Apologies for the delayed update, I've had a very busy Easter weekend. However, this is a very long chapter and A LOT happens! I therefore hope the wait can be justified. I'm not going to say anything else; instead I'm going to answer some of the reviews:
Sarah, Nicolebct1, Hannah and Maia: Loving that you guys have found this series and I hope this next chapter means you continue to read it!
Creator of Magic: To answer your question it's to do with Logan's nickname being MAC (Master and Commander) in reference to the book of the same name. All the crew are called 'Sophies' as the ship is the HMS Sophie and so people who support that 'ship' have the same name.
December Jeffries2: I get the frustration, but I'm hoping this chapter clarifies a lot more!
roganjalex: The boys are still going to Yale, their just tagging along for the trip!
anime07: I'm glad you found it amusing and hope you like the road trip. Jess comes next episode so you'll get to find out how his introduction affects everything! I don't want to give too much away, but Rogan will be fine.
Thank you to everyone else who reviewed as it is heart-warming to see all your comments. I do urge everyone to review, as it is amazing to hear from so many people. Also a big thank you to RoryHuntzberger, as usual they have been amazing through this whole process and we actually discussed this chapter at length due to how important it is.
But without further ado, it's on with the show. I own no GG content, except for this chapter.
Season 2 Episode 4
It's been nearly four hours.
Rory should know. She's had to sit in a car with her slightly hysterical mother, two boys who have been bickering for most of the journey about which route to take, and the guy who she's kissed twice but has been unable to tell him how she feels. Let's just say she's tense, especially after watching Lorelai call Sookie to inform her about Max, and to top it all off she's pretty sure they're lost.
The young brunette seems to be the only one that cares, as everyone else is busy discussing what music to play in the car. She desperately looks out the window trying to see anything distinctive to help her make sense of the map, but instead she is met with unremarkable scenery. Rory therefore sighs in frustration. Unlike her mother, she doesn't like the unpredictable and would rather know where they were heading. None of this open road crap.
While it is obvious that Lorelai, Colin and Finn are caught up in the debate, Logan is much more intune with Rory's behaviour. Just like her, he's found the situation tense due to how they left things before starting their journey. He's very aware of her growing frustration, as he's been watching her from the corner of his eye, and seeing as she might be on her wit's end, he also starts searching for any signs as to where they might be.
Unlike Rory, Logan seems to be more fortunate, "Hey, we're not far from Portsmouth, New Hampshire" he announces loudly to the car, interrupting the debate. The young Gilmore quickly looks over at him, hope suddenly in her eyes as she tries to find where exactly they are on the map. "Thank God, I thought we were going to have to sleep in this car at this rate" she mutters under her breath, but everyone can hear her.
At the announcement, Lorelai also perks up. "Portsmouth?" she asks with a curious tone, "You know I actually know a guy, Donald something another"
"Wow, sounds personal" Rory interrupts sarcastically still searching the map.
Ignoring her daughter's teasing, Lorelai continues, "So Donald moved there and opened a B&B" The phrase B&B has everyone in the car groaning in disgust, but Lorelai reassures them, "No, no it's supposed to be pretty cool. Every room is decorated from a different century."
They still look skeptical, but Logan concedes, "Okay that does sound kind of cool"
Lorelai looks happy and so she excitedly exclaims, "Let's go." The boys share a knowing look as the raven-haired woman starts giving Colin directions. This was after Rory and her had gone back and forth saying 'let's call' and 'let's go'. They know that if this doesn't work out that they can always stay at one of the hotels that Finn's family owns.
As they pull into the car park, everyone but Lorelai is worried as they are currently looking at what seems to be a normal B&B. The older Gilmore is unphased while she pushes Rory out of the car. However, the boys follow cautiously, wondering where this could lead. They watch as Lorelai and Rory start unpacking the boot, Logan then jumping forward to help and the other two copying.
The older woman then strides towards the building, everyone else trails along reluctantly. She pushes open the door and their fears are confirmed. Something tells them that Donald doesn't own this place anymore.
Lorelai is making her way to the desk when Logan sends Finn a look so that he gets on the phone to make alternative plans for where they are staying tonight. "Hello there!" the woman behind the desk greets them. Amazed by the woman's enthusiasm the raven-haired woman barely manages a "Hi" in return.
"Would you like to ring the bell?" the perky employee asks. "W-what?" The older Gilmore stutters unsure about the question. "Would you like to ring the bell," the woman repeats, "You or one of your children?"
"I don't understand?" Lorelai says, completely confused. "I'm not usually sitting here when guests arrive, so people ring the bell, and they love to ring the bell. You didn't get to ring the bell" the lady explains. Just to shut her up, Lorelai dings in, getting congratulations from the woman.
Weirded out by the exchange, the raven-haired woman feels like she has to ask, "Does Donald happen to be here?" She does this while looking around the extremely floral entrance.
"Oh no," the blonde receptionist waves off, "I bought this place from Donald last year, it's my place now" she informs them proudly. Lorelai hums in agreement, "Yes I had noticed it was a little different..." at which point Logan coughs causing her to look over. Seeing something in his eyes, she then says, "You know I was really looking for Donald, so if it's alright could you excuse us as I make a call outside?" The bubbly woman gushes about how that's absolutely fine, before they are all quickly making their way out of the overly decorated B&B.
As soon as the door closes, Lorelai turns to the boys and begs, "Please tell me you guys have another place we can stay tonight!" The woman is desperate as there is no way she can stay here.
Finn proudly steps forward and announces, "No worries Gorgeous, I've managed to secure a suite for all of us at one of my family's hotels about twenty minutes away!" Rory practically sags in relief as an actual plan has been made, whereas Lorelai perks up and exclaims, "Ooooh yes, I do love the pampered life!" She then makes her way back to the car, before turning to look at them as none of them have moved, "What are you guys doing? A whole suite awaits!"
X X X
By the time they make it to the hotel, check in and situate themselves it's already gone 8 o'clock in the evening. Due to the size of the suite, it's only four bedrooms and so Lorelai and Rory offer to share.
They have just ordered room service and having the two Gilmore women means they end up ordering an excessive amount of food. During this time, Lorelai has also made a start on the alcohol in the mini bar. It would seem that the events of the last two days were finally catching up on her. The rest of them observe her erratic behaviour, but choose not to comment on it, especially seeing as Rory had given everyone a pointed glare the one time Colin went to ask.
While they wait for the food they have a debate about which era is David Bowie's best. It creates a very heated argument and so Logan is glad when they hear a knock on the door. Logan may be the one who is happy for the interruption, but it is Lorelai that leaps up to answer the door. As the employee wheels the food into the suite, the raven-haired woman claps her hands excitedly. Once they are all sitting comfortably with their plates, they resume their conversation and even end up finally deciding on a decade for Bowie. It's a great evening overall and it gets their mind off of some of the more serious topics that they should be discussing.
After the festivities, everyone starts making their way to their rooms to get into comfy clothes so that they can then have a makeshift movie night. Rory is currently waiting on the bed as Lorelai changes in their en-suite bathroom, she's reading one of her books with her bathroom essentials lying next to her. The young Gilmore bookmarks her page as she thinks about the circumstances of this whole trip. This contemplation means that when her mother finally makes her way out of the bathroom, Rory is prepared with some questions.
Lorelai makes her way over to their luggage so that she can pack away the clothes she had just worn. As she does this, Rory finally pipes up, "So I think we should talk…" she trails off, not entirely sure how to start the conversation with her mother. Lorelai completely ignores her daughter's serious tone and instead throws herself on the bed excitedly asking, "Okay, what about?"
Rory tries to mask her nervousness by getting up and walking towards her bag, she ends up fiddling with the zips as she says cautiously, "I don't know. Um...Max?"
At the mention of his name, Lorelai quickly gets up and tries to busy herself with her own toiletries, "Uh, no" she rebuttals immediately. Her daughter isn't happy about this and so she asks, "Why?" but she doesn't let her mother speak before continuing, "I just need to know. I mean, are you sure you're not running scared? I think you really love him…"
Lorelai interrupts the small interrogation. "Enough! I don't want to have this conversation!" she growls out.
"Well I do" Rory argues hotly, but Lorelai gives the one worded response of "Tough"
The younger Gilmore becomes more incensed by this answer, "Everything was planned, everyone was excited, including you. And then all of a sudden you're out?"
"Well I changed my mind" Lorelai justifies, becoming maddened by Rory continuing the conversation.
At this point Rory is definitely frustrated and so retorts, "So that's it? You make one decision about me and my life, Max's life, and we have to deal with the consequences without any explanation from you. How is that fair?!" the young girl is practically yelling at the end.
Her raised voice aggravates Lorelai, "It just is! It's one of those situations where I'm the mom and you're the sixteen year old daughter and so you just have to accept that this is what it is."
The brunette looks affronted, "I thought I was your best friend. We're meant to be able to talk about these things. I never keep anything from you!"
At the last part of that statement, Lorelai interrupts, "Ooooh that's rich!" When Rory becomes confused, the older Gilmore carries on, "You tell me everything? Well Rory why don't we talk about whatever it was that had you so anxious at Luke's yesterday. I mean you pulled me out of work completely panicked. But when I actually turn up, you want to talk about anything else. So why don't we discuss exactly what had you so freaked, seeing as we talk about everything" she mocks at the end.
During her mother's rant, Rory looked down guiltily. It's true, she hasn't been telling her mom everything at the moment, and it wasn't like she was going to start any time soon. Not until she and Logan sort everything out. She therefore mutters, "That's different"
Lorelai scoffs, annoyed by her daughter's double standard, "No it's not. I can only assume it was about Logan seeing as you didn't go to him for advice. So yeah Rory, I wouldn't say it's completely different seeing as both of our situations involve the men in our lives. You clearly don't want to talk about and I respect that. So why can't you do the same?"
"Because mine doesn't affect how we live our lives!" Rory argues, her previous anger coming back. Her mother snorts at this comment, before questioning "Are you naive enough to believe that if something happened between you and Logan, the rest of us wouldn't be affected in some way?"
The younger Gilmore is not naive. In fact, this is one of the biggest issues that's running through her mind at the moment, and so her mother pointing it out only infuriates Rory even more. "This isn't about me as my problems aren't currently derailing everything!" she yells at Lorelai.
"Yeah well, it doesn't change the fact that it's still my problem so I get to decide how to deal with it!" Lorelai replies just as loud.
"Ugh" Rory screams, "I can't deal with you when you're like this!" she then starts to move towards the door.
Lorelai seeing this then asks, "Where are you going?" The younger Gilmore turns back to her mother replying, "I need to get out of this room, so I'm going to stay with Logan tonight. I really don't want to keep fighting with you Mom!"
Lorelai laughs darkly as Rory continues towards the door. "You don't like where the conversation went, so you're just going to run off to Limo boy. Real mature Rory." she comments, before taunting, "Perhaps you can both stare at one another and not tell him your feelings. Won't that be a great way to pass the time!"
Instead of rising to her mother's jab, Rory ignores her as she yanks open the door. She then strides through the communal space, where she is greeted with Colin and Finn on the couches.
At the sight of Rory, they go to get up, both of them very concerned. They had heard the two women yelling, but couldn't make out what exactly they were saying. The pair had been too scared to interrupt or even try to mediate, so they had waited to see if either would emerge. While Rory acknowledges the two boys, she still keeps her pace as she makes her way to one of the other doors and barges in, not bothering to say anything to them.
Inside she finds the one person she wants to talk to.
Logan had just got off the phone with Honor after updating her about everything that had happened so far. He looks confused to see her, but just like the other two boys, Rory ignores him and makes her way over to his bed. She flops down face first and then proceeds to scream into the mattress.
The young Huntzberger is rightfully concerned, so he approaches the bed cautiously. "Ace?" he asks while looking at her defeated form. "What's going on?" he sits down beside her on the bed and starts stroking her back reassuringly.
Rory huffs into the bed, before finally pushing herself up so that she rests on her elbows. She sighs deeply before saying, "I just tried to confront my mother about Max and she completely blew up at me. So much so that I had to take myself out of the situation before I said something I would regret." The young blonde gives her an understanding look, but Rory doesn't stop, "I know that it's difficult, but I've always been there for her and I'm also impacted by all these decisions. I would think that she would want to include me or at least be more accepting when I have questions."
All Logan can do is nod along trying to reassure her, so he continues to stroke her back giving her some kind of comfort. He then asks, "Is there anything I can do?"
"I just need a distraction" the young Gilmore declares offhandedly before dropping her face down into the mattress again. While Rory had said that as a throwaway comment, Logan assesses her properly. "Well" he begins carefully after a small silence. At his suggestive tone Rory picks up her head to look at him, "We could talk about the other thing that's been going on these last couple of days" he says this while giving her a pointed stare, as he tries to watch her reaction.
The change in the conversation has Rory sitting up properly so that she can be able to face Logan more directly. "Um...yeah" she says nervously, "We should definitely talk about that." Rory then starts to fidget slightly with her hands as she becomes more anxious.
The pair sit next to one another, but neither can seem to make eye contact. They both try to speak at the same time but end up laughing when they realise that they cut the other person off. Rory then says that Logan should go first.
"This shouldn't be so hard," he says with a tight smile, "I mean we've been best friends for nearly fourteen years, we tell each other everything and somehow we're struggling to actually get our feelings out there. It's almost ironic when you think about it!" Logan gets up and starts pacing, a nervous habit that he has when trying to deal with things.
Rory watches as he frustratedly runs his hands through his hair. She agrees wholeheartedly with what he's saying and so she tries to help, "Maybe that's our problem. We're overthinking it because of everything else, when really it should just be simple" While Rory started off strong, watching Logan pace was getting to her and so she begins to spiral, "Or maybe that's the point, perhaps we are finding it so hard because we shouldn't be considering this. There is so much on the line and we shouldn't sacrifice that-"
Seeing that Rory is sending herself into a bad place, Logan tries to interrupt, "Ace come on"
But she ignores him, as she continues thinking the worst things about the situation, "No Logan, we have to look at the big picture. We would be impacting everyone around us, so we have to be certain that it would work. Just imagine if it doesn't, not only would we be changing our relationship, our friendship forever, but it could also badly affect our relationships with everyone else-"
Logan interrupts her again, "But what if it works out?" he questions her. He's still pacing as he tries to sort through Rory's words, but he looks over at her, waiting for an answer.
This seems to make Rory pause for a second. However, her doubts can't seem to leave her alone, "There's no way to know that. We would be taking on a big risk!"
"There's one way," Logan argues plainly. He finally stands still as he watches her, "And that's to take on the risk"
Rory blinks at the blonde boy in front of her, completely dumbfounded with how easy he makes it sound. Unlike him, she can't seem to grasp the same confidence. She therefore demands while approaching him slowly, "Logan, how can you just say that? How are you so calm about all this? Is there something wrong with me that I can't seem to process all this like you?" Logan tries to stop her as she asks these questions in quick recession, but she waves him off not allowing him to say a word. He is therefore slightly frustrated when she asks her last question, "How can you know that it's going to be okay?"
The frustration coupled with everything else causes him to snap, "Because dammit Rory, I'm in love with you!"
After his loud declaration, the pair stare at one another in silence before the young Gilmore whispers, "You're what?" Logan snorts as it's just typical that this was the way he told her, he then walks towards her, "I, Logan Elias Huntzberger, am in love with you, Lorelai Leigh Gilmore"
Instead of answering him, Rory grabs hold of him when he gets near enough and pulls him into a very passionate kiss. Just like all those other times, the two of them get caught up within one another. They only pull apart to catch their breaths and Logan rests his forehead against Rory's, completely amazed that this is really happening. The brunette is the one to break the moment as she laughs, "Is this a bad time to say that I'm in love with you too?"
Logan chuckles at Rory's timing, "No Ace, there's never a bad time to tell me that!"
They share another kiss, but before it can get too steamy Rory pulls away, "What about everything else? How are we going to figure it all out? What do we say to everyone?" The young Huntzberger looks amused by his girlfriend as he shushes her, but he then pauses as he finally processes his own thoughts and notes how easily he labelled Rory as his girlfriend. It's a label that he can get used to. "I think we should live in the moment for just a little bit longer. We can worry about the other stuff later" he says while walking Rory backwards towards the bed.
"Logan!" Rory tries to argue as he lowers her down, but he ignores her and starts kissing her neck. Logan hovers above her, as he makes his way further down and smirks when he hears her moan. He then teases her, "I can stop if you want me to."
Not impressed by his mocking, Rory grabs hold of Logan's hair and pulls his face up to hers. "You're not funny" she tells him but is smiling the whole time. Logan beams back at her, humming in agreement as he tries his luck by going in for a kiss. Rory rolls her eyes at his antics but then becomes far more focused on what Logan is doing.
As the kiss deepens, it starts getting more sensual and Rory is surprised when Logan sweeps his tongue along her bottom lip and grinds down on her at the same time. It forces her to gasp, which Logan takes full advantage of, as he forces his tongue into her mouth. For a second Rory becomes slightly nervous, as she and Dean had never done anything like this. But then she realises that she's getting into her own head and so she just allows Logan to take control.
Logan had just brought his hand the whole way down Rory's body, tracing her every curve before resting on her hip. He's currently stroking her hipbone with his thumb as he felt her get slightly tense a moment ago and he wants her to feel comfortable. He's about to test her reaction to his hand going a bit further south when there is a knock on the door.
From that one sound, the gravity of their situation really dawns on Rory and she completely panics about how anyone could have found them in this state. It would therefore explain why she pushes Logan a bit too forcefully off of her as she squeaks in surprise, which sends him to the floor. He groans as he lies there facing the ceiling, but before he can even say anything a more insistent knock comes from the other side of the door.
"Just a second!" Logan calls out as he heaves himself off of the floor, before turning to the very bashful-looking girl. "Really Ace?" he questions her, laughing at how red her cheeks have gotten.
"I'm sorry" she offers weakly, it's obvious that she's trying not to giggle. "But what are we going to do about whoever is on the other side of the door?" she bites her lip in worry, but all Logan can think about is how sexy she looks. He therefore has to blink a couple of times as he realises that she asked him a question. "Don't worry, I'll handle it" he waves her off dismissively, he has no problem telling their visitor that he doesn't have time for their shit.
Rory sighs in relief as she doesn't think she could face anyone right now. The knock on the door had made her realise how caught up the two of them had gotten and so she needed to calm down. Seeing an opportunity, she tells Logan that she's going to use the bathroom while he deals with everything.
Once Rory's left the room, Logan strides over to the door and pulls it open forcefully. He's met with an impatient looking Colin, but due to his friend's poor timing Logan is the one to growl out, "What do you want?"
"How long does it take you to answer a door?" the brunette sasses back to him, "Also why do you look like that?" he questions with a head tilt as he assesses one of his best friends.
"What do you mean? How do I look?" Logan asks confused, alarmed that his appearance might be giving away what Rory and him had been up to.
Colin gives him a long stare before saying, "I don't know, you just seem giddy or something. What's made you so happy?"
Logan sags in relief as he hasn't given away the change in his and Rory's relationship. But before he can even think of how to answer the other boy, Colin is already moving the conversation along, "You know what, I don't care. I came to check on Rory. Finn and I were concerned when she stormed in here and was never seen again."
The young Huntzberger sighs, as he is reminded of why Rory had come into his room in the first place. "Yeah, I think it's just one of those things where her and Lorelai just need time to calm down. I mean, a lot has happened and I think they just need time to process it." Colin hums in agreement and sends a quick glance towards the bathroom door before he whispers loudly, "Lorelai came out of her room a little while ago. She was a little pouty and definitely didn't want to talk about what happened. But I think you're right, this will all blow over soon"
"Hopefully" Logan mutters.
However, he is desperate to get Colin out of the room as him and Rory still have a lot to talk about. "Well, we'll just stay in here for the night as I think Ace is a bit drained from the whole day and it's probably best that Lorelai and her have this space after everything!" As he tells the other boy this, he is also herding Colin towards the door. It lines up perfectly that he finishes that sentence when he puts his hand on the handle. He then opens the door for the brunette and announces, "Thanks for checking in! I'll be sure to tell Ace that you came to check on her, but we'll see you in the morning. Goodnight Colin!"
Colin is slightly bewildered by how Logan is rushing him out of the room, so he doesn't really have much time to react. Seconds later, the blonde pushes him out the door, and Colin is barely able to tell him "Goodnight" before the door shuts in his face. The young McCrea found the whole exchange with Logan really weird, but then it has been an odd day so he reasons that he should just go with it. He therefore shrugs before making his way back to Finn and Lorelai.
Meanwhile back in the room, Logan is happy with how quickly he was able to get rid of Colin and goes back over to the bed to wait for Rory. It's during this time that he really thinks about what just transpired. While it's been amazing, Logan knows that they need to talk about it.
Funnily enough Rory came to the same conclusion in the bathroom. She is just dabbing her face with a towel after splashing it with water, as it was meant to help cool her down. As she's doing this, she tries to gather her thoughts and goes back to the comments her mother had said about her naivety with Logan and everyone else. This is one of the biggest setbacks that she has been having and so she thinks it's vital for them to discuss it so that they can have a clear way of dealing with everyone.
Looking at herself in the mirror, Rory takes a deep breath before she re-enters the room. When she gets back in there she's met with a more serious looking Logan. It makes her feel a bit more confident coming into the conversation as it would seem that he is also prepared for it.
Rory therefore doesn't hesitate in her stride and sits down next to him on the bed. Logan offers her a small smile as she gets more comfortable, he even picks up her hands and places them in his lap. He then starts tracing patterns on the back of her palms, using it as a reassurance to himself but also as a distraction.
With Logan busy looking down at their hands, it's Rory who starts the conversation. "I know it was short, but I think the moment's over. It's time to talk about the other stuff" she watches him carefully but is glad to see that he starts nodding in agreement.
"Yeah, I mean we can't stay in here forever" Logan says quietly, there's some resentment in his tone. Sensing his somber mood, Rory takes more control over the direction of their exchange by asking, "So how are we going to do this?"
She doesn't give him any time to reply before going into one of her infamous rambles, "I mean we kind of skipped a couple of steps before announcing we are in love with each other, and we seem to have some of the physical aspects down seeing as we keep getting sidetracked by it when we try to talk. But we need to have a plan for the everyday. I mean how do we behave around one another? Are there certain things I can't tell you now because of this change in our relationship? Do we need to behave differently to show this as well? I just want to know what we're meant to be doing!"
Seeing as she's already panicking, Logan calms her down as he lifts one of his hands up to stroke her hair while shushing her. After that lengthy ramble, Rory's breathing had quickened and so she really appreciates that Logan has remained so calm and even tried to comfort her.
When she seems to be in more control, Logan then decides to speak. "Ace I think it's really important that you remember that I love you, like a lot, before you hear what I have to say next." He looks at her waiting for a sign that she understands before he continues, "All your doubts are fucking stupid" he deadpans, and when she goes to say something he waves her off as he carries on talking, "No hear me out. The things you said, they're coming from a person looking at this as if we have to be something different so that we can be together. When the reality is that this whole thing was us being two idiots behaving like a couple who stupidly didn't realise they were in love. So you don't need to worry about those things, as I wouldn't want any of them to change. I mean just imagine a world where I can't come to you for advice! I don't think anyone needs that, as you are far more sensible than I am" his little dig at himself makes Rory giggle, "I also think I have to deal with far too much regarding Colin and Finn. If I suddenly had to also think of how I behave around you, my head might explode" Logan is delighted when his teasing actually causes Rory to snort.
While she had been quiet through his speech, the mention of the other two has her entering back into the conversation. "Okay," she says softly, "but I don't think we should tell everyone else just yet." Rory had come to this decision after everything that's happened the last couple of days, Logan therefore doesn't miss the certainty in her voice.
"I'm not disagreeing with you Ace, but can I ask why?" He questions her curiously.
Rory sighs before explaining, "I just feel like we need a little bit of time to ourselves. This is such an important development for us and so I would rather us be confident in our relationship before telling others. Don't get me wrong I love all of them. But as soon as we tell them about us, they will want to be so involved, which would become a lot of pressure-"
"And you just want us to have a solid foundation before adding all that craziness into the mix" Logan finishes for her. Rory's glad to see that he seems to follow her reasoning and he's even nodding along. "I get it Ace, I really do. So yeah, let's hold off on telling everyone for a bit, we can always revisit all that later on." He's glad to see the brunette's smile widen in obvious happiness but also relief. Logan is just overjoyed that they seem to have sorted everything out for the near future and can finally move forward in their relationship.
He's therefore concerned when Rory says very seriously, "There's just one more tiny issue…" he searches his mind for what it could be. Drawing a blank, he looks at her expectantly and becomes confused when she laughs at the face he must have pulled. "I realised in the bathroom that when I stormed out of the room I was going to share with Mom, I didn't grab any of my stuff. Is there any chance I could borrow something to sleep in?" Rory asks, completely amused. Logan blinks for a second before chuckling at his girlfriend's smug face, "You shouldn't scare a guy like that," He then gets up and moves towards his bag, "Will boxers and one of my T-shirts do?" he holds up the mentioned articles of clothing as he asks this. The young Gilmore walks over to look at the items, "Yeah I can make do with these" she then grabs them off him before making her way into the bathroom once again.
While she's in there, Logan finishes getting ready for bed and makes his way under the covers. It's only minutes later that Rory emerges donning her makeshift pajamas. A million thoughts run through Logan's head as he watches her place her day clothes near his bag and then crawls up the bed so that she can get in next to him. There's just something about a woman wearing nothing but your clothing that really turns a guy on.
However, all these thoughts stop when Rory yawns. "I'm so exhausted" she comments while settling in against the pillows. She looks about seconds away from falling asleep and so Logan laughs to himself about how she got tired so quickly. "I bet" he agrees, "I mean you have had a crazy day. Taking part in a spontaneous trip after a cancelled engagement, having a big fight with your mom, and then gaining yourself a boyfriend. How do you even manage it?"
Rory smiles sleepily at Logan's teasing, and her heart does a little flip when he calls himself her boyfriend. "Exactly. I'm just that amazing I suppose" she murmurs as her eyes struggle to stay open. "That you are Ace" Logan tells her as he leans over to switch off the light. He then shifts himself so that his face is hovering over hers. "It's why I love you" he tells her sincerely. Rory's hum in approval is the only indication that she is still awake, and he leans down to place one last peck on her lips.
As Logan's pulling away he hears her whisper, "I love you too" and he's never felt so content to fall asleep as he pulls her body towards his.
X X X
The next morning, Logan wakes up in bed alone. He listens out for any noise from the bathroom, but it would seem that Rory has finally braved going back out to the communal area. While Logan should be disappointed, he reasons that Rory has probably gone to talk to Lorelai, and after all the things that happened yesterday the girls needed to clear the air.
His girlfriend's disappearing act prompts Logan to get himself up and ready for the day. He jumps in the shower and quickly throws on some clothes, before making his way out of the room.
It seems that he was one of the last to get up, as Rory, Lorelai, and Colin are eating breakfast on the couches. It's clear that the two Gilmores are over their argument from the previous night as they are busy discussing how the coffee at Finn's family hotels compares to Luke's. It doesn't seem that the conversation is in the Australian's favour, as even Colin agrees that it doesn't compare. It is at that point that Logan notes that Finn is the only member of their little group that is missing, but that's to be expected seeing as it was still early.
As Logan makes his way towards the rest of them, he greets them "Good morning" and receives various responses. Just as he makes a plate for himself, Lorelai gets up and announces that she just needs to make a call, opening up a spot right next to Rory. He sits down, purposefully knocking his legs against her, looking smug when she rolls her eyes.
His appearance seems to motivate Colin, as he says that he is going to wake up Finn so that they can get on with their day, leaving the two of them alone.
Once Colin is out of hearing range, Logan turns to the young Gilmore and taunts quietly, "Couldn't wait to get away from me, could you?" Rory looks back at him unimpressed, "And to think we could have shared a fantastic morning together as a new couple." he continues amused by himself.
"Continue on with this, and you won't be sharing any mornings with me anytime soon" she threatens back while putting a piece of her croissant into her mouth, only giving him a small glance as she wants to appear serious. She knows fine rightly that one look at him will make her smile and will weaken the threat.
While he should take it as a warning, Logan sees it more as a challenge and so he quickly checks his surroundings before leaning much closer towards Rory and whispering in her ear. "Even with everything I have planned?" he asks her suggestively and then bites her earlobe for added effect.
The brunette shrieks quietly as she pushes him off her. "Logan!" she hisses, "Anyone could see!" He leans back into the couch while popping a piece of melon into his mouth, delighted to see that she's blushing. "Relax Ace, everyone's busy. No one's going to notice what we're doing" He wiggles his eyebrows to really add to his comment.
Instead of dignifying that with a response, Rory ignores him as she makes her way off the couch and walks towards the room she was meant to share with her mother. Logan calls out to her, thinking she was annoyed at him, but gets no answer until she comes back out of the room carrying something. It would seem that Lorelai was done with her call as she walks back over to where he's sat, before asking with a gasp, "Is that a map?"
"Yes it is" Rory confirms, "I'm not having a repeat of yesterday!" The older Gilmore strides over to the brunette, grabbing the map out of her hands. At this point, Colin and Finn had finally emerged from one of the other rooms. They all watch as Lorelai hums and twists the map in different ways, she then announces, "I know what we're going to do today!"
A couple hours later the five of them find themselves outside the gates of Harvard University. Rory stares at the place in awe, whereas the boys are grumbling about how it doesn't compare to Yale. Lorelai shushes them, as she doesn't want them ruining this for her daughter. They all turn to look at the youngest of the group, and while the guys have loyalty to their own university, they can see how much this means to Rory.
It is for this reason that when the boys had realised where they were going, they decided that they should let the mother/daughter have some alone time together. They had also come up with a rough game plan as to how they would utilise their time.
You see, during the summer, each of the boys had been informed about their family's legacy in a secret society known as the Life and Death Brigade. They all came from a founding family and so their membership was guaranteed. However, they still wanted to impress their fellow Brigaders and so they planned to do something in retaliation to one of their rival universities to gain people's attention. The only problem was the secrecy of the society meant that they couldn't tell Lorelai or Rory about what they were planning to do. They had also reasoned that Rory definitely wouldn't approve, and so they had come up with the idea of having the girls dismiss them instead. The boys' plan seems to have worked, as it's not long till they are going their separate ways.
With the Debbie Downers gone, Lorelai and Rory were really able to explore the whole campus. They are able to check out the different buildings, completely invade some poor girls dormitory, and Rory even managed to successfully contribute to a college lecture.
The younger Gilmore is still buzzing about her achievement, gushing about it to her mother, when they bump into Logan. He was able to complete his part of the boys' plan faster than the other two and so he quickly tracked down the Gilmores. Rory is overjoyed to tell Logan about how they have spent their day. The young Huntzberger is so happy for her, as he can see the positive impact the trip has had. However, this thought is then followed by a darker one. Logan sometimes finds that he doesn't want Rory to be so definite about Harvard. This is because if he was living in a perfect world, then he would love it if Rory was to choose Yale. It would mean that he would get to spend more time with her and they would even get to experience college together. The problem is, Logan could never be that selfish and so he just has to nod along while Rory becomes so excited about the other university.
After she rambles on about her experience, she then asks the other two whether they want a coffee, and then she's rushing off to grab them all a cup from the nearest coffee cart. As Logan watches her go, he senses eyes on him. When he turns to the older woman, he realises that Lorelai is staring at him with a knowing look. "What's up?" he questions her. The raven-haired woman continues to observe him before saying, "You look how I feel." Logan tilts his head in confusion before asking, "What do you mean by that?"
"The way you're looking at Rory," for a second Logan panics as Lorelai says this, he thinks he might have already given the game away so early on. However, she then continues, "It's the same way that I feel. You have all this happiness as you watch the person you love become so elated about something, even if it breaks your heart slightly as you can't be a part of the thing that gives them this joy."
While Lorelai says this, Logan looks back towards where Rory is in line at the coffee cart. He's so focused on her, that he absentmindedly replies to the other woman, "Yeah, but because you love them, you know it's what they deserve. You can therefore only show them your happiness." It takes him a second to realise what he just admitted to the older Gilmore. He tries to backtrack, but he knows it's too late as he can see Lorelai's smug smile.
"Come on kid, do you really think I don't know you're in love with my daughter?" she asks him rhetorically. Lorelai has known the boy for nearly fourteen years and has had to watch him develop these feelings for multiple of them. Some credit should be given to her seeing as she practically raised the pair of them. She laughs it off before saying, "At the end of the day, I know that you respect Rory far more than anyone else, so I could never be mad at you for loving her. If anything I should tell you how I would be thrilled if you guys were to get together. But all that happening is something you'll have to figure out yourselves. Obviously depending on whether it's right for the both of you" Lorelai doesn't want to tell him about Rory's feelings, as she feels that it's not her place, but she heavily hints at it. Little does she know how much further along the pair are.
Seeing that Rory and him had only just had a conversation about how little they want to tell people, Logan knows that he needs to be vague. "I'm glad that you think so highly of me. I would never want to do anything that would hurt either of you," he tells her sincerely, before coughing awkwardly, "But talking about Ace and Harvard. I think we'll get through it."
"You really think so?" Lorelai asks hopefully as she looks at her daughter. Logan turns his attention back on the young brunette as well. "I mean, just look at her" he says while gesturing to the young Gilmore, "You can see that this is where she's meant to be."
The two of them continue to watch Rory as the next couple of years start to get mapped out in their minds. For some strange reason they both find something missing that's not quite allowing them to imagine Rory here. However, neither of them can figure out what it is.