A/N: Chapter Thirteen! I am so tempted to post every day, since I'm gonna be done with finals tomorrow, so I'll have a lot of time to write. But then the story would be done really soon, and I like it. But I'll still consider it…
Over 200 reviews! I got a huge response from the last chapter. I knew that I would, because of the controversial nature of the chapter in regard to pairing. Just remember what I said, both guys have an equal chance till (about) Chapter 17 – sorry trory fans, Jess isn't quite gone yet…
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: R/T, R/J
Disclaimer: I do not own "Gilmore Girls." That is owned by Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB. I do, however, own most of this storyline (some was taken from previous episodes), so steal that and I will haunt you for the rest of your life.
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"I still can't believe you're getting married." Lorelai Victoria Gilmore smiled at her 32-year-old daughter. They were in a bridal shop, trying on gowns. Lorelai was to be the maid-of-honor, and Rory, of course, was the bride.
Rory grinned back at her mother. "Well, we've only been engaged for … what is it now? Four months? And you're one to be talking. You're married."
Lorelai laughed. She was happy, her daughter was happy, her future son-in-law was happy…everyone was happy.
Wait. Not everyone. Lorelai thought back to her wedding day…
Lorelai forced a smile at Taylor. He really wasn't that bad. He was just … over-excited? Yeah. That seemed a good way to describe it. She saw Tristan across the room, and he glanced at her. It looked like he almost grinned to see her in that predicament. He walked over.
"Excuse me, Taylor? May I steal the bride?" Tristan grinned at the older man, who looked a little overwhelmed, but still suspicious. He'd always been suspicious of Tristan. He was almost a young hoodlum – except for the fact that he had a rich background, of course. And the former made Taylor narrow his eyes at the young man before leaving Lorelai to him. They danced for another minute before Lorelai broke the silence.
"Alright, what is it?"
He glanced up. "Nothing. Why?"
"You looked like you wanted to ask me something."
"Yes – well – uh." The song drew to a close. "You know what? I think I'm going to go find Rory. Do you have any idea where she is?" Hmm. He looked nervous.
"Last I saw, she was heading out the back door, trying to escape the hordes of people. She caught the bouquet, you know."
Tristan smiled. "Yeah, I know." He gave her a little bow before leaving the dance floor. Her eyes followed him out the door, but her body didn't. She walked back over to the head table to sit down. Dancing was hard work. After a few minutes, she saw Jess leave out the same door that Tristan had gone out of. She frowned, but just at that moment, Tricia came up, effectively claiming her attention.
They'd talked for a few minutes before Tricia had spotted someone else to talk to, and she'd run off.
Lorelai stood and glanced around the room, looking for her husband. Finding him talking to her parents, she grinned and walked over.
"Hi, mom. Dad." She smiled and turned to her husband, slipping her arm through his. "Hey, sweetie. How about we go dance?"
He gave her a passing glance of disbelief before nodding and walking with her to the dance floor. A few seconds after they started dancing, he looked at her and demanded quietly, "'Sweetie'?"
Lorelai giggled. "I needed something to get them to go."
"They didn't go. We did."
Lorelai just shrugged, grinning. Luke rolled his eyes. As they turned, Lorelai caught a glance of Jess sneaking back into the room, his face strained. Lorelai frowned, and looked back at Luke. "Luke, do you think you could go talk to Jess? He looks upset about something. Rory, Tristan, and then Jess all left through the same door, and Jess just came back."
Luke shrugged. "I suppose. Could we at least finish this dance?" He asked, pulling her closer. Lorelai smiled at him before nodding.
They finished the dance in silence, and Luke went to go find Jess. Lorelai sat back down at the table before being claimed for a dance by Kirk, who insisted that she had promised him one. She acquiesced, but not happily.
"So, Kirk, how are you doing?" Lorelai forced a smile.
"Well, I'm okay. But Cat Kirk isn't feeling well," he replied seriously.
"You still have Cat Kirk?"
"Yes. He has an appointment tomorrow at the veterinarian's."
"Oh, I see." She looked around the room, hoping for an escape. She saw Luke walking her way and breathed a sigh of relief. "You know what, Kirk? I see my husband coming this way."
"Oh, yes, you don't want him to get jealous," he nodded seriously. "I get that a lot."
Lorelai forced a laugh. "Yeah, that must be it." Kirk walked off and Lorelai turned to Luke. He looked almost grim.
"I talked to him …"
"And?"
Luke glanced around. "Can we go sit down?"
"Okay," Lorelai said. They walked back to the table and sat down.
"He heard Tristan proposing to Rory." He paused, but Lorelai didn't say anything. She just stared at him. "And Rory …"
"What? What did she say?" Lorelai crossed her fingers.
"She said yes."
Lorelai jumped up and hugged Luke. "Oh, thank God!"
"Lorelai," Luke frowned at his wife. "That's the problem. Jess is upset."
Lorelai sat back down. "Oh, yeah. He really does love her, doesn't he?"
Luke nodded, and they both turned to look at Jess, who was standing at the corner of the room, leaning against the wall with a glass of punch in his hand. He looked … sad. Which was something they'd never seen on Jess before. And it scared them.
Lorelai shook herself. It had been only four months earlier. Jess had been okay, and had hidden his pain from Rory. Because he'd already missed so much work, Tristan had gone back to Boston at the end of June. He'd visited Tricia and Rory every weekend, though, and was coming to Stars Hollow a week before the wedding.
"Just as long as you're sure, hon," Lorelai smiled at her daughter.
Rory laughed. "Mom, I wouldn't have said yes if I wasn't sure."
Lorelai smiled. "I'm gonna miss you."
"I'm not gone yet. And Tricia will be here for another week after the wedding, while Tristan and I are in Greece."
"Yeah, but after that you'll be moving to Boston."
"It's only three hours away."
Lorelai shrugged. "Yeah, but you've always been less than a house away from me. I'm just really gonna miss you."
Rory smiled at her mother. "I'll come and visit often. And I'll call you, too."
"Yeah." But it wouldn't be the same.
***
"So what's going to happen to the Stars Hollow Gazette?"
"I dunno, sweets." Miss Patty smiled at Babette. "She was the best editor that paper has ever had."
"She was the only editor it's ever had. She started it, after all." Babette paused, and sighed. "I just always thought that she'd marry someone from Stars Hollow. I don't want her to leave."
"She and Jess should have gotten married. They'd have some nice kids." Miss Patty smiled suggestively.
"Patty!" Babette scolded. "What about your husband?"
"What? So I can't so much as look at another man?"
Babette sighed, but dismissed the subject. "Well, anyway, they should have gotten married. It's obvious that he loves her. And unless I'm mistaken, she feels something for him that's more than friendship."
Miss Patty sighed. "But it's probably too late anyway. The wedding is next month." She paused and sniffed. "And then our little Rory is going to be gone forever …"
***
Tristan walked into the house and sighed. It seemed so empty. Well, only a month of solitude left. He smiled. Then he was getting married to the girl of his dreams… Rory Gilmore. He had been so nervous when he'd asked her, and ecstatic when she'd said yes. At first, when she'd pulled him down for a kiss, he'd been afraid it would be like the first time. A goodbye. But it hadn't felt like goodbye. And then she'd smiled, and that wonderful word had crossed her lips… "Yes."
They hadn't announced it till after Lorelai and Luke had returned from their honeymoon, Rory not wanting to steal the spotlight from her mom. "It's her day," she'd said when he'd asked why she didn't want to. He understood of course. Her relationship with her mom was wonderful. Better than his had ever been, and he hadn't wanted to do anything to jeopardize it. Not that he thought they'd stop talking because of something like that. But Rory had explained that it would have been one of those things that no one ever talked about, like skeletons in the closet.
He looked around again, trying to imagine what it would be like when Rory and Tricia moved in. Not surprisingly, he couldn't. He knew it would be different, especially with an almost-teenager in the house.
They'd talked about the schooling issue quite a bit. At first they'd thought about maybe getting married before school started up in the fall, to make it easy on Tricia so she wouldn't have to transfer schools during the semester, but Emily had quickly told them that two months was nowhere near enough time to plan a wedding. Of course, he and Rory had wanted a simple wedding, but Emily had insisted that her granddaughter have only the best. Rory's relationship with her grandparents was still rocky, so she hadn't refused them.
Tristan walked over to the phone and dialed the now-familiar number. He and Rory had started talking on the phone every night after he got back from work. He smiled as he heard her voice over the line. Everything was going to be fine.
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A/N: I forgot to thank people for reviewing chapter 11, so here it is: Caiy, coffeeaddict4life, dani, Deeta, destiny, dodgerluv, gilmoregal, gohuskers8604, Jessica, jessluver, Melissa Larkin, miss.pebbles, Mysticgrl, pandapearl, Sarah V., wishinstar, the one anonymous reviewer, and especially carrielynn.
Thanks for reviewing chapter 12: Alliegirl, anna margaret, Dani, des, destiny, dodgerluv, gilmorgal669, JT, klm111a, mandie, MaryATroryFan, megan, Melissa Larkin, miss.pebbles, Phoebe, Sarah V., starshollow, the two anonymous reviewers, and :(()
Genevah (for reviewing chapters 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10)
anastacy (for reviewing chapters 1 through 6)