Thank you for all your lovely comments! :) I really do appreciate them. Here's the next chapter.

Chapter 6

A couple of weeks had passed since the party. Luke was in the kitchen making some breakfast with Alice watching when Rory and Jess came in, ready for school.

"Mom not up yet?" Rory asked.

"No, she's going in a bit later today." Luke said. "Hey, can I ask you two a favour?"

"Sure." Rory smiled.

"Could you possibly watch Alice this evening?" He asked. "I'd like to take your mom out for dinner."

"Aw that's sweet." Rory grinned. "Any particular reason?" She asked.

"It's sort of an anniversary." Luke admitted.

"Not your wedding." Jess said.

"No, but it's been 7 years since we went on our first date." Luke smiled.

"Oh my god it has!" Rory grinned. "It was soon after my 9th birthday. It was at the inn, remember?"

"Yeh I remember." He smiled.

"We'll watch Alice, don't worry." She smiled. Jess nodded in agreement.

"Thanks." He smiled.

"Can we play games all evening?" Alice asked excitedly.

Jess smirked. "Maybe. If you're good."

"I'll be good all day, I promise!" Alice insisted.

Rory laughed. "Come on you, we'll all be late if we don't go now. See you later!" She said to Luke.

"Have a good day." He smiled. "Hey you, come give your daddy a kiss." He said to Alice.

Alice grinned and ran and jumped into his arms and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Have a fun day. Love you." He said.

"Love you too daddy!" She said and jumped back down and then left with Rory and Jess.

Rory and Jess were at their lockers when Kate appeared next to Jess and opened the locker next to his. Jess looked over. "What are the chances?" He smirked.

"You know, I'm getting kind of worried that you're stalking me." She said.

"Could say the same to you." He said.

"Do you not have another line?" She asked.

Jess shrugged. "It works every time."

Kate rolled her eyes. "It's starting to get boring."

"Who, me? Never." He smirked.

Meanwhile, Tristan walked up and stood next to Rory. "What's going on over there?" He asked.

"I think a little love story." Rory smirked.

"Really?" Tristan chuckled.

"They keep randomly bumping into each other. Coincidence or not?" Rory joked.

"Well we keep bumping into each other. Is that not a coincidence?" He smirked.

"No because you keep deliberately coming up to me." Rory pointed out.

"Same thing." Tristan shrugged.

"You won't give up, will you?" Rory said.

"Nope!" He grinned.

Rory just shook her head. "I've got to get to class." She said.

"Since Jess is somewhat preoccupied, how about I walk you to class? We both have English right?" He tried.

Rory sighed. "Fine."

In the class, Mr Medina set them an assignment in groups. Jess, Rory, Tristan and Kate were all put in the same group. When the class finished they all walked outside and gathered.

"So I guess we should organise when to meet?" Kate said.

"What about tonight?" Jess suggested.

"We're meant to be babysitting Alice." Rory pointed out.

"Hang on, are you two related?" Kate asked confused.

"Oh sorry. Kate, Rory. Rory, Kate. Rory's my sister." Jess said.

"Oh." Kate said surprised. "Hey."

"Hey." Rory said.

"So tonight?" Tristan said.

"We can't." Rory said.

"Why not?" Jess said. "Alice loves Tristan anyway." He pointed out. "She won't mind. And mom and Luke won't if we tell them we have to sort out this assignment."

"I guess.." Rory said.

"So meet you outside after school and we can all take the bus?" Jess suggested. When everyone nodded their agreement, they headed off to their next class.

After school, they all went back to the Crap Shack, collecting Alice on the way. They found Lorelai there already.

"Mommy!" Alice said and ran up and gave her a hug.

"Hey sweets!" Lorelai smiled. "How was school?"

"Good! We painted today! I made you a painting!" Alice beamed proudly holding it out to her.

"Aw that's lovely! We can stick that on the fridge." Lorelai smiled. She then looked over and saw there were two more people than there should have been. "Have you been multiplied?" She joked.

"We've all been put together for this school assignment. Is it ok if we start it tonight? We'll stay in and still watch Alice." Rory said.

"Oh yeh that's fine." Lorelai said. She then looked at them suspiciously. "Do either of you know where Luke is taking me tonight?" She asked.

"No idea." Rory said.

"Nope." Jess said.

"And if you did?" Lorelai asked.

"We wouldn't tell you." Rory grinned.

"Spoilsport." Lorelai pouted.

"Mom, he wants to surprise you. It's nice." She said.

"Yeh I know..." Lorelai said.

Luke came and picked Lorelai up after he'd closed the diner and took her out. Meanwhile, the four teenagers were sat in the living room while Alice played with some of her toys.

"So we should split it up." Jess said. "How about Kate and I do this bit and you and Tristan work on that bit?" He said pointing to the two parts of the question they had to answer.

Rory knew this was his way to spend more time with Kate but it also meant that she had to spend time with Tristan. She saw his hopeful face though and sighed. "Yeh ok."

As they started working, Jess and Kate starting arguing again, this time about how to approach it.

"Let's go in the kitchen." Rory said not being able to concentrate.

"Sure." Tristan said and followed her in.

Jess smirked when he saw them walk off. "About time." He said.

"What?" Kate said confused as to why he had suddenly changed subject.

"Tristan and Rory." Jess said.

"What about them?" She asked.

"Getting them in one room together is hard. I mean haven't you noticed?" He said.

"What, about Tristan liking your sister? Yeh the whole school knows about it. It's top news because Tristan's never focused on one girl for so long before. He must really like her." Kate said.

"He hasn't?" Jess asked.

"Nope. He's pretty much known as the King of Chilton. All the girls fawn over him. He's never had a proper girlfriend before and he's never wanted one really but Rory's obviously changed him." She said.

Jess started feeling a bit worried. "How do you know Rory isn't just one of those girls?" He asked.

Kate shrugged. "Tristan wouldn't be trying this hard if he didn't genuinely like her. He would have given up ages ago."

"Really?" He asked.

Kate saw his worried expression. "Don't worry. He won't mess her around."

Jess just nodded and went back to the work.

Kate glanced at him and for the first time took in his appearance. "You really care about your sister, don't you?" She asked.

"She's my best friend. She's my sister. I want her to be happy." Jess said.

"It's nice that she's got you watching out for her." She said.

Jess looked up at her. "Did you just pay me a compliment?"

Kate smirked. "Maybe."

"Wow." Jess said.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Rory and Tristan were sat in silence working on the question. Rory glanced up at him. "You know I've had several girls come up to me at school and warn me off you..." She said.

Tristan looked up. "Warn you off?"

"Yep. They seem to think we're dating. Of course I told them we weren't but they still warned me off." She shrugged.

"Yeh well the girls at Chilton seem to get a bit..." Tristan started saying.

"Possessive?" Rory smirked. "You've got quite a reputation."

"Yeh well, that was before." He shrugged.

"Before what?" Rory asked.

"Before I met you." Tristan said nonchalantly.

Rory looked up at him in surprise at the blunt way he said that. "Tristan..." She said.

He shrugged. "I thought it was obvious." He said. "Why do you think I've been bothering you all the time?"

"Because you love it." Rory said.

"Well it is kind of fun sometimes." Tristan smirked.

Rory just shook her head. "I never know when you're being sincere or not. Sometimes you can be nice like at my birthday and then you revel in winding me up and being a jerk." She said annoyed.

Tristan looked up at her. "Sorry." He said.

Rory couldn't help but smirk.

"What?" He asked.

"Nothing. It's just I can't believe I actually got Tristan Dugrey to say sorry." She smirked.

"Well don't get used to it." He said. "So how do you feel then? I kind of get mixed feelings from you." He said.

"Let's get back to work." Rory said avoiding the question.

Meanwhile, Luke had taken Lorelai to Sniffy's. They had greeted Maisy and Buddy and were sat in a booth waiting for their food.

"So are you going to tell me what this is about?" Lorelai asked.

"Do you remember what happened exactly 7 years ago?" He asked.

"Uh..." Lorelai tried to think. She then smiled. "We went on our first date."

"Yep." Luke smiled.

"Best first date I'd ever had." Lorelai smiled.

"Likewise." He smiled.

They both sat for a minute just remembering it.

"How do you think Jess and Rory are doing?" Luke asked a minute later.

Lorelai shook her head. "Nope, no kids talk. Isn't this meant to be a date?" She grinned.

"I know. I just...they're there with Tristan and this girl. Do we even know anything about this girl?" He asked.

Lorelai smiled at his concern. "Stop worrying Luke. Alice is there. Nothing is going to happen when she's there. Jess and Rory are responsible. They'll be working on the school assignment."

Luke sighed. "Yeh I know. It's just..."

"They're growing up. Yeh I know." Lorelai said. "It was always going to happen. It's hard for me too."

"Sorry." Luke said. "You're right. This is a date. I want you to have a nice time."

Lorelai smiled. She reached over and put her hand on his. "I'll always have a nice time with you. You're the love of my life." She said sincerely.

Luke smiled. "Same."

"So I was thinking..." Lorelai grinned.

"Never a good start..." Luke smirked.

"Hey!" She said indignantly. Luke chuckled. "Anyway, I was thinking, the first snow of the year is scheduled to come soon. We need our family midnight walk with doughnuts and coffee."

Luke groaned. "We do that every year.."

"That's why it's a tradition! Just remember last year. Rory and Jess having a snowball fight. Alice asleep in your arms. It was fun." She said.

He had to smile at that memory. "Yeh alright, it wasn't the worst thing in the world but if you ever tell anyone in this crazy town that, there will be no more snow walks." He warned.

"Deal!" Lorelai grinned. "Our little secret."

Their food soon arrived and Lorelai smiled, looking around. "This is nice. Thank you for taking me out. We don't get to do this much anymore." She said.

"Let's make a toast." Luke said holding up his glass. Lorelai grinned and held hers up. "Here's to us. 7 years since we had our first date. 6 years since we got married. And here's to our family who we wouldn't change for the world." He smiled.

"Amen." Lorelai smiled.

Later that evening, Tristan and Kate had left and Lorelai and Luke had come back and were putting Alice to bed. The doorbell rang and Rory went to answer it. She found Tristan standing on the porch. "Did you forget something?" She asked.

"Yep." He said, taking hold of her hands and gently pulling her outside.

"Tristan, what are you doing?" Rory asked.

"What I've been wanting to do for ages." He said. He then leaned forward and gently kissed her on lips.

When Tristan pulled away, Rory stood there not knowing what to do. "Uh...thanks..." She stammered. "Uh..see you at school..." She said quickly and rushed inside. She shut the door and closed her eyes. What the hell just happened?

Hope you liked it! Please review and let me know what you think! Thanks! :)