A/N: Yes, this is yet another post-season-five-finale fic. But I wanted to write this, so I think you can stand to read one more. Yes, it's short.
Disclaimer: I don't own them.
During his rant she realized the seriousness of the situation. Her daughter, her perfect, angel daughter, was dropping out of Yale. She took everything she had, everything she'd worked so hard for, and threw it away. Just tossed it out the window without a second thought.
And her parents. The newly rekindled relationship with her parents was tossed out that window as well. She tried so desperately to make them understand, to once side with her. And for a moment, a short moment, she thought they were with her on this. They agreed, told her that come Friday, they would knock some sense into Rory. But that wasn't the case. Rory was the daughter they'd never had. The perfect girl with the perfect boyfriend attending the perfect college. They didn't want to lose her. They knew that if they went against her on this, there was a good chance she'd never speak to them again. And they certainly didn't want that.
So they went back on their word. They stabbed Lorelai in the back and sided with Rory. In the back of their minds, they knew this was wrong. Rory had to go to Yale. But they knew what it was like to lose a daughter, and they didn't want to lose their granddaughter. So they did what was needed to keep her close.
Lorelai considered all this, while Luke was rambling about kidnapping her daughter and forcing her to take classes. No matter the intentions, this plan was probably illegal. But that was beside the point. As Luke was talking, Lorelai had a realization. Luke was still there. And he always had been. Even when she couldn't control anything, when everything was falling apart, he was there.
And she couldn't bear to lose the only thing she had left. So she did what she needed to do to keep him, with her, forever.
"Luke will you marry me?"
As the words were leaving her mouth, she knew it was the wrong place and the wrong time for this. She had told Max that a proposal was supposed to be magical and planned. So now, as an added bonus, she was a hypocrite. This wasn't magical, and it certainly wasn't planned.
Luke was stunned. "What?"
"This isn't right. I can't do this, not now." Lorelai began to panic, thoroughly humiliated. "I'm just going to go home and sleep. Maybe things'll be better in the morning." She grabbed her coat and purse and moved to leave.
"Wait, Lorelai." He called after her. She didn't stop. He chased her out the door and grabbed her arm. "Lorelai."
She turned to face him, crying silently. He just wrapped his arms around her and held her close. She looked up into his eyes. "Everything's falling apart."
"Everything will be fine. You'll see." He comforted, slowly leading her back towards the door and into the diner. She sat in a chair and he poured her a cup of coffee, which she drank silently. They both seemed to know that words just couldn't help right now.
But someone had to be the first to speak. "It's getting late, Lorelai." Luke mentioned, not sure what to do.
"Yeah. I should probably…" she began to cry again. Luke pulled up a chair next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "It's just… Home reminds me of her, Luke."
"Stay here."
The pair stood and walked up the stairs, leaving Lorelai's jacket and purse behind in the empty diner.
Well, I might continue. Who knows? This seems a pretty good stopping place, but I could go on. Thoughts please!