Rory was having a bad day by her standards. Her alarm didn't work so she was late for her morning American Literature class. She was bumped into by a rowdy group of young freshmen shortly after she got her mid-morning class and didn't have time to get another one. She had did the wrong reading for her 11am class and looked like a slacker in front of her class and professor when called upon. When she went to pay for her lunch she couldn't find her money and realized she left it on the counter. Her computer crashed at the YDN losing progress she had made on her feature article on the labor dispute between Yale and its custodial staff. In the pantheon of bad days for Rory Gilmore this was near the top of the list.
Rory's day got worse when she returned from the bathroom to find her phone ringing in her bag. She hurriedly rummaged through its contents just in time to hear the final ring die out. She flicked to the caller display and her mood turned even sourer as she realized it was from Logan. Quickly, she pressed the buttons that sent her to voicemail and listened to the message left to her just a few seconds ago:
"Hey, Ace. I guess you must be in an important meeting at the Yale Daily News or in the library or something. Just calling to see how your day has been going and to hear your voice. Just wanted some connection to you tonight, I guess I angered some gods when I said that actual muffins are better than English muffins. I learned my lesson, and I'll never do it again. Anyway I have a late emergency meeting that is supposed to be intense so I won't be able to call you until tomorrow morning your time. I love you Ace, have a great night, someone in this relationship has to."
Hearing his voice usually lifted her spirits, but when she heard the sadness in his voice she remained in a funk. Rory wanted this day to be over, but she had already made plans with her mother to eat at Weston's for dessert. Rory hadn't seen her mother or eaten in Stars Hollow in a fair bit and had planned this meeting to catch up with each other in person. Her mother had be looking forward to this, so canceling it, no matter how badly Rory's day was going, was not an option.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rory was running and if she was going to meet her mother at Weston's within 15 minutes of their agreed upon time she couldn't go back to the apartment to freshen up. Rory got in her car and began making the trip to Stars Hollow. It wasn't long into her trip when the rain started pouring down. Rory being a skilled driver was able to cope with it with little problem. The problem with the rain came when she parked her car at her mother's house to make the trip to Weston's. At that point the rain had tapered off to a light spitting, but the damage had been done. Her rear passenger window was open throughout the day, and the rain got in and soaked two paperback books she had left in her backseat. The books, while not expensive, were difficult to find and necessary for one of her classes. Rory immediately took them and brought them to a heating vent in the house; in hopes that they would be dry enough to use by the time her and her mother were finished at Weston's. Rory left her mother's house, mad at this day from hell, and huffed her way to Weston's.
"Hey, where have you been?" Lorelai asked the second Rory opened the door to Weston's, "I was just going to call you. Thought you ditched Mommy," Lorelai's tone was playful but Rory didn't seem to be in the mood for it.
Rory went straight to the table her mother was sitting at, and immediately took a large drink of the coffee that her mother had ordered and had waiting for her daughter. "That, I can unequivocally say, was the single best moment of today. And it's cold coffee. I'm very happy for cold coffee. That's how bad my day has been."
"That's rough, well care to tell me about it. I'm all about reveling in other people's misery," Rory shot her a very menacing glare. "Except for the misery of my brilliant daughter who I love very much, that misery I'll share in and try and take as my own to ease the burden of said misery," Lorelai quickly amended.
"What do you want to hear about first? Forgetful Rory; stupid Rory; poor Rory or missed her boyfriend's, who she misses very much, call because she can't use the computer at the school paper until she's washed her hands first Rory."
"Why do you need to wash your hands first?" Lorelai asked, puzzled at that bit of information.
"It was something left over from the reign of Paris and I guess it just stuck."
"Oh, okay then. Well I know you're anything but forgetful, so that's probably a technical mishap. You and stupid haven't been used together since you were five and asked if you could see Cool as Ice starring Vanilla Ice and you said you were okay for money so that can't be that interesting either, unless you started gambling on the ponies or the dogs or some other cute animal, so I'm going to have to ask about the missed call."
"Well, Logan usually calls me in the afternoon after he's finished the bulk of his work. It's nothing really substantive just us talking, it's nothing worth recording on a CD for a book, but I look forward to it every day."
"I'm not sure if I should gag or 'aww' in envy."
"Gagging would not be appreciated. Anyway, I was having a rough day as you heard and the call was going to get me over that and through the rest of the day, but I missed it. I got back from the bathroom just in time to hear the final ring, when I heard the voice he said that he was going to be in some important meetings and that he would talk to me tomorrow morning. That depressed me. A lot."
"That sucks, kid. I know you miss him and I'm glad you are trying to talk to him as much as possible, but these things happens, it's the crappy thing about being adults. Sometimes we're prevented in doing the things we want to, by doing the things we have to."
"Things we have to do like washing hands to use the computer?"
"Well you saw that report on 20/20 a few years ago, keyboards are a hotbed of germs. You may have just saved your hands from a lifetime of infection."
"I'll keep that in mind tonight, while I lay alone in our bed," even though Logan had been gone for months she still referred to things as theirs, it helped her think that the separation wasn't permanent.
"When is he coming back?" Lorelai asked as Rory began detailing Logan's busy schedule and his plans for making a return to the United States on Thanksgiving.
Rory's dessert with her mother ended after forty minutes of food and talking. They both were happy with the evening and vowed to never again need to make plans to see each other. When she checked on her books she found them in considerably better shape than when she left them. She was only steps into their apartment before she topped dead in her tracks. A shadowy figure moved closer and closer to her before she was able to turn on the lights and make out the mystery figure.
"Logan!" Rory screamed and immediately rushed over to him and gave him a hug and a lengthy kiss.
"Hey Ace, did you miss me?" Logan asked breaking free of the liplock for a short time.
"You have no idea," Rory responded genuinely.
"I think I have some," Logan said.
While still locked in one another's arms Logan guided Rory to the bed, picking up on the various signals she had been sending since their lips met and began making love to his girlfriend for the first time since his going away party at the end of the last school year. With Rory making sounds of happiness on the trip there.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"How long are you here for?" Rory asked, taking a break from kissing to ask a loaded question.
"How long do you want me to be here for?" Logan asked back, staring at Rory waiting for a response.
"I'm being serious here, Logan."
"What makes you think I'm not?" there was a period of silence, before Logan asked again: "How long do you want me to be here for?"
Rory looked into her boyfriends eyes and thought about she missed him, about how no matter how long, no matter the distance, how she would always miss him and closed her eyes before softly answering:
"Forever."
Author's Note: Well, there it is. My first piece of work on here. Should I write more? Tell me what you thought by reviewing. I appreciate them all.