Chapter 21
Rory woke to the feeling of a finger gently grazing her bare back. It was slightly ticklish. But not in a way that would make her wiggle and laugh uncontrollably. Right now it was not an unwelcome sensation, there being very few realizations she would've rather woken up to. It was, however, not entirely conscious it seemed, as once she peeked her eyelids open, she could still see Logan's still closed.
Logan's hair was messy, his face all relaxed, a near constant weak smile on his lips - damn he was cute like that - almost innocent, none of that facade he sometimes carried around. They'd slept face to face, at times feeling him breathe, his one arm thrown over the pillow, the other around her ribcage. It had been a good night - the more convenient width of the bed, a decent Queen Size mattress and the absence of clothing being a good sign of that.
The inside of his bedroom still showed no signs of cheap erotic paraphanelia, if one didn't count the slightly erotic undertone of the Graduate movie poster. There were others too - one for Mulholland Drive and another for My Neighbor Totoro a couple of band posters too - The New Pornographers and Gorillaz. There were personal photographs from his travels, some from doing extreme sports, leaving her wondering how many of these were from LDB events. But either way - it was not the room of an average jock, despite his belongings making it obvious he didn't stay in this good of a shape without putting some effort into it. He knew literature, movies and music, he had good taste, he dressed well and he knew how to treat her right - especially when it came to taking care of her in bed. She felt so lucky for that... I mean how many girls can say that they orgasmed during their first time?
Last night they'd barely made it through the point in the movie where main character had gotten wrapped up investigating a murder - not the highlight of the movie to two person in their early twenties, obviously attracted to each-other, the sexual tension getting the better of them before they'd gotten too entangled in the storyline. But what was the harm? Movies could be watched again, movies could be paused - as Logan had after little by little, as Rory had been sitting at the corner of the couch, her legs positioned over his lap, letting his fingers slip underneath the hem of her skirt, clearly not minding the smooth texture of her nylons.
There had been something rough and primal in how he'd pulled her tights off of her, making her abdomen flutter like she'd never felt before - excitement mixing with arousal. It was as close to getting ravished she'd ever felt, in a good way, finally getting some sense of what some women searched for in Harlequin novels.
The rest had been a lengthy tease - god, he was good at that - having caused her to squirm for seemingly forever. It had even caused her to to talk dirty into his ear for the first time, and eventually ride him into their climaxes right there on the couch after he'd hastily assured her his roommate wasn't due back before Monday morning. Not that by then it would've stopped them, the need having grown unbearable by then.
"I think I'm going to be an excellent boyfriend," Logan had said, jokingly, as they'd lingered in post-orgasmic bliss, reluctant to part from each-other's arms.
"Uh-uh," Rory had agreed and kissed him again, taking her time, in a way that had led incredibly easily to Logan picking her up and carrying her into the bedroom for round two.
My boyfriend Logan - Rory thought to herself, still adjusting to the idea. His request really wasn't all that ridiculous now that she thought about it. She didn't want her grandmother getting ahead of herself either, assuming she'd be a big fan of Logan's, and she really didn't want the Huntzberges sticking their nose into where it didn't belong either. But she did wonder what Logan knew that she didn't. Why wouldn't his parents not like her? The only thing she really could think of was the story of her birth, how she'd been to an unmarried 16-year old.
"What's going on in that head of yours..," Logan hummed, suddenly surprising her, nudging her with his nose.
"Just…," Rory said, not really wanting to ask him that. It felt too serious. She didn't want to be serious right this minute. So instead of finishing that sentence she just shook her head.
Logan was willing to accept that answer, clearly, as he simply wrapped his arms around her torso, laying his cheek onto her chest. She just loved how relaxed and genuine he was with her, almost as if he was letting himself be vulnerable around her. She caressed his scalp, running her fingers through his hair, secretly taking another intoxicating whiff of it.
"Any plans for today?" Logan asked, snuggling into her neck now, kissing it casually, making her giggle lightly.
"Coffee and food - hopefully..," Rory replied, pragmatically. "Some studying," she added.
"Well, then at the very least I can take you to breakfast and cross two things off your list..," Logan said, glanced at his watch that stood on the bedside table, and corrected, "brunch more like."
"God, I miss Luke's… this would be just the morning for his chocolate chip pancakes or…waffles," Rory exclaimed.
"Whose Luke?" Logan asked, somehow hearing of him for the first time.
"Oh," Rory chuckled. "Luke's is a place, a diner in Stars Hollow. Owned by Luke whom I've known since forever. He's dating my mom, has been since since the summer…," she explained. "Funny I haven't mentioned him before," she laughed. Sure, she'd talked about Stars Hollow - but mostly about its quirks - Kirk, Taylor and his town meetings, the crazy festivals and so forth.
"Right," Logan reflected.
"You should totally come to visit one day. You could get to try the best burgers I know, and I know a lot of burgers and then we could just go to the Black & White & Read movie theater and sneak snacks in. The place actually doubles as a bookstore," Rory explained.
"And I definitely will…," Logan assured, kissing her. "But I do know a pretty good Belgian waffle place in Wilton," he offered.
"Sounds good," Rory hummed, and swung her feet off the bed knowing she'd never get out if she didn't do it now, his kisses being so distracting. But nature called.
"You can use that bathrobe over there, the beige one," Logan instructed while Rory had already conjured a toothbrush out of her purse, having half expected to staying over, which made Logan smirk a little wider.
"Um… you have a spare robe for guests?" Rory asked, disgust in her tone.
"Yes?" Logan asked, hesitantly. "It's clean," he added.
"I don't mean to sound spoiled but, I think I'll just use yours..," Rory said, decisively, and picked up the navy colored one instead, smiling sneakily.
"Point taken. I'll get you a new one," Logan commented.
"Thanks," Rory replied, victoriously, unable to fight her smile. Little victories counted, didn't they?
Before they parted they agreed to call and meet up more frequently now, even agreeing to a meeting point by the coffee cart to squeeze into their schedules - after all this was what boyfriends and girlfriends did. It was about more than just going out on dates. But generally Rory still didn't run in the same circles as he did, which in some sense was good, giving Rory some time to focus on her studies and the paper too.
Having lunch with Paris, a couple of days later, however, was not one of those moments. Paris had been going over and over about how she thought the senior faculty was all flirting with her thanks to word about Paris and Asher having gotten out and that was just… more than Rory wanted to be thinking about during lunch.
Rory was saved by her phone and she picked it up in a haste, hoping it was Logan.
"Hello?" she answered, not paying attention to the caller ID.
"Rory! It's your grandmother," Emily said. "Your grandfather is here also," she added, truly catching Rory by surprise. This was new.
"Hello, Rory, how are you?" Richard asked.
"Fine, grandpa, and you?" Rory replied politely, her suspiciousness rising. They never did anything without a motive, did they - this much she knew.
"We're wonderful. Thank you for asking," Richard said, sounding chipper.
"Rory, we're sorry to bother you at school but on Friday your grandfather and I agreed to host a little Yale alumni event at our house," Emily explained.
"It completely slipped our minds the other night," Richard added. It sounded almost rehearsed.
"So we'll have to cancel our usual Friday-night dinner," Emily said.
"Oh," Rory said, nearly hoping to have the night to herself to spend with Logan instead. "That's okay," she added, trying to not sound overly excited about the prospect.
"However," Emily began, causing Rory to groan internally. Of course there was a 'however'. "We were wondering if maybe you'd like to come," Emily added.
"Me?" Rory asked.
"The alumni like to meet the new generation of Elis and, plus, we'd love to be able to show you off to all of our friends, wouldn't we, Emily?" Richard continued.
The way she was talking of the two of them like that, gave Rory hope that maybe the ice was melting between the two. Which made this so much harder - how could she not agree.
"Yes, we would," Emily added.
"You might even make a few connections. That could come in handy somewhere down the road," Richard suggested.
"Please, come," Emily pleaded. "We'd hate to miss our weekly Rory-fix. And I promise you there won't be any chicken," she said, allowing Richard to finish off her sentence, "or steak on a stick." Both laughed, the whole thing sounding very rehearsed to Rory's ear.
"Well, sure. I'd love to come," she said. That had been the agreement hadn't it, she was in no position to just refuse, was she?
"Wonderful. Your grandmother and I are thrilled," Richard said.
"Is it fancy? What should I wear?" Rory asked, thinking practically.
"Oh, just pick out a pretty little dress," Emily replied.
"And bring that face," Richard added.
"The face comes with the package," Rory pointed out, still not knowing what to think of it.
After agreeing upon the time, hanging up and Paris yet again accusing another faculty member throwing sex daggers out his eyes at her all week and made a swift exit, Rory was left on her own with her meal.
It was then she saw Marty, just walking around looking for a vacant table. The cafeteria was by no means full, but most of the tables were indeed already taken by at least one person, some just studying, but to Rory it just felt weird not to invite him over.
"Hey, Marty!" Rory waved at him. "Join me. Paris just left," she replied.
"Rory, hi," Marty said, sounding a little reluctant. "I guess, sure..," he added hesitantly and took a seat.
"I hope it's okay…. Me inviting you over like this. I mean I just thought about you the other day and realized I hadn't spoken to you in a while. What's been going on?" Rory inquired friendlily, biting into her meal, most of it still uneaten.
"Yeah, I guess," Marty said, his answer not being entirely convincing. "Just been pretty busy. I thought I'd try to squeeze my studies into 7 semesters instead of 8, so that's been a blast," he added, unenthusiastically. "Work on weekends…," he added with a shrug, making Rory suddenly very aware of the fact that she was not working currently at all.
Instead of commenting on the things she'd just learned, not wanting to talk about money, she took another bite, allowing the silence to linger.
"What about you?" Marty, thankfully, asked, dispersing the awkward silence.
"I've been good, really good," Rory said, unable to hide how good she felt about her and Logan.
"Um… what made you, um…, think about me?" Marty asked, swallowing a sip of water.
"Um...," Rory hesitated. "My grandparents actually. They remembered you from the game… and they just asked how my friends were doing," she added, trying to stick close to the truth.
"Right," he said, biting into his soggy meatloaf.
"Rory continued to eat as well, hating the awkwardness that surrounded them these days.
"So, you're now all friendly with Logan and those guys, uh?" Marty inquired after a while.
"I guess," Rory said, thinking it was wise not to declare their labels all over campus.
"You know, I've bartended for him a lot," Marty said, continuing to eat. Rory knew in part what that meant - one overheard and saw a lot while he worked, his stories having entertained her all through last year. Nothing specific with name, but more genetically - he saw breakups, family drama, cheating, gossip and fights. It was not an unentertaining job.
"Really?" Rory asked, wondering rather whether he would mention the connection to LDB in any capacity.
"He's not the nicest guy, you know," Marty said.
"Um… what does that mean?" Rory asked, sounding at least a little offended.
"Just how he talks to people, you know. It's like he thinks he's better than everyone, that he can get whatever he wants," Marty said.
"People are not always what they appear," Rory just had to add.
"And with the girls..," Marty began, but retracted by - "I'm sorry, it's not my place to say. I guess when I just saw you two the other day, it caught me by surprise. I just think you could do better than someone like him - I at least thought you saw through people better than that," Marty added.
Rory was at a loss for words.
"Yeah, I know. I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry," Marty said, realizing his mistake, and stood up and walked a few tables over, finding a vacant seat, and sat down with his back to her.
Clearly there were still some lingering feelings there, which did not make it any easier on Rory, and she ate her meal in solitude, trying to think of anything but his words.
The next morning, after her first class, she met Logan at the coffee cart. There he already stood, wearing his puffer jacket, the morning having been a chilly one, holding two large cups of coffee.
"My, thank you," Rory said, accepting the cup from him, while he pulled her close for a kiss, his free hand slipping underneath her green wool coat.
"How was Dr. Bell?" Logan asked, knowing Rory had been looking forward to it.
"It was good. He's such a good speaker," Rory explained.
"Yeah, I've heard," Logan replied.
"So listen, what are you doing this weekend? I was thinking maybe inviting you to Luke's...," Rory replied, not specifying the day, having not been home properly in a while. She wasn't going to push him to meet her mother unless he wanted to, but a couple of burgers at Luke's and maybe a stroll around the town couldn't hurt.
"Um… on Friday I have to make an appearance. My mother just called me last night. I'm not sure what time I'll get away unfortunately..," Logan discussed, clearly for a moment forgotting that Rory rarely asked about Fridays.
"Oh..," Rory reacted.
"They didn't require me to bring anyone," Logan informed her, sensing her worry.
"That's good, I guess…," Rory replied. "So maybe Saturday?" she asked.
"Yeah, maybe?" Logan said, remaining tentative, instead taking a chance to pull her into a quiet corner and kiss her passionately.
Rory wasn't sure what was his reason for his tentativeness, but at this point she was rather taking it as him simply wanting to see her, and not decide upon their activity just then. And that was fine with her, her first thoughts drawing towards the bedroom just like his were, probably.
AN: Keep those reviews coming! They keep my mood high and just make me want to write more!