MONDAY AFTERNOON:

It was an overcast and windy day on Verona Island and the faire was packed. Busloads of highschoolers had arrived at noon and it had been busy ever since. Liz got to talking with one of the teachers and found out that they were there for the afternoon as a part of a field trip. Luke didn't know if it was an English or history focused field trip, but either way he doubted this renaissance faire would be very educational. Regardless, it was great for business. Liz's booth had had an almost constant stream of customers from the moment they arrived.

He was in the middle of making a sale when his cellphone rang in his pocket. He handed the customer her change, closed the cashbox and checked his cellphone. His caller I.D. showed Lorelai's name. The booth was busy, and he knew he should just let it go to voicemail and call her back later, but something in his gut told him to answer it. Walking to the back of the booth where it was a little quieter, he flipped open his phone.

"Lorelai?"

"Hey"

Luke's brows furrowed immediately; something was wrong. "Hey, what's up, are you ok?"

"Yeah, uh, I'm ok."

"Are you sure? You don't sound like…you don't sound like yourself."

"Who do I sound like then?"

He could tell she was going for light-hearted, but she sounded choked up and once he heard her sniffle he got Liz's attention, motioned to her he needed to take a call and started walking towards his tent hoping for some privacy. "Lorelai what's going on?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah."

"Have you…have you ever been so completely sure that you were right—no doubt in your mind—and so you said something to the people who were wrong, and they got mad at you, even though it was clear and obvious that, that they were wrong?" She finished lamely, hoping she made sense. It was hard trying to be vague and specific at the same time. She'd just gotten off of a call with Rory. Emily had left them no choice but to talk to each other when she handed the phone to her granddaughter and it had been downhill from there. Lorelai tried to keep the conversation—if you could even call it a conversation—light and breezy, but Rory wasn't interested in light and breezy. She spoke only when spoken to, she was short and rude and obviously still angry. They'd quickly exhausted polite travel conversation and what followed were biting, thinly veiled allusions to the night of the test run, and Lorelai's apparent judgemental behaviour. It was high up on the very short list of worst conversations they'd ever had, and it took mere seconds after hanging up for the tears to come.

The girl she talked to on the phone didn't sound like her daughter, she sounded jaded, bitter…Rory was too young for jaded and bitter. Lorelai sat at her desk, still and quiet. She couldn't quite stop the tears from streaming down her face, but she wasn't sobbing. Her mind was in overdrive thinking about how this could've happened, where she went wrong, where Rory went wrong…She needed to talk to someone about it all and her only option was Rory…who wasn't exactly up for a heart to heart at the moment. Without thinking twice about it she'd picked up her phone and dialled Luke.

"Um, yeah—I have," he said sagely.

Lorelai nodded even though he couldn't see. "So what did you do?"

"I waited. Until they got to the same place I did on their own."

She let out a defeated sigh. "You waited."

"Sorry, but yeah."

"Ok," she sniffled, her voice rueful, "I've never been very good at waiting."

There was a pause and Luke realized that was all she was going to say. "Lorelai what's goin' on?" he asked gently.

"Rory uh…I um, I can't tell you." She said apologetically.

"Ok," he accepted. He'd figured something was off between the mother and daughter and was fine with not knowing the full story—it was clearly something private…but he did have to know one thing. "Is she ok?"

"Yes, no…I mean, physically yes, she's fine…I hope. It's more of an emotional thing."

"Ok."

Luke's non-invasive acceptance of the information only made clear the reason why she'd called him in the first place. "God I wish I could tell you. I wish I could talk to somebody about this. I haven't and it just keeps going around in my head…but it's not my thing. It's her thing and she has to tell people when she's ready—not that I think she'll ever tell anyone, it's not the kind of thing you tell people—which means I won't be able to tell anyone and nothing's ever going to change."

"Maybe you can…tell me, just don't, you know, tell me the details of what happened. But you can tell me what you're thinking…maybe that'll work?" Now at his tent, Luke entered, zipped it closed behind him and sat on his cot.

"Yeah, maybe."

Luke didn't respond, just listened while he waited for her to continue, before she changed her mind.

"Rory did something…impulsive. And stupid. And reckless. And she doesn't even know that it's stupid," Lorelai said emphatically, "She can hurt other people, and if she's not careful she can hurt herself. Actually I'm pretty sure she already has but she hasn't admitted it yet."

"Um… ok. I-I'm not really sure what to say… impulsive, reckless…that doesn't sound like Rory."

"It doesn't!" she agreed, "It sounds like me—"

"What? What are you—"

"And I don't want my smart, sweet, thoughtful, caring daughter turning out like me! I tried so hard to make sure that wouldn't happen and it's happening anyway! I keep going back to all those talks we had, you know? –talks I made sure to have with her and I don't know where I went wrong."

"Whoa, Lorelai what are you talking about? You're not reckless or impulsive. You're a great person, Rory would be lucky if she turned out like you!"

"No Luke, you don't know what I was like when I was younger. I did stupid things just because I could or to piss off my parents, consequences be damned. I don't want Rory to be like that."

"She's not like that. She's one of the most cautious, level-headed kids I've ever met."

"Yeah well maybe she's coming into her rebellion a little late in life," Lorelai said dejectedly. "I thought she knew."

"Knew what?"

"The difference between right and wrong," she sniffled again, "I know she didn't have the most traditional upbringing and I'm not the most traditional mother but I did teach her that you can't just—you can't just," she sighed, "Actions have consequences, I know I taught her that. I guess it didn't really sink in. I should have tried harder."

Luke couldn't believe what he was hearing. His stomach turned as Lorelai beat herself up. And he didn't know what was going on, but he knew Rory. And Rory had a good head on her shoulders. "Lorelai, this is crazy. I know—"

"She said she hated me Luke."

"Oh Lorelai," Luke said sympathetically, starting to understand the breadth of the fight they'd had. "She's a kid. Kids say that sometimes, but they never mean it."

"Not Rory. Rory's never said that to me once in her entire life. Not even when she was 7 and my parents gave her a first edition of Anne of Green Gables and I made her give it back because it was too expensive." Lorelai's voice got quieter as fresh tears stained her face. "I'm—I'm disappointed in her Luke. I don't think I've ever been disappointed in her. And it…it feels awful."

Luke's gut twisted at the distress he could hear in her voice. He spoke gently, hoping to reassure her. "Lorelai, you're a good person, so is Rory. But she is just a person. And people make mistakes. She'll fix this."

"I don't know if she can," Lorelai said soberly.

"Well if she can't…then she'll learn from it. She'll pick up and go on. Maybe this whole Europe trip came at a good time."

"She just used it to escape. She made a huge mistake and then ran from it."

"Yeah but maybe, I don't know, maybe that's ok. It's not like she's over there partying and getting crazy, she's with her grandma…The time and space away from home could do some good, might help her see things a little more clearly."

"I hope so."

"And she doesn't hate you. She could never hate you, you're her best friend and her mom. She was probably just angry."

"Oh she was definitely angry."

"See? Take it from someone who knows; things said in intense anger are to be taken somewhat lightly."

Lorelai released a breathy chuckle at his attempt to lighten the mood. She took a few moments to wipe at the residual tears on her face and was hit with a wave of embarrassment. "God, Luke I'm so sorry for all of this. I swear I didn't mean to dump everything on you."

"It's ok."

"I think I've just had to deal with it by myself for too long and when I talked to Rory earlier something snapped.

"It's ok, really, you needed to talk, and, I don't mind."

"I know you don't," Lorelai said affectionately, "You're the best."

Luke shifted on the cot, slightly uncomfortable by her praise. "So Rory called you today?"

"No, my mom called and forced her to talk to me."

"I'm sure she didn't force her."

"Well maybe not forced, but gave her no other option which is basically forcing. I barely got 2 words out of her and then when she did decide to start talking it was…it was, not good," she sniffled.

"What about Sookie? She might be able to give you better advice. And she's…actually there."

"No, Sookie doesn't know anything about this."

"You didn't tell her?"

"No, it's…not mine to tell. And, Sookie would want to know everything…"

Luke was touched—that she trusted him, that she came to him when she had a problem, that she let him in. No matter how out-going Lorelai was, he knew that she didn't trust easily. She could be guarded—understandably so, given the experiences she'd had. And while they'd always been able to talk to one another, this was…different. It felt more personal somehow—maybe because it involved Rory—but he was glad she felt comfortable enough to come to him. He loved that he had her trust, he just wished he could be more helpful to her. He was kind of at a loss for what to do, or say…

"Well, you know, you can always talk to me about anything…or not talk to me, whichever you want."

"Thanks Luke."

"You and Rory are going to be good," he said firmly, "It may not seem like it right now but I know you will be. Rory will come around, and you, well, you're pretty resilient. You'll get through this. And one day the two of you will sit down and laugh about it."

Lorelai let out a humourous breath. "Thank you," she said again. It was heartening to know that Luke thought of her that way, because lately she'd been feeling like she was barely keeping up with the hurdles life was throwing at her. "I really hope so."

Luke nodded in response, though she couldn't see. "So are you at home? Do you want to watch tv or something?"

"Aren't you at the faire?"

"I'm in my tent actually. Stepped away for some privacy."

"Don't you have to get back?"

"I have some time; you can put something on and just tell me what's happening."

"Oh, Luke, you don't have to do that."

"No, let's do it," he said congenially. He didn't want their phone call to end on a bad note, he wanted to know that she wasn't going to start crying again once they hung up—they could manage the booth without him for another half hour, right?

"No Luke, that's sweet, but really it's ok, I'll be ok. I'm at work anyway."

"You're at the inn?"

"In my office…door's locked so no one walks in and sees me being a blubbering mess," she said with a self-depreciating laugh.

"Can you go home right now? Even just for an hour, so you can have a moment to regroup."

"No, we've got a group that arrived yesterday and they're a lot needier than I thought they'd be."

"Michel can handle them."

"He'd throw a fit."

"So what? Let him."

Lorelai's chuckle ended on a sigh, "It's ok, I'll be ok, don't worry."

"Ok," Luke said. He didn't bother telling her that he always worried about her.

There was a moment of quiet before Lorelai—still embarrassed about calling Luke just to unload everything on him—decided to change to subject. "So how's it going over there today?"

"Actually it's pretty busy, got a huge group of teenagers in on a field trip."

"Right of course, you're busy," she shook her head at herself, "It was a stupid idea to call you right now, I didn't even think, I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine really, I'm glad you called."

"You should, go now, I'm sure Liz and TJ need your help."

"It's ok. I can take a couple of minutes to talk to you, don't worry about it."

"No really—"

They were interrupted by a loud impatient knocking on Lorelai's office door. On his end Luke could just barely make out Michel's voice. He couldn't decipher the actual words he was saying, but understood that he was obviously upset about something.

"Looks like you have to get back."

"I think I do."

"Alright well…I'll talk to you later?"

"Yeah, and, thanks Luke, thanks for listening."

"Anytime."

They hung up and Lorelai took a moment to pull her compact out of her purse and check her makeup. She sighed at her reflection. Her eyes were puffy and red-rimmed, her skin pale and there were mascara bits all over her face. She took a deep breath and starting fixing herself up as best she could. Truthfully, despite her appearance, she did feel a little better. Talking to Luke had helped. She was by no means over everything that was happening with Rory, but she did have a little more faith that they would get through it…eventually. Maybe the whole fabric of their relationship hadn't changed in one night, and one day they'd get back to that best friends/mother and daughter thing they'd always had.

This wasn't the first time she'd gone to Luke upset, crying, needing someone to talk to. He always claimed to be bad at dealing with highly-emotional situations, but he wasn't. Somehow, no matter what was going on or what she was upset about, he made her feel better. Talking to Luke just, helped. She didn't know if it was because he was such a good listener or because he led with honesty, but he always knew the right thing to say, and she always felt comfortable going to him. Going to others for help—emotional or otherwise—was not an easy thing for her, but with Luke, it was.

It only occurred to her now, wiping the mascara bits off of her face, that maybe she should have thought twice about calling Luke. After all, they weren't merely friends anymore, now there were feelings between them and feelings tended to complicate things. She'd called him simply because she'd needed to talk to him—same as she'd done numerous times before. And he'd been there just as he always was. She was beyond grateful that their budding romance hadn't complicated anything—that that part of their friendship remained.

Lorelai examined her face in the compact one last time and declared her appearance good enough. It wasn't going to get much better right now, she knew, so, with a deep breath she pushed her chair back from the desk and started towards the lobby, prepared to deal with whatever new problem had arisen in her absence.


TUESDAY NIGHT:

"Hey Luke."

"How'd you know it was me?"

"Besides my caller I.D.? It was either you or Sookie so I just guessed."

"Good guess."

"Mhm."

"So, how are you?"

His voice was gentle and non-obtrusive in the most Luke-like way. Lorelai knew his question wasn't cursory—he actually wanted to know how she was. She also knew that he would accept whatever answer she gave. Pushing wasn't in his nature. If she decided to crack an outrageous joke he would take the hint and move onto a different topic, but he deserved a real answer, so she gave one.

"I've been better, but," she shrugged, "I'll be ok…thanks again for yesterday."

Luke shrugged too. "I called you last night but I didn't get through."

"You did? I'm sorry, I didn't even hear the phone ring. I fell asleep pretty early."

"Don't worry about it. I was just calling to check in. I'm glad you got some rest."

"Yeah I was pretty exhausted."

"I can imagine," Luke commiserated. God knows he would be.

Lorelai sighed. She'd been stuck in her head all day, dwelling on the state of things with Rory…she could use a break. "Hey Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we talk about, anything else?"

"Yeah, we can. How was work today?"

Lorelai made a conscious effort to push the melancholy she was still feeling out of her mind and focus on talking to Luke. "It was fine, busy."

"Busy is good."

"Yeah, but busy like one of the maids almost quit."

"What? Why?"

"Michel blew a fuse, poor Theresa got the brunt of it and, well, you know…she didn't really appreciate the way he handled the situation."

"I can't blame her. Was she in the wrong?"

"Yes but she apologized and corrected the mistake, but Michel doesn't give up so easily."

"Right. And she still decided to stay?"

"Well I had to talk her down, then talk Michel down…I felt like I was in The Negotiator."

"Well whatever you did worked I guess."

"It took a forced apology from Michel, and a basket of Sookie's famous coconut chocolate chip muffins, but we got there."

"Thank God for the muffins."

"Yeah, because the apology was half-assed at best." Lorelai sunk further into her couch, getting more comfortable. "How was your day?"

"Also fine. Same old. Sold some jewelry, ate lunch, tried to avoid talking to TJ."

"Lunch sounds promising, what'd you have?"

"Found a sandwich shop nearby that does a pretty good Waldorf salad with grilled chicken."

"And you've officially ruined lunch."

Luke rolled his eyes, "It was delicious, you'd like it if you ever gave it a try."

"No thanks, I'll pass. I'm pretty sure fries beat out a fruit salad any day."

"There's more than fruits in it."

"Whatever, fries are still better."

"I'll make you one when I get home, bet you'll like it."

"Mhm," she hummed, smiling at the thought of having plans with Luke for when he got home, "as long as it's on a separate plate and far away from my burger—"

"As long as I'm the one eating it, right?"

"Then I'll love it."

Luke shook his head ruefully, making a mental note to actually make her a Waldorf when he got home.

"So what do you have going on tonight? After such a huge lunch you must be ready to hit the hay."

"Ha, ha," he said sarcastically, "Nothing, I just got back to the tent. What about you? Marathoning a few movies?"

"Not tonight. I think I'm going to—" She stopped mid-sentence, trying to decipher the rustling coming through the phone. "What is that?

"What is what?"

"That rustling sound." Her eyes widened when she heard the distinct sound of a zipper. "Luke are you…are you changing your clothes right now?"

Luke's face flushed in embarrassment. He didn't think she'd be able to tell. "Um…yes. I'm just getting ready for bed."

A delighted grin spread across Lorelai's face. "So I guess now wouldn't be a great time to ask you what you're wearing, huh?"

"You could…it just, wouldn't be much." He winced and shut his eyes, "Jeeze, that's not what—sorry. I didn't mean for it to come out like that."

Lorelai laughed, "Don't be sorry, it was very cute."

Luke knew she'd meant it as a compliment, but still found problem with the word. "It wasn't cute, babies are cute."

"And you're a grown man."

"Exactly."

"Would you prefer I go with rugged or devilishly handsome then?"

Luke blushed but smiled coyly. "Go with whatever you like."

"Cute it is then."

"Oh boy," Luke replied flatly. His smile widened into a chuckle as Lorelai laughed joyously. He was happy to hear it. He'd called tonight assuming she'd still be feeling down about whatever was going on with Rory, and was hoping to cheer her up—if he could get her to crack a smile? Even better. He hadn't foreseen this conversation but was glad it was doing the trick.

"So are you all changed now?" Lorelai asked, her laughter lingering.

"No."

"No?"

"Well you caught me off guard and I stopped. You weren't supposed to hear me changing."

"You still have no clothes on?"

"No, I—"

"How naked are we talking here?"

"I'm not naked."

"How do I know that?"

"Because I'm telling you right now."

"I'm not hearing any movement through this line, no zippers no rustling… as far as I'm concerned, you're standing there in your tent in nothing but your birthday suit, buck-naked, ass to the wind. Do you even have your hat on?"

"Yes. Along with a shirt and socks and—"

"Don't ruin the image!"

"Picturing me naked now?"

"Hey you're the one who called and then decided to drop his pants."

"Oh jeeze," Luke said through a laugh. "You are…"

"A delight?"

"Yeah," he smiled, "A delight."

Lorelai laughed too, "This is going to be fun, isn't it?"

Luke's smile widened. He didn't have to ask what she was referring to. "I'm having fun already."

"Should we keep this going or should we get back onto safer ground?" she teased.

"Safer ground please, I'm not really up for a cold shower tonight."

Lorelai's breath caught in surprise. Luke didn't usually say things like that…or even allude to the attraction between them. Lorelai had felt it's presence many times before but was far too used to letting the feeling fade and never acknowledging it. Granted, over the past year the feeling had been lingering around, and had fully taken root after their kiss. Or maybe it was after their dance. Regardless, she knew there was attraction on her end. It was just always nice to know that the guy you were into was into you too.

When she spoke again, her voice was quiet. "Safer ground means you have to put your pants on Luke."

"Ok," he laughed, "hang on." Putting the phone down on the cot he finished changing as quickly as possible. "I'm back."

"All buttoned up?"

"My sweat pants don't have any buttons, but yes, figuratively, I am all buttoned up."

"Good." In the quiet she could hear more movement. "What are you doing now?"

"I'm just getting into the cot."

He yawned and tried to hide it, but Lorelai heard and knew their conversation was coming to an end. "Early morning tomorrow?"

"Same as always. I guess I'm not really used to having a commute in the morning, makes you tired first thing."

"What is it? A half hour drive to get Liz and TJ?"

"About 20, and then another 20 back."

"I guess that's a little longer than a flight of stairs huh?"

"Yeah," he tried to stifle another yawn.

"You all tucked in?"

"Yeah."

"Ok sleepy boy, I'll let you get some rest."

"We can keep talking for a while."

"It's getting to be way past your bedtime."

"That's ok."

"You'll regret it in the morning."

"I definitely won't."

Lorelai smiled. She wouldn't regret it either. But he was yawning again, and she knew he was probably more tired than he was letting on. Tonight wasn't the night. "We can stay up late playing the you-hang-up-first game tomorrow, I promise."

Luke chuckled, "Ok."

"Goodnight Luke."

"Night Lorelai."

They hung up, and Lorelai sat in contemplation. Now that it was out in the open, was Luke just going to openly flirt with her? She hoped so. This more playful side of him was fun and he always managed to catch her off guard. They'd flirted before, of course, but now it was on a different level. A much better level. Lorelai felt her face get hot as his deep, throaty voice replayed in her head, "I'm having fun already." She bit her lip and pulled the blanket around her tighter as it replayed again. She'd started the phone call bothered by the state of things with Rory, and now, after talking to Luke, she was leaving the call a whole other kind of bothered.


WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON:

"On your lunch break?" Luke answered his cellphone.

"Yeah, I get one of those."

"Lucky you. What's on the menu today?"

"Sookie made me a chicken Caesar sandwich."

"That's…pretty mundane for her."

"Don't worry, the chicken was cooked in a balsamic vinaigrette reduction and the dressing was homemade with fresh roasted garlic."

"Ah, there she is."

"It's delicious," she said, before taking a bite out of the sandwich.

"It always is."

"What about you, you eat yet?"

"Not yet, haven't had a chance to sit down much today."

"They're working you hard over there, huh?" Lorelai half-yelled over a swell of noise coming from Luke's end of the call.

Luke shrugged, "I don't mind, really."

"You never do."

"How's your day going?" When he was met with silence, he tried again, "Lorelai?"

"Luke?"

"I'm here."

"I can barely hear you, what did you say?" The chatter, laughter and string music seemingly ever-present at the faire, were louder than usual and were drowning out Luke's voice.

"I said, how's your day going?" He half-yelled back.

"Oh it's been fine so far, I—" She was cut off by the loud sound of a trumpet and an announcement that the queen would be making her rounds. Lorelai laughed. "That's a grand entrance."

"It gets old quick. Believe me. What were you saying?"

"I was saying that my day is fine so far—" Lorelai stopped short when she heard an unfamiliar voice cut through the faire din.

"Lady Elizabeth," the unknown, but distinctly feminine voice sing-songed, "where ist thou fair and noble brother?"

Her question went unanswered, Lorelai guessed, because a few seconds later she tried again.

"Luke! Get your gorgeous butt out here! I need your help!"

"Who's that?" Lorelai asked quickly.

"Just one of Liz's friends."

"Lucaaaas?"

"Sorry, I think I have to go, she's just gonna keep calling."

"But, um—"

"Luke? Where are you?" That time it was Liz, Lorelai recognized her voice.

"I'm comin'!" Luke yelled back, "Sorry, Lorelai, can I call you later? Or, maybe even tomorrow, I'm not sure what time I'll be getting back to the tent tonight."

"Uh, yeah, sure," Lorelai said quietly.

"Ok, thanks."

In the few seconds before he hung up, Lorelai heard the stranger's voice again. "There you are, Sir Luke. I need a man of your…strapping stature, to come help me with—"

And then the line cut. Lorelai moved the phone away from her ear and looked at it as if it could explain what the hell she'd just heard. That woman was hitting on Luke. No doubt about it. And brazenly so…she lacked anything even resembling subtlety. And what was with Luke just dropping everything to run to her side? What was that? Didn't they know he had someone? And that someone had him? What was going on over there?

/

WEDNESDAY NIGHT:

Despite Luke's words of warning that he'd probably be busy that night, Lorelai called him when she got home from work. She had too many questions and too few answers. She let it ring until his voicemail came on, then hung up, opting not to leave a message. With a sigh, she put the phone back on its cradle. And made her way upstairs, resisting the urge to hit redial.


THURSDAY MORNING:

"Hello?"

"Good morning"

"Morning. Listen I'm sorry for not getting back to you last night. I accidentally left my phone in the tent when I was taking Liz and TJ back to the inn. I saw your missed call when I got back but it was after midnight by then and I figured it was too late to call."

"After midnight? Was everything ok with Liz and TJ?"

"Oh yeah, I was doing their laundry, mine too, so it took a while."

"You were at a laundromat all night?"

"No, the inn has a guest laundry room."

"Oh."

"Yeah, sorry about that."

"That's ok." There was a few beats of silence. "So um, what was that all about yesterday?"

"That announcement thing? They do it every time the lady who acts as the queen in the play walks around the grounds to take pictures."

"No, not that—although I do want to get back to that—I meant, what was going on with that girl that was yelling out your name, Liz's friend?"

"Oh, that was one of the grog booth girls."

"Grog booth Annie?"

"No it was Charlotte, Annie's sister. They run the booth together."

"Oh."

"They just needed a hand."

"What about the fruit ice guy? I thought he was dating Annie, couldn't they have asked him?" Lorelai asked as casually as she could manage.

"I don't know, I guess he was busy. It was no big deal, she just needed help moving a few kegs, some boxes…"

"Sounded like she needed your help with something else."

Was that jealousy he was hearing? Luke smiled through a scoff. "Please, she's harmless. As harmless as Babette and Patty."

"Babette and Patty are not harmless. Believe me, if they actually thought they had a chance…they'd be all over you."

"Well they don't, and neither does Charlotte," he said firmly.

"Ok, just making sure."

There was a beat of silence but Luke didn't let it last long. Lorelai? Ruffled about a brief one-sided flirtation with a woman he wouldn't even consider an acquaintance? The concept seemed absurd and hilarious to him. "So you're the jealous type huh?" He couldn't help but tease her.

"I'm—not the jealous type!"

"No no, I'm glad this came out now, it's better to know early on—"

"I'm not jealous. I'm, just, looking out for you," she defended, "making sure this grog booth girl is keeping her claws out of you."

"Claws?"

"I assume she has them."

"Right. Well, I'm unharmed, so you don't have to worry about it."

"Good." In the lull, Lorelai could hear his poorly contained laughter. "Luke!"

"Come on, when am I ever going to get this chance again?"

Lorelai smiled reluctantly. "Fine, have your moment."

Luke's laughter subsided into a smile. "Charlotte flirts with everyone Lorelai. It's not like she's singled me out."

"Well if she does, make sure she knows you're spoken for."

"I will."


FRIDAY NIGHT:

"You know he's still talking about the damn thing."

Lorelai chuckled. "Take it from someone who knows, when you find a well-fitting pair of tights, you want nothing more than to shout it from the rooftops."

"Really?"

"No, but, he seems to be really into them. It's not the worst thing in the world."

"It is when you have to hear about it over and over again."

"I guess we shouldn't tell him that some tights actually do have pockets then, huh?"

"No," Luke laughed, "I don't think he could he handle it."

They'd been talking for a half hour already. Tiredness was starting to overcome her, but she'd spent a good chunk of her shift at reception today staring at the front door of the Dragonfly thinking about the night of the test run, so she wanted to bring it up. They hadn't really talked about it. Lorelai was certain she'd never forget that night, those moments with Luke. She just wanted to make sure that he didn't forget either.

"Hey Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"What do you think would've happened that night, if Kirk hadn't, you know, run down the stairs naked and interrupted us?"

He wanted to crack a joke about the left field nature of her question, but Lorelai sounded serious, so he stayed serious too. "Honestly…I have no idea," he shrugged, "I had no plan whatsoever, didn't even plan on kissing you."

"You didn't?"

"It just happened."

"Why did you?"

"I dunno…" His voice softened, "I just, wanted to be really clear about, how I felt, and, I thought, there was a moment. And when you said there was a moment…I didn't want to let it pass by, again."

"I'm glad you didn't."

"What do you think would've happened that night? You know, if Kirk hadn't been…well, Kirk."

Lorelai laughed lightly but remained thoughtful. "I don't know either…but I think it would have been good."

"Definitely would've been good." Luke's mind flashed back to the Dragonfly porch—lips buzzing, adrenaline rushing…they'd been pulling each other back in for more when Kirk's screaming had startled them apart. "I probably shouldn't have gone after him."

"No it's, good that you did. He needed help."

"Yeah but it ruined our moment."

"Don't worry, there will be others." Lorelai looked around at her still, empty room and sighed. "I wish you were here right now."

"You have no idea."

"Come home soon, ok?"

"I will."

"Goodnight Luke."

"Night Lorelai."

They hung up and Lorelai conformed to the stillness of her room. She knew this thing with Luke was different. Disregarding the fact that they hadn't gone on a proper date yet or done things in the generally accepted usual order, or shared more than a couple of kisses—this relationship felt different. It was safer and more exciting than anything she'd ever experienced before—which made sense, she guessed, seeing as she'd known him for years. But it wasn't just that, she felt different too. They'd done nothing more than talk on the phone for the last few weeks and already, her feelings for Luke ran deep. She'd never been in love and didn't know if that's what the way she was feeling amounted to, but, either way, that's where this was heading. Lorelai smiled as her brain replayed their front porch Dragonfly moments for the hundredth time that day. She really, really, couldn't wait for him to get home.


SATURDAY MID-MORNING:

"Hey"

"Hey"

"How are you?"

"I'm good, just got the booth set up in our new spot and now I am putting out all the inventory in the display cases."

"You mean the jewellery?"

"Same thing."

"Everything went ok? Moving to the new town?"

"Yeah, went smoothly."

"Where are you guys now?"

"We're in Augusta."

"Augustaaa…Augstaaaaa," Lorelai dragged, "…ooh, that's closer!"

"What, you got a map out?"

"Maybe…" Lorelai replied evasively, quietly closing the map of Maine she'd pulled up on her computer. On his end, Luke's face broke into a smitten smile. On her end, Lorelai sighed. "You don't feel closer."

"I know. I'm hoping I won't be out here for much longer."

Lorelai's brows furrowed. "You're hoping?"

"Yeah, well, I can't say for sure. I'll know more after their next doctor's appointment."

"When's that?"

"Couple days."

Lorelai groaned. "Luke you were supposed to be coming home around now."

"I know, I'm really sorry."

"I'm beginning to think it's never going to happen. You'll just keep postponing and postponing it until one day you wake up in a houseboat and realize it's been 10 years of blueberries and pine trees."

"I will come home."

"That's what you keep saying."

Luke could practically see the pout on her face. "Lorelai, if I thought they'd be fine on their own I'd be home before sundown tonight."

"I know, I know," Lorelai sighed. She shook her head at herself. She was being selfish. Luke was trying to do the right thing and whining about it wasn't going to help at all. "I'm sorry," she said sincerely, "I just never thought this would be how our relationship started out." The silence that followed had her questioning whether or not their phones had lost connection. "Luke? You still there?"

"Yeah, I'm here," Luke replied, completely unable to stop the smile spreading across his face. Feeling someone's stare on him, Luke looked up and saw that it was Liz giving him a weird look. Worried that his sister could his end of the conversation, he lowered his voice. "You—you've thought about us getting together?"

Lorelai blushed profusely, for once very thankful for the phoneline separating them. "Uh, yeah, I have, a lot of times. Haven't you?" She tried to play it off.

"I have," Luke responded simply, amazed by what she was saying, and thoroughly amused by how she was saying it.

"We've been friends for years, c-close friends, and, I don't know if you're familiar with the "When Harry Met Sally" concept of men and women not being able to be friends because the sex part gets in the way thing, but, it is a well-known concept. And it's not without merit. So, you know, it's not so weird that we thought about it."

Luke's smile lit up his whole face. He couldn't help it. Lorelai was rambling and flustered and he was pretty sure she just mentioned them having sex. She was probably sitting there fidgeting, her mind working a mile a minute trying to figure out how to talk her way off the topic. "So I'm Harry, and you're Sally? And the sex is going to get in the way, huh?"

"Theoretically, it could…get in the way. I'm just saying it's not unnatural for two platonic friends to think about the possibilities of being, non-platonic while they're still…platonic."

"Non-platonic?"

"Yes." He didn't answer. "What?"

"Nothing, I'm waiting for you to keep going, please, keep going," he encouraged. Laughter bubbled up inside of him and he was useless to stop it.

Lorelai rolled her eyes and smiled ruefully as she tapped her pen against her desk. "Shut up." But that only inspired more laughter from Luke. She reluctantly joined him. "Stop."

"I'm not sayin' anything."

"You don't have to. I can see the smirk on your face, you're being smug."

"You can see my smugness through the phone line?"

"Yes. That's how smug you're being."

"Sorry, I can't help it."

"Fine," Lorelai listened to his laughter for another moment, her smile still reluctantly on her face, "I'm hanging up now before I stick my other foot in my mouth."

"No, come on, this is fun!"

Lorelai chuckled. "I'll see you Luke…eventually, I hope."

"Sooner rather than later."

They hung up, both sporting matching goofy grins as they got back to work.