AN: Ok so this weekend will be split up into two, maybe three portions, so enjoy it. I didn't want to have one 12,000 word chapter, that was too aggressive. So remember... one step forward, two steps back. Thank you for all of the reviews, seriously I love them, please keep them coming
Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or The Holidate
Part Six - July 1, 2021
Rory was staring at her weekend bag, she wasn't completely sure she had managed to overpack for being gone for four days, but she had managed somehow, not to mention the fact that her mother was sitting in her living room, a reality that she was trying to avoid for as long as she could. Things between Rory and Lorelai had been tense since Easter to say the least. Sure, Rory had superficially accepted the apology that Lorelai had called her with after their blowup, but it had definitely made things weird between the two women.
"Rory," Lorelai was now standing in the doorway to the master bedroom, "the sooner we talk, the sooner I leave."
Rory rolled her eyes and exhaled, she pushed the bag away from her dramatically and turned to look at her mother, "have you seen Nana and Papa lately?" she asked sarcastically.
"I'm sorry kid, I told you that I was sorry. I get why you were pissed, and I get that the don't exactly give off warm and fuzzy vibes, but your dad wants to know his parents."
"Who invited them to the club?" Rory countered as they made their way to the living room.
"Does it matter who invited them to the club?" Lorelai asked as she sat on a chair and Rory sat on the couch, the two women stared at each other for a moment, clearly Rory wasn't going to let this go as easily as she had hoped. "It was my idea. Your dad didn't think it was a good idea, but I thought it was better to do it publicly so they wouldn't be themselves."
"So instead you and I just got to throw down in front of a bunch of society weirdos because Francine fucking Hayden looked at me like I should've been picking up drinks!"
"I'm sorry!"
"Maybe mom, sorry isn't good enough! Those people have treated me like crap at every opportunity and you decide to call me on Saturday afternoon and lay it on me that they are going to be at an event that I'm attending with Logan and his family, and then I have to see them?" Rory shot back, "and then, on top of it, that woman has the nerve to look at me and say 'oh please, it's Francine and Straub', like come on!"
"I screwed up! Alright, I admit it. I screwed up. Straub is sick and he wanted to reach out to your dad, and I decided that it should be a family thing and I took it too far! You won't have to see them again until a funeral or whatever, but I'm sorry. Don't blame dad, or grandma or grandpa or anyone except for me. I did this."
"I didn't blame anyone but you," Rory crossed her arms over her chest and exhaled loudly. It was the truth, she had seen and spoken to her father since the incident and she had enjoyed dinner with her grandparents several times, it was only her mother who she was feeling icy towards. "What does he have?"
"Lung cancer."
"They say smoking kills," Rory retorted dryly.
"Your dad is having a tough time, anything else aside, Straub is his father…"
Rory thankfully didn't have to respond as she heard a knock at the door, relieved to have an excuse to end this conversation, Rory stood up and walked to the door, smiling as Logan stood on the other end, "you ready to go, Ace?" he asked as he walked inside and saw Lorelai, "Lorelai, hey. Sorry…I didn't know you were going to be here."
"I'm a surprise,' Lorelai smiled, "the lengths one will go to when their only child isn't talking to them."
Logan nodded his head awkwardly, "well, why don't I make myself scarce and you two can finish up then?"
"That would be great."
"I'm good," Rory said at the same time as her mother, leaving Logan awkwardly standing in the hallway. "We're going to the Hamptons," Rory told her mother, "if we don't leave soon we'll hit traffic."
"Rory," Lorelai looked at her daughter sadly.
Logan gave Rory a look, they had discussed this before, that he thought she should cut her mom some slack and accept that she had made a mistake, but obviously she hadn't done that. "Mom," Rory looked at her mother, "I'll come home next weekend. We can get food and watch movies and talk."
"Really?" Lorelai perked up a bit.
"But you have to make sure you get the good candy. Last time you sent dad, and he got the off brand liquorice and it was really bad."
"I'll make sure," Lorelai stood up and walked towards Rory, pulling her in for a hug, and grateful when Rory reciprocated. "Have fun, stay safe."
"I will."
"And uh…" Lorelai turned to Logan, "if you want to join us for movie night…it can get a little tight sometimes, but you're more than welcome."
Logan stood back while Rory walked her mother to the door, he gave a casual response about maybe joining them in Stars Hollow without over committing to the situation. Before he could even say anything, Rory walked past him and into her bedroom where she came out a moment later with her bag. "There's booze there, right?"
"Good to see you Ace," Logan exhaled, "here, let me take the bag," he grabbed it from her, which she was thankful for. You could say a lot of things about Logan Huntzberger, but he had always been a complete gentleman with her and it was a quality she had grown to like. Car doors were opened for her, he offered her a hand to get out, he would carry her bags when they were out shopping. Over the course of eight months, Rory now considered Logan one of her closest friends. Nothing was off limits with him, and it seemed that he was always there for her when she needed a shoulder to lean on. "You wanna talk about it?"
"Nope."
"I thought you said you two made up."
"I told you I forgave her."
"And that means that you're still not back to normal with her?" Logan deduced.
"Give the boy a gold star."
"Rory, she's your mom."
"And your relationship with your mom is what gives you the confidence to comment on my relationship with mine?" Rory shot back, she realized immediately she had gone too far. "Logan, I'm sorry. She just…she showed up here, she surprised me. I wasn't expecting it and I had stuff to do, and…I'm still mad. I've forgiven her, but I'm mad. I shouldn't have snapped at you. You and your parents are completely different than me and mine."
"It's fine," Logan told her as they walked towards the elevator.
"It's not fine."
"I said it's fine, Ace." Logan pushed the button on repeat as Rory was a few steps behind him, having locked the unit on her way out, "driver is waiting, we've gotta go."
"Because that mattered a few minutes ago when you were telling me to chat with my mom?"
"Can we just drop it?" Logan told her as they went down in silence and Logan waited for Rory to get out of the elevator first, he had to fight the urge to put his hand on her back to lead her in the direction of the waiting SUV. It had been a long week and they were going to attend the annual HPG fourth of July barbecue the following day, and then would spend the rest of the weekend enjoying festivities with friends. He had lured Rory into it by promising her a relaxing weekend away and she had jumped at the chance.
By the time they got in the car, Rory didn't need to be a reporter to figure out that she had managed to piss Logan off. She felt terrible, of course, she was frustrated with her mother, not with Logan. Even worse was knowing that in less than twenty four hours, they would need to be pretending to be interested in each other for the sake of a party with the same crowd that had been at the Christmas party she had first attended with him. "How was your week?" she tried to bring something a bit safer up.
"Busy," Logan shrugged, "we bought a new paper in Miami and another one in Orlando, so I think I'll be spending the rest of the summer in unbearable heat."
Rory pursed her lips and nodded her head, not really sure what more to say so instead she watched out the window as they moved slowly through Manhattan. She understood now why Logan had wanted to leave early. If they had waited much longer, she was fairly certain that traffic would have been worse. "So what is the dress code for tomorrow?" Rory tried to make conversation after almost an hour of silence except for the occasional comment from the man driving the SUV, and the clicking of Logan on his iPhone.
"A little that for that, don't you think?" Logan looked at her, offering a smirk that assured her that they were fine.
"Not an answer."
"Casual. A summer dress, whatever you want. My parents will just be happy you're coming."
"Are we…" Rory paused and lowered her voice, "are we taking this too far?"
"Are you worried about hurting my parents?" Logan laughed.
"I don't know," Rory admitted. She had been on a few more dates with Michael but ultimately ended it, although she couldn't be sure why. He was handsome, he understood her work, he was kind, but in the back of her mind, she always held back because she wasn't into it. It wasn't fair to drag him along if she knew it wouldn't go anywhere. "What if the perfect woman for you is here tomorrow, and you don't talk to her because you're sitting with me in the corner making fun of people and eating hotdogs."
"There won't be any hotdogs," Logan smiled at her, a real, genuine, stretching up to his eyes smile, "and I can promise you, I am not going to meet the woman of my dreams tomorrow."
"Well if you look across the yard and lock eyes with someone and think to yourself 'this is her', do me a favour and run to her. Don't let me stop you."
"Sure," Logan placated her with a laugh.
They drove the rest of the way in comfortable conversation. Logan explained that they were staying at his parents estate in Southampton along with his sister and brother in law, and his nephew and two nieces, and Josh's parents would be joining them eventually. When they arrived, Rory was flabbergasted to say the least. She wasn't one to be speechless, in fact, Rory always had something to say, about anything and everything. The house was enormous, it made the place in Hartford seem tiny, she could barely react as Logan explained to her that there was over twenty thousand square feet, but they would be staying in the guest house. He had essentially demanded it from his father because he wanted to be able to sleep separately and not end up sleeping on the floor and having back pain for the following two weeks.
"How often is anyone here?" Rory finally asked as Logan helped her out of the car.
"My mom spends most of her summers here, and Honor does too with the kids."
"And the rest of the year?"
"You don't go to the Hamptons in the winter, Ace," Logan smiled at her, "it isn't the time to be seen for these people."
"If I owned this place, I would be here all the time."
Logan laughed as he got their bags from the driver, "come on," he told her as he began walking around the side of the house.
"We can't go inside? It looks like cool things happen inside. Why can't we go inside?" Rory pouted as she walked beside him.
"We will go inside," Logan promised her, "but I thought you might want to see where we're crashing and get situated before you get drawn into the madness."
"You know," Rory smiled, she liked that sometimes he knew better than she did what she needed in a situation, "when you proposed our little arrangement, I never really counted on the fact that I would like your sister, and your friends…"
"Same," Logan admitted, thinking of the friendship he had struck up with Nick and Abigail. "Here it is," Logan pushed open the sliding glass doors to the guest house which Rory knew was larger than a primary residence for a normal person.
"Oh. My. God," Rory looked around her, "this is…"
"I know," Logan agreed as he looked around the space with her, "I'll show you the master bedroom."
"Logan, this is your home. I can't take the master bedroom."
"This is one of my parents vacation properties," Logan countered, "I insist you take the master. I will be just down the hall. I doubt anyone will pop in though, so if it works for you, I'll just keep my stuff in there, but I'll sleep by myself."
"This is," Rory smiled as she walked into he expansive bedroom, "this is huge."
"That's what she said," Logan joked, it was almost as though he couldn't help himself sometimes.
"This is bigger than my condo."
"It is not bigger than your condo," Logan assured her only to be on the receiving end of a raised eyebrow, "it's probably pretty close to the same size."
"Wow."
"Freshen up and I'll meet you downstairs, we can go into the lions den together."
Rory took a few minutes to freshen up and get her things organized. She changed into a black t-shirt and left the dark jeans she had been wearing on, she would need to ask Logan if they could turn the air conditioning down because it felt incredibly cool to her. She made her way down the stairs and smiled as she saw Logan sitting on the couch reading a book, although she was too far to make out exactly what it was, "hey."
"All set? Do you want a drink or something before we go over there?"
"It's like fifty feet, Logan," Rory laughed, referring to the distance to the main house.
"Don't say I didn't offer," Logan stood up and the two walked towards the main house. Logan had expected to walk into calm, it was nearly five which meant that they should've been sitting down to dinner soon, but instead he could hear his mother yelling from the kitchen and Honor was shouting back. He heard noises coming from the basement which he assumed was his brother in law and the kids. "What the hell is going on?" Logan asked as he walked in on the two women shouting.
"The cook isn't here!" Honor tossed her hands up in the air.
"So again…why all the yelling?" Logan repeated, "where is dad?"
"Your father is golfing," Shira told him before seeing Rory, "oh Rory, dear, the kids are downstairs with Josh, why don't you go say hello."
"Stay," Logan shook his head, he wasn't even sure why they were yelling, much less why Rory was going to have to go play nanny with Josh and the kids. "Why are we yelling?"
"Did you not hear your sister Logan, we have no chef."
"Maybe I'm just having a weird day or something," Logan rubbed his temples, "but someone tell me why this is the end of the world. The chef isn't here, and by the way, his name is Brady, he's a nice guy. So we have to cook? Do we have food? Did someone get groceries…"
"Logan I don't know where anything is," Shira exclaimed.
"I just don't cook," Honor stated.
"Is there food?" Logan repeated.
"The housekeeper got all of the groceries and the caterer comes tomorrow, and Brody will be back tomorrow."
"I can cook," Rory offered.
"Don't be silly, we can't ask you to do that. We'll make reservations, I'm sure we can get something somewhere."
"Honestly, it's no problem," Rory shook her head, thankful that she had gotten her culinary skills from her father and not her mother. "Logan and I can do it, right?"
"I mean, I don't think I've ever actually seen you cook…"
"I can cook," Rory assured them all. "Please, it is the least I can do, you guys are letting me stay in your home. I can cook. How many people will there be?"
"Well, Mitchum and I, Honor and her family, so that is seven…the two of you…nine…"
"Easy, go. Please, enjoy yourselves, see your grandkids, Logan and I will get started," Rory ushered them out of the impressive, all white kitchen.
"Do you know how to cook?" Logan looked at her and folded his arms across his chest.
"I know enough," Rory told him as she made a beeline for the kitchen, "can you handle a barbecue?"
"I've never met a barbecue I couldn't handle," Logan smirked as he followed her to the fridge, poking his head behind her shoulder as they both looked inside, "so what is the plan here, Ace?"
"I don't know yet," Rory admitted as she began pulling food out. "Why don't you make yourself useful, go set the table and turn on the grill," she told him as she found several packages of steaks that would certainly work for the evening.
"Call if you need me," Logan walked to the dining room, leaving Rory alone in the kitchen.
Rory quickly found the ingredients to make a salad as well as to grill an assortment of vegetables. It wasn't going to be winning her any awards, but it was certainly going to be edible. As she looked through the kitchen to find a cutting board, she grabbed a wine glass and poured her and Logan both a glass of red wine before turning to preparing the meat. Logan came in a few minutes later to find her prepping a salad. "Wine," she told him, handing him the glass.
"Thank you," Logan smiled. "This is kind of…fun?" he told her as he took a cucumber and grabbed a knife and cutting board to start prepping it.
"I guess," Rory shrugged as they started up with their easy banter in the kitchen. This, Rory thought to herself as they worked away at preparing the meal. This is why she worried that they had gone too far, that their little arrangement was going to leave someone hurt. She didn't really know how she felt about Logan. She knew that she loved him as a friend and that he cared for her. She knew that they were both there for each other whenever the other needed something. She knew that she had found herself turning down dates from nice men, men who under normal circumstances, she would have gladly gone on a date with, and she certainly knew that she was attracted to him. But by her estimation, you would have to be insane not to be attracted to Logan Huntzberger. Rory smiled as he offered her a small piece of cucumber and she opened her mouth to accept it, noticing the feeling of his finger lingering ever so slightly on her lips. "Good," she told him with a wink.
"You know," Logan returned to the cutting board and began chopping red peppers, "maybe tomorrow we could go to dinner? After the HPG thing? I can make a reservation, we can take an Uber…"
"That sounds fun," Rory agreed. "Do you think you have any cheese?" she asked, changing the subject as quickly as it had come up.
"I think so," Logan shrugged as he went to the fridge and pulled out a container, "feta?"
"Sure," Rory shrugged, "for the salad. You can do the steak?"
Logan nodded his head and took a sip of his wine, "my dad isn't back yet, so we can probably pause now that we have a plan and the salad is made. Veggies and steak should be simple. I promise I can handle them."
"So why did you let your mom and sister freak out?"
"Because they are beyond ridiculous, how out of touch do you have to be to not realize that the solution to your chef not being available is just to cook dinner."
"They're on vacation," Rory tried to make excuses for them, but she knew it was useless, she knew he was right and that it was ridiculous. Rory put the knife down and grabbed her glass of wine, turning to lean back against the counter and face Logan. "You look decent by the way,' she referred to his blue polo shirt and white Bermuda shorts.
"You seem to have forgotten it's summer," Logan countered with a wink, "but you look beautiful."
Rory blushed, as she always did when Logan paid her a compliment. "I'm surprised the boys aren't around already?"
"They'll arrive tomorrow," Logan told her, "as they don't have the barbecue tomorrow, and they will hide out at Colin's dads place, because there is not a chance in hell they will go near my parents."
"Should we go out for dinner with them tomorrow? See if they want to join us?" Rory asked casually as she put her wine glass.
"We can," Logan shrugged, "or we can just go the two of us. We're supposed to be with them Saturday and Sunday."
"Well I guess I can go to dinner with my fake boyfriend," Rory smiled at him.
"Right," Logan nodded. "Speaking of boyfriends," he cleared his throat, "any more dates lately?"
Rory shook her head, "no, not in a while. How about you? Any needs being met lately?"
Logan laughed and thought back to when they had discussed his intimate relationships, "not in a bit," he told her. The truth was, it hadn't appealed to him as much lately, the random girls, the strange places, trying to remember the name of the woman who had her head in his lap, he wasn't sure if he was getting too old for it, or if it was something else, but it had been a few weeks since he had so much as looked at a woman when he was out with friends.
"Everything alright?" Rory joked.
"Everything is fine," Logan laughed it off. "It's fun…" he paused for a moment, "having you here…doing normal stuff."
"I'm having fun too," Rory admitted softly as she took another sip of wine and tucked a hair behind her ear. "Do you ever…" she paused, momentarily losing whatever courage she had worked up in that moment, "do you ever wonder how we hadn't met before?"
"Before Thanksgiving?" Logan questioned, she nodded her head in response, "I mean, logically, you weren't around until I was probably at school in Europe, and then I started Yale, and then I spent a year fucking around on a yacht, and then I went to Manhattan…I wasn't exactly a regular at your grandparents parties, and something tells me you weren't hanging out with the Hartford society crowd in your spare time…"
Rory nodded her head, "yeah, you're right about that."
"Why do you ask?" he asked her softly, placing his glass on the counter beside hers.
Rory shrugged, "you're probably right. The only guys I dated back then lived in Stars Hollow, and then…Harvard…I guess I just wonder if we would have been friends if we had met back then."
"You probably would've thought I was an asshole."
"What makes you think I didn't think that at Thanksgiving?"
"You thought I was an asshole?" Logan laughed.
"I thought you were cocky," Rory shrugged, "and maybe a bit of an ass."
"And what do you think now?"
"Now I know you're a bit cocky, and absolutely not an ass," Rory told him with a grin, she liked that his eyes sparkled a little when she said it. "And what did you think of me?"
"I thought you were way too smart to be dragged around by your grandparents, and that you were the most beautiful woman in the room."
"And now?" Rory bit her bottom lip.
"You're the only woman in the room," Logan smiled at her. He paused for a moment and saw that he was holding her attention. "What's next?" he asked her.
Rory swallowed, acutely aware of the feeling that was rising in her chest, "we should…" she paused, "open the wine. It will need to breath."
"Sure," Logan nodded, but neither of them moved, they both held eye contact with each other as he slowly, and meticulously moved his lips onto hers.
