A/N: Thank you for the reviews/follows/fave's that is awesome, please keep reviewing, reviews make me sooooo happy. Anyway, moving on, I have another chapter all ready to go so hopefully you guys enjoy it. Anyone who is wondering, Rory and Logan are the endgame, it might take a little bit of time to get them there, but it happens, and it is going to be kind of fun along the way.
Chapter 2:
Shira and Mitchum had sent a car to pick up the kids several hours earlier, that way they could spend some time with their cousins, and so Rory sat staring at herself in the full length mirror, there was one problem that she just couldn't come up with a solution to.
What was she going to wear?
Rory had an expansive, and expensive closet. Bergdorf Goodman, Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and Barneys had become her favourite places to shop over the course of the past decade, and her closet was full of amazing designer pieces from those stores. Her jewelry was an entirely different story, full of Lorraine Schwartz and Harry Winston, Tiffany's and Neil Lane, she had antique pieces, couture pieces and pieces that cost more than she would ever care to know.
She didn't know why she cared so much what she was wearing, she went to these events all the time. This one however, this one was different, it would be the first time she and Logan were both at an event since the divorce, to make matters more complicated, their kids would be there as well. Rory had toyed with the idea of bringing Jess, but realized that would only cause problems for her children, and that was the last thing she wanted.
As she walked back into the closet she stared at the garments in front of her. The closet was cramped full of clothes, even though she had enough room to expand into Logan's closet on the other side of the hall to the bathroom, she wasn't willing to do that. Much like she knew that the house she lived in would always be their home, the closet would always be his closet.
She knew that she had to choose a formal gown, a cocktail dress wouldn't work for this kind of event. She couldn't help but smile thinking of how adorable Christian had looked in his tux, and Riley was wearing a pink sequined dress that Shira had gotten for her. If her kids looked that good, Rory knew she would need to look amazing as well. She had curled her hair and swept it back from her face so that it cascaded down her neck, and her hangs brushed to the right of her face.
When Rory saw the mint green sequin, she knew it was the dress she should wear. She had never worn it before, but it was a BCBGMaxAzria dress with a deep v and a slit that went mid way up her thigh. This dress was a show stopper, and paired some killer Jimmy Choo pumps, she knew that she would be one of the best looking people at the event that evening. That is the kind of talk she wanted to make happen, she didn't want anyone dwelling on poor divorced Rory, here at a party hosted by a family she used to be a part of, she wanted everyone to see that she was alright.
As she slipped the dress on she immediately felt herself exuding confidence, this was the dress that would get her through the evening. That is also what she kept telling herself as she sat in the back of the limo on her way to the Plaza Hotel in New York City.
"Hey Paris" Rory smiled to herself as she saw her friends name on the caller ID.
"You on your way to the city?" Paris asked her, knowing that Rory had fully told her about the party she would be attending that evening.
"You know I am" Rory told her simply, "What's up?"
"Just wanted to remind you, that you didn't want this divorce, and neither did Logan, so no one would fault you if you two had a good, drunken screw tonight" Paris told her.
"Paris, you know I'm dating Jess" Rory rolled her eyes.
"I hate Jess" Paris told her firmly, "He is still the same hoodlum he was when he was 17, you aren't 17 anymore Rory"
"I know I'm not" Rory countered, "But the fact of the matter is, Logan and I are divorced"
"Rory, you made a rash decision" Paris told her.
"Paris where is this coming from?" Rory groaned, "You hated Logan"
"I haven't hated Logan since the bridesmaids incident. He loved you Rory, his only fault was that he worked too hard to provide a great life for you" Paris defended him, "He needed more balance, yes, but he loved you, and you loved him"
"Look, Paris, I am just getting to the Plaza, I don't have time for this. I will see you for dinner tomorrow?" Rory told her as the limo door opened and Rory could see all sorts of flashbulbs going off around her from the paparazzi.
"Of course" Paris told her, "Bye, have fun"
Rory could hear photographer's yelling at her from all different directions and after a few moments on the red carpet she walked gracefully into the venue. The problem was, she didn't feel graceful, it was like what Paris had said irked her, she had felt naked. She had felt like a huge part of her was missing when she entered the party. A part of her that had walked those carpets with her for 10 years. A part of her that she could see walking towards her in a gorgeous black tuxedo and a childish grin on his face.
"You look great, Ace" he kissed her cheek politely, "Where are the kids?"
"They came with your parents" Rory explained, "Hanging out in Honor's suite I think"
"Of course" Logan nodded, "Well, I'm going to go get them" he explained, "But we're all at the same table. Mom and Dad didn't want to separate the kids, they figured we could deal with it for one night" Logan shrugged, "I'll see you in there"
And with that he was gone, headed towards the elevator, she knew that she shouldn't have cared, but the way he had told her how great she looked made her go weak in the knees. It was probably just all of the stupid crap Paris had been telling her on the ride in that had her thinking like this, but the idea of the 4 of them having dinner together, even if it was at a table with the rest of the Huntzberger family, it felt right.
"Daddy!" Riley squealed as he walked into the suite.
"Hey pretty girl" Logan lifted her high into the air, she was his princess, Lorelai Honor Huntzberger, or Riley as she was called, was the light of her fathers life. Every time he saw that little girl he fell more and more in love, every time he saw her he knew he had made the biggest mistake of his life by not making them a priority when he and Rory were together. "You look beautiful, Mom picked out a great dress didn't she?"
"Grandma Shira gave it to me" Riley smiled as she snuggled her head into Logan's shoulder, "You look pretty"
"I look handsome" Logan corrected her, "And so does your brother. You ready to go Christian?"
"Sure" Christian shrugged as he walked towards his father.
"Alright, come on. Aly, Ty, is mom just getting ready?" Logan nodded at his niece and nephew.
"Yes Uncle Logan" Aly told him, "She's doing her hair and then we are coming down"
"Perfect, Aunt Ror is downstairs too so you can see her" Logan smiled, he wasn't sure what they called Rory these days, but he hoped that his niece and nephew still considered her to be their aunt. Aly was 12, and Tyler was 7, compared to Christian who was 9, and Riley who was 4, they all got along remarkably well when they were together, but since the divorce they didn't see each other as often as they used to. "Come on Chris, hold my hand please"
"Dad" Christian groaned, embarrassed that at the age of 9, he still had to hold his father's hand.
"Sorry dude" Logan laughed as Riley left her head rested on his shoulder, "Your mom would kill me if anything ever happened to you"
"Fine" Christian reluctantly grabbed Logan's hand as they waited for the elevator, "Are we sitting at a table with you, or with Mom and her boyfriend?"
"You know Mom's boyfriend?" Logan had to admit he was shocked, sure they had never really discussed how they would tell the kids they were moving forward, and the kids had met a coworker of Logan's, but that was all she had ever been, a coworker.
"I just heard her talking to Aunt Lane about him" Christian shrugged, "Aunt Lane doesn't like him"
"I see" Logan bit his tongue, not wanting to tell his son that Aunt Lane was an excellent judge of character, "Anyway, we are all sitting at a table together"
"With Mom? And you?" Christian was clearly surprised.
"I want to have dinner with Mommy and Daddy" Riley told them as they stepped into the elevator and began the ride down to the main floor.
"Well we are going to have dinner together tonight cutie" Logan smiled, "Your hair looks nice"
"Thank you" Riley giggled.
Logan couldn't help but notice that Christian was the spitting image of his mother, from his dark brown hair to his pale complexion and bright blue eyes, he was as smart as Rory was too, Logan knew that Christian would always be okay because he was so much like his mother. Riley, even though she was only 4, she was the female version of Logan, she had a strong resemblance to Honor as well, gorgeous blonde hair and hazel eyes that could always melt his heart. He instinctively felt the need to protect his little girl, he never wanted her to know that there were bad things in the world. She was too perfect to have to deal with real life problems.
"Where's Mommy?" Riley asked as they stepped out into the bustling lobby.
"She is waiting at the table" Logan told her as he tightened his grip on Christian's hand.
"Is it through there?" Christian pointed to the door he had just seen his Grandfather disappear into.
"That is it" Logan nodded as they headed towards the massive ballroom, "We're sitting with Mom, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Honor, Uncle Josh and your cousins, so if you see them let me know"
"Mommy's dancing" Riley laughed as she pointed out Rory on the dance floor. She was dancing with Finn and she was laughing, she had a beautiful laugh and she was absolutely lighting up the room. It had been a long time since Logan had seen her like that, and truthfully, he found himself somewhere between happy that she was laughing, and heartbroken that he couldn't remember the last time he had seen her like that.
"She looks beautiful" Logan whispered to his daughter, "Come on, lets go sit, I see Grandma"
"Hi Grandpa" Christian smiled as he sat down in the seat with his name on it next to his Grandfather.
"Hello there son" Mitchum smiled, "You look dapper"
"What does dapper mean?" Christian asked him with confusion in his eyes.
"It means you look wonderful" Shira came from behind him and kissed him on the cheek, "Did you see Tyler and Alyxandra?"
"Yes" Christian nodded, "Are they coming down soon?"
"They should be down any minute" Shira told him, "Tyler will sit beside you"
"Great!" Christian was relieved to know he wasn't going to be stuck between adults. "Can I have a ginger ale?"
"I'll go get it for you" Logan told him as he put Riley on the floor, "Stay with Grandma, ok?" he looked at his daughter before he began walking across the ballroom to the bar.
"Hey mate" Finn approached him, clasping his shoulder.
"Finn, how are you?" Logan hugged his old friend, "it's been forever"
"I'm great, how are you?" Finn told him.
"I'm as good as you can expect" Logan shrugged, "You know how it is"
"To be divorced and still in love with my ex wife?" Finn smirked, "No, I don't know how that is"
"I'm not still in love with her" Logan rolled his eyes as they took a step closer to the bar, "Can I get a ginger ale and whatever the best scotch you have is?"
"Yes, sir" the bartender nodded as he went to fix the drinks.
"I saw you staring at us, when we were dancing, as friends, obviously" Finn back peddled, "You miss her"
"I have 2 kids, and I spent 10 years of my life with her. Of course I miss her" Logan shook his head as he took his drinks, "Are you coming to see the kids?"
"I'll be around" Finn explained, "But I don't want to interrupt your family time" he smirked.
xxxxxxx
"Josh can you please take all of the kids up to the suite?" Honor sighed, the kids were all becoming more restless as the meal drew to an end.
"Sure" Josh nodded as he stood up, "Come on kids" he went and picked Riley up, "Aly, Tyler, say bye to Aunt Rory"
"Bye Aunty Ror" Aly hugged Rory tightly around the shoulders, "I miss you"
"Goodbye sweetheart" Rory smiled, feeling relief that she could still maintain a relationship with the kids she had watched grown up.
"See you later Aunty" Tyler gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before following his father.
"Well the kids seem well" Shira smiled, "We don't see them as much as we would like to" she looked between Rory and Logan.
"Since the divorce" Logan finished for her as he tossed back another scotch.
"Logan" Rory gave him a warning look. The two of them had been enjoying somewhat of a pleasant evening, they had talked and chatted, they enjoyed each others company.
"Oh come on Rory" Logan looked at his ex wife, "It's true. My parents don't see their grandchildren as much as they used to because its awkward for them to call you and ask to take the kids, and I only see them for a few days a month, so they don't want to take away from our time together"
"Logan don't do this" Honor warned him, "Why don't you drink some water"
"I don't need water, Hon" Logan rolled his eyes, "I'm sorry, lets just go back to not talking about it, ok?"
"Sorry" Rory looked at her former in laws, "If you want to see the kids, just call me, we can always arrange something"
"That would be nice" Mitchum smiled, "Are you writing at all, Rory?"
"A bit" Rory shrugged, "As much as I can"
"Anything you think will be worth reading?" Honor smiled.
"Well I hope so" Rory laughed, "This one is more fictional, going back to when I lived in Stars Hollow, you know, small town charm, that kind of life"
"Well you'll be able to touch on Jess" Logan gritted his teeth, he needed to get out of there, "I'm going to go" he looked at his parents, "Mom, Dad, Hon, Josh, it's been fun. Rory I hope you have a wonderful evening" he told her, somewhat truthfully as he got up from the table and stormed out of the room.
It was too much for him, he needed to get out, he needed his kids, and he needed to be somewhere other than here. He kept jabbing the button on the elevator, willing it to come faster.
"Logan" she called behind him, he just kept hitting the button, she called his name again, "Logan", the second time it was softer, like she had used to talk to him when they were happy, the sultry tone she would use when she was calling him back to bed, that was the tone she used the second time.
"We need to go back to not talking" Logan shook his head, still jamming his finger into the elevator.
"Logan where are you going?" Rory asked him as she stopped next to him at the elevator.
"I'm going to get my kids" Logan told her as the elevator door opened, "It is my weekend with the kids, I want to spend it with my kids, not with a bunch of rich assholes in a tux"
"Logan" Rory repeated his name once more as she followed him into the elevator.
"I can't do this Rory" Logan told her simply, "This" he gestured to the space between them, "This hurts too much, standing here, in front of you like this, with our kids, smiling and having dinner. I can't do this, and you told me time and time again that you couldn't do this, when you cowardly sent me a fucking letter saying our marriage was over, you established that you couldn't do this. So don't give me those puppy dog eyes like we should be able to. It's too hard"
She didn't know what to say, obviously he was right. She had left, she walked away, after trying time and time again to call him home for dinner. He made it sound too simple, he made it sound like this was what she had wanted.
"Logan" she repeated, closing the gap between them, "Please don't do this. Don't say those hateful things, Logan just calm down"
"Rory I'm going to get the kids, we are going to go to the car, and have the car drive us to the apartment. I can't do this" Logan repeated as the doors opened and he stepped out, "Please just leave it for now"
"Fine" Rory admitted her own defeat, "I'm spending the night in the city" she told him, "Can I see the kids tomorrow?"
"Seriously Rory?" Logan rolled his eyes as they stood in the hallway. "I get every other weekend with my kids, and you want to cut into that?"
"I'm sorry" Rory backed off for a moment, before reconsidering what she had done, "Logan we can try to get along. We can try to have a good relationship for the sake of our kids. Don't our kids deserve that much?"
"Rory you chose to leave" Logan practically shouted, "You didn't give me a choice in the matter. You decided it was done, and you walked away, now you want me to learn how to be your friend? We were never friends, we never knew how to be friends"
"Get in here" Rory grabbed his arm and dragged him into her own room. She had purposely booked one a couple doors down from the kids. "Grow up Logan. Grow the fuck up. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that we didn't work out, that is really unfortunate, I really wish we could because it would be so much easier for us to have worked out than for us to be sitting here like this. All I want to do Logan is -"
"What Rory? What do you want to do? I can't stand this, I don't remember what it is like to be happy because all I want is my family back, but you can't move backwards and so I will continue seeing my kids practically never, and I don't get my house, the house that was ours, instead I live in this huge empty place, and I can't stand it"
"So stop" Rory begged him, "Relax for a minute Logan, please, we cannot be at each others throats"
Before he knew what he was doing he had bridged the gap between them, his lips hovering over hers, "Tell me to stop" he breathed, he knew she could smell the liquor on his breath, but he needed to be close to her. He hadn't been close to her in far too long.
"Logan" she breathed, suddenly the world was falling out from underneath her.
"Tell me to stop" he told her again, "Tell me to stop and I'll stop"
"Logan" she repeated, and before either of them knew what was happening, his lips crashed down on hers, his hands finding her hips and pulling her closer to him, she couldn't stop, she didn't want to stop. His lips were on her neck and her arms were around his neck pulling him closer to her. "Logan" she breathed again when she could finally pull herself away from him.
"I'm sorry" he stepped back, their actions sobering him up considerably, "I shouldn't... you're seeing someone. I'm sorry"
"It's ok" she whispered, staring at the ground between them, "I'll always love you Logan. You will always have a piece of me, you will always be the father of my children, and I will always love you. But we can't do this, we didn't work, I wish we had worked Logan"
"I'm sorry I let you down, Ace" he hadn't called her that in years, but tonight he had said it twice, the playful pet name that he had given her nearly fifteen earlier. So much had changed since then.
"We both made mistakes Logan" Rory stroked his cheek gently, "You should go get the kids"
"Call, tomorrow" Logan told her as he stumbled backwards towards the door, "We can get lunch, or ice cream or something"
"Thank you" she nodded before he left, leaving her, alone in a hotel room. It was ironic, she had left him because she didn't want to be alone all the time, she wanted to share her life with someone, and now, there she was, staying in an over priced hotel, in a beautiful dress, and she was spending the night, alone.
xxxxxxxxx
"Alright guys, come on" Logan smiled as he tried to pry his son away from his PlayStation, thankfully, Riley wasn't consumed yet by technology and was always happy to spend time with her father.
"Where are we going?" Christian asked without even looking up from the game.
"We are going to meet your mom for ice cream" Logan told him, "She's still in the city"
"Mom!?" Christian immediately put his game on pause and looked to his father.
"Yes, ice cream with Mom, we thought it might be nice for us to do something...together" Logan explained. Rory had called him that morning and they had discussed the previous evening, well, they had discussed everything except for the kiss. They both knew it would be difficult, they had spent over a year communicating through lawyers and nannies, they needed to learn how to be a family, without being what they used to be. They needed to work with each other to be able to sit at birthday parties, school plays and the weddings that would take place in the future, they both needed to grow up.
"Like as a family?" Christian was standing beside his dad, his eyes full of hope.
"Chris" Logan bent down onto his knee, "Ri, come over here please" he told her, "I want to be clear about something" he began as Riley stood in front of him, not with the same hope in her eyes, "Your Mom and I aren't getting back together, but we both love you kids so much, and so we are going to work really hard to try to talk more, and even see each other from time to time because that is what is best for you two" Logan explained, "But do not get caught up in the idea that Mom and I are going to be together again, just never forget that we love you both"
"You weren't even there" Christian mumbled.
"What do you mean?" Logan asked, hating seeing the heartbreak in his son's eyes.
"When she said you were leaving. Why didn't you tell us you were leaving?" Christian demanded an answer from him.
"Truthfully?" Logan tried to buy himself some time to consider an answer, he couldn't tell him that Rory had told him not to come, Rory had said she didn't want to see him at the house anymore, "Mom and I didn't want to confuse you, or make this any harder than it needed to be, so we did what we thought was best"
"You were a coward"
"I know" Logan nodded, his son was right, he had been a coward for not fighting for his family. "But come on, lets go, we need to meet Mom"
"Daddy, did you stop loving Mommy?" Riley added to the conversation.
"No" Logan shook his head as he lifted her up, "I will always love Mommy, and I will always love you, and I will always love Christian, so why don't we go so that we can have some ice cream. I know you love ice cream"
xxxxxxx
Rory had been surprised that Logan had been willing to get all of them together. They hadn't been together, the 4 of them since Christian's 7th birthday, a piece of information that unfortunately had not gone unnoticed by her son.
She was meeting them at Serendipity, a place they had gone all the time when Christian was young and Logan spent a lot of time in the city. It was a place with happy memories, she had a photo of Logan holding Christian, he was maybe 3 at the time, and the two were just smiling at each other, there was so much love in that photo.
Rory pulled her hair into a ponytail on the top of her head before leaving the hotel room and beginning the walk to Serendipity. She wasn't sure if Logan was going to be driving the kids, or they were walking, but she knew she needed some air, to decompress before she saw them all together.
"Hey Paris" Rory smirked as she flipped open her cellphone.
"How was the party?" Paris asked her simply.
"It was...awful" Rory sighed, "Dinner was good, we had a great meal, the 4 of us"
"Well that's good" Paris sounded optimistic.
"Not so much" Rory laughed, "Then the kids went to play, and we got into a fight, so Logan wanted to leave, and I followed him"
"Please tell me you two screwed the shit out of each other" Paris sounded far too excited about the prospect.
"No Paris, we didn't screw the shit out of each other" Rory couldn't help but laugh. Paris was married, had 3 kids and was a doctor, but when they talked, it was like they were 22 again, "We kissed, and immediately realized that was a bad plan"
"It blew your mind" Paris stated simply, "And that terrifies you, Gilmore"
"It's still Huntzberger, you know that" Rory ignored her comment.
"You'll always be Gilmore to me, even if I wish you were still married to Huntzberger" Paris retorted, "Anyway, I have to go pick Ashley up from ballet, so call me later"
"Sounds good" Rory agreed, "I'm just about to meet Logan and the kids for ice cream"
"Seriously Rory, you couldn't have opened with that?" Paris laughed, "Goodbye"
