Stand Still
Summary: Luke and Lorelai broke up after her parents wedding, then she left Stars Hollow when Mike Armstrong offered her that job. But now shes back in town, 5 years later,to give Luke something, onlyto find that he is a very changed man and there's something he isn't telling her. What's he hiding and what will she do when she finds out?
Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls or any of it's characters. I only write this for fun and don't make any money off of it or anything like that.
Rating: pg13 just to be safe
A/N: As always...thank you to all of my amazing reviewers:
GGFAN6: Yes, Jess and Rory will see each other and they will talk...But this isn't a Jess and Rory story so they'll only have a few scenes together...You'll get tosee who breaks the news to Luke later is this chapter...
JoEySaNgEl1534: I try...Hope you like it...
dayzy27: That's OK, better late than never, right? Yeah, I'm going to be sad when I post the last chapter of this, too...
LittleGGLover: Thank you! I'm glad somebody trusts me.
lindsey: Yeah exactly! It would have been waytoo un-luke...
jennalynn: Noo I'm not really familiar with her...But I'm guessing that it's a great compliment to be compared to her! Thank you so much!
The27thGilmore: Yup...3 chapters left...It makes me sad, too. Yeah I love that Richard is finally understanding...And I love that he brought her the dollhouse.
Lauren: Thanks, glad you agree. Yes it was sad, but I do think it's better this way.
Marcel-Marceau-chicken: Thanks! I'm happy that most people agree with me, that this way is better. I just think the other way would be very fake and cheesy.
Mimimoon: LOl, that's OK, I still really appreciate it.
Kylie1403: Yess, it would be totally un-lukelike
Ronata: Yeahh, it is hard. There are very, very many ways of doing it. Personally, I didn't like how the show just had them kiss and then next episode we just got to see them the next day...I kindda wished we could have seen what happened in the middle...Anyways, I hope I can pull it off. Also, I'd love to read your story, so you should def post one.
s.Roman: Yess, it's painful, but if they just got together after she gave him the chuppah then it would be too cheesy and fake. Plus, I don't think Luke would ever cheat on anybody, especially after the sock incident with Nicole.
lollysamantha: Thank you. I can't believe that next chapter is the last one, it makes me sad...
gilmoregirlsfanatic: Yup, I agree. Plus, Luke wouldn't cheat on anyone...and the other way would have been cheesy.
Luke'sGirl: Yup, he was...But you know how Luke sometimes gets a little too angry...Not unsually with Lorelai, but hey...there was the time when Lorelai told him not to date a Chilton mom and of course when Rory and Jess were in the car accident...
XxAngelxX911: I know...before everyone hated her! Now they love her. It's funny. And yeah, of course you gotta love Kirk.
Franala: Yeahh, I thought it was pretty good way of getting her outta the picture...Yup, gotta love that town...and the shirts.
lue: Yup...Glad you can see the light! Lol.
orangesherbert7: Oohh I get what you were trying to say, now. Jess and Rory talk, but this is not a Jess and Rory story soo they'll only have a few scenes...and they basically have to do with L/L anyways...That's a spoiler for the last chapter, btw. Lol. Yeahhh you just gotta love Kirk and the town with the story telling and the t-shirts...Just seems like something they would do.
screaming truth: Yeah, Kirk's happy...He always is, even when his entire body had gotten serverly burned by the cheese on Lorelai's "biggest pizza in the world'...Haha remember that? Yup, anways...
LorelaiAndLukeFan: Yup, just about everybody hated her...Even tho she's nice, we hate anyone that's with Luke and isn't Lorelai...
tom: Yupp, drama, drama, drama...Yeahhh, gotta love Kirk. You say you wanted Lorelai alone with her thoughts of married Luke...Well I'm not sure if it's exactly what your looking for, but I had written something along those lines, in here. Yeah, I figured her finding the box was a good way of getting rid of her...
BluJPlover: Thank you, thank you. I like these types of stories, too. That's basically why I wrote one.
lauren: Thanks!
Roxton7: I thought about the tape thing...Decided against it tho cuz it's already been done, you know? When Luke first realizes shes 'the one' it's cuz of the tape...I figure I needed a different idea. And lol, I also thought about the Luke-Lorelai convo when they talk about marriage...But I already have that flashback in the story soo again, I decided against it. Nice ideas, tho. Just thougt I'd let you know they also crosssed my mind.
Melissa: Yup, as much as I hate it sometimes, drama and angst and stuff usually make things more interesting
AmbeR: Yeah, it'd be boring and plus it would end way too soon...I can't believe that this is the 2nd to last chaper...
GilmoreGirlsFreakazoid: Haha yesss, I can defiantly imagine Kirk running around in circles with a screaming Rebecca chasing after him...Lol. Yup, Jess is back.
nicole: Jess is back...In the real show, ASP says he's a hero this time around...I figured I could write him in that way, too. Plus,I always thought he should comehome and redeem himself.
ocdwithlhg: Sweet, I'd love to read it. It's completely fine with me. I've read a few of your stories and there great, so I can't wait to read this one.
journeyghlover: Yup, defianately more fitting this way...I'm glad that most of you seem to agree...I figured I would get a lot of angry reviews, but surprsingly I haven't gotten any.
Mirax Corran: Yeahh, I understand...When Rachel came back in the show, I felt a little bit bad for her when she left, even though I wanted Luke and Lorelai to get together...I still felt bad. Lol
MoKnKeYbUtT09: Lol. Thank you. Reading your comment made me totally think about that Destiny's Child song. Soo I went and listened to it because it was stuck in my head. LOl. Anyways, thanks...
JJFluffStuffForeva: Haha. Thank you.
javarox: Hmmm...I'm not really decided when it comes to Rory and her relationships...Sometimes I like her better with Jess, but I also think it'd be weird for Luke and Lorelai to be together and Jess and Rory together, too...Cuz L/L getting married would make them cousins...I like Jess better than Dean and Logan though.
myunique: Hey, thanks. You can add me to your story alert list or author alert list and then it will email you when I update. I barely ever go on my email because it always freezes and stuff, so this way it'll be easier.
Thank you all so much for the amazing reviews. I appreciate them so much.
Anyways,
on with the story,
Luke wandered aimlessly around the house...He was so lost in his thoughts, that, he didn't really notice he was doing it, until about 45 minutes later.
It was funny how much things could change in such a short period of time. It had been about 2 and a half hours, that's how long it took for his world to be turned upside down.
A few hours ago, he was with Rebecca and they were going to move in together. Now, she was gone and he had already unpacked all of the boxes that, she had packed up for him.
He knew he didn't really want to move in with her. He knew he was wrong and so stupid to leadher on like that. He made it seem OK when in fact, it was far from OK. He said he loved her, when he really wasn't sure. He said he'd move in when, that was the last thing he wanted to do.
He knew that wasn't fair. He knew he screwed up.
He hated that he treated her so badly. He hated that he hadn't really noticed it until now. He hated that he never appreciated all he did for her. She had always been sweet and understanding. She had been willing to wait for him while he figured things out. He took her for grantid, he treated her horribly. She deserved much better...
And then there was Lorelai,
The image of her face, after he blow up at her, kept appearing in his mind. He hated that he hurt her so much...He was frustrated, he was confused...
It was bad timing, they both knew it.
Luke finally took a seat on the couch. He sat in silence and looked around the the house...his house...her house...
"Soo...I was thinking...Since we're engaged, you could move in with me." Rebecca smiled.
"Move in?" He asked.
"Yeah..."
"But what about my house?" He asked. "I don't want to leave my house."
She sighed. "Well... Luke, I guess, I could just move into your house...if you don't want to move into my place.Yourhouse,is a great house." Rebecca told him.
"Yeah, it is." He answered.
"So, I'm moving in there?"
"No, no..." He answered quickly.
"OK...So...?"
"Your place is fine."
At the time he wasn't really sure why he had said no to Rebecca. Now, he was begginning to realize that it was because, he had been hoping Lorelai would come back. He was hoping she'd come home to him and they could live there together.
He couldn't imagine living there with anyone else. He didn't want to live there with anybody else...
Why did he snap at her like that?
He wished he could take it back so badly. He hated himself for doing it.
Wow. He screwed up.
He needed to find Lorelai. He needed to apologize to her ...and to Rebecca.
Lorelai sat in the air port. She had tons of frequent flyer miles, due to her new job, so she had taken a plan to Stars Hollow and then got a rental car.
She sat there playing with her hands, trying not to cry, trying not to think about it. Her flight wasn't coming in for another hour.
Everything that Luke had said ran through her head over and over. Her eyes began to tear up and her vision became foggy.
She didn't know where she was going to go from here. She didn't want to live in New York anymore, and Stars Hollow wasn't going to be an option. There was no way she wanted to stick around there and watch Luke marryanother woman.There was no way she wanted to watch them be married and then have kids and a minivan. There was no way she wanted to watch Luke hold or burp or change the diaper of a baby that wasn't theirs.
She frowned at the thought of Luke having a baby with someone besides her. Nobody knew this but, she thought about it. She thought about marrying Luke, having kids with Luke... She thought about it a lot.
If they had a girl, she would have defiantly been a Daddy's girl. She had always imagined Luke sitting on the floor with their daughter, playing with barbies, with pink, butterfly hair clips in his hair from the make-over their daughter had given him a few hours before. They would play dress up and make macaroni necklaces. And, once she got older, and started dating, she would be afraid of bringing any guys over because Luke would scare them all off, saying that none of them were good enough.
If they had a boy, he would look just like Luke. He would even wear flannel shirts and have his own backwards baseball cap. She imagined him with curly brown hair, bright blue eyes and a huge smile. Luke would teach him how to play sports and they'd play catch in the backyard until it got too dark to see. They would watch Stars Wars and football games together. And when he got older, Luke would have to give him the sex talk. How hilarious would that be?
Then she froze...She was doing it again...Thinking...
She didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to think about how things could have been if she hadn't left, if she hadn't pushed him to talk to her that day at Doose's, if she had just given him a little space, if she had told him about visiting Christopher the second she was even thinking about going over there, if she hadn't made him to go her parent's wedding, if she hadn't gone upstairs to find Rory with Logan, if she hadn't gone to Chris's that night in the first place, if she had just listened to Rory when she warned her about Christopher...
She looked around the airport trying to find something to distract her, something she could mock or just laugh at, something that could cheer her up.
She just sighed and began to play with her hands again.
This is what she had been so afraid of, Luke saying no and then having to figure out her life, again. She was afraid of being lost again, having to make a new life...for the 3rd time.
Maybe the 3rd times the charm?
She sighed. She checked the clock on her cell phone.
35 minutes until her plane would come.
"Lorelai? Lorelai Gilmore?" She recongized the voice instantly. Her head sprung up to look at the person standing in front of her. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, trying to avoid eye contact...She didn't him to see the tears in her eyes.
"Long time, no see..." She replied.
He decided he better start of with apologizing to Rebecca. He knew the longer he waited, the harder it would be...where as he already knew what he was going to say to Lorelai.
Luke stood outside Rebecca's house. He had been ringing the doorbell for a few minutes, but he finally heard her coming towards the door.
She opened it and saw him standing there, and began to close it again. He put his arm out to stop the door from closing.
"Just give me 2 minutes?" He pleaded. He had no clue what he would say to her. He had tried to come up with a speech on the way, but what was he supposed to say to her? He treated her like shit and he knew it. He couldn't expect her to even think about forgiving him.
"Fine." She said as she waited for his response.
He sighed, trying to think of something to say...But he just began to let it all out instead. "I'm sorry. Really, really sorry, I treated you so badly and I know it. I took you for grantid and I ignored you and I...I was horrible. I'm so, so sorry." He told her not knowing how he could ever show her how sorry he was.
"OK." She told him.
"OK?" He asked. She hadn't just taken him back, did she? Whoa...What?
"Whatever." She told him.
He stood there on her steps, looking very confused.
"Who were we kidding, Luke? You don't love me... You love her, you still do. You know you do. What can I say? I knew you loved her, I just didn't want to belive it. Kind of how you knew you loved her, but you didn't want to believe it or admitit or something... I was kidding myself. It's partly my fault, I shouldn't have been so naive...so stupid. You love her and there's nothing I can do about it. I'm no Lorelai...I can't make you love me, soo...that's it. Go get her," she told her. She was trying to look strong, trying to look as if she hadn't been crying.
He was shocked. This was the last thing he had ever expected. He expected her to throw things at him and yell and whine. He expected kicking and lots of swearing. He never would have expected this.
"I'm probably going to go move in with my Mom in Rhode Island for awhile. The only reason I was staying here was for you...But...Now there's not much to stay for." She said, not really meaning for it to make him feel bad. "Just so know..." She added.
He nodded. He was at a complete loss for words.
She nodded again, both of them silent, but then she finally spoke up.
"You've loved her for almost 15 years, Luke... Just, go...Go find her and tell her that you love her." She said in a defeated type of way.
She knew she had lost him, what else could she do? Yelling and throwing things wouldn't make him love her, it wouldn't make things be OK.
Now that it was over, she didn't want him to remember her as 'the girl who threw her shoe at me when I broke her heart' or something like that. She just wanted...She just wanted him to leave so she could be alone.
"Bye, Luke." She told him.
"Bye." He replied. He wanted to say more, he wanted to say how great she was, how sorry he was...But he all he could get out was a simple, 'bye.'
After leaving Rebecca's, he sprinted all the way to the diner to talk to Lorelai. He wished that he had started off by seeing Lorelai, he ran faster thanhe ever had before. He decided to completely ignor the fact that everyone was wearing green t-shirts and random tourists were pointing and staring at him. He was too busy to question or deal with any of that stuff right now, he had to find Lorelai. The thought of her leaving before he got to talk to her hadn't even crossed his mind until leaving Rebecca's house. Now he was so afraid that he was too late...
He got to the diner and saw Rory sitting on the sidewalk, with her back against Luke's.
"Where is she?" Luke asked Rory frantically. She looked up at him and the moment he saw the look on her face, he knew.
He knew he was too late...
"She left."
"So where ya' going?" He asked her.
"New York, you?"
"I just came from there. I'm visiting Luke for a little while...Sort of a surprise visit, I guess" Jess told her.
She nodded, trying to make sure she didn't start crying at the mention of Luke's name.
"You OK?" Jess asked. As soon as he had said that, her smile had turned to a frown and something had changed in her eyes.
"Yeah. Yeah I'm fine..." She said trying to act happy.
He gave her one of those 'ya right, I know that's a lie, just tell me what's bothering you' type of looks.
"It's nothing." She told him.
He shrugged.
"So what's in New York?" He asked her.
"Nothing." She said sadly.
"OK..." He said.
"You've probably heard already, in many different versions, I'm sure...but...I left Stars Hollow five years ago...I moved to New York..." She sighed. "I had this great job, and then when Rory graduated she moved in with me. It seemed perfect, but I wasn't happy, I pretended to be, but I defiantly wasn't. I missed the town, the people, the Inn...Luke...So, I quit and came back to Stars Hollow..." Lorelai said. She didn't know why she was spilling out her heart to Jess. Of all people, why Jess? They hated each other. But he seemed different now, much different. Plus, she needed somebody to talk to and he was here.
"And? Why you going back to N.Y?" Jess asked.
"Well...Luke is getting married..." Lorelai sighed, still hating to say the words.
Jess nodded as if he understood.
"I tried to fight for him...I thought he loved me. I didn't want to be the other woman but, I really thought he loved me. I thought we had a chance...I mean why else would he keep that horoscope and that box? And why wouldn't he give Rebecca his mother's ring? Why would he have bought my house and kept it exactly the same? I thought that meant he loved me...But... I was wrong." Lorelai said.
"Your defiantly not wrong." He told her.
She looked up, trying to figure out what he meant.
"What?" She asked.
"When I came to Stars Hollow, the first time... I saw it. Everybody saw it...You know...That thing between you and him... it's still there, Lorelai. Things like that don't just go away." He said.
"No...He's getting married...I'm just in the past. He told me I was too late, that I missed my chance." She said.
"He's scared."
"Yeah, that's what the word on the street is..." She sighed.
"Flight 560 to Albany." The man on the loudspeaker said.
Lorelai began to pick up her bags, "That's my flight..." She said. She stood up, grabbing her backpack and duffle bag.
He stood up, too. "OK...Bye..." He said.
"Bye." She said as she turned around to leave.
"You sure about this?" He called after her.
She turned around, giving him a questioning look.
"You sure you just want to run away again?" He said.
She justkept staringat him, with that samequestioning look
"...Believe me, I know... you get scared and your first instinct is to run away from it all...you think that'll be easier than sticking it out and facing your problems...I get that, but..." He began, stepping closer to her.
"I really... have to go." She interupted him.
He nodded. "Bye."
"Bye." She said softly and began to walk towards the gate.
Luke stood behind the counter, completely zoned out from everything happening around him. People were rushing around the diner in those stupid shirts that Kirk had made, they were eating, they were loud, but he wasn't really aware of any of it.
He felt completely lost. He felt like these past two weeks had been a dream and he would wake up any minute. None of this felt real, it had all happened way too fast for it to be real.
"Uncle Luke." He knew the voice, he knew exactly who it was. The only person who called him Uncle Luke.
"Jess," he said as he looked up. He sighed as he said his name. "What? You need money or something?" Luke asked begginning to reach for his wallet, in his back pocket. He wasn't in the mood for any of this.
Jess laughed. "No, I actually have something you need." He said as he took a seat across from him at the counter.
"What?" Luke asked.
"Well, I was at the airport...I saw Lorelai." He told him.
Luke looked away, "Jess..." He began, trying to tell him he didn't want to talk about it.
"You're being stupid, you know that?" Jess asked. "You let her go once, and I saw you, you were a wreck. You said you would give anything to have her back...Then she comes back and you just let her go again? What is wrong with you?"
Luke was silent, so, Jess continued,
"C'mon, Luke...This is your chance, it's your last chance...You have to go after her this time...Don't just let her go like before. She's not gonna come back this time...It's all up to you." Jess said.
"You don't know what your talking about Jess..." Luke said.
"Sure I do. I know you love Lorelai. I know that your getting married or whatever, but can you honestly tell me that you love this woman more than you love Lorelai? You loved her for 13 years, that kind of love doesn't just stop...You're kidding yourself if you think you want to marry somebody else."
"I'm not getting married anymore."
"Lorelai said you were."
"Well, I was...Not anymore...It's complicated."
"C'mon, Luke..." Jess said staring him directly into the eyes. It was a weird thing for Luke to see, Jess being so serious about something, not being sarcastic...He had changed a lot in the past 5 years, he knew that...He just hadn't realized how much.
"This is Lorelai we're talking about...You've loved her forever, you can't let her leave again." Jess said. He saw Luke's expression and he knew he had said enough, he'd leave the rest up to Luke.
"OK, Well, I'm going to go drop my stuff off at Lizzie's but I'll help you close up." Jess said and with that he got up and left.
Luke stood by the end of the counter, staring out the window again. He stared at all of the people buzzing by wearing those shirts. They were all so sure that him and Lorelai would be together, how did they know?
"This is your chance, it's your last chance...You have to go after her this time...Don't just let her go like before. She's not gonna come back this time...It's all up to you."
Then, he looked down to where he was standing...The end of the counter...
"I don't have many people in my life who are in my life permanently, forever. They will always be there for me, I will always be there for them. There's Rory and Sookie, this town and you. I mean at least I think I've got..."
"You do"
He wasn't sure why,it hit him right then...at the end of the counter...Why that conversation made him come to the realization. But it did, he practically jumped, it hit him so hard.
"It's all up to you." Rang through his head as he grabbed his keyes for the truck and began towards the door.
"Caesar, I'm leaving! Jess is in charge!"
Then he ran outside, and stopped Jess who, was right near Kirk's t-shirt table.
"Yeah?" He asked.
"You're in charge of the diner while I'm gone, don't blow it up."
Welll...2nd to last chapter is up! Please leave your thoughts! GOOD or BAD! Gimme any suggetions, ideas, any random comments you feel the need to share...Stuff you'd like to see...stuff you don't wanna see...I'd like to hear it all! Lol.
Soo yeah... there were just about a bazillion ways I could have made this chapter...I mean, I could have just made Lorelai stay, but that's a little boring...I could have had Luke go through the Lorelai Box, but I think we've had enough of going through the Lorelai Box in this story...He could have "saw her face" in the tape, but that's how he realized that she was 'the one' in the first place on the show,soo I figured it'd be better to be original...Anyways, there were tons of ways...I just figured this one was short and sweet, you know? Plus it's a nice quote, Lorelai saying how he's in her life forever and stuff, even if they were only just friends when she said it...
Anyways, please review!
Next chapter: The last chapter is finally here... tear tear
Rory is surprised to find Jess in the diner...Luke shows up at Lorelai's New York apartment, and he has something to give her. Sooo...what is it? And how she's going to react?