Hi!

It's the time you've all been waiting for… It's update time!

I want to thank everyone that was kind enough to send their positive thoughts to Mrs. D's mom, we appreciated!

And, of course, I have to thank you all for the flattering reviews! You guys are responsible for some life saving e-mail checking moments, really! There's nothing better than, after a shitty day at work then a late night at school coming home and seeing your lovely feedback, thanks!

Can't forget bout my betas… The ones, the best, the smartest-s:

Mrs.DionysiousOGall and OzDust!

Now enjoy this new chapter, fresh from the frog! (I hate the WB's frog…what does the frog have to do with the network? I don't get it…)

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Chapter 8 – Did you know that blue girls are polygamous?

Lorelai had originally planned a nice morning of horseback riding; she thought that Luke would like that since it had some adventure value and he liked this sort of stuff, right?

But her plans were cut short by her headache; the thought of riding up and down on a horse didn't seem very appealing in combination with her throbbing temples. So after a conversation, during which Lorelai named everything they could do and Luke just rejected all her ideas, they seemed to find common ground: a walk around the Dragonfly grounds. So far, there hadn't been much talking; there sure was a lot of walking though and Lorelai was starting to regret her choice of shoes…

"Luke!" Lorelai yelled so Luke, who was a little ahead, could hear. "Slow down!"

Luke not only slowed down but also came back a few steps so Lorelai could catch up.

She tried to speed towards him but the newly formed blisters made that impossible, so she ended up falling on the grass instead.

"Damn!" she exclaimed while sitting on the soft grass; Luke sat next to her.

"Are you all right?" He tried to mask the subtle smile that appeared on his face by pretending to fix his cap.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She sounded cranky. "I just didn't know we were gonna walk soo much, I'm wearing the wrong shoes for this!" She pointed at her high-heeled sandals that, by the way, matched her dress perfectly.

"I told you that you should've worn something different…" He rolled his eyes at her girly ways; he would never understand the logic behind a woman's choice for pain and not comfort.

"I know…" she whined. "But look at my dress," He did, he liked it. "Now look at my shoes," He did, he liked them. "Perfect match, see?" He saw that, and he liked it. "It's the perfect outfit with this weather too… I couldn't not wear it just cuz you said so." She saw that there was a big tree nearby; she moved to sit under it to protect herself from the bright eleven o'clock sunshine. Luke did the same.

"So, you're saying that if we were riding a horse somewhere right now, you'd have been wearing the same clothes?" He inclined his body into the tree's trunk.

"Of course not! Are you crazy?" Her eyes widened. "This is not an outfit in which to ride horses,.." she explained simply. Luke didn't think it was so simple.

Lorelai took off her sandals, relief flooding her body, traveling from her little toe to the last strand of hair. She wiggled her toes, and then touched them on the soft, but itchy, grass. She then decided to rest her feet in Luke's lap; he looked up, surprised.

"What are you doing?" he said, flabbergasted, was she trying to get him hot?

"I'm trying to subtly tell you that I want, no, I need a foot massage!" She jiggled her toes again, then laughed at his disgusted face.

"No," he answered dryly; she continued to move her toes.

"Please?" She entreated him to change his mind by only looking at him; he tried to resist.

"No." He sounded harder this time; she didn't have to know that she had convinced him on the first try, she didn't have to know the power she had over him, really.

"Pretty please with cherries on top?" She thrust out her lower lip, forming a Class A pout; he was done pretending that he had some choice in the matter.

Luke took one of her feet into his hands. She gasped; she hadn't expected him to accept her ordering him to massage her feet. He moved his big hands slowly, sensually even, up her calves then down through all her toes; call her crazy, but there was definitely pleasure involved…

"Mmmm…" she moaned then closed her eyes, all while Luke did his magic with his divine hands; that made her think about some other skillful things he might perform with those hands… "My, my Luke, I just think you might have chosen the wrong career…" She still had her eyes closed, which was a good thing since Luke was blushing at the moment… (Although he would never admit it.)

But before Luke could manage any response, which he was finding quite impossible due to the 'moment' he was sharing with his friend, Lorelai's cell phone startled them both by ringing to Green Day's 'Basket Case'.

"Don't you dare stop what you're doing!" she warned him before answering the call. "Hello?"

"Mom!" came Rory's exasperated voice from the other end of the line.

"Rory? Hon, did something happen? Are you ok?" Lorelai went from having a relaxing foot massage to being a totally freaked-out mom in 1.3 seconds.

Luke stopped what he was doing; Lorelai had seized his attention by the concern in her voice. He waited to see how their dialogue played out; he hoped nothing had happened to Rory…

"I'm the one that's ok, I'm wondering how you are doing?" Rory sounded like she was trying to hint at something.

"I'm fine…" Lorelai furrowed her eyebrows, confused. "What are you talking about?" There was no approach like a direct approach if you wanted to just know the answer to something, fast.

Luke, besides his confusion, was starting to feel a little uncomfortable and silly just holding Lorelai's feet, so he dropped them on the grass. That made him receive a disapprovingly look from Lorelai and that made him restart his foot massage. If the boss says so…

"Last night you left the weirdest message on my answering machine…but I only heard it this morning and I was a little…" She tried to think of the right word. "Curious, that's all." She laughed a little. "But now I want you to explain it all to me, no need to share the details though…"

"Again, what are you talking about, oh daughter of mine? I know we have what some people may call a freaky connection but I'm afraid I'm gonna need you to elaborate a little more there, hon…" She almost let out another moan but was able to contain herself; there was something very wrong about moaning while your daughter's having some sort of hissy fit on the other side of the line…

"I'm talking about your message on my machine, last night." Rory waited for some sign of recognition from Lorelai but it never came. "You…huh, don't remember?"

"Sorry, I have absolutely no idea of what you're talking about… Maybe if you told me what this message was about, I could help…" Was it a sin to not be able to focus on your daughter because of a really good foot massage? If it was, oh well, she was a sinner…

"If I knew what it was about I wouldn't be calling you to ask you about it in the first place, now would I?"

"I guess not…" She felt slightly stupid now. She gave Luke two thumbs up for his top-notch job and a reassuring smile so he wouldn't worry about Rory anymore. "Ok, tell me exactly what I said in the message; maybe that will help my memory to work…"

"K'... Your message was a little something like...in fact it was only a sentence…a question really, no conclusion, no clarification, nothing. That's what made me worry a little…"

"Rory! Oy, with the circling already! The suspense's killing me; I'm hooked, don't you worry."

"Sorry…" She laughed shyly. "Like I was saying, the message was just a question… 'Rory, do you think I should sleep with Luke?'" She finished and then waited for Lorelai's reaction; when it didn't come' she continued. "Now, I think you can understand why I was a little…apprehensive about the whole thing…" This silence wasn't normal between the Gilmore girls, any silence for that matter. Rory just didn't know how to react to it, and she couldn't even see her mom's face to have some idea of what was going on.

Lorelai was shocked, she had to admit that, but the weirdest thing about this conversation was that Luke (apparently the main subject) was right in front of her with one of her feet in his lap, and massaging the other.

"Mom!" Rory could only take so much silence from her mom.

"I'm here."

"So?"

"I don't remember leaving that message for you…"

"That's not what I want to know… Did you and Luke…you know?" Rory sounded all excited. "Did you finally see it?"

"We must be outta sync today, cuz I'm not understanding you…"

"Don't play dumb with me missy! I'm talking about the obvious attraction you and Luke have for each other!" Rory could only tolerate so much obliviousness. "It's written all over your face!"

"How many times do I have to tell you and this whole damn town that there's nothing there, no IT!" She removed her feet from Luke's lap, then discreetly turned to a position where he couldn't hear her. "We. Are. Just. Friends." She lowered her voice.

"Right…so were Harry and Sally, and look how that ended up…"

"That's only a movie, a classic one, but still only a movie. Have I not told you not to mix real life with movies, little girl?"

"Says the woman who cries every time she watches Satine die in 'Moulin Rouge'…"

"Hey, that's different…Christian and Satine were meant to be together…."

"Well, someday you'll be able to see through all your stubbornness and then you'll realize how much time you both wasted by being stupid." Rory breathed out, she loved her mom to death but sometimes she was just too stubborn for her own good.

"I always wondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf…" Lorelai tried to lighten the mood and if lucky, change the subject.

"Bringing up my childhood's greatest dilemma isn't gonna save you from this conversation…" Lorelai wasn't being much help… "Just tell me what your message was about and I promise I'll drop the 'it' subject."

"That sounds fair… Chris showed up yesterday with his girlfriend, but he hadn't confirmed his attendance, so there was no room for him. Long story short, I gave him mine, I was too tipsy to drive home, ended up inviting myself to sleep in Luke's room, the end."

"Oh, that's what you meant by sleeping with Luke… I thought you meant sleeping with Luke. So…uh…"

Lorelai interrupted Rory's future question. "No further questions, that was the deal." Lorelai turned serious for a moment. "And about the Smurfette thing…"

"I know…how could she be the only female one? Was she like the mother of all Smurfs? Was she married to Papa Smurf?"

"Or were the Smurfs a completely liberal matriarchal society that accepted polygamy?" Lorelai hadn't realized she had been moving throughout their entire discussion; she was subconsciously putting some distance between herself and Luke so he wouldn't hear their talk. She was about to head back when she turned around and saw that Luke wasn't alone, oh no, he had been joined by Chris and company…poor Luke.

"Mom, this was a cartoon made for little kids…" Rory spoke in a disapproving tone.

"Listen honey, I'll call you later, k'? Right now I have to save Luke, he's trapped…" she explained.

"K', go on, save him…I'm sure he misses you already, and I don't wanna be the one that keeps you two apart," Rory teased her mom.

"Bye, now…"

"Bye-bye mommy dearest!" Rory answered cheerfully and then hung up.

Lorelai sure was happy that she hadn't mentioned the fact that she and Luke had shared the same bed; what would Rory have said about that? And would she have teased her so much? But she had no time to waste; she had to rescue Luke from the terrible claws of: small talk.

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Luke was starting to wonder whether Lorelai had taken off and left him alone to deal with Chris and what's-her-name-again, when he felt two arms snake around his torso and finally rest on his waist.

"Hi!"

Lorelai's voice came from behind him; he couldn't see the amused smile she must have been wearing for scaring the hell out of him, but the bright side was that she wasn't able to see his surprised/confused/pleased face either.

Chris and Mindy only nodded in acknowledgement of Lorelai's presence.

"Did you miss me, hon?" Lorelai squeezed around his waist.

"S-sure… I just didn't wanna interrupt your talk with Rory…" He looked back at her, he was telling the truth.

"Nonsense, we were just having our annual Smurfette discussion…No conclusions were made." Lorelai smiled up at him, they exchanged a long meaningful look.

"Oh, is it that time of the year again?" Chris included himself in the conversation. "So, Lore, this's Mindy," Lorelai showed no signs of recognition. "The one I told you about?"

"Of course, nice to meet you." Lorelai extended her hand to Mindy, without letting go of Luke.

"Nice to meet you too, finally." Mindy shook her hand. "I've heard all kinds of good stuff about you."

"Really?" Lorelai looked questioningly at Chris.

"Oh yeah, these two," Mindy pointed at Luke and Chris, "Were just exchanging funny anecdotes about you."

"Really?" Lorelai looked questioningly at Chris then Luke. "Glad to be responsible for your entertainment." She smiled amicably at Mindy.

"How long have you two been together?" Chris asked dryly.

Oh-oh, they hadn't really had the opportunity to organize the details of their fake relationship… How long could they have been together?

"Three months," Luke answered before Lorelai had a chance to.

"Three months?" Lorelai's eyes were wide when she turned to Luke; he only gave her a reassuring nod. "Wow, three months. Has it been that long? Time sure does fly when you're having fun." She amended her weird previous remark; she hadn't expected Luke to answer before her…

"Congratulations, you seem very happy!" Mindy said as she hugged Chris closer to her; he reluctantly moved.

"Thanks, we are." Lorelai tried to hide her face in Luke's shoulder; she was doing her best not to laugh. Luke took one of her hands from his waist and gently squeezed; maybe she wasn't doing such a good job at hiding her amused face…

"But I remember you…" Chris pointed at Luke. "Weren't you two friends?" Chris asked, looking profoundly interested by the answer.

"Oh, yeah, we were friends for years," Lorelai answered, showing her face from behind Luke.

"That's nice. That's how the best relationships start," Mindy put in her two cents. "How did that happened?" Mindy seemed to be a true romantic.

"Oh, you know…one day bang, we snapped and then when we realized we were dating!" Lorelai improvised.

"Snapped?" Chris asked defiantly, looking directly at Luke.

"Yeah, one day it all just simply hit me, all these feelings I had toward Lorelai became very clear, feelings I believe have been there for a while. I decided to take a risk and ask her out, she accepted and the rest's history." Luke answered without needing to elaborate it in his mind first, it all came out naturally; that scared him. Was his subconscious trying to tell him something? He turned slightly to see an astonished Lorelai looking back at him; she was smiling back at him.

"That's a nice story," Mindy said, truly touched.

"That is a very good story!" Lorelai complimented Luke's fast-thinking ability; he only smiled shyly at her.

"Yep." Chris interrupted their googly-eyed exchange. "So, what's the schedule for today?" He turned at Lorelai.

"Well, the only things that require your presence are the meals, they were carefully picked and Sookie has outdone herself." Lorelai moved from Luke's back, where she had been hiding, to his front, where he quickly held her by the waist. "Tonight we have a dance, which you must attend, then the rest's free time! You can go to the front desk and Michele will give you a list of things you can do!" She looked at her watch. "I'm afraid we have to go now... Lunch will be served soon and I wanna check if everything's ok."

"Okay...Thanks." Chris didn't know why he suddenly felt so annoyed.

"It was very nice to meet you two!" Mindy said excitedly.

"Oh yeah, it was nice meeting you too!" Lorelai held Luke's hand. "Bye now!" She pulled him and they went towards the Dragonfly.

They were doing a good job impersonating the perfect couple; it sure was convincing Chris and Mindy, although they had different opinions of the couple.

"They're such a cute couple!" Mindy smiled and hugged Chris's arm.

"Yeah, sure. But did he have to be all over her like that?"

"Chris..." she said warningly. "I think that, maybe, he felt a little threatened by you..." She lowered her voice.

"I don't think he has anything to worry about," he reassured his girlfriend. "Lorelai seemed to lose the ability to stand without leaning all over him..." He snorted; he hated public signs of affection...he thought they were pathetic.

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Lorelai and Luke had walked out of the other couple's sight; they didn't continue toward the inn as they said they would, they moved in the opposite direction instead.

"You don't really have to check on lunch, right?" Luke asked after they finally stopped walking and sat on the grass facing the lake.

"Of course not!" She laughed at the idea. "Sookie would kill me if I decided to check on her lunch!"

"Yeah, you would probably eat the whole thing too." He chuckled softly.

"Hey!" She feigned offence. "You're possibly right..."

They both observed the lake in silence for a minute.

"Today I learned that you could have been a famous masseur or an incredible actor," she said, still facing the lake. "What else have you been hiding, Mr. Danes?" She turned to him.

"I guess you'll never know..." He played along, even raising his eyebrow for effect.

She laughed wholeheartedly. "Ooh, my very own mystery man!"

He only kept staring at the lake, trying to not blush, smile, or worse, both.

"Thanks for doing this for me..." She touched his arm lightly. "I know you hate socializing...and big fancy dances, and you probably hate lying too... But you're doing it all for me, thank you." She made him look at her so he could see the truly grateful smile-look combo she was giving him.

"I'm only helping a friend." He reassured her that he was fine with it. He was wondering if the word 'friend' wasn't too simple to describe his newfound feelings for her, and he was starting to question if there was the slightest chance that she might feel the same... When he was telling Chris how he supposedly felt about Lorelai, he realized that he was, in fact, telling the truth; Lorelai had definitely grown on him although he wasn't completely sure how much yet. He had to organize his feelings and then he would know the truth, and how to classify Lorelai: friend, best friend, love interest? But for now, he was still confused.

"Luke, you're way more than just a friend to me." She smiled happily then gave him a sideways hug.

That only made Luke more confused; what did all that mean? Was she saying he was her buddy or that she wanted him to be more than that? Luke figured he would decide on that later, he couldn't think when she was hugging him so close. It was entirely her intoxicating perfume's fault... He checked his watch to make sure they hadn't missed lunch; it was definitely time to go.

"We should go...or we'll miss lunch." He stood and then offered his hand to help her up; she accepted it.

"We wouldn't want that! I'm starved!" She moved her hand in a circular motion on her belly.

"Right, for a change..." he replied sarcastically.

They started walking when Lorelai suddenly stopped and stared at the lake for a few seconds.

"Isn't it beautiful?" she said in awe. "This's my favorite spot in the whole place!" Her smiled broadened.

They both stood there observing the midday sun reflect on the clear blue waters of the lake, the entire place surrounded by green, it was truly breathtaking.

"It's very nice..." Luke said after he had taken in the beauty of the place; he appreciated nature and thought that it was the only obvious proof that someone above, with highly good taste, had something to do with the Earth's décor.

"We should swim this afternoon..." Lorelai was feeling hot standing under the burning September sun.

"I dunno..." Luke answered um-excitedly; somehow the idea of seeing Lorelai in just a bathing suit didn't seem to help his 'no distractions, need to come to a conclusion' plan.

"Come on... Some like it hot," She nodded in the direction of the hot sun. "Some sweat when the heat's on and some do something about it!"

"I'll think about it." Why he even tried to fight her was still an unsolved mystery to him...

"Yay!" She knew she had won, why did he ever fight against her? "Let's have some lunch!" She grabbed his arm and rushed to the inn; nothing made a Gilmore girl move faster than hunger...

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Luke had made up his mind. One might say it was a truly easy task to come to a conclusion, which he did, but it was no piece of cake to him. He had been utterly confused by his feelings, he couldn't identify and separate what was admiration, friendship and...love. He also feared that the town had had some influence on him, interfering in his final decision. Every time someone told him that a girl liked him, their entire relationship would change; he would be constantly busy searching for signs and ended up focusing on the wrong things. That always led up into him losing the girl and never really knowing if he had liked her in the first place. He didn't want that to happen with Lorelai; he didn't know if he could handle losing her, and he also didn't know if that meant anything, besides the obvious importance she had to his life. The only reason for him to have time alone to really think about the issue was that Lorelai had some inn-related problem and asked him for a couple of hours, fine by him...

He had spent the last few hours reminiscing about all the moments he had ever shared with Lorelai. He found a pattern: he had been happy in all of them, he had been happy because she was around and that was all he needed to know. Of course, he felt physically attracted to her, but what sane man wouldn't? He also knew that his feelings were more permanent than just a simple, and obvious, physical desire... He caught himself wondering when it all began. He couldn't remember the exact moment when it first hit him--the true strength of his feelings--but he had known for a while deep down inside of him; something primal, something ancient, something Darwinian, whispering in his genes: "This is the one."

"Luke!" Lorelai came rushing into the inn's reading room. "There's still sun out, we still have time to go swimming!"

Luke put down the book he had pretended to be reading. He acted surprised by her sudden presence, but the truth was that anytime he shared the same physical area as Lorelai, his radar kicked in, and he knew where she was at all times.

"Let's go then." He managed to do his best 'I'm going against my will' face.

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Did you guys like it?

For all the nice readers out there-all over the world-if you have made it this far:

THANK YOU!

Mocha