Author's Note: Thanks for all the kind reviews. Sorry my update has been lacking. I was away from the computer for a while, but hopefully my next update won't be so long in coming. I don't own Gilmore Girls or this song by Faith Hill...
If This is the End by Faith Hill...
If this is the end
I don't wanna know
I just want you back
Lord I want you back my side...
Rory had spent the entire afternoon collecting things from around town in preparation for the big date between her Grandparents that evening. Lorelai had filled Rory in on the plan that Richard had concocted. Rory had to admit that it sounded pretty good. She knew that her Grandmother missed her Grandfather and she had a hunch that his plan might just go a long way to winning her back.
Rory was rushing out of the party supply store when she ran into the last person she hoped she'd see. Dean.
"Dean," Rory said nervously stopping short of crashing into him.
"Rory," Dean said equally as nervous. "I didn't know you were back."
"Uh, yeah I just got back yesterday afternoon," Rory replied hesitantly.
"Oh, good," Dean replied.
"Yeah," Rory said.
They stood there awkwardly for a moment. Rory clutched her shopping bag closer to her attempting to create a barrier between them.
"So, I want to let you know that Lindsey and I are trying to work things out," Dean informed her uncomfortably.
"Oh," Rory replied. Lorelai had somewhat prepared her for this news so it didn't come as a complete surprise. "That's great Dean. I just want you to be happy."
"Yeah, well I'm gonna try. To be happy that is," Dean replied. "I guess I never should have told her that I was in love with you," he admitted bitterly.
"I'm sorry Dean," Rory apologized. "What happened with us...it never should have happened."
"Yeah, I'm sorry too," Dean replied sincerely. "I never should have put you in that situation. I was unhappy and lonely and I thought being with you would change that, but honestly it only made things worse," Dean admitted.
"I know what you mean," Rory told him. After a moment she added, "I'm sorry I'm not in love with you. I really hope you and Lindsey work things out and you can both be happy."
"We just started going to counseling. I think her family hates me, but I'm hoping we can work everything out," Dean confided in her. "So, if I see you around town...I can't...we...can't," Dean stuttered.
"We can't see each other," Rory finished for him. "I understand. I'm not gonna mess things up for you," Rory said.
"Thanks," Dean smiled sadly. "I hope I didn't mess things up too badly for you either. I'm pretty sure your mother and Luke have been conspiring to kill me."
"Luke?" Rory asked unaware that Lorelai had told Luke anything specific about what happened between her and Dean.
"Oh, I kinda of said some things to him. Things that were none of my business about his marriage and your mother," Dean sheepishly admitted.
"Oh," Rory said giving him a knowing look. She could just imagine that Dean had said something about Luke's marriage being a farce because he was in love with her mother. Although everyone in town saw it, Dean was probably the only person blithe enough to actually say anything about it.
"Well I should go," Dean said. "Maybe one day we can try to be friends again," Dean ventured.
"Can we?" Rory asked him. "Can we just be friends?"
"You're right," he said. For Dean he would always think of Rory as the one who got away. For Rory, Dean would always be comforting, but cold comfort, dangerous comfort. "You know a part of me will always love you Rory," he confided in her. "I hope you get everything you've always wanted. Maybe I'll see you on CNN one day and I'll be able to say I knew you when."
"Thanks Dean. Part of me will always love you too. But I hope you find the happiness you deserve," Rory said sadly. "Bye."
"Bye," Dean said walking into the store.
Rory walked down the street clutching her bag and thinking about what had just happened. She felt relieved. She knew she'd undoubtedly see Dean around town, but he was off-limits. It was better that way. She was sad, but happy that Dean had decided that he could move without her and her without him. A month ago Rory had taken the leap and become a "grown up," but, it was only now, as she walked away from Dean, that she had truly grown.
Rory walked into the diner a little while later with bags of supplies. Richard's plan was to recreate Marty's Diner, scene of so many wonderful dates with Emily, inside Luke's. Luke, never one to say no to anything Lorelai requested, had agreed to close the diner and let them transform it into Marty's.
Rory walked over to the counter and dumped the contents of the bag. Lorelai quickly shifted through the lace tablecloths, curtains and assorted artificial flowers. Luke took in the contents of the bag and scoffed.
"Please tell me Marty was a girl," Luke said opening a lace tablecloth. "Because if Marty was a man I think the Queer Eye guys would want to adopt him."
Lorelai and Rory both stopped what they were doing and raised an eyebrow at Luke. Luke noticed their obvious wonderment at his comment about Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.
"T.J. talked about it while we were getting ready for the wedding. The man knows everything about that show and he loves tights. If he wasn't married to my sister I'd really have to wonder," Luke tried to defend himself.
"Aww, it's okay Luke," Lorelai said standing up and patting him on the back lightly. "You can like lace and Queer Eye, like G.I. Joe said, 'Knowing is half the battle,' Lorelai mocked him.
"You still need my help right?" Luke asked testily.
"Sorry," Lorelai said putting up her hands in mock surrender. "No more talk about Queer Eye from me. I just hope you can restrain yourself," she smiled wickedly at him.
"Yeah," Luke said tossing the tablecloth over a chair. "I think this lace stuff is best left to the women. I'll go make sure I have everything for dinner."
As he was exiting into the kitchen Lorelai yelled, "Thanks Luke!"
"Yeah, yeah," Luke said grinning mildly as he gave his patent reply.
"He must have it bad," Rory said draping a curtain from the rod. "I can't believe he's letting us put all this girly stuff in here."
"Well honey I'll tell you a secret about men," Lorelai said walking over to help Rory and lowering her voice. "Luke is a smart man. See, he knows that I want my parents to get back together. He further knows that in order to do this he needs to help. By helping he hopes they will get back together, thus making me happy, thus making him very happy," Lorelai said with a tilt of her eyebrow.
"Agh, thank you Dr. Drew," Rory replied tying a bow around the center of the drape. She really didn't want her mother to elaborate on how happy Luke would be so she quickly changed the subject. "This place actually looks really different when you add a bunch of lace and flowers," Rory said.
"Yeah, it does, doesn't it? Man I so owe Luke for letting us do this," Lorelai said surveying the diner.
"Well he loves you so it's in the job description to let you dress up his diner," Rory said.
"You're right," Lorelai agreed taking out another tablecloth. "I just hope Taylor doesn't see the little vases with flowers on each table. He might have a coronary," Lorelai said.
"Why?" Rory inquired.
"Long story," Lorelai replied. "Just be grateful for weed killer or else you might be living in Pansyville."
"Sounds intriguing," Rory said contemplating her mother's story.
"So Susan," Lorelai said smoothing out the tablecloth. "Do you think Mom is gonna go for this?"
"Of course Sharon," Rory replied taking her mother's cue. "As soon as we sing 'Let's Get Together' she doesn't stand a chance," Rory smiled.
"Oh Mitch, it's been so long," Lorelai said dramatically throwing her head back.
"So very long," Rory joined in covering her heart with her hands.
Luke walked in and saw the two of them. He shot them the same look they had given him moments earlier.
"What?" Lorelai said straightening up. "The Parent Trap is a classic. It's Haley Mills."
"And Haley Mills," Rory added.
"If you say so," Luke responded with a small chuckle. "I'm all set with everything in the back. Do you need any more help out here?"
Lorelai surveyed the room. "No, I think we're all set. Now all we have to do is change," Lorelai replied.
"Change?" Luke asked.
"Oh I didn't mention the outfits?" Lorelai said innocently.
"Uh, no you didn't," Luke said folding his arms in front of him.
"Okay, well I'm gonna run home and get ready to pick up Grandma," Rory said slipping out the diner.
"Oh, well I might have told my Dad that we would recreate Marty's Diner, but I also might have told him we'd recreate the whole theme," Lorelai said waving her hand in the air.
"Meaning?" Luke asked.
"Meaning," Lorelai said as she walked over to him and threw an arm over his shoulder, "that there are outfits to go along with theme."
"Oh, okay, well you can tell your Dad that I don't play dress up," Luke said definitively.
"Come on Luke," Lorelai whined. "Your outfit is easy," she coaxed him.
"How easy?" he asked.
"Lose the flannel and hat, put on a white T-shirt and your hot ass pants," Lorelai told him.
"My what?" Luke asked.
"Your hot ass pants," Lorelai repeated. "The ones I bought you a long time ago. The nice ones."
"And you call them my hot ass pants because?" he asked.
"Oh please, it's pretty self-explanatory. You have a very attractive rear end, which I believe I've commented on before. But, in those black pants...meow!" she said smiling.
"Oh geez," Luke replied.
"What? It's a compliment," Lorelai said.
"And what are you wearing?" he asked her turning toward her and wrapping his hands around her waist. He'd never admit it to Lorelai, but the lace curtains were kind of nice in that they blocked the large window in the front of the diner. With this extra layer of fabric shielding them from the town Luke felt like he could touch Lorelai without being on display.
"Oh you'll see. I look adorable," she said wrapping her other arm around his neck.
"You always look adorable," he replied giving her a gentle kiss on the lips, which Lorelai returned eagerly.
"Hey," Lorelai said as Luke continued to try to kiss her. "Don't distract me. We have a mission tonight. We need to save this for later."
"Promise?" Luke asked mischievously.
"Of course," Lorelai returned his child-like grin.
"Okay, I'll be ready by the time you get back, but don't think I'm dressing up all the time," he added.
"Yeah, we'll see about that," Lorelai said as she untangled herself from Luke's grasp and headed toward the door. "I'll see you soon."
Lorelai rushed out of the diner to get ready. She certainly hoped her mother would appreciate all the hard work that had gone into the night's events. Lorelai stopped by Miss Patty's to make sure everything was set to go. She had to admit that her father had taken her seriously. He certainly had one hell of a night planned for his wife.
Rory pulled up in front of Luke's at about 7:30 p.m. Her Grandmother was surprised that she was the one who came to pick her up. Emily had slept most of the morning to get over her jet lag, but for the hours she was up she felt unnerved. She didn't know what make of Richard's proposal and she wasn't sure she believed his admission to only kissing Pennilyn Lott.
"Rory," Emily asked from the back seat. "Why are we at Luke's?"
"This isn't Luke's Grandma," Rory said from the front seat. "It's a new place. It's called Marty's."
"Rory don't be ridiculous," Emily started. "I've been here before and this is Luke's," Emily said glancing quickly out the window to the diner. She did a double take. It was then that she realized what was going on. She noticed the lace curtains from through the windows. She saw the flower garland over the door and then she realized that they were recreating the place where Richard and Emily had shared so many wonderful memories.
"This is ridiculous," Emily said under her breath as Rory came around to the side of the car to open her door.
"Okay, we're here," Rory said helping her out of the car. "Grandpa is inside waiting for you."
"Where are you going?" Emily asked.
"What do you mean?" Rory questioned her as she walked back to the driver's side of the car.
"Aren't you coming in too?" Emily asked. For some reason she felt apprehensive and wished Rory was going to go in with her.
"Uh, no Grandma," Rory said slightly confused by Emily's behavior. "I have some things to do tonight. But Grandpa is in there already. Have fun tonight!"
"Yes," Emily hesitantly. "Of course. You have fun tonight too. Thank you for the ride." Emily tried her best to plaster on a realistic smile. 'You don't need a chaperone Emily,' she told herself as she watched Rory pull away. 'You've been married for over 30 years. He is your husband. This shouldn't be stressful,' she told herself as she pulled open the diner door.
Emily scanned the diner and noticed the lace and flowers had overtaken Luke's. In spite of herself she smiled lightly. It must have taken them quite a while to get Luke's to look like Marty's. Shockingly, they did a terrific job. Emily made a note to compliment Richard on his memory for details. Even though Marty's had closed over 15 years ago Emily felt like she was she back there again.
Richard was sitting with his back to the door. When he heard the bell jingle he turned and stood up. He walked over to Emily and took her hand, ushering her to the table. His normal uniform of a jacket and tie had been replaced with a short-sleeved polo shirt and pair of khaki pants. Emily was suddenly very grateful that Rory had made her change before leaving the inn. Her Chanel suit would have made her horribly overdressed.
"Emily," Richard said pulling out her chair. "I'm so happy you decided to come."
"Well it's not like I had much of a choice the way you bombarded me at the airport," Emily replied as she sat.
Richard shrugged off her comment and sat across from her. He hoped that she would at least keep an open mind and listen to what he had to say.
"Well I am sorry about that," Richard offered. "But I really wanted to see you. And, knowing you like I do, I figured that a full frontal assault was my only chance of success."
"Yes, well," Emily said dismissing it. She continued to survey the interior of the diner. "I don't know how you've done it, but this looks remarkably like Marty's Richard. You have a very good memory," Emily complimented him. She was trying her best to be polite.
"Hello, hello," Lorelai said in a sing-song voice as she walked over to the table with two menus in hand. "And how are we tonight?"
"What are you wearing?" Emily asked dryly.
Lorelai looked down at her outfit. In keeping with the 60s theme she had chosen her most flower child outfit. She had one a thick lime green headband, flowing flowered patterned shirt, complete with belled sleeves and a long layered skirt, which had suddenly come back into style. She completed the ensemble with thick tortoise shell glasses.
"Everyone's good?" Lorelai asked ignoring her mother's question. "That's terrific," she said with a smile. Lorelai placed the menus in front of them and continued her spiel. "The soup of the day is potato and our chef makes the most delightful meatloaf, which is the special tonight. Can I start you with something to drink?" she asked.
"Iced tea please," said Richard gamely playing along.
"This is ridiculous. Why are you dressed like that?" Emily asked again.
"Two iced teas then?" Lorelai asked ignoring her mother for the second time. "Great, I'll be right back," she said as she disappeared into the kitchen.
Lorelai walked into the kitchen and met Luke waiting to start cooking.
"How's it going?" he asked.
"Well she's still sitting at the table, which is a pretty amazing considering my mother. She's questioned my outfit twice though. I keep ignoring her. Better too ignore her questions than to get into a discussion about things," she informed him.
"Good plan," he replied. "You do look pretty adorable you know," he added.
"Thanks," Lorelai smiled widely. "You look pretty good yourself. I knew the hot ass pants wouldn't let me down." Lorelai lightly pinched Luke's behind as she started back out with the glasses of iced tea.
"I still don't understand why I had to change when I'm in the kitchen," he called softly after her.
Lorelai turned her head and gave him a knowing smile as if to indicate that there wasn't a particular reason, other than her penchant for liking his ass in dress pants. He returned her mischievous grin as he shook his head.
Lorelai walked back to the table and noticed that her parents sat in relative silence. She didn't figure this was a good sign.
"So here are your iced teas," Lorelai said placing the glasses down in front of them. "Have you decided what you'd like to eat?"
"I will try the meatloaf thank you," Richard replied.
Lorelai looked at Emily expectantly waiting for her answer.
"I'll also have the meatloaf," Emily replied shortly handing the menu to her daughter.
"Two meatloaves," Lorelai replied. "Good choice. It should be ready in about 15 minutes so if you two crazy kids want to talk about anything important," Lorelai said.
"Thank you Lorelai," her father replied cutting her off.
"Okay," she said and walked back into the kitchen.
Richard looked at Emily and sighed. He didn't know where to begin.
"Emily," he finally started. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for kissing Pennilyn and I'm sorry for working so much. But most of all I'm sorry for forgetting that you are the most important thing in my life. I've been miserable without you. While you were in Europe with Rory I did a lot of thinking and I realized I've been a fool."
"You have been," Emily agreed. After a moment she added, "Richard, do you honestly think that you can just say you're sorry and things will go back to the way they were?"
"No Emily, I don't," Richard said slightly testy. "But I had hoped that it would make a difference. Do you care about me at all anymore? Do you care about this marriage? Because I've apologized many times, but it seems you want me to beg and I will not beg."
"You're being dramatic Richard," Emily replied coolly. "I don't want you to beg. I know you're sorry. I accept your apology. I just don't know if I'm ready to go back to how things were. You say you'll change Richard, but you won't really. Things will change for a week or two but then we'll be right back where we started. You'll work yourself day and night and I'll be at home or at the mall," she said pointedly.
"So you don't believe I can change at all? You think it's just a lost cause?" Richard raised his voice slightly.
"No," Emily replied with her same calm demeanor. "I don't think it's a lost cause, but I also don't believe that we can fix this with an apology and a meal at a recreated diner. I'm being a realist Richard."
"A realist? You're being a realist? And what am I Emily? Idealistic to think that we should be able to put our marriage back to together?"
Richard was getting angry now. He had gone to great lengths to recreate a special evening for Emily and she was being stubborn. Lorelai and Luke had started to hear the conversation they were having because her Richard's voice seemed to get louder as the conversation went on.
"I should go out there," Lorelai stood up and started to walk to the door.
Luke stood quickly and put a hand on her shoulder. "No, you shouldn't," he told her.
"Why? I need to stop them from having a full out fight," she reasoned with him.
"No, you don't," Luke said walking her back to the stool. "This has nothing to do with you. It's between them and if you jump in they'll just turn their anger at each other towards you. I don't want that and neither do you."
"So I should sit here and listen to them fight? Hello horrible childhood flashbacks," she said sarcastically.
"I know it's hard to just sit here and do nothing, but you've done more tonight to help them than most kids would," Luke told her lighting rubbing her shoulders. "They need to work this out themselves."
Lorelai resigned herself to sitting in the kitchen and listening to her parents fight.
"I'm not the one being stubborn Emily," Richard started to yell. The sound of a chair being backed across the floor let Luke and Lorelai know that he had stood up. Lorelai knew that meant he was dangerously close to leaving.
"I'm trying to make things right between us," Richard continued. "I want things to go back to how they were. Please tell me how to do that!"
Emily stood up to face Richard. "Things can't go back to the way they were Richard. I don't want them to," she said plainly.
"You don't want them to?" Richard asked flabbergasted.
"No Richard, I don't," Emily replied. "When I first moved out I was miserable. I wanted nothing more than for you to tell me you were wrong and you were sorry. But now that I've had time apart from you I realize that I like having my own life."
"I gave Lorelai such grief for not marrying Christopher, but I finally see why she didn't want to. I thought she was being stubborn, but she didn't really know who she was yet. She was only 16 and she wanted her own life," Emily continued. "I've been married to you for 38 years Richard--38 years and I don't know who I am anymore!"
"That is ridiculous," Richard replied.
"No it isn't," Emily said picking up her purse. "I need to figure out who I am before I can go back to being Mrs. Richard Gilmore. I'm sorry."
With that Emily walked passed her husband and walked out into the night. Lorelai and Luke just stared at each other in silence. Richard stood, stunned for a moment, then he composed himself and turned on his heels and walked toward the door. Emily gave him a piece of her mind and now it was her turn to hear his point of view.
TBC