Hello friends! It's time for another gripping chapter! My swiftness
(sort of) in updating was all for you, my faithful and devoted readers! Enjoy

They were stuck. That door wasn't budging. Nope, it was quite happy to stay closed. Perhaps it wasn't yet ready to open itself to the world. It was an anthropomorphic door, you see.

All Luke could do was laugh. Maybe there was some merit to the 'lucky seven' philosophy after all.

"What's so funny?" It wasn't often that Lorelai was exposed to a full-fledged Danes laugh.

Luke sighed, leaning his back against the door. "This – you, me. It's all very funny," he chuckled some more.

"Funny?" Lorelai was a tad perplexed.

"Funny," he assured her.

She paused thoughtfully. "Uh, why funny?"

Luke pushed off the door and walked to the middle of the room, his back to Lorelai. He ran a hand over the crease above his eyebrows. Exhaling deeply he spoke, "Tell me I haven't been imagining these moments between us."

Lorelai's breath caught in her throat. Her heart pounded in her chest; she thought she might faint. She waited, allowing the oxygen to return to her brain before she uttered a syllable. "Moments?"

Things were finally cooling down at the main tent, or rather, heating up. Kirk had returned to his seat and Morey had received a new one – 'the hot seat.'

"You have till the count of ten to come clean," Patty warned. "One…two…three…"

Babette held tight to her main squeeze. "It's ok sugar. I wont let em' hurt ya!"

Morey rolled his eyes in defeat. "Fine. Taylor's right where I left him. In room two."

He hated surrendering to the interrogation – it was very un-cool.

"What the hell's he doin' in room two?" Babette queried.

"Who cares what he's doing, why don't we just leave him there!" Gypsy of course had to add her two cents.

"Yeah, I'm with Gypsy," Jackson jumped in. Chalk up another dedicated member of the Taylor fan club.

"You monsters!" Kirk screamed, hurdling over the table and heading straight for the Inn. "I'll save you Taylor!"

Lulu ran quickly after the crazed man. "Kirk! Slow down! You shouldn't run for at least a half hour after eating! Remember what the doctor said!"

Kirk turned around slightly at the sound of Lulu's desperate pleas.

"Kirk, watch where you're going!" Babette barked. "He's headed right for my petunias! Look at him!" She hastily joined in the pursuit. Well hasty for Babette anyway. "I'll kill him! I swear I'll kill him!"

"Those are my petunias too Babette! Or did our partnership mean nothing to you!" an offended Jackson hollered.

"Jackson! You planted those?" Sookie was both surprised and delighted.

"You're damn right I did! And I'm not about to have them ruined!" Jackson hiked up his pants and scampered off after the others.

"What a bunch of quacks!" Gypsy huffed. "Hey! Who stole my artichoke?" And the catch phrase 'Where's the beef' had officially been replaced.

All these running buffoons - it really was quite a scene. There must have been something in the Mediterranean food.

Luke turned to face Lorelai. He needed to see her reaction. "Moments, Lorelai. Incidences, occurrences, happenings, events…call it what you will." His sarcasm was a trifle condescending. But he was tired of tiptoeing.

"Don't patronize me – I am very well aware of what a moment is!" Her defenses were tingling.

"Why can't you just admit it?" Luke walked slowly forward, closing the distance between them. "Aren't you tired of pretending?"

Lorelai held to her spot on the floor. She simply couldn't move. "Admit what? Who's pretending?" The woman was stubborn till the end.

Luke knew what she was doing. She wanted him to spell it out for her. It was completely out of a Gilmore's character to admit her feelings. Oh, the work. "Lorelai, be reasonable." His frustration was apparent.

"Am I being unreasonable?" Lots and lots of work.

Luke scowled at her then. She fought back a smile.

"So you're saying you felt nothing when the glass broke in my apartment?" The image was permanently etched into Luke's mind - Lorelai on his bed, his body hovering over hers, their eyes meeting in a passionate embrace.

Memories of the night flooded Lorelai's mind. Luke's firm body so desperately near to hers, his breath warming every part of her being. Her limbs grew weak at the thought. But she'd played the game for so long, she was unsure of how to quit. "Of course I felt something Luke. Didn't I tell you I'd buy you a set of those glasses for Christmas?"

"I'm not talking about the damn glass!"

"Then what are you talking about?"

"You're impossible!"

"And you're in love with me!" That statement shocked them both into silence. Suggestion number 23 in The 100 Most Effective Ways to End an Argument. Lorelai was completely stunned by her own words. She couldn't think of a thing to say.

Luke was no better off. His expression seemed distant, yet his eyes remained focused on Lorelai.

Truth and conviction were exposed specifically by his silence. "Are…are you?" She ached to know.

He shook his head in frustration, not denial.

"You are, aren't you?" she continued to press.

"I am not." His pride was on the line here.

"Yes you are." Amusement framed her face.

"No."

"You are too." She was relentless when she was right. Smug too.

"Lorelai," he warned.

"Why can't you just admit it Luke? What are you afraid of?" Now the tables had turned.

Luke fruitlessly sighed. "I'm afraid that you…that you'll run away."

The words cut through her like a knife. "I, I can't."

"Why?" Hope had been restored, and with it anticipation, opportunity.

"The door's jammed…"

"Ah." The words cut through him like a machete.

But she wasn't finished. "And…I don't want to run away."

It took a minute to register. "You don't?"

"No." The elation on his face caused hers to flush. "I felt it too."

She felt it too. She felt it too. Her confession was on loop in his brain. He walked a step closer. Then another. His body shuddered, his breath heavy with desire. Inches of space separated them. Lorelai closed her eyes. His right hand traced her porcelain cheek. She tilted her head back, allowing him permission to drink in her scent. His left hand floated in a sea of curls, lifting her face toward his. She opened her eyes and saw a man starving with passion and she knew her purpose in life, to feed his soul. Their mouths twitched impatiently, their eyes closed simultaneously. Lips fused together with inimitable chemistry. Luke's hands clung to Lorelai's body, vigorously searching for and discovering her many hidden attributes. Her lower extremities pulsated in appreciation. Their tongues entangled, his forcing its way deep into her mouth causing her to moan. She held tight to his body, gripping his back and shoulders with intensity. Minds and bodies merged exquisitely in concert. Oxygen was of the essence. They lamentably withdrew from one another and seized an imperative breath.

TBC…