Notes: Here's the chapter you've all been waiting for! No, not the one where L&L get together...it's a tad too soon...but it's still something you've been waiting for, I'm sure. ;)

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Even my GG DVDs are on loan from the library. :(

Chapter Four: Holy...!

"You have no idea how long I've wanted this, Lorelai," Luke said, stepping in closer to me.

"I know; I've wanted it too," I smiled, roping my arms around his neck. Luke's head descended slowly to mine, and our lips met in a sweet, gentle kiss. He toyed with my bottom lip for a while before I got impatient, moaned, and parted my lips, giving him silent invitation to invade my mouth. He took it, and I sank even further into him.

God, Luke was an amazing kisser. He broke it off to trail kisses across my cheek, down my neck, across my collarbone... "I love you, Lorelai," he muttered passionately.

"I love you too, Luke..."

"Holy shit!" I jerked awake.

Oh no.

No, no, no, NO!

It was just a dream; it meant nothing. It was merely a result of Rory's sleep-deprived conclusion about my non-jealousy...except for the slight fact that it wasn't.

"Oh, God," I moaned, burying my face in my hands. Everything fell into place as I admitted it. I was jealous of Alli. I did want Luke for myself. I was a walking cliché: woman A is in love with friend, but doesn't know it. Enter woman B, who makes woman A jealous, therefore opening her eyes to her own feelings.

This was so not good.

--

I sat at the diner the next morning, sipping at my coffee. Rory had already gone to school, and I was just about to leave

"Hey, Lorelai, did you hear the latest dirt on Alli?" Miss Patty asked as she sat down at the table next to mine.

"What?!" I nearly jumped out of my seat. "No. Why? Why would I want to know?" I tried to keep the nervousness out of my tone, but I didn't think it was working very well.

"Well, I just assumed, since you had asked earlier..." Miss Patty shrugged.

"Well, I don't care. Why should I care about her? It's not like I'm dating Luke," I joked lamely with a forced laugh. Just shut it already, Lorelai! My inner voice screamed. I was trying. Problem was, I didn't seeming to be doing too well.

Miss Patty shot me a strange look, but let out a small laugh anyway, just to be courteous.

Uh, oh. Time to get out of here. Miss Patty was getting that look in here eye the she got whenever she sensed something.

"Is something wrong, honey?"

"Nope. Nothing at all. Just a little distracted." I smiled. "Anyway, have a few errands I have to run. See you later!" I waved, leaving the money on the table and exiting the diner.

God, this was horrible. Why? Why did I have to go and have that dream? I would have remained perfectly oblivious to my feelings forever and ever. I wouldn't be acting like a complete babbling moron -- at least no more than usual -- and I wouldn't feel like clawing Alli's eyes out every time I thought of her.

Stupid anorexic bi...No, bad Lorelai! Just because I was jealous did not give me the right to call her names. She could be a perfectly nice person...if by nice you meant snobbish and annoying.

This really was not going well. I needed to get to work; having something else to focus my thoughts on would really be helpful.

--

Okay, this was ridiculous.

I had obviously done something to upset some kind of higher power because of all the days for the Inn to be slow, this was the one they chose. Seriously. We had a few guests, and they were all perfectly fine on their own; they didn't need any help with local tourism. The plans to our only upcoming event were already finalized so there was nothing to do there. Even my paperwork was completed. I would even resort to helping Sookie if I wouldn't end up poisoning our guests.

There was nothing to do.

I had to do something to keep my mind off of...you know...so I decided to read the latest Cosmo.

Ten minutes later, I was staring at a certain page, completely at a loss to comprehend what I was seeing.

Are you in love? The title of the quiz taunted me.

Damn Cosmo.

Usually, I enjoyed taking the quizzes, if only to mock them. But this was ridiculous. Was the entire universe against me not thinking about him? Because it certainly seemed like it.

Oh well. I always preferred Allure, anyway, I thought snobbishly, tossing the magazine onto the table before going to the kitchen to find Sookie.

"Hey, Lorelai," she said when I entered. "What's going on?"

"Nothing. Everything. I don't know," I sighed, sitting on an unoccupied stool.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" she asked, abandoning her food preparation and turning all her attention to me.

There was a part of me that really wanted to tell her, if only to have someone to talk me out of it. But there was another part of me that really just wanted to keep it to myself at the moment.

"Nothing. The Inn's really quiet right now, and I have nothing to do. It's just a strange feeling," I smiled, hoping that she didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

Luckily, she wasn't in one of her super-intuitive moods, so I was safe.

"I know. It must be weird for you, huh?" She turned back to rubbing some sort of spice on some kind of dead bird.

Yeah, I know, I'm a regular fountain of culinary information.

"Yeah. You'd think it would be nice -- and it is -- but it's just...different."

"Mmhmm."

"So...how are things with Jackson?" I asked, changing the subject.

I could sense her smile even though I couldn't really see her face.

"Great! We went to this farmer's market the other day, you know, just to check out Jackson's competition. And there wasn't any! Bar none, my vegetable man is the best around," she said with pride.

"I'm glad you two are happy," I smiled.

Great. This was just great. My best friend aside from Rory was walking around in a haven of blissful oblivion, head over heels in love with her vegetable man. Now, don't get me wrong; I loved Sookie, and I was glad to see her happy. It was just a bit like rubbing salt into an open wound.

No, that wasn't really a good analogy.

More like Chinese water torture. It's just there, dripping, dripping, dripping, and you can never escape it.

"You sure you're okay, sweetie?"

"Yeah," I plastered a smile on my face, "Yeah, I'm just great."

--

"You love Luke's! Why can't we just go there?" Rory pleaded as we sat on the couch in the living room that evening.

"Mmm...not in the mood," I lied. Well, it wasn't a complete lie. I said I didn't want to go there; I said nothing about not wanting the food.

Okay, so I lied. Whatever.

"You're always in the mood for Luke's."

"Well, mark your calendar, then, 'cause I'm not. How about The China Doll?" I asked, hoping to distract her.

"Mom, what's wrong?" No such luck.

"Nothing, hon."

"Yes, there is...wait." She paused, comprehension dawning across her features.

Uh oh.

"You don't have a problem with Luke's. You have a problem with Luke," she said, wearing a smug expression, "Don't you?

"Uh, no. Why would you think that?" I really needed to start getting better at this whole 'hiding your feelings' thing.

"Because you realized I was right, and you are jealous of Alli because you want Luke for yourself." she stated matter-of-factly.

"Sorry, kid, but you can knock that smug expression off your pretty little face. You were not right."

"Have I mentioned lately how much you suck at lying?"

"You weren't!"

"So, why don't you want to go to Luke's?"

"I told you; I'm not in the mood."

"And I told you that answer wasn't good enough," she countered.

"Fine!" I blurted, losing it. Oh well; I would have told her eventually, anyway. "You were right. Happy?"

"Ha! I told you! I would so stand up and do a little dance right now if I wouldn't look like a total idiot."

"Oh, would you? It would make Mommy feel better."

"Sorry, but no."

"I'll give you ten bucks."

"Do I look like a geisha to you?"

"Put on a kimono and some white face paint, and we'll see."

"Stop it."

"Oh, but now I'm loving the visual!"

"Stop imagining me in a kimono!"

"But it's so fun! I'm going to the mall right now to buy you one of those pretty little fans."

"Stop it, or I'm going over to Miss Patty's right now and telling her about your feelings for Luke."

I gasped. "You wouldn't!"

"I would. And she'd love it. You know how she loves to get the jump on East Side Tilly," she said, keeping a straight face.

"I stopped, I stopped!" I exclaimed.

"Good," she smiled, satisfied. "Now. What are we going to do about dinner?"

"The China Doll sounds good."

"Fine."

"Have I told you lately you're the best daughter in the world?"

"I'm still making you go there for breakfast tomorrow."

"Damn. I retract my previous statement," I said playfully, and we exchanged grins before I picked up the phone and dialed the Chinese restaurant's number.

TBC...

A/N: Sorry there was no L/L or L/A interaction this chapter; there will be in the next one, I promise! I also apologise for the delay; I've had most of this written for a while, but half was on one computer in one house, and the other half was on another, and I kept forgetting to send it to myself.