AN: I am sorry for another shorter chapter, but this is what was needed for this one. You'll notice we have a time jump, but we do determine if it was in fact Logan there, or if it wasn't. The reviews, thank you so much, I feel so thankful that you guys take your time to review my stories. To the guests who leave comments encouraging me, I so appreciate it. To the guest that wasn't sure if I had written more, I have a plethora of Rogan stories (although I don't encourage my earlier stuff, but whatever). I'm hoping to get a chapter of Later out tomorrow, so I'm not sure if I will update this, but early in the week for sure if I don't. This story will be longer than my originally anticipated 10 parts, but I do not anticipate it turning into a full-blown story, and I still expect it to be done by Christmas.

Read, review, enjoy

Disclaimer: i do not own Gilmore Girls or The Holidate

Part Ten - August 3, 2021

Rory inhaled and took in the scene around her. She was staying at the Topping Rose House in Bridgehampton where Nick and Abigail had booked their entire wedding venue to allow friends and family to stay. Rory smiled as she saw everyone arriving at the welcome dinner which was probably fancier than most weddings, although she thought it was weird that the event was being called a dinner when there would be passed trays with finger foods and a dessert table, but that was not her biggest concern for the evening. Her biggest concern, of course, was Logan. She saw Nick's brother and cousins arriving, she saw Abigail's grandmother laughing with her, and Abigail was beaming. Rory was happy for her friend, at first as much as she was ashamed to admit it, she had been jealous of Abigail, but the months of planning, seeing her two friends so madly in love, any feelings of bitterness or resentment were gone, and Rory was simply happy for her friends to be surrounded by everyone who loved them. She smiled as she saw Abigail begin walking towards her. Abigail was beautiful. She was tall and blonde, green eyes and olive skin, anyone who saw Abigail could see how stunning she was, but Rory always thought that the real beauty in Abigail was who she was as a person. She was an amazing person, a compassionate friend who would drop anything for a person she loved, and when Rory had first started at the Times six years ago now, Abigail had basically inserted herself into Rory's life. She brought her out for drinks, she made her sit with her at lunch, they had become friends. Abigail had set Rory up on various dates throughout the years, and although none of them had really panned out, Rory knew that Abigail cared about her. Rory had been out with Abigail when she met Nick, she remembered the moment when Abigail looked across the bar and whispered to Rory, 'that man is taking me home tonight,' and little did either of them know that they would be married a few years later. And now, watching her beautiful friend sashay towards her in an ivory dress that had a flattering A-line fit, a racerback neck and an open back, which she had actually found when they had been bridesmaids dress shopping and Abigail had declared that she needed it for the welcome dinner, Rory couldn't have been happier. They had been in Bridgehampton for two days now, the welcome dinner which of course was a separate event from the rehearsal dinner which had been the night before was happening with all of their guests at the same venue as the wedding, but a different location on the property. Rory for her part was wearing a Solace London pink sheath dress, it was off the shoulder and the colour was perfect for Rory's pale skin. She had rented the dress for the occasion, noting that she wouldn't have an appropriate place to wear something like this again anytime soon, and because of the heat, she had pulled her hair up in a low bun at the base of her neck to keep it out of her face and paired it with the nude pumps she loved so much and the diamond earrings she had gotten for her twenty fifth birthday.

"Abs, you look stunning," Rory hugged her friend, they had been together just a few hours earlier, but Rory had a deadline to meet so she had left the bridesmaids festivities early to finish up.

"So do you," Abigail smiled, "I can't believe it's here. I feel like we just got engaged, hell, I feel like you and I were just two single girls in Manhattan!"

"Well, one of us still is," Rory laughed.

"You know he's coming, right?" Abigail sighed, hating to break the mood.

"I figured, he and Nick got close."

"I don't think he's bringing anyone."

"That isn't my business," Rory shrugged. She hadn't spoken to Logan Huntzberger since the night before Straub's funeral when he had called her out for her behaviour. Abigail had thought she had seen him at the church but it was simply someone who bore a striking resemblance to Logan. Mitchum and Shira had been there of course, Rory had smiled and nodded her head in agreement about just how busy Logan was at work and of course she had agreed and said she understood his commitments. "Are you happy?" Rory asked, changing the subject away from herself.

Abigail nodded, "Nick lets me be the best version of me, and he laughs at me and he laughs with me…I love who I am with him."

Rory felt herself tearing up as she pulled Abigail in for another hug, "I'm so happy for you."

"Thank you," Abigail paused before she spoke again, "he misses you."

"Really?"

"He hasn't said it, explicitly," Abigail clarified, "but I can tell, we've gone out for drinks and he's waiting to see if you show up or asking who will be there after he's confirmed. He cares about you."

"I screwed it all up," Rory shrugged, "I was awful to him. I wasn't a good friend, and I can't even say it was because Straub died, because frankly, I didn't even care that Straub died. I was just along to be a good daughter. Any chance that Logan and I had to be friends or anything else, that ship has sailed. He hung up on me when we last spoke, and hasn't returned a text message since."

"Isn't that what you kind of did to him?" Abigail asked, her eyes drifting over to where Nick was standing.

"Go," Rory laughed, ignoring the comment about Logan, "I'm going to grab a drink and then go chat with your mom, but you should go and find that fiancee of yours before someone wises up to what a catch he is."

"You're sure you'll be alright?"

"I've been going to parties by myself for a long time," Rory told her, "go!" Abigail reluctantly walked away and Rory smiled as she saw her embrace Nick. Nick's face lit up as he embraced his soon to be wife and Rory waited another minute to watch them before she made her way to the bar and waited for the bartender to make his way over. She didn't see him or hear him, but she felt him as he stood beside her at the bar.

"You look beautiful."

Rory blushed and turned her head to the left to look at him, she hated that she immediately smiled when she saw his smirk and the sparkle in his eyes. He was more tanned than he had been almost two months earlier when she had last seen him. "Hey, you look decent."

"Can I buy you a drink?"

"Open bar."

"I'm Logan," he extended a hand to her, a smile now breaking out over his lips.

"Rory," Rory took his hand and smiled as he shook it, "how do you know the bride and groom?" Rory played along with his game for a moment. It wasn't lost on her how good he looked. His blonde hair was mussed, as always, his tanned skin and a light grey suit that looked like it was made for him. Rory knew well enough that it probably was made for him. That was part of what it meant to be Logan Huntzberger, he always looked impeccable and on the few occasions that Rory had seen him in sweatpants or something more casual than dark jeans and a dignified polo or button down, or the one night of nakedness he always managed to look amazing. She wasn't sure there was a view of Logan Huntzberger that wouldn't result in butterflies in her stomach.

"An old friend introduced us," Logan explained, "I was there the night they got engaged."

"What happened to the friend?"

"I think we both got a little bit lost in translation and things got screwed up. I haven't talked to her in a while…"

"That's too bad, I'm sure she misses you," Rory smiled as she saw the bartender making his way over, "gin and tonic please, and a scotch for this guy."

Logan nodded appreciatively at the bartender and looked at Rory, "I miss her too."

"We should…" Rory looked at him, her eyes were sad.

"Walk? Talk?"

"Where are you staying?" Rory asked as the drinks came.

"My parents place," Logan explained, "come on, show me around. I haven't been here before."

"Neither have I," Rory laughed, "all I've seen is my room and the spa, and this…place," she motioned to the 'barn' that the event was taking place in.

"I mean we just met, but I appreciate the invitation to your room."

"Stop it," Rory laughed at him as she took a sip of her drink and the pair began to walk, "do you think…why don't we go up there…we can talk about… everything?"

"You sure you want to do that?"

"Well, we can do it now," Rory suggested, "or, we can wait a few hours and countless drinks…and then we can do it and I think at that point it will become a mess so…"

"So we have to do it?"

Rory nodded, "we have to do it. Or…" she paused, "we just…don't talk," but it was clear that not talk didn't mean not talk about them it meant to continue without each other in their lives.

"So we see each other at these things, and just pretend we were never friends?"

"Or we talk," Rory told him. That is what she wanted. She wanted them to talk, she wanted them to fix things. Not because she needed a date to parties, but because she missed him. She missed having someone to watch Dateline with, she missed having someone who would stay on the phone with her while she watched the news and yelled at the anchors whenever she felt like she could do a better job.

"I mean, we've done the not talking," Logan told her, "and I wasn't a big fan, so I guess we should talk."

"Let's go then," Rory nodded towards her room which was nestled away and looked out on the pool and the gardens. They didn't talk, they walked until Rory was opening the door to her room and watching him while he walked inside. Rory kicked off her heels and took a seat on the couch, tucking her legs underneath her body, and relieved that she had managed to snag one of the suites so that they weren't just alone in a room with a bed. Being back in his presence, Rory could close her eyes and see every inch of him, she could smell him, she missed him. She missed her friend, she missed the comfort that he brought to her life. "So I guess…I'm sorry," she told him, "for leaving you a message, and then for not answering your calls, and then for calling you and telling you…" she paused as her eyes began to water, Logan was sitting on the chair which was perpendicular to the couch, for his own sanity, he couldn't get too close. "Telling you we were done, treating you like it was nothing…you were a great friend to me, and I loved you, I loved having you in my life, and I miss it. I miss my friend," Rory began to cry, "I'm sorry, I was scared of admitting the truth to everyone, but I would rather admit the truth which is that you are a dear friend who I love and miss, then call this all off because I'm scared."

Logan smiled and took a sip of his scotch, licking his lips before he spoke again, "what did you tell them?"

"I haven't," Rory admitted. There has been no reason for Rory to mention Logan in her brief chats with her mother since the funeral, except to say that he had been busy with work. She had been so busy with work and the wedding that she hadn't been home since that trip in July, she figured her next trip home would be her birthday. "How about you?"

Logan rubbed his chin now, "I've been avoiding it," he admitted, it had been his parents anniversary party a couple of weeks earlier and he had shrugged off any mention of Rory saying she was busy at work. "I just said you were working."

"You didn't bring someone else?"

Logan's eyes met hers and he almost looked hurt at her suggestion, "no Ace. I didn't bring anyone else. What about you? You snag a date for this shindig?"

"And then bring you back to my room?" Rory raised an eyebrow.

"Just checking."

"I didn't mean to hurt you."

Logan inhaled and then waited a moment before he exhaled, "I cared about you, Rory. I still care about you. I didn't expect to tell you one night that I was afraid of people seeing who I really am, and then have you ghost me the next day…"

"But I told you," Rory wiped another tear from her eyes, hoping she wasn't ruining the makeup she had so painstakingly put on earlier, "it wasn't you. You weren't what was wrong. I was wrong. I just…if I kept pretending you were my boyfriend, it was just…it was going to get harder. It was getting harder and harder to pretend. To my parents and my grandparents. Your parents, your sister, even though she knew and asked me about it…but maybe more than anything it was getting harder to convince myself that I didn't have feelings for you." Rory looked down at her drink, she wasn't sure if she wanted to say anything else or wait for him to speak, "I know you don't. I know I'm a friend, and I am happy to be your friend, but…" she thought back to everything Abigail said at her grandparents house, and with a bit of time she had realized that her friend was right. "You make me a better me, you pull me out of my shell. I'm happy, I'm challenged, you make me feel content to just be myself…I thought I missed Jess, but…Jess never made me a better me. You don't have to say anything. I don't expect you to say anything. I just…it wasn't because you didn't mean something to me. It was because I was afraid of what you do mean to me."