Chapter One: Old Habits Die Hard

Lorelai sat on the couch in his living room. Chris was in the kitchen looking for bar glasses.

She looked down at her feet. It was hard to believe. It's over. It's really over. She'd really done it. Well, he had done it. She had given him a choice. She had laid her heart out on the line and he rejected her. It was just hard to believe that it had ended like this.

Luke was supposed to be the one. He was the relationship that was meant to be, the relationship that was not meant to end. Yet it had. It had ended. She had thought that this time was different; but it too had ended, just like all the other relationships.

In all truth it had ended the day that April came into his life. He didn't tell her about April. They were a team and he didn't tell her. She had to find out on her own. And even after she did, she wasn't allowed to be part of his life with April. How could they really be together all the way if they were living separate lives?

Looking back, she should have known that it was ending even back then. She had all the signs. She just didn't want to see it. She kept hoping that it would get better. But it didn't. It didn't get better. It only got worse. They only grew apart.

"Your favorite," he said, holding a glass out to her. His voice startled her.

Lorelai looked up at Chris, taking the glass from him. She sniffed it before taking a sip. Cognac. She didn't tell him that she had always hated cognac. She had thought she liked it when she was fifteen and sneaking out of the house to get drunk with him. But now it just reminded her of her childhood and the wild and foolish kids they had once been.

"So, it's really over, huh?" he asked, sitting down.

Lorelai nodded, staring at her glass before taking another sip. "Yep. It's over."

Chris was about to say something when Gigi came bouncing down the stairs, calling for her Daddy. The nanny chased after her, but she immediately ran to Chris.

"Read me a book, Daddy," she begged, climbing into his lap.

"I can't, sweetheart. Daddy has company." He motioned towards Lorelai. The girl smiled at her for a second, but turned back to her father.

Lorelai watched the two of them. She watched their interaction as father and daughter. For a second, she thought that it was Luke sitting in the chair and not Chris. The idea of Luke and their daughter made her smile. Luke and their little girl – what an image. As soon as the thought came so did the realization that it was never going to happen. She and Luke weren't going to have a little girl. Or a little boy. They weren't going to have a future at all. It was over.

"Please, Daddy! Just one story!" Gigi begged again.

Lorelai sat her drink down on the table, standing up. "I really should be going. You go read her a story."

"Lor-"

"No, I … I shouldn't be here. I have to go."

Chris tried to protest, to beg her to stay. But she was already at the door and Gigi was hanging onto him still beginning him to read her a book. All he could do was watch the door close behind her. Something told him that it was the last time she'd ever be the one to come to him. He could see it in her eyes. Luke was the man that she really wanted, not him. It was finally time to let her go.