The wedding was long, and the sun was hot on Lisa's head, causing tiny beads of sweat to prickle on her scalp. She felt slightly awkward with a stranger's elbow right next to hers. Plus, before the ceremony even began, she was bombarded with questions, the most difficult to answer being which part of the bridal party she was related to. Her answer?

"Um...neither. The groom...I guess. I'm his brother's date." Which made her look like a slut.

Finally the ceremony was over, and Lisa rose as Max jogged over.

"Hey," he gently tugged her elbow and she followed him across the street, where they were having an outdoor reception.

Once they'd found a chair to lay their jackets on, Max led Lisa to his brother as the sun began to set.

"Hey, Max, this Lisa?" his brother Ben asked as he swung an arm around his new wife's waist.

"The one and only," Max beamed, making Lisa wonder how much he'd told Ben. Lisa smiled and politely shook his hand.

"This is my wife, Charielle," Ben gazed adoringly at the petite blonde girl next to him. She smiled toothily back and then turned to stare at Lisa.

"So, what do you do for a living, Charielle?" Lisa asked nicely.

"I'm a secretary, actually," she snapped. Lisa stepped back half an inch.

"Oh, well..." she smiled weakly. "That's nice."

"Don't say its too feminine," Charielle said nervously. "It's not too feminine!"

"I never will again," Lisa turned to Max.

"You want to go get some food?" he asked loudly. She nodded vigorously.

"We'll see you around, Ben," Max laughed and led Lisa to the table piled high with various types of food. Max grabbed two plates and held one out to Lisa.

"Want me to fix your plate?"

"Thanks, Max, but I'm not five."

"Sorry," he grinned in embarrassment. Lisa smiled back at him and filled her plate.

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Lorelai pulled Luke's baseball cap from his head and hid it behind her back.

"Give it back, Lorelai!" he laughed, snatching out at it. She dodged it away.

"No, no," she waggled a finger. "You need to do it first."

The phone kept ringing. "You're going to miss your call if you don't pick up the phone first, you know."

"No. It'll leave a message. But I'm not giving you back your ONE BASEBALL CAP if you don't pick it up."

"Why do you want me to?"

"You're closer."

"No, you are."

"Well, if you go by distance, than yes, I am. But I would have to walk all the way around the coffee table, and around the couch."

Luke sighed and picked up the phone. "Hello? Oh, hey, Rory." He held the phone out to Lorelai. "Your offspring calling." Lorelai snatched it up and stuck her tongue out at her boyfriend.

"Hey, sweets," Lorelai greeted as Luke threw a pillow at her.

"Mom," Rory's voice was choked. Lorelai sat up straighter.

"Hon, what's wrong?"

"I just broke up with Dean."

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When they finished their feast, Max shyly asked Lisa for a dance. She surrendered to the slow music and stood. He took her hand.

"So I have to tell you," he said quietly. "This has been one of the best nights I've ever had."

Lisa smiled slightly. "Well, I have to tell you, this has been one of the best nights I've ever had as well."

"How long do you think you'll be in town?"

"I could ask you the same question," she laughed quietly. "I'm not sure. Probably a while. I think I like it here."

"Who doesn't?" he asked rhetorically. "I mean, sure, it takes a while to get past the twelve porcelain unicorn shops and the Hello Kitty stamps, but other than that its pretty cool."

"Agreed," she nodded. "Anyway, how long will you be here?"

"I have a flight out tomorrow," he answered, hanging his head. "I wish I didn't. I..."

"You what?" Lisa pushed playfully. He laughed a little.

"I don't want to leave you."

"I don't want you to leave me," Lisa smiled shyly.

"Lisa," he said as they swayed slowly to the gentle music.

"Yeah?"

"Can I kiss you?" he whispered. Lisa paused, surprised, thinking, then nodded.

"Yes."

And so they did.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ah, Rory, I'm sorry," Lorelai was crushed. Luke frowned but she waved him away. "What can I do?"

"Can I drive down?" Rory said, her voice thick with tears. "I need to see you."

"Of course you can," Lorelai replied sincerely. "You want to have a wallow party, junkfood fest or something? I can kick Luke out."

"No, Mom, Luke can stay," Rory argued. "I don't want to mess up your evening. And I'll hold off on the food. I just want to sleep in a familiar place."

"Okay, sweetie," Lorelai replied. "Drive safe." She hung up.

"Rory broke up with Dean," she sighed. "Or Dean broke up with Rory. Something like that. Anyway she's going to come sleep over tonight."

"Do you want me to go?" Luke stood and gathered his coat.

"You don't have to, but I should warn you that I'm going to have to run over to the inn."

"Aren't you working tonight anyway?"

"I was supposed to, but I want to be here for Rory," Lorelai replied sympathetically. "I'll call Lisa and see if she wants to try her hand at managing for the night." Lorelai quickly snatched up the phone and dialed Lisa's cell number.

"Lisa Reisert," she sounded distracted.

"Hey, Leese, its Lorelai."

"Oh, hi, Lorelai," Lorelai heard a muffled sound, then in the background, "Max, its Lorelai."

"So I kind of have a favor to ask you."

"Shoot."

"Can you work night tonight?"

Lisa paused. Max tugged on her arm as another song started. "I...I guess."

"I'm sorry," Lorelai apologized, feeling guilty. The girl finally started to have fun, and Lorelai had to go and ruin it. "It's just that Rory is having a mini-crisis, and I really need to be here for her."

"No, no, I understand," Lisa replied kindly. "It's no problem. The party's almost done anyway. What time?"

"Is eight okay?"

"Sounds great. See you then!" Click.