Gilmore Girls
High Flying Above Hollywood Hills
Part 38 'It's Christmas'
Summary
Rory's a Hollywood superstar and Logan's a billionaire business man, they have been apart so long it feels like they'll never be friends again, but something tragic brings them closer and who knows what will happen next….. Possible Rogan and a little JJ!
Disclaimer
I own nothing!
A/N:
Thanks for reviewing and I hope you'll enjoy this extra long chapter and please continue to read and review.
Thank you.
elliex
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December Stars Hollow"Logan, stop with the fussing, I'm fine" Rory had thrown up for the 6th time since she had arrived home the day before.
"Obviously you're not, otherwise you wouldn't be being sick all of the time" Logan was bringing Rory drinks of water and magazines and renting movies constantly. He wouldn't let Rory get up.
"Look, I'm fine. I want to go for a walk; I want to go to Luke's see my mom. Talk to some different people" Rory had felt her life slip away from her once and she knew that now her life wasn't guaranteed to be as long as she thought. Her experiences had taught her that she should cherish what time she may or may not have left. Doctors said there was no way of telling what was wrong with her, why she fainted and threw up all of the time, why she was so weak, so there was no way of telling how long she had left to live. Some had said there was nothing wrong, she was fine to live a long and happy life. While other had said symptoms showed her life expectancy to be just a matter of months. This later diagnosis had made Rory think about life, she wanted to live it while she had it, not sit around at home; doing interviews with the press about her illness while Logan did everything for her. She wanted to play with her boys, to spend her Christmas time out in Stars Hollow, with the people and the town.
"Maybe tomorrow" Logan said passing Rory another glass of water.
"Ugh" Rory moaned, rolling her eyes.
Looking at Stars Hollow was different now. Rory had been thinking over the days she had spent here since her return, how much she had missed. She knew her mom constantly thought about how much of Rory's life she had missed, but it wasn't until now that Rory had returned to Stars Hollow that she had began to realise how much of her mom's life she had missed. Her mom had changed so much without Rory even thinking about it. Her mom had been with Luke, she had expanded the inn, her and Sookie had bought a small restaurant just outside of town and it was filled every night. Her mom had helped Luke to expand and re-decorate and the house Rory had called home for so long was completely remodelled. Rory wasn't sure why but she had expected everything to have stayed the same while she was gone.
Logan put up the Christmas tree a week before Christmas, with the help of all of the children. Well, Dylan tried to help Bradley do it but he didn't understand Bradley was way too young. After putting up the tree Lorelai came over to watch them while he went out Christmas shopping. Rory felt so stupid, like she was a little kid. All the while she had been sat in the same place she had been sat since she had returned from the hospital almost 2 weeks before.
One day she just got sick of it. Logan was at work and Lorelai was in the kitchen with the boys. Eden and Bradley were sleeping. It was the perfect opportunity for Rory to get out. She got up and put on her coat and quietly left. When she got out there were a few photographers but she wasn't really bothered, she was just pleased to be outside. She decided she needed some privacy and so took herself to the bridge were she used to sit and talk with jess. It had been a long time since she had even thought about Jess, she wondered now where he was and what he was doing. Rory could feel she was dying in herself and she didn't need some doctor to tell her she didn't have long and she wanted to spend the time she had left revisiting past times she had spent here, with the people she had known so well but hadn't spoken to in years.
As she walked along the road to the bridge she could see someone leaning over the railing. They were talking; Rory couldn't see anyone else so she presumed they were talking to themselves. Rory couldn't have said who it was because she didn't know half the townsfolk anymore and felt she had no right to try to guess like she would have had before. As she got closer she knew who it was, it was Lane.
Rory hadn't seen Lane in 6 years and she was completely different. Rory was nervous, she wasn't sure if it was ok for her to talk to Lane, was she allowed after leaving for so long and not bothering to talk to her. Rory felt then she had nothing to lose but time and time was something she needed right now, should she risk it? Rory's answer was yes, she should.
"Hey" Rory smiled as she approached silently
Lane turned around, startled as if she'd seen a ghost, Rory knew she probably felt she had, after all it had been 6 years. Rory almost looked like the ghost version of her past self. She was so much skinnier and paler than 6 years ago, she looked frail and weak, and Rory guessed she looked just like a ghost of her 20-year-old self now 6 years on.
"Rory" Lane looked scared almost, Rory presumed Lane hadn't found out Rory had returned home.
"That's me" Rory stood next to Lane looking over the railing. When she looked out across lake she saw that Lane had not in fact been talking to herself but to Zack and what looked to be their children. Zack and the 3 children were in a boat each with their little fishing rods. They were quite a way out so their figures were not absolutely clear.
"It's been a long time," Lane said quietly, signalling to her husband and children.
"It has" Rory nodded. She hadn't known about Lanes children but she was sure Lane had heard about hers and that saddened Rory. That Lane knew more about Rory than Rory did of Lane.
They paused their slow conversation for a while as they both looked over the bridge and out across the lake. Rory knew she would remember these few moments forever, it was as though her heart had stopped at 20 and she had missed 6 years, now all of the feelings of happiness and sadness she would have felt in Stars Hollow were flooding back. It was as though her heart had stopped feeling the minute she had left stars hollow. Her heart belonged her. It was here she was at her best, her happiest.
"How's your life?" Rory broke the silence and decided to ask Lane a question that would spark a conversation that Rory could take with her to her next life, when she passed.
"My life's good. I have a good life Rory and I hope you do to" Lane wasn't feeling like talking, she was too happy and upset at the same time, she feared tears would hide her words.
"My life's good, now at least. I'm back in Stars Hollow" Rory smiled at the thought of her perfect small town home and life.
"I heard" Lane sounded cold yet her heart was filled with warmth.
"I'm sorry Lane, I meant to call, I was in over my head" Rory started to cry a little now, just small tears, silent ones.
"It's ok, I'm just sad to think what you missed" Lane smiled back at Rory now, she was being honest, she was genuinely sad that Rory had missed so much.
"Me too, I missed a lot." Rory rubbed her eyes at the thought "So, you're a mom"
"Yeah, 5 years now. Twin boys and a little girl, I love it. How about you?"
"4. 3 boys and a girl"
"Really!"
"You didn't know"
"No, I stopped reading the newspapers and magazines right after the twins were born. I knew about your first Levi, they were born around the same time. After that I lost interest, there was so much for me to do, what with having 2 at once. I heard about the last one though, you were ill when he was born; I caught the news at Luke's. But 4!"
"Yeah, I know, it was never meant to be like that, but I wouldn't give any of them up for the world. Yeah, I wish I could say I was ill, but I cant"
"Why not?" Lane questioned. She hadn't realised when the twins had been born that stopping reading the news and watching the television had caused her to miss so much.
"I still am" Rory's heart strings were pulling she felt they were going to break at any minute and the tears she had held back were going to flow more freely than ever before. "I'm dying"
Rory cried and Lane thought. Lane thought about what she could say to Rory. She hadn't seen her in years but she had been her best friend and now they had just seen each other again and she was being told Rory was dying. It was all too much to take in. They stood for 10 minutes side by side, Lane thinking and Rory crying. This time it was Lane who broke the silence.
"Are you scared, you know, of dying?" Lane wasn't sure if she was supposed to ask or not, but she had nothing to loose just like Rory had thought when she had decided to take the plunge and talk to Lane.
"Not, not really. I mean everyone dies right. I haven't really thought much about it but I figure at least I know that I'm dying and I can make the most of my time, it's not as though it'll come as a surprise and I won't have had all my last wishes." Over the past 2 weeks after coming home form the hospital and being waited on hand and foot, Rory had found herself with a lot of time to think about dying, and she had formed a few opinions.
"I suppose that's true"
"I am scared of one thing though" Rory said thinking about how she had realised her lack of time was worrying.
"What's that?" Lane was worried yet curious at the same time. She had never really spoken to anyone who was seriously dying before, only the few times she had seen old man Twickam on his death bed.
"Time" Rory said simply, there it was, her only fear.
"Time?" Lane didn't get it; she guessed she never would unless she was ever told she was dying.
"Yeah, time. Not so much of it catching up with me, I'm prepared for that, I think. But, running out of time, time with my babies, time with Logan, with my mom, with this town. And I'm afraid of what I'll miss."
"I know I'm not able to say that I know how you feel because obviously I don't. But if I were you, I wouldn't be worrying about what I'm going to miss when I'm gone, I'd be too busy planning what I'm going to do with the time I have left." Lane spoke more passionately than she thought she could. She had carried so much resentment for the way Rory had abandoned her and her town over the years that she had always figured Rory's return would be an angry and upsetting time. Yes, she was upset but she was no longer angry, she was sad, sad that she had a limited amount of time to find her best friend in the new and improved Rory.
"But I don't have that long." Rory said happy that lane cared still yet sad she had left it so late to find her again.
"Rory face it, you haven't got that long by the sounds of things. If I were you, I'd stop worrying and start living.
Rory walked away from her conversation with Lane having gained so much and lost everything she needed to lose to be at peace with her life. Rory was finally at rest, as sad as it felt to know that she was prepared to die, she was.
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Ok, so I know a lot of people won't be happy with the way this is going, but I'm sorry, it's the way things turned out. I hope you will keep reading and reviewing though because it means so much to me. Thanks you for all the support form my reviewers and I hope you'll continue.
elliex