One Less Mistake

Summary: What if Lorelai hadn't gotten pregnant until she was 20? What if she had agreed to marry Christopher when she did? AU.

Pairings: Rory/Dean, Lor/Luke/Chris

Disclaimer: All of these characters belong to Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB

AN: To all the same people who have been saying that they're Java Junkies, but they think Lorelai works better with Chris in this story, I'm feeling exactly the same. Writing this story is even starting to make me into a Balcony Buddy.

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"I can't believe I'm about to be in a wedding! Especially since it's my boyfriend's ex who's marrying his best friend. Who I barely know!" Rory bounced, arranging and rearranging her hair, tugging at her dress so that it would lie perfectly, and examining all the makeup she had brought with her, trying to decide what she wanted to put on.

"As you've been saying for the last hour." Lane replied, trying to sound bored.

"I know. I've just never been in a wedding before."

"Very interesting the first time you told me that. The tenth time, not so much. That's the twenty-seventh time you told me that."

"Twenty-seventh?"

"I kept count."

"Ah. Well, I've never been in a wedding before," Lane looked at her incredulously, "What? I'm trying to break thirty."

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"I'm getting married" a tense Jess said in disbelief.

"You just figured this out?" Dean asked incredulously.

"Yes. I just figured it out. I decided to drive down to a church in a tux, but I didn't know I was getting married."

"Well, you like driving around in your tux."

"You're kidding, right?"

"No, Jess, I'm dead serious. I honestly think you drive around town in a tux." Jess glared at him. "Okay, a termite walks into a bar, and says 'Is the bar tender here?'"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"A termite walks into a bar, and says 'Is the bar tender here?'"

"I heard you the first time. What are you trying to accomplish by telling me about a termite with a concussion?"

"Okay, you obviously didn't get that one. A pan of muffins is in the oven. One muffin says 'Wow, it's hot in here,' another muffin says 'Ahh, a talking muffin.'"

"You're telling jokes."

"Please tell me you didn't think the termite thing was serious."

"Where did you learn those jokes? If you can even call them that."

"Clara. And since you haven't laughed, I'm going to have to keep telling them to you."

"No!"

"Yes. My eleven-year-old sister's favorite jokes, until you laugh at them."

"Ahh, a talking muffin. That's funny. I'm laughing. Look, I am!" Dean looked at him, and Jess started cracking up.

"See? Much better than sneaking alcohol." Jess was laughing too hard to reply to that.

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Lorelai sat on the couch, waiting for Luke to come out of the bedroom. "Luuuke! We're going to be late!" she yelled as she stood up and walked over to the door. Luke was standing there, chatting happily on the phone.

"You're having a party, April? Yes I'd love to come. When is it? Right now? No, I'm sorry, my nephew's about to get married," he said regretfully. The second time April had ever asked him for something, and he had to say no? She never asked him for anything. Maybe he could be a little late to Jess' wedding. It's not like he'd even notice. "You know what? Weddings never start on time. My girlfriend can go ahead, and I'll be a little late. I'll see you in a couple minutes." Lorelai gaped at him.

"What was that about?" she asked.

"Oh, my daughter wants me to go to this party she's having."

"Your nephew's getting married. Your wedding is the most important day of your life! You're going to miss out on the most important day of your nephew's life for some party?"

"Your wedding was the most important day of your life?" Luke asked, picturing Lorelai, happily agreeing to spend her life with Christopher Haden. Another man. The picture was perfect, although, he suddenly realized, he didn't have a clue what Chris looked like.

"Yes!"

"With Christopher?"

"Yes! No, do not turn this around on me! We're not talking about me and Chris, or me and you for that matter. We are talking about your nephew, and how heartbroken he will be if you are not there on his special day."

"Yes. We're talking about my nephew, who you barely know. Jess would just as soon elope, but Lindsay wanted a wedding, so he gave her a month's preparation, and helped her throw this together. Tell them I'll be there, and I'm sorry." Lorelai could only stare in shock at his retreating back.

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Lorelai waited until after the ceremony to look for Rory. She got back to the diner, where the reception was before she could find her. She was standing with Jess, Lindsay, Dean, Lane, and Lane's boyfriend Dave who had flown in from California the night before. She ran over, straight into her daughter's open arms.

"Rory," she sobbed, "I'm so sorry. So sorry."

"Where's Luke?" Jess asked, his voice somewhere between sad and angry. Lorelai didn't answer, how could she break the news? "Did precious April have a toothache? You know, the kind that kills you, and really, really fast. So if he wanted to see her again, he had to go right then?"

"She invited him to a party," Lorelai choked, "I'm so sorry, I tried to talk him out of it."

"Just like Dean tried to talk him out of going to play Boggle with her the night he was supposed to propose to Rachel." Jess sighed. "You know, you'd think he'd learn his lesson, you'd think he wouldn't drop everything and go to see her unless there was actually an emergency."

"Exactly like we said. April would wait until the time it would hurt the most possible people to reappear," Dean spat. He hadn't been mad at Luke before, he had just thought that Chris needed someone more than Luke did. Now he was mad at him.

"Yeah, she probably snuck in here and put up video cameras so that she could capture it all for her own pleasure. You might want to stop crying, Lorelai. My sadistic little cousin will laugh harder with each tear she sees," he spat venomously. Rory's cell phone rang. "And that's like her laughing at us. All of us." Rory flipped her phone open.

"Hello?"

"Rory?" Emily answered.

"Yes. What is it Grandma?"

"Can you get down here? Right now?"

"What? Why?"

"Just get here, please Rory," her eyes widened.

"Okay," she agreed, snapping her phone shut.

"What's wrong, Rory?" Dean asked, correctly interpreting the stricken look on her face.

"I...I don't know. But I think it's bad."

"Chris?" Lorelai asked, panicked, "Is he okay?"

"I don't know," she replied, color draining from her face. Jess and Lindsay looked at her, then at each other.

"Dean," Lindsay said, "Go with them."

"Are you sure?" he asked, "With Luke not here, and-"

"Go!" Jess shouted, and shepherded them out the door. "I'm so sorry, Lindsay," he said, his voice soothing for the first time since he had heard that Luke wasn't there, "this wasn't how it was supposed to be."

"No," she let her head drop on his shoulder, "no it wasn't."