Outside her Grandparent's country club Rory was waiting anxiously for Logan to arrive. This evening was the rehearsal dinner for their wedding, tomorrow. The guests would start arriving any time now and Logan still hadn't arrived. Rory had asked him to just stay home today, but he'd insisted that he needed to get a few things done at the office before they took their long weekend away at Martha's Vineyard.
Finally seeing the Porsche pull onto the country club property Rory let out a sigh of relief and mumbled, "It's probably Amber's fault that he's running late."
"Got here as fast as I could," Logan said as he handed his keys to the valet, "I'd asked Amber to get me out of my meeting at precisely 4:30 but she didn't remember to come get me until 4:45."
"Why does she still work for you?" Rory grumbled, "She does nothing but cause problems."
"She's getting better," Logan defended, "She came to us from another publishing firm, which gave her glowing recommendations. She's probably just still adjusting to her new environment."
"I still don't like her," Rory stated.
"Obviously," Logan said, "But let's not fight about her today. Just forget about Amber and let's enjoy this party and our wedding tomorrow."
"Fine," Rory grumbled as she rolled her eyes in annoyance.
Logan held out his hand to Rory which she grudgingly accepted. He pressed a kiss to her temple and she felt her annoyance starting to slip away. No sooner had the couple entered the grand ball room where the wedding and rehearsal were to take place than Emily and Shira pounced on them.
"You two were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago," Emily said shrilly.
"Don't you realize that we have a schedule to keep?" Shira added.
"Mom, Emily," Logan said, "It's my fault; I didn't get out of my meeting at work quickly enough. I'm sorry."
"Fine," Shira said, "We need the two of you stationed right over here to greet your guests as they arrive." Rather roughly she ushered them to their place before hurrying off to tend to something else.
Slowly the guests began to trickle in. Rory's mood began to rise as they greeted friends and family who were a part of the rehearsal tonight. It was going to be a fun evening and she was beginning to look forward to it. During a break in the stream of people Rory smoothed her skirt and took a quick drink of the punch Emily had brought over for them. Setting her punch back down she glanced toward the door and saw that her father-in-law had arrived and he was not alone. On his arm was none other than Amber, her husband's personal secretary. As Mitchum and Amber made their way toward them Logan whispered into her ear, "I have no idea why she's here, I didn't invite her, I swear."
"Logan," Mitchum boomed, "Shame on you for not inviting your own secretary to your wedding. I took it upon myself to invite Amber."
"Amber, glad you could make it," Logan said stiffly as he offered her his hand.
She took his hand and with it pulled him close enough to kiss him quickly on the cheek, "Congratulations Logan."
Leaving Logan flustered Amber turned to Rory, offered her hand and said, "Congratulations to you too, Lori."
"Thank you, but its Rory," Rory said in a sweet tone that masked the fury swirling inside her.
"Okay, Rory," Amber said slowly as if she was carefully committing the name to memory. But the twinkle in her eye told Rory that Amber knew exactly what her name was and that she was just messing with her.
Shortly after Mitchum and Amber had shown up the last few guests arrived and dinner was served. Logan and Rory were seated at a large circular table with their wedding party, who were in high spirits. Rory tried to force herself to put Amber out of her mind and enjoy the party; but it wasn't working. Eventually her friends noticed that Rory was not herself and devised a plan to whisk her away before the actual rehearsal started to find out what was going on. As the dessert dishes were cleared away Paris approached Emily and asked if there was somewhere the bride and bridesmaids could go and change into the shoes they'd be wearing tomorrow to rehearse in. Thinking this was a splendid idea Emily led the five women to the very closet that Logan and Rory had made out in at Emily and Richard's vow renewal ceremony several years before.
"What's with you today, Gilmore," Paris demanded.
"God Paris, could you be any harsher?" Steph said, "Rory, what's wrong. You're supposed to be happy today and you're acting like you just lost your best friend."
"More like my husband," Rory muttered.
"What?" Steph asked, "Are the two of you fighting or something?"
"Not really," Rory said, "Mitchum showed up with Logan's personal secretary Amber, who I hate. It has been obvious to me since the day I met her that she would like nothing better than to get Logan into bed; but he can't see it."
"Why do you think that?" Paris asked, "Not that I'm doubting you, a woman can usually tell."
"Just the way she looks at him and touches him. She kissed him when she said hello to us at the door today. And she treats me like I'm persona non grata. She can't seem to remember what my name is let alone that Logan has a wife. If I leave a message with her for him it never reaches him and today she was supposed to get him out of his meeting at 4:30. She purposely waited until 4:45, so he got here late," Rory explained.
"Will it help if we try to run interference?" Honor asked, "Maybe Finn could try distract her?"
"It's worth a shot," Lane agreed.
The girls put on their shoes and freshened their lipstick before returning to the ball room. Quickly Emily and Shira organized everyone to run through the wedding procession a couple times so that things would run seamlessly tomorrow. One practice probably would have been plenty except Emily was not convinced that Finn understood what he should and shouldn't be doing. All through the first practice run he'd made horrible faces making the rest of the wedding party giggle uncontrollably despite Emily's protests and demands that they cease immediately. Satisfied after the second run through, she dismissed the wedding party until tomorrow. As everyone swarmed towards the door she barked out some instructions about tomorrow and reminded everyone to be on time.
Logan and his groomsmen were going to stay at the Branford house while Rory and her bridesmaids were going to stay in Stars Hollow with Lorelai. They would all be leaving shortly, but before they did Logan sought out his bride. He knocked carefully on the door to the closet where the girls had left their things and were changing back out of their wedding shoes, before entering.
"Is my wife in here anywhere?" Logan asked.
"Over here," Rory said from where she was seated on the floor.
"Can I ask the rest of you to clear out so I can have a moment alone with my bride?" Logan asked.
Quickly the girls left the couple alone, closing the door behind them. "I'm going to miss you tonight," Logan said softly; fully aware that he was still on thin ice due to the Amber situation, "I'm not sure I'll be able to sleep without you there beside me."
"I'll miss you too," Rory said simply.
"I'm so sorry that she had to be here tonight. I know that was hard for you," Logan said, "I'm getting the impression that you think she's after me."
"She is after you," Rory said, "I don't know why you can't see it."
"Maybe I can't see it because I don't care. Besides her being my secretary she is not even on my radar," Logan said, "You are my wife and I love you; only you."
"Just be careful, she makes me very nervous," Rory said.
"Let's not talk about her anymore," Logan said. Trying to bring the conversation back to where he'd intended it to go in the first place he said again, "I'm going to miss you tonight."
"Me too," Rory said as she wrapped her arms around his neck, and raised her lips to meet his.
Smirking in satisfaction he lowered his lips the remaining distance to hers. It occurred to him that he had a bit of déjà vu going on before he realized that this was the same closet they'd made out in before. "Hold that thought," Logan said suddenly as he broke their kiss and hurried to the door. Locking it he turned back toward her with a sly smile and said, "I believe we were interrupted the last time we spent time in here." Resuming their kiss he ran his hands over her body and moved to unzip her dress.
"We can't," Rory said as she pulled away.
"Why not," Logan groaned.
"We're in a closet for one thing," Rory said.
"Would that have stopped you last time?" Logan asked.
"That is beside the point. Secondly, we have our bridesmaids and groomsmen waiting for us. In fact they probably have their ears pressed to the door," Rory said.
"We could be quiet," Logan said as he nipped her neck with his teeth.
Fighting her urges Rory said, "No, but I promise I'll make it up to you tomorrow night."
"You'd better," Logan said.
Rory pecked him on the mouth before moving to the door. Grabbing her by the hand Logan quickly pulled her back to him and said, "Give me a minute. It would be indecent of me to leave this room in this condition."
Rory giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck again. "Not helping," Logan said sternly.
"Just hold me," Rory said softly. Logan complied before she continued, whispering into his ear, "I love you."
"I love you too," Logan replied.
When they emerged from the closet eight annoyed groomsmen and bridesmaids and her mother were waiting for them. "About time," Colin said, "What the hell were you doing in there?"
"What do you bloody think they were doing in there, mate?" Finn asked.
"That's not what we were doing in there," Logan said, "I love that you think that's what we were doing in there. Lord knows that what I'd like to have been doing in there."
"We were just saying our good-byes," Rory said, "This is our first night apart since before we got married."
"How sweet," Lorelai said, "Now move, into the car." Logan and Rory waved good-bye to one another as they were dragged away by their friends.
Back in Stars Hollow Lorelai had planned a movie night like no other movie night before it. She had wanted to throw her daughter a bachelorette party, but Rory had declined. She didn't feel it was appropriate anymore since she'd already been married for a month and a half. Luke had helped her set up a large movie screen and a hi-tech projector that hooked up to their DVD player in the living room. In addition to the flood of junk food that usually accompanied movie night Sookie had baked a mini wedding cake for the occasion. Everyone changed into pajamas and settled themselves on the floor in front of the screen. "In honor of the bride, Rory, this is a special movie night which features all wedding or bride related movies. We have; Sweet Home Alabama, Father of the Bride, Runaway Bride, My Best Friend's Wedding, The Wedding Singer and The Princess Bride. Rory gets first pick."
"And I choose, Sweet Home Alabama," Rory announced.
They made it through Sweet Home Alabama, Runaway Bride and The Wedding Singer before everyone except Rory was sound asleep on the floor in front of the movie screen. Rory covered them carefully with blankets before slipping into a bathrobe her father had left behind and quietly settling herself on the porch swing outside. Looking up at the starry sky she sighed in quiet contentment. She couldn't believe that she was getting married tomorrow, again. But this time everyone would be there.
"Rory," a voice urgently whispered. Thinking someone in the house had woken up and found her missing she turned toward the front door.
"No, over here," the voice whispered.
Rory turned slightly and almost screamed when she saw the dark figure standing on the steps not more than three yards from her. "Who's there," Rory asked in a frightened whisper.
"It's me, Jess," he said, "Can I talk to you?"
"What are you doing here?" Rory asked warily.
"I just wanted to talk to you," Jess said, "Can I come sit by you?"
"Sure," Rory said, still nervous about his sudden appearance.
Carefully he lowered himself onto the swing next to her and said, "So, you're getting married tomorrow."
"Well, technically I'm already married," Rory said showing him her ring.
"I know, I read the newspaper," Jess said.
"So, what are you doing here?" Rory asked again.
"I wanted to talk to you and make sure that you're happy," Jess said.
"Why?" Rory asked.
"You deserve to be happy, you deserve the best," Jess said, "I want to feel sure that you didn't settle, so I can move on."
"What do you mean move on?" Rory asked.
"Don't you know that I'm still in love with you? Don't you know that I've always hoped that one day we would find our way back to one another?" Jess asked.
"No," Rory said quietly.
"I came to see you twice and then you came to see me at our open house at the store," Jess said, "Each time I hoped that this was the time that we'd get back together."
"I know," Rory said, "But as much as I think even now that we could have had something really special it was over for good the minute you left me without saying good-bye."
"But why?" Jess asked.
"How could I ever be sure that you wouldn't just up and leave me again the next time things got tough?" Rory said.
"But you went back to Logan after her cheated on you?" Jess asked.
"That's none of your business," Rory said.
"You're right but can you explain it to me anyway? I need to understand why you and I can never be so that I can move on with my own life. I need to let you go and I'm not able to do that yet," Jess said.
"I love Logan," Rory said, "It's as simple as that."
"It can't be that simple," Jess said.
"But it is. I love him and I forgave him," Rory said.
"So why not forgive me for running away?" Jess asked.
"I did forgive you for running away, I just couldn't trust that you wouldn't do it again," Rory explained.
"But you can trust that Logan won't cheat on you again?" Jess asked in disbelief.
"Logan thought that we were broken up at the time when he cheated on me," Rory said, "The difference is that he realized that he screwed up and he fought to get me back. I know he won't do it again. Not, while he is still in love with me."
"I knew I screwed up when I ran away," Jess said.
"Okay, but it took you years to apologize for it. If you would have actually talked to me one of those times you called me from California and said, listen I screwed up but I want to work things out, things might be entirely different today," Rory said.
Jess just sat quietly and thought. She was right of course. He hadn't fought for her; he'd just let what they'd had slip away. Had he known then what he knew now he would have done a lot of things differently. It was time to let go. He knew it would still take some time to get over her; but at least now he fully understand why she was no longer his and never would be. Knowing that she was truly happy and in love and completely unavailable forever would make it possible for him to finally let go. "You're happy though?" he asked suddenly.
"Extremely," Rory said.
"Good," Jess said, "Congratulations." With that said he rose from the swing, and without a backward glance, walked away.
Rory exhaled a sigh of relief when he departed. When she first saw him on the steps she was scared that she was going to have another situation like the one she'd lived through with Dean on her hands. If she could give Jess the closure he needed to move on she was glad.
Now to get to bed, she needed to be at a hair appointment in less than six hours. Rory crept back into the house and noticed her Mom sitting on the stairs. "Everything okay?" Lorelai asked.
"Just giving some closure," Rory reassured her Mom, "I'm going to bed. I'm getting married tomorrow."
Lorelai smiled at her daughter and kissed her on the forehead before they each headed to their own rooms.
Author's Note: So, that is it for Jess. I felt like he would still really care for her and ultimately want what would make her happiest. I hope this scene comes off as more bittersweet than anything. There may be more Amber drama in store at the wedding in the next chapter. We'll have to see when we get there. Thanks to MrsCzuchry (love your screen name, BTW) for a background for Amber. I was headed in a similar direction but when I read your review I decided to use your ideas! Fantastic! Please review, I love to know how I'm doing.