It's been three days since Logan returned to London after saying goodbye to Rory. Three days filled with silence, bitterness but most of all filled with regret, a sensation unfamiliar to him; his whole life had been one giant 'live your life like you want' motto and yet now he was experiencing regret. He regret refusing that ridiculous engagement to Odette, he regret the decision to follow in his father footsteps but most of all he regret leaving Rory when he didn't want to, when he still loved her so much. He hated this feeling, it felt all consuming and he felt so tired, like he had lived 100 years instead of the 35 he actually had, he was praying this sensation would soon leave him but he had a feeling it wouldn't be so easy.
His train of thoughts stopped when he heard the door opening and Odette came through it with a million shopping bags hanging from her arms.
"Logan, you're back!", she greeted him warmly.
He couldn't bring himself to respond with the same warmth, not when he felt so little when he looked at her and knew about all her Parisian 'friends', "Yeah, I got here a couple days ago. Have you been in Paris all this time?"
She actually blushed at the mentioned of Paris and he could easily imagine why: neither of them were that good of actors when it came to hiding their true feelings, "I've been catching up with some friends and enjoyed a little bit of shopping. How is the rest of the Life&Death brigade? Still wasting their money on booze?"
The mere mention of the brigade felt like a slap in the face because he had always associated it with Rory, amazing, wonderful, and so far away Rory. His heart hurt so much. He looked at Odette and realized that this was his life now: not the life he wanted but the life his family forced on him. And then suddenly it was all too much to bear and he just said the words he hadn't had the courage to say before.
"Odette, I don't want to marry you."
His words definitely surprised her because she let go of the sweater she had been pulling from one of her bags, "What did you just say?"
He calmly repeated himself, "I said that I don't want to marry you. I want out."
She sat next to him on the couch and took a deep breath before saying firmly "Logan, this engagement has been established for a very long time, our families gave their blessings and we're going through with it."
Her words only angered him further, "Our families didn't give us their 'blessing', they forced us into this and I don't want it anymore. I don't love you. I tried, I just can't."
If this was news to Odette her face didn't show it, "Logan, are you really prepared to walk away from it all? Because breaking this engagement means walking away from your family, do you realize that?"
He simply nodded. Rory's smile passed through his mind and he knew, he just knew what he had to do.
"I do and I'm ready to face all the consequences that will come from this decision."
"Well, then, I can only wish you good luck and I hope you find what makes you already happy, if you haven't already found it", she said smiling to him before adding, "I don't love you in that way too, but I wish you all the happiness."
"Will you be okay?", he asked.
"Paris will glad to have me back, it will take care of me" she said before kissing him on the cheek and leaving in the same dazzling way she came in.
He felt so much lighter and years and years younger but most of all he felt finally free. He wanted and needed to do so many things but he couldn't decide what to do first: he thought about calling Rory but the phone felt to impersonal for communicating such a monumental decision. No, he would tell her in person.
He grabbed his laptop and started looking for flights back to the States, the sooner the better; funnily enough his suitcase was still ready, like a part of him knew this would happen.
He took the suitcase and left, saying goodbye to London.
His flight was long, too long for his taste, he was starting to get impatient, he couldn't wait to see Rory, to hold her, kiss her and just be with her. He briefly composed an email for his dad explained that he broke off his engagement and that he wouldn't work for him anymore and then turned off the phone because he wasn't the slightest interested in his reply.
He rented a car and drove right to Stars Hollow, using the time to prepare his speech to Rory, he wanted to say the right things and be sure she'd understand; he was passing through the town's square when he saw her.
She was sitting under the gazebo, looking lost in her thoughts, he felt his heart stop, she was so beautiful but she looked kinda sad, he could only hope he wasn't a factor in that sadness.
He parked the car and started walking toward her, she still hadn't noticed him when he spoke.
"Hey, Ace."
Her head tipped upwards and she leapt from where she was sitting right into his arms.
The hug seemed to go on forever when she eventually let go, "What are you doing here?"
"I just come to tell you something."
"And you couldn't call?", she asked with a hint of skepticism in her voice.
"This is a 'face-to-face' kinda news".
She didn't add anything but nodded to let him know to continue talking.
"I broke off my engagement."
Rory looked shocked, really shocked and then out of the blue she started to laugh and cry at the same time. Logan took her face into his hands and gently wiped away her tears.
"I love you, Ace. I waited way too long to tell you that or leave Odette but now I'm here and I'm yours…if you'll have me."
She laughed even harder and he looked at her with a quizzical look on his face.
"It's funny you that you mentioned 'face-to-face' news because I've one of those myself", she took a deep breath and then added "I'm pregnant."
He wasn't expecting that news at all but it was the best news he had ever heard. He picked her up and started twirling her while laughing like they were the only happy people on the planet. And the
she kissed him and he felt such a rush of joy. After the first kiss, there was a second one and then a third and then he got tired of counting.