The Boots

Disclaimer: Duh

Summary: What should have happened after Wedding Bell Blues.

A/N: OK so I recently found this fanfiction I wrote last year. For any of you who have read Fade to Black, it is just like that, only it was for Season 5. I was thinking of posting them all together as one big story, but now I think I will just post them separately since I don't really like all of them. I'm just going to post the ones I like best. I didn't change anything, I just proofread. It was sort of fun reading what I had written, and what I thought would happen… because, well now we know what happened. Yes, anyway, I'm sure you just want me to get to the story.

Rory walked down the dark sidewalk, looking for her car. She had spent the last hour looking for Logan, but she was unsuccessful, and decided it was time to go back to Yale.

She finally found her car, and was about to open the door, when she saw a man sitting on the sidewalk, a few feet away. She squinted her eyes, trying to figure out if it was really who she thought it was.

"Luke?" She called.

His head shot up, and then he sighed. "Rory." He stated.

Rory walked over to him. "Where's Mom?" She asked.

"I don't know." He told her.

"I thought you guys went home." Rory said.

Luke shrugged, his eyes fixed on the pavement.

Rory saw the look on his face, and sat beside him.

"Are you OK?" She asked.

"Yeah, fine." He told her.

She sighed heavily, to let him know that she didn't believe a word he was saying. "What's wrong?" She asked him.

"It's nothing." Luke said.

"It's something." Rory said, knowingly.

"I don't know." Luke shrugged.

"Look, you don't have to tell me… but, I'm a pretty good listener when I want to be."

"Your mom lied to me." Luke said, and Rory's stomach dropped. Uh oh.

"Sure, his Dad died and she was just being nice… and she says nothing happened, and it was no big deal… it was just two friends, talking about old times… that was it. But if it was so innocent, then why wouldn't she just tell me?" Luke said, almost surprised at the words spilling out of his mouth.

Rory took a deep breath. "Maybe she was scared."

"Of what? There was nothing to be scared of. All she had to do was just tell me." Luke said.

"Maybe she was scared of how you'd react. Maybe she didn't want to mess things up." Rory said, slowly.

"And lying was a better alternative?" Luke asked, still staring at the ground.

"It's new for her, Luke." Rory said, and he finally looked up at her, his eyes meeting hers.

"What?" He asked, softly.

"My dad… he always… Look, I love my Dad, but he always comes around and he messes up everything." Rory said.

"Because she always let him." Rory told Luke, and nodded.

He was hanging on to every word, never looking away.

"She always let him… She always let him in, she always left the door open for him. She waited for him. She waited, and she waited. She never had a long-lasting relationship because she was always waiting for him." Rory continued.

Luke went back to studying the ground. This really wasn't helping.

"And then, he really blew it. He made her all these promises. He told her they would be together. He told me they'd be together. We were going to be a family… And then, Sherry calls and he decides to go be a family with her instead. He decides to raise her baby, be there for her, and not us." Rory said.

Luke looked up again. "He's stupid." He said softly.

Rory nodded, and continued. "And that was it. The door was closed, she was done, she was going to stop waiting for him, because he had finally made up his mind, and he had chose somebody else." Rory said.

"And now… She's with you… and he comes around again." Rory said, and then paused for effect. "But, she didn't want to let him in, she didn't want to open the door, or unlock it, or be with him, or anything… and it was new for her." Rory said.

"But, why did she go?" Luke asked, softly.

"Because she always does." Rory said.

Luke nodded, and looked down at the ground again.

"But it was different this time." Rory said, hopefully. "I know it was different. I've seen it so many times, and I know it was different." She said. "She was being his friend… just his friend. Because no matter what he does to her, he is still my father, and she's going to be there for him." Rory said.

Luke's shoulders dropped, and he lifted his head to look out at the cars beginning to pull out of the parking lot.

"Just not in the way she used to be." Rory finished.

Luke looked up at her, questionably. "What?" He asked.

"You know, if I hadn't been born, my parents still wouldn't have gotten married." Rory said, sort of changing the subject. "If I hadn't been born, my Mom wouldn't have spent years waiting for him, because he wouldn't have been the one… She only waited all those years, because… it's a nice concept, you know?" Rory asked.

Luke was lost, but he continued to listen.

"The mother and the father and the child… all one happy family. It's a nice concept." Rory explained. "But, if I hadn't been born, Chris and Lorelai would have just been old friends… They would have bumped into each other 10 years from now, and had a drink or a laugh, and that'd be it. They wouldn't have been anything. My mom wouldn't have waited, she wouldn't have cared, she wouldn't have given him a second thought." Rory said.

"But if I hadn't been born… I still think you and my mom would have crossed paths… and you would have been more than a drink and a laugh." Rory said.

Rory sighed heavily. "She did it for me, you know. She visits him, and she lets him in, and she stays his friend… because of me… because she wants me to have a father." She said, picking up a few pebbles from the ground, and playing with them. "She doesn't want to chase him away, because she wants me to have a father… You know, one time on my 5th birthday… he promised he would come and visit, but he never showed up." Rory explained. "And I sat outside, waiting and waiting for him to show up, but he never did."

"And I went inside, and I told my Mom it was all her fault… that she did something that made him stay away from us… that it was all because of her, that she took me away from him, and she was the reason I didn't have a father." Rory said.

Luke softened, as he listened to her story.

"And the next day I went into her bedroom and apologized, but I could tell she had been crying the whole night… I hugged her and I told her how sorry I was, and how I knew it wasn't really her fault… I was just sad, you know? I wanted someone to blame…. Because it was easier to blame her… I always thought that it was because of me, I wasn't good enough, he didn't like me, I wasn't funny, or pretty enough… and it was easier to say that it was Mom's fault, instead of mine… I apologized, and she said she was OK, but I think she always remembers that night… and she just never wants it to be true. She doesn't want it to be her fault. She doesn't want to chase him away or be the cause of him hurting me… So, she was always nice to him, and was always his friend… no matter what he did." Rory explained.

Luke nodded, to show her that he was following along. "She does it for me, she is his friend because of me, she comforts him, and visits him because of me… because she doesn't want to be the reason that he doesn't visit."

"She used to think she was in love with him… I think she was more in love with the concept… of a big, happy, family. I don't think she was ever really in love with him. I mean, she loves him… but, she's not in love with him." Rory said.

"She's in love with you."

"But, why wouldn't she just tell me?" He asked, softly.

"She was scared, Luke." Rory told him. "That she had messed up again, that she had screwed up, that she had ruined another relationship… She was scared that she would lose you."

"She didn't lose me." Luke said.

"Then why are you sitting here with me, and not with her?"

"Maybe I'm scared." He told her, looking at her straight in the eye. The confession surprised both of them, but Rory nodded, as if she understood.

"You both are." Rory said.

Luke nodded. "I just need some time… to process." He told her.

"OK." Rory nodded, as she watched Luke stand up. "Do you need a ride?" She asked.

"No, the trucks over there." He pointed.

"OK. Bye Luke."

"Bye Rory."

He walked down her driveway, as the wind hit his face. Her car was in the driveway, so he walked over the lawn, and up the porch stairs. He ran the door bell, and looked around the yard as he waited.

"Luke?" She asked, when she opened the door.

"Hi." He said, uneasily.

"Hi." She said, with a smile.

"I just um, wanted to give you these." He said, holding up a box.

"What?" She asked.

"The boots." He said.

She nodded, and stared at the package in his hand.

"They came this morning." He said. "I just thought I'd drop them off."

"Um, thanks." She said, uneasily. It had been three days since the wedding. Three days since Rory told her about the talk her and Luke had. Three days since Luke needed time to process. Three days since she had seen him. Three days since she had talked to him. Three days since she had gone to the diner. Three days of crying. Three days of completely missing him.

"I mean, if you don't want them… I'll send them back." He said, sensing that she wasn't very interested in the boots anymore. "I mean, if you've changed your mind." Luke said. Lorelai got the feeling they weren't talking about the boots anymore.

"No, I haven't changed my mind." She said, looking straight at him.

"I mean, they are fishing boots… You don't really like fishing."

"I love fishing." She told him.

"They're from a boating catalog."

"I love boats."

"And I think they accidentally sent size 8 ones."

"I'll squish my feet into them." She told him.

"You'll get blisters."

"That's OK."

"OK." He nodded. "Here." He said, handing them to her.

He turned around, and began walking down the steps. She began to turn around and close the door.

"Lorelai?" He asked, turning around. She stopped and turned around to look at him.

"Yeah?"

"Are you coming to the diner tomorrow?"

"Do you want me to?"

"Yeah."

"I'll wear the boots." She smiled

"OK." He smiled.

"Bye Luke."

"Bye Lorelai."

Nice episode… Except for the fight, of course. Damn Christopher. It was going so nice, too… and then he had to come along. But what else is new, right?

I loved the dancing. "If you're in love, than we invite you to join Emily and Richard on the dance floor."

So sweet…

And Lorelai and Emily talking. Lorelai wants to get married. The necklaces, Rory's best man outfit… Luke and Chris's freak out when they see Logan and Rory.

The ending. "You and me, we're done."

The bachlorette party… Emily was priceless. I loved the whole Gypsy thing in there… The pasta…

"Trying to figure out what you see in me?"

"Yeah."

"Wait till you see me in the boots."

The whole Bill story for Emily and Richard's first dance… nice.

Rory and Chris's talk in the salon… Except, Rory should have known that Chris was up to something… I mean, he's sitting there going on and on about Lorelai… Don't you think he's going to try something? Don't you think he'll try and mess it up. C'mon Rory

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