Chapter 21

"Logan!" Rory called out into their New Haven apartment as she walked in. "Logan! Are you home?"

"I'm in here!" She walked to their closet where he was hiding.

"Hey handsome, what are you doing in here?"

"I don't want to go." He crossed his arms across his chest. "Come on Rory, how many more meetings about this wedding do we need to have? It's 4 weeks before the date, shouldn't things be mostly done?"

"Stop whining, it's mainly things I have to do with the grandmas and your mom. You just have to sit in Grandpa's study and smoke a cigar, then come home and burn your clothes and you're done." She reached out to pull him up off the floor. "Come on! Let's go. The sooner we get there, the sooner we're done."

RLRL

If Rory had to hear one more argument over the fact that she picked lilies she was going to scream. "Guys, please, come on this is still my wedding. I want the lilies, they have been paid for, it's what works with the theme." Rory groaned as she ran her hand over her face and she snuck another look at the clock. This isn't how she needed to be spending her day. "Listen, this wedding is going to be wonderful, it's what I want. If you guys can't stop this pointless bickering I will elope, and I don't care if it's societal approved, now, I have to study and finish my senior year so please, can I excuse myself now?" She didn't even wait for the response as she gathered her things up and made her way to her grandpa's study where the men were.

As she opened the door she could see the relief flood Logan's face. "Hey ace, we ready to go?"

"Yes, please. We just got into the lily argument again. Can you get the car ready? I need to speak to grandpa."

Logan and Mitchum both stood and shook Richard's hand as they made their way out, with Mitchum stopping to kiss Rory's cheek in a way of goodbye. When the door closed behind them Richard watched his granddaughter meander around the bookshelves, when she finally spoke up. "Do you remember when I was little, and I would run around here, and you'd read to me? Or we'd sneak treats in here away from Grandma and the maids? Even if you were out of town, I'd sneak in here and just curl up on one of those chairs and pretend you were the one reading to me." She spoke wistfully, as if she was just remembering and not leading anywhere with this conversation so Richard let her speak. "It wasn't just the fire, or the smell of the books in this room, it was you. You made this room cozy for me, you made my world cozy grandpa. Grandma made it extravagant and I am so thankful for all of the things she made sure I learned. But you? You allowed me to run away with each story you told, you showed me a whole new world, but you always made sure I was safely in here while I experienced it." She paused for quite a while as she finally made her way to the chair across from him. "I'm really glad Logan asked you for permission."

"He's a fine boy Rory, and he loves you." She smiled as she nodded her head in response.

"Yeah, we're getting his checked as for why soon. But I just meant, I'm glad he asked you because you're the closest thing I've ever had to a dad, and I know it was assumed by grandma months ago, but I wanted to personally ask you, will you give me away at the wedding?"

Richard beamed as he looked at Rory. "Of course, I will. And you're right, Emily assumed but I wasn't going to do it unless it was a decision you came to on your own. But, I would be honored."

Rory felt the tears spring to her eyes as she hugged him and said goodbye. When she walked out to their car Logan was waiting by the passenger side door and opened it when he saw her come out. "Hey, you okay? What is with the tears?"

"He said he'd give me away." She said with a small smile, he gave her a kiss on her forehead as she leaned into the car.

RLRLRL

Logan spent the next month preparing for the move both professionally and personally, while he watched Rory throw herself into her schoolwork and try to battle the trio of wedding planners that make Martin Short in Father of the Bride look like a walk in the park. He had one more question he had to ask her as she poured herself into the apartment one night around 11:30.

"Ror? Is that you?"

"Who the hell else did you expect at 11:30 at night Logan?" She snapped at him and he took a step back for a moment. Okay, maybe he shouldn't be asking her questions right now.

"Sorry, just wanted to see if you need help. Everything okay?" The glare he received as he walked out of the kitchen and he made eye contact with her.

"Yeah Logan, everything is peachy. I graduate in 5 days. I have my final final tomorrow and oh yeah we're getting married in 7 days, and now you're asking inane questions at 11:30 at night because god forbid anyone use deductive reasoning to see that I don't have time for this bullshit." He smirked at her as she ranted, and he took the messenger bag that she had tangled herself up in. "What could you possibly be smirking at now?"

"Final, final. Just sounded funny."

"Are you kidding me Logan? That is what you got out of my rant? A repeated word?"

"Come on, you know damn well I'm joking. I love getting you all wound up because I love unwinding you." He leaned over to kiss her before she pushed him away.

"Hey! No. I have to study some more—"

"For your final, final?" He said it again but this time the smirk turned into a playful grin which she ignored.

"And I have to somehow deal with this wedding to a man who is pretty insufferable, might I add. Plus, we have to make a final decision on what place we're buying in London."

"I'm ignoring the comment about me being insufferable, because frankly I'm adorable. As for the place in London, I was going to talk to you about it tonight. I even made dinner, and it was going to be so romantic, but someone decided school work was more important." He winked at her as she looked around the apartment. Which was as set up as possible for a romantic evening despite the boxes everywhere.

"What did you want to talk about in regard to the place?" She sighed out, it was the closest thing to a calm statement she had said since she arrived.

"Maybe I shouldn't tell you."

"Logan Huntzberger, while this place looks great, and you did a wonderful thing, I'm still in a mood so cut to the chase or I'm going to bed."

"Can you tell me I'm adorable?"

"Logan!"

"What, you called me insufferable, and now you're trying to get information out of me. I think you should at least concede that I'm adorable before I just give up my intel."

"Fine, you're adorable, I can't wait to marry you, you're the greatest man I've ever met or at least above the man who invented small pox blankets. Now, can you please tell me what you wanted to discuss about the London place?"

"Oh, yeah, of course. I found 2 great places, but I was just curious if you thought about how many bedrooms we might need. Because one has 4 bedrooms and it's great, obviously more expensive, but better views, the other one is 2 bedrooms."

"Well, I thought we talked about this, we have an office that we share, and a master bedroom. Shouldn't that just be two?"

"Well, what about later?" Logan asked quietly. Man, he really shouldn't have brought this up when she was this stressed.

"Oh. Oh… OH!" Rory went through the stages of realization as she stared at Logan.

"See, I didn't want to get the four-bedroom apartment if you felt like it was me pressuring you to have kids or something, but I didn't want to get something to small just in case."

"Well, then I think we should get the bigger one. I mean, it sounds like it's the better apartment and the space is always nice." There was a beat of silence before Rory spoke up again. "I mean, you know, in case Finn and Colin visit."

"Right, for them." He smiled at her as he spoke.

"So, I should probably study. You know, for my final, final." She finally broke the heavy silence that was around them.

"Right, go ahead. I mean I need to email the London realtor and get us all set up. Plus, I should probably finish packing. Please try not to study for too much longer okay? I'd like my fiancé to come to bed before 3 a.m. plus, I'm sure you've gone over all of your notes numerous times, so, one more brief perusal and then you're coming to bed." He fake scolded her as he left her to sit at their desk where just a few minutes later he brought her the plate of food he had heated up. Before he could wake away though she grabbed his hand and gave it a small squeeze, her eyes never leaving the notes she was focused on.

RLRLRL

He watched her walk across the stage again, just like he had 4 years ago. However, this time he hadn't had to save her from her mom earlier, he wasn't about to head into a grad party from hell, he was a few days away from marrying his best friend. Four years ago, they were just friends, he may have thought she was beautiful, intelligent, and terrifyingly perfect for him. Even with her tendency to over study, or her quick temper, or the way she would hide things even if it was to protect them. She was still perfect for him and he couldn't believe that it took him until four years ago to see it. He was so lost in those thoughts that he almost missed her coming up to them after the graduation, with her brown hair in loose waves around her face, slightly tampered down by the cap on her head.

"You finally graduated!"

"I know! I feel like I can finally breathe, well not really. We have a wedding in two days and then a giant move that we have to focus on, but other than that, no pressure what so ever."

RLRLRL

She stood around the corner in a wedding dress that was an off-white delicate lace fit to her body perfectly, with a small train trailing behind her, a tiara on her head that had been passed down from her great grandmother, to her grandma, and now to her. She had sapphire and diamond earrings on that perfectly matched the necklace that Logan had bought her in Florence years ago. She took a deep breath as she felt her grandpa's hand lightly grab her elbow.

"Are you ready?" With one more deep breath she nodded her head, not trusting her voice to not break if she tried to speak.

She turned the corner and saw him standing at the end of the aisle, hair properly styled, not overly mussed but not flat either. He was there in a perfect black tux with a navy vest underneath. When they finally locked eyes both of their eyes filled up with tears and their breath caught at the same time. She walked down the aisle of the New York library and the tears started to flow before she even made it to the end of the aisle and then before she knew it, it was time for the vows.

"Logan, for years you've been by my side, in so many different capacities and I've been thankful for each way I've had you. But standing here now, I've never been more thankful, or so happy to have found my person when I did. I couldn't imagine my life without you Logan and now I don't have to because I not only have the greatest husband, the best business partner, but also my best friend. I love you Logan, I have always loved you in so many different ways but today, today I love you in ways I didn't know possible and I'm sure a year from now it will be even more strong than it is today. I love you Logan, plain and simple."

"Ace, for years I got to be your best friend, your confidant, the person who you trusted, and I was always more than happy being what ever you needed from me but I'm so thankful you allowed me to be this person to you. I'm so extremely happy and honored that today I get to be your husband. I would have been just fine being your best friend throughout your life and making you my everything behind the scenes, but now I get to show everyone how amazing you are and how much you mean to me. You'll always be my wife, you'll always be the first person whose business opinion I ask, but before all else you'll be my best friend."

As they recited their vows there was a solitary figure in the back of the ceremony. He had slipped past the security they had hired because he couldn't miss this. He couldn't miss watching his oldest daughter get married. He cried as he watched his father-in-law in name only walk his daughter down the aisle, he cried as he watched the man at the end of the aisle promise his daughter forever, and he beamed as she kissed her new husband at the end of the aisle. What he didn't miss was the way that she looked right through him after they locked eyes on her way out of the ceremony. She saw him, but she didn't care, he had lost his place in her world years ago and she made sure he knew it as she gripped her new husbands arm as they walked out.