A/N: Hello Readership. Thank you for comments on and off the review section. I enjoy being part of your journey as you read this story so much. Your engagement is just purely amazing. Score&Reference list will be up in the comment section.
So Rory got all her birthday dreams come true. Maybe it time for new dreams? Some of you were waiting for the boy to make an appearance. I'm sorry to say that he was there all along."Just because other people can't see - it doesn't mean it's not there."
You might need to refresh your mind on chap. 6 to 10, 21, 23 for this. Remember that conversation and the words characters use - are super important. Some characters roles are more meaningful than others, even if they are not at center stage. I know it might get confusing at times, but it's so much fun!
October 2013
Seattle
"So I told Michel he has to answer guest's questions from booking dot com, just like he answers the phone."
"Snippy and rudely?" Rory moved around various items in her living room in frustration. She should keep the place tidier. And do the laundry. Where are they? She was sure they were just there.
"It's a work in progress. It's not like I let the man comment on reviews."
"Excellent micro-management, Mom. Where is it?" Rory muttered distractedly.
"What are you looking for? I can help!" Lorelai suggested enthusiastically.
"Batteries."
"What do you need batteries for?"
"A flashlight?" Rory said, the first thing that comes to mind.
"Is the power out?" Lorelai wondered.
"No."
"Are you going on a monster hunt?" Lorelai questioned again.
"No?"
"Then why do you need a flashlight?"
"I need batteries." Rory corrected.
"Yes, and I asked what for? You said flashlight. But it turns out you don't need a flashlight for the obvious reasons." Lorelai chattered back. "Should I continue guessing? it's kinda fun. Uh! I can do it like Jeopardy! Is it a flashlight?"
Rory sighed, "If you must. It's not like you're helping."
"Oh! Ah! It's for your Discman!" Lorelai cat called, "Chris! Rory is using her Discman!"
"Mom! What's wrong with you? You can't tell him that!" Rory splattered, horrified, "I'm not telling you anything anymore."
It wasn't for her Discman; it was for her 'Logan Rocket.'
"Ha-ha! Gotchya! I can't believe you fell for that. Have I thought you nothing?" Lorelai relished on pulling the dirty out of her daughter. "Your dad's not home. Gigi has Ballet. Technically, you didn't tell me anything - I guessed. So, that's the plan for your birthday? A rocket launch? A little self-loving?"
"You're disturbed." Rory said, "No birthday plans. I'm going to take a long relaxing bath, put on some relaxing music, and dive into bed with a good book."
Her co-workers preferred to hit a spa on the weekend instead of partying. Logan was in New York. That reduced her to party with herself tonight. She looked at last year's offensive gift and tossed the 'Logan Rocket' aside.
Sad. She needs to make more friends.
"Or a private party for one with a girl's best friend." Rory could imagine her mother wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
"Mom!"
"Hey, it's certified fact. I read it on Cosmo. But I am waiting with bated breath to hear all about the rocket launch exprience. Please don't shut Mommy out on the good stuff."
"Ew, Mom. We're close, but that's not happening."
"But I live through you!" Lorelai sing-songed, "Maybe I should tell your dad I want one for Christmas."
"You are disgusting."
Xx
Rory rushed towards the phone, tying the towel tighter around her body. Water dripped from her hair not yet dried from the bath. Her caller ID didn't recognize the number. Probably some more well-wishers.
"Hello." She hoped her voice didn't sound too out of breath.
"Shit. I didn't wake you, did I?" She'd recognize that voice anywhere.
"No. It's fine. I wasn't asleep." Rory slowly sat on the bed in her towel. Changing would only sound suspicious on the phone. A stack of books she planned to read sat at the bedside table. The signed copy of 'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close' laid on top of the pile. The rocket still rested abandoned on the bed, where she discarded it in disdain earlier—staring back at her.
"So… Happy birthday."
Rory thanks him. It's all a coincidence, she told herself. It means nothing that she surrounded herself on her birthday with a selection of things he gifted her.
"I know it's late, I'm sorry for not calling sooner. Texting seemed cold. I didn't want to call while you're at work, and then this wine and dine thing got too late. I just got in." Logan rambled on the other end of the line.
She imagined him in the setting of the Greenwich Village apartment. Barefoot, and pulling on his tie.
"Was it as good as last year? Big party?"
That's not all that happened on her birthday last year. She knows, he knows. Logan doesn't ask unintentional questions. He is fishing.
"No party. I'm skipping the whole embarrassing and inappropriate gifts too. Don't get me any." She said, distractedly rotating the offending item in question in her hand. It's been on her mind all day. But when she inserted the batteries in it earlier, she got spooked. "And don't make Natalie do it either."
"I wasn't planning on asking Natalie to do anything for your birthday." Logan's voice flows smoothly on the phone. "What's that noise?"
"Nothing." Rory dropped the vibrating rocket on the bed like it was a hot potato. Stupid batteries.
She accidentally turned it on.
"I'm sure I heard something buzzing."
"Nothing's buzzing." Rory tried to sound calm as she fumbled with the device trying to quickly turn it off, while keeping a hold on the phone, "Maybe you need to get your ears checked."
"I do not. Huntzberger men have an impeccable hearing." She can hear the teasing smirk in his voice.
"First time for everything," Rory mutters sourly.
Logan just laughs. His voice sounds so crisp, inviting.
"So…"
"So…" She echoed his tune.
His voice dropped lower in a suggestive manner, "Um... Do you need me to talk you through it?"
Rory felt her mouth go dry.
~w~
"I'm going to skin whoever told him where to find that damned golf club. He hides it well." Shiri huffed in annoyance. Rory dug in her meal, trying to suppress an amused giggle.
The first thing Logan did on Monday morning post their Vancouver Island trip was uprooting his golf club out of the large plant pot standing by Shiri's desk. He saluted at Shiri, and marched into his office - madly grinning.
It was a war. Now that Logan was away, Shiri was looking to confiscate it again.
"Patel and I bet on what will be the next thing he smashes." Nicole swatted her chopsticks together. "He thinks the same wall. I think it's going to be his computer screen."
"My money is on the plant pot." Kate offered her bet.
"I'm dying to get my hands on that thing and his facial hair. Both need a trim." The office manager kept her mind on the earlier topic.
"I think the facial hair is sexy." Nicole offered.
"Oh, don't let your boyfriend hear you." Kate teased the editor.
"You think it's sexy too." Nicole accused the graphic designer.
"The difference is that my husband doesn't care." Kate pointed out to Nicole.
"Oh, it sure started sexy! He wears the rugged look well. Gotta love a man with a bit of facial hair, it spices up the stimulation, if you know what I mean." Shiri wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "But now, it just looks like he can't be bothered to shave."
"It does?" Kate's ear perked up. "Gotta try that one."
"You won't regret it!" Shiri nodded furiously, "Especially if the guy knows his moves. And let's face it, there's no way Logan doesn't know the moves. The man has the freshest mouth I've ever met."
Yes. Logan has a magical mouth.
Rory clumsily dropped her chopstick, making the soy sauce squirt. She started frantically dubbing napkins on the table, trying to catch the black sauce from doing any more damage. "Can we not talk about Logan's sex life?"
"What's up with you?" Kate observed her friend.
"Nothing?"
"Nothing?" Kate didn't buy it, "You walk around all starry-eyed, you look like you swallowed a firefly, glowing from the within. I think I might need sunglasses here. That is not nothing."
Despite falling asleep exhilarated, Rory didn't feel glowing. She woke up feeling slightly ashamed and slightly uncomfortable. The hormones pills made her premenstrual cramps worse.
And it became worst when she stopped taking them.
"Where do you come up with these things?" Rory scrambles up the stained napkins into a ball.
"I don't 'come up with these things.' I call it as I see it."
"Kate is right. Did someone got some birthday love?" Shiri teased.
Nicole's interest peeked. "Did that Chip guy made a U-turn?"
"Someone's starship made a U-turn, but it wasn't Chip," Kate muttered under her breath.
"No, I didn't. I was soundly sleeping in my bed last night. Alone." Rory stressed.
All of it was true. It didn't count on the phone. Rory still can't believe she took him up on that offer.
"Ah-ah." Shiri said skeptically, "So if I check your phone, the last call on your phone log is not a guy?"
"No, it's my mom." Rory bite defensively. Her mom didn't fail to deliver her annual birthday call last night. And Logan called from the New York apartment phone. He was good at blurring digital footprints.
She made sure to delete the text message she got early this morning—something about dreams.
Rory changed the subject, "Are we still on for the spa?"
"Oh, yes!" Shiri said excitedly. "Wouldn't miss it for the world! Oh, what do you think about the Halloween party? Do you think Ben will agree?"
"Ben will tell you to take it up with Logan. Save your breath and just send Rory to do the dirty work." Nicole rolled her eyes, speaking from experience.
"Why me?" Rory nearly whined. "Don't get me involved with this."
She didn't want to be the pawn in their scheme to score an office-funded adult dress-up party. That sounded dirty. And she knows that's precisely where he'd take it if she's the messenger. Logan was keeping his hands to himself in Seattle, but last night proved he could work her with just words.
"He always agrees when you ask," Nicole stated.
"Master and commander."
"The movie?" Rory asked through the dazzled haze of satisfaction.
"No, That's what I want you to call me from now on." She can hear his grin.
"In your dreams." She quickly hanged up.
Rory involuntary shuddered, she can't allow herself to argue with him at the office sexually.
"Rory."
"What?" Rory snapped out of her unwanted daydream, straight into the office's manager's brown eyes. Kate looked at her suspiciously.
"Please. Please. Please."
"Not a chance in hell."
~w~
Logan pushed the supermarket cart leaning his forearms on the cart's handles. His golf club rested next to the grocery items in an odd mix. Whenever he goes to New York nowadays, he takes it home with him. It was not safe in the office.
Rory crossed another item on the list.
"Are we done yet?" Logan questioned, seizing the opportunity of her distraction to remove another food item filled with monosodium glutamate off the cart.
Maybe he should have second thoughts about having a baby with his woman. She had unhealthy eating habits.
"Nearly. I ran out of Shampoo."
Logan groaned under his breath, checking the time. The shampoo aisle was every man's worst nightmare. He was starting to regret suggesting to cook tonight's Monday dinner. A simple grocery run turned into an extended episode.
"Are you going to smell them all? Or can we cut it short and grab the same brand you already use?"
"I'm not gonna smell them all." She turned marching towards that part of the store, unpleased with his suggestion. The camera which hanged at her lower back hit his side as she moved.
He winced. That thing hurt. "Make it quick I'm starving."
Ten minutes later, Rory was still conducting an oral pro-con list on two brands of shampoo. She held them out to his inspection. "Which do you think is better?"
Logan looked up from his texting session. Zero desire to participate in this blown out of proportion debate. "Which one has the commercial with J-LO?"
"Neither." Rory looked as if she's considering to add another parameter to her pro-con list.
"Then, get that one." He threw the bottle she held in her left hand into the cart, "Can we go now?"
"But – "
"Rory, it's late." He cut her off, pointing at himself, "Man. Dinner. Hungry. If you can't decide if you want to use that one, you can take a shower at my place and use mine. Now let's bounce because, at this rate, I'm going to eat dinner at daybreak."
Wait - what?
Logan started pushing the cart down the aisle to make his point and cover his mouth-slip.
"Logan. Wait."
"What?" he sighed, tiredly stopping in his tracks and turning back at her. If she's going to name one more item, he's just going to leave. Rory walked right into him. He quickly moved to space the unplanned physical contact.
"I… I… think we need to buy a… home pregnancy test." Rory muttered shakily, looking a hint green.
His brain registered the products on the shelves changed from shampoos and soaps into feminine hygiene products. Another section he usually avoids.
"We do?" Logan asks, surprised. Logan spent most of his time in New York these days, working crazy schedules. Maybe it was for the best at the moment. Vancouver Island left him with the feeling that if push comes to shove, she's out. He kept his end of the deal with Monday's dinner. Hoping she'd keep hers.
They haven't been back to the doctor since missing the cycle in September. And they haven't active in that sense since…
Oh. That moment.
Rory looked anywhere but him. He was tempted to ask her which brand she preferred, then changed his mind. There's no way he's getting dragged into a comparative analysis of home pregnancy tests in the middle of the supermarket.
He grabbed the first one his hand randomly reached. "Sorted. Let's get going."
They all work the same anyway.
Xx
"You manipulated me." Rory's eyes are fixed on Logan's fingers drumming across from her. She doubts she can eat breakfast at her kitchen counter ever again. A stick she peed on rested on top of it— face down on a paper towel.
It was utterly off-putting.
Next to it, a timer counted down on Logan's phone.
"I beg your pardon?" Logan's fingers stopped tapping, "How did I manipulate you?"
"You are such a cad. You are freakingly unbelievable." Rory paces manically, "I tell you to fuck off, and instead of doing what I asked - you trick me on this unrealistically romantic, once in a lifetime getaway. Acting all gentlemen and considerate pulling me in so carefully…"
"Hey! I did not!"
"Gas station dancing! You used it against me." She sent him a dirty look and continue pacing, "That was your intention all along, wasn't it? Romance me enough so I'd sleep with you, just like in New York. All in serve of the grand plan to make sure you won't miss out on the cycle. I can't believe you! I can't believe you'd step this low to get what you wanted."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop right there! Don't twist it like that, that's not what happened. I wasn't doing anything of that sort. Not in New York, and certainly not on the Island. I didn't make any move on you the whole weekend. YOU jumped ME."
A whole perfect weekend. In the most beautiful location.
She just had to jump him in the backseat at the parking level of the ferry, didn't she?
How fucking romantic.
"You don't dare hang all the blame on me. I wasn't alone in that backseat!"
"Well, you started it, and sure as hell didn't stop it either, did you?" Logan counters hotly.
The timer went off with a shrill ring.
Rory's face turned sheet white, her hands fly to cover her eyes, "I can't look."
Logan sighed angrily. He flipped the little white stick in his hand, "Negative."
"Oh, thank god!" Rory's hands fly over her heart, relief washing over her.
Logan wears his silent disappointment face, stick still in hand. "I wanted to be the man I see in your eyes when you look at me. But I don't know what I do wasting my time with you."
His quiet tone is like a long needle penetrating her heart, "Logan."
"Don't bother, Rory." He throws the stick into the trash can, "You said enough."
Xx
"I'm sorry. I got cold feet." Rory holds out the golf club as a peace offering; he left it in the wake of his dramatic exit. She nearly lost her nerve to knock when she eventually found herself at his door.
She knows she got scared and picked up a fight.
"Get socks. Or call it off. I'm not your Yo-Yo." Logan takes back the ownership on the metal stick.
"Can I come in? We need to talk." She uses her best soothing voice to try and appease him.
"No." She didn't expect him to deny her this firmly, "I can't do this with you now. My sleeping pill is starting to kick in."
"Why would you take a sleeping pill at this hour?"
"Because my flight to New York leaves at 2:00 p.m. And there's stuff I need to do at the office before I leave. I can't stay up all night."
Xx
Logan and his golf club wait for her out of the ladies at noon. Logan wandering around with his golf club in and out of the office is never suspicious. He tilts his head towards the staircase. No one ever takes the stairs, but he takes extra caution and climbs one and a half set of stairs up.
"I wanted to check you're okay you before I leave for New York." He leans on the club awkwardly. It's a different kind of club from the bag. She vaguely remembers her grandfather saying this is the one you use to hit the ball out of the sand.
Rory simply crosses her hands over her chest. He can't shut down her advances and then come playing the knight.
"Rory." His hand tentatively touched her elbow. Logan's eyes search for prying eyes before he steps closer.
"What?"
"Talk to me." He urged softly.
"Now? Here? In the ten minutes before you take off to New York? Why? Because your mind is lucid enough now, and you feel like it? What for? So you'd give me your silent disappointment face?" She averted her eyes when the familiar expression crept back on his face.
She's oblivious to the poisoned arrows she loads in her arc.
Logan took a stilling breath, leaned into her personal space, and pressed a chaste kiss at the side of her head. "We'll talk when I get back. It'll give us both time to cool off."
He leaves with the wedge in hand.
Rory sat on the stairs rubbing her temples. She should just quit.
~w~
"Which Spice Girl are you suppose to be?" Ben took a stand beside her, backing the wall. He refused to jump on the holiday spirit other than lending his house for the cause.
Shiri has won her way with the party mostly because Logan wasn't around to do the arguing for Ben. It turns out Ben's wife is an avid Halloween fan. Priscilla didn't spare the decoration at all; the house was nearly caving under the weight the appropriate spider webs, carved pumpkins, skeletons, bats, ghosts, and other scary stuff.
"Marianne Faithful." Rory refused to dress up like a Spice Girl.
She bailed on the group costume Shiri and Kate excitedly promoted for Halloween.
Shiri rocked her Scary Spice loud and proud. Nicole committed to cutting her hair like Posh. Kate made a point to tell everyone she's dying her hair red and that she'd be wearing the Union Jack dress she ordered from e-bay to work. Rory nearly chocked when they suggested she'd be Baby Spice at lunch.
The B-word makes her throat burn as if she swallowed acid.
Her costume ended up needing a blonde wig anyway. And a mini. And innocent looking fishnets. When she showed up tonight, Kate cheered and said she looked the part.
"Tragic life story. Great voice until she ruined it." Ben comments before taking a sip out of his beer.
Most adults are on some level of drunk by this point of the night. Kate monopolized Logan's dancing moves the moment she noticed him. At least he was putting his Hartford dictated dancing lessons to good use. Even if it was with her drunken friend in the middle of Ben's living room. On the other side of the room, Kate's husband, looked happy to be excluded from duty.
Rory snaps the picture of Kate happily laughing when he dips her and Logan's amusement of her reaction.
"Happy Logan is my favorite Logan." Ben says simply at her side, "Lose the wig. You look like Chelsea when you wear it. It's freaking him out."
Rory sighed, removed the blonde wig, and let her dark hair loose. If she was in doubt whether Ben is in the loop, she has none now. "How am I supposed to know? It's like navigating a minefield."
Ben shrugs.
Logan Huntzberger can make Rory Gilmore scream in frustration.
He kept his surgical distance from the moment he stepped through Ben's door. Straight from New York. Because that's what he does in work-related settings, and because they are taking time to 'cool off.'
Rory felt like he sent her to sit in the 'time out' corner to think over of her actions.
Next to her, Ben remains standing against the wall in a lull of cordial silence.
"Let me tell you a story about a boy."
Rory lowered her camera and turned to look at her boss. His eyes still fixed at the dancing pair.
"He makes it all look effortless, doesn't it? Every time people look at him, they must think that he have it real easy. A golden boy. The boy who has it all." Ben adjusts his glasses, weighing his words. "He kinda does. Except, the girl he was madly in love with, didn't like what he had to offer, and had serious issues."
Rory plays with the hem of her dress. She can't tell if this allegory aimed for the past or future. Honestly, from the little information she gathered, Ben could mean either. But she's pretty sure he means Chelsea.
"There's a lot of pressure being the heir to a fortune. It's a blessing and a curse. And every day he wakes up, he doesn't want to be the king of the hill, the top of the list – he wants to be a wallflower. Every day he wakes up in Seattle is another day he succeeds."
"Is that why he doesn't sleep?"
"Interesting. Never thought about it that way." Ben admits.
"He wanted to be an Astronaut."
"Yeah, Logan would have a keen space cadet." Ben smiles. "The problem with Logan, He doesn't cut out to be a wallflower. He wasn't made that way. He's a magnetic force, and it's impossible not to notice the minute he walks in the room. He gets that from his father. Those are some strong genes."
Every Huntzberger Rory has had the chance to encounter had this trait.
"He wouldn't make an outstanding space cadet, either. He doesn't take orders very well, and he likes to bend the rules too much. It's how he is built." Ben muses.
"Ben -"
Ben looks her square in the eye for the first time. "People like Logan don't usually don't take a shine for people like us. The observant at the back of the room. Logan's different."
Usually, when Ben catches her for a 'friendly talk,' she ends up being warned. Rory can't help but wonder what his ulterior motive is.
"But once he takes a shine to you, Logan is like the stray cat your kid took home from the street. You aren't sure you want to keep him, because he's high maintenance. But he keeps coming around until you kind of get used to him, even start to like him. Then, he charmingly weasels his way in, and you let him climb the couch."
It's evident Ben is speaking from experience. Rory is amused at the analogy; it sounds like just like him.
"The next thing you know, he's coming over to dinner every Thursday, and sleeping on your couch when a truck ran over his heart." Ben sighed after this long mouthful; it's probably the longest she ever heard the man speak, "Except, he doesn't sleep. He mopes and watches movies. "
Rory did wonder where all of the movie references come from.
"And I'm sick of Jerry Maguire playing on repeat on my television screen."
"He's obsessed with that movie."
"He relates to the drowning of a charismatic man concept." Ben offers, "Look, I don't know exactly when Logan decided this thing with you has potential and worth taking the risk. But I'm up to speed with everything else."
Rory lowered her eyes back to her camera. She knows when - when she didn't need the rope.
"I can't fight him on this anymore. What I'm trying to say, I don't care who is at fault here, just cut him some slack because he's willing to try and make it work in pretty impossible circumstances. And he's fighting all fronts at once, including his demons. So if you're in - you need to give him a little something to reassure him that it's worth his while. And fight whatever yours are."
Rory pressed her lips unhappy with the parental scolding.
"Either that or cut him loose. Chelsea de-railed him completely, and you have the same potential. I see it flashing in front of my eyes, and it worries me. It worries Mitchum, too. I'm sure Colin is stocking up whiskeys as we speak. I can't stand by and watch it happen all over again."
"What do you mean?"
Ben sighed, "Rory, do you know why Logan came back to Current?"
"Because you asked him to."
"Mitchum knew that he'd agree if it were me who asked. Logan had no intention to come back to the States. He was comfortable in London."
Rory remembered Colin said he didn't know what London stands for. But Ben came up with the STAR theory. Ben must know.
"Seattle was temporary." Ben explains, "Logan was never supposed to stick around in Seattle for longer than four months. Mitchum wanted him back in New York once my maternity leave was over."
'New York is End Game for me.'
"But you showed up and shuffled the cards. Neither of us accounted that wild card in."
"Me?"
"You got to him first. Logan contemplating whether he should call a one-night stand who crashed his set-up date? That was the last thing I expected when I met him for breakfast the next day."
The night at the Thompson. That night with Logan was what brought an end to her affair with Jason.
"He never cared about seeing one-night love affairs again before; it was refreshing. I liked seeing him like that after Chelsea. Then you walked in the office and -" Ben looked nearly remorseful, "You should have seen the look on his face when I told him he couldn't."
"His silent disappointed face."
"Chelsea used to describe it that way too," Ben said thoughtfully.
Rory felt the needle back in her heart. She stepped right on that landmine.
"Word of advice, don't ever tell Logan he can't do something. He doubles down, and it backfires. He hates missed opportunities."
Oh, she knows.
"I know you don't care, but Current is at its growth stage. There is a lot of money at stake—a 3.7 million dollar deal. I need Logan focused. But and most of all, I need Logan happy."
"And Mitchum?" Rory asked hesitatingly. Ben was remarkably candid tonight.
"Mitchum," Ben sighed, "Mitchum doesn't want to lose Logan again. The man only knows tough love, but Logan is the apple of his father's eye."
"Again?"
"Mitchum is trying to avoid third time a charm. Logan walked out on the family business when Mitchum sent him to London the first time." Ben paused, "There's only one person, other than Logan, who knows what really went down the second time. But it was close. I never got the full version."
Rory can't help but be curious, "Who?"
"Mitchum." Ben took a swig of his beer. "They must have some kind of deal to let him stay. He won't risk it."
"That man scares me."
"I'd give a kidney to spend the rest of my life without speaking to Mitchum Huntzberger ever again." Ben is surprisingly candid tonight, "Look, Mitchum doesn't get involved in Logan's love life unless Logan asks. And Logan only asked him once - when he divorced Chelsea. And the only reason he did is to save Current."
Rory catches her boss's eye.
"I owe that man the life I built for myself and my family. And I love him like a brother." Ben nods at his blonde business partner, now dancing with Miella. Logan let her stand on his feet. "He can get you to places like never before. Places you've never place you've never been and never expected to be. But you already know that."
Logan Huntzberger makes girls swoon starting a very young age. Rory nods for a lack of better response.
"Rory."
He blue eyes snapped back at the tall man.
"Don't kick the cat." Ben said quietly.
"Why are you helping me with this?"
"I'm parenting two kids and a Logan. I'm happy if he's happy. And I want my couch back."
~w~
The conversation with Ben drove her outside to the stairs of Ben's back porch. It's raining. It always rains in Seattle. She hears his footsteps before she feels him take a seat beside her holding a small reusable carry bag.
"Trick or treat?"
"Trick." Rory gambles on the challenge curious at what up his sleeve.
Logan dips in hands into the bag and holds out his fists for her to choose. His right opens to reveal a mini-mini Mars bar.
"That's the trick? What's in your other hand?" she asks, a tad disappointed.
Another tiny Mars bar materialized in his other palm. "That's for me. You're terrible at sharing."
"No joint?" She accepts the candy.
"I'm not allowed to bring that stuff here. I value my life."
"I see you begged, stole, and borrowed?"
"I never beg." He winks. "Don't tell Miella I've raided her candy bag."
"Her hard earned 'trick or treat' candy. I doubt she'll stay mad at you for long." Rory shakes her head. Bantering with Logan can be so easy and quick-paced until they get to the heart of things.
And it's coming. Rory can tell.
"A man can never know for sure." He says chewing on the candy bar.
"What would have happened if I picked a treat?" Rory plays with the plastic wrapper in her hand.
"I guess you'll never know." The flirty smile on his lips tells her she should have chosen the treat.
"What else you've got there?"
Rory shoved her hand into the candy bag, fishing for another candy. Concealed out of sight, Rory feels her fingers entwine with his inside the sea of candy.
His dimple flashes at her warmly.
"Someone could see." She whispers at him.
"Everyone's drunk." Logan reassures her, "Ben's spying on us since the moment I've stepped out, but he knows anyway. What did you talk about?"
Nothing escapes him.
"Wallflowers and cats." Rory answers. Two can play this game of need to know basis. "How was New York?"
"Unexciting." His thumb brushes the back of her hand inside the bag. Logan didn't want to talk about New York. Logan never wants to talk about New York.
"Only a month to go." She'd miss the phone sex.
"Yes. One more month."
"Then, you're here permanently?"
"That depends." It depends because it at odds with the New York end game. Always on a need to know basis with Logan.
"On?"
"You."
"Is this an ultimatum?" She asks.
"I'm hoping it won't be." There's a raw honesty in his answer. Their last conversations and her little context infusion chat with Ben have made it clear that if she's out, he's walking away. For good. Back to New York.
Ben laid out the ground for Logan to close the deal; it's the way this duo worked. Or the way Logan worked his support system. Colin did the same.
"I called the clinic to make an appointment." Rory says quietly, "I might need to borrow some socks."
She already called two days ago, but she wanted to tell him in person.
"I got a drawer full. Take your pick. Any but the crocodiles ones, those are my favorites." He smiles easily, "Are you sure?"
"Sometimes, I feel like I don't know. Sometimes I feel like checking out." She hesitates, "Half of my heart got a grip on the situation; half of my heart takes time."
Rory Gilmore is not Lorelai. Lorelai charge at goal headstrong. Like Logan. It's just the way L's are.
Rory realizes her dad was right. There's so much of him in her, more than she'd like to admit. She's a Christopher. She wants the kid only if she gets his father.
"It doesn't have to be a sprint; it can be a marathon." His hand squeezes her among all the candy.
The half of her heart is so happy to hear him say that. "I'm not driftwood. I'm a kite."
"You're a pretty kite."
"Can I trade the rope for a string?" Rory looked down at their joined hands. Rory doesn't need an exit route; she needs a safety net. A strong, flexible one. She's bravest when she holds his hand.
"An invisible string." He agrees. It doesn't soothe her.
"I'm giving you everything," all that joy can bring, "And all that I want from you is a promise you'll be there." She's not asking; she's bargaining with him.
"Rory, that is all I can give right now. You know where I stand. You have it in writing. We've been through this."
Yes, the baby thing she has in writing. She's frustrated with him. "Why can't you meet me halfway?"
"I am meeting you halfway. I don't want that aspect in ink. Ink complicates things." Logan insists. "People always want me to be what they want me to be. I just want to just be. Can we not define it just yet, okay?"
"What are you scared of?"
"It's not that I'm scared," Although the truth is that he is terrified, "It's just that it's delicate. Just because other people can't see - it doesn't mean it's not there, Rory."
Damn him and his gifted way with words. He got her Huntzbergered.
"Which a Spice Girl are you suppose to be?" His dimples flash at her again.
"Baby Spice." She answers unhappily. No one got her costume.
"Never been a fan of white fishnets before, but it's growing on me." Logan docks his head cheekily. His hand slides on her covered leg, fingers tracing the fishnets gently. His touch makes her skin burn. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"Going on this adventure with me."
"That's it? Thank you?" A smile plays on her lips; vulnerable Logan is her favorite Logan. For her eyes only. It's when he unknowingly, completely wins her heart.
"Well, I'm not done yet. But I can't kiss you here. Ben will have an aneurysm."