Chapter 47

January 28th, 2006

Rory stretched out her toes and arms along with a yawn, realizing she was all alone in the softest, most wonderful bed she'd ever slept in. She didn't know what this mattress was - but it certainly lived up to any mattress she or Logan had had in their dorms, their current apartment or even the so-called sex house her grandmother had decorated for her. She didn't know much about thread counts either, and the soft sheets were pretty incredible too.

She'd been having a strange dream just before she'd woken. The bed, with her in it, had been the smallest unit of the Matryoshka - the big bed in the big, overly luxurious even if not the brand new bedroom, that was inside a vast house on a huge estate. Like a fold up house that she could just pack up and unfold again or like a game of Sims where one could zoom in and out. Odd. But supposedly it had something to do with the way she sometimes felt small compared to all that Logan's life, with all of his connections and the expectations that were put on him, was.

Being out here alone with him like this, as they had now been coming over here for a few times since they got back together, made the outside world matter a lot less than it did back at Yale. Here all that mattered were the two of them. She didn't need to think about what his parents thought, not what her own mother thought. Sure, she and her mother had reconciled after their falling out - and as much as they tried to return to their normal routines - done thier quirky outings and what not, it was just never quite the same. It was one of the reasons she was so eager to go away with Logan when he suggested it. She was pretty sure in part it was still the subconscious realization that in so many ways her mother's love and affection had been conditional towards her. She knew now that Lorelai's words and promises were not always quite as genuine as she'd always believed them to be.

She was relieved to be pulled out of those depresing thoughts by the sound of the door, quietly, and the emergence of Logan, who was returning from his morning run. He pulled his earphones out of his bud earphones out, and closed behind him, looking like he hadn't been sure if she'd still be asleep. He looked sweaty, but at the same time his cheeks were red from the wind.

"You're insane," Rory commented with a mild groan, knowing about his love for early morning excersise. But out here, in what was possibly below freezing kind of weather with this wind, while he had a warm female body in bed as the alternative - she really did think he was insane to put himself through it to be honest.

"Maybe but I figured you'd appreciate not going to the gym two days in a row," Logan teased, appearing to be more thoughtful than Rory had realized.

"I do, it's just the daily exercise that I don't get," Rory noted, and propper herself up onto her elbow, not planning on hiding the way her breast was almost pouring out of her silky nightgown. "Especially when it's cold outside," she added, watching her boyfriend unzip his windbreaker that exposed his tight-fitting thermo-shirt that sculpted out all of his muscles. Not a poor sight. And she expected him to continue undressing. Not a bad prospect either.

"All of this takes some work, you know," Logan smirked, somewhat cockily, referring to his fine physique, half-jokingly, and went one step further, pulling the shirt off his body, reading her gaze pretty well by now.

Rory involuntarily must've licked her lips right then but that little more did not go unnoticed by Logan, only making him grin wider.

"Yes, but there are just so many better ways to do the work…. Hmm... I wonder what those ways might be," Rory pondered out loud, seductively.

There was no doubt in his mind what she'd meant, and the bare thigh that slipped out from under the blanket only assured him.

Logan bent down to kiss her, wrapping his fingers around her face like he tended to do.

"But I'm all sweaty and sticky..," Logan said reluctantly, yet realistically, having been aiming to take a shower. He would've in an instant suggested she join him in the shower but in this place - one waited for the water to turn warm for the first five minutes and then one couldn't exactly linger for an extended period of time without some water pressure issues and the possibility of running out of hot water. No the sexiest setting.

"I don't really care...," Rory assured with a sneaky smile on her face and pulled him onto the bed by his forearms. His skin was cool and indeed a little moist to the touch, but whether she liked to admit it to or not, he kind of liked him all sweaty and smelling manly. Some men just smelled really good and Logan was definitely one of them. Pheromones, most likely - but she could complain, could she if it was her that had him in bed this morning?

His hands really didn't need a lot of convincing, and slipped within seconds underneath the hem of her nightgown, causing her to yelp - those fingers were freezing and were certainly enjoying the heat radiation off of her to heat them back up. Logan chuckled huskily, enjoying to watch her squirm.

"I really do love you, you know," Rory reflected, holding his chin to stop his chuckle, pausing what was developing quickly something more urgent.

"I know. And I really love you too," Logan replied as if it was obvious, and laid his lips onto her neck with every intent to take this further.

November 25th, 2022

After their hug, Rory tucked Em in a little better, and suggested wordlessly they head to the next room. She just hadn't felt like kicking him out, especially if he wasn't feeling that great. She didn't want to push them to go faster than she felt they should go, nor did she want to just continue talking about the way things could've been or how sorry she was of his time missed. The latter was already self-evident. But she genuinely just wanted to be there for support.

Logan closed the French doors quietly behind him, bringing the Venetian candle with him. The other room was more mature, certainly - she couldn't quite recall its earlier purpose back in the day, but right now it looked like a double room that could've possibly been meant as a guests room for someone who had small children or maybe a nanny. It was the lack of character and personal items that gave it away.

"Hey, come here," Rory insisted, wanting to hug him once more.

Logan stepped close, putting the candle on the bedside table, and embraced her with relief. Even just the simple act of a hug with Rory felt immensely comforting.

"I think I might need to find someone to talk to," Logan confessed to Rory surprise as the hug broke, but they stayed close.

"You can always talk to me but I get it if it's someone more neutral you need for that sort of thing," Rory suggested, taking a seat on the bed, wondering whether she should suggest someone she knew.

Logan sank down next to her.

"I appreciate that, and naturally we will talk but just… I keep anticipating her to be mad at me for not being there. It's hard to fully forgive myself even… and I know all the arguments… just all of this it's not as easy as I thought," Logan explained. There were also other things - things from his time with Odette that troubled him. He wasn't proud of it but at times he'd thought of her passing as relief, especially since she'd told him about how she knew about him having a child out there. Even now being here with Rory and feeling like this was what was always meant to be, came with a lot of associated guilt. Maybe Odette too could've loved someone for real in the end of her short life, had he been more honest with his feelings?

"It's kind of weird being back here together, isn't it?" Rory commented, not wanting them to dwell on the unpleasant stuff too long. Despite having some understanding of the heaviness he must've felt, inside she was feeling very much like a giddy teenager who just wanted a chance to make out with her boyfriend like he'd promised. She knew it was a ridiculous thing to pout over, especially when he was dealing with heavier things.

"Yeah. Kind of why I preferred this room actually…," Logan said with surprising honesty.

It was now that the other side of this was becoming clear to Rory but she could hardly be jealous over someone who was dead now, could she. She almost wishes she'd had someone serious in between, that it would't seem like she'd been waiting for this so long. This early in their relationship this time around, she almost wished she would be more indifferent.

"Hey a room is a room… I'm just glad we're both here," Rory decided to not make it into a big deal.

"I do realize I might've overlooked the noise proof aspect between these two rooms," Logan decided to say, casting on his famous cocky smile, feeling like he needed to turn his brain into another mode, not just focus on the hurt. Sometimes he just needed to force start that mental state - he was pretty good at it too, thankfully.

"Is that right? What did you expect to go on in here?" Rory chuckled quietly, feeling relieved to see him smile.

"Oh, just some reminiscing," Logan replied, wrapped his fingers into her loose hair, loving the way her waves felt between his fingers, and kissed her.

Their lips were far more relaxed now than before when they'd been in the midst of the storm. Now there actually seemed to be time to taste, smell, feel the slightly electric tingle at the gentle touch of their lips, and enjoy the softness of their tongues. There had never been a lack of chemistry in their kisses, and that really hadn't gone anywhere in the time that had passed - if anything each time they had kissed now, it was only reassuring of how special it could feel compared to just any kiss.

"I could just do that forever…," Rory commented, her mind feeling a little clouded, as he stopped to look at her in the weak, flickering, light. Her stomach fluttered.

Logan raised the corner of his mouth, feeling very similarly. But there was something unfamiliar in his eyes - some hesitance, perhaps?

"What?" Rory asked.

"I don't need to rush this, you know…," Logan said, his mind still not quite being where he wanted it to be. He wanted the first time they actually returned to the sexual part of their relationship, to be really present and right now he just wasn't sure he was up for the task with ghosts of the past and his little girl sleeping just behind those French doors in hearing distance. There was too much pressure, even for someone like him.

Rory almost wanted to tease him, that that wasn't the sound of the Logan she knew, but everything she'd already seen tonight and the way he'd confessed how he needed some counseling, she knew he wasn't just saying that.

"I know," Rory replied, doing the mature thing. "But can we just lay here for a while? I don't know.. Make out?" she suggested something that on the contrary sounded very much like her 17-year-old self would say.

Logan smiled and adjusted himself enough to lay down on the bed and watched Rory follow him. It was so natural to be in the same intimate space that a bed no doubt was with her. He did one more, and pulled the blanket over her bare legs to keep her warm which made her smile appreciatively back at him. They used to be able to have entire conversations with just their impressions.

"Lets talk," Logan said, surprising her yet again. He was never really the one to be in bed with a girl and choose talking over doing. "Tell me something positive, something good…," he urged.

"Well…," Rory began to ponder, setting her hand onto Logan's upper arm, wanting to maintain some contact, hoping he could want that too. There was a lot they'd already shared with each-other.

"Something about you, not her...," Logan added, nodding towards the room Em slept in, and reflected her move by placing his palm onto her waist.

"Now that's more difficult," Rory said, realizing indeed that even thought she'd gotten a lot done personally as well, in one way or another a lot had to do with her daughter.

"I don't know… have you done something fun, learned something cool or I don't know… discovered something you never really knew about yourself?" Logan asked, wanting this moment they had to be about the two of them.

"I guess you already know about yoga," Rory said, sheepishly.

"Yeah, that'd be quite a sight," Logan replied with a hint of flirt, brushing his thumb against her stomach while he kept the palm in place.

"I'm like the least flexible person in class," Rory laughed quietly.

"Still… I think you look really good," Logan commented. And while the changes to her body were minute, he had noticed them. While a little broader around the hips, her arms and shins were more toned, which was really not a bad look.

"You have a certain resemblance to fine wine too..," Rory said, brushing her fingers along his stubble.

Logan kissed her again, gently.

"Anything else good happen to you in the past five years that you'd like to share?" Logan urged her to continue. In a way he was looking for assurances that in some ways this time had been needed and not all bad.

"Um… I guess friendships, new ones, old ones I can barely keep up with I'm afraid," Rory said, despite knowing he knew about Angie already. "Oh and we took this interior decor class once which was kind of fun. How to make Christmas ornaments and cut up pumpkins, sort DIY holiday take," she added, not quite understanding why he wanted to hear about silly things like that. But she humored him.

"They actually let you use those sharp knives?" Logan asked.

"Hey, I've been using sharp knives for at least a decade," Rory teased, enjoying the way her banter made Logan smile. That smile alone was worth all this silly talk.

"You know now I expect a home-made Christmas present, right?" Logan suggested, teasing her back.

"Who says you're getting a Christmas present? I don't even know if you've been naughty or nice," Rory continued to tease.

It was very borderline for Logan already, her sexy smile and tone doing miracles to his mindset. Maybe she was his cure?

"Do you want me to be naughty or do you want me to be nice?" Logan asked, no longer being too sure about whether this evening would remain just nice.

AN: please send your reviews my way - can't wait to hear what you think? do we want them to take that step that night with Em sleeping next door and their mindsets being nervous like they are?