A/N- Second author's note of the night! I am in a Lorelai Gilmore level of talkative-ness tonight, so I appreciate you all bearing with me (not that you have much of a choice...muahaha). Okay, enough silliness. I have something important to say.
So, so many of you have reached out to me, either via comments in the reviews or even through private messages, to comfort me and advise me and support me. This completely blows my mind. Not because I don't believe you all to be amazing, incredibly sweet people. I kind of guessed that just from the way you review generally. But in life, at least in mine, I don't usually come across even more than one really nice person in a day. More people slam doors in your face or crash into you on the street without apologizing than hold them open or make room for you. So having an entire community of people that just rushed to support me when I showed some level of human vulnerability was the most incredible feeling.
When I started writing this story, I didn't do it for that reason. I didn't even do it because I wanted to see what people thought of my writing. I did it because I needed to tell the story. I sat there, like I'm sure so many of you did, at the end of the series, re-watching everything a million times, going crazy because I didn't know what happened to them. Or rather, I did, but it wasn't finished. It wasn't written. And I wasn't done with them yet, their stories weren't over to me, as they weren't for so many other people. So eventually I just reached the point where I needed to write it, to get their stories out. To reconnect with them, as we all had, and to grow with them as I grew up. This is still true, and still why I'm writing. But I was short-sighted enough to not really even consider the fact that people would read it and would respond to it and think about it and have feelings related to what I wrote. It honestly did not occur to me as any major part of my thought process. And now I have this amazing group of people who appreciate what I'm attempting to do and support it and want me to continue and are also just kind, sweet, thoughtful awesome friends (as I'd put it) who care about me in addition to the story. I'm seriously blessed. You are all so wonderful, and I have to thank you. You inspire me not only to keep writing this and to keep my head up on the hard days, but to believe in the beautiful people of the world rather than the ugliness that seems to be everywhere sometimes.
Done ranting. If you stuck with it I'm impressed, and I owe you a cookie for your patience if I ever meet you in real life. If you didn't, long story short: Thanks. Beyond thanks.
Please read and review this chapter, and I really hope you enjoy it. More are coming and very soon! I want to say tomorrow but I don't want to break any promises, but I'm hoping to post more tomorrow, I can at least say. I do not own Gilmore Girls but I am in possession of some of the most awesome, cool (fans? friends? reviewers? Anyone familiar with Michelle Chamuel? Can we adopt her "franz" term? I'm open to suggestions here!) and they're what keep this story on the road when I fall asleep at the wheel. You're the Luke's coffee to my Lorelai Gilmore, and I mean that with all my heart.
Chapter 98
"Mom?"
"Rory!" Lorelai exclaimed as her daughter open the door, "Not that we want to interrupt what I am sure is an incredibly romantic make-up…"
"Mom!"
"Sorry," Lorelai laughed, "Alright. Here it is. Luke and I are getting married."
"Um, yeah, we know. We were there when you got engaged," Rory replied, confused, as Jess walked up behind her and put his arm around his waist.
"Lorelai."
"Holden Caulfield."
"…We're really back to that?"
"Probably just for another hour or so before I forgive you," Lorelai answered, shooting him a genuine smile, "Yes, you both know we're engaged. But we're getting married. In February."
"February?!" Rory squealed, immediately enveloping her mother in a huge hug, "Oh my god, that's amazing! It's so soon! We have so much to do! How are you going to get invitations out? What are you going to wear? Where are you going to have it?"
"Alright, calm down," Lorelai grinned, "I planned the last one in a day. How hard can it be?"
"Mom," Rory chided, "That was…"
"A miracle!"
"Luck," Rory countered flatly, "Weddings are hard. They're real work. We need to start right away if we want everything to be perfect."
"So does that mean I'm moving in with you?"
"Please, God, no," Jess smirked at them both.
"Unfortunately this place is too small, even for us," Rory laughed, "But why don't you come back next weekend and we can plan and do some wedding shopping? As amazing as Stars Hollow is, you'll have so many more options here."
"That's not a bad idea," Lorelai admitted, "It never occurred to me that there might be advantages to my only daughter, the angel from heaven, shacking up with her boyfriend hundreds of miles away from me."
"I'm so flattered," Jess mocked, reaching for Rory's hand. She blushed as he pulled her closer to him.
"God, you two are nauseating," Lorelai rolled her eyes, trying to hold back a smile, "I'm going to leave before you two make me sick."
"If I'd only known it was that easy…"
"Goodbye, darling daughter. And her escort."
"You make him sound like a prostitute."
"I'm not judging! Don't you remember how many times I showed you Breakfast at Tiffany's?"
"What is with all the gigolo implications," Jess muttered darkly, glaring at Luke. Lorelai turned to her fiancée curiously.
"Um, what did I…"
"Nothing, we're leaving," Luke cut her off, "Goodbye, Rory. Goodbye Jess."
"But I wanna…"
"This is why you can't have sugar past midnight." The door closed behind them and Rory turned to Jess, grinning.
"So what in God's name could have made Luke think you were a gigolo?"
"I am so not discussing this with you."
"…For less than…"
"You are pure evil," Jess mock-glared, "I can never leave you alone with your mother again."
"Or you could just never leave me alone again at all."
"Hey, I guess that Ivy-League education of yours worked after all." Rory grinned, leaning in to kiss him deeply. "Though I have no idea where you learned that."
"On the streets."
"That's not Breakfast at Tiffany's."
"Pretty Woman."
"She didn't kiss."
"You've seen Pretty Woman?"
"Hey, weren't you about to show me something?" Jess turned around quickly, pulling her toward the bedroom.
"I can't believe you've seen Pretty Woman. Did you cry? Didn't you love the part when she was in the shop…" Rory teased him.
"I'm going to have to find a way to shut you up," Jess cut her off.
"Pretty sure that's im-"
