Chapter 12

During the 45 minute drive Rory had got the first look at Logan's pride and joy - his dark blue BMW Z3. But other than briefly mentioning its importance to him, like any young man his age probably would've, they'd mostly just talked about books and writing - those topics being definitely not those of every man his age. Rory even recalled how Dean had struggled to keep up with her reading when they'd briefly rekindled something in the beginning of the summer. It would've never have worked - it was crystal clear to Rory by now.

On the road Rory had had a great deal to confess too, having read many of Logan's stories from a couple of years ago and all the little Life and Death Brigade hints she'd found in the archives by now, including this one photo of his grandfather. Many of these Logan had no knowledge of and had found utterly fascinating how sloppy some of the previous generations had been - speaking theoretically of course.

Rory had gotten the impression that writing was what Logan really enjoyed doing, but the trouble was that just having writing skills, just like some of the IT skills he was acquiring, weren't really valued in his family, almost as if it was something that was considered frivolous and not serious enough. But she took no offense, not exactly having had a very admirable impression of his family to begin with after a certain late night talk they'd had in the Florida heat, their toes in the sand even before they'd gotten more physical.

The few hundred feet from the car to the restaurant had been incredibly windy, despite the autumn sky only having a light whisper of cirrocumulus against the blueish-orange sky. It was evident they were by the ocean, the rustling waves being audible.

"Where is everybody?" Rory asked, as Logan and she had been led to the third floor of a boutique restaurant in Old Saybrook under the assumption that the private room had been for their entire group, the group consisting of Finn, Colin, Stephanie and Juliet at the very least.

But the room, a sunroom, overlooking the ocean, that stared back at them was clearly set up for just the two.

"Finn's idea of a good time was going to a Zydeco club, and he has a tendency to jump in on vocals. I really could think of so many better ways to spend my time…," Logan said, adding a hint of seductiveness which Rory certainly picked up on. "And since Xavier really is a good friend and has been dying to have me over here, I figured I'd surprise you," Logan added, lightly shrugging his shoulders, giving Rory the impression that he had never even canceled the original idea he'd had for their date.

"Well the place looks wonderful," Rory said, looking down humbly. "You know you didn't have to do all this, right?" Rory added, as she took in the gorgeous surroundings. She liked him already, she thought he was smart already, she'd already slept with him - what more was he hoping to achieve by wooing her like this?

The room was lit up by candles and decorated by beautiful dried grasses and foxtails, and the view of the setting sun outside and the string lights on the mooring, moving in the wind, only added to the romantic boho feel of this place, even if perhaps a little ahead of its time. While stylish and no-doubt luxurious, the place also had an earthy feel - leaving neither of them feeling like they were underdressed in their somewhat casual outfits. Being out of the sight of other guests also helped.

Even though Rory was used to luxury around her grandparents, but she never felt quite comfortable in luxurious settings, she just wasn't that used to things like this, even if the place was semi-casual, the private room aspect, and the fact that they had two waiters just for the two of them, setting up everything for them.

"Yeah, I know. But I wanted to," Logan said, pulling out his hands that had been tucked into his pockets, and helped pull out Rory's chair for her.

Rory loved the grand gesture - not the place nor the chair but the fact that Logan had chosen her company over his friends'.

They took their seats and got comfortable.

The waiter soon came to hand them their menus, and advised them to go for the chef's special, carrying also a message from Xavier that he'd be up at some point to greet Logan and his guest in person, which made Rory definitely feel like Logan's special status extended to her as well. It felt odd, but flattering at the same time.

Logan ordered them some wine, along with club soda, Rory insisting that she really didn't drink that much. The discussion brought back a memory from spring break - reminding the two of the tension that had lingered with them since those times. Logan's hand held hers gently, across the table, slight strokes with his fingers tickling her palm. This was no longer awkward - it was almost natural.

"So I've got to ask… and this is not me being ungrateful or intentionally stirring up trouble… but I am curious how many girls you've brought here like this," Rory said, biting her lip. Essentially she wanted to know how often Logan had infatuations towards a specific girl this seriously. This was the part she didn't know, she just knew he was popular amongst the ladies. Maybe that was his way - treating them like the only woman on the planet, making them feel all special. All that before moving on.

She couldn't help it - she was still thinking of all of this as too good to be true, it didn't fit in her head why would someone like Logan choose to be here with her. Date her, like her, possibly want to sleep with her again out of all the girls who had been in that so-called line. She also worried whether she should be guarding herself more than she did in case he grew tired of her.

Logan paused for a second, and Rory couldn't quite tell what he was thinking.

"You're the first. This place just opened," Logan clarified, shrugging lightly, there being slight mischief in his tone for managing to dodge the real root of the question. But she could just tell that there was something he wasn't saying. She couldn't be sure, but she suddenly realized that perhaps doubting her place in his company wasn't exactly a sexy feature either - she just felt so inexperienced in this.

"Oh, okay," Rory replied. "I'm sorry… I guess just at the party… just the idea of you being this popular guy… I don't really know what to think of this whole situation. It's just so new to me…," Rory fretted, feeling like she needed to undo some damage her question had caused.

"You know, I get that maybe seeing me like this is…what's the word?" Logan began, searching for words.

"Flattering? Weird? Unexpected?" Rory suggested, finding it rather amusing that Logan Hunzberger, the great heir of the HPG, as she by now knew, and the great writer that he was, was struggling with the perfect adjective.

"Something like that, sure… but honestly I just feel like I am grabbing a chance here, or maybe even making up for lost time. After Florida… I just thought I'd never see you again and then I did - in the oddest place of all, and honestly I just couldn't shake the thought of you through the rest of my trip this summer…," Logan said, causing Rory's chest suddenly to swell up. His words moved her, nearly leaving her feeling like she might burst. "And I'm not proud of the fact that I just gave up way too easily. Without your last name… I just didn't think I could find you and you'd probably be from some distant place anyways. And I always hated myself for giving up so easily. So I took this as the universe telling me to go for it. And trust me, I'm not one for big grand declarations, and this is not what this is… I don't want to scare you off by getting too serious too soon but I just want to understand what this is… who this mysterious girl who clearly doesn't give herself enough credit is and…what this could be. And I don't know how else to do that but to spend time with you. And I believe that should involve various forms - on your terms like we did on Thursday and on my terms like today. It's not that I am not perfectly fine with pizza or some other street food, just laying back on the couch watching a movie… But honestly - why I chose to bring you here instead of a simple dinner and movie is that I want you to understand that this lifestyle - it's a part of who I am. I'm not ashamed of having money, connections and influence. And I see you're not maybe entirely comfortable with things like that, and I don't yet fully understand it… But I can assure you what I am doing here with you is not just out of some standard playbook of mine," Logan explained, leaving Rory short for words.

"I don't even know what to say…," Rory said.

"Too much? Did I scare you off?" Logan tried to laugh it off.

Rory shrugged. "I am a little scared..," Rory admitted with a weak smile. She was both worried for the intertwinedness of their lives, little glimpses of it only now beginning to surface, but also for putting too much trust in him. She remembered too well how Jess leaving had hurt.

"I get that it's not an attractive feature for a man to admit, but I'm in uncharted waters here too," Logan said, pressing her hand between his two palms, in a comforting way.

The chef, Xavier, soon appeared to greet them, bringing with him two chef's platters with some sample appetizers to tide them over, and exchanged a few words with Logan, complimenting his gorgeous guest, speaking expressively. It showed another side of Logan, indeed. One that knew people and was kind and friendly towards them, despite having probably the money to buy the place if he felt like it.

"So, I need to ask this…," Logan began, as they were sharing a piece of crab cake, eating from the same small plate with their own forks.

"Uh?" Rory encouraged, for a moment truly humoring the thought that maybe he was indeed serious about all of this - about her.

"So Richard and Emily, I mean - I've met them, though years ago. But I swear I don't ever recall anyone mentioning you or your mother. What's the story there?" Logan asked.

"You realize that if I reply to a family question, you're due to answer one in return, right?" Rory squinted her eyes, sneakily. It just didn't fit in her head that there wasn't any love in his life from that side, at least that was the impression she'd gotten.

"Fine...," Logan held up his hands.

"So I think I mentioned to you how my mom had me when she was really young?" Rory tried to recall, the specifics of all of their conversations from Florida being a little fuzzy.

Logan nodded, recalling something of the sort.

"Well she was 16 when she got pregnant, she had me and got her GED but back then it was this big black stain on the family name. And if you had met my mother you'd know she's like the polar opposite of my grandmother. Since she wouldn't marry my dad just because that was what one 'did' at the time when one got pregnant, causing this whole big rift between the Gilmore's and Hayden's… my mother finally had enough of being blamed for throwing away her future - the big promise she'd held for going to college and so on. So she moved out at 17, took me with her and decided to build herself another type of future. We moved into this small town about 30 miles out of Hartford. I mean the place is a little nutty, but kind of sweet and homey… She worked her way up to become an Inn manager. And just last year she opened one of her own. So right now she's working really hard to make that place work. So it's kind of a riches to rags and to middle-class kind of story, I guess. We go to Friday Night dinner with my grandparents every week, but she still doesn't really click with them much. We only started going when I went to Chilton, they helped us pay for it. And they're paying for Yale…," Rory explained.

"What about your dad? Hayden was he - they're in the law business, right?" Logan asked.

"He's doing his own thing… he never quite met the Hartford society criteria either, I guess... after what happened. His parents blamed me for ruining his life, said it pretty much to my face once," Rory exhaled.

"Wow… that sucks, I'm sorry," Logan sympathized, stopping his eating to study her.

"My dad's been sort of in and out of my life, I guess. He's wanted to get back together with my mom a bunch of times, but it usually ends up with my mom getting hurt.. Right now I'm kind of mad at him actually," Rory explained, finding it odd how easy it was to open up to Logan like this. Talking to him was incredibly easy, things just poured out of her.

"What happened?" Logan inquired, sounding genuinely curious, just as another dish was brought to the table, and the two began to take the first explorative bites of the delicious lobster tail.

Rory told him what had happened last time - that her mother and her father had been wanting to get together, but then her father had gotten the news about his ex being pregnant.

"So I have a little sister - Gigi, whom I don't really see a lot. But what happened now was that Gigi's mom left them, flew off to Paris for some dream job and naturally in panic mode my dad called mom. Something about not being able to handle the baby. But that is kind of the way that he is - he's not a strong man, I guess. He finds it so easy to call her for things like that. And I guess I'm worried he's wanting to stir up some feelings again and maybe rekindle things. But my mom is seeing someone else, who is really nice, and I just don't want her to be unhappy. I was just thinking this week of actually driving over to my dad and telling him to stay away, but I am sort of in between whether I should…," Rory explained.

"It sounds like you at least have family around and that family seems to communicate. That's rare where I come from," Logan said.

Rory shrugged.

"Yeah, but is it my job to bud in with something like that? Or is it my job to just watch the two people I love, despite everything, get hurt again… as even if it's my dad who ends up getting his hopes up, I still don't like to watch that happen," Rory continued, thinking she'd thrown a hypothetical question in the air.

"I think you can tell them how you feel but telling them to do something, I think people are just wired to hate anyone telling them something like that. I mean you could tell him to stay away or something, but then he might not and then in the end it's your relationship with him that gets ruined," Logan offered his two cents, Rory having not even hoped he would go into it as much.

"I guess..," Rory sighed, taking a sip of wine. His viewpoint was refreshing, and indeed it made her consider going over to Boston less and less.

"But I do believe it's your turn. So I remember you told me about the conveyor belt, and I got the impression your parents weren't exactly very present. And I've heard a lot of scenarios with Paris and some other friends… doesn't even matter whether they were filthy rich or not… but I guess what I wanted to ask you is - what do you think shaped you? There must've been something positive?" Rory asked.

"You're asking pretty good questions there, Ace," Logan said, using the nickname that had been popping up in his brain for a good few hours already, ever since Rory had openly admitted to having a thing for journalism.

"Off the record, of course," Rory replied, playing along. She hadn't had many nicknames in her life, and this one she actually didn't mind much.

"Well I was lucky to have a big sister, who most of the time was the mom when it came to any real support and understanding. There were some pretty good nannies that I grew close with, but after I just started going from school to school I was pretty lonely I guess. I learned to make friends everywhere I went, mostly just being me - which I guess still kind of works. But there were also all sorts of friends that didn't necessarily want to hang around me for me but what I represented. So I learned to value real friendships. Colin and Finn for example, they might be all over the place a lot of the time. But I know they have my back no matter what," Logan described, going on to tell a few stories about how they'd met.

Rory asked a little more about what his sister did and they talked a little about how Rory had nearly been stuck at the hospital all alone when her sister had been born, the topic providing them some generous laughter.

They finished their meal with some incredible creme brulee, their eyes all sparkly, practically eating each-other up with their glances, minds already traveling towards the bedroom.

"So did I lose many points for showing you this me - Xavier and the car and the food?" Logan replied jokingly as they were approaching New Haven again, on their way back.

"Xavier was nice, pleasant to the eye, complimented me even… the car.. I mean it drives, doesn't leave us on the side of the road and it's warm and comfortable, the driver also seems competent… the creme brule definitely left a pleasant aftertaste in my mouth," Rory replied, sensually licking her lips, causing Logan to momentarily glance towards her in awe.

"You're going to make this driver very incompetent if you keep this up," Logan smirked, forcing his eyes back on the road.

"I hope Paris is asleep …or out…," Rory began to say, there being an invite hidden in there.

"Hmm…" Logan hummed, his hand gently moving towards her thigh. There was no skirt this time, so the move was nowhere near as hot as it would've been against bare skin, but it was close enough and Rory really didn't mind.

They'd just made it to the parking lot nearest to Rory's dorm, when Logan's phone rang, which frankly made him groan, the anticipation for something much different having already grown strong.

"I got to take this," Logan said apologetically.

For a second Rory was confused why on earth he'd be taking an unknown number as an urgent call.

"This is Logan," he answered.

"Uh-uh, Woodbridge right?" Logan reflected whatever the other person on the other end was saying.

"Yeah, I'll be there as soon as I can," he added reluctantly, the other side of that conversation remaining a mystery to Rory.

"You have to go," Rory stated, disappointedly as Logan put his cell phone away.

"Colin and Finn got arrested, I have to go bail them out," Logan said, reluctantly.

"Oh my god, what happened?" Rory inquired, it really not being the norm in her life.

"I'm not sure, but it is how we are… we're each-other's call-to people, I have to go…," Logan explained, his former discussion about true friends resonating through his actions now.

"I get it. And it's fine…," Rory tried to appear less disappointed.

"It's not fine… there's nothing I'd rather do tonight than pretend Paris doesn't exist..," Logan hummed, stretched out his neck and kissed her slowly and with tongue, giving her a delicious taste of what should've taken place behind Rory's dorm room door but clearly was not going to happen that night.

There'd be other nights - Rory kept telling herself, but somehow it didn't sound too comforting.