Disclaimer: If the previous six weren't enough…well then, just go ahead and sue me. ;)
A/N: Well, here we are again. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, especially those of you who have reviewed every single chapter. It means so much!
The first chapter of the JavaJunkie song fic I mentioned a few days ago is up. It's called A Little Clarity. Please go check it out and let me know what you think.
Now, I know what you're thinking: "How could she leave us to squirm wondering about this fic and go off and write a new one?" And I completely understand. I do. But the other one was rattling around in my head and getting in the way of this chapter! I had to get it out! You understand, don't you? Of course you do, you're wonderful! ;)
I bumped the rating up to M just to be on the safe side….
This chapter will be in Rory's point of view. Thoughts in italics.
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Rory woke up feeling better than she had in weeks.
I'm Home. She thought, smiling and snuggling deeper into Logan. And I smell coffee!
As soon as she moved, she felt his arms tighten around her, and then his lips brushed her shoulder, her neck, her ear.
"Good morning beautiful," he whispered, sending shivers down her spine.
There is no better way on the planet to wake up than that.
She rolled over to face him. "How long have you been awake?"
Mmm…gorgeous. It is so not fair that he can look this perfect first thing in the morning.
"Not long," he replied, before leaning in to steal her breath away with a kiss.
She pulled away, sensing trouble. "Logan,"
"Hmmmmm?" was the only reply he was capable of , as his mouth and tongue were busy licking and nibbling their way down her neck, over her collar bone and farther, and his right hand was inching its way up under her pajama top, stopping to tease the soft skin of her stomach before continuing its journey north.
God if I don't stop him now, I never will.
"Logan," she tried again, "you have to stop."
"Hmmmm?" Was all she got again, as his other hand slid across her rump and squeezed.
Oh God.
"Logan if you don't stop now, I won't want you to….please," she pleaded.
He looked up at her through hooded eyes and grinned cockily. "That's the general idea, Ace." He whispered against her lips. His right hand had reached the valley between her breasts, and slowly slid over until her left breast was nestled in his palm. She gasped and her head fell back as her eyes closed involuntarily.
Pull yourself together, Gilmore! Concentrate!
"Logan," she said firmly, grasping his wrist and holding it away from her body, "we have to stop."
He looked at her, confused and a little hurt. "What's the problem?" he sighed.
Aw…I don't wanna hurt his feelings…
She dropped a quick kiss on his lips and grinned. "The problem, dear heart, is that you, wonderful as you are, are not exactly quiet when you are…shall we say…excited." She waggled her eyebrows at him making him laugh.
God even his laugh is sexy…why did I stop him again?
"You've never complained before," he said beginning to kiss her neck again.
Think unsexy thoughts… ugh…ugh…drawing a blank...Paris and Doyle…Ok, that did it…ew.
"I'm not complaining now, but I like all your appendages right where they are."
"M'still not seeing the problem. Although, I could think of new locations for a few of them," she could feel his grin as he mumbled against her skin.
She sighed. He's so cute when he's oblivious.
"Take a deep breath," She ordered, pushing him away from her slightly.
He complied.
"What do you smell?"
"You," he leaned in, trying to finish what he had started, but she pushed him away again.
One track mind…
"Besides me," she sighed.
"Ummm…coffee," his eyes narrowed, "Wait a minute, you're rejecting me in favor of coffee?" He asked incredulously.
Ahhh the ego…
"Never!" She punctuated the vehement reply with a kiss, "But we already established your inability to be quiet, and around here Luke is generally the one who makes the coffee, and the kitchen is right on the other side of that rather flimsy door, so….."
Before she could finish Logan had flown off the bed and was sliding his pants on, seemingly in one motion.
Well that was impressive!
"Luke is out there?" he hissed.
Rory couldn't help herself, she laughed. "Um, yeah."
"Why didn't you say so?" He grabbed his shirt off the floor and jerked his arms through it.
Oh this is too much fun!
"Well, I was trying to, but you were being rather distracting…" she retorted indignantly, still grinning.
He stopped buttoning his shirt and glared at her. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?" he growled.
You bet.
"Why—yes, yes I am…" she giggled and got out of bed, pulling her robe on.
And anticipating telling Colin and Finn all about it…
"Where's all that Life and Death Brigade bravery?" she asked.
Logan grimaced. "It's wondering if there's any way I can avoid facing the man who looks upon you as his daughter, after I've spent the night with you. Alone. In your bed. Doing, as far as he's concerned, 'God knows what'"
"It'll be fine," she assured him.
"Easy for you to say," he mumbled.
She walked over to him. "Are you ready to go out there?" she asked in a mock serious voice, placing her hands on his shoulders.
"That's not funny." Logan pouted as she grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the door.
Oh yes it was.
Luke was standing at the sink as they entered the kitchen.
"Morning Luke," chirped Rory.
"Morning, Rory. Coffee?" replied Luke, all the while glaring at Logan.
First things first.
"In a minute," she said. Crossing over to stand in front of him, she stretched up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, Luke." She said, wrapping her arms around his middle and giving him a hug. She felt his arms come hesitantly around her, and he leaned down and kissed her on the head and laid his cheek there for a moment, while rubbing her back.
"Anytime, Rory. Anytime." Luke choked out.
She pulled out of the hug, eyes moist, and sent a beaming smile up at him. She was shocked to see that his eyes were none too dry.
I guess this means as much to him as it does to me….
"Hey! Don't you have your own man? Paws off mine!" said Lorelai, from the doorway, wiping away tears of her own.
"Aw Geez, Lorelai!" said Luke, surreptitiously wiping his eyes.
Rory laughed and looked at Logan, who was smiling at the scene.
She started to walk over to the coffee maker—
Oh! How could I forget!
--and then spun around back to Luke and popped up to give him a kiss on the other cheek.
Just when I thought it wasn't possible for him to turn any redder… she giggled.
"I almost forgot! Congratulations! I hear Mom is finally gonna make an honest man outta ya!" Rory patted his shoulder, and then turned once again to head for the coffee.
And I'll officially have a father I can count on…
Lorelai laughed and Luke spouted another "Aw Geez!"
As Rory turned, coffee in hand, she saw Logan heading toward Luke.
My, my, looks like pants inspire courage.
"Congratulations, Luke," Logan offered, smiling and stuck out his hand.
Luke took the hand that was offered and glared at the owner. The two men clasped hands for longer than necessary, and one could almost get the impression that a contest was going on. One would be correct.
Much more of this and we'll all die of testosterone poisoning. Rory looked at Lorelai, and Lorelai looked at Rory. They both shrugged and sighed.
Abruptly, Luke and Logan pumped their hands once in the air and let go, and with a slight upwards curvature of his lips, Luke said, "Thanks."
Interesting…I do believe some silent negotiating went on there…Men should be studied…
"Well, now that we've all greeted the day, I'd say it's time that you two got yourselves showered and ready to go!" said Lorelai.
"Right. Logan, you can shower first. Go ahead up to the bathroom, and I'll go out to the car and get your bag and bring it up to you." Rory grinned.
"I can get my own bag, Ace," Logan said dubiously.
Oh no you can't!
"No!" Lorelai and Rory said in unison. Both men raised their eyebrows.
"It's part of the Gilmore rules…." Rory started and trailed off
What rule exactly? All the rules are against manual labor….crap.
"If you reunite the Gilmore girls, you don't carry your own luggage!" Lorelai shouted triumphantly.
Nice save, Mom!
"That's right!" Rory piped in and spun to walk out the front door.
"Uh Rory…" Luke jerked his thumb at the kitchen door. "You're gonna have to use this door." He muttered, looking at his shoes and adjusting the cap on his head.
"Why--" Lorelai started.
"I—uh—jammed the locks in all the doors but this one," he finished.
I suppose that explains why they were sleeping in front of it. Their deviousness knows no bounds. I will have to watch Luke a lot more closely from now on…
"Hunh." Rory acknowledged, walking through the kitchen to the only working door, her eyes never leaving Luke.
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Half an hour later, everyone was ready to go. They set out through the kitchen door. Luke had tried to convince Lorelai to let him fix the locks before they left, but she talked him out of it
"It's much more secure this way." She argued.
"Yeah, very safe," assured Rory as they walked around the house.
Time for the unveiling…
"You guys having an election soon or something?" Logan asked as they walked through the yard toward the road. Luke and Logan were walking side by side, while the girls hung back a little.
Luke's head snapped up. "No, why?"
Logan scratched his head. "Then what's with all the signs?"
The girls giggled.
"What do they even have on them?" Luke said, squinting as they approached one of the many signs in Babbette's yard.
Rory and Lorelai stopped walking as they neared the front porch steps.
Plenty of running room…
The girls saw the men jump as if startled when they got close enough to see that what was on the signs was, in fact, an 8x10, full color photo of themselves asleep on the kitchen floor and decorated with whipped cream. Underneath the picture was a message in bold blue script:
To the two sweetest men in the world, Luke and Logan:
Thanks for everything!
Love,
Lorelai & Rory
"Lorelai--"
"Rory--"
Both men roared at the same time. They turned in time to see their respective women fleeing around the house. Grinning at each other, Luke and Logan took off in opposite directions to trap the girls between them.
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Finally on their way to the diner, the couples were holding hands. Luke and Lorelai were walking slightly behind Rory and Logan.
The signs were everywhere, in every yard, all over town.
"How did you do this? You never left the house!" Logan exclaimed, shaking his head.
"It's amazing what you can do with a modem and a phone." Rory answered.
…and a guy who has no life…
"But who did all the work?" asked Logan.
"Oh, well—we called Kirk--" Rory giggled.
"Unbelievable…" muttered Luke from behind them.
Rory continued, grinning. "—and explained to him that we needed to hire him as a runner. He agreed, so we sent him on his way to Hartford. Then I called the Kinkos in Hartford, e-mailed them the picture, and placed our order, using your credit card--" she pointed to Logan.
"Mine?"
Rory nodded.
"I paid for my own humiliation?" he gasped.
"And mine," Luke chimed in from behind them. "Thanks, by the way."
"Don't mention it," Logan threw back.
Rory nodded. "I thought it fitting."
"Indeed. I underestimated you, Ace. It will never happen again. In fact I--" he stopped right in the middle of the road, his jaw hanging open.
Seeing the look on his face Rory thought, Kirk deserves a bonus.
Luke came around Logan's right side. "What's the hold up?"
Logan could do nothing but point. Luke turned his eyes toward the town square and his jaw, too, became unhinged.
In the window of every store in town, there was at least one movie-size poster—Patty's place had three—and the lawn signs were all over too. But the kicker—the kicker was the gazebo. Every side of the gazebo, except for the entrance, sported a ten foot banner—all with the same picture and message.
The girls walked past, the still very stunned, Luke and Logan. As they passed, they heard Logan say, "We did want them to reconcile right?"
Luke sighed, "Yup."
"Why was that again?"
"I'm having trouble remembering…"
Silly boys. Rory linked her arm through her mother's and strolled into the diner.
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After they finished breakfast, the four sat in the diner talking, and soon the conversation turned to wedding plans.
"Luke, you're going to have to choose two attendants," Lorelai whined, "I have to have Rory as my Maid of Honor, and Sookie as a bride's maid, so that means you have to have two too."
"Two? I'm gonna have a hard enough time finding one! Lorelai please…let's just fly to Vegas or something," he begged.
"No! No way Lucas Danes! I have waited too long for this. I am not flying to Vegas for some—Star Trek theme wedding--"
Rory giggled and Logan chuckled. They continued to watch the conversation as if it were a tennis match.
Better than TV.
"Aw Geez, not that again!" Luke interrupted.
"I am having a traditional wedding, under our chuppah, in our town, with me in a beautiful gown, and you in a tux--"
Ooooh the big guns…
"A tux?" Luke whined, "Oh come on Lorelai--"
"--with tails--"
And the hits just keep on coming…
"No," stated Luke adamantly, "Lorelai, I absolutely draw the line at tails. No tails! I refuse to look like a penguin!"
Doesn't he realize if he doesn't stop ranting, she'll add in gloves, a top hat, and a cane?
Logan jumped in "Aw come on, Luke. Give the lady what she wants. Tails aren't all that bad. Besides…penguins are real crowd pleasers."
Luke sent him a death glare. Then, to the confusion of his companions, he grinned and sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.
Uh oh.
"I'm glad you feel that way, Logan, since you just volunteered to be my best man."
Three jaws dropped simultaneously.
He can't really be serious…can he?
"Are you serious?" Rory choked out finally.
"You bet. He can be my best man, and Jackson can be the other groomsman. A tux oughta be an improvement over what he wore to his own wedding, so he shouldn't have any complaints, and Logan here--" he jerked his chin at a shocked Logan
"--just said he doesn't mind 'em, so why not?"
Why not…ok…but will Logan go for it. Oooh if he turns him down, this could be bad…
Logan looked Luke straight in the eyes, smiled, and said, "I'd be honored."
"Good." Luke smiled back.
I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Rory thought as she and Lorelai smiled at each other, amazed.
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A/N: Whew! Well there was just no way to make that chapter shorter! I hope you enjoyed it. The last chapter will be a kind of epilogue to wrap things up. It will take place at or during the reception of Luke and Lorelai's wedding. I still have at least one more surprise planned, so don't give up on me…and as always, Review Review Review!