Chapter 5
New Beginnings
Rory could not calm her nerves. It was 6:45 and she had been ready for hours waiting for Logan. He was due to arrive in 15 minutes, but it felt like a lifetime away. She had been excited to spend some time with her mom and Luke, but she was even more excited for tonight.
The previous week Rory and Lorelai had spent shopping in search of the perfect dress to wear on New Years. After trying on around 50 different dresses, they both decided that nothing was quite right. So Lorelai volunteered to create an original for Rory's big date.
Looking at herself in the mirror, Rory did not know why she did not ask her mom first thing to make her dress. She had to admit that the dress was perfect. He mom had chosen a deep blue that complemented her eyes and hair perfectly. The silky material made her skin shine and her eyes pop. Although the dress was sleeveless, the white shawl that her mom gave her fit with the dress perfectly. The dress was very simple, yet extremely elegant. Gazing in the mirror for the millionth time she could not help but smile. Hopefully Logan will like it too.
Sighing and glancing at the clock she noticed that it had finally switched over to 7pm. Just then she heard a knock at the door. She could not help but notice her heart flutter at the sound of the knock. As calmly as she could, Rory walked to the door and opened it with a small smile.
Standing in the open door was an amazing looking Logan. His black tuxedo fit him perfectly, and Rory could not help but think of the price it must have come with. She could not help but stare at him. Once the initial shock of his appearance wore off, she noticed that Logan seemed to have the same expression on his face that she was wearing.
He finally spoke first. "Wow Ace, you look incredible." He said softly.
"You don't look so bad yourself. You clean up well Logan." She said jokingly.
"I got these for you" he said, handing Rory what looked to be about 2 dozen roses.
"I…wow…Logan…" she did not know what to say.
"Too much?" He asked with a smile.
"Not at all, I was just not expecting it." Rory said, flushing slightly.
"Well Rory, I know how to treat my dates." Logan said with a wink.
"Ah yes, Logan the ladies man. I should have known." Rory said laughing.
Logan could not help but feel a little disappointed. Again his reputation got in the way of his genuine actions. He feared that Rory would not be able to take what he did as anything other than routine.
Rory was also a little disappointed. She had hoped that the flowers were something more significant than business as usual. She desperately wanted Logan to see her as something more than a friend, or worse, a conquest.
After Rory put the flowers in her room they left her dorm room and headed to the limo that was waiting for them outside. After they got situated, Logan opened the mini-bar and poured them each a glass of campaign. Logan held out a finger asking her to wait a min before she took her first sip.
Holding his glass up to hers, Logan looked deep into Rory's eyes and toasted. "To a new year, filled with new beginnings, new friends, and new memories."
Rory felt a chill pass through her body triggered by the intimacy of the simple toast. She clinked her glass to his and slowly took a sip of the liquid not daring to tear her eyes from his in fear of losing the moment.
Rory wished that the ride to her Grandparent's was longer. She wanted to stay with Logan in that moment forever. As the car made the sharp turn and started making its way up the crowded driveway, Rory was shaken back to reality. Unfortunately the first step was to go to the party.
As Logan got out helping Rory climb her way out of the limo, they were both accosted by a disgruntled Lorelai.
"RORY, what's taken you so long? I have had to face my parents alone for the past 10 minutes. You know I can't stand to be with them without you as a distraction!" Lorelai yelled, forgetting about the importance of the night for her daughter.
"Um yeah mom, sorry about that, I told Logan to pick me up at 7, I did not realize you wanted us to be here at 7." Rory said, her eyes darting from Logan to her mother.
"Well you are here now, but please remember that you owe me for the rest of the night. Especially because I am getting you out of here early. I have already spoken to your grandparents about it, and they are surprisingly okay with you leaving at 11." Lorelai said, still not addressing Logan.
"Are you serious? I thought they would be horrified at the thought of it." Rory said.
"I think that they like this Logan character enough to let you go off with him. I think that means that I will have to hate him." Lorelai said.
Logan felt slightly uncomfortable as the conversation drifted towards him. He cleared his throat at the last comment and managed to get both Rory's and Lorelai's attention.
"Oh how rude of me. Mom, this is Logan. Logan, this is my mother and best friend, Lorelai." Rory said, obviously not too worried about the formalities of their meeting.
"Hello Logan, I am sorry about the last comment…well no I am not really. You see, I just don't get along too well with my parents, and I tend to stay away from anything that they place their stamp of approval on. I do hope that you manage to prove them wrong, better them then me anyway." Lorelai said in all seriousness.
"It is very nice to meet you Lorelai. I can see where Rory gets her beauty and her wit." Logan said, shaking her hand.
"Oh wow, I see you got yourself a charmer." Lorelai said to Rory. The whole situation had left Rory a little flustered and embarrassed, but she was pleased to see that Logan seemed to fit in nicely with her mother and was not too shocked by her bluntness.
"Mom, where is Luke?" Rory asked, not yet seeing her mother's boyfriend.
"He is talking with the 'rents." Lorelai responded.
"YOU LEFT HIM ALONE WITH THEM?" Rory said, almost appalled.
"Yes, well I needed to find you, and now I did, so I can go rescue him now. No harm, no foul." Lorelai said, too casually.
"I hope that you are still dating by the time you get back in there. Or better yet, I hope that he is still alive." Rory said seriously.
"Who is Luke?" Logan whispered to Rory.
"That is my mom's boyfriend. He owns the diner in Stars Hallow. He is a great guy, he has practically raised me." Rory told him.
Logan realized that there was a lot about Rory that he had no clue about. His parents had told him that Lorelai was the black sheep of the Gilmore family. She was a sweet girl, but made some mistakes as a teenager. He was guessing that his date was what they were speaking of. He never heard Rory talk about her father, so he assumed that he was not in the picture, but Logan wanted to know about the details. He hoped that Rory would someday trust him enough to fill in the missing pieces.
Lorelai made her way towards her parents and Luke with Rory and Logan trailing behind her.
"It's funny how mom and dad are feuding, yet they manage to join forced for parties and to attack Luke." Lorelai said to Rory. Logan's attention could not help but be sparked with that statement.
"What does she mean 'feuding?'?" Logan whispered to Rory.
"I will tell you about it later; it is kind of a long story." She whispered back.
Lorelai was finally able to edge her way through the crowd and end up beside a very pale Luke. She tenderly grabbed his hand and accosted her parents, "What have you been saying to him? Why can't you just leave my relationships alone? I love Luke, and you can't change that by scaring him off or tormenting him."
Luke went from pale to green after hearing what Lorelai was yelling at her parents. Neither Luke nor Lorelai had said the L word up to this point, and now Lorelai admitted her feelings for him in front of her parents. He did not know what to say or how to react. This is not the way he was planning this evening on going. He wanted everything to be perfect when he finally told Lorelai that he truly loved her. He planned on telling her at midnight. He could not think of a better way to ring in the New Year.
Lorelai was obviously oblivious to what she had just said. But that did not stop Emily from jumping all over her statement.
"Love Lorelai? You love this man? This DINER owner? I had hoped so much for you. You were so smart, and you had so much going for you. Now you are stuck in a small town going no where." Emily nearly spat at her.
"MOTHER, this is your party, these are your friends, and this is your façade, DO NOT rope me into your problems by taking them out on me or my boyfriend. I came here because you made me, if you planned on treating me like a child I never would have shown up." Lorelai yelled back.
"Fine, don't stay on my part!" Emily said in a huff.
"Mom, Grandma –Stop! Rory said. This is ridiculous. How many times have you had this argument? It is always the same. Mom has done so much in her life. It may not have turned out exactly how you planned, but both she and I think it turned out better. Can't you just accept that Mom is finally happy and in love? Luke is a great man, he has been there for us on countless occasions, and he is good for her. Please just apologize and be civil for one night, I don't want to have to chaperone you two once again. I am sick of this constant bickering, you two act like children." With that Rory spun on her heel, grabbed Logan's hand and stalked off to her grandfather's study trying to hold in her tears.
Rory sagged against the door when they made it into the room. Logan did not know what to do or say, so he stood there waiting for her to make the first move.
"I am really sorry about all of this" Rory said, rubbing the tears out of her eyes. "I am so sick of my mom fighting with my Grandparents. It is always like this. We can't get through a single dinner or party without them getting into some huge argument."
Logan's heart was breaking as he watched Rory cry. He had to admit that the argument was awfully heated, but he did not know what to do or what to say. It was not his place to step in and take over. He barely knew these people. After Rory finally spoke, Logan took two huge steps towards her and wrapped his arms around her affectionately. The two of them just stood there holding one another for a few long minutes.
As Rory stood in his arms she could not help but feel protected. Logan fit perfectly with her. Her head rested on his shoulder and her arms hugged his waist tightly. She inhaled his sent; it was a mixture of soap and expensive smelling cologne. As awful as the evening was going, this all but made up for its horrific start.
The same thoughts were drifting through Logan's head. He loved the feel of Rory in his arms. Her small body clung desperately to him as he stood there embracing her. Her soft hair brushed under his chin and he picked up the smell of her strawberry shampoo.
He slowly removed one of his arms from her back and reached towards her and tilted her chin up so he was looking in his eyes. He removed his other arm and gently wiped away her remaining tears. He breathed soothing words to her as he finished extracting her tears.
"Rory, it is okay…I am here." He said looking at her.
"I am sorry Logan. I did not want tonight to be anything like this." She said.
"You wanted it to go another way? And I was enjoying this touching moment." He said as a slow grin spread across his face.
"Thank you Logan. I…just…I'm…" Rory did not know what to tell him.
"Ace, you don't have to say anything. I know that you will talk to me about this stuff when you want to, I am not worried about it. What you said in there was amazing. They are lucky to have you in their lives….I am lucky to have you in my life." He said, completely serious.
"You are?" She inquired.
"Of course Rory. Can't you tell that I am completely crazy about you?" Logan said, after mustering up all his courage.
"I didn't know Logan. I had hoped. I wanted to be with you so much. I just am no good with this kind of stuff. I am usually the last person to realize any matters of the heart. It is the one thing that I did not inherit from my mother."
"It does not matter Ace. I told you now. I tried expressing it before, but I guess that my methods were not well received. I am not very good at this either. I am not used to having to put up this much of a chase."
"Well since we are in the mood of being honest" Rory said, "I think I should probably tell you that I too am crazy about you. I don't know when things changed, but sometime in the past few weeks I realized that I was running scared because I did not want to get hurt."
"Why do you think I am going to hurt you?"
"Because I have seen the way you are. You float from woman to woman, never really committed. I don't want to give you my heart only to have to lose interest in me." Rory explained.
"I am sick of my stupid reputation. It is always coming between us. Rory, don't worry about my past. Since our first argument I have been stuck on you. It has been months and I have been unable to think of anyone but you…you do not have to worry about me moving on. If we choose to commit to each other, I will commit." Logan said.
"I…this is so….I don't know…I need to think…" Rory said looking around.
"Rory stop thinking! Listen to your heart. What do you want to do? Do you want to give me a chance or not? Logan said, getting impatient.
"Logan, I can't say yes right now…please just be patient and let me think. I promise that as soon as I figure things out you will be the first to know." Rory said, on the verge of tears once again. "I have to go find my mom now."
Rory left Logan standing alone in her grandfather's study. He sucked in his breath as he made his way back to the party. He figured now was as good of a time as any to face his parents.
Yay for things progressing between Rory and Logan! Please R&R