Chapter 17
After a champagne infused breakfast, for which everyone had pretty much dressed in their robes or wrapped up in their blankets, nobody really bothering to dress up for, Logan had to go manage the event for a bit, leaving Rory again on her own. While initially she'd been a little worried whether a series of comments would just crash down on her - concerning dissapearing off with Logan last night or from the few that had seen them leave the shower together, publicly hardly any did. Sure, a few glances maybe - but she might have just well been a little paranoid and overthinking it.
"Hey," Stephanie greeted her as Rory had wandered around looking for the outside mirror which was suppsoed to have better lighting than there was in her tent to make sure her hair was okay, having not really high expectations for it.
"Hi, I was just… Logan's…," Rory began, finding herself idle, almost for a second feeling like she'd need to explain why she was there alone right this minute, having gotten so used to having him around since last night. It felt so much easier navigating this group with him standing next to her.
"Cute?" Stephanie said.
"No..," Rory responded, that having not been what she was going to say.
"No?" Stephanie replied, sounding confused but clearly also joking.
"Well, yes but…," Rory said, getting her gist just now. "I just meant I was looking for the mirror, since he went off somewhere and he sort of pointed me in this general direction earlier," Rory added.
"Well you found it," Stephanie replied. "You have amazing bone structure…," she added, admiring her.
"Thanks..," Rory replied awkwardly.
"And you are a very good girl, aren't you?" Stephanie chimed, knowingly.
"What does that mean?" Rory replied.
"I just hope you know what you're getting yourself into. And that you don't get hurt too much," Stephanie said. But added, seeing Rory's face take a much more defencive impression, "Don't get me wrong. Logan's great… but he's not really known for having girlfriends, if you know what I mean. I just hope you don't get your hopes up too much for anything serious," Stephanie added, appearing friendly in her meaning, continuing to comb her hair that still had maintained her curls from last night.
"Oh," Rory responded, unsure how to take that. "Did you date him?" Rory asked, wanting to understand the context. Stephanie had sort of hinted at his reputation earlier and she wondered why that was.
"Oh, no… It's Colin whom I've had this thing going on since forever. One month it's on then it's off…," Stephanie shared. "I mean - I don't want to scare you off. You're smart and funny… you don't bore any one of us to death, which is a big plus. I just want you to have realistic expectations… or at the very least just have that discussion with him at some point. I've just had to pick up the pieces a few times, and that has not been as much fun," she added, as she stepped aside from the mirror, letting Rory have it.
Stephanie soon skipped off to do her own thing, adding "But I will say… you are awfully cute together…," before she dissappeared.
It was not really what Rory had wanted to talk or think about, nor did she want to start building up her courage to talk to Logan about. But maybe if Stephanie was genuine in her advice - perhaps he should. She at least felt like she could trust Stephanie, rather than a couple of the other girls. Everything Logan had said on their dates seemed to tell her there was no-one else, but there naturally were things she didn't know. Like what he'd spent the entire last week doing when he'd been out of town. Rory just knew she didn't want to be doubting Logan either, not without proof at least, the trust they were building feeling too fragile for doubts.
Rory combed her hair, tying it into a half ponytail, applied some moisturizer, feeling relieved for having brought some along and eventually returned to her tent to get dressed. After getting dressed and after the sun began to shine in through her tent opening more, then decided to put down some further notes, wanting to somehow encapture the forest setting - feeling like telling the story pretty close to the truth might not to be a bad angle. It would say nothing about concrete people or places - just about how the setting was almost magical.
"Hey, Ace, you ready?" Logan asked loudly, wondering if she was in her tent, the others having already headed off.
Frankly, Rory had lost a track of time, trying to focus on her writing and not think too much about what Stephanie had said.
"Another day, another sartorial surprise," Rory commented, as she emerged, bringing her bag just in case, seeing Logan dressed up in a tux. What did they have a costume booth out here as well?
"Start getting ready yourself," Logan suggested.
"I am ready," Rory replied, confusedly.
The white dress had magically disappeared during breakfast anyways, Rory already knowing she'd probably gotten a few stains on it from letting it fall to the ground in Logan's tent when she'd gotten undressed in a hurry last night, already feeling guilty for it. But she'd never seen anyone to whom to apologize to or offer to pay for it, at the same time assuming it cost way more than she could afford. Besides, she'd already unknowingly stolen the lace collar the last time, having forgotten she'd worn it, too.
"Dressed like that?" Logan smirked.
"Well, I didn't have the 'it's an overnight thing' warning…," Rory teased, nitpicking really. "So unless you want me to fashion something out of pinecones, that's it," Rory added, playfully.
"Not a bad option, Ace... Um… but this clothing is going to interfere with the integrity of our event," Logan chuckled, and Logan could just imagine him picturing her in a pine-cone dress.
"All I've got is a washbowl, a towel, a robe and a toothbrush," Rory listed, leaving out most of her personal belongings.
"Is that all you've got? Look again, Ace!" Logan suggested, raising her eyebrows sneakily.
Rory headed back to the tent, and pretty soon realized the only place she hadn't looked was underneath the cot. A smile crept onto her lips - it kind of felt like Christmas but there was more to that excitement than just that of recieving a gift. What she found a Bloomingdale's dress box, wrapped with a fine bow. Definitely not vintage, nor a rental - and she really didn't want to think about how much that'd cost.
Actually getting the gorgeous light blue dress on was another question. Thankfully she had the experience from wearing something similar for her coming out party, and she was relieved this dress, despite having a corset ribbon in the back, only really had a side zipper which one needed to close, making it a little easier for her. The dress actually fit really well, which she was relieved, knowing this type of dresses tended to sometimes fall down one's chest otherwise which was not convenient in this type of setting.
"I've got your event integrity right here, mister," Rory said, as she emerged, finding Logan waiting for her.
"Yep," Logan said approvingly. "I got an eye for dress sizes…," he added, before rushing her - "We go this way," looking like he was already in a hurry, his hand gently touching the small of her back. Rory hadn't known there had been a rush hence she hadn't really hurried while getting dressed, leaving her assume Logan had been gentlemanly here as well - not hurrying a girl while she was getting dressed. He was definitely getting brownie points for that.
He'd picked this out for her? Boy, did he have good taste. Points again.
"Come on, hurry," he added, as they reached a clearing.
"You try running in a crinoline," Rory grumbled.
"We're late," Logan explained.
"For what? The ritual sacrifice?" Rory asked, jokingly.
They joined everyone, all dressed up in suits and dressed, listening to Colin give a speech. They were all handed champagne glasses and clearly Logan and Rory had just made it for the end of the speech, which was concluded by 'In Omnia Paratus' where apparently they were supposed to offer the other person a sip of the champagne, which they did - Rory just slightly awkwardly.
"Now, you might want to cover your ears," Logan suggested.
"Why?" Rory asked innocently.
The gong that was placed just behind her jolted through her with a loud clang, causing everyone to cheer and run into the field. But this whole thing was kind of funny and exciting, causing her to smile at the sheer absurdity. Of course they would have a gong!
"And to think some groups just go bowling," Logan commented, adding a light shrug, clearly a little proud of his planning skills.
He stayed with her, however, and didn't run off to be with his friends right away, finishing his champagne in a couple of sips.
"The dress is very pretty, thank you..," Rory said, feeling like she should.
"My pleasure, Rory," Logan replied, looking deep into her eyes. There was definitely a moment which would've led to a kiss, but in this minute, the cheers from the rest of the group as they began to play - some weird type of polo game with the men carrying the women who were sitting in small wooden carts - dispersed their little moment.
Rory was still most definitely a spectator in this thing, despite having left her pen and notebook back at the tent. Logan was a wanted man - and they didn't remain together the entire time, which Rory actually didn't mind, allowing her a moment just to go around and observe. She just wanted to watch, she was not much of a joiner when it came to this. In her head she was still counting money too - how much all of this must've cost, knowing a thing or two about event planning thanks to her mother, it being a prominent thing she was used to thinking about.
On the other side of the field she also saw platforms and mat where some guys were doing jumps. The tuxes seemed like an odd choice in her mind for such an activity, but she didn't say anything, certainly not wanting to ruin the event by her skepticism.
There was once again excessive drinking and food, a gramophone playing music that would've fitted to Charlie Chaplin's movies or something slightly newer. Nobody here had a care in the world. It must've been nice to switch out from thinking too much all the time - she found herself thinking as she observed the crowd, still not so much feeling like she belonged.
Sure, it was more fun than bowling, but Rory certainly remained at a standpoint where she would've found less elaborate things just as fun. She was a simple girl or so she was at least used to defining herself.
"Pull," Rory heard Robert's request as other group members jumped onto mats, wearing only protective gear on their eyes, while Robert himself attempted to shoot them with a paintball gun.
"Good shot," some guy, who Rory believed was called Carl, commented. Getting hit like that, however, looked painful to Rory.
"Is this safe?" Rory just had to ask.
"No," Carl replied.
"Pull," Robert requested again but missed. "Damn," he responded.
"Blame the gun," Carl uttered.
Ten feet away she found Logan and Finn, Finn going at it much in a similar manner as Robert had.
"Pull! Pull!" Finn requested, attempting a one-hand shot, quite skillful. Finn, however, looked pretty drunk already, compared to many.
"Alright, I'm bored," Finn exhaled, handed his gun over to Logan and took the toothpick out from between his teeth. "I want to be a target," he requested.
Logan chuckled, and nearly by accident pointed the gun at Rory.
"You're always a target, Finn," Logan commented.
"In Omnia Paratus," Finn exclaimed, strolling off to become a target.
"Pull!" Logan called out.
Logan took a shot, clearly knowing how to handle the gun. Guns were never really Rory's thing either, but this at least seemed more innocent - it was just paintball, right?
"Not bad," Rory commented. "So, is this your big stunt?" she inquired.
"Big stunt?" Logan asked, being for a moment a little distracted. "Pull!" Logan said and shot Finn.
"Is this it?" Rory asked again in a reporter like manner.
"Does it look like it?" Logan reflected.
"I'm guessing 'no'?" Rory replied hesitantly, wondering how much getting shot by that thing actually hurt.
"You answered your own question," Logan replied. "Pull!" he requested again. "You'll know it when you see it," Logan added.
"Good," Rory replied.
Rory's attention was drawn from Logan's shooting exercise to Finn, who was being carried away on a stretcher, groaning - "I missed the mat".
"Again?" Logan asked him, pretending to aim the gun towards him.
"I'll be fine, don't worry about me," Finn pleaded, actually warming Rory's heart a little. "In omnia!" Finn called out as they carried him off to what Rory could assume was the infirmary, which was at least a relief to know that one existed.
Logan continued to laugh, clearly not bothered by his friend' injury.
"Hey, I never asked - what did they get arrested for last week?" Rory asked.
"Oh.. that...," Logan replied, as if having forgotten about the whole thing. "Public indecency. It was mostly Finn - he kind of pantsed Colin in public," Logan commented, laughingly. It sounded like this type of things happened all the time, which was definitely earning him more points even if in this case it was mostly a point drawn from Colin and Finn rather than him, but still it was an overall impression of how casually he was taking it.
"Oh," Rory responded. "I believe that's all I want to know…," she added.
There was definitely a part of this that she wasn't liking - the obvious notion that they could get away with a lot of stuff, feeling as privileged as they did. She wasn't yet sure what to think of it. She wanted things to be more crystal clear to be honest. She liked Logan, but she wasn't quite sure if she liked every part of him - this part.
After about an hour the group walked over to another clearing, leaving all their entertainment gear behind, again not providing Rory with many explanations. Logan had walked with her, offering her his arm and not hurrying her this time. But at the final stretch, Logan got pulled away to handle something - this seemed to happen a lot. While he acted frivolous and childish at times, he at least never seemed to be drunk enough not to act responsible too, gaining himself a few bonus points in her eyes. Rory was no longer where he stood on the tally, having lost count.
Rory was at a loss for words as the scaffolding came into full view, not knowing what to think. It was as she made it all the way up close she finally noticed people climbing to the top and some already standing on the ledge. It was a scary image, truthfully, the one resembling most everything she'd read about secret societies and their seemingly constant secret death wish. Also the photo with people jumping off a bridge came to her mind.
"I hope you're thinking up superlatives," Logan commented, returning to her.
"What are they going to do?" Rory asked, despite already assuming the answer.
"What do you think they're gonna do?" Logan asked back, walking fast with his hands tucked into his pockets.
"They're not going to jump!" Rory reflected in disbelief.
"Yes, they're going to jump," Logan confirmed.
"That's like… seven stories. They'll die!" Rory worried.
"We're all gonna die one day," Logan replied, calmly.
"But those four are today," Rory said, pointing up, still finding it unbelievable.
"Six," Logan replied, taking a step closer to her.
"I see four," Rory replied, feeling confused.
"I'm heading up," Logan declared.
"Of course you are...," Rory exhaled. She really should've assumed that.
"Finn was supposed to do it but a few of us figured he wouldn't make it this far, so there's an extra space," Logan explained.
"Hm..," Rory pondered, mostly just looking at the people up there, trying to think what on earth would've posessed them to do something like this.
It was as her gaze returned to him when she saw the way he was looking at her. And she just knew.
"No!" was her initial firm response that just came out of her on an instinct.
"And we're not gonna die. No one in the Life and Death Brigade has ever died. Old ones have," Logan explained, sounding incredibly confident.
"I am not going to jump!" Rory spelled it out for him.
"We're all set," Seth, who appeared from behind Logan, informed him.
"This is Seth, he's the genius behind all of this," Logan explained. Rory had actually met him already last night, the introduction being unnecessary.
"It's very safe. We did a dozen successful test drops, every potato came through without a scratch," Seth explained.
"Potato?" Rory reflected, not believing his ears.
She was already feeling the panic of this decision rushing through her veins. It felt such a big thing to do - and she could also just sense Logan's opinion of her getting ruined if she chickened out. But just like Paris hadn't wanted to choose a college based on where her boyfriend at the time went to, Rory didn't want to just do it because Logan had convinced her either. So mostly by now already it was an inner battle of what kind of person she wanted to be.
"You can't test using people, that'd be dangerous," Logan added with a shrug.
"Look, thanks for the offer but…," Rory began to deflect the suggestion.
"Jumpers to their places, please!" Colin requested loudly.
"You're just scared," Logan said.
"Well, yeah!" Rory agreed as if that was obvious.
"And that stops the greats?" Logan added.
"It's stopping this great!" Rory replied, pointing at herself.
"Come on, it's an adventure - a thrill. Something stupid, something bad for you… just something different," Logan lectured. "Isn't this the point of being young, Ace?" he added.
"Don't tell me, you're about to quote Henry James or Mark Twain to me, aren't you?" Rory replied, already recalling a number of the famous quotes that were essentially already telling her to go for it.
"I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well," Logan said instead.
"Ackerman?" Rory asked, unsure if she recognized but clearly she had - Logan's smile answering her hesitance for her.
"It's your choice, Ace. I'm not forcing you..," Logan assured.
But by that time Rory had already done enough convincing, and despite being scared out of her mind she said it - "Let's go," feeling strangely empowered by getting those words out. Carpe diem was about her, not about him.
"Let's go!" Logan reflected, and Rory couldn't help but to feel some pride radiate from his tone. It was an unfamiliar dynamic, at least a second or third already this morning… Why did she enjoy the feeling of making him proud this much? She barely knew him, didn't she? And was wanting that feeling a bad thing?
She had so many thoughts swirling around her mind but the very daunting-looking ladder wiped them all away for now.
"But I'm not a fan of ladders," Rory commented.
"They scare the crap out of me, too," Logan agreed, supportively.
Thankfully, Logan let Rory climb first, climing himself right behind her which made her feel strangely secure all things considered. Climbing in her slippery shoes and the huge dress was a whole other matter and she nearly wanted to give up a few times halfway there. But it was the same inner power that she'd felt when she battled Paris in high school that got her through it. She could do this! She wanted to do this - she wanted to overcome the fear.
"High… We are very high," Rory commented, her voice shaking a little. She was so relieved she wasn't terribly afraid of heights right now.
"I've been higher," Logan pointed out.
"I meant distance from the ground," Rory said.
"That, too..," Logan replied. And that she actually knew, having heard him mention once he'd been skydiving.
"This is totally safe. And it goes with your outfit," Seth commented, having climbed back up himself, and attached a band around her waist, which a line was connected to.
"Why do they look so worried?" Rory inquired, looking down at the spectators.
"We're low on champagne," Logan teased. "You can back out, you know…," Logan informed her. "No one's forcing you..," he added.
"I know," Rory said, and took the umbrella being handed to her. She really didn't want to be that person who backed out.
"Vos ipse parate!" Colin announced from the ground.
"You trust me?" Logan asked.
That really was the question, wasn't it? Did she trust him with this jump? And - did she trust him with her heart that was growing very fond of him, despite his boyish flaws?
"You jump, I jump, Jack," Rory replied, the Jack and Rose scene from the Titanic coming to her mind. Well - at least she wasn't jumping into freezing water… - she found herself thinking.
"In Omnia Paratus!" the crowd on the ground cheered.
"I really should've confirmed those potatoes were okay...," Logan said, for a split second distracting her. But most importantly he just grabbed her hand and stepped off the scaffolding along with her.
The bottom of her stomach felt hollow as she flew through the air and the firmness of his grasp on her hand were the two main things that registered, followed by an immense relief as her feet finally touched the ground.
"Oh, thank God," Seth exclaimed.
"You did good, Ace!" Logan cheered, again that same sense of pride radiating from him that she'd felt before.
"One in a lifetime experience," Rory exclaimed, laughing from all of the excitement, truly having not believed half an hour ago she'd ever do something as crazy as this.
"Only if you want it to be…," Logan replied, pulling her close by her waist and kissing her passionately to which she naturally, being high on adrenaline herself, responded to. The result caused the crowd to express another cheer along with whistles at their expense.
AN: Two things. I hope it came off so that I tried to write Logan a little less cocky than he was in OS, especially around when he says "some groups just go bowling". And I happen to be one of the people not in love with his 'you climb up there with me... ' and saying she's sheltered. I don't think he'd say that had he already been interested in her... that's just.. rather something for them to discuss in a more honest, intimate setting... her asking his honest opinion maybe (maybe later?) but right now... I just didn't think that'd be respectful. So we'll see where we end up.
Thank you so much for your reviews! keep them coming!
And I am just not feeling much like writing 35 Wellington Street right now. Sorry for those who are expecting an update. Life's a mess and there's so much work. This just is so much lighter to write and keeps my mood up. But I don't want to abandon it either - just love writing Finn. Just.. patience.