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

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Dean and Rory drove back to the reception. "Are you sure you're ready to be with a lot of people right now?" he asked her, "Because I could take you home."

"Yes...no...I don't know. I need catharsis."

"What kind of catharsis?"

"I don't know, I need to hit something, or throw something, or hurt something." He smiled.

"I have an idea."

"You're suggesting that we draw a chalk outline of a dead body in front of a store for catharsis?" she asked in disbelief.

"In front of Taylor's store. Jess did it when we were in high school. I've never seen anyone freak out so much, and he knew it was Jess, too. I'm not sure I want to know how he'll react if his prime suspect has a perfect alibi."

"If you don't want to know how he'll react, why did you suggest this?"

"I said almost. It's the sadist in me."

"Won't he just blame you?"

"Me? Taylor loves me. He thinks I'm a good influence on Jess, and he would have ended up breaking into the store if I hadn't 'become his friend out of pity.' But just trust me on this one."

"Seems like pathetic catharsis."

"It is. I've just been looking for a partner in crime to do this with when Jess is busy. We can do something else, too."

"Let's do this, then."

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Luke slipped into the diner and walked over to his nephew. "I'd say congratulations are in order," he grinned, clapping him on the back.

"How would you know?" Jess spat.

"Excuse me?"

"How do you know that I didn't freak out at the altar? How do you know that nothing went wrong?"

"Well, I-"

"Forget it."

"Why are you so mad?"

"Why am I so mad? You did not just ask me that. Why am I so mad? Well, let's think. You missed my wedding to go to a little kid's birthday party. Why should I be mad?"

"I thought you didn't care about the wedding. I thought you just made it a big deal for Lindsay. I thought you wanted to elope."

"I did, a little bit, but that's why I needed you there. Don't you get it? I wanted to elope because I was scared. I don't like churches, or suits, or formal things."

"I didn't know that."

"That I don't like churches?"

"No, that you were scared. I thought you didn't think it was a big deal, so it wouldn't matter if I wasn't there. April never asked me to meet her friends before. She wanted her friends to meet her dad."

"April always ruins everything!"

"What? How can you say that? What did she do to you?"

"You mean, besides make my uncle miss my wedding?"

"Besides that."

"She hasn't done anything to me besides make my uncle miss the most important moment of my life so far. But what about what she did to Rachel?"

"Rachel just left. Stars Hollow was too small for her."

"No, Luke! Rachel loved you, she wanted to stay, she wanted to be with you. But you stood her up on the night you were going to propose to her to play Boggle with a little girl. She left because she was too heartbroken after she found out. And if you're not careful, you're going to lose Lorelai the same way."

"I'm not going to lose Lorelai."

"Are you sure about that? Because the last time I saw her, she was having a breakdown, crying over you leaving to be with April. But then, Rory's grandmother called."

"And..."

"And something happened, I'm not completely sure what, but Lorelai didn't care about you anymore. She was too worried that Chris was hurt. You know, her husband." He knew that was harsh, but he didn't care right then. He just turned away and walked back to Lindsay, leaving a stunned Luke behind, wondering if Lorelai was still in love with Christopher, despite her insistence that she wasn't.

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Lorelai winced as she hobbled up the front walk of her old home. She'd never realized how far away she lived from her parents house until she'd walked the distance in the snow while wearing heels. And to think that she used to think she lived too close. One thing was for sure, she was never traveling without enough money for a cab, and a cell phone. She stopped in front of the door. Could she still go in? Was it still her house? Well, if it wasn't, that was just too damn bad, because her feet would fall off if she didn't get inside right then. She went inside, and collapsed on the couch.

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Rory and Dean came back into the reception, laughing. Their good moods were infectious. Soon they had Jess and Lindsay laughing again. Luke was upstairs. He didn't see that Lorelai wasn't with them. He didn't know how completely he was losing her.

AN: I was going to have Rory and Dean's catharsis beegging Luke's truck, but that's definitely Rory and Lorelai's move, so I'll save it for them.