AN: Haven't gotten around to Cute Meet, sorry. Just been easier to stick to one storyline with many other things going on, but I promise it's next on my agenda.

Also, I truly hope this chapter is enjoyable and original... I don't want to fall into the expected patterns so I was experimenting a little. Do keep the reviews coming - good and bad - I love them!

Chapter 45

November 25th, 2022, Nantucket / Martha's Vineyard, MA

The sight that Rory witnessed at the tiny Nantucket Memorial Airport was not very promising. All of this morning's flights to Boston had been canceled. But the fact that the one to JFK had departed with an hour's delay gave her at least some promise.

The day was growing darker and weather outside was still incredibly windy, the rustling ocean waves having been a threatening sight through the day. Rain had poured down from the sky on and off, threatening to turn into something icy. She'd even considered that perhaps going on this flight was too risky - subjecting herself and her little girl to this weather up there in a small tin can of a plane just to make it to the neighboring island to see Logan. Was that even the responsible thing to do?

Right now she was sitting at one of the wooden benches, watching the minutes tick by, hoping the next message through the intercom would be concerning the boarding of her flight to the Vineyard not its cancellation or delay. Her five-year-old was already twirling around the waiting lounge with her pink suitcase, bored of the waiting, considering Rory had wanted to be early at the airport to hand over her rental car.

Before any announcement was made, however, Rory's phone chimed.

"Yeah?" Rory picked up, seeing Logan's number.

"Hey. Just wanted to check how's it looking over there?" Logan asked. He sounded anxious. Perhaps he knew something she didn't? Was the weather even worse there?

"Well the plane to JFK departed, so there's some hope," Rory said, trying to sound optimistic.

"Well, they haven't starting packing this place up yet," Logan commented, knowing it was one of the last flights of the day to arrive.

"You're already there?" Rory commented, the thought warming her heart. It was just a short 15 minute flight once they got on the plane, but it was still nice to be waited for like that - it made her stomach flutter. "That's a good sign I guess," Rory agreed, trying to appear casual about it.

"Did you talk to your mom?" Logan asked, deciding to make good use of the waiting. He really didn't want to go into this once she was there.

"Yeah. Went pretty much as well as it went for you and your dad," Rory sighed. "But grandma wants to see you at Christmas. And Luke was sort of neutral, helpful even - suggested I talk to April. She was like 11 when she found out Luke was her dad," Rory shared.

It made Logan feel giddy that they were making plans this much into the future. But at the same time he knew he would have some obligations to the Gilmore's no matter how well he and Rory worked out. He could hope, but he didn't quite dare to hope too much. It was exhilarating, yet he knew there could be bumps on their path too.

"Sorry about your mom," Logan chimed.

"She even felt the need to add a sarcastic - 'Can't wait to see Didi at Christmas," right before we left. Grandma mentioned you so, that's why…," Rory continued.

"Didi?" Logan inquired, not quite recalling the name.

"I used to lie to her that was who I was staying with at London…, not my proudest moment," Rory shared, regretfully. She hadn't been a particularily good daughter then either - lying to her mother, so in that sense Lorelai too had every right to be mad at her. That wasn't how she'd raised her either.

"Ah..," Logan nodded along.

"Things haven't been right between us for a while.. Even if have made it seem like it is 'okay'. So whatever this is now is just some of the same old… I just hope she's nice to you around Em, if she can master that she's already exceeding my expectations," Rory discussed, seeing Em looking at the rain and wind outside through the window a little further away.

"Don't worry. I can handle it," Logan assured, and Rory was pretty sure he could.

"I'm sure you can," Rory said, feeling relieved Logan was very much a man with some backbone.

"We told the boys last night too," Logan shared, referring to his nephews.

"What did they say?" Rory asked, loving how just talking to him calmed her. It was also making the time pass faster.

"They were surprisingly understanding actually. I think they mostly just think it was because of the distance, you know… We mostly said that it was something you and I had decided on and that was that," Logan explained.

"Good, though I doubt they'll be her biggest fans - preteen boys and 5-years-old girls don't exactly have a lot in common," Rory replied realistically.

"We'll see. They did promise to teach her to play Super Mario so…," Logan pointed out with an audible smirk, knowing Em was pretty capable in games like that herself.

Rory laughed at that, looking forward to seeing him and the rest of the family.

It was then the call came, announcing their boarding.

"This is us. We'll see you soon," Rory replied, sighing from relief.

"Can't wait," Logan replied, for a moment having struggled to choose his words.

The conversation had flowed so naturally that he'd very nearly slipped and said a casual 'I love you' in the end. He knew he was actually ready to say it in a way that one was supposed to say it for the first time this time around. It would've been a mistake saying it this soon. Both for him not really feeling it yet - this was still new and there was a significant amount of reacquainting left to do, and her not being ready to hear it. He did love her, but it wasn't the exact way he had loved her before - it was deep and shallow - newfound - simultaneously while lacking a 'body'. A 'body' that made love integrous, allconsuming and unshakable. But it was the comfort of a relationship, a partnership, that he had felt in that moment.

The plane ride was indeed a little bumpy, but thankfully short.

It would've been magical had the stormy weather passed just as they arrived and saw Logan, but that was not the case. The fact that Logan had met them with a couple of storm jackets to pull over their clothes and parked as close as he humanly could, was almost as good, making Rory's mouth curve upwards anyways.

Em's presence made their meeting more casual than either of the adults would've liked, but the way Em hugged Logan, genuinely happy to see him, wasn't getting old yet, making them both willing to settle for a quick hug.

"Looks like the storm is only getting worse," Logan commented as they drove out towards the North coast of the island. It wasn't easy driving either, the side wind often felt like it might blow the car off the road, hence it took some concentration from him. There were some smaller branches on the trees, indicating the strenght of the strom but thankfully this seemed to be the extent of it.

"One Christmas the roof flew off," Em pointed out from the back seat, worrying a little about the place they were going to. She didn't really know what to expect and Rory hadn't gotten into explaining much about the place, since all she really knew was what it had been and how it had been renovated since.

"At your house?" Logain inquired, turning to a more shaded area, which was less windy.

"At great-grandma's," Em replied.

"It was just a small part of the roof. It was a rough winter storm. Everyone was fine," Rory replied.

"You were there at the time? That must've been scary," Logan commented, glancing back into the rearview mirror.

It was the next moment as the streetlights, illuminating the small streets leading up to their destination, went dark, creating a whole other prospect for their evening.

Em yelped at the sudden blackness.

The contrast was sharp, causing Logan to slow down considerably. Everything was pitch black, except for the headlights against the road.

"It's fine - the power must've gone out," Logan commented, hoping to soothe the girl in his back seat.

Rory could just think how lucky they'd been to have landed before the blackout - she doubted the airport would've been operational otherwise. They had no clue whether this involved the entire island or just this area.

"Think of it like an adventure," Rory suggested to Em.

"Yeah, we even have a generator if this lasts longer," Logan added.

"What's a generator?" Em pondered.

"It makes electricity, Em," Rory explained.

"It's just noisy, so we'll definitely turn it off for the night," Logan offered as additional information.

"We'll be fine, won't we?" Rory reached her hand to the backseat and rubbed Em's knee assuringly.

"Yeah, I think we even had some marshmallows left and there's this cozy fireplace..," Logan elaborated, and put on the signal light on indicating their arrival.

"You hear that, Em?" Rory encouraged, feeling now strangely nervous. After all - this was the first attempt at them coexisting like this, and with that part of Logan's family that actually mattered, hence she truly hoped the girl would enjoy this time too.

Rory had been looking forward to a grand arrival, seeing the place lit up beautifully as she'd seen it over the winter months back in the day, but all she saw were the grand gate through the rain in the headlights.

"This is it," Logan announced, feeling surprisingly weird bringing Rory here since ages ago now that they were actually here.

It felt like she was there for the first time, like she was someone new. She was not the same Rory, not exactly even if her essence was the same. She was his first girlfriend after his wife's passing whom he was bringing over for Thanksgiving, yet all except the kids, knew that wasn't the case - it was not as simple. He'd spent time here with Odette too in between, so in a ways it also made him feel a little guilty for moving forward - or back? - so quickly, so easily. So there was definitely more than just the excitement of it that he was feeling.

Logan left the car lights on and aided his daughter - god, that still didn't get old - out of the back seat of his car, and led her through the wooden gates, glancing briefly behind to see whether Rory was alright.

Seeing her, already carrying her purse, begin to fuss with her luggage he called, "Just leave it - I'll get it in a minute," through the loud rustling of trees. The storm was gathering strenght it seemed.

Rory didn't argue, and hurried after them, getting just a brief glimpse of the place. So far it was a lot like she'd remembered - the red stone paving, the dark brown accents.

They made it up the couple of steps, Logan knowing to warn Em not to trip. Logan opened the door, allowing the girls to enter before him.

"Honor!?" he called out. "Rory and Em are here!" he added, not too gallantly, the weather causing him to alter his priorities. There was some noise coming from inside and the weak light of flashlighs or possibly candles - signs of life.

With a brief touch against the small of Rory's back, suggesting wordlessly for them to go in, Logan headed back for the luggage. He's just barely gotten down the stairs and rushed forward a few steps when a loud crack resonated to the ears of those just inside the door, the door having remained half-open.

The rustling of the branches was followed by a loud, yet in this noise barely audible, groan - "Auch...!"

"Logan!" Rory yelped, his tone having reached her ears. She rushed back down the stairs out to see whether he was okay, leaving her little girl in the safety of the house. A million things went through her brain, among them most prominantly the fact that she couldn't lose him again.

"I'm okay, just this old cypress is trying to kill me," Logan muttered, having got hit by a branch and stumbled as a result. "Go back inside," he suggested.

Rory helped him up, checking over him. Thankfully the branch hadn't been very heavy.

"I'm not leaving you when you could have a concussion for all I know," Rory yelled through the noise, seeing well that he was rubbing his head and shoulder like he was hurt, bruised at the very least.

"There's no need for both of us to be out here," Logan argued, shoving the branche under the tree, while looking up hoping another one wouldn't fall while they were both out here.

Rory groaned from frustration and headed towards the car, while Logan followed her, sensing it was an argument he wasn't going to win.

By now they were both already soaking wet, storm jacket or not.

Logan opened the trunk and they took a suitcase each. The trunk door that opened upwards provided them with some shade and ligh, and allowed for a moment to take place.

She looked over his wet face, raindrops dripping down, feeling like she needed him to know how much she'd missed him.

Rory's lips landed on his, and his free hand wrapped around her body like his life depended on it. Both the kiss and their bodies were sloppy, messy, achy and wet. Kissing in the rain took on a whole other meaning - for them this wasn't an act of desparation but an opportunity, knowing around Em they'd be sneaking around all weekend, stealing touches and kisses when no-one was looking. But this couldn't have waited.

"Now we better watch out for those branches going back or how else will we be able to pick this up later...," Logan cautioned smugly as the kiss broke.

Rory shook her head, stroking his head and chin, a small smile creeping onto her lips.

Not caring the least bit about the rain by now, hand in hand, only letting go as they approached the door and were met with a warm greeting from Honor, "There you are! Here I was thinking I'd need to send a search party," knowingly, at the door, having already made friends with Em by getting the wet jacked off her back.