Logan came walking back towards her with something in his hands that Rory wouldn't dare call a sled. It was a small, plastic shovel-like seat.
"And what the heck is that!"
"One question at a time, just like Google Ace, or the answer won't make sense" Logan grinned and continued, "As to your first question, no, this isn't a LDB activity, this is something I used to do as a kid and it's lots of fun and a little less riskier than the LDB stuff. I thought you might like it. Second question: this," He pointed at the red plastic thing, "is a sled. Now sit down. Please."
"Sit down where?" Rory asked incredulously. How did she get herself into scrapes like these? Because you like him, that's why. If she could only drown out that nagging little voice life would be so much easier.
"What are you waiting for Ace, hop on!" Logan said as he patted the scrap of plastic on the snow in front of him. "Trust me, it'll be fun."
Logan chuckled and patted the seat once more. "Ghaaaa, all right! But if I get hurt, be prepared to face the wrath of Lorelai, Emily, and this Gilmore."
Logan felt slightly uncomfortable about that image. He had broken a bone or two in his time, and it had been a while since he'd been on the sled, but he was sure they'd be all right. He just needed to keep away from the trees. And he wasn't going to get another chance at being so close to Rory anytime soon so this just had to happen now.
Rory uncomfortably sat down on what really did resemble a big shovel.
"Okay, err… you're sitting on it wrong Ace, you need one leg on either side of the steer." Logan laughed
"Oh so this handle is supposed to be a steer! Geez, now I feel comfortable." Rory scowled. In fact, when Logan sat down behind her and encircled her with his legs she felt a lot more comfortable. They'd never been so physically close before. He then also reached his arms around her and grabbed the heft of the sled.
"You ready Ace?" his voice was slightly husky and Rory had to repress a shiver when he spoke so close to her ear that she could feel his breath on her neck.
"Totally." Rory said, her own voice quite unsteady now too.
At that, Logan pulled the heft up and set them in motion with a swift kick of his leg. He then pushed Rory's legs off of the snow with his own. If they weren't moving so damn quickly off the mountain slope, Rory might have enjoyed the feeling of her weight being supported so much by Logan's body. Because of the sudden increase in speed she could, however, only scream.
"Oh myyyyy gooooooood Logaaaaaaan, this can't be safe….iiiiiiiiiiiihhhhhhh"
They kept gaining speed, but luckily Logan managed to regain the control of his vocal chords, after all muscular control had been temporarily suspended after feeling Rory press so close to him after 'take off', and he spoke in her ear, "Relax Ace, enjoy the view, enjoy the feeling. Let go of your fears!"
Rory couldn't completely let go, but she was enjoying their swift descent along the mountainside a little more with every second. The slope was deserted; apparently it had been out of use for a while. And within the next few seconds she got a pretty good idea why.
As they neared the end of the slope, laughing together now, Rory was suddenly surprised by what seemed like a wall of snow coming into view. She could barely get out, "Logan, what's that?" before they crashed right into the heaps of drifted snow.
Logan sputtered as he cleared some snow from his eyes "That would be a snowdrift Rory." and he rolled over with laughter at the look on her face after feeling the snow having seeped into her jacket.
She tried to look angry, but really, they weren't hurt and Logan looked rather adorable with all that snow in his hair and ears and… she just couldn't help herself.
Logan saw her face change from mock-chagrin, to something more joyful and then a strange seriousness. Rory grabbed Logan's hand as she helped him up from the snow, which he was still in. He didn't really need her help to get up but he appreciated the gesture, but perhaps he gave her a little too much weight to pull since she suddenly slipped and landed right on top of him. It was in this sudden closeness, face to face with each other, that they couldn't deny their true feelings for each other any longer.
His eyes, so deep and soft were staring right into her soul, Rory thought, and she looked at his lips.
Her eyes, so cool and sparkling were looking at him in a way he'd never seen before. He saw her shift her gaze at his lips. Suddenly Logan was aware of every inch of his body touching hers and her weight upon him in the snow. He felt the cold of the melting snow in his jacket; he felt his blood pump through his veins as Rory held her gaze on his mouth. Her breathing was unsteady, he could feel her shiver. He was shaking too, but neither of them felt cold.
Rory felt the warmth of Logan and the cold, wet feeling of melting snow somewhere in her bra. Something like that would have made a great Gilmore joke some other time, but right now the cold and the wet and the warmth were all intermingled into one big haze. His lips, she wanted to feel them…
As she closed the tiny gap between them Logan gasped. She felt his breath on her mouth and then the softness of his lips. He was so soft, so tender, nothing like she'd expected a womanizer such as Logan Huntzberger to be. Logan couldn't think of anything else but the warm mouth that was upon him. He ripped off one of his gloves and touched her cold, wet, but oh so soft cheek. Rory shivered at his touch and opened her mouth a little to allow him to kiss her more deeply. They were communicating without words, slowly exploring each other more intimately than they could when talking. There were no worries, there was no future, there was only here and now, and Logan and his warm tongue caressing hers.
There was no fear, no pain in Logan's heart as he poured all of his heart into this kiss. Hands roamed, a soft moan of pleasure escaped Logan's throat as Rory's tongue caressed a particularly sensitive spot inside his mouth. The cold of the snow was far away as they both had to pull back for lack of oxygen. Logan was perfectly happy, he couldn't have dreamed of a better first kiss. In fact, he couldn't remember ever having kissed this way with anyone. Their kiss had a hint of their banter in it, teasing, getting the best out of each other, too much for anyone other than them to keep up with.
Rory, however, opened her eyes and immediately the Gilmore neurosis set in.
"No…no…no…." was all she could say, and all she could think was this did not just happen, I did not just kiss Logan Huntzberger.
She scrambled to her feet and before Logan knew what had happened he saw Rory running away in the snow, crying he supposed from the way she swashed her arms across her eyes.
"Rory!" he shouted… but he knew it was too late. "Well done Huntzberger!" He grunted at himself. He had felt like he was on a winning streak, earlier, on the sled and while they were walking hand in hand. Suddenly all the cards had changed. Why did he always mess up with the girls he really liked? He should have just stayed away from her; he should have known he wouldn't be able to stop himself from rushing things.
Then something Finn had said earlier that day sprang to mind.
"Don't you wait too long Huntzberger. She'll be quite a struggle to begin with, this girl. The good ones are always a struggle. But if you don't fight the battle you'll lose her forever to some dork like her ex-boyfriend. Remember that she likes you too, she just needs to realise it. Go for it mate, promise me? You deserve it."
Finn came off as the joker, but he was a very good judge of character, and despite what it seemed like, he and Lexi were very serious. He wasn't sure about the part of him deserving a girl like Rory, but at that moment Logan made a decision. It was Rory who had initiated their kiss after all; he might even stand a chance.
"I may fall flat on my face, but I'll be damned if I let Gilmore run." he said out loud, and started running after her.
A.N.: I'm buried in finals, so I have little time for updates but I managed to squeeze one in! It's the kiss! Squeee! More goodness to come, true to rating :) Please keep reviewing! It makes me feel lovedand will make the last two chapters come faster! Oh, and I should thank my beta Pixelie! She beta'd this the first time around when it was on Event Integrity
Next on No More Running:
"You… um..." Logan
cleared his throat, "Don't you need clothes?"