"Mystery Woman – part 10"

* * *

Luke felt like he was in a daze. Did that really just happen. . .with her? The woman leaning against him right now. . . was it really Lorelai? He'd pictured that scenario so many times in his head, but had long ago convinced himself it would never happen for real.

Yet. . .here they were. . .lying in a bed. . .together. And the sound of Lorelai breathlessly moaning his name would forever be imprinted in his brain.

She was snuggled up against him, his left arm stretched behind her holding her closely against his body. His hand was resting near her waist, his fingers aimlessly tracing her hipbone as she stroked the soft hair on his chest.

After a short silence, Lorelai sighed contentedly. She craned her neck to look up at him. "This is the weird part."

"Weird?"

She rolled over onto her stomach and leaned against his chest. "Yeah. This is where I try to convey to you that the last half-hour was incredible and amazing without sounding like a sappy, stupid romance novel." She smiled and added, "You know, just in case the moans and groans didn't tip you off. . .which I can assure you were not fake."

Though Luke would never let it show, her words made the macho side of him feel somewhat proud. He smirked and shrugged. "Yeah, well, you don't have to say anything. We can just. . .ya know, grin and nod at each other or something."

"Okay, good plan." Lorelai smiled and kissed him. "Be right back." Clutching the sheet around her body, she rolled over toward the side of the bed and scanned the floor. She grabbed the closest piece of clothing, Luke's flannel shirt, and pulled it on. He watched as she climbed out of bed and walked to the bathroom.

When she emerged a few minutes later, she leaned against the bathroom door frame and smiled at him on the bed. "Hi."

Luke nodded a hello. "Ya know, that looks much better on you than me."

She looked down at the oversized shirt that fell halfway down her thighs. "It's comfy," Lorelai said. She pulled it tighter around her. "And warm. Now I know why you like wearing these so much."

Luke patted the mattress next to him. "Come back."

"Can't bear to be away from me, huh?" she teased as she walked over to him. She climbed back into the bed and pulled the covers up over her.

They were both quiet for a minute before he asked, "When are you gonna tell Rory?"

"I don't know. Sometime tomorrow, I guess." She glanced at the clock. "Well, technically today."

"You're not gonna tell her about tonight, are you?" Luke asked.

Lorelai let out a small laugh. "God, no. She doesn't get detailed information about Mommy's sex life. We're close, but you gotta draw the line somewhere."

"Right, yeah, stupid question, sorry."

"Speaking of sex life. . ." Lorelai started. She sat up in the bed and turned to face him. She spoke quickly. "Um, you don't have to answer this if you don't want to, because Lord knows it's none of my business, but I was just curious about it. And I'm not gonna be mad either way, because you can do whatever you want, it's just something I was wondering about. I mean. It's none of my business, though, so I'll completely understand if - "

"Lorelai," Luke interrupted her babbling. "What is it?"

Lorelai took a deep breath. "Um. . .did you and Leslie. . . um. . .did you guys. . ." Her voice trailed off and she gestured to the bed.

"No."

Her eyes widened slightly. "You didn't? Not even once?"

"Nope."

"But you guys dated for. . ." Lorelai started to say something, then changed her mind and promptly closed her mouth. "Hm."

He sat up. He brushed the hair off her face and offered, "I wasn't in love with her." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he wished he could take them back. Not because they weren't true, but because he knew they would lead to something he wasn't ready to deal with yet.

Lorelai stared at him as an internal conversation quickly started inside her head. He just told you he's in love with you, Lorelai. No, he didn't. Yes, he did - he said he didn't sleep with her because he wasn't in love with her. . . but he just slept with you. So what? So, it means that he wouldn't have slept with you if he wasn't in love with you. That's not what he meant. Yes, it is – he loves you! Shh!

Lorelai put aside the small twinge of nervousness she felt and decided to see if her internal voice was right. She swallowed hard and fidgeted with the buttons on the flannel shirt. "So, what, you only sleep with people you're in love with?" she asked in a small voice.

Luke sighed. Dammit, I knew I set myself up for a question like that. This is what you get for not thinking before you speak. . .and now she's sitting in front of you, asking you indirectly if you love her. What are you gonna say?

Yes, he loved Lorelai. He had for a long time – but he hadn't planned on telling her so soon. He was afraid of how she'd react to it, afraid she'd think things were moving too fast.

But he didn't want to lie to her.

Might as well tell her the truth and just hope it doesn't scare her off.

He put his hand under her chin and tilted her head up. He stared into her eyes as he said, "Yes."

Lorelai's eyes widened and she swallowed hard. Oh my God. Take a deep breath, Lorelai. Inhale. Exhale. This is fine. He loves you. Calm down. Nothing to get worked up about. But her heart was racing and she was breathing heavily and she suddenly felt nauseous. Yes, he loves you. He doesn't just 'have a thing' for you, as so many people used to say – he loves you. Oh my God, he loves you! Part of her wanted to giggle excitedly, the other part was scared and wanted to go hide in the closet.

Luke was staring at her nervously. Okay, you just implied that you love her, and she doesn't seem freaked out, which is good, he thought. On the other hand, she's not saying anything at all, which doesn't seem so good.

He hadn't expected her to say it back to him, because whether she loved him or not, he knew her – he knew that she wouldn't be able to say it this early. He knew she took her time with things like that.

But he wasn't sure what her silence meant. He reached out and ran a hand down her arm. "Lorelai . . ."

She suddenly realized that she hadn't said anything. She shook her head slightly, trying to bring herself back to reality. "Yeah?"

"Uh. . .you okay?" Luke asked hesitantly.

Lorelai stared at him momentarily, eyeing his expression. He looked nervous, like he was expecting her to get up and run out of the room at any second. As a small smile formed on her lips, she reached out and stroked his face. "You said yes."

Luke nodded. "Yeah, I did. And I meant it."

Her smile widened and she leaned forward and kissed him passionately. He took that as a good sign and eagerly kissed her back. When their lips finally separated, she pushed him back against the pillow, lifted her left leg over his body, and straddled his stomach. She slowly pulled off the flannel shirt and tossed it behind her.

His hands immediately began caressing her body, and she ran her fingers over his arms. "So, tell me, how lucky did you plan on getting tonight?" She leaned forward and kissed him, then pulled back slightly. "Please tell me that you were extremely presumptuous and that you brought an extra one."

Luke smirked. "In my back jeans pocket."

Lorelai smiled and patted him on the chest. "That's my prepared little Boy Scout." She kissed him once more before she rolled off of him and went in search of his jeans.

* * *

It was almost five-fifteen when Luke climbed quietly out of bed. He gathered his clothes from the floor and walked toward the bathroom. He glanced back at the bed where Lorelai was snuggled in the comforter, sleeping peacefully, and he smiled to himself. He walked into the bathroom, quietly closed the door behind him, and took a shower.

Twenty minutes later, he walked out, grabbed his socks and shoes from the floor and sat down on the edge of the bed.

As he was finishing tying his shoes, he felt Lorelai stirring behind him, and he turned around. She was awake, rubbing her eyes, and he moved closer to her. "Hey."

She rolled over onto her back and yawned loudly. She reached for his hand and began stroking his palm. "What, were you just gonna sneak outta here while I was still sleeping?"

"I was gonna wake you before I left," he assured her. "Thought I'd try to get outta here before most of the town starts waking up."

"Hm, good idea." She was quiet as she stared up at him. She tucked her hair behind her ears, then sighed softly.

Luke ran his hand over her sheet-covered thigh. "So, uh, last night. . . "

Lorelai smiled. "Was something that I want to happen again. Preferably soon."

"Glad we both feel the same way," he remarked.

She sat up and pulled the comforter up around her. "I should probably get up soon. I have to walk home and change, then come back to set up for the convention."

"Well, come on. Get up now and I'll give you a ride," Luke said.

Lorelai giggled. "Dirty."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Just hurry up."

Stifling a yawn, Lorelai pushed the covers off of herself, and she shivered as the cold air hit her body. "I really need to talk to the manager about turning up the heat." She pointed across the room. "Can you get my jeans?" He walked over to get them and tossed them on the bed as she gathered the rest of her clothes and began getting dressed.

As she walked in to use the bathroom, Luke put on his cap and coat, then picked up his toolbox and waited for her. When she walked out, she walked over to him by the door and kissed him. She pulled back and leaned against him, resting her head against his shoulder.

He brought his one free hand up to stroke her back, and she let out a content sigh as chills ran up her spine. "Mm, I love when you do that," she muttered.

As she placed several kisses on his neck, he cleared his throat. "Uh, ditto." Lorelai pulled back and smiled, then kissed him again. He ran his fingers through her hair as he deepened the kiss.

When they finally pulled apart, Lorelai gathered her things that were lined up by the door, then reached for the doorknob. Before she opened the door, she turned back to him. "You don't think anyone'll see us driving together and get suspicious, right?"

Luke shook his head. "It's only 5:45. I think anyone who'd care about this kind of gossip is still sleeping." Lorelai still looked uncertain, so Luke added, "And even if they do see us, so what? We're gonna be coming out soon anyway, right?"

Lorelai gasped. "Luke, you're gay?" She shook her head disappointedly toward the floor. "The secret girlfriend is always the last to know." Luke rolled his eyes, and Lorelai smiled. "Sorry. Yes, we're coming out soon."

"Right. And Rory's basically the only one who should find out about it directly from you."

"Yeah. . ."

"Which means that she's the only one you need to worry about seeing us, and I highly doubt that she's up this early," Luke pointed out.

"True. . .okay. Good point." Lorelai kissed him again before she finally opened the door. They stepped out into the hallway, went down the back staircase, and walked out into the back parking lot.

* * *

Lorelai walked into the house just before six o'clock. She peeked into Rory's bedroom, and like she figured, she was still sleeping. She brought her things upstairs and collapsed on the bed. She lie there half-asleep for awhile before she finally decided to get ready for work.

When she'd finished showering and dressing, it was almost seven. She walked into the kitchen and put on some coffee, then walked to the doorway of Rory's bedroom. She knocked lightly on the doorframe. "Rory. . .wake up."

Rory didn't respond, so Lorelai walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed. She rubbed Rory's back. "Honey, wake up."

Rory rolled over onto her back and opened her eyes slightly. "What do you want?" she mumbled.

"I'm home," Lorelai said.

"Yes, I see that. Goodnight." She closed her eyes and rolled back onto her side.

Lorelai tapped her on the shoulder. "Come on, get up."

Rory groaned. "Why?"

"I have to talk to you," Lorelai said.

"Can't it wait until later?"

"I'd rather tell you about it now," Lorelai said. "Come on, please? I'm making some coffee. Come sit at the table." She stood up and walked out of the room.

She walked to the coffee maker and poured two cups. As she brought them to the table, she called, "I don't hear you getting up."

"I hate you," Rory called back.

"I know. Hurry up." Lorelai sipped her coffee, and a moment later Rory walked into the kitchen. Lorelai smiled. "There she is – how's my baby?"

Rory pulled her robe tighter around her as she sat down at the kitchen table. "Tired. Now what's so important?" She blew lightly on the coffee in front of her, then took a sip.

Lorelai took a deep breath. "Okay. Um, well, I wanted to tell you something that's. . .well, pretty important. You remember that guy I went out with the other night?"

"Yeah?" Rory prompted.

"Okay, well. . . um, I wanted to talk with you. . .about him."

Rory frowned. "That's what you had to wake me up for? To talk about a guy?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yes. . .but this guy. . .well, I wasn't exactly forthcoming with you about him."

"No?"

Lorelai shook her head. "No. Uh, he's actually. . .someone that you already know. Someone that you see almost everyday."

Rory gasped. "Oh God, is it another one of my teachers?"

Lorelai shook her head. "No."

Rory sighed. "It's my chemistry teacher, isn't it?"

"Rory, it's not one of your teachers."

Rory yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Then who is it?"

Lorelai cleared her throat. "Um, it's. . .well, you're not gonna believe this, but. . .it's kind of. . .uh. . ." She started chewing nervously on the inside of her mouth. "Luke. It's Luke."

Rory's eyes widened. "Luke? Our food-serving, diner-owning Luke?"

Lorelai slowly nodded.

Rory shook her head in amazement. "Wait, you went out with Luke and you didn't tell me? Why would you lie about that?"

"Well, uh, in my defense, I don't think I ever technically lied to you about that, because really, you didn't come out and ask me if I was going out with Luke," Lorelai pointed out.

"But why wouldn't you tell me something like that?" Rory asked. "We share everything."

"I know we do, and I really hated not being able to tell you, but. . ." Lorelai exhaled loudly. "Look, it goes back to when I realized that I was jealous of Leslie. . ."

"Oh, so you lied to me about that," Rory interrupted.

Lorelai held up her hand. "No, hold on, that wasn't lying – that was me in denial. It's different."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Go on."

"And Luke saw that I was jealous and he asked me about it and we both just kinda told each other how we were feeling," Lorelai explained. "It was one of those corny but sweet 'I wanna be with you, do you wanna be with me?' moments." She glanced down at the table and smiled to herself. "And we both said yes and we. . .kissed."

Rory smiled and tilted her head. "Awww, Mom! How could you not share something like that with me? That's huge!"

Lorelai nodded. "I know, it is huge. Which is why we wanted to be sure that it would work out between us before we let anyone know about it. I mean, you know how it is – sometimes two people get together and they realize right away that it's not gonna work out."

"Uh huh."

"So we didn't want everyone to know we were together just to have us break up soon – then things would be so weird," Lorelai continued. "For me, for him, for you, for the town. . .we didn't want people to treat us differently or act strange around us or . . ." She shrugged. "We just didn't want things to be weird. So we decided to keep it a secret until we were sure that it would work out."

Rory took a sip of coffee as she took in Lorelai's explanation. "For how long?"

"What?"

"How long did you keep it a secret?"

"Only a week," Lorelai said. "It started last Friday. And yes, I kept it from you – but only temporarily. I'm still sharing everything with you, it just took a little while longer to share this particular piece of information than usual."

"Uh huh." Rory was quiet a moment. "And you're telling me now, which means. . . "

Lorelai smiled. "Things went very well in that one week. I mean, we had some great chats on the phone, an excellent date. . .things were working."

"So you guys are together now?" Rory asked. "Out in the open?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, we don't really care who knows now. You're the first one to find out, though." She paused a moment. "Are you mad?"

Rory shook her head. "No, I'm not mad."

"Disappointed?" Lorelai suggested.

Rory shrugged. "I just can't believe you wouldn't tell me something that big."

"But you understand the reasoning, don't you?" Lorelai asked. "I mean, we just didn't want things to be weird."

"I know, I know," Rory replied.

"Speaking of which, you don't feel weird about how things are now, do you?" Lorelai asked. "I mean, me and Luke. . .together."

Rory gave a half-shrug. "Not really. I always kinda figured it might happen one day, you guys going out. He's liked you forever."

Lorelai smiled. "Yeah, well. . ." She glanced at her watch and gasped. "Oh, shoot. I have to go." She jumped up from her chair and kissed Rory on the head. "I'll see you later, I love you, goodbye."

"Love you, too," Rory said.

Lorelai grabbed her things and rushed out to the Jeep. As she pulled out of the driveway, she took out her cell phone and dialed the diner. "Luke's," Luke answered.

"Hey, it's me," Lorelai greeted him.

Luke smiled at the sound of her voice. "Me who?"

"Uh, me, the gorgeous woman you slept with last night."

"I'm sorry, you're gonna have to be more specific," he replied. "Help me narrow it down a bit."

"Wow, I'd come over there and slap you if I wasn't already running late," Lorelai said.

Luke smirked. "What's up?"

"I just told Rory."

"You did? How'd she take it?"

"She took it fine," Lorelai replied. "She was obviously confused as to why I would keep something like that from her, but I explained it and . . .she seems fine with it."

"Good, that's good," Luke said.

"Yeah, so, I'm heading to work right now, I'll probably stop by after I'm done setting things up," Lorelai said.

"Okay."

"Bye."

"See ya."

* * *

It was an hour later when Rory walked into the diner. For some reason, Luke felt slightly uncomfortable as he watched her walk to the counter. He nodded toward her. "Hey."

She smiled at him as she slipped onto a stool. "Hey." They stared at each other for a moment before she said, "So. . .Mom told me about. . .you know. . ."

Luke nodded. "Yeah, she said she mentioned it to you."

"Did she come for breakfast?"

"No, she called."

"Oh."

"Sorry about the. . .you know, keeping it a secret and stuff. We just wanted to – "

"No, it's okay." Rory waved him off. "She explained it to me, it's fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. And I'm glad that you guys are. . .you know, dating." She smiled and added, "Finally."

Luke smiled and nodded appreciatively. "Thanks."

"Though I'm not glad that she woke me up at seven to tell me," Rory added, rolling her eyes. "I guess she just needed to get it out."

"Yeah, it was bugging her keeping it from you," Luke said. "She knew it was for a good reason, but still. . .she didn't like doing it."

Rory nodded understandably.

Luke tapped his hands on the counter. "So. . .you want breakfast? I can whip up some chocolate chip pancakes."

Rory smiled. "Sounds good."

* * *

An hour later at the inn, Lorelai and Michel walked out of the dining room into the lobby. Lorelai handed him a clipboard. "Okay, check on them in a little while. And make sure all of the wedding guests check out on time."

"Why can't you do it?"

"I told you already Michel, you're the one who booked two big events so close together, you're the one who has to man them. I only came in to make sure everything got set up okay. Now I'm gonna go through the mail from the last few days and then I'm outta here," Lorelai said.

"But – "

"No complaining," Lorelai said. Michel huffed and shot her a dirty look as he walked to the front desk. Lorelai walked to her office and sat down at her desk. She started looking through a stack of mail, but her thoughts kept drifting to last night.

Random images of the night flashed in her mind. Luke pulling her shirt off and throwing it across the room. Her unbuckling his belt and pulling it out of the loops. Him pinning her arms to the bed as he kissed her. . .God, that drove her wild. Him unzipping her jeans and pulling them off her. Him slowly removing his boxers with that sly grin on his face.

Him holding her when it was over. She'd never felt so safe than when his arms were wrapped around her. It just felt. . .right.

Lorelai closed her eyes and remembered the feeling that surged through her body when he said "Yes." All he said was yes – it was a tiny little word, but what it represented was huge. He loved her. Why wasn't it scaring her? Why wasn't it making her feel sick? Why wasn't she ready to freak out and call the whole relationship off?

She folded her arms on the desk, then rested her head on her forearms. Thoughts were running through her head. Thoughts about Luke. Thoughts about herself. Thoughts about them being together.

She was still thinking things over a few minutes later when there was a knock at the door. She lifted her head, smoothed out her hair, and called, "Come in."

The door opened, and Rory stuck her head into the room. "Hey."

Lorelai smiled. "Hey, what are you doing here? Come in, shut the door."

Rory did and walked over to the desk. "I just wanted to see if you needed help with anything. I was hanging out with Lane but then she had Bible class, so I was just kinda walking around."

"And ended up here."

"Yup. So. . .need anything?"

Lorelai glanced down at the mail in front of her. "Um, for work, no. But I do have a very deep urge to rant and need a good listener."

"Oh, boy," Rory muttered. She sat down in a chair and folded her hands in her lap. "Okay, go ahead."

Lorelai stood up. "Okay, so I was thinking things over. . .you know, things with Luke. . .and I was just running through my head some of the time we spent together, and I started thinking about the time that. . .he kind of told me he loved me."

Rory's eyes widened. "What? Wait, what do you mean, 'kind of told you'?"

"Well, he didn't come out and say, 'I love you,' but I sort of asked him if he did and – "

"Wait, what do you mean, 'sort of asked him'? How do you sort of ask him?" Rory asked.

Lorelai sighed. "Okay, I said I needed a good listener. You should know by now that good listeners do not keep interrupting the ranter – it disrupts the flow of the rant."

"Sorry, but I can't be a good rant-listener if I don't understand what you're ranting about," Rory pointed out. "What do you mean, 'sort of asked him'? You either did or you didn't. What did you say?"

Well, hon, after Luke and Mommy had sex, Mommy asked him if he only sleeps with people he's in love with, and he said yes. Oh, too much information? Sorry.

Lorelai shrugged and shook her head. "I can't tell you the exact wording because it's. . .well, I just can't. . .so we're just gonna have to leave it at 'I sort of asked him'. Okay. . .please?"

Rory gave a confused nod. "Go on."

"Okay, well, I asked him a question," Lorelai continued. "And it was a yes or no question, and if he said no, well – it wouldn't necessarily mean that he didn't love me, but it wouldn't have been indicative that he did." Lorelai paused. "Are you confused?"

Rory nodded. "A little."

Lorelai sighed. "Okay, let me think about how to clear it up." She paced in front of the desk for a few seconds. "Ooh, okay, I have it. Let's say you and me are sitting in the car, and I ask you something like, 'Do you only sit in cars with people you like?' If you say yes, I can interpret that to mean that you like me, right?"

"Right."

"But if you say no, then that doesn't necessarily mean that you don't like me," Lorelai said. "It just means that at some point or another, you sat in a car with someone you didn't like. . .but that doesn't necessarily mean it's me. The yes answer is pretty much a sure thing, the no answer is a toss-up. Get it?"

Rory nodded. "Got it. Very good explanation."

"Thank you. Okay, back to the story. . ."

"So it's a story instead of a rant, now?" Rory asked.

"Eh, it's kinda both," Lorelai replied. "Anyway, so, going back a little, at first he made this comment that I sort of interpreted as an indirect way of saying that he loved me, but I wasn't sure. So, in my own indirect way, I asked the aforementioned yes or no question – and if he answered yes, it was pretty much him saying, 'Yeah, I love you.'" She paused and took a deep breath.

A small smile formed on Rory's lips. "And he said yes?"

Lorelai nodded. "He said yes."

Rory's smile widened. "Aw, Mom, he loves you! Of course, me and half the town already knew that, but it's nice that you finally figured it out."

"Wait, I'm not done," Lorelai said.

"Sorry, go on."

"So I'm sitting here thinking about how he said it and I'm realizing that it didn't freak me out," Lorelai said. "Yes, I admit that at the time, it did scare me just a little teeny tiny bit. . . but not enough to fall into the category of freaking me out, which is weird. I was actually more excited than I was scared, for once. It's strange."

"It's strange that you're happy about it?" Rory asked.

"Yes, because it usually makes me nervous," Lorelai admitted. "I mean, you know. . .I freak out with things like that. . ."

"I know."

"And to hear it so soon in a relationship. That alone should've made the freak out even more intense, that he said it after only a week."

"Yes, but he's – "

Lorelai held up her hand. "Wait, not done."

"Sorry."

"So I'm sitting here trying to figure out why this time was different, why it didn't freak me out. . ."

"Okay, the phrases 'freak out' and 'freak me out' have been widely overused during this rant-slash-story hour," Rory pointed out.

Lorelai ignored her. "And after some very heavy thinking. . .I finally figured out why it didn't. . . " She leaned forward and said the words indignantly, "Freak - me - out."

Rory rolled her eyes. "So what's the conclusion?"

Lorelai took a deep breath and closed her eyes momentarily. She opened them up and started wringing her hands.

Rory stood up and put her hands on Lorelai's shoulders. "Well?"

Lorelai swallowed hard. "I love him." She shook her head and let out a surprised laugh at hearing the words aloud. She patted herself on the chest. "Me. . .Lorelai Gilmore. . .loves someone. Who woulda thought, huh?"

Rory smiled and hugged her tightly. "Aw, Mom. That's so . . ."

"I know. . . scary."

Rory laughed. "I was gonna say great."

"Yeah, well, that, too," Lorelai agreed. They pulled back from each other, and Lorelai shook her head slightly. "I love him. Oh, God, that's . . .this is. . .wow."

"Wait, so you're just figuring this out now?" Rory asked. "Which means that . . .when he said it to you, you. . ."

"Didn't say anything back," Lorelai confirmed.

"Yikes."

Lorelai nodded and nibbled nervously on her thumbnail. "I know."

"Are you gonna. . .well. . .you know, tell him?"

Lorelai shrugged. "I don't know. Should I? I guess I should. Yeah, I probably should." She grabbed the stack of mail from her desk and handed it to Rory. "Do me a favor – go through this and pull out all the bills, then put them in order of due date. Then just leave the piles on the desk."

"Got it. Go." Rory kissed her on the cheek. "Good luck."

"Don't say that, it's bad luck," Lorelai said. She grabbed her purse and jacket. "Bye." She walked quickly out of the office, through the lobby, and out into the parking lot.

* * *

Five minutes later, Lorelai walked into the diner and called, "Luke, where are you?"

The customers all turned toward her, and Luke, standing at a nearby table with a pot of coffee, held up a hand. "Uh, right here. What's wrong?"

She walked over and grabbed his hand. "Come with me." She started pulling him toward the door.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," he said. "Hang on." She stopped long enough for him to set the coffeepot down on a table, then pulled him out the door onto the sidewalk. When they got outside, he pulled his hand away from her. "What's going on?"

Lorelai walked down the sidewalk a little more, and he followed her. "Lorelai."

She turned around and stepped close to him. "Luke, listen. I was thinking about last night."

Luke suddenly felt nervous. He shoved his hands into his pockets. "What about it?"

"I was thinking about what you said. . .when you said yes, when you implied that. . .ya know," Lorelai said. "Remember?"

Shoot, it did freak her out. Dammit. "Yeah, I remember," he muttered.

Lorelai took a deep breath. "So I was thinking about it, and I just kept picturing you saying it, and I kept remembering how it made me feel and – "

"How did it make you feel?" he interrupted.

Surprised by the question, Lorelai blinked a few times before she replied, "Good, uh, it made me feel good. And I realized that I didn't really say anything back to you about it, and so then I was thinking about how that might have made you feel."

"It's fine," Luke waved her off.

"No, it's not fine," Lorelai said. "I mean, you put your feelings out there, in a way, and . . .what did I do? Nothing. I just . . .I should have. . ." She took a deep breath. "What I'm trying to say is – "

Realizing what she was about to say, Luke held up both of his hands. "Stop."

Lorelai frowned and took a step back. "What?"

"Don't say it," Luke said. "I don't want you to say it just because I said it. Or, implied it, or whatever."

"I'm not. I'm saying it because I mean it," Lorelai insisted.

"Right." Luke folded his arms across his chest and cocked his head doubtfully. "Lorelai, come on."

Lorelai scoffed. "Come on what?"

Luke rubbed her shoulders. "Just forget it. It's fine, it doesn't bother me. I'd rather leave things the way they are than for you to say something you don't mean."

Lorelai scoffed again. "You honestly think that I would stand here and tell you I was in love with you if I didn't mean it?"

Luke shrugged. "I don't know – would you?"

Lorelai glanced down at the sidewalk. "No, I wouldn't," she replied in a small voice. She took a deep breath and brought her gaze back up to him. "And I came here to say. . .you know, that. . ." Her voice trailed off.

Luke took a step toward her. He brought one hand up to her face, and Lorelai leaned her cheek against his palm. He brought his other hand up and stroked her cheeks with his thumbs as he stared into her eyes. "You're not just saying it? You mean it?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yes." She draped her arms over his shoulders. "You know, I hear that 'yes' is the new 'I love you'."

"Oh yeah?"

Lorelai nodded and pressed her lips against his, kissing him deeply. Softly cradling her face in his hands, he ignored the fact that they were outside, and he eagerly returned the kiss. As she pulled back, Lorelai whispered, "Yes."

Luke smiled and slid his hands down to her waist. "Yes."

Lorelai glanced around and saw some of the townspeople watching them. "Um, I think the secret's officially out."

"Good." Luke pulled her closer and kissed her again.

When they finally pulled apart, Lorelai rested her chin on his shoulder. He slipped his arms around her waist, resting his hands on the small of her back. She closed her eyes and let out a content sigh. She'd never felt so safe than when his arms were wrapped around her.

It felt. . .right.

* * *

The End

Author's Note:

Okay, I'm sorry, I'm just not good at ending stories. Really. "It's Right There" was supposed to end with chapter 8, but I didn't know how to end it, so I just kept writing and writing and writing until it sort of ended itself. I need to work on things like that.

Anyway, thanks so much to everyone who's been reading. Much thanks for the encouraging reviews, I really appreciated the support throughout the story. :)