AN: I know, I'm evil and should be destroyed. I'm sorry for taking so long, but this chapter really just took FOREVER to crank out. It's been in the works for over a month. Probably closer to two actually. Anyway. I wont waste your time with a long author's note, go on! Get reading! The next chapter is fully written in my head, I just have to get it out on paper. It's got a couple flashbacks in it, just a heads up.

Poolside Conversations

Lorelai smoothed the front of her dress as she stood in her bare feet in the kitchen. She had managed to get ready faster than Luke.

That's a first.

She shifted her feet back and forth as she sipped on a mixed drink she'd made out of what was left in the sparse liquor cabinet and the fridge.

Initially, Malibu and Crystal Light Lemonade didn't sound like a promising combination, but upon first taste she discovered she had a new favorite drink.

"LUKE! Come ON! We're going to be late. The car is here already."

"I'm almost ready." He called back.

The Huntzberger's had sent a car for them, a nice gesture considering Lorelai was very much considering getting drunker than all get out if the party blew as much as the uppity Hartford parties she'd been to in the past did. Sookie and Jackson were going to ride with them, because it would be a waste to just use the limo alone when it sat 8 people. Granted, this ruled out dirty deeds in the limo, but they'd gotten that out of their system the last time they had ridden in a limo.

Luke came into the kitchen a few minutes later, dressed in his tux and was attempting to tie his tie.

"Come here, let me." She said, sitting down her now half empty drink and raising her arms so she could fix his tie. The bell rang while she was tying his tie. "That's Sookie and Jackson, let's go." She picked up her wrap and purse off the back of a kitchen chair and the two of them walked outside.

Sookie and Jackson had abandoned the front door to examine the limo.

"Ready to go?" Lorelai called as Luke locked the door.

"Oooh! You look so pretty! I told you that dress would look amazing." Sookie said, squealing over Lorelai.

"Yeah, after it got altered it turned out pretty good. Luke sure seems to like it." Lorelai said, shooting him a coy look over her shoulder.

"Aw jeez." Luke muttered, stepping around the women to open the door to the limo and motioned for them to get in. "We're going to be late as is."

"Not late, just making an entrance." Lorelai said as she got in behind Sookie and Jackson.

But Luke was very appreciative of the dress, and he'd certainly taken his time drinking her in. Which is why it took him so long to get ready. Or at least that was what he was going to tell her, and it wasn't a complete lie. He didn't want to let on that he had taken extra "mirror time", as Lorelai called it, because he wanted to look nice to meet all the fancy Hartford people and not feel like a bum.

But the dress was fucking amazing. Even sitting next to her in the limo he was still enthralled. It was long, silky fabric (which he would later find out was in fact silk, Chinese Silk at that…not that he had any friggin idea what that was) and was so inky black that it looked like somebody had dumped a bottle of ink out and it was in a constant state of motion down her body. He was most appreciative of three aspects of the dress. One, being the fact that it was strapless. Her shoulders were two of her best assets, and he was drawn like a magnet to them, either pressing a soft kiss to one or running his hands over them. The second was the slit that ran up her left leg and stopped maybe four inches blow her hip, exposing her long, tanned legs capped off in strappy stiletto heels.

The third, and probably his favorite, was the back. He'd certainly taken his time enjoying the view from behind as they'd walked out of the house. It dipped all the way down to right above her ass. He was kind of concerned about her being able to keep said body part in the dress. She'd assured him double stick body tape was her best friend and the dress would stay up. He mentally traced the back of her dress at the top where a single, maybe inch wide piece of fabric kept the entire dress up and held her breasts in check.

"Luke? Hellloooo?" Lorelai said waving her hand in front of his face. He'd been staring at their joined hands on the seat for the past few minutes and she'd only asked him twice if he'd remembered to grab the invitation off the counter.

"Huh? Sorry." Luke said.

"Did you get the invitation?" Lorelai asked, smiling at him, distracting him even further. This night wasn't going to go well if he kept getting distracted by her every move.

"Yeah. Why?" he asked, pulling it out of his pocket and handing it to her.

"Apparently we have to show them at the gate."

"You're the mother of the bride. Why do you have to show somebody a piece of paper?" Luke scoffed.

"The guy in the guard house doesn't know that though." She said passing the card to Jackson to pass through the divider he'd just lowered. She dropped her voice and leaned over to whisper in his ear. "Distracted much?" he felt her smile against his ear and ducked his head slightly; clearly embarrassed he'd been caught.

They talked and drank a little champagne on the way to the party, but when Sookie hiccupped once they topped off the bottle and declared that they didn't need to be drunk when they got there.

Pulling up to the house was a bit breathtaking. Lorelai had only met the Huntzbergers once and it was at her parents' house for a party. She had some idea of how rich the family was but nothing prepared her for the Huntzberger estate.

They could see some of the sprawling grounds from the windows as the limo slowed to a stop at the gate to show the invitations and be checked off on the guest list. The party seemed to be happening at the back of the house, a walkway lined with candles could be seen from the window and the faint lilt of strings music filtered in through the driver's open window.

Luke was nervous. He didn't do well at these fancy dinners with fancy people. It would be a miracle if he made it through the night without spilling anything on himself. He had been staring out the window as the car pulled up the driveway and pulled his attention away from his thoughts when Lorelai rubbed his thigh.

"Ready to make our appearance Mr. Danes?" She asked, her blue eyes shining. He smiled back at her and nodded as he slid out of the car behind Sookie.

He turned and offered his hand to Lorelai as she smiled at him from the door. She took it and stepped out of the limo.

She looks like a movie star.

She smoothed the front of her dress and then looped her arm through his.

"You two look like you just stepped out of the Oscar edition of People Magazine." Sookie said, one hand dramatically thrown to her chest.

Both of them blushed a little and Lorelai glanced up at Luke and kissed him lightly on the cheek before they started the long walk down to where the party had already begun.

The estate was amazing on it's own, but it had been decked out in honor of the party. Everywhere you looked there were white candles, white roses, lilies and orchids (and the occasional stargazer lily thrown in for color Lorelai supposed). The tables that were under the tent were barely visible, but she could see the table cloths alternated from black to white and each had a large arrangement on it.

"If the engagement party is like this, what is the wedding going to be like?" Luke murmured to Lorelai.

"You ain't seen nothin' yet. They've got a year to plan the thing at least. It's going to be ridiculous." Lorelai said, turning away to look around her.

Luke caught the glimpse of longing in her eyes, he knew exactly how she felt…or at least he hoped he did.

They reached the bottom of the stairs down the sloping back lawn to where the tents were set up.

"My God. They have a receiving line." Sookie said in a stage whisper back to Lorelai, who was about three people behind them at the time. The people between them shot Sookie what could only be construed as a "snooty rich person" look and the line moved ahead as Rory and Logan as well as the Huntzbergers greeted the guests.

By the time they reached Logan and Rory, Luke was already sick of the formalities. The Huntzbergers had kept them for a solid 5 minutes as Shira gushed over Lorelai's dress (a sentiment that made Lorelai tilt her head a little and smile fakely) and Mitchum asked Luke about his golf game (which he lied about of course, no need in the big guy knowing he didn't actually play golf).

Lorelai felt her eyes water up a little when they reached Rory and Logan, she looked so much older than twenty-one. She was wearing a long halter dress, white of course. Her hair was done up in an elegant up-do and she just looked everything that a bride-to-be should look like. She lit up like a Christmas tree when she saw her mom.

She hugged her, carefully to avoid messing up their dresses but as tightly as she could manage.

"There are so many people here." Rory whispered

"Well you're the hostess with the mostest." Lorelai quipped as she kissed her cheek lightly. "You look beautiful baby."

Rory blushed.

"You have people to greet, we're going to go make the rounds and find our seats." Lorelai said, taking her hands and squeezing them lightly.

Luke stepped up and hugged Rory, and shook Logan's hand before he followed Lorelai to their table.

Luke saw Lorelai's entire body tense up slightly as they discovered just who was seated at the table they were supposed to sit at.

Sitting on one side of the table in a cloud of Chanel No. 5 was Emily, who locked eyes with Lorelai as they approached the table. And on her left was Richard, who looked more bored than a human being could possibly be and was staring off into space in the general direction of the parking lot probably wishing he could get the hell out of there.

Emily looked up and locked eyes with Lorelai.

"Lorelai."

"Mom."

Luke could punch the tension in the air it was so thick, Lorelai's back and shoulder muscles were slowly clenching and relaxing as she took each terse breath.

Lorelai put her bag and shawl on her chair and turned to Luke.

"Lets go to the bar." She said

He nodded and putting a hand on the small of her back, walked with her towards the huge bar set up under one of the many tents.

"Double Vodka Martini with a twist please." She said bracing herself against the bar with both hands and closing her eyes. She let herself be soothed both by the promise of alcohol shortly arriving and by Luke's hand softly trailing up and down her back.

"Same for me." Luke said to the bartender who was looking at him expectantly. He turned away and proceeded to go make their drinks.

"You don't like martinis." Lorelai said, turning back to look at him.

"True, but beer is nitwit juice." He said winking at her. She smiled faintly and then pushed herself off the bar softly and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Can we go home yet?" she asked into the lapel of his tux.

"Hey, don't worry about them. We don't have to sit at the table much, and when we do it'll just be to eat and we can eat quickly and get up again. Plus, I'll be a buffer. I promise." He said, still running his hand up and down her back.

"Two vodka martinis with a twist." The bartender interrupted, putting their drinks on the bar. They took them and saw Sookie and Jackson standing near the edge of the tents talking so they made their way over.

"Hey, there you two are." Sookie said, smiling brightly.

"We hit the bar. It'll be necessary tonight." Lorelai said, sipping her martini and noting the lipstick left on it. She was amused at the sparkles left on the glass, and flashed an award winning smile at Luke.

"Why do you say that?" Sookie asked. Lorelai motioned towards the table they were sitting at with her head and Sookie's eyes went big.

"Well then, by all means. Drink up!" Sookie said under her breath as Lorelai took a big gulp of her martini.

A three course meal, dessert, three slow songs, two fast songs, and three more martinis later, Lorelai was actually starting to enjoy herself. She had pulled Luke up to dance when the music had changed back to a slow song and he hadn't objected. Now she was more or less using him as a prop to hold herself up.

"Are you seriously this drunk already?" He asked as he stumbled a little under her weight.

"No," she said backing up to look at him. "Just tipsy enough to want to lean on you."

"Oh…okay?" Luke replied, thoroughly confused as she leaned her head back on his shoulder while her fingers traveled down his right arm running a slow path up and down, mirroring the pattern he'd been making on her back for the past ten minutes.

Rory and Logan floated past a few minutes later, in the middle of "The Way You Look Tonight". Lorelai reached out with one hand and tapped Rory's shoulder.

"Hey kid."

"Hey mom" Rory said with a smile, resting her chin on Logan's shoulder.

"Having fun?"

"You bet."

Lorelai smiled as Logan lead Rory across the floor. That was her little girl dancing with that boy. Her little braided pig-tailed girl clutching Colonel Clucker, dancing with that boy.

She felt her eyes water and turned her face into Luke's neck.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, feeling her hot tears seep through his shirt.

She shook her head, and he resumed rubbing her back like he had been before, only now with the intent to soothe her more than anything else.

"Sorry." She said pulling back, and running a finger under each eye. "Got all emotional there for a second. It was a real Father of the Bride moment and Rory was six again."

She laid her head back down on his shoulder and sniffed. The music changed from the nice slow Sinatra to a faster song. Luke took her hand and lead her off the floor.

"No, Luke I don't want to go back to the table. My parents are there." She said pulling him towards the other tent where people were mingling. She wasn't exactly in the mingling mood, so they hung around in the corner, talking to each other an occasionally sharing fake smiles and false enthusiastic small talk with any of the Hartford elite that dropped by just to 'say hello'.

Lorelai felt herself getting droopy, but after consulting Luke's watch and only discovering it to be 11:45, she decided it was time for coffee. Lorelai grabbed a cup of coffee from the coffee bar set up in the tent they were in and turned around to see Rory coming towards her.

"Hey, any good?" Roy asked, gesturing to the cup.

"Not bad. Not exactly the best, but it'll do." She replied, taking a sip. Rory got her own cup and turned to face her mom.

"So, good party?"

"Well it's not Stars Hollow style…but for a fancy shindig it's not too bad."

"It's loud in here. Let's go talk somewhere. I need to get away from all these people." Rory said after a few minutes of silence.

Lorelai scanned the room and saw Luke standing with Sookie and Jackson near the corner. They caught eyes and she motioned towards Rory and outside of the tent. He nodded and went back to talking to Sookie.

The two Gilmore ladies walked out of the tent and across the grass, which thankfully wasn't wet from dew yet.

"This place is incredible." Lorelai said as they crossed the yard down to where the pool was. The pool was huge, near Olympic sized by Lorelai's best judgment. It was full of floating candles and white flowers.

"Yeah, it's kind of ridiculous how far they went with this party. I mean, we're probably the only people to come over here." Rory said.

"Yeah, but it's quiet. So you wanted to talk?" Lorelai asked, turning to face her.

"Mmhmm. Let's sit." Rory said motioning.

"On the ground? Not in this dress." Lorelai scoffed. She laughed as Rory took off her shoes and hiked her dress up around her waist before plopping down at the side of the pool and letting her feet dangle down into the water.

"Emily would shoot you if she could see you…" Lorelai said deadpan before grinning wickedly and sitting down next to her.

They stared out over the water for a few minutes, watching the candle light play across it.

"I had a real Father of the Bride moment when you and Logan danced past us earlier. I told Luke, but the reference was lost on him."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you were six. Pigtails and bows."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

They were silent again.

"This is retarded. We've always been good at the talking thing before." Rory said, stretching her legs out through the water and flicking a little bit with her toes and sending out a splash of water.

"I know. This party…is a lot to for mommy's heart to take." Lorelai said glancing up at Rory, her eyes welling a little. "Other than that iceberg on your finger, it's the first time it's really been clear that you're getting married…you know?"

"Yeah." Rory said. "It's a lot to take in…I'm still trying to take it all in. I'm still not sure the Huntzbergers' even like me. I mean, I know they like me or we wouldn't be getting married…it's just weird to think I'm a grown up now."

"You've been a grown up since you were five and told me that you knew where babies came from and you could make your own peanut butter and jelly."

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah, I do." Lorelai said, and then they grew quiet again. "Promise me one thing?"

"I promise that if we do the cake thing I'll smush it all over his face." Rory said, rolling his eyes.

"That's not what I was going to say, but thanks." She was quiet and looked at Rory with the most sincere look on her face. "I'm far to young to be a grandmother. And so help me God if you make me one before I'm good and ready you'll never hear the end of it, and I'll hype them up on sugar when you leave them with me and send them home to you all crazy."

"I'd expect nothing less." Rory said. "And don't worry. Furthest thing from my mind right now."

"Good." Lorelai replied, "That's good. I mean…don't get me wrong…grandkids would be good…but when I'm old enough to be a grandma."

"Got it."

They smiled at each other and sat by the pool for another half hour, talking and laughing.

"I wonder if anybody misses us. We've been out here for an hour and nobody's come looking." Lorelai said.

"Well, most of the elder crowd has left already. It's mostly Yalies and Life and Death Brigaders left around. Sookie, Jackson, and Luke are probably the only people left out there over the age of 26." Rory said cracking a smile.

"This party will go on until the wee hours of the morning, unfortunately your mother will not." Lorelai said, pulling her feet up under her and standing up. She pulled Rory to her feet and after picking up their shoes they went back to find their respective males.

After wrangling up the rest of the occupants of their limo, they told Rory and Logan goodbye before trekking back up the hill and climbing back into the limo to go home.

Sookie was pretty much sloshed, and Jackson was teetering on the edge.

"Davey and Jaycee are where?" Lorelai asked, making sure she wasn't sending two drunken adults home to take care of their infant and toddler.

"Jackson's mom," Sookie slurred.

"Just checking." Lorelai said, wrapping her arms around Luke's and laying her head on his shoulder. Sookie soon passed out on Jackson's shoulder and Jackson's head slumped forward in what Luke and Lorelai could only assume was a drunken slumber.

"So where did you and Rory sneak off to?" Luke asked, running fingers softly up and down her legs (which she had thrown over his lap).

"The pool. We dangled our feet and talked. I told her I'm too young for grandkids." She said, leaning back against the door and thoroughly enjoying the patterns Luke's fingers were making on the inside of her knee.

"Good, that's good." He said, intently focused on the material of her dress under his fingers.

"Hey," she said, running her hand along his cheek, "what's up babe?"

"Nothing. Sorry. Tired, and a little drunk." He said, snapping out of his thoughts and lying a little. He didn't want her to know where his thoughts really had been.

"Mhmm." She said leaning her head on his shoulder. Luke pressed his lips to the top of her head and she smiled. Turning her face into his neck she let soft kisses dance across his jaw line.

"Lorelai." He half whispered, half growled.

"Hmm?" she asked, focusing her attention on that sensitive spot right under his ear.

"Sookie and Jackson are less than three feet away." He said, wanting to move his head but completely unwilling to.

"And passed out" she added, letting one hand drift across his chest

"Still." He said, swatting at her wandering hands. "Save it for when we get home."

"Oooh I like the sound of that." She said, letting her hand drop back to her own lap. She nuzzled her nose into his neck and breathed in that distinctly Luke smell.

Jackson muttered some gibberish from the other side of the car and Lorelai giggled, her laughs reverberating against the hollow of Luke's throat.

"How much did they drink?" she asked

"I have no idea. I was too busy watching some guy with an accent do thirteen shots of tequila, and then walk away from the bar ten minutes later like he'd just had ten shots of water." Luke said, a bit incredulously.

"Ah, that would be one of the guys from the Life and Death Brigade. Finn, I think." Lorelai said closing her eyes.

"You know if you fall asleep, you forego any other fun activities tonight." He whispered in her ear.

"I'm awake! I'm awake!" she said, sitting up and staring at him wide eyed, causing Luke to laugh.

The car ride was fairly short, and from that point on, fairly uneventful. The car pulled into their driveway and after extracting themselves from the car, Lorelai stuck her head back in to peer at the still sloshed Sookie and Jackson.

"I dunno if they can even walk home." Lorelai said tilting her head to peer at Sookie.

"Just shake them. Their house is like 20 feet away." Luke called from where he was unlocking the door.

After a few minutes of coaxing, Lorelai had managed to talk them out of the car and was watching them do the drunk person shuffle down the sidewalk towards their house.

"I think they're good now." Luke said, coming up behind her and putting his arm around her waist. She smiled as they stumbled, laughing up the steps and leaned her head on Luke's shoulder.

"It's getting cold. Let's go inside." He said, gently directing her towards the front door. She gathered the bottom of her dress up in one hand and put the other arm around Luke's waist.

She kicked her shoes off when she came in the door, a habit Luke had tried to break her of long before, and sat her purse on the table by the stairs. Luke shook his head at her shoes and smiled when he looked up and saw her reach her hand out for him to take. He took it, lacing their fingers together and letting her pull him towards her. He pressed a kiss to her forehead as he slid his arms around her waist, pulling her to him.

"Hi." She breathed into his neck, littering it with tiny, butterfly-like kisses until she got to his jaw. Glancing up and seeing his eyes were closed she pressed a harder kiss to his jaw-line before trailing a faint kiss across his lips.

His hands immediately tangled in her hair, tugging gently to tip her head back further allowing him to devour her lips even more.

She shuddered as he backed her up against the banister, willingly letting him take control. His lips left hers and she whimpered slightly, but that whimper turned into a moan of approval as they came to rest on the side of her neck.

His hands had wandered down to her hips and his thumbs were rubbing soft circles on her hips, driving her completely up the wall. Her hands had been dancing across his chest and shoulder blades, but she slid them around to his butt, quickly pulling his hips flush with hers. She gasped with the contact and he groaned into her shoulder.

In one swift moment he had her dress around her hips and had slid one leg between hers, pressing insistently upwards.

She almost melted instantly. She pushed at his chest and they backed away from the entryway of the house, and they stumbled towards the kitchen. They banged into a couple barstools, a wall, and the coffee table on the way to their bedroom, lips never leaving contact with each other.

Once they entered the bedroom Lorelai pawed his jacket off and started clawing at his tie.

"Hey, slow down." He said, putting his hands over hers, kissing her palms and lowering her hands to her sides. She blushed and looked down. He tipped her head back up and kissed her softly before turning her around to un-zip her dress. He pulled the hook out of the eye and slid the zipper down slowly. The dress slipped down her body and pooled at her feet in a puddle that looked like a huge bottle of ink had been dumped on the carpet.

As the dress fell to the floor her ran his hands down her arms and let them rest on her hips and took a step towards her, placing a gentle kiss against her neck.

Her eyes shut tight as his hands ran around to her stomach as he pressed himself up against her, his arousal very obvious against her hip.

She turned around in his arms, making it very apparent how clothed he was and how much she didn't want him to be. She pulled his tie off from where she'd left it hanging earlier, and made quick work of his dress shirt. He toed off his shoes and socks as she pulled at his belt. As his pants fell around his ankles she ran her hands back up his chest and pulled him in for a hungry kiss. They swayed slightly on the spot and Lorelai pushed him towards the bed.

Luke stumbled and caught himself on the bed post, making Lorelai lose it giggling as he attempted to recover.

He cocked an eyebrow at her and she put a hand over her mouth. He slipped his feet out of his pants and slid back onto the bed, motioning for her to come towards him. She quickly closed the space between them and ran her hands through his hair as he laid his cheek against her stomach.

He kissed slowly across the flat plane of her stomach before taking the elastic of her thong in his teeth and snapping it lightly against her skin. He pulled her towards him and flipped them so she was under him on the bed. She slid upwards and laid on the pillows as he looped his fingers through the sides of her thong and pulled it down her long legs, tossing it across the room to mix with their other clothes.

He kissed her languidly, letting their tongues dance together slowly. They both agreed long ago that sometimes kisses could be the most erotic thing to do with your significant other, and this one was no exception.

Hands were everywhere, massaging sometimes and all out groping others. Her hands slid down his back and inside his boxers, allowing her to grab a handful of his ass before pushing is boxers down and toeing them off herself.

There was something about the rush of being completely skin to skin, and if the desire to move past simple touching wasn't throbbing through her every fiber at that very moment, she could just lay all cuddled up and naked with him forever. She squirmed a little underneath him and his pulled away, resting nose to nose.

She hooked her legs around his waist, and suddenly he knew she was all business. It didn't take much more than that for him.

There were times when they had headboard-rattling, bone-jarring, mind-blowing, neighborhood-waking sex. But tonight was not one of those nights, their rhythm was slow and sensual. It was one of those times that if the partners didn't know each other exactly and extremely intimately they would never reach the soul-jarring orgasms that both Luke and Lorelai were well on their way towards.

They rarely came together, this time being no exception. The rare instances when they did were special, but neither of them focused on it too much. Lorelai almost always came first, shuddering and moaning (sometimes screaming) his name and Luke almost always followed after, her release throwing him over the edge. Neither one of them minded this pattern, to her it thrilled her knowing that she sent him over the edge and he was so focused on pleasing her, and he loved being able to push her that far…it was a real macho moment for him.

There were some nights they were cuddly after sex, but tonight they lay spent on their sides of the beds, fingertips barely touching, panting towards the ceiling.

After they both regained their composure and shared one chaste kiss, they took a quick, innocent shower and Lorelai went to go get a glass of water while Luke got dressed for bed.

Lorelai went into the kitchen wearing an oversized t-shirt, her hair hanging wet around her shoulders. She was filling her glass with water when she saw the answering machine blinking. She hit the button and leaned against the wall next to the fridge while her voice echoed through the quiet house.

Luke was alone in the bedroom getting dressed for bed. He opened his sock drawer and there it sat, calling out to him like a foghorn. He ran his fingers across the black box and pulled it out of the drawer and tucked it in the pocket of his pajama pants. He had considered asking her much earlier than now, but things kept getting in the way. Things like miscarriages and Rory's wedding plans. But now, in a moment they were both truly happy and content, it seemed like the perfect time. He pulled a pair of socks on and went to brush his teeth in the bathroom, hearing Lorelai's voice from the answering machine filter into bedroom.

He brushed his teeth and combed his hair before walking back into the bedroom, finding Lorelai standing pale-faced in the doorway.

He immediately was in front of her, holding both of her hands, fearing the worst.

"Baby? What's wrong?" he asked, squeezing her hands and trying to get her to look at him.

"I have to go to Paris." She said in an almost whisper.