A/N: I know it's been a little while since my last update, and I apologize. I'm gearing up to go back to school - something I never thought I'd say. But here I am ready to embark on being a college student! Thank you all for the comments and reviews. It makes my day! So, here's the latest chapter, and I hope you all enjoy.
Her skin was white, lips a pale blue. The sheet was pulled up to just below her collarbone, her arms at her side. He expected her to wake up, the sight looking like she was sleeping. His sleeping beauty. He let go of Lorelai's hand, taking a step forward. His hand shook as his fingertips grazed the top of her hand, her skin cold. He moved his hand to caress her cheek, bruises having formed across her cheekbone, a cut underneath her eye. He still didn't know the story of the accident, of what really happened. Quite frankly, he wasn't ready to know how he lost his Ace.
Glancing around, he saw that Lorelai had left the room, hearing the sobs from the waiting room once again. He was alone. "Hey, Ace," he said softly, sitting next to her, hand holding hers. "I'm sorry. This shouldn't have happened. I should have been here with you. I shouldn't have walked away, I should have called. God, I was an idiot, Rory. I was an idiot with a bruised ego. I didn't even know you were traveling! I'm proud of you, I hope you knew that. And I hope you knew that I love you, Rory. So much, and I wish I had gotten here sooner. I wish you would have heard me say it one more time. I just hope you knew how much I love you."
"You amaze me, Rory Gilmore. Every day, everything that you do, everything that you are. This past year I learned that I don't know as much as I thought I knew." A look of confusion flashed over her face. What was he saying? He chuckled nervously as he continued. "If that makes sense. Sorry, I'm nervous. I didn't think I'd be nervous." The crowd chuckled with him as he composed himself. "What I'm trying to say is that I don't know a lot, but I know that I love you. And I want to be with you. Forever. Rory Gilmore, will you marry me?" He opened the blue box he'd pulled out of his pocket and a look of adoration and surprise flashed across her face. He was so sure she was going to say yes, but then he saw the wheels turning in her head.
She should have said yes, she should have been his fiancee, his wife. He should have agreed to long distance, agreed to a long engagement. He should have done everything he could have to keep her his, but he didn't. He walked away from the love of his life because of a bruised ego. She'd bruised his ego many times, but he never walked away. Sure, he walked away when she called him Judi Dench, but that was different. That was a second meeting, not a marriage proposal.
"I'm so sorry I walked away from you, from us. I talked to Chris, and he said you knew I'd come back. Well, here I am Ace. Please, just come back now. I came back, now it's your turn." But he knew she wasn't coming back.
"It wasn't something you'd have expected," Lorelai said from the doorway finally, her voice monotonous. He'd never heard her so…quiet - to say the least. "It wasn't a drunk driver or a shoot out. No, Rory had to go out in style. She was on her way to New York to visit Finn. Despite your obvious parting, she kept in contact with him. She hit black ice on the highway, at least that's what they told us. Head on with the median. I want to believe it was painless, want to believe that she…" Logan nodded, understanding what she was getting at so that maybe neither of them had to deal with that pain. Closing his eyes, he thought about her trip. She had been on her way to visit Finn, somebody who had flown to San Francisco to check up on him. Somebody who wasn't letting on what he knew.
"So when Finn flew into San Francisco…?"
"He knew. He knew before I did. She was taken to New York Presbyterian at first, Finn being the last call on her phone, so they called him. He then called me. At that point I knew I had to call you, so I did. And now here we are…" It made sense why he had smelled so much alcohol, more than he normally did when he flew with Finn. It made sense why he caught Finn looking like somebody had died, something he'd joked about. God, he'd joked about it.
"I'll let you say goodbye," he told Lorelai, finally standing. He leaned down, kissing Rory's forehead one last time before walking out. Turning around at the doorway, he saw Lorelai sit next to her daughter, tears in her eyes again. It was a heartbreaking scene, to see the Gilmore Girls separated, a finality nobody wanted to see. Sure, they fought, they argued. But never were they permanently separated. He pushed off the doorframe, head hung as he walked back into the waiting room. Chris walked in the room that held his daughter, leaving Logan and Luke alone.
He sat next to the older man, not ready to break the silence. The silence was safe, letting him hide from what just happened. His mind was still racing. He just couldn't understand why it had to happen, or why Finn hadn't mentioned anything. Obviously Finn knew it was bad, and he let Logan walk into the hospital with false hope - false hope that Finn had given him. He knew Finn was just trying to be supportive, was hoping for the best because Rory had been his friend too.
"I never liked you," Luke said, finally breaking through Logan's thoughts. He looked at the older man, confusion written on his face like Luke's obvious heartbreak. "I thought you were too snobby for her. Even at the Vineyard. I guess I just didn't understand love enough to see yours. I never told Rory, just Lorelai, about my hesitations. But I see now… I've seen over the past few months whenever Rory would stop by when she could during the campaign, that she really did love you. And I don't know why I ever thought you weren't good enough. Maybe it was still seeing her as that nine year old in the diner with her mom paying in dollar bills, maybe it was because she was raised Stars Hollow's Princess. I never wanted to see her as that grown woman who had found love, who had blended herself so well between Hartford Society and Stars Hollow small town living." Logan understood Luke had to talk about something, had to have some sort of composure. And this was his way of getting it, rambling just like she had. "I think catching you two at the vow renewal didn't help. I think I kept seeing you as that 'no strings' guy rather than the boyfriend she had. I don't know exactly. But I really wish this hadn't have happened. I would have loved for her to marry you, Logan. We all did, even Lorelai although she won't admit it."
Logan looked at Luke who had placed his hand on the blonde's knee reassuringly. Luke didn't look back, and Logan knew it had something to do with the tears he could see glistening on his cheeks. "Did you know she thought she was pregnant?" Luke then asked, leaving Logan shocked and confused. "Right after you left, shortly after starting the campaign. She thought she was pregnant. She was so worried about it all. She wasn't ready to become a mother, she wasn't ready to give up what she'd worked for. At the same time, she was worried about what you would think. If you'd be upset, if you'd take her back. She had a whole plan and everything for when that stick turned blue. It didn't, and she told us she was relieved, but when I saw her the next time… She seemed a little heartbroken. It was almost as if fate was giving you guys a second chance if she'd been pregnant. She wanted to find a reason to go and try and win you back or vice versa."
Logan smiled softly. He could imagine their children - had in fact several times. He saw a little girl being their first, her hair, his brown eyes. Her wit would exceed even theirs, and her sense of adventure would give Logan heart attacks. Their second would have been born two years after their daughter - who would obviously been the fourth Lorelai. Their son they'd name after Luke or Richard, maybe both. He'd have the blonde hair and those blue eyes that seemed to be only found in Gilmore Girls. He'd be the first boy to have them. He'd be book smart, to so smooth with the ladies, but he'd make up for it in the ability to draw them in with his banter. He would be able to argue the pants off any lawyer. Both would be allowed to figure out what they wanted to do, who they wanted to be with no pressure from either him or Rory to go one way or the other. Mitchum would be kept far away. They wouldn't want their son to be influenced just because Hartford deemed him an heir. They'd move to a house most likely in Stars Hollow. Lorelai would learn to love him, or at least put up with him. He'd lose the title Limo Boy, and he'd have her respect.
The smile dropped when he remembered that the fantasy was just that, a fantasy. None of that would happen because of black ice. He couldn't believe that black ice was what took her away from him. A part of him felt like there was more to the story, hoped there was more. He just couldn't believe it could be something as simple as that. But it was. Black ice, snow, a perfect combination to take her away from them, from him.