Luke dreaded the moment they'd catch Stella. He did really want them to trap the chick, yet he knew what that would mean – once they weren't occupied anymore, Lorelai and he had to talk. About their kiss. Kisses. Luke tossed the lamp he'd broken, taking as much time as possible. But knowing he couldn't dodge the talk forever, he eventually walked back into the house. Oblivious to the annoying Dean kid coming out of Babette's house with a trash bag, he went back in. Lorelai was currently talking to Stella in her infuriating but adorable Lorelai-way.

"Next time we might step on you, and don't think we'll make an exception just because you're cute. You're sadly still a chicken and Rory and I are carnivores."

Stella cheeped back and Lorelai laughed.

"Next time think about that before you escape, Missy!"

"You're batshit crazy," Luke let her know as he stepped back in. "Talking to that thing like that."

"We simply aren't made for animals," Lorelai whined. "I'm still asking myself how she could have escaped."

"Rory or you must have left the cage open," Luke suggested. "Baby chicks usually aren't capable of opening their own cages." He looked at her. She was still leaning down, looking at the cage, probably checking out if the cage had a leak somewhere. All of a sudden it was very quiet, apart from Stella's chirping. But Lorelai, she said nothing.

Thus, Luke breathed a light "I should go", sure that Lorelai would agree to that. She hadn't seemed that keen on them kissing anyway. As she didn't turn around, confirming his suspicion, he turned back to the kitchen door, dying to make an exit and rush home as fast as possible so he could beat himself up for all the stupid things he'd said and done the last thirty minutes. His hand was just reaching for the doorknob, as he heard her voice.

"Stay."

He turned around, his breath stuck in his throat. "Lorelai?"

Her head was still bowed down, face covered by brown curls, but chances were good she was still checking the cage for emergency exits. While doing so, she did not move an inch. Her hands were still on the cage and her voice was shaking as she repeated, "Stay."

Luke moved away from the door slowly, yet not daring to leap back at her and kiss her, no matter how much he wanted to. He'd kissed her twice, if he kissed her third time without her wanting to, he would never forgive himself. Hell, he'd never forgive himself after those two kisses, if Lorelai told him now that those had been completely uncalled for. Stunned he stood, waiting for Lorelai to talk. And finally she threw her hair back, looking directly at him.

"I can't even tell you how you surprised me tonight, Luke," she told him with a voice so steady and calm, Luke could only identify her feelings as indifferent to what happened. He let his head fall, staring down on his feet. The embarrassment was clouding his mind and for a moment he feared he was about to let his tears roam free. Lorelai Gilmore was surely the only thing that could make him lose it completely. What a woman.

"I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this," Lorelai continued. "You're my best friend and I just got out of a very complicated and almost forbidden relationship. Not forbidden but frowned upon. He was Rory's teacher and – no, I don't want to talk about him right now. But fact is, I really liked him and I really like you, Luke, and I really, really don't know what to think or do or – or feel right now."

Luke nodded, finally managing to look at her. And her face let his heart skip a beat, for she looked so hurt, so confused, so torn all of a sudden.

"What did you think, Luke? Why did you kiss me?"

"I don't know, I –," Luke sighed. Of course he knew why he kissed her. "I really like you, too, Lorelai. Very much. So much that I wanted to hurt someone after seeing you strolling around Stars Hollow with Rory's teacher."

"You saw us?"

"I did and I felt very stupid. Because I always think I'm sending you signs and hints, giving you compliments, I try to flirt – but it never seems enough for you to realise."

Lorelai snorted. Finally she moved but the only thing she did was crossing her arms. "When did you compliment me? When did you flirt with me?"

"I do all the time." Luke sighed. "See, I'm not the best guy when it comes to flirting. I'm very out of practice and to be honest, I'm not brave enough to overtly flirt with you. But I … damn, I like you so much. You don't even know how stupid I feel right now, like a horny teenager who's madly in love with his gorgeous teacher or something."

Lorelai's mouth immediately flew open. Of course Luke thought it was because of the "madly in love with" comment, but as she cried out, "You feel like a horny teenager?", he knew that a serious conversation obviously wasn't quite possible with this woman. But, seeing her face, he couldn't stay serious either. He chuckled.

"I do. Sorry."

"No worries. But we have to talk about this." Lorelai uncrossed her arms, now starting to knead her hands. "Also the other thing you said."

"So you heard it."

"Yeah. I just chose to ignore it for a moment." She sighed and turned away from him. "Wanna come to the living room with me and sit down a bit?"

"Sure," he muttered, following her like a puppy. He almost crashed against her as she suddenly stepped dead in her tracks halfway to their destination.

"Oh, damn," she commented at the chaos in the living room. "Mh … we can't really sit here. Would you care to head upstairs with me?"

"Uh – I can help you clean up," Luke suggested. "We can always talk at the same time."

"Don't be silly, we both need to fully concentrate on this. You coming?" She turned around.

She wanted him to follow her upstairs. She didn't know why, was it him being horny or was it rather him being in love? Lorelai could not name the feeling but frankly she didn't care about it. She was over Max, had been for a while, and after the overwhelming kiss in the diner, she'd hoped Luke wasn't just needing it and only choosing her for being there and being above-average good looking. Now she knew it was more. And she loved it. She reached for his hand, smiling at him.

"I mean it. My bedroom is safe from spectators also."

"Lorelai," he groaned. "I've never been in your bedroom."

"You haven't?"

"No."

"You've never fixed anything in it?"

"No, Lorelai."

"Oh – it's about time you fix something, then." She grinned at him, scanning her brain for information about whether she had condoms stored somewhere close to her bed. She figured no, given the fact that she never ever had a man stay over. Max had almost stayed some months ago, but Lane had seen them kissing in the stairway and that had been quite a mood killer. Poor Lane, she had seemed traumatized.

She shoved the thought of Lane aside, concentrating fully on Luke again. Wherever they would go tonight, she was sure it would lead somewhere. No matter if they chose to take it slowly or hop right into bed, there was no doubt they'd already crossed the line from friendship to something more. They couldn't go back now, they'd already kissed – twice – and Lorelai had liked it too much to be able to go back to whatever they'd been before.

Determined she took his hand and pulled her with him, across the chaotic living room, right to the stairs. "Rory is at Babette's, by the way," she suddenly remembered. "So no frolicking love making tonight, sorry."

"Lorelai," Luke sighed.

She grinned. "You still coming with me?"

"How could I not?" he asked, following right behind.

Upon entering her bedroom, he stood still, like a vampire, waiting for permission to enter. "You may come inside, Angel," she joked, earning a confused and perhaps embarrassed look from him. "Angel, from Buffy the vampire slayer," she tried to explain. "No? Handsome, tall, broody, moody? You but Irish? Never heard of him?"

"I haven't a single clue what you're on about, Lorelai," Luke let her know and Lorelai fake-gasped.

"Haven't a clue about your secret twin brother? We have to change that. Rory and me are huge fans of the show and you are basically Angel."

"Lorelai," Luke tried again, "I can't talk to you like this. I need you serious."

"I need you, too," she joked, winking her awkward wink at him. She knew she couldn't wink, she still tried it as much as she could, knowing she looked weird when doing so. "Seriously," she added with a suggestive tone in her voice.

"Lorel-"

"Got it, I'm being a prick again. Only concentration from now on, I promise." She inhaled deeply, gesturing towards her bed. "Sit down, please," she then said, with her Independence-Inn-voice when she picked up the telephone. "What is your statement, Mr. Danes?"

"Not that serious," Luke commented with the slightest shake of his head. "Can you stay focussed long enough to talk to me?"

"Sure. I'll try."

"Sit down, please."

Lorelai sat down in the middle of her bed, crossing her legs, leaning back on her pillows. She watched Luke sitting on the edge of her bed, trying to avoid her eyes. "I'm listening," she softly encouraged him.

"Uh – I've already said everything I wanted to say. What is your take on everything?"

"My take? Oh. I don't know." Lorelai bit her lip. She didn't think so much about these things, usually she just followed her instincts. Her instinct right now told her to jump him and kiss him, but this time, she reckoned, she had to use her head rather than her heart. After all it was Luke of all people.

"Did you like it that I kissed you?" Luke asked her and his voice was so quiet, she wasn't quite sure he had actually said what he had said. But then he lifted his head, finally making an eye connection. "Please be honest," he pleaded, which made Lorelai smile.

"I liked it very much," she whispered. "Very, very much."

"Then why did you leave?"

"I'm sorry that I didn't want to have sex on a cold, hard and dirty diner floor."

"That makes sense. I'm very sorry."

"If you had asked me upstairs, I would have said yes, though." She smiled at him, only now realising that this was the truth. She still hadn't had the chance to change out of the damp panties she had left the diner in, thanks to Stella. Boy, had she been turned on. She still couldn't believe she had fled the diner. "Sorry for running away, though."

Luke smiled. "Don't worry. It was a lot."

"Yeah. I haven't been that aroused in a while."

"Really?"

"Really. If we had been in a church, I would've started burning due to all those sinful thoughts cruising around in my mind just that moment."

"You're unbelievable." Luke finally moved, crawled closer to her. "So, for the record, you'd like it if I kissed you again?"

"Yeah. I would like that," Lorelai breathed. "Though I must tell you, I love spontaneous kisses. Don't tell me you're about to kiss me, Luke. Just do it."

Luke froze. "Oh. Okay," he said, a bit taken aback. "So I can't kiss you now?"

"You can if you want to," Lorelai giggled. "But for the future I'd prefer spontaneity."

"I will remember," Luke promised and lunged forward, taking her face between his hands. He pressed his lips on hers so fiercely, Lorelai forgot to breathe for a second. Almost immediately he pushed his tongue past her lips and then there was nothing but wet sounds of their intertwined tongues.

Until a shout tore them apart – literally. As Rory's "Mom? What happened down there?" reached their ears, Luke jumped back so quickly, it wouldn't have surprised Lorelai if he had fallen off the bed. Lorelai groaned quietly – she loved her girl but she did have the worst possible timing.

"What is it, honey?" she called back, quickly jumping off the bed and running downstairs to prevent her from coming up and seeing Luke.

Rory looked hysterical and though it alarmed Lorelai, she couldn't help but notice the absolutely ridiculous dress on her daughter.

"What are you wearing?" she laughed.

"You tell me what happened here!" Rory called.

Lorelai crossed her arms. "I'll tell you if you tell me what the occasion for your costume is."

Rory sighed. "I'll explain later, mom, but please hear me out for now – I can't find Apricot!"

"What?"

"She was on the couch and a minute later – nowhere! Please help me find her, please!"

Lorelai sighed. "Promise I can tease you about your outfit later?"

"No, but help me anyway," Rory begged, turned around and left for Babette's house again.

Lorelai groaned while heading back up. "That's it! We are not animal people! Period," she called, outraged at the events of the whole evening. Luke was still sitting on the bed as she re-entered, looking at her with a mix between innocence and bad conscience. "Heard it?" she asked and he nodded. "You wanna help or –?"

"I think I'll head back to the diner."

"Hm, okay." Lorelai stepped closer to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Slowly she let it travel over his neck and up to his cheek, where she let it stay. Her thumb caressed his skin and he looked up at her.

"Maybe fate doesn't want us –," he started but Lorelai wouldn't hear it.

"How about I come by later?" she interrupted him. "After we've found Apricot? I am very good in sneaking away and Rory hasn't felt the need to wake me up at night for at least a year. I could sneak out and come over and we could … talk some more."

Luke's eyes found hers after that, and there was so much in them. So much she could name but didn't dare to, as well as so much she couldn't find a name for. But all in all his look was gentle, too gentle. No one had ever looked at her like that, not Max, not even Christopher. Her heart started racing in her chest and his nod made it almost jump out of her ribcage.

"That sounds good," he agreed and Lorelai bent down, leaving a butterfly kiss on his lips before turning around and heading downstairs.