Alternate pieces of 1.17, The Breakup, Part 2. Luke and Dean get into the fight, but the outcome of Rory's brief words with Dean is very different. ONESHOT!

"Are you okay?" Rory asked, with concern. Dean unclenched his fists and hung his head in obvious exhaustion, but not from fighting Luke.

"I'm fine." he said coldly. He began to walk away.

"Dean, wait!" she cried, and caught up with him. She caught him by the hand and he swung around to face her.

"What do you want?" he spat.

"I want to fix this." Rory said quietly, tears forming. "I don't want to wallow."

"What?" he asked, not knowing what she was talking about.

"It's a long story." she said. "If I wallow about our breakup, it makes it real."

"It was real, remember?" he interjected.

"Last night was the most horrible night of my life. It began perfectly, and went so wrong. If I wallow about our breakup, it means that last night happened and I have to accept that. I can't, Dean. I can't accept that."

"I guess you also couldn't accept me telling you that I love you." he said defeatedly. "What's wrong with me? Why couldn't you say it?"

"It's a big deal to me, Dean." Rory said softly. "It's a big step, and you said last night that it's not something to think about; that it's just a feeling. But relationships are based on more than that. And I truly had to think about it. You were my first boyfriend. You were my first kiss. I'm new at this, and slow sometimes. Can't you understand?"

"Last night, I didn't sleep." he admitted. "I thought at first that it was because I was angry at you, but it was clear that I hurt you, and I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry that I hurt you, too."

"Can we go back?" he asked.

"Do you want to?"

"Yes." he nodded. "I miss you already, Rory."

"Can you accept that I'm not ready to say that I love you?"

"Yes." he nodded again. She smiled, and he tucked her under his arm as they walked into Luke's together and explained everything to Lorelai and to Luke.