Title: Just Like The Blues

Author: PKNight

Rating: This one is G, but since it's one document, PG overall…

Disclaimers: I don't own anything. Not Gilmore Girls—that belongs to Amy Sherman-Palladino. Not "Just Like the Blues"—that belongs to Roger Brown and is performed by Maura O'Connell, probably others, too, but she's where I learned it from.

Spoilers: Season 2 finale, "I Can't Get Started." Takes place while Rory is still in Washington (as you'll see), so before "Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer."

Author's Note: See first chapter…

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Wakes you up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat.

Lorelai woke suddenly, the loneliness swamping her. It was worst at night. She was all alone in Stars Hollow. Luke was mad at her, Sookie and Jackson were on their honeymoon, Rory was in Washington. And since the dream was already fading, she didn't really want to bother her by calling her for dream advice. God, she missed Rory. And Luke. She hated when they fought, but it had never lasted this long before. It had been months. He was really never going to forgive her. That led to thoughts of the crash, which still froze her blood. Naturally, thoughts of the crash led to thoughts of…him.

Now you're thinking about somebody you're trying to forget;
Maybe it's a full moon laid across your mind,
Now you're lying there all alone and you feel like crying.

Oh, God, Lorelai thought, and turned onto her side, curling up. It hurt to think about Christopher. After all this time, it would have worked. It would have been wonderful and happy and good. She could even have tolerated the Volvo. But no. The universe was conspiring against them all. It wasn't fair.

You had a lot of chances to make things right,
Ah, but you let them all fall through.

But whose fault was it? Christopher's, for never getting his life together with hers? It wasn't that his life didn't come together. It was that it didn't come together with Lorelai. Maybe it was her fault. What if she'd married him? What if she'd stayed in Hartford with her parents? What if he'd gone to college like their parents wanted for him? What if, what if, what if… she could go on for hours about the "what ifs" that had plagued her for years.

So now in the middle of your lonely nights,
Funny how it always gets to you.

And it's just like the blues.
To come calling,
Lord it's just like they always do,
All in the memories, you've been hiding,
Funny how it always gets to you
And it's just like the blues.

Now you're thinking about him and the way things change

She squeezed her eyes shut. Life wasn't fair, she'd been told a lot in the past. She'd said it a few times herself. She knew it wasn't fair. But it still hurt that Christopher would do this to them both. She knew Rory was disappointed, too. Just the look on her face when Lorelai had told her Sherry was pregnant. Rory had known immediately what that meant: another broken promise. Maybe eventually fulfilled, like that Oxford English Dictionary, but for the time being, a broken promise.

And she knew what Rory was thinking. "Well, that he wants this new baby more than he wanted me," she had said when Lorelai asked what she was feeling about it. "I mean, that's obvious. He wants this baby. He didn't want me. Don't look at me like that," she added. "I know he loves me. But he wasn't prepared for me."

"He wasn't prepared for this one, either," Lorelai pointed out.

"Maybe not, but at least he's a grownup this time. He can take care of a baby. That's some consolation. And that's another thing," she said, beginning to get angry. "How come he's sticking with Sherry? What if she doesn't want to marry him, like you didn't? What's he gonna do then?"

"Sherry isn't a sixteen-year-old girl," Lorelai said dully, hating to be forced to be the voice of reason. "She doesn't have her parents pressuring them both to get married. As far as I know."

It's all that you can do to keep from calling out his name.
You pick up the phone to call but you change your mind:
He wouldn't talk to you anyway—it's just a waste of time.

She got out of bed, intending to look for food she knew wasn't there. It wasn't as if she'd be able to sleep until she left the ache behind. As she went down the stairs, she spotted the handset for the phone. It would serve him right, getting a call chewing him out at…what was it? Two in the morning. Shaking her head, she vetoed that idea. She didn't know who would answer, and she really didn't feel up to talking to Sherry.

Love can be a cruel thing that makes a girl confused,
You never know just what you should do,
'Cause just when you think you're over him for good,
It's funny how it always gets to you.

How many times is this going to happen? she asked herself as she looked in the nearly empty refrigerator for the third time. She slammed the door in frustration. How many times have I thought, "Oh, this is it!" only to be disappointed? How many times have I tried to be "over" Christopher? I'm usually "over" him just before he comes back into our lives and mucks them up. I swear, this is the last time.

And it's just like the blues.
To come calling,
Lord it's just like they always do,
All in the memories you've been hiding,
Funny how it always gets to you

And it's just like the blues.
To come calling,
Lord it's just like they always do,
All in the memories you've been hiding,
Funny how it always gets to you

This is really, truly the last time, she told herself again, pulling a forgotten package of petrified marshmallows out of the cabinet and sitting at the table. She popped the first one in her mouth, chewing thoughtfully. Definitely. Absolute last time I'm letting him do this to us.

And it's just like the blues.
Just like the blues…

Until next time.

End.

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Yeah, I know. Christopher is Rory's dad, so he's never going to be out of their lives. Thus, that ending.