Author's Note: Thanks for all the wonderful feedback! They all made me smile. And I promise that we're getting to the part you've all been waiting for.

Previously in "A New Beginning": Luke and Lorelai are going to NYC for a weekend!

About an hour after Lorelai had left the diner, Luke arrived at her house to pick her up for their trip. He knocked on the door before opening it up and walking into the foyer. "Lorelai?" he called. "Are you ready?"

She bounded into the room. "I'm ready," she announced. She was freshly showered and dressed, and she had tamed her hair so that she would be ready for the evening's play. "Rory bought this new body wash, and it smells so good. Smell me!" she said, shoving her arm in Luke's face.

He pushed her arm away. "I'm not smelling you," he stated, but he had caught a whiff of the scent, and he had to admit that she did smell good. "Where's your bag?" he asked, eager to leave.

She pointed to the three bags that she had leaning against the wall. "Right there."

"Jeez, Lorelai. We'll be back on Sunday."

"Do you know how many outfits I will need before then? Not to mention accessories! There's a dress and a pair of shoes for tonight's show, pajamas, an outfit for the baseball game, tomorrow's dinner..." she began to count off the outfits on her fingers.

"I'm beginning to think it would just be easier to take all of your bags."

She stopped. "Probably."

He picked up all three bags to carry them out to his truck. "What the hell did you pack in here?" he asked, noting how heavy the bags were.

"Do we really want to go through all that again?" she questioned, ready to start naming off her outfits and accessories again.

"Let's not," he responded as they begin to walk outside.

Luke put Lorelai's bags into the bed of his truck alongside his one bag before climbing into the truck where Lorelai was already messing with the CD player. "What are you doing?"

She held up the case to her Rent CD. "Okay, we have some very important decisions to make. Do you want to start listening from the very beginning? Or do you want to listen to my favorite songs first?"

"It doesn't matter," he told her.

"Of course it does! Hmm... it would probably be better to start from the beginning so you can learn the whole story. Though track twenty-three, La Vie Boheme, is my absolute favorite," she said, already pressing the skip button so she could listen to the track. "Or we could start with disc two which begins with Seasons of Love. It's a classic."

"There's two discs?" Luke asked in disbelief. This was going to be a long ride.

"I know!" she declared as the sounds of La Vie Boheme filled the truck. "We'll listen to my favorite songs, and then, we'll listen straight through from the beginning. The drive will be long enough." She began to sing along with the music.

Luke rolled his eyes. This was going to be a long drive indeed.

…………………………………………………………

After what seemed like hours to Luke and only minutes to a singing Lorelai, they finally arrived at their hotel. Luke carried the bags up to their room with Lorelai questioning him on what his favorite Rent song was.

"C'mon! Luke, you have to have a favorite song," Lorelai informed him, leaning against the doorframe as she held one of her bags.

"They all sounded the same to me."

"Ah! There is so a difference between a song like Out Tonight and the masterpiece that is La Vie Boheme."

"Maybe if you weren't howling along like a dog, I could have actually heard the songs," he said, struggling to open the door.

"I do not sing that badly," Lorelai said, choosing not to take offense. "Luke, tell me your favorite. I know! You probably like You'll See, because you'd so be mean like Benny and try to evict people on Christmas Eve," she teased.

"Well, if the people didn't pay their rent-" he began.

She jumped up and down and pointed her finger at him. "Aha! You did pay attention!"

"Will you just help me open this damn door?" he asked, motioning with his full hands.

Lorelai grabbed the key from him and quickly opened the door. She tossed the bag she was holding onto the first bed. "You can just put the rest there as well," she told Luke. She was already opening up the one, searching for that evening's outfit as he set down the remaining two. "How much time do we have?"

"We should probably leave in about an hour."

……………………………………….

"Are you almost finished in there?" Luke called from outside the bathroom. "We need to get going."

"Just give me one more minute," she answered.

He looked at his watch. He was really beginning to get impatient. "You've been in there long enough."

"You're not helping the process."

"Lorelai, we need to..." He was about to say something more when the bathroom door finally opened. Lorelai appeared before him wearing a beautiful blue sundress which brought out her piercing blue eyes. He sat there silently, taking in the sight of her.

"And the complaining stops," she declared. She felt his eyes traveling over her body, and she had to admit, it felt good. "I take it that you like the dress."

That brought Luke out of his reverie. He cleared his throat. "Yeah, umm... we're going to be late so we better go," he informed her, standing to leave.

"Right," she agreed.

He stopped in front of her bed. "You should probably clean off your bed before we go. I know you, you're not going to feel like doing it later," he said, motioning to the pile of clothes, shoes, and makeup.

"It'll be fine," she dismissed, waving her arm nonchalantly at her bed. "You said yourself that we're going to be late if we don't leave."

Luke reluctantly agreed, and the two headed out for the evening.

……………………………………………

"That was amazing!" Lorelai exclaimed as they returned to their room after seeing the play. "Luke, you have to admit that it was pretty good."

"It was," he said in agreement.

"I knew you'd like it."

"I'm surprised that you were able to sit quiet for that long," he noted. He had been stunned when Lorelai hadn't attempted to sing along with the entire musical.

"I had to enjoy the whole play experience," she explained. "Don't worry, bucko, there will be more singing on the drive home."

"Looking forward to it. Hey, do you know where I can buy some earplugs?"

She playfully punched his arm. "I am not that bad," she insisted.

"If you say so."

"You're just being mean," she told him as she grabbed her pajamas. "I'm going to go change." She walked into the bathroom and quickly took off her dress and slipped into her pajamas. After brushing her teeth and washing her face, she exited the bathroom. "I am exhausted," she announced as she walked past her bed and plopped down on Luke's.

"Up!" he ordered.

"But my bed is a mess!" she complained.

"I told you to clean it up before we left," Luke reminded her.

Lorelai yawned, shutting her eyes. "I'm too tired to do it now."

He grabbed a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. "I'm going to go change. When I come back, you better be in your own bed," he said as he walked into the bathroom.

Luke gave her plenty of time to get out of his bed. Probably too much time given that when he returned she was curled up, sound asleep, on his bed. He momentarily thought about waking her up, but then thought better of it. She was usually cranky if someone woke her up, and she was so quiet right now. He glanced at her bed which was still piled with her crap. She'd probably kill him if he messed up whatever crazy system she had going.

He walked over to what was supposed to be his bed. He stood there for a moment, watching her sleep. She really was peaceful. Since Lorelai was sleeping on top of all the covers, he folded the comforter so that the other half was covering her. She snuggled deeper into the covers. He placed a soft kiss on her forehead before walking over to the opposite side of the bed. He shifted awkwardly from one foot to another, unsure of what to do next.

"Luke," he heard her whisper, still half asleep. "I don't bite." This made him smile, though she couldn't see it. He turned off the light and slowly climbed into the bed next to her. She rolled over to face him. "Goodnight," she breathed before falling back to sleep.

He reached out and smoothed her already rumpled hair. "Goodnight, Lorelai," he whispered back.

Luke remained awake for awhile longer. Suddenly, his mind was filled with thoughts. He couldn't stop thinking about what it would be like if Lorelai was more than just a friend. If he could lie in bed with this like every night, and hold her, make love to her. These thoughts had crossed his mind more times than he could count, and he had always pushed it away the moment it entered his mind. But tonight, the thoughts couldn't be pushed away so easily. She was right next to him, a smile playing with the corners of her mouth as dreams filled her sleep. He could smell the sweetness of her new soap.

But instead of reaching out and pulling her to him like he wanted to do, Luke turned away from her, forcing the thoughts to the back of his mind once again.

To be continued. Please review! Sorry about all the RENT references, but it's the only play I've seen rather recently, and well, I hate doing actual research.

If finals don't kill my brain, I should be having the next few parts out rather quickly. I hope.

La prochaine fois: Lorelai had her fun with the play, now it's Luke's turn.