Chapter 13
The Event
"Hey Ace?" Logan shouted to Rory through the bathroom where she was showering.
"Yeah Logan?" Rory yelled back, rinsing the shampoo out of her hair.
"I have to take care of some stuff before we go out tonight, do you think you will be okay if I leave for a while?" Logan asked, worried that she would be mad.
"Oh no, that is totally fine, I actually wanted to stop by a few of the places that I saw yesterday." Rory said, actually a little relieved to be getting some time alone to put her thoughts together.
"Great. I should only be gone for about three hours. I will call you when I get back if you are not here. I left a key for the apartment on the table and a map of the area. I also left you some mace…" Logan trailed off.
"Mace!" Rory shouted. "I think I will be okay Logan, I don't think that mace is really necessary." Rory said laughing.
"Rory, this is not the safest place to be. We are not in Stars Hallow anymore Toto." Logan said.
"Logan, I am not stupid. I know what goes on here. It is the middle of the day, besides, I read an entire book about how to defend myself, and I think I will be okay." Rory argued.
"I totally believe you, but I would feel a lot better if you just took the mace with you when you go out today." Logan shouted back.
"Fine Logan, to make you happy I will take the mace with me."
"Thank you." Logan said satisfied.
"Where are you going anyway?" Rory asked, realizing he left it all a mystery.
"Oh, I…umm…just have to take care of some stuff for later. It is kind of part of the surprise." Logan said awkwardly.
"Oh, okay. Well please note that I don't really like surprises!" Rory shouted, turning off the shower.
"Well, I hope you will like this one." Logan said. "By Rory."
"By Logan, I'll miss you!" Rory said sweetly.
"Ha, me too Ace."
Rory dressed quickly and dried her hair, excited to explore the city on her own. She thoroughly enjoyed spending the time with Logan, but she wanted to go to a number of bookstores and she knew that Logan would not enjoy it as much as she did. She dressed in a pair of boot-cut jeans and a red sweater and her black Docs and threw her winter coat on and ran down the stars and out the door. She yelled good-bye to the doorman and walked into a bright, chilly afternoon.
Rory decided to head west from the apartment. She remembered seeing an interesting looking bookstore on the corner when they had arrived, and she had been anxious to check it out. Rory smiled as she entered the store called "Book Ends" and began slowly searching through the shelves. She saw a couple interesting looking titles, but the selection was nothing like the store that Logan had brought her to. She wanted to go back to the other bookstore, but she was not completely sure what way she had to go to get there, and she was still a little nervous about running into Jess again.
Rory left the store and continued west not really sure what she was looking for. She thought she recognized her surroundings, but she was not completely sure, New York had a tendency to confuse her.
Rory glanced up the street and saw what appeared to be a record store. It all looked so very familiar to her, but she could not be sure. She kept walking until she stood in front of the window to the store. She could not find the name of the record store, but from the looks of the outside was that it specialized in punk. Then it dawned on her…the record store…Jess.
"Damn." Rory said out loud after realizing where she was. In a city of thousands, how could everything be a reminder of her relationship with Jess? She forced herself to enter the store. If she wanted to remember New York for anyone, it would be Logan, not Jess. She was determined to get him off her mind, no matter what she had to face.
Jess looked up from his perch at the cash register when he heard the bell ring, indicating a customer had entered the store. He put down his novel to greet the customer, something he did not mind doing since the majority of visitors were cool and laid back, much like him. He had been working at the record store for the past year, although it did not pay much, he was able to get almost any CDs he wanted, and his boss was totally cool with him reading for his classes while he worked. He was currently enrolled at a local community college, and he spent the majority of his time either at his night classes, at work, or studying at his crappy apartment.
"Oh geese." Jess said as his eyes settled on Rory. "Would you quit following me?"
"Jess." Rory said, completely shocked. She could not help but notice the look of contempt that passed over his features at the sight of her.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Jess shouted.
"I am sorry, I will leave. I did not know that you worked here." Rory said, not able to tear her eyes away from him. She could not help but noticed that he looked good. His hair was longer than it ever was when they were together, but he looked more put together.
Similar thoughts were running through Jess's mind. He was hoping that the next time he would see Rory she would have miraculously gained 100 pounds and lost all of her teeth, but she looked the same, maybe even more beautiful.
"Yeah, maybe you should. I am sure your boyfriend does not want you too far out of his sight." Jess said bitterly.
"Shut up Jess, you don't know anything." Rory shouted. She could not believe that she ran into him twice in under 24 hours. This is not how she wanted her vacation with Logan to go. She was with Logan now, but all she could think about was Jess. Maybe New York was not the best place to go on vacation.
Rory was torn between going up to Jess and smacking him and running out of the store and never looking back.
"Hey Jess, I am sorry I'm late." A huge man in all leather said as he walked in behind Rory.
"No problem Buck, I don't have class today anyway." Jess said to the man.
Class? Rory thought. Was Jess back in school? And why was Jess acting so kind to this man? He was never tolerant of anyone, so why was this "Buck" so special?
"Cool man. Well, let me go punch in and you can take off." He said to Jess as he walked to the backroom.
Jess turned back to Rory. "Well, don't let me stop you from shopping, I am leaving." He said to her, once again angry.
"Jess, wait." Rory said as he started walking towards the door.
He abruptly turned back to her. "What?" He shouted.
Rory blinked at him in response to his anger. "I think we should talk." Rory said looking towards the ground.
"Talk? Are you kidding me? You want to talk? What the hell do you have to say Rory?" Jess yelled.
"Jess, I have not seen you in a year and a half…" Rory started.
"Yeah, since I asked you to go to New York with me. You obviously wanted to go to New York, but I guess I was not the guy to go with." He responded gruffly.
"Jess, stop saying that." Rory said, blinking back the tears that were threatening to fall.
Jess could see that she was trying hard not to cry in front of him, and he had to admit that he was enjoying this. "You know what Rory, I don't even care anymore. I spent the last year tearing myself up over you. I thought that you never loved me, I thought that you regretted ever being with me, I thought that I was never good enough for you…but now I know, I know that you were only with me for the thrill." He spat it out at her.
"Can we please not talk about this here?" Rory said, now not bothering to hold back her tears.
"Where do you want to go Rory? Back to 2002?"
"No, I don't want to go back, I just want to get out of here!" Rory shouted in anger.
"Fine. My apartment is actually above this place, I guess we can go upstairs for a bit." He said hesitantly.
Rory followed Jess up the stairs to his apartment. It was not the nicest of living conditions, but it worked. The small apartment housed a bed, a microwave and a small bathroom. Other than that, it was about completely bare aside from the mass quantities of books and CDs he had acquired throughout his short life. Rory tentatively sat on down on his bed. She took a deep breath and chose her words carefully.
"Look Jess, I know that you probably hate me right now, but I can't help but think this is fate. I came to New York yesterday and I have already seen you twice…" She started.
"Whatever." Jess said, looking out the window. He avoided looking at her throughout her entire speech.
"Jess, can we just be civil for a minute?" Rory yelled.
"What do you want Rory? I don't want you here, I don't want to talk to you, I have absolutely nothing to say!" He yelled back.
"Damn it Jess! Why are you treating me like I am the bad guy?"
"You turned me down, you rejected me! How else am I supposed to be treating you?"
"Quit being the martyr! You are just as much to blame for this! You left me twice Jess, what was I supposed to say to you?" Rory shouted.
"YES! You were supposed to say yes and go with me! I put myself out there for you, and you said no. I have spent every day since then replaying that day in my head. Every day I rethought abut the way things played out, and every day I learned to hate you more and more."
"YOU! YOU! What about me? I hear nothing from you for a year and then all of a sudden you show up at my dorm asking me to run away with you? I go to Yale now Jess, I am working towards something, and you wanted me to throw my life away just to be with you!"
"Well, I am glad you would think of it as throwing your life away! Besides, that was not my intention at all. There are hundreds of amazing schools in New York, as you probably know Columbia is renowned for its journalism program. We could have made it work Rory. I loved you, we could have made it work."
"Jess, stop it, it would have never worked. We both know it. You treated me poorly, you took advantage of me, and you hurt me. I could never trust you enough to throw everything I had worked for away to be with you in New York."
"Okay, I get it. You would have wasted your life if you had chosen to be with me, so why are you here? What else could you possibly have to say?"
"I don't know. Nothing I guess…I just don't want you to go on hating me."
"Ha, well sorry Rory, you can't go on living with everyone loving you." Jess said.
"Right, well I guess I should get going. I am glad that you are back in school. Good luck with everything." Rory said walking towards the door, holding back the tears that were threatening to emerge.
"Don't think it had anything to do with you." He said bitterly.
"Don't worry, I never did."
"Who is the guy anyway?" Jess could not help but ask.
"His name is Logan. I met him at Yale." Rory said.
"Right, Yale. Well I hope you guys live happily ever after with your 2.3 children, white picket fence and your lab." Jess yelled to her as she left the apartment.
Rory started bawling as soon as heard the door slam behind her. She quickly exited the record store and ran the last few blocks back to the apartment. She heard the doorman ask her if she was okay, but she ignored him and kept on running to the elevators. As soon as she entered the confines of the apartment she sagged on the couch and called her mother.
"Mom." Rory croaked through her tears.
"Rory? What is going on? I thought you guys worked everything out? Do you want me to go get you?" Lorelai said anxiously.
"No mom, it is not Logan. He is not even here." Rory said.
"Oh, well, are you hurt then? Did you break your arm again? What is going on?" Lorelai said on the verge of hysteria.
"I ran into Jess again."
"Oh. I am sorry kid. What happened?"
"I went into this record store. It was actually the one that I went to with him the day of your graduation. Well, it turns out that he works there now. It was horrible mom. He totally hates me."
"Rory, snap out of it! Need I remind you what he did to you? Please, please, please forget about him! He is doing nothing but ruining things between you and Logan. I know it sucks running into past loves, believe me, I know, but you have to move on Rory. It has been two years! Logan is a good guy, and he obviously cares a lot about you."
"I am not going to end things with Logan mom. I just don't know what to do about this Jess thing. Jess has never been that great to me, but I have never seen him this way. He was so mean." Rory said tearing up again.
"Maybe you should come home." Lorelai responded. "I don't think you are having a good time in New York, it may be best if you left."
"I don't want to leave. I have not even invested any effort into Logan, I feel terrible that he brought me here, and I have been nothing but an emotional wreak."
"Okay. But if you change your mind, I will be here to come get you."
"Thanks mom." Rory said hanging up.
"Bye Rory, I love you, and cheer up, this is a once in a lifetime experience." Lorelai said hanging up.
Rory sighed as she rose from the couch. She wanted to wash her tear-streaked face before Logan returned.
As soon as she put down her washcloth, she heard Logan enter the apartment.
"Hey Ace, are you here?" He shouted, hoping she was back. He was excited to tell her about what he had planned for the evening.
"Hey Logan, I am here. I will be out in a minute." Rory responded. She glanced at herself in the mirror, took a deep breath and went to find him. She pushed Jess out of her mind and put on a realistic smile as she entered the living room.
As soon as Logan saw her enter he went over to her and embraced her in a hug. "It's so good to see you." He said into her hair.
"You have only been gone for a few hours!" Rory said laughing.
"Yes I know, but I was afraid that something could have happened to you while you were alone, I just had a bad feeling about leaving you." He said in all seriousness.
"Oh stop it." Rory said, swatting at his chest. "I am fine! I swear you worry about me more than my own mother!"
"I don't think that is possible. Anyway, did you have a good time? Not too good I hope."
"Oh yeah, I went to a bookstore down the street and bought two books and then I went to a record store, that's about it." She said, choosing to leave out the whole Jess part.
"Good, I am glad. Well, if you want to go get ready, I think it is about time for me to let you in on what is going on tonight." Logan said with a gleam in his eye.
"I can hardly wait." Rory said, reaching up to kiss him. He obliged by gently sucking on her bottom lip before watching her depart to his room. Logan could not help but smile to himself. He never thought he would want to become a one-woman man, but that was before he met Rory, now he could not imagine going back to his old ways.
Logan went into his own room and took a quick shower and dressed himself in the tux he had to run home to get. He placed the tickets for tonight in one pocket and the blue velvet box in the other. He took a deep breath trying to settle his nerves. He did not know why his nerves were getting the better of him, he never got flustered around women.
Logan sighed as he walked out of his room, stopping in his tracks as his eyes landed on a stunning Rory.
"You look amazing Ace." Logan said, silently praising himself for his eye for dresses.
"Why thank you good sir. I do hope you don't view me as your own life size Barbie, because I think you are enjoying dressing me way too much." She laughed.
"Well, when I have such a beautiful specimen to work with I can't help but adorn you in pretty clothes." Logan said, silently taking in every inch of her delicate frame.
"So where are we headed?" Rory asked, excited to see what he had planned.
"In due time Ace, in due time." He smiled at her.
"Aw come on Logan! When are you planning on letting me in on it?"
"You will see Rory, now calm down please. We have to be there in a half an hour anyway. I think I forgot to tell you how amazing you look this evening Ace." Logan said with a smile.
"Don't think compliments are going to get you out of telling me where we are going." Rory said, pointing at him accusingly.
"Ha, you are too smart for your own good. I think that you may be missing something though." He said looking her up and down.
"Well that is too bad, because I don't think anything else can fit in here." Rory said glancing down at her snug fitting strapless ball gown.
"I was thinking maybe something right here." Logan said kissing her softly around her neck.
"Oh, well I did not really pack any jewelry." Rory said through the chills running through her body from his kisses.
"Don't worry, I have you covered." Logan said, reaching into his pocket. He silently extracted the velvet box and handed it to her.
Rory glanced at him with questioning eyes as she opened the box. A beautiful blue sapphire necklace stared back up at her. She could not control the squeal that escaped from her lips as she stared at the necklace. "I can't accept this Logan, it is too much." Rory said, not knowing what she was saying.
"Don't be silly Rory. I got it for you, it is a gift. Besides, your outfit is not complete without it."
"Well…if you insist." Rory said, without much hesitation.
Logan helped Rory latch the necklace, allowing his fingers to trial over the sensitive skin on her neck.
"If you keep this up I don't think we will be going out tonight." Rory said with a little laugh.
"Well, we better get going before we start something that we wont have time to finish." Logan said, lacing his fingers through hers. "Prepare yourself for a night you wont forget Ace."
"It already is Logan."
Sorry about the lack of updates, I have been super busy with my last semester of college, I hope to update on Monday though! Please Review!