Chapter 23

One week later - Friday evening

Lorelai entered the Diner when Luke was busy with serving food to customers that he didn't notice her coming in.

Scribbling something down on his notepad, he headed back behind the counter when Lorelai approached him, "Heeeey you."

He looked up at her, slightly confused. "Oh my god, what time is it?"

"5.30. I know, I'm early."

"God, you almost gave me a heart attack here." he rolled his shoulders, taking a deep breath. "Cesar, two turkey burgers and a cheeseburger with chilli fries."

Looking up at him, she noticed Luke's expression and gave him a soft smile. "Hey, you're nervous, aren't you?"

"No, I'm not." Luke shook his head, looking away.

"Aww, of course you are." Lorelai lifted a hand up to his face, touching him softly. "You don't have to be."

"I'm not nervous."

"They'll love you."

"Don't say that because we both know that's hardly possible."

"Hm, yeah maybe but then I do."

"You do... what?" he looked at her, raising an eyebrow out of curiosity.

"I... you know..." before she could finish the sentence, her cell phone rang. Slightly relieved, she rummaged through her purse until she found it and flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Mom, hey."

"Oh hey Rory. What's going on?"

"Where are you?"

"At Luke's. Why?" Lorelai noticed Luke's glance and quickly turned away.

"Oh okay. I just got home from Lane and you weren't there, so I got a little worried.

"Oh no, everything's okay. I'm just at Luke's to help him to prepare for dinner."

"Prepare? Do you make him wear a suit again?" her daughter asked with a wide grin.

"A suit? Well maybe..."

"I'm not wearing a suit." Luke threw in, emphasizing the word not very clearly.

"He just said that he won't wear a suit but we'll see about that. You know that he can't resist my charm."

"Well then... I wish you a lot of fun."

"Don't be sarcastic, young lady."

"I'm not."

"Yes you are. You're just mean because you backed out of tonights Friday night dinner and leave Luke and me alone."

"It's the three month anniversary of Dean and me. He planned something big. Besides this, you're not alone. You have Luke."

"I know. I was just joking. Have fun and don't do anything I'd... okay, forget about that."

Rory shook her head, laughing. "Okay. Bye."

"Bye hon'." Lorelai put the cell phone back into her purse and met Luke's gaze. "What?"

He pointed at the "No Cell Phone" sign on the wall behind the counter. "You do know that I have this sign for a reason, do you?"

"Uhm, really? And I thought it's just for decoration." she gave him her best smile, throwing her hair over her shoulder. "How often do I have to tell you about my rights as your girlfriend?"

"Rights? You mean all those things you're doing for years? Like coming behind the counter, taking coffee yourself, walking into the kitchen whenever you're hungry, using your cell phone. Are you talking about all this?"

"Hmm..." Lorelai pretended to think for a moment. "...yes. But I'm not doing this for years."

"Yes, you do."

"But what about the thing from Wednesday?"

"Wednesday?" Luke asked confused.

Lorelai rolled her eyes, grinning from ear to ear.

"Could you please tell me what you're talking about?"

She leant forward to whisper into his ear. "Storeroom... you and me... remember?"

One word was enough that Luke knew what she was talking about. Blushing slightly, he answered. "That was just one time and it was your idea."

"Who says it wasn't?" she wiggled with her eyebrows.

"You started it while I was unpacking my Wednesday delivery."

"Yes, totally innocent. I know. But you can't say that you didn't like it too." Lorelai smirked and moved around. "Cesar? We're upstairs. Can you take over?"

Cesar pointed his head out of the kitchen and nodded. "Sure. No problem."

"Good." Lorelai grabbed Luke's arm and pulled him up the stairs.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"Preparing you for dinner." she walked to his closet and opened it. "So, what do we have here?"

"Ah geez, Lorelai. Don't make me wear my suit."

"C'mon, you look great in your suit."

"But I'm not feeling very comfortable in it. I look like one of those snobby businessmen. And you know I hate those guys."

"Honey, you look lovely in a suit. Not that I don't like your everyday style but 'gentleman Luke' kinda turns me on, you know." she gave him a wide grin.

"Oh really?"

"Yep."

"But no tie and no white shirt underneath."

Lorelai turned around and rummaged through his closet. "The blue one?"

"The blue one's fine."

"With black pants and black jacket.

"That's a deal."

"Good."

"And you didn't forget what's after dinner?"

A smile was playing on her lips. "Of course not. You're going to the firelight festival with me. " she threw her arms around Luke's neck.

"That's right."

"Poor Luke. This is going to be a bad, bad day for you. My parents, a town event... and everything just because of me."

"But it was my decision to attend to both of them, remember?"

"I know but…"

"Because of you.

"You're so sweet." she glided her hands down to his shirt and started to unbutton it.

"Right back at ya." he grinned and met her lips in a gentle kiss.

xxxxx

They walked up to the Gilmore House and waited a moment before they rang the bell. Lorelai moved around to look at her boyfriend, adjusting the collar of his jacket, a small grin on her lips.

"What?"

"Nothing. A few images just raced through my head."

"Like...?"

"You, wearing your flannel and baseball cap and my mother opening the door. Wouldn't it be funny to see her reaction to this?" Lorelai flashed him a grin.

"Yeah, extremely." Luke shook his head and reached up to ring the bell.

A moment later the door opened and Emily looked at them. "Lorelai. Luke. Come in." She stepped aside and gestured them in. "I'm so glad you could come, Luke."

Luke helped Lorelai out of her coat and slipped out of his own jacket. "Yeah, me too. Nice to see you again, Mrs. Gilmore."

Emily's eyes wandered from Luke to Lorelai, "Lorelai, your dress looks pretty."

"Why, thank you Mom." she looked slightly confused because it was not very often that her mother made some compliments about her outfits. When she thought about it, she couldn't even remember the last time.

"Let's go into the living room. Richard, they're here." she called into the direction of his home office and made her way over to the living room.

"Seems like we caught her in a good mood today." Lorelai smiled and reached for Luke's hand, following her mother.

They sat down on the sofa next to each other, still holding their hands.

"'What do you want to drink, Luke?"

Luke turned to look at Lorelai and asked her, whispering. "Is beer okay?"

"Sure, honey." she gave his hand an assuring squeeze. "We're taking a beer, Mom."

"Damn it, Richard." she called again before she handed both their beer, sitting down across from them. "I told him not to start a phone call. Richard?"

"I'm coming. I'm coming." Richard hurried into the living room. "Lorelai. Luke. Sorry, but I had this important phone call to make. Luke, I'm glad you could make it today." he walked over to shake his hand.

"It's a pleasure, Mr. Gilmore." Luke answered politely, giving him a smile.

Richard sat down next to his wife, looking at Luke and Lorelai and their joined hands. "So..." he started after a while. "how's everything?"

"Good. Fine." Lorelai nodded smiling.

"Good to hear that." his eyes wandered to Luke. "As far as I know you'll run a Diner?"

"Yes, that's right. It was my father's. Well, actually it was a hardware shop before but I changed it into a Diner and it runs pretty good."

"You get the bestest coffee there. God, you have no idea how delicious it is. One of your cups of coffee would be just perfect right now, hon'." Lorelai threw in, sighing deeply.

"Later." Luke whispered and turned back to Richard when he started to talk again.

"And how long do you know each other?"

"Uhm, how long?" Lorelai mused and met Luke's eyes with a smile. "Four years?"

"Yes, four years." he smiled back at her.

"And how do you met?"

"It must have been at Luke's, I guess."

"It was. You came for a cup of coffee."

"Of course. What else could you've expected." Emily said, her eyes wandered from Luke to Lorelai.

Luke let out a small laugh. "So true. She came in and pleaded for a cup of coffee but I was busy with serving food to other customers, so I told her to wait a few minutes until I get back to her. But she followed me around and really started to annoy me."

"That's not possible." Lorelai grinned.

"Sure, it is. Then you opened the newspaper and flipped to the horoscope page. Of course you wanted to know my sign. To make you shut up I finally told you."

"Yeah, I counted five colours of red on your face." Lorelai looked down and chuckled slightly, thinking back on that specific day.

"Then you took a pencil and scribbled something down. Do you remember that?"

"Sure. I wrote, you'll going to meet an annoying woman today. Give her a cup of coffee and she'll go away."

"So I gave you your coffee."

She looked up grinning and met his eyes. "But I didn't go away."

"Not really." They were staring at each other for a moment before he continued. "Thank god, you didn't."

"I don't believe you still remember all this."

"How could I not remember the day you came into my life."

Oh god, I love this man. "You have a point here."

"I kept the horoscope too." Luke whispered softly.

"You kept it?"

"Yeah." he caressed her fingers with his thumb.

„Wow, you kept the horoscope all those years." Lorelai smiled from ear to ear. She couldn't believe it.

Emily watched them and realized that maybe this time it was different. She could almost see the sparks flying when they looked at each other. Or the way they talked to each other. And she could definitely see that Luke cared for her daughter. Yes, he cared for her a lot.

xxxxxx

After dinner they drove back to Stars Hollow and parked Luke's truck in front of his Diner before they walked over to the town square where the famous firelight festival already started.

Hand in hand they crossed the street, when Lorelai asked, "You want some of that killing party punch?"

"Maybe later."

"I'll remember you." Lorelai said grinning.

"I bet you'll do." They finally stood in front of the fire, slowly turning towards each other.

"Wow, there's something going on here." Lorelai looked around the square before her eyes settled back at Luke again.

"Yep, crazy people."

She tilted her head to the side, never leaving his eyes. "And you're one of them."

"Geez, I know." His eyes fell on the floor when he chuckled slightly.

"The Dinner went really well, don't you think?" she turned towards the fire again, rubbing her arms.

"Yes. Hey, are you freezing?"

"Nah, just a little."

He stepped up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her close to him. "Better?"

"Hm hm." She nodded smiling, cuddling into Luke's embrace.

"Good." They stood there in silence, just watching the fire. "I think the dinner didn't go that bad at all."

"Because my mother likes you. I told you before but you wouldn't believe me."

"What? Do you think she'd show me directly if she wouldn't like me?"

She answered laughing, "Sure. What do you think? It's my mother we're talking about."

"I know how my charm works."

"I know that too. Oh, and the suit. Don't forget the suit. That was definitely a huge plus." She tilted her head back a little to meet his eyes.

"Yeah. Thanks for making me wear it."

"You're welcome." She slowly turned around in his embrace, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Still cold?"

Lorelai shook her head, intertwining her fingers behind Luke's neck. "Not really."

"Good."

"Luke?"

"Yes?"

"There's something I wanted to tell you." She nervously shifted from one foot to the other.

"Okay, what?"

Swallowing hard, she looked away for a moment to gather her thoughts. "Uhm, it's just… you and me… this is just great."

A smile was playing on Luke's features. "Yes, I know that. Actually it's more than great."

"And look how long it took us to get here. Four years. Four years you were in front of me. I saw you everyday and not just once. And I still can't believe that you kept that horoscope. That is just the sweetest thing ever. I mean, four years. It took me four years to realize what I'm feeling for you. And I really don't wanna lose that. I don't wanna lose you and I don't know what…"

"Hey, you won't. I promise." He put a finger under her chin and made her look at him.

Closing her eyes for a moment, she took a deep breath. "Good. That's good. Because the reason I don't wanna lose you is because I love you. And… and I couldn't bare to lose what we have. Sure, our friendship was great too. We could always depend on each other and it was kind of special all the time but this is different and maybe you don't see it the same way but I do. And it doesn't change the fact that you mean more than anything to me. Well, except Rory but that doesn't count anyway because she's my flesh and blood. But I just wanted to let you know that this thing between you and me… what we have… that this is… you know… unique. And I really, really, really don't wanna lose you. Ever."

What did she just say? Luke's eyes were focused on her. He couldn't believe his ears. Did she say the words he longed for so long to her from her? Those magical three words?

Her heart sank. Why didn't he say anything back to her? "Luke?"

"W-what did you just say?"

"That I don't wanna lose you."

"No, before."

"That you mean a lot to me?"

"No. Something else."

"Uhm... that Rory is my flesh and blood?"

"No."

"That I don't believe you kept the horoscope?"

"Lorelai."

She swallowed and whispered. "That I love you."

He placed his hands on either side of her face and pulled her into a warm and gentle kiss.

Out of breathe they pulled apart. "Oh god, I love you too. And you have no idea how much." Luke finally whispered.

Lorelai's lips twitched into a smile before she pulled him into a second kiss, more passionately this time. And neither of them did care about Babette and Patty who were watching them with great interest from the other side of the street.

End

Wow, okay. I finally found to an end. LOL I thank everyone for reading my story and for all those nice reviews. They meant a lot to me... you have no idea! :) It was really fun writing this story with all those sweet JJ tenderness I'd love to see on the show. But we didn't get that much so far, didn't we?
Anyway, thanks again to all of you. :)