"Wh—What?" Rory managed to stutter after a few minutes of silence.
"Will you come with me to England, Rory?" Logan pleaded, staring her in the eyes.
"To… To England? With you? Now?"
"Yes. I love you, Ace, and I want you there with me." It was the first time he had ever said it, she realized. Logan Huntzberger had just told her that he loved her, and he hadn't even used her real name.
"Rory. My name is Rory," she stated, angrily.
"Huh?" Logan asked, confused at her response.
"My name is Rory, not Ace. I hate it when you call me that."
"Umm, ok?" Logan was still confused, not really knowing where this was headed. Rory, however, knew exactly where it was headed.
"Why do you want me to come with you to England, Logan?" Rory fired at him. "Huh?"
"I just told you Ace… I mean, Rory. I love you, and I want you there with me."
"Is that it?"
"What do you mean, Rory? You aren't making much sense."
"You just want me to leave my whole life behind and come with you to England? Why should I?" Rory was finally beginning to realize her feelings for this particular relationship, and she was ready to do what she needed to do.
"Well, yeah." Logan stated, dazed.
"Well, that's not going to work for me, Logan."
"What do you mean, Rory?"
"You know what? No." she stated firmly.
"No?" Logan asked, his voice beginning to rise.
"That's right, you heard me, no. I don't want to go with you to England. I like it here, in America." Her voice was also beginning to rise, and people were beginning to stare.
"Rory, what's wrong with you?" Logan yelled. "Why won't you come with me? Don't you love me?"
"'What's wrong with me?' Are you serious?" Rory was angry now, and she had to end it. "You know what Logan? Nothing is wrong with me. I just realized that I don't need you anymore."
"You what?" Logan shouted.
"You heard me: I don't need you anymore. We're done." Rory firmly spat at him. As she said it, she stood up, left the restaurant, and didn't look back.
Rory burst into her room, filled with anger, but, surprisingly, not with sadness. She tried to cry, but couldn't. She just wasn't sad. She, Rory Gilmore, had just broken up with Logan Huntzberger, and she wasn't sad. She felt… free.Happy, in fact. Like she needed to talk with someone. She dialed the number, not knowing if it belonged to the same person as it once had. It rang once. Twice. And then…
"Hello?" A sleepy voice grumbled.
Rory didn't know what to say. She wasn't expecting an answer. She had dialed countless times, but had never gotten an answer. Or, before the answer, she had hung up. But this, this she wasn't prepared for.
"Hello?" The voice asked again, becoming more agitated.
Still, she didn't answer.
"Hello?" Just as the call was about to end, she finally said something.
"Hi."
"Rory?"
"Um, yeah," she struggled with the words. She couldn't believe it still felt like this to talk to him.
"Um, hi."
"Hi."
"Why did you call, Rory?"
"Oh, um, I don't know. It was stupid. I… just… never mind. Bye."
"Wait, don't hang up the--"
But it was too late; she had already hung up the phone.
"What is wrong with me? Why did I just do that?" She chastised herself. "I didn't need to-- I shouldn't have…. Oh my god, why did I do that?" She didn't know what had compelled her to do that; she could have called anyone. But why take that road again? Especially, considering that she had just broken up with her boyfriend? Rory didn't know what to do. She looked at the clock: 11:33.
"That seems like a decent time to go to bed," she murmured to herself. "Sure. I guess. I still can't believe I just did that…" As she was saying the words, she lied down on her bed, drifting off into the simpler dream world, the place where things were so much better for her.
She couldn't believe it. She stared at herself in the mirror, and couldn't believe her eyes: she was wearing a wedding dress.
"Oh, hun, you look beautiful."
She turned around to see her mother coming through the door, smiling and crying. Happy tears. "I never thought that I'd see the day, my daughter's getting married!"
"What?" Rory couldn't believe her ears. She was getting married? To whom?
"Yeah, hun. We've been planning it for months now. You're completely in love with the man you're about to spend the rest of your life with, and it's about to start. Are you ready?"
"Well, who's going to walk me down the aisle? Dad isn't here, so who's going to do it?"
"I was hoping I could," Luke said, walking through the door.
"Oh, Luke," Rory said, tearing up. "I would love that."
"Great. Let's go, then!" Luke said, smiling.
The music started. The doors opened, and Lorelai, Rory's maid-of-honor, began to walk down the aisle. The church was decorated beautifully, with cream-colored roses and a green satin theme emanating throughout the place. Exactly the way that Rory had imagined her wedding. As she began to walk forward, she looked up toward the altar. Cornflower blue met warm, coffee brown, and Rory smiled. She looked around and saw her friends: Lane, Sookie and Jackson, Paris. Everything was perfect. She reached the altar, and turned to face the man she was going to spend the rest of her life with. The pastor began to speak: "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…"
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
"Huh?" Rory mumbled sleepily. "What the—"
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
"Ok, ok, I'm coming," she grumbled, looking at the clock. 3:17 a.m. "Who the hell would be here at this time in the morning? What's going on?" She opened the door. Nothing could prepare her for what she saw. It couldn't be real. She must still be dreaming. She rubbed her eyes, pinched her arm. Nope, he was still there, staring at her.
"Jess?"
