Comfort
by Tracy (lunarknightz on LJ)
Fandom: Gilmore Girls
Pairing: Rory/Logan
Rating: PG
Summary: When Rory gets some bad news, Logan provides the comfort she needs.
Disclaimer: If I owned Gilmore Girls, there would never be a hiatus. Because hiatuses suck!
Spoilers: Storyline spoiler for episodes after the hiatus---aka, who dies. If you don't know, don't look, and if you weren't spoiled at all, I might be talking about a bush infront of the Dragonfly. Or maybe not. You won't know until 5.11 airs, but hey, then you can come back and read this fic, okay?
She is typing an article for the paper when she gets the phone call. Rory is surprised to see her father's number; they haven't been on the best of terms lately. She answers it anyway, and greets her father in a cold and bitter voice.
She grows quiet as she listens, her face growing pale.
"I'll be there." Rory says in a small voice. She hangs up the phone, and sits silently in her chair for a moment, staring at the computer screen. With a start, she stands up and grabs her book bag.
"Logan? Just tell Doyle…tell him I can't t write this right now. I just…I gotta go." Rory darts from the room before Logan can process that she's gone.
There's something about Rory that intrigues him. She's not like any other girl he knows. She's beautiful, but that's not all. Rory doesn't play games- she is who she is and seems to be happy with herself. He never hears her talk about going on the Zone diet or gossiping about others. She reads old dusty tomes from the library instead of Cosmo. Her feelings aren't guarded- how she is feeling shows up on her face. She was radiant after they'd jumped; pissed as hell after the stunt of asking for his balls back. Right now she was hurting.
Without a thought to Doyle, or the paper, Logan runs after Rory.
He catches up to her outside the building.
"Ace!" He calls.
She turns around, her hands fiddling with her cell phone. "Leave me alone Logan."
"Come on, Gilmore."
"I mean it. I don't have time right now, just leave me alone." She punches the buttons on her cell furiously. "Why won't this damn thing work?"
Logan reaches out and takes the phone from her, and notices she still has the buttons locked. It is something he can easily change- Finn has the same kind of cell, and every time Finn gets drunk, Logan is the one who has to unlock it.
"Rory" he says gently, looking up into her eyes. Logan notices that her eyes are full of tears. "What's wrong?"
She begins to cry.
He doesn't ask for permission. Logan grabs Rory and pulls her close, enveloping her in a hug. He takes her weight and lets her cry.
When the tears subside, Logan keeps her close and guides Rory to a nearby bench.
"Rory, what happened?"
"The phone…¦it was my Dad."
"Okay."
"My grandfather died this morning."
"Richard?" Logan's voice rises in pitch. "I'm sorry, Rory."
She shakes her head. "No, not him. My other grandfather. My Dad's dad."
"Ah." Logan is silent for a moment. "Were you close?"
"I was a mistake in their eyes. My parents were sixteen, and suddenly they're having this kid. And then they don't get married, and my mother goes off on her own, and we move to this wacky little town. I don't know them, and he certainly never knew me, and now he never will."
Rory takes a shuddering breath. "I didn't even call him Grandpa! He hated me, hated the fact that the mere fact that I was born derailed all the plans he had for my father! Like that's even my fault? I graduate from Chilton, one of the best private schools in the nation, and they don't come. I don't get a card, a phone call or anything! My half sister got balloons when she was born, and I'm pretty sure she gets birthday cards! I'm going to Yale- I'm in the Ivy Leagues! And I was never good enough. Why aren't I good enough for him?". New tears threaten to fall from her eyes.
Logan moves a lock of brown hair out of her face. "Now, that's just not true! You're more than good, Rory. You're one of the best people I know."
"Really?"
"You sniff books, jump off walls, and play pranks on me. Me! Nobody pulls stuff on me!"
"They should."
"I think I should be insulted by that." Logan laughed. "It sounds like your grandfather, God bless his soul, was an asshole."
Rory starts to laugh softly, and Logan thinks it is musical.
"But at least you won the grandparent lottery on the other side, huh?"
"You think?"
"Oh come on. Richard and Emily adore you. At their dinners, all they do is talk about you. Rory at Chilton, Rory on C-SPAN, Rory, Rory, Rory. They love you. I wish I had grandparents like that."
"What are yours like?"
"Old, Californian, distant, and boring. They do send cards and money on holidays, though."
"Well, that's important. Man, am I thirsty."
"Wanna go get coffee? My treat?"
She shrugs. "Why not?"
Logan stands up, and takes Rory's hand to help her up. "Heres your phone back."
"Thanks." Rory looks down at the clock display on her phone. "Shoot. I have to be at my grandparents in an hour, for dinner. Can I take a raincheck?"
"We'll get it to go." Logan says with a smile.
Rory is taken aback. "But…"
"Hey, after all those waterworks, there's no way I'm gonna let you drive for awhile. Besides, Richard and Emily love me."
"They do?"
"You mean they didn't tell you about the time I was on C-SPAN?"
"Not that comes to mind."
Logan laughs, as a smile comes to his face. "I'll tell you all about it, on the way, okay?"
"Okay."
He takes Rory's hand, gently, into his own. It fits, and somehow, Logan is not surprised. They start to walk, in search of coffee.
"You know what, Ace?" Logan chuckles. "I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship."