A/N: Feeling much better today guys. This one is slightly transition, but the next chapter will hopefully fufill all of your smutty cravings... hopefully... don't hold me to it. I'll try.
A/N2: Encourage people to read this story, i know it's long, but it's getting good! lol.

Chapter Seven

Lorelai walked back and forth in front of Luke's.
Going in would require confrontation, she thought. Although NOT going in could result in complete insanity and possible anxiety attack. Decisions, decisions…
Finally, she stopped pacing. Turning around, she headed straight for the diner doors, her heart thumping in her chest and her palms suddenly damp.

It was a beautiful day. The sky was speckled with random tiny clouds and the sun reflected off of every surface, especially the surface of the large banner hanging near the gazebo that read "Annual Campout Under The Stars – TONIGHT! Designate your tent placement and arrangement with Taylor Doose ASAP!"

Luke had seen her walking past. Three, four, five times, she looked up into the windows as she sped back and forth. The determined look on her face as she finally walked up to the door made his heart jump with what could have been either fear or something akin to excitement.
His stomach dropped however, when he saw Taylor stop Lorelai by the shoulder, sticking a clipboard under her nose. Distractedly, she took the pen he was waving at her and wrote something on the yellow sheet. Through the dusty glass, Luke could see that Taylor's lips were moving a mile a minute and Lorelai was nodding and half smiling just to get him off her back. After taking the clipboard back from her and returning the pen to its perspective pocket protector, he gave Lorelai a wide smile and walked away.
Finally she opened the door and walked in, avoiding Luke's gaze as she sat down.

Deciding to play it cool, he said, "What was that all about?" He gestured towards the door with his head while he wiped off Lorelai's habitual coffee cup with a towel.

She finally looked up at him, amusement and thankfulness sprinkled in her eyes.
"Some stupid sign-up sheet for the Campout tonight," she said. "You and I are in the same tent." She winked.
Luke's blood ran cold. His heart threatened to stop beating.
"Wh-what?" he finally stammered. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that there were customers that needed to be attended to, but at the moment, it was the least of his worries.
"I was kidding," Lorelai said, looking down. "I mean, I know you're not even going."
Luke let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"Why are you going? You don't even like camping," he said after he was able to compose himself.

Lorelai looked up, delighted at seeing the playfully challenging smirk on his face.

"For your information, I do, indeed, enjoy the many aspects of certain camping endeavors." She smiled up at him indignantly.
"Such as…" Luke challenged, placing the cup before her and filling it three quarters of the way.

"Such as…." Lorelai could think of nothing and just laughed. Luke soon joined her and before long, the tension was no longer palpable and the air felt fresh and clean.
Caesar called up an order from the kitchen as Luke set down a danish in front of Lorelai. He picked up his notepad, tucked it into the front of his pants, and headed off to deliver the order.
Even though the tension was rid from the air, Lorelai still had a large knot in her chest, which tightened considerably when Luke stuck the notepad down the front of his pants. She'd always been turned on by that.

Oohkay! Breathing would be good…inhale, exhale, oh God here he comes…don't flinch, DON'T FLINCH! She mentally yelled.
Something told her that it wasn't an accident when the side of Luke's arm brushed her back as he passed, carrying a pot of decaf – Lorelai shuddered at the thought of drinking it – towards another table. When he looked back over his shoulder, the dancing lights in her eyes told him to do it again. So he did. In passing, his hand traveled across her shoulder blades, his fingers leaving a trail of heat in their wake.
Lorelai sucked in a deep breath, and simply sipped her coffee, smiling.

Lorelai had considered staying home to be with Rory, but she'd insisted that Lorelai go to the festival and enjoy herself. Lane had come over and had promised to attend to Rory's every whim. Granted, the friends hadn't seen each other in over a week anyway – Mama Kim had found one of Lane's hidden Sex Pistols CDs and had grounded her; luckily, Lane was able to convince her that some boy at school had given it to her, and she was going to give it to the principal the very next day. Mama Kim totally bought it, but still made Lane go to church twice a day everyday for one week and restricted her from seeing anyone outside of school. And so Lorelai, understanding the need for slumber parties with girlfriends, left the house to Rory and Lane. She'd seen Rory pull out a bag of colorful Sharpies and had suspected that they were going to decorate Rory's bulky cast with all kinds of images, lyrics and sayings in a plethora of colors.

The walk to the campsite wasn't too bad. It was near the infamous lake where Jess had been pushed in by Luke on one of Jess's particularly mouthy days.

After she'd finished with work, Lorelai had decided that camping was nothing if you didn't have the right shoes. Of course. So she'd gone out and quickly found a pair of boots that look shockingly like Luke's in size nine. And just to mock Luke, she'd worn them into the diner, also sporting a large backpack and a sleeping bag, before heading out to the campsite. What she didn't know was that behind the counter, Luke had stored a sleeping bag and duffle as well, and was planning on surprising Lorelai by actually showing up at that joke of a festival.

Following the flow of Stars Hollow citizens, she was soon led to the site. The lake glimmered in the light of the afternoon sun and the scene was breathtaking. Tents were set up around the perimeter of the lake and among the trees just inside the edge of the woods.
There was a large cleared area to the right of the lake where stacks of wood stood waiting and ready to be lit for the bonfire to occur later that evening. A few tables were being set up by Taylor and his crew. One table had food – burgers, hot dogs and chicken grilled by Jackson and deserts made by Sookie and the Marie, the cake lady. Another table held four large coolers that contained soda, water, juice and milk. Yet another table contained snacks; there were bags of chips, cookies, chocolate bars, granola bars, pretzels, graham crackers, and of course, marshmallows to be roasted over the fire later.
Lorelai spotted Sookie standing near one of the tables with a few sheets of paper clutched in one hand, and little Davey clutched in the other. She hitched her bag up a little higher on her shoulder, and strode over to them.
"Hey Sook, where's Jackson?" she asked, giving Sookie a hug and Davey a kiss on the forehead. Davey had a little camouflage outfit on, and Sookie had a matching camouflage apron on over her jeans and blue shirt, her hair in pigtails.

"Oh, somewhere out there." She gestured towards the woods vaguely. "Kirk fell asleep and had one his little terrors and he ran off into the woods. Jackson went to catch him before he started stripping." She handed Lorelai one of the sheets of paper in her hand. On it, was a grid map of the campsite, and an itinerary of the evening's events.
"What's this, Cameo Joe?" Lorelai questioned, trying to read the strange markings and numbers on the map.

"Oh, that's your tent assignment. You're in tent number 10, right next to us! We're in 11." She winked at the next comment, "I hear that Luke might be coming."
"Wh-what?" Lorelai froze. Luke…coming… festival… Luke? She put her thoughts on hold to listen to Sookie. "Luke is coming?"
"That's what I heard from Babette and Miss Patty. Apparently Andrew saw him bring a duffel bag down from his apartment." Sookie said.

A voice sounded from somewhere close behind Lorelai. "It's true, suga."

Lorelai turned and saw Babette, dwarfed by her tall something-or-other, Morey.
"I saw it! There it was, just sittin' behind the counter. I mentioned it, and he just pretended not to hear me. I'm tellin' ya, I saw the duffle bag!" She looped an arm around Morey's waist, and spotting Miss Patty in the distance, bid Lorelai and Sookie goodbye.

Lorelai decided she needed to lie down. She gave Davey one last kiss, squeezed Sookie's hand, and set off in search of her tent.

$&(&$&(&&(

I tried to make this one a little longer. I'm working on the next one, and it should be done and posted within the next two or three days. Sorry if it's taking too long, i'm in color guard (flags) and the football season is keeping us busy. i'll try to update as much as possible.
R&R, thanks again, kiddies.