Lorelai, Charlotte and Rory were stood staring at their garage.

"Well..." Rory said.

"I'd say three years." Lorelai said.

"More like four." Charlotte said.

"What? It has not been four years since we've stepped foot inside our own garage." Lorelai said.

"It was when we got the Jeep." Rory commented.

"That wasn't...oh..." Lorelai realised they were right.

"And even then, I think we only got as far as opening the door before something flew out and scared you." Rory smirked.

"Yes, it scared me while you two stood by calmly like Dr. Dolittle chatting with the bat." Lorelai retorted.

"I can't believe we actually had a bat in our garage." Charlotte smirked.

"So...uh...what do we do about the bat cave?" Lorelai asked.

"Well, we did promise Lane that her band could rehearse here." Rory said.

"Yes, we did." Lorelai nodded.

"And they'll probably need to actually get in there to do so." Charlotte commented. "So I guess..."

"I guess we're going in." Lorelai said. "Alright. On three, one, two, three." She said and they opened the garage doors.

"Ah ha!" Rory exclaimed.

"What?"

"Those are the boxes from our attic that you were supposed to give away two years ago!" Rory exclaimed pointing to several boxes.

"What?"

"Charlotte and I spent three days boxing all the stuff in the attic and you were going to call a charity and get someone to pick them up." Rory accused her.

"Busted." Charlotte joked.

"I made an appointment, the guy didn't show." Lorelai tried to defend herself.

"He didn't?" Rory raised her eyebrows.

"No, I don't think..." Lorelai said.

"Unbelievable." Rory said shaking her head.

"Look, I got bored after sitting there two hours so I left a note saying the stuff was in the garage and he could leave a receipt and I went to get some coffee." Lorelai admitted.

"How did I guess that it would involve coffee?" Charlotte smirked.

"These guys aren't just allowed to go into someone's garage." Rory pointed out.

"Well, the note said it was okay." Lorelai pouted.

"Well, how did he know that the note was authentic?"

"Ok let's stop arguing and actually figure out what we're going to do. I can't believe how much junk we actually have in here." Charlotte commented.

"Hey not all of this is junk." Lorelai said looking around. "Ok fine, maybe most of it is..." She said grabbing hold of a stuffed ball and throwing it out of the garage.

"Wait!" Rory exclaimed catching it.

"What?"

"Hug-a-World!" Rory exclaimed.

"Oh my god, I can't believe we still have this!" Charlotte laughed.

"What?" Lorelai asked confused.

"Hug-a-World, it's our Hug-a-World!" Rory said clutching it to her chest.

"Where's the world?"

"It's faded."

"Oh wait, I can see something." Lorelai said.

"Canada." Charlotte nodded.

"Canada, nice. Ok." Lorelai said going to take it.

"What are you doing?" Rory asked.

"I'm throwing it out."

"You can't throw out Hug-a-World!" Rory exclaimed.

"I'm not throwing out Hug-a-World, I'm throwing out Hug-a-Canada." Lorelai joked.

"We learned our seven continents on Hug-a-World, don't you remember? We used to squeeze it as tight as we could and then wherever our pinkies would end up, that's where we were going to go all together when I grew up." Rory grinned.

"Aw yeah I remember that!" Charlotte smiled.

"Yes, many a trip to Uzbekistan was planned that way." Lorelai quipped.

"We can clean him up and keep him, can't we?" Rory begged.

Lorelai sighed. "Throw him outside and I'll see what I can do." She relented.

"Thank you." Rory grinned tossing it to the side.

"If I clean up Hug-a-World, does that cancel out me not getting rid of the boxes?" Lorelai asked.

"I'll consider it." Rory said.

"How about if mom chases it and brings it back?" Charlotte smirked.

"What?" Rory asked confused.

"Hug-a-World would like to see the world." Charlotte joked as they all looked at it.

"It's moving!" Rory exclaimed.

"There's something living there besides Canadians." Lorelai joked.

"I hugged it! Oh my god, I hugged it really tight!" Rory exclaimed.

"Yes, you did." Lorelai smirked.

"I have to shower!" Rory said running away.

"Hey, what about the rest of the garage?" Lorelai called after her. She sighed when Rory disappeared into the house. "Guess it's just you and me, kid." She said to Charlotte.

"How about if Lane's band rehearses in the kitchen?" Charlotte suggested. "We don't use it that much."

"Hmm true..." Lorelai said as they stood there staring at the packed garage, wondering what they were going to do.

******************************

Rory and Charlotte got off the bus just as Lane ran up to them.

"Rory! Charlie! The numbers are all adding up, the planets are aligning and I am going to my senior prom!" She exclaimed.

"What?" Rory asked surprised.

"Yes!" Lane beamed.

"How?" Charlotte asked.

"Because I am brilliant. See, my mom was in a good mood today because she made a big sale. I sat her down and I told her that I really wanted to go to the prom. And I know she doesn't approve of such things, but if she lets me go, we will do it her way." Lane told them.

"But her way would be not to let you go." Rory commented.

"Yes, she said that also. But then I went on to clarify that if she lets me go, she would get full dress approval, full chaperone approval, I promise not to actually dance at the prom and whatever boy I go with will be required to attend at least four family dinners before she signs off on him being my escort." Lane said.

"Nice move on using the word escort instead of the word date." Charlotte smirked.

"I know." Lane grinned. "So she sat there, took it all in, and after a really long pause, she looks at me and says maybe."

"Wow, you got a maybe from Mrs. Kim." Rory said.

"I got a maybe from Mrs. Kim." Lane beamed.

"This is so cool! This means that Jess and I will actually have people to hang out with." Charlotte smiled.

"It's going to be great!" Lane exclaimed.

"Aw this sucks! I wish I could go to the Stars Hollow prom. Chilton's is going to be so fancy and with Paris still hating me, it's not exactly going to be fun." Rory sighed.

"You could just come to ours." Lane suggested.

"I don't think we can. Neither me or Tristan go to Stars Hollow High. I doubt they'd let us." Rory pouted.

"You could still ask." Lane said.

"Or just get Jess to steal you some tickets." Charlotte joked.

"That too!" Lane nodded.

Rory smirked. "Thanks guys but think we'll just stick with Chilton."

"Fair enough." Charlotte said.

******************************

Jess was in the diner one afternoon when he saw a woman with a briefcase walk in and approach him.

"Excuse me? Hi, I'm looking for a Mr. Lucas Danes." She said politely.

"Oh, Lucas." Jess called through to the kitchen, smirking when Luke came out with an irritated look.

"What?" He said.

"IRS." He joked.

"I'm not IRS!" Nicole said quickly.

"I'm Luke Danes." Luke said.

"Luke Danes, sorry. I'm Nicole Leahy, I'm Taylor Doose's attorney." She smiled.

"Oh, geez!" Luke groaned.

"He wanted me to bring.." She started.

"Yeah, the lease agreements yes, I know. I told him to walk them over here, but hey, what's the fun of being Taylor, right?" Luke grumbled.

"I'm sorry if this is a bad time. It certainly won't take me very long." Nicole said.

"Nah, I'm fine, whatever. Let's get this over with." Luke said.

"No problem." She smiled.

"You want some coffee?" He offered.

"Yeah, sounds great. I really just need to witness your signature. It's actually just a formality." She said.

"In other words, completely ridiculous and unnecessary." Luke said.

"Yep." She smirked.

"Ok." Luke sighed signing the papers.

"Mr. Doose really likes things to be formal. And neat. And in triplicate. He just loves things in triplicate." She joked. "Wow, that's a really good cup of coffee." She complimented him.

"Thanks. So tell me something, what's it like being Taylor's lawyer?" He asked.

"Well, I'm not exactly Mr. Doose's lawyer. Or only lawyer. He's one of our select clients so all of our attorneys deal with him or a rotating basis. It's my month." She said.

"My condolences." He said dryly.

"Yeah, my father always told me that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger." She joked.

"You're going to be much stronger." Luke smirked.

"He's not that bad." Nicole smirked.

"Seriously, if you run into someone pinned underneath a truck, pick it up. It's going be a piece of cake." He joked. "Ok, looks like that's the whole nine yards." He said putting his pen down.

"Great. You and Mr. Doose are officially in business together." She said causing Luke to grimace. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I meant that as a good thing." She laughed.

"It's ok." He said.

"Uh...I will let you get back to work. Let me..." She said pulling out her purse.

"Oh no, it's on me." Luke said.

"Tell you what. It's business, let's let Mr. Doose pay for it." She smiled.

"Even better." Luke said. "Nice meeting you."

"You too." She smiled before leaving.

"Well, that was an interesting show." Jess commented as he appeared next to him.

"What are you yammering about?" Luke grumbled.

"Guess she's looking to slum it." He said.

"What? No!" Luke frowned.

"She was totally coming onto you." Jess said. "I wonder what Lorelai would think..."

"She won't think anything about it because she won't know and the reason she won't know is that there is nothing to know. She was not coming onto me." Luke said.

"Couldn't you hear her panting when you were signing those things?" Jess commented.

"She wasn't."

"She laughed at your jokes and we both know there's got to be some ulterior motive when people laugh at your jokes." Jess said.

"Ok whatever. Even if she was, I wasn't coming onto her and I never would. I'm with Lorelai. Why do you care so much anyway?"

Jess shrugged. "Lorelai's good for you. I'm just saying be careful, that's all. She totally likes you. It was obvious. Just be careful around her ok?"

"Fine." Luke sighed.

"Good." Jess said.

"So we're not going to discuss this anymore, are we?" Luke said.

"Sure." Jess said.

"There is something I do want to discuss with you though." Luke said. "This weekend, are you doing anything?"

"Besides defying the child labour laws? No." Jess said dryly.

"I was thinking of going on a fishing trip. I haven't been for a while." Luke said. "We could go to my dad's cabin."

"I don't fish." Jess said.

"I could teach you." Luke offered.

"Think I'll pass. But thanks." He said dryly.

"Oh come on Jess! I was going to invite Lorelai." He said.

"Even more of a reason not to come. I don't really fancy being the third wheel." Jess said.

Luke rolled his eyes. "I was going to invite Charlotte and Rory as well." He said.

Jess perked up a bit. "You were?" He asked.

"Yep. Thought it might be nice. I've not had much time with Lorelai recently and I thought you'd jump at the chance of no work and getting to see Charlotte. Although I will say this right now. You two will not be staying in the same room and if there's any silly business at all, I'm sending you back here and you'll have to work the whole time." He warned.

"Duly noted." Jess smirked.

"So you'll come?" Luke asked hopefully.

"Sure, why not." Jess shrugged.

"Good! That's good." Luke smiled.

"Hey Luke, do me a favour though?" He said.

"What?"

"Please make sure I'm around when you mention this fishing trip to them." Jess smirked.

Luke rolled his eyes again. "Go clear some tables." He said shaking his head, throwing a cloth to him to use.

"Whatever you say, Uncle Luke." Jess smirked going off to some empty tables.

******************************

Later that evening, Lorelai was sat at a table in the diner looking bored. She smiled up at Luke as he approached. "Hey, got any good stories?" She asked.

Luke pretended to think for a moment. "Nope, sorry." He said.

"Really, nothing? No crazy, colourful uncle? Best friend with a funny name?" She asked.

"Jeff Smith?" He said.

"Skeletons in the family closet? War wounds? Funny shaped scars?" She kept asking.

"It really throws you off when Rory and Charlotte are late, doesn't it?" He smirked.

"Big time." Lorelai sighed.

Just then Rory and Charlotte came into the diner.

"Oh, yay, thank god!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"Sorry. Didn't Luke keep you company?" Rory asked.

"Oh he tried but really, he's got nothing." Lorelai joked.

"Losing your touch, Luke?" Charlotte joked.

"Thank you." He said to Lorelai before walking off. He returned a while later with their coffee and three burgers and chips.

"Hey we didn't even order yet." Lorelai said.

"I know. Figured you'd want burgers." He said.

"Such service!" Charlotte grinned already tucking into hers.

"More like he's trying to suck up to you." Jess smirked coming over.

"Jess..." Luke shot him a look.

"Well are you going to ask them or not?" He smirked.

"Ask us what?" Lorelai asked intrigued.

"I was thinking we could go all on a fishing trip this weekend." Luke said.

"A fishing trip?" Lorelai asked surprised. "Oh..uh..."

"Caesar can cover here so that's all sorted. Sookie and Michel would be ok at the inn wouldn't they?" He continued.

"I guess..." Lorelai said. "But..."

"It'll be fun." Luke tried.

"Nothing about fishing sounds fun." Charlotte chipped in.

"Yeah I'm not exactly a fan of it either." Rory admitted.

"Well you two don't have to fish. Jess is coming." He told Charlotte.

"Really?" Charlotte asked raising her eyebrows at Jess.

"Thought we could go skinny dipping." Jess smirked.

"What?! No! No skinny dipping!" Luke exclaimed.

"Geez, learn when I'm kidding." Jess smirked.

Luke shot him a look. "Anyway, this pain in the ass is coming." He told Charlotte. "And you could invite that Tristan guy if you want." He told Rory.

"Really?" Rory asked perking up.

"Sure." He nodded. "Would give you company when we go and fish."

"I'm in." Charlotte grinned.

"Me too." Rory grinned.

"That's not fair! You know how to get them on side! You planned this!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"I've known them for a long time." Luke smirked. "So what do you say?" He asked.

Lorelai sighed. "I don't fish."

"I'll teach you. I'll come over tomorrow after work and give you the basics." He said.

"Really?" She asked.

"Sure." He nodded.

"Fine.." She said.

"Your enthusiasm to spend time with me is touching." Luke said dryly.

Lorelai smiled sheepishly at him. "Sorry." She said. "It'll be fun, I'm sure. Hey we get to spend time together so that's the main thing?" She smiled.

"Exactly." Luke smiled.

"Ok, kids present." Jess said dryly. "Stop the soppiness."

"Shut it you. Get back to work." Luke said.

"Whatever you say, Uncle Luke." Jess smirked, walking off.

******************************

The following afternoon, Luke was unloading his fishing gear out of his truck when Lorelai walked out of her house a fishing outfit on.

"Let's go." He said.

"Hello sailor, bait your hook for me?" She joked.

"You look ridiculous." Luke smirked.

"I look adorable! No one ever told me that if you fish, you get to buy an outfit. I'll do just about anything if I can buy an outfit!" She grinned.

"Well, I'll just let that go by because we have a lot to do here." Luke chuckled.

"Ok, wait. I'll just get my purse before we go." She said.

"Go where?"

"To the lake..."

"You're not ready for the lake." He said.

"Then what am I ready for?" She asked. Luke pointed to the small inflatable pool he had set up in the yard. "Uh! You're putting me in the kiddie lake?" She pouted.

"You've got to crawl before you can walk." He said.

"Oh, this is not at all embarrassing. There's not even fish in it!" She said.

Luke dumped a bucket of fish into the pool. "Trout." He said.

"Hey! Aw, they're so cute! Hello, hi boys!" She cooed getting down lower so she could see them. "And look, they look like they're singing in a little trout choir." She grinned.

"I wouldn't get too attached." He said dryly.

"Hi Gomer." Lorelai smiled giving a little wave to the fish.

"And there you go..." He sighed.

"Oh, don't be scared Pinky." Lorelai continued.

"And now there's Pinky..."

"Pinky Dowdy from fourth grade. See her eyes darting back and forth, all panicked? She got that way from dodge ball. It's ok, Pinky, nobody's going to hurt you. Hey Pete, stop crowding Pinky. It's ok, Pinky, just go over there behind Cheryl." Lorelai said.

"Ok, so now that everybody knows each other, take this." He said handing her a fishing rod.

"What's that?" She asked.

"That's your rod and reel." He said.

"Huh, rod and reel. I don't know if the guys are going to like this." Lorelai joked.

"Well, we can skip the lesson and just take the trout out for some beers. It's up to you, really." Luke said dryly.

Lorelai stifled a smirk. "No I'm sorry. I want to learn." She said.

Luke talked her through what to do and how to throw the line into the water. After a second attempt, Lorelai did it succesfully.

"Hey, I made it in the pool! I made it in the pool!" She exclaimed excitedly.

"I see that." Luke smiled.

"Why aren't you excited?"

"I'm very excited." He said.

"Well, jump around or something!"

"Alright, now you're going in the pool." He said.

"Sorry." Lorelai smirked. She glanced at him and smiled. "This was a good idea." She said.

"Yeah?" Luke smiled.

"Yeah. We haven't managed to spend much time together recently have we?"

"Not much." He agreed.

"I'm sorry about that. Work has been crazy recently." She sighed.

"It's ok." He said. "Diner's been pretty busy too."

"I'm looking forward to some us time." Lorelai smiled softly.

"Yeah. Me too." He said softly, smiling back at her.

There was a moment of silence between them. Lorelai glanced at him and saw he was deep in thought. "Hey, you ok?"

"What?" He said bringing himself back to reality. "Yeah I'm fine."

"You just looked miles away then." She said.

Luke sighed. "Yeah I was just...thinking..." He admitted.

"About?" Lorelai asked.

He glanced at her. "Ok, I need to tell you something but I want you to know that I didn't do anything wrong and I wouldn't have even noticed unless Jess brought it up." He said quickly.

"Ok..." Lorelai said confused.

He sighed. "This lawyer of Taylor's came into the diner yesterday. Nicole. Nicole, that was her name." He rambled. "And I had to sign these papers and we exchanged words. And I thought it had been very courteous, you know. I commiserated her on being Taylor's lawyer and gave her some coffee and we joked around a bit."