Lorelai kissed him harder, her fingers tangled in his hair, at least the part that wasn't under the stupid baseball cap he always wore. About the hat though...wasn't that the one she had given him? A while ago, like about six months, she had noticed that his green cap was getting a little ratty looking, so she had bought him a new blue-colored one as a spare. He seemed to like the green one so much, though, that she doubted the blue one would ever be separated from its price tag. But to her surprise, the very next day, he had worn her hat. The green one was never seen again. Wow. I think the diner-man song was right! He loves me! At that thought, Lorelai felt so giddy and scatterbrained that as she was stroking little circles on the back of Luke's neck, because he seemed to really like it, if the shivers she could feel going through him were any clue, she realized she was humming her diner-man song out loud. Suddenly, Luke reluctantly stopped kissing her, his lips lightly trailing down her neck, making the middle of her stomach feel like there were little butterflies flapping around in there...but in a very good way.

"Mmmmm..." she sighed, feeling very happy and relaxed in his arms.

"Lorelai?" he whispered.

"Mmm-hmm?"

"Why are you humming 'my bonny lies over the ocean?" She giggled with embarrassment, wondering how to explain this one.

"Weeelllll..."

"Yes?"

"I kinda made up a song." Luke grinned, and waited with interest, watching her squirm uncomfortably.

"Do I have to sing it?" He grinned harder, enjoying this. Usually she was the one who made him feel awkward. He was going to enjoy this while it lasted.

"Yeah, you do."

"Or what?" Luke didn't even have to think very hard on this one.

"Or you get de-caff coffee."

"Nooooo, you wouldn't, it's cruel and unusual punishment!"

"Try me." Lorelai sighed, and started singing softly, and a bit off key. When she got to the end, she could barely bring herself to say the, "Hee, hee!" part. But she did. When she was finished, she looked up into his piercing blue eyes, and smiled hesitantly. He smiled back, and took a deep breath, daring to say the words.

"It's all true." Lorelai beamed uncontrollably, feeling giddy again. He had confirmed it! He did love her! Wow! Wow-oh-wow this was amazing, and all in less than 48 hours! But uh-oh, now he was looking at her with something scared in his eyes...duh Lorelai, the guy just admitted that he loves you. He's looking for something in return...a bit bird-brained today, aren't you? Look at you now, talking to yourself instead of telling him you love him! Because she did. For a long time, she had shoved the knowledge into her sub-conscious, trying to keep from getting hurt. But day by day, week by week, year by year, and coffee by coffee, he had made his way into her heart, that amazingly honest, and brave, and rather handsome java-god who was standing in front of her right now, her with her jaw hanging open at all of these revelations. Lorelai shut her mouth, and then opened it again.

"Luke...I think, I mean, you know, I mean no, you don't know, not yet, but you will. You see, I think, no I know...do you know? No, how stupid of me, of course you don't, I haven't told you yet..." Luke was looking rather confused.

"Okay sorry, here you are, waiting while I try to tell you that I love you, and I'm pretty much bungling it up. Okay, I'm going to say it now, don't worry; I'm just like this because I need more coffee. But—" Luke pressed a finger to her lips to keep her from babbling more.

"You just said it, Lorelai." And then he kissed her again.

Many moments later, in the middle of exploring her mouth, Luke remembered something. He gently broke off the kiss, kissing her more and more gently, and finally parting himself from her lips. Lorelai muttered in annoyance, Frowning up at him.

"Whydya have to stop for?" Luke laughed softly, stroking her face.

"I just remembered something."

"What?"

"Where's the witch hat you promised me?" Lorelai glared a mock glare at him, and reluctantly walked over to her purse to dig it out. Shaking out the hat, she looked pleadingly at him.

"Do I really have to wear it for the whole day?" Looking at her very convincing puppy-dog face, he laughed again. Might as well make it easy on her.

"You have to wear it for ten minutes, when the diner opens."

"Whhhhhyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeee?"

"Because the only people who are ever here during the first ten minutes of the day are Kirk, Patty, and Taylor, and probably Rory." Lorelai frowned again.

'Those are the exact people I don't want seeing me in it!" Luke just grinned at on!"

"Alright, alright. If you wear it for ten minutes, you get two free cups of coffee." Lorelai glared, tapping her foot. He always knew just how to manipulate her. She wouldn't do it! But...the coffee...plopping down on the barstool with a huff, she crossed her legs and sighed.

"You drive a hard bargain, mister." Luke grinned, shrugged, and sat down next to her, with his ratty old paperback. She glanced over sideways at him, read the title of the book, which was "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", and leaned against him. All was quiet for about two seconds, and then she opened her mouth again.

"If I wear it for twenty minutes, do I get a free breakfast, too?" Luke smiled, absentmindedly playing with a lock of her hair.

"You've got a deal."

THE END! MUAH HA HA HA HA!

P.S.Hope you liked it!

Britt