Author's note: Over on Tumblr, dollsome made the following request: "oh my god, take me to the au where luke is lorelai's dance competition partner!" Challenge accepted. Hope you enjoy!

October 2008

Lorelai really wasn't paying that much attention to the town meeting. Her mind kept drifting among different topics, like a pinball that couldn't decide which hole it wanted to drop into. There were a thousand little things to do at the inn, and she was in the middle of wheedling Rory into making a brief stop in Stars Hollow in-between campaign stops. She was pretty hungry, but she couldn't decide if she wanted to cajole Luke into making her a cheeseburger or ordering out for pizza. Oh, and there was a pre-pre Black Friday shoe sale at the mall, and she needed to research dogs and pine cones, because Paul Anka suddenly developed a fear of them. And …

"And, just a reminder people, that our 11th and final 24-hour dance marathon will be held this weekend," Taylor's voice sliced through the middle of Lorelai's thoughts, and she sat there, stunned. The universe literally dropped from beneath her feet. Up was down and right was left.

"Final?" Lorelai gasped.

"Yes, Lorelai, final," Taylor said.

"But … but, it can't be the final!" She looked around, searching for her support team. Her friends and neighbors were there, but Sookie was at home with the kids and there was no Rory and Luke was in the diner, and there was no more dance marathon?

"We have raised the money to fix the bridge," Taylor ticked off on his fingers. "We have raised the money for the tarp, the planters at each end of the bridge, and the ADA-compliant walkway. Quite frankly, I no longer have the stamina for an entire 24-hour marathon."

"Not that it ever went the full 24," Andrew pointed out.

"What … what about 18 hours? 20?" Lorelai asked.

"He just doesn't want Kirk to keep winning 'em," Babette said with great wisdom as Morey nodded next to her.

"It is true," Kirk said, sounding so smug that Lorelai wanted to shake him. "Ten years in a row. I'd love to go out on top. Unbroken streak!"

"You see?" Taylor told Lorelai. "There's just no longer any point to the marathon. We can put our time and resources to other uses that will get us all in bed by 10 p.m. Now, meeting's dismissed."

Lorelai stayed as everyone else filed out of the dance studio. She hugged her purse to her chest, trying not to feel sad about it. There was no way the dance marathon could go on forever, but it was one of those things that she loved doing. She'd had an array of partners over the years, all in the name of beating Kirk. The only year she had sat out was the year she had been with Christopher. Their ill-fated trip to France had been doing the marathon, and she hadn't felt like it anyhow. She'd danced with Rory, with Sookie, with Jackson, with Michel, with Tobin, with Henry Ho-Ho McAphie III, and several others she'd rather forget … and now there wouldn't be anymore. Not after this year.

She dug her phone out, called Rory, and left her a voicemail with the bad news. "So," she continued as she got to her feet, "if you love me lots, and I know you love your mommy with all your heart, maybe you could spare a couple days to come home and help me win that trophy. I mean, what does Kirk need with eleven dance marathon trophies? Really, the ratio of one trophy to a person is perfectly acceptable. He needs to share the love. Mainly with me. I'll talk to you later. Love you."

Lorelai dropped her phone back in her purse and stared across the square at the diner. There was no love there when it came to the dance partner department. Luke had repeatedly and vocally made it clear over the years that he was not going to partner with her for the dance marathon. Yes, he could and would dance, but his limit appeared to be firmly set at 10 minutes. He was content to be on the sidelines, pouring coffee into her by the vatful, and repairing any broken footwear that came along.

She flipped through her mental calendar. Crap, no visit from April anytime soon. She would probably be game to be Lorelai's partner.

She trudged home, depressed and missing Rory. Normally, she didn't have the issues with change that Luke had, but this was something different. It was just another sign that Rory was an adult, and she had her own life now. The bucolic era of the Gilmore girls was over, and the last-ever 24-hour dance marathon was putting a pin on it.

Lorelai fed Paul Anka, taking care to spell out his kibble in the shape of the letters S-I-N-A-T-R-A on the floor, then dug in the hall closet until she found her box of old photo albums. She made a pot of coffee, put The Music Man on for background noise. She spent the next hour sauntering down memory lane as she revisited Rory's childhood in pictures. She dozed off as swing music played, not hearing the kitchen door open. She stirred only when she felt something drop on top of her. For a moment, she wondered if Paul Anka decided to be a blanket. Or maybe the scrapbook had become a blanket. Then she realized it was an actual blanket and that Luke was trying to lay one on her.

"Hey," she murmured, her hold on the scrapbook slackening.

Luke caught it before it fell to the ground and looked down at the pictures. "I thought you were coming by the diner after the meeting."

"I just wanted to come home. I wasn't hungry."

He immediately laid a hand on her forehead. "Are you sick?"

No. Just sad. She pushed herself up into a sitting position, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders. She leaned into him as he sat next to her and started paging through the scrapbook.

"Miss Rory?" Luke's voice was filled with sympathy, and she was grateful that he understood. He had understood before, when Rory had first gone to college and she was getting used to an empty nest. But now he knew with crystal clear clarity, because he had April and missed her every single day the way that she missed Rory.

"Just a bit." Lorelai grinned when he flipped to a page featuring Rory dressed as a lima bean. "Stars Hollow first grade play. I think the teacher was going to turn me into social services because Rory informed her that this was the most vegetables she'd ever been around."

"Before and since," he commented dryly, and she poked his ribs.

They spent a contented half hour looking through the scrapbook, alternating between teasing and fond remembrances as they relived Rory's childhood. As they did so, the haze of sadness started to lift.

Then they reached Rory's 8th Halloween.

Luke winged an eyebrow at the photos. Rory decided she wanted to go that year as Anne of Green Gables, so Lorelai had found some temporary hair dye and had dyed Rory's hair red, then did up the braids. Little dots of brown mascara provided the freckles that she needed, and Sookie had helped them make a flower crown. Lorelai's own costume was a very flirty witch, and it showed enough of her cleavage that Taylor threatened to throw her out of the Halloween parade.

His focus shifted from the picture to her, then back to the picture. "That was before we met."

"Was it?" Lorelai knew full well that it was.

"I would have remembered that." Luke tapped the photo, lingering over it. "That was before the diner opened, so I was still working for Maisie and Buddy. Spent most of my time there. Believe me, if I had seen that costume, I'd have remembered it. Tell me you still have it," he said, his voice dropping in a way that told her that any plans to finish The Music Man and have a midnight snack would be put on hold.

"I didn't realize costumes were your thing." Lorelai nudged the scrapbook out of his lap, looping her arms around his neck.

"They are on you," he murmured, leaning in to kiss in that sweet juncture where neck met shoulders. She tugged him closer, more than willing to have him banish her sadness in a highly pleasurable way. As much as she missed Rory, there were great advantages to having her daughter out of the nest. Mainly sex when and wherever she wanted.

He gently eased her down to the couch cushions, set upon turning her brain to complete and utter goo with long kisses that completely stole rational thought from her. She flicked his hat off, tossing it aside so she could plunge her hands into his hair. Even though it had been nearly 18 months since their reunion and a year since he moved in with her, she was still amazed she had all this glorious, magnificent relationship back. She had let it, let them slip through her fingers once before. She would never let it happen again, and she knew he wouldn't either.

His hand creeped under her sweater, pushing it up to expose smooth skin. She grabbed it to yank it off when a loud knock sounded at the door.

"Ignore it," Luke muttered, shifting on top of her, letting her feel every inch of his need for her.

"Lorelai, I know you're home," Kirk's voice echoed from outside.

Well. That killed the mood. They both groaned, Luke letting his head drop into the crook of her neck.

"Lorelai, I'm going to stand here until you open the door," Kirk said.

"I'm gonna kill him." Luke rolled off of her, storming to the door and yanking it open so hard that it bounced off the wall. "Kirk, you have five seconds to go home. Now."

"I'm sorry, Luke, I'm not here to speak with you. I'm here to talk to Lorelai."

Luke shifted to block the door so Kirk couldn't worm his way in as Lorelai straightened her sweater and got to her feet. "She's busy."

"She's standing right behind you."

"It's a mirage."

"It's a very lifelike mirage."

"Kirk," Lorelai sighed, joining them at the door. "What is it?"

Kirk ducked around Luke to hand her several pieces of paper stapled together. "I'm here to talk to you about the dance marathon."

A look of pain crossed Luke's face. "What? God, it's that time of year, isn't it?"

Lorelai flipped through the papers and frowned. "What is this?"

"This is a list of partners you are not permitted to dance with."

She gaped at him. "Kirk, you can't tell me who to dance with!"

"I will raise a formal objection if you select any one of these partners on the list," Kirk replied, giving her a firm nod as a punctuation mark. "I have ranked them from highest to lowest probability of you defeating me during the dance marathon. I figured this will save you a great amount of time and energy. Or, you can do the graceful thing and bow out entirely."

"In your dreams," Lorelai snapped and scanned the list. "This is every man in town and half the women! And Paul Anka!"

"Paul Anka has remarkable stamina."

"Lemme see that." Luke took the list and scowled at it. "I'm not on the list."

"No, you're not," Kirk admitted. "Your refusal to participate in the dance marathon is well documented. And, it is clearly for my benefit."

"How so?"

"Well, according to my calculations, if you were inclined to participate in the dance marathon, you would be at the top of the list of people Lorelai wouldn't be allowed to dance with. There is a very high probability that Lorelai win the dance marathon is if you're her partner. But, you don't participate, so I have nothing to worry about."

"Is that so?" Luke's voice took on a timbre that Lorelai only heard when he was about to let Taylor or poor unsuspecting schmuck have it. It sent heat shooting through her. "Maybe I should participate this year."

"I'm sorry," Kirk said, oblivious to the danger he was in. "I simply cannot allow it."

Luke tore the list in half. "Here is what I think of your stupid list."

"Leave me some to tear!" Lorelai protested.

He handed her the two halves of the list, and she tore it into quarters. "I will dance with whoever I want, Kirk. If I wanted Lulu as my dance partner and she agrees, you can't stop me."

"She's No. 2 on the list."

"Kirk!" Luke barked.

"Eleven years," Kirk interjected, sounding perilously near tears. "I will not have my dance marathon reign tarnished by the two of you."

Luke looked down at Lorelai.

She looked up at him.

They nodded in tandem.

"Bring it," Lorelai said. "Because like it or not, Kirk, you're now competing against us."

"I'm sorry, I'm looking for flying pigs," Rory said over the phone as Lorelai walked toward the diner the next morning. "Luke actually agreed to be your partner in the dance marathon?"

"Really, if I'd known that having Kirk goad him into it would be the straw that broke the camel's back, I'd have egged him on years ago." Lorelai very nearly bragged about what had happened once the door had been slammed shut in Kirk's face. They hadn't even made it to the stairs. Her toes curled, and she made a little happy sound of contentment.

"Mom? Mom, stop daydreaming about the sex you and Luke had afterwards. I really don't have brain bleach on hand today"

Damn it, she raised one smart kid. "I will resume daydreaming about it after we hang up."

Lorelai could all but feel Rory's shudder on the other end of the line. "Where was I on the list?" Rory asked.

"You were one of my permitted dance partners. Kirk's notes said that you had a tendency to go running off in the middle of the competition."

"I can't decide if I'm insulted or not."

Lorelai lingered just outside the diner. She nearly got Luke to relent on the no cell phones rule when it came to Rory, but she wasn't quite there. "So, you're going to come home to watch history in the making?"

"Since it's the weekend after the election, I get an entire week off."

Excitement shot through her. Rory's visits home since she hit the campaign trail the previous summer were rare. Rory had bounced all over the country to the point where she kept her permanent address in Stars Hollow for now. Already, Lorelai was busy making plans, and the dance marathon was at the tippy top of it. She couldn't believe her good luck. Yes, it was the final dance marathon, but she finally had the partner she wanted all along. And Rory would be there.

Lorelai bid Rory farewell, hung up the phone, and walked into chaos.

The diner was a mix of normal breakfast pandemonium and ensuing drama because of the dance marathon.

"Taylor, tell Luke he's forbidden to dance!" Kirk was whining to Taylor as Lorelai slid onto her normal stool at the counter. "He's got to serve the coffee."

"Well, this is a version of Footloose I didn't see coming," Lorelai muttered as Luke came out of the kitchen, arms ladened with plates. He paused long enough to roll his eyes in greeting at her, and she grinned.

"Cesar's going to serve the coffee," Taylor told Kirk, barely able to contain his glee. "You have no idea how many years I've tried to rope him into doing this."

"But my record's at stake!"

"Let the games begin," Patty said from where she sat across from Taylor. "I, for one, can't wait to see your moves on the dance floor." She beamed at Luke as he set a plate of pancakes in front of her. Her eyes trailed him as he moved to the other side of the table, stepping around Kirk.

"Stop ogling my ass please, Miss Patty," Luke sighed as he placed Taylor's breakfast in front of him. "Kirk, I've told you at least six times to stop hovering like that. Go sit down."

"If you would just let me design a costume for you and Lorelai …" Patty started, but Luke cut her off.

"Appreciate it, but no thanks." He gave moved back behind the counter and grabbed an oversized mug, filling it with coffee. He gave it to Lorelai along with an exasperated look. "Hi."

Lorelai leaned across the counter to kiss him, and she felt him relax just a bit. "Hi back. Rory also says hi. She'll be here for the marathon."

Luke's eyes lit up. "Oh yeah?"

"She can be your partner!" Kirk proclaimed.

"No," they said together.

"This isn't fair." Kirk flopped back into his seat and pouted into his oatmeal.

"Life's not fair, Kirk," Luke told him and went back to the kitchen.

The landline started ringing, and Lorelai ducked around the counter to answer it. "Luke's! Can I interest you in Hamlet's problem with his warts?"

"Hi, Lorelai! Um ..." From the other end of the line, April Nardini scrunched her nose. "You want to give me a Danish with two poached eggs in hot sauce, topped with olives?"

"You are learning well, my disciple," Lorelai informed her as Luke pushed out of the kitchen and scowled at her. She covered the receiver and mouthed "It's April." His demeanor mostly changed.

"Don't corrupt her with that diner lingo stuff. She's making it up," he called into the phone.

Lorelai gaped at him. "I am not!"

"I actually found a book on it," April said on her end of the line. "I'll bring it with me when I come in next month."

"Next month?"

"Yeah! They're closing my school early for Thanksgiving to do some renovation work. They really should keep a closer eye on lead levels, you know? So, I talked Mom into letting me fly out there after the election, as long as I'm back for Thanksgiving."

"Hey!" Lorelai called across the diner to Luke. "April's visiting next month!"

"Really?" He abandoned the table he was bussing to dart back around the counter and take the phone from her. "You're coming next month?"

Lorelai resumed her spot, watching him as she drank her coffee. Both of their daughters would be there for the dance marathon, and it seemed fitting that their little family would be together to mark the end of a Stars Hollow tradition.

November 2008

Weeks later, the bedroom Luke and Lorelai shared had turned into a war zone.

Most of it was because Lorelai's half of the closet had exploded out into the bedroom as she and Rory combed through Lorelai's wardrobe for a suitable dress. In the only part of the room that wasn't consumed by volumes of fabric, April frowned at the selection in her father's side of the closet.

Lorelai considered past dresses she wore to the marathon and held up the blue she had worn during Rory's senior year at Chilton. "This?"

Rory shook her head. "Can't wear that dress. Bad luck."

"Extremely bad luck." Lorelai tossed it in the reject pile with a tiny bit of regret. Jackson's explosion at her had not been fun. Neither had the culmination of the whole Rory-Jess-Dean fiasco. But the flirting she and Luke had engaged in had been prime, and he had fixed her shoe. "The baddest luck of all bad luck. How are you doing over there, kid?"

April and Luke were having a hushed argument of their own. "Dad, you can't dance in jeans. It'll get too hot."

"I'm not dressing up in a suit for this," Luke protested. "Worse comes to worse, it's 24 hours."

"Look, just wear these khakis. They'll look nice." April handed him a pair of khakis, then plucked a dark blue shirt from a hanger. She eyed it, then her father, then the shirt and nodded. "Got a dress to match?"

Lorelai dug through her own pile, considered the rejected dress from Rory's senior year. Ignoring Rory's protests, she snatched it back up. "Voila."

Luke's face went pale. "You can't wear that."

"Why not? I look pretty in it. You've seen me in it before.

Luke stared at Rory. Then at April. Then his cheeks went scarlet. "You can't wear that dress," he repeated. He stepped around Rory, leaning down to whisper in Lorelai's ear. "I barely survived the last time you wore it," he murmured low enough so neither of their daughters could hear.

Lorelai jerked back in shock, and her brain immediately flew back to the fall of 2002. She thought of every look he had given her that evening, how his gaze had seemed to fixed firmly on her face, how he nearly blushed when he was fixing her shoe and talked of kids.

"Down, boy," she teased, and gave Rory a mental apology.

She was so wearing the blue dress.

All of Stars Hollow had turned out for the final 24-hour dance marathon. There was a time that Lorelai was convinced they would break the fire code and be forced to call the whole thing off. There were so many people packed onto the gym floor that when the first blast of the air horn went off, all people could do was basically grab their partners and shuffle around in a circle.

"Great," Luke muttered as he tried in vain to keep people from stumbling into them. "It's like every bad high school prom I attended revisited."

"But with less pimples," Lorelai said.

"For some."

But as the hours passed, people began to drop fairly quickly and it became easier to breathe. Rory and April had picked a section of the bleachers to camp out and were watching Lane's twins so Lane and Zach could handle the music. It was entertaining, especially when Luke argued with both Kirk and Taylor that he wasn't going to run around the gym floor like an idiot and as long as he and Lorelai were dancing in some form, they still qualified.

But she was enjoying every second of it, and she suspected he was too. All things aside, they hadn't had this much exclusive time together in awhile, and she couldn't get enough of his hands on her. When her energy started to wane, she decided to flirt for the fun of it. It resulted in a simply magnificent five-minute make-out session behind one of the bleachers, giving them barely enough time to run to the restroom and back before the break ended.

Then the marathon passed over 10 hours. Then 12. Then 14.

Sleepily, April absently rocked one of the twins. "Has it ever gone on this long before?" she asked Rory.

"No," Rory yawned. "Usually everyone has passed out by dawn."

But they were now well into Saturday morning, and for the past three hours, it had been a showdown between Luke and Lorelai and Kirk and Lulu.

"Maybe this will be the year we actually go the full 24," Rory said with a hint of wonder. She closed her eyes. "Wake me up when September ends?"

"That's not until next year."

"I could sleep until then."

On the dance floor, Lorelai felt the jaws of exhaustion trying to clamp onto her. She nearly hated Luke at that point, because he still appeared fairly energetic. Granted, he had stayed up for nearly two days straight just a year earlier to ensure that Rory had a farewell party before leaving Stars Hollow. She stumbled, falling into his chest. It was such a nice pillow ...

"Don't fall asleep on me," he coaxed.

"Can't help it. So tired."

"Rory!" Luke called over to the bleachers.

Rory startled awake, then ran onto the dance floor with a coffee cup. "Emergency coffee!"

Luke turned Lorelai around in his arms, kept her swaying as she gulped coffee. "Thanks, kid," she gasped.

"That's not allowed!" Kirk protested.

"Hydration is allowed," Rory called back after she got off the floor.

"Coffee is not hydrating!"

"It is when you're Lorelai Gilmore," Rory retorted.

Lorelai laughed, and the coffee kept her awake for at least another hour. They managed one more break, and she could barely remember it. April and Rory surrounded her. She chugged coffee, then ran to pee. She couldn't find Luke at first, then saw him talking to Lane and Zach. She smiled. He had taken them under his wing, and even though Zach only worked part-time at the diner now, he made sure their little family was taken care of.

He drew her back onto the floor as the air horn sounded once more. "Can you make it another eight hours?"

"No, but you'll catch me when I fall asleep, right?"

"I'll always catch you." Because almost everyone in the room was asleep, he took her mouth in a long, slow kiss as the music of Gershwin surrounded them. They turned in slow, sleepy circles, and Lorelai caught a glimpse of April and Rory both beaming at them.

Then she heard a thump.

Lorelai jerked fully awake, and looked over Luke's shoulder. "Oh my God!"

Kirk sprawled on the ground, sound asleep as Lulu stood over him patting his cheek.

"He fell asleep!" Lorelai barely had the presence of mind to keep moving, just in case. "Kirk never falls asleep!"

April sprinted over to the podium and grabbed the air horn, blasting it to wake up everyone in the room. Next to her, Taylor and Patty jerked awake and gaped at Kirk sprawled on the floor, fast asleep.

"Oh my God," Patty breathed.

"You won! You two actually won!" April shrieked.

"We won!" Lorelai really wanted to jump around with joy. Instead, she sagged against Luke, and he did have to keep her from falling. "Oh God, I'm too tired to celebrate. Rory, take Mommy's trophy and run around the gym with it, would you?"

"Save the victory dance for when he's finally awake," Rory grinned as Patty ran over with the trophy.

Kirk stirred just as Patty handed it to Lorelai. "Wait, she can't have that! That's mine!"

"Lorelai and Luke won the dance marathon," Lulu told him. "You fell asleep."

"I never fall asleep," Kirk insisted.

"We were all there, honey. Luke and Lorelai won fair and square," Patty informed him.

"I want a recount! Video replay! They caused me to trip!"

Luke rolled his eyes.

'They were across the room," April pointed out.

"Just get over it, Kirk!" Patty scolded him.

"I'm thinking of naming it Winnie," Lorelai told Luke as Kirk's protests became louder and more vocal. "Because we won."

"Very original." He looped an arm around her waist and, for the first time since the marathon began, let himself yawn. "Let's go home."

An hour later, even though the world went on outside of the Crap Shack, inside the four occupants had gratefully fallen into their beds. Winnie the Trophy was being carefully guarded by Paul Anka in the kitchen.

Lorelai had never been so glad to snuggle into her pillow in her life. Maybe it was time to end the marathon. She didn't think she could handle another one quite this long. Maybe in her dottage, it was time to do 24-hour movie binges instead. Those she could handle.

"God, I have never been so tired in my life," Luke groaned from his spot next to her.

Lorelai turned her head to him. "That's what you said when you filled in at the inn when Sookie was on bedrest with Martha. You never did tell me what was in those lamb chops."

He closed his eyes and smiled, just a little. "And I never will."

"When we get the feeling back in our legs, I owe you some amazing sex."

"It might take a few days."

"This offer doesn't expire."

They laced hands. Lorelai was nearly asleep when something struck her. What had happened to Kirk? He'd been fine going into that final break just before he passed out. She replayed the sequence of events in her mind. She had run to the bathroom. Gulped down more coffee. Spoke with Rory and April. Spotted Luke across the room talking to Lane and Zach before …

Her eyes flew open.

"Luke," Lorelai hissed, nudging him until he grunted. "Luke, wake up."

"Hmm?"

"What did you do?"

"What?" Luke opened bleary eyes.

"What did you do to get Kirk to fall asleep?"

"Nothing really." He yawned. "But Zach wanted some music suggestions, and I may have overheard Kirk saying at some point that when he has insomnia, he never fails to fall asleep when Rhapsody in Blue is played."

Fully awake now, Lorelai sat up. "You cheated so I could win."

"Zach didn't have to take the suggestion." Luke's smile was more than a bit smug. "More like outsmarted Kirk."

She didn't think her body could contain all the emotion threatening to overwhelm her at the moment, so some of it spilled out in a rambling babble. "I love you more than coffee. Not more than Rory, because you know. It's Rory. But definitely more than coffee."

"Nice to know I'm finally No. 2 in your life. Now, can we get some sleep?" Luke pulled her down so he could kiss her forehead. "Love you too," he added, and her heart grew at least three sizes.

He was out in less than 15 seconds.

Lorelai lay watching Luke sleep and wondered if the little hearts floating above her head were visible.