Gravity
He called and said he needed to talk to her. Said that he was changing for the better and wanted to make things right for them. He wanted him and her to be a them again. They already had a child together so it really wouldn't be a stretch. However, there was one big problem. She loved someone else. His time had run out and she was not looking forward to trying to reconcile anything with him. She loved someone else and she loved that someone else A LOT. She knew that someone else loved her A LOT too and they had been together for two years now and they were slowly starting to move towards, "I do." She wanted nothing to ruin that. However, the man currently standing in her front yard was really starting to complicate things. She stared at him waiting on him to say something. She guessed that he waited long enough for her to call back and when she didn't, he decided to take matters into his own hands and show up at her door. She knew why he was there and she also knew what she had to do. She told the someone else that she loved that she was going to do this. That she was going to break all ties with HIM even though they had a child together. She was passed this part in her life and she was no longer looking forward to seeing him anymore. She stood on the porch and continued to wait on him. He was the one who wanted to talk so she was going to give him the opportunity.
"Lor." Finally, she thought. "What Chris?" She said hastily. "Lor. I miss you." "Please not now." "Can we please just go somewhere and talk?" He practically begged. "No. Chris please. I'm with Luke and I love Luke so much. Plus, every time you're here it causes problems and I almost lose Luke. I can't do that anymore." "Lor. Please. You know that we are good together and we always have been. You can't possibly tell me that everything that we have had means nothing to you." "Chris. It meant everything to me, then. Now, Luke means everything to me and I don't want to lose that. Every time that you're here, something always brings me back to you. It never takes too long. No matter what I say or do, I'll still feel you here 'til the moment I'm gone." Chris just stared at her. "And even after you are gone, it still takes a few days to get past it. I just don't want that anymore." "Lorelai. I don't understand what you are talking about." "I know you don't because you don't see the aftermath of your visits. You hold me without touch and you keep me without chains." What? Lor that makes no sense." "It makes perfect sense. You've always been an important part of my life because of Rory, but you always leave a world of hurt behind. You still have a hold on me even when you are not around and I end up hurting the ones I love." "Why can't we just go back to the way it was.? Those times were great." "Chris, you had your shot. Then you got Sherry pregnant. At that time, I never wanted anything so much. Then to drown in your love and not feel your rain. But that couldn't happen anymore. After that I realized the feelings just weren't there."
Chris looked down and sighed. "Where is all of this coming from?" "I told you that." "What? The diner guy? Please." "That diner guy is the one I love." "Yea right. We both know that you are incapable of loving someone." "Chris. That's low. We were sixteen then. We didn't know what love was. With Luke, I think I have finally found it." Chris just scoffed at her. "I'm asking you to please set me free, and leave me be because I don't want to fall another moment into your gravity." "I can't do that. I love you too much to let you go." "If you did love me, then you would let me go." "That is not going to happen." "Did my mother put you up to this? I know that she is not a fan of Luke, but I really didn't think that she would stoop this low." "No. I've always loved you Lor." Lorelai just rolled her eyes at him. "I really always have. Why don't you see that?" "Because if you loved me, then you would have stayed and helped me take care of Rory." "I was young, I was scared." "And I wasn't? You had the easy part. I was the one who had to carry her for nine months." "Why do you always have to go back to that?" "Well it's true." "Whatever Lorelai."
She rolled her eyes once again at him. Chris sighed. "Where is the Lorelai that I fell in love with all those years ago?" "Here I am, but I had to grow up and I stand so tall, just the way I'm supposed to be. I had to be there for Rory. She is my life." "You don't think Rory is important to me?" "Sometimes I wonder." Now it was Chris's turn to roll her eyes at her. That only fueled her fire more. "If she is so important to you like you say that she is, then should be worth more than just a few birthday cards or Christmas cards every now and then. I hated having to see the disappointment on her face every time that you promised to show up and then never would. It broke my heart to see her try not cry in front of me because it hurt her that her dad continued to disappoint her." "I always tried, but something would always come up." "No. You didn't try. If you did, we may not be having this conversation right now." "Come on Lor. You know that I love Rory and whether you like it or not I'm always going to be in your life." "No Chris. You can be in Rory's life, but you're on to me and all over me whenever you're here and I can't have that anymore." "Is he making you do this?" "Who? Luke?" "Yes." "Do what?" "End the relationship that we have because if he is…" "NO." She cut him off quickly. "I'm doing this for me because I need to. In order for me to have a future, I need to let go of the past." "Did what we have mean nothing to you?" "Chris. It meant everything to me then, but Luke means so much more to me now." Chris just scoffed. "In fact, I think I loved you more than you actually loved me." "What are you even talking about? That's crazy." Lorelai took a deep breath. "Oh, you know exactly what I am talking about. You loved me because I'm fragile. I had a bad relationship with my parents and was willing to break away and do all of these irresponsible things with you. I would get in a fight with my parents, then sneak out and come running to you like always. I would pace back and forth, yell, and just generally be upset, but you touch me for a little while an all my fragile strength was gone. You were always able to do that for me and I think you knew that. All it took was a little alcohol and I would do whatever you wanted. Maybe it wasn't love after all. Maybe it was just infatuation with someone who could protect me from the mess I was in. At least until one drunken night on the balcony." Chris just stared at her formulating his thoughts.
Meanwhile, nobody noticed the eyes watching them from next door. Babette picked up her phone and dialed a familiar number. "Luke's." "Hey doll, it's Babette." "What can I do for you Babette?" "Well sugah, Lorelai is outside screaming her lungs out at Rory's father and from the looks of it, she is trying really hard to keep it together." Luke stood in shock. "Chris is there? Do you know what's happening?" "Not much. I just know that they have been out there a while having it out. I've been trying not to spy too much." Luke chuckled to himself at her comment. "You should probably go to her sugah. She looks like she could use some help." "Okay. Thanks Babette. I'll be right there." "Bye doll." Babette hung up and quickly dialed another number. "Oh Patty have I got some gossip for you."
Luke quickly looked at the diner and saw that it wasn't too busy and dinner rush wouldn't start for another couple of hours. He had some time to go save Lorelai. "Caesar. Can you handle things around here for a while? Lorelai is in some trouble and needs me." "Sure thing boss. Take your time." He quickly left out the back door and decided to walk to Lorelai's so he wouldn't interrupt anything with the noise of his truck.
Back at the House, Chris was still formulating his thoughts and Lorelai began getting lost in her own thoughts. 'Why is he still here? I don't understand. I thought I made it pretty clear.' She continued to watch him and waited for him to say something. She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. His staring and silence was starting to make her very uncomfortable. She continued with her thoughts. 'Why can't he just set me free, and leave me be. Chris. I don't' want to fall another moment into your gravity. I've been so strong up until this point, but his silence is killing me. I wish he would just say something.' Chris shifted and it looked like he was going to say something, but stopped and continued to just stare at her. She shifted her eyes away because his gaze was becoming more and more uncomfortable. She went back to her thoughts. 'Here I am and I stand so tall, just the way I'm supposed to be, but I'm starting to fade. I'm starting to break and I know that's what he wants. Why won't he just say something?' She was growing more frustrated the longer the silence lingered. "Lor. Please. Just give me one more chance. I promise that I will be everything that you need and more." "Chris. No. That's just it. I live here on my knees as I try to make you see that you're everything I think I need here on the ground. You've always been perfect. You grew up well off with money and anything you could have ever desired. You just needed to grow up. You've always been everything that I could need, but that's not what I want anymore. I have found what I want. I have found my middle with Luke and I could not be any happier about that. I really am sorry."
Luke had walked up to the house at this point, but he did not make his presence known. Instead, he just listened because to him, it seemed that Lorelai was handling herself very well. He smiled as her heard her talk about him and finally finding her middle. He would just wait it out until she really did need him.
"So where does that leave me then?" "What do you mean?" "I mean, where do I stand in your life Lorelai?" "Well…" She hesitated and took a deep breath trying to keep the tears at bay. "Your Rory's father, but you're neither friend nor foe to me." Chris looked at her with a shocked expression. "Lor…" He began. "Even though I can't seem to let you go and I'm trying really hard to do that." Chris smirked a little knowing that maybe there was still a slight chance for him. Noticing this, Lorelai continued. "The one thing that I still know is that you're keeping me down." "Keeping you down?" "Yes. You're keeping me down." Chris just scoffed. "Whatever the hell that means. You're not making any sense." "It means that when you come you leave me hurt and it takes a few days to be myself again. I'm very happy at this point and I don't want that part to hurt what I have. I love Luke and I want this to stick." Luke heard this from where he was standing and smiled at her declaration. It was the first time that she had said at least aloud.
"You're willing to just throw everything that we had away. All of this past." "Yeah." "Just to make him happy." "Well me, but yeah." "I can still contact Rory?" "Yeah. I'm not going to stop you from doing that. It wouldn't be right. It is up to her if she wants to have contact with you or not." "Fair enough. Well, I guess I can thank you for that." "Yeah." "You're absolutely sure this is what you want?" Chris sighed dejectedly. "Yes. When you're here, you're on to me, on to me, and all over and I just want to move on." Chris nodded sadly. "I'm truly sorry Chris, but this is the best thing for me. Something always brings me back to you. It never takes too long and I just don't need that anymore." "Okay." Chris continued to look at her sadly and she again shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "Well if that's what you want." "It is." She nodded. "Goodbye Lorelai. I'll always love you." "Goodbye Chris. I'll always love you too." She watched him turn and walk to his car with tears brimming in her eyes. She continued to watch him as he got in and drove off.
She was about to break down when she saw her knight in shining flannel come around the corner. "Luke." She beamed at him. "Lorelai. Are you okay?" She launched herself off the porch, ran into his arms, and just let it all out. She was sobbing uncontrollably in his arms and he just held her while pressing his lips to her forehead. When she calmed down enough, she pulled away and looked at him. "How much did you hear? How did you…" "Babette. Enough." He smiled at her and she beamed back at him. "Did you do this for me?" "It had to be done. Not just for you, but for me as well. He's my past and you're my present and hopefully my future. I needed to let him go." Luke just nodded. "I love you Luke. So much." "I love you too, Lorelai." They shared a quick but sweet kiss. They were still in the front yard with eyes all around. Luke pulled her to him again and pressed his lips to her forehead.
She was happy. Truly happy. She couldn't remember a time that she felt like this. Being here with Luke like this, it just felt right. She couldn't be more elated then she was standing there in the arms of the only man she has ever truly loved.