A/N: I think I covered all the important interactions this time. We've got Rory/Dean; Luke/Lorelai; and a moment of Rory and Lorelai.

This is again shorter than I had hoped, and there's not all that much plot movement, but I think it came out pretty good, and most everything is still important to the story.

Warning: much fluff and mushiness ahead. Proceed with caution.

Disclaimer: I won the Florida lottery and bought the rights to everything having to do with Gilmore Girls. And if you believe that, I've got a bridge to sell you.

"This is great!" Rory smiled at Dean as he held the door to their coffee place open for her. "Out of all the people in our class, we get paired together."

"Hey, I'm even more thrilled than you are, I'm sure. I got paired with the smartest kid in the class."

Rory laughed as they sat down at the little corner table they always occupied. "You know, I think this mandatory study pair thing is a good idea, but if you really wanted, I would have studied with you voluntarily."

"Not if you were assigned to study with somebody else." Dean pointed out. "You wouldn't have had time for old Dean."

"Ugh, I hate when people talk in third person."

"I know, that's why I did it." Dean laughed. "Well, and partially for the dramatic flare."

Rory laughed too, before their waitress came over and took their orders. After the waitress walked away, Rory looked back to Dean.

"So, I never really understood why we always meet here, instead of just meeting at Luke's back in Stars Hollow."

"Well, for one thing, some people might get the wrong idea about what we're doing here." As much as Dean wanted his "coffee dates" with Rory to really be dates, he knew they weren't. If Miss Patty and everyone were to start questioning them, he didn't want to be around to hear Rory's firm 'we're just friends.' It may have been true, but hearing the words coming from her lips would still hurt.

"Good point."

"And… never mind."

"No, what?"

"Nevermind."

"Oh no you don't, Dean. I hate when people do that. You have to tell me what you were going to say now, or else I'll be wondering the rest of the time we're here and I won't here a single word you say and we won't be able to have a decent conversation ever again!"

"Well, it's just Luke." Dean tried to get away with that vague answer, but Rory wouldn't hear of it.

"What about Luke?"

"He's…"

"Yeah?"

Dean just looked at her, until she realized the problem. She started laughing hysterically.

"Oh my god! You're afraid of Luke!"

"I am not." Dean frowned at her reaction. It wasn't exactly boosting is ego.

"Yes you are. You're afraid of sweet, loveable Luke."

"Hey, he may be sweet and loveable to you, but that's just because he loves you Gilmore Girls."

"So you admit it."

Dean sighed in defeat. "Yes, okay, I admit it. I'm afraid of Luke. My encounters with him haven't exactly been pleasant. He doesn't like me because I dated you."

"That's not true. He liked you when we first dated. He only didn't like you after we broke up."

"Oh, right."

"Then he disliked you even more when we slept together."

"Oh."

"And then when we broke up agai—"

"Yeah, okay, I get it. He hates me. I know. That's why I'm afraid of him." Rory had stopped laughing, but her amusement was still apparent from the slight twinkle in her eye.

"That's alright. I'm starting to like this coffee place almost as much. The coffee doesn't even come close in comparison, but the company's awfully nice."

---

"So, do you like these Luke?" Lorelai questioned, beginning to get a little frustrated at his seemingly apathetic attitude toward their wedding.

"I think they're fine. If they're the ones you want, then go for it." Luke picked up the box of invitations and started to head over to the cashier, but Lorelai pulled on his arm to stop him.

"Luke, I really want you to give me your opinions on these things. I mean, you do have opinions, right? I'm hoping you're not really this uncaring about our wedding day."

Luke looked at her confused. He had noticed that she was acting a little oddly before in the flower shop. Was this really what was bothering her?

"Lorelai," he struggled to find the right words to explain. "It's not that I'm uncaring about our wedding day. Trust me, I've been dreaming about this day for longer than you could possibly know. It's just that when a guy like me dreams of a wedding, it's different then when a girl like you does.

"In your dream, you see the perfect dresses and the perfect flowers and the perfect table settings in the perfect little church. You see the colors of the napkins and the color of your daughter's shoes. In my dream, all I see is the perfect woman walking down the aisle toward me. Everything else is just a blur. It's not that I don't care about our wedding day. It's that I truly don't know how anything else should be. You've been picturing the little things forever, so you should get to have control of them. As long as you and I are the ones standing before the preacher, then nothing else really matters to me."

Lorelai started to tear up as she looked lovingly into the eyes of her husband-to-be. "Oh, Luke." She sighed as she took a step closer and threw her arms around his neck. "I love you so much."

"I love you too." Luke whispered into her hair, before gently kissing the top of her head.

---

The minute she stepped through the doorway, Rory was under attack.

"Guess what, guess what, guess what." Lorelai practically yelled, dragging her stunned daughter into the living room.

"What?" Rory asked as she sat down on the couch, catching her breath.

"I've got everything planned except for the dresses."

"Really?" Rory grinned at her mother, pleased and proud at how fast she worked out all the details. It wasn't surprising that she was capable of doing it, this was, after all, what Lorelai often did at the Inn. The surprising part was that she had wanted to. When Lorelai was engaged to Max, she had been so reluctant to plan anything. She even felt odd just having max in her bedroom. Luke, however, was spending the night in Lorelai's bed on a regular basis. Rory could see clearly that her mother really wanted this, and that this thing with Luke was truly forever.

"Yeah. So, tomorrow: you, me, and hours of non-stop shopping. Sound like a plan?"

"Sounds like a plan." Rory agreed. "So… this is really gonna happen."

"This is really gonna happen."

There was a brief moment of comfortable silence, before both mother and daughter let out a little squeal and pulled the other in for a hug.

"So…" Lorelai began, trying and failing to come up with a way to segue into the other thing she wanted to discuss with Rory. "What's up with you and Dean?"

"What? Nothing, mom."

Lorelai gave her an unbelieving look.

"No, mom. Honestly. There's nothing there. We're just friends. And we were assigned as 'mandatory study partners' by our math professor." Rory was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable under her mother's steady gaze. "Come on, mom. It's Dean."

"Exactly."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing bad, hon. It's just that… you and Dean have never really been great at this 'just friends' thing. It always seems to go farther."

"Well, we're just friends right now. I'm not going to guarantee that it will always stay that way, because I can't predict the future. I mean, yeah. There is a chance that with all this time together I could somehow fall for him again… but would it really be that bad if I did? I mean, I think we have agreed many times during the past five years that Dean is the best boyfriend I've ever had."

"I'm not saying it would be bad. I just want to know."

"I'll tell you if anything happens, mom. I promise. But I don't think it's going to."

"I know you will, hon. It's just that we were not speaking for so long, and I missed out on a whole chunk of your life. I don't want to go through that ever again. I want to know everything that happens to you. And I want you to know everything that happens to me."

"You will mom." Rory said almost forcefully. "You will."