This is my response to ReeJ "I will survive" Challenge on Illusive. Kind of. I was intrigued with the prompts and thought I'd give it a try.
AU 5 years after he spiels some harsh words towards his love, while at an art exhibit, Logan sees a puzzle pictures of familiar eyes and lips formed in a familiar smirk. Will this chance give him the chance to right his wrongs? Or will it be too late?
I'm rating it MA just in case. I curse. A lot. So if words that rhyme with duck and such offend you I'm sorry, but I gave you far warning.
Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls. But oh so wish they'd come back!
"Sorry I'm late," I say slipping into the open space at the bar between my two best friends. I grab the attention of the nearest bartender and ask for three fingers of scotch neat and slip him a hundred to make sure that fucker keeps them coming. After the day I've had I need something to take the edge off.
The lights dim and the gallery quiet. I lean over and whisper into Colin's ear "Explain to me why we had to come to Brooklyn for some art show. Couldn't Finn have found something for the bar in the city?" Colin cocked his eyebrow and simply said "Its Finn". I give a light chuckle and short nod.
"True, True. I'm out of it, I should have known better."
"Rough day?"
Now it was my turn to cock my eyebrow at him, "I work with Mitch-"
"Would you two arses, shut the fuck up. I'm trying to listen to the lovely Sheila. So shush."
I look at the girl standing in the center of the room, welcoming everyone, inviting them to drink, eat, enjoy the arts and buy any and everything they like. Everyone laughs and the lights brighten. I tilt my head to the side and do a once over of the short petite Asian woman bouncing from patron to patron kissing cheeks, saying hello. She looks so familiar to me but I can't place her. I don't think I've fucked her before. She doesn't look THAT quite familiar to me.
I hear a laugh to my right and a feel a hand clap on my shoulder. "Mate, are you trying to figure out if she's been one of your bed bunnies?"
Picking up my drink and shaking my head, I head off to start looking at the displays. Maybe I'll buy something for my apartment. "Nah, I know she hasn't." I reply "But I am trying to figure out where I know her from. Is this part of the exhibit?"
"Uumm, no, I think it's just a water cooler. Maybe you guys did a piece on her" Colin offered.
"Eehh maybe, but I feel like I met her somewhere before. You're probably right though I'm sure we probably did an expose on her."
"Oh!" Finn exclaims "I know! She went to Yale, maybe you saw her there."
"Yale?, hmmm maybe. Wait, how do YOU know she went to Yale?" I quirk an eyebrow at Finn, he went through our college years in a drunken stupor I'm surprised he remembered himself let alone other people.
"Eh fuck you man, I remember Yale!" He gives me a quick shove but he has a smile on his face so I know he's not offended. "Anyways, her stuff is the reason I wanted to come here. I read on last week's YDN that she is showing a lot of photographs of Yale and even one of the Rich Man Shoe!" He says excitedly. Finn is opening a bar in the Lower East Side and fashioning it after our favorite college haunt. "So what better piece in the new bar than THAT."
"You were reading the Yale Daily?" Colin says, lips pursed and I know he's trying to suppress a laugh. I'm not so successful and a loud guffaw escapes "oh fuck you lot, I'm an alumnus of course I get it and on occasion I read it." We all exchange looks and double over in laughter. It feels good to laugh.
After we recover we continue our perusal and look around the gallery. It had an airy and open set-up, but the collections were separated by partitions. It was a nice big place and very modern.
We walked around looking through all the collections and occasionally I would hear giggling and pitter patter running through the open spaces in the separators. "Who the fuck brings their kids to an art exhibit?" Colin hisses. I just roll my eyes at him and ignore the all too familiar pang in my chest I get from seeing or hearing kids. Not tonight Logan, not here. In. Out. Deep breath. Drink of scotch. Ahh avoided.
"Let's go." Finn directs us towards the biggest, section of the gallery. I looked around in awe at the size of some of the photos. "This is the one I came here for."
"Give a holler if you come across any pictures of the Rich Man, yeah?" Finn says over his shoulder walking away from Colin and me. Colin shrugs and walks over to some photos that other people were gathered around. I, on the other hand, just walk around in silence for a bit.
There were pictures of Yale's historical landmarks that I've walked by a million times and even some new landmarks that must have been recently built, like what looks like an Astronomy building. There were also photos of a toe of a statue, handsome Dan, a coffee cart...Coffee. Ace, Ror-. Fuck. Not tonight Logan, not here. In. Out. Deep breath. Gulp of scotch.
I walk further and see some pictures it's a series of silhouettes, three women hugging, a pregnant woman, a woman holding hands with a child and a couple in a lip-lock. I didn't know much about art, but I knew these were beautiful and it makes my chest tighten, and throat go dry.
In. Out. Deep breaths. Fuck no more scotch.
Look around quickly for Colin and Finn; I need to get out of here. I see them just a couple steps away staring in what I can only describe as awe at a set of pictures. Walking closer I notice they are close ups. "Guys, I need to get the fu," I stop mid sentence and stare at what seems to be a puzzle of eyes and lips along with cheeks and hair. The eyes were what stopped me. They were of the most magnificent, bluest eyes, that I've only seen belong to two women. The blonde hair of the subject looked chaotic but soft. And the lips, the lips were formed in a familiar smirk that screams "I'm up to no good." I know that smirk, I wear that smirk.
No, no, no, can it be?
I was pulled away from my thoughts by a tugging on my pants and look down. The eyes from the picture were looking back at me and the lips that I knew were formed into wide smile.
I think I might have heard a gasp from Colin and Finn but I'm not entirely sure, I'm more worried about the little boy bouncing up and down and that the fact oxygen is not entering my body right about the fuck now.
"That's me! my aunt Liv took it. Grandma says I'm super cool now. But I told her I was already cool! Don't you think I'm cool?" He rambles excitedly while pointing to the picture we're standing in front of.
In. Out. Deeeeppp Breath.
When I don't respond, he cocks his head to the side and frowns. I gesture I've seen before so many times.
In. Out. Deeeeppp Breath.
My knees buckle no longer able to hold me up and I kneel down in front of him.
He steps back, probably out of caution. I'm not surprised because seriously I'd be cautious of a weirdo man drop to his knees in front of me too. I open my mouth to say something, but stop as I hear a woman call out.
"Landon, there you are, your mom's on her wa-" I snap my head to the right and my eyes fall on a wide eyed tall brunette I haven't seen in ages. "Holy fucking shit," I hear her mumble.
"OOOO Aunt Luc," the little boy bounds over to Lucy, with an out stretch hand. "You owe me three dollars for that one."
"Hhmm yeah Landon, come on we'll get it from Uncle Robert," she says pulling the boy out of the room.
Still kneeling and staring at the spot they were just standing in, my mind drifts to a conversation I had five years ago.
"Are you fucking serious? I can't fucking do this, I'm not ready for this." I yell into my phone. I hear a sob, that makes my heart clench but it doesn't weaken my anger, it for some reason intensifies it. "But, bu-" I cut her off. "Do you realize how much money I just fucking lost? A lot. A whole fucking lot. I can't fucking do this right now. Are you sure? Is it even mine?"
I feel a hand on my shoulder, "Hey man you okay?" I shake my head to clear my head and look up to the concern looks of my two best friends. Don't go there Logan. Not here, not now.
"Yeah, yeah. Uuummm I need...I'm gonna...yeah go...you know get out of here" I stammer out. "Yeah man let's go." I hear Colin say, as Colin and Finn fall into step with me and we head towards the nearest exit.
As I breathe in some much needed fresh air, I hear a little voice squeal "MOMMMYY," as the little boy, Landon, launches himself into the back of awaiting tainted Suburban. Lucy and a man, is standing on the sidewalk and waving as the SUV pulls away from the curb.
I watch the SUV until it turns the corner. When I look ahead of me I come face to face with Lucy and Robert. Robert? Seriously?
What. The. Fuck.
I got the idea of the art show discovery from a Twilight fanfiction I read. This is my first go at writing. It's a slow start but I have everything planned out. I'm a ROGAN Lover all the way, no worries.