Disclaimer: I unfortunately own nothing to do with Gilmore Girls (except my DVDs)

A/N: This story takes place during no particular time frame; just know that Luke and Lorelai are not together (yet…). As always, reviews are greatly appreciated. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1: The Incident

The diner was peaceful that morning as she shuffled her way through the door, the bell jingling loudly above her. It was only 5:30, and Kirk was sitting by himself at his usual table by the window sipping a hot drink. He looked up quickly when Lorelai entered; he wasn't used to other people coming into the diner before six.

"You're up early Lorelai."

She only grunted in response. Her bleary eyes scanned the room for any signs of the diner's proprietor, but the only thing she saw was a slowly filling coffee pitcher behind the counter. "Luke!" she hollered hoarsely. A few seconds passed without any sound and Lorelai plopped herself down on a stool at the counter. "Luke, I need coffee!" Still no answer. "Kirk, how'd you get coffee so early?"

"Oh," Kirk held up his mug, "this isn't coffee."

Lorelai was so not in the mood for Kirk when the sun wasn't even up yet, but she played along. "What is it then?"

"It's hot chocolate. My mom says coffee's bad for you; it stunts your growth and makes you sterile."

Lorelai snorted, and would have laughed if not for the extremely serious tone Kirk had used. Thankfully Luke walked down the stairs and into the diner at that moment, deflecting Lorelai's attention away from Kirk's issues. His face brightened for an instant, and then went neutral again as he noticed who was sitting at the counter. "You're up early."

"Is that all anybody can say to me anymore?" Lorelai pouted.

"Good morning sunshine!" Luke said in a painfully cheery voice as he grabbed an extra large coffee mug and set it down in front of Lorelai, pouring her a full cup. "That better?"

"Oh yes, much." She took a deep drink from her coffee, and kept her eyes trained on a spot on the back wall. Luke's eyes turned away from her as well as he concentrated on scrubbing a spot on the counter that could not possibly be dirty, as it had not been occupied since the diner had opened that morning. After several awkward minutes passed, Lorelai started digging around in her purse, finally finding a few crumpled bills. She laid them down beside her now empty cup, tapping her fingers lightly on the countertop to get Luke's attention. "Well, I better get going. Got an inn to run and everything."

Luke just nodded and picked the money up off the counter, bringing it over to the cash register without looking up. After Lorelai turned around and stepped outside, Luke's gaze returned to watch her, and his eyes followed her all the way across the street until he saw her stop and turn abruptly around to look back at him. She stood there for a moment with her hands on her hips, and then she started waving for him to come outside. He shook his head and pointed at Kirk, motioning that he had a diner to run and wasn't going to go running down the street just to see what she wanted.

Lorelai's hands returned to her hips and she slumped slightly, sighing, looking torn as to what she should do next. He watched her, holding his breath quietly, feeling as though something significant were about to happen, and that's when she started jogging back to the diner. This act alone stunned Luke slightly, as he had noticed earlier that she was wearing unbelievably high heels (ones that had made her legs look particularly amazing he had thought), and Lorelai wasn't one to mess up her fancy shoes by running to come see him of all people. But she was quickly approaching the diner door, and when she entered, her mind seemed to be far from the potential damage to her footwear.

"Luke we need to talk." She was staring him right in the eyes now, not wanting to pretend anymore.

"About what?" He stared right back. Was she really doing this?

"About last night." Kirk's head popped up at this small admission, and Luke shot him a 'don't go there' glance.

"Caesar!" Luke yelled toward the kitchen. Caesar's head popped through the doorway, "I'm going upstairs for a while, can you handle the diner for me?"

"Sure, you go on. I've got it covered."

"Thanks." Luke turned back to Lorelai and gestured to the stairs. "After you."

They both entered Luke's small apartment quickly, and then stood just staring at each other for a few minutes. Once the silence became unbearable, Lorelai spoke, "So about last night…"

Sunday Night

Babette's House

It was only 10 o'clock, but every person at Babette's anniversary party was completely trashed, Lorelai included. The fruit punch had consisted of about one cup of actual fruit juice for every ten cups of vodka, or at least it seemed that way to her. Morey, Babette, and Miss Patty were all sitting around the piano singing loudly and very off key, but they were all having a blast, and Lorelai was standing by the window with her flushed skin pressed against the cool glass rocking back and forth to the beat. She could feel a pair of eyes watching her from the other side of the room, and she let herself find those eyes after pretending that she hadn't noticed he'd been watching her all night.

Luke had only come to the party because she'd asked him to bring over some food and then wouldn't let him leave. He had a few glasses of punch and then she didn't have to do anymore convincing, he didn't even try to get away. They had spoken a few times since he'd joined in the festivities, but she kept getting dragged away by some crazy town member who wanted to dance, or by Miss Patty who wanted to gossip about the men at the party. But the more Lorelai had to drink, the more her thoughts kept returning to the flannel clad man who had been standing in the same corner for at least a half hour doing nothing but watch her every move. And now, she held her breath as he started making his way through the crowd over to where she was standing. He didn't stop walking until he was right next to her, standing so close that she could see each tiny bloodshot vessel in his eyes and feel the heat coming off him in waves. There had only been a small number of times Lorelai could recall that they had been this close to each other, and even in her drunken state she knew why neither of them allowed themselves to. It was much too tempting, and getting harder and harder to resist.

Luke reached out and grabbed her hand then, as she realized that Morey was playing a much slower song and couples had started swaying in the middle of the living room. She let Luke lead her to the middle of the floor, and if it was possible, her head got even cloudier the second Luke's hand snaked around her waist to pull her flush against his chest.

Lorelai sighed and let her head rest lightly on Luke's shoulder as they swayed to the music, and she felt him kiss the top of her head, and slip a hand under the back of her shirt. Her eyes opened slightly as the reality of what Luke was doing slowly made its way around her tipsy brain, and she knew she should stop him. But why? She thought. The circular pattern Luke's fingers were tracing along her lower back was driving her mad, but only in the way that she wanted more. It felt better than she had ever imagined having Luke holding her close like this, and she didn't see why she should deny herself, or Luke this moment. So she continued swaying, completely unaware that all eyes in the room were on them.

As the song stopped, and silence fell around them, Lorelai finally let her eyes open only to be met with stares and smirks from almost everyone in the town. She glanced up at Luke, who also seemed to have noticed their rather intimate position in the middle of the living room, and they both stepped apart, reality crashing down around them. What the hell was I doing? Lorelai thought, glancing around for a quick out, she spotted a space between guests over by the kitchen, and with one apologetic glance in Luke's direction, she bolted, not stopping until she reached the porch of her own house. She plopped down, heaving in the swing and rested her head in her hands wishing that she hadn't had so much to drink. A thousand thoughts were swimming around her head, What have I done? How could I have done that to him? God his hands felt good on me…Lorelai stopped. Where did that come from? No matter how much she tried to deny it, Lorelai knew that deep down she had been attracted to Luke for a while, and it had been inevitable for their feelings to get out eventually. She just hadn't been prepared for it to happen so soon, and truthfully she hadn't really even admitted to herself that there were any feelings there at all. But now, after that little show everyone in the town saw first hand just how much they were attracted to each other, and she had left Luke in there all alone to fend for himself. A pang of guilt shot through her, but it turned into worry as she saw Luke come out of Babette's house, headed straight for her. Oh God, oh God. Lorelai opened her mouth to speak, to do anything to take away from the seriousness written all over Luke's face, but was stopped by his finger on her lips. So natural for such an intimate gesture.

"Don't say anything, let me get this out." Luke took his hand away and shoved it in his pocket, and started pacing in front of her. "Lorelai I…" he stopped, searching for the right words. She held her breath. "Do you know…" he started again, but clamped his mouth shut in frustration. This was not going how he planned. He stopped pacing and stood right in front of her, staring her down, daring her to run away. He saw the fear in her eyes, but there was something else there as well. Something he had never seen before, but seemed oddly familiar. He took a step toward her then, he could formulate no words for how he felt about her, so he was just going to have to show her once and for all.

He let his hands go to her face, rubbing her cheeks softly with his thumbs, then letting one finger trace her bottom lip lightly. Lorelai gulped, and Luke slowly pulled her to him letting their lips finally touch after all those years of wanting and waiting. He was only slightly surprised when she threaded a hand through his hair, bringing his mouth closer to hers, and pushing her body against his as close as she could get it. He heard her groan as she opened her mouth to him, and their kiss became deeper, and Luke had to physically force himself to pull away. He kept a hand outstretched touching her shoulder, keeping her from coming close to him.

They both stood staring, breathing heavily for a few moments, amazed at how great that kiss had been and how much they both wanted to do it again and again. Luke removed his hand from her and slowly started backing his way down the steps of her porch, and was momentarily surprised at the flicker of disappointment that flashed across Lorelai's face at his departure. He wanted to stay there with her more than he had ever wanted anything in his life, but he knew he had to give her some time to process her feelings or she was going to freak out on him, and that was the last thing he wanted.

Lorelai watched him walk down her drive way in the direction of the diner until she couldn't see him anymore. Her finger moved back and forth over her kiss-swollen lips, still amazed at Luke's actions and just how much she had enjoyed them. Luke had kissed her. Luke. Luke Danes. Mr. Backwards Baseball Hat. And now all she could think of was how much she wanted to run after him and kiss him back, and tell him exactly what she was feeling. And that's when it hit her, she was feeling these feelings toward Luke, ones that she had never ever felt for another person in her life, and she hadn't even seen it coming. So she turned and headed back inside her house, locking the door automatically behind her, making her way mechanically up to her bedroom. All thoughts were of Luke and nothing but Luke; she had to figure this out now. It was far too important to push to the back of her brain, and it was not like she was going to be getting any kind sleep with her heart pounding like it was. It was all out now, and it was time she dealt with it like she should have done ages ago.