Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own GG, or any of the other pop culture references made.

"Read September 19th"

A week, a freaking week and no response. There he was, back in London and staring at the same damn small words that he has been staring at. He didn't know what he wanted her response to be, he didn't even know if he could handle a response. The thought that she could brush him off without a second thought was making him furious. Here he was, once again, waiting for her. There have been to many times he had been on the receiving end of her voicemail, the unanswered texts, hell he would send a carrier pigeon if he thought they could make the transatlantic flight. He turned up the music that he had blaring through the speakers. Hearing the music flowing through the room he felt amped up. Like he couldn't stop pacing and wondering what she was doing, how she was feeling, and was she going through the same internal battle as he was. The tempo building up was causing his adrenaline to pump through him, so he found himself in his home gym, running on the treadmill hoping that he could run as fast as he needed to, hoping beyond all hope that he could calm down enough.

Right downstairs, passing through the London street was a black town car speeding through the streets, while Rory was attempting to apply any kind of makeup she could. Getting ready for the Talk of The Town piece she had to write on one Naomi Shropshire. The internal groan didn't stay internal as she thought about all the stories she had heard about her, but she was happy to be in London. Happy to be in a place they once roamed together before everything got blown up. Just as her thoughts traveled to him she realized that they were passing by the building where his London flat was back in college. She knew he was back in London, the minute he had come back to the company he had asked to be sent there. She smiled and looked back at his message. She had it memorized, how could she not have, she stared at it more times than she could count. Finally, she decided to hop in with both feet, tired of fighting what she was feeling ever since she saw him a week ago.

She quickly snapped a picture of Buckingham Palace as they whizzed by it, and sent the picture with a simple, *I'll say hi to William and Harry this time, if you'll meet me for drinks at the Dorchester Hotel at 8.*

As he went to go look at the message he had sent again, he saw those three bubbles of doom. She was finally responding, finally giving him something, this had to be a lifeline, right? The small whish of his phone brought him out of his thoughts and he quickly looked down to see what she had said. This wasn't just a lifeline, this was a lifeboat, a whole rescue team, another cruise ship reaching the Titanic in time, well, not that far. He wasn't at the point of drowning, was he? As he looked at the half empty bottle of the finely aged, way too expensive scotch he realized he was a lot closer to drowning than he originally thought. And now Colin was going to be mad he wasted so much money, which is ironic considering the man could waste more money than anyone he had ever met. Speaking of, he really had to make sure Colin's new pub was doing well.

Looking back at the message he realized that he didn't want to answer her, he wanted to make her sweat like he had, but he would show up he just wouldn't tell her. But then what if she didn't come? Thinking he had blown her off, or worse that he was with Odette, no he had to answer.

*8:15*

She smiled as she saw his response, fine, he can have the last word. She would be there, of course she would, it's why she had packed the red dress. The lucky dress that she didn't realize had been lucky until he had told her. The dress that had once made her confidence soar professionally, now made her feel alluring, not just commanding.

LRLRLRLRLRLRLRLR

Finally leaving the interview that seemed to go on longer than the actual 3 hours, wait that can't be right, 3 hours? Oh my god, she had to get ready as she flew around her hotel room. Quickly showering she decided that she couldn't style her hair the way she wanted, so she threw it into a quick pony tail, threw on a semblance of makeup, and hurriedly zipped up her dress. Throwing on small heels, she felt her feet protest and decided that it wasn't worth the pain and replaced them with simple black flats. Much better, plus now she pretends that she wasn't hoping he would join her upstairs, or he wouldn't invite her to his place. Unless he had Odette there, if they were serious enough for them to have his or her robes, a morning routine, all the things that had defined a year and a half of her life with him. But if he had that with her, why the sudden flip between the two of them? He didn't have to text her that night, he didn't have to put his hand on her back, he didn't have to corner her in the bathroom, he didn't have to agree to meet her downstairs. Glancing at the clock, 8:12, she made her way out of the room. Not knowing what she was getting into and wondering why she decided to do this. Then she walks into the bar, and he's sitting there with a glass of scotch in his hand, sitting in a dark leather chair, with a martini sitting across from him. Her drink, waiting for her, him waiting for her.

He looked at his watch, 8:16, and then he saw her with that red dress on and he immediately smirked. Oh yeah, this was planned. The minute late, she had let him get the last word in with the message, but she had the control here and he hated that she knew it. But then again, he couldn't help but find it sexy that she was confident, that she was successful, and that she was everything he knew she could be. He didn't care if she was in control, he actually preferred it tonight. Lord knows he didn't have the strength to be in control around her tonight.

The smirk, that stupid smirk that had sent butterflies soaring through her whole body for years, from the first time outside her dorm room where she wasn't goaded, to just last week where he had seen behind the safe façade she had going with Paul. She was his, and he knew it, the second she saw the martini she knew he was being cocky and it made her feel happy, not content, not safe, but happy and like she was bound for trouble tonight.

"Kate says hello, the others weren't available to say but I figured a hello from the Duchess would be sufficient."

"Ah yes, William and Harry were with me, we decided to play cricket and Finn joined in, almost caused a National Emergency, but they do send their regards to a beauty like you Ace."

"How's it going Huntzberger?"

"Me? It's just a normal Saturday for me, what about you Miss World Reporter, what are you doing in London?"

"Talk of the Town piece, Naomi Shropshire, had an interview today, deadline Tuesday, completely exhausted."

"Wait, Naomi Shropshire? Looks like you'll need a few more of those then, I've heard the stories."

"Every one of them true, every single one. The interview lasted way longer than I thought it would, there were more empty liquor bottles by the end of it than I've seen since Finn. It was just exhausting. Almost didn't make it here on time, leaving you, poor baby all on your own."

He had to smile at her, the rant, the way she called him baby, all of it was perfect. He watched as she finished off her martini. "Actually, you were a minute late."

"Oh, I know." She winked at him, and even ounce of worry he had about tonight was gone. He was hers and that was it.

After a few hours of talking, one more drink for each of them, she was about to ask him up to her room when he spoke first. "My flat, it's just a few blocks away, but I'd like you to come with me if you're available."

He was testing her, was she available? Was she his again, would it be as simple as that answer. He knew it wouldn't be, he had Odette in Paris, working, shopping, no doubt using his name in certain circles. But if she said yes it could be that simple.

"That would be nice."

Not yes, but a positive answer. With that he grabbed her hand and didn't let her go through the London chill until he reached his place. The same place she had stayed years ago, and although the furniture was different she remembered all of it. Every place he kissed her, every breakfast he made her, where their Christmas tree stood, it was all rushing back. The feeling of being that happy and carefree, feeling like that could have had that forever was crushing her and suddenly the tears fell. Without a single word he kissed her again for the first time. She wanted to push him away, she wanted to remind him that this wasn't them anymore and that they weren't a couple. But every word would get caught in her throat, so she stopped thinking. She stopped worrying about the what ifs between them, they would be there in the morning.

He saw her crying, and he knew she was thinking the same things he had thought when he first came back to London. He knew there were two options, one they could sit there and talk this to death, leaving them battered and bruised emotionally. Or option two, he could kiss her. The could forget it for a minute and worry about it tomorrow. It was the easiest decision he had ever made, besides the decision to meet her at the bar that night. As he kissed her, and they forgot about everything for the remainder of the night.

LRLRLRLRLRLRLR

When they woke up, they fell back into their routine without a second thought. He went to the door and got the paper, starting the coffee pot on his way through the kitchen. He made his way to the master bedroom, watching her throw on his shirt and go to the restroom to freshen up for the morning. The smile never left his face as he remembered their Sunday mornings before he had blown everything up. While she was freshening up he started to make breakfast, setting the first few pancakes on her plate, he had just finished pouring her coffee when she walked out and reached for the paper. A smile permanently plastered on her face as well, mirroring the feeling of contentment he was sure he showed.

"We should probably discuss last night." He knew she was going to bring it up, but he didn't expect it before the first pancake.

"Eat your pancakes, and then we can talk about it."

"Logan, you're with Odette, we need to discuss it now."

"Well, you're with Paul!" The sudden intensity of her voice shocked her. One sentence ago he was joking and seemed fine. Now he was mad, he was furious, he was jealous.

"Paul, really, you're going to be jealous of Paul?"

"I'm not jealous, don't fucking put words in my mouth. But come on Rory, what are you doing with him? Last time I checked you hated sidecars, he barely even held your hand at that party, but please tell me what you see in him?" The words spat out of him, harsher than he had intended. "And let's not pretend like you were worried about Odette last night!"

"You're right, I wasn't. I didn't care about her, I sure as hell didn't care about Paul. I cared about you! God damn it. I've cared about you apparently all this time. I thought I put you into a stupid Logan box. Deep in the recesses of my mind, but no! I see you at some insipid party and suddenly I'm lost again. The second you put your hand on the small of my back I was yours all over again. But no! You left, you left with her! So, excuse me for only caring about what should have been mine for years, but I screwed it up, and I get that now. But damn it Logan you were supposed to be mine." She was mad now, she was yelling beyond what she even knew what was possible. She was words she had barely admitted to herself, but she was throwing them in his face in anger, retaliation, or was it just years of pent up energy and love coming back out?

"Are you done now?" Logan barely looked at her, knowing if he did he'd break right there. He'd pull out his phone text a simple 'I'm done, we're done' to Odette and they'd be together again. But somehow it didn't feel that was what was going to happen. "Listen, Odette is family approved, she's 'good breeding' she's smart, she wants to produce heirs, and she's intelligent. Hell, I thought I could love her until I saw you 2 months ago, until you made that room your own. Until I decided to deep dive into your work and saw what you have done, and now I can't stop thinking about you. I can't see Odette without thinking about ways in which she's not you. I'm sure there's contracts drawn up somewhere linking me to Odette, waiting for the time to be right for me and her to sign, but if this is what you want. If you and I is what you want, and you can handle this again, I'll untangle myself from it all. It will take some time, but I'll do it for us."

Rory stood shocked. She wasn't expecting this. She wasn't expecting him to say that, surely, he was going to suggest it was just an ex getting together with an ex for one last moment. It would have crushed her, but she was prepared for it. This she wasn't expecting at all.

"Do you want to stop seeing me? Because I don't want to stop seeing you." Those words, spoken again, letting her know this was the time where she could run, she could end it all right here.

"No, I can't stop seeing you. But there's to much we have to take care of right now. So, let's do this, when we're in the same place, at the same time, we can get together. I'll be back here on assignment, I'm sure you can sneak away to New York. Let's see what we can be in private for a while. Start to untangle from Odette, I'll get everything settled at home. When were together it's just us. Like Vegas, what happens there, stays there."

"I'm not doing no strings with you again. I can't do it again."

"I'm not suggesting no strings Logan. I want strings, hell I'll be a damn marionette puppet with you, but we must do this quietly, but I can't not see you. So here it is, take it or leave it. Can you stop seeing me? Because I refuse to stop seeing you."

"I think I've been a bad influence on you Ace."

"Let's go Huntzberger." She smiled as she led him back to the master bedroom.