a/n: this chapter and the next chapter were supposed to be one chapter, but it would have ended up being like...10,000 words, so i'm splitting them up. the next one will be up in about a week or so.
im going to TRY to promise one update a week, at least, from now on. I'll definitely be writing more, because the next couple of weeks are going to be relatively calm, and since I started off the semester well (i have Bs in calc and chem, which is kind of awesome because we had the hardest tests of the year, ever).
I made a family tree for the series, but its endgame, which means it has all the pairings and kids and stuff. It was kind of complicated to make, because regardless of whether or not april and nate end up together (you don't get to know yet), nate's going to be a main character in the series and in the second story, we'll see some of his nuclear family.
I can't wait for you guys to see it, because someone needs to validate that gigantic waste of time for me.
-RL-
6 o'clock, April's room, Hayden residence.
As a general rule, six in the morning just plain sucked. The fact that it was Valentine's Day and she had no one to celebrate it just made it all the more suckish, since Nate had been asked by some blonde bimbo if he would be her Valentine, and Sam had been 'talking' to one of Nate's soccer friends.
Of course, Nate had said no (she thought), but it still wasn't right to go out on Valentine's Day with your sister's fiancé's cousin.
How very Emma of them.
Technically, she had someone to celebrate with; she had a boyfriend: Evan. But he was at Choate, staying over for the long weekend since his parents were in Paris or Rome or some other city rich with European history.
April thought it was kind of wrong that she didn't even care that she couldn't see her boyfriend on Valentine's Day. Sure, she was sad, but it was more that she didn't have anyone rather than Evan specifically.
After only a month and a half, she had a feeling she was going to be breaking up with him.
"Ugh!" she pressed the pillow down over her face. "What is wrong with me?"
'All my life I've been good, but now-' her alarm started blaring. She blindly reached for her cell phone, sliding her finger down the touch screen to disarm the music. At the same time, she realized she had a text message.
Nathan: Happy Valentine's Day. Go back to sleep, loser, there's no school today.
She quickly hit 'Reply'. You're the loser. Why couldn't you tell me this before I woke up?
He responded in seconds. '...Because you'd have been asleep? Anyways, goodnight! And whatever you do, DON'T stuff your face with food when you wake up. We're going out tonight. Don't respond, unless you're going to say no. In which case, STILL don't respond. Sweet dreams.'
Laughing quietly, she put her phone back on the nightstand, rolled over, and was asleep in minutes.
-RL-
10 o'clock, Rory's room, Hayden residence.
Rory was having a really, really good dream when her phone rang.
A really, really good dream involving Logan.
One that had been occurring with increasing frequency in the past week, which was coincidentally the same amount of time it had been since she had seen him last.
She really, really missed him.
"Mmph," she said into the phone. Her eyes were still closed and she hadn't bothered to check the caller ID. Whoever it was was going to have to deal with a crabby, rude Rory just because they had torn her away from her dream of Logan.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Ace."
"Logan!" her eyes flew open.
"Ace!"
"Oh, my God. Happy Valentine's Day. I miss you, why are you calling so early, are you back on the East Coast yet? How was your trip? Are you too tired? Do you want to can-"
"Calm down, Ace. I miss you, too; I'm not calling early, it's ten o'clock; I'm walking out of JFK as we speak; my trip sucked because you weren't there; I slept on the flight, and don't you dare think you're going to weasel your way out of my epic Valentine's Day Surprise."
Rory bit back a grin. "How do you do that?" she asked wondrously. "How do you keep up with me?"
"I am a man of many talents," he declared. "And besides, Ace, I wouldn't even try if I didn't want you."
Instantly, Nate's words from their previous conversation flashed through her head. 'He will fight for you.'
"Are you coming back to Yale this week?"
"Yeah, I'll head up to New Haven tonight. When are you going back?"
"Well," she hesitated. What if this was too much, too soon? They had just exchanged proclamations of love... But wasn't that the point? He loved her. She was allowed to be herself, tell him everything she was thinking. So before she lost her courage, she said, "I was thinking of going back tomorrow, but if you're going back tonight, it'd probably be easier to just stay with you."
He didn't know what to say. He knew what she was saying: she wanted to move in with him, if it was okay with him. And while he would definitely love to wake up to his Ace every morning (because she was his. She had his ring on her finger, no matter who made it happen), he didn't know if that was what she wanted.
"Ace," he started gently.
"Logan," she cut his train of thought. "I'm sick of dreaming of you every night and not having you there when I wake up. I can't go without seeing you for a week or for two weeks. Okay? I can't do it. If you leave to London or Los Angeles or Paris or the freaking Moon for HPG in the middle of the night, I need to know. I need to be there, okay? You can't just call me and say 'oh, I'm in Istanbul.' I need to know. And I'm not going to wait four months until we're married to get that."
It was amazing how she could read his thoughts like that. "Okay, Ace," he said softly. "I'll bring you a key when I get there."
She checked the clock at her bedside. It read 10:13. "You know what? Stay in New York. I'll take a train up, okay? I'll text you when to meet me at Grand Central."
"Ace-"
"Come on, you driving all the way down is so inconvenient."
"You riding the train up by yourself is inconvenient."
"Bye, Logan," her tone left no room for argument. "I love you."
"I love you, too, Ace."
The line went dead, and she stared at the phone for a moment. She was really going to do it. She was going to move in with Logan.
God, she really hoped he put the cap back on the toothpaste.
Groaning, she threw her phone back on the bed and went into the bathroom.
She had a hot date to get ready for.
-RL-
"Hey, April," Rory greeted her sister when she walked into the kitchen. "No one else up yet?"
April looked up, a book in one hand and a spoon in the other. It was amazing how none of the milk from the cereal was dripping onto her copy of 'A Thousand Splendid Suns.'
"Mom, Dad, Will, and Gigi are all sleeping in a pile in Mom and Dad's room. And Summer has the day off. So yeah, it's just me."
"Why are you up so early, anyways? I thought you didn't have school today?"
"I don't. But I didn't realize that until Nate texted me at six in the morning."
"Why was he up at six in the morning?"
"I...dunno. Good question." It suddenly struck April that Nate could have woken up just to let her know, but that was crazy. Why would he do that? She shoved the thought aside. "SO what are you doing today?" she asked as Rory moved around the kitchen, getting out a bowl, spoon, the cereal container, and a gallon of milk.
"I am taking the train to Yale in," Rory checked her watch after she set everything down on the kitchen island. "Twenty minutes."
"Why are you going to Yale today? I thought you guys got a day off, too."
"We do," Rory explained. "I'm going to take a train from New Haven to Grand Central, where I'm meeting Logan. We're going to go see our house and just do New York."
"Oh, the fancy-shmancy West End Avenue house?"
Rory stopped and stared at her sister in surprise. "He told you?"
"No," April replied innocently.
"You were eavesdropping," Rory accused.
"Strike two." She held up two fingers in a V shape to emphasize her point.
"Then how'd you know?"
April beckoned her sister over conspiratorially. Rory bent her head close suspiciously. "I'm psychic," April joked in a whisper.
"You're not funny," Rory said flatly, pulling back.
"I'm kidding," April laughed. "He mentioned something about the Upper West Side, and Nate said something about visiting West End Avenue. I just put the pieces together."
"How is Nate?" Rory asked. April had been referring to him in their conversations since the two of them had called a truce, and while it had started out innocently enough, there seemed to be an increasing amount of the word 'Nate' used in their conversations.
"Nate's good, why?" April asked.
Rory shrugged. "He's going to be my brother-in-law. I'm allowed to be worried about him."
"Uh huh."
"Besides, I have to make sure you never steal his car again."
"It was one time, okay? I figured he could get a ride home with the other soccer boys."
"And that worked out awesomely, didn't it?"
"Whatever," April sent her sister a nasty look. Her iPhone beeped, so she put down her spoon and the book and read the incoming text message. She started replying, fingers flying fast over the screen, but didn't look up. "You're going to miss your train if you keep staring at me. Nate says hi, by the way. And that Logan needs cufflinks. Why are you supposed to know that Logan needs cufflinks?"
"Oh, my God," Rory clapped a hand over her forehead. "I forgot to get him a Valentine's Day gift!"
"Well, Logan needs cufflinks," April said dryly. "Just buy him some from Tiffany's."
Rory ran around the kitchen, gathering her purse (which she had dropped on the counter the night before), her phone, and her jacket (which she had draped around her chair when she walked into the kitchen). "Okay, I have to leave. Don't cheat on your boyfriend with Nate," she called back as she left the kitchen. "And Happy Valentine's Day!"
Crap.
Evan.
'You. Make. Me. Feel like I'm living a. Teen. Age. Dream-'
Double crap. She didn't even have to look at her Caller ID to know who that was.
"Hi Evan!" she said awkwardly as she picked up the phone. "Happy Valentine's Day!"
-RL-
It never ceased to amaze her how good Logan looked in anything. Grey, Navy Blue, White. She was pretty sure she could make him wear hot pink and he'd still look good.
Of course, the fact that they hadn't seen each other in a week plus the fact that they'd decided to move into together kind of justified their indecent public display of affection.
Or, at least, barely decent, since Logan had pulled her into a small crevice by the wall when they had started getting too heated.
Overcome with the need for oxygen, they pulled apart, breathing heavily. "I really missed you," she said softly, head resting on his chest.
He smirked, but she couldn't see him. "I can tell, Ace. I should go away more often."
"No," she said instantly, tightening her hold on his shirt.
He raised an eyebrow. "Ace?"
"I just...don't want you to go," she explained under his scrutiny. "My dad, he used to have to go, for college and law school. He'd come home every weekend, less in law school," she shook her head free of the thoughts. "And...it affected my mom. I mean, they made it through but,-"
"Ace," he put a finger to her lips. "I'm not going anywhere."
"I just-"
"Ace."
"Jess left," she blurted out suddenly.
"What?"
"Jess went to California. And Tristan went to military school and-"
"Rory, Ace, calm down. Who are these people? What do they have to do with anything."
"My ex-boyfriends."
"Uh huh," he nodded slowly, not fully understanding.
"They left in the middle of our relationship. Jess went to California to look for his dad, and Tristan went to military school...," she explained, trailing off.
"He went to military school willingly? You dated some keepers there."
"Well, no, but-"
"Ace," he gently lifted her chin. "I'm not moving," he repeated. "I'm the man who can't be moved."
She gasped and buried her head in his chest. "You listen to The Script?"
"I am kind of perfect," he said. "You should have expected this."
"I love you."
"If one day you wake up and find that you're missing me," he hummed.
"You'd see me waiting for you on the corner of the street," she finished.
"You missed a few lines." He started humming again. "And your heart starts to wonder where on this Earth I could be-"
"Logan, really?"
"Thinking maybe you'll come back here to the place that we meet-" he stopped and looked at her expectantly.
She sighed and reluctantly finished the rest. "And you'll see me waiting for you, on the corner of the street."
"See Ace! That wasn't so hard now, was it?"
"That was-"
"Don't say it."
"-so cheesy."
"You said it," he threw his hands in the air. "Oh, Ace, what are we going to do with you?"
"Come on," she stepped out of his arms and grabbed his hands. "We have New York to see."
"You can't walk backwards in Grand Central, Ace. You're going to knock someone over."
"You have no faith in me-oh!" she stumbled backwards as she tripped over someone's rolling black bag. "You suck."
He just laughed in response.
-RL-
Lorelai wasn't surprised when she opened the front door to find Nate.
What she was surprised to see, though, was her daughter's boyfriend. Which was kind of ironic, really, if you thought about it.
"Hi, Mrs. Hayden," Evan smiled and stuck out his hand. "I'm Evan Pennington. April's-"
"-boyfriend," Nate finished the sentence. "This is April's boyfriend Mrs. H."
Evan seemed a little nervous, but Lorelai didn't know if that had more to do with the fact that Nate was standing right behind him, as intimidating as ever, or with meeting his girlfriend's parents for the first time, when they weren't even expecting him.
"Oh hey, Evan, come on in," she said warmly. "April's told me so much about you."
Evan was surprised. "She has? Wow. I didn't know that."
Nate seemed to follow this sentiment, raising an eyebrow at her, as if to say 'Really, Mrs. H'? Lorelai shot him a look in response, unnoticed by Evan, and took their coats. "Summer's on her day off, so I'm stuck with the dirty work today. Lucky me, right?"
Evan laughed, clearly thinking this was a joke. When no one joined him, he stopped and looked at the floor awkwardly. "Uh, is April in?"
"Yeah, she's in the living room. Follow-" Lorelai watched Nate pass by her and head to the living room. "Him," she finished, pointing after the boy.
"Oi, munchkins, let's go," Nate twirled his car keys around his fingers. "We've got a full day ahead of us." Gigi and Will hadn't heard him, and he was pointedly ignoring April. She, on the other hand, couldn't take her eyes off of him. Chris was looking between the two, wondering if he'd missed something.
Clearly, he had.
"Hey, April," Evan stepped into the living room behind him. "Surprise."
"Evan! What are you doing here?" she yelped. "I mean, uh, wow. Happy Valentine's Day."
"I wanted to surprise you. We haven't seen each other for a couple weeks, so, you know. Plus, it's Valentine's Day." He gave her a shy, hopeful smile, and she smiled weakly back at him, eyes moving to Nate's stony face and then back again.
"How did you know where I lived?" she asked, trying to keep the surprise off her face.
"I had to get it from Samantha. It is our first Valentine's Day together," he said.
More like only Valentine's together, Nate thought wryly.
"That is so sweet," she got up and walked towards him. "Let me just go get dressed and then we can go." She needed to get out of the room. She didn't know why, but Nate's presence was suddenly unnerving, and Rory's earlier words flashed through her mind. 'Don't cheat on your boyfriend.'
This morning, she wouldn't have even thought about cheating on her boyfriend with Nate.
Then again, this morning she forgot she even had a boyfriend.
"Why don't you have a seat, Evan," Chris offered. "We can talk a little bit. I can get the chance to interrogate you while she's changing. Trust me, it can take a while."
Internally, Nate scoffed. He wouldn't have to be interrogated. But those were thoughts that he couldn't think right now. "Have fun, Evan," he nodded slightly, shooting the other teen a smile for good measure. "Uh, Chris, I'm just gonna take G. and Will and...go, is that okay?"
At Chris' nod, Nate called to the kids again. "Georgia, William, let's goooo!"
"Nathan!" they dropped their toys on the ground and ran to him.
"Are we gonna be with you today?" Gigi asked.
"Yep. It's Valentine's Day. Your parents get to be alone."
"What's Valentine's Day?" Gigi asked innocently.
Nate gasped exaggeratedly, looking up at Lorelai. "Really, Mrs. H. They don't know what Valentine's Day is?"
Lorelai pointed at Chris. "He's the evil one, says he doesn't want them to be corrupted."
"Hey, hey, come on," Chris raised his hands under Nate's scrutiny. "I just don't want Gigi to start expecting flowers every year. I'll go broke, there are four girls in this family, Nathaniel."
"Well," Nate crouched down in front of Gigi. "I'd send some to Gigi. I mean, Hayden girls are increasingly rare. I'd rather have the littlest one than none at all."
"What's Valentine's Day, Nathan?" Gigi asked again.
"It's a day to celebrate the one you love with the one you love."
"Oh. Like Rory and Logan?"
"Exactly like Rory and Logan," he said softly.
"And you and April?" Will asked, blinking rapidly, confusion etched on his face.
"No," Evan cut in. "Like...me and April."
There was an awkward moment, until Will broke it.
"Ice cream!" Will yelled happily. His mind worked in such weird ways.
"Yeah, little dude. Ice cream. Let's go get some." With one last nod at Chris and Evan, and a "Bye, Mrs. H.", he ushered the kids out the family room and into the hallway, and out the front door.
It was going to be a long day.
-RL-
It didn't hit them until they walked into Tiffany&Co. and a salesclerk instantly sidled up to them, batting her eyelashes and all, that they were Logan J. Huntzberger and Lorelai L. G. Hayden and they were engaged and people knew them.
Because apparently their engagement announcement had run in the New York Times, and now all of America knew.
Which explained how the employees of Tiffany&Co. knew
"If you need anything, Mr. Huntzberger, and I mean anything," the salesclerk, whose nametag read 'Andrea', said, eyeing him up and down. "Don't hesitate to let me know."
Logan looked vaguely disturbed. Rory, on the other hand, had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.
"I don't believe this. I walk in to get some jewelry for my fiancée, with my fiancée, and I still get hit on."
"It's kind of cute."
"How come you're not jealous," he demanded.
"Because," she stepped in front of him and started fiddling with his tie. "You're mine."
"I'm yours?"
"All mine. I own you."
'I own you. You have to get me coffee in the mornings, absolutely no decaf, and be around to save me from my grandparents, and when one of our kids starts crying in the middle of the night you can wake up.'
"I will gladly be owned by you," he whispered before crushing his lips to hers.
She pulled back and smiled softly. "Even if you're the one on diaper duty all the time?"
"Even then."
"Okay."
"Okay."
They spent another two hours in Tiffany's, finally buying a few bangles for April and a pair of cuff links for Nate (under the guise of which Rory managed to buy a pair for Logan, too) and exited happily with their blue bags in hand. Rory's stomach growled as they pushed past the revolving door and Logan looked at her expectantly. "Wanna go eat?"
"Yes. I am absolutely starving."
"Okay," he checked his watch. "It's almost four, so we can head over to the Upper West Side, check out the house, find a restaurant, and then come back to the UES for FAO Schwartz."
"FAO Schwartz?"
"Yeah, it's this awesome toy store where I want to go to get some stuff for G and Will."
Maybe they were just in the honeymoon phase of their relationship, but all she wanted to do right then was kiss him because he was so adorable. He absolutely doted on her, not to mention her younger siblings. Not only was he so incredibly aware of her close relationship with her family, he wanted to emulate it, too. Buying things for April, taking Will and Gigi out all the time, babysitting them, having heart-to-hearts with them...he was just amazing.
And she hadn't been able to stop thinking that about him for the past month. It was as if some light had switched on suddenly, and now every day she was finding another reason to fall in deeper and deeper in love with Logan. She couldn't stop herself if she tried.
She didn't want to.
"I sent my papers into Columbia," she said suddenly. In the midst of all these realizations about Logan and how much he'd done for her and her family, she realized that she had to do something for them. "I accepted the spot at the School of Journalism. I start this fall."
He stared at her, open-mouthed. "You did what?"
"I figured, you're graduating from graduate school. I have the opportunity for further education and I shouldn't waste it because of some stupid, stubborn streak that I have. Besides, it makes sense for you to be a Times writer. You want this just as much as I do, if not more, and-"
"I'm staying at HPG," he cut her off. "You're looking at the new Chief Financial Officer of Huntzberger Publishing Group."
The wind knocked out of her. "You're joking."
"I thought you deserved it more than me."
"Wow."
"Wow indeed, Ace," he wrapped his arms around her. "You'd give up the New York Times for me?"
"I did give up the New York Times for you," she corrected lightly. "You'd stay at HPG for me?"
"I would do anything for you."
"So cheesy!"
"Stop saying that!"
"Stop being cheesy."
"No. You're the pepperoni to my pizza."
"Okay, that one was just weird," she laughed. "But it's kind of..."
"Kind of what?"
"Kind of like the Gift of The Magi," she looked into his eyes. She could see herself in them.
"Yeah. But not really, because we don't have to worry about not having enough money for rent, and you haven't cut off your hair, and ...would you even wear combs in your hair?"
"Not for all the money in the world," she responded.
"So then it's not like the Gift of the Magi at all?"
She glared at him.
He just dragged her to the nearest subway station.
-RL-
a/n: so i wanna know. what do you guys think of my writing? are Rory and Logan too OOC? what about Nate and April? Would you read the next three sequels?
REVIEW!(: