Firstly, I really want a beta; I have the tendency to a) overuse semicolons (this particular sentence case in point), b) forget words as I hurriedly write down the words my reluctant muse has parted, and c) occasionally making spelling or grammatical errors. So anyone interested please review!

Secondly, I outlined the basic plots for this story and am pleased with what I have so far. I'm considering writing my entire version of the 7th season: the wedding, Rory's graduation, and all of the drama in between.

I actually devised what I consider to be a rather clever twist (I haven't read it anywhere yet, though I'm sure someone has beaten me to the punch) so I'm really excited to keep writing! However, this is still tentative, as I'm struggling with writing dialogue between Rory and Lorelai and it would ruin the story to have a decent plot with terrible dialogue between the two main characters.

Finally, I know I said this was a Rory/Jess story, but Luke and Lorelai are being rather selfish, hehe. However, I'm aiming to get the ball rolling on Literati in Chapter 9 (sorry, I want to resolve things in this chapter in the next).

P.S. I think I might go through my chapter titles and turn them into references to 80's songs… hehe. So, I'm starting here… anyone know the song and artist?

Chapter 7 – It's About Forgiveness

Even if you don't love me anymore.

The summer sunlight streamed into Rory's room, gently arousing her from a strange dream involving a disastrous visit to Logan in London. She grunted slightly, shifting sides on her bed, when the sight of a pajama-clad Lorelai in her reading chair destroyed any future hopes of more sleep.

"Mom?" She grumbled sleepily, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"Hey babe." Lorelai's voice was soft. She sat with her knees drawn to her abdomen with a coffee mug in each hand and a pensive smile on her face. Standing up, she walked over and silently handed Rory a mug of coffee before returning to the chair.

Rory let out a loud yawn before attacking her coffee with an almost unnatural fervor. After several long sips of the delicious liquid, Rory cautiously asked, "What's going on?"

"I need to tell Luke about Christopher. Today." Her voice was still quiet and her words were simple, which was uncharacteristic for her, but there was a force behind them.

A ball of nervousness formed in the pit of Rory's stomach; the thought of Lorelai and Luke not making up scared her more than she cared to admit. "When?"

"I'm going now. Well, after I change. I just need to hear something from you before I go."

"Yeah?"

"Tell it's going to be okay. Tell me that Luke will find it in his heart to forgive me. Tell me that he'll still marry me. Tell me he still loves me like I love him. Please just tell me you saw something in him yesterday that makes you think I still have a chance."

Rory's heart went out to her mother. If anyone deserved for things to work out, it's Mom. In spite of that thought, she chose her next words carefully. "He still loves you. And I honestly believe he'll forgive you. But it'll take time. Don't expect him to forgive you today."

"I don't. I just need to know he still loves me and if there's a chance he'll forgive me someday."

Rory didn't respond; it was the sort of statement that was better left hanging in the air.

---

Lorelai's walk towards the diner was slow and hesitant; every step she took towards the diner was accompanied by an intense desire to flee. But she knew she had to do this; she had to do this for Luke and herself. He had the right to know just how horrible the person he loved was. If he still loves me, she added miserably.

Taking a deep breath, she straightened her shoulders and marched into the diner, with one last thought wondering what kind of person would be exiting the diner when all of this was said and done.

The usual bell tinkled as she entered the place that felt like her second home. Luke stood behind the counter, wiping it down, when he looked up. Their eyes met. He nodded towards her and told Lane that he needed to handle something upstairs and would be down later.

She crossed the diner, her entire body shaking as she followed Luke up the familiar stairs. Lane looked as though she intended to say hello, but something about Lorelai's appearance and expression must have warned her not to bother.

The moment she entered the apartment, Luke enveloped her into a tight, warm hug.

"Oh god, Lorelai. I'm so sorry. I know I've messed up and you have every right to be angry, but I promise I can make this right. Please forgive me. We'll plan the wedding, I swear it. I want to marry you. I love you."

His words were honest and everything she had wanted to hear from him. For a moment, a small part of her considered forgiving him and putting the entire experience behind her. They would get back together. They would plan the wedding. She'd marry the man she loved and never mention the worst mistake she'd ever made again.

But how could you do that to Luke? How could you live with yourself, knowing that you had deceived the only man you ever loved? her mind shouted miserably.

Gathering every ounce of courage she possessed, Lorelai extracted herself from Luke's arms and murmured, "Luke, I have to tell you something. I need you to sit and I need you to listen." Her entire body began trembling once more and her eyes filled with tears.

Luke sat down at a chair at the table, his face now stoic and his body rigid, and it was only then that Lorelai realized how different Luke appeared from the last time she'd seen him. He looked rumpled and she was almost certain he'd lost weight. She sat down in the chair across from him and looked straight into his eyes.

"The other night, I made a terrible mistake," she began shakily. "Well, actually, I made several terrible mistakes. First of all, I borrowed a pair of Rory's shoes, which is really never a good idea, because her feet are so much small-" she nervously babbled, feeling incredibly sick to her stomach.

"Lorelai." His low voice interrupted, and she could tell he was trying to contain his emotions.

"I demanded you elope with me. I gave you an ultimatum knowing you didn't like them. But I was scared. I thought you and I would never marry and it was the one thing I wanted more than anything in the world. And you just kept pushing me away. I couldn't handle it." She paused, wondering how to continue.

"I know," he answered, his voice wavering slightly. "I messed up, Lore. I'm sorry. But we can fix this."

"I hope that we can," she said softly. "But my mistakes didn't end there. After I walked away, I was devastated. You're the only man I've ever truly loved, Luke. I may have cared about Christopher, Max, or any other guy along the way, but the way I felt about them never compared to how much I love you. But I wanted to marry you and I thought you didn't want to marry me anymore. So, I ran to someone else." Lorelai swallowed, feeling her throat constrict as more tears streamed down her face.

"Christopher." Luke's single sentence wasn't a question but a tense statement.

Lorelai felt her heart break as she painfully nodded.

A long silence stretched between them as Lorelai stared at Luke's impassive face, willing him to respond in some way.

Finally, Luke raised her eyes to hers and, in a voice completely devoid of emotion, replied, "Okay." Then, in one quick motion, he stood up, grabbed a jacket, and left the apartment.

"Luke!" Lorelai jumped up, rushing to the door, only to see Luke's back disappear down the stairs.

Unable to the stop the wracking sobs, Lorelei reentered the apartment, threw herself on Luke's bed, and cried for a long time.

---

As Luke stormed out of the diner, he heard Lane and other people call his name, but he only heard her voice, relentlessly echoing though his brain. 'I ran to someone else'… 'I ran to someone else'… Christopher.

Anger coursed through him, and he struggled not to scream or break down sobbing as he steadily made his way to the only place where he could feel okay at a time like this.

She slept with Christopher. We fought, and she slept with Christopher. A small voice in the back of his mind hopefully thought she might not have actually slept with him, but he repressed the feeling almost instantly. Of course she had.

The very thought of Christopher touching Lorelai made Luke's insides twist violently and brought both rage and tears even closer to the surface. He welcomed the rage; anger he could handle. He was allowed to be angry because the love of his life had cheated on him.

But it was the tears that Luke was afraid of. Not only would the tears make it real, but they would prove that, despite his anger, he still loved her. And Luke didn't want to love Lorelai anymore. Loving her was complicated, overwhelming, and right now, downright physically painful.

So Luke allowed the anger to consume his body and mind and it carried him all the way to the bridge in record time. When he arrived, Luke was surprised to see Jess already sitting at the bridge, as usual, jotting on a yellow writing pad.

For a second, Luke considered turning away. As much as he valued Jess, a part of him thought it might be better to be alone.

However, at that moment, Jess looked up from his pad, saw Luke, set the pad beside him, and beckoned Luke to join him.

Hesitantly, Luke made his way over and sat down beside him.

"She slept with Christopher."

Jess glanced at Luke in surprise and answered in his typical "Huh" fashion before he even thought to censor it. He waited a few minutes and then, staring at the water, finally replied, "I think you should forgive her."

This statement hung in the tense air between the two as Luke now turned to look at Jess in surprise.

"Jess, do you understand what I'm saying? Christopher is Rory's father. She slept with Rory's father! Lorelai cheated on me with Rory's father!"

"Yes, but she loves you. And, no matter how badly she's hurt you, you love her too."

"How do I even know she still loves me and wants to work things out? She slept with another man! That's not what someone in love does!" Luke shouted angrily, disturbing several birds in the surrounding trees.

"But she told you. Why would she bother to tell you if she didn't want to make things work? She told you to be honest with you. And she only bothered to be honest because she still loves you."

Luke was silent as he carefully thought about Jess's words. He's right… what she did was still wrong, but she loves me. A small bubble of hope filled his heart and mind.

"Okay," he finally said, but it was a much different 'okay' than the one he'd issued earlier to Lorelai. This okay acknowledged a hopeful future instead of diminishing a painful confession.