A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! You guys are awesome. I would have had this chapter out sooner, but I couldn't upload for some reason. Anyway, it's here now but before you read it I just want to clear up a few things. One: this is ROGAN. I could never see Rory with anyone else. Two: I'm not planning this to be one of those fics where Rory is crying in every other paragraph and Logan continually has to come in and save the day. Yes, there will be a little of that, but that's not the kind of girl that Rory is, and I don't intend to portray her that way. Logan is her knight in shining armor, and that will come across strongly in this story, but Rory's strong, too. Okay, now I'm done. Enjoy!
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Rory woke up to the sound of a key in the lock. It was so bright. She looked at the clock on the TV – 10:15 AM. The door flew open and there before her stood the figure of a very tired and worried Logan Huntzberger. "Logan!" She cried, rocketing off the couch and into his arms. He squeezed her tighter than she thought it was possible for a human being to squeeze someone and lifted her up off the ground. He kissed her on top of the head before placing her back on the ground. Rory didn't even give him a second to look at her before pulling his head towards hers and kissing him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he pulled her as close as he could.
When they finally separated for air, Logan took a step back. "Let me look at you," he said breathlessly. Rory's face was tear-stained and her eyes were still puffy and red from crying last night. He shook his head and cupped her face in his hands, placing a kiss on her forehead before pulling her in for another hug.
Logan took her hands and led her towards the couch. Rory kissed him again and pushed him back on the couch. "Rory," he said, pulling away.
"What?" She asked, taken aback that he would turn that down.
"As much as I love this, do you want to tell me what's going on?" Logan asked, his brow creased with worry. Rory sighed and slipped off of his lap onto the adjacent couch cushion.
"Not really," she whispered.
"Ace," he said sternly, bringing her face up to look at him. "I just flew for seven hours across the Atlantic in the middle of the night for you. Please, tell me what happened." He took her hands and gave them a loving squeeze, but she winced and pulled them back. "What?" Logan's eyes fell on her wrists and they practically bugged out of his head. "Oh my God, Rory." He gently picked up her hands and turned them over in his own, tracing a finger over her black and blue wrists and her red, scratched-up palms. Rory could hear Logan's breathing waver out of anger.
"I'll kill him," he snarled, looking up at Rory with fire in his eyes. He moved to get up, but stopped when Rory grabbed his arm.
"Logan, wait! Please, just sit with me. Let me tell you what happened," Rory said, pulling him back down beside her.
"Alright," Logan agreed with a nod. He pulled Rory onto his lap so that her back was resting against the arm of the couch and her legs were draped over his own. Logan wrapped his arms protectively around her waist.
"Okay," Rory began, taking a deep breath. "I stayed at work late last night and didn't get back until about eleven o'clock. I started walking towards the building when I ran into Dean. He was completely drunk and he just started going on about how he needed me, how sorry he was, I had to go with him, a-and how much he loved me. I kept trying to reason with him, telling him that he was drunk. I offered to call him a cab, I told him he didn't love me; that it was late and he needed to go home." Rory could feel a knot forming in her throat, but gulped it back down. "Then he started to get angry and he screamed at me. That's when he grabbed my wrists." She lifted her wrists up to show Logan. "I kept begging him to let go, but he just squeezed harder and started shaking me. I asked him why he was hurting me if he loved me so much." Rory wiped away tears that were threatening to fall. It was hard for her to talk about Dean like this. "I told him I didn't love him and I was with someone else." Rory looked into Logan's eyes for the first time since she started telling her story. "Then he just threw me back on the sidewalk and I kicked him and ran."
"Ace," Logan whispered gently, reaching up to wipe her tears away. "It's okay. I'm here now." Rory nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her head in his chest. Logan rested his head on top of hers and sighed, anger boiling up inside of him. "I'm so sorry, Rory."
Rory lifted her head up to look him in the eyes. "Why? It's not your fault."
"Still, I'm your boyfriend, I'm not supposed to let this kind of thing happen," he tried to explain.
"Logan, you're an amazing boyfriend and I love you, but you're not Superman. You can't cross the Atlantic faster than a speeding bullet to come to my rescue," Rory joked, cracking a smile.
"Rory, what am I doing?" He asked sincerely, gazing into her eyes.
"What do you –"
"What the hell am I doing in London? I don't belong in London, I belong here, with you."
"But the paper."
"What about the paper? There's nothing I can do in London that I can't do here in the states. I don't know what my father's problem is. I swear Ace, I'm never going to let anything like this happen again."
"But Logan –"
"No buts, Ace. I'm sick of London, I'm sick of being away from you. I hate it over there. My life is here and my father's just going to have to deal with that." He let out a breath of relief after his little tirade.
"And you really think your father is just going to 'deal with it'?" Rory questioned.
"No, probably not. I'll have to wear him down, but hey as long as I'm working on that paper he's at least somewhat happy," Logan explained.
"This is true, but you know he's not going to give up on London easily or quickly."
"I know," he admitted. "I'll probably have to go back to London for awhile still, but it's worth a try."
"Agreed."
"Here, let me see your hands." Rory held them up for inspection.
"Did you clean all this up?"
"I washed them," she said proudly.
"With what?"
"Water."
"And?"
"Water."
"Yeah, that's what I thought," Logan said with a sigh. He quickly scooped Rory up, taking pleasure in the little squeal of protest she emitted.
"Logan, what are you doing!"
He carried her over to the sink and sat her down on top of the counter next to it. "We have to clean your hands or else they'll get infected," he explained, taking one of her hands and running warm water over her palm, then applying soap.
"Ouch, it stings," Rory complained immaturely.
"I'm sorry, Ace," he sympathized. "But it's either this or…we have to amputate."
"What is this, a Civil War hospital?"
Logan grinned. "I'm sorry, I just don't want your hands to get infected."
"Alright, Dr. Carter," Rory referenced E.R. with a sigh. "Do what you must. My mother will donate blood if need be."
"Or, hey, we could just use coffee instead," Logan suggested as he dried her hands off.
"That would probably work," Rory agreed with a nod.
"You're done," Logan announced.
"So do you think I'll make it?" Rory gazed at him with mock concern.
Logan simply smiled and instead of answering pulled her in for a kiss. She scooted forward on the counter to get closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He pulled away after a minute and went on to place sweet, tender kisses down her neck, stopping at her collar bone to rest his head on her shoulder. Rory let out a sigh as she turned to kiss his forehead. "I missed you, Ace," Logan admitted seriously; tightening his grip around her waist.
"I'm glad you're here," Rory whispered, running her hands up and down his back.
"Come on," Logan said quickly, lifting her up and placing her feet firmly on the ground before grabbing her hand and leading her deeper into their apartment.
"What are you doing?" Rory asked with a giggle.
"What do you think I'm doing?" Logan replied, stopping at the foot of their bed and turning around so that Rory walked right into his arms. He pulled her to him again and crashed his lips into hers. Rory turned around so that her back was to the bed, and broke their kiss after another minute.
She plopped herself down and scooted backwards until she was lying back against the pillows. Logan put his hands in his pockets and smirked at her. "Coming, Huntzberger?" Rory asked, raising one eyebrow coyly.
"You think I'm that easy?" He asked with a chuckle, removing his hands from his pockets to cross them in front of his chest.
Rory shrugged and turned to look out the window before returning her gaze to him. "Yes."
"Alright, I'm that easy," Logan agreed, following Rory onto the bed and lying down next to her. Rory wasted no time in rolling on top of him to resume kissing him. It grew heavily passionate quickly. Rory soon tired at the excessive amounts of clothing between them and began to tug at his shirt. Oh yes, she had definitely missed this.
-
"Wow," Rory said a while later. Her head was resting on Logan's chest as he held her safely in his arms. She looked up at him and he smiled, leaning down to give her a soft kiss on the lips. Rory sighed and snuggled closer to him. Even though it was July, suddenly every part of her body that wasn't touching him grew cold.
"You alright down there?" Logan asked with a teasing nudge, causing Rory to look up at him lovingly.
"Just making up for all of the lonely nights." At that comment, Logan's signature smirk disappeared and he pulled Rory up so that he could look her in the eyes. "What?" She smiled, but it disappeared as Logan let out a long sigh and looked away. "Logan, what's the matter?"
"I hate this," he said firmly.
"What? I love this," Rory said playfully.
"You know what I mean."
Rory held a hand out and stroked his cheek. Logan flashed his eyes over to hers. "Yes, I know what you mean," Rory admitted. "But that's why we have to make the best of moments like these." She leaned in for a kiss, and Logan responded more fervently than she had expected. She smiled when they pulled apart, and Logan placed a kiss on the tip of her nose.
"I hate hurting you like this though," he said in frustration, twirling a lock of her brown hair around his index finger.
"You're not hurting me," she assured him.
"Rory, I've heard you cry on the phone enough times to prove otherwise," Logan said softly, not tearing his eyes away from hers.
"That's not your fault." She shook her head and grabbed the hand that had previously playing with her hair, intertwining her fingers with his. "You're in London because it's where you need to be, not because it's where you want to be. You have to be there for the family business."
Logan kissed her once again, letting her know just how much he appreciated and needed her cooperation and support. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For understanding," Logan explained, pressing his forehead against Rory's.
She smiled and kissed him before settling back down on his chest. "So when do you go back?"
Logan rubbed his eyes at the thought. "I think I can buy myself at least two days. I'll call my secretary later and go over the details."
"Wait, you did tell people you were leaving, right? I don't want you to go all Winnie Foster on me. I get shot, I die, there's no twenty-one forever here, Mister."
Logan chuckled and nodded. "Yes, I told people I was leaving, left all of my work in safe hands and rescheduled my meetings. I'm just going to call Doris to check in and make sure everything's okay."
"She won't be upset?"
"Why would she?" Logan looked quizzical.
"Well you two were going to elope. She won't be upset that you changed your mind?" Rory faked concern and furrowed her brow.
Logan grinned, finally catching on. "Well as much as I hated to leave Doris, I had to get back to the most amazing girl in the whole world."
Rory blushed. "Oh, and who might that be?"
"Well," Logan began, gently running his finger up and down her forearm, "She's beautiful, intelligent, witty, addicted to caffeine, great sense of humor…" His words turned to whispers as he inched closer to Rory.
"You forgot: incredibly sexy, great in bed…" Rory added, smiling before her lips met Logan's. She kissed him urgently, truly making up for those long, lonely nights. Logan rolled on top of her to deepen the kiss, only breaking apart a minute later for air. He gazed adoringly down at her and smiled.
"I love you so much, Rory."
In response, she quickly pulled him back down to her, completely content as her lips danced with his.
-
Rory woke up to the most amazing thing in the world. The essence of her being. Smiling, she opened her eyes and sat up to see Logan walking towards her carrying a steaming mug of said wonderful thing. "Mmm, coffee," Rory said, reaching out her arms.
"Nope, scotch," Logan joked with a shake of his head. He placed the mug into her hands and sat down next to her, placing a kiss on her temple.
"Thank you." Rory took three giant gulps and closed her eyes, savoring it. "Hmm, what time is it?" She asked, placing her mug on the nightstand.
"Six o'clock at night."
"What?" Rory looked at him incredulously. "Are you serious?" He nodded. "Oh no, I was supposed to be at the Gazette by one o'clock."
"It's alright, I called and told them you were sick," Logan assured her.
"Aww, you played hooky for me? I knew there was a reason I loved you."
"Oh and here I thought you would be worth giving up Doris." Rory smiled and quickly pushed him down onto the bed, silencing him with a kiss. The phone rang a moment later, and Logan sat up to answer it.
"Hello?"
"Hello, R – wait, who is this?" Asked an accusatory female voice.
"Who the hell is this?"
"Listen, bucko, I'm skilled in the art of Krav Maga! I will kick your ass if you –"
Logan practically threw the phone at Rory. "It's Paris."
Rory giggled and picked up the cordless phone. "Hey, Paris."
"Rory, who was that?"
"That was Logan," she explained, getting off the bed and grabbing her coffee.
"What? Logan's in London."
"He uh…he came to visit me," Rory supplied quickly, taking another sip of coffee.
"Oh," Paris said, surprised. "Well, good for you."
"Thanks."
"Listen, did I leave a black binder at your apartment?"
"A black binder?" Rory looked around, but didn't see anything. She held the phone up to her shoulder, and looked at Logan. "Have you seen a black binder?"
Logan stopped buttoning up his shirt and looked around, then back at Rory and shook his head.
Rory held the phone back up to her ear. "Nope, haven't seen it."
"Oh, well if you find it, call me. I really need it."
"Will do."
"Okay, say 'hi' to Logan for me."
Rory was a bit taken aback and hesitated before answering. "Okay, I will. Bye." She pressed the 'end' button and placed the phone on the kitchen counter. "Paris says 'hi'." Logan grunted, causing Rory to smile. "I'm just as surprised as you are."
Logan finished getting dressed and walked over to Rory, wrapping his arms around her waste. "I was thinking we could order in for dinner and watch movies."
"Oh, I love movies. I'm in as long as I get to choose."
He sighed in mock agitation. "Fine, you can decide," he agreed, stealing a kiss.
"I love wearing the pants in this relationship."
"Literally."
"Excuse me?"
"Logan looked down at her legs. You're wearing my sweatpants."
Rory followed his gaze and immediately blushed. "Oh, yeah, I guess I am."
Logan laughed and leaned in to kiss her again. "It's okay, they look better on you anyway."
-
Rory spent the next few days either at work or Logan's arms. It felt amazing to be with him again, but two days passed like two minutes, and sooner than either would have liked, London was calling. Rory determined that she would not cry. She had just spent two whole days with him, and crying wouldn't get either of them anywhere. She did not go with him to the airport, mostly for the same reasons as before.
She walked into the apartment with a sigh. Dropping all of her bags down, Rory walked over to the couch and took off her shoes. It was Friday evening, and she had to be at her grandparents' in a little less than two hours. It had been a stressful day at work. Her computer crashed, ergo losing half of her almost completely finished article, the coffee machine broke and she was elected to walk three blocks each way to Starbucks and get everyone their daily dose of caffeine. And, her shoes were brand new, so walking six blocks did not go over well with her feet, which were now sore and blistery.
"Ouch," Rory moaned, massaging her left foot. With another sigh, she reluctantly got up to get a shower and change. This would be a long night.
-
"Rory!" Emily exclaimed cheerfully as her granddaughter sat down on the loveseat in the living room. "Have a seat, what would you like to drink?"
"Uh, just a club soda would be fine, Grandma."
"Did you hear that, Richard?"
"Yes I did, one club soda coming up," Richard announced, bringing Rory her drink before sitting back down next to Emily. "So Rory, how are things at the Gazette?"
"Things are going well, Grandpa. Except for today, oh my God."
"What happened today?" Lorelai questioned, taking a sip of her martini.
Rory went on to tell them about the events of her terrible day. Her computer, the coffee, her feet hurting, and ending with the fact that she'd been crabby ever since Logan left again.
"Wait, what, Logan was here?" Emily asked loudly.
"Oh yeah, I thought I told you Grandma?"
"You most certainly did not," Emily replied tersely.
"Oh, well, he came to visit me," Rory explained, causing her mother to eye her suspiciously. While Rory had told Lorelai the whole thing, she was not in the mood to be interrogated by her grandmother about past relationships. Emily would probably call the police.
"Oh, how romantic," Emily said dreamily. "Was it a surprise?"
"Kind of," Rory replied, trying to change the subject.
"A fine young man, that Logan Huntzberger," Richard said with approval. "We must have him over for dinner again the next time he's here."
"I'll go get my calendar," Emily agreed, standing up.
"Grandma, wait!" Rory called, causing Emily to stop and turn back to her. "It can wait, really. I don't even know when he's going to be back. It could be awhile. I'll tell him your idea though, I'm sure he'd be happy to join us."
"Alright," Emily said, resignedly sitting back down.
"Lorelai, you've been rather quiet this evening," Richard observed, getting up to freshen his drink.
"Oh, just not much to say," she admitted.
"How's everything back in Stars Hollow?" Rory asked, sipping her club soda.
"Well," Lorelai began, "Miss Patty's dance class is putting on another concert soon."
"Oh, can I come?" Rory asked excitedly. Miss Patty's dance concerts were something one could never turn down.
"Of course," Lorelai assured her, causing Rory to grin. "The Dragonfly is good. Oh, Sookie and Jackson are thinking of taking the kids on vacation."
"Oh, speaking of vacation," Emily chimed in, causing Rory and Lorelai to look up at her. "Richard, shall we tell them?"
"Why don't you do the honors, Emily?" He said proudly, sitting back down again.
"Well," she started, looking from at Lorelai and Rory in turn. "You know how Logan's parents have that beautiful acreage in Martha's Vineyard?" Rory nodded. "Well, your grandfather and I have just bought an estate in Cape Cod!"
"Cool!" Rory said happily.
"Isn't it just? Richard, tell them about the Cape," Emily insisted, smiling giddily.
"Well, it's magnificent. A large beach house, right on the water. We've got seven acres. And the house is absolutely perfect. The kitchen is being re-modeled, but it should be done soon."
"And the beach is just beautiful," Emily chimed in. "Nice, white sand, crystal water. Oh, the two of you will just love it. And Rory, you've never been to Cape Cod."
"Can't say I have."
"Well," Richard began decidedly. "The kitchen will be done in a little over a week, so your grandmother and I were thinking we could take a long weekend and drive up there. Just the four of us."
Lorelai looked over at Rory nervously. Rory gave her a reassuring smile. "That would be great, Grandma and Grandpa. I could use a vacation."
"As could we all," Emily agreed cheerily. "Lorelai?"
"Sounds great, Mom," she said with a tense smile. "I'll just have to arrange some things at the Inn."
"Wonderful, just wonderful." Emily sat back and smiled.
-
"Ugh," Lorelai said, once the front door was closed behind them. She and Rory walked over to their cars.
"What are you, a Neandertal?" Rory asked.
"Hey, do not mock my ancestry," Lorelai said in fake offense. "But we have to spend a long weekend locked in a house with my parents. Have you thought about the consequences of this?"
"Come on, Mom, it's not going to be that bad," Rory reassured her.
"Um yes, yes it will be that bad. I spent sixteen years locked up in a house with them and swore to myself that I would never do it again."
"You're making yourself sound like a Disney princess. It's not going to be that bad, just calm down."
"You know what this is right?" Lorelai questioned.
"A vacation?"
"No, this is a ploy." Lorelai pointed an accusatory finger at her daughter.
"A ploy?"
"Yes, a ploy to get you to Cape Cod!"
"But we're all going to Cape Cod," Rory said obliviously.
"Don't you remember the last time you and Logan had dinner here?"
"Well, I've tried to forget about it…" Rory admitted.
"This is a ploy to get you up to Cape Cod, so you can see how beautiful it is, how perfect it is, how great it would be for a wedding. Face it, Kid, then want little Logans and Rories running all around their Cape Cod 'estate' as soon as possible."
"Mom!" Rory said in disgust. "They do not, they're just taking us on a nice vacation. Logan and I are not getting married anytime soon, so take a chill pill, Martha Stuart."
"Hey, you can just see for yourself, and did you just say that you and Logan are getting married?"
"What, no, we're not getting married, what is with you tonight, Mom?"
"Sorry, I'm just stressed, that's all."
"Well, go home and get some rest."
"Yeah, rest sounds good."
"And no watching the Food Network, you know how Emeril gets to you."
"But –"
"No buts, Mom. Last time you watched the Food Network when you were stressed, I woke up to you screaming "Bam!" at 2:00 in the morning," Rory explained.
"I was making mango-glazed pork thank you very much," Lorelai said defensively.
"Mom, since when have we ever kept pork in the house?"
"Oh my God. You're right, what the hell was I glazing?"
"I don't think we want to know," Rory said with a head shake.
"Okay, well good night."
"Good night, Martha."
-
Rory lugged her suitcase out of the trunk as Emily walked out of the house followed by a butler. "Rory!" She called, rushing over to hug her granddaughter. "How was the drive? I hope you didn't hit any traffic."
"Oh no, it was fine. No traffic," Rory replied, looking around at the house and its surroundings.
"Oh, excellent. Listen, I have to go back inside and finish setting some things up. Mark here will assist you with your baggage, and feel free to meander around a bit. Lunch should be ready in about half an hour."
"Okay, Grandma, thanks." With that, Emily returned inside, leaving Rory standing next to her car with Mark. Rory looked around again, listening to the gulls and the sound of the waves, breathing in the fresh, salty air. A moment later her cell phone rang. "Hello?"
"Hey there, stranger."
Rory smiled at the sound of Logan's voice, all the while trying to sling a bag over her shoulder and balance her phone between her ear and other shoulder. "How have you been?"
"Fine, and you?"
"Good – oh, crap," Rory groaned as she accidentally dropped the bag. "Mark, can you get this one, too?"
"Who's Mark?"
"My Grandparents' butler," Rory replied. "Hang on one second. Mark, can you wait here for a minute? I'll be right back." Mark nodded and a moment later, Rory turned around and held the phone back up to her ear. "Okay I'm back."
"Where are you?" He asked amusedly.
"Cape Cod."
"What? What are you doing in Cape Cod?"
"I thought I told you?"
"Nope."
"Oh," she said with a sigh. "Well, my grandparents bought a house on the shore, so they invited me and my mom up for a long weekend."
"Your mom willingly went to spend more time with your grandparents?"
"Well, it took some persuading, but yes," Rory admitted. "And you make it sound like torture. It'll be fun. Besides, I need a break from the Gazette and New Haven in general." She closed her trunk, and walked closer to the front of the house. It was pretty impressive.
"Sorry, it's just that your grandparents can be pretty intense – especially Emily," Logan explained.
"Yeah, my mom likes to refer to her as Adolf sometimes."
"Hmm, I can see the resemblance."
"Logan!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'll no longer compare your grandmother to evil dictators."
"Thank you."
"So how's the Cape?"
"Well," Rory said, walking around the house and into the back yard, "It's pretty." She looked out at the ocean and almost gasped. "Wow, it's really pretty."
"Well, I hope you have fun this weekend. And I hope your grandparents don't drive you crazy."
"You and me both," she replied, turning around to walk back to the driveway. "I should probably get back to Mark. I kind of left him in the middle of the driveway."
Logan chuckled. "Yeah, I should get back to work. Say 'hi' to Mark for me."
"Oh, I will. Bye, I love you."
"Right back at ya."
Rory grinned as she walked back toward the driveway, but stopped when she got there. What the? Her bags were sitting right by her car where she had left them, but that wasn't the problem. Where did the butler go? "Umm…Mark?"
-
Thanks for reading. Please review!
