The Thrill of the Chase

forty four

Sixteen Months Later

Rory managed to shock everyone by talking Emily into agreeing with them holding the wedding in Stars Hollow. At first Emily had strongly protested against the idea, thinking that any good society wedding should be held at the Country Club. In a move that showed off Rory's litigation skills, she, along with Emily, visited multiple wedding planners, who all showed Emily that rustic outdoor weddings were very chic right now.

So here they now stood, late September, the trees full of fall colors but still warm enough to be outdoors without being wrapped up. The ceremony was being held outside in the grounds of the Dragonfly. One thing both Rory and Emily had agreed on was that the Dragonfly was too small to hold the ceremony, but while Emily wanted to look elsewhere, Rory just looked outdoors. This is how Robert found himself standing in the open paddock behind the Dragonfly, with Logan, Finn and Colin beside him, and two hundred guests seated on wooden benches in front of him. Behind him, in a move that showed how well the wedding planner knew Rory, they had managed to make a backdrop out of vintage books. Robert knew from helping find the books that they were all thrifted and already damaged in some way, or else Rory would not have agreed to deface them in any way. The books were all stacked together, and arranged so that they were open faced, with sunflowers, deep burgundy roses, and greenery interspersed throughout. A few book spines were visible, but they had ensured that those were all classics.

Robert looked out at the crowd, they had both wished they could have a smaller wedding but once they sat down they realized that realistically they weren't going to get any smaller than this, even at this they had probably offended numerous business associates, Emily had especially been horrified when she was told that due to the number of associates that deal with Rory and Robert alone, they would not be inviting old ones of their parents and grandparents. But she needn't have worried as between work associates and LDB friends, the guestlist was a veritable who's who of New England Society. Robert smiled at his Mom and Dad who were seated in the front row, before looking over at the bride's side. It had a bit more of a mish mash of characters on it, with Stars Hollow residents like Miss Patty, mixing with aloof Manhattanites.

Robert's attention was captured by the sight of Lorelai's head appearing for a second before disappearing again.

"It must be time," Logan said to him, having also spotted Lorelai. Robert just nodded in agreement, too nervous to talk.

The mini orchestra that had been playing while everyone was seated, changed tone, and Robert was surprised to hear what sounded like the start of Pure Imagination from Willy Wonka, it made him smile and relax. Even with all the extras it was still his Rory that he was marrying. He watched as Lorelai took her seat before the bridesmaids started coming down the aisle. Stephanie was first, followed by Paris and finally Lane. He took a deep breath knowing Rory would be next, he could see Chris but not Rory yet. He felt Logan nudge him, and just knew that meant Rory was there, he looked up, and his mouth went dry instantly. Walking towards him, on her fathers arm, was Rory, in a long sleeved lace flowing dress, with a bouquet of sunflowers in her hands, she had a breathtaking shy smile on her face as she looked at him.

"Hey," he whispered as soon as she reached him.

"Hey back," she said with a smile. They both stared into each other's eyes before Reverend Skinner cleared his throat behind them, reminding them that they were not alone.

Twenty five minutes later and they were walking down the aisle again, but this time they were together.

"Now it may come as a surprise to some of you, but once upon a time I dated Rory. I actually introduced her to Robert, while she was dating me." Logan paused here in his speech due to the laughter. "What may not be as big as a surprise was that I couldn't commit. So it turned into a competition of sorts. Both Robert and I were chasing Rory, taking her out on dates, and buying her coffee. You probably didn't buy coffee for yourself at all while we were doing that, did you?" Logan asked, looking at Rory, only to see her shaking her head no and laughing. "It took me longer than it should have to admit that while I was only in it for the thrill of the chase, and so I didn't lose my reputation, Robert here, was in it only for the girl. Even then before they were a proper couple, everything he did was to make her happy. A pattern that has continued for almost, what, eight years? Man we are getting old-"

"Speak for yourself!" heckled Finn to more laughter.

"You are aging too, Finn! Anyway eight years later and Rory's happiness is still Robert's main goal in life. That's how I know this marriage will last. How can it not, when both of them would go to the ends of the world to make the other happy. I hope you will all join me in a toast to the bride and groom, to the Goldmans!" Logan finished, raising his glass in a toast.

"Okay that could have been much worse," Rory whispered to Robert.

"Agreed! And Lane went easy on you as well."

"Shush, don't jinx it, someone might still let Mom near a microphone."

"Nah, I got Luke to promise me that he'd keep her away from it," Robert replied with a smile, leaning forward and brushing a kiss across her lips.

"Oh thank God, I love you for even thinking to do that."

"Of course, remember Lane's wedding?"

"How could I ever forget?"

"It was one of the most horrific and hilarious wedding toasts I've ever seen, still to this day. Of course it's only funny now, looking back and seeing that it all worked out," Robert said. He listened and heard the music change, "Okay I think it's time for us to get up and do our thing," he said, pulling her up with him and onto the makeshift dance floor inside the tent.

Rory and Robert had both known that the music would be one of the only places that they really would have full control of, well as much as Lane would let them have, anyway. Robert pulled her into his arms, and positioned their hands as though they were going to waltz, only for Gil and Brian to start playing I believe in a thing called love. Emily looked horrified when instead of starting a graceful waltz, Rory and Robert began a mish mash of jivving and air guitar miming. By the end of the first song all of their friends were up there with them, Finn had tried to grab the mic at least once to try a falsetto chord. It set the tone for the evening, none of them left the floor all night. It managed to stay classy enough that it didn't cause any problems with business associates, but crazy enough for Stars Hollow, and the LDB.

Near the end of the night Rory was standing at the bar with her Mom, watching Robert and the guys all attempt to dance.

"Well kiddo, I think you were right. This one is different."

"Gee thanks Mom, should I tell him he's finally won your approval?" Rory said sarcastically.

"Nah, I want him to keep working for it," she said, laughing. "I think you might need to go save your husband," Lorelai said, pointing at the dance floor where Miss Patty and Babette were now at the center of a group of the LDB guys.

"I think Finn could probably handle it, but I would like to get to go on honeymoon safely," Rory said, before rushing off to join the group, pushing Finn away from Miss Patty who was definitely putting her hands in places they should not be in public, if at all.

As time moved on they all paired off. First to fall was Colin, who finally gave in and married Stephanie. Then they all traveled to London to watch Logan fulfill his dynastic plan by marrying Odette. Logan had been introduced to Odette by Mitchum during one of his trips to London, but luckily the duo actually had quite a lot in common and despite his best efforts, Logan found himself actually falling in love. He was extremely angry that it was with someone of Mitchum's choosing, while Mitchum was even more annoyingly smug than normal. He was the last of the group to marry as Finn had met an Italian heiress while traveling Europe and quickly fell head over heels for her, committing to someone for the first time that anyone could remember.

A/N So here we are at the end. I know it just kind of ends, I'm sorry! I was having some issues with the ending, I rewrote it a few times, but my brain wasn't quite in wedding scene writing mode, and with being so close to the end I didn't want to just not finish it for the sake of a few thousand words. Hopefully you wont all hold a lacklustre ending against me.