A/N: Okay, so I intended to do a lot with this chapter. First of all, I wanted to finish it yesterday, but it didn't happen. Then, I wanted this to be the last chapter, but I got a little carried away as usual. So, expect one more chapter after this. That said, I dedicate this chapter to LLfreak8285 because the poor thing had to work on Christmas.

Chapter 4: Dreams, Late Night Calls, and Unexpected Results

Lorelai sat up in bed with a start, gripping her beating heart while looking around the dark room. She turned to her right; no one was beside her. She let herself fall back on her pillow trying to calm her breathing. Good, but scary dream. She hated having weird dreams when Rory wasn't there to interpret them. Ironically, that's usually when she got her most intriguing ones. Still lying on her back, she slapped her palm on her nightstand, hitting her fuzzy alarm clock and nearly knocking over her lamp before her hand made contact with her cell phone. Lorelai flipped it open and realized anew the wonders of cell phones in the dark; light-up buttons! She let her fingers find the numbers while she closed her eyes. She had long ago memorized the sounds made when she dialed her daughter's phone number. Pressing the phone to her ear, she waited out the dial tone and was met with a groan:

"Die!"

"Well good morning to you too, daughter of mine."

"Early…no morning…morning sleeping."

"Well, I need you to wake up because I am in dream crisis mode and I need you to be my Pavlov."

"Pavlov?"

"Still early. That's the first famous psychiatrist that came to mind."

"Salivating dogs?"

"Yeah well, I'm very coffee deprived…Ooo, wait, Freud. Be my Freud."

"What made you think of Pavlov before Freud?"

"Ah, the wonder that is my mind. So, are you going to help your mother or not?"

"The doctor is in."

"Nice. Very good 2 AM Peanuts reference."

"Are you going to tell me your dream or not?"

"Jeez, someone's not a morning person."

"Hello kettle, you're black."

"You know, you are pretty good at this early morning banter stuff."

"Would you just get on with it!"

"I had a dirty dream about Luke." Lorelai heard silence on the other end, followed by laughing. "What? This is not funny. Did you hint any hilarity in my voice? Did I follow the words 'dirty dream' with "nyuk-nyuk-nyuk.'"

"No you didn't imply that it was. I tacked on my own Three Stooges laugh track to the end."

"Okay, so help me out here. Get down to business. Chop chop!"

"Well, I'm going to need more details than 'dirty dream about Luke.'"

"Do you honestly want me to go into detail?"

"God, no, never mind…Do you want to hear my short interpretation?"

"Hit me."

"You want Luke."

"Psssh, give me another one."

"You can't just ask for a new interpretation."

"But. I don't like that one."

"Well, you are going to have to live with it, because unless there were pink elephants flying around your naked body or psychedelic wall motifs, I got nothing but you and Luke and the dirty deed to go off of."

"How did you know that pink elephants were Luke's sexual fantasy?"

"Mom!"

"What? You can have fun at my expense, but I can't have my own fun."

"I'm going back to sleep."

"Noooooo, waaaiiitt!"

"What?"

"I left out a minor detail that may or may not help out your little dream interpretation."

"And that is…"

"Well, I kinda, sorta, briefly…kissedluke."

"You what?"

"I kinda, sorta, briefly kissed Luke the other night."

"Oh…my God!"

"Yeah."

"You kissed Luke!"

"You left out the kinda, sorta, briefly part."

"Well, what kind if kiss was it? Was it just a peck? On the cheek? On the lips? Did you guys make out? I can't believe you kissed Luke!"

"I know. One minute we were sitting down and talking about the ghosts of our Christmases past, and the next Luke's hand was stroking my face and his lips were almost touching mine."

"And…"

"And…well…we kinda brushed lips and the doorbell rang, remind me to kill Taylor later, and Luke got up off the couch fast, awkwardly said a few words to me, and left."

"Wow…"

"I know."

"Have you and Luke talked about it since then?"

"More like actively avoiding each other."

"Mom!"

"Well, it's not always my fault that I go into the diner when it's busy."

"Yes it is! You know when Luke's is busy. You are avoiding him."

"Well, what am I supposed to say to him?"

"Okay, you could…or…no, um, you could say that…uh…well…"

"See, not so easy is it?"

"Well, I'm not the one who kissed him."

"He's the one that initiated it. I think it's only fair that he's the one that should bring it up in conversation."

"Mom, are we talking about the same Luke here? Mr. Backwards Baseball Cap? Master of the monosyllable? You know as well as I do that he's not going to bring it up."

"Yeah," Lorelai breathed out with a sigh, "You're right."

"Yes I am. Are you ready for the rest of my advice?"

"Shoot," she said with little enthusiasm.

"Talk to Luke. Talk to him before you guys become strangers."

"You are wise beyond your years."

"Sometimes I think I'm wise beyond your years."

"Definitely years above my maturity level right now."

"Talk to him, Mom. I'm going to bed. Night."

"Okay, night hon. I love you…and I will."

Luke lay in bed on his back, staring up at the ceiling. It was officially twenty minutes before his alarm was scheduled to go off and he couldn't go back to sleep, even for a little bit. In fact, for the past three nights he had been met with restlessness. Luke tossed and turned at night, haunted by his dreams. He dreamed about Lorelai. He dreamed about kissing her, touching her, making love to her, and even making coffee for her. It was blowing his mind. The days weren't so bad; he could get his mind off of her long enough to get work done. But the nights were beginning to be pure torture. Luke was still unsure what had motivated him to go for it and try to kiss her. It wasn't a kiss like he hoped it to be, but their lips touched for a brief glorious moment before they were interrupted by Taylor. Damn Taylor. Then, there was the issue about Lorelai avoiding him. I guess I'm one to talk. I haven't exactly been the one to make time for her when I do see her. Maybe I don't want to talk to her because I'm afraid of what she will say. Or what this will do for our friendship. I'm attracted to her and I think a relationship would work if we were both willing. I would be lucky to have her and a damn fool to let her go. I guess it's all up to Lorelai now. I'm already in. I guess I've always been all in.

Lorelai saw Sookie off to her crazy, redneck Christmas weekend that morning and was having a hard time concentrating on her work. Rory's advice ran laps in her thoughts and all she could think about doing was trying to find a way to talk to Luke. She had been daydreaming different scenarios all day, much to the chagrin of Michel. Now, she took out the reservation book and opened it, but suddenly didn't remember why she had grabbed it in the first place. That's it! I need to go see Luke before I lose my nerve. She grabbed Michel's wrist to look at his watch.

"What do you think you are doing?"

"Checking the time." 2:30. Perfect! Luke's will be dead.

"Please do not touch me again."

"Aw Michel, I think you have the hots for me. Listen, I need to go for about twenty minutes. Just stay at the desk and don't yell at any employees or guests while I'm gone."

"I will try, but I make no promises. People are especially irritating during this horrible holiday."

"Merry Christmas, Michel," she said with a smile in his direction. Michel scowled back.

"I loathe you."

Luke was wiping off the counter top in his empty diner. Well, nearly empty; Kirk had been sitting at a table by the window for over three hours now. He was pretending to be in France again. Luke had stopping paying attention to his duty long ago, about the time Lorelai made her first lap in front of the diner. She was now on her third. Luke had started a fresh pot of coffee right after the first. Lorelai walked right up to the door and looked like she was actually going to open it this time. Nope, she shook her head and turned and walked off the other direction. She must know that I'm watching her. Well, fifth times the charm with Lorelai, I suppose. The bells over the door jingled and Lorelai walked in, looking a bit more confident.

"Luke, are you busy?" Luke looked directly at her, then turned his head slowly to both sides.

"No, I'm not busy. What can I get you? Coffee?"

"Not right now, uh, we need to talk." Here we go…No coffee, this is serious.

"Okay. Uh, do you want to go upstairs or do you want me to kick Kirk out?"

"As funny as it would be to see you kick Kirk out, we should probably go upstairs." Luke put down his rag and Lorelai followed him behind the curtain and up the stairs. She took deep breaths attempting to calm her beating heart and still the thoughts of being alone with Luke in his apartment. Rory's voice was in her head, Talk to him. You can do this. Luke opened the door and let her go in first. She had the desire to pace the floor but dug her heels in, determined to appear level-headed in front of Luke.

"So…" Luke said after closing the door, standing in front of it and looking straight into her eyes. God, I hate when he does that. Actually, he looks sexy when he does that. Stop it, Lorelai! Focus, focus.

"So…" she responded, not being able to look away and definitely not able to focus. Before she even knew what she was doing, Lorelai practically pushed Luke against the door and kissed him hard. She had surprised him, his stance was stiff. She felt him melt underneath her and allow his hands wrap around her waist and crawl up her back. He deepened the kiss, trying to regain the control he lost when she pressed her lips to his. One of Lorelai's hands was wrapped around Luke's neck, the other near his lips. She got that 'weak in the knees,' feeling again, glad that Luke's arms were around her to support her weight. Lorelai couldn't think, she only knew that she wanted to kiss Luke and it felt good, right even. Luke was in the same position as Lorelai, while his hands dug into and memorized the curves of her back. The kiss was fast and full of built up passion. It ended slowly as they mutually pulled apart. Luke was still against the door and Lorelai was still in his arms, relishing the feeling.

"Okay," she began, finally finding the words to speak, "that's definitely not what I came in here to say."

"That," he responded in a low, gruff voice, looking sexier to Lorelai than he did a few moments ago. He had a cocky, lopsided grin and his hand had found its way into her curls and was now playing with them, "Was not what I was expecting you to say."

She laughed, and it sounded beautiful in his ears. He kissed her this time, starting out slower than before. He pulled his back away from the door, allowing Lorelai to wrap her arms around him. She pushed against him and he fell back against the door and groaned.

"Oh..mkay?" she asked, not taking her lips off Luke's.

"Door…knob," he responded. Lorelai broke apart and started giggling uncontrollably. Luke laughed too and stepped away from the door. They reluctantly let go and Lorelai stood shyly in front of him.

"We should probably talk for real now," he said, grabbing her hand and leading to the bed. He stopped when they were half-way there, then shook his head and took her to the couch. She smiled and looked up at him. He met her gaze and smiled back. She knew what he was thinking; it was probably not a good idea for them to be on a bed right then.

"So…" he said.

"So…" Lorelai responded, "We're back to where we started."

"Not quite. We just changed positions." Luke couldn't bring himself to stop grinning. He just kissed Lorelai Gilmore! Twice!

"True, true," Lorelai said, amused by Luke's upturned lips and sly expression. She liked this side of him. It was almost playful.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." She said tentatively.

"What are we now?"

"You mean, are we dating?"

"I guess that's what I was trying to ask."

"I don't know. Do you want to date me?"

"I think it's a definite possibility."

"You're toying with me."

"Could be," Luke said, looking into her eyes. She thought he might kiss her again, but instead he found her hand and laced their fingers together. The sensation sent chills up her spine.

"Well, I suppose its not really official yet."

"Nope, guess not."

"Luke, do you want to go out with me tomorrow?"

"I can't," he said seriously, and her face dropped, "I already made plans with my friend Lorelai." She looked back up at him and Luke was smirking, "But I thin she would be willing to discuss this and other matters if we make it a date."

"Are you trying to flirt with me?"

"Sorry, it's a little rusty."

"No, it wasn't bad. But, work on it before tomorrow."

"I'll practice with myself in the shower."

"DIRTY!"

"Jeez. I'll pick you up at seven tomorrow. Don't dress too fancy."

"Ooo, what do you have in mind. We never really made official plans for our Christmas Eve."

"I have some ideas."

"Any chance you're going to tell me."

"No, you'll find out tomorrow," Lorelai grabbed his chin and pulled him in for a kiss. He was staring to respond, but she broke it off. Leave him wanting more…

"How 'bout now?"

"Lorelai," he groaned in his usual annoyed tone, but he kissed her lightly on the lips and then on the forehead. "We should both go back to work."

"Sick of me already?"

"Hardly," Luke said, opening his apartment door for her.

"Wanna watch me walk down the stairs?"

"Maybe," he said, his playful smile was back.

"I'll add a little jaunt for you," she stated and started to jiggle her hips a bit as she walked down the steps. Unfortunately, Lorelai's klutziness reared its ugly head and she tripped. Luke grabbed her arm, but she stumbled down a few steps just the same. He was grinning.

"Very graceful," Luke said when they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Shut up."

"See you later?"

"Yeah, later sounds good." Luke pecked her on the lips and let her walk through the curtain first. Lorelai tried to hide her wicked, "I just got kissed" grin, she really did. But, it was nearly impossible.

She floated on cloud 9 back to the inn and ignored Michel's jabs.

"You are late."

"Yes well, be that as it may, I am having a good day and there's nothing you can do to ruin it."

"I hate Christmas."

"Things are looking up this year."

A/N: Didn't adequately proofread this because it's now 2:11 and I'm tired. Well, did you enjoy this chapter? I know, I know, I say this every time, but let me know. I like to get reviews. They are like my mom's Christmas fudge to me! Oh yeah, guess what my reader friends? My aunt got a Luke's diner sign made for me! I was so excited. I've wanted one for my kitchen for months. It's gorgeous, let me tell you. I hope you guys had a glorious Christmas. I went shoe shopping today with some of my gift certificates. Ah, the simple pleasures of life…Also, I'm getting the not so subtle hints about updating my other story. Don't worry, I'm getting to it. I promise you, I will finish as soon as I get this story over with.

So, I posted the last chapter and realized that I didn't respond to Muffin's Pooh question…Creatively, the rabbit in Pooh was named Rabbit. Gotta love A.A. Milne.