The next morning Rory opened her eyes and it took a moment to realise just where she was and exactly who was draped across her.
"Morning Ace" Logan flashed her the same heart-stopping smile that had stopped her in her tracks the first time she had met him back at Yale all those years ago. Even though her initial feelings towards him had been annoyance, there was something about him that got under the skin the moment their eyes had met, and that feeling had never left her.
Oh yeah, she thought. That happened. Logan is here.
"Morning" she smiled back, stretching her arms upwards as she yawned. "I still can't believe you're here Logan," Rory said sleepily.
"Well believe it," he said kissing her deeply.
"Ew no," Rory said playfully pushing Logan off her "I've got morning breath and I need a shower," she said jumping up. "You can join me if you like?" she said with a wink.
"As tempting as that is – and it's VERY tempting, we both know what will happen if I get in that shower with you...and I don't think it's very wise with the rest of the Gilmore Girls up and about on the other side of that door. "
"Spoilsport!" Rory said sticking out her tongue"
Logan laughed and lay back on the bed with his arms behind his head. After a rocky start yesterday, they'd had a wonderful night together and this morning when he woke up with his arms wrapped around Rory, his Ace, he knew he was right where he should be.
Rory stood under the warm shower and thought about everything that had happened in the past 24 hours. Logan had come to her! She could hardly let herself believe it. Just a few weeks ago she was convinced she would be doing this – the parenting thing - all on her own and now? Everything seemed to have just fallen into place; it was almost too good to be true, although in the back of her mind she still had the niggling thought that they still hadn't really discussed anything. It was just so easy to forget everything when she was busy kissing Logan.
As she let the warm water trickle over her body, Rory thought back to the activities of last night. They had giggled and messed around like teenagers, trying to be quiet in case anyone should hear – Rory acutely aware that her grandmother and mom were sleeping very close by. It wasn't really ideal, having sex with your closest relatives in the next rooms but there was no way that Rory was going to be able to sleep in the bed next to Logan without touching him.
Logan was still able to work his magic on her, making her tremble at just the slightest touch. It had always felt so right between them, even when it had been very wrong.
Rory stepped out of the shower and walked back into the bedroom with just a towel wrapped around her body. When he heard her come back into the room Logan looked up. How can she look so damn perfect? he thought to himself. Logan stood up and pulled her to him, kissing her firmly and slipping his hand under her towel to grab her ass.
"Mr Huntzberger!" Rory scolded "I thought you didn't want to go there" she smiled.
Logan answered by kissing her harder. Rory couldn't help but respond with an involuntary moan as his kisses moved to her neck.
"Logan, this is...mmm...very nice but..." she said trying to get out her words and focus "We can't just stay in the room and do this all day - we still need to talk..." Rory trailed off as Logan's kisses continued to rain down on her.
"We can talk after" Logan smirked as he pushed her back onto the bed.
While Logan was taking a shower Rory picked up her cell phone out of her bag. There was someone she definitely needed to text to tell all about the recent developments.
"He came!"
Her cell phone beeped into life.
"Standard. As did you I expect...many times if I know what you and Huntz are like".
"FINN!" Rory typed back, blushing. She was glad nobody could see her right now.
"I'm happy for you love. Hope you two can make it for keeps this time"
"Me too x" Rory quickly text back before putting the phone back into her bag.
"Morning lovers" Lorelai gave Rory and Logan a knowing wink as they walked into the kitchen. Logan winked back and Rory felt herself blushing. It didn't matter that she was a 30-something woman, she still felt awkward when it came to people talking about her sex life.
"Morning mom" Rory yawned. "Oh sorry," she said, putting her hand across her mouth "I didn't sleep much last night".
"Logan" Lorelai said narrowing her eyes, "I think it's great you're here and all, but do you think you could let my darling daughter sleep every now and again..."
"Mom! I didn't mean like that..."
"Sure you didn't" Lorelai winked and smiled at her daughter.
"Where's Jess," Rory said trying to change the subject.
"Ah" Luke piped up "Jess has decided to head back to Philadelphia. He left you a note, though" he said handing over a folded piece of paper.
Rory looked puzzled as she took it off Luke. She relished her friendship with Jess and hoped that he hadn't left with any bad feeling.
"Hey, Rory, Sorry for just taking off but I know things got a bit complicated yesterday with me being here. I don't want to cause any trouble or make life any more difficult for you than it is, so I am going to head back to Philly. I know you still have lots to sort out with Logan – I might not like the guy very much but for whatever reason, you seem to and he appears to make you happy so don't screw it up Gilmore and remember to keep me updated. Make sure you keep working on the book; I have dibs on the first read of that bad boy. You can do this! Keep being you. Love Jess x"
Rory smiled as she folded the note back up and put it in her pocket. Everything was okay. Jess had obviously recognised that Rory and Logan needed some space and decided to remove himself as obstacle. He really was a great friend. Rory felt sad that Jess had felt the need to leave, she enjoyed having him around, but was in some small way grateful that it would relieve a little of the tension she felt, having Logan and Jess in the same room.
"Everything okay Ace?" Logan asked. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know what Jess had written in the note to Rory, he presumed that whatever he had said wouldn't be in his favour. Logan wanted to like Jess and he knew he was going to have to get used to him being in their lives but even after all these years had passed, he still saw him as a threat.
"Everything is fine" She smiled "All good" she nodded.
Rory walked over to the kitchen dresser and reached up to grab a glass for some juice. Lorelai sitting quietly with her coffee, noticed how Logan just couldn't keep his eyes off Rory. They'd always been intense – the need to constantly touch each other, mirroring each other's moves, finishing each other sentences. She was amazed at how quickly they had slipped back into this. Whatever her own reservations about their relationship it was so clear to see that Logan made Rory happier than anyone else ever could and he was undeniably head over heels in love with her.
Logan couldn't help but smile at the sight of Rory's tummy poking out from under her t-shirt. The roundness was just starting to become more prominent and soon she'd be showing properly. In another life this would have made him feel incredibly nervous, right now all he really felt was excitement and that his life was finally coming together as it should.
After breakfast, Logan and Rory decided to spend some time alone and take a walk on the beach. They both knew there were still quite a few things unsaid.
"I love it here," Rory said as Logan took her hand and intertwined her fingers with his.
"I can see why Emily likes it here," Logan said.
"Logan," Rory said turning to look at him "I need to know - what is it we are doing here? We've talked about there being an 'us' but we've not talked about the elephants - or elephants should I say - in the room. We need to stop skirting around the issue, I need to know exactly where we stand."
"Ok." Logan took a deep breath. "I agree. Here's how it is." He said keeping hold of Rory's hand. "I've told Odette, she knows all about us, the baby, the absolute truth."
Rory looked at Logan with surprise. She didn't know what she had expected him to tell his fiancé, but she hadn't expected him to be so honest from the start.
"She took it surprisingly well" Logan continued "Only threw one vase at my head" he laughed. "It wasn't easy Ace, not by a long shot but I did what I had to do. I did what I should have done a long time ago. After a couple of days of us yelling and talking things over, Odette kind of just accepted it and admitted that she wasn't happy either."
"Really?" Rory asked.
"Yep, she wants to go home to Paris so she's packing up and moving back as soon as she can," Logan said softly.
It had been a difficult conversation with Odette and as much as Logan knew it was the right thing to do – the only thing to do, he never wanted to upset her. They may not have been in love, and he may not have been faithful to her, but they had become friends and he respected her as. a person. The last thing he wanted to do was trample all over her but he needed to start being honest, not just with himself but everyone around him.
"Wow, I had kind of thought that she would have taken it a lot worse," Rory said surprised. "I'm not sure how well I would take the news of my fiancé getting someone else pregnant." She said thoughtfully.
"Yeah so did I, but then Odette knew what we were getting into from the start, she doesn't love me and I don't love her. It's not the right way to start a marriage." He shrugged. "Odette has kindly agreed to give me the time to address all of this with my parents before she makes any kind of announcement herself that the engagement is off, because as soon as it all comes out there are going to be a lot of questions and no doubt stories in the press."
Rory winced. She hated the thought of all that intrusion into her life but recognised that it came as part of the Huntzberger lifestyle.
"Have you...have you told your parents yet?" Rory asked nervously. For Rory, this was the bigger issue than Logan breaking it off with Odette. The Huntzbergers were people she was going to have to get used to being around if she was going to be with Logan. She'd never had a good relationship with them and she couldn't foresee that changing anytime soon.
Logan grimaced. He had been putting off the inevitable shit-storm with his parents. He knew that he should have broken the news to them about Rory, and he was also pretty sure that Rory would have expected him to have dealt with this by now.
"I spoke to my dad when I was in London and yes, I told him I wouldn't be marrying Odette, but..."
"...but you haven't told him about me?" Rory interrupted.
"No," Logan said quietly. He could see that she was a little disappointed. "I'm not hiding anything Ace. My dad, he was just so mad when I told him that I was calling off the engagement, that I just didn't think it would help the situation at that point. It was one of the reasons I wanted you out of harms way and back in Stars Hollow. You know as well as I do, that there is no telling what my parents will say or do when they go off on one".
"Sure," Rory said quietly.
"I AM going to tell them Ace" Logan squeezed her hand "I'm not worried about it at all. What my parents have said in the past...my dad's feelings aren't really about you, he's only focussed on money and power, and my mom she's only concerned about image. None of those things matters to me. We are moving forward and I will let them know all of this but..." He hesitated "This is something I want to do together, I want you by my side when we tell them the news and now that my dad has had time to calm down a bit about Odette, I'm ready to hit him with round two." He smirked.
"How do you think he is really going to react Logan?"
"Well so far he's not disowned me or thrown me out of the company, it seems to be pretty much business as usual. He is going to still expect me to work in London though..."
"Of course" Rory looked past Logan and out to sea.
"But listen Ace, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I haven't brought this up with him yet and I have a plan that I want to talk to him about, I just hope that he will listen".
"So do I" Rory added, "because I'm not sure how this is going to work between us with you on the other side of the Atlantic. We tried that before remember?."
Logan pulled Rory into him and she put her head on his shoulder. One day, she thought. One day everything will be simple.
Rory was having an afternoon nap in their guest room when Logan walked back in.
"Ace..." he said sitting down on the bed next to her.
"Yes," she said groggily.
"I just wanted to let you know...Mitchum and Shira are in Florida for a few weeks at the moment but I've arranged a time for us to go to dinner with them when they return."
"O...kay," Rory said uncertainly as she sat up.
"I want us to go face them together, as a united front" He said firmly. "I won't let them hurt you."
Logan knew that the conversations that were looming ahead were not going to be easy ones but he was going to make damn sure that Mitchum and Shira did nothing to ruin his relationship with Rory and his child.