AN: Oh my goodness you guys are too good to me, the reviews, the faves, the follows - it makes me happy that there are still so many of you in this fandom. We see Rory and Logan get to know each other a bit better in this next portion. The next part will be NYE, so that will be a lot of fun. Also, remember when I said shortish chapters and then cranked out a 5k chapter? Not all will be this long, but...enjoy. Read, review, enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls, or Holidate
Part Two - December
"You can't be considering it," Rory looked up to see her colleague and friend, Abigail Smith staring at her. She had told Abigail about the proposition a few days earlier, once the post-Thanksgiving hustle and bustle had calmed down, "you didn't call him, did you?" the blonde asked her friend.
Rory shoved the card back in her purse, "no, I haven't."
"But…"
"But what?"
"I sense a but…"
"My mom asked if I was bringing Jess…"
"You still haven't told her?"
"Nope."
"You and your Mom are beyond close, why have you not told her that you broke up?"
"I don't want to tell her," Rory shrugged, "the last time she saw us together, she mentioned having kids. Maybe he heard that and that is why he dumped me. My point is, I am sick of talking about my love life with my Mother. I did it for so long, and then I was with Jess and for a hot minute things were calm…if I'm lucky she'll tell me that at my age, she had been married for over ten years."
"Well, respectfully Rory, I don't know that I would be concerned with that part. The fact that your parents are still together in and of itself is a miracle given the statistical likelihood of failure for teen marriages, not to mention those involving pregnancy."
"Thanks, Abs."
"So call him," Abigail conceded, "call him, and go to his party, and drag him to yours and what is the worst that could happen? You said your grandparents know his family, so he probably isn't a creep. Like maybe he has a foot fetish or wears women's underwear, but he probably won't try to turn you into a skin suit?"
"Ever the optimist," Rory sipped her coffee, "go, I have a deadline."
"Call him."
Rory exhaled loudly and refocused her attention on her computer. She wasn't completely sure why she had bothered to come into the office that morning. She could have worked from home. If she had worked at home, she wouldn't have opened her purse, if she hadn't opened her purse, she wouldn't have seen Logan Huntbzerger's business card and she wouldn't have been considering calling him and taking him up on his proposition. What was she thinking? She had just met the man, barely spoken to him for twenty minutes, and she was considering getting into bed with him, metaphorically of course, in order to deceive their families into thinking they had found an appropriate companion through the holidays. If Rory had stayed home, Abigail wouldn't have gotten into her head, and she would still be in sweatpants, probably drinking coffee out of her favourite mug and even better, still sitting in bed. She spent the next hour furiously typing, barely looking up or taking a moment to think about anything other than her article which was a piece on fundraising efforts for the Christmas season. When she was finally done and clicked submit for the piece to be edited, she pulled the business card out again and pulled out her iPhone to dial the incredibly unfamiliar number.
"Huntzberger," he answered after only a couple of rings, Rory could hear the hustle and bustle of the city in the background, he must've been walking.
"Uh…hi…this…you probably don't remember, man…this was stupid," Rory began to ramble, "we met at your parents house at Thanksgiving?"
"Rory Gilmore?" Logan couldn't hide the shock in his voice, "definitely not who I expected to hear from. What can I do for you?"
"I was thinking about your…idea."
"My idea?"
"Your idea…you know?"
"Refresh my memory?" Logan was teasing her as he walked down Fifth Avenue, his sister was looking at him curiously.
"You wanted to…you asked if I would attend…events…as your…guest."
"I did?" Logan liked that she was clearly nervous, it was a bit of a reversal from when he had met her at his parents house and she had seemed anything but interested in him, or his suggestion. He had thought about it quite a few times since that night, his father had even asked him in passing who the brunette was from Thanksgiving, which he thought was the nicest thing his father had said to him in years.
"Oh my god," Rory wanted to hang up the phone.
"Relax, I'm kidding," Logan finally put her out of her misery. "Of course I remember. So you want to come with me?"
"Well, you see…the thing is…I might also need you to come to a couple of things with me?"
"Oh? The plot thickens."
"Are you busy Christmas Day?"
"I could be free," Logan admitted, "but I'm going to need you to join me on the Friday before Christmas for the Huntzberger party, and I'll put a tentative hold on you for Christmas Eve."
"A hold?"
"Who knows, they might leave me alone for Christmas Eve if they know I'm seeing your family on Christmas Day."
"Text me the details for the eighteenth," Rory told him, seeming to have regained some of her composure.
"I'll text you tonight, I'm just out with my sister," he told her, not sure why he had provided that extra detail. They said their goodbye's. Logan turned to his sister and smirked at her, "I have a date."
"Sounds like you've got about three dates?" Honor countered.
"Well, it's not so much a date as it is a party guest."
"Oh god, please tell me this one understands how to dress at one of these parties? What was her name? Candy? Trixie…whoever you brought to Thanksgiving should not have been there."
"Her name was Tiffany," Logan told her harshly, still feeling a bit burned by that interaction. "And no, but I actually did meet her at Thanksgiving."
"At our parents house? I didn't see you with anyone at the end of the night. Didn't you crash at our place?"
"I didn't say I went home with her," Logan clarified. "She's pretty, she's smart, she works for the Times. Mom and Dad approve…"
"You're dating someone Mom and Dad approve of?" Honor was certain that if someone bumped into her, she would be knocked over immediately.
"No, I'm bringing someone Mom and Dad would approve of, she's a holidate."
"A holidate?" Honor made a face, "which one of your idiot friends came up with that term?"
"I think Steph read it in Cosmo, or maybe Robert read it in Playboy, I can't be sure."
"Both magazines you definitely read for the articles," Honor laughed, "don't be stupid baby brother, girls have a habit of falling for you, and hard."
xxx
"You know," Rory glared as she swung the door to her 62nd Street condo open and pulled Logan inside, "when you said you were going to send me a dress because it was a formal event, I didn't think I had to explicitly state that I was hoping to wear a bra this evening."
"Wow," Logan could practically feel his eyes bulging out of his head. He had looked online and called Neiman Marcus, requesting that they send out a navy blue, one shouldered, velvet Monique Lhullier dress to Rory's address. It was possibly more stunning on Rory than it had been on the website. The blue brought out her eyes, which is what he had assumed would happen, but it also showed off her enviable figure, and she was right, this dress didn't leave room for a bra, because her entire back was bare. "You look…" he began.
"Decent?" Rory retorted, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"Stunning," Logan told her, "I'm sorry about the no bra thing, but you…will probably be the best looking woman there tonight."
"You better not follow it up with the fact that everyone else is my grandmothers age."
"I don't think they are," Logan smiled as he followed her down the hallway that led him into the kitchen, "nice place."
"Thanks, my Dad owns it," Rory told him, she stopped in the kitchen and began fiddling with her earrings while he stared at her intently. Logan looked around the apartment, or what he could see of it, it wasn't huge but it wasn't a shoebox like you sometimes ended up with in Manhattan, the fixtures were certainly high end, and he had noticed on his way in that there was a doorman and it was a secure building. He would have to ask his parents if they knew more about Rory's upbringing. He knew that the Gilmore family was well off, but he really didn't know anything about their child, or granddaughter evidently. "So I guess we should have some ground rules?" Rory looked at him once her earrings were in. Her hair was pulled up in a bun on top of her head and she was wearing large diamond studs that her grandmother had given her on her twenty fifth birthday, and she had paired the outfit with a pair of nude coloured Stuart Weitzman pumps that she found fairly comfortable.
"Yes, ground rules," Logan had agreed, "I think it's best if we use vague terms about our status. I'm not looking to pretend to be in a monogamous relationship, but it can't seem too casual either."
"We're seeing each other," Rory shrugged. "Keep your hands to yourself."
"How are we going to say we're seeing each other if we don't touch each other?" Logan countered.
"Keep your tongue in your own mouth, keep your hands off my ass and your eyes off my boobs."
"Very specific list of demands."
"We should go," Rory grabbed her silver clutch from the counter and took a moment to look Logan up and down, "you look pretty good," she told him of his black tuxedo. "Decent."
"Thanks," Logan grinned. "Come on, the car is downstairs."
"You ordered a car?"
"Did you want to walk? Hop in a cab? I'm a Huntzberger, of course I ordered a car."
"Well, good to know you can still fit through a doorway with that ego," Rory rolled her eyes as she took a moment to lock the door on their way out. They made their way down to the lobby and Rory said goodnight to her doorman who smiled kindly at her. Rory was the kind of person who was kind to everyone. She wasn't better than anyone, but she also didn't let anyone treat her like crap. She could be having a conversation with a homeless person one minute, and arguing foreign policy with her editor the next, it was just who Rory was as a person. "How was your day?" Rory asked as they drove in relative silence.
"It was good," Logan smiled at her, he couldn't remember the last time someone had asked him that question out of sheer curiousity, "how about you?"
"My day was good," Rory told him, her face lighting up as she spoke. "I submitted my article before my deadline, and I'm actually off until the new year, which is basically unheard of for me."
"How long have you worked there for?" Logan asked her, he had read some of her articles, she did good work. He wasn't sure she was meant for features, but he had to assume it was a stepping stone.
"Five years now," Rory told him, "it was really just dumb luck that I got the job. I was the editor of the paper at Harvard, and I did some political work for a while, and I freelanced…this was always the goal though."
"Pretty remarkable," he admitted, "living your dreams then?"
"At least professionally."
"So what happened to the guy?" Logan asked. He wasn't completely sure, but he had a hunch, and the look she gave him confirmed it, "come on, I can be a good listener. Some people actually like me."
"I don't dislike you," Rory told him, "but I also don't know you."
"So who better to spill your secrets to?"
"I was dating a guy, and we broke up," Rory shrugged, "like a month before Thanksgiving."
"Hence Emily and Richard…"
"Yep," Rory bit her lip, "they didn't know we had broken up, just that I wasn't spending the holiday with him. They weren't big fans."
"Why not?"
Rory shrugged, "he was a bit rough around the edges."
"Not what I would peg you for."
"Because you know me so well?" Rory rolled her eyes as the car came to a stop in front of The Plaza, "of course this is here."
"What, will your ex be here?"
Rory laughed, "this is the last place on earth you would find him. This is just the most stereotypical rich person place to have a party."
Logan laughed, she wasn't wrong. He got out of the car and then helped her out, offering his hand and walking with his hand on the small of her back. "Coming from a Gilmore."
"I should tell you," Rory smiled, "my name is actually Rory Gilmore-Hayden. Rory Gilmore is what I write under, because it's shorter, but…you might find a person or two in these circles who knows about the Hayden bit."
"So Straub and Francine are your…"
"They are my paternal grandparents," Rory told him, "not much of a relationship though."
Logan nodded and opened his lips slightly, "why don't we get a drink?" he told her. She hadn't worn a jacket so there was no reason to stop at their table, she smiled at him and nodded and they made their way to the bar. Logan ordered himself a scotch and looked to Rory who requested a glass of champagne before they both turned with their backs to the bar and stared at the crowd. "Some party," Logan exhaled.
"How many of these people do you actually know?" Rory took a sip of her drink and raised an eyebrow as she looked at him.
"Do I know, or should I know?" Logan shrugged, "I know a lot of them, most of them not well. Most of them are a combination of annoyed with me and afraid of me at all times, so it's a bit of a tough crowd."
"I can imagine." Rory surveyed the room and saw a couple of women who seemed to be deep in conversation, glancing over at the bar, well, glancing over at Rory and Logan every few minutes. "Who are they?"
"Well that," Logan smirked, "is the best friend of a girl I went on exactly three dates with. I didn't know when we went out on those three dates that her friend worked for me, in…accounting I think? Anyway, that was around Labour Day and every time she sees me…anywhere, she feels the need to discuss how I broke the heart of her best friend."
"After three dates?" Rory nearly spat out her drink when Logan nodded his head in response, "no wonder people think women are fucking crazy."
"Thank you for the vote of confidence," Logan laughed as he tossed back the rest of his scotch, "so she has been single ever since, and obviously that is my fault, and not because she has the personality of a ninety year old woman."
"Tell me how you really feel," Rory nodded towards to men who appeared to be having a very animated conversation about twenty feet away.
"That is the Vice President of Finance," Logan pointed to the one man, "and the guy he is talking to is a manager in the department responsible for new acquisitions. Rumour is, the manager is sleeping with the VP's daughter. Completely unrelated to work, but Mr. VP is pissed because he thinks his daughter is the Virgin Mary or something, and let me tell you, from what I have heard, she is not…which is totally fine, but sucks for the guy she's dating because he's getting shit on at work."
"Is that even allowed?"
"I don't think we're allowed to ask him about his sex life," Logan shrugged, "so unless he calls and tells HR that he is being bothered, our hands are kind of tied."
"And you know about all of this? The drama?" Rory asked as Logan turned to order himself another scotch.
Logan shrugged, "I'm going to run the place one day. It's my job to understand the ins and outs."
Rory nodded and the two continued to people watch and chat. Rory told him about her holiday party the week prior, she was thankful she hadn't needed a date for that particular event, and Logan had filled her in on some of the more salacious gossip he knew of. After about an hour, they made their way to their table. Logan had apologized on his way over, explaining that they would have to sit with his parents, sister and brother in law as well as some other executives. Rory had assured him that it came with the territory and she could certainly hold her own, it was after all why he had thought she would be perfect for this, wasn't it?
Logan graciously pulled out Rory's chair and nodded at his parents, "Mom, Dad, did you meet Rory at Thanksgiving?"
"Well," Shira sat up a bit straighter and smiled when she saw that her son had brought a more suitable date to the party, "no I don't think we ever did formally meet. Emily and Richard speak so highly of you, Rory. I'm Shira, this is my husband Mitchum, we're so glad you could make it."
"I saw a byline of yours last week," Mitchum nodded, "you're quite the wordsmith."
"Oh thank you," Rory felt a genuine blush creeping over her face, "that is such high praise from a man such as yourself Mr. Huntzberger. Mrs. Huntzberger, it's lovely to meet you. Your home was beautiful at Thanksgiving, I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to introduce myself then but I had a long drive back to Manhattan to make some deadlines for work."
"Of course, and really, no need for the formality, it's Mitchum and Shira, please," Shira smiled. "Where abouts do you live?"
"I'm on 62nd Street," Rory told her, "I've been there about five years, it's a nice building, a few amenities."
"A doorman, I hope?" Shira asked, "I would worry about a girl like you getting into trouble without one. Your dress looks beautiful by the way."
Rory looked at Logan, from the way he had spoken of his parents, he expected them to be absolute monsters, but the way they were talking to her now was downright pleasant. "Thank you, it was a gift," she left out the part where Logan is the one who gave it to her and turned to the blonde woman sitting beside Mitchum, "you must be Honor? I think I saw you at Thanksgiving."
"It's so nice to meet you," Honor smiled, "this is my husband Josh Montgomery. If I'm being honest with you Rory, it is just such a relief that my brother brought a date who doesn't look like she charges by the hour or needed to ask her Mom and Dad to drop her off."
Logan glared at his sister, "that has never happened," he assured everyone at the table, "Honor just has a flare for theatrics. She probably could've channelled her energy into something more productive like a drama major and won an Oscar by now, wouldn't you say, Josh?"
Josh smirked but ultimately chose to stay out of it when his wife shot him a piercing glare. They made it through dinner, exchanging pleasantries. Rory learned a little about Logan's earlier years, she got a bit more of a glimpse of the people who Logan had warned her about. His father made digs at his friends, at his work ethic, seemingly at everything and anything except his choice of date for the evening. By the time the meal was over, Rory told Logan that she wasn't feeling well, she felt it was only fair to give him an out, she had watched as he deflated ever so slightly throughout the meal. "Are you sure you don't mind if I steal him?" Rory smiled sweetly, she had made sure it had become Shira's idea for Logan to escort his date home.
"Oh of course, we can't have you heading home in a taxi if you're not feeling well. Logan will take you home and he can catch up with his father at the office on Monday."
"I can't wait," Logan rolled his eyes.
"It really was such a pleasure to meet you all."
"Maybe we'll see you at our family Christmas on the twenty fourth?" Shira smiled.
"You know, I've actually asked Logan if he wouldn't mind joining me for my family Christmas, so I'm not sure we'll be able to make it. Is that alright? I'm so sorry, I haven't seen my parents in so long, I missed them at Thanksgiving."
"Oh Logan is coming to Christmas with your family?" Shira's eyes lit up, not only had her son brought an appropriate date, but he would be spending time with her family? She wasn't about to watch him screw this up. "Well I'm sure we can spare him for an evening."
"That is so kind," Rory nodded as she took Logan's hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. "Merry Christmas, it was so nice meeting you."
They walked in silence through the ballroom, at some point Logan let go of her hand and he comfortably put his arm around her waist, his fingers putting a slight amount of pressure on the side of her hip. They waited for a moment in the cold for their car and he kept Rory at his side the entire time, they both knew he didn't need to, but he was. "Thank you," Logan finally exhaled as the car pulled up.
"They are…"
"One in a million," Logan almost looked defeated as he spoke. "They know just how to twist the knife without technically being mean," Logan explained, "but they seemed to like you."
"Apparently, although it sounds like your previous guests have set a pretty low bar."
"Maybe," Logan shrugged as he helped her into the car. "So for Christmas…when are you leaving?"
"I think I'll drive out in the morning, leave around eight, spend most of the day and we can drive home at night, or if you want, you can drive yourself so you can make an escape when you're ready?"
December 25
"Mom, Dad," Rory smiled as she swung open the door to her childhood home and walked inside. Ultimately she and Logan had decided to drive separately. Rory couldn't help but feel that it was a bit too intimate to lock themselves in a car together for a couple of hours after spending a day with her parents. Plus this gave her the option of spending the night, so she had packed a bag just in case. "Merry Christmas?"
"Rory!" Lorelai Gilmore squealed as she came bustling into the front of the house in her Christmas pyjamas. "Oh my god it has been too long!"
"I know," Rory hugged her close, inhaling the scent of her mother as she did, "I've missed you."
"I've missed you too," Lorelai didn't let her go for a moment. "Where is Jess? I thought you said he was coming."
Rory exhaled and embraced her father, mumbling a Merry Christmas in his ear as he kissed her cheek, "well…so there is…" Rory began fumbling for words, "I just, I was going to tell you at Thanksgiving, but you weren't here at Thanksgiving, so I just…it wasn't a phone conversation…"
"Oh my god you're engaged?!" Lorelei squealed as she grabbed Rory by the left hand only to come up ringless.
"No, actually," Rory nervously tucked a hair behind her ear and regretted not having Logan come with her as he had offered. Lorelei at the very least would have had to text her questions after the fact if he had been there now, "we broke up. Jess and I…in October."
"You broke up?" Lorelai repeated.
"In October," Rory nodded.
"But you said you were bringing a date…"
"Yes, it's…he's just a guy I'm seeing. His name is Logan. I met him with grandma and grandpa actually."
"You're bringing a guy…that you're seeing to Christmas…and you met him with grandma and grandpa?"
Rory nodded, "yup, that sums it up. Do you guys have any coffee? I thought about going into Luke's because for some reason he is open, but I didn't know if he knew about the Jess thing, so I didn't want it to be weird…anyway…coffee?"
"In the kitchen," Christopher broke the tension, "help yourself. Mom is just going to change out of her pyjamas."
"But Christmas pyjamas are fun!" Lorelei protested, "you're supposed to wear them all day."
"When you're a toddler it's cute, it becomes less cute the closer you get to fifty."
"Bite your tongue!"
Rory stayed in the kitchen until her dad came in after Lorelai had gone upstairs to change, "here," he handed her an envelope which she took and opened quickly, "keep it. Don't fight about it. I don't need it."
"Dad, I pay you rent because it's your apartment. Not for you to give it back to me…"
"Rory, you have enough on your plate with work, and now this Jess thing…don't worry about it. Take the cheque, put it in your account, and stop the rest of the payments. I am telling you this, as your father."
"Dad, this is five years worth of rent."
"Plus interest."
"It's too much."
"Merry Christmas, kid."
"Thank you," Rory hugged him. She wasn't particularly proud of how she depended on her parents, but the truth was, her mother and father had wanted her to live in the Upper East Side and not a more affordable area, they had insisted that she needed a car to drive to and from when she needed it, and while she certainly was an adult who could say no, she had chosen to accept it. She went to work every day, she worked hard, she did her best, but she was thankful to have them to fall back on. "I love you," Rory added.
"I love you too." Christopher paused as Rory put the cheque in her wallet, "so a new guy?"
"It's just casual."
"You're bringing a casual date home to Christmas?"
"Well if I didn't we would spend the entire day talking about just how single and pathetic I am, and then when Grandma and Grandpa come I would get to hear it again. So yes, I invited the guy I am seeing to Christmas."
Rory and her parents exchanged gifts and enjoyed breakfast together. Lorelai had asked questions about Logan, and thankfully because Rory knew her mother as well as she did, she had been prepared with truthful answers. She had also texted Logan and suggested he come closer to dinner time, she seemed to have kept her mother at bay to a certain degree, and she was enjoying spending some quality time with her parents. Rory heard his car pull into the driveway a little before four and she went to meet him on the porch. Her parents had gone to The Dragonfly, the inn that Lorelai owned and operated to check on things for dinner which gave Rory a little bit of time to catch Logan up on things. "You made it," she smiled as he stepped out of the Tesla Model X, "and you brought gifts?" she smiled as he pulled two small boxes from the front seat.
"For your parents," Logan told her. "Just trying to make a good first impression."
"Best fake date ever," Rory told him, "come on in, they're not here, they should be back soon. Then after they pepper you with weird questions, we will go to the inn where we will have dinner."
"Who comes to dinner?" Logan asked.
"My parents, my grandparents, Sookie, she is the chef at the inn, and her and my mom have been inseparable for as long as I can remember, her husband, Jackson and their kids, Davey and Martha. Then Michel will be there, he works at the inn too but he's basically family, and a few other people from town, and maybe Luke. I'm not sure if he was coming or not."
"And Luke is…?"
"Luke is just a family friend. He…actually my ex is his nephew. That is how we met, he came to live with Luke when we were in high school."
"How…incestuous?" Logan smirked as he set his gifts on the coffee table and sat down. "It's nice here," he looked around.
"It's not anything like where you grew up," Rory told him awkwardly, "do you want a drink? Coffee? Beer? Water?"
"Water would be great," Logan ignored her comment about where he had grown up. She wasn't wrong, it wasn't anything like the house he had grown up in. The house he had grown up in had been sterile and cold, it felt like a museum, and it certainly never felt like home. This place, sure, it was cozy, but it felt like a warm hug.
They chatted for a few minutes before Rory heard her parents arriving and she stood up as she heard the door opening, Logan following suit as she welcomed her parents back home. "Mom, dad, this is Logan. Logan, these are my parents, Christopher Hayden and Lorelai Gilmore."
"Nice to meet you," Logan shook both of their hands and passed them the gifts he had purchased. A box of fancy chocolate for Lorelai and cigars for her husband. "Merry Christmas, I really appreciate you having me over."
"Your parents must be disappointed that you aren't with them?" Lorelai smiled, trying to gauge his reaction.
"We saw my parents last week actually," Logan explained, they all moved towards the living area and Logan returned to his place on the couch and Rory sat in a chair.
"Oh don't be shy," Lorelai looked between the two of them. "Come on Ror, you know that is my favourite chair."
"Oh mom, come on," Rory rolled her eyes as she stood up and walked over to the couch, sitting herself down beside Logan while her mother sat in the chair she had just vacated and her father perched himself on the armrest.
"So tell me, how did you two meet? Rory said it was with my parents? Words I never thought I would hear coming from my only daughter."
Logan laughed, "Emily and Richard are old friends of my parents, and they came to our Thanksgiving party, and they brought along their beautiful granddaughter."
"And you knew a good thing when you saw it," Christopher smiled, "I know that feeling," he told them as he put a hand on Lorelai's thigh.
Rory smiled, she felt bad lying to them, but she couldn't handle the disappointment that she saw in their eyes when all she had to talk about was her career. She had seen it before she was with Jess, and even if they didn't love Jess, they certainly liked knowing that she didn't spend all of her nights alone with takeout and Netflix. "Logan works in publishing too."
"Very cool," Lorelai looked a bit more genuinely excited, "you do have a thing for that industry."
Logan gave her a look and Rory felt another blush creeping on her cheeks, "oh you remember, I told you. My ex, Jess, he runs an independent publishing house."
"I must've forgotten," Logan knew for a fact that she had not told him that particular bit of information, and now he was questioning if he had ever had business dealings with this guy.
"Speaking of Jess," Rory smiled, "is Luke joining us tonight?"
Christopher shook his head, "no, he called last night and said he was going to have dinner with Liz and TJ."
"Nice," Rory tensed up momentarily at the notion that Jess might be in town, last she had heard, he had started dating someone just after they split. Logan noticed her change in mood and casually put an arm around her, giving her shoulder a small squeeze and a reassuring smile.
"You know," Logan spoke after a moment of silence, "this town looked really cool as I was driving in…whadya say you give me a little walking tour, Ace?"
"Oh that is a great idea, everything is so pretty with the snow!" Lorelai squealed, "you can meet us at the inn in an hour or so? Grandma and Grandpa will be there at five."
"Sounds good," Rory stood up, Logan following behind her as they both grabbed their coats. She waited until they were a good distance away before she looked at him and smiled, "thank you."
"Seemed to be getting tough in there."
"My mom and I have always been close," Rory explained, "and I hate lying to her, I do…but I just…maybe I'm not the kind of girl who gets married and has kids. Maybe I'm meant to be married to my job, and that is perfectly alright. I don't even know if I like kids. I mean, I have friends with kids, but do I really want to be tied to that kind of needy human for the rest of my life? Like great, they turn eighteen, but I'm thirty and I'm still pretty dependent on them…"
"Well whatever," Logan told her, "they're proud of you, they love you…I don't think my parents have ever been as happy to see me as your parents seem to be with you around."
"I'm sure there was a moment, right after you were born?" Rory joked as she began to show him the town. She showed him the town square and Luke's, she showed him the dance studio and grocery store before they made their way towards the inn.
"This has been good," Logan smiled before they got to the door. He was being honest. It was like having a friend he could talk to about things and there was no judgement, but there were also no expectations other than being friends. Rory nodded her head in agreement at his statement, "are you free for New Years?"
