Chapter Two

Miss Patty's dance studio slowly filled up with people waiting to participate in Taylor's quiz night. Everyone was there on time at seven, except for Lorelai Rory and Sookie who arrived at 7:10.

"Its nice to finally have you with us ladies." Taylor said sarcastically.

"And its so nice to be here Taylor." Lorelai replied as she, Rory and Sookie took their seats.

"Right, now that we're all here, lets being. This months subject is musicals…" Taylor began.

"We so have this one girls." Lorelai said quietly. "Rory and I are Musical Freaks." Sookie, Miss Patty and Babbette all laughed but Mrs. Kim just sat there with a straight face.

"Okay so we need to establish team names and a team spokes person. So if you just write it on the piece of paper in front of you and pass it to the front." Taylor instructed. Slowly one by one someone from each of the teams took their pieces of paper up to Taylor.

They were half an hour into the quiz, and The Stars Hollow Posse were leading by a mile.

Then just what Lorelai had been waiting for, action. And once again it was Kirk who was going to regret his actions in the morning.

"Shut up Andrew!" Kirk said trying to hit Andrew but missed. "I do so have friends y'know."

"Kirk your drunk, sit down." Gypsy said pulling Kirk by the arm and yanking him to his seat.

"Has anyone ever told you how pretty you are?" Kirk slurred as he touched Gypsy's face.

Gypsy on the other hand wasn't amused, she grabbed Kirk's hand from her face. "Touch me again Kirk and I'll chop this hand off and shove it…"

"Okay!" Taylor yelled. "The scores are as follows…"

When the quiz night had finished Lorelai was $50 short after paying Mrs. Kim what she owed her, then she and Rory made their way over to Luke's.

"Oh my gosh Luke, you should have been there." Rory laughed as she and Lorelai sat down at a table. "Kirk got so drunk he came onto Gypsy!"

"Then Gypsy threatened to shove a certain body part somewhere, where nothing should ever enter." Lorelai added pulling a face.

Luke raised an eyebrow and poured Lorelai and Rory their coffee. "So Rory, how have you been?"

Rory took a long sip, savoring every second. It wasn't everyday she had some of the worlds best coffee. "I've been good thanks Luke, just busy with schoolwork. How about you? What have you been up too!"

"Nothing much really, just work, the kids."

"Oh yeah how are they?" Rory asked like another curious parent, even thought she and Corey were the same age.

"Yeah they're good." Luke nodded.

"Don't forget about Alyssa's debut in the Stars Hollow Elementary production of Annie." Lorelai said.

"Annie huh? Who's she playing?" Rory asked.

"Annie." Luke and Lorelai said in unison, then laughed together.

Rory watched as Lorelai and Luke looked at each other, there was something there between them that everyone else could see but them. And Rory had made it her mission to get them together.

Luke then broke the stare shaking his head. "So how is your big sister treating you? Good I hope."

"As always." Rory smiled.

Corey then came skulking in, until he saw Rory and instantly straightened up "Hey Rory." He said trying to sound cool.

"Hey Corey, how are things?" Rory asked trying to sound just as cool as him.

"Good."

"Good."

Corey made his way behind the counter and grabbed a doughnut.

"Corey how many times have I told you about not eating things like that." Luke nagged.

Corey's face went red with embarrassment. "Dad!"

Lorelai laughed to herself, she loved watching Luke as the protective parent. Something no one really saw very often. Not in public anyway.

"I'll see you later Rory." Corey said as he made his way upstairs with his doughnut.

"See ya Corey. Hey Lorelai is it okay if I get off back to yours? I'm shattered." Rory said faking a yawn.

"We can go if you want hon." Lorelai insisted.

"No!" Rory said quickly. "No, you stay here I could do with a walk. To clear my head."

"Okay babe, you know where the spare key is. I'll see you back at home."

Rory kissed Lorelai on the cheek before getting up to leave. "Bye Luke."

Luke lifted his hand smiling, this was phase one of Rory's match making project. All she wanted was her sister to be happy, and she noticed she was her happiest around a certain diner owner.

"So." Luke said.

"So." Lorelai said copying Luke. "You should have been at the towns quiz. It was the best get together since the 24 - hour dance marathon two years ago.

Luke laughed. "I have absolutely no idea what you see in those stupid things. Anything that involves the whole town never goes smoothly. If someone just happened to be passing through from out of town, they'd think it was an insane asylum."

"Its not?" Lorelai started blinking her eyes and twitching. "Then I think I've come to the wrong town."

They both laughed, Luke then started to wipe down the counter, just as he went to pick up Lorelai's coffee cup she reached out for it too.

Both of their hands met, that electric feeling surged through both of them. They both kept their hands one on top of each other. Each wanting to take their hands off and not wanting too at the same time.

"Dad, Alyssa's spilt those little tiny beads everywhere." Corey said, Luke and Lorelai quickly pulled away.

"Okay, tell her I'll be up in a second."

Corey went back upstairs, totally oblivious to what he had interrupted.

"Well I'd…" Luke started, pointing at the stairs.

"Yeah and I'd better…" Lorelai said pointing at the door. She stood up and started to make her way to the door. "Night."

"Night." Luke smiled, he locked the door behind her and made his way upstairs.

0o0o0o0

"I can't believe I agreed to do this." Luke muttered to himself as he stood in the auditorium at Stars Hollow Elementary.

"Okay, and Mr. Danes if you would take charge with the maintenance side to things." Jodi Wells, president of the PTA, said.

Luke politely smiled and nodded his head, he looked around and saw people quickly scurrying off in different directions. He hadn't been listening to anything that had been said, so he didn't have a clue what he had to do first.

He was just about to sit down before being stopped by Alyssa. Luke looked down at his daughter and laughed. She was wearing a little red dress and her hair looked like she hadn't brushed it in a week. "Your really looking the part there Lyss."

Alyssa gave her father a sideward glance. "Your supposed to be helping Mr. Leftkovitz with the stage, not sitting down." She gave an over dramatic sigh before going of in another direction shaking her head.

Luke made his way up onto the stage and went over to the wings to see if anything needed doing.

"Umm. Can I help with anything?" Luke said tapping a woman on the shoulder.

The woman turned to face him. "We really need to stop meeting like this."

"Lorelai? What are you doing here?" Luke asked.

"I volunteered to help with the costumes. I do every year, what are you doing here?" Lorelai laughed.

Luke smiled. "Alyssa volunteered me."

"Hah, kids don't you just love 'em. And yes you can." Lorelai held out a pair of pants to him.

"Huh?"

"You asked if you could help with anything. Here hold these out."

Luke held them up as Lorelai cut the bottoms of them off.

Alyssa was stood with her friend Sydni when they both heard Lorelai laugh out loud. They quickly turned around to see Lorelai and Luke engaged in a cozy little conversation. Alyssa smiled, she always liked Lorelai, she was like a big sister to her.

"Who's that with your Dad? Is that your Mom?" Sydni asked.

Alyssa looked over at her Dad and Lorelai then back to her friend, before nodding her head. She liked the idea of Lorelai being her Mom. Well she thought she did anyway.

"This is a serious matter people." An aggravated Taylor shouted as the crowd began to get restless. "If we don't do something now, it will get out of control and then we wont be able to do anything about it.!

"Anything about what?" Lorelai asked as she came into the meeting.

"Nice to see you Ms Gilmore, now that we've nearly finished."

Lorelai totally ignored him and sat next to Luke. "What's he babbling on about?"

"He says we have a loitering problem." Luke answered.

"I do not loiter!" Lorelai said out loud, knowing that it would annoy Taylor.

"Not you, the teens of this community. They intimidate people when they're hanging around outside of stores…"

"You mean your store Taylor." Luke asked.

"Umm…Well yes, mine is one of the said establishments that they are loitering outside of. But there is also your diner too Luke, and the bookstore."

Andrew looked up. "Since when? I've never noticed any teenage loiterers outside of my store."

Other people then started to question Taylor's argument, not many of them had encountered any teens hanging around outside of their businesses.

"Order, order people." Taylor said banging down on his gavel. "Okay you may not have seen them, but I and a few other member of the community have."

Everyone looked around and Kirk seemed to be the only other person nodding his head. Taylor then signaled for Kirk to turn off the lights as he produced a slide projector.

"And here is your proof people." Taylor started to flick through a few pictures, then came a few of Luke's Diner.

"Whoa. Wait a minute." Luke said standing up. The pictures were of his sons and a few of his friends. "How id that loitering? That's Corey outside MY diner."

"He shouldn't be hanging around outside, it puts people off from entering."

Lorelai laughed. "But Taylor he lives there. Where else is he supposed to go?"

Taylor sighed. "How about inside out of the way, he has a home there's no need to hang out on the streets."

"Have you ever been in Luke's? There's barely enough room for the three of them up there." Lorelai said.

"You cannot tell my son and his friends where to hang out, especially if its outside of my diner." Luke said stomping his foot down.

"I am not telling him where he can and cannot hang out. I'm merely suggesting that he stops hanging around outside of certain establishments, along with the rest of his friends." Taylor said.

Lorelai could see the frustration on Luke's face, she tugged the bottom of this shirt and indicated for him to sit down. Luke sat down and endured the last five minutes of Taylor moaning, then once it was over he made his way over to the Diner in a hurry. Taylor had put him in a bad mood. Again.

Lorelai quickly ran after him as fast as she could, but considering the shoes she was wearing that wasn't very fast.

"Don't ever make me do that again." Lorelai said as she entered the Diner and sat down catching her breath.

"Who does he think he is? Telling me where my son can and can't hang around." Luke's face went red with anger. "He's making him out to be some sort of re-offending criminal. What does he want me to do? Put him on house arrest? The kid hasn't done anything wrong."

As Luke finished his sentence Corey came in through the Diner door.

"Right you." Luke said pointing his finger at his son. "Upstairs now."

"Huh? What have I done?" Corey asked in confusion.

"Nothing. Where is your sister? I asked you to watch her."

Corey pointed angrily at the door just as Alyssa walked in. "I took her out for ice cream. Caesar said he'd watch the Diner."

Alyssa smiled up at her father, her face covered with ice cream. Luke took a clean cloth from behind the counter and wiped her face, before turning back to his son.

"Have you, or any of your friends been harassing Taylor Doose?" Luke asked.

"No." Corey's tone clearly annoyed.

"So you haven't been standing outside of his store frightening people from entering? He reckons he's loosing business, because you and a bunch of your friends have been 'loitering' outside the market." Luke said even using the air quotes, making Lorelai and Alyssa laugh quietly to themselves.

"No! I have better things to be doing with my time than harassing Touchy Taylor. He just doesn't like me." The attitude in Corey's voice very apparent.

"Y'know, maybe THAT is the reason Taylor doesn't like you very much. Because right now Corey, I'm not like THAT very much"

"What?"

"That attitude of yours." Luke stated. "I don't know where it came from, but I sure as hell don't like it. SO I suggest you drop it and learn to have a little more respect."

Corey sighed and went to say something, instead he headed straight upstairs.

"Get back here! We haven't finished talking." Luke shouted up the stairs. He turned back to Lorelai and gave her a frustrated look. "I'm fighting a loosing battle."

"He's not that bad Luke. Its his hormones." Lorelai said sympathetically as she draped her arms over Alyssa's shoulders.

"You've obviously never met my sisters kid Jess. I don't think it's a hormone problem, I think its in the genes.

I promise more Rory in the next chapter! And someone else also makes an appearance!