A/N: Thanks to Jewels for her patience and guidance!

The next morning, Luke knocks on Lorelai's door. He stands there nervously shifting from foot to foot. He hopes that he is not too early.

He hears, "I'm coming. I'm coming," faintly through the door.

The door swings open and there appears a very surprised Lorelai...in her robe. A very short, thin robe which accentuates her long legs. Luke has to force himself to look away.

"Luke. It's early. What are you doing here, besides gawking?" she says with a smile, "Come in. I was just getting ready to head over to the diner."

"I'm glad you're up. I have something to give you, and to ask you," he says as they walk into her living room.

"Oh?" she says with curiosity. She notices that he is carrying a box.

"You need to get dressed first."

"I do?" she asks glancing down at herself.

"Yes," he shakes his head emphatically, "I can't talk to you dressed like that."

"May I ask why? I mean it's not like I'm naked. I have never answered the door naked, and I don't usually walk around my house naked. Although, I am naked under-"

"Would you stop saying naked?" he interrupts, "I can see way too much skin, and I can't concentrate on why I'm here."

"Why are you here again?" she teases, trying to distract him.

"Just go get dressed. I'll wait here," he commands while planting himself on the couch.

"Okay. Okay. Don't get your underwear in a wad," she says, turning around to walk up the stairs.

Luke watches her and can't help admire the way the silky robe clings to her body. He can't even begin to describe how amazing her legs look.

Lorelai can feel his eyes on her and with her back to him she asks, "Do you like what you see? Should I swing my hips a little more?"

Startled out of his reverie, Luke's only response is, "Uh."

He turns bright red, and he can hear Lorelai laughing upstairs.

Luke listens to her chattering away as she gets ready, but can't really hear what she is saying. He wonders if the woman ever stops talking. He would like to be given the chance to find out.

After a few minutes, Lorelai comes down fully clothed. "Is this better?" she asks gesturing to her jeans and t-shirt.

"Much," he says relieved.

"You know, I don't mind if you look," she states with a sidelong glance.

"Duly noted."

"Now can we get down to business?" she continues wanting to see him turn red and squirm, "Although, it would have been easier to get down to business with me in the robe."

He decides to ignore her and not let her get a rise out of him, "Um," he starts off nervously. "Well, I want to give you this." He hands her the box that he has been holding in a death grip.

"A present for me?" she asks, bouncing up and down like a little girl. "Let's see what it is." She opens the box and sees a floral head wreath with long dangling ribbons.

"It's beautiful," she says sweetly. "What's it for?"

"Come with me to Liz's wedding on Saturday."

"Are you finally asking me out on a date?"

"Yes, I want you to come with me as my date," he says with more confidence than he is feeling.

"I would love to be your date. It's a renaissance theme, right? Hence the floral wreath."

"Yes, but please don't dress too crazy."

"I will dress just crazy enough. You know that if this is a date, there are certain expectations," she says creeping closer to him.

"What do you mean?" he says noticing her close proximity.

"Kissing, Luke. Usually, kissing is expected," she responds as she leans into him. "I think we should practice now so that we aren't so nervous on our date."

"That's probably a very good idea," he whispers as they stare into each others eyes.

They stand very close to each other. Their heads are tilted, poised to lean in. Their lips are so close that they can feel the warm breath of the other waft over them. Their hearts are racing. But they wait, unable to be the first to move closer, trying to absorb this amazing moment. Just as he decides he can't wait any longer, they hear the phone ring. They jump apart as the spell is broken.

"I guess I'll get that," she grumbles.

"Yeah, I better...I think I'll just go. Bye," he says running out the door.

She sighs as she picks up the phone and grumps, "You better have a good reason for calling right now."

"Well, I'm glad to talk to you too, mom," Rory replies.

"Sorry, sweets, you kind of interrupted something."

"Interrupted something?" Rory questions.

"I have a date," Lorelai says with enthusiasm.

"You have a date? With whom?"

"A guy you know," Lorelai says becoming nervous. She isn't sure how Rory will react to the 'who'.

"A guy I know, huh? Can you be any more vague?"

"He is a really great guy, and up until recently, I didn't realize he had feelings for me."

"Why are you trying to convince me? Do you think I won't approve?" Rory asks.

"I don't know. There was a time when you said I couldn't date him, but I really, really want to," Lorelai says seriously.

A light bulb goes off in Rory's head. Duh. "Mom, that was a long time ago. You don't need my permission to date this guy. Besides, I think he's great too," she continues, "Are you seriously just now figuring out that he has feelings for you?"

Relieved that Rory seems to be fine with the situation, Lorelai says, "There has always been something there, but I never knew for sure. So you're all right with this?"

"Why wouldn't I be? I want you to be happy. This has definitely been a long time coming. So he finally asked you out, huh?"

"I am going to his sister's wedding with him as his date," she says giddily. "What am I going to wear?"

"Something fabulous," Rory says looking at the time. "Shoot, I have to run to a final. We'll talk later. I want details!"

"Okay, hon. Talk to you later."

Lorelai hangs up the phone and smiles. She is very happy that Rory approves. She can't wait to tell her the whole story about how this...thing with Luke evolved.

She walks over to the box with the wreath and looks inside. She picks it up and decides to try it on, and as she does, she finds a note underneath the headpiece.

Opening the note, she reads:

Lorelai,

At this point, I hope you said yes to my request. I hope I am not going too far out on a limb to assume you would.

I can't begin to explain the shock I felt at seeing the picture of us. I really wasn't sure what happened to it after Rachel left. I would agree with you that they are a very nice looking couple. I would like to see more pictures made of them in the future.

Rachel had a very specific request when she left, and I failed to fulfill it. The reason for that was a mix between timing, and the fact that I'm an idiot. Rachel left, because she saw that I had feelings for someone else. Yes, that someone is you. She told me not to wait too long to tell you. Three years isn't too long is it?

I look back at everything that has happened over the years, and I wonder if the time it took for us to get to this point was needed to prepare us for each other. I don't want this to be a casual thing.

I think your eyes are more than just symmetrical. I think they are beautiful like the woman who owns them.

Looking forward to our date.

Luke

Lorelai sits down staring off into space dreamily. Who would have thought that Luke, her gruff diner man, could be so romantic? She thinks that he is probably right about the timing. Most likely, if he had asked her out sooner, she would have been spooked. She wasn't ready for permanent. They could have lost their chance. Now, at least, they have a solid friendship to build something on.

Her next goals are to compose a letter to Luke, get to the diner for some coffee, and try to figure out how to continue where they left off before the phone rang. She also wants to come up with a solution to get him to relax. His notes are so open, but he is a nervous wreck around her. Maybe the kissing will help. She's certainly willing to give it a try.

She gets a piece of her Hello Kitty stationary out, sits at her desk, and writes. "Who says letter writing is dead?" Lorelai says to herself with pride as she puts it in an envelope, and writes Luke on it.

She grabs her stuff and scurries off to the diner. She is so intent on her destination that she blindly runs into someone.

"Hey, watch it!"

Lorelai looks at the person and immediately starts apologizing. "I'm so sorry, Gypsy. I wasn't paying any attention. Are you okay?"

"That's obvious. Don't worry about it. I'm fine. Just don't let it happen again, Lorelai," Gypsy warns, pointing a finger at her.

"I'll watch where I'm going from now on," Lorelai says with a glint in her eye. She knows Gypsy's bark is worse than her bite, at least with some people.

"You better," Gypsy says continuing on her way.

Lorelai chuckles as she approaches the diner. She walks in, drops her stuff on the counter, and plops down on 'her' stool. She looks around the diner, wondering where Luke could be. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees him emerge from the kitchen.

He spots her right away, and makes his way over to her.

"Hey. Coffee?" He asks, happy to see her. He reaches underneath the counter, and grabs a mug to set before her, and fills it.

"Do you need to ask?" Lorelai wonders.

"It was kind of a rhetorical question."

"Do you think we can discuss something upstairs?" She asks looking him in the eyes.

"Sure, go on up. I'll tell Cesar," he says suddenly nervous again. Get a grip, Danes.

With mug in hand, she hops off the stool, and makes her way upstairs. She stops at the apartment door, and jiggles the door knob to see if it is unlocked. The door swings open, and she walks in. She sets her mug down on the table and hears Luke come up behind her. She spins around to face him.

"We have some unfinished business," she says boldly.

Luke swallows hard. "We do?"

"Oh, yes." she walks close to him. "I think we were right about here."

"Uh huh," Luke sputters, feeling her breasts up against his chest, and her arms go around his neck.

His head is suddenly pulled forward, and his lips meet hers. She applies pressure, and he can feel himself finally relax as he responds. He grabs her waist with one hand moving her even closer, and gradually trails his hand up her back into her hair. He feels her tongue on his lips, and he opens his mouth to her. The sensations that encompass him are unrivaled by anything else. He feels as if he has been awakened. No other kiss has ever affected him this way.

As they stand there, their bodies practically melding, they are unaware of anything else. Their kiss seems to last forever with both parties giving and taking. Their hands start roaming, and then they hear someone clear their throat behind them. They slowly pull away from each other, neither one wanting to relinquish their hold on the other.

Luke slowly turns around and sees Liz.

"Sorry to interrupt, but Cesar said you were up here," Liz says with a knowing look.

Lorelai composes herself and responds, "No problem. I have to get to the inn anyway. There is so much to do to get ready for the test run. See you both later." She slips the note out of her pocket, hands it to Luke, and kisses him on the cheek before she rushes downstairs.

"I told her she was your type," Liz gloats.

"When was this?" Luke says still flustered.

"The last time I was here. I thought she was your wife."

"I don't think I want to know."

"Nah, probably not. I knew there was something going on with you two. I felt a vibe. I am never wrong about these things."

"Did you need something, Liz?" he says, trying to get her off the subject.

Sometime later, after Liz leaves, Luke is finally able to process the kiss and read her note. The kiss was amazing. There aren't enough words to describe the surge of emotions he felt in that one kiss. He definitely wants to repeat it many times.

He opens her note chuckling at her choice of paper. It says:

Luke,

How could I not say yes? We can be out on a limb together. How does that sound?

I talked to Rory, and her response was that this has been a long time coming. She is all for us. I was relieved, considering, a few years ago she forbade me from dating you. She said I could date Al. Of course, that was not at all appealing. Her argument stemmed from the reality that I stink at relationships. Does that fact scare you? She was afraid that if we dated and broke up, we would have nowhere to eat. Now, she just wants me to be happy.

Rachel really wanted you to tell me? That was very classy of her. Aside from my jealousy, I really enjoyed talking to her. Yes, I said I was jealous.

I don't think you are an idiot. After all, we are in this place discussing our feelings at least on paper. Hopefully, moving forward. Three years has given us enough time to get to know each other better. We can skip a lot of that dating nonsense.

I know you will probably fight me on this, but I am going to get you to dance with me at the wedding. You may wonder how. I have my ways.

Fare thee well,

Lorelai