Friends Doing The Twist
By Gilmoregirl1979 (the reigning Quote Queen)
Provider of QUALITY Fan FICTION!

Rating: PG-13

Hi this is your friendly disclaimer: I REJECT ASP's REALITY AND SUBSTITUE MY OWN! Once again, I don't own (DAMN IT! DAMN IT DAMN IT DAMN IT DAMN IT!), No Harm No Sue. (JUST GIVE ME A JOB and we will call it even!)

R/R: yes please I love reviews; I wanna marry them (as previously stated, I have strange passions.)

Luvz: I miss you

FEATURED BETA: localizy, thank you for putting up with my compulsive persnickety changes…
special thanks to pickwicknext for the encouragement!

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End flashback
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Chapter 3:
Oy With The Morning After Already!

Her remembering completed, Lorelai sat silently in his bed, dumbfounded at how things had gotten so out of hand. Then she jumped into action.

"Luke…" Now free from the affects of alcohol, Lorelai tried to shake him awake. "Luke, wake up…"

"Jeez… what?" he groaned as his eyes opened and focused on who he was with, "…Lorelai?" naturally surprised to see her of all people.

"Hi," Lorelai smiled lamely.

"What are we…?" and he then saw their predicament.

"I think we got… a little carried away…" she winced.

"Oh My God…"

She agreed, "Yeah, to say the least."

On his tiny bed, they separated under the covers, tucking themselves in again on their respective sides, trying not to look at each other. Lying on their backs, ever so carefully as to avoid touching skin on skin under the covers, once again, a difficult task on a single bed. They each absorbed the situation while staring at the same spot on the ceiling, both trying to recover from their surprise. Lorelai pulled up the sheet over her chest as she settled on her side, amazed they could both fit fairly comfortably on the twin mattress, yet still seeing random flashes of what else they did on the twin mattress. Both were waiting for the other to say something…some humorous commentary on their situation, but each knew this was serious. The annoying tick of Luke's old-fashioned alarm clock was all that could be heard in the middle of the night. Lorelai peeked over at Luke on his side of the bed and Luke seemed to be recalling on his own what had happened, "Oh God…Lorelai… I'm so sorry."

Leave it to Luke to nobly take all the blame and beat him self up over their shared situation. "No… no it was the both of us…" she admitted, her eyes going up to the ceiling again, realizing for the first time Luke had seen her naked, then figuring that was the least of her problems. Lorelai was unsure if she could look him in the face again.

"But I just… used you…" Luke reproached himself.

That statement snapped her head toward him, "You did not use me…" Lorelai insisted, and she couldn't help but take his hand in hers as she consoled him. She knew he wasn't listening, and could tell he was going to make this out as entirely his fault. She propped up on her elbow again, and with her left hand on his cheek she forced Luke to look her in the eye, "You were upset…and hurt… and angry at Nicole… and honestly so was I…" It was strange to be in such an intimate setting with Luke, even though in recent years he had become one of her closest friends; that is what made this situation so hard. "…I was here, Luke, I was willing… it was … the both of us…" and more flashes of the events distracted her as she tried to figure out who exactly started what and where.

Luke took a deep breath and realized, "but … I cheated on …my wife," completely disgusted with himself I sunk to Nicole's level… I wanted revenge… and I ruined everything, my marriage… my friendship with you…

Lorelai knew that is what he'd remember and she decided to remind him "she cheated on you first… who knows how many times…"

"Thanks," he said dryly.

Her observation obviously wasn't helping… "That's not… you know what I meant …"

"They don't just cancel each other out, Lorelai," he argued, "what she's done… is wrong … but so is this."

"You were upset…" Lorelai said again quietly, thinking of how happy and safe she felt when she first woke up, surprised to discover that Jason had never made her feel that way…and that Luke had. Lorelai sat up away from him, figuring, as much distance as she could put between them was best. She readjusted the sheet around her to stay covered.

"Make up as many excuses as you like… this still was … wrong" Even so; Luke did get a conflicted amount of satisfaction that he was with Lorelai while Nicole was with her sock man.

"Well, lecture all you want but it still happened… and we…" she emphasized so he knew they were in this together, "…now …have to deal with that…" She wondered what this meant for their longstanding friendship… for his marriage, and for her and Jason's future.

Luke sighed, "Well at least it was just the once…"

Then Lorelai suddenly remembered, "Umm twice…actually," as even more flashes invading her head and she tried to push the images of Luke and her out of her mind, she just couldn't deal with the enormity of the situation.

"What?"

"We … you know... twice…" here Lorelai was an intelligent sophisticated female, but the situation had her resorting to referring to the sex she had with her best friend… as "you know".

"We did?"

"The first time… was… in the diner…" Lorelai winced, hoping he wouldn't be too upset.

"In the diner?" the unorthodox location obviously surprised Luke, and he sat up at attention to look her in the eye.

"On the floor… "

"Please … tell me you are kidding," he begged her.

"I think my bra is still behind the counter," Lorelai recalled with almost certainty.

"We …" he still couldn't believe it…and his mouth open and closed a few times before making any sound, "…behind the counter?"

"Yup…" she shyly pressed her lips together.

"How did we get up here?"

Again the details were a bit fuzzy, "Well I think… Kirk was passing by… or something… and I didn't want him or anyone to… you know, see us… like that… sooo, I gathered up what I could of our clothes… and woke you up enough to get you up stairs… and well I think… we were still a little … tipsy... and we… you know… again…up here."

"…And I just used my best friend…" he chastised again.

"Luke, we are two consenting adults… you were willing, I was willing…"

"We were drunk…" he regretted, if ever in his life he was going to sleep with Lorelai Gilmore, Luke at least wanted it to be something worth remembering.

"Hey, I was mad at Nicole too, I wanted to get back at her too." Lorelai didn't know what else to say but to confess, "If it makes you feel better… you didn't cheat alone."

"Well, it takes two to tango…" Luke rolled his eyes, as he leaned against the headboard.

"No, I mean… I was... unfaithful too," God I hate that word… it sounds so… condemning.

"What?"

Lorelai never really talked about her relationships with Luke, he always had a problem with her guys. "I've been seeing this …guy… Jason… the last few months..." Lorelai explained, "and well, tonight, umm … or last night rather… he gave me the key to his apartment… and he made this big deal of how this is the most committed relationship he's been in and how he's finally taking things seriously. And he's pouring his heart out to me… and… well, I realized… I didn't feel the same."

"Are you saying… you used me? To break up with this guy…"

Lorelai defended herself, "No! ... No," she looked him in the eye again for only a moment, but then looked down and began to nervously play with the sheet around her "… I just… I didn't plan this… it just happened… all the pieces fell in to place… and things played out… the way they did…"

"Uh huh."

"Luke, I wouldn't do that to you… you know me… Jason and I had a date last night and he explained the key and his feelings… and I thought about it… and I knew then… I didn't want to be with him any more… then I got your call and we found out about Nicole… and … everything… just… happened…"

Luke was cautiously gauging her feelings on her boyfriend, "So you… don't want to be with this guy…"

"No…I don't"

"And it has nothing to do with tonight?"

"Well" maybe a little … now that we've … been together… and I now know what I was missing… "I mean he is nice and fun… but he's from that world… you know, my mother's world, that world I ran from, that vapid world of exclusivity that I hate… Oh, and my mother… you know how nosey she is, and heaven forbid if she finds something out two seconds after anyone else… I mean there is such a thing as proximity… geographical and emotional… I don't feel like letting her in to my life because… whenever I'm happy about something she always find a way to tear it down… and well, I fully meant to tell my folks about me and Jason… but the longer things went on, the harder it was to approach the subject… the harder it would be to explain …and it doesn't help that he is my dad's business partner… and my folks don't know about it…"

"How old is this guy…?" again wonder if she'd date anyone, even her father's no doubt ancient business partner, before she'd see him.

"He's my age…" Lorelai defended, "We went to summer camp together… we met up again when he went into business with my dad… and… well anyway, it was just a bad idea from the start… it was for all the wrong reasons… " Yeah Emily let's blame Emily for this whole mess.

"So, are you gonna tell him… about this?"

"Well, I could spare his feelings… considering … I don't know … are you gonna tell Nicole about this?"

"I don't know… I mean… what grounds for divorce do I have if I've had an affair too?"

Divorce? An Affair? Is that what this was? It sounded so scandalous to Lorelai, especially given their small town and its gossips… especially considering the straight-laced man that was Luke.

They were quiet, but well aware that they were still skin on skin under the covers.

"Luke…I don't … know what to do now… " Lorelai admitted honestly.

"What do you mean?"

"Well," it was awkward for her to ask, "Should I go home…? I mean… we just…" had sex, "…and well I don't know if you feel better about Nicole… or worse for what we did…"

"I don't know… my head is still pounding…" and Luke rubbed his tired eyes.

"Okay…" that's not an answer buddy…and she nervously played with the bed sheet again, "umm…"

Seeing her shy uncertainty, seeing a chance to spend the night with her, no matter how much of a nightmare the situation was. Luke took her fidgeting hand and finally whispered, "Stay". After all he had been through that night, after all they had been through together that night; he wanted Lorelai to stay close.

The way Luke was looking at her confused Lorelai, she could tell he was in pain and didn't want to be alone, but at the same time, he had something shining and pure in his eyes, and she liked the way he was looking at her, "Are you sure?"

"What's the harm now…" he shrugged, wanting to get back to sleep and praying this wouldn't make things weird between him and Lorelai, his best friend. "You're right… I don't want to be alone right now…" he confessed with almost pleading eyes.

"Okay?" Lorelai agreed in a whisper, a little on edge, and a little voice telling her to runaway…Go bother Jason… but another told her to stay put because this is where she was needed the most, this is where she wanted to be.

"Umm do you… want me to… take the couch?"

"What's the harm now?" she repeated with a small smile.

"Umm do you…want to put something … on?" and Luke still trying not to think of the skin on skin contact under his sheets. Luke offered, but honestly he was fine with her being naked… despite how awkward the situation was, "I mean I want you to be comfortable…"

"No, no, I'm good…" she dismissed, trying to act like this happened everyday. That it wasn't a big deal for her and Luke to share a bed… naked. That it wasn't a big deal she slept with him…discomfort aside, she settled on her side of the bed facing him and took his hand again "We're in this together you know," as they easily fell asleep again.

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"That was all God given talent..." why thank you Luke!
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R/R: PLEASE, I like to better myself. To quote The Princess Bride,
"...Remember this is for posterity, ... so be honest."
Please be specific with R/R; name one (or as many as you can think of or want to mention..…) At least one specific thing you liked

Please! It makes me feel good...inside (Dirty!)

Hence the Rant option below.

Insert Rant here V
A/N: if not completely satisfied with this chapter, please return unused portion for a full refund...