Part 8
The girls came in the diner about an hour later than Luke expected. "You're late, I'm almost out of blueberry pancakes."
Rory sighed as she collapsed into a chair. She threw a withering stare at Lorelai. "What?" Lorelai asked innocently, glancing up at Luke, a brief smile passing over her face.
"What!" Rory exclaimed. "It took you an extra 30 minutes to be ready, that's what." Luke couldn't help but chuckle.
"It did not." Lorelai huffed into her coffee cup. "I was doing other things. Not primping."
"It sure looked like primping to me."
"You're 17, there's nothing to primp!"
Luke watched the exchange with a bemused expression on his face. "Okay. I'm leaving now. Pancakes?"
"Of course." Lorelai smiled up at Luke.

"So?" Luke asked when Lorelai came up to pay. She frowned, puzzled at the leading question. "Our dinner? Tonight? You forgot."
"No, no, I just...I had other things going on." She smiled shyly at him and Luke looked down, blushing.
"I'll see you at seven?"
"Sounds good. Bye." She walked out the door, her arm around Rory. Luke was surprised to see her come back in a few minutes later.
"I forgot something." Lorelai replied to his look, her cheeks flushed. "I think it's in the back."
"The back? Why would it--" He inquired, following her into the storage room. She grinned at him a second before pulling him towards her and giving him a long kiss. Luke was taken aback for a second but responded, deepening the kiss, his arms wrapping around her waist.
She pulled away slowly and smiled devilishly at him, winking. "See you tonight."
"Did you find what you forgot?" He teased and she paused at the door, giving him a shy nod and another smile before she was gone again.

Luke was leaving to pick up Lorelai for their first official date when he saw a familiar figure making their way towards the diner. He paused by his truck, squinting into the dusk. "Lorelai?"
She looked up in surprise. "Oh, hey!"
He surveyed her outfit: the light blue of her tank top set off her tan and the short skirt she wore accentuated her long legs. Her hair was in loose curls, a few pulled back on each side of her head and the rest falling around her shoulders. "Uh, hi. I was getting ready to come pick you up."
"Oh," she frowned and then laughed nervously. "Well wouldn't that have been embarassing." Luke smiled at her, unsure how to respond. "I was coming to meet you. I didn't--I would have been on time, which means I was ready early because I left my house a few minutes before seven. You should feel lucky."
He laughed at that. "Why do you think I'm leaving now? I was giving you a couple extra minutes to get ready."
"Mmm, smart man." She murmured as she realized the space between she and Luke had grown smaller. She placed a hand on his chest, admiring the fact that he was dressed nicely: a polo shirt, the sleeves pushed back to his elbows, and nice pants, something different from his everyday uniform. "You look nice."
"You look...beautiful." Lorelai blushed, ducking her head at that. He slipped his arm around her waist as he led her around to the passenger side. The worn interior and musty smell of the truck were familiar to her and she was suddenly very aware how odd it was to be in Luke's truck as a date, instead of just a friend or neighbor he was helping out.
"So where are we eating?"
"Anywhere you want. Your choice."
"Oh wow, so much power already."
"Don't let it go to your head," Luke smiled and tried to be serious. "I dressed up for this so we better not go to Taco Shack or some place like that."

Lorelai giggled. "Fair enough. How about Altruda's? Its not far."
"Sounds perfect."

Once they order, Lorelai realizes they've already exhausted their chitchat about the restaurant and menu and she'll have to come up with something else or the date will turn into a dud. Luke solves that problem for her though.

"For the longest time, all I heard you talk about was opening your own inn with Sookie. What happened to that?"

Lorelai hadn't thought about that in awhile. Not since she had gotten involved with…Max. It surprised her to realize now that he had interfered with her plans. Actually, he probably had no idea about her plans, but it was easy to place the blame on him. She wondered briefly what Luke would do. He probably would encourage her in whatever she wanted to do. "Wow," she shook her head. "I don't know. We kind of stopped talking about it after…well, when Max and I got engaged." She glanced down, not wanting to see Luke's reaction to the subject of Max. "And now Sookie's pregnant. I don't know how she'd feel about it."

"You should ask her. I thought it sounded like a great idea. That property was perfect too."

"It was, wasn't it?" She paused, remembering how it had all come about. The Rachel property. "Thanks for reminding me. Although being a business owner is a little overwhelming."

"I think you're up for the challenge." He replied softly and Lorelai brightened. This was easier than she imagined: being here, with Luke. It was nice. Secure. She realized, however, that as long as they had been friends, she still didn't know a lot about him. Heck, she hadn't known about Rachel until two months before she showed up. Of course, maybe he had always intended to tell her things but couldn't get a word in. Me and my big mouth. "Do I talk too much?" She asked suddenly.

"What?" Luke paused, his hand in midair, transferring a piece of bread to his plate.

"It's not a trick question. Just, do I?"

"Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition," Luke mumbled, still looking baffled.

"Sorry, it's just—I was realizing how much you know about me but I don't

think—I'm not sure I could pass a quiz on you."

Luke didn't object, instead he half smirked at her for a second before asking, "Well, what do you want to know?"

Lorelai shrugged. She hadn't thought that far. "I don't know. Basic stuff. Your middle name. Your mom's name. Your favorite color. Favorite movie."

"Okay. William is my middle name. It's my dad's name and my dad's dad's name. My mom's name was Elizabeth, which is also my sister's name. We're not very original with names."

Lorelai laughed. "Neither am I."

"Um, my favorite color is red. Or green. No, I don't really have a favorite color. And favorite movie, well, you probably know I don't have one of those. Do you?"

"Mmm, there are too many to choose from, my friend."

"Which one are we watching tonight?"

"Oh well, we don't have to," Lorelai flushed slightly, suddenly realizing how much Luke paid attention to her constant blabberings.

"See how dinner goes first?" He asked.

"Yup, it's a firm rule in the Gilmore dating handbook."

"Please tell me there's not an actual handbook."

"Oh there is. You better read up, mister."

He leaned towards her, his voice low. "So we're really doing this?"

Lorelai glanced around in fake astonishment, her gaze more serious as it fell back to Luke. "Yes, we are."

They didn't make it back to Stars Hollow to see a movie. Instead, they'd ordered dessert (and coffee for her) and stayed talking until they realized the time and that the restaurant was closing soon. Luke had dropped her off, given her the sweetest goodnight kiss she could imagine, and Lorelai practically floated inside. Once she shut the door however and her heartbeat had slowed down, Lorelai realized that her date with Luke was making her face the events of the past couple months. She had tried not to, but found herself comparing Max and Luke. It made her feel awkward and very aware that she had started this relationship with Luke so quickly after her problems with Max.

But Luke was different. Everyone had watched them flirt and banter and even fight over the years. They all knew the story: of the grumpy diner owner and his crazy customer and how they had become such good friends. And apparently Sookie (and everyone else in town) had just been waiting for them to finally see and take their friendship to the next level.

Lorelai didn't like to think of herself as flighty. She kept telling herself that Luke wasn't just a temporary comfort but someone who had been permanent in her life, and she was simply seeing him in a new light. She slipped off her shoes and set her purse on the stairs, walking into the kitchen and cracking open Rory's door to see if she was still awake. In the darkness of Rory's room however, Lorelai could detect her daughter's heavy breathing and crept out again, heading upstairs. Sookie and Rory had promised her she wasn't in the wrong, but why was all this still bugging her? Luke wasn't the reason for her problems with Max. She knew this. She brushed her hair, washed her face and brushed her teeth, shuffling into her room to change and fall into bed. She sighed, fluffing up her pillow, and turned out the light. She closed her eyes, realizing that only with time would everything resolve itself. Instead, she focused on the way Luke's arm fit around her or the taste of his lips on hers as she drifted off to sleep.