A/N: Hope y'all are still enjoying it...more soon.

Chapter Twelve

"Luke I love you"

His first reaction would have been "What?" However, realization dawned on him and he figured, putting Lorelai's self-esteem in best interest, he shouldn't question her. He needed to go with this, and say what he'd known for eight very long years.

"I love you too, Lorelai," he stated, his voice just above a whisper.

But that was all she needed to hear.

As the couple stood on her front porch, hugging, crying (lorelai, not luke) and rejoicing, the phone rang inside the house.

"Should you.." he began.

"Let the machine get it, I'm in love," she said, lowering her voice once she got to the immediate revelation.

"We're in love," he corrected.

She let out a sob-this, him, it was all perfect.

After the hugging resided and Lorelai wiped her eyes on Luke's flannel, and everyone involved had calmed down a little, the couple enjoyed a dinner out on the porch.

Halfway through her burger, Lorelai looked up at Luke, who was delicately munching down on a salad. This wasn't unordinary-she'd been staring at him the entire evening. But he finally caught this glance.

"What?"

"Do you realize that porches seem to be monumental in our relationship," she asked, though it was more a statement than a question.

"Wha-oh!" he said, getting it, " The Dragonfly porch was fairly monumental wasn't it?" he said, teasingly.

"Just a bit," she admitted.

0o0o0o0o

The next morning, Lorelai checked her messages, remembering the forgotten phone call.

BEEP

"Lorelai, it's your father. I'd like to have lunch with you sometime soon. Call my office back to set a time"

This is odd, Lorelai thought. Dad wants to have lunch with me?

She dialed her father's line, then accepted the invitation, somewhat hesitantly, as the secretary jotted down the details and gave Lorelai a time and place to meet: noon tomorrow, at the Dragonfly. It was Richard's suggestion, the maid told her.

0o0o0o0o0o0o

"So then the secretary said something about how he wanted to meet at the Dragonfly to establish middle ground. There's something fishy going on…" Lorelai babbled to Luke at lunch.

"Maybe he wants to reconcile with you. They must miss having you at dinners," he commented, knowing Lorelai would shoot him down.

"No, that couldn't be it. My parents are much more devious than that; they always have an ulterior motive. Just wait, I'll bet that they are gonna propose that they lock me up in a dungeon, guarded, of course, by…" she continued.

The diner phone rang and Luke answered with a gruff "Hello?"

"Hey it's me. Are you free to talk?" asked Rory from the other end, quietly.

"No, bye" said Luke.

As he hung up, Lorelai looked at him suspiciously. "Why'd you hang up so fast?"

"Wrong number. More coffee?" he offered.

Of course, they'd set up a secret system. Lorelai was in the diner too often not to take security measures.