Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy or Gilmore Girls they belong to their respective creators.

A/N: Wow, definitely blown away by all of the reviews. Makes me feel loved. So in honor of all of you who reviewed, I decided to kick my butt in gear and write another chapter. Hehe. Hope you enjoy this bit.

Buffy had dumped all of the clothing she had managed to end up with during her trip onto the bed.

"See," she moaned. "All I own is flannel and the occasional non-ratty shirt."

Lorelai stared at her niece's wardrobe, "How have you survived?"

A dirty glare was the answer.

"Okay," Lorelai surrendered. "We have to go shopping."

Buffy dropped onto the pile of clothing, "But my date is in three hours."

"Right," the older woman scowled. "Where is Rory?"

"Here," a voice called from the front door. "Mrs. Kim finally kicked me out."

Rory had, at the request of her mother stayed elsewhere so that Lorelai could talk to Buffy. The all-clear had never come, so Rory had been dragged to church with the Kim family.

"Whoa," Rory gaped as her eyes landed on the utter mess that was Buffy's 'room'. "What exploded in here?"

Buffy only groaned and flipped over so she could cry into the lump of flannel clothing.

Lorelai bit back the snicker, choosing instead to pat her grieving niece on the back, "Buffy has a date and nothing to wear."

"A date," Rory's face lit up like Christmas. "Who, where, when? Wait, is it Jess!"

Both Lorelai and Buffy turned to look at the usually quiet—compared to them—girl.

"Okay," the brunette woman said slowly, "who are you and what have you done with my daughter?"

The petite blonde slayer nodded, "Yeah, what happened to Rory? Oh god, did Miss Patti brainwash you!"

Was it bad that little more than a weak had passed, and Buffy was up on most of the townspeople's quirks. Of course she'd had a little help in the form of Luke pointing out the dangers of living in a busy-body of a small town.

It was Rory's turn to glare, "No, but Buffy has a date!"

"Not if I don't have anything to where," Buffy whimpered.

Rory rolled her eyes and pulled Buffy into a sitting position, "So, Jess?"

"No," Buffy finally answered.

"Who?"

"A guy," Buffy hedged.

Rory frowned, hands on hips, she wasn't one to take lightly, "Does Jess know?"

"Does it matter," Buffy asked petulantly.

Lorelai and Rory exchanged a look before answering simultaneously, "Duh."

"He likes you," Rory explained as if Buffy was a child. "Even a blind man could see that."

Buffy crossed her arms and shook her head, "No, no he doesn't. And it doesn't matter because at best we're friends, okay?"

Lorelai's dark eyes glimmered as they narrowed, "I bet you you're wrong. He loves you."

The teasing note in her voice irritated the slayer. This was not exactly how she wanted her first date post-Angel to go.

"And again I say there isn't going to be a date if I don't find something to wear!"

"Rory," Lorelai commanded pointing in the direction of the kitchen, "conference!"

Safe in the kitchen Lorelai paced, "They're going to KC's Tavern. We need cute and flirty without overdressed. What do you have?"

Rory frowned, "Frump? We have to make Jess drool."

"She's not dating Jess," Lorelai frowned pulling back.

Rory sighed, "I know that, but they should be dating."

"You're evil," Lorelai hissed in amazement. "You are my daughter!"

Rory struggled out of her mother's arms, "Alright, alright. Now, we need to excavate your closet."

Lorelai's eyes widened in horror at Rory's statement, "No! Not my baby!"

Rory dodged around Lorelai and up the stairs, Buffy following only because it seemed the thing to do.

An hour and a half playing Barbie to two hormonal females was not exactly Buffy's ideal afternoon. Sure, she'd enjoyed that once upon a time, but now Buffy kept thinking about all the things she should have been doing. Whittling stakes, sharpening her knives, reading the obituaries, scouting the graveyards, looking for signs of the apocalypse, pretty much anything but playing dress-up.

Even while showering Buffy hadn't been left alone.

"So, who is it," Rory pressed. "Do I know him?"

"His name is Lindsey, and no you don't," Buffy relented.

Lorelai giggled in her own special way where her whole body shook like she was trying to hold it in. "Michel says he's a hottie!"

The blonde whimpered, "He is, god he is. You know," she murmured softly, almost to herself, "this will be my first date since…Angel."

Lorelai frowned as she leaned against the doorframe, "Angel."

It was softly spoken, not quite a question or a statement.

Shaking her head, Buffy straightened and continued washing up, "He was…he was…I loved him. We…he changed. Now he's…gone."

That was the most Buffy had spoken about Angel to anyone besides her pillow and Spike. Tears prickled hotly behind Buffy's eyes and she sniffed slightly before smiling reflexively though no one could see it.

"So, do we have a winning outfit," Buffy asked ready for a new subject—desperate really.

"Yes we do," Buffy could hear the smile in Rory's voice.

Another hour of tugging and pulling and pinching and prodding resulted in two very chipper Gilmores, and one blindfolded Buffy.

"So can I look now," Buffy asked as she fidgeted.

"Almost," Lorelai stretched out as she put the finishing touches of lip-gloss on her niece, "done!"

The blindfold was removed, and Buffy couldn't help the pre-date glow that flooded her. The little butterflies in her tummy and the tightening of her heart, all good things that she hadn't felt in far too long.

Lorelai and Rory were good to be sure. Buffy had been dressed in a lavender miniskirt with a little slit up the thigh, a white wraparound v-neck t-shirt, and black and white peep toe wedged sandals. Her golden hair was down, curling softly to just below her breasts. What little makeup she wore was soft and natural. All in all, Buffy looked gorgeous and it only added to the pre-date-jittery-wonderfulness.

She smiled brightly, like she hadn't had a reason to in a long time.

"Quit your day jobs," the slayer smirked.

"You like," Lorelai grinned over Buffy's shoulder.

"I like."

Rory had a smirk of her own, "Good, now let's go, we're heading to Luke's for dinner and then home for interrogation time."

Buffy winced, "Don't make him run away, please. He's really nice!"

Leading Buffy out of the house, Rory linked arms with the slightly older girl, "So tell me all about him."

A lip quiver on Buffy's part did nothing to get her out of the situation, "Fine, he's sweet, and brave, and a bit older than me."

The last bit was said in an almighty rush.

Lorelai who already knew that just stayed quiet and let her daughter do the dirty work.

"Older," was the yelp. "How much older?"

"Twenty-something," the slayer mumbled behind a cough.

"Twenty," Rory confirmed.

Buffy blushed, okay, so she had a thing for older guys, but this time the older guy wasn't older than dirt, he was just older.

"Seven," she blushed even harder, red staining her cheeks for no real reason.

"Twenty-seven!"

Rory stopped walking, but Buffy and Lorelai kept on. The youngest of the trio was having a slight conniption.

Grinding her teeth, Rory jogged to make up the distance between her and her family, "Twenty-seven! That's illegal!"

Buffy scowled, "Only if we have sex."

"Yeah," Lorelai piped in, "besides, he's a lawyer."

"A lawyer," Rory repeated.

"And a cowboy," her mother added 'helpfully'.

"Hold it," Rory's face was pale. "The cowboy from the story?"

Buffy wilted slightly, "What gave it away?"

"Mom is practically skipping," Rory deadpanned.

Lorelai pouted at being singled out, "Well I wanna see the cowboy, besides, if he were a few years older, I'd jump his bones."

Rory inhaled sharply and started walking towards the visible town-square, "I really didn't need that mental image."

"Glad to help," Lorelai called loudly.

"You are mean," Buffy gave a huff of laughter.

Turning on the other girl, Lorelai grinned like a wolf, "Okay, you have your phone, money, mace?"

"Yes, yes, and no," Buffy replied. "Besides, I know Kung-Fu."

"Really," Lorelai asked excitedly.

Buffy nodded, "Yeah. K-U-N-G-F-U."

"And now you're the mean one," Lorelai glared playfully. "Come on, it's almost seven!"

"Yo, Uncle Luke," Jess yelled as he peered out the window. "Look at the Gilmore trio."

True Buffy wasn't a Gilmore in name, but to the townspeople she was a Gilmore at heart: Quirky, a little crazy, and addicted to coffee.

Luke sighed and ambled over to the window, "What now?"

He didn't need an answer, there was Lorelai, Rory, and Buffy. Buffy was dressed up compared to the other two. And then they split off, Buffy heading across the road and away from Luke's while Rory and Lorelai headed straight towards them. The two peeping toms ducked out of view and started working furiously until the bell over the door started to jingle.

Look looked up and breathed heavily, "Hey. Where's Buffy?"

Lorelai pursed her lip to keep from laughing, she knew Luke, and she knew this was him trying to be subtle.

"She's got a date tonight," Rory supplied with a glance towards Jess.

"Oh," Luke's voice was a pinch higher than natural, "wow. I mean she's only been in town a week and she's seeing someone already?"

Jess was muttering under his breath and scrubbing the counter a little harder than necessary. Luke was trying to sound as unconcerned as possible.

"Who is it," the flannel clad man asked.

Rory slumped down at a table, "We don't know, never met him. But we will later when he drops Buffy off."

"So he doesn't live in town," Jess finally spoke, voice tight but just as airy as his uncles.

Apparently Luke's family didn't do unconcerned very well.

Lorelai shook her head and picked up a menu as she sat down, "Nope, from what Buffy told me he's opening up a practice in Hartford."

"What," Luke nearly growled as his hands started to smooth over his baseball cap.

Jess swallowed and tossed his towel down and growled, "I'm going out."

Buffy stepped through the door to KC's and was immediately reminded of the Bronze. The lighting was low and the music was swirling. Sure it wasn't a club, and the music wasn't deafening, but the feeling was the same.

She spotted him sitting in a booth across the room and gave a little half-wave as the hostess led her to the table.

Lindsey rose and kissed her cheek, one hand grasping hers as they both sat down again.

"I'm glad you came," he admitted. "I was a little nervous you wouldn't."

Buffy smiled, "Against my better judgment, I like you, a lot, and I'd be kicking myself if I didn't come."

"Good," Lindsey smiled and little dimples appeared in his cheeks.

Buffy couldn't help but grin he looked delicious. Dark brown hair smoothed back but still shaggy as ever, blue-gray eyes sparkling in the dim light. The slacks and blue button-up combo only made Buffy drool as she imagined what full on lawyer gear would do for his body. He was tall, but not wry in any way, he was built as any cowboy was.

Okay, she was staring. But he didn't seem to mind.

Review as always: next chapter will have the rest of the date, meet the 'rents and perhaps a little fluff for Dean and Rory.