One ultimatum too many?
I'd graduated Yale University over three months ago, and I'd been on the road for most of that time. I missed my mom terribly, and Lane, but even worse, I missed Logan. I missed him like someone would miss the arm that got chopped off. Every time I picked up the phone I felt an overwhelming sense that I needed to call him. But I couldn't. He'd given me that ultimatum, and that was the end of that.
"Gilmore! You got the scoop on ratings?" One of the many other reporters on the trail called running up to me.
"Up one, down three." I answered, handing his the sheet of paper I'd just received moments earlier.
"So when are you going to leave this hotel? I haven't seen you out and about in the California air since we got here." The man said, smiling a broad, toothy grin my way, and making me feel uneasy.
"Well, actually I'm meeting someone today." I answered, smiling right back though I had absolutely no plans.
"Oh, well, then see you tomorrow." He answered, looking rejected and turning to retreat back down the hallway.
"Stupid people." I muttered to myself before walking to the doors to go out side.
The air was warm and comforting, I felt as though I was braced in one, huge, long hug. But something was still missing.
"Rory?" I suddenly heard a voice ask, and when I turned, there he was, in all his blonde glory.
"Logan?" I asked, surprised, and yet, not.
"I heard you were on the campaign trail. But I hadn't seen you. You look well." He answered, smiling and looking at me in a mystified way.
"How'd you know that I was on the trail?" I asked, sure that he hadn't been reading the articles I was publishing.
"I called the house after a week or so…you're mom told me you'd gotten an amazing job on the campaign trail. You got a new cell number." He stated, looking at me differently.
"Oh, yeah, I just wanted a change." I replied, twirling some hair around my finger.
"So, how've you been, Ace?"
"Good, the jobs been amazing. Hectic, but amazing." I smiled out, more than happy to have this epic image in front of me.
"Well, that's great. I've been good too, thanks for asking" He replied sarcastically.
"Oh I'm, I'm-"
"Ace, I was just joking." He smiled out, making the butterflies in my stomach go crazy.
"Oh…I knew that…" I answered, blushing, and looking down to the ground.
"Logan, are you ready to leave?" A blonde girl suddenly yelled from the front seat of a red corvette.
"In a minute Honor!" He yelled over his shoulder, clearly agitated about something.
"Is that Rory? Oh, my goodness, it is!" The blonde yelled suddenly before grabbing the keys out the ignition and racing out barely having time to lock the car as she went.
"Oh, dear god." Logan whispered covering his face with his hand.
"Rory! How've you been?" Honor practically squealed when she reached us.
"I've been good." I answered as she gave me a large hug.
"Oh, there's so much you need to catch up on! So much has happened in the past few months, like when Logan decided that even though you had said no he was going to tell mom and dad that he proposed to them and then they kicked him out, disowned him practically and now he's-"
"HONOR! How about you go get some coffee? Seems like your lacking caffeine." Logan shouted interrupting Honor mid-rant.
At first Honor looked confused but then after a few moments of processing, she widened her eyes and said sure then scurried away faster than I would've thought anyone could in three inch heels.
"You got disowned? For proposing to me?" I asked once she was out of earshot.
"It's not quite like that." He answered, looking anywhere but at me.
"Then tell me how it is." I answered defensively, suddenly extremely sorry for not saying yes.
"Can we talk somewhere else? Somewhere not in the middle of the street?" He asked as I suddenly noticed there were tons of other people around and that most of them were looking at us.
We walked down the street to a small, but quaint restaurant where we were almost immediately seated.
"So…what happened?" I asked almost right after the waiter left after taking our orders.
"Well, like Honor said I told my parents that I'd proposed to you even though you'd said no…I decided they needed to know, regardless. Anyways, my mom and grandfather started in about how you were unsuitable and all that crap…and I just exploded, I yelled and cursed like hell. My dad got madder than me, and told me that if I couldn't control myself he'd disown me, so I told him that I'd do better and just give up being his son, then I walked out. I'm basically poor now. I pay a cheap rent living in a room at Honor's place. It's pathetic, but what can I do?" He smiled at the last bit, making me feel terrible for him.
"Logan…I'm so sorry." I replied looking donw into my plate of pasta and suddenly feeling terrible for making Logan go through everything that he'd been through in the past couple of months.
"Ace, it's not your fault. You didn't make me propose, I willingly did it, it didn't work in my favor, but rarely does anything go the way you plan it too." He replied, cutting his steak into bite-able pieces.
"Logan…it's not that I didn't want to marry you eventually-"
"See, it's that eventually that I had a problem with." He interrupted, pointing his fork at me before sticking into my mouth.
"Anyways, like I was saying, it's not that I didn't want too…I just wanted to make a life for myself first." I finished, glaring at him for a moment but then stopping myself when I remembered what I'd put him through.
"Ace, it's okay. I know that, I knew that back then, I just didn't want to wait." He replied, scooping some mashed potatoes into his mouth.
"Do you now?" I asked, hopefulness filling my voice so much that even I could hear it, and I sounded pathetic to myself.
"Do I what?" He asked, looking up, suddenly curious and wondering.
"Do you want to wait now?" I asked, as he dropped his fork to his plate, making a clattering noise that echoed inside my brain as he stared at me.