A/N: This will be the last chapter for HOFH. Sorry guys! I just can't write Logan/Rory anymore because of how much their relationship in the show is different from the way I pictured it would be. Also, the way thechapter is written mightbe different from the previous ones. I've been experimenting with different ways of writing and it's sort of carried over into this chapter. Thanks so much to all of your support! Enjoy!
Exhilarated
The dining hall was completely decorated in white. White tablecloths, white candlesticks, white chairs, white-clothed waiters, white draperies. I stepped cautiously into the hall, looking around. Still no sign of Logan.
I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. After what his friends had told me and the dress that had appeared on my bed, I wasn't so sure about whether I liked him or not. Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't. Tonight might just tell me which one it was.
Emily glided towards me, just like I knew she eventually would. It was her party. Her age-lined face was already beaming with a smile, her eyes taking in the dress. It was the one mysteriously laid on my bed. She grabbed my hands, holding them up to look at the dress closer. The women following behind her did the same. Look at the dress, I mean.
"Rory, well, just look at you," Emily cooed. "You look positively elegant in that dress."
"Like the Snow Queen," a woman said behind her. "You could have based this event with her as the model, Emily."
"Thank you," I said politely.
"Where did you get that dress?" Emily asked, genuinely interested. She suddenly appeared shocked, as if she wouldn't have thought of it. "Your mother didn't buy it for you, did she?"
Oh, how to explain to Emily that I didn't know where it had come from. I smiled, forcing my eyes to crinkle into a smile as well. Then, I said, "No, Mom didn't buy it. It was a… gift from somebody."
"Really? Who bought it for you?" Emily asked, frowning. She was probably thinking it was stolen from someone. God, I hope not.
I faked a look over her shoulder and said in my most pleasant voice, "Well, would you look at that? I think I see Mom over there and she's waving me over."
I politely brushed past them and wandered away. Truth was I didn't know where my mother was. Some would say she was over by the apple tarts, but I had a feeling she was speaking to Luke somewhere. I wandered onto the dance floor, weaving in and out of couples dancing to the jazz renditions of Christmas songs. My grandparents had really outdone themselves this year. And they weren't even speaking with each other.
The song changed to Fools Rush In. I clutched my drink and leaned against a table with the appetizers, looking around at all the dancing people, drowning in the music and the laughter and the chatter. A hand tapped my shoulder and I jumped, nearly spilling my drink.
"Sorry, I forgot you were easily scared. I would have brought the blow-horn, but it didn't fit in my car."
I shook my head and turned, saying, "Logan, you are completely insane."
He smiled. Decked out in a black and white suit, he looked good. "Insane is good," he said. He held out his hand to me. "May I have this dance?"
"For this depressing song?" I teased. "I don't think so."
He laughed and pulled me out onto the dance floor. I handed my drink to the waiter that went by us and let Logan pull me out before he put a hand on my waist, the other hand still clasping mine, and pulled me into a simple waltz.
"You look really beautiful tonight," he said in my ear, his breath making shivers go up and down my spine.
"Thank you," I said.
"I especially like those earrings," he said. "They match your necklace perfectly. Where'd you find them?"
Either he was a good actor, or he really didn't know where the earrings were from. So I said, in my coyest voice ever, "You know where I found them."
When he didn't respond, I thought for a second that he really wasn't the gift-leaver person. Perhaps Colin, Finn, and Stephanie were just pulling my leg when they said that Logan had been the one to leave me the necklace that was around my neck. I tensed, waiting for a confused response to confirm my suspicions of being falsely informed.
Then he pulled back and smiled, but now his eyes were less mischievous—more serious. "Yes, I do know where you found them." I nearly breathed a sigh of relief. "I know where you got the necklace, and the dress, and the rose petals." He pulled back even farther and bowed, keeping his eyes on mine. "You have your culprit, Miss Gilmore."
"I guess I do." I smiled and he straightened.
"Another dance?" he asked in a charming voice that would have charmed nuns.
"Sure, why not?" He pulled me back to him again, and now that I knew for sure that it was him, I relaxed back into his arms, feeling like I had that night he caught me twirling in the snow. Exhilarated. I guess I got my answer.
