A/N: I've been bad at posting these chapters here. They're all at BWR already. I'm just catching up with posting here. ;)

Lorelai woke up, and before she was even able to open her eyes, she knew what day it was.

June 3rd.

She knew what the day was, and she didn't want to face it.

She finally forced herself to open her eyes and found herself staring at her digital clock. If everything had gone right, what would she have been doing right now, she wondered? Getting ready for her wedding? How different would the day have been, had everything not gone so wrong?

This was exactly the kind of thing she didn't want to do all day on this day, she realized. So she blocked the date out of her head and forced herself out of bed.

As soon as her feet hit the floor the phone rang, as if whoever was calling knew she had just joined the living. Groaning, she reached out for it and found it despite the lack of contacts, and managed to pick it up before the machine got to it.

"Hello?"

"I was sure you wouldn't be coming in today," Sookie's voice rang out, "but I just thought I'd call and see how things are going."

"Things are going fine, Sookie," Lorelai assured her. "I just woke up. I'm about to get in the shower. Very exciting stuff, I know."

"So you're not coming in today, right?"

"I don't think so, no," Lorelai agreed. "Not today," she added softly.

"You're not going to be too hard on yourself today, are you? You're not going to sit and wallow, right?"

"I don't know what I'm going to do today," Lorelai admitted. "Besides not working. But don't worry about me, I'll be fine. After everything that's happened these past few months, I think that getting through a day that's hard just because of the date is the least of my problems."

"Oo-kay," Sookie said skeptically. "If you need anything, call, okay Hon?"

"Sure thing," Lorelai said. "Thanks Sookie."

She put the phone down after hanging up with Sookie and sighed. So much for trying to forget what this day was, what it should have been. No one was going to let her forget what it was, she realized. She'd only been up ten minutes, and her mood had gotten progressively darker as the minutes ticked by.

She spent an extra long time in the shower, letting the warm water comfort and sooth her. But as hard as she tried, she couldn't ignore her thoughts completely. She consistently came back to wondering what she would have been doing on this day if she was, in fact, getting married on this day, and then her stomach would twinge when she realized that she wasn't making up some crazy 'what if' scenario–she really was supposed to be getting married on this day, at one point. Married to Luke. But now she wasn't, and not only that– this is where her stomach twinged with guilt– she wasn't even with him anymore.

She couldn't stop the thoughts. There would be no stopping them, she realized. She'd just have to deal.

By the time she got out of the shower, she heard noises downstairs–the unmistakably familiar footsteps and humming of Rory.

"Rory?" she called down the stairs from the bedroom.

"Mom?" Rory's voice returned. "You're out of the shower! Good, okay. Come down here, I brought you all kinds of good stuff."

Lorelai sighed. "Be right down."

After dressing and putting her hair up in a messy bun, unable to force herself to care what she looked like on this day-- after all, it wasn't like she was getting married or anything-- Lorelai forced herself downstairs where she found Rory proudly standing in front of a mass of food on the living room table, a smile that was an indication of perky Rory.

"Anything you want, you got it!" Rory said, snapping her fingers. "Your wish is my command. I brought Chinese from Al's, lots of it so it will last the whole day, and in the freezer are a few flavors of ice-cream from the Soda Shoppe, didn't know which you'd be in the mood for, though I thought today would be a Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate day, so I got you two of those. In the oven is lots of frozen goodness, pizza rolls, mozzarella sticks, frozen egg rolls, all that jazz. And here we have a lot of pastries and donuts from Weston's," Rory indicated the rest of the food on the table. "And if there's anything here you don't have that you want, just name it and I'm on it."

"Wow, Hon," Lorelai forced a smile, kissing Rory on the cheek in greeting and appreciation. "You really went all out. There was no need for this."

"Mom," Rory said, looking at Lorelai seriously. "You have to just relax and wallow today," Rory said, giving the opposite advice of Sookie, which somehow irritated Lorelai– who were they to tell her how to spend the day, anyway? "Just let it be a day to deal with how you're feeling. Don't try to act like you're okay if you're not–"

"Rory, thank you, and no offense, but I think I'd do better if I'm not calling attention to what today is all day long."

"I also got movies!" Rory went on, ignoring her mother. "And they're all safe topics, nothing about weddings, no romance, nothing like that, but a lot of horror, stupid comedies, things like that."

"Horror," Lorelai said. "I feel like my life belongs in a horror movie right now."

"Mom, come on," Rory said softly. "Today sucks, I know, but we can get through this!"

"Look, I really appreciate everything you've done here," Lorelai gestured at everything around them. "But I really just need to deal with today in my own way."

"Alone?" Rory asked, and before Lorelai could answer, she added. "No way. I'm not leaving you alone today."

Lorelai sighed and sat down on the couch. "That's fine," she admitted. "I don't even get you home for the summer anymore, now that you live on your own and not at school. I'll take the time with you any way I can get it. But I just don't want to bring up the reason for you being here all day long."

"Deal. And I'm taking summer school right now," Rory rationalized. "Once that's done I could come home and spend some time here. I'd like to spend part of the summer with you."

"That'd be nice," Lorelai said softly.

"Okay, good, so that's a plan then." Rory watched Lorelai stare straight ahead at the blank TV screen. "Mom, are you sure you're okay?"

"I haven't been okay in a long time," Lorelai admitted.

"Well you want to watch something, then? I have the movies, we may as well watch them, right?"

Lorelai shook her head. "I can't watch movies."

"Why not?"

"Something will remind me."

"Remind you of what?" there was no response. "Of Luke?" Rory guessed. "I told you, these aren't romantic movies--"

"Everything reminds me of him. Movies, TV, music, all of it. Even if it's not about romance or relationships or whatever, there's always something. I've stopped watching movies and I've stopped watching TV, and I've stopped listening to music."

"I'm really worried about you," Rory decided. "This isn't healthy, Mom. You don't do anything but work--"

"I told you, everything else reminds me of him somehow. I don't even like being in this house."

"This can't go on like this," Rory stated adamantly. "It's been almost a month and you're really still way too depressed. Even last time when you and Luke broke up, you started getting better faster."

"Last time was different," she said with a shrug. "This time, the way it ended, the look on his face, it was all my fault."

"It wasn't all your fault." Rory insisted. "He screwed up, too, Mom, remember? That's how you two got to the position you were in. He lied to you, and he kept you out of his life--"

"I know!" Lorelai interrupted, snapping suddenly. "He did. He lied to me, and he shut me out, and he hurt me. But what kind of world do we live in where it's fair to hurt someone just because they hurt you first? What about that whole, 'two wrongs don't make a right,' and 'treat others how you want to be treated,' crap they teach in elementary school? It wasn't my fault that I got into my car and drove to Boston and knocked on Christopher's door?"

"Well, sure, but--"

"It wasn't my fault that I didn't stop things with Christopher that night?"

"Yes," Rory said, suddenly serious. "All of that was your fault."

"He came looking for me the next morning," Lorelai said sadly. "If I hadn't been with Chris, then we would've worked things out. Not just pretend worked them out like we had been for months, but really and truly worked things out, after I finally spoke up about everything. It was completely my fault that we didn't get the chance to do that. It was my fault by not speaking up sooner, and it was my fault for not giving him a chance to fix things after that night. I dropped all that on him and before I even gave him a chance to fix what was wrong, I was…" she stopped suddenly. "Well you know."

"Let's just watch Little Rascals," Rory said, unsure of how to proceed with the topic Lorelai had brought up, holding up the DVD box. "We've never watched it on DVD before," she pointed out.

"Fine," Lorelai gave in. "Little Rascals it is."

"I think you'll enjoy it. How does anyone not enjoy this movie? It's impossible not to. Besides, it's an awesome pick me up."

There was silence before Lorelai added, "I'm just saying, it's my fault, too, that I'm sitting here like this on this day," she tried to explain to Rory. "It's my fault, too and so I shouldn't be here wallowing like I'm the only one who was wronged."

"Yeah," Rory agreed. "It is your fault, too. But that doesn't mean you have to suffer all day, or all the time for that matter. You should try and just relax, have some fun. And we're going to have some fun beginning with Little Rascals!""

Lorelai couldn't help but laugh. "Okay, fine. Put it on."

"Yes!" Rory said with excitement, jumping up to put the DVD in. "I remember the first time I watched this movie."

"The first fifty times," Lorelai corrected. "You watched it over and over until I swear you had all the lines memorized."

Rory chuckled. "It's a classic!"

Lorelai smiled. "I remember the first time I made…" she trailed off, her smile disappearing. "See, this is why I can't watch movies."

"The first time you made what?"

"The first time I made Luke watch it," she finished. "It was sometime last year when you and I weren't talking," she clarified.

"Oh," Rory said, suddenly realizing what a year her mother had had. Not only had she been going through a lot with Luke lately, before that she had been going through crap with her.

"Mom?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm sorry you've had such a crappy year."

"Me too," Lorelai said absentmindedly. "Little Rascals?" she asked, signaling Rory to start the movie.

Rory agreed with a nod and pressed play, sending them into silence for the duration of the movie. Rory continuously wondered if Lorelai was actually watching the movie, or taking the time of silence to brood, but she let her be until there was a knock on the door not long after the movie ended.

"Hey Suga!" Babette said, peering at Lorelai seriously when she opened the door. "How ya holdin' up, dear?"

"Babette," Lorelai said, forcing a smile. "Hi. I'm okay."

"Really? I mean it is June 3rd and all."

"Yes, today is the third of June. Yesterday was the second of June, and get this: tomorrow will be the fourth of June. They're all just days, Babette."

"Well, look at you, bein' all strong and everything."

"I'll be fine," Lorelai assured her. "Is that the only reason you came over, to check up on me?"

"Just wanted to make sure you were dealin' with everything okay, Doll."

"I'm fine, really. Besides, Rory's here."

Babette nodded. "Saw her car in the drive. Just thought I'd poke my head in anyway, since Luke's actin' all grumpy, thought you might be, too."

Lorelai's heart skipped a beat at the surprise mention of Luke's name. For weeks, everyone in the town had avoided mentioning Luke's name, or even the diner to her and now suddenly, there it was. Luke.

"Luke?" Lorelai asked, trying to sound casual.

"Oh yeah. The diner's empty, 'cause he's been throwin' people out left and right and hasn't been a very friendly guy today. Not that he ever really is, but it's worse than normal today."

"Oh," Lorelai nodded. "Guess that makes sense."

"Anyway, Doll, I didn't mean to bring him up around you," Babette said, patting Lorelai on the back. "I should get home, Morey's waiting, but if you want anything, just gimme a holler. I'm making brownies in a bit, maybe you'll wanna come over and have a few later."

"Thanks, Babette," Lorelai said. "Maybe. We'll see. Rory's kind of already stuffing me to the brim.

Babette chuckled. "Okay then. I'm just a few feet away, remember that, Sugar. See you later!" and Babette was off on her way across the yard.

"God, what is it with this town?" Lorelai said angrily after she closed the door behind Babette with a slam. "Why can't they just let people be?"

"They just care about you," Rory pointed out. "It's the thought that counts."

Lorelai sighed. "Yeah, yeah. If I get one more look of pity, though, I swear… that doesn't make it easier for me, I hope they know that."

"They're trying to help."

There was a long pause before Lorelai finally spoke again.

"Luke's grumpy."

Rory nodded. "Of course he is."

"But he didn't even want to get married on this day anyway," Lorelai pointed out stubbornly, knowing it wasn't completely true.

"Yes he did. Despite everything, he did."

"I hate this."

Rory nodded. "I know."

Rory stayed with her for the rest of the night, watching movies and talking to her about Britney Spears and other random celebrities that Rory came across in the issue of People that she flipped through. Lorelai kept up the conversation and pretended to watch the movies, but her mind wasn't really there. Rory good-naturedly ignored the tears that fell down her face for a few minutes during Home Alone, knowing she wouldn't want to talk about anything and wouldn't want to acknowledge that she had been crying. The first rule of June 3rd was apparently, Rory had learned quickly, not to discuss it.

Patty came by, offering Lorelai some tequila, and Lane came by to "hang out" with Lorelai and Rory for a bit. The night wore on and Lorelai found herself feeling worse the later it got. Eventually Lane left and Rory began planning her overnight stay, which prompted Lorelai to talk Rory into going back home for the night.

"It's Saturday night, I can stay!" Rory protested at Lorelai's suggestion that she go back to her apartment.

"I know, Sweets, but you have to work in the morning."

"Not that early. I can get up and drive back before work."

"Rory, it's already 11:30, just go home, you'll be more comfortable and less rushed tomorrow morning before work. I'm fine."

"I can't leave you tonight," Rory insisted, crossing her arms stubbornly.

"You've already been here all day today with me, and I appreciate that. But I'll be fine."

"Mom--"

"Rory, tonight was supposed to be my wedding night," Lorelai cut in bluntly, and Rory closed her mouth and looked down. "And I don't want you to think I don't appreciate what you've done for me today, how you've been there for me, because I do. But I think I just need to be alone tonight."

Rory nodded. "I get you," she said solemnly. Despite all her protests about leaving her alone earlier, she knew Lorelai and she knew that she was being serious about needing the time alone. "But are you completely sure that alone is what you want?"

Lorelai nodded. "I just need to be alone. I'm sure. I'll be good."

"Okay," she got up and kissed Lorelai on the cheek. "But if you change your mind and want me, I can be here in a flash, keep that in mind."

"Will do. Thanks."

Rory pulled on her coat and pulled her mother into a tight hug. "I love you."

"I love you too," Lorelai replied, kissing Rory on the forehead. "Now get going."

"Alright, alright, I'm gone," Rory teased, grabbing her bag and heading out the door. "Call me tomorrow!"

Lorelai watched Rory get into her car and drive away, waving as she pulled out of the driveway.

Sighing, Lorelai made her way up the stairs to the bedroom, where she changed into pajama pants. Pausing in front of the closet, she couldn't help but open the door and look behind her dresses for the garment bag that had been hidden there since March, when she finally couldn't bear to look at it anymore.

The perfect dress.

She hadn't looked at it since breaking up with Luke, but she was consistently tempted to look, like it was some sort of train wreck that she didn't want to see but wanted to look at anyway.

It still looked as perfect as ever, and she had almost forgotten how much she loved it. She sighed and wiped at the tears that were threatening to fall, realizing that she could have been wearing this dress at this moment, had things been different. She could have finally let it be put to use. Instead, it was sitting in it's garment bag in the back of the closet, sad and lonely, no closer to being put to use today than it was the day she bought it. Maybe she never should have let Luke see her in it, she reasoned. Everyone knew that was bad luck, but she had thought that was just some stupid superstition. Unfortunately, everything seemed to start going horribly wrong from that moment on. She wasn't even sure why she still had the dress–it was clearly never going to get used and it wasn't a keepsake since it had never been used. She should get rid of it, put the pain behind her. But she couldn't bring herself to do it.

At least, she remembered with a sad smile, she had gotten to see the look on Luke's face when he saw her in the dress. She would never forget the look of awe and adoration he had on his face when she came down the stairs in the dress that night. She could see it all right there in his face; how much he loved her, how beautiful she was to him and how lucky he thought he was.

And she hadn't even had her hair and make up done, and it hadn't even been their real wedding.

If only she had remembered that face the night she went to Christopher.

She bit her lip, trying to keep from crying when she heard a knock at the door. Sighing, she headed down the stairs, wondering which townsperson would be on her doorstep now.

Her breath caught in her throat when she pulled the door open and found out which one of them was there.

"H… hey," she said softly.

"Hi," Luke replied, matching her soft tone then glancing down at his feet nervously.

"What's up?" she asked, and their eyes locked in a way that she knew they both knew what was up.

"I just…" he sighed. "Today's been weird for me."

"Me too," she assured him quickly.

"I thought so. Even after everything…"

"Of course it is," she snapped, suddenly turning defensive. "If you really think what happened with Christopher changed anything about how I feel about you… well, it didn't. It's totally expandable. We could lift it right out and I'd feel the same about you now as I did… whenever, pick your favorite memory of us. Then."

"Look, I'm not here to do this, Lorelai. I'm not here to fight."

"Good," she managed to reply with a sigh, recalling their last encounter. "Because I don't have it in me today."

"I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay," he said softly.

"Well, I'm not, really," she admitted, willing herself not to cry. But seeing Luke on this day was bringing all kinds of new pain to her. She sniffled to hold in the tears. "You know, when I set the date, everyone said it was so soon. You said it was soon. Even I said it was soon because I knew it was soon, most people don't plan weddings for only four months in advance. But God, I just remember it seemed so far. That was back in January, it was snowing, it was winter, and we, or I guess I, was planning a wedding for June, spring, sunshine, almost summer. I just wanted it so much that it seemed so damn far even though everyone kept saying it was so damn soon."

He nodded. "I know. Lorelai…"

She found all her feelings about the day suddenly tumbling out of her mouth. "Before we even broke up, I had no idea how I'd make it through this day, knowing that we should be married and we wouldn't be. And then it got worse, because then I didn't even have you anymore by the time this day came around. Before we broke up, I at least… I had this hope that you and I would do something together today, you know? So that we'd know we were still us, still together, still going to get married one day. And now, here it is, this day that at one point I could not wait for, then I started to dread, and all that's a lie. I don't even have you anymore. For a date that was supposedly so soon, a lot of crap sure managed to happen in that short amount of time," she choked on her own voice, and reached up to wipe at the tears that were falling down her cheeks. "I don't even have an engagement ring anymore. And all I can think about is how at one point it was actually a plan that right now, on this date, I should have been married to you, I should have had two rings on my finger, and here I don't even have one."

Luke looked down at his feet, unsure of what to do or what to say, and feeling awkward for standing in her doorway having this conversation.

"I know," he assured her. "I keep thinking the same thing, that we should have been married by now, today. And it's all my fault we're not. Because of stupid choices, most of them by me, we ended up like this… not married, not engaged, not even together. Not even friends."

"And we've always been friends."

"Yeah."

"And you know what sucks? It's never going to stop. I know that every year on this date I'll think of how many years we should have been married by then. I'll imagine what you would have given me on our anniversary and what we would have done to celebrate. I'll fantasize about the whole damn thing to the point that I think it's real and go around with a memory of you giving me a diamond necklace on June 3, 2010."

"For the fourth anniversary? Diamonds are the 60th, Lorelai."

She stared at him for a moment and through her tears she couldn't help but laugh at the seriousness of his comment.

For a second, she forgot that they weren't the Luke and Lorelai they had always been. For a second, he forgot that there was no longer any way possible that June 3, 2010 would be their fourth wedding anniversary.

"So, I, uh… should go?" Luke questioned. "I just wanted to make sure that you were doing okay." He paused and admitted, "I just wanted to see you."

Lorelai shrugged, and wondered, momentarily about his presence. She was reminded of The Way We Were and her tearful speech to Luke on the phone after their first break up. 'He was her best friend, and she needed her best friend.' Maybe that's what he was looking for. Maybe that's what she needed, too. "Go, if you want."

"Do you… do you want me to stay?" Luke asked, confused, but Lorelai could tell he would accept if she offered.

"I don't know. Is there anyway that just for today, just for today and what it is, we could forget everything for a little while? Just for one night?"

"And everything would be…?"

"Everything. Our failed engagement, our failed wedding plans, our failed relationship, our failed friendship, everything that's failed. That fight we had last week, Christopher and Anna and everything about our relationship that made it suck towards the end. Just look deep inside yourself and just find that unbreakable friendship that's always been there, somewhere, and focus only on that? For one night."

He was silent for a moment. "I can try," he decided. "For one night. Can you?"

"I most certainly can." She shrugged. "I know a lot has happened, and I can't even imagine that you'd voluntarily be standing here, but…"

"Lorelai," he interrupted, and for once she actually stopped talking when he tried to break in. "You're always going to be my best friend."

She nodded, unable to look him in the eyes for fear she would begin to cry. "Want some tea?"

"Tea would be great."

She stepped aside and let him in. Maybe she didn't want to be alone tonight after all. Maybe she just needed to be with the person she was supposed to be with on this night all along.

She got him his tea and he sat down at the kitchen table. She made herself a cup of coffee before sitting down across from him. He took one look at her cup and then back up at her, and couldn't help but smile at the familiarity of it all. She smiled back at him, and hated that she was still comforted by the simple presence of Luke, because she didn't think she should be allowed that anymore. He wasn't a part of her life anymore, she couldn't only feel better about her life when he was around. She was going to have to remember how to feel better about her life without his presence, if she had any hope of ever being happy again.

Luke sat silently, playing with his mug for a few moments. She could barely even look at Luke without feeling the guilt in her stomach. Every time she looked at him, she remembered what she did to him. She remembered how much she loved him, and how she had hurt him in the worst possible way. She had no idea how he could sit in the same room as her, even be around her, after what she'd done. But for some reason, he was.

"I was planning something," Luke admitted suddenly, jolting her from her thoughts.

"What?" she asked, surprised that he'd broken the silence.

"For June 3rd. For today. Before, you said something about how you hoped that we'd do something together…" he trailed off. "I was planning something for us."

"You… you were?" she asked softly, casting her eyes downward, unable to look him in the eye.

He nodded. "It was going to be something in New York," he said. "I know you love it there, and since I don't we don't really go there that often. I was going to get tickets for some kind of show, but I hadn't decided which one yet. Rory was going to help."

Lorelai bit her lip. "Oh."

"But then everything happened."

She nodded in understanding. "Well thank you anyway," she said softly. "That would have been an amazing day."

"I knew it was going to be hard for you," he told her. "Today. I may have been oblivious about a lot of things lately, but I knew how much this was going to hurt you."

She stared down at her hands, which were folded in her lap, and wondered how they got here. "So many ways this day could have been one hundred times better than this," she stated.

"Yeah," Luke agreed. "No kidding."

They both returned to momentary silence before Lorelai spoke up. "I promised this would never happen to us." Luke looked over at her in answer. "When you asked me to the wedding and brought me the flowers and kissed me, I made myself promise that I wouldn't hurt you, because you were too important to me to hurt. I made myself promise that I wouldn't do something to lose you, because I couldn't lose you, because you're my best friend. And look what's happened."

"You shouldn't hold yourself accountable to promises like that," he said. "Life happens, you don't have control over it."

"I guess," she said with a heavy sigh.

"I promised myself the same thing, you know," he said quietly. "I promised I wouldn't screw up with you because I hate seeing you hurt, and I didn't want to risk losing you altogether."

She nodded, and kept her eyes on her mug just as he had earlier.

"Promises were made to be broken, I guess," she said sadly.

"Not always," he said. She wasn't sure what he was implying with that statement, but she decided not to press it–she might get an answer she didn't want to hear.

"So how's the diner?" she asked casually.

"It's okay, the usual. It was really quiet today, for some reason, actually."

Lorelai kept back her knowing smile and nodded. "That's good, though. A nice break."

"Yeah, I suppose. I sent some customers over to the inn today."

She looked up from her cup. "Oh really?"

"They were stopping at the diner on their way through Connecticut and decided they wanted to spend the night here somewhere and asked for recommendations."

This had been their little joke, the past two years. They found that customers were often asking for recommendations of places to eat or places to stay, and it had become blasphemous to send them anywhere other than to the diner or the inn, and it was like an inside joke the customer never got. Lorelai had joked that they were unofficial affiliates, which had prompted a whole slew of jokes from her end for months.

"Nice to know I haven't lost shameless promotion."

Luke smiled. "Has it been busy? The inn? With summer coming up and all…"

"Memorial Day weekend was pretty busy, but nothing too bad yet. Fourth of July is when it gets crazy, judging by years past." There was another silence in the conversation, so she added, "How's April?"

"She's good," Luke said quickly, uncomfortable with the subject, knowing it was part of the reason they were in the situation they were in. "Rory?"

"Good," Lorelai said softly. "She was just here, you just missed her." Luke nodded, and they fell into an awkward silence again. Lorelai looked up and offered him a sad smile. "We kind of suck at the small talk, huh?"

"We were doing okay, but now that you've called attention to it it's a lost cause."

She chuckled, and looked over at the clock on the oven. "12:03."

"June 4th," Luke noted.

"Yeah," Lorelai said, suddenly overcome with the urge to cry. The day that was supposed to be her wedding day was over–and she wasn't married. And here she was, sitting with the man who was supposed to have been her husband, and they couldn't even keep up small talk. "June 3, 2006 is officially over, never to come again."

Luke nodded, and he looked down to avoid letting her see the sadness in his eyes. "I should go," he said, standing up. "Thanks for the tea."

Lorelai stood up and followed him to the door. "Sure, anytime. Thanks for…" she sighed. "Thanks for coming over. It really meant a lot."

He nodded. "Thanks for asking me to stay. It was good to see you… you know, especially on this- that- day."

She nodded, and they stood awkwardly at the door, and she had to fight, really hard, the urge to lean in and kiss him on the cheek. Instead, she found her voice, which always seemed to bail her out of situations where she didn't know what else to do but talk. "You'll always be mine, too," she said, and she knew he understood what she was saying from his nod and sympathetic smile, that he'd always be her best friend, too.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, and she wasn't sure for what, but she was pretty sure he was apologizing for everything, including never giving her the future he'd promised her.

"I'm sorry too," she said softly. He nodded and gave her a small wave, and before she could blink twice, he was gone.

She sighed after closing the door. What had just happened? Luke had come over, of his own free will, and talked to her like she wasn't the most disgusting person on the planet, and they hadn't yelled once. But at the same time, nothing had changed. They weren't friends, they weren't back together, and there wasn't even an unspoken agreement that they could be decent acquaintances, were they to run into each other in Doose's or was Lorelai to want a cup of coffee at the diner. It had only been for one night.

But at least, she thought, at least this new last memory of him was a positive one.

That night, she cried herself to sleep again, for the first time in weeks, in the bed that she knew should have been hers and Luke's by now, for good, forever. But wasn't. Because her wedding day had passed her by without a wedding.

tbc...