One more chapter to go after this one!

Chapter 11: And the Sky Full of Stars

By the time they got back to the inn, Luke's stomach was so twisted in nervous anticipation that he really hoped Lorelai hadn't noticed that his hands were shaking slightly as he unlocked the door. Next to him, she shifted from foot to foot, eager to get inside the room.

He wish he could say it was because she was that impatient about getting naked.

"Sorry," Lorelai yelped and dashed past him to the bathroom.

"That's what you get for drinking two iced coffees," Luke scolded without much heat as he latched the door behind him. Exhaling slowly, he wandered around the room. Housekeeping had been by to do a turndown, and all of their luggage was neatly stacked against the far wall. Some of Rory's items had shifted, indicating that she had stopped by with her grandparents at some point to grab clothes. He toed off his shoes, then sat on the edge of the bed.

His subconscious had gleefully spent countless nights imagining how this would be between the two of them. Lorelai confessed a few days earlier that Sookie had envisioned them going full Bull Durham in the diner, and that pretty much aligned with at least half of Luke's fantasies. But then common sense took over. As much as he enjoyed that particular vision, the health inspector wouldn't be thrilled with the reality.

Luke clasped and unclasped his hands. He needed to be doing something, but considering they were in a hotel room, there wasn't much for him to do except be alone with his thoughts. He was too jumpy to even consider the book he'd left behind earlier that day. He'd heard the toilet flush a few minutes earlier, but she still hadn't emerged from the bathroom. He frowned, hoping she was OK. Any other time, he wouldn't think twice of knocking and asking, but he really didn't want to stumble upon something that would embarrass the both of them.

He laid down on the bed and closed his eyes, allowing his mind to drift as he waited for Lorelai to come out of the bathroom. After days of narrow dormitory bunks and cots, the bed felt amazing. Luke added getting a larger bed for his apartment on his mental to-do list, conceding that battle to Lorelai. He probably needed to get some music CDs she enjoyed too, but no guys in pirate costumes. He drew the line there. He was going to have to lay in a supply of junk food, wasn't he? Jeez. Maybe he could at least find organic candy and stuff with 100 percent fruit in it and …

There wasn't any form to the dream. It was just heat and the heady, addictive pressure of arousal. It swirled around him, enveloping him like a hug. His lips were moving, but Luke wasn't sure if he was talking or kissing someone. He really hoped he was kissing someone, because he didn't want to relive the Great Lorelai Dream Fiasco of 2002 when he had woken up to find himself making out with his pillow. He hadn't been able to look Lorelai in the eye for days after that.

Fingers danced over his chest, teasing the buttons of his shirt open to reveal the thin T-shirt beneath. His own fingers lifted, buried themselves in a mass of softness as the kiss went on and on. A questing hand closed over him, hot and hard through his trousers, and he woke. The dream dissolved into a blissful reality, and thank God, it didn't involve a pillow. Everything he ever wanted, packaged in a brunette wonder with piercing blue eyes, was smiling down at him.

"Worn out?" Lorelai teased.

"No. No, I'm good." Luke was immensely grateful that his voice hadn't skated up an octave or two. He ran his hand down the curve of her back, encountering satin instead of the sundress she'd worn earlier in the day. So that was why she'd taken so long in the bathroom. "When did you get this? Didn't think it was on the approval list."

"Let's just say I did a little shopping when I was by myself in Paris." She sat up just enough to show off the negligee. It was dark blue and black lace and matched the color of her eyes. It would also be on the floor very shortly, he vowed.

He pulled her back to him, kissing the underside of her jaw and running his lips down the side of her neck. His hand skimmed under the hem of the negligee, and his heart nearly stopped at the feel of bare skin beneath his fingers. He pressed his face into her shoulder, breathing hard as his fingers trailed up her inner thigh, between her legs, and … there was wet and heat, and god, she wanted him as much as badly as he desired her.

She wriggled, and for a moment he wondered if he was hurting her. But then her hips bucked, and she squirmed closer as he turned his attention to rubbing gentle circles over her clit. He lightly bit her skin when she whined his name and slipped a finger inside her, still rubbing her with his thumb. He used her hitching moans as a guide on discovering how she liked to be touched.

When he fantasized about the two of them together, he reckoned by and large that their first time would be fast and rough, slaking the tension that had existed between them for seven years. Nothing his mind conjured could compare with the reality as he explored her as if this was his only chance, as her hands roamed over him, pushing up his T-shirt so she could lean forward and close her lips over his nipples. He knew they would eventually grow desperate for release, but this slow build was unexpected and captivating all on its own.

She suddenly pulled away, hands scrabbling at his belt. He sat up just long enough to pull off his shirts as she got the buckle open, the zip down and … he collapsed back to the mattress with a moan as her hand closed around him. She explored him every bit as throughly as he had her, until his hands fisted the duvet and he was fighting a losing battle against self control. He bit his lip, hard, because he was seconds away from begging her to replace her hand with her mouth.

Then, thank every deity there ever was, he heard the rip of a condom packet. Then it was on him. Then she was straddling him, sinking down onto him, and … and … god.

For all the fantasies he'd had, nothing compared with the rather messy and noisy reality.

The only coherent thought Luke could manage as Lorelai nestled against his side, as his heart started to calm, was just how much he loved her.

"Wow," Lorelai whispered.

Yeah. Wow.

She traced her finger over his chest, and he remembered that they hadn't managed to undress all the way. The negligee was bunched around her waist, and what remained of his clothes had been shoved down around his knees. Careful not to dislodge her, he managed to push them down far enough to where he could kick them off. She followed suit by whipping off the negligee before settling herself back against him.

"I've had some good sex in my time. Some really good sex," Lorelai said after a few minutes of contented silence.

Comparisons with other sexual experiences wasn't exactly what Luke wanted to hear at that moment.

"But this is just … it's the cremé de la creme of sex. It was the sex to end all sex. That was mind-blowing, orbit-shattering, universe-rebooting sex."

OK, he didn't mind hearing that.

"You know, having sex with someone for the first time's supposed be all weird. You don't know where your hands go, you see all your flaws like you're standing naked on the Titanic's bow waiting to see if Jack is going to bother holding you up or not, but this was … the best sex I've ever had. And this is our first time. Our first. Which means it's only supposed to get better."

Luke had to agree.

"God, we're going to kill each other in bed, aren't we?"

He certainly hoped so.

"What're you thinking in there?"

He didn't think he could speak. So he tucked Lorelai beneath his chin, stroked her back, tried to remember how vocal cords functioned. It wasn't like he was that verbose to begin with. He wondered why his face felt a bit strange.

After a moment, Lorelai pushed herself up to stare down at him, a lock of hair of hanging down in her eyes. He pushed it back.

"Look at you. You don't do that nearly enough," she whispered.

"What's that?" Oh look, he did remember how to speak. This was a good thing.

"Smile."

Oh, that's why his face felt strange. He couldn't stop smiling.

Lorelai had no idea what time it was beyond the fact that sunlight was trailing across the ceiling, and her body was making its various demands known. She catalogued which ones were the most important, then shoved aside the duvet to go address the first of them.

While in the bathroom, she took the time to brush her teeth, mentally cataloguing the small bruises and love bites: souvenirs that would eventually fade, but she would never forget. There was the bruise on her hip where he pressed her into the balcony before they'd even gone back to the B&B. There was a proper hickey on the patch of skin where neck turned into shoulders, and she needed ice to help the swelling go down. Until then, she had a summer halter top that would effectively disguise it.

Rory's gift of a night with her grandparents had indeed been put to very good use.

She walked out of the bathroom to hear Luke on the phone, voice pitched low as he spoke with someone on the other end.

"Look, finish out the morning and close it down. Give you and Lane a break, you two deserve it. Just mark the full day on your cards and tomorrow too. Don't open it back up until Monday." In the semi-dark she saw him roll his eyes. "I don't care what Kirk says, he can just plaster himself to the window for the next … no, wait, Kirk is not allowed to plaster himself to my window for the next 36 hours." He kneaded his forehead with his index finger and thumb. "If Taylor has any problems with it, he can just get over himself. It's my business, not his. Hey, thanks for doing all this. No, no I haven't decided yet, probably in the next day or two. I'll let you know. Thanks, Caesar."

Lorelai zeroed in on one sentence in particular. I haven't decided yet. There was no doubt that referred to his return to Connecticut, and with a bit of surprise, she realized exactly how much time had passed. She knew the cruise was originally going to last three weeks, as Rory once commented it was nearly half the length their own trip. It was just over two weeks since he arrived in Paris, on the second day of what was to be his own vacation. Everything in her wanted to scream at him not to go back yet. Not now, not when they were just starting to figure things out without the spotlight of Stars Hollow aimed down at them.

Lorelai dropped to the bed, leaning against Luke's shoulder as he disconnected the call. "I should call Sookie," she said, hoping her voice sounded more lighthearted than she felt. "She said the other day she needed to fax over some legal paperwork for the Dragonfly, and I should take care of it before we leave Rome." She worried her lip. "You need to go back."

He stiffened. "Yeah. I'm supposed to be back by Monday."

"I don't want you to go." The words spilled out without permission, and for a split second, Lorelai wished for the ability to yank them back and bury them deep where he couldn't see her vulnerability. It had to be the sex. Mind-blowing sex had a way of loosening her tongue, and the three rounds they'd done over the past few hours had created such a new definition of mind-blowing that she was tempted to pen a letter to Merriam-Webster.

He shifted, wrapping his arm around her, and she greedily accepted the comfort he was offering. "Lorelai …," Luke started to say.

The phone in his hand buzzed, and he handed it over. Patting Lorelai's knee, he pushed to his feet and gathered clean clothes. Absently, she watched the view (and what a fine view it was) as Luke headed to the bathroom before reluctantly answering the call.

"Hey, Mom," Rory said, and Lorelai was relieved it wasn't her mother. "Just wanted to let you know we're heading over there in the next half hour. Grandma and Grandpa want to do the whole lunch thing again. I wanted to give you a heads up so you're both wearing clothes."

Luke had left the bathroom door opened a crack, and Lorelai angled her head, trying to get a peek. She was forced to be satisfied with flashes of skin as he moved around inside. "I'd figure we'd give that naturist thing a try."

"Ew, Mom, no! Great, now I need to go find brain bleach to add to my morning coffee."

Lorelai smirked. "I hear it's the same word as limburger in Italian."

Rory's gasp of indignation was most likely heard back in Stars Hollow. "We agreed not to talk about that ever again, and I was ordering coffee with cream. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it." She fell silent a moment. "Is everything OK?"

"Yeah, kid, everything's fine." There was a lot she told her daughter, her best friend. Last night and this morning, however, was never going to be one of them. "This trip's just gone a lot faster than I thought."

"Tell me about it," Rory huffed. "There's a computer in the business center here, and I decided to check my email. I've got at least 10 from Yale all about freshman orientation and moving in once we get back. Lane emailed, she said hi and that the entire town is riveted to our postcards, and she claims that if you and Luke aren't officially dating by the time we get home that Miss Patty is planning to do something drastic."

"No worries there, continue," Lorelai said breezily, but doubt tugged at her. Despite everything, they hadn't actually talked about how things would change for them once they got back to Stars Hollow.

"Babette emailed and said the boxes we sent so far got there OK. How many are we up to?"

"I don't know. Four? Five? You're the one with the book fetish."

"Really?" Rory sounded skeptical. "I didn't think it was that much."

"Just remember, shipping this stuff is coming out of your college fund." Lorelai found herself picking at a loose thread on the duvet, the idea that sprang into her head while Luke had been on the phone gaining full form. "Rory, I was wondering-"

"Hang on, Mom." She heard a muffled sound as Rory placed her hand over the speaker and heard her talking to someone on her end. "OK, we're ready here. See you soon! What did you want to ask me?"

Lorelai sighed. "I'll do it when you get here. See you soon!"

"OK! Remember, clothes."

"Fine!"

Lunch was a very quiet affair, filled the same superficial talk as the night before. Lorelai was braced for another fight because there was no way that Emily was going to let her have the last word.

Rory, true to form, acted as the buffer between her grandparents and her mother, but was learning the fine art of making sure that they weren't excluding Luke. Richard was pleasant and engaging, easily chatting about cameras and books as Rory enthusiastically talked about her Harry Potter re-read and how she dragged Luke along with her.

"Well, had I known you were into the series, I would had brought you the latest book. It came out right after you left England," Richard told Rory.

"I know," Rory moaned. "I'm really trying hard not get spoiled, and I want to finish Goblet of Fire again before reading Order of the Phoenix. Thankfully, I don't know any Italian, so I can't tell if people are talking about the latest fashions or discussing the effects of Fudge not believing Dumbledore is going to have on the Wizarding World." She shot Luke an apologetic glance. "Sorry. Slight spoilers."

"Rory has been trying to get me to read them for awhile, but I'm not sure they're my cup of tea," Richard admitted.

"I like sci-fi and fantasy," Luke admitted, and Lorelai snickered at her plate. "Nerd," she sang in a whisper. He pinched her thigh beneath the table. "Though it's not quite as heavy as the Game of Thrones books."

"You read those?" Rory asked, impressed.

"Who's your favorite author?" she grilled him.

"Rory, don't be rude," Emily gently chided her.

"No, it's OK, Mrs. Gilmore." Luke mulled it over. "Not so much an author, but rather a book. Pat Frank's Alas, Babylon."

Richard's eyebrow lifted as he took a sip from his water glass. "Commendable choice," he murmured. "Read it when I was in university. Fascinating take on if atomic bombs had been dropped on the United States. You really should read it, Rory." For the first time, he turned his full attention to Luke. "Have you read Philip Dick's The Man in the High Castle?"

Huh, Lorelai thought. She thought a book had to be at least 100 years old for her father to have read it. The book talk instantly went over her head, and she found herself poking viciously at the salad that magically appeared on her plate without her permission at some point.

"Lorelai, I did not raise you to wield your fork like a dagger," Emily scolded.

Feeling petulant, Lorelai stabbed as much salad as she could with her fork and stuck the entire wad of lettuce in her mouth.

Rory excused herself once they walked back to the B&B so she could drop off her bag, leaving the adults together in the small parlor set aside for guests to use. Lorelai took several deep breaths and waited for round 3 to begin.

"Lorelai, I do not appreciate that you walked out of our discussion last night," Emily said once Rory was out of earshot.

And there it was. "The discussion was finished, Mom. You insulted my boy- you insulted Luke. What was I suppose to do, stand there and let you tar and feather him?" Lorelai prayed that none of them caught the slip-up.

"I thought for sure it would be the rack," Luke muttered, and Lorelai bit back a laugh.

She narrowed her eyes at her father, who had wandered to study the selection of books the inn had to offer its guests. "And what's your thoughts on this?"

Richard pulled down a copy of the Iliad. He flipped it open to the copyright page, then fished out his reading glasses. "Lorelai, you are a grown woman. You have made it absolutely clear that you have no regard for the advice your mother and I provide."

"Well, this is going just as well as yesterday, isn't it?" Lorelai huffed. "Nothing you two say is going to change the status quo."

"The past 24 hours have proven quite fruitful," Richard continued.

Confused, Lorelai looked from her mother to her father. Her mother's face had gone carefully blank, which unnerved Lorelai more than anything that had happened so far. Her father was still absorbed in the book. "Dad?"

"I was just thinking ahead is all." Richard closed the book and placed it back on the shelf.

"Look, we have two more days in Rome. Could we not spend it re-enacting the Punic Wars?" Lorelai asked.

"Well, it's clear that we won't be resolving this situation while we're here," Emily sighed.

Luke cleared his throat, and for the first time since they entered the parlor, he found three pairs of Gilmore eyes all focused on him. He was more than willing to let Lorelai fight her own battles. She was the strongest woman he'd never met. But he never let that stop him from saying what he wanted. No matter how polite he was, it wasn't going to change things.

He let the politeness mask fully drop. "With all due respect, Mrs. Gilmore, this is none of your business. It's my business. And her business." He pointed at Lorelai. "And Rory's business. But not yours."

Emily narrowed her eyes. "Has anyone told you that when you're with someone, you're also taking on her family?"

"Only, a time or two," Luke said lightly, thinking of when he told Jess the same thing.

She didn't say anything for a long time, and for a moment, it felt like no one was breathing. Lorelai drew in a breath and took the two steps needed to Luke's side. She laced her hand with his and squeezed tightly. Emily's gaze flicked to their linked hands, then back up to their stony faces.

"All right." Emily gave Luke a firm, sharp nod. "The first Friday after you get back, I'm expecting you at dinner. All three of you." She directed that last statement at Lorelai.

"OK," Lorelai replied, drawing out the sounds a bit.

"You will stop by our hotel before you leave?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Excellent," Richard said, putting the book he held back.

Emily and Richard left to say good-bye to Rory, leaving them a bit stunned and confused.

"I have to go, don't I?" Luke asked Lorelai.

"I'd offer to tell her that you decided to sub in for a Crash Test Dummy at the last second, but I don't think that's going to fly this time. Besides, you've already been through the initiation and the hazing within the first 24 hours, and without consuming any alcohol. I'm impressed and a bit worried for your sanity."

"I think your crazy has rubbed off on me." He leaned into her, their foreheads touching. "I caught it, you know."

"What?"

Luke kissed her, wrapping his arm around her waist. He drew her in, and her hands swept up to the cap he wore, knocking it off. This one they had picked up during their wanderings around Rome the day before, and Lorelai hated it as much as every other hat they had found on the trip.

"Going to murder that one too?" Luke murmured against her lips.

"Hate it. Too green." Lorelai dragged in a deep breath between kisses. "How long do you think we have before Rory notices we're missing?"

"I saw her carrying her Harry Potter book out to the courtyard, and your parents are with her now."

"Oh, good." Lorelai tugged him toward their room. "Then we have time."

"Lorelai." Luke pulled on Lorelai's hand until she was forced to stop in her attempt to haul him off. "I heard you," he repeated. "You nearly calling me your boyfriend."

"Is that what we are?" Lorelai asked casually, wondering if he could hear how hard her heart was beating.

"What do you want me to be?"

"That, pal, is the $64,000 question I've been asking myself since last night. The answer to the round of Final Jeopardy. You said we're a couple. Boyfriend and girlfriend? Are we suddenly going to dinner and a movie when we get back, because I think we've blown way past that." Lorelai huffed. "Boyfriend makes me feel like I'm Rory's age. You're not a boyfriend."

At the flash of hurt in his eyes, she groaned. "Not saying this right. You're not a boyfriend because you're Luke. You're not someone I can just date. Why do you think we never did before? We both know how it goes for me." Gaining confidence, her rant picked up speed. "I want a middle with you. I don't want you to just be my boyfriend. Don't you get it?"

Relieved, he pulled her into a hug. "I got it," he said into her hair. "Loud and clear."

"Good."

"Think they could hear you back in the States."

Lorelai goosed him for that.

An hour later, they joined Rory in the small courtyard, her attention still focused on her copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

"Everything OK?" she asked absently as Lorelai and Luke took the remaining seats at the small wrought-iron table.

"All good on this end," Lorelai replied. "Let's see what's on the agenda for today?"

She pulled out Rory's battered itinerary, not caring that it was now early afternoon. The once-pristine packet was now battered and torn in a couple of places. Items were scratched out in multi-colored ink, and notes had been jotted throughout the schedule by three different types of handwriting. She flipped to the fourth page, only to have the first three give up its fruitless battle with the staple holding them in place and flutter to the table in defeat. She scooped them up and shuffled them to the back of the itinerary.

"Thanks to your grandparents, we got through the entire 4-day itinerary in one day, and that includes battle re-enactments," Lorelai observed.

Rory arched an eyebrow. "That's really quite impressive. Grandma and Grandpa know how to economize their time."

"That's one way to describe it."

"You know," Rory said thoughtfully, "there's this one bookstore …"

Lorelai slammed the itinerary on the table and pointed at Luke. "Ha!"

He rolled his eyes. "I didn't take the bet."

"I still won!" Lorelai crowed.

"That was a sucker's bet to begin with," Luke countered.

"Still a winner!"

"When has Rory ever met a bookstore she hasn't gone in?"

"This is a very accurate observation," Rory replied. "Speaking of that, Grandpa offered to ship another box of books home for me. We just need to take what we want to ship by their hotel."

Lorelai sat back on her chair with a huff. "Couldn't you flutter your eyelashes and get him to pay for the rest? We all know there's going to be more."

"Eyelash flutters are quite powerful. I only use them sparingly and for the greater good."

"Or to spare Mommy's pocketbook." Lorelai sighed. "Look, I hope they didn't bother you about…"

Rory slowly placed her bookmark in the novel and closed it. She tapped it against the table. "No. They were talking about it, I knew that much. But I didn't want to know." She turned her focus to Luke. "I'm really sorry."

He gave a half-shrug. "Not the first time I've had parents hate me on first sight."

"Got a reputation, huh, Butch?" Lorelai teased.

Luke swallowed hard and stared at his hands. He really missed having something to do with them, and it wasn't the first time on the trip he realized that wiping down counters was a crutch for him. He flexed his fingers. It was time to do the right thing. "I was thinking," he began.

Lorelai narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh no. Stop right there. No thinking allowed. Right, Rory?"

"I think thinking's a rather useful skill," Rory said with all seriousness.

"Not in this case."

"Lorelai," Luke said, wishing she would make this easier for him.

She pushed herself up from the table. "Nope, not listening."

"Your parents are right about one thing," he said, talking over her. "I should go home."

Lorelai wandered to the edge of the brick courtyard and wrapped her arms around herself, almost as she was trying to curl herself into a ball. "See? See where this thinking thing gets him?"

Rory reopened her book, clearly content to let them banter in their normal manner. Lorelai once commented on Rory's ability to tune anything out, and Luke had several live demonstrations of that particular talent over the past few weeks.

Rory suddenly blinked twice, then slammed the book back shut as his words registered. She gaped at him. "You can't go home!"

"I have to eventually, Rory," Luke told her gently. "I was only supposed to be gone three weeks."

"It can't be three weeks yet. Is it? Has it?" Rory frantically looked between them, then lunged for the itinerary. She sorted through the papers, rapidly calculating dates, though they all knew he wasn't wrong.

"This trip is supposed to be you and your mom," Luke continued, hoping that it didn't sound like every word was a tiny stab in the gut. "You've been planning it ever since you were in diapers."

Rory gave up on the itinerary and tossed it back on the table. "Not quite that young, I think I was at least in kindergarten.'

"You let me crash it." And he had loved every second of it. Well, the showdowns with Lorelai's mother definitely weren't a highlight, but Lorelai's defense of him was. And Lorelai wanting to be in a relationship … it was like every Christmas and birthday had landed on his doorstep all at once. "But this has always been a you and your mom thing, You need the time together before you go off to college."

"But, I don't want you to go," Rory said, her voice pitched perilously close to a whine. "You're the Xander to our Buffy and Willow. The Aragorn to our Legolas and Gimli. Right, Mom? We have plans for Spain. Big plans."

Luke narrowed his eyes at her. "You're not getting me in a bullfighter's uniform."

Rory gasped. "You snitched!" she scolded Lorelai, who spun around in indignation.

"I did not!" she protested.

"Snitchey McSnitcher!" Rory accused.

Lorelai stuck her tongue out at her. "Sticks and stones may break my bones …"

"Don't even start, Snitchey." Rory proceeded to ignore Lorelai, and Luke recognized the moment the younger Gilmore was pulling out her greatest weapon. Not the eyelash flutters. Oh no, this was far more dangerous and … Rory turned big doe eyes to him, and his resistance crumbled under the onslaught. "You know, you've come along with us this far. Please stay."

Helpless, he looked over Rory's shoulder at Lorelai. "You know how I feel," Lorelai said quietly, and the seriousness in her voice affected him far more than any pop culture quip she could throw his way.

He was floored every time that that Lorelai and Rory vocally reminded him that they wanted him to stick around. They had shared their once-in-a-lifetime experience with him without any sort of reservation. Lorelai wanted her middle with him. In the back of his mind, Luke had been so prepared for the opposite, for them to cheerfully inform him that they would see him at home, that he didn't know how to respond. Being wanted took some getting used to.

Luke had responsibilities. He couldn't just ask Caesar to keep running the place in his stead just because he wanted to extend his vacation. What about Lane and the temps he hired to cover the trip? Surely they had other summer plans. He wanted to see to some repairs on the Crap Shack before the girls got back, and had already started jotting down a list he kept stashed in his pocket. He wanted to set the town straight on a few things so they wouldn't harass Lorelai about their relationship when she and Rory got home. Then there was Nicole, and he at least needed to make some sort of apology. Every lesson about responsibility he'd ever learned flitted through his brain.

He gazed at one set of imploring blue eyes. Then the other, filled with something he barely dare name because it was so new and fragile.

Then he smiled.