AN: Characters in this chapter will appear in later chapters as well
Chapter Twenty Three – My Guy
Honor looked around the art exhibit obviously fascinated by the work of the Yale students. Of course she had had a top-notch education as was the right for each and every Huntsberger but the art shows she had been to so recently had been of a different caliber. Even Josh had been raised in a good family and their wanting to experience the things of a 'lower class' as her family had said was something she loved about him. She was interested by the way that people could take minimalist items and also not that much money and create interesting items.
"This looks great," Honor smiled to Rory as she looked over one piece and Rory smiled as she turned her head to see the intricacies of the art exhibit. Honor knew that Rory could give to her children what Honor had always wanted to and yet would never be able to, a touch of being in an everyday, unprivileged environment.
"It really does, I would love to create something like this," she said as she saw a couple of girls watching them. She turned to Honor but decided not to say anything about those with interested eyes cast in their direction.
"I wonder if these items are actually for sale," Honor said and Rory smiled as she didn't know how to respond. She would imagine her grandparents to say something similar were they to find a piece that they liked. No, that wasn't going to be true. Emily Gilmore would snap her fingers and demand it to be sold to her no matter the price. Logan and Honor belonged to the same class of people.
"I don't think that people would want to sell something with so much emotional meaning placed into it," she said and Honor laughed.
"Spoken by one who obviously has a lot of passion for their dreams," she told her and Rory knew that she said that in a supportive way. Whilst their parents weren't going to be supportive of her having a career that went outside of the norm for the wives in the family, Honor was down to earth enough to know that wanting to be a journalist didn't mean she couldn't be a good wife and mother.
"I wouldn't say that it couldn't be parted with," a young woman said as she came over to them. "Are you wanting to pay for it?"
"Not yet, although I would love to meet the artist," Honor replied respectfully.
"Well, today you're in luck," a taller and thinner young woman said as she took a sip from the glass she held. "We've got the artist right here."
"Olivia Marquont," the shorter girl smiled and Honor's eyes lit up and she nodded with a pretty laugh. Rory took a step back as she studied the passionate artist and the elite princess. She suddenly was starting to feel a little taken aback as she knew that this was what people in her age range were doing. Nobody else seemed to be pregnant whilst in college and she could feel her head spinning.
"Her art does that to you, you know," the other girl commented and Rory glanced up at her. "I'm Lucy, by the way. I'm an actress."
"Rory," Rory replied before starting to feel the smells affecting her, the room seemed to be getting smaller and she felt ill. Honor noticed this and put her hand on Rory's back.
"I'm sorry to end this conversation here, this art show is just a bit overwhelming," she said before Olivia and Lucy nodded with concern in their eyes. "Rory, let's get some air," she suggested and Rory shook her head.
"I'll be fine, I'll be back in a moment," she replied as she felt insecure having to leave the conversation at this point. She felt that when she stepped out of the building and into the fresh air of the night, she felt better for a moment but the next, she felt that she was going to throw up. She looked around to find the closest restroom but knew she wouldn't be able to. Her eyes caught hold of a trashcan. It would be embarrassing to throw up in public but she didn't have many options. Was the baby triggered by something? Had it been something that she had eaten earlier in the day?
Well, those thoughts disappeared immediately as she threw up the contents of her stomach. She felt terrible but that sinking feeling in her stomach increased as she heard a set of footsteps approaching in her direction. Hopefully it was Honor. Honor would understand. Honor wouldn't comment on the vomit or her humiliation at doing this out in public.
"You okay?" she heard a man ask and she blinked, those words sounded very familiar, that voice sounded very familiar. She paused, grabbing a handkerchief that Logan had bought for her shortly after she had thrown up in front of him in public. "Anything I can do to help?"
Rory took slow breaths ready to face this public shaming but she stared at the man and her feelings became confused, puzzled, messy. She hadn't seen this man for years. "Marty?" she asked in disbelief. He took a step back in surprise.
"H-Hey," he stuttered nervously, a nervousness that Rory couldn't quite understand unless it was anxiety out of not keeping in contact with one another but she had been guilty of that as well. "Long time, no see, you drink too much?"
"No, it's.." Rory said and Marty laughed weakly. His eyes kept going between looking at Rory and then looking at the building of the art show. Had he been going to see the art too? She couldn't blame him, Marty had always had a love of the unique and that's how they had become friends. They had both bonded over shared interests which included Duck Soup.
"Rory!" Honor called after her before seeing her with the other man. She smiled, "A friend of yours?" she asked. Rory was glad that there was no judgment in Honor's voice which only proved how much she understood the unbreakable love that Rory had for Logan despite all of Logan's past mistakes and poor decisions.
"Yes, this is Marty," Rory said and Honor smiled.
"Nice to mee-"
"We haven't been friends for a very long time," Marty said defensively. He shook his head and looked away, "You know some jerks, some rich pricks might laugh at a girl who is being sick. They might do things like heckle musicians. Some rich assholes might show a complete lack of respect for others who they feel are below their station and -"
"This is Honor Huntsberger," Rory introduced the woman before them and Marty's jaw dropped a little but he shook his head, he didn't seem to care that he had just insulted this woman's brother. Honor was trying to decide whether it was out of jealousy towards her younger brother or if Logan had been careless and done something to antagonize this younger male, it could easily have been either.
"Same thing to be said, is that why you were drinking?" Marty asked and Rory felt a stab in her chest just hearing that question.
"Well, when one is pregnant," Honor said and Rory's eyes widened. She understood the need to protect one's own family members but she hadn't wanted Marty to hear that. She snuck a look back at him and saw his surprise. At least surprise wasn't horror or dread or resentment.
"Pregnant - with - with," he said out of breath and Honor nodded.
"That's right, my brother's child. You want to apologize to him now. He's finishing up some business so he can do his best to be the father the baby deserves," Honor told him and Rory smiled weakly hating to be in the middle of this situation and not having wanted the conversation to take this turn at all.
"So you really did go for the rich guy, I thought you were different," Marty laughed bitterly.
"I love Logan because of who he is. I wasn't attracted by money." Rory tried to defend herself. She hated that Marty had formed that opinion of her. Yes, Logan made a lot of mistakes and there were flaws in his personality but he and Marty had a lot in common of how their personalities came out. There was never going to be a way that he would close that distance between them.
"Come on," Honor said as she looked Marty over with an untrusting gaze. "Let's go get some coffee, that will help you feel better. I think I saw a café around here," she said and Rory nodded.
"Goodbye," she said to Marty wanting to just leave and finish the night off at least a little better than it felt right now.
"Good luck," Marty scoffed before heading towards the art exhibit.
Honor walked over to where they had parked the car and Rory tagged behind her, she didn't know what to say to explain what had just happened. Honor turned to her, studied her for a brief moment and shook her head. "Don't worry about that guy, he was being an ass," she said and "Rory laughed weakly. Where had that change in Marty come from? He hadn't been the guy she had remembered. She sighed. "Ex-boyfriend?" Honor asked. "if that's okay to ask."
"No, just a friend, someone I spent time with when I was a freshman here," she said and Honor looked at her.
"Well you're obviously his unrequited love interest. Maybe he'll be able to write a book about you one day. The girl who got away," she teased and Rory raised her eyebrow.
"He's Marty, he's just…Marty," she explained and Honor turned to her.
"And that's enough to turn any guy's yearning into some unrequited passion that inspires them to move forward but it may be bias talking, I believe that you've made the right choice with my brother. Now, I know more than anyone how imperfect Logan is but you know he's -"
"My Logan," Rory smiled and Honor grinned at that. That was the perfect response and if Rory said that to Logan in person, then that would be enough for her brother. She was really happy for the two of them to have found each other and to be following the path of a mature relationship.
End of Chapter Twenty Three
Thank you for reading
Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Twenty Two
Bseriel, Csimesser1, Elizabeth, KathyMesser, nightnovice, roganjalex, Rori Potter, YaleAceBella12
