Thank you guys for all of your support. This is the first act…set post Yale, BARELY. Rory just graduated, like days ago and she has temporarily moved back to Stars Hallow.

Chapter 1

New Beginnings

"MOM!" Rory yelled to her mother somewhere in the house, "I can't find my shoes. Where did you put my shoes!" Rory asked freaking out.

Lorelai walked down the stairs in her robe with her hair up and her makeup applied. "Honey, they are in the closet with the rest of our stuff for today." Lorelai said calmly.

"How can you be so calm? I am more nervous than you, and I am not the one getting married today!" Rory said to her mom.

"Rory, it took Luke and me years to get to this point. We knew each other for centuries before we even dated and we were engaged for two years before we even decided on a date for the wedding. Needless to say, I have had time to prepare myself for today."

"Well, he has been my father figure for that long too, but still I can't believe it is finally here…today…now…in a half an hour!" Rory said starting to freak out again.

Rory stood before her mother in the gown they had agreed upon for her maid of honor duties. It was a simple strapless lilac dress that showed off her pale skin. Sookie wore a similar dress, acting as the bridesmaid.

Rory turned back to the closet and extracted her matching lilac heels and pushed them on her feet.

"Hurry up mom, we have to get going." Rory said rushing around.

Lorelai calmly took her wedding gown out of its protective bag and took it upstairs with her to change. In a matter of minutes she was ready to go.

"This is it kid." Lorelai said as they made their way to the town center.

"I know mom. I can't believe that this is your last day as a Gilmore Girl." Rory said with a sad smile.

"Ha, like I would ever change my name. I will always be a Gilmore Girl, you can't get rid of me that easy. Besides, someday you will go off and get married and you too won't be a Gilmore Girl."

"I don't see that happening anytime soon." Rory said.

"Well, you never know. They say that weddings are one of the best places to meet people."

"Who am I going to meet at this wedding mom? Everyone that will be attending I have known forever." Rory said laughing.

"Okay, fine. Well…there is always Jess." Lorelai said raising her eyebrow.

"Yeah right mom. He is walking me down the isle for the wedding; we are friends, that's it." Rory replied.

"I just want to make sure that you are okay with that. He is after all Luke's best man; it is customary for him to walk the maid of honor down the isle. If you have a problem with that, we could always change it up, since when have we been a family who follows tradition?" Lorelai said.

"No, mom, things are fine. Ever since he moved back here last month we have been talking. He has matured, and it is really good of Luke to let him move back into the diner. Now that Luke won't be living there anymore, it makes sense. Especially since you and Luke are going on a one month honeymoon and he will cover the diner." Rory said.

"And you are okay with staying at the house for that time? I can always get Sookie or someone to stop by and take care of whatever needs to be done, it is not necessary for you to stay."

"I know, but it is not like I have anywhere else to go. I plan on spending the month looking for an actual job, and hopefully by the time you get back I will have something lined up." Rory said, actually looking forward to the alone time to figure stuff out.

Rory graduated a few days earlier and moved back home to help prepare for the wedding and find a job. Yale had left her little free time to search, but she was not too terribly worried. She was looking forward to taking the month off and not having to worry about school, work or boys. Rory had not had a boyfriend in months. She and Logan had been serious through her sophomore and junior year, but once he graduated and she had another year at Yale without him, things got complicated. His fidelity was put to the test while he worked in New York and she stayed in Connecticut…and needless to say, he failed.

Logan had hurt Rory beyond repair. She continued to love him, but she knew that they were just too different and he was too stubborn to change. She had not talked to Logan in months, and the sting of the breakup was finally starting to dissipate now that she was back at home with her family and friends and away from the constant reminders of her failed relationship with Logan.

"Okay Rory, this is where I leave you." Lorelai said to Rory as Sookie handed Rory a bouquet of tulips.

Richard came up to the girls and greeted his daughter with a hug. Lorelai was shocked by his hug, but she was unbelievably happy that he had accepted the marriage.

"Luke is a good man. I know he will take good care of you and Rory." He said to his daughter. "I know I don't say this enough, but I love you Lorelai. As hard as you have made my life at times, you have grown into an amazing woman that I can be proud of."

With that, the calm and collected Lorelai fell apart. Tears started trickling down her cheeks as she gave her father another hug.

"Okay, let's do this." Lorelai said as she finally composed herself.

Sookie started off down the isle after her two-year-old daughter who was naturally the flower girl.

Jess appeared at Rory's side and she took his arm as they began their walk down the isle.

"You look beautiful." Jess whispered to her.

"Thank you. You don't look so bad yourself." Rory whispered back. She had to admit, Jess cleaned up well. His shaggy hair was neatly trimmed, his leather coat was replaced with a tuxedo and his worn shoes disappeared and in their place he wore a new shiny pair of dress shoes. Rory had to admit, this was not the Jess she had dated years ago. If things had been different between the two of them she would have probably been attracted to him, but they had too much history to make any kind of relationship a possibility.

Jess and Rory parted ways once they reached the gazebo. Rory turned and gave Luke an encouraging smile and took her place beside Sookie.

The music changed to the wedding march as Lorelai and Richard appeared at the end of the isle. All eyes turned to watch the pair make their way. All eyes except for Rory's.

Logan sat behind Ms Patty towards the back of the crowd. He had not intended for Rory to see him this early. He wanted to catch her after the ceremony and tell her what he wanted to say. It was impossible for him to know where to start, but he knew that he would have to figure it out soon, because there was no getting away from Rory now.

Rory could hardly concentrate through the ceremony. She was angry, excited, nostalgic and sad all at once. She had not invited Logan to her Mother's wedding and she was angry that he had come anyway. He had no right to be here. He broke her heart and left her with nothing during her senior year of college.

After the short ceremony, the wedding party piled into the limo and made their way over to the Dragonfly for the reception.

Rory found herself squashed between a very pregnant Sookie and Jess. He leaned towards her as they made the short drive to the Inn "Was that who I think it was?" He asked Rory.

"Yes. I don't know why he is here." Rory said angrily.

"So I take it you did not invite him?" Jess asked, his features turning hard in anger.

"No, but don't cause a scene, this is Mom and Luke's day." Rory said.

"I won't if he doesn't." Jess responded, offering his hand to Rory to help her out of the limo.

The emcee announced the wedding party and Lorelai and Luke shared their first dance as husband and wife. Oddly enough, they had chosen Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville as their song, which was fitting for the couple.

After their solo, those in love were invited to join the happy couple on the dance floor. Logan took note that Rory remained seated next to Jess, neither of them making a move to take the dance floor. Logan figured this was the best time, if any. He got out of his seat and made his way to the head of the room where Rory was sitting at the wedding party table.

"Rory, do you want to dance with me?" He asked her.

She looked up from her pout and saw Logan's look of innocence and she wanted to scoff at his poor attempt at reconciliation or whatever this was.

"This dance is for people in love. I am not in love." Rory said harshly.

Jess stood up from his chair trying to menace over Logan, but ended up staring straight at him in anger. "You don't belong here." He told Logan. "You were not invited and Rory does not want to see you."

"Hey buddy, this is between Rory and me. I have to talk to her, and if you give us a minute I will leave as soon as I say what needs to be said." He told Jess, but never taking his eyes off of Rory.

"Rory, please, just give me five minutes. I have to talk to you."

"If I give you five minutes, do you promise to leave and not embarrass me?" Rory asked harshly.

"Yes, I will leave as soon as I am done." Logan said as he grabbed her hand and led her to a quiet corner of the Inn.

"Okay, so get it over with." Rory said folding her arms across her chest.

God he missed her. He loved it when she was mad at him, he thought it was sexy, but this was an entirely new kind of mad. He took a shaky breath and started. "Rory, I made the biggest mistake of my life. The past few months have been a living hell for me. I can't concentrate, I can't eat, and I can't sleep." Logan started.

"Well I am sorry that your misery is affecting your social life." Rory said not softening.

"Rory, please. I am trying to tell you that I love you. I can't live without you and I don't want to. I was a fool, and I did not know what I had."

"Logan, what do you want me to say? Do you want me to forgive and forget? You hurt me Logan. You cheated on me and you left me so you could continue your player lifestyle. That is who you are, and I can't change it. In fact, I don't want to change it because I think I will always come in second to your bachelor lifestyle. You need a trophy wife who will look away when you are in bed with another woman. You need someone who won't mind that she is only for show, as long as she is kept in the lap of luxury."

"That is not what I need Rory. I don't care about having a trophy wife. I don't want to sleep with other women. I want to be with you. I want you to be the last person that I kiss and the person that I grow old with."

"Logan, I am the last something. I am probably the last woman who will ever love you. I can't go through this again. You ruined us. When we started dating I thought you would change for me, and when we stayed in New York I was convinced that your reputation was misguided, but it wasn't. You are as much of a player as everyone said you were. I am the fool who thought you could change."

"Rory, don't you see? I did change. I fell in love with you. Everything that I have ever said to you has been honest. I have never loved anyone like I love you. I am not going anywhere. I lost you once, and I know that I can't lose you again."

"Stop it Logan. Get over it. I may not be happy, but I will be, but I won't ever be stupid enough to fall for you again. You broke my heart Logan. You cheated on me and now you have the nerve of crashing my mother's wedding just to rehash our miserable past. I want you to leave and I don't want to ever see you again."

"Rory, I am not going anywhere. I love you. I know you are angry, but this is deeper than my mistake. I can't live without you." With that said Logan reached into his pocket and extracted a small velvet box. He bent down on one knee and opened the box.

"Rory Gilmore, I love you more than life itself, would you do me the honor or marrying me?"

Rory looked down at him in complete shock. "Are you kidding me? I am not going to marry you Logan. Did you honestly think you could come here and propose and I would just agree? Are you insane? Get the hell out of here Logan."

Logan sighed and stood. He did not suspect that Rory would agree, but at least she knew of his intentions.

"Okay Rory, I will leave. But I want you to know that I am not going anywhere." Logan said as he turned and left.

Rory balled up her fists and returned back to her table.

"What did he want?" Jess asked her, his eyes wide with concern.

"He asked me to marry him." Rory said.

"WHAT? Was he kidding? What did you say?" Jess said, nearly fainting in shock.

"I told him to go to hell." Rory said simply as she got up off the table and went to the bar.

Rory ordered a Grey Goose Vodka Martini and drank it in one gulp. After two more of the same she returned to her table, a little tipsy, but feeling a lot better.

"So you want to dance?" She asked Jess.

"Rory, you are completely smashed, but you can't be drunk enough to forget that I don't dance." Jess said with a laugh.

"Oh come on, you are the best man and I am the maid of honor, it has to be tradition or something." Rory said.

"Well, as much as I fear you are right, it looks like dinner is about to be served and it is customary for both you and I to give a speech before the meal." Jess said as he watched the guests settle back into their seats.

"Okay, fine…but don't think you lucked out mister." Rory said with a definite slur.

Jess cleared his throat and tapped his glass. He stood up and looked at the happy couple. "As the best man, I was informed that I have to deliver a speech. As everyone here knows, I am not any good with this emotional stuff…but I read a few books, and I think I may have something to say." Jess waited for the laughter to die down and he started again. "Luke is one of the few people in my life who has expected something more for me. I have always accepted that I was born into my problems, never expecting that I could work my way out of them. Luke has never let me forget that I am better than this, and I thank him everyday for forcing me to realize it too. While I lived with Luke, I always knew of his feelings for Lorelai. He would never admit it to me, but I knew that he loved her, and really can you blame him? The Gilmore girls are amazing, and it takes a strong man not to fall in love with their quirkiness. I know that Lorelai will make Luke very happy and I am confident that this is a relationship that was meant to be." Jess finished and sat down.

Rory looked around and noticed tears in her mother's eyes. Wow, Jess got her mother to cry…this was going to be a lot for her to follow.

Rory stood up shakily. She was drunk, and she knew it. "My mom is my best friend." She started smoothly. "She is more like me than anybody else on this earth. I tell her everything and she does me. Years ago when she first mentioned dating Luke, I thought the idea absurd. Luke is our coffee man, he is our personal cook, and he is the diner owner, what would happen if it did not work out? But it did work out, and I know that Luke is right for my mom, they compliment one another. They push each other to be better and they love each other no matter what. Even when things get rough, they work though it because being together is the most important thing…" Rory trailed off, her mind drifting back to Logan.

"I…umm…I have to go…"

Rory said, running off to find Logan.

Lorelai looked at Luke, who appeared just as baffled as she. Jess stood up, debating to go after her, but Lorelai put up her hand to stop him. "Don't Jess. She knows what she is doing."

Okay, what are you guys thinking of the first part? Read and Review Por Favor!