Here we are! I was going to try and set a schedule for posting updates, but I've just decided to post as I finish writing things. Everything is outlined out, it's just a matter of getting it all written out.

So, for background. This came to me a few weeks after watching the Revival. I thought it would be interesting to explore the idea of the Revival with an added layer: a secret marriage. To now and through this chapter, it's what comes before the Revival. After this one, we'll do a time jump to after the revival and the revelation of the pregnancy and marriage.

Please let me know what you think!

Rory stared at Logan. "You cannot be serious."

"As a heart attack," he told her. "Just hear me out, okay?"

Rory's heart sped up. She honestly couldn't believe that he was proposing this to her, especially after all these years. But, there was also a part of her that was quite excited that he still wanted to marry her all these years later.

"It's obvious that we still have quite a bit of chemistry between the two of us. And I think we both still have feelings for each other, am I right?"

Rory nodded and Logan continued. "Why shouldn't we get married? I was so stupid all those years ago when I made you go all or nothing. I should have understood you weren't ready. And, you might not be now. But that doesn't mean that I'm not willing to fight for you. I want to be with you and only you, Rory. If we get married, we don't have to worry about all that other stuff. We can just be married."

Logan paused and looked at her, waiting for her response. After a few minutes of silence, she said, "But, Logan, I still don't see how that will work. And your family! Oh my gosh, what would your dad say? I don't think it's a good idea."

Logan sighed. "I agree with you there. It won't be easy. But, I think we can do it. I mean, you were there through the botched business deal and were ready to support me when I broke free of my father. How is that any different from this?"

It was Rory's turn to sigh. "Logan, I would love to marry you. I wanted to marry you back then. But, I just don't see how that would work. I would be expected to stop working or I would get jobs simply because of the fact that we're married. I don't know if I can live with either of those options."

"Then don't."

"Logan! Be serious!"

"I am! We can get married, but what if we don't tell anyone? Just do it for ourselves. Then, you don't have to worry about not having steady work and I can just go on with my life. It takes away all the power that my father holds over me and he won't even know it. We can get married here and, when we're ready, we can go public with it."

"A secret marriage? That's your solution?"

"Rory, come on. Think about it, seriously think about it. Tell me that it doesn't make sense. We want to be together. We won't be able to just date because once our families catch wind, we'll never hear the end of it. Your grandparents will go crazy trying to plan a wedding, your mother will go crazy probably trying to break us up, and my father will do anything to make sure nothing comes from it. If we get married, we don't have to tell them. I have my own lawyers who can help handle all the paperwork and make it so my dad and no one else will be privy to it. It can totally work."

Logan was silent again, allowing Rory to think about it some more. It was definitely a crazy idea. Having a secret marriage? It's right out of a book! But, it could also work. That's what made it so crazy.

"Yes."

"What was that?" Logan asked her with excitement in his voice.

"I said yes!"

Logan laughed and pulled her to him, kissing her squarely on the mouth. "You have no idea how happy you've made me, Ace."

"I think I have a pretty good idea mister," she told him with a smile. "If w'ere going to do this, though, we need to find out where we can get married. And when. Oh, and what's the process?"

"Rory, slow down. We'll figure it out. Where's your laptop? We can do some research now to figure out what we need to do. Then, we can look at our schedules and see if it'll work."

Rory grabbed her laptop and brought it back to the bed. Pulling up the search engine, she and Logan spent the next several hours researching how to get married in Europe. They thought about just going to Vegas to do it, but both decided the likelihood of paparazzi catching them was too likely. Logan was too well known now for someone to not recognize him and then figure out who she was. With that in mind though, they were able to discover that Denmark is considered the Vegas of Europe. They would just have to show up and petition for a marriage license and they could get married the next day.

However, when they looked at their schedules, they realized they had a slight conflict. "Logan, I have some meetings I need to be at in New York once this conference finishes. I can't put them off."

"Same here, Ace. I have some meeting in London next week that I can't miss because of a proposed merger. What about the next week?"

Rory flipped ahead. "That should be good. I'm between stories and can easily make my way over here for us to get married. I still can't believe we're going to do it."

Logan smiled at her. "Same here."

"I do have a question for you, Logan, about getting married."

Rory bit her lip, unsure of how to approach the question. "I know you said to keep this a secret, but do you think we could tell my grandparents? They've always liked you and I think they would like to be able to help and possibly be there? They could be our witnesses?"

Logan looked at her and was silent for a few moments. "Are you sure, Ace? What about your mom? Won't she be mad when she finds out?"

Rory sighed. "Yeah, she probably will be. But she can't keep a secret to save her life. I just don't see her being able to stay quiet about our marriage and I don't think she would approve. I'd rather tell my grand parents because they'll be happy so long as we're happy."

Logan was silent again. "If you think they'll go along with it, then I don't see why we can't include them. It would definitely be nice to have someone in our corner for when the time comes."

Rory smiled. "Thank you so much! Is there anyone in your family you think we should tell?"

"I would like to tell Honor, but I honestly don't think she'll be able to keep it a secret. The first chance she got to throw it out there, I think she would."

Rory nodded, understanding since she had just said the same thing about her mother.

"So, it looks like we're getting married in two weeks? In Denmark?"

"It certainly does."

Rory smiled. "I can't wait! I wish we could get married sooner."

"Me too, Ace. But, just think, this means we can plan it out a bit more and make sure it's the best day ever."

"I think I like that idea."

After that, they were silent as they moved on to other ways to show their affection for each other. This time, they were slow in exploring each other's bodies, though just as tired at the end.

—

Two days later, Rory found herself outside her grandparents mansion in Hartford, Connecticut. While they were expecting her, they had no idea why she was stopping by. She just told them she wanted to see them because she missed them the last few weeks. So, her grandmother invited her over for dinner for just the three of them. But, now that she was here, she was incredibly nervous. She couldn't bring herself to ring the bell, though she knew she needed to otherwise her grandmother would come to the door before she had the chance, thus starting the night off on a bad foot.

Sighing, Rory reached forward and pressed the button. She heard the bells ring throughout the house and the sound of footsteps approaching. The door opened to reveal her grandmother, who broke into a smile when she saw her. "Rory!" she exclaimed. "I'm so glad you called to see about coming to see us. Your grandfather and I have missed seeing you recently. Come in, come in!"

Once inside, they embraced. "Thank you for having me, Grandma. I've missed the two of your also."

Rory put her coat on the tree in the hall and followed her grandmother into the sitting room. "Rory!" her grandfather exclaimed when he saw her. "I'm so glad to see you!"

She walked over to where he was and hugged him. "Same here, Grandpa. How are the two of you?"

They settled into chitchat while they waited for dinner to be ready. As they talked, Rory found herself relaxing and not worrying too much about the coming conversation about her and Logan's impending nuptials. Once they moved into the dining room and the salad was served, her grandmother looked at her. "Now, you were in Germany last week, right?"

Rory nodded. "Yes, I was in Hamburg for a Newspaper and Writing Conference."

"Did you network and learn anything while you were there?" her grandfather asked.

Rory nodded again, telling them, "I did. It was really interesting to see so many people in the same profession as me in one place. It was awesome to hear some of their stories of places they've been and stories they've covered. It gives me something to work towards as I continue in my career."

"That's good. You never want to let yourself get too bogged down by the same thing every day when you're working. You want to constantly be striving to go the extra mile and be excited about the prospects that may come."

"I am pretty excited."

They lapsed into silence and Rory figured it was now or never. "I actually wanted to talk to you about something that happened while I was at the conference."

"Oh, really? What is it dear?" her grandmother asked.

Rory coughed, nervous again. "Well, I saw Logan while I was there."

"You did?" her grandmother asked, smirking.

"I did. We reconnected, you could say."

"Does this mean the two of you are together again?" her grandmother asked.

"You could say that," Rory started. "What I'm about to tell you is in the strictest confidence. You are the only two that I'm talking to about this. I'm not even telling Mom."

"Rory, is everything okay?" her grandfather asked, looking concerned.

"Yes, everything is perfect. Logan has asked me to marry him again and I've accepted."

Her grandparents gaped at her. "You're marrying a Huntzberger?!" her grandmother exclaimed.

Rory nodded. "Rory, this is wonderful news! But, why aren't you telling anyone?"

Rory nervously laughed. "This is where it gets complicated."

She proceeded to lay out everything that she and Logan discussed from their families not agreeing to possibly issues with her working. At the end of it, she looked at them and said, "I'm telling you because we want you both to attend our wedding if possible and serve as our witnesses. We know that you both want what's best for us and love us unconditionally. And we want to be surrounded by that on our wedding day."

"Rory, I just don't know what to say," her grandfather said, getting a little choked up. "It means a lot to me and your grandmother that you want us to be there for you. But, are you certain you don't want to tell your mother?"

"I am," she assured them. "I don't see her being able to keep her mouth shut about it and it would just cause more issues."

"Then why not just get married and announce it after the fact?" her grandmother queried.

"We thought about doing that also, but we still foresee issues coming from his family over the marriage. We think his dad will try to have us annul it or find other ways to make our lives difficult."

"I agree with you there, Rory. Mitchum won't take your marrying his heir lightly. No matter when it comes out."

"So, will you? Will you go to Denmark with us and be our witnesses?"

Her grandparents looked at each other. "Rory, we would love to!" her grandmother stated.

"Thank you, both of you. I am so thankful to have each of you in my life and I'm so glad you'll be able to be there."

"Rory, it's us that should be thanking you. You're giving us the opportunity to see our only grandchild get married. I don't think we could ask for anything better."

Rory smiled at each of them, so incredibly happy that she didn't know what to do with herself.

"I do have a question for you, Rory," her grandmother said.

"What is it?"

"What are you going to do about a dress?"

Rory's eyes widened. "Oh, I hadn't even thought about that. I thought I'd just see what I already had and wear it."

Her grandmother gasped. "Rory! That is not happening! Even if you are getting married quickly, I will make sure you have a wonderful dress to get married in. I must call Miss Celine immediately and have her bring dresses by tomorrow. You are staying the night, right?"

Rory just nodded, able to tell that she wouldn't be able to talk her grandmother out of it. "Have you lined up a photographer over there? You'll want pictures as well. What about a small reception or dinner for after?"

"Oh, Logan and I hadn't gotten that far yet. I figured we'd just go back to our hotel for a small dinner."

"Nonsense! You only get married once, Rory. And we're going to do it right. You get that Logan on the phone while I call Celine. The three of us are going to hammer out some details tonight. This might be a small wedding with just us, but damnit, it's going to be the prettiest quickie wedding you've ever seen!"

With that, Emily threw her napkin down and walked off to her study, Richard and Rory staring after her.

"Rory," her grandfather said.

She looked at him. "Thank you, truly, for allowing us to be a part of your day. You don't know how much it means to us that you want us there. And, thank you for allowing her the opportunity to be a part of it with planning."

Rory reached over and placed her hand on his. "Grandpa, I can't think of anyone else I would want to be there besides you and her. You've done so much for me over the years by paying for school and supporting me even when I didn't want that support. You deserve to be there."

He smiled at her. In the distance, she heard, "Rory! What colors do you want?"

She looked back at her grandfather, who smiled. "Do you want a drink before you go deal with her?"

"Yes, please," she responded, laughing.