It's Not Over
Pairings: Rory/Dean; Lorelai/Luke; Lane/Zack; Paris/Doyle
Summary: Rory lives in Washington Now. She works for the Washington Post covering Politics. She runs into Dean, who is opening an office for his expanding construction business. Rory is about 25 in this story.
Disclaimer: Strictly for entertainment purposes, I own nothing nor do I claim to.
Rating: This is strictly PG-13
Chapter One
When Rory Gilmore got up, she had a routine that she followed. She had a ritual cup of coffee, a bowl of cereal, and she called her mom. Luke had moved in with Lorelai and they were once again engaged. Rory thought that it was great, because she really liked how Luke treated her mother. As for her, Logan called every once in a while to see how she was doing. He was settled in California and it seemed to really suit his personality. She did love him; she just wasn't ready to be married just then. She was young, just at the start of her career and she was loving life. Logan had started dating again, but he couldn't seem to break connection with her, which she didn't mind in the least. She'd been working for the Washington Post now for about a year, which was exactly what she wanted at this point in time. The only thing that was a big damper on the situation was her being homesick all of the time. She missed the Friday night dinners, seeing her mother whenever she was feeling a panic attack coming on, seeing Lane anytime, and generally missing Stars Hollow. She'd always said that she wanted to be Christiane Amanpour, but lately she'd started thinking she'd be happy as a correspondent for a magazine, or even writing books. She'd started writing a novel about Stars Hollow. She'd started it as a way to feel less homesick, but she was feeling the vibe and couldn't seem to stop.
Rory lived right next door to Paris and Doyle, which she kind of liked. Sure, Paris was a neurotic freak sometimes, but she was used to her. Doyle was working as a correspondent for Time Magazine and he loved it. Paris was working at the paper with Rory like they'd always discussed they would. When the coffee was done, she poured herself a cup and picked up the phone. She knew that her mom would still be asleep, but this had become a routine with them. She called Lorelai right before she started getting ready for work. She was feeling extra sentimental this morning, and it was hard to keep her emotions in check. She picked up her phone and dialed her old number. Luke picked up almost immediately; this was also part of the routine.
"Good morning, Rory, how're you doing?" Rory smiled into the phone.
"I'm good, thanks, though I am missing your muffins right about now." She heard him chuckle.
"I've got one reserved for you for when you come home for the holidays. Here's your mom, Rory, take care." Rory heard her mom take the phone very sleepily.
"Hey hon, what's up? It's definitely not the sun." Rory smiled to herself, she missed her mother very much.
"Well it's obviously not you either. Where is your coffee?" Lorelai grunted.
"You get up way too early, kid. I have no idea how you persuaded me into this arrangement of ours." Rory paused.
"The firelight festival is tomorrow isn't it?" Lorelai understood her daughters pause.
"Yes and you'll be greatly missed, babe. Everyone keeps asking me when you're coming home." Rory winced.
"If I can get a correspondent job like Doyle, I can work anywhere." Lorelai was definitely awake then.
"What are you talking about; I thought you were going to travel the world like Christiane Amanpour." Rory gripped the phone tightly.
"I never realized how much I'd miss being in Stars Hollow. I mean, I knew that I'd miss it, but this is like anvil on chest miss." Lorelai tried to hide her emotions.
"Well, you love this town; it's where you're from. Only come back if it's really what you want and don't ask anyone's opinion about it, because we're all biased." At the knock on Rory's door, she snapped out of it.
"That's Paris, Mom, I have to go. I love you and I'll call you later. Say hi to Sookie and everyone for me, okay?"
Lorelai hung up the phone with tears in her eyes. It was crazy how much she missed Rory; after all, she was her best friend. She would totally love it if she decided to move back to Stars Hollow and just travel when need be, but Rory had to figure it out on her own. She honestly didn't know if she could go to the festival tomorrow because it would be the first one that Rory had ever missed. Sure the one where she and Dean had broken up had been bad, but she'd at least been there. Lorelai got out of bed and walked down the steps to the kitchen. Luke looked up from his cooking when he heard her enter and immediately dropped his spatula when he saw her face. She loved that he would do that for her, he could tell that she needed a hug and he dropped everything to give one to her. He held her for a moment before letting go. When he finally did, he looked at her gently.
"It's getting harder to say goodbye to her, isn't it." Lorelai wiped the tears from her face.
"You have no idea how hard. She told me that she's hoping she can get a job so that she could move back here." Luke tilted his head in confusion.
"Why on earth would she get a job here? Where is she going to work, the Stars Hollow Gazette? That's not exactly the Washington Post." Lorelai shrugged.
"I don't know, she said something about being a correspondent or something. The weird thing is, she sounded so serious and so sad. She's very homesick and she of course remembered what tomorrow is." Luke nodded.
"That's right; you guys never missed this thing, did you?" Lorelai shook her head.
"Not once did we miss it. I don't want to get my hopes up, Luke, but I want my daughter here with me." Luke wrapped his arms around her waist.
"It's understandable, Lorelai. She's a great kid, and everyone always said that she was going to end up doing something really special. She's got the whole town behind her; everyone loves her, just like everyone loves you. If she ends up moving back here, that's great, but even if she doesn't, it's great too." Lorelai smiled softly at him.
"You really care about my daughter, don't you?" Luke shrugged.
"As if she were mine."
Rory's day was really long, but she didn't mind. She interviewed one of the congressmen for Washington and asked him a few questions, but she was very tired. When she was about ready to go home, she walked the short distance to the elevators. She pushed the floor in which Paris was located and walked to her desk. Paris was working the section that she'd always wanted…religion. She wrote about anything and everything that pertained to any religion at all. Most of her stories appeared on the first page of the section, much to her co-workers dismay. Rory was very glad that she had her high school /college buddy around her. It gave her a sense of familiarity that she desperately needed at that moment. When she walked over to Paris's desk, where she was yelling into her phone. Rory waited patiently for her to get off of the phone so they could walk home together. Paris smiled up at her when she did hang up the phone.
"Rabbi Jones is so going down, I'm telling you there is something kinky at work here." Rory smiled and shook her head.
"I have no doubt, Paris. Are you ready to go?" Rory and Paris made it back to their apartment building in one piece and went to their separate places. Rory immediately picked up the phone and dialed her mother's Inn. She knew that she'd still be there because she'd finished up earlier than normal. When Michel answered the phone, Rory felt even more nostalgic.
"Dragonfly Inn, Michel speaking." Rory giggled.
"Hi, Michel, it's Rory." Michel liked everyone to think that he didn't like anyone, but he really was a big softy.
"Rory, how wonderful to hear from you! I do so enjoy your post cards that you send to me." Rory sent Michel a post card from every place she traveled, even some from Washington if she found them to be amusing.
"I enjoy sending them, Michel." Michel sighed.
"Well, we miss you so much, you know that. I'll go and get your very annoying mother." When Lorelai answered, she sounded out of breath.
"Rory, I didn't think I'd hear from you until later." Rory knew that her mom knew something was up.
"I got done earlier than I normally do and I wanted to call you before Paris, Doyle, and I went to get something to eat. By the way, Michel was totally nice to me again." Lorelai huffed.
"See, I am never around to witness any of that! Sookie says hi by the way. Have you called your grandparents recently? They were asking me about you."
They talked for a few more minutes, but eventually hung up so Rory could change for dinner. When she was ready, she walked over to Paris's place and knocked on the door. They usually ate together most of the week, going out at least once a week. They'd found a diner that reminded her so much of Luke's place it was sometimes hard to go in. The only difference was you had to serve your own coffee, which was unusual for her. When they got their food, Rory was less talkative than she normally was. Paris eyed her for a long time before she finally decided to break the silence.
"Look, I know that this place reminds you of your back woods home, but you have got snap out of it, Rory!" Rory looked over at Paris in surprise and glared.
"Paris, what are you talking about? What do I need to snap out of?" Doyle looked away uncomfortably and Paris continued.
"Come on, Rory, everyone has been able to sense it. You talk less, you input less at the staff meetings, and you're giving half hearted tries to try and reach these Congressmen. What about the Christiane Amanpour goal? Don't you want that anymore? I thought that someday we were going to be the best damn reports on the paper together, but you're slacking girlfriend." Rory put her fork down and frowned.
"You're right; I know I'm a little out of it right now. It's just that the firelight festival is tomorrow and I've never missed one. I was home last year when they had it and now I'm not there." Paris sighed.
"I knew that you were homesick, it's like I could smell it or something." Rory shrugged.
"I'm sure it will pass, Paris, it's really not a big deal." To avoid further confrontation, she got up to refill her coffee cup and ran straight into someone, spilling his coffee. She closed her eyes for a moment.
"Man, I am so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going and I ran into you, I'm so sorry." She looked up and saw the guy had his head bent, wiping his shirt off.
"It's really not a problem, it was an accident and no one was seriously injured." Rory chuckled.
"That was pretty funny. I am really sorry though, can I make it up to you somehow?" The guy looked up and froze.
"Rory, is that you?" Rory looked straight into Dean's eyes and felt herself get warm.
"Dean, what the heck are you doing here?"