Chapter 9
The Next Step
Rory shifted in her sleep, stretching her arms out with a yawn her hand came in contact with the flesh of a visitor. Startled, she looked over to find a sleeping Logan. The events of the night came rushing back to her as she stayed in the semi-conscious state. She turned to her side to further inspect Logan's sleeping face. His cute features that Rory had fallen for turned even further angelic in the darkened canopy bed. His soft blond hair was a mess on his head and his face was lined from the pillow.
Rory had lost all sense of time during the night. She knew that they had gone to bed somewhere around 4am, but she was unsure of what time it was now. The bed created a cocoon for her and Logan and the velvet curtains had worked to shield all the morning's light.
Rory noticed Logan shift in his sleep and she silently hoped that he would awaken soon. As he turned to his back Logan opened his eyes, and waited for them to adjust to his surroundings. For a split second he had forgotten what had landed him in this bed. After everything came flooding back to him, he quickly turned to his right hoping that Rory was still in bed with him. As he turned back to her he noticed that she was staring intently at him. He smiled genuinely at her.
"Good morning. How long have you been up?" He asked.
"Oh not long at all, and I highly doubt it is morning any longer." Rory replied.
"What time is it?" He asked, not knowing how long he had managed to sleep.
"I am not sure, I don't have my watch." Rory said.
Logan opened the velvet curtain and stepped out onto the plush carpet. Rory watched him as he secured the drapes back to the bed posts and allowed the sun to steam onto Rory. She squinted as her eyes followed him around the room. Logan slowly picked up his pants and stepped back into them and when he reached for his shirt he heard a small groan come from Rory.
"What?" He asked her curious as to what she was upset about.
"I was thoroughly enjoying you walking around shirtless." She said smiling.
"Ahh, I see," Logan said as he dropped the shirt on the floor and flexed slightly as he reached for his watch on the nightstand. Rory noticed how he flexed for her after she showed him her approval of his chest, and she had to admit, she was very turned on by his body. His stomach was toned nearly to the point of a 6-pack. Just toned enough, Rory thought as she inspected his stomach. She hated the guys who had such defined stomach muscles that they felt the need to show them off whenever possible. Logan, on the other hand, was well toned, but not to the extreme. His arms were the same, perfect. It was obvious that Logan spent time at the gym, but it was also apparent that lifting weights was not his only hobby. She enjoyed his figure, and she was disappointed that she had not taken the time to inspect it earlier.
"Wow, it is already 1:00" Logan said as he looked at his watch. "What are you plans for the day Rory? I thought we may want to go grab something to eat and hang out." Logan said to her, hoping that she would want to spend the day with him.
"That sounds great Logan. I actually know of just the place we can go to eat. Do you mind if we stop by the dorms first so I can change and grab some coffee on the way?" Rory asked, knowing that her pleasant mood would soon turn sour without the addition of coffee.
"Why, you don't want to go to lunch in a ball gown?" Logan asked kidding.
"Well, the place I have in mind is not really the best for this sort of attire." Rory said glancing at her dress that was left in a crumpled heap on the floor.
"Okay, well get dressed, I will drive us to the dorms and then we can do whatever your heart desires." Logan said as he finally put his shirt on.
"Hey Huntzberger, how are we getting out of here? We arrived by limo if I do remember correctly." Rory asked.
"Oh, I drove my car out here earlier yesterday. That way if you wanted to go home last night I could have taken you and we would not have had to worry about getting a car here." Logan answered.
"I take it you did not plan on the evening going quite as it did?"
"Honestly I did not know if you would want to stay the night here. I thought that you would want to get back to your bed, and really I would not blame you. But when we spent four hours just talking on the bench I figured you were probably exhausted and not in the mood to drive back. At least I wasn't." Logan explained.
"I had a really good time last night Logan. I don't know if I ever said anything, but thank you. I am glad you shared this with me." Rory said.
"Thank you for joining me." Logan said. "Now get dressed, I am getting hungry."
Rory also realized that she was starving. She did not know how she would be able to make it all the way to Stars Hallow to eat. Rory reluctantly climbed out of bed, washed her face and put her dress back on. Logan then led the way back down to the main floor of the house. It appeared as though everyone else had left ages ago. There was no sign of anyone left. Logan put the key to the suite back into its hiding place behind the refrigerator, and then led Rory out back to where his car was parked in the massive garage.
"How does the LDB have access to such a house?" Rory asked.
"It has always been used; I don't really know when the group acquired it. It is just one of those things that we are privileged enough to get to use on occasion." Logan said as he opened up the huge doors to the garage.
The garage was huge. It was nearly twice the size of house Rory had grown up in. Inside the garage was filled with a few cars, mostly early models that Rory did not recognize. Parked in the midst of all the old cars there was one sparkling new vehicle. Rory assumed that it was Logan's.
Rory never claimed to be a car aficionado, but she knew that this car had cost a lot of money. First of all, she recognized the logo, the design that was inspired by the company's first love, airplanes. The BMW logo was used on its airplane engines, it looked like a spinning propeller. Rory knew some about the history of the car because her Grandfather was into luxury automobiles and he had taught her the little that she knew. Logan opened the door of the silver convertible and waved Rory in. She sank into the buttery softness of the leather interior and inhaled the car's sent.
"…a birthday gift." Rory heard Logan saying.
"What?" She said, only hearing half of his statement.
"Oh, the car, it was a gift for my 21st birthday." Logan said.
"It is a nice car," Rory remarked. She always wanted a convertible, and after graduation she was happy to be getting a car at all, but compared to her classmate's vehicles, hers was extremely modest in comparison. She could still remember the day of graduation when her grandfather took her out to the parking lot at Chilton where her car was parked next to a red Ferrari and other cars like Logan's. She was in no way disappointed, she liked her car, it was reliable, and she just wanted one that was a little sportier.
Logan started up the car's engine and they exited the grounds of the mansion.
"So I don't need a blindfold anymore?" Rory asked, as she admired their beautiful surroundings.
"Nah, I trust you. You are in fact my girlfriend, and trust is the basic element of any lasting relationship." Logan replied.
When Logan called her his girlfriend, Rory's heart did a strange flip and she felt her stomach fill up with butterflies. She knew that she was going to enjoy their new title.
"Was that strange?" Logan asked her.
"What strange?" Rory asked, oblivious to his comment.
"That I called you my girlfriend?" He said, not know how comfortable she would be with the label so early on.
"Not at all," Rory said, "in fact, I really liked it." She responded with a huge grin.
"Good, I liked it too." Logan said, returning her smile.
After a 15-minute drive they reached campus where Logan dropped Rory off at the deserted dorms.
"I will just be a few minutes." Rory said. "I just want to change and pack a few things in case I stay over. Can you pick me up in 20 minutes?" She asked Logan as she stepped out of his car.
"Yeah, that sounds about perfect," Logan replied as he started on his way to his own dorm.
Rory rushed into her dorm and started searching through her closet for something perfect to wear. She wanted to look good for Logan, but she did not want to appear to be trying to hard. She tore through her drawers looking for the perfect outfit for their day together. Rory finally decided on a pair of jeans and a red sweater. The red made her eyes stand out and her face appear brighter, so she knew that it would be a good choice. She quickly ran to the bathroom and applied some makeup and returned to her room to finish packing for home. She was glad that school would not start for another week and Paris was still away on some ski trip so she would not ask her questions about Logan.
Meanwhile, Logan was rushing around his dorm in a similar fashion. He too was unsure of what to wear around Rory. He wanted to look casual in her town, because from the sound of it, they were not used to his type. He sorted through his stacks of sweaters and button up shirts and finally settled on his plain navy blue sweater, a pair of jeans that he rarely wore, and a pair of brown Doc Martins. He was used to dressing in slacks and dress shoes, so the jeans and boots felt awkward to him, but he figured that he would rather fit in with her friends instead of looking too prim.
Logan looked at his watch and was shocked to see that it had taken him 15 minutes just to decide on what to wear. He was turning into a girl, he thought to himself, as he ran his hand through his hair and tried to make it look somewhat decent aside from the lack of showering.
Logan rushed out of the door to his car and drove back over to Rory's dorm. As he pulled up, Rory stepped out of the door with her overnight bag slung over her shoulder. In the time it had taken him to pick out what to wear, she had somehow managed to change, do her makeup and pack. Logan laughed to himself as he saw this, he knew he was probably too worried about his clothes.
"What is so funny?" Rory asked as she opened the door.
"Oh, nothing." Logan said as he started to pull away from the curb.
"Well you are going to have to tell me, you can't just laugh at me and then not tell me what I did. That is cruel and inhumane." Rory said with a pout.
"Fine, fine," Logan said. His face turned red as he started explaining himself. "I, erm, was laughing because…well, you somehow managed to change, put makeup on, and pack, and it took me the same amount of time to just pick out what to wear." He said.
Rory could not help but giggle when he told her this. "Why were you so concerned with the way you look? I have never seen you looking anything but nice."
"I just wanted to fit in at your town. I did not want people to look at me funny, or pigeonhole me as the 'bratty Yale kid.'" Logan explained.
"I think they will do that no matter what you look like," Rory joked with him. "Wow, are you wearing jeans?" She asked.
"Yeah, I actually own a pair of them." He said with a smirk. "Okay, well they are actually Gucci, but who needs to know."
"I did not know that Gucci even made jeans." Rory said laughing.
"Yeah, well lucky for me, my mom makes me go to a personal shopper at Nordstrom's and they pick out all of my clothes, I just try the stuff on and it goes on the 'rents account." He explained.
"Nice, you have a personal account at Nordstrom's. I am jealous. I would think that the personal shopper would take out all of the fun of shopping though." Rory said thoughtfully.
"Well, I like it best this way, I hate to shop. And if I did do my own shopping I am sure I would end up not matching and wearing clothes that did not fit right." Logan said laughing.
Rory had always been impressed with his sense of style, then it dawned on her that it was not his own fashion sense, it was a hired shopper. She found it hilarious that he could not pick out his own clothes, but she had to admit that the person who did was very talented. His clothes always looked amazing on him.
"Well, I have been doing my own shopping for years." Rory said laughing at him.
"Anyway, how exactly do I go about getting to Stars Hallow?" Logan asked, not having a clue as to where he was going.
Rory explained how they would get to Stars Hallow and then the conversation drifted to a variety of other topics. In the half an hour trip they discussed music, literature, film and the paper. She loved that she finally had someone to talk to who understood her so well. Dean had tried to be interested in her passions, but they were two totally different people. Jess had also shared her passions, but he lacked in his emotional development. Dean and Jess were different in every aspect in this respect. Jess had been a rotten boyfriend, but an amazingly intelligent friend who she loved to debate with. Dean, on the other hand, was the perfect boyfriend, yet he lacked in similar goals as Rory.
That was one of the things that she was so scared about when she met Logan. From the beginning she realized his similarity between her two ex-boyfriends. He appeared to be a combination of Dean and Jess. He was intelligent, funny, and sarcastic and daring like Jess was, and he was also sensitive and genuine like Dean had been. Rory knew that the likelihood that she would fall hard for Logan was omnipresent, and she was afraid that he would thus have the ability to hurt her more than the other two combined.
Logan spotted the sign welcoming the two into Stars Hallow. He had only been in the small town once when he dropped off Rory after Dean broke up with her earlier that semester. At that time, however, he was a little drunk and it was too dark to really have a good look at the town. Logan was amazed at the sight of Stars Hallow. It looked like something that came out of the early settlement of America, complete with a Soda Shoppe. He could not believe that places like these still existed. The town had a very close-knit feeling to it, that he liked.
Rory took a deep breath, "Okay, to Luke's!" She said, with a slight note of apprehension. She had not spoken to her mother since the night before after the fight with her grandparents. She was not sure if everything was okay between them, or if some other fight had broken out between her mother and her grandma.
Logan stopped the car in front of Luke's diner and noticed that both Luke and Lorelai were inside.
"Did you tell your mom to meet us here?" He asked Rory.
"No, this is her second home." Rory said laughing. "I think she spends more time here than at our house."
"Oh because she is dating Luke." Logan said, answering his own question.
"Well, yes and no. She spent nearly the same amount of time here prior to her dating Luke, we just really like his food. Plus, my mom does not cook. We eat here everyday." Rory said.
"EVERY DAY?" Logan asked in disbelief.
"Yea. When I lived at home we would usually stop in for coffee and a donut before I caught the bus to school, then if we did not eat at Al's Pancake World for dinner, we would usually be back at Luke's or order pizza." Rory said, as if it were completely normal.
"Don't you mean you would go to Al's Pancake World for breakfast, not dinner?" Logan asked confused.
"Oh no, Al does not serve pancakes." Rory said, as if it were obvious.
"Then what does he serve?" Logan asked, completely confused at this point.
"It is different every month. I think right now it is Indian. He likes to try out different types of food from around the world." Rory answered.
"Why didn't he change the name to something like 'International Banquet' or something more fitting?" Logan asked, still flabbergasted by the oddity of the situation.
"Because he had just printed a bunch of napkins up with his original name when he decided to get out of the Pancake business." Rory said.
"Oh" was all Logan said, as if it made actual sense. "Well, since you seem to eat here all the time, I look forward to it."
"Trust me, you won't be disappointed. And wait until you have his coffee!" She said, as her eyes appeared to glaze over with lust for the beverage.
Inside the diner, Lorelai was chatting with Luke when she noticed him staring intently out the window.
"Did Madonna just walk by?" Lorelai asked.
"What?" Luke said, confused.
"Well you are staring out the window like some celebrity just walked by. I don't know why Madonna would be in Stars Hallow, but I guess she is going through that whole crazy 'Ruth' stage, she could want to settle into small town life." Lorelai said blabbing. She decided to see what Luke was staring at, and turned in her bar stool and looked out the window. Her eyes settled on Rory and Logan exiting his BMW. She rubbed her eyes in mock shock at the sight of his car.
"I don't like that guy." Luke said.
"When have you ever liked any of her boyfriends?" Lorelai responded.
"Well I liked Jess." Luke said.
"Only because he was family. Besides, you did not even like the two of them together. If I do remember correctly you told him to stay away from Rory." Lorelai responded in a matter of fact tone.
"Okay, fine, but I don't like this one either." He said.
"Why not? He is an intelligent, nice boy. And besides, he seems to really like Rory and she likes him too." Lorelai said.
"He is too rich. I don't like his car. He is stuck up." Luke said, behaving like a five year old.
"I like his car, I think it is beautiful. And will you grow up please? Rory is not five anymore, she can take care of herself. Besides, I like him." Lorelai finished.
"Fine. I guess I can give him a shot. At least he is not Dean. I never liked Dean."
"Yes, and you never made that apparent." Lorelai said.
With that said, Rory walked into the diner holding hands with a very intimidated looking Logan.
"Hello sunshine!" Lorelai said, "I see things went well last night." She said smiling at the fact that she and Logan were holding hands.
Rory blushed slightly as she glared at her mom's comment. "Things went very well. Sorry I did not call, I thought that coming by in person would be better anyway." Rory said.
"No problemo my favorite offspring. You got here just in time, I was about to order. Are you two joining me?" She asked hopefully.
"Of course Ms. Gilmore, Ace has told me how great Luke's food is, and I have to try it." Logan said.
"Ace?" Luke said, not responding to the compliment.
"Oh, yeah it is a nickname I gave her a while back, for being an Ace reporter." Logan explained.
"Yes, and an Ace reporter she is! And if you value your life Logan, never call me Ms. Gilmore. It is Lorelai, and don't you forget that." Lorelai said.
"Well, I learned from the best." Rory said.
"Well growing up with my parents, you have to learn how to be a detective." Lorelai said. "So Logan, we did not get much of a chance to talk last night." Lorelai said, shifting her gaze directly at Logan. "Luke and I were wondering, what exactly your intentions are with my daughter."
Logan turned bright red and looked towards the ground. "Well, I can assure you both that my intentions are honorable." He said as he toed the ground with his Doc. "I…uh…like her a lot, and…" Logan stumbled, not knowing what to say.
"Ha, Logan, calm down, we are all adults here. And besides, I was totally kidding. As long as you don't damage her I will be okay with you seeing my daughter." Lorelai said with a smile.
Logan looked up and smiled at Lorelai, "Oh wow, I am glad. I was getting worried that you were going to sit me down and set out the guidelines."
"Well now that you mention it…" Lorelai started.
"MOM, stop it. You have tried the intimidation technique before, and it did not work." Rory said referring to the "talks" she had held with Dean and Jess.
"You don't have to worry about intimidating me." Logan said. "You already scare the hell out of me." He said to Lorelai.
Luke could not help but laugh at the last comment. "Smart man" he said, slapping Luke on the shoulder.
"So what can I get for you two?" Luke asked Rory and Logan. "The Usual Rory?"
"Yes please Luke." Rory replied.
"What about you Logan?" Luke asked gruffly.
"I will get whatever Rory wants." Logan replied.
"You don't even know what that is. You probably won't like it." Luke said in a tone that he had previously reserved for Dean.
"I will eat anything. Besides, if it is Rory's 'usual' I am sure I will love it." He said with a smile.
"Aw how sweet." Luke said sarcastically as he walked back to place the order.
"I don't think he likes me." Logan said.
"Don't worry about it," Rory said, giving his hand a small squeeze. "It usually takes him a while to warm up to people."
"That and he seems to think that nobody is good enough for Rory." Lorelai finished.
"Well, I will try my hardest to prove myself to him." Logan said.
"Good luck my friend. Dean dated Rory for years, and never managed to get on his good side." Lorelai commented.
"Give me time, Lorelai."
The three then proceeded to eat their burgers and chat nonchalantly. Logan could not help thinking that he hoped he was in fact good enough for Rory. He wanted to prove Luke wrong and stick by Rory. He wanted to be the man that he knew she wanted and more importantly, deserved.
Thanks again for all the reviews, you guys rock! Feel free to give me more tips as to where you would like to see the story go. I am flying by the seat of my pants at this point.