Author's Note: For the 10 year anniversary of Luke and Lorelai's first (non-dream) kiss, which aired 5/18/2004, I am sharing my alternate version of what happened in "Raincoats and Recipes" after they kissed. Thank you to Jewels for planting the seed in my mind from which this story grew.

Raincoats and Recipes, Revisited

Lorelai watched confusedly from the porch as Luke ran after Kirk across the front grounds of the Dragonfly. Once they were out of sight, she walked back into the inn and shut the door behind her.

She leaned against the door, covering her face with her hands. "Oh God, this is big, this is huge," she muttered, her kisses with Luke running through her head on a nonstop cycle. Butterflies were flapping in her stomach, her heart was racing, her body was tingling in ways it hadn't in a very long time.

She took a deep breath, tucked her hair behind her ears, and walked over toward the front desk. She stared aimlessly down at a stack of papers in front of her. "This is big, huge, enormous...what do I do..." she whispered to herself. "What do I do? Big things happening. Where's Rory? I need to - "

"Lorelai, there you are," a male voice interrupted her conversation with herself, and she quickly looked up, hoping it was Luke.

"Oh... Jason," she said, unable to hide the disappointment in her voice or face. "I thought you left."

"I told you I'm not leaving until we talk," he replied.

Lorelai sighed. "I told you, I'm not doing this tonight. I really, really need you to leave."

Jason shook his head. "I can't."

"You can," she insisted.

"I won't," he replied firmly. "Lorelai, we can work through this."

"I don't want to work through this," Lorelai replied with an exasperated sigh. "Jason, I'm done... it's over... you need to move on."

Jason gestured to the couch behind him that faced the front desk. "You know what, you seem tired now... I'll wait until you're ready..." He walked over to the couch and sat down, grabbing a magazine from the coffee table.

Lorelai groaned and whispered harshly through clenched teeth, "Jason, I'm never going to be ready because there's nothing to be ready for!"

Lorelai heard the front door open and looked over to see Luke lead Kirk into the foyer. Luke closed the door behind them, trying to keep Kirk as covered as possible with the pillow. He lead him toward the sitting room and situated him on the couch, covering him with a blanket. Kirk groaned and buried his face in the couch cushion.

Lorelai quickly crossed the foyer and joined them in the sitting room. "What happened? Is he okay?"

Luke nodded and explained, "He has night terrors. I caught him just before he hit Taylor's rose bushes...he'll be fine..." He glanced past Lorelai and saw Jason sitting on the couch in the other room, and suddenly felt a pang of jealousy shoot through him.

Lorelai saw the look wash over Luke's face. "Luke..." she started.

"What's his deal?" Luke asked, annoyed. "Why is he here?"

Lorelai sighed. "He's slightly delusional in that he thinks he has a chance of getting me back."

"Does he?" Luke asked her. "Honestly, Lorelai... tell me the truth..."

Lorelai shook her head adamantly. "No, absolutely not. We haven't been together for weeks and we're not getting back together. Ever. Period. End of story. He's just having a little bit of trouble accepting that..." She glanced toward Jason with a sigh.

"You want me to explain it to him?" Luke asked, rubbing his palms together. "I'd be happy to."

Lorelai smiled. "Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it," she assured him as she rubbed his arm.

Luke swallowed hard. She had no idea the power of her touch. He felt the goosebumps on his arm and the butterflies in his stomach.

He took a deep breath and met her gaze. "So... did you wanna, uh, talk about, you know..." He gestured back and forth between them.

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "Yeah... I do. We will. I just need to figure that out first," she said, pointing toward Jason. "Once I get the most stubborn man in the world out of here... we'll talk..."

Luke nodded. "Okay. You figure that out, I'll figure this out." He rolled his eyes as he gestured to Kirk.

Lorelai nodded and headed out of the sitting room toward the kitchen, where Sookie was checking on her loaves. She smiled at Lorelai. "You're still up? How's it going? We had a pretty successful night, huh?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, it's been incredible." She leaned against the counter with a sigh. "I don't know what to do."

Sookie wiped her hands on a dish towel as she walked over to Lorelai, concerned. "What's the matter? Did Taylor complain about something? I'll punch him!"

Lorelai exhaled slowly and began pacing in front of Sookie. "Well, this night has slowly transformed from a test run into a three-ring-circus involving a naked man, a former lover who is dead set on stalking me until I agree to get back together with him, a missing daughter who apparently got lost on her way home to get CD's, and..." Lorelai's rambling trailed off and she stood still in front of Sookie. "And Luke..."

Sookie narrowed her eyes at her friend. "Okay, we'll get back to the naked man, the stalker, and the missing kid... what's this about Luke?"

Lorelai let out a long, slow breath, then said, "We kissed. Tonight. On the porch."

Sookie's eyes widened as her mouth dropped open. "You and Luke kissed?"

Lorelai confirmed with a nod, and Sookie squealed loudly, grabbing Lorelai's shoulders as she hopped excitedly in place. "Oh my God, oh my God... that's incredible! I knew it, I knew it would happen someday! This is amazing!"

"It is, yes... it's exciting," Lorelai agreed with a nod, then pressed her palms to her forehead. "But my mind is racing right now... we kissed, but then he had to run off to rescue Kirk so we didn't even get to say two words about it... nothing! It's just hanging out there in the open. And Jason is still sitting out there refusing to leave, and did I mention that Rory is missing?"

Sookie rubbed Lorelai's arms comfortingly. "Okay, I'm sure Rory's fine, she'll be back soon. As for Jason, you leave that to me." She grabbed a pen and a piece of paper from the counter. "What's his cell number?"

Lorelai narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "What are you gonna do?" she asked, then waved Sookie off and said, "Never mind, I want plausible deniability." She wrote down his number and handed Sookie the paper. "Where's Michel, by the way?"

Sookie grimaced. "I'm not supposed to tell you..."

Lorelai folded her arms across her chest and cocked her head to the side. "Sookie...give it up..."

Sookie sighed. "Chin Chin and Paw Paw are here... so he took them for a walk."

Lorelai covered her face with her hands. "Ugh, I so don't have time to deal with that, so I'm just gonna pretend I didn't hear it."

"Good idea."

"I have to call Rory," Lorelai said.

"You have to talk to Luke," Sookie corrected her. "If you don't address it, he's gonna get all paranoid that you're regretting it and freaking out about it... you can't just leave a kiss hanging like that..."

"Actually, two kisses," Lorelai declared with a smile.

Sookie grinned and playfully smacked Lorelai's arm. "Ooh, you little hussy, you."

Lorelai giggled. "I know." She took a deep breath. "Okay, I'll go find him..."

Sookie waved the piece of paper with Jason's number on it. "And don't worry about this guy... he's as good as gone."

"Thank you, Sookie," Lorelai said sincerely as she hugged her tightly. "I'll give you more details tomorrow."

"You better."

Lorelai walked out of the kitchen into the dining room, and peeked into the front sitting room to look for Luke. The room was empty, but she could see Jason still sitting in the next room flipping through a magazine. "Geez," Lorelai muttered to herself. "He's a persistent one."

She took off her heels and quietly snuck down the hallway that led to the foyer. Once she reached the staircase, she quickly made a u-turn and jetted up the steps without Jason seeing her. As she reached the top of the staircase, she saw Luke closing the door to Kirk and Lulu's room.

"Is he okay?" Lorelai whispered.

Luke nodded. "Yeah. You get rid of the guy?"

"Sookie's taking care of it, and I asked to remain unaware of any details surrounding his disappearance."

"Good idea."

"I have to get my cell phone from my room so I can text Rory," Lorelai said as she started walking down the hall. Luke hesitated, wondering if that was an invitation to follow her or not. When she reached her room, she turned back toward him and said softly, "Did you wanna... talk?"

Luke nodded and followed her into the room. She dropped her shoes on the floor and shut the door behind them, then retrieved her cell phone from her purse. "Just give me one sec."

Luke nodded and perched himself on the edge of the bed. Lorelai sent Rory a text asking where she was, then set the phone on the nightstand.

Lorelai walked over toward Luke, trying to ignore this newfound feeling of excitement rushing through her veins when she looked at him. "So..."

"So..." Luke repeated. He stood up and shoved his hands nervously into his pockets. "We should talk."

"We should," she agreed. "You wanna start?"

"Uh, okay, sure," he replied. "Well, I guess... I kissed you, and then you kissed me..."

"Good summary of the events," Lorelai commented with a smirk. "You forgot to add that we were rudely interrupted by a naked man as you attempted a third kiss."

"I think you were the one attempting it actually," Luke corrected her.

Lorelai smiled as she stepped closer to him. "I think it was a mutual attempt..."

Luke brought his hands to her waist, and Lorelai could practically hear her heart pounding in her ears. "So one might conclude that we both were happy with the first two and wanted more," Luke said.

Lorelai nodded. "I wanted a number three."

"Me too." Luke pulled her closer and pressed his lips to hers for a gentle kiss.

Lorelai pulled back slightly, and they smiled at each other. "I want a number four, too."

"You sound like you're ordering combo meals at a drive thru," Luke remarked.

"Yes, I'd like Luke Danes with a side of fries and a milkshake," Lorelai murmured as she pulled him toward her for another kiss. Her arms wrapped around his neck as his arms entwined around her waist, pulling her tightly against his body. Lorelai hummed her approval as Luke's tongue separated her lips and tenderly caressed hers.

When they finally separated, Lorelai stepped back from him, panting to catch her breath, silently staring down at the floor. Luke watched her, and could tell some sort of thought process was going through her head.

"Lorelai," he started cautiously.

Lorelai raised her head to meet his gaze. "This is... big, right? You, me... it's big..."

Luke nodded in agreement, nervous about where this was headed. He stepped closer to her and took her hands into his. "Lorelai, this is happening... us... it's happening... so if you don't want it to, now's the time to say it..." Luke cleared his throat. "I think you know that I'm on board here... I'm in... I'm ready to take this step... so it's up to you..."

Lorelai started to respond, but was interrupted by the buzz of her cell phone. "Hold on...I'm sorry... " She walked over to the nightstand to check the text message. "It's Rory. 'Sorry, got held up with something, be there a little later, will fill you in.'"

"Okay, so..." Luke responded uncertainly, wondering if he should leave.

Lorelai walked back over to him, and let out a slow deep breath as she stared into his eyes. Her hands went to the collar of his shirt, rubbing the fabric between her fingers. "So... I guess if we're gonna continue talking, maybe we should move over to room seven..."

A smile slowly appeared on Luke's face, and he nodded. "It's a fine room, that room seven."

Lorelai smiled, then stepped back from him to text Rory back. "I'm telling her that I'm taking care of some stuff and I'll just meet her at the room later..."

"You're not gonna tell her about us?" Luke asked curiously, then quickly added. "Not that we've decided for sure that there's an "us"... but if there was an "us", you'd tell her, right?"

Lorelai smiled. "Yes, absolutely... but I'd rather tell her in person." She finished her text message and walked over to the door to slip on her shoes. "Let's go talk..."

"Right, talk," Luke repeated, wondering if talk was their new code word for kissing, or if she really did want to just talk.

They entered the hallway and walked to Luke's room. As they shut the door behind them, Lorelai kicked off her shoes and placed her cell phone next to them on the floor.

Luke walked over to the cushioned bench at the foot of the bed and sat down. Lorelai sat down next to him and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees and her chin in her palms, staring straight ahead at the wall. Luke watched her carefully, waiting for her to say something.

After a minute, Lorelai sat straight up, turned her head toward him, and let out a deep breath. "Luke, I do want this to happen... us... I want to take that step..." She paused and nibbled nervously on her bottom lip.

"But..." he prompted her.

"But... you're Luke," Lorelai pointed out. "You're one of the most important people in my life... in Rory's life. If it didn't work out, if I screw this up and our friendship was over, I'd never forgive myself."

"First of all, our friendship will never be over, no matter what happens," Luke responded. "And we won't screw this up. I know you, Lorelai... I know your quirks, your craziness... I know about all of it already. We're not going into this blind... I know you, you know me... Maybe not everything, but we know enough to decide right now if this is something worth pursuing... And I think it is... I know it is..."

Lorelai let his words sink in, then took a deep breath. "You're sure you can handle this big ball of crazy on a regular basis?"

"I already do," Luke reminded her.

Lorelai smiled. "True."

Luke placed his hand on the small of her back and moved it in a circling motion. Shivers ran down her spine, the butterflies grew stronger in her stomach. She really didn't remember ever feeling this way with anyone else... whatever was happening with Luke was different than she'd ever felt before.

Lorelai closed her eyes and focused on his hand on her back, letting her body enjoy the waves of feelings that were rushing through it. "That feels good," she whispered.

Luke moved closer to her on the bench, brought his other hand to her chin and led her lips to his. They kissed softly as he continued rubbing her back, and she moved a hand to his arm, squeezing the firm muscles beneath his shirt.

Luke's fingers moved to the bottom of her shirt... he slid his hand beneath it, letting his fingers trace over the skin of her lower back. As a soft moan escaped her throat, she pulled back and breathed, "I want you."

"Ditto," he replied without hesitation, leaning in to kiss her again. Luke moved his hand from her back to her knee, and slowly began trailing it upward, slipping it under her skirt.

Lorelai groaned as his warm hand slowly moved up toward her thigh, and her body quivered with arousal. She lowered her lips to his neck and sucked on it gently as his hand moved in small circles over her upper thigh.

When his fingers grazed her panties, she moaned softly against his neck, muttering, "Oh my God...want you so bad..." She kissed him passionately, then took his lower lip in her mouth and sucked on it gently. He moaned his approval and squeezed her thigh.

Lorelai suddenly remembered where she was and pulled back from him, wide-eyed. She jumped up from the bench and walked toward the door. "We have to go..."

A concerned Luke stood up and nervously followed her. "What's wrong?"

Lorelai slipped on her shoes and picked up her cell phone, whispering, "This room is surrounded by the entire town, it'd be like doing it in the middle of the gazebo. We need to go somewhere else..."

"Lorelai, we don't need to do this tonight..." Luke said. "... you know, if you don't want to..."

"Why, do you not want to?" Lorelai asked, reaching for his hand.

Luke raised an eyebrow. "Uh, yeah, of course I want to. But I would understand if you didn't. I mean, it's kind of a hectic weekend for you... you have a lot going on... "

Lorelai responded by pressing her lips to his, then whispered, "I want to."

Luke smiled and nodded. "Okay." A concerned look suddenly crossed his face. "Um, I don't have... anything with me," he said apologetically. "Are you on something?"

"Yes, various types of uppers, for when I hit that afternoon caffeine crash," Lorelai replied. "And medicinal marijuana to help bring me down when the uppers bring me too far up. It's a slippery slope."

Luke exhaled and cocked his head at her. "Lorelai..."

"Oh, and the Pill, if that's what you meant," she added.

Luke nodded. "Okay, just making sure."

"Got it covered." Lorelai quietly opened the door and walked into the hallway toward the staircase, and Luke followed her. At the bottom of the steps, Lorelai walked quickly to the front desk, grabbed a key, then returned to Luke in the foyer. "Room 12 is vacant since my parents left... private room, outside entrance..."

Luke nodded. "Lead the way."

To be continued...

Author's Note: The story will be going up to an M-rating with the 2nd (and final) chapter...

Thanks for reading! Reviews are appreciated. :)