AN: As a response to xshynenstarx: He said he was going to try. But I do think they still have a way to go with actual labels - is this something more than dating, are they boyfriend and girlfriend? That sort of thigns. And Rory really doesn't know him that well yet to trust him completely I think - is his trying actually something he is capable of? Maybe he just goes off and does whatever anyways despite having said he'd try? They are not at the stage yet where they are reporting their every whereabout yet. So these are just some of the things Rory might think about.

Chapter 18

The jump had indeed been the highlight of the day. After that some members had stayed on to finish the last of the champagne and snacks, or simply hang around amongst themselves while others drove off in their fancy SUVs the first chance they got, almost leaving Rory with the feeling like cleaning up, more generally speaking - dealing with the consequences didn't seem high on their priority.

Rory stayed behind for a bit, helping Logan with this and that - none of it actually involving actual clean up - but truthfully she was a little confused as to what her role was. Stephanie's words from earlier still resonated, but it didn't seem like there was ever a good time to come out with something like that. Logan's afternoon was full of small conversations, mostly with everyone else besides her. Many people seemed to be enrolled in his classes or have mutual engagements coming in the near future - parties and also more formal events which sounded like a completely different life.

"I guess we're pretty much done here, uh?" Rory sighed, having had her stuff packed together since the morning essentially, and having also changed back into her normal clothes. She honestly just wanted to get going and go write, because she had a deadline ticking in her head and she was never one to leave things last minute if she could help it. But it was not like she had a ride - depending on Finn, Logan and the others for the trip back. She, however, was really not sure Finn would be in any condition to drive any time soon.

"Yeah," Logan replied, having just finished talking to one of the staff, and finally turned his full attention to him. "Huh, running these things is fun until there are all these little things to do in the end," Logan sighed, looking tired already. Mostly what he'd been doing had been delegating, but Rory knew this type of thing could be straining too.

"Then why don't you hire an event coordinator?" Rory suggested, playfully.

"That wouldn't be half as much fun, would it? And besides, then I'd have to have discussions about safety and regulations and just…nah. These guys all had NDAs signed and have been helping us out for years. This is more creative like this and honestly… until a few years ago I had never done anything like this myself and I know later in life I might never again, so whilst I can spare the time it's invigorating to take control of something fun like this," Logan explained, giving Rory a glimpse how limited his life could be in some ways.

"I guess, I get that," Rory replied.

"You in a hurry to get back?" Logan asked.

"Kind of… you know. Got a story to write," Rory replied, smilingly.

"There's a car coming for you in like… 20 minutes," Logan said, glancing at his fancy DeWitt watch.

"Oh..," Rory barely managed to hide her disappointment, having not realized they weren't riding back together.

"I missed a bunch of classes last week so I'll try to catch up a bit this week, so I might actually have to work on things a little," Logan explained. "So I don't know… just maybe give me a call about how your weekend plans are looking and we'll take it from there?" Logan suggested, for the first time sounding like he wasn't dying to set the next date with her.

Maybe sleeping with him had indeed been a mistake?

"Sure, I can do that. Though with me it's pretty much the same most weeks. On Friday's I have to go to dinner at 7 and then I either go stay at home overnight or drive back to Yale," Rory replied, wondering if she was giving off too much detail and just making a fool of herself by appearing so available.

"I'll keep that in mind, but still - you can call me if you want," Logan replied.

Rory had indeed never actually called him and in that moment she chose to just focus on the fact that he had sounded assuring about it being more about her picking up the phone over some sort of a hint about not really craving her company again himself.

"I will," Rory replied, nodding along.

"And I'll come and send you off in a few minutes, but if it's okay with you, I'd much rather say a proper goodbye to you right here," Logan added, without much explanation, but distracted her perfectly by pulling her along with him against a tree trunk, pulling her flush up against him with his arms wrapped around her hips. The kiss was deliriously good - almost like drinking the finest cognac that made one's insides all warm and buzzing in an instant.

Rory loved his definition of a 'proper goodbye' and in that moment she felt that undid a lot of the earlier confusion, making it clear that there was no lack of passion from his side.

So in that moment Rory just… gave up on any further inquiries, and after their make out session, Logan claiming the tree was actually pretty comfortable for his back, having not hid that he'd been all sore after their tight quarters last night, though not blaming her in any way for it, they walked hand in hand back to the parking lot.

What surprised Rory was the suddenness Logan dropped her hand at the sight of the approaching town car. For a moment Rory glanced at him in confusion, but soon got a surprise of another sort.

"I believe that's your ride," Logan said, tucking his hands in his pocket. That twinkle in his eyes was still there, but physically he'd regained a friendly distance.

"Rory! Can I offer you a ride back to Yale, perhaps?" Richard Gilmore asked, rolling down the window, a sneaky smile on his lips.

"Grandpa!" Rory exclaimed, truly having not expected her.

By that time the driver had emerged and opened the door for him and Richard got out.

"Logan, nice to see you again!" Richard greeted, shaking his hand, explaining indeed Logan's most recent behavior.

"Hello, Richard! I hope Emily is well," Logan said, briefly causing Rory to shoot a cautioning look at him. Clearly he didn't know about the separation.

"Oh, she's fine," Richard said, clearly not wanting to go into it.

"Give her my regards, please," Logan said, sounding awfully formal to Rory's ear. Rory could indeed imagine the outrage if her grandfather were to suspect Rory having sex with Logan, not a situation in which she would've wanted to spend the next couple of hours stuck in a car with him. Hence she was relieved Logan had distanced them, despite herself desperately having just wanted one more goodbye.

"I will, and the same goes for Mitchum and Shira," Richard added.

Shira must be his mother's name - Rory thought, having never heard him mention her by name before.

"They'll be much appreciated, I'm sure," Logan nodded.

"Bye, I'll see you around, I guess…," Rory said, waving as casually as she could to Logan and climbed into the backseat of the town car ahead of her grandfather.

She could only barely remember the last time she'd sat in a car with him like this - only that one time when they'd gone to the club for golf coming to mind if she really thought of it but then again then he'd been driving. And besides taking a joyride around the town square one time a wedding had gone horribly wrong at the Inn, a real runaway bride kind of thing, Rory had never even really ridden in a town car before.

The car door closed and soon enough the car pulled off, taking slowly on the gravel road that led them back to the main road.

"So, how was it? Did you enjoy your weekend?" Richard inquired, excitement showing in his tone.

"Grandpa… I don't even know what to say. Yes, I enjoyed it. It was incredible," Rory exclaimed, not bothering to go into the specifics right this minute. "I can't believe I didn't know you were in the Life and Death Brigade!" she added, focusing on what she found truly amazing.

"Well, that's kind of the point. It's a secret," Richard chuckled.

"So, no-one knows? Now even grandma?" Rory just had to ask. Keeping this from her mother was going to be a challenge, but she figured that similarity to what she would write for the Yale Daily News her mother would also get a story close to the truth but not quite, enabling her to still share that excitement with her.

"She knows I was, am, in a group - The Whiffenpoofs. And she just was under the impression we had a lot more overnight practices than we actually did. And I know it's not honorable to admit that I've lied to her, but I choose to think it's rather about just tweaking the truth a little. As we did sing, boy did we sing…," Richard chuckled, clearly enjoying reminiscing over his college days.

"Okay..," Rory replied, feeling a little uncomfortable with a secret like that. Frankly, she would've preferred if her grandmother knew and even her mother. It would've made things so much easier.

"Secrets are a nasty business, it is that's why we don't really do these secret events that often, half of the stuff that's done is sort of around the same crowd but to where people can invite their own friends to, like I heard you had that other party a few weeks ago," Richard explained, clearly having spoken to Logan about that too. "But this weekend was special - the one hundred and eight assembly," he pointed out, with emphasis.

That much Rory knew, and supposedly it was a relief if the events she would need to hide only consisted of a handful over everything she might get invited to in the future.

"That's good, I guess..," Rory commented.

"Historically we just had private parties but then people stopped going altogether because they perhaps found their wives or husbands outside of the group and that just became inconvenient to socialize just like a group of friends - we all created stories of how we'd met at some former party and that was that. We had an excuse how we knew each-other. The new members are chosen by members only, mostly people inherit their spaces, very few are selected from the outside, and are the two assemblies, one in the beginning of the school year and another later in spring. The rest is just about the connections really," Richard explained.

"Yeah, but how is this thing paid for… it just felt like such an elaborate waste of money," Rory just had to ask.

Richard laughed.

"It is alumni like me who take turns, but naturally travel and some special quirks that might be added are also paid by whoever is partaking," Richard added.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure I'm comfortable with being a part of something that's a constant big expense just for the sake of… a good party," Rory explained, picking her words. "You and grandma are already paying for Yale," she added, still feeling the heaviness of having borrowed that money.

"That money, both your tuition and this… this was always meant to be your money. Your mother never knew this but we also set up a trust fund for you when you were born. You'll have full access to it when you turn 25 just like most of your friends back there," Richard explained.

"Great, more secrets," Rory grumbled under her breath.

"What was that?" Richard asked, genuinely having not heard her.

"I just… I can't accept that. I'm not comfortable with it..," Rory explained, not even knowing how much money was this talk about.

"Then I suppose you wouldn't be interested in the credit card I had set up for you? There's a limited amount each month that you can have access to already now, you can see the limits at any ATM or at the bank. Just…for expenses beyond Yale. Maybe there's some travel involved or something you need to get yourself? I don't know - a dress or something, whatever you girls need for events like these… Nobody is forcing you to use this, but in case you want, I do think it'd be wise for you to have it," Richard continued, taking a fancy card envelope out of his breast pocket.

"I don't know, grandpa. I'm so grateful but…," Rory fretted, not feeling comfortable about this.

"Treat it as an emergency card. I just don't want you to feel like you're not on their level… because you are. I don't want you to live less because you think you can't afford it," Richard explained.

Rory thought of another thing that card would be good for - making her feel financially at least a little more equal to Logan. Maybe she would feel a little less guilty about him spending on her and just spend a little on herself when it time presented itself. She would not have to depend on rides and overall perhaps feeling some more independence thanks to this.

Rory sighed, took the card he was offering and looked at the AmEx Platinum with her name on it. It somehow made it so real.

"Thank you, grandpa. But really - this is just for emergencies," Rory assured, really meaning it.

"Whatever you say," Richard replied. "So, what was the big stunt this time?" Richard continued, being understanding of the fact that Rory didn't appreciate talking about money much and eagerly wanted to know about the event.

Rory went on to share with him the details, leaving out everything concerning Logan. She also got her grandfather's take on her idea of the article she was supposed to write up and he gave her some fine pointers and details which felt safe to add now decades later, making the story even more real, the conversation counting as her alumni interview.

Later that evening back at Yale, when Rory was hastily writing together the article, really having more things to say than would fit in the assigned word count. It almost hurt to leave the stuff she'd enjoyed or found beautiful out. But this was how the journalism business worked. One had to cut out the irrelevant.

Suddenly her phone rang, and considering she hadn't had time to talk to her mother since Friday, she wasn't really all that surprised.

"Hi," Rory answered, her mind being scattered in her article, more than the conversation to be had.

"Are you typing?" her mother asked.

She was.

"No," she lied.

"Yes, you are. Thought we agreed you wouldn't type while we talk," Lorelai reminded her.

"Got to break the rule just this once," Rory explained. "It's been a crazy couple of days," she added.

"Ugh. School?" Lorelai asked.

"Paper. Long story. I'll fill you in in person," Rory fibbed. Well… it really was a half-truth, wasn't it. But this lie certainly sounded better than declaring to her mother how she'd partied, drank a lot of champagne, had sex and showered with a hot guy, and jumped off a scaffolding - she would never heard the end of it even if her mother was truly the adventurous kind herself. But somehow she felt her mother wouldn't quite see it as something overly positive. Concerning perhaps. She even feared the words - 'are you sure this Logan isn't a bad influence on you?' coming out of her mouth.

"Where are you off to?" Rory asked.

"Luke's. I have to de-stress him after his Gilmore outing. Dad tried to take over his whole life. He wants to franchise Luke's," Lorelai shared. Now it really felt wrong not to mention she'd seen grandpa too that day.

"You're kidding!" Rory exclaimed. She found it peculiar how the same guy could be so helpful, so… exciting in his stories like he'd been with her that day, and at the same time so clueless when it came to her mother and Luke.

"Hey, do men shave anywhere except their faces?" Lorelai asked suddenly.

"I don't know, I've never lived with a man," Rory grumbled, appalled by her question, really not wanting to talk about something like that with her mother. Technically she could have answered that already - the answer was 'yes' - being able to list at least a few places.

"Same here," Lorelai replied.

"Well, if he does franchise the diner, get him to put one near Yale. I miss those burgers," Rory requested, deciding to change the subject.

"He's not franchising," Lorelai made it clear.

"Hey, can I ask you a question?" Rory decided to ask. It was something she'd indeed begun to ponder by herself after today, but also something she was thinking about including in the paper along the lines of 'Have you ever considered whether you're living your life according to 'carpe diem' enough?' having not yet come up with the perfect quote, not wanting to use any of Logan's words for this.

"Sure," Lorelai agreed.

"Do you think I'm too scared?" Rory asked. She knew she was a lot less scared than she'd been before spring break, already overcoming that kind of fears was a big thing for her. But she was just beginning to wonder maybe her being this outsider who found her comfort in reading over mingling with people and drinking recreationally, was just a part of her fears. Maybe she was worried about not being liked, as clearly she had felt that a little in this event. She was afraid of not fitting in because her financial situation wasn't equal to theirs - the credit card in her wallet, having now reduced that feeling somewhat. But there were also concerns about being scared of other people's opinions more than she was beginning to think she should. She just didn't know yet how to overcome such fears.

"What?" Lorelai asked, the question having come out of the blue.

"Too scared, too timid?" Rory asked. "Do I take enough chances?" she asked, realizing it was a stupid thing to ask her mother considering she knew very little of her chance-taking in detail.

"What kind of chance?" Lorelai inquired.

"I don't know. Life chances?" Rory said.

"I think you do," Lorelai replied, answering it just in a way as she'd expected. That was what a mother was supposed to say - clearly she didn't want to see any more risky behavior in her. What mother would?

"Where is this coming from?" Lorelai inquired, not really hearing a response from Rory.

"I don't know… something I've been thinking about lately," Rory explained, but suddenly heard a knock on the door. "Someone's at the door. Um, say 'Hi' to Luke for me?" she added.

"If he's out of comatose. By, hon," Lorelai replied.

"Bye," Rory replied, already walking towards the entrance, and ended the call.

She opened the door to find a dark and empty hallway. But at her feet waited a bottle of Dom, a gorilla mask and a digital camera with pictures of their jump, causing her to smile. It had been real. And just by going - she'd taken at least one big chance, hadn't she?