"Are you gonna do it?" Sookie asked as they rolled into the town square late Sunday afternoon.

"Do what?" Lorelai asked nonchalantly.

"Lorelai."

"I don't know. I'm still thinking about it," she sighed.

"Talk to him."

"We'll see."

"Talk to him," Sookie repeated again, this time more insistently.

"Sookie!" she snapped, whipping her head to face her. "I said I'll think about it."

Sookie looked down at her lap for the remainder of the ride. When the jeep pulled into her driveway, she silently exited the vehicle and walked around the back to open the trunk door and grab her luggage. As she was approaching the cement walkway to her porch, she heard the voice behind her.

"Hey," Lorelai called after rolling down the passenger side window. Sookie turned. "I'm sorry."

She simply nodded and turned back, disappearing through her front door.

"Damnit," Lorelai whispered to herself.

"What can I get you?" Luke asked, pulling his order pad from the pocket of his green flannel shirt.

A nicely dressed businessman looked up from his menu. "Bacon cheddar burger, fries, and a Coke would be great, thanks," he replied as he handed his menu to Luke.

"Coming right up," he nodded.

"Hey," she called from behind him as she swung open the door.

He spun around at the sound of her voice. "Hey," he smiled, leaning in to greet her with a kiss. "How was the spa?"

"It was great," she said, her voice trailing off at the end as she recalled the way she'd treated her best friend at the end of the trip.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his expression turning concern.

"Nothing, I'm fine...tired is all. I'm gonna go home and lay down."

"Okay."

"But can you come over after you close?" she asked, nervously tugging on the sleeves of her sweater.

"Sure. Is everything okay?"

"Yes...no...I don't know. We'll talk later."

"Okay," he gave in, his voice confused.

"I love you. Bye," she said as she rose up on her toes to peck him on the cheek.

"I love you too," he called after her as quickly as he could, trying to get it all out before she closed the door behind her. He exhaled loudly and turned around to resume his work.

He walked through the foyer of her house 3 hours later and was greeted by a still silence.

"Lorelai?" he called out. No answer. He climbed the stairs and heard the water running in the master bathroom. He made his way back downstairs and began shuffling through her cupboards, trying to find something to cook her for dinner. He found taco shells and seasoning in the cabinet above the toaster, as well as ground beef in the freezer and lettuce, taco sauce, and cheddar cheese in the refrigerator.

He managed to have it completely prepared and ready on the table by the time she came downstairs. He turned at the sound of her footsteps as she walked into the kitchen.

"You take really long showers," he said blankly.

"You should know," she replied with a wink and wild smile, making him laugh.

"Hungry?" he asked, gesturing toward the table.

"What kind of question is that."

"It's more of a polite assumption. You're always hungry."

"This is true," she nodded as she sat down.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" he asked as his teeth bit into the hard shell, making a crunching sound.

"Can we talk after dinner?" she responded, trying to push the conversation back as far as possible.

"Sure."

"Thanks," she smiled. "So how was your day?"

"Same as always. I cooked, served, cleaned, and repeated."

"Right. So nothing out of the ordinary?" she asked in attempt to keep the conversation going.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," he confirmed. "Where's Rory?"

"She's working on a group project for school at some girl's house in Hartford."
"'Some girl'...glad you know who your kid is with."

She noted a condescending tone in his voice but did her best to let it slide, given the odds she was already at with her best friend.

"The girl's name is Paris."

"Paris," he repeated.

"Yep," she nodded.

His questions, as well as all other conversation, halted there and for the remainder of dinner. She got up to clean the dishes when they were done and then followed him into the living room, taking a seat next to him on the couch.

"So...do you still want to talk to me?" he asked after several moments of silence.

"I do," she said. No pun intended, she thought.

"I'm all ears."

She nodded in understanding. It took her another series of silent minutes to collect her thoughts and speak up.

"I had this dream the other night," she began.

"Yeah, you told me that."

"I didn't really go into detail though."

"It was just a dream, Lorelai. It's not that big of a deal."

"I wish I felt that way. But it seems so real. It's been challenging my thoughts for days and I can't shake it," she breathed out.

"Okay. Then talk to me," he said, stretching his arm around her and pulling her closer to him.

"Well the jist of it is we had this fight after I made some comment about how sometimes breakups are inevitable and how I was nervous that, because the town now knows that we're a couple, things would be ten times more difficult if we broke up. So after I said that, you got super mad, thinking I felt that things wouldn't work out between us. And, after you calmed down, you asked me what I was afraid of. I pretty much told you the same thing I did in the restaurant parking lot on our first date. So you started assuring me that you weren't going anywhere and that you wouldn't let me bolt, the same stuff you told me in real life."

"That's what has you so shaken?" he asked.

"Not exactly. It's what you said afterward," her voice faded into silence.

"What did I say?" he asked, urging her to continue.

"You started talking about how you want a future with me. You went on and on about living together, getting married, having kids. All that serious couple stuff that people don't usually have this soon in a relationship."

"Oh."

"And you told me you're completely ready for all of that. Like right now. If there'd been a minister in my bedroom, and I'd have been ready too, we'd be dream-married right now."

"What do you mean by if you'd been ready too?" he questioned.

"I told you that I didn't think I was ready for those next steps," she answered, biting her lip as she watched his face for a reaction.

"Got it," he nodded, then looking at her expectantly as her expression turned confused for a few seconds.

"Oh!" she said in realization, swiftly shaking her head. "That's all. Well, we went to bed. Then I woke up. How ironic."

"So that's why you called me the next morning? You didn't realize it was a dream?"

She nodded. "It felt so real, Luke."

"It seems like it has you thinking."

"You have no idea," she leaned her head back against the his shoulder, staring at the ceiling.

The only thing that could be heard in the room for the next half hour were the sounds of their breathing.

"I want it," he broke the silence.

"Yeah. So do I," she whispered in response, reaching her hand up to thread her fingers through those of the hand that hung over her shoulder.

"So...what now?" he asked.

"I don't know. Is it too soon?"

"Does time really matter when you're already certain it's going to happen?" he asked, surprising them both with his sappy insight.

She turned her head to face him and they both laughed.

"I guess it really doesn't matter, does it?" she asked, laying her head back down on his shoulder.

"I'm kind of on the same page as Dream Luke," he mumbled into her hair as he kissed the top of her head.

"You are?" she asked, picking her head up to face him again.

"I am," he said, a plain yet serious look unwavering on his face.

His eyes bore into her soul and she came to an unmistakeable realization that she was ready as well.

"I think Dream Lorelai is an idiot," she whispered.

"Yeah, so do I," he teased. "But real life Lorelai is pretty brilliant," he smiled, his eyes sparkling in adoration.

"I'm ready too," she whispered, her head once again reclaiming its place on his shoulder.

He turned to kiss her temple, then mumbling against the soft skin there.

"Then marry me."