Chapter 25
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, settings, music, or movies mentioned.
AN: OMG I'M SO MEAN! Wow I really suck, I can't believe I did that to you guys but you're about to find out who this random chick standing at the door is. Let's! Go! Hope you enjoy! (also review and check out the Pinterest page because it was like effort.)
She stood outside the door and glanced down at number Mitchum had given her to make sure she was in the right place. She had been skeptical when her father asked her to join him in New York on a business trip and almost turned him down, especially because she had New Year's plans of her own. But when he threw in the oh so little detail that she would get to see Logan again, it just wasn't something she could pass up.
They were older now and hopefully he will have moved passed her little slip up when they were teenagers. And if not, he was hot, she was hot, even if he intends it as a quick hook up there's a possibility of him falling for her again. She took a deep breath and raised her fist to the door to knock.
She stood there for a moment, shifting from foot to foot and wringing her hands together. Figuring he should have opened the door by now as it wasn't too early, she knocked again. As soon as she did, he swung the door open and she gasped. By the look on his face, he was clearly just as surprised to see her as well, but definitely not for the same reason.
He was hot as hell, like sex on legs hot. She certainly did not expect him to open the door looking like that. He was nearly naked save for his Calvin Klein sweatpants and her gaze may have lingered on his hard on a little too long. Someone is happy to see me.
"Jill," he said.
"Hi Logan," she breathed out. She adjusted her purse on her shoulder as she waited for him to say something, anything. She had definitely changed since high school, you know bigger boobs, a new haircut, the usual, but not like he did. He was much stronger, and his muscles were more defined. His hair had a natural messy, sexed up look to it. Everything about him made it hard to keep her eyes off him.
"What the hell are you doing here? How the hell did you even find me?" he asked, completely surprised and honestly pissed that she had the audacity to show up unannounced like this. Especially after everything that happened between them. There was a possibility she knew he went to Yale, but he was in New York, far from home, no one should know where he is right now.
"Um, I just, I wanted to see you," she said. "And my dad had a meeting with your father in the city so he gave me your room number and said you might like to see me too."
He laughed humorlessly and ran his hand through his hair. "Of course, of course my father sent you here. You know what Jill; I don't know how I didn't see it sooner. You clearly only ever thought about yourself and just this situation alone tells me that. If you knew anything at all about me it's that my father doesn't know me. All he knows is that we dated and that he doesn't like some of my choices right now."
"Well, I still wanted to see you," she said.
"I don't want to see you," he shrugged. "And I thought I had made that perfectly clear."
"I know we didn't end on the best note, but I thought we could talk," she told him albeit slightly desperately, tucking her hair behind her ear.
"Well you're wrong," he said, shaking his head. "You are so far off it's absurd. Why are you actually here? Because you had to know I wouldn't want to see you."
"I thought you would be less than thrilled," she admitted. "But I thought maybe if we got to know each other again… it could be different this time?"
Before Logan could respond he heard the bedroom door close and soft footsteps grow closer to him. Jill looked at him skeptically and he just smirked, knowing this would be pretty good. Rory tended to get rather territorial, and so did he, but she was adorable when she was jealous.
"Logan isn't going to let me do doing anything today, there are too many places in this suite I haven't been fucked yet," she said as she approached the door. He felt her arms around his waist and he immediately put his arm around her too and pulled her into his chest. He knew the exact moment she realized they weren't exactly among friends. Her whole-body tensed up against his and she flushed with embarrassment, pulling their sheet tighter around her naked body. "Oops, sorry," she cringed, turning and hiding her head in his neck as she turned away from the doorway.
"You thought it was Steph?" he asked, trying not to laugh as he kissed the top of her head.
"Possibly," she admitted, biting her lip as she looked up at him through her long lashes. A chuckle slipped from his lips and she smacked his bicep. "This is not funny."
"It's a little funny Ace, come on," he laughed as he squeezed her close to him.
"Um, who's this?" Jill interrupted. The last she had heard Logan was a notorious play boy and Mitchum hadn't mentioned that Logan was seeing anyone. But this girl seemed to be too comfortable with him to be a random hook up. Friends with benefits maybe? She apparently knew Steph so she could just be an add on to their little group.
"Jill, this is my girlfriend Rory," he said proudly.
"Girlfriend?" she asked, her eyebrow raised. That would be a little harder to compete with. And this Rory was pretty, not that she expected anything else from Logan.
"Nice to meet you," Rory said. "Sorry, I usually wear real clothes, not just wrinkled bed sheets."
"Speaking of which, you have got to be freezing," Logan said, rubbing his hands up and down what he could reach of her arms.
"Nah, you warmed me up pretty well," she giggled. "I am going to go ahead and change though and then I'll make coffee."
"Sounds good," he said, leaning down to kiss her lips. She met him half way and deepened it a touch.
"Is she staying?" she whispered.
"Absolutely not," he said, kissing her forehead. "I'll explain soon though."
"I'll hold you too that Huntzberger," she teased, slipping out of his arms and heading back to their bedroom. He watched her walked away with a stupid grin on his face and then turned back to deal with Jill.
"As you can see, it is going to be different this time. In fact it's going to be so different because I have Rory. I don't give a damn about you anymore Jill. I haven't thought about you in over a year. I'm happy, back off," he told her.
"Well this is awkward," she sighed, more to herself than to Logan. "Um, I'm kind of…"
"Just spit it out so you can leave," he snapped.
"I'm transferring to Yale."
"You're what?!" he barked.
"Not because of you," she rushed out. "My dad wants to keep an eye on me, and he can do that if I'm in Connecticut. Look, I still want to, I don't know… be friends or something."
"No way, I still want nothing to do with you. Even if Rory wasn't in the picture, I would want nothing to do with you," he said flatly.
"Ok, I get it," she sighed. "I hope you change your mind, but-."
"Don't hold your breath," he interrupted. "Goodbye Jill." With that he closed the door on her and sagged against it. He truly never thought he would have to see her again. She had destroyed him when he found out the truth and he never forgave himself for shutting so many people out in favor of that conniving bitch. Having to deal with her just left him feeling drained, especially now that he knew he might have to either avoid her or put up with her at school now.
Her timing really was impeccable though. If there was ever a time in his life, he could get through having to see her again it would be now. With Rory he felt like he could conquer anything, especially for her. She was his priority and he'd be damned if Jill or her presence made Rory feel uncomfortable and insecure in any way, shape, or form. She was his rock now and he was hers. He needed her and he wasn't afraid to admit it.
He looked up when Rory walked out of the bedroom in his t-shirt. She saw him leaning against the door, his face and body language screaming exhaustion and defeat. "Come here," she said, opening her arms to him. He made his way to her and she enveloped him in her embrace. He nuzzled her hair and held onto her tightly. She rubbed his back and repeatedly kissed his neck, his cheek, and his shoulder. "Are you ok? You don't look so great."
"I hate her," he sighed. "I hate what she put me through and every time I see her, or I have to talk about her I just…"
"I get it," she assured it him. "Trust me I get it, and you don't have to explain because I'm the same way with Jess." She wanted him to know how completely normal it was to feel like this after seeing someone who wronged you, even if you no longer have feelings for them. "I mean I'm assuming she's an ex."
"You'd be right," he confirmed. "My one and only ex-girlfriend." She pulled back a touch to look him in the eye and briefly kiss his lips.
"Well from here you have two options," she started. "We can make some coffee, order brunch, and talk about it. Or we can make some coffee, go out for brunch, and just forget about it for a while."
"You have no idea how good that second option sounds," he said, resting his forehead against hers and closing his eyes. Mirroring his actions, she also held his face in her hand while he continued to hold tight to her body. "But you deserve the story; I need you in the loop and I don't want to put it off any longer than I already have."
She ran her fingers through his hair and opened her eyes to meet his again. "Why did you put it off?"
"It's fucking embarrassing," he scoffed. "I was a moron and I fell for a lot of shit and… it just sucked."
"Would it make you better if we traded stories?" she asked, trying anything to make him feel better. Her story wasn't quite embarrassing, but it was one root of her self-esteem issues which is really probably something he should know.
"A little bit," he said, smiling softly at her offer to meet him half way. "But only if you want to."
"Well we better settle in then huh?" she asked in response before leaning up to kiss him once more. He captures her lips in his before she lowered herself back down and pulled her body tight to his, so she was flush against his chest. Her arms went to rest around his neck in order to keep their position while his tongue invades her mouth. It wasn't needy like this morning had been, just… reassuring. Whatever they talked about wasn't going to hurt their relationship at all and they both knew it, but still felt the need to tell the other. She whimpered into his lips and pushed back harder, desperate to taste more of him. They were in for a heavy afternoon, so Logan took these remaining minutes to have some fun with her.
His hands migrated down to her lace clad ass and smacked her lightly. She laughed into the kiss and he had to move his lips to her neck in order to keep kissing her. "You're cute Huntz, you know that?" she giggled.
"Watch it, you're inflating my ego talking like that," he teased her.
"Oh how could I be so foolish?" she sighed, feigning distraught as she fell back in his arms. Laughing, he pulled her back towards him and gave her a solid kiss on her forehead. "Alright, as promised I'll go put the coffee on and order room service, and you can go change."
"What? You don't like me in just my sweatpants?" he asked.
"Believe me, I love you in just your sweatpants Calvin Klein," she said, running her hands over his washboard abs. "But I need you wearing a shirt too if I'm going to focus on anything else."
"I can relate," he said, nodding as he in response ran his much larger hands from the back of her thighs, to her tight ass, to her small waist. "And you missy need to put some pants on if I'm going to focus on anything."
"Deal," she laughed. "Put a pair on the bed for me and I'll be right in."
An hour and a half later they lounged on the bed, Rory's head by the end of the mattress, the empty plate ridden tray next to them, and Logan lying across the bed with his arm his girl as he leaned over her.
"And that was it, I never heard from him again," Rory finished. She had made it through both Dean and Jess already, not that they were difficult stories to tell. "I think he still visits Luke from time to time, but I've never run into him there."
"Good," Logan spat, taking his last sip of coffee and gripping the mug so hard the veins in his forearm were even more noticeable than usual.
"You know if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were jealous," she teased him, reaching up to trace over them with her thumb.
"I'm not jealous. I hate him, but I'm not jealous, there's a difference," he said, setting down the mug and running a hand through his sex hair.
"Oh yeah? And what's the difference?" she chuckled, holding his now empty hand in hers.
"The difference, my dear," he started as he leaned down to her, his lips making there way to her collarbone. "Is that I can do this whenever I want." His hand slipped out of his hers, ran along her wrist, and stopped at her left breast which he cupped lightly. "And I can touch these whenever I want. Which mean I can't be jealous. I can only hate him, because he touched them first."
"Caveman," she huffed, rolling her eyes and tilting her head to the side to capture his lips in her own before they could land on her neck again.
"Say what you want," he mumbled. "But we'll see how you feel once I tell my story."
"What a wonderful segue," she said with one last peck on his lips. "Your turn."
"Fine," he groaned, putting space between them again as not to tempt himself any more than he already was. "Well, like you did with Jess I looked past a lot of shit while we were dating. I met Jill in high school and there wasn't anything special about how we started dating. We had a few classes together and she liked me. I was a freshman so when your 14 and a pretty girl likes you, you date her.
"We dated for about a year and half, she was my first everything, something I regret now but it is what it is. She turned me into the worst version of myself I had ever been. Steph knew something wasn't right and, I didn't know it at the time, but she was cheating on me for a full year. I shut everyone out, especially Steph, all for some girl who only wanted me for my dick and my father's black card.
"I only found out because I was supposed to be on a trip with my dad, but we had gotten in a big fight and he left without me. I went over to her house, just to talk to someone about it and low and behold she was in bed with her tutor. Or at least who she had told me was her tutor.
"She scrambled trying to come up with another lie to cover with, but I saw right through her, something I hadn't been able to do until then. Steph had been right; Jill was and is scum. She's the reason I slept around so much for the rest of my high school career. I was crushed, she made me think no one would ever want me for anything other than the superficial.
"And for the longest time, even after I found out and I knew her motives behind dating me… I still thought I had been in love with her. That somehow, she was the one that got away. God was I wrong," he chuckled humorlessly, his hand finding its way to cup Rory's face. She bit her lip as she looked up at him hesitantly, her eyes gleaming with unasked questions.
"Go ahead," he told her, nodding slightly.
"I just… I don't know, I can't possibly understand why anyone would cheat on you, I don't get it," she shrugged. "What the hell is wrong with her? Is she blind? Or sociopathic? I mean what is it?"
"You're too cute," he laughed
"I'm serious Logan, I don't get it!" she said, propping herself up on her elbows. "And, sure, ok, I'm biased. But let's say, I don't know, you weren't the love of my life. Say we just weren't thatcompatible. You are still one of the most incredible people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. Not to mention the most amazing boyfriend. That chic is crazy."
"The love of your life, huh?" he asked, grinning from ear to ear and holding back a prideful smirk in one breath.
"I take it back, you're a prick," she sighed, flopping back down on the bed.
"Oh come on Ace, you don't mean that," he told her, adjusting his own body to hover over hers, his hand going to cup her face. "I'm one of the most incredible people you've ever had the pleasure of knowing. And amazing boyfriend. You're words not mine."
"Words I just took back, didn't I Huntz?" she reminded him with a smirk that rivaled his own.
"Mhm, I do recall," he placated her. He hesitantly let the smile slip from his face and twirled around one of the curls that framed her face to distract himself. "How do you actually feel about this though? Especially because, unlike yours, we'll have to face my past, and soon."
She rested her hand on his cheek in return and forced his gaze back to her. Staring into his eyes, those with the same chocolate brown color of her locks which he was so enamored with. "I don't love it. But… I mean come on; I trust you. I have no reason to think she'll be anything but a pain in the ass until we graduate. We'll be fine."
"Well, she will be a pain in the ass, I can promise you that. Once I had made it clear I was done with her, she went after Finn. When that didn't work, she tried to become "besties" with Steph, which also went over like a led balloon. She's kind of a nuisance."
"Yeah, I gathered that much," Rory chuckled.
"It might be a lot to handle, I'm not going to lie. But like you said, we trust each other. And luck you, you get to go to Harvard next year, and maybe put up with her a few days a month at most," he reminded her, nuzzling her nose with his. He had meant it as kind of a joke, a comment to lighten the conversation but it had apparently done the opposite. She bit down on her lip underneath him and sighed deeply, her chest sinking away from his.
"Um, this kind of sucks now. I was going to talk to you about it, seconds before she knocked on the door and bringing it up now is going to make it seem like I don't trust you and like I'm doing this because of her. But that's not it at all, you can even ask Steph I started thinking about this a month ago, I swear-," she rambled on.
"Ace, stop," he interrupted. "Just tell me what it is."
She paused hesitantly, her gaze shifting around his collar bone to avoid looking him in the eye. His concern only grew when her blue eyes teared up and she blinked a few away. "I can't go to Harvard," she whispered. "I can't do it Logan."
"Woah, woah. What do you mean you can't go? There's not a chance in hell you won't get in, we know that. And if for some reason it's the money, if your grandparents won't pay for it, I know they wanted you to go to Yale or Princeton. We can handle that too. Nothing is going to-"
This time she stopped him, tears streaming down her freckled cheeks as she listened to him try to analyze this. "No, no it's none of that. I just can't go to Harvard." She paused again, just as afraid to tell him this as she had been a month ago. What if he didn't take it well? What if he didn't want her to be there? "Not when you're at Yale."
"Oh Ace," he started, but he couldn't continue. He knew exactly how she felt, this wasn't about trust or about Jill. It was about them. It was about how god damn much it hurt every time they had to let each other go. He rolled off her and sat up, his legs hanging off the edge of the bed, before reaching for her hand and pulling her up to sit next to him.
She made herself comfortable against him as he wrapped his arms snug around her shoulders. "Sweetheart, we're going to be fine. Do I want you to go to Yale? Absolutely. I want you to go to Yale so I can see you every day, so I can be there to bring you home from the library at 2 am, so I can wake up to you every morning, so we can really enjoy everything we're so used to cramming into 2 days," he told her, his voice hoarse from tears he wouldn't let fall. "But not at the expense of your dream Ace."
She readjusted her head to lay on his shoulder and sniffled softly against his neck. "What if that's not my dream anymore?" she posed to him breathily. "What if that was just something I thoughtI had to do? And what if nothing on the pro con lists is anywhere near as important as being with you for the next three years?"
"Well, then that's a different conversation," he said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "I just want you to do what you want, and I don't want you to regret it."
"I will never, ever regret you. No matter what. But I think I will regret not being with you," she said. "And I have no doubt that we would make it through the next three years, just like we did this one. But the strain of me going to Harvard instead of Yale seems so… unnecessary."
"I understand," he assured her, rubbing her arm and holding her hand that was resting on his leg. "I support this 100%. And I'll be with you for all of it, including when you have to tell your dad you want to go to Yale because the boyfriend he despises is there."
"Oh god," she groaned, hiding her face in his neck. "He's going to be furious." She could already see the veins in her father's forehead popping out at her just thinking about it. "There's no way I can tell him why I actually want to go there, as far as he knows it's because it's his alma mater and because Elle is there, end of story."
"Probably for the best honey," he chuckled, nuzzling his nose in her hair.
"You're really ok with this?" she asked, not daring to look at him again.
"Are you kidding me? I am over the moon about this," he told her as he wrapped both his arms around her. "Getting to be with you every day, that means everything to me."
"Well, good," she sighed when she lifted her eyes to meet his. "Cause your kind of stuck with me now."
"Well, good," he repeated her. "We'd kind of have a problem otherwise."
"I love you," she whispered softly, puckering her lips to him. He met them with a kiss and rested his forehead on hers to respond.
"I love you too baby."