Birthday Presents

Logan Huntzberger stared at his father in astonishment.

His jaw dropped. He blinked a few times, then pinched himself, just to make sure he was really awake.

"Surely you're not serious!" Logan asked his father, the amazed look never leaving his face.

"Of course I'm serious Logan. I'm not the type to play games," Mitchum Huntzberger said to his son, who snorted slightly in disbelief. "So does this mean you don't like your birthday present?"

Logan just kept staring at his father. He was sitting in the Huntzberger dining room – which he now privately called the Shanghai Room, and it was living up to his expectations – two nights after his twenty-third birthday. He'd saved the night of his birthday for his girlfriend, and Colin and Finn had taken him out the night before. Now, as he sat at the table with his parents, grandfather, Honor, and Josh, he felt a little stupid for not expecting this.

He had, after all, joked to Rory, "I'm sure my father will get me a crappy present for my birthday."

"You want me – me, the guy who sunk a yacht in Fiji while taking a break from Yale, the guy who can never arrive on time anywhere – you want ME to run a paper for you? In my senior year of Yale? While I'm busy and barely have enough time to drop in here?" Logan asked, trying to take in his father's idea of a "present."

"Why do you say that like it's ridiculous? You're my son. You're going to be taking over running over a dozen papers sometime in the near future. It's about time you start to take things seriously, and I really think running the Gazette is a leap in the right direct-"

"You can't be serious!" Logan said, waiting for someone at the table to start laughing. Honor and Josh were staring hard at their plates, attempting to be invisible. His grandfather was frowning sternly at him, and his mother had disappeared to smoke.

"Of course we're serious, Logan. You have an obligation to this family! I told you this before, but you just want to throw all those years of hard work away," Elias spoke harshly.

Logan felt his temper flaring. He wished he'd brought Rory. He'd been trying to protect her from his family, but she was the only one who could really calm him down, make him feel safe and happy and comfortable…but speaking of Rory…

Logan glanced down at the card his father had given him. It read, "Logan, Happy 23rd Birthday. Your grandfather and I have decided it is time for you to run a paper and try your hand in the family business. Congratulations son. Yours, Dad." It was cold and unsociable. He then looked at the paper that had fallen out of the card. It was a certificate stating one Logan Huntzberger as head manager of the Stamford Eagle-Gazette.

"Oh my god. You're giving me the Gazette…" Logan's voice trailed off. He really hadn't thought his family was this vicious, but they'd once again proved him horribly wrong.

"What, you don't want that paper?" Mitchum asked calmly, seeming not to notice as Logan grew angrier.

"Don't want the paper? How could I possibly NOT want to run the paper where you ruined my girlfriend's aspirations? Why wouldn't I want to work at the place where she felt so alive, and happy, only to have her hopes shattered by her boyfriend's father? And you all talk about working hard, but I've never really worked hard in my life!

"Rory has though. She did everything you asked of her, she worked her way up to getting accepted into three Ivy League schools. She worked her butt off at the Yale Daily News, something I can attest to as I've tried to pull her out of the newsroom to go out on more than one occasion. And guess what, Dad? She almost always makes me wait until her article's perfect. She's one hell of a writer, something you can't see, just because she's not what you'd want as a daughter-in-law!" Logan finished furiously and rose out of his chair.

"Don't you leave this table, young man. We're not through. You can't throw everything away for some girl!" yelled Elias.

Shira, whose head had peaked around the bend during Logan's irate monologue, darted back around the corner, and more smoke wafted from the hall into the dining room. Mitchum, however, just looked at his son and spoke quietly.

"I'm sorry that I didn't give Rory a stellar review like she wanted and probably expected. I do think she appreciated the honestly, Logan, and it was better coming now, from me, while there's time to change her major. Now I'm sorry you're so upset," Mitchum said.

"Dad, that's bullshit and you know it. She's not going back to Yale next year, and she's not living at home anymore. You screwed up her life. The only reason I took this long in yelling at you is because she made me promise not to go to you. After the yacht-incident, she begged me not to make a scene, said it wasn't what she wanted. But this is getting out of hand," Logan continued in a low voice.

He walked out of the room, calling over his shoulder, "I'm not taking that paper from you."

He strode straight out the front door and into his car, ignoring the shouts that demanded he come back inside. He started the engine and sighed, leaning his head back against the seat and closing his eyes wearily. Then he sat up straight, pulled out of the drive way, and drove silently. He parked outside a dimly lit home. He got out of the car, and walked past the front entrance, around to the pool house, where he knocked urgently. He needed to see her now.

She came to the door after a minute, and as soon as she opened it he stepped in and kissed her. Her arms immediately wrapped around his neck and he grabbed hold of her waist in one hand and pulled the door shut with the other.

"Logan, what-" Rory began, but Logan interrupted her with another fervent kiss, backing her up against a wall of the pool house. She kissed him back willingly, and he closed his eyes and let himself absorb her. It was astonishing at how being in her presence for only a few minutes could immediately calm him down. He started to lead her towards the pool house's bedroom, but she pulled away.

"Logan, what's the matter?" she asked him, her blue eyes searching his.

"Nothing, Ace, I just wanted to see you," he said, avoiding her gaze and bending a little to kiss her neck.

"Logan," she groaned, and then turned out of his embrace, backing up slightly. "Logan, what's wrong? This isn't you, stopping by with absolutely no warning and refusing to talk to me. Remember what you told me? The communication thing has to go both ways, and what we've got here is a 'failure to communicate.'"

Logan sighed and sat down on the couch. Rory plopped down next to him, bending her knees underneath her and taking one of his hands, rubbing it between her own. Slowly, he turned to look at her.

"Crappy birthday gift," he muttered finally. "I should've known though. I told you he'd give me something crappy, and boy did I pick a fight."

A look of comprehension fell over her face, and she sighed and kissed his temple.

"Tell me what they did."

"My father," Logan started, and spit out the word like poison, "wants me to take over one of his newspapers. And Ace, I bet you'll never guess which one."

"His gift was a newspaper? God, hasn't the guy heard of a nice watch?" Rory joked, but sobered up when he looked pleadingly at her. "From that look, I'm going to have to go with the Stamford Eagle-Gazette."

"Right in one," Logan replied softly.

"Logan, look at me," Rory said, turning his face so they were looking at each other. "I don't want to cause something between your family. Just because I broke up with journalism doesn't mean you have to. I mean, it's in your blood," she continued.

"Stop, don't make excuses for them," Logan said, and kissed her forehead before drawing her close to him. Rory shifted to make herself more comfortable in his arms.

"Hey Logan?" she asked softly.

He inhaled deeply, savoring her scent before murmuring "Mmhmm?"

"You did like the watch I gave you, right? Did you catch the subtle hint I gave? Because I really wanted to get you this book, or Master and Commander special edition DVD, you know as a joke. Lane said I shouldn't get guys books though, because I'd like it, but it wouldn't say the right thing. And I know a watch is a little generic, but I thought-"

Logan laughed as she rambled on and squeezed her closer to him.

"Yes, Ace. I love the watch. The gift that came after the watch however," he continued, and smirked as she blushed slightly, "was by far the least crappiest birthday gift I've gotten."

"Well, as long as it's not the least crappiest," Rory looked mildly offended, though he smiled to let her know he was teasing her.

"It definitely beat the alarm clock from Aunt Astrid," he continued.

"You know, it's hard shopping for someone who can virtually by himself everything. I knew I should have just gotten the DVD," she said.

"Ace, I loved my present," Logan assured her, thinking privately that that wasn't all he loved. Startled by that line of thought, he shook his head and kissed her softly.

"Well, in that case, did I mention that part two of your present has a sequel?"

"No, you did not," Logan grinned, and followed her to her bedroom.

A/N: I meant to write another chapter to my other story, but this stupid plot bunny would not go away. I think I have a creepy obsession with the Huntzberger family, though. As hard as I try, they keep coming into my stories. Next new fic is going to focus on R/L, I swear. Anyway, please review and let me know if you liked it! Constructive criticism is welcome.