Episode: So…Good Talk
I'm going to apologize once again for this taking me so long! I ended up with a concussion and am finally able to look at a screen again!
March 2006
It's a crisp mid March morning that finds Rory rushing to the coffee cart from another all night study session at library. She had been missing Logan who had been called for another three-day business meeting in London. Rory hadn't felt like dealing with Lanny, and Doyle had been staying over, walking around her dorm like he owned the place. So she removed herself from the situation, made a to-do list and got things done in a timely fashion because she never stopped moving.
Rory's Get Your Life Together List
· Set up a meeting with administration counselor
o Figure out what classes I need to double major in business and still graduate on time
· Talk to Dad and set up a meeting(Wednesday 1:30pm)
o Talk about name change and trust fund
o Talk to him about telling Francine
o See Gigi
· Call Grandma and Grandpa to set up lunch (Tuesday 12:45pm)
o Tell them about the charity, the name change, and change in school schedule
· The New Apartment
o Finish unpacking what is there in boxes
o Organize office space
o BOOKS!
o Prepare to pack up dorm (Start first week of April)
o Pack up what is in Stars Hollow (Start after exams)
· Visit Luke & Lane sometime this week
· Talk to mom…
o Tell her about all of the above categories…..
· Write 3 Articles by the end of the week
o The New Campus Library Hours and How They Are Effecting the Student Body
§ Talk to students, librarians and professors
§ Research change in library hours and the aftermath for the last 20 years
o The Old and New Yale: A Look at What Campus Life was Like 30 Years Ago
§ Talk to dean, professors, Gilmore grandparents and Elias
§ Research campus life over the last 30 years to draw comparisons
o Up and Coming Charities You Might Just Be Interested In
§ What new charities besides Sophie's Place are coming out?
§ Set up meetings with the founders to see what they are about
· Edit Class Papers that are Due this week
Sophie's Place To-Do List
· Look at the contractors plans for the office space
o Send notes back to Honor by Thursday
· Look through files on potential clients
o Pick 10 and send to Honor by Saturday (4 picked – 6 to go!)
o Look at the 10 that Honor send
o Set up a time with Honor to go talk to the final 10 families that they agree upon
· Set up a time with Honor to research apartment buildings (Saturday 3:00pm)
o Talk to the real estate agent about what we are looking for
She thought about how the last couple of days had gone. She and Logan had spent a great deal of time before he left talking about what she was going to go by at the charity and in day to day life. As promised he had been her sound board and followed her train of thought as best he could. After several days of going back and forth she had come to the conclusion that she didn't want to go by an alias. So once everything was changed over she would go by her legal name – Lorelai (Rory) Leigh Gilmore-Hayden III – Rory Gilmore-Hayden for short.
The Gilmore's as usual were very proud of her if not a little shocked at her change in plans. They didn't give her much flack about starting to go by her legal name as Emily knew she was still on rocky ground with her granddaughter after the whole Luke and Lorelai breakup. Richard had jumped into help considering only her birth certificate had her full legal name on it and all her other documents would have to be changed. The Gilmore's had both been sworn to secrecy and not to file anything until she gave the go ahead.
Rory had then called Christopher who was more than a little surprised to hear from her and they set up a lunch to talk about her change in plans. Though they had made some progress after Strobe passed away she decided it was time to fix what was broken with her father and try to forgive him. She knew she would also have to talk to Lorelai at some point, she just wasn't ready for that confrontation yet. So, she was going to put everything in place and make sure she had a solid plan before rattling that wasps nest.
Rory had gone straight to the library from her grandparents and hadn't emerged since. She locked herself into work mode, edited all her papers that were due this week, spun out two article before going to work on Sophie's Place. The contractor had sent over the first draft of changes for the girls to look through, which Honor had sent straight to her asking for her notes because Rory was better with space layouts and what would make the most sense. They had given the contractor extremely detailed notes in the beginning so there wasn't much to change, but she looked it over thoroughly anyway and added windows here and changed a door placement there. She had then moved onto potential clients which is what she had gotten lost in and why she was now running up to the coffee cart breathless.
"Hi, I'd like a large caramel macchiato with an extra shot and whip cream, please," she smiles at the oddly unfamiliar coffee boy behind the cart.
"Coming Up," he says turning to start her drink.
"Wait, hold on," she stops him looking in her wallet cursing in her head at the small amount of change there, "how much is that?"
"Four eighty-five," he says pausing the drink order and looking at her skeptically.
"Okay, better drop the extra shot. What does that make it?"
"Four twenty."
"Better make it a small. What does that make it?"
"Three thirty."
"Better drop the whip cream. What does that make it?"
"Less calories," the boy drones at having to deal with such things daily.
"Just a plain old small coffee, please," she sighs annoyed at herself for not listening to Logan about keeping extra change. As she begins to count out her coins, she drops her wallet and they scatter everywhere, "D'oh!" As she drops to her knees to pick them up, someone crouches beside her to help.
"This would definitely qualify as a cute meet if we hadn't already met," he smirks as recognition crosses her face and she looks at him.
"You're home," she smiles closing the short distance between their faces and kisses him briefly
"Hey, Ace," he pecks her lips once more, "are we going after the rollers? A couple of them are heading into the bushes."
"No, I think I've supplied the people with a sufficient amount of silly images of me for one day," she stands taking her change from his outstretched hand.
"What cup of coffee are you on today," he asks as they go back to the kiosk.
"Sixth," she mumbles.
"Sixth," he raises his eyebrow in awe, "Ror, you realize it's only ten in the morning right?"
"I know but I was at the library all night getting work done so I'm a little ahead today," she admits quietly not wanting him to worry that she hadn't really slept. Logan shakes his head ignoring the problem for the moment.
"Small coffee for me, and a large caramel macchiato with an extra shot and whip cream, please."
"Logan, you don't have to do that," she protests lightly really wanting her caffeine fix.
"Ace, I can't take the chance of you pulling out that purse again. Someone might get hurt," he teases pulling her close to his side as the guy hands them their coffees.
"I missed you," she leans her head against his shoulder.
"I missed you too," he places a kiss to the crown of her head, "So, I stopped by the paper first to see if you were there considering you weren't in your dorm."
"Really?"
"And then I tried to sneak out when I realized you weren't there. But our omnipresent editor cornered me," he grumbles thinking about the new article he had been assigned, "does Doyle ever leave that place?"
"Unfortunately yes," she says nodding, "otherwise I would be denied the regular pleasure of seeing him in Property of Alcatraz pajama pants. Hence being in the library last night."
"Thanks for the image," he grimaces, "You could have stayed in my room."
"I didn't feel like dealing with Lanny," she sighs, "I can't wait until we are officially moved into the apartment."
"Me too, Ace. Hey come here," he pulls her gently into a corner.
"What are you doing," she questions as his lips meet hers, "So that's what you're doing."
"What'd you think I was doing," he attaches his lips back to hers before Rory turns away.
"People will see," she mumbles.
"I don't care if people see and last I checked neither did you," he chuckles kissing her breathless.
"What are you doing this afternoon," she asks as they try to catch their breath.
"I just have to drop a paper of for my ethics class by eleven thirty and them I'm off for the rest of the day," he says moving his head in closer again.
"I'm going for lunch with my dad after class. Did you want to come?"
"I'm there Ace," he smiles kissing her again, happy she wants him there, "what are you doing?"
"I want to see your paper," she answers reaching into his book bag.
"Your mind is a mysterious thing," he chuckles wrapping his arms around her back careful not to spill their coffees.
"Come on. I'm dying to know what your take on ethics is," she says giving her best Bambi eyes.
"No way," he shakes his head, "It's too dangerous."
"Dangerous?"
"I actually worked on this thing. It goes from my hand to the professor's."
"Like I'm going to lose it," she tries to convince him.
"I saw you with your coins, plus let's remember Hemingway," he moves on trying to divert her attention with a disagreement.
"What about him?"
"Trusted that wife of his with the only copy he had of the novel her was working on. The silly woman lost it!"
"Not so," she counters completely in her element, "I know the story. Hemingway left it on a plane. His wife had nothing to do with it."
"That's not the way I heard it."
"Well, you heard wrong," she states stubbornly frowning.
"How much do you want to bet?"
"All the money in my purse, plus a million dollars!"
"Well, my spelling stinks. Take my word for it."
"No it doesn't. you forget we – "she's cut off from her answer when his lips meet hers again, "meet me after my class."
"Absolutely."
"Thanks for the coffee," she smiles as they start to pull apart so she can head to her class.
"Anytime," he kisses her one last time before completely letting her go, "you better have that million bucks ready when we get home from lunch, and I don't accept coins."
"No promises," she laughs turning on her heel and briskly walking to her class arriving just before the professor did.
The class had been rather boring as they were starting on their review for their exams in a couple of weeks and only learning new things in a minimal capacity. She hated taking a freshman year class when she was almost done her sophomore year but it was necessary for her degree and allowed her to take an extra class this term because of the light work load. As she made notes and highlighted what to focus on while studying she found her mind wondering in random directions. When her prof finally dismissed her class at noon she met Logan outside on the bench.
"Ready to go Ace," he asks pecking her lips.
"Can we stop for coffee first?"
"I already have one and a snack in the car for you."
"You're seriously the best boyfriend ever," she smiles taking his hand as he leads her to the Porsche, "so we are meeting him and Gigi at a little café just outside of Boston."
"Sound like a plan," he says taking her book bag and opening the door for her. Logan places her bag in the trunk hoping that if it wasn't in her immediate reach she might take a nap while he drove. "Do you have the address?"
"Right here," she says pulling out a small scrap of paper from her pocket and inputting the address into the GPS. Rory chose a playlist from the iPod she was handed as they pulled out of the Yale parking lot. Logan talked a little about his business trip before letting the car fall into a comfortable silence seeing her struggle to keep her eyes open.
"Go to sleep Ace," he whispers gently, "I'll wake you when we get there." With his encouragement Rory let herself be pulled under, allowing the darkness to take her away for a little while. All to soon they had arrived at the café and Logan was shaking her awake, "Hey sleepy head."
"Hi," she smiles rubbing her eyes with a yawn, a small quirk she had that Logan thought was adorable. She yawned once more before turning to open the door, "let's get this show on the road," she hears his chuckle behind her as she exits the car. Logan quickly walks around, taking her hand as he locks the doors throwing his keys in his pocket. Though Christopher's back is facing them as they enter the café Rory spots her baby sister immediately, "Gigi!"
"Sissy," the toddler exclaims raising her arms to be lifted out. Rory obliges with a huge smile on her face as she pulls the tiny blond from the highchair. Gigi throws her arms around her sister's neck burying her face in Rory's shoulder before pulling back and giving her a sloppy kiss.
"I missed you to Gig," she laughs kissing the baby's cheek, "hi dad," she turns to Christopher who had stood up. They exchange an awkward hug because of the little girl who had no intentions of letting go of her sister anytime soon. "Logan this is my father Christopher and my little sister Georgia," she gestures and Gigi starts to babble nonsense, "Dad this is Logan."
"It's nice to meet you Sir," Logan acknowledges the man, extending his hand.
"It's nice to meet you to Logan. I'm assuming you're the new boyfriend," Christopher shakes Logan's hand as he looks over to his daughter for confirmation only to see she had gotten wrapped up in a nonsensical conversation with her little sister.
"Not really new, but yes I'm the boyfriend," he laughs seeing where his attention had been diverted.
"In that case you can call me Chris. Why don't we sit," he suggests, gesturing to the empty chairs.
"I'm starving," Rory says eyeing the menu greedily, while placing the baby, who had taken to playing with her sister's long brown locks, on her lap.
"Logan, are you not feeding her," Chris questions laughing, "didn't she give you the handbook of the Gilmore Girls. I'm certain one of the rules is 'no one or thing shall come between a Gilmore Girl and her food. A Gilmore Girl must be sufficiently fed at all times or else punishment will ensue,'" he quotes directly from a Lorelai rule he had learned long ago.
"I have yet to get the handbook," he shakes his head knowing of the infamous illusive handbook thinking it was completely made up in the heads of the two Lorelai Gilmores' but wouldn't be surprised if they did have a physical copy of it somewhere. "I am however privy to that rule and as such there was a snack and coffee in the car waiting for her when I picked her up but she fell asleep before consumption."
"Then the starvation is entirely your own fault Ror," her dad laughs looking over the menu. The participate in polite idle chit chat as they peruse the menu and order their lunches, "So what's going on kid?"
"Well dad I wanted to let you know that I plan on adapting to my full last name," she looks up at him nervously.
"You're taking the Hayden name," he asks unsure if what he was hearing was correct.
"Well, Gilmore-Hayden but yea," she nods giving Gigi the bottle that had been on the abandoned highchair and rocking her gently side to side.
"Ror, don't get me wrong I'm trilled that you want to claim the name that is rightfully yours, but I've got to ask. Why?" So there they sat, Gigi asleep in Rory's arms, having a pleasant lunch and she told him about the charity. About her school plans and they even got into her living arrangements come the end of term. Christopher got to know a little more about Logan and in turn Rory's confrontation with Lorelai. When the baby in her arms started to stir awake they were all surprised, "I didn't realize how late it had gotten."
"Me either," she smiles as sleepy blue eyes meet hers, "hi babe."
"Wowy," she mumbles rubbing her face against her sister's soft sweater waking herself up.
"Still working on those 'R's huh kid," she laughs squeezing Gigi a little tighter before pulling her up from her cradled position and placing the sleepy baby against her shoulder.
"So, Ror, I was going to ask my mother but seeing you with her," he says pointing to his two daughters, "I'm going to give you dibs, and if you're too busy with school and the paper and the charity say so and I can just ask mom…"
"Dad, you're rambling," she laughs stopping him.
"Well, I have to go away for business the second week of April and I was wondering if you would want to take care of Gigi for me while I'm gone?"
"I'd love to dad," she agrees quickly hating how little time she did get to spend with her sister, "we'll be in the new apartment by then so you'll get to see the new digs."
"Are you sure it won't be too much," he asks looking between the two of them.
"It'll be fine Chris," Logan jumps in without hesitation, "we'll figure out our schedules and make it work."
"Alright," he looks over at his eldest daughter and instantly sees the love that she has for the boy sitting beside her, "well I should get this one home."
"Yea, we should probably hit the road too," she says successfully maneuvering Gigi so she could pull on her jacket with Logan's help, "alright little miss, it's time to go."
"No sissy," she whines clinging tighter to Rory.
"Gigi, sweetie we'll see Rory soon," Chris says trying to gently extract the toddler from his other daughter's arms but only getting a fuss.
"Dad, why don't you go start the car so it's warm when we get there, and I will get her bundled and bring her out for you," she offers taking the little purple sweater and the green blanket from his hands before he leaves the café, "Here Gig, we're going to get your sweater on."
"No, Wowy," she tries again.
"It's cold out babe," Rory reasons with her, "see I even have my coat on," after a long inspection of her sister's coat Gigi finally nods and allows Rory to sit her on the table so she can pull the sweater on her. Rory picks her back up, resting her against her hip. "They can send a man to the moon, and we can get internet in an instant but they have yet to invent a car seat that is safe for a baby in a winter jacket," Rory complains to Logan as she cocoons her sister in the fluffy green blanket so she wouldn't get cold between the building and the car.
"We can send a complaint to the manufacturers when we get home," he chuckles pulling the hood on Gigi's sweater over her ears. They take the short walk across the parking lot to her dad's Volvo, seeing them approaching Chris get out to help.
"It may be March but it's still damn cold out here," he complains as he pulls open the rear door so Rory can get Gigi in the car.
"Oh, good you still have her facing the back," she musses as she detangles her sister from the blanket passing it behind her to Logan as she cradles Gigi to get her in the car without hitting her head off the frame.
"Well, I was actually thinking it was time to switch her around," Chris states staring at his daughter oddly.
"Don't," Rory says immediately checking to make sure the straps were snug against the little girl before reaching for the blanket to wrap around her, "I'll send you an article I read the other day. Car seat safety stats and accident stats. You should really have her rear facing as long as possible, I believe it said up to four years old."
"Good to know. Thanks for calling kid, it was good to see you," he says pulling her into a hug, "I will send you more details about my business trip in a couple of days.
"Okay dad, sounds good," while her father says goodbye to Logan she leans over to give Gigi a kiss, "bye Gig I'll see you soon.
"Bye bye sissy," she says sadly waving her little hand.
Rory and Logan watch them pull out of the parking lot before they head to Logan's car. Once they were buckled and on the road, Rory had found the bag of chips he had brought for her snack and opened them happily. "Thank you," she says out of the blue leaning over to kiss his cheek.
"What for?"
"For coming with me, for the snack but mostly for agreeing without hesitation to welcome Gigi into our home for a week," she smiles as he reaches for her hand.
"Anytime, Ace," he looks over at her briefly then looking back at the road and asking the question that had been bother him since they had left, "How did you know all those stats on car seats and how to handle her?"
"When Gigi was born I'd never been around a baby in my life. I didn't know anything about them other than they cried a lot, and you know me when I don't know something I research. So, that's what I did when we got home from the hospital after seeing her for the first time," she shrugs, "I wanted to be the best big sister I could be even if it was only part time. Over the years I've kept up on the research just to be sure that whenever I was with them I was helping and I wasn't doing anything that could hurt her."
"That makes sense," he musses before asking the next thing needing a definite answer, "so you're not…you're not pregnant?"
"This is where the nervousness is coming from," she laughs, curled up on the seat running a hand through his hair, "no Logan, I'm not pregnant."
"You're sure," he asks seriously, "I mean you've been really tired lately and I've been gone so you might have found out after-"
"Logan," she says calmly cutting him off, "I'm positive that I'm not. And if I ever had an inkling that I might be pregnant you would be the first to know, I promise."
"Okay," he lets out the breath he had been holding, "You know I would be there for you, right?"
"Logan…"
"No, Rory," he sighs trying to keep focused on the road in front of him when his entire being wants to hold her, "we haven't really talked about the whole unplanned baby thing. I know we talked about the life that we want. Marriage, career, babies much later down the line but the reality is we do have sex, a lot of sex," he smirks, "and accidents happen. I don't want you to ever think that if a baby came before the rest of it I would be mad or I wouldn't be there."
"Logan, I know," she says quietly.
"You do?"
"Of course I do. I know how much you love me and how committed you are to me. I know that if I told you right now that I was pregnant you would hold me and tell me we would figure it out together. That no matter how poor the timing neither of us would entertain the idea of not keeping it because that baby would have been made out of love. I know you Logan and one day hopefully after we graduate and are married but even if it's before then you will make a great father."
"I love you Ace."
"I love you too."
"So, definitely not pregnant," he asks jokingly once more.
"My period would say otherwise," she giggles when his nose scrunches slightly. She would never blame him for that, no matter how natural, she herself thought it was a gross part of nature.
The next day Rory found herself on her way to Stars Hollow after a frantic call in the middle of the night from Lane calling a best friend S.O.S. So, she had gotten up early, kissed a still sleeping Logan, wrote him a quick note and placed it on her pillow in her place before leaving to get coffee. Lane and Rory had agreed to meet at Andrew's Bookstore upon opening on Lane's break so Rory could peruse the books and they could talk without being overheard or interrupted.
"Rory," Lane yells wrapping her in a hug before she even has a chance to shut the car door. They meander into the bookstore going straight to the back corner. She hands Rory a Luke's coffee and a bag with breakfast.
"You are a goddess," she claims as they sit on the floor and start looking through books while she takes a bit of her breakfast before quickly spitting it out, "oh, my god! What is that thing?"
"Sorry. I should have warned you."
"This is disgusting! This is from Luke's," she asks baffled at the thought.
"Yeah, he's been a little off his game lately," she grimaces at the thought of the poor man she had seen thrown out the door on her way over.
"Off his game? It's like Tiger Woods made this thing," she says pushing it away promising herself she would stop at Luke's before she left. Maybe seeing her would at least get her a decent meal, if not help out the rest of the town by turning around his mood.
"Luke's been in a mood."
"And he's taking it out on the food?"
"It's been awful. Everything is either burnt or dropped. He is absolutely miserable," she shakes her head at the thought, "he just mopes and growls and stomps around. He throws customers out the door!"
"Geez."
"I'm assuming his mood might have to do with a certain someone who's been spending a lot of her time at Weston's lately."
"Oh, poor, sad Luke."
"Poor sad tips."
"So, what is the real reason we are sitting on the floor of Andrew's at this ungodly hour," Rory says changing the subject to why she was awoken in the middle of the night to a frantic call. Lane explains the premise of the date she had with Zach the night before and how he had tried to turn it into a romantic night.
"I can't believe it. I just can't believe it," she exclaims flopping back onto the floor.
"It's okay," Rory tries to calm her friend.
"How did this happen? I started listening to rock music when I was seven years old. I snuck makeup on at school. I managed to join a band without anyone knowing," she rambles on, "I had a boyfriend my mother thought was a Christian guitarist. AND I ate spicy condiments like they were going out of style!"
"Lane," she tries to break her out of her rant.
"I drank soda, ate hamburgers, wore jewelry, I danced!"
"Not very well."
"Hey, and skill level's a sin. And then I moved out and lived with two guys. I mean, nothing else stuck. Nothing. So why this?"
"It's a mystery," Rory says unhelpfully.
"Why couldn't the gluten-free thing stick? I could've lived with that. Or the dancing thing. Oh, you should have seen Zach's face, it was like…"
"Like he realized he wasn't going to have sex with you till the wedding night?"
"Yes! Exactly. God this blows!"
"A lot of people wait until they're married to have sex," she reasons with her best friend.
"Yes. Jessica Simpson and Donna from 90210," she huffs sarcastically.
"And a couple of others."
"Oh my god," she sits up suddenly in a panic, "what if I never get married?"
"You'll get married," she tries again only to have it fall on deaf ears.
"If I never get married then I'll never have sex!"
"You'll get married, you'll have sex," Rory reassures.
"That's easy for you to say. You've already had sex with two different guys. All within a one-year period," Lane exclaims loudly.
"Okay, you're making me sound a little slutty," she raises her eyebrow at her friend's choice of words.
"Well, why shouldn't you be slutty? You have absolutely no mother-taught morals standing in the way of you and your sluttiness!"
"Oh. Well, when you put it like that," she rolls her eyes in addition to her sarcastic tone
"Is it great?"
"Is what great," she asks confused at the jump.
"Sex! Is it great," she asks exasperated.
"Not in front of the books, Lane," she scolds, he cheeks turning pink.
"What am I saying? It's great. And I will never experience it because by the time I'm ready to get married all the men will have been taken by women who didn't grow up in my household," she stands and pulls on her coat looking sadly at Rory.
"Going out to find a husband?"
"I have to get extra trash bags for the diner."
"All right," she gets up and gives Lane a quick hug, "call me later."
As Lane leaves Rory continues to look through the bookshelves getting lost in them until her stomach reminds her of the time. She heads up to the counter to pay for the stack of books that she had picked out, getting an idea as Andrew starts scanning her books.
"Hey Andrew, do you have any non-fiction books on Hemingway," she asks.
"Yea, I'll grab it for you," he rushes off to grab the book and Rory adds it to her pile. After check out she heads over to Luke's hoping to get a better lunch then her breakfast had been. She quickly checked her phone not wanting to agitate an upset Luke by checking it in the diner. She had a message from Logan just checking in and letting her know that he would be at the new apartment when she got back. She sends him a quick text telling him she'd leave Stars Hollow after lunch and would meet him there.
Luke's is almost empty when she enters so she decides to take a seat at the counter so she can get some face time with the disgruntled owner. When Luke comes storming around the corner about to yell at the new customer he stops dead in his tracks, "Rory. I didn't know you were coming to town today."
"It was a spur of the moment decision," she responds with a smile.
"It's good to see you."
"You too."
"What can I get for you," he shuffles from foot to foot not quite sure if he could interact with her the same way as before the breakup.
"Can I get a coffee and a cheeseburger with chili fries," she asks hopefully with Bambi eyes.
"That stuff is going to bring you to an untimely death," he scolds her with a half smile.
"At least I'll die happy," she responds without missing a beat.
"Coming right up," as she watches him dump the current coffee pot and start a new one she pulls out the book on Hemingway she had just bought. She's deep in research mode when her lunch it put in front of her. "What are you reading? You have your 'I'm on a mission' face on."
"Trying to win an argument with Logan on Hemingway," she laughs remembering the ridiculousness of the original argument.
"And how did that come about," he asks perplexed.
"I wanted to read his ethics paper and he used Hemingway to distract me."
"You two have a very strange relationship," he comments chuckling.
"We do, but it works for us," she smiles taking a hesitant bite of her burger before deeming it edible and all but inhaling it. Luke goes to serve other Stars Hollow locals who had wondered in when they had seen the towns princess sitting at the counter. They all gave her a grateful look as they tasted the first decent meal they had had there in a while. "Hey Luke," she says as she gets up to pay, "Logan and I are moving into the new apartment next week but why don't you come over for dinner the week after?"
"You and Logan are moving in together," he asks surprised at the development.
"Sorry, I thought you knew."
"No, it's okay Ror. I would love to," he smiles at the woman in front of him wondering when she had gotten so grown up.
"Awesome! I'll either call you or just come by it'll depend on study lockdown," she laughs.
"Right, exams are coming up."
"Yea, most of mine are at the beginning which in a way is nice, I get them out of the way but at the same time I have less time to study then," she says spewing off the pros and cons.
"You'll do great Rory," he reassures before they say their goodbyes and he watches her walk out of the diner with the travel mug of coffee he had filled dutifully upon request. She drives back towards Hartford fuming as she went. She had started to make peace with her Grandmother after the whole vow renewal scheme, but after seeing Luke the fire in her heart began to rage a little more. Before she knew it she was pulling into her parking spot and storming into the building bags in hand. She is jittery and unsettled for the entire elevator ride until she is at their door. She finds her purple princess key and quickly unlocks the door pushing her way in.
"Hey Ace," she hears him shout from somewhere.
"Hey," she mumbles not bothering to try to find him. Instead she goes straight to the office to start putting her new books away. As she enters the room she selects a playlist from the panel on the wall and turns the thumping music loud. When she turns to face the rest of the room she feels a calm start to wash over her seeing that Logan had already moved the rest of her books in along with his. They were still in boxes and not on the shelves because he knew that she would want to organize them herself. She's startled when a set of arms wraps around her waist pulling her back to the present moment.
"What's wrong Ace," he asks automatically.
"Hmm?"
"You've got your 'angry girl' music on and you stormed right past me when you came in," he says resting his chin on her shoulder.
"Sorry," she mumbles turning in his arms and giving him a hello kiss, "I went to Luke's after seeing Lane and he's so hurt Logan. On the car ride home I just kept thinking that if Grandma had stayed out of it he and mom would still be happily together. I just got angrier and angrier and by the time I got here I was just so steamed that…gahhh," she growls.
"I get it," he smiles sadly, "do you want me to leave you alone with your books for a while?"
"No," she shakes her head quickly, "is there anything you have to do in here still that you can work on while I organize the books?"
"Lots."
"Perfect," she extracts herself from his arms to turn the music way down and change the playlist to something a little more upbeat, "Oh and so you know we were both wrong," she smirks moving over to the books.
"About?"
"Hemingway's manuscripts were stolen in Hadley's suitcase at the Gare de Lyon."
"Huh."
"Yup. Just thought you should know," she throws a smile over her shoulder, "we're both dumb."
"Guess we found each other," he says moving over to kiss her.
"Guess we did," she kisses him for a moment before handing him a stack of books, "make yourself useful and put those over there."
"As you wish," he chuckles taking the books and placing them on the far bookcase, "so what did Lane want?" Logan had been a little confused when he woke up to her side of the bed empty and the sheets cold meaning she had been gone for a while. He eventually saw the note laying on her pillow and it all clicked. He vaguely remembered her phone ringing but being too tired to actually do anything about it.
"Sex."
"What," he exclaims turning quickly towards his girlfriend with wide eye.
"Not like that you pervert," she scolds shaking her head.
"I mean not that I'd be opposed," he laughs quickly dodging the stress ball from the desk that had been thrown at him.
"Zach was trying to woo her last night with a homemade candle light dinner. Everything was going well until he made his intentions clear and she said 'oh, well, I have to wait until I get married'…"
"Oohhh poor Zach," Logan laughs putting another pile of book that Rory had given him on a further shelf that she pointed to.
"Yea, so she was freaking out about how this is the only one of her mother's rules and morals that stuck. Then she began panicking about what is she never got married then she'd never have sex," she laughs remembering the conversation, "at one point she told me I should embrace my sluttiness when she brought up my history with sex and I told her she was making me sound slutty. Apparently it's because I have no mother induced morals."
"You are anything but, Ace," he pulls her into the circle of his arms and kisses her forehead, "you are classy, and beautiful, and two guys doesn't make you a slut."
"I know," she smiles pecking him on the lips, "but thank you for saying it," she goes into how she had ended up at Luke's for lunch and the worst breakfast ever. They talk and unpack until her stomach loudly interrupts them.
"I'll order take out. What would you like, Ace?"
"Pizza please."
Rory and Logan spend the rest of their night unpacking and taking about everything, from Gigi's visit and classes, to what Finn's latest antics were.
The rest of their week was going by seamlessly. The apartment was coming together nicely and they really only had a few things left to move from their dorms and what Rory had left in Stars Hallow. Rory had enlisted Logan's help and finished picking her ten candidates, in turn looking over the ones Honor had sent her, not surprised that she had picked ones similar to Rory's.
"You ready to go Ace," Logan asks coming into the office seeing her working away at her computer. They had come over to the apartment early to drop a couple of things off and Rory had to print off some information on the places they were going to look at with Honor today.
"Yup," she smiles looking up, "let's go," she picks up the binder that is on her desk. All the information she would possibly need to show Lorelai she has a solid plan in place. They had decided the night before that it was time to let Lorelai know what was going on before someone else let it slip, so Rory had called to let her know they would be by early, before they had to meet Honor so if it went bad they had an out.
They quickly locked up the apartment and headed down to the car, "Starbucks?"
"Of course," he chuckles, "I wouldn't deprive you of the elixir of life."
"Smart boy," the drive is filled with nonsensical conversation. They stayed away from anything heavy and anything charity related knowing the conversation with Lorelai was going to be an uphill battle.
"Are you sure you don't want me to come in with you," Logan asks as they pull up outside of Rory's childhood home.
"I'm sure," she smiles, "this isn't going to be pretty. You go to Luke's and I will meet you there for lunch," Rory gives him a quick kiss before taking a deep breath and opening the door.
"Hey Ace," he calls to her watching her turn and lean down so she can see his face, "I love you, and I am so very proud of you."
"I love you to baby," she says with a huge smile on her face, "I'll see you soon!" She watched Logan drive away before turning to the porch and walking up the steps to her mother's house. Rory stood at the door and debated knocking before deciding Lorelai would see it as an insult and just walking in. "Mom," she yells.
"Kitchen," she heard a holler from around the corner, "hi hun," Lorelai smiles happy to see her daughter.
"What is all this," she asks seeing a couple of packing boxes along the side of the table and her mother taping one closed.
"Your stuff," she says slowly looking up at Rory a little unsure, "I thought that is why you were coming…I was just trying to help."
"No, I was coming for a different reason," she says setting her folder on the table, "but thank you for this. It's another thing I can check off my list."
"No problem," Lorelai finishes taping the box and comes to sit across from her daughter, "so what did you come to talk about then? Please tell me he didn't propose," she begs with wide eyes looking for a ring on Rory's hand. "I'm just getting used to the living together thing, I don't think my heart could handle a wedding."
"No mom," she laughs, "he hasn't proposed, and this conversation actually has nothing to do with him." Handing Lorelai a folder she launches into her new plan with Honor. She explains about classes and how she had already been doing work in the background when Honor had asked her to take her rightful place as co-founder. Rory made sure to emphasise that she still planned to graduate with a journalism major she would just now be doubling as business major. That she would do freelance journalism on the side once the charity was up and running.
To her surprise Lorelai kept her opinions to herself and let her get through the entire folder before asking any questions. What shocked her even more was that her mother's head didn't explode when she told her about the slight name change, and the trust fund money.
"You are taking this extremely well," Rory closes her folder slowly, looking at the woman across from her skeptically.
"What do you want me to say Ror," she asks, "you've made up your mind. You have a good plan in place and you are going to be doing a good thing for a lot of people. How can I be mad about that?"
"You just haven't exactly agreed with my choices as of late," she says sadly looking at her laced fingers sitting on the table.
"I am sorry Rory," she says solemnly, "I was afraid that I was losing you, that it had to be me or Logan. Luke pointed out to me however that I was the one pushing you away. That if I did lose you it would be no one's fault but my own. I don't want to fight anymore; can you forgive me?"
"Of course, I can mom," Rory smile walking over to Lorelai who wraps her daughter tightly into her arms happy their relationship was on the mend. "I'm meeting Logan at Luke's for lunch if you want to join us?"
"That would be great kid."