3-26-06

 Shooting Gilmores Again

 Chapter One

  "Come on Luke, please?"

 "I said no. And how many times have I said not to come around behind the counter to get your own coffee?"

 Lorelai continued to pour her coffee, set it on the counter and then got herself a donut.  She then went back around to the customer side and sat back down on a stool.

 "Why can't you ask Rory? I thought you two were a great looking couple, and you almost won."

 "Yeah we would have, too, if it hadn't been for that whole Dean and Jess thing."

 "Well, they're both out of the picture now, so ask her."

 "I did. But once again I forgot about the Runaround, but not Rory."

 "The what? The Runaround?"

 "Yeah, you know. Taylor blows that stupid horn of his and we have to run around the floor until he thinks everyone is ready to throw up. And then he graciously gives us a ten minute break."

 "Oh, right. I forgot about that, too.  Uh, NO!"

 "Lu-u-u-ke! "

 "Lorelai, there's no way I'm going be able to hold you up for twenty-four hours and dance around, and run laps around, that stupid high school gymnasium."

 "But you're the strongest man in Stars Hollow! I need someone who can support me and carry me."

 "Lorelai . . . ."

 "You've got those great hiking boots so your feet shouldn't hurt. Oh! And you used to run track so  you've got stamina, and staying power --ooh, dirty! And I need that. Oh, dirty again!"

 "Did you not hear what I said?  Besides, I have a diner to run. And if I participated in that stupid marathon, not only would I have to leave the diner for those twenty-four hours, but for another eight or ten hours after that just to catch up on my sleep."

 "You know very well Caesar and Lane can handle things. They do it all the time."

 "How many times and how many ways do I have to say no?"

 "You know," Lorelai continued, "if you do this for me now,  that will be one less thing I'll nag you about after we're married."

 Luke took a deep, tired breath.

 "And this will be the last, the VERY last time I'll have to hear about it?"

 "Absolutely."

 "Fine. Sign us up. Jeez, I must be out of my mind."

 Lorelai stood up and leaned over the counter to take his face in her hands and kissed him.

 "It'll be great, you'll see. This year, Kirk's going DOWN!"

Chapter Two

Lorelai was calling Rory's cell phone as she left Doose's market. And she was a little aggravated after arguing with Taylor for more than ten minutes that she was serious about signing her and Luke up for the dance marathon. He kept insisting it was some kind of prank or sick joke while she kept insisting she, and Luke, were serious.

Even after Luke gave the okay to them through the connecting window, and even after Lorelai swore to him there were no hidden cameras, Taylor was still more than a little suspicious.

Finally, after some prodding from Miss Patty, he allowed Lorelai to enter the contest, with threats of dire consequences if it was some kind of trick.

"Hi, sweetie, what's going on?"

"Not much, just catching up on some reading. What's going on with you?"

"Just another argument with Taylor.  Look, the reason I called was that I was wondering what you and Logan are doing Saturday."

For several seconds Rory was silent. Then she said, "I'm not going to be your partner at the dance."

"I know. You already told me. And I respect that."

"Since when?"

"Whatever are you talking about? I always respect your decisions, even if they're not the correct ones."

"I'm still not going to be your partner."

"I don't need you to be my partner, I already HAVE one."

"Yeah, right. And just who might that be?"

"Well, FYI, it's Luke."

"Luke who?"

"You know very well  Luke who. My Luke. Luke Danes."

"Oh, the Luke Danes, from the Bazarro universe."

"No, not from the Bazarro universe. The one from the Do-As-I-Ask-Or-Be-Nagged-About-It-For-The-Rest-Of-Our-Married-Lives universe."

"How did you get him to agree to it?"

"Because he loves me."

"And?"

  "And he knows that when I'm happy, he's happy."

 "And?"

 "And he know how much this means to me."

 "AND?"

  "And  I told him if he'd do it this time I'd never mention it again after we were married."

 "So, how's that Pinocchio thing working out for you?"

 "Never you mind. So, you never said what you two were doing Saturday."

 "Well, we're NOT entering any dance marathon."

 "Why? It'll be fun – me and Luke, and you and Logan, and Sookie and Jackson. We can triple team Kirk, twice."

 "You really don't want Kirk to win again, do you?"

 "I really don't. So, what do you say?"

 "I don't know. I'd have to run it past Logan. But somehow, I don't think a twenty-four hour dance marathon in the Hollow is his kind of thing."

 "You don't know, he might like to experience some of your world.  I mean, you've been in his enough times. Just ask him, it couldn't hurt."

 "Well, okay, but I'm not promising anything."

 "Just don't tell him about the Runaround."

Chapter Three

 "Has Taylor lost his mind?" Lorelai complained.

 She was walking to Stars Hollow High with Luke, one hand firmly wrapped around a cup of coffee. The other was holding onto his upper arm, her head resting against his shoulder. Her eyes were closed.  But it didn't stop her from grumbling.

 "What's wrong with eight o'clock? Or even seven? He HAS to start this stupid thing at six? In the morning?"

 "It was your idea," Luke answered. "We could always go back home."

 "Oh no! We're doing this."

 From across the street Luke could see Rory and Logan heading towards them. And they looked exactly the same as Lorelai and Luke – Rory with a cup of coffee in one hand, the other holding onto Logan, her head on his shoulder, half asleep. Luke was surprised that Logan seemed to be wide awake. 

 As they got closer, Luke couldn't help but think, "Like mother, like daughter."

 "Morning, everyone," Logan said cheerfully.

 Lorelai cracked one eye to see who had spoken, and when she saw Rory, she said, "Hey, Babe."

 Rory opened her eyes just enough to look at Lorelai.

 "I hate you," she said sleepily and closed her eyes again.

 "Don't hate me, hate Taylor," Lorelai replied. "This six o'clock start was HIS idea."

 "YOU'RE the one who wanted us to do this."

 "You're wide awake," Luke said to Logan, changing the subject.

 "Yeah. I can get up early if I have to."

 "Anyone seen Sookie and Jackson?" Lorelai asked, waking up a little.

 "They're probably inside already. Jackson's an early riser, too." Luke told her. Then looking at Logan, he asked, "So what do you think of the town?"

 "I like it, from what I've seen. It seems like a great place to come to get away from the big city. And this dance marathon is just so 'small town'. I love it!"

 "Wait until the Runaround," Rory murmured.

 "Rory!" Lorelai was now wide awake.

 "Oh, it's okay. She told me all about it," Logan said.

 "And the first one that comes around, we runaround right out of the door and right home to bed."  Rory said.

 "What? You can't do that." Lorelai exclaimed. "We have stick it out – together, the whole twenty four hours! We have to support each other. We have to maintain, and sustain!"

 "You can let your grudge against Kirk do the sustaining."

 "I cannot believe what I'm hearing. Luke, say something."

 "Start out slow to keep from getting too tired too fast."

 "Big help THAT is. Make her stay. Talk her into it."

 Luke sighed, then said, "Rory, if you two will stay the whole time, I'll let you have all the coffee you can drink, for free, forever. And I'll even throw in donuts. Logan, too."

 "I already get that."

 "Oh, yeah. Well, I tried."

 Lorelai made an exasperated noise, slapped Luke on the shoulder, then went into the school for her physical, leaving the three of them to follow after.

 Chapter Four

After their physicals, and after they had gotten their numbers and yellow cards, Lorelai circulated, looking for Kirk.

Not finding him, she went to see Miss Patty. And while Taylor droned on about the past mis-uses of the yellow card privileges, Lorelai tried to get her to tell her who his partner was.

"I'm sorry, Lorelai, but I promised him I wouldn't say a word to anyone. He wants it to be a surprise."

"So, it's not Lulu?"

"Well, he didn't make me promise not to say who it wasn't, so, no, it's not Lulu."

"Is it Gypsy?"

"Now you're just getting desperate."

"It's not you, is it?"

Miss Patty laughed. "Honey, do you really think I could be on my feet for twenty-four hours straight? Look, the dance starts in just a little while. Have some coffee, eat a donut, you'll find out soon enough."

 Lorelai turned to head back to Luke and Rory and Logan when she stopped,  stared for a few seconds, then hurried over to them.

 "Did you see them?" Rory asked as Lorelai arrived, excited.

 "I saw," Lorelai replied.

 "Isn't it great?"

 "Well, I guess it is. But I wasn't sure if you'd think so."

 "Are you kidding, Lane's high as a kite."

 "Lane? What are you talking about?"

 "The band! Lane's band. They're providing the music. They're back together!"

 "Oh. Well, yes, that is good news. But that's not what I talking about."

 "It wasn't? Then what were you talking about?"

 "Dean and Lindsey, they're here, together."

 "Dean? And Lindsey? They're here? They're together? They got back together?"

 "I don't know about that, but I saw them just a few seconds ago."

 "Were they wearing their wedding rings?"

 "I couldn't tell."

 "What were they doing?"

 "Lindsey was pinning Dean's number on his back."

 "Who are Dean and Lindsey?" Logan asked.

 "Dean was my first boyfriend," Rory answered quietly. "And my third."

 "It was kind of intense there for a while," Lorelai told him. "A lot of drama."

 "Was he the guy with the pickup truck at that party at your grandparents' house?"

 Rory nodded.

 "That was the night we broke up, again."  Her voice was barely above a whisper.

 Suddenly there was the blast from Taylor's air horn.

 "Okay, people! Sixty seconds until we start. Grab your partners and hit the dance floor."

 Just as the countdown began, Rory yelled to Lorelai and pointed, "There's Kirk!"

 "Ten … nine … eight . . . ," the crowd began to chant.

 "Who's he with?" Lorelai asked.

 "I don't know. I've never seen her before." Rory replied.

 " . . . six … five  … four . . . ."

 "She's looks like she's about twelve!"

 " . . . three … two … ONE!"

 Taylor blasted his air horn then yelled, "It's show time!"

 And Hep Alien began playing the first song of the day.

Chapter Five

"Did you know that Lane's band was going to be here?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, she asked me yesterday morning if she could be here instead of the diner."

"You mean that poor Caesar is there all by himself?"

"No, I just decided to close the diner for the day. Weston's is open, so . . . ."

Just then Lorelai spotted Kirk and his mysterious partner.

"Does Kirk have any nieces, or cousins?" She interrupted, as she was dancing him toward Kirk and his young partner, who kept dancing away.

"I have no idea. She does look kind of young, doesn't she?"

The finally made their way around to where Miss Patty and Taylor were sitting.

"Okay, Patty, enough of the mystery. Who's the girl?"

"What girl are you talking about? There are lots of girls here."

"Don't play dumb with me, Patty. The girl dancing with Kirk."

"All I know is that her name is Miranda, and she's from Litchfield."

"Litchfield? Why would he go all the way to Litchfield to find a partner?"

"I'm sure I don't know. Why don't you ask Kirk?"

"Because he keeps avoiding me, I can't get near him."

"She's kind of young," Luke commented.

"According to her registration, she's eighteen."

"Eighteen? She doesn't look a day over – fourteen."

"Well, she registered herself. And you know Taylor, if her driver's license said she was eighteen, he made sure she was."

"Come on," Lorelai said to Luke. "We're getting to the bottom of this."

As they danced their way around, trying to catch up to Kirk, Lorelai noticed that Rory was watching Dean and Lindsey, and trying not to let them see that she was.

"Ace, if you're that curious, just go over and ask them." Logan suggested.

"NO! We can't do that! If they've really gotten back together, I don't want wreck it for them again."

"What do you mean, wreck it again?"

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"Oh, I get it – a secret affair that became not-so-secret."

Rory buried her face in his shoulder, then turned her head just enough to watch them, trying to determine just how "together" they were.

Lorelai and Luke finally managed to come up on Kirk without him seeing them. She reached out and grabbed him by his shirt.

"Okay, Kirk, spill it! Who's the girl?" She then smiled at his partner. "You look like a lovely girl, I’m just curious."

"Oh, this is my Trophy partner. It's going to look really sweet next to all of the other ones."

"If it's not stolen -- again." Luke mentioned.

 "Well, there is that."

 "Quit stalling, Kirk! Who is she?"

 "Lorelai, Luke, I'd like you to meet Miranda Richards. She goes to Litchfield High School, and for  three years in a row she's won first place in the tri-county high school, long distance, cross country marathon race -- thing."

 He began to laugh.

 "She runs at least three miles A DAY! Talk about your stamina! Look at those legs – muscles of steel! Oh, that trophy is mine again!"

 And with that, he and Miranda danced away from Lorelai and Luke.

 "A Ringer!" Lorelai exclaimed. "He brought in a Ringer! How unfair is that?"

 "How unfair is it that I was coerced and pressured into this in the first place?"

 But Lorelai wasn't listening. She was staring at Kirk and Miranda with a steely glare, now even more determined to win that trophy.

 Chapter Six

 "What time is it?"

 Rory looked at the clock on the wall behind Taylor.

 "It's about eleven forty-five. Just a few more minutes and we'll get another ten minute break. Why? Are you getting tired?"

 "No, not tired, just bored. Nothing's happened since that woman you said was the town mechanic . . . . "

 "Gypsy."

 "Yeah, Gypsy, and that guy you said owned the book store . . . ."

 "Andrew."

 "And Andrew started throwing coffee at each other. What was that about?"

 "Nothing really. They're always at each other about one thing or another. You'd think they were married or something."

 "How about you? Tired?"

 "Some, but not too much."

 Just then Logan's cell phone rang.

 "What are you doing with that? I thought you left it in the car."

 "I thought I did too. It's just a page . . . ."

 Logan looked at the screen.

 ". . . from my father."

 "What's it say?"

 "I have to go."

 "What? Why?"

 "Because if I don't, he'll come looking for me. And I don't want him to cause a scene here like he did when you and your mom and Luke were at the Vineyard."

 "Do you really think he'll find you HERE?"

 "I honestly do. He wants me to fly to Paris with him. And he wants to leave in two hours. I’m sorry, Rory, but I really have go."

 "Well, okay, if you really have to."

 "I really do. If you want to get our coats I'll go get the car."

 "I think I'm going to stay, you know, to support Mom and her vendetta against Kirk."

 "You're sure? I hate to strand you here with no way back to Yale."

 "Logan, I live here. I'm not stranded."

 "Oh, yeah, of course. I guess I'm more tired than I thought."

 Rory walked Logan outside, kissed him goodbye though the car window, then watched as he drove off.  As she turned to go back inside, she bumped into Dean.

 "Oh, hey, I didn't see you there."

 "That's okay. I was hoping we might get a chance to talk."

 "I see that you and Lindsey are back together."

 "Yeah, we are. We – missed each other, and we started talking, then we made up and I moved back in."

 "Good. I'm glad you guys worked things out. So, where is she?"

 "She's waiting in the car. She's not feeling too good."

 "She's not sick is she?"

 "Well, kind of. She's been throwing up, and sometimes gets nauseous."

 "Has she seen a doctor? It sounds serious."

 "Yeah she has."

 "So what's the matter with her?"

 "Her doctor said it's – uh … well, its morning sickness."

 "Morning sickness? Then that means she's . . . ."

 "Yeah."

 "Then that means you're going to be . . . ."

 "Yeah it does. I'm going to be a dad."

 "That's . . . great."

 Rory was having trouble getting the words out.

 "That's really great. I'm . . . I'm happy for you, for both of you."

 "Thanks. It's -- I don't know, scary, you know? Me! A dad!"

 "Yeah, I can see how it would be. But you'll be a good dad. I always thought that."

 Suddenly she hugged him, an awkward feeling hug, which he returned, feeling just as awkward.

 "Well, I guess I better go, Lindsey's waiting."

 "Yeah, sure."

 "She's kind of difficult sometimes, you know, what with those pregnant hormones, and the throwing up, and everything."

 "Right. You shouldn't keep her waiting."

 After a few seconds and an odd smile, Dean walked around Rory and headed towards the car.

 When he was half way to it, she yelled out to him, "I'll have to get you guys a gift, for your baby."

 "Okay, thanks. Thanks a lot. I'll see you around."

 As she watched the car disappear, Rory found it impossible to swallow with the enormous lump in her throat, and she realized she was tasting her own tears.

 She slowly turned to go back inside, back to the gymnasium. But first she detoured to the girls' bathroom to cry a little more, and then to wash her face. She couldn't let anyone see, or even suspect, that her heart was breaking because Dean, HER Dean, was having a baby . . .  with another woman!

 Chapter Seven

 "How're you holding up?"

 "Better than I thought I would."

 "So, those hiking boots are working for you?"

 "They're getting a little heavy, but after twelve hours, what can you expect?"

 "Half way there. I hated to see Sookie and Jackson drop out, but I’m sure glad they did. I was getting SO tired of Mrs. Kim's phony egg salad."

 "She makes that every year?"

 "Yes she does. I think Sookie quit just so she could fix us something decent to eat."

 "I thought it was because Jackson's feet were bothering him."

 "That's part of it."

 "So what about Rory? Did you ever find out what's wrong?"

 "No, she won't say. I know she's been crying, but she all I get is 'I'm just tired.'  I tried to get her to go home, but she insists this is where she wants to be. I even had Lane talk to her, but nothing."

 "And it wasn't because she had a fight with Logan?"

 "She said no. I think it has something to do with Dean and Lindsey being back together."

 "I thought she was over him."

 "You never really get over your first love. She's asleep now, but when we get our next break, which should be in – what? forty five minutes?"

 "About that."

 "I'll talk to her again."

 Just then Taylor sounded his air horn.

 "Okay, everyone, on your marks. . .get set. . .and GO!"

 With much complaining and groaning, everyone started running around the gymnasium.

 "Round and round they go, but when the song stops, nobody knows! But the last five couples that finish behind the red line are automatically out, so hold onto your partner and move, move, move!"

 "My GOD!" Lorelai panted, "He says the same thing every year!"

 As she ran past Taylor, she yelled out to him, "Taylor! Learn a new song, for God's sake!"

 And just as suddenly, Kirk and Miranda ran past Lorelai and Luke.

 "What's the matter, Lorelai? Not getting tired are you?"

 "Not in the slightest, Kirk!"

 "Good! Good! I feel GREAT! I sure could use some decent competition!"

 "I hate him!" Lorelai said to Luke, trying to keep up.

 Luke put one arm around her waist to help her run. 

 Thirty seconds later, when the horn sounded for the ten minute break, it was all Luke could do to hold Lorelai up.

 "Let me go!" she whimpered. "I need to lie down. Just let me die!"

 Luke gently laid her down, and Rory appeared with bottles of water for each of them.

 After drinking half of it down, Lorelai said, "Sweetie, you don't have to stay here. Why don't you go on home and get some real sleep."

 "I’m fine. Bleacher sleep is the best sleep there is."

 Lorelai glanced briefly at Luke then back at Rory.

 "Okay, but if you want to go, it's fine with me. You've proved your loyalty to mama."

 "You rest. I'll grab something for you to eat from Sookie and some coffee and I'll be right back."

 "Bless you, my child."

 After she was gone, Lorelai said to Luke, "Maybe it was nothing after all, she seems okay."

 "That's because she's concerned about her mother. But there is something wrong. Even I can see it."

 "Well, let's not push it right now."

 "Lorelai, how about a couple more laps? I could run all night!"

 "Keep it up, Kirk. Just wait! Just you wait!"

 "You're the one who's been waiting, year after year after year."

 And as Kirk and Miranda trotted off, Lorelai mumbled barely loud enough for Luke to hear, "Okay, mister, you want a war? You've GOT one!"

 Luke just shook his head.

Chapter Eight

 Lorelai glanced up at the clock – a little past midnight. Looking around she could see only a half dozen couples left on the floor.  Even Kirk and Miranda had slowed down.  Zach and Brian were napping while Lane and Gil were playing, but what the song was Lorelai had no idea, and she suspected they didn't either.

 Rory was asleep on the bleachers again.

 Lorelai held up her yellow card and shouted to Miss Patty, since Taylor was also asleep.

 "Where are you going?" Luke asked. "We just had a break not ten minutes ago."

 "I know, but I want to check on Rory, she looks like she's about to roll off onto the floor. I just want to make sure she won't."

 "Do you know how stupid I'm going to feel, dancing out here by myself?"

 "Oh, stop whining. Nobody's paying any attention to anybody else anyway. I'll be right back."

 As Lorelai walked off the floor, Luke continued to move like he was dancing, and felt silly doing it.

 Lorelai sat down next to Rory's head, and gently moved some hair out of her face. Rory made a little sound, the looked up at her mother.

 "Is it over? Did you win? Are we going home?"

 "Not yet. We still have almost six hours to go."

 "I didn't hear that stupid horn. Did I sleep through it?"

 "No. I just wanted to check on you. You looked like you were might fall. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

 "Mom, can I tell you something?"

 "Sure you can, hon. You know that. You can tell me anything."

 Rory sat up and took one of Lorelai's hands.

 "I don't know if I'm supposed to keep this a secret or not. He didn't say."

 "Who didn't say what?"

 "Dean. He told me something, and it really upset me. But then, you knew something was wrong."

 "I knew you were crying, so, yeah, I knew something was bothering you."

Rory took a breath.

"If I tell you, will you keep it a secret?"

"If you want me to, sure."

"Even from Luke?"

"If that's what you want."

"It'll come out sooner or later, but I don't think it's my place to say anything right now, except to you."

Lorelai waited patiently.

"I was talking to Dean right after Logan left. Lindsey wasn't feeling well and she and Dean were leaving the same time. Anyway, Dean said that  . . . that Lindsey's pregnant. She's going to have  his baby, and I'm . . . not."

Rory was crying again, and Lorelai put her arm around her so Rory's head was resting on her shoulder, holding her close while she sobbed.

From the floor Luke saw them talking and then Rory laying her head against Lorelai.  From the way her shoulders shook he knew she was crying. But Lorelai was there with her, and that was a good thing.

After a few minutes, Rory straightened up, and wiped her eyes.

"You need to go back to the dance. I don't want you to get disqualified because of me."

"I think I should be here right now."

No. I'm okay. You go win the dance. I think Kirk has worn himself out showing off so much. I'll be right here."

"Okay, but if you want me, you just holler."

Rory nodded and Lorelai kissed her on the top of her head and went back to Luke, who was happy to have his partner back.

 "Is Rory all right?"

 "She's fine. It's like I thought – she's upset about Dean and Lindsey. But she'll be okay."

 For some reason, Luke thought it was more to it than that, but he knew better than to pry. If they wanted him to know, they would tell him.

 Brian and Zach relieved Gil and Lane, and the dancing continued.

Chapter Nine

 "Hey, Taylor, what happens if there's more than one couple left at the end of the twenty four hours?"

 "Well, Patty, then I guess we'll have a dance-off of some kind. Maybe in fifteen minute increments, maybe only fast songs. Maybe even another Runaround."

 "Now that would be just cruel."

 "Well, we've still got a forty five minutes to go. And  Kirk's not holding up so well this year. It looks like Lorelai and Luke have a real good chance of winning this thing."

 There were three couples left – Lorelai and Luke, Kirk and Miranda, and a couple originally from Woodbury who had move to Stars Hollow several weeks before and weren't very well known.

 "I think we've got ourselves a trophy this year," Lorelai said happily. "We can share it – a couple of weeks at the diner, and a couple at the Dragonfly."

 "I don't want that stupid thing in my diner."

 "Oh, you have to have there for a while, just to piss off Kirk."

 "I'll tell you what, why don't you just bring it whenever you come, and then you can take it with you when you leave."

 "We'll work something out."

 As it got down to the last  half hour, everyone started to get excited again. Many of those that had dropped out earlier were back. All four members of the band were awake and playing. And Rory was sitting up and giving Lorelai encouragement every time they exchanged glances.

 Then suddenly, the mood of the room changed.

 "Well, well, well. Will you look at that." Miss Patty said.

 Luke and Lorelai looked across to the entrance of the gymnasium, and Rory's eyes followed theirs.

 Standing in the doorway were Anna and April.

 Luke immediately yelled out 'Yellow card!" and hurried over to them.

 "What are you doing here?"

 "We went to the diner looking for you, but it was closed. Then we saw the signs and the cars, so we came here." Anna explained.

 "I meant here, in Stars Hollow."

 Well, I've got a bit of a situation. A very dear and very old friend of mine is going into the hospital for some tests. And I promised her I'd go with her. It's going to be a day-long thing, and April doesn't like hospitals very much, and rather than stay home all day by herself, she wanted to come stay with you. If that's all right."

 "Uh, yeah, sure. We'll be finished here in a little while. How about I give you the key to the diner and you two can wait for me there."

 "I can't stay, I'm just dropping April off."

 "Oh. Well April, how about if I give you the key and you can let yourself in and . . . ."

 "What if I just wait here? I can go sit by that girl over there."

 "Uh, I'll tell you what, I know you must be tired, getting up so early. So, why don't I take you to the diner myself. I've got two beds upstairs and you can go back to sleep for a while."

 "Well, okay, I am kind of sleepy."

 "Hey, Luke," Anna said. "Who's the woman you were dancing with?

 "Oh. That's Lorelai. She needed a partner and somehow I let her talk me into being hers."

 "She's very pretty. Anything going on between you two?"

 "Uh – well, we've gone out a few times, and she come into the diner a lot."

 "I've only seen her there one time," April said.

 Chapter Ten

 While Luke and Anna were talking, Lorelai was standing near Taylor and Miss Patty, listening to their conversation.

 "Wow," Miss Patty said. "I'd forgotten what a real beauty Anna is. The years sure have been kind to her."

 "Yeah," Taylor agreed.

 "I'm surprised Luke let her get away."

 "I know. I remember what a torrid affair they had going. They were so young. It was scandalous!"

 After a few minutes, Luke came back to Lorelai.

"Taylor, I need to leave for a few minutes. I'm going to take April over to the diner. She's really tired and with all the people here I think it's better if she was there."

"But Luke, you've almost used up your ten emergency minutes."

"Fine!'

Luke took Lorelai in his arms, danced around with her for a few seconds, then said, "Yellow card emergency."

Luke," Taylor said with some irritation, "weren't you listening when I was explaining about mis-uses and abuses of the yellow card privileges?"

"Dammit, Taylor, I've been at this stupid thing for twenty three and a half hours, you can't cut me a LITTLE slack?"

"Well, okay, but make it snappy. Ten minutes is ten minutes."

"We’ve only got twenty minutes left," Lorelai said. "You have to go right now?"

"I'll be right back, I swear!"

With that, Luke rushed back across the floor and hustled Anna and April out the door.

"Lorelai," Taylor said, "You have to keep dancing. That's the condition of the yellow card."

Lorelai slowly move her feet from side to side, staring across the room, not feeling very much like dancing.

"May I have this dance?"

Smiling at her daughter, Lorelai said, "You certainly may."

As she put her arms around Rory, Lorelai looked back at the open door, painfully aware of the knot in her stomach that began when Luke left with Anna and April.

Suddenly the third couple collapsed on top of each other.

From across the room Kirk's "Woo Hoo!" could be heard. "Two down and two to go!"

 As Lorelai and Rory moved slowly around the floor, Kirk and Miranda danced past them.

 "You're moving kind of slow, Lorelai. I don't know about you, but all this intrigue sure has invigorated me!"

 Lorelai looked up at the clock – ten minutes left.

 "Lorelai, if Luke doesn't get back soon . . . ."

 "He'll be here, Taylor. He'll be here."

 She continued to stare at the door, and the minutes continued to pass.

 Taylor began the final countdown, " Ten – nine – eight – seven – six –"

 There was no Luke.

 "— five  – four – three – two – ONE !"

 Taylor blasted his air horn for the last time, then said to Lorelai. "I'm sorry Lorelai but with no Luke here – you understand."

 Then he spoke through his  bullhorn, "And I declare, again,  the winner of this year's charity dance marathon  -- Kirk Gleason and Miranda Richards!"

 As the band began playing the theme to 'Rocky', Kirk grabbed the trophy, hoisted it over his head and began running around the gymnasium, followed by Miranda.

 "Oh, Mom, I'm so sorry. I'm sure Luke just forgot about the time."

 "It's okay. Come on, let's go home. We both could use some sleep."

 "Well, there's always next year."

 "No. I don't think so. I thought with Luke we had a real shot at winning, but . . . I guess you can't always count on things turning out like you hoped they would. Or people you thought you could rely on would always be there for you."

 As the two of them walked home, Lorelai looked up at the light shining from Luke's apartment above the diner.

 The knot in her stomach wasn't getting any smaller, nor any less painful.

 The End