AN: A fairly light fluffy chapter today, some smut in the second half.
Chapter 78
December 11th, 2021
"One thing I am definitely not going to miss when we move is having this little space between the wall and the bed," Rory complained having climbed back to bed after a quick trip to the bathroom. Logan's bedroom was tiny - leaving only a very minimal 1 ft on one side, while positioning the bed like that provided some more space to move around the room. But the place was hardly meant for two people to permanently live in, nor for anyone to stay for extended periods of time considering Rory had bought it to be an airbnb.
Their humble date last night had indeed helped to scatter her negative thoughts, and Logan's assurance had made her more certain that it was just Luke's misconception, him doubting her and the way he did it, that bothered her. Besides, they'd agreed to bring it up in therapy, and get a neutral opinion to rule out any faulty thinking on her side.
This was exactly what therapy was for - to tackle anything life threw in their way. But already now, little by little, she'd begun to accept that she really had no reason to doubt herself - it was just a part of her that she was too easily shaken by the opinion others had of her, especially if those people were the ones she cared about too.
"Can't say that I am a fan either," Logan replied, not liking this particular detail about his bedroom either. But this was temporary, and it was not like Rory didn't know he was used to more space.
Logan wrapped his arm around Rory's waist again, deciding to enjoy this mid-morning slumber to the fullest. Rory was just wearing a pair of panties, not that having them on made him want her any less like that.
"What else do you want our place to have?" Rory inquired, looking at him, enjoying his warm embrace. It was like being physically connected to him did just what it once had - it charged her. And it certainly didn't hurt that he looked as handsome and sexy as he did, his lean muscles almost making her want to touch him constantly.
"Well…," Logan began to ponder, his head propped up on his elbow. "I think we'd both appreciate a study, maybe something that is partially shared even. I used to love how we worked together," Logan admitted,but added that he probably had more video chat calls these days than he once did, which might be distracting for the other person in the same office. "A few extra bedrooms maybe…," Logan continued, not wanting to specify their purpose, not to pressure her.
But he genuinely liked to have a place for friends to visit, and their little gang was growing too, Colin with Rosie, Robert with his fiance and so forth. So at least one extra guest room would've been good, and Rory really couldn't argue with that.
"I still want a porch, but maybe a larger back porch instead of the one I have now. One with a couch or a dining table perhaps. Maybe something like a winter garden that can be closed off so it'd be warm longer. I can show you what I mean once we go to the Sandcastle," she replied, recalling what she'd described was what grandma had had there.
At least Lorelai had called her last night to talk. She'd assured Rory that even she didn't agree with everything Luke had said, having gotten her own summed up version of it last night. At least she seemed to be willing to give Logan a chance, trusting her daughter more than Luke did. She was also hopeful that as usual Luke would come around, but it certainly sounded like this was causing some issues for her and Luke too among other things. As a result Rory actually felt the support of her mother.
And while Lorelai herself was still a little reluctant to go to Nantucket, being unsure if she'd want to, she gave Rory her blessing to go herself with Em and Logan at least. Rory was planning to talk to Jess tomorrow, but she couldn't think of a good reason for him to stop her really, as he already knew Christmas with Logan was what she'd planned already..
"I'd like that," Logan replied. "Not too close to the neighbors, I mean cannot expect something like my sister has, but maybe like your mom's place or like your grandmother had in Hartford," he continued to describe. "So you're not looking into anyone else's bedroom directly," he added.
"Says a man living in an apartment," Rory teased.
"I mean your place is nice, but I could do without the neighbors banging their car doors just below the bedroom window," Logan said, with a chuckle.
"But not too much yard, I never really got the hang of gardening," she laughed at her own expense. Bulbs still freaked her out a little.
"What do you imagine this place to look like - a box in the middle of a parking lot?" Logan laughed.
"Fine!" Rory relented. "There can be some garden space, but you'll have to tell the gardener what we want done, because I swear Peter, the gardener, still sometimes stares at me like I am some freak who doesn't know the words to tell him what I want done at my place, let alone somewhere bigger," she explained. "All I have is 'remove leaves' and 'mow grass'," she added laughingly.
"Sure, I can do that. Not that I got a lot of gardening experience from London," he said with a chuckle..
"I was also thinking about this other thing… I'm not sure yet… but would it be weird if I got a place for me and Em, and then have you move in a little later? I just thought that maybe it'd be good if Em didn't associate the move directly with you," Rory began to explain, hesitantly. "Or I don't know, maybe she should do just that… it was just something that crossed my mind. I don't want to keep you away, I really don't…," she explained.
"Don't worry about it," Logan stroked the side of her face, not wanting her to worry about how he took the suggestion. "But I am not going to lie that I'd prefer this to not be some kind of an elaborate plan, where we push my move further and further away… I just want to live with you. But ultimately I know that this can't be hurried," he explained.
This plan just seemed like something that they would try to plan with a cold stomach like have them move, and knowing how busy Rory was the move alone would probably take some months. Then X number of months until Logan could join them - it just seemed like there were so many things that could just cause her to say 'Em's not ready' and postpone it even further.
"Or we could get a place and you could move in first… and then we'd get her used to the place little by little by spending time there. Then maybe suggest she choose the paint for her room, and then inquire that maybe she'd like to move there permanently?" Rory plotted.
"And then she says 'no!' in that same voice she had last week when she was grumpy," Logan added, trying to impersonate Em, laughingly.
"Then I'll just tell her termites are eating our house and we have to move," Rory laughed.
Logan laughed too. "Well you could do that now," he added sneakily.
"True," Rory agreed, half seriously.
"I did look at some ads, just to see what was out there. I know the market might still change until we get to it, but it seems the market is not really blooming around here," Logan shared, having had unusually much time on his hands. Supposedly this actually worked in their favor - the bigger and therefore also pricier houses just seemed to stay on the market for quite a while, making him think they probably even had some room to haggle.
"Anything good?" Rory asked, curiously. It made her stomach flutter to know he'd been looking already. God, she wanted time to move faster and just somehow Em to embrace this as much as she wanted this.
"A few places, I ran by one of the places on Thursday actually. It's not that far even," Logan explained.
"You know, I got this strangest idea yesterday - that maybe… just maybe we could even look somewhere else than Hartford. Like just for a second I thought about what's been keeping me here, and I was like…," Rory said with a shrug at the end.
This was certainly news for him. He wondered whether it was the work stress causing this or something else.
"Well there's Em's dad, her school, your work, Stars Hollow…," Logan listed the obvious.
"I know…," Rory said. "But Em's due to change schools in two years anyways, Boston is not that far, neither is New Haven, Manchester, Bristol, Meriden, Springfield, Providence…," she listed, keeping to herself that she had in fact considered that there were other private schools in the area. Maybe she could teach somewhere else, maybe cut back on her hours a little. Especially if she were to ever consider another baby, shorter hours would be good for them. She loved working for Max, but the rest of the collegues weren't really people she was bosom buddies with.
"Well… then I think I'm just going to put the search on a hold until you figure that part out. I'm free as a bird here, the rest needs to come from you," Logan said, wondering whether doubting her purpose for working last week had anything to do with this aimlessness. He'd seen this aimlessness before, more than once, and truthfully - he didn't like seeing her like this. It made him worry.
"It's probably just an odd thought, you know… because of Luke and mom," Rory explained, changing her position so that she was laying on her back now, but Logan's arm stayed on her bare side. "But I guess I just realized that I am not really that fixed about being here. Maybe I've been like paralyzed here with my problems, my trauma… maybe moving away would be good for me," she shared.
"As much as I want to live with you already, as much as I want a place of our own… I do have time, we have time," Logan assured, and kissed her stomach. He had begun to notice these past few weeks that she was fragile in that sense, more so than he had been when they'd had their previous relationship - to his knowledge at least. But it didn't make him love her less because of it.
Rory smiled, her hand caressing through his rough beard, causing him to shoot a sneaky smile back at her.
"I actually got you a little present. Again - I do know that this is not to be rushed. But I think this is the part that I am supposed to take care of, and I wanted you to have this…," he began, and turned to open his bedside drawer.
"Is that what I think it is?" Rory asked, as she observed the modern looking slim jewelry case in front of her. In theory it could've been earrings but she just had a gut feeling that it wasn't. In a way she was also relieved he hadn't kept the blue box he'd handed her once before, feeling like they really did deserve a fresh start.
"It is," Logan replied, and opened the box, exposing a very different ring from the classical diamond ring she'd gotten from him the last time. "You don't even have to wear it, but I want you to have it to remind you that I love you, and that you are the love of my life. And wherever you'll have me I'll be honored to be your husband," he said, still feeling a jolt through his chest as he said it. He'd wanted that so long.
The ring was vintage styled, but modern, a round-shaped salt-pepper diamond in the middle, and some smaller ones on the side, creating an almost tiara-like shape to it. The ring itself was white gold. Definitely unique, beautiful but not over the top.
"You know you didn't have to," Rory felt she needed to say. She took the ring and without hesitation slipped it onto her finger. She loved how it felt and looked on her, he did too.
"But, oh I did," Logan assured, nodding along, and kissed her skin again.
Rory's arms went around his neck, and she kissed him. She hadn't even realized how much this moment would mean. It was a celebration that they'd never really had. She was so past just loving the thought of being married to him. "Yes," she said, despite the fact he hadn't even asked her anything this time. But somehow she just felt like he too needed to hear it. He deserved to hear it. "I want everything with you," Rory said, just wishing she wasn't such a mess to begin with, but the way her heart ached for him, feeling like it was going to burst, couldn't just be a figment of her imagination. That was real, as was the ring in her finger, and the man in her arms. Those things were real. More real than someone else's opinion, than all of their joint, past, mess.
"I love you," Logan replied, and kissed her again. Each kiss still made his stomach flutter, which surely should've been something that happened to much younger men. Here he was, feeling his age - but feeling more alive than he'd ever felt.
Almost instinctively their kiss made them crave more, and the way Rory slipped down her panties as she moved to her knees, but never broke the kiss, spoke volumes of her intentions. Logan moved upwards, his back against the headboard, and watched Rory climb onto his thighs with determination.
He pulled her waist as tightly against him as he could, stomachs touching, there almost being something possessive about the way he held her. And that ring on her ringer, that he could still feel against his shoulder on her hand, just kept reminding him that he had her, as if feeling her body wasn't enough.
Logan buried his emotions, not really knowing what to do with this burst of euphoria, having for so long only had to deal with the negative, into her neck, kissing her skin with his eyes closed. He wasn't even sure, maybe he'd even leave a mark. He couldn't imagine ever getting sick of her smell. Her hair tickled him a little, but felt silky smooth at the same time.
His stubble was quite the opposite on her skin - rough and rugged, but at the same time somehow sexier, more masculine for sure, yet that inherent smell that was his still tickled her nostrils, creating a deeper desire. His rapidly stiffening arousal between her legs definitely added to it as well.
It wasn't the first time they were at it this morning, her folds already containing his and her combined juices, hence the anticipation of more of it, made Rory's core clench at just the thought of it.
Rory kissed him on the lips again, pulling his lower lip with her teeth gently, while her hips began to move against him, his arousal sliding back and forth her slit without much guidance.
As they both felt the need growing, his tip having just barely missed her opening, they decisively gazed into each other's eyes as Rory made a deliberate move with her hips, alternating the position just a little, causing him to thrust into her. She was already a little sore, but she didn't care, the delicious pain turning into something she wanted a lot more than to avoid it.
"Oh, fuck, Rory…," Logan groaned.
Rory fluctuated between her mouth falling open, eliciting small 'o's and 'ah's and biting her lip, as they continued to move. Her hips were making waves, raising herself up and down a little, while he aided her, holding on to her thighs, and on occasion pistoning into her while she herself had to do very little.
It was probably one of the slowest love making sessions they'd ever had, their kisses, tastes of each-other's skins, and the caressing of each-other's bodies - derailing them several times from the ultimate goal, took over. It was about appreciating the other's body, the curve of her breasts under his palm and the roughness of his beard and occasion his teeth on her skin.
Rory clung to his neck, her forehead resting at the side of his, and breathed out hot gushes of airs, as she approached her high.
Logan's fingertips dug into her thighs assertively, moving her along, as he gave it his last strength, his throbbing member filling her to the brim. The rhythmic quivering and louder than usual moan that came from her mouth, was the most incredible sensation, causing him to let go too, and let the orgasm flush over him.
"I love you," Rory whispered, the feeling of the cool metal on her finger and against his neck, amplifying her words.
