On to the third chapter already! Man, am I making progress here or what?

Again, loving the reviews! And still unintentionally making the weird noises.

StephieM: It's so nice to be appreciated! (I feel like a snobby movie star or something...yes, thank you, adoring fans!) Lovin that YOU'RE lovin the a/n's because was a little iffy if I was the only person who appreciated rambling a/n's. And now there's you! And if you want to only read the stories for the a/n's, go right ahead. Although that's a little strange, isn't it? Better read all of it, just to be safe…

Darkness: Thanks for all the 'sit down!'s. I felt like I was on Dora the Explorer. "We're going to need you to stand up. Stand up please! Up! Up please! Up up up! Staaaaaand UP!" The next time I read my story after reading your review (I read my own story every time I check for reviews just to see if it's getting any better) I thought of Luke jumping out of a cake and I laughed. Well, on the inside, because my dad was in the room. I promise to listen to everything you say to me and I'll try to get you a t-shirt.

Jennalynn: Yeah, after I posted it I was like…"Hold on there, Hanna." (I talk to myself frequently.) "It's 5:30 in the morning! What in the name of Norman Mailer's iced tea obsession would Jess be doing primping at 5:30?" So I just told myself that there was obviously a very good reason for this. Maybe he wanted to get up early to go to the dance. Or maybe he heard something about a worm for a prize. But then I remembered that I don't plan ahead and that I was wrong. So take any reason you want. Make up your own, even.

Sorry about that. I bet most of you didn't even read that. It probably wouldn't take you that long if you wanted to, really. Two minutes, tops. And that's if you're an uber slow reader. Us zippy readers could probably finish it in 30 to 60 seconds. Unless there was some up-getting for snackage in the middle. And then if you add this part, which I am rapidly making longer by typing, it just increases the time wasted. So moving right along…

Dis to the claimer: Gilmore Girls…that's the name of the game…where we…write stuff about it…but alas with...no gain...and um…then we…disclaim...and decide never to try an amusing lyrical disclaimer again…hey that semi-rhymed didn't it?

Safety Dance

Chapter Three: Hey, You. Ready to Get Physical?

Lorelai's heels clicked on the sidewalk as she and Luke rushed towards the dance hall. Well, Lorelai was rushing. He was more…walking with a purpose.

They reached the check-in table with 12 minutes to go until the starting obnoxious-horn blowing.

"Morning, Babette. You're up early," smiled Lorelai.

"Hey, doll. You two are dancing together?" commented Babette with a wink. "You're sure to sweep the floor here. Knock the other guys flat on their asses, I betcha!"

"Sure, Babette," cut in Luke. "Can we just do this because we're a running a little late here."

"Oh, of course, sugar. Just go get your physicals, bring your release forms on inside, and they'll get you both your numbers."

"Thanks, Babette."

"Yeah. Have fun, you two!" she called out in a suggestive voice as they ventured inside.

Lorelai and Luke were just climbing the steps as Sookie came running up to them in a frenzy. "Hi! Hi Luke! Lorelai, can I talk to you for...for just a sec?"

"Oh, sure, hun," said Lorelai, slightly puzzled. She turned to Luke. "Hey, can you go on in and get us some release forms? Met you inside in a couple of minutes."

"Yeah. See ya in there. Bye Sookie."

Sookie grabbed Lorelai's elbow and pulled her away a little. "I have a problem."

"Hit me."

Luke stepped in the room, picked up two release forms, and, restless, walked on over to the door to the actual dance floor. "Tasteless," he muttered, catching sight of the paper ribbons and balloons. He leaned against the doorway, lost in thought.

He hadn't given too much thought to this whole dancing-with-Lorelai thing. He had this thing for trying not to be too physically close to her because he wasn't sure whether he could trust himself to remain sane. But now he was going to be holding her very close to him for 24 hours. Although he tried telling himself it was a bad idea, he couldn't help but be a little…excited, he guessed was the word. Not that it was a word frequently used to describe Luke Danes.

He sighed and made his way into the room to see if he could scrounge up some coffee for Lorelai when she came back.

"So, wow. I can't believe that," mused Lorelai.

"I can't believe the part where I agreed to it." Sookie sighed. "Hey, I guess we should get back in there. Jackson's probably waiting for me."

"Yeah, and Luke is probably pacing around something or yelling at Taylor about the volume of his megaphone."

Sookie gasped. "That's right, you're here with Luke! So you and Luke? How did that happen?" She nudged her friend with her shoulder suggestively.

"There's no 'me and Luke' here, Sookie," said Lorelai, raising her eyebrows a little at her friend. "The story is- Rory couldn't danced with me so I begged Luke to do it."

"And he agreed?"

"I have powers beyond that of which I can even conceive," giggled Lorelai.

"Over Luke, at least," pressed Sookie.

"He's just very impressionable. Boys," sighed Lorelai.

"Hey, you. Ready to get physical?"

Luke whirled around and caught sight of a grinning Lorelai. "I'm assuming that's your way of saying we need to get our physicals."

"Maybe," winked Lorelai. "But either way, we do need to get our physicals. It's an extremely important part to the dance marathon process."

"I'm sure. Although I've never really been to one of these before," admitted Luke.

"Are you in earnest? What a Unabomber. You're seriously missing out."

"Yeah, I'm 'in earnest.' Didn't seem like much. You come, you dance for a day, you drop dead the next day."

"That's pretty much it. But you forgot the fancy dresses and drunken Taylor," prodded Lorelai, leaning against him for a second.

"Now that I've gotta see. Oh, here." Luke handed her a mug of steaming coffee.

"Ah! Now where did you get that?" She inhaled the steam and took a sip. "Hello!"

"Yeah, nothing says good morning like silent death." He leant in a little closer, his breath hot on her ear. "And if anyone asks, I did not get that from Taylor's bag."

"Ooh! Theft was involved! You do care."

"My options were either doing this or putting up with a coffee-less Lorelai for 24 hours. It's bad enough for 10 minutes in the morning, and I did not want to find out the prolonged effects. I have a feeling it's not pretty." He gave a devilish grin. "Now…let's get physical."

Lorelai was surprised. "Luke Danes does have a playful side after all? My, my. I'm going to have to see if I can get it to show its face more often." She smiled at him for a few seconds and walked over to the table. Luke admired this process from behind with a lopsided grin on his face.

With 5 minutes till kick-off, Luke and Lorelai strode out onto the dance floor. "It's like Bedlam in here."

"Yeah, only with poofier skirts," responded Lorelai. She straightened out suddenly and put a stony face on as she saw Kirk approach.

"Kirk."

"Lorelai. I see you've decided to show your face without a partner."

"Excuse me!" scoffed Lorelai. She linked her arm securely with Luke's and stepped close to him. "I happen to have a sought-after and extremely unattainable partner on my arm. And we are going to, to put it lightly, apply painful pressure to your posterior."

"Luke is dancing?" questioned Kirk, startled.

"Apparently," growled Luke.

"Luke, I'm shocked. Why, when I asked you to dance with me a few weeks ago, you said that you would not participate in this insane town event if someone paid you, and especially not with me, and that you would rather eat your own head then dance with me or anyone else, and that if I asked you again that you would shove my head into a frying pan. It was quite colorful."

Just then (thank god) the loud irritating horn sounded and Kirk disappeared with a wounded face. "Places, people!" came Taylor's voice. "We're on a schedule! Now, a recap of the rules- stay moving and stay touching the whole time."

Lorelai awkwardly moved closer to Luke and put a hand on his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her waist, and they clasped their other hands together.

"10…9…8…"

She threw him a quick grin. "Well, this is it. Last chance to make a break for it. Want to run?"

"7…6…"

He shifted closer to her. "I think I'll stick around for a bit, see what happens," he murmured in his low voice. Shivers ran up Lorelai's spine as his voice vibrated through her ear.

"5...4…"

"Well, let's do this then." She flashed him a playful smile. "You don't know what you've gotten yourself into."

"3…2…1…"

"It's showtime!"

You might have, being the perceptive creature you are, realized I changed their dialogue even where they'd probably have said the same thing they did in the real one. I just really want to avoid using the real dialogue as much as possible. Because then the disclaimer gets messy and then I stay awake at night, tossing and turning, dreaming about how scary internet men with thick glasses and a deep knowledge of HTML will chase me and pummel me with keyboards and then excommunicate me. So anyway. Read and review, you know the drill.