AN: Just a reminder to one of the guest reviewers that Michum was killed in a car accident a few months back (Rory and Logan first met again at the cemetery).

As for Logan's exchange with Rory when Richard passed - I think it was a moment when Logan felt like he couldn't just go running to her if she didn't say she wanted him to. Self-protection in part. He couldn't throw everything else away just out of chivalry anymore. It must've been hard being leaned on by someone he loved while she was keeping him at arm's lenght. Maybe he was even hoping that if he went along with this parth Rory might be more inclined to say something. He wanted her to tell him that she wasn't okay with him and Odette, but she never did. I wouldn't call it quite dismissing her. I think he was polite, but yes, formal (colder) since he wasn't alone in the room anymore. All she had to do was ask.


Chapter 71

November 27th, 2021

"It's going to be okay," Rory assured Logan, and squeezed his hand, seconds before planning to get out of the car in front of her childhood home. She realized that it felt like a much bigger deal going in there than it perhaps should've been. Certainly a much bigger deal than going to her dad's had been.

She didn't like to admit it, but she was nervous too, and the assurance - saying those words out loud - was just as necessary for her as to Logan.

"I don't exactly have the best track record with her," Logan admitted, and rubbed his face with his palm.

"But unlike anyone else you've tried to rise above it more than anyone else," Rory replied, recalling both the letter and asking for her hand in marriage, putting it poetically.

Logan certainly had plenty of experiences at raising above various situations - from business settings, clearing up his father's messy relationships and business lawsuits. But also with Odette there had been a number of times he'd had to clean up her messes as well - dealings with the yellow press when she'd partied a little too hard, flings that had threatened to destroy her reputation, career or marriage, not knowing the reality.

But this was his mess.

And Lorelai had in many ways been right about him the first time - that he had been a privileged, spoiled brat who for a long time treated women perhaps not in the most respectful manner. He really hadn't been good enough for her daughter, not by her standards at least. But if anything, having someone to doubt him, had been one thing that had made him want to be better, do better.

Lorelai was a woman whose opinion mattered to Rory a great deal despite her being the age she was, also being now far more independent than she had been back in college. Logan knew that too. She was a woman whom he needed to at least not be against him.

The trouble was that Logan honestly didn't know why Lorelai was supposed to like him now. Not after everything that had happened. How was she going to believe he was serious this time, that his intentions were pure, his regret real, and show her all the ways he'd changed? With Rory it was different, because Rory understood her own partial blame too - but knowing anything about Lorelai - she was definitely about to focus on the facts she had.

In Lorelai's eyes he was fairly sure all he was was the guy who'd kept her daughter on the side while engaged to another woman, no matter their casual arrangement, who'd chosen another woman over her daughter, who'd left her daughter heartbroken and pregnant, grieving all alone, and making desperate decisions. He was now the divorcee with a messy past who'd just waltzed back into Rory's life and swept her away, messing now with a lot more than just Rory's life this time. Even he would hate himself if he had been in Lorelai's position.

"So what does she know exactly?" Logan asked, feeling like he needed another minute.

"The basics - she doesn't know about our exact agreement during London, but I've tried telling her that it wasn't something you'd talked me into," Rory said, not wanting to use the term 'Vegas' anymore. "She knows about the miscarriage, that I rushed into things from there on," she continued, adding, "she knows that we go to therapy. I think she knows that I'm happy?" she added, being a little uncertain about the latter. She hoped Lorelai saw that, she usually did.

"Does she know about what happened with Odette? The news?" Logan inquired.

"Not that I know of, just that it wasn't your baby. Jess, I think, did most of the googling though," Rory shared.

"Great," Logan replied, regretting leaving that much of the gossip out there, thinking back. But he knew that even if he took down every original post, there'd still be tweets and posts and memories which couldn't be erased that easily.

"Come on, it's just coffee. You'll have plenty of opportunities to do this, today is just a small step," Rory encouraged. "Maybe I'll even ask you to Friday Night Dinners from now one," Rory offered bravely. "Soon..," she added, with a shrug, knowing that things should be cleared with Luke before this actually happened.

"Yeah, I guess," Logan replied, and kissed Rory, as if kissing her for good luck.

It was as they stepped out of Rory's car, when a light dust-like snow began to fall, catching Rory's attention.

"Looks like the universe is on your side this time," Rory replied, taking Logan's hand, and they stepped towards the entrance.

Lorelai made it out to the porch next, just as Rory expected her to, taking a deep breath of the air, as it was the first snow of the year.

"Hey," Rory replied. "I think I'm finally beginning to smell it too a little," she replied, deciding to humor her mother. She sensed that change in the air, but she wasn't quite sure it was a smell rather than something with the humidity or the texture, something she couldn't quite place.

"Ah…," Lorelai inhaled. "Hi," she then replied, hugging her upper arms due to the cold. "What took you so long? I saw your car pull up five minutes ago," she commented.

"Hi," Logan said finally as well. "Just gathering my courage," Logan decided to approach this as drastically differently as he could think of. The old him would've shown how unrattled he was about her opinion, how he was brave and sure of himself. But he saw no point now. He wasn't here to get away with something - he was there to stick around and deal with Lorelai for years to come if he got what he wanted.

"You two don't smell like booze," Lorelai noted, teasingly, and followed the two inside through the door that she'd left ajar earlier.

Not a 'it's good to see you', not a 'it's been a while'.

Rory and Logan hung up their coats, and greeted Robin, the little collie-like dog, for whose sake security gates had been installed on both entrances of the foyer by now. The brown-and-white-colored dog wagged its tail joyfully, actually preferring Logan's attention to Rory's at this point.

"His name is Robin," Rory explained.

"Come on boy," Lorelai said and whistled lightly, calling the dog off. It was almost as if she didn't like it that Robin liked Logan, but for Logan this was an interesting interaction in a completely unexpected way. Something about that dog having the kind of energy that he found fascinating and it made him smile despite his earlier hesitation. It was like real life stress relief, making the tension in his stomach ease.

"Coffee, Logan?" Rory offered, already helping herself to a cup, feeling herself at home.

"Sure," he replied, "half a cup, maybe," he added on second thought. He liked the prospect of having something to hold and sip, but caffeine just made him more anxious. He didn't let himself be bothered by Lorelais look of contempt at his beverage preference.

"So, how was Boston?" Lorelai asked the two, as if the fact that Logan was in this house for the first time since 2007 wasn't anything significant.

"Good. Dad says 'hi'," Rory replied, and they all took seats by the kitchen table.

To Logan the place still looked stuck in time, with some smaller changes from what he remembered, but the place still had that home feel he'd never really felt anywhere else, except for maybe at Rory's current house.

"It was good to see him again. We also caught up with our friend Colin and his daughter. Other than that, we saw some art, and went on a ghost tour last night," Logan continued, casually.

"Aw... jealous," Lorelai complained, playfully, the ghost tour in mind.

Rory told Lorelai the story she'd heard at the Boston Opera House, the love for spooky stories being certainly something Lorelai and Rory shared.

"And we found two amazing restaurants. One was by the Seaport - a Mexican place called Lolita, and then there was not too far from dad's - Saltie Girl. They had this most incredible Cioppino," Rory continued to describe energetically some minutes later.

There was a look from Rory to Logan, in part inquiring if he was okay, in part wondering if he felt excluded, but also just one that simply spoke of her love - and how much she'd enjoyed this weekend.

Lorelai looked back and forth between the two, and Logan could only hope that what she was seeing was a changed dynamic and all the good that they felt. He could hope she could see the glimmer in Rory's eyes that he hadn't seen there either when she'd first seen her after all these years apart. He certainly knew he felt better than he had in years, lighter, more energetic, more determined.

"And Gigi?" Lorelai continued, casually, sticking to safer subjects. "She must be nervous," she added.

"I don't know," Rory replied. "She seems to have a handle on things. I don't think it's that big of a deal for her to get into the best of the best, even though she might," she added.

While they talked and Logan simply listened, Robin seemed to have trouble staying away, and sniffed around Logan, looking for his attention, keeping his hand mostly on his nose or running over his head.

"Looks like Robin likes you," Rory made an observation.

It actually felt like the dog was giving him his approval or something, and he certainly enjoyed the distraction just the same.

"And I like him. It's a 'he', right?" Logan replied, smilingly, and rubbed the top of his head.

"Yeah, he is," Lorelai replied.

"So mom," Rory said, nodding her head towards Logan, scolding her for sticking to the small talk.

"What? You want me to interrogate the guy? Caution him about treating you right?" Lorelai huffed back at Rory.

"No, come on…," Rory rolled her eyes.

"Because I'm pretty sure I've done that already, not that it helped much," Lorelai replied.

Rory took a deep, frustrated, breath.

"Can I just say that - I know you have every reason to dislike me, hell I would probably too. But can I just say that living with regret and misery for the past five years has been a lesson I don't want to repeat. I know there's a lot at stake, I beat myself up for that enough I think, and that is exactly why we are going slow, we're trying to nip any issues that may come up in the bud by the therapy. And if I say so myself, I think we're talking a whole lot more already. All I want is her to be happy…,"

Rory took his other hand that rested on the table, the other one still being tossed about by Robin under the table.

"And what about your family?" Lorelai asked.

"Mom, I'm not 20," Rory replied, dissapointedly, aiming to point out that she wasn't as easily shaken these days by just someone's opinion. She was tired of her mother fearing she'd break.

"Still - Em is around, and I don't want her to experience such attitudes either," Lorelai explained, and made Rory realize she really hadn't thought about it too much. Shira's words could hurt Em too, potentially. Rory certainly didn't want anyone thinking less of Em because she wasn't Logan's if things went further.

"Well, my sister adores Rory, she always has, and same goes for Em. And she's as far as my family matters. I may do an occasional social visit to my mother's, but believe me, I have my own issues with her, so I do not intend to mix the life that I actually care about with her opinions," Logan defended himself.

"But who says you won't just hop on the next plane to London to run that company of yours," Lorelai shrugged, crossing her arms in front of her.

"I have no place to go there. I left my ex-wife with more than half of my money. My sister is incharge of the company, I have no say in that though she keeps asking. I have no family money in my control, no stocks, bonds or anything, except for the house in the Vineyard which needs some serious reapers, really hemorrhaging money more than anything, which I got before my dad passed," Logan said, speaking rapidly and a little defensively, surprising Rory even, as she really hadn't talked money with him much until now. He wasn't going to mention that that had been a wedding present, but considering Odette had gotten the London apartment which was worth way more than that old house, he didn't really care. That place held more memories for him than their place in London anyways, most of them from his time with Rory rather than Odette, who didn't like the worn out place much. And Logan just hadn't felt like fixing up the place much, never quite having the time, especially if he didn't really use it. And also for not wanting the modernizaton to erase those memories, overall it had been easier just to not think about it.

"So you've really pulled a Christopher on them. Minus the house," Lorelai noted, sounding impressed.

Logan shrugged, not really knowing the details.

"It wasn't making me happy, so what use was it to me?" Logan replied, almost sounding a little fiery and relieved at the same time.

This was certainly something Lorelai herself could identify with as well, not really knowing what to say.

"You realize that I can't just flip a switch and begin to like you, to trust you. I can respect the way you've turned things around… but it'll take time and experience," Lorelai replied.

"I understand that," Logan replied.

"Okay then," Lorelai responded. "Happy now?" Lorelai shot back Rory, not liking the way she'd set this up and forced her to have this talk.

"Very," Rory replied, giddily, and squeezed Logan's hand assuringly.

An hour later they drove through town, aiming to pick up Em from Jess'.

"I'm pretty sure the town hates me a little," Rory commented as they pulled onto the town square.

"Why?" Logan inquired.

"Believe it or not I think they've kind of grown to like Jess, and they are not that good at seeing the gray areas. So I think they're siding with him," Rory explained. She did feel less and less at home here. Sometimes she even wasn't sure how the opinons of the townsfolk were any different from those of the high society. Sure, they were less privliged, but just as opinionated.

"Sorry," Logan replied. "Do you even think I should come with you to Jess' though?" he asked, realizing he'd kind of left it last minute. "I could just go wait for a cab or something," he offered.

"No, besides getting a decent cab around here is a little tricky. You'll end up waiting an hour," Rory explained, knowing well that there was only one local cab driver who had several other jobs on the side.

"I don't want to cause a fight," Logan replied.

"It's just a ride back, it's 30 minutes in the car with my daughter. Jess will just have to deal with it. Besides, think of it as exposure to her too. Just a tiny step at getting her comfortable with you being around," Rory explained, assuringly.

"Okay," Logan sighed.

"It'll be fine, I promise," Rory replied, having a good feeling about this. Surely Jess would prefer this to some lengthier activity amongst the three of them. She almost felt like she needed to give Jess time to adjust to his presence too, maybe just let him get a glimpse of him from the window - casually. Maybe Jess too needed to see him physically, not just imagine the 'blonde dick from Yale'.

The pickup went calmly, Rory even mentioning briefly that she was driving Logan back to Hartford. She could tell Jess didn't like the idea much, but he'd just replied in his monosyllabic way so she just let it brush off her.

Em looked a little excited to see Logan, which Rory loved to see, on the other hand.

On the way back they talked about Boston, about seeing grandpa Christopher and aunt Gigi, which still sounded so weird to Rory to say out loud, while Em ate the cannoli Rory had brought back for her, getting a big stain on her pants. But they were just pants, nothing that couldn't be washed.

"Your mom's dog, Robin, was pretty cool," Logan said, making casual small-talk. "You know, I've never really had a real pet before, but I've always kind of loved dogs," he continued.

"Robin is great, but I liked Paul Anka more," Em mentioned.

"Yeah, I remember him too. I've met him, you know. A long time ago," Logan replied.

"You have? Really?" Em said in disbelief.

"He was very young then, but he was a great dog," Logan added.

"He was," Em agreed. Rory knew she still missed him.

"Maybe I should consider getting a dog of my own one day," Logan said, the balancing influence of Robin back at Lorelai's still in his mind. He could already imagine spending time with a dog - jogging, training him, and simply having a buddy who was effortless to be aroud. He needed things to keep him grounded besides a good relationship, just like he needed friends, old and new.

Of course at this point this was something he needed to think more about - consider all the pros and cons, his possibilities and how much time he actually had to care for a dog. He had a lot to learn how one did this too. Getting a dog wasn't something he would plan to do on a whim, but he saw no harm in discussing it.

"Huh, I've never imagined you with a dog before," Rory said, casting a brief look towards him while driving.

"You should, dogs are a lot of fun," Em pitched in, making the two smile at her cuteness.

"I'd have to talk with my landlord first," Logan replied, grinning widely.

"Ha-ha," Rory chuckled, but wasn't really against it. She just wanted to see him happy too.


AN: Also I couldn't find the discussion in the past chapters about Rory telling Lorelai about Logan giving up his inheritage, if it was somewhere - sorry for the discrepancy.