Chapter 1: The Past and The Pending
a/n; Just an idea I had after reading a certain spoiler that is fairly new. I don't know if its been done or not. Set a couple of months ahead of where we are in season seven right now. LL of course! Chris and Lorelai eloped in Martha's Vineyard, but she isn't happy. How will Luke react? Check it out.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. At all.
Spoiler alert: . If you keep up with spoilers its not anything you don't already know, just one major spoiler in the beginning, I have no info that isn't posted on the internet although I wish I did.
"I'm happy for you mom." Rory said trying to convince both herself and her mother as she sat next to her on the couch.
"Are you sure? You don't seem happy." Lorelai responded.
"Are you happy?" Rory asked her seriously.
"of Course I am babe." Lorelai told her daughter, all though not very convincingly.
"Well today was a very successful night at the Gilmore household." Rory said, she was exhausted from all that had happened in the past week. It all started when she got a call from her mother, saying in some crazy, impulsive voice that they were going to be by any minute, pack her bags and get in the car.
She wasn't sure what was going on at the time but for some reason, Rory hoped that the 'we' Lorelai was talking about was referring to her and Luke. However it did not, as Chris pulled up his car in the driveway Rory ran out to see what was going on. Lorelai announced they were taking an impromptu trip to Martha's Vineyard. Rory did not comprehend the full implications of what was going on until she was standing at an alter next to her parents, who were saying 'I do.'
What seemed so off about this? Rory questioned herself at the time. Most children would be ecstatic that their parents were finally getting married. Rory knew however who Christopher Hayden was. Something her mom seemed to be forgetting about in her post Luke-break-up state. Chris had neglected Rory most of her childhood and although he tried to make up for it in the past couple of years, he was never really a good father to her unless he wanted to get closer to Lorelai. He had let them both down so many times over the years and Lorelai seemed to have forgotten how many times he had hurt her.
Luke however, was probably the greatest father that Rory could have ever asked for. She saw what he and her mom had with each other from the very beginning and waited from one of Lorelai's boyfriends to the next until the day when her mother finally got a clue. Rory was truly hurt when Luke and her mother had broken up. She had also seen that coming but didn't think it was something they could work through. They were soul mates after all. She could tell. Rory also knew how upset her mother was about the breakup. Which is why she was shocked when she heard her parents were dating so soon after. From the minute Chris waltzed back into the Gilmore's lives Lorelai had started to hide her feelings for Luke. It was like a switch that had turned off and Rory knew this was never a good thing. Especially when she knew how much her mom loved Luke deep down, and how much she was hurting.
After their honeymoon, and upon their return to stars hallow, the town had decided on throwing them a wedding party, at their house so that they would walk into it when they got home. Rory knew Lorelai better than anyone in the world. She knew what her mom looked like when she was happy. This was not it. This scared Rory more than anything. Did she even love Chris? Rory asked herself. She doubted it. She saw what Lorelai looked like when she loved someone the second Luke Danes had entered their lives more permanently, and this did not even come close. Her father loved Lorelai. She could tell. But a one sided marriage was not going to work. Love is not something that is addictive. Lorelai wouldn't just suddenly fall for Chris after knowing him for over thirty years. People don't change. Well some people do. Just not Chris.
"You mean the Hayden household." Lorelai corrected, trying to lighten the atmosphere that had suddenly become very serious.
"Yeah." Rory said. While Lorelai had taken Chris' name, Rory had requested to keep hers. She wasn't the one marrying Chris. This decision had caused some tension between the three of them but Rory had kept her thoughts to herself.
"Where are my favorite girls?" Chris asked as he entered the living room. It didn't seem right to Rory. Chris just walking into their house. Their house. The house that Luke had helped to build. Rory couldn't help but feel guilty. She didn't know why but she did. Chris walked over and kissed Lorelai on the lips.
"I think I'm going to go to Lane's. She's having some band people over and I thought it would be cool to check it out." Rory explained, lying through her teeth.
"Ok babe. What time will you be home?" Lorelai asked
"I don't know. Later." Rory said not bothering to give any details as she left through the front door, leaving an astounded Lorelai on the other side. What had gotten into her?
Rory hurried down the street. It was cold and it looked like it was going to snow. When had Lorelai stopped caring about the snow? Rory asked herself. In trying to leave her house she had forgotten to grab her jacket and was wearing only a thin three quarter sleeved shirt. She hugged herself to keep warm as she made her way to town square.
She walked up to the dark diner and peered in, her breath leaving a fog on the cold glass of the door. She saw a light on above the stairs, and one in the storage room. Why was Luke working so late at night? She lightly tapped on the front door and Luke's head popped out of the back room. He immediately recognized the girl standing on the other side. Luke walked towards the door timidly and Rory noticed the darkness underneath his red eyes. He looked like he hadn't slept in months. He opened the door to find a shivering Rory on the other side. Luke broke the silence.
"You must be freezing, get in here." He said.
"Thanks."
"Coffee?"
"Sure." Rory answered. She had something important to say to him and these one word exchanges were not going to get her anywhere. She sat the counter. Luke switched the coffee on.
"Let me get you a sweatshirt, I'll be right back." Luke said hurrying up the stairs. He came back down not twenty seconds later holding a gray sweatshirt displaying Yale on its front in dark blue letters.
"That was moms" Rory recognized out loud, immediately regretting saying it.
"Yeah. I have a whole bunch of her stuff here I was meaning to give back to her." Luke said to her before pouring her coffee.
"So I guess you heard." Rory said as more of a question than a statement. Luke painfully nodded his response. Rory nodded back, taking a sip. This broken man before her was only a shadow of the Luke she knew. "That's actually why I'm here." Rory told him. "She's not happy." She stated simply. Luke remained unresponsive, only pain showing in his eyes. "I know it might seem like it from the outside, but I know her Luke. She's so different. She doesn't joke as much. That sparkle is gone from her eyes, she never really smiles anymore except when she thinks someone is watching. She doesn't drink coffee anymore. When she doesn't know I can here her, she cries. It's like she's a completely different person. Like a part of her died. That fun loving, immature, free, Crazy Lorelai is completely gone. She loves you. I know she does. She misses you so much, just as much as you miss her but she doesn't show it. She hides her feelings when she feels too vulnerable, but I know her. She loves you so much and she-"
"Stop." Luke interrupted her quietly. Rory looked up shocked that he would want her to stop.
"But Luke-" Rory said painfully.
"Rory, let it go. Please." Luke said. Rory nodded and looked down at her cup of coffee.
"I miss you too Luke." Rory told him. "I really wanted you to be my dad. Well officially I mean. You know I didn't take his name?" Rory asked him. Luke shook his head no. "I was never a Hayden , Luke. Not now, not ever. I'm a Danes way before I will ever be a Hayden. Maybe not biologically, or legally, but here…" She said touching her heart. "Wherever you and mom are, whatever is happening with you two, you will always be my dad." Rory told him Tears came to both their eyes.
"Thanks Rory. And you- you will always be like my daughter. You know I never wanted kids. You changed my mind. If I ever really have a kid, and they turn out to be even half the person you are…" Luke didn't need to finish. He was never good with words but Rory understood.
She got up and hugged him tightly. "I have to get home now." Rory told him. He nodded and she turned to leave. As she was closing the door behind her she turned around one more time. "bye Luke." She said.
"Bye Rory. And hey- stop in more often." He told her. She smiled before she left, hurrying back down the street.
Lorelai sat in her bedroom window staring outside as the snow began to fall. It didn't phase her. She then saw Rory hurrying up the driveway and went downstairs to meet her.
"Hey babe it's freezing out there get in side." She said pulling Rory in by her sweatshirt. Wait, Lorelai thought. That' s my sweatshirt, she immediately recognized the jelly doughnut stain beneath the L in Yale. She looked at her daughter quizzically. Rory looked back at her mom.
"Where did you get that?" Lorelai asked completely seriously with a hint of anger in her voice.
"Luke." Rory said, knowing that her mom knew anyway. She saw pain flash through Lorelai's eyes. Eyes that had seemed cold and emotionless for so long now, clearly showing how hurt she was. She didn't respond. "There was just something I had to take care of." Rory told her.
"Yeah." Lorelai said. She wasn't angry with Rory, just the reminder of Luke reminded her of how much it hurt.
"Mom I didn't want to tell you." She said. " I just needed to talk to him." Rory told her. "Is that ok? That we are talking? Because if its not…"
"No Rory. You can talk to him whenever you want. You know that." Lorelai told her daughter, immediately covering up her pain.
"Ok." Rory said.
"Just-" Lorelai stopped. Rory looked up. "Can I have it? I have been meaning to run it through the wash to get that stain out." Rory nodded and removed the sweatshirt handing it to her mom. "Ror-"
":Yeah?"
"Are you ok? Do you want to talk about something?" Lorelai asked.
"Don't worry about it." Rory said. "Night mom." Rory kissed her mom's cheek before she went into her bedroom, leaving Lorelai standing there alone. When Lorelai was sure she was by herself, pain quickly filled her eyes. She took the sweatshirt she was holding and lifted it to her face, burying her nose in it she inhaled deeply. It smelled of the diner. And Luke. Her eyes filled with tears and she climbed the stairs not letting go of the garment that reminded her so much of her past. She heard the shower running and figured Chris would be another fifteen minutes in there before she could get in. She wasn't really cold, but for some reason she slipped the sweatshirt on over her head. Lorelai laid down and hugged herself tightly. How could everything have turned out so complicated? She thought.
Fifteen minutes later Chris stepped out of the bathroom and saw his wife soundly asleep in her bed. Tomorrow he would ask her to move to Boston with him. His work was there and he was sure she would say yes. He climbed into his bed next to her. She was wearing a Yale sweatshirt that was a little oversized for her, but she still managed to look beautiful. She was so proud of Rory. He wrapped his arm protectively around her waist. She was smirking, she must be having a good dream, Chris thought to himself. Chris had no idea what she was dreaming about.
a/n: That's chapter one! Please review and let me know if you like it. I have an idea and I know exactly where this story is going, I have it all planned out but I can't tell you because that would ruin it now wouldn't it? Ok so Review please! You really inspire me to write more and I kind of need that inspiration right now. Review!!!!!!!!
Ps. The story is titled after the song As Long As Your Mine, from the musical Wicked, that will be the title of a chapter further down the road, and it will not be referring to Chris, trust me. The title of the chapter is "The Past and The Pending" which I believe is a shins song but I don't have It in front of me right now. Please let me know how you feel about this Fic, there will be massive amounts of LL interactions down the road but I have to get the story set up first so it could take time. Also every once in a while I have to fume about how angry the show is making me, and if you would like to do so as well please feel free to talk to me about it. Ok Review me! Thanks!