Author's Note: I am in no way associated with ASP, the WB, Dorothy Park Drank Here, etc. This is for entertainment purposes only. Please R/R. Enjoy.

A House is not a Home

Chapter 7: Recipes written in the stars…

Lorelai felt herself step back startled as he came towards her and put his arm around her waist.

"What are you doin'?"

"Would you just stand still?"

Lorelai didn't have time to respond as she felt herself being pulled towards him and then felt the tender touch of his lips on hers. Her endless word bank of a mind was sent into overdrive as he kissed her for the first time.

Wow. Good. Great. Amazing. Perfect.

Her thoughts were still racing as she felt him pull away and she kept her head hung low, trying to wrap her mind around what had just happened between them.

Luke. Me. Best. Kiss. Ever.

Have to make sure she thought to herself as she lifted her head and moved towards him.

"What are you doin'?" he asked nervously.

"Would you just stand still?" she said, repeating his words from a few moments ago.

She took one last breath and reached her hand up to caress the smooth surface of his cleanly shaven face as she placed her lips on his. His response was instant as he wrapped one arm around her waist and the other around her neck and kissed her back.

Yep! Best. Kisser. Ever. Certain.

This time she was the one to pull back, hanging her head low once more as thought again about what had just happened.

Mouth. Love. Keep. Kissing.

Luke must have been on the same page because as soon as she thought of the last word, she felt his fingertips at her ribcage, pulling her towards him as she moved to wrap her arms around his neck.

Third time's the charm.

However, the oven timer did not agree.

"Dammit," Luke said in disgust as he removed his arms from her waist and moved over to turn the stove off.

"I knew there was a reason I never used that thing," Lorelai teased as she touched her lips where Luke's taste still lingered.

"I'm not a big fan of it right now either," Luke said annoyed as he pulled a towel off of the counter and removed a tray from the oven.

"Umm, is that cornbread?" Lorelai asked with intrigue.

"Yes," he nodded, "to go with the gumbo."

Lorelai grinned devilishly.

"I think you're trying to take me up on my 'you cooking good will make me put out' offer."

"Aw, geez!"

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"Okay, as pissed as I was about being interrupted earlier, that was one amazing meal," Lorelai smiled as she sat back in her chair and threw her napkin over her empty bowl.

"Glad you liked it," Luke said as he got up and cleared the dishes. "I'm still pissed, though."

Lorelai laughed as she shifted in her chair so she could watch him at the sink.

"How long have you wanted to do that?" she asked.

"Do what?"

"Try out the new Palmolive," she said sarcastically. "How long have you wanted to kiss me?"

"A while, I guess," he said with a shrug.

"A while?" she asked confused. "Like a week?"

He shook his head, his back still facing her.

"A month?"

He shook his head again.

"Six months?" she asked once more, sitting up in her seat.

He took a deep breath before he responded.

"Eight."

"Eight months?"

"Years," he clarified as he shut the water off, wiped his hands on a towel, and turned to face her, leaning his back against the counter and folding his arms across his chest.

"Eight years?" she said as she stared at him in disbelief.

"Since the first day you came into my diner begging for coffee like a junkie begs for crack."

"You remember the first day we met?" she asked in astonishment.

He nodded.

"Refresh my memory," she grinned as she rested her chin on the back of the chair.

"It was at lunch, it was a very busy day and you came tearing in the place in a caffeine frenzy. You were wild eyed and begging for coffee," he began.

"Really? Doesn't sound like something I would do. I think you may be getting me confused with someone else."

"Do you want to hear the story or not?"

"Sorry, continue."

"I was with another customer and you ran over and interrupted me for your fix and I told you to sit down, shut up and that I'd get to you when I get to you."

"I bet I took that very well. I'm just delightful when I am lacking caffeine."

Luke just shook his head at her and continued.

"You wouldn't stop yapping, so I just tried to work around you. Since you've never been very good with no, you started asking me when my birthday was. After several failed attempts at ignoring you, I gave in and told you my birthday."

"There are few who can ignore me for longer than a few minutes. I am that good at being annoying."

"Anyway," he said, ignoring her ongoing interruptions. "You flipped to the horoscope page, wrote something down, tore it out and handed it to me. I looked at it against my better judgment and saw that under Scorpio you'd written, 'you will meet an annoying woman today, give her coffee and she'll go away'. So, I gave you coffee."

"But I didn't go away," she smiled brightly.

"No, you didn't," Luke replied as he began walking towards the living room.

"Luke?" Lorelai called out as she got up to follow him. "What's wrong?"

He didn't answer.

"You're freaking me out," she said as she watched him walk over to the desk, pick up his faded brown wallet and pull out a small scrap of paper from it.

"You told me to put this in my wallet. You said someday it would bring me luck," he explained as he handed her the paper and watched as she read it with a shocked expression.

"You kept this in your wallet?" she asked as she looked up at him amazement, and then back down at the horoscope. "You kept this in your wallet."

"Eight years."

"Eight years," she sighed, still in shock from his revelation.

"Lorelai," he began as he took the horoscope back from her and returned it to his wallet. "I never expected all of this to happen. Playing house, taking care of Isabel, kissing you, but I meant it the other night when I said that it felt real. If you want to give this a try, me, you," he said as he gestured to himself and then to her. "I want you to know that I'm in. I'm all in."

Lorelai just looked at him. This was one of the few times in her life she'd been rendered speechless.

Luke cleared his throat before he continued. "Does that umm, are you, uh, scared?"

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"How you feeling?"

"Like the Red Sox just won the World Series," Luke said as he stroked Lorelai's hair lovingly. Her head was resting on his chest as they both lay tangled together on her bed covered only by sheets. "How about you?"

"Like the mall was giving out free Starbucks and Sephora was having a 90 percentoff everything sale," she grinned as she lifted her head and kissed him softly on the lips. "Hey."

"Hey back," he smiled as he placed a soft kiss on her nose. "Remind me to make gumbo more often."

"Wait until you make fried chicken," she said with a wink as she ran her fingers over his chest. "I can't believe you kept that horoscope."

"You're just lucky I never clean out my wallet."

"You can't take it back now, you've been pining for me."

"I have not been pining."

"I'm your Ava Gardner."

"God help me."

"I guess this means no more couch for you."

"Just don't hog all of the pillows."

"Hey mister, you are in no position to make demands," she warned. "Now that I have started putting out, I can also start holding out ."

"I can hold out, too."

"Well, don't we think highly of ourselves?"

"I meant the coffee."

"Oh yeah, can't do without the coffee."

"You're good for my ego."

"Aw, I'm just kidding. Believe me," she started as she ran kisses along his jawline. "This is better than your coffee or your burgers."

"What do we tell people?"

"That you suck at this," she said as she worked her kisses down to his neck. "I don't want any competition."

"I meant do we tell them we're together?" he asked rolling his eyes.

"We don't have to," she said as she looked up at him and smiled. "They think we're engaged."

"Right," he nodded. "What do we tell Rory?"

"Rory will know," she assured him.

"What makes you say that?"

"Gilmore intuition. She'll be able to tell we crossed the friend line right away. She's already accused me of trying to get you into bed. She's a smart girl."

"Please don't discuss intimate details with her," Luke pleaded.

"Fine, I'll just have to brag to Sookie about your…"

"What about your parents?" he interrupted before she could make a dirty comment.

"Emily will know, too. The DAR has better spy training than the CIA."

"What's the DAR?"

"Ask Emily that tomorrow," Lorelai grinned. "That'll be a good icebreaker."

"Tomorrow, right," Luke said with a chuckle. "You know what's funny?"

"The way Bush pronounces nuclear?"

"Us doing things ass backwards," he explained. "First we get engaged, then we kiss, then we sleep together, then I have dinner with your parents. It just figures we wouldn't do things the conventional way."

"Conventional is boring, we know how to keep things interesting."

"Yes we do," Luke said with a grin as he lightly caressed her arm. "I guess I am going to have to start listening to your crazy music, too."

"I'm going to have to insist on it."

"Just no guys who dress up like pirates. I draw the line at pirates."

"We'll have to get you into U2, Bono is a must. Then there's Blondie, Sparks, and umm, Bowie."

"I know he dressed up like a pirate."

Lorelai shook her head. "Spaceman."

"Spaceman I can deal with."

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Rory's Philosophy final had been difficult, but at least her first year at Yale was now officially behind her. It had been a great learning experience, but she was grateful for a three-month break before she had to dive in again. Summer also gave her a chance to catch up on her reading and keep her mind off of her romantic dry spell that everyone, most notably her grandmother, kept reminding her of.

She stopped at Starbucks on her ride home and treated herself to a mocha frappucino as she blared the Strokes '12:51' on her Prius radio and made the drive home to Stars Hollow. Luke had offered her his apartment for the summer since Isabel was now occupying her old bedroom. She happily accepted and looked forward to having some privacy but still being close to everyone at home. Living right above the best burgers and coffee in town was also a plus.

"I'm home! It's official! I survived my first year of Yale! Maybe I can get Kirk to make me a t-shirt," Rory called out as she opened the front door and walked inside and was met by the unmistakable scent of frying bacon. She headed towards the kitchen and found Luke at the stove cooking breakfast and whistling.

"Rory!" he exclaimed with a big smile as he cracked several eggs into a frying pan and sprinkled some cheese on top of them. "Did your finals go okay?"

"Hey Luke," she said as she studied him intently. "Finals went great, thanks."

"Luke," Lorelai's voice called out from the stairs as Rory walked into the living room to meet her at the landing. "Don't skimp on the cheese in that omelet! I earned a hearty breakfast after last night, mister."

"Hi, mom."

"Rory!" Lorelai exclaimed with shock as she made her way down the stairs wearing only Luke's gray t-shirt. Her hair was disheveled and a big smile was plastered across her face.

Rory grinned as she folded her arms across her chest.

"Well, I guess he came and got it."