Luke finally caught up with Lorelai at the edge of the town's borders. The closer he got to her, the faster his body pushed. It was as if he was at the bottom of the ocean swimming up to the surface. The more light he saw, the faster he went, trying to beat the clock. When he'd almost caught up with her, she looked back at him and smiled. Before he could tell her to wait for him, she sped up, carrying her body faster than he'd seen her carry it before. She probably thought he was just running the same direction and didn't want to bother him. If she only knew.

Luke increased his speed and watched her from behind. Not a bad view, he thought. Actually, that's quite a nice view. He grinned and tilted his head at a slight angle for a better view as he reached within feet of her.

"Lorelai, wait up," he called to her. She slowed down immediately and looked up at him.

"Hey again."

"Uh, hey." Luke muttered. "What are you doing?"

"Just running home…" Lorelai replied skeptically. "What are you doing?"

"Running."

"Oh, I didn't notice," Lorelai said sarcastically. She smiled at him, knowing he was nervous. What she didn't know was why.

"I, uh, missed you for lunch at the diner today." He said.

Lorelai grinned. It would be so easy to torture him now. "I had to go to the gyno," she said. She saw him blush.

"Ah, geez!" he said, running his hands through his hair. "I, uh, hope that went okay." I hope that went okay? What are you, an idiot?

"My gynecologist hit on me," Lorelai stated matter-of-factly. "He thought I looked good."

"I bet he did," Luke said without thinking.

Lorelai's eyes went wide as she slapped him, "Dirty!"

He looked down at the ground and then back up at her. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm sure that's not why he hit on you."

"Right, I forgot that I'm so unattractive underneath my clothes that no man would ever hit on me once he saw me like that," she replied coolly.

"Lorelai," he groaned. "That's not what I meant."

"Oh, then what did you mean?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I meant you're beautiful," He said. Oh no… Now what do I do? Usually when I let her in to how I feel about her I preoccupy myself by giving her coffee… But now I can't… I can't just run away from her, that will look bad… Crap…

"Me? Beautiful?" She asked incredulously. "I'm sorry, did Luke Danes just call me beautiful?"

"No." He replied, looking up at her. Her face drained a bit and Luke could see a new sadness creep into your eyes. "Okay, fine, yes, that's what I said. You're beautiful, okay?"

"Okay," she grinned and shrugged nonchalantly, trying to make him believe it didn't matter to her what he thought. I just don't want to lose him. If he knows it meant a lot to me that he called me beautiful, he might get freaked out and run off.

"Lorelai, I…" he trailed off, looking at her.

"You what?" Lorelai asked.

"I…" it was then that Luke noticed Lorelai's shirt.

"You seriously bought one of those?" He asked, looking at her strangely.

"One of what?" Lorelai asked.

"Babette eats oatmeal. You bought the shirt. You bought the shirt from the village idiot."

"It was cute!" Lorelai defended.

"It was a rip-off."

"It matched my shoes."

"Ah geez." Luke said, looking at her.

"Okay, so this has been a sufficiently awkward conversation," Lorelai muttered to herself. "What did you want, Luke?"

"Will you come to the diner tonight?" he asked.

"Luke, I come to the diner every night," Lorelai said.

"I know, but today's Chinese night at Al's and I thought maybe you'd go there instead but I want you to come to the diner."

"You want me to come to the diner on Chinese Night?" Lorelai asked, feigning disbelief.

"Yes," Luke said.

Lorelai mulled it over for a minute. "Okay," she shrugged and sprinted down the street, and before he knew it, she was out of his sight.

At five-thirty, Luke took a wet rag and started wiping down the counters. He wasn't sure what time Lorelai would stop by for dinner, but he wanted to be prepared when she did. He still had to shower again, and get dressed in something a bit nicer than his flannel and jeans, and of course, he had to cook her dinner. In the meantime, he had to get everyone out of the diner, and fast. He was going to have hard time explaining to the town why he was closed so early, but he figured he'd find a way.

Luke walked over to where Kirk was sitting and without saying anything, lifted up his plate and wiped underneath it. Kirk watched him with furrowed eyebrows, wondering what he was doing.

"Luke," Kirk stated, "Now I can't drop my pickle."

"What?" Luke asked, irritated.

"My pickle. I always drop it on the table while I'm eating and then pick it up and eat it. The crumbs from my sandwich that fell on the table usually stick to the pickle, giving it a nice, crunchy texture."

"So go outside and drop it in the dirt." Luke said, picking up Kirk's drink and silverware and taking it behind the counter. He then took his rag and started cleaning off all the empty tables.

"People, we're closed. Get out of here." He yelled, giving evil stares to anyone that looked as if they were going to protest. "Go."

"But Luke!" Kirk whined.

"Kirk, go, or I'll call your mother," Luke growled. The townspeople quickly got up and scurried out the door, leaving Luke to wipe down the tables and sweep the floor. When everything looked clean, Luke locked the door and headed upstairs to get ready for his date.

Luke ran a brush through his hair and looked at himself in the mirror. I look good. He said to himself. I look old though… Now I remember why I always wear jeans and a baseball cap. I wonder if Lorelai will like this outfit. Maybe I should change… Is blue my color? Ah geez. Do I even have a color? This is why I need a girl somewhere. Or at least a manual.

Luke hurried down the stairs and into the kitchen. He at least wanted the diner to smell like yummy food, whether or not the food was ready. He'd just put the chicken in the oven when he heard a knock on the door.

"Luke! Open up!" he heard Lorelai yell as he walked over to the door. There she was. Her jeans looked perfect on her. Her hair was wavy, just the way he liked it. Her blue eyes were sparkling. And she was wearing that shirt. The Babette Eats Oatmeal shirt. Again. Had she not changed when she got home?

He quickly opened the door, "Hey come on in." She smiled and came in and sat down at the counter.

"Uh, Luke… Where is everybody? Why are you closed?" she asked.

"We're having dinner together," he replied, as if the answer should be obvious. "It would be rude of me to have people in here when you and I are eating."

Lorelai looked at him for a minute. "Wait…" she trailed off.

"Wait what?" he asked, nervousness overtaking him.

"Is this a date?" Lorelai asked, biting her lip. Luke froze. He hadn't ever made it clear to her what his intentions were. He hadn't even asked her. He'd just ordered her to come to the diner. He'd never told her it was a date.

"Uh no…" he said flustered, fishing for an excuse. "I just, uh, wanted to, uh, have dinner with you."

"Luke, if I would have known…." She started, but he interrupted her.

"You wouldn't have come… You're not interested… It's okay," Luke said, going into the kitchen.

Lorelai followed him, "actually, I was going to say I wouldn't have worn this shirt. I just wore it to tease you. I could have worn something else to tease you with."

Luke looked at her. "Dirty." He replied, pushing the mushrooms around in the pan. "I can't believe you wore the same shirt to dinner that you wore to go running in."

"I did not!" Lorelai protested.

"Yes you did, I saw it this afternoon," Luke said.

"Actually, I bought two of the Babette shirts." Lorelai said.

"You're kidding."

"Well, I have two cute pairs of shoes that match the shirt…." Lorelai said, taking a sip of the water Luke had poured for her.

"Ah geez." Luke replied.

"You know, Luke… Usually when people want to go on a date with someone, they ask the person and let them get dressed and take a shower and everything. Give the person the opportunity to say no."

"I didn't want you to say no…" Luke said so quietly Lorelai could barely hear him. "Lorelai…"

Lorelai looked at him, "Yes, Luke?"

"Will you, uh, go on a date with me?" he asked, trying to seem confident.

"Hmm, I might have to think about that," she replied, putting her finger to her lips.

"Oh." Luke said, disappointed. He turned back to his food and only a moment later, Lorelai tapped his shoulder.

"Luke."

He looked at her, waiting for her response.

"I've already thought about it. Of course I want to go on a date with you."