Jess Mariano couldn't believe the sight in front of him. Right when he was looking for a sign, something to tell him what his next step should be he found it… Rory Gilmore in Stars Hollow, sitting in the gazebo that they had sat in together numerous times. If seeing her wasn't the sign that he was hoping for he didn't know what was…
It had been over five years since he had last seen her and in those five years, he had gone from trying to read everything about her to avoiding everything about her. After the wedding announcement he focused on writing a new book, a book about the future he had dreamed about with Rory. He was so focused on writing his book that he alienated his co-owners from Truncheon and almost lost his job. After the book was finished, he tried to make amends and while the guys said they understood they could never grasp what it was like to have the love of your life slip through your fingers. He was making progress until he showed the guys the book and then things took a dramatic turn. The criticism he received was extremely hard for him to stomach. The female character was underdeveloped and weak, the plot line was unrealistic, and it seemed that there was no character growth from when the boy and girl first met until they were reunited years later. It seemed that the guys believed that the girl became weak when the guy came around and reverted to someone that wanted to please and would have been better off with the prick. He couldn't understand the criticism, how could the guys not see that the girl would have been better off with him? Not being able to handle the reviews from those he considered friends he became irritable and started picking fights. Not being able to handle the mood swings, the attitude, it wasn't long until the guys asked him to buy him out. Being pissed he agreed to the buy-out and then attempted to sell the book to other publishing houses. He had hoped that the book would be published and this one would be the one that finally helped him get Rory back, that she would finally see what she meant to him, that all they needed was each other. Those dreams were quickly crushed as each review he received back was the same negative criticism and the chances of him getting the book published the way he wrote it became impossible. Eventually he did what he did all those years prior and ran to California and found a job as a bartender and avoided the media, avoided anything that could remind him of Rory Gilmore. After four years he finally started digging himself out of his hole and found a job at a small independent bookstore. He made friends and eventually met a few guys he was able to talk to. They all thought that he needed to move on from Rory, needed to find someone else. But, despite what they guys thought, what he was partially accepting, working there brought back his memories of Rory and made him long for the life that he had envisioned. Deciding that he needed a sign he made the trip back to Stars Hollow, back to where it all started, and now seeing her…
He wanted to run to her, but he took a moment to admire her first. While he had avoided anything about her as much as possible it was impossible to avoid her completely when she often graced the covers of magazines. He thought she was stunning when he saw those images, but nothing compared to seeing her now, especially since the prick wasn't with her. Slowly he walked towards her but before he made it more than a few steps he heard a little voice screaming 'mommy!' and he turned to see a little blonde hair boy barreling towards the gazebo with a guy that looked like the prick following him holding a little brunette girl in his arms. When she stood his breath caught in his throat when he noticed her bulging stomach that showed she was pregnant yet again.
He didn't hear anything else and with his heart fully shattered he turned and walked back to his car vowing to never think of Rory Gilmore again.
Lorelai Danes walked along the streets of New York. It had been ten years since she had moved out of Stars Hollow. The small inn that she opened wasn't what she had before but then again her life now was nothing like it was back then. She was managing to earn a small profit each month, but she was tired, and she just didn't know why she kept working. She was approaching 60 and at the end of each day, she made the small trek back to her rooms that were attached to the inn. She had tried to date a few men but none of them seemed to last longer than a few months.
As much as she tried to block her daughter out of her thoughts she couldn't. Her daughter's face was on gossip pages, on covers of magazines, she was even doing interviews. It was hard to avoid the news when Rory had given birth to a little girl named Emmaline Sophia, affectionately called Emmy, after her great-grandmother, and then she had another boy named Alexander Jack, typical society names.
Then there was the entire issue of the books. While she had heard about them becoming bestsellers, she could never bring herself to read them. Long ago she had read the initial draft and what was painted on those pages made her seem selfish and controlling, she hadn't been lying when she said that she would sue Rory if she didn't like the finished product. But then Rory went on air saying it was loosely based on her childhood so even if Lorelai hated the books, she wouldn't be able to sue so she just pretended they didn't exist.
But while she tried to pretend she never had a child, there was this aching hole that would never go away. She missed her mini-me. There were nights that she would dream that everything was how it was supposed to be. She was still in Stars Hollow, married to Luke and Rory and her daughter would have been living with her. Lorelai would be some cool name for grandma, and she would raise that girl to go to Harvard and hate society as well. But then she would realize that she was in her small apartment in her inn in a town that was nothing like Stars Hollow.
A few years ago, she went back to Stars Hollow during one of their festivals and she almost didn't recognize the place. She first visited her old home and it had been repainted and the garage looked to have been redone. There were flowerpots on the porch and the swinging chair had been upgraded. From where she parked, she could see that it seemed the kitchen had been extended as well. Not wanting to see anymore she went towards the Dragonfly only to see that it had been updated as well. She had to park a distance from the town center due to a festival and it seemed that tourism had pick up in the years she had been gone. The annex that she was painstakingly trying to renovate was done and named Town Square Inn. Luke's was still there and she had seen him through the windows but he was embracing a woman and they looked happy together which just made her angrier, he shouldn't have been able to move on, he should be just as miserable as she was! She made her way through the crowds, and she just looked at the people that she used to know. Some of the booths had been replaced by people she didn't know. She had even heard some of the people talk about Sookie and her pastry stand and when she looked over it looked like Davy was running it and when she walked towards it she heard about the restaurant Sookie had opened off of the main street but she couldn't bring herself to find it. Someone had even wondered if Hep Alien would be playing that evening. It seemed that everyone was happy, and she just couldn't understand how they had all seemed to forget about her. After she had seen enough, she drove out to where the Independence Inn was and was shocked to see the grounds crowded with people. As she walked towards where she had lived with Rory she almost broke down in tears as she saw small cottages built where the shed she had lived with Rory once stood. It seemed like the town had tried to completely erase her existence.
After she left Stars Hollow, she threw herself back into work and hadn't taken another break. But she could feel herself starting to crack again so she decided to take a few days off and go to New York. It had been two days since she had arrived and she was starting to feel like the walls weren't closing in on her anymore. Seeing a small café she walked towards it and found a small table towards the back. A waitress came over and she ordered a coffee and a hamburger. As she at she looked around the space and thought that she might redo the dining area of the inn to resemble this. Not long after she received her food, she heard the door chime and she looked up, almost choking on her food.
In front of her stood her daughter followed by her children. The little girl was an exact replica of Rory, while the oldest boy looked with Logan and the youngest had blonde hair and blue eyes.
"Ugh," the boy groaned as he sat down and ran his hand through his hair. "How much longer do you think dad's going to be?"
Rory sighed and helped the youngest boy into his chair. "We got here early," she huffed. "You know he is trying to get some things taken care of before we go on vacation for the next few weeks."
"I just want to get there," the boy groaned.
"I know bud," Rory replied pausing to order a rose petal tea and chicken salad sandwich for herself, the youngest ordered an apple juice and chicken strips with carrots, the oldest boy ordered an iced tea and a BLT and finally the girl ordered an iced tea and cheeseburger.
Lorelai almost choked again as she heard the order but tried to remain silent as she listened to the conversation. It seemed they were going to Martha's Vineyard for a few weeks and then headed to London because Logan had some business to take care of. She wanted to sneer at how they seemed to be the perfect family and she would bet everything she owned the Logan probably wasn't busy with work but was screwing his secretary.
As they started eating, Rory looked at her phone and then got the waitresses attention and ordered something else. Not long after she saw the playboy walk into the café.
"Daddy," the little boy squealed, and the girl stood and rushed to give him a hug.
Logan laughed and as if feeling her glaring at him, looked up and met her eyes. He narrowed his eyes but didn't say a word and just ignored her and sat by Rory, placing a soft kiss on her lips before joining the conversation of what all they would be doing on the Vineyard.
"Is grammy still coming?" the little girl asked as she ate a French fry.
"Yes, grammy Emily will be there, and so will Grandma Francine and Grandpa Chris," Rory answered.
"Is Grace going to be there?" the girl squealed.
"For a few days," Rory answered with a smile.
"Is Gramps going on the boat with us?" Ritchie asked.
"Yeah," Logan answered. "But he said this time you get to do all the work and he is going to relax."
The conversation continued and as much as Lorelai wanted to get away, she couldn't seem to move. In front of her was her daughter that she had secretly hoped had a miserable life, but it seemed like she had anything but. The three kids all teased her, and Logan and the adults teased right back. Then there was the way Logan continuously touched Rory, whether it was touching her hand, or just brushing his fingers against the back on her shoulders and Rory was the same way, touching his arm or just pushing slightly against him with her shoulders. Just seeing them together she saw something she had never seen before, they loved each other. The family talked about all these people like they were all one giant family, a family that she had no part of. As much as she wanted to pretend that she had lost nothing 10 years ago, looking at these kids she realized that she had lost so much.
Before she knew it the family had got up and it was at that moment Rory glanced back and saw her. Rory froze for a moment and Lorelai debated about saying something but before she could utter a word, her daughter turned and the family walked out of the café and Rory never looked back.
Lorelai somehow paid her bill and made her way to the nearest bookstore. There she went straight to where Rory Gillmore's books where and there they were… the four books that talked about Rory's childhood but then she saw another book, Memories Never forgotten and she turned to read the synopsis. Kelly Bishop's world is rocked when her husband of 50 years suddenly passed… She looked at the inscription, To my pillars may their story of love never be forgotten. Quickly she bought all of the books and headed back to her hotel room.
Late the following day, Lorelai had finished reading all the books and was now looking online, reading stories about Rory's last book and how she had asked her grandmother to write stories about her grandfather so that she could give her son some piece of one of the greatest men that she had even known. After Rory had read those pages and listened as her grandmother told other memories, a story began to form, it was based off her grandparents love story but was fictionalized in the ways she imagined it to be.
The pages of the books were covered in tears. Somewhere between these pages she realized how badly she had messed up and no matter how much she may regret her choices now, she doubted that either her mother or daughter would even give her a second chance. With a shaky hand she picked up her phone and dialed a number that she hadn't in forever only to discover that Rory no longer had the same phone number. Trying not to give up she called Emily's cell phone, the Nantucket home, the Gilmore residence but they were all disconnected or they now belonged to someone else.
Everyone told her that she would eventually regret her decision but she never believed them… until now.
Thank you to everyone that stuck with me until the end. I was questioning everything I wrote for awhile and I kept writing and rewriting until I pretty much lost my motivation to complete this. Motivation stuck as I recently decided to go back to finish my degree and as I was writing a paper for class determination to finish this hit... I hope you all like it.