A/N: At last, a first date for Luke and Lorelai! :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 20

"Nothing's working!"

Lorelai was throwing another potential date outfit onto the bed in frustration when Rory appeared in the bedroom doorway.

"Mom, you're over-thinking!" she insisted, coming in with a cardigan over one arm and a handful of bracelets that she dropped down onto the vanity. "The last three outfits we picked out were great."

"Yes, they were great," Lorelai agreed, "but they weren't 'first date with Luke' great. I don't think I own anything that is up to the aforementioned level of greatness. Do you have something?"

"Well, maybe, but I personally think you're being a little crazy about this whole thing," said Rory in the kindest way she could. "Mom, seriously, what is wrong? Because somehow I don't believe this is all about clothes."

She had a hold of Lorelai by the shoulders, trying to meet her eyes. Her mom could be a little highly strung at the best of times, and it wasn't as if Rory didn't know this was a big deal. Dating Luke was a huge leap for Lorelai, but it was the right thing, Rory was sure on that. They had to be sure too or they wouldn't be going ahead with the occasion.

"I don't know," said Lorelai eventually, heaving a huge sigh. "I don't, I just... It's Luke," she said at last, pushing her hair back off her face dramatically. "It's me and it's Luke and... and I couldn't be happier that it's happening, but at the same time, I'm terrified, Rory. Aside from you and Sook, Luke is my best friend. If this doesn't work out..."

"Why is it not working out?" asked Rory when her mom's voice trailed away.

"Er, it's me, and it's a relationship, with a guy?!"

"Mom, come on. You're the one who told me that I can't judge my future relationships on my past ones. Comparing Jess to Dean was part of the reason everything went so wrong with us the first time around," Rory reminded her with a look. "You can't expect things to end badly with Luke just because they did with Jason."

"And Alex. And Max. And Christopher," she counted off on her fingers, sitting down heavily on the end of the bed. "Let's face it, babe, I'm a train-wreck when it comes to men."

"You are not a train-wreck," said Rory definitely, sitting down beside her and putting an arm around her shoulders. "You are the most awesome woman in all the world, and some guys are intimidated by that, which is probably why things go wrong," she explained. "Luke isn't freaked out by anything about you. If he still wants to date you after all these years, what could there possibly be to scare him away now?"

Lorelai smiled and hugged Rory close. "You're a very smart kid."

"Well, I was raised by a very smart lady."

After that Lorelai gained a little perspective and a little more focus. Rory selected a dress and cardigan combo that looked great on her mom and thankfully Lorelai was ready before Luke showed up to take her out.

"Wait here," Rory instructed as she went to answer the door. "Then you can make a real entrance."

"It's a date, not Prom!" Lorelai called after her.

In spite of what she said, she was actually pretty grateful for the minute or two of alone time to calm her nerves and double-check her makeup and hair in the mirror. After a few moments of final primping, Lorelai picked up her purse and headed for the stairs. Descending like a princess, she was glad to see Luke smile at the sight of her. He really did look good, all dressed up for a date in a blue button down and without the usual hat.

"Come on," said Rory quietly, dragging Jess into the kitchen.

"You didn't want to watch the dorkiness?" he asked, almost falling into the table thanks to the force with which she pulled on his sleeve. "Seriously, Luke has been like a teenager getting ready for Prom all day long."

"It's been a little like that here, but I kind of expected it," said Rory, lowering her voice so her mom and Luke wouldn't hear. "Ooh, you brought food?"

"Prerequisite for a date with a Gilmore," said Jess, dumping the paper bag on the table.

The moment Rory reached for it, he got in her way, pulling her into his arms for a long kiss. She was smiling when they parted, and all the more so when she overheard Luke complimenting Lorelai's dress as they went out of the front door.

"Is it weird that I find them adorable?"

"It's cool that they're finally getting around to this." Jess shrugged, refusing to weigh in on the adorable scale. "So, I'm guessing you have movies planned?"

"Of course," she said, grinning wide as she slipped out of his arms to find plates for the food and sodas to go along with. "I'm still amazed you could come over tonight. With Luke going out, I kind of expected him not to trust anyone else with the diner."

"He and Lane have an understanding, and Caesar is there too," Jess explained.

"I guess Lane wants to work as many shifts as she can right now, for the distraction," said Rory thoughtfully. "Mrs Kim taking in that foreign exchange student kind of threw her for a loop."

"Yeah, kind of weird to think of anybody being jealous of a person living with the Kim Monster, but Lane's really feeling bad about it."

"I think it's great you two are friends now. I always thought you should be." Rory smiled.

"You'd have everybody in the world get along if they could," said Jess, rolling his eyes as he grabbed the food and followed Rory to the living room. "Y'know when I get my own place fixed up and furnished, we won't have to wait for your mom or Paris to go out to be alone."

"And why exactly would we need to be alone?" asked Rory in all fake innocence.

Getting up from putting the movie on, she stepped towards the couch and Jess grabbed her hand, pulling her down into his lap.

"C'mere and I'll tell you," he said, planting his lips on hers.

"Mmm, good reason," Rory murmured, kissing him back in equal measure.

The movie began, but for now at least, nobody was watching.

"This place is so great," said Lorelai happily sipping her drink. "I love that you have a Luke's of your own."

"I guess you could put it like that." Luke smiled. "It's nice to be able to share it with you."

He was looking at her much like that day in the diner that had so freaked out Lorelai. Now it wasn't scary anymore, because she knew what it meant, that she and Luke were on the same page and very happy to be so. Dinner at Sniffy's was going well so far and she saw no reason why it wouldn't continue to be so. She and Luke always found plenty to talk about and had been good friends for so many years. This new place in their relationship still felt a little strange yet, but in a really good way.

"Did I mention how sorry I am for the whole avoiding you thing?" she checked then. "'Cause I really, really am."

"About fifty times," Luke assured her. "And I don't want you to be sorry, Lorelai. I understand. I wasn't exactly seeking you out either, even though I did want to. Jess even talked to me about it."

"Jess?" said Lorelai with evident surprise. "Jess encouraged you to talk to me about... this," she said, gesturing between them.

"He did." Luke nodded once, sipping his beer. "Apparently it was just so damn obvious that I liked you and you liked me, and it was driving him nuts that we hadn't just got to dating already."

"Well, maybe the boy does have brains."

"Clearly he does."

"I have to say, for all the problems we had when he came to town the first time, it's better now," Lorelai admitted.

"Yeah, that first meeting was a doozy," Luke recalled. "He was in a bad place then. It's different now," he agreed. "Hey, should we really be spending our first date talking about my nephew?"

"I don't think so." Lorelai laughed. "Okay, so what about us? You remember the day we first met?" she asked him, thinking about it herself. "It had to be at Luke's, but I can't quite picture it."

"It was at Luke's, it was at lunch..."

Luke began to relay the tale of the very first time he ever saw Lorelai and the events that transpired. He even pulled out a horoscope she had given him all those years ago and told him to hold onto, so he had.

Lorelai was overcome, lost for words, which was extremely rare for her. Luke had that power, to completely bowl her over, and never more so than tonight. When he told her he was 'all in' when it came to their relationship and asked if that scared her, Lorelai still couldn't find the words at first. She shook her head, swallowed hard, and then answered.

"No, not scared," she promised. "I'm all in too, Luke, and for maybe the first time ever in my life, that's not scary, because it's you."

Her hand crept across the table to land on his arm, and they shared a smile that was quickly followed by a kiss. Lorelai was giggling when they parted.

"You do know that we don't actually get a choice in this thing working out anyway, right?" she told a bemused looking Luke. "Seriously, the whole town knows about this date. From what Miss Patty told me yesterday, they've been waiting years for this to happen. I'm pretty sure if it didn't work out one of us would have to leave town in disgrace. Maybe both of us."

"That town is as crazy as it seems." Luke rolled his eyes. "But I'm not worried."

"Me either." Lorelai smiled widely, moving in for one more kiss.

The making out had gone on for a while at The Crap Shack, until an incident in which Rory and Jess completely squashed the remote, pressing down on the volume control and almost deafening themselves with the soundtrack to Empire Records. They parted awkwardly, with Rory suddenly realising quite how far she had let things go. Her eyes went to the food abandoned on the table and she cleared her throat, refastened her shirt, and fixed her hair.

"Um, we should probably eat," she said, reaching for the bag.

"Probably," Jess agreed, pushing a hand back through his hair, trying to think of anything else rather than what he and Rory had almost been doing.

They both had food to eat and started concentrating on the movie, so that helped. Though they had missed the first twenty minutes, they didn't bother to wind the tape back. Empire Records was a classic, they had both seen it several times. When a knock came on the door, Rory didn't even pause the tape to go see who was there.

Jess rolled his eyes when he heard Babette on the doorstep checking everything was okay because she heard raised voices and knew Lorelai was out tonight.

"It was just the TV, Babette," Rory assured her. "I'm sorry if it startled you."

"No problem, sugar. So long as you're doin' okay."

She left fairly quickly after that and Rory returned to the couch, deliberately sitting a little closer to Jess.

"I'm sorry," she said, her head on his shoulder.

"For what?" he checked. "The neighbour being nosey? Newsflash, Ror, I'm used to that in Stars Hollow."

"Yes and no," said Rory, sighing. "I mean, she only came over because she worries about me. I don't think she really thought anything bad was going on."

Jess said nothing.

"Also, about before. I'm sorry for that too. I feel like I'm leading you on or something," she admitted, making herself sit up and meet his eyes. "I don't mean to, but I get caught up in the moment sometimes, and it's a really great moment."

"Not gonna argue with that," said Jess with a smile.

"But then I stop the moment, every time, and I feel like... like you're suffering, and I'm causing that, and-"

"Rory, stop," Jess told her sharply. "C'mon, just stop. Look, I'm not denying that I like being close to you, and that I'd get a whole lot closer if you wanna let me, but it's not all about me. I love you," he reminded her, a hand at her cheek, making her meet his eyes. "Means I think you're worth waiting for, no matter how long it takes, okay?"

"Yeah, I know," she said with a smile. "You're the greatest boyfriend in the world, you know that, right?"

Jess was smirking at her comment as he hugged her closer and kissed the top of her head.

"Watch the movie," he told her, glad when she settled into his side to do just that.

To Be Continued...