AN: And at long last, we have The Date. I am so sorry it's taken so long, but hopefully it's worth the wait. It probably isn't, but... yeah, anyway, enjoy.

Earlier that evening Luke walked up to Lorelai's door about to knock when he heard a scream from inside the apartment. "Lorelai?" he called out, shoving the door open with his shoulder, when simply turning the knob wouldn't do. "Lorelai are you ok?" he asked, coming inside.

"Luke?" She returned, coming out of the bathroom. "What are you doing here?"

"I... I'm picking you up. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, but you're early."

"I heard you scream, so I... I'm early?"

"Yeah. I thought we were just going to meet at the diner. In an hour,"

"An hour?" He checked his watch before looking back at her, standing in the middle of the living room in a bathrobe. "I'm sorry, I must have just... I can go, as long as you're sure you're ok?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine; I got the monster cornered by the sink, so it's fine now, as long as we watch where we're walking in the bathroom for the next two years or so."

"Monster in the bathroom?"

"Spider under a cup. It was huge, but I trapped it, now we just need to wait until the oxygen runs out under there, then I'll scoop it up and put it in the trash. No big deal."

"Do you want me to get rid of it?"

"No, really, it's fine, I'll just tape the cup to the floor. Of course, we'll have to make sure we don't get the tape wet, but-"

"I can take it outside for you, if you want."

"Are you sure you don't mind?"

"Well it's a better alternative to you having to watch the floor every time you're in there," he replied, making his way to the bathroom and picking up a piece of newspaper on the way.

"Ok, thank you. Don't let it loose out here!" she cried out as he carried it through the living room, back towards the door. "There's too many legs and it's all... Gah."

"I got it, I got it, don't worry."

"Thank you Luke!"

"No problem, so, if that's all you need, then I guess I'll see you in a little bit,"

"Yes, that's all, now go, go! I gotta get ready I'll meet you at the diner."

"Ok. See you there." Luke replied, holding the cup and paper tightly so the spider couldn't escape.

"Oh, and Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for breaking in to save me."

"No problem. I'll see you soon." Lorelai nodded and returned to the bathroom after closing the door behind Luke.

As Luke pulled a chair out for Lorelai, a woman's voice called out and they both turned. "Please, tell me my eyes aren't playing tricks on me," the woman said, "Lorelai Gilmore, is that you?" she asked, making her way over to stand beside them.

"Maisy, hi! Yeah, it's me." Lorelai replied, smiling at the older woman standing beside her before they hugged.

"It's so good to see you in here honey. Buddy!" she called out over her shoulder. "When was the last time you were here?"

"Oh, it was... Too long ago," Lorelai replied as Buddy appeared beside his wife.

"Buddy, look who it is,"

"Lorelai! Well, hello Lorelai," he greeted her brightly, recognising her instantly.

"Hello, Buddy."

"This is very exciting for us. I can't even remember the last time Lucas brought anyone here. Well, except that young girl a few months back, she was a far too young for him though. What was her name again?"

"That was Lorelai's daughter, Rory. Remember? I explained everything to you."

"Oh, that's right. Well anyway, it's good to see you back here." Maisy told Lorelai before turning and calling to one of the waitresses to bring sparkling water and champagne.

"It's good to be back here." Lorelai agreed.

"We'll leave you alone just let us know if you need anything." Buddy told the two of them, leading Maisy away as they discussed what they should make for the couple.

"Wow! They have not changed a bit."

"No they certainly haven't."

"It looks just like I remember," Lorelai observed, looking around. "They don't still have that awful story on the back of the menu, do they?"

"Take a look." Lorelai picked up the large menu and flipped it over to read the back. She skimmed over the words for a moment before looking up at Luke.

"Do they not realise how depressing this is?"

"You know, Rory said the same thing. She actually complained to Maisy, but that was their story, they aren't going to change it and give it a happy ending, that's not what happened."

"It's just not fair."

"No, I know." Luke nodded, pouring two glasses of champagne before taking a sip. "Ugh, I knew I hated this stuff."

"Thank you, this is very nice." Lorelai said, accepting her glass.

"Good. I'm glad I could rectify things after that little false start we had."

"Oh, are you kidding? Saving my life from the crazy spider, you deserve a medal."

"It's a crazy spider now is it?"

"Well, yeah, that'll sound better when I tell people. It was crazy and it was the size of a Buick.

"If you say so,"

"Well, you have to say so too, otherwise no one will believe me."

"Ok, sure. The very same spider from Annie Hall came back from the dead to terrorize you," Luke nodded, trying not to laugh too much.

"Oh, stop it. You know, I remember the first time you brought me here," Lorelai announced. "It was for our first date, and Rory was with Liz for the night having a sleep over with Jess."

"Still not sure I was too happy about that."

"What, you wanted to bring a baby on a date? She'd be crying, and spitting up, we would have annoyed all the other people in here and probably would have had to cut the night short. Not fun."

"No, I guess you're right."

"So we were sitting..." Lorelai turned in her seat, looking around for a moment, before turning back to Luke. "Right here, at this same table." She added, astonished, staring at Luke. "Is that right?"

"Yeah. This was our table."

"And it was reserved when we walked in, you reserved the same table? Do you always sit here?"

"No. Actually this is the first time I've sat at this one since you were here last."

"Wow. That's really... Wow."

"Yeah, well it was our table. I couldn't sit here without you."

"That is so..."

"It's nothing." Luke shook his head. "It just wouldn't have been right. Are you ready to order?" he asked, picking up his menu again, even though he knew Buddy and Maisy probably already had their meal planned.

"Sure." Lorelai replied, picking hers up as well.

The next morning Rory came out of her room, rubbing sleep out of her eyes as she made her way over to the coffee maker. But when she got there she noticed the pot was already full.

"Morning Sweets," Rory turned around to see her mom towelling her hair dry as she came out of the bathroom.

"Oh, you're here." She replied, pouring herself a cup.

"Am I not supposed to be?"

"I just half expected you to be making your way down from Luke's apartment for coffee right about now, wearing nothing but one of his shirts." Rory joked. "I have no idea why I didn't get up early to go watch that," she muttered thoughtfully.

"In front of the whole town, are you kidding? That would be so embarrassing! Which is why, when I woke up this morning, I snuck out through the storeroom." Lorelai explained, getting her own cup of coffee.

"Oh my God!"

"Relax, I'm kidding! You should see your face though, that's a good one."

"Don't do that! You could give a person a heart attack." Rory warned.

"Sorry, please don't die, there was no sneaking."

"Well, what time did you get in last night?"

"I'm not sure really. I guess it was kind of late though, you were already asleep."

"You really didn't spend the night there?"

"No. I already told you that. What's with this obsession?"

"I dunno. I'm just curious." She shrugged, sipping her coffee.

"Well it's creeping me out, can you stop now?"

"Ok, fine. I was going to get some breakfast at the diner, do you wanna come with me?"

"Can't. I have to get to work."

"You really don't want to go over and see Luke?"

"I have to work." Lorelai repeated. "I said nothing about what I want to be doing. Actually, if I had the choice, I'd probably still be in bed right now."

"Uh huh. Well, would you like me to pass along any messages for you? And before you answer that, let me remind you that I am only sixteen, and also your daughter, so it can't be anything too dirty or I'll never stop throwing up."

"Oh well, in that case, never mind." Lorelai replied, grinning at the look of horror on Rory's face. "No, that's alright. I'm sure I'll see him sometime later, but thank you for the offer."

"Suit yourself. I'll have a donut for you." Rory announced as she headed to the bathroom and Lorelai returned to her room to finish getting ready for work.

"So, are you going to share what happened last night?" Liz asked her brother as she and Sookie each took a seat at the counter in the diner a few hours later.

"Wasn't planning on it, no,"

"Come on Luke!" Sookie begged. "We're your favourite people in the world, who better to share this with, than your two favourite people in the world?"

"Who says you're my favourite people?"

"Well, we are, aren't we?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

"How could you say that? I'm your one and only sister!" Liz objected. "And Sookie is your oldest and dearest friend. How could we not be your-"

"Did you actually want to order something? Or can I walk away now and serve an actual customer?"

"Come on! Just give us a little something,"

"Anything you want, on the house." He added, trying to distract them, all the while knowing it was useless.

"No, I'm with Sookie, I want details."

"Hey, what's everybody talking about?" Lorelai asked coming over to stand beside Sookie.

"Luke was just filling us in on your date," Liz replied, hoping to prompt her brother to actually say something about it.

"Oh, really? Has he gotten to the part about the Italian Riviera yet? That was a good bit."

"He hasn't said a word." Liz confessed, dejected. "Want to help him out?"

"Hmm, no. I think I'll let Luke field this one."

"Gee, thanks," Luke muttered, glaring at the three of them.

"You're welcome. Can I get a coffee to go please?"

"Sure. Anything else?"

"Nah, that'll do for now, thanks."

"Coming right up." Luke turned away and the two other women looked at Lorelai.

"So you're really not going to tell us anything either?" Sookie asked.

"Nope, sorry. Keep working on Luke though, I think you're starting to wear him down."

"You are not helping." He told her, handing over a to-go cup.

"I never claimed to be. Thanks for the coffee though, I'll see you later?"

"Yep."

"Ok, you two go easy on him, alright?"

"We make no promises." Sookie replied and Lorelai laughed as she headed for the door. "So?"

"Alright fine! We went to Sniffy's. That's it, that's all you get."

"Wow, pulling out the big guns, impressive."

"Sniffy's is not big guns, what are you talking about?"

"Oh no? A restaurant owned by very close friends of our parents, friends who happened to at one point, think very highly of Lorelai, I might add. The same place you went on your first first date,"

"And also, "Sookie added, "somewhere you have not since taken any other girl." Liz nodded and Luke groaned.

"See? I knew it, I knew that just a little information in your hands was dangerous. That's why I am returning to my earlier plan to share nothing. Now, can I get you anything to eat or drink? Or will you just be sitting there, bugging me until closing?"

"Can I have a burger?" Liz asked, smiling sweetly.

"Oh, me too." Sookie nodded. "And a chocolate milkshake,"

"That sounds good, make it two."

"That I can do," Luke nodded, putting their order in for Caesar, before taking a plate to a man across the room.

Rory watched as Tristan easily manoeuvred his car through the streets in her grandparent's neighbourhood, before coming to a stop in their driveway. She silently climbed out of the car, along with the two boys and couldn't help but notice how much more his car looked like it belonged, as opposed to her mom's or Luke's, which stuck out like sore thumbs in that particular driveway.

"Thank you so much for coming with me. Both of you, this means a lot." She told them after ringing the doorbell, as they all stood waiting.

"Yeah, well, we'll still have to come up with a way for you to make this up to me." Tristan replied. Jess rolled his eyes at his friend but gave Rory a small smile.

"Sure Tris, we'll get right on that," she nodded as the door swung open.

"Oh, Rory, you're here! Excellent, I- you brought your friends with you."

"Yeah, I hope that's not a problem."

"Well, I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Rory's just been telling us so much about her room," Tristan explained, "Jess and I decided that we just had to see it for ourselves. It's very nice to see you again Mrs. Gilmore, you're looking wonderful, as always,"

"Why, thank you Tristan," Emily replied, Rory had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing out loud. "I hope you're family is well?"

"They're all doing just fine, thank you."

"Well that's very good to hear. You run on up and take a look at Rory's room, I'll have Leslie make up something for you to eat in a minute."

"Thanks Grandma!"

"Oh, and Rory, your grandfather is in his study. He's making a few business calls, but that shouldn't take up too much time."

"Right, I'll be back down to see him in a minute." Rory told her, taking Jess' hand and leading the way up the stairs. "Now, don't laugh, ok?" Rory pleaded as they rounded the corner and came to the door. "She didn't really give me a whole lot of a say in the decorating. After the wallpaper was picked, the only other thing she asked was what kind of flowers I liked."

"Come on Ror, it can't be that bad," Jess objected, reaching for the doorknob.

"Yeah, ok. If that's what you think, I'll give you the honour of being the first one through the door." Jess nodded and walked inside, but stopped short, looking around.

"Wow." Tristan muttered, leaning passed him to get a better look. "I didn't realise you were such a pink girl,"

"I'm not! I told you, this is all her. Jess, are you still breathing?" Rory asked as she sat on the bed and Tristan took the chair from the vanity table.

"They're staring..." he said quietly, pointing to the walls where Britney and the N'Sync boys were all grinning at him.

"Oh, I know. But that's the worst part, really. Come sit down, the beds pretty comfy," he nodded and finally moved from the doorway to join Rory.

"So... what happens now?" Tristan asked. "We just sit here for an hour and then leave, or what?"

"I don't know. I'm not really used to being in this house, it's kind of weird. You've probably been here more than me."

"Nah, not really. I would have spent more time with your grandparents, probably, but mostly at functions or at my grandparent's house. I haven't been here too much."

"Oh! I just thought of something, you want to see my Mom's old room?" the boys shared a look, but Rory jumped up, excited about the idea. "Come on, it's great. There are old Chilton yearbooks in there too!" she started down the hall and dug the books out while she waited for the boys to join her.

"Woah!" Jess exclaimed as he came in and sat on Lorelai's old bed.

"I know, I guess they decided not to change anything, in the hopes that she'd come back, and then it just got to the point where they probably didn't come in here at all.

"This is more like it." Tristan grinned, looking around. "Could you switch?"

"It's not like I have to live here, it's fine. Come on, let's get back before Grandma come looking for us."

"But that room isn't scary," Jess objected as Rory pulled him back to her room. "There's too much pink here!"

"Just focus on this then," Rory instructed, flipping the book open. "Look," she pointed to a picture and both boys leaned in to get a better look.

"Oh, he's definitely going to be hearing about this when we get home," Jess decided, grinning evilly as he took in the pictures of his uncle as a teenager, wearing a Chilton uniform. "I think I've figured out why he never mentioned going to Chilton."

"Let me just say, I'm very glad they updated the wardrobe before we got there. The girls' uniform is a lot easier on the eye now then it was back then. Although your mom still manages to make that look kind of ok,"

"You're a pig." Rory informed him before there was a light knock at the door. All three of them looked up to see Emily standing beside a maid. "Hi, Grandma, come on in."

"Oh, thank you. We just have a little snack for you. And I wanted to let you know that your grandfather was taking a break from his calls."

"Right, ok, um, I'll come down now and see him. Don't eat everything, and try to behave yourselves while I'm gone," Rory told the boys, kissing Jess quickly before leaving the room with her grandmother.

"So, tell me, how was school today?"

"Oh, it was ok. We got our Spanish tests back."

"And how did you do?"

"Um, not too bad. I'm better with French, I think. But I passed at least."

"Well, that's good. You can always improve on it later."

"I can certainly try."

"Well, here we are, I'll leave you two alone and I'll find you later on."

"Ok, thanks." Rory smiled at her grandmother before knocking on the door to her grandfather's study.

"Come in," he called out and she let herself in, before closing the door again. "Oh, Rory, hello!"

"Hi Grandpa, are you busy?"

"Not at present. I heard you were visiting with some friends this afternoon?"

"Yeah, Jess and Tristan are up in my room, but I thought I'd come down and say hello, seeing as how we missed you at dinner last week."

"Well, isn't that nice? Tell me – oh, take a seat," he instructed and Rory sat across from him. "Tell me, how was school?" Rory got comfortable in her seat before telling Richard about her day and the events of the previous week.

How many of you were expecting that scene in the diner, with Lorelai in one of her most interesting outfits? Sorry to disapoint. Please review.