AN: I'm sorry for the delay - this week has been...heavy. We have new regulations on what we can/cannot do re: cover, and that is...heavy, and the situation in the US is heavy with Duante Wright and Adam Toledo and the George Floyd trial...it's just...a lot. So this chapter briefly touches on George Floyd, I don't think I could write about June 2020 without acknowledging that, and I think trying to make sure Nate isn't a spoiled brat will be an ongoing thing. Please read, review, enjoy. I know I have some DM's to respond to, I apologize. EHC should come by Sunday!

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter Five - No Strings Attached

"Ace," Logan breathed. His voice was husky, it caught in his throat as she walked towards him, undoing her bra as she got closer.

"What's it going to be?" she asked as her bra fell to the floor leaving her breasts exposed. "You, or the Satisfyer."

"It's been a long time since anyone called me that," Logan joked, he took her by the hand and pulled her gently towards him, careful to protect his bad hand under the circumstances, "what is this about?" Logan asked, his lips hovering at her ear.

"I," Rory swung her leg over his body and straddled him, she knew they were separated by the fabric of the blanket, her panties and his sweatpants that he typically wore to bed, but she pressed her hips down anyway, "want you."

Logan sat up slightly and kissed her, "I'll never say no, you know that," he told her, telling her something they both knew. "But you need to tell me why you're really here."

"I told you," Rory told him, his lips were on her collarbone, moving down towards the swell over her breast, "I'm horny."

"Why?"

"Do you really need this much of an explanation?" Rory asked him, her voice dripping with exasperation. She ran a hand through her hair and sat up completely, ignoring the darkness in his eyes as he stared at her naked body.

"I'm not mad about it. I'm fine to be a means to an end but we've never done casual sex well. I need to know what this is."

Rory rolled her eyes. He was infuriating. It was the way that he knew her that was infuriating, and not just because he knew her better than anyone, but it was because he knew that he could drive her nuts by demanding an answer in this moment, even if he knew the answer. "Our son," she couldn't say his name when she was in this particular position, "…when he called, he might've interrupted something."

"So," Logan grinned as he wrapped his arms around her body and took her nipple into his mouth, "are you here for me, or for him?"

"I'm not-" she moaned as Logan let his hands travel to her ass, thankful that he had injured his non-dominant hand so he still had a fair amount of strength. "You," she moaned, "I'm here for you."

"Then you don't have to ask me twice."

xxx

June 21, 2020

"Mom," Rory sat in Logan's office, using his iMac to FaceTime her mother, "Father's Day must be hard for grandma…just relax."

"Hate to break it to you kid, but grandma was not a father…" Lorelai told her, she was sitting in the garden and as far as Rory could see, no one was around her. That likely meant that her grandmother was on a walk and Luke was cooking, or possibly calling in an order for the diner. "I have to get out of here."

"Mom, you can't just leave her. Things are bad…they are still really bad, and didn't you say that Berta's husband or brother or uncle or something got Covid? So she would be alone…"

"Maybe she could go stay with them," Lorelai rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath.

"Mom!"

"I didn't mean it," Lorelai admitted. Even she didn't think pandemic jokes were funny, but didn't stop her from making them from time to time. "It's just hard. But anyway, whatever. How are things over in fantasyland?"

"Fantasyland?"

"Oh you know, you and Logan and his butlers and you probably have ladies in waiting…where is your corset?"

Rory rolled her eyes, "we are like a week back into having Jessica back," she referred to the housekeeper. She had requested to come back to work under some strict conditions about expectations for all parties, but the poor woman just needed to get out of the house and do her job. "So that is weird, having someone here…even if it's just a few hours a day. I never know what to do when she is around. Do I hide? Do I offer to help…it's like when grandma used to catch you in the kitchen helping with dishes…"

"Well the maid never did them right…they would take their sweet time…we all know silver needs to be polished, not gently soothed…"

"Sure, whatever you say," Rory laughed. "You look good," she noted the tan that her mother had. "Have you been going for walks or anything?"

"Walks mostly. Did you know grandma has bikes here? She has like four? So sometimes we go for little rides around…either Luke and I, or mom and I…never Luke, mom and I…that would be…"

"Hell," Rory laughed.

"And you say I'm the mean one," Lorelai smiled, "any plans for today for Logan?"

Rory shrugged, "we're going to have dinner. He wants to grill, so probably outside…Nathan ordered him a gift."

"And you two are…?" Rory looked at her mother like she had three heads, "come on kid," Lorelai continued, "don't make me pull it out of you."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Rory lied. The last thing she was going to do was FaceTime her mother about how she was having frequent crazy hot sex with her baby daddy. "We're just friends, coparenting…it is what it is right now."

"You sticking with that story?"

"When are you thinking you'll open the inn?" Rory changed the subject. Connecticut had just allowed hotels to re-open the day prior and her mother had balked at the idea for the time being.

"I mean, I would need to get home and I think Taylor has mandated isolation which is probably the least insane thing he has ever done. So I'd have to quarantine for two weeks…I just don't know if I'm there yet. Plus, if I call back the staff…I just couldn't live with myself if someone got sick…but at the same time people need jobs. They've been getting some pay from me because…well…you know the government isn't exactly supporting us right now, but I don't know what to do…"

"Do you feel safe?" Rory asked, noting that her mother had more worry lines than the last time she had seen her in person, although the same could definitely be said for Rory. "If you open the inn I mean, would you feel safe?"

"I don't know…" Lorelai paused, "I would need to get plexiglass and PPE…and is an inn still cute if you've got plexiglass? I can't imagine Michel…he would probably be wearing a space suit and disinfecting people on their way in…"

"Can you blame him?" Rory countered, "I mean…people were disgusting before…"

"You might have a point," Lorelai looked away from the camera and smiled, Rory could see that it was relief coming over her. "Hey kid, I've gotta go. Grandma is back…"

"Say hi to grandma for me?"

"I will, love you," and just like that, Lorelai was gone and Rory was staring at the computer screen. Had it really been since February that she last saw her mother in person. At least they were safe. That is what Rory kept telling herself.

Rory got up and walked out of the office. She followed the sound of her son laughing out to the back patio and the pool. Logan was in the pool and the pair were goofing off, "Are you guys staying in for a while?" Rory asked as she watched them, she had to shout to get their attention between the splashing and the laughter.

"Yup! Come on mom," Nathan grinned as he attempted to dunk his father again.

"I'll be right out," Rory smiled. She watched the interaction for another moment. She had always known that Logan was a good dad. She had seen it when they were all together, but seeing the two truly living together, seeing how they interacted day in and day out, how Logan would help Nathan with homework or give him basketball tips, those were the moments she hadn't really seen before. She returned a few minutes later to see that Nathan had in fact gotten out of the pool and she could hear him at the basketball court as she dropped her towel on a chair and carefully stepped into the water.

"He said he would be back," Logan assured her as he gazed at her, his eyes lingering on the plunging v-neck of the black one piece she had chosen. "New suit?" he asked. He hadn't seen it before and they had gone swimming a fair amount in the last few weeks.

"I ordered it from J Crew…along with an entire wardrobe of clothes that I won't be able to wear because I don't have a job…but I like to think of it as helping stimulate the economy," Rory told him as she perched her round framed sunglasses on her nose.

"Doing your part," Logan laughed as he moved toward her and he noticed that Rory immediately moved in the opposite direction, "he's all the way over there," Logan nodded off in the distance, "and as long as we can hear that ball dribbling, we know he can't see us…"

Rory shook her head and kept kicking her legs lightly to move herself away from him, "we said we weren't going to do this," she looked at him knowingly, "while Nathan was awake and I think that a couple hundred feet away and outside qualifies as awake."

"But today is Father's Day," Logan pouted playfully, he took her by the hand and smiled when she didn't pull away and instead he placed light and wet kisses on her neck.

"And I sent my father a card, and my step father, and I think maybe even your father."

"You didn't?" his head shot up and his brow creased.

Rory laughed and used the moment to swim away from him again. "I mean, I sent one after I made Nathan sign it," she explained. "But I am not doing any dirty things in the pool in the middle of the afternoon with our son outside…"

"Remember when you used to be adventurous?" Logan laughed, "what happened to that girl?" Logan thought back to their time in college. When they missed dinner reservations to stay in bed, when they had stolen a boat and while the ramifications of that weren't ideal, it was still a thrill. They would jet off for a night or a weekend at a moments notice. With a few drinks in her, Rory became a completely different person and a willing participant in some more risqué hookups when they were young.

"I got pregnant and became a parent," Rory rolled her eyes. "So now I do my hooking up when I know I won't be found."

"So that's what we're doing?" Logan asked, he had seemingly given up on his attempts to get to her in the pool, "hooking up?"

"How else would you define it?" Rory asked. They had talked about it the morning after, but it wasn't even the morning after, it was the wee hours of the night when Rory had told him she couldn't sleep there. She had given him a litany of reasons, but in addition to the fact that sleeping in lingerie wasn't comfortable, and that she wasn't prepared to wear his clothes, she didn't want to risk Nathan finding them at any point. Even though he was well past the point of coming into his parents bedrooms, he was an intuitive enough kid that he would notice if things weren't as they should have been, and that would include Rory making her bed before she had coffee running through her veins.

"I don't know," Logan admitted. "But I wouldn't mind waking up next to you a time or two," he winked at her, "maybe a quickie in the morning."

Rory swam towards him. Her body gliding through the water as she managed to keep her hair from getting wet. She listened in the distance for the sound of the basketball thumping off the ground and she ran her hands up Logan's chest, letting them settle on his shoulders. She leaned forward and pressed her lips into his, her hands moved to the nape of his neck and his to her hips as he held her flush against his body. "That would be playing with fire," she told him when they pulled apart a moment later.

"What if I said I like fire?"

xxx

Golf.

Rory shook her head as she watched them sitting on the couch watching golf. And not only were they watching golf…it was a recording. It wasn't even current golf. Logan had recorded a tournament from 2019 and that is what he and Nathan were talking about while also discussing all of the courses they hoped to play when things were normal again. Rory was certain that if she heard the word normal once more, her head might explode. She had no idea what normal looked like anymore. They lived in a changed world, and it had been a difficult month for her as a parent. The George Floyd protests had shaken Rory up in ways she had never expected. Rory had always known that she was privileged. She had always known that her son was privileged. She had never considered that boys and men who were black would have a completely different experience with the police than her son would, or Logan would. It was stupid of her, of course, to not realize that. She had watched the video too many times to count, especially since she wasn't working, she had watched the riots and she had felt her blood looking at the comment sections of her social media accounts. Rory was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of shuffling and Logan standing up. He apologized to Nathan and told him he would be back and then walked out of the room, leaving Rory with the option of either going and hiding elsewhere in the house, or sitting down with her son. She opted for the latter, taking a seat on the club chair while Nathan sat on the couch.

"Have you seen this before?" she asked him.

"Shhh," Nathan told her. "Dad says he'll take me here if I get better…Papa is a member, and we could go as guests."

"Well, dad and I will talk about that."

"Dad can take me on trips," Nathan challenged her in a way that only a twelve year old would think was logical. "He's my dad, you can't tell him not to."

"Dad and I don't tell each other what to do," Rory told him, "dad and I coparent, and that means we talk about things and agree…but I think going to Augusta at the tender age of twelve is a bit rich…even for your blood." Nathan gave her a confused look and Rory leaned forward and grabbed the remote. "Nathan…you know that most kids don't just get to casually go and play golf at Augusta…right?" she really hoped that he was going to tell her that he knew that, because if he didn't, she was pretty sure she had failed at raising a grounded kid.

"I know," Nathan nodded. "But you and dad have a lot of money, so we can."

Rory gave him half a smile. She was reassured that he at least understood that money was involved, but she didn't love that it was as simple as 'you have lots'. "Dad has a lot of money, and I…well I am comfortable. But the money that dad has, and even the money that Grammie Emily has…it was easier for them to make money. It was easier for your dad to have this life because he was just born into a very wealthy family."

"So if Grammie Emily is rich too, then weren't you born into a rich family too?"

Rory nodded, this wasn't going exactly as planned, but she could work with it. "The Gilmore family does have a lot more money than they need, but that really isn't what I'm trying to talk about. The point is that because we have money, because we have money and are white things are a lot easier for us. For dad, and you and me. You need to be aware of the fact that you have an unfair advantage."

"But I can't help that."

Rory nodded her head and smiled at him reassuringly, "I know you can't kiddo, but it is our job to try to balance things out, and to try to make sure that we go out of our way to support Black causes, and as your mom it is my job to make sure that you understand that the colour of your skin, or how much money you have, or the fact that you are a boy doesn't make you better than anyone."

"We're all the same, I get it," Nathan shrugged. Rory smiled. He was growing up so fast, but in moments of this he just seemed so innocent, because in his mind it was as simple as that. While he knew that there were mean kids, he had lived a sheltered life, a life that had protected him from seeing how life was for marginalized communities.

"Just don't lose sight of that. And don't be a brat," Rory continued, "just because dad can take you to Augusta doesn't mean he should. You can have just as much fun golfing around here, and when you're older and better, you can go."

"I'll talk to dad," Nathan countered.

"Mhmmm," Rory raised an eyebrow. She knew there was more to discuss with him, more to make sure that he understood, but for the moment she would settle for having reminded her son that his money and the colour of his skin didn't make him better than anyone. "I'm going to get a drink for dad and I, and then we'll start getting dinner ready?"

Nathan waited a moment as Rory went and poured herself a glass of wine and then he turned off the television and followed her into the kitchen. They had ordered a cake from a local bakery and while it wasn't fancy it wasn't quite the boxed cake and packaged icing that Logan had once told her he longed for as a kid, but it was a happy medium. A vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream and sprinkles. There was no fresh fruit, no fancy fondant, she had found a pretty cake and a silly #1 Dad cake topper that Rory had added online. "Is it weird?" Nathan asked as he propped himself up on a bar stool as Rory took out the ingredients to make salad and put the steaks on a cutting board.

"Is what weird?" Rory asked as she put some of the mixed greens into a big wooden bowl and then moved on to preparing vegetables to go in.

"Staying here with dad?" Nathan asked, he reached forward and took a green pepper from the cutting board and popped it in his mouth with a satisfied grin. "It wasn't going to be a long time and it's been a while."

Rory nodded as she continued to slice the pepper, "well I'm thankful that dad has enough space, and I think that this is all going on longer than we expected, but until the vaccine is sorted out, and things are calm…I think it's better for us to be together. Otherwise we would be shuttling you back and forth to Brooklyn, and I know that I wouldn't feel comfortable with that. Are you alright with me being here? I know dad and I have always tried to get along, and we've always been close…but this is different for you. Dad and I have never lived together while you've been alive…"

"Did you and dad ever live together?" Nathan asked. His parents had always gotten along, so he hadn't really romanticized the idea of them being together, probably because they were always willing to be together for his benefit, they just never lived together. Most of his friends with parents who weren't together had parents who fought and didn't get along, who had been married and then divorced, but Nathan had parents who loved each other and got along, but to his knowledge had never truly been together, at leave not in a way he understood.

"We did," Rory nodded, "when we were at Yale we lived together for a while."

"But not since I was born?"

Rory paused, she didn't like lying to him, but she also wasn't going to get into the complicated relationship that she and Logan had over the years. "No, not since you were born, until now. We've always spent time together though. Dad and I are best friends and care a lot about each other. You didn't answer though," she told him, "do you want me to stay here still or is this too much?"

Nathan smiled and shook his head, "I like it…it's like how some of my friends do things. Their parents are together. It's kind of cool."

Rory put the knife down and pushed the peppers into the bowl, "why don't you do the cucumber and I'm going to go get dad. See if I can coax him out with a bottle of fancy wine."

"Why is he working on Father's Day?"

"Because he has a really big job, and the news never sleeps, so when things go on, he has to be involved…even on Father's Day." Rory stood up, remember how it seemed like just yesterday Nathan was far too young to be left alone in the kitchen with a knife. Now he could make his own breakfast and lunch, he could cook a lot on his own even if he didn't do it much. Rory walked into Logan's office with two glasses of wine in her hand and immediately noticed how aggravated he looked. "Penny for your thoughts?" she asked, sliding the glass of merlot in front of him.

"Sorry," Logan rubbed his temples, "I'm going to be a bit longer."

"Do you want me to do the steak?"

Logan laughed and Rory was surprised that it seemed to defuse whatever mood he was in, the tension was thick and she knew it had nothing to do with her. "No, I still want to enjoy eating the meat. I just need to approve a press release, and make another call. I'll probably have some stuff to do after dinner."

"Everything ok?"

"I just…six reporters….they got arrested covering the protests. One is in the hospital with a severe concussion, another has a broken arm, and there are five with various other minor injuries, there are fines and court dates and broken shit…"

"Just at the protests?"

Logan nodded his head. "I don't want it to end, there is something broken in the system and it's not ok. But I also…it's scary. It's scary that my people are working that, and it's scary that this is the reality of the world we live in."

Rory perched herself on the edge of his desk, her back to the door, her body facing him as she took a sip of her wine. "I just had a bit of a talk with Nathan about it…how he needs to understand his privilege and how he has to use it to do good things…"

"Where did that come from?" Logan asked, concerned that Nathan had said something inappropriate.

"We were talking, and he just casually said how you and your dad could take him to Augusta like it was no big deal to be able to visit a golf club with fees that are more than some people will make in a lifetime. You know?" Logan nodded his head in response, "and the fact that he will be rich and white and have all of these opportunities because he is rich and white…I mean, we can't undo those things, but we can make sure he understands that he has to do better."

"Well, we're all going to be together for a while to drill that into him," Logan closed his laptop and smiled as he stood up, he quickly leaned forward and gave Rory a kiss. "God knows I could've used that lesson a bit earlier in life…"

Rory laughed, "what ever do you mean?"

"I haven't always been the wise and upstanding man that I am now," Logan laughed as he took his glass of wine and walked towards the door. "Some people when they first met me years ago thought I was a snotty asshole, and they would've been right."

"I'm sure they had other names for you…"

"Yes, like butt faced miscreant," Logan smirked in the same way he had all those years ago. "But thank you…because without you, without Nathan…I don't know that I wouldn't still be that guy today…or worse, more like my dad was."

"Or," Rory challenged as they entered the kitchen to find Nathan setting the table, "Finn would've rubbed off on you too much and you would've been the epitome of toxic masculinity and a nudist."

"Finn isn't a nudist," Logan rolled his eyes.

"He sent me a postcard from a nudist colony!"

"That was a year and a half ago Ace," Logan smirked, "he is currently running a burlesque club that is shut down, but otherwise moderately successful. He would be devastated to know that you forgot."

"I didn't forget, I'm trying to scrub that, and the nudist colony from my memory!"

"Anyway, thank you," Logan looked at her pointedly, "for calling me out….for making me a better man."