CHAPTER 19: LET'S GO


Disclaimer: I own nothing but my imagination.

Author's Note: Holy shit! That was a lot of reviews! Thanks, you guys. Reading your reviews absolutely makes my day. And not just the ones where you say how great I am, either. ;) I like hearing your Gilmore-like ramblings and opinions about the characters and their actions. Yeah, I wish I was a real Gilmore writer, because then season 6 wouldn't have sucked so bad. Come on, we all love the show, but they all acted out of character on multiple occasions. Hopefully they will get it back on track this year. Anyway, I shall miss this story, and I shall miss my dear reviewers! It's been a great ride, thanks.

And now, the final chapter…


Rory slammed her car door in the Gilmore driveway and breezed into the house, going straight into her bedroom and shutting the door, storming right past a very surprised Luke and Lorelai.

"What the hell was that?" Luke asked, pausing mid-stir.

"I dunno, but I'm gonna find out," Lorelai said, patting his arm. "Stay in the kitchen, it smells great. I'll be back in a minute."

"Are you sure you don't want me to go?" Luke said uncomfortably. "We can do this another time," he said, gesturing to the elaborate dinner he was cooking.

"No, no, it's fine. Tell ya what; if she gets rowdy, I'll call you in and we can go all good cop/bad cop on her. I knew someday those handcuffs would come in handy," she said with a wink.

Luke groaned. "You know, you keep talking like that, and you're gonna start believing there actually are handcuffs."

"Oh, there are handcuffs alright. And they're pink. And fuzzy. And possibly leopard print."

"And entirely imaginary," Luke admonished.

"Perhaps," Lorelai allowed. "Or maybe you're just hiding them next to the edible underwear in the deep dark drawer in your apartment where you keep all things kinky."

"You've been to my apartment. You've seen my drawers." Luke held up a hand. "Please, don't go anywhere dirty with that."

Lorelai pouted. "But it was a perfect opening! I could have tied it into the edible underwear bit!"

"Don't you have a hysterical daughter to tend to?" Luke said, hoping to distract her.

"Right! But this conversation isn't over, my friend. Not by a long shot. Someday I'm gonna find that drawer, and when I do…"

"Please don't finish that sentence," Luke pleaded.

"Fine," Lorelai said, letting it go for the moment. "I'll be back."

"Fantastic," Luke muttered under his breath, returning to his stirring with a half-grin at Lorelai that belied his gruffness.

Lorelai knocked softly on Rory's door. "Sweetie?"

"Yeah?" Rory said from the other side.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure."

Lorelai slowly opened the door to find Rory sitting on her bed, staring at the now-empty French memo board leaning against her desk.

"Stupid fortune. Stupid fortune can kiss my ass," she said, her chin cupped in her hands with her elbows resting on her knees.

"Are we talking 'wheel of' or the cookie variety?" Lorelai asked, shutting the door behind her.

Rory didn't answer her, but continued to ramble. "It was stupid, it was stupid to think that months after our breakup that he'd be pining for me. I should have known better. I don't know why I'm surprised; it's exactly why I told him we should break up. Him with a different girl on his arm each night."

"So, killer party, huh?" Lorelai said dryly, noticing Rory's agitated state. "Wanna tell Mommy what happened?"

Rory flopped face down onto her pillow and mumbled into it.

"Aw, hon, I'm sorry, but you're gonna have to give me more than 'Eleven Andy Sober Me.' Little Orphan Annie couldn't decode that one."

"No," Rory whined, pulling her face out of the pillow. "I love him, and he's over me!"

"Aw, we didn't even get a chance to MadGab. Oh well. Now it makes more sense. Well… almost. What brought this on?"

"Logan! He's back to his playboy ways and I can't stand it."

"How do you know?" Lorelai said, moving to sit beside her and stroking Rory's hair.

"Because I've seen him twice in one week and he was with a different girl each time," she sniffled.

Lorelai made a mental note to hurt the boy who hurt her baby. "Well, maybe they were friends," she rationalized.

Rory snorted. "Oh please. Who's naïve now, Mom? I mean, granted, I didn't see any damning evidence, but he was most definitely flirting with the second girl. And I hate that I care, but I do."

Lorelai absorbed her words, just letting Rory vent.

Rory continued. "He's just doing exactly what I figured he'd do, and acting exactly the way I said he would, so I don't know why I'm surprised. I mean, I'm not. I'm not surprised."

"No, you're hurt," Lorelai said in a soothing tone.

Rory sat up. "But I have no right to be hurt. I mean, I broke up with him for his hypothetical behavior. How stupid can I be? I really liked him, Mom. I really really liked him.

"I know, honey," Lorelai said, smoothing her hair. "I know."


"So? What's the matter with her?" Luke said when Lorelai returned to the kitchen Rory-less.

"Shh, she'll hear you!" Lorelai said, looking back at Rory's closed door. She moved the conversation onto the front porch.

"Sorry! But what's the matter with her? Is everything ok?" Luke repeated.

"She's just having a rough night," Lorelai said sadly, sitting on the porch steps.

"What's goin' on?" Luke said, sitting beside her.

"Well it was somewhat muddled, but from what I could tell, she saw Logan with another girl."

"That punk! I'm gonna kill him. I'm gonna march over there and kick his skinny butt, and then when I'm done kicking his butt, I'm gonna-"

"Luke, Luke, calm down!" Lorelai said, part touched that he got all worked up, part exasperated at his typical male reaction. "You're not gonna do anything. They broke up, remember?"

Luke looked confused. "I don't remember that. When did that happen? And if they're broken up…then…"

Lorelai grinned. "Oh, honey. Ye of little powers of observance. They broke up a few months ago, I wanna say around March. Rory was actually the one doing the breaking up."

"Because he cheated on her?" Luke asked, ready to be angry again. "Were they really engaged? Because if so, heads will roll, starting with his, and then his dad's, and then-"

"No! Geez! Because I guess she thought they were going too fast. I think she was falling for him and was worried that she'd get all emotionally attached and he wouldn't and he would go back to being a playboy," Lorelai explained.

"I don't get it," Luke said bluntly and honestly. "She's upset because he's dating someone else two months after they broke up?"

"I think she's upset because she's not over him and she was hoping he wasn't over her either, though obviously he's moved on."

"Oh," Luke said, understanding. "So what do we do?"

Lorelai smiled. "We don't do anything."

"But she's hurt! There's gotta be a way to fix this."

"Aw, sweetie, I love that you care, but some things you just can't fix."

Luke thought for a moment. "Should I make her pie?"

Lorelai grinned and looped her arm through his, leaning her head on his shoulder. What a beautiful man. "Yeah, I think a pie would help. And maybe some cheesecake."

Luke started to nod until he remembered something. "Rory doesn't like cheesecake."

"I know. The cheesecake is for me."

Luke narrowed his eyes. "And just why exactly do you deserve a cheesecake?"

Lorelai grinned mischievously. Without saying a word, she crawled onto Luke's lap and gave him a passionate kiss.

"Oh, right," Luke said, his voice husky. "What flavor?"

Lorelai giggled and kissed him again.


Logan took a deep breath and knocked on the door, praying that the person on the other side would be in a receptive mood. Mostly he was just praying he wasn't about to get his ass kicked.

"Taylor, I swear to God, if you've put a flower box out there again…" The door swung open. Luke looked at Logan in surprise. "What do you want?"

Logan took a deep breath. "Hey, um, the guy downstairs…um… Cesar… he said it was ok if I came on up. So here I am."

Luke looked him up and down and reluctantly opened the door wide enough for Logan to enter his apartment.

"Hey, nice place," Logan offered. "Must be really convenient."

Luke just gave him a look. "Let's cut the small talk and why don't we get to the part where the guy who broke Rory's heart tells me what in God's name he's doing here."

"Right," Logan said, switching gears. "Firstly, let's just clarify that Rory broke up with me, actually, she dumped my ass," he said with a slight grin.

"Ok," Luke said slowly, still standing there with his arms folded across his chest. He couldn't exactly deny that.

"Yet despite that, I'm standing here asking for your help."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "My help? What could I possibly do to help you?"

Logan walked over to the kitchen table and sat down, gesturing for Luke to sit with him. Luke rolled his eyes at the kid's arrogance, but let it pass.

"Well, see, I've come to find out over the months that Rory is not the kind of girl you can easily get over," Logan started. "She's special."

"Damn right she's special," Luke growled.

"I know! So you can understand why a guy like me, a guy who's never really depended on a girl or, I'll be frank, wanted to see the same girl twice, is completely stuck on her and unable to move on."

"Ok," Luke said, accepting his words, though somewhere in the back of his mind all he could think about was Rory crying over him and Logan being with someone else.

"Alright," Logan said, sighing with relief that Luke let him get this far. "So here's the thing. I still love her. I'll admit, I tried to get over her. I partied hard over spring break, and tried to get back into my usual lifestyle for the rest of the semester, but… well… the thrill was gone, if you know what I mean."

Luke actually didn't know what the hell he meant, but he nodded anyway.

"So I've decided that if these past few months sucked so bad, I can only imagine the future sucking even more if I don't at least try to do something to get her back."

Luke nodded again. "So… what are you going to do?"

"Well, that's where you come in," Logan said. "See, when we first broke up, I figured she was just being insecure or something. I know my parents had a lot to do with it, and I know she spoke to my dad specifically about things, but she also went on and on about how different we were. Anyway, that's not the point. The point is that I thought I could convince her otherwise. And not to sound conceited, but I've always considered my powers of persuasion one of my strengths. Charm is a family trait," Logan said wryly. "So I tried to do whatever I could think of to get her back for the first week or two. Flowers, candy, I even had the coffee guy follow her around for a day, which I thought for sure would be a worthwhile gesture. But no matter what I did, she gave me nothing. I gotta say, that's pretty bruising to my ego, so I gave up."

"So where's the part where I come in?" Luke asked.

"You've got to tell me what to do. I tried everything I could think of, and nothing worked, but you know her, you know what I could do that would actually give me a shot."

"I don't understand. Why didn't you just go to Lorelai? She knows Rory way better than I do."

"I guess I was banking on our rather brief conversation during that movie night we had here. I figured that Lorelai's number one priority would be protect Rory at all costs, especially from big bad college guys like myself," Logan said. "I'd get turned down flat. But you…" Logan paused. "You know how I really feel about her."

Luke thought back to that night when Logan confided in him that he loved Rory, but wasn't going to tell her because he was worried she'd freak out. He had to give the kid credit, he was a persistent little bugger.

"You really love her, huh?" Luke said.

"I really do," Logan replied honestly.

"Huh." Luke had a brief mental debate. On the one hand, Lorelai might kill him for helping the so-called enemy, but on the other hand, if what really mattered was Rory's happiness, it seemed like this guy was what would make her happy. And if Logan made Rory happy… Luke made up his mind. "Well, all I know to do is to stop with the gifts. Rory's never been a material person, so that crap doesn't work with her. Um…I guess I'd just tell her how you feel. I mean, that's what girls seem to want, is to hear you talk about your feelings. And if you've got to make grand gestures, do something more personal, something tailored to her personality. The kid has a lotta quirks, and I'm sure you've got to know at least some of them."

Logan thought about what Luke said. "Yes, yes I believe you're right. Thanks, Luke," Logan said, offering his hand. Luke shook it. "You've given me a lot to think about, and I really appreciate it."

"No problem," Luke said, standing up.

Logan stood as well. "I won't let her down," he said significantly.

"Good," Luke said with a hint of a smile.

"Thanks. I'll see you around," Logan said with a hopeful wink.

"Yeah, ok," Luke said dryly. "See ya."


Rory moped around the house. She supposed she could go visit her mom at the inn, but she was just not in a mood to deal with Michel or to be fussed over by Sookie. Maybe she'd go down to the bookstore, see if she could work a little and get store credit. But the first order of business was lunch. Did she feel like ordering pizza or Chinese? Or would she be evil and order Indian food to stink up the house so Lorelai would return to curry heaven? Rory walked over to the menu drawer but was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell.

She opened the door to see the Chinese delivery guy standing there with two full bags of food.

"Um... hi. Can I help you?" Rory asked, confused.

"Here's your order, ma'am," he said, holding out the two bags.

"I don't understand, there must be some mistake." Rory thought hard. She didn't actually call them yet, did she?

"No mistake, this is your food," he insisted, holding out the bags.

"Ok…" Maybe she was going crazy. "Let me just find my purse…"

"No, it's been paid for already," he said.

"What?" Rory said, truly confused.

"Tip too. Here you go," he said, finally thrusting the bags in her hands.

"Um, thanks," she said.

"Oh, and here," he said, reaching into his pocket as an afterthought. "Very special fortune cookie for you," he winked, dropping it in the top of the bag. "Goodbye!"

"Bye!" Rory called after him, shutting the front door with her foot. This was weird, very weird. She took the bags into the kitchen and began unloading the food. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number.

"Independence Inn, Michel speaking," he drawled.

"Hey, Michel. Is my mom around?"

"I do not know, she is not at the front desk," Michel said, disinterestedly.

Rory sighed in frustration. "Well can you find her please?" she said sweetly.

"Oh, of course," Michel said. "I am but a dog, sent to fetch things. Fetch my mail, Michel. Fetch my snotty stinky children, Michel. And now, fetch my mother," he ranted.

"Thank you, Michel," Rory said, undaunted by his sarcasm.

"Here she is," Michel said. "It is your spawn," he said, disdain dripping from his voice as he handed the phone to Lorelai.

"Thank you, Michel. Hey babe, what's up?" Lorelai said.

"Hey, Mom? Did you send Chinese food?"

"Not that I remember. Why?"

Rory looked at the table. "Uh, it's just that I have the entire seafood and appetizer menu sitting on our kitchen table, and I most definitely did not order it."

"Ooh, intrigue! The take-out gods must look upon you favorably."

"I guess…ok, well, if you didn't order it, then I have no idea who did. Should I eat it?" Rory asked apprehensively.

"Rory, Rory, Rory. Of course you eat it. Have I taught you nothing? Besides, do you really think someone would send you poisoned Chinese food? Have you pissed off any other food group?"

Rory rolled her eyes. "Not that I can think of. I'll just see if there's a note in it or something. I'll call you later."

"Ok, you better, because you know how I can't stand unsolved delivery mysteries."

"I don't recall you ever encountering another unsolved delivery mystery."

"No, but that doesn't mean I don't know that I don't like them."

"There were way too many negatives in that sentence, but I'll let it slide."

"Thanks, hon. Oh – crap. Gotta go. Michel is holding an upside-down child by their ankles and shaking them vigorously."

"I know an emergency when I hear one. Talk to you later."

"Bye, sweets."

Rory shook her head and returned to examining the food. She remembered the takeout guy telling her that it was a special fortune cookie. Maybe he was just trying to be cute, or maybe the cookie would tell her where the food came from. She wracked her brain to think of who it could be. Maybe Marty, since he was there when she got her fortune. No, Marty didn't have the funds to do something like this. Paris? No, she only fleetingly glanced at the fortune. And Lorelai just said she didn't send it. That was everyone who knew about the all-important fortune, the fortune that was now torn to shreds and resting in the bottom of her wastebasket, underneath layers of tissues, gum wrappers, and dried-out pens. She decided to bite the bullet and opened the plastic before cracking open the cookie.

"A sort-of-tall, not-very-dark, but definitely handsome man awaits you in the near future," she read aloud. What the hell? She flipped over the fortune to read the back. "Your lucky numbers are 12, 30, 5, and 14." Rory's heart leapt into her throat as she looked at the microwave clock. Sure enough, it was just after 12:30, and today was the 14th. "Chinese word: opportunity." Rory looked around. Opportunity? She thought quickly what all those things have to do with each other. Just as her mind flashed the cliché 'opportunity comes knocking,' there was a knock on the kitchen door that made her jump. She opened the door to see Logan standing there.

"Hey," he said simply.

"Hey," she said, looking back down at the fortune in her hands. "Definitely, huh? Cocky much?" she said with a half-grin.

Logan chuckled. "I had a feeling you'd eat the cookie first."

There was a silence as Rory considered all her options.

"I know you can pack away an entire menu by yourself, but may I come in?" Logan asked as she stood there with the door open.

"Um, sure," she said, standing aside and letting him in. She shut the door and stood in front of it, crossing her arms over her chest.

Logan sighed, not sure where to begin, but knowing what he wanted to say most. "I miss you."

Rory started to interject when he stepped closer to her, putting a finger on her lips. "I miss you, Ace."

Rory felt herself melting, but refused to get lost in his eyes and stepped back, letting his finger drop. "No, Logan, we can't do this. I'm not going to let lingering attraction cloud my judgment."

"Well, you see, I thought you might say that, so I had a chat with Luke," Logan said easily, going over to the table and setting out the food.

"With Luke?" Rory asked, watching as he sniffed a box, then opened it, setting it down on the table.

"Yeah he gave me some great advice," Logan said casually, laying out the chopsticks.

Rory narrowed her eyes. "And what advice was that?"

"He told me to tell you how I feel. That all the flowers in the world won't mean a thing to you. They won't show you how I feel. But this…" Logan gestured to the food, letting it speak for itself. "Well, I'm here to show you, really."

Rory tried to quell the butterflies in her stomach. "So, what, are you gonna make me an offer I can't refuse?"

"You better believe it," Logan said sexily.

Rory recognized the tone, and wrote it off as standard procedures for seduction. "Save it for one of your skinny bitch sexpots. I don't want to hold you back from conquering the entire Eastern Seaboard of eligible females," she said, unusually nasty. She was still hurting from seeing him with other women.

Logan stood up straight and looked at Rory from across the table. "Ace, you know no one can hold a candle to you," he said, quietly.

"Sure, more flattery. That'll work. How about we just both know that I know you're not gonna want me in six months, so what does it matter?"

"Ace, the very fact that I'm here should speak to that. If I still want you after getting ego-bruisingly dumped and ignored for over two months, what makes you think that more time will change my feelings?"

Rory searched his face to see if he was playing her, but all she found was sincerity. She expected this to just be about getting what he couldn't have, that perhaps he just wanted her because she had the audacity to reject him. But apparently he meant it.

"We're so different, though," she protested. "I mean, I over-analyze everything, with my pros and cons lists, and you, you jump off buildings for the hell of it without a second thought. I'm practical, and you're impulsive."

"Yeah, but don't you think that makes us even more right for each other?" Logan insisted. Rory looked at him like he was crazy. "You keep me grounded, and I'd like to think that I encourage you to take much-needed risks."

Rory took a moment to truly look at him, this boy who was standing before her so earnestly. Here was a guy who probably intimidated many and could work his charm on the rest, and he was standing in her kitchen trying to convince her why they should be together.

She began to feel bad about how she had treated him, though it was all done out of logic. "Why, Logan?" she asked honestly. This was the one burning question in her mind. "Why in the world do you want me? I mean, I'm not sexy like all those other girls. I'm boring compared to them, so why would you want to throw away all that excitement for someone like me? I'm a girlfriend girl, through and through, and that is guaranteed to bore you at some point. You're young, and you've only got a year left now to do as you please, so why would you spend your last year of quasi-freedom chained to someone like me?" Rory looked him straight in the eyes. "Seriously; it's not like I have self-esteem issues. I know who I am, and I'm comfortable with that. I just don't know if who I am is who you truly want."

Logan stepped around the table. "I see." He took a step closer. "Well, I could give you a long, long list of reasons why you're a great person, and why any man would be lucky to call you his own. But I think you already know all those. See, I think the real problem is that you don't know how much you affect me, Ace. And I don't think you realize how sexy you are," he said, running a finger up and down her bare arm.

Rory shivered and half-heartedly knocked his hand away. "Oh please," she scoffed, taking another step back until she was forced to lean on the counter.

"Oh, but you are, Ace," Logan said, putting his hands on either side of her, resting them on the countertop. "Plenty of girls can pull off sexy, but most of them can only do obvious sexy, like stripper-sexy or husband-catching sexy. But you, well, let's just say I find you sexy at the oddest times."

"Oh yeah? Like when?" Rory said, her breath quickening.

Logan smirked. "Like when you're talking to my friends and you laugh. I love your laugh. And when you're across the room and I catch your eye and you give me a smile that I know is just for me. And when you wake up in the morning and make those little noises that mean you're still trying to sneak back to sleep until I wave coffee in your face. You're sexy when you're studying and chewing on your pen cap. You're sexy when you're being all Ace Reporter-y, determined to get your scoop. But most of all," Logan said, leaning so close that his lips hovered over hers, "you're sexiest when you kiss me."

Rory looked up at him through half-lidded eyes. Damn him. He forced her to be the one to close the infinitesimal distance between their lips. She kissed him tentatively at first, then hungrily, making up for three months of not kissing him at all. She felt Logan smile against her lips as they broke away. He peppered her face with small kisses along her jaw, on her cheeks, and on her nose, ending them with a tender kiss on the lips.

"So you believe me now?" he said, nuzzling her neck.

"What do you mean, believe you?" Rory said, closing her eyes and reveling in the sensation.

Logan pulled away and looked at her. "I mean I love you, Ace. Despite both our best efforts, I have fallen hopelessly in love with you, and I just don't see that ending anytime soon."

"Oh, that," Rory teased, finally letting go of all her doubt.

"Yes, that," Logan said. "So do you have something to tell me?" he prodded.

"Well," Rory said, tilting her head to the side and pretending to think, "I had lunch at Hector's yesterday. The taco was good, but the cheese dip was a little on the spicy side, and-"

"Ace!" Logan whined. "Come on, you're killing me here."

Rory grinned. "I guess I love you too."

"You guess or you know?"

"I know," Rory said seriously. She shrieked as Logan picked her up and twirled her around, giving her an exuberant kiss.

"Excellent! Alright, let's go," he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her out into the hall.

"Go? Go where?"

"Didn't you say you wanted to go backpacking across Europe this summer?" Logan said innocently.

"Backpacking?" Rory said with a raised eyebrow, not recalling saying anything about that.

"Well, perhaps instead we'll travel in style," he allowed, going into her room and searching through her top drawer until he found her passport, dropping it into her nearby purse.

"What kind of style?" Rory said, giving him a smirk of her own.

Logan stopped and reached in his pocket. "Honeymoon style," he said quietly, a mischievous gleam in his eye as he pulled out a small velvet box. He opened the box to reveal the wedding set. Rory gasped as Logan slipped the rings back onto her finger.

"Is this another pretend honeymoon or are you forgetting to ask me a very important question?" Rory said, her eyes darting back and forth between Logan and her hand, not sure how she wanted him to answer.

"Come on, you don't have much time to pack," Logan said evasively, walking backwards, hands in pockets. "Is that what you're wearing?" he teased.

"Logan…" Rory said, trailing after him, trying to give him a stern look; the only problem was, his wide smile was infectious. Oh, what the hell. Rory sighed. "I'll get my purse."

Logan grinned. "Atta girl," he said, slipping an arm around her and giving her a quick kiss. He grabbed her hand and pulled her out the door and down the porch steps. "Come on. We're gonna go anywhere and everywhere. You name it, we'll go there."

Rory laughed freely. "You know, I've always wanted to go to Fez…"


THE END