Alright, so I'm a huge Rogan fan. I've started writing a few other stories, but they have been tragically horrible. And I happened to get this particular idea when I was watching a season 8 rerun of Beverly Hills 90210 (HUGE Brandon/Kelly shipper) . . .
Please let me know whether I should or shouldn't continue writing this.
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Rory lay in her childhood bedroom, staring up at the ceiling. It had been nearly three months since she'd given Logan back the ring, and he'd in turn walked out of her life. It had been a month since she'd returned home from the campaign trail.
A once in a lifetime job. One that she'd truly loved and wanted to continue. But she couldn't. When she'd started, she was an emotional wreck. So she chalked up everything that she was feeling both mentally and physically on the sudden changes. But as the weeks wore on, she realized it was much more than that. Her normally light complextion was paler than usual. She couldn't keep anything she ate to stay down.
Sometimes the mere smell of food made her stomach curl. But even though all the signs had been pointing in the one direction she the most terrified of, she convinced herself that it wasn't happening. History would not repeat itself twice. Not that she was sixteen, like her mother had been. But she was just starting her adult life, her career was just beginning. She wasn't ready for . . . that. Not yet. So she pushed the thought aside. Until she couldn't push it back any longer.
FLASHBACK
Rory carefully stepped out of the shower and onto the tile floor in the hotel bathroom. She wrapped the towel tightly around her body, flinching slightly when her hand grazed her breast. She sighed deeply, trying to will herself into believing that she really wasn't pregnant. It wasn't like she'd taken a test yet. Ignorance is bliss, she thought. She brought a hand up to her tangled mane and pushed some wet hairs back.
"You OK in there?" Paula, her roommate, and co-campaigner asked from the other side of the door.
She nodded her head in affirmation, but quickly realized that Paula could not see. "Ye -" her voice caught in her throat. "Uh, yeah. I'll be out in a minute."
Paula sounded unconvinced that Rory was really fine. "Take your time, we have thirty minutes," she answered back. They were attending a fundraiser at the Resort and Spa they were staying at in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
Grabbing a hand towel that rested on the bathroom counter top, Rory wiped away at the foggy mirror, staring at her exhausted features. Sighing, she opened the door and smiled weakly at Paula. "It's all yours."
"You OK?" the woman asked as she grabbed a neatly stacked pile of toiletries to take with her into the bathroom.
"Nothing a trip home and a good visit with mom won't cure," she answered quietly.
Paula knew there was more to it, but decided not to push. "I'm here if you want to talk." She noted Rory's small smile of appreciation before disappearing into the bathroom to shower and get ready. Normally she needed more time to put herself together for such a big event, but they'd been busy all day and this was the first chance they'd had . . .
When the bathroom door finally closed tightly behind Paula, Rory looked at herself in the mirror, then turned to look at her side profile, resting a hand on her flat stomach. She closed her eyes tightly wondering what the hell she was going to do.
END FLASHBACK
A soft knock on her bedroom door brought Rory out of her thoughts. "Yeah?" she called out softly. The door groaned on it's hinges as her mother let herself in.
She flinched. "Remind me to have Luke oil this thing." She entered the room fully and sat down gently on the bed, reaching out to stroke Rory's hair behind her ear in a motherly fashion. "Still no call?" Lorelai questioned, glancing at the cell phone clutched in Rory's hand.
She shook her solemnly. "No." She sighed, sitting up on her bed and leaning her head on her mothers shoulder. A tear slipped down her cheek. "I know that I shouldn't be surprised or hurt. I mean, it's not like he was returning my phone calls before, but . . ."
"It still hurts," she finished for her daughter. She felt Rory nod her head yes. "Regardless, I think you're doing the right thing," Lorelai encouraged. "He has a right to know."
"I've decided to give him until Friday to call me back," Rory said.
"And then?"
"And then I'm going to track him down," her shoulders slumped. "I don't know which is the better option." Rory didn't really like the option of telling Logan over the phone, but she knew that if he did call her back, he'd never agree to meet with her in person. And at least that way, she wouldn't have to look him in the eyes. However, telling him in person meant that she would have to look at him. And those beautiful eyes that had been her undoing so many times before. But what if he was so thrown that he blamed her? She didn't think she could take that . . . . seeing hatred in Logan's eyes for the life that was growing inside of her. A life that they'd made. At least if she told him in person, he couldn't hang up on her. He could walk away, but at least she could see his retreating back, and not have a dial tone ring in her ear . . . telling someone so life altering over the phone seemed too cold. Even after he'd broken her heart . . .
"Whatever happens, Ror," Lorelai kissed her daughters temple, unconsciously swaying them back and forth in a gentle motion, "I'll be here for you. And my grandbaby."
"Thanks mom," Rory offered her a half smile. It hadn't been easy for Rory to tell her mother. She knew that her mom would be disappointed, but that she'd get the support she needed. And at the moment, that included keeping the news of her impending motherhood from those they were closest with. At least until she had the chance to tell Logan, and figure out what she was going to tell her grandparents. While she knew she didn't owe them any explanation, as soon as they found out, she knew they'd bombard her with questions of how she planned to raise her child and have a career. And those were questions she just didn't have answers to at the moment.
Lorelai gave her daughters shoulder a gentle squeeze before releasing her hold and standing up. "I have to get to the Inn, but Sookie wants you to come by for lunch today. She wants to make sure your eating more than our normal diet of gummy bears and ice cream."
Rory smiled at her mom. "Sounds like a plan." She hadn't asked to keep Sookie out of the loop. She was like another mother to her, and Sookie's reaction had been priceless. She'd squealed with happiness and dropped the boxes of pizza that she'd come to the house with. Thankfully the boxes had stayed closed, so they weren't covered in floor dust, but they had flipped upside down and the pizza toppings had to be scraped off the cardboard. It was nice to know that Sookie was in her corner too. Not that she'd expected anything less.
The only other person who knew, and whom she regretted having told, was Luke. He hadn't reacted at all. His face was just a blank canvas. Like he'd gone deaf and blind at the same time. After a minute of letting the news sink in, he stalked out of the living room, and headed straight for the front door, muttering something about chemical castration. Lorelai stopped him before he'd made it off the porch and Rory could faintly hear Luke telling her mother that it would take some convincing, but he was sure he could get Taylor to agree to having another bon fire, and Logan would be roasted like a marshmellow. Lorelai still hadn't been able to calm him down after a few more minutes and she'd finally joined them just as he was suggesting to Lorelai that he and Jackson could bury his body in the field that had been planted with maijuana a year before . . .
It only took a few tears slipping down Rory's cheek for his thoughts of torture and murder to leave his mind. All he wanted was to make Rory's world right again.
She smiled warmly at the memory of her surrogate fathers reaction. He had never particularly liked Logan, though he had learned to tolerate him towards the end. Of course, now that Luke knew, he refused to serve her coffee. And he'd even limited her sugar intake while at the diner. He even tried to monitor what she was eating and drinking while he was present at the house. She had resorted to having Lane smuggle out to-go cups of coffee. But Lane had taken it a step further and smuggled out a bag of coffee grounds, pouring them into a different coffee canister and then handing it over to Rory so that if Luke saw them, he wouldn't realize it was the coffee from his establishment.
The August sun was already hot at ten that morning. Rory sat on the porch swing, clutching her cell phone and willing it to ring. But it didn't. Though she realized if the previous messages were not enough to make him call back, one more call to add to the list wouldn't change that. Changing tactics, she scrolled through her contact list finding the person she would call. Taking a deep breath, she pushed send. One ring. Two rings. Three . . . .
"Hello?" the perky voice answered into the cell phone.
Rory opened her mouth to speak, but found it difficult to form words. Her mouth was suddenly dry.
"Hello?" the voice came again.
"Honor?" she squeaked out, mentally slapping herself. Who else would it be? "It's Rory." Silence. Now it was her turn. "Hello?"
"I'm here," was the soft, confused reply. "I'm just . . . "
"Shocked?" Rory supplied.
"Yeah, that's a pretty accurate assessment," Honor smiled taking a seat in her home. "How are you?"
Rory let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She hadn't spoken with Logan's sister since a few days before his proposal. A tear slipped down her face as she realized that Honor didn't hate her. "That's actually why I'm calling, I-"
"Are you sick?" Honor asked, alarmed. "What can I do?"
Rory smiled. "No, I'm not sick. But I really need to talk to Logan." She could hear the sympathy in Honors voice as she spoke.
"You two haven't talked?"
Rory choked back a sob. "No. Not since I gave him back the ring."
Honor sighed, upset that her little brother hadn't taken her advice. "I told him to call you back."
"Thanks," she said softly. "Do you know how I can get in touch with him, or where I can corner him and make him listen to me?"
Honor chuckled. If anyone could verbally slap her brother to attention, it was Rory.
"He's been out of the country," Honor answered. "About a week after . . . well, you know . . . he decided that he was going to go on some stupid trip with Colin and Finn. He called it male bonding," Honor rolled her eyes. She hated that her brother was being so stubborn. She hated that he'd walked away because of his damned pride.
"Oh," Rory sighed. "What about Palo Alto?"
"He went to California the day after your graduation. Apparently, he got there and it ended up not being what he expected, which is Logan speak for -"
"'I just can't deal,'" Rory nodded her head.
"So he and the boys went on their trip." Honor sighed. "If it makes you feel any better, I haven't gotten a call either. He's emailed me a couple of times. Once to tell me he forgot his cell phone. The second email said that the cell phone didn't matter because they were going somewhere remote . . ." she laughed. "I can just picture Finn trying to convince some beauitful redhead to be the Jane to his Tarzan."
Rory giggled. "Somehow, I don't think that's too far fetched." She sat quiet for a minute, not sure if she should even ask, but curiosity got the better of her. "What's he going to do now? Work wise, I mean."
Honor sighed. "Dad's got his hooks back in Logan again. It's not as bad this time because he knows that Logan has the guts to tell him to shove it and walk away, but it's still sad. It's not what he really wants. But it's safe. It's a constant . . . Look, Rory, I don't know where Logan's head is at right now, but I know that you are the best thing that's ever happened to him. Which is why I'm going to tell you where we'll be this weekend." Honor grabbed her note pad and Rory could hear her flipping through some pages. "He comes home the day after tomorrow, and then Saturday night, my family is throwing this huge bash at the Martha's Vineyard house. It's a networking thing. If he doesn't call you before then, at least you know where to find him."
After thanking Honor, they talked for a few more minutes before Josh arrived home and she had to go.
Rory sat the phone down on the swing beside her, placing her hands on her flat abdomen. She looked down at the material that covered her flesh. "Well, little one, this weekend, your Daddy will know about you. Ready or not."
She stood up and walked back in the house, the porch swing swaying rapidly as she left . . .
TBC . . . .
OK, so this isn't going to be the typical Rogan break-up/pregnancy story. Far from it. It's going to include some mystery as well. I'm sorry there was no Logan in this chapter. But I needed to set the story up . . . . please review. I love reviews!