Like Wildfire

By Ellie J.

Disclaimer: Please, like I would ever own Christopher. Hmmm… although if I did, I could flush him down a toilet or something. Mwa ha ha ha! Um, sorry. I don't own anything else either.

A/N: Here it is, the final chapter of this story. I just want to thank all of the people who have reviewed and made my first foray into posting my fanfic so enjoyable. Sorry about the long time between updates. End of quarter reports. Family. Basically RL took over. Plus, I've had to force myself to watch all of the Christopher episodes that have been on recently. My poor Tivo is contaminated with Christopher. I have to watch the Luke and Lorelai scenes in Raincoats and Recipes after I see him. I hope you all enjoy.

Part 8: Christopher

I stare at Rory's last email for the hundredth time today. Every time I get on the computer and see that she hasn't written me yet, I re-read it.

Dad,

First of all, I'm not a kid. Please don't say what happened was all a big misunderstanding. Mom told me what happened and I don't see how the words that came out of your mouth can be construed as a failure in communication.

That being said, I believe that you feel bad about hurting mom. (The "again" is implied, but not written). I'm still too angry to really communicate with you right now. Mom is still very hurt by the break-up, and if I think too much about what you and Grandma conspired to do, I end up feeling violent. But you are my dad, and I don't want to cut you out of my life forever. Just give me time to process and forgive.

As for Mom … I honestly wouldn't expect her to willingly communicate with you anytime soon. Dad, she insulted you in front of me, which is something that she's never done before. She's cut Grandma out of her life, and I think you're going to get the same treatment.

I'll email you when I'm ready to talk again.

I do love you.

Rory

I feel a familiar pain in my gut as I get to the end. I'm so relieved that Rory is willing to consider having a relationship with me, but a huge part of me can't accept that I may have irrevocably lost my oldest and dearest friend.

Lorelai and I have been friends forever. We've had fights before, and I remember all of the times that I've "lost" her in the past, but I've always eventually succeeded in getting her to forgive me.

The very first time she stopped talking to me was when we were eight, and some other boys were teasing me about being friends with a girl. I told them that my parents forced me to be friends with her and that I really didn't like her. Lor found out – of course – and refused to talk to me for weeks. I had to buy her an amazing amount of candy to just get her to look at me, and then she forced me to go to the boys and tell them the truth before she would play with me again.

I lost her again just after Rory was born. My father was so upset that Lor refused to marry me that he wouldn't allow me to give Rory my last name, and I didn't have the guts to go against him. Lorelai never said anything, but I knew that I had disappointed her, and I think that this only confirmed in her mind that she made the right decision not to marry me.

It took me years, but I finally "grew up" enough for her to respect me again. I can't describe the elation I felt when she called me after Rory broke her wrist and I realized that she needed me, and that she wanted me there for her and Rory. It was so great. We were finally a family. But then Sherrie got pregnant, and I couldn't do to her what I had done to Lorelai. I didn't want to miss out on another child's growing up. Lorelai understood, but I lost her anyway. We were friendly for Rory's sake, but we couldn't be friends anymore.

I thought maybe we were getting some of that back after Sherrie left me. Rory told me to stay away, but Lor was the one who contacted me that second time, and then she really helped me when Dad died. I felt our special connection strengthening again so when Emily came and told me that her vow renewal was my last chance to make everything right, I decided that I had to be there. Don't get me wrong, I debated about going. Rory told me that Lor was happy with this guy, but I couldn't forget that she had been really happy with me too. I remembered all of the time that we spent waiting for each other, and I decided that I wasn't going to let bad timing get in the way of our relationship again.

So I went to the wedding, and we all know what happened. She spent every single moment with this guy. I couldn't get a moment alone with her to talk. She was nervous and jittery all night and acted like she was ashamed of me. So I got drunk, and watched her dance with him and give him those little intimate touches that should have been mine. But it was when he got "paternal" with Rory that I really exploded. Who did this guy think he was, stealing my family? I let him have it and told him that Lor and I would always belong together, and he was just a temporary diversion.

I've never seen Lorelai that angry with me before. I think that if she hadn't been trying to chase the guy down, that she would have beaten the crap out of me right then and there. I couldn't believe it.

I haven't talked or heard from her since that night. I heard through the grapevine that the diner guy broke up with her. I've tried to call and email her, but she's ignoring me, and not in the same way that she ignored me when Sherrie got pregnant. I can feel her anger coming through the phone calls that she won't return and the emails that she won't reply to.

I just want to make it right between us. Rory said that she was hurt, and I need to make sure that she's getting better. I realize now that I didn't approach her the right way at all. I should have taken her out to lunch or something and reminded her of all that we share. Deep down I still believe that Lor and I are meant for each other. I'm an idiot. I know that, but if I can just get her talking to me again, then maybe we might have another chance.

I drop G.G. off with my mother and start the drive to Stars Hollow. I don't know if I'm actually going to try and talk to Lorelai tonight, but I just want to see her and perhaps get a lay of the land. It's getting late and the sun has already set by the time I make it to her little town. I decide to park my car in a parking lot and walk around to look for her. I put on a hat and zip my jacket up so that it's covering my face a little. The last thing I need is for some local busybody to recognize me and then tell Lor that I'm stalking her.

I walk around the town square looking for either her or her jeep. When I come up with nothing, I decide to head in the direction of her house and see if she's home. I come up to her house and I see her jeep in the driveway. There are a few lights on so I look into the windows for any movement.

At that moment, the headlights of a beat up old truck come into her driveway. I duck down and make my way to a big tree in her front yard and press myself close to it to escape detection.

All thought leaves my head as I see Lor and the diner guy in the truck. They're back together. They stay there a moment talking and then he gets out of the truck and walks around to open the door for her. As she gets out she wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him down for a lingering kiss. They draw apart and he says something to make her laugh. It kills me that she looks so happy with him.

I am focusing all of my concentration on the couple before me when suddenly I feel a sharp pain in my back accompanied by yelling.

"I've got him Morey! Call the police and tell them we've got a burglaring Peeping Tom!" I turn around to see a small blond woman with a broom. Before I can say anything she raises the broom again and brings it down, this time on my shoulder. I scream in pain, bend down and raise my arms to try and ward off the blows.

Lorelai and the guy hear the commotion and come over.

"Babette, are you okay?" she asks the blond woman, who is still hitting me with the broom.

"Yeah, I saw this guy (smack) skulking about in your yard earlier (smack) and I was keeping an eye on him. When you guys came home (smack) he hid behind the tree to watch you guys make out. Pervert!" she yells as she hits me really hard on the back.

"No!" I finally get out, "Lor, it's me!" I yell.

"Christopher?" she says disbelievingly.

"Christopher?" the diner guy says.

"Christopher?" the blond lady (Babette, I guess) asks. "Rory's father? The one who's partially responsible for you guys breaking up?"

"Yeah," Lorelai says in a distracted voice, and I can tell that she's still processing my presence when Babette raises the broom and -- thwack --hits me again, this time harder than when she thought I was a pervert.

"Babette!" Lorelai yells, but Babette's not looking at Lorelai, she's staring right at me.

"I love these girls," she starts. "And I love Luke. You hurt them, and then I hurt you. Understand?"

"Yeah," I gasp through my pain.

"Babette, I can handle this," Lorelai tells the crazy woman. "Go inside and call the police and tell them not to come."

"Are you sure, Doll?" she asks. "I think he's stalking you."

"It's fine Babette." Lorelai watches Babette enter the house and then turns to the guy. "Luke, go inside. I'll be right in." Diner guy does not look happy at this.

"Lorelai…" he begins, but she raises her hand and strokes his face and he stops.

"Luke, I'll deal with this. Start cutting the pie," she smiles and kisses him gently on the lips. Diner guy takes a deep breath, glares at me but then heads inside. Lorelai turns towards me.

"Are you all right?" she asks.

"I think so."

"Christopher, what are you doing here?" she asks wearily.

"I … I wanted to come and try and make things right between us. Lorelai, we've been friends since elementary school. You can't just throw that away."

"Friends?" Lorelai says in quiet anger, mindful of the neighbors. "Friends don't do what you did, Christopher. You knew I was in a good relationship. You knew I was happy, but all you thought about was yourself. I've excused a lot of your behavior in the past, but I won't do that anymore. You're the one who threw our friendship away, not me."

"Don't say that Lor."

"Why not?"

"Because you have to know that I was right," I say desperately. "I may not have said it in the most appropriate way, but I was right. We've always been waiting for each other. Always. You spent years waiting for me to grow up, and then I waited for you to realize that I had grown up. Then when you called me after Rory broke her wrist, I realized that we didn't have to wait anymore. You needed me and I could be 'that guy' for you. But then Sherrie got pregnant, and I couldn't abandon her and we went back to waiting."

"I wasn't waiting for you, Christopher."

"Then why did you drop everything to help me after Sherri left?"

"Because we'd been friends since elementary school." My heart stops at her use of the past tense. "And you needed the help, but I'm not going to let you give Luke one moment of worry about his place in my life."

"You're going to give up on a life long friendship because your boyfriend won't like it?" I ask. I can't believe it. This is not the Lorelai that I know.

"Christopher, if there is one thing that my life has taught me, it is that I can get along very well without you in it. Those weeks apart from Luke, however, were hell." I'm shocked at the steel in her voice. "I won't put either one of us through that again." She pauses for a moment and I see tears form in her eyes, and then she says quietly, "I will always care about you. I will always be thankful to you for Rory. But Luke is it for me. He's my elusive soul mate. He's my best friend and cook and lover and handyman all rolled into one. He's my whole package."

"But you said, that day, that you had been waiting for me. You told me that you had always been counting on the two of us getting together someday and that's why you were sabotaging your relationships. That just doesn't go away."

"Christopher, I've gotten a new perspective since being with Luke, and I honestly don't know if I was waiting all those years for you to grow up enough for a relationship with me, or waiting for myself to grow up enough for a relationship with Luke."

I can't believe what I'm hearing. She's wanted him for that long? "But what about when Rory broke her wrist before Sherri got pregnant? What was that?"

She looks away for a moment and I can tell that she's choosing her words very carefully. This in itself makes me dread what she's going to say. "I care about you, Christopher. I do. But I've been thinking a lot about my relationships with both you and Luke since the vow renewal."

She pauses, as if she knows that what she's going to say will hurt me and she doesn't want to say it. "It wasn't conscious, but I have to honestly say that the reason that I called you the night that Rory broke her wrist and told you that I needed you was because I had just had a huge fight with Luke and I couldn't go to him for the support I needed. I am grateful for the support you did give us, and I really wanted to try and make it work with you. But I don't think that we would have made it – even if Sherrie hadn't gotten pregnant."

Parts of my brain shut down at hearing this. I was her second choice, even then. "I can't hear anymore," I hear myself tell her. A stray thought enters my head. Lor was right all those years ago. We don't know each other anymore. We have a common past and Rory, but that's it. I start to head back towards the town square.

"Chris …"

"My car is parked downtown. I'll be okay." I turn around to look at her and half realize that this may be the last "real" conversation that we will ever have.

"Goodbye Lorelai," I tell her.

"Goodbye Christopher." I turn around and begin the walk to my car. It doesn't fully hit me until I've taken about five steps that I've really lost her this time. I turn back around but she's already heading towards the house. Towards her diner man and their pie. I start walking to my car again trying to figure out how my life got so screwed up.

A/N2: I always kind of wondered why Rory didn't have Christopher's last name, but I recently discovered, that at least here in Indiana, the mother has to get the father's permission to give the child his last name. I don't know if that's true in Connecticut, but I can just see Straub forbidding it, and Christopher being too much of a weenie to go against him. Please Review.

A/N3: I said I wanted to cause the deadbeat pain. I hope that I succeeded.