"What was that for?!" Logan cried, bringing his hand to his jaw.
"That was for Rory, but this one is for Orie." Jess replied, throwing another punch.
Logan ducked, narrowly missing Jess' punch. "I've never even met Orie!"
Jess pushed him hard, throwing him back a bit. "Exactly you deadbeat!"
Rage filled Logan. It had been a pretty awful week, and now here he was in some little two horse town dodging punches and insults from his lying ex-girlfriend's ex-boyfriend. He formed a fist, throwing it at Jess' smug face. The duo struggled, scuffling across the diner floor, knocking chairs off tables, salt and pepper flying everywhere.
"I can't believe you just left her." Jess grunted, as he stood up, the collar of his shirt ragged and torn. "You missed Orie's birth, her first steps, her first day of school. . ."
"Rory is the one who left." Logan jeered from the floor, rubbing his jaw.
"What are you even talking about?" Jess jeered, "I know you told Rory you wanted nothing to do with Orie."
"Is that what she's telling everyone?"
"She's telling everyone the truth about what a giant douche you are, yes"
Logan looked at Jess bewildered. "I never even knew Rory was pregnant!"
Jess stopped, peering intently at Logan. "Yeah right."
"Jess, I know I was a giant douche to you when we met, but I loved Rory. She's the one that turned me down. If I had it my way, We'd be married ten plus years right now. I don't know what she told you, but if Rory had told me she was pregnant, I would have dropped everything the minute I knew. I just found out last week when. . ."
"When she ran into you in New York." Jess finished.
"Ran into me? She showed up to my house late one night, telling me I had a five year old daughter that she was only telling me about because my sister had found out and was going to tell me. It was a full on bombardment."
"You never knew about Orie." Jess hesitated.
Logan shook his head. "I'm telling you the truth."
"I believe you. Is that why you came here. . .to see Rory?"
"I want to meet Orie. For five years I've had a piece of me walking around, and I didn't even know it. I wanted to bring her a gift, but it dawned on me, I don't even know what she likes or what she dislikes. I don't know the first thing about her. My dad wasn't the best dad around, but he knew more about me than I know about Orie and that doesn't sit right with me."
Jess poked his head under the bar, pulling out his uncle's hidden bottle of Wild Turkey. He poured two shots offering one to Logan. "I still don't like you, but you're not as bad as I thought, Huntzberger."
Logan took the shot, throwing it back quickly, letting the familiar burn of bourbon warm his throat. "I'm still not your biggest fan, but you're growing on me."
Jess poured him another shot. "So, where did you learn to throw a punch like that?"
…
The headlights shone into the house, alerting Rory that someone was pulling into the driveway. As soon as she saw Jess' black Ford Mustang, her stomach dropped. It was now or never. She had to tell him. She had replayed her and Logan's conversation over and over in her head, knowing she was about to relive it again as she told her family. Jess' footsteps on the porch pulled her out of her thoughts. She opened the door and braced for impact. "Hey! Orie is asleep so I thought we could. . ."
Jess wasted no time. "Did you lie about telling Logan?"
Rory feigned surprise. "What are you talking about?"
"Logan didn't know you were pregnant did he?" he said, his voice getting a little louder.
A tear streamed down Rory's cheek.. "Jess. . . I. . ."
"YOU DIDN'T TELL HIM ABOUT HIS OWN DAUGHTER? YOU LIED TO ME! YOU LIED TO ALL OF US! " he shouted.
"I tried to tell you today at the park. . ." Rory stammered.
Jess rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry today was inconvenient, what about, ohhh I don't know, THE LAST FIVE YEARS?!"
Lorelai came into the living room. Luke just a few steps behind her. "What is going on in here? You're going to wake Orie up." She gestured to Rory's old room, where Orie was fast asleep.
Jess glared at Rory, visibly vexed. "Tell them. Tell them right now Rory or I will."
"Jess, what is going on? Calm down." Luke said sternly.
"I . . . I never told Logan I was pregnant." Rory sobbed, the tangled mess of lies she had weaved for the last five years, crashing down around her.
Lorelai cast a worried glance to Rory. "What?"
"LOGAN DIDN'T KNOW! SHE'S BEEN LYING TO US FOR YEARS. " Jess shouted, his face scrunched and red.
"You never told Logan?" Lorelai said, her voice shaky, not believing what she was hearing.
Tears streamed down Rory's face, her cheeks red and splotchy. "It. . It would have. . . We. . . weren't together. . . . he was engaged to someone else. It would have ruined his life."
Luke, who had yet to say a word since Rory's revelation, stormed out of the living room, into the kitchen.
Rory ran after him. "Luke? Luke, I'm sorry. . . I . . ."
Luke turned to Rory, inches from her face. "What you did to that man. . " He stabbed a finger into her chest, ''her first breath. . . her first steps. . . first word. . . he'll never be able to get that back. NEVER!" Luke walked out the kitchen door, slamming it loudly behind him sending the various knick knacks on the wall shaking.
Rory turned to Lorelai, who was now in the kitchen. "He. . . He just needs to cool off for a minute."
Lorelai shook her head, her lips pressed tight. "No kid, you've really messed up. What on Earth were you thinking? Do you realize what you've done? How many lives you've ruined?"
"Mom. . ."
"Your grandpa would be so ashamed of you."
"Mom, I didn't want to ruin his life."
Lorelai rubbed her temples, her head throbbing. "You couldn't possibly look at Orie for one second and think that she'd ruin his life. Complicate it? Yes, but ruin it? If you ever believed that for even a minute, I'm ashamed of you. That little girl is the best thing to happen to all of us. You want to know what it really was? You didn't want to own up to your actions. You were sleeping with Logan when he was engaged, and you got pregnant. You'd be the talk of the town. People wouldn't like you and God forbid someone not like Rory Gilmore! I know you got off easy a lot when you were younger, and maybe that's my fault, but you're not 20 years old anymore. You can't just run from your problems anymore. Suck it up, and deal with it. Now excuse me, I need to go find my husband."
Rory collapsed into a puddle of tears as her mother left. Her heart thudded, blood pounding in her ears. She gasped for air, her lungs feeling like they were on fire. Her body ached as it was racked with sobs. She had done this to herself. No one else was to blame but herself. All those years ago, sitting at the Gazebo when she told her mom and set this plan into motion, it had seemed like the perfect plan. Logan would go about his life, she would about her life, and no one would get hurt. Now, everyone was hurt.
"Mommy?" a sweet voice called. Rory looked up to see Orie standing in the doorway of her old bedroom, still groggy from sleep. Her dirty blonde hair was stuck up all around her head, and she was clutching her baby doll by it's foot. "Mommy are you ok?"
She shuffled into the kitchen and sat down beside Rory. She placed a tiny hand on Rory's back. "It's alright mommy. Did you have a bad dream?"
Rory wiped her face with her sleeve, hating that her daughter had to see her such a mess. She leaned down and kissed the top of Orie's head. "I don't deserve you."
…
Rory opened her eyes slowly. She was disoriented for a minute, before realizing that she was in her old bed. Orie was curled up next to her, sound must have fallen asleep too. They had sat on the kitchen floor for a bit, before Rory had suggested they go lay down in the bed. Orie had talked about unicorns and ice cream cones, trying to give Rory good thoughts so she wouldn't have another bad dream. Rory sighed. She wished it was as easy as just thinking about unicorns and ice cream cones. She slowly crawled out of bed, being careful not to wake the girl again. She tiptoed out of the room, shutting the door softly behind her. She glanced at the clock in the kitchen. It was a quarter past midnight.
She walked over to the coffee pot, picking it up. She swirled the old coffee around, the liquid broken, grainy bits sticking to the pot. She was debating on if she should go ahead and drink it or make a fresh pot when there was a knock at the door. She opened the door. "Logan?"
Logan stood on the porch, in jeans and a thin black v neck t-shirt. "I know it's late."
Rory shook her head. "I was just making some coffee. Come in?"
Logan stepped inside, instantly remembering the last time he had stepped foot in this house. There was a bigger tv on the wall, some new furniture here and there, but he was still transported right back to the last day he was there. the day he had walked into that very living room and asked for Rory's hand in marriage.
"Logan, I'm sorry."
His brow was furrowed, his jaw clenched."I want to make myself very clear. I am here for her, and only her. What you did to me. . ."
"Logan, what I did to you was completely out of line. I had no right to keep her from you. I made a stupid choice, and I hurt everyone."
"It was more than a stupid choice. Rory, I have a baby girl that apparently looks just like me, but I can't tell you, because I'VE NEVER EVEN LAID EYES ON HER."
Rory knew she deserved it, but the harshness of his words still stung. "I wish I could go back in time. . ."
"But we can't, can we?" He defensively crossed his arms.
"Your parents already hated me. . ."
"WOULD YOU QUIT WORRYING SO MUCH WHAT ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE THINK?!" He screamed, "WHO CARES WHAT MY PARENTS THINK? WHO CARES WHAT ABOUT WHAT ANYBODY THINKS. SHE IS MY DAUGHTER!"
"I KNOW SHE'S YOUR DAUGHTER! DON'T YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH IT HURTS ME TO LOOK AT HER AND ALL I SEE IS YOU?! WHEN SHE LAUGHS, AND IT'S YOUR LAUGH? WHEN SHE TALKS IN HER SLEEP, JUST LIKE YOU DO? OR WHEN SHE TALKS HERSELF OUT OF TROUBLE AT SCHOOL AND ALL I CAN THINK IS OH MY GOD SHE'S HONESTLY A HUNTZBERGER?!"
Logan rolled his eyes. "You brought it on yourself Rory! This wasn't a decision you could just make up a little pro con list for and decide for yourself. I would have been there from day one. Every doctor's appointment, every kick, every sleepless night, every scraped knee. . . but you didn't give me the chance."
"Logan, I love you. I will always love you. To know how much I hurt you. . . it kills me. I'll give you partial custody, every other weekend, Whatever you want."
"Custody? You think I'm here for a custody battle? I thought you knew me better than anyone else, but it's like you don't know me at all." He hissed. "I would never try to take her from you. Unlike you, I can't hurt the person I love."
Rory stared at him speechless.
"I made a mistake coming here tonight." he jeered as he walked out the door, slamming it shut.