Disclaimer: I own nothing. Everything up to Jews and Chinese Food is fair game. Past that, it's just where my mind takes over.
Teaser: When Rory and Logan's arrangement goes prematurely sour, his friends take it upon themselves to intervene. Sequel to Keeping it Casual
Story Title: Nothing A Good Friend Wouldn't Do
Chapter Title: They
Rory thanked the waiter that had just brought her a second cup of coffee. She'd been sitting in she small café in New Haven for almost fifteen minutes, growing more nervous by the second as she awaited the arrival of her grandfather.
Waking up this morning in Logan's arms had deferred her concerns, as always. It was like his super power, the side effect of consuming him. There was no question as to if their being together was worth the uproar it was causing among their families when his arms were encasing her against his chest. There was something about the way her skin seemed to lightly adhere to his after a night together that made her feel like being separate from him was wholly unnatural. He hadn't agreed to let her out of the prison he'd created with his limbs until she promised to call him if she needed him. For any reason. There was no class he wouldn't mind being pulled out of, he reminded her, even though the thought was foreign to her.
Despite his best efforts, however, she'd left her room in plenty of time and was actually ten minutes early to meet the patriarch of her family. She had been glad to get her first cup of coffee out of the way—needing the fix and not wanting the lecture about multiple cups of the caffeine-laced liquid in the morning. But by the time she finished her second cup and flagged the waiter to bring her a third, she was beginning to worry she might develop a stimulant-induced tick by the time he showed.
"I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting, have you been here long?" Richard came in apologizing as he slid into the seat across from his granddaughter.
She gave a tight smile and shook her head as the waiter positioned a replacement cup in front of her.
"Anything for you, Sir?" he asked politely, to which Richard ordered a cup of coffee as well.
"A second cup of coffee, your grandmother would be aghast," he chuckled to himself at the rare occurrence.
"You go, Grandpa," she said supportively, not wanting to focus the attention on her own consumption. "How was your drive?"
"Oh, fine, fine. I know you probably have class sooner rather than later, I don't mean to keep you. I appreciate you coming out so early on a school day," he reiterated.
"No problem. It seemed like you really needed to talk to me," she took a sip of her drink as she waited for him to continue.
"That I did. I felt it prudent to speak with you before the golf game later on this afternoon. You do know about the golf game, don't you?" he looked at her with concern.
She nodded slowly, putting her cup down on the table and rubbed her lips together. "Yes. You, Logan, and Mr. Huntzberger, right?"
"Has Logan spoken with you about the implications?" he leaned in conspiratorially.
"Uh, well," she bit her lip and considered what she wanted to say. Making light of the situation didn't seem appropriate, and she wasn't quite sure what had her grandfather so worked up. "I guess a little. Why?"
"Why? Rory, you have to realize that this is no simple game of golf. In this one afternoon, much of the merging of these two families will occur," he informed her, to which she furrowed her brow in confusion. "What I wanted to find out from you, before this meeting occurs, is this what do you want? A future with Logan?"
"I—have to decide right now?" she asked.
Richard sighed. "Your grandmother was a bit shocked to learn of your decision to live with Logan. We knew you two were seriously dating, of course, and we're very pleased. But this can't just happen. There must be intentions stated, in the very least. It's a simple question; do you want a future with this man?"
"Grandpa, I appreciate your caring and concern, but this is between Logan and me."
Richard sighed again, wanting to remain as gentle as possible with her, and took a discerning taste of his coffee. "I understand your misconceptions, and while I understand where you get the penchant to be independent and figure these things out on your own, a union with Logan simply will not be that simple. I want to back your decisions, but in order to do that, I need all the information."
"Why do I suddenly feel like you're my campaign manager?"
"I suppose that is a fitting analogy," he said encouragingly, not catching the sarcasm that dripped from her voice.
"Grandpa, look," she put up a hand to stop him. "Logan and I are moving in together. That is all we've decided. Neither he nor I are in a position to speak for the other or what might happen in the future."
"I will say this as plainly as I can. If you want to be with Logan, the two of you need to start to stand as a united front in all matters. Especially in front of his parents, who have a certain vision of how these matters work. They are important people and will not hesitate to use any space between the two of you to their advantage."
"And these people are your friends?" she shot back.
"This is quite a different world you've fallen into, little girl. I know your mother raised you to keep you out of it, but it certainly hasn't happened, now has it? I want you to be happy, and I am willing to help you acclimate to this way of living as much or as little as needed for your happiness to occur. All you need tell me is what will make you happy before I reach the Club."
Rory sat wide-eyed as she listened to her grandfather and nodded slightly as he finished. She thought for a moment and took another sip of coffee.
"I want to be with Logan, despite the circumstances."
"Very well," he smiled.
"Grandpa?" she asked, her voice full of hesitation.
"Yes, Rory?"
"What—what's really going to happen today?"
Richard looked down at his coffee and he sighed. "I'm not sure. There is a lot of pressure from Shira and Emily to produce a wedding, should the two of you remain determined to be together."
Rory nodded. "And?"
"And, I'm guessing Mitchum will come armed with the proper accessories to make sure Logan leaves our meeting fully prepared to make that happen."
Her eyes went wide again, and she sat back against her chair back. Her stomach had left her body sometime during her grandfather's last statement. "You don't think that he'd actually propose—do you?"
Richard smiled kindly. "Honestly, I think he'd be a damned fool not to."
XXXX
"Should you be driving and talking on the phone? It's dangerous. Especially the way you drive," she reasoned.
"I'm a good driver, and I've got you on speaker. Now, talk," he implored her, trying for the fifth time to get her to spill her guts.
"Seriously, even speaker phone is dangerous—you're paying attention to what the other person is saying and not the car screeching through the intersection, running the red light, and BAM! You're dead."
"I'm sorry, but somehow talking to you makes me blind and deaf?"
"I'm just saying. You should get off the phone."
"So you don't have to tell me what happened this morning with your grandfather? Come on, Rory, what did he say? You're not seriously going to let me walk into that lion's den with no foresight at all?"
She sighed. "He just told me that you and I needed to present a united front."
"A united front?"
"Yes."
"Against what?"
"In order to get what we want. Whatever that is."
"He didn't ask what we wanted?"
"Well, not specifically worded in that way, no."
"How specifically did he word it?"
"I can't say, exactly."
"Rory, I'm going to be pulling into the parking lot in five minutes. I'd like to know how on guard to be here," he informed her.
"He asked what I wanted," she conceded.
"And you told him?"
"That I wanted to be with you."
"In what context?"
"You already know the answer to that," came her stressed response.
"Actually, I have an inclination to believe I know the answer to that. I'm alarmingly unsure of what you might actually say in the face of having to answer about your specific intentions toward me."
"We are not going to have this conversation over speaker phone."
"Rory," he sighed. "I just pulled into the Club. I can see my father standing on the course from here. I'm not playing games here."
"Is this about the united front?"
"Uh, yeah."
Silence filled Logan's car for an extended beat. "I don't like how I'm being forced to make all these decisions on the spot."
He took in her retort and figured if he was going to get a satisfactory response out of her before joining his party, he was going to have to use some sort of gentle coaxing. Or threaten a nervous breakdown; he wasn't sure which would work better.
"I'm not asking you to decide anything right now. I just want you to tell me what you already know."
"I know that we haven't talked about anything more serious than moving in together. I know that living with you is the only option I see right now."
"Okay. Thank you," he added. "I'm going to call you as soon as this is over."
"You want me to have a wallow fest ready for when you get back?"
"I'm sorry, a what?"
"Wallowing—you know, ice cream, pizza, sad movies, pajamas, angry chick music. What you do after a break up to make yourself feel better."
"I've never broken up with anyone before."
"What?"
"I've never dated anyone else. You know this."
"Wow. There is so much for you to learn about life, Huntzberger."
He chuckled. "Looking forward to it, Ace."
She hung up smiling. She hoped he wasn't walking into a hornet's nest as she sat on her bed, enjoying the peace and quiet of her dorm room. It hardly seemed fair. Her grandfather had instilled her with the idea that Logan was going to walk out of the Club with instructions and provisions to propose. Encouraged by both families, from the sounds of it. Even Logan had made illusions to the idea of this meeting being about the fine details of dowry arrangements. He'd promised her they'd do nothing they weren't ready for.
But he'd managed to leave out any details about what he actually was ready for.
She wasn't going to even let herself imagine the possibility of marrying Logan. Not yet. He just said himself he'd never even been through a break up. How could he be sure of whether or not he wanted to get married if he'd never even dated anyone else? There was no use imagining the impossible. She had homework to do, and real life to engage in.
XXXX
"So, you've been practicing your game since last time?" Mitchum asked as Logan stepped up to the tee, readjusting his grip and eying the far-off hole.
"Worried, are you?" he asked as he drew back and swung his club expertly, sending his ball flying down the fairway.
"Looks like he should be," Richard chuckled as they began the slow walk to the putting greens.
"It is the problem with providing your children with the benefits of your experience. They take pride in beating you at your own game," Mitchum sighed as he swung his club back and forth lightly in his hand. "At least your sister lets me win every now and then."
"Honor wasn't taught to kill or be killed, it's not lady-like," Logan shot back. "You never sent me to charm school, if you remember."
"Maybe that's where we went wrong," Mitchum snickered. "Perhaps you'd have learned some valuable lessons there. Be glad you never had to deal with boys, Richard."
"Yes, well, I can't say as girls are much easier to deal with. At least with boys, it's easy to understand their thought processes. With girls, who knows?"
Logan looked at the two men and sighed, standing back to wait for them to take their next shots. It was the eighteenth hole at last, and the moment of truth was coming. Unfortunately it wasn't who would win this round. It was clear that he was winning. He'd considered holding back, to put his father in a better mood, but he decided that wasn't in his best interest. Now was not the time to show weakness. He knew it. His father knew it. Richard knew it.
"Looks like I need to hit the driving range after work more often. Your mother won't look kindly on that," Mitchum said as Logan tapped his ball into the final hole, winning by quite a bit.
"You're only in competition with yourself in golf," Logan informed him.
"Like hell. Life is a competition, you against everyone else."
"How 'bout a drink?" Logan said loudly, leading the way into the club. Richard and Mitchum smiled as they shook their heads, following the younger man into the building.
XXXX
"Well, I see no reason in prolonging this any longer. Let's get down to the subject at hand, shall we?" Mitchum said as soon as they'd settled down at their table.
Logan sat back and crossed his arms, trying to look unaffected. "Yes, because prolonging it further would be asinine."
"That's enough, Logan."
"I'm just agreeing with you, Dad."
"Mitchum, I assume you and Shira have been discussing the situation?" Richard asked knowingly.
"We have. She's been quite preoccupied, since the announcement. Logan, I'll have you know, the stunts you've pulled in your life—as impressive as your friends might find them—I've always been able to overlook them as overzealous adolescent pranks. But since you've decided to pull Rory into things and risk sullying both of your futures," he began, but Logan held his hand up.
"I'm sorry, but just how have I sullied her future, did you say?"
"I understand that you love Rory. Your mother and I, from what little access you've allowed us to have, have no problem with her. We've known Richard and Emily for decades; it's a fine family she's from."
"Why do I feel a but coming on here?"
"But there are ways to go about a relationship as promising and delicate as this one is."
"That is exactly how Emily and I feel," Richard nodded. "And I know that Rory takes this very seriously as well."
Mitchum nodded. "I should hope that you will take how you plan to proceed with this relationship with a great deal of caution. Not just for the sake of both families, or yourself, but for this woman you claim to love."
Logan bit his tongue as his father dared to test his feelings. "Come out with it, Dad. What do you want?"
Mitchum nodded and reached into his breast pocket. "Moving in together, not only is out of the question without a promise of a future commitment, it solidifies your standing as an eternal bachelor. You will not be taken seriously in the business world without a wife and a family to speak of. Depending on Richard's blessing, I think you should take stock of your future, and think of using this," he placed a ring box on the table by Logan's unused napkin.
He stared at it for a moment in recognition, before looking up to his father and Richard.
"You want me to propose," he said slowly.
"This union would be supported by everyone, Logan," Richard assured him. "It's what Rory wants."
Logan held Richard's gaze for several seconds, before turning his head and revealing that he was more staring off into space than focusing on anything around him. Blinking, he looked down at the supplied betrothal adornment and picked it up in his hand. Feeling its weight, he held it for just a minute before putting it back down in front of his father.
Standing up, he straightened his shirt before speaking to both men.
"I won't be needing that," he informed them, and then turned to take his leave of the meeting; leaving an astounded pair in his wake.
