The Last Chapter

By: DropDeadRomantic

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, settings, accepted cannon ideas, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The Original Character and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

I'm walking down Plum Street, I have my coffee in my right hand, and my left hand is in my front pocket. The smell reminds me of her, Rory. The last I heard from her was when I yelled at her for her coke addiction. She hadn't talked to her mom, or Luke for a few years, after Logan left her. I still don't like that guy. I'm back in Stars Hollow for the week, taking some time off from the publishing business I have set up in Philly. I'm about ready to cross the street, heading over to Andrew's book store, when I stop dead in my tracks.

She's here. Rory is walking down the other side of the street, book in hand, face in book. I almost drop my coffee at the sight of her, she's better. 2 years since I've seen her, and she's better. She looks beautiful, her hair is longer, she has a tan, and she is in the most beautiful white sun dress I've ever seen. I remember the time I found out what she was doing to herself, I shudder at the memory.

I'm sitting down at my desk in Truncheon, my laptop in front of me, half of my chapter done, when the phone rings. Sighing, I pick up the cordless phone and press the green button.

"Truncheon Publishing, this is Jess. How can I help you?" I say into the receiver. I hear a sob, and I stop typing, and listen. It's Lorelai. I'd know her sob from anywhere. She's called me on many occasions when it involves Rory. Now I'm worried.

"Lorelai? What is it? What's wrong?" I ask her. I've become soft with my aging, it sucks.

"Jess… It's Rory." She says, then breaks into a new seat of tears. "The police station in Hartford called me and told me they found her passed out on the street…" More sobbing. She takes a few breaths, and continues. "They found drugs on her, Jess. I went and got her, she's at the house now, but she looks bad, Jess. She looks twice her age, and she is so skinny." I can picture what she looks like, and it scares me. Lorelai breaks down crying again, and I can hear Luke trying to console her. She is hysterical, so Luke comes on. "The reason we are calling, is because we need your help." He sounds like he's been crying too. Oh man, she must be really bad.

"We need you to talk to her; you're the only one she ever really listened to." Lorelai snatches the phone from him, and speaks again. "Your opinion of her means more than you could ever know. I know you can help her Jess. Please do this for me, but if not for me, do it for her." I don't need to be convinced. I still love her, I would do anything for her. If that means I have to yell at her, and drag her into a rehab clinic, than I will. I tell them I'm on my way then hang up.

I pull up to 'The Crap Shack' and park. I get out of my car, and I can see the light in Rory's old room is on. I run up to the front door, and knock. A few seconds later, the woman I came to call Aunt Lorelai opened the door. She looks like hell. Her eyes are red and puffy, bloodshot. Her hair is in a messy pony, and a few strands are falling out of it. She looks like she hasn't slept in days; there are circles under her eyes. I walk into the house, and close the door behind me, grabbing Lorelai in a hug as I do so. She starts sobbing on my shoulder; I rub a reassuring hand up and down her back. Luke, hearing his wife crying, comes and takes my position, and points to Rory's old room.

I walk up to her closed door, and take a deep breath before opening it. Her room is the same, Lorelai didn't change it. Most of her books are still here, and all of her stuffed animals are in the same place as I assume she left them. But there, on the bed, is the woman who will always have my heart. She looks different; she is thinner, much thinner. Her hair has lost all its body, and it's dull. I can't see her face; she is turned towards the window, away from me. She's not asleep; her breathing is too erratic, and short. I walk up to the bed, pull the cover's back, and slide in with her. I put my arm around her waist, and find she is shivering. Withdrawal. Ever so carefully, with the lightest touch, I turn her over. Her face is even worse; her eyes look like they are sunken in and are rimmed with black circles. Her face is pale, too pale. Tears are running down her face.

She opens her eyes, and see's me. The tears come faster. "Ssshhhh… It's okay Rory. I'm here, I'm gonna help you." I wipe away the tears with one hand, and pull her too me with the other. She's thinner than I thought. She is clutching onto my Metallica t-shirt like it's her life line. I hold her tight to my chest, her head under my chin. I run my hand up her spine and shiver; I can feel every bone in it. This is too much, how did she get this way? Why did she do this to herself? How did my sweet little book worm turn into this coke addicted woman?

I snap out of my memory. I see her head into Andrew's book store, book still in her face. I look both ways before I cross the street. I walk halfway there before I hear my name being called. I turn back towards the diner, and I see Lorelai running after me. I smile to myself, she actually likes me. I walk toward her, and we meet halfway. She engulfs me in a hug, and I hug her right back. Once we let go, she tells me Rory's been doing really well. She got a job at Andrew's book store for the time being. She tells me Rory still wants to be a journalist, but must find an actual job first. I tell her I just saw her, and was going to talk to her. She says the last thing I expect her too. "Go get her tiger." Then walks off. I stare after her in disbelief.

Turning back around, I head to the book store. I get to the door and step in. I hear her talking with Andrew about some book she wants him to sell here. They are in the back, so I take some time to look around, see if they have anything new. I'm walking down the aisle when I see a copy of 'Howl'. I open it, seeing all of the poems that remind me of a day when I was with Rory when she was going through her withdrawals.

Rory was sleeping in her bed, I was in a rocking chair reading her copy of 'HOWL'. It had my notes in the margins, from when I stole it when we first met. I chuckle at the memory. I'm half way through it, when she stirs in her sleep. I look over in time to see her open her eyes, and look for me. When her eyes land on me and the book I have in my hands, she smiles. A real smile, not the fake ones she's been giving everyone. She motions for me to come over to her. I get up, and lay with her, she rests her head on my chest and drapes her arm over my torso. She is shaking slightly, so I hug her to me.

"Read to me?" She asked me. I look down at her only to find her already looking at me. Oh man! She's doing the pout.

"Well, how could I say no to that face?" I tease her. She always get's what she wants with that pout. She uses it on me very often. She smiles at me, and get's comfy as I start to read. About 10 minutes later, she jumps up, and heads to the bathroom. I follow her, and hold up her hair while she vomits.

I snap out of my memory when I hear her yell to Andrew. "Hey Andrew? Can you put a few of my books on the shelves?" Her book? She wrote a book? I am slightly aware of Andrew walking past me to put a stack of books on a shelf in the front of the store. I follow him and grab one of them. On the cover is a picture of a woman and white powder on the floor below her. Is this her biography or something? Andrew notice's I had her book in my hand and smiles at me. "Take it. You'll want to read it." Then goes back to stocking his shelves.

I'm above the diner, in Luke's old apartment. I'm sitting on the couch, Rory's book on the table in front of me. How did no one tell me she wrote a book? Why didn't Lorelai? I pick it up, and look at the cover once more. 'The White Dust' is in cursive writing at the top, her name at the bottom. I open it the dedication expecting it to be to her mother, or a boyfriend or something. But what I got was: 'To my Dodger, Thank You' in neat cursive. Why was she thanking me? All I did was stay with her while she went through her withdrawals. I didn't do anything but stay by her side when she needed me. Did I deserve a thank you? Did I really deserve one after the last thing's I said to her?

I was in the apartment above the diner when Rory stumbles in. As she falls to the floor, I get up from the couch and run to catch her. When I pick her up from the floor, I look at her face. Her eyes are bloodshot, the pupils dilated, and there are dark circles underneath them. She was high. Sighing , I lay her on the couch and run to the bathroom to get a wash cloth. I wipe her forehead of the sweat that has collected as I look into her eyes. They are empty. I look at her arms and find a few old track wounds, and look at her nose and find the inside bright red. I feel her pulse and its racing. I take her hand in mine, and she squeezes it. She can see the disappointment in my eyes and she starts to cry. I won't give her sympathy this time.

"What is the matter with you? You were done with this! This is so stupid Rory! We handled this!" I yell at her. She is still looking at me, tears coming faster. No mercy Jess! "Why are you doing this? This isn't okay anymore! You could die Rory! I can't do this anymore! I can't be your rock and have you just keep going back to this!" My resolve is wearing thin, I can't be mad at her when she I crying. I fall to my knees in front of the couch and take her face in my hands and whisper. "Why is this happening again? Why are you killing yourself? I don't know what I would do if you..." I can't even finish my sentence. I can feel the tear prick my eyes. This is not me, I don't cry, I haven't since I was a little kid.

"Why the hell are you crying?" She yells at me. I look up from the floor to see her livid. Her face is red, the tears are still coming, but they look more like angry tears than sad ones. I look at her bewildered. "Why the hell are you so upset? You left me remember! You left without one word! TWICE! Did you even love me?" She yells in my face. Now I'm livid. Of course I loved her, I still do.

"How can you even say that! I've loved you since the first day I saw you! I was an idiot for leaving! I know that now! If I didn't I wouldn't be here right now, trying to talk some sense into you! What your doing is killing you Rory!" I yell right back to her. We take a few breaths to calm ourselves. She walks to the door, I don't stop her. Before she leaves she stops, and turns back to me. Her tears are sad ones again, and I can't believe the next thing I hear. "Maybe you were right to leave. I'm not sure if I loved you. Maybe you were just a mistake." And with that, she walks out, shutting the door behind her softly. I run to the window overseeing the road she has to take to get home. I see her walk out of the diner, and about half way through the road, she falls to her knees.

I watch her, and see the sobs rack through her body. The only thing I keep thinking is 'She didn't mean it.' And I hope to god its true. I watch her, seeing that she is helpless, that she still needs me. I can't help her anymore. I can't help her until she helps herself. I see Luke's truck coming down the road, he sees her, he stops, and takes her home. I watch them drive away. I pack my things. I get on a bus to Philly, and leave. The last time I'll see her for 2 years.

I ended up reading everything up until the last chapter in about 3 hours. The book so far was about how she ended up where she was, how she got through it, and whatever was in the last chapter. I turned the page to the last chapter, and was met with a big 19 on top of the page, like all the other chapters. As I read I realized a few things. 1: She didn't mean to get to where she was. 2: She hadn't meant to keep things away from her mother. And 3: She still loved one of her ex's. As I continued to read, she brought up the person she owed everything to, she referred to me as 'Her Dodger'. I read the part about the last things we said to each other. She regretted saying that she never really loved me, that she really had. She didn't mean it when she said that I was a mistake. That I was probably the best thing that ever happened to her. On the page before the last page, she tells the reader that her story isn't done, not until 'The One' finds her. Not until she gets her happy ending.

I turned to the last page and was met with what looked like a handwritten letter copied to all of the books. It read:

Dear Dodger,

Hey. How are you? I honestly hope that one day you will stumble upon this book, and read it. I'll be honest, I didn't expect for things to happen this way, I didn't think it would be me, Rory Gilmore, to head down the road I did. But I did. I hope someday you can forgive me. I know it will be hard considering the last things we said to each other, but you must know that I didn't mean half of the things I said. I'm so sorry for that. I have made so many mistakes in my life, but I want you to know that you were not one of them. If you read the entire book, you now that I said some thing's I regret, and that I've done more than one thing I regret. But I'll say it again, you are not one of them. I mentioned earlier in the book that I am still in love with one of my ex's, well, it's you Dodger. I love you very much, I always have. No matter how many times you ran. I know thing's will be hard, but if you still feel for me, please tell me. If not, act as if nothing has changed. I would have told you in person, but I'm afraid.

Not me, I know. I'm never scared. But you have enough of me to break my heart with one simple word. I hope things work out for you, whether it be with me, or the woman of your dreams. I just want you to be happy Dodger.

I love you,

Rory Gilmore

I stared in shock at the last page of the book that explained everything I ever needed to know about that part in Rory Gilmore's life. She still loved me! I closed the book, and ran out of the apartment, and down the stairs. I almost fall down the stairs, but land safely. I look up to see Kirk talking to Luke, Patty and Barbette gossiping, and Andrew walking up into the diner. I rush up to him and pull him back outside.

"Where is she?" I ask him as I show him the book. He realizes I'm looking for Rory, and points toward his store. I run off towards it. I slow down as I get to the door. I take a few calming breaths, and then open the door. There she is, sitting at the front desk, reading. As I walk up closer to her, I see that it's my book she's reading. She has a small smile on her face, as she bobs her head to the music that is playing on her iPod. I walk up to the desk, she doesn't see me, the book is in the way. I take my copy of her book, and put it in the way of her copy of my book. She looks up at me, and her face visibly pales. Placing a book mark in her book, she takes out the ear buds, and walk's around the counter and up to me.

I take a step forward, and take her hands into mine. We are a little less than a foot away, and it reminds me of our second first kiss, up in the apartment. "What are you doing here?" She asks me softly. I push a stray strand of hair behind her left ear. I let my thumb slide across her cheek bone. "I read this book." I tell her, ignoring her question. She has regained some of her color. Her face isn't as old looking as it was when I last saw her. She looks like she should for a 28 year old. "Oh yeah? Did you like it?" She asks. She is still speaking softly, and it's like bells from heaven. "It was interesting." I said as I pull her flush with my chest. Her breathing is more like panting now. I wrap my arms around her waist, and she wraps her arms around my neck. "What was it about?" She is whispering as if she doesn't want anyone to know that she admitted that she loves me. "It was about a woman who messed up. She did some things she shouldn't have, and it cost her something's." I'm whispering now as well. Her hands are playing with the hairs on my neck, and mine are running up and down her back. I don't shiver this time, I don't feel the bones. She has curves now, she is amazing.

"Is that all?" She whispers to me. I shake my head, and reply just as quietly. "She explains how she got to where she was. She talks about how much some guy named Dodger means to her, and in the end, she tells everyone she loves him." I can see the tears start to form in her eyes. She thinks I'm letting her go. HA! Like hell I am! "And does he love her back? Does she get her happy ending?" The tears are running down her red cheeks. She is looking into my eyes, pleading for me to say what I already intend to. I wipe away the tears, and lean my forehead against her. "He loves her with everything he has." I say to her. I lean my head down and capture her lips and glue them to mine. We move in sync. And for the first time in almost 10 year, I feel complete, I haven't kissed her in 10 years! I pull her tighter against me. Her arms are around my neck, her hands holding onto her elbows. My arms are around her waist. I push out my tongue and slide it across her bottom lip. She opens her mouth for me to explore.

She taste's amazing! Even better than I remember. I can taste coffee, and sugar, and a little bit of something that tastes like peanut butter. Man, she has weird eating habits. Our tongue's battle for dominance, I let her win. I let her control the pace, even though if she slows or stops I might die. Lack of air is becoming an issue, so I pull away. She whimpers in protest and tightens her hold on me. The tears are still running down her face. I think she is afraid that I love her, but that I don't want to be with her. "What about the happy ending? Does he love her enough to keep her? Does he love her enough to deal with the fact that she thinks she's a screw up, and had a drug problem?" She is whispering again. Her voice is pained, and it pains him that she thinks this way. "Yes, she gets it. He loves her enough to keep her. He loves her enough to keep her even though she thinks she's a screw up, and had a drug problem. He loves her enough to know that she isn't a screw up, and that she is the best thing that has ever happened to him, and he doesn't plan on letting her go."

The tears are on full force now. She lets a sob out, and I pull her into the hug I've wanted to give her for 10 years.

Okay, there were two date's in this. One was in the beginning, when I wrote that Jess hasn't seen Rory for two years. The other is towards the end, I wrote that Jess hadn't felt complete in 10 years. They saw each other two years ago, but they weren't together, he was helping her with her drug problem. 10 years ago is when they were together in high school. If you were confused about that, hopefully this helps.