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/Chris

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

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Lorelai and Chris ran around the house, trying to get everything ready. Rory was leaving for Harvard the next morning. Topher laughed as they ran into each other and fell to the floor, kissing. "Yeah, Rory will definitely be all set for Harvard if the two of you pretend to be her and Dean," he teased, making them get up and back to work.

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Rory folded the last of her clothes and put them in the moving box. The only things she had left to pack were the framed photographs of her and Dean. Her favorite was one frame that held two pictures, one of the two of them at his graduation, and one of them at hers. Dean had a matching one. There were also photos of them from different times during the year, mostly of them in the summer, when Emily and Richard had grudgingly let them go back to their house on the Vineyard for a month. She taped the box shut, and slid all the photos into a duffel bag that held everything she would need for her first night, and morning, then, on second thought, took them back out. The room looked so bare without them. She'd wait and pack them in the morning.

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Up in his room in Luke's apartment, Dean taped his last box shut, and slid his pictures into a backpack that held everything he would need for a day or so. "All set?" Luke asked as he took one of Dean's last two boxes.

"I'm ready," he said, zipping his bag shut, slinging it over his shoulders, and picking up the final box, following Luke out to his truck.

"So, I guess you're leaving now," Luke said.

"Yeah. This is it," Dean agreed. Luke grabbed his hand, and pulled him into a brief hug, surprising them all. Luke had never hugged Dean before, not even when he left for college, and he had only ever hugged Jess after he said that he was engaged to Lindsay.

"Bye," he said.

"It's not like I'll never see you again. I'm moving to Boston, it's only a couple hours away, and there's a nice, solid road connecting it to Stars Hollow. I'll be using that road fairly frequently, and you can use it, too," they laughed.

"See you around, Dean," Rachel said, and hugged him, too.

"Wow, a hug from both Danes, today's your lucky day," Jess teased.

"Do I get hugs from the Marianos, too?" Dean asked jokingly. Lindsay laughed, and hugged him.

"Well, I'm planning on making very good use of that road you were talking about, but I guess I could hug you anyways," Jess said.

"I'll miss you."

"No you won't. I won't go long enough without seeing you for you to miss me," Jess assured him.

"Well, if you must visit, I guess that would be okay," Dean joked, before turning to April, the last member of his farewell party. She jumped up and hugged him, "I'm going to miss you, too, you know," he said.

"I know," she replied.

"You're going to have to come visit a lot."

"I will, I promise."

"Good," he twirled her around once, then very gently lowered her to the ground, and got into his truck, ready to leave.

"Dean," Lindsay said, pointing down the street. His mother, father, and sister, Clara were standing in the distance, watching. He got back out of his truck, and walked over to them, his hands in his pockets. "Hi," he said.

"So, you're moving," Mrs. Forrester said. It wasn't a question. He nodded.

"You got my message, then?"

"Yes," she said. "We are proud of you, you know. You've really made something out of your life." He looked at his father, who nodded grudgingly. "We don't want to live like this, cut out of your life. We want to know you again, Dean."

"I don't think you ever really did," he said, "but we can try. As long as it's what all three of you want?" he turned the question to his father, who nodded, less grudgingly this time. "I'll call you when I get settled in."

"Bye, Dean," Clara said. He smiled at her.

"I don't think I've seen you since I left for college. You've grown up."

"I guess so," she agreed, "I was only twelve the last time I saw you."

"You're driving now, then?"

"A little."

"Maybe you can drive down to visit sometime," he smiled, and gave her a quick hug. "I have to go now." He left before he could see their faces again. He barely knew these people, they didn't seem like his family. A part of him wanted to keep it that way, but most of him wanted them to be a family again. Maybe they really could.

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Rory rearranged her pictures so they were closer together, so that she could easily pack them in the morning. She turned around as she heard a tentative knock. Logan was standing in the door. She turned back around. "I'm not going to attack you again," he said, "I just want to apologize." She turned again.

"Come in," she beckoned.

"I'm really sorry, Rory. I don't even know why I did it." She looked at him. "Okay, I do know. I was acting out a fantasy. I liked you the moment I met you, mostly because I knew you were in love with someone else. I wanted someone to love me the way you love Dean, and since I knew you were capable of loving someone in that way, I wanted you to shift your attention from Dean to me. I didn't know any other girls who are capable of loving like that."

"Okay," her voice was still cold.

"But maybe everyone is really only capable of loving one person the way you love Dean."

"I hope so," she said, smiling at him for the first time since he had kissed her.

"Well, it wouldn't surprise me, anyways. Maybe that's what soulmates are, two people who love each other like that. Like you and Dean."

"I hope you find yours soon."

"Well, I have a girlfriend now. I'm not sure if we're soulmates, but we're something pretty close."

"That's great!" she exclaimed, and hugged him. "What's her name?"

"Paris Gellar. She was on the paper with me at Yale. So, you're going to Harvard tomorrow?"

"Yeah,"

"You must be feeling kind of mixed about that."

"How so?"

"Well, you'll be starting your dream school, but you'll be leaving Dean." She grinned. "Or maybe not," he amended. "Is Dean moving to Cambridge?"

"Well, Boston, but that's a lot closer to Cambridge than Stars Hollow is to Hartford."

"Well, I have to leave. I just moved to New York City, and I need to get back. But I'm only leaving on one condition."

"What is it?"

"That someday I get a fancy envelope in the mail with a lacy, fluffy letter in it formally inviting me to the wedding of Ms. Lorelai Leigh Haden and Mr. Dean Forrester."

"Well, I'll be sure to pick out a special lacy, fluffy invitation just for you, since I doubt they'll all be lacy and fluffy."

"Then we have a deal?"

"Yes, we have a deal on one condition."

"What's that?"

"You bring Paris."

"Paris and I will watch you and Dean become Mr and Mrs Forrester, whenever in the next five years that is."

"Five years?"

"Just in case you want to finish college before you get married." She laughed.

"I'll see you then," she agreed jokingly.