"Wait here. Go to Branford Hall in five minutes," Logan instructed as soon as he turned off the ignition.
"Why? I already know the plan!" She whined.
"Ace, just trust me..." he said placing a kiss on her lips then took off.
He changed into a Yale sweatshirt printed with "If you are Rory Gilmore, please follow me..." and waited for Rory in front of Branford Hall.
"What the?" Rory asked giggling when she spotted Logan waiting for her with a cup of large coffee.
"Just go with it. This was originally planned for you to take yourself, but with what happened yesterday, I wasn't going to let you out of my sight for too long. So I'm gonna be your tour guide today," he said sheepishly. "And for each memory, I will give you a keepsake,"
"Okay," she agreed, wove her hand into his. "Guide away!"
"First stop! This very dorm room has been the witness of Rory Gilmore and Logan Huntzberger's love story. Many of our finest moments were spent here. But the most significant of it all was the first moment I laid eyes on you... you know what I thought of you that very day?"
Rory shook her head.
"First of course I noticed how pretty you are with your captivating blue eyes, rosy cheek, and plump lips that were begging to be kissed,"
"I did not begging to be kissed!"
"Indeed you weren't. And then, I totally checked you out from top to bottom and back, and I thought... I would love to spoil that body,"
"So, your first thoughts about me was perverted?"
"Hey, bear with me. It showed me how I was a total dirt before you. Although in my defense, I never led people on, and my intention was always true and shown from the very beginning,"
Rory rolled her eyes.
"So, I quickly realized that you were not like the other chicks that usually throw themselves at me,"
"Gee, what made you think that?" She mocked.
He chose to ignore that comment. "It was refreshing, so I had to keep the conversation going. I even forgot what we were arguing about, I just remembered that I didn't want to stop. You recognized my references and you matched them... I was deeply impressed, I did a check on you after that," he admitted.
"You stalked me?"
"I wouldn't say such harsh thing like that, Ace. I prefer... putting extra work to know some one. And imagine my delight when I found out that you, my dear, were a writer at the Yale Daily News!" He announced.
"I'm guessing that's where we're headed next?"
"Correct! And for that correct answer, you get a memorabilia," he handed her a fridge magnet of Professor Asher Flemming's poster. Rory laughed. How did he even found that poster to made into a fridge magnet, she wouldn't even ask.
"This was where I found you, Rory Gilmore, a girl who had shown no interest on me other than annoyed, but had haunted my dreams since that faithful acquaintance in front of your dorm. You know what I thought of you then?"
"What?"
"That this girl is a dork! A very cute one, but a dork nonetheless,"
She swatted his arm.
"I watched you typed and mumbled and bit your underlip under this hat where I pretended to be sleeping," he put a hat that was very similar to the hat he was wearing on the first day they met in the Yale Daily News. "This is your second keepsake..."
"At this rate, I'm gonna be out of hand to carry my memorabilia,"
"Of course at that time I was also thinking hard how to get your attention... because you were different. And I was intrigued. I know that my usual techniques won't work on you, but I really had no idea what to do. And then thank my lucky stars, you found out about the LDB and tried to use me to get your story. I had to say, Ace... you've got game. Although I, of course, who had grown up in the business, knew one or two things about dodging a reporter. But it would be counter productive with my effort to finally get your attention if I dodge you,"
"So you used it to your own benefits?"
"Of course, I had to show you how it looks like in my world, hadn't I? And Ace, just for the record, you fitted. I know you tried to deny it, but it was you birth right, and you fell into it just fine,"
"Really? How do you know? You barely spent time with me at the event,"
"You, silly girl. Always so oblivious. I and half of the male population of LDB was keeping an eye on you. We followed your every move,"
"Really? Why?"
"Ace!" He rolled his eyes. "You were hot! Still is. And new. Guys that age loves someone hot and new," he explained.
"What am I? A branded bag?" She asked sourly.
"So anyway, I obviously had to take care of you. So I never let you out of my sight. You know, to make sure no one try anything,"
"You were chasing skirts if I recall correctly,"
"I talked to them, maybe even flirted a little. But my mind was always on you," he admitted. "You know I think that was where I started falling for you, right in the moment of our literal jump. As I was falling to the ground with your hand tightly squeezing mine, I think my heart was also falling for you, and the feeling was ecstatic. I almost kissed you when we land," He handed her her third and fourth memorabilia, a gorilla mask and an umbrella fridge magnet and pulled her closer.
"Yeah, it was pretty magical..." she agreed, ring her arms on his neck. "I almost kissed you too, totally forgotten about my then boyfriend, Dean..."
"Freakishly tall dude who broke up with you on your grandparents' lawn in front of a bunch of you friends from school?" He asked incredulously. "Never been a fan,"
She giggled.
"You know I almost lost it when you said you had a boyfriend. I did a background check on you, as you know. I found out you were a Gilmore, that was why I attended your grandparents' Yale-male party. I also found out that you never lived in Hartford although you attended Chilton, you were a valedictorian, an only child, and loves Jane Austen... but no one, not one source of information ever told me about a boyfriend. The most crucial information, they neglected to tell me,"
"Yeah, why?"
"Glad you asked, Ace. Knowing your boyfriend, or anything about him, is a pivotal information in the Rory Gilmore mapping quest I had on. I was trying to determine the possibility of us dating, or how I used to do it back then, hooking up. By knowing your boyfriend, I would be able to determine what type of girl you are. Girlfriend girl..."
"Or your typical bimbo? Pump'em and dump'em?"
"Ouch. But yes..." he admitted sheepishly. "By learning you have a boyfriend, and how he heartlessly dumped you that night, I realized something that night..." of course he paused for a dramatic effect, placing her chin in between his thumb and index while his eyes never left hers. "That you are special. You are not just some girl to mess with... that if I proceed with my usual MO, I would have gotten your heart broke. And I wouldn't want that. I realized that I care about you, and I never wanted to see you hurt. But to embark on that thing called a relationship like your MO, and you deserved, I wasn't quite ready. So I back off... lived my life like I used to. Only it wasn't like it used to because I kept comparing girls with you. You would think that in a top university like Yale it would be easy to find a girl with your intelligence, but no. I didn't find one single girl that could match your wit,"
"You ever think that you've been fishing in the wrong pond?"
"Sssh, Ace. So in my quest to find your replacement, I probably had dated half of the single ladies population at Yale. But none of them could fit in your shoe, Cinderella... You inhabit my mind, day and night. And I started to get jealous. Of Marty who have been hanging out with you, of that coffee cart guy who received your bright smile and enjoy your coffee appreciation face at least three times a day, and I even tortured myself with the thought of you getting back with that giant asshole,"
"I found myself think about you a lot too,"
"I remembered feeling pretty down for a couple of weeks, and I blamed it all on you. I figured that if that was what love feels like, I don't want it. It was too confusing, to emotional, to gloomy. But who was I to deny love? The stronger I refused, the deeper I fell. And then you kissed me," he demonstrated the kiss, a quick and shy one. "It was remotely felt like kissing a guy, it was a shock of electricity bolting through my veins, but I had to keep my cool. And then you kissed me again and all hell broke loose. I even forgot we were in your grandparents' vow renewal thing,"
"I bet you don't have any keepsake for that,"
"Oh, but I do..." he kissed her hard. "That's your keepsake. I can assure you that you can keep that forever..." he smirked.
"Much appreciated,"
"That and the fact that your mom and dad like to mention it time and again. Them and Honor... I will never live that down," he grinned childishly. "Come on, let's go to our next stop!"
"Ooh! What's next?" Rory asked as she matched Logan's pace.
"Next is here!" He stopped in front of the cafeteria, turned around to face a giddy Rory who is clapping with excitement. "Go crazy, Ace!"
They entered the empty cafeteria that Logan had arranged to display the breakfast menu, plus ice cream. Rory ended up eating two bowls of mixed cereal (including cocoa puffs), a stack of pancakes (the highest stack Logan's ever seen a girl eat), three large scoop of ice cream, and even strawberry and apple.
"Are you okay there, Ace? You haven't even touched your coffee," Logan asked with an amused look.
"I... can't... even... breathe," she muttered under her breath. She was sitting back on the sofa in front of the cafeteria cashier. "I am so full," she added with her eyes half closed.
Logan chuckled. "You really outdid yourself back there, Ace... I'm so proud of you," he patted her head.
"Hah. Thank you. Now can you let me sleep?"
"Not a chance, Ace. We still have two more places. Come on!"
"Ughhh! If it's not the best proposal ever, I won't even consider standing up," she feigned whining but stood up anyway.
Logan gave her another fridge magnet, this time was an ice cream, and led her to his dorm building.
"Obviously, this place had witnessed lots of our milestones," he started, dragging her to the front of Finn and Colin's room. "But here, this here was the first I started to admit my feelings for you to myself..."
He was talking about Finn's Quentin Tarantino's Birthday of course.
"You know before you, I rarely took a girl out twice. But I have been going out with you for a few times without any sign of getting tired of you. If anything, you grew larger in my heart. I often found myself texting you out of the blue, or calling you for the silliest of reasons. And I had lost interest to other girls. That was why I went on that stupid date, and that was why I took what's her name instead of you to Finn's birthday. I wanted to proof to myself that I can date other person," he laughed at his silly attempt to deny his feelings.
"You forget their names?"
"Ace, it was eleven years ago. I forget their names. Sue me," he smirked. "I think I had forgotten their names a week after that even... But I'm sure I had forgotten all about them when you walked in with Robert. Again, feelings I never felt before came to the surface. It was horrible. My mind was full with you and Robert. How did he even think to ask you out, what was his intention, why did you accept, what did you feel about him, would you let him touch you like I touch you, would you kiss him... those sort of things. As the night got older, my feelings got darker. I barely concentrate on what the girl was saying to me, my whole attention was focused on you two and I didn't realize I growled every time he touched you and cringed every time you laugh at his words. Eventually, I surrendered to my primitive feelings and tried to take you home with me,"
"You tried to hijacked my date," she laughed at that.
"Yeah. And imagine my frustration when you didn't want to go with me even if I offered you a night in the Plaza,"
"I had a date,"
"Yeah, and you're as stubborn as a mule..." he agreed. "Needless to say, I was devastated and couldn't go back and enjoy the party. The girl left me with another guy, I didn't even notice. I was busy sulking in the corner with a bottle of whiskey, torturing myself by watching you both. And then you left with him and I drank myself to the oblivion. Finn even felt insulted I was more drunk than him on his birthday,"
He handed her a poker chip magnet and a mini Macallan magnet.
"Thank you," she accepted with a grin.
"So, you know the rest. I started to monopolize your time so that you don't have any free time for another date or another man. I know, I wasn't proud of it. I acted like a spoiled kid hanging on to his favorite toys. And I had other intention too. I thought that if I spend so many times with you I would grow tired of you. But no, the more time I spent with you, the more I wanted to be with you. You were like an addiction. Finn and Colin even complained that they started to see me less, and when they did see me, it would be with you. And no other girls. I was totally only with you. So obviously they asked me if the mighty had fallen, if I had already tied myself in commitment with you... and that freaked me out big time. And I bolted. I went AWOL on you,"
"That week you said you had some friends from out of town?"
"Yes, I truly did have friends from out of town. And we went to Jamaica for a few days. But I could've let you know, I could've called you or texted you, I could've took you with us, but I didn't. I tried to space myself from you, in the hope that I will be free of the constant need of be with you..." he smiled shyly. "Well, as you know, it was a futile effort. I was miserable the whole trip having to war myself to not contact you, dismissing any chick who wanted their way with me, and having trouble sleeping for missing you. Who knew that sleeping with you would be so addictive? I never spent the night with any other girls before you, but with you, I never seemed to be able to leave after making love..."
"Yeah you told me this..."
"Right. So, I had a revelation that maybe being exclusive with you won't be so bad, I only needed a little push, which you gave me the second you walked in my dorm... gave me an ultimatum,"
"I did not gave you an ultimatum,"
"You said we could be friends."
"Yes I did, and I meant it."
"Ace, we could never be friends. Our connection, our attraction to each other, it could never be platonic,"
"Yeah you're right,"
"That means that if we weren't together, we won't even be talking anymore and I couldn't help it. I won't live with it. So I took a chance,"
"And be my boyfriend."
"And be your boyfriend."
He handed her a Jamaica magnet. "To Jamaica!" He raised to cheers with it.
"To Jamaica!" She repeated.
He smiled and dragged her again. This time he brought them to the car.
"Where are we going?"
"Have faith, Ace!"
She pouted but not for long. Her face lit up again when he turned the car into their apartment building. This was the place they were happiest.
He led them inside and stepped aside to give Rory way in. She gasped at the view before her.
The apartment was the same as when they were living there, but decorated with flowers and a banner hanging on the wall that said, "Will you marry me?"
She turned around and threw herself in his arms. "Yes!"
"You already said yes, dork!"
"I wanted to say it again,"
"Okay," he lowered his head and placed his forehead against hers. "I know I'm not gonna get tired hearing it..." he said in between the kisses.
"Yeay! We're getting married!"
"Yeah," he answered faithfully. "Come here!" He took her hand again and guided her to the kitchen.
"More surprises?" She followed happily.
"Nah, just this." He showed her the fridge that was full with magnets.
"Oh, Logan!" She touched each of the magnets that represented their memories.
"That's a book, for your love of book and the book sniffing incident at the library. A London police hat, for the prank we pulled in Professor Bell's class. A Martha Vineyard tourist magnet, the Vineyard Valentine. A tiara, the Yale Male Party. And this one's a first generation cellphone, for our time apart when I was in London the first time. And you know, the late night phone calls that kept me warm at night," he winked.
"I love you! This period of my life was when I was the happiest, you know. Well, besides now of course."
"Me too. My fear and doubts of relationship had been proven invalid. I was the happiest I have ever been, I felt complete, excited for each new day, safe and comfortable with you, and I felt so powerful knowing that I can protect and support you, also that I will always have you in my corner. I felt invincible,"
"Yes, you do, Logan..."
"And then Jess happened. I handled that really badly. All those raw and unfamiliar feelings came back up, I didn't know what to do with it. Before you, I never had to worry about another man stealing my girlfriend because I never had a girlfriend, and I never even care enough to be afraid or mad if they were taken from me. But you, Rory, you were my world. I couldn't bear losing you, but I ended up losing you anyway,"
She came closer and cupped his face with her hands. "We're together now,"
"Yes we are. But I was a bad boyfriend,"
"You were not! You were still learning. It was a new territory for you, you were bound to make mistakes. What you did to correct your mistakes was what defines you. You are the best boyfriend, Logan. And I don't regret any of it. Every story led to now, what we are now, shaping who we are now... and we wound up pretty good, aren't we?"
"Yeah,"
"So, no regrets!"
"Absolutely!" He dove for a breathtaking kiss, feeling overjoyed that they could moved past that dreadful event yesterday and ended up having his perfect proposal plan done anyway.
Their kiss quickly escalated as lust and desire took over. They fell into the bed of roses, hands all over each other, lip-locked. As their clothes started to leave their bodies, Rory stopped the kiss abruptly and sat up.
"What's wrong?" Logan asked confused.
"I... I have something to tell you,"
