AN: one of you commented how Jess was somehow breaking all these rules by going after Logan. Well the way I imagined it is that they still don't have any formal custody agreement. They managed with agreeing on things amongst themselves, and Rory only consulted a lawyer. So there are no formal rules to abide. Sure, neither should probably do what they did - Jess go after Logan like that, and Rory shouldn't care or think about where Jess was off to being all dressed up, but that's just life.


Chapter 80

December 12th, 2021

Seeing that brief glance of Jess all those years later had been weird - not at all like Logan had imagined. He'd pictured still that punk 20-something guy in a denim jacket, someone who was still figuring things out like he'd seen him the last time. But of course Jess wasn't that person anymore and that actually made him feel a little silly for having imagined him that way. Sure, he'd seen the photos, both around the house and on some older photos on Rory's phone - he was older just as he was. But what shocked him was that Logan hadn't really considered Jess as a real contenter these days, after everything he'd heard from Rory. But clearly - at least in theory - he still was.

Logan cast a quick glance at Jess' BMW as he passed it. It was older, but Logan appreciated the make - the guy knew his cars alright.

It was as he made it past the neighbors walkway, he was jolted out of his thoughts.

"Hey, Logan, wait up," he heard Jess' deep voice call him.

Seriously?

Had he been younger Logan wouldn't have been too surprised to get a fist to his face as he turned, innocently. It was that much he expected from Jess, and truthfully, he would've even kind of understood.

"Yeah?" Logan asked.

There seemed to be no fist coming. Instead, Jess cleared his throat, clearly having not thought this entirely through either.

"I was hoping we could talk," Jess said, his tone sounding deeper than Logan remembered.

Logan shrugged - sure he could talk.

"But I'm kind of running late right now," Jess added. "Any chance you'd be willing to meet, say 9-ish?" he suggested, confidently.

"Sure," Logan shrugged again, trying to put on a brave front.

Jess tucked his hands into his coat pocket, pondering for a second. "The pub over at Isham work for you?" he asked.

"Okay," Logan agreed with a nod.

Jess mumbled an equal "okay" in return and backed a few steps before heading over to his car to drive off, leaving Logan, if anything, baffled.

What was this all about? Did Jess really think he was going to scare him off? Blackmail? Giving him the talk? Certainly he was not about to give him his blessing? But strangely enough, he hadn't seemed steaming with anger.

Logan certainly had a mixture of emotions in his mind now. He was coming off of a emotional high - the engagement ring, cohabitating with Rory for the past, almost full, 48 hours, all those happiness hormones from all that sex, planning their life together - what was there not to be happy about? And all of a sudden he had three hours to kill, or rather fry himself, wondering what it was Jess wanted to talk to him about. He had three hours to think up scenarios of what this could be - of what he was going to say as his defense, and what Jess might. That's just bloody great. Or maybe that was intentional too?

He saw Jess drive off, and continued to walk back to his apartment himself, and Rory had by then already texted him asking what was that about.

Logan wanted to handle this with grace, he didn't want to have Rory scold Jess for approaching him. He was a grown man just like he was - surely they could talk like grown men. But he didn't want to hide it either. But honestly, he didn't know what to tell her, as he didn't know what to expect.

"We're going for a drink later," Logan texted her.

Rory didn't stop at that naturally, her typing and retracting demonstrating well how nervous she was about this.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Logan fibbed, before she had composed a reply, also letting her know that he didn't really know what it was going to be about.

"Text me later?" Rory asked.

"Ok," he replied. What else was he going to do?

As he walked, Logan began to wonder that there wasn't a whole lot he knew about Jess, truth be told. He'd just assumed he'd stayed the same person he'd met in 2005. He realized himself how stupid that was of him. No wonder Jess thought of him the same way, if even he had. In fact, he realized Jess probably knew more of him than he knew of him, Rory having mentioned that Jess had googled him some weeks ago.

So when he got back to his apartment, the lingering scent of Rory's perfume still there, he opened up his laptop to at least even the playing field a little. He didn't want this to become a fight, a showdown, but showing up unarmed seemed stupid just the same.

What he found was certainly not what he'd expected - Jess had almost his entire resume up on the Truncheon's website in the form of a blog post, discussing in length how the American school system was dysfunctional and how it had taken him 8 different food industry positions, two years in printing and sales to finally apply himself the way he felt he was supposed to. First the writing, then the editing. There was a picture of Jess sitting on the edge of his antique office desk, filled with books and printouts at his office, a red brick wall behind him, definitely carrying the image of cool. Hipster-like but more serious, like one could actually do business with him.

Logan noted that that blog post was from 2017, meaning it was still from the time Rory and him had been together, and he could indeed see that glow in that photo of his. He looked happy, content, like he'd made it. Logan used to be the master of conjuring that look onto his face, despite not really feeling it 9 out of 10 times.

For the first time Logan really thought about this whole thing from Jess' perspective. Really thought about it.

Jess had no reason to like him, and he really couldn't blame Jess for it. Here was this guy whom the girl of Jess' dreams had trouble quitting - Logan himself - and now Jess was watching her sail into the sunset with him again, with his daughter there on the boat with them. Logan realized the loss Jess must feel, deceit also perhaps. A life that he'd imagined, hadn't panned out either.

It was for that same reason Logan himself hadn't wanted to know what Rory was up to all these years, feeling it would've been too painful to know and watch from the sidelines. And now Jess had no other option. Not with a kid involved. He almost felt like the one they were going to have to be gentle with here was not the little girl but Jess - with the move, with the engagement... everything. Maybe he actually understood him better than Rory did in that sense?

Logan read about him some more. He even wondered whether it'd be weird if he bought a few of his books to see what kind of a writer he really was. He wasn't used to having all this time on his hands.

In a way this was social media stocking, but Jess hadn't even gone down that rabbit hole. As far as he could tell Jess didn't even have social media accounts, nothing personal at least just one as an author and one for his bookstore.

He's financial status, based on his company records, seemed to be in order, and he really seemed like the man who had with very little official preparation turned his less than ideal childhood and teen-years into an advantage by talking about it openly. He was clean, not a stain to his name.

Logan really couldn't say that about himself. There was the yellow press frequently liking to discuss his afairs, and then there was the business - he'd cleaned up a number of his father's messes hence staining his own name in the process with various settlements and court cases. To the outside, to people who had little experience with the cut throat corporate world, he really did come off as someone untrustworthy, or at least a little sketchy, and going back there was nothing he really looked back with deep pride, except for his 15-minutes in Silicon Valley. The negative shone so much brighter than the good that he'd done.

As he made it to the pub in question, being actually a little early, having gotten sick of sitting at home, waiting, he realized that if this was ever going to work - he was going to have to start with a big hefty apology.

Logan found Jess sitting at a corner table, a small beer in front of him, his leg tapping on the footrest until he saw him.

"You can go grab a beer if you want," Jess suggested, sounding surprisingly accommodating, gesturing towards the bar.

Logan took a minute to get himself a Heineken 0.0, and returned, expectantly.

Jess gulped down a sip of his drink, giving Logan a moment to just say what he'd aimed.

"Hey, I'm not sure what this is - whether you're here to attempt to scare me away or give me a word of warning, but for what it's worth, I'm sorry about the way I treated you when we last met," Logan began. "I was being a jealous jerk. I shouldn't have done that, I'm sorry," he added.

"Ancient history," Jess said, but didn't sound too enthusiastically.

"Still..," Logan insisted, shrugging his shoulder.

"Your instincts were right, I'm not sure I would've behaved much better had the situation been reversed at the time," Jess admitted. Sure he wouldn't have had a Porsche or any of the money to make him treat people like they're beneath him, but he was sure he would've found an angle. In fact he'd played that scenario around in his head a few times for a book scene once.

"And now it's your turn?" Logan asked, raising the corner of the mouth, actually finding this quite entertaining. This was certainly more interesting than his Sunday otherwise would've been.

"I like to think we're both mature enough to not retreat to those ways, don't you?" Jess asked, raising his eyebrow questioningly.

"I certainly hope so," Logan replied.

"Rory told me she wants to take Em and you to Nantucket," Jess began.

"That's the plan as far as I've heard," Logan said, taking a small casual sip himself.

"She asked if I wanted to come over for Christmas morning when she's opening the presents," Jess continued. "And I could just in that moment see how this was going to become this whole big thing - my pride versus Em's….," he began, not finishing his thought. "I need to learn how to not hate you," he added, shocking Logan thoroughly, using the words Rory had used before Thanksgiving when they'd last talked properly. "I refuse to miss out on my daughter's life because I don't like you," he added with determination.

"I don't blame you for not liking me, I really don't," Logan replied, feeling quite impressed by his agenda.

"I think liking would be an overstatement in any scenario," Jess grunted, taking another sip, but maintained a confident smile nonetheless.

"And I respect that," Logan replied.

They continued to talk for about an hour. Certainly not friendly, but cautiously exploring the people they were these days. Logan ended up even assuring Jess that he in fact not the father of Odette's child, even digging up the certificate he had on his phone of it, explaining how that whole choice in life had nearly killed him, without going into too much detail on his mental health.

Jess actually complimented him by sharing the impression he'd gotten from Em, saying that the girl seemed to like him. And that he generally trusted her judgment, well as much as a 4-year old could be trusted with something like that. The talk wouldn't have been complete with a warning that he'd do whatever it took to protect his little girl, the talk staying almost completely clear of Rory for a significant length of time.

Logan was actually left with the impression that Jess was no longer pining over Rory, which was a relief. He seemed almost empowered, almost as if Rory getting serious with someone else had been a necessary push for him - but what did he know - he couldn't exactly see into Jess' head.

"So I know it's probably not something you were too eager to happen, but I'll be coming to the Sandcastle at Christmas, for a day at least," Jess eventually declared.

"Hey, I have no objections to that," Logan exhaled, raising his hands off the table, demonstratively. He knew that that wasn't his moment.

"Could you just do me a favor though?" Jess asked, as a the last thing, making Logan awfully curious to what that was.


AN: Was that now too sudden of a change in heart in Jess? Let me know what you think!