Chapter Fifteen

Logan caught Rory's elbow and gently tugged her closer to him, pulling her away from Mr and Mrs Kim and their enthusiastic congratulations in the process. He whispered in her ear, sending shivers down her spine. "Hey, ace. I need you to come with me."

Rory smiled. "Where are we going, fiancé of mine?"

"I'm never gonna get tired of hearing that. Just come on."

Logan steered Rory to the door of Miss Patty's and they headed out into the cool evening air. Rory couldn't believe how much time had passed since Finn had first come to kidnap her that morning.

As she took in her surroundings, Rory gasped. "You never cease to amaze me, Logan Huntzberger."

The entire town was now covered in twinkling fairy lights. Each and every one of the floral displays Rory had seen earlier had strings of lights wrapped around them. It was magical. The rocket still sat where the town gazebo usually was, and together they meandered towards it.

"You're worth it, ace. This really is true love."

Rory responded by leaning forward and kissing him softly. "I love you."

They stood for a long moment, just staring up at the rocket. Then Logan turned to look over his shoulder. He grinned a gorgeous boyish grin. "I think it's time."

"Time? For what?"

"C'mon ace. The night is young."

Following Logan, Rory realised they were heading back into Miss Patty's. Once back inside, Rory gasped once more as the entire town shouted, "Congratulations!"

"Logan! You did all of this?"

"With a little help from my friends." Logan nodded in the direction of Colin and Robert. Rory began to wonder where Finn was, until she saw him stood in the middle of Babette and Miss Patty. He seemed to be enjoying himself rather more than he should.

Lane's band began to play from the stage, making Rory smile even more. She loved hearing them. Logan held out his hand and she took it eagerly. They headed to the dancefloor, where Logan pulled her close. They began dancing slowly, completely out of time with the music.

Rory had a chance to see everything from this vantage point. The food table was heaving, showing off all the hallmarks of Sookie's fantastic catering skills. The tables around the dance floor were beautifully decorated with simple white table cloths and simple flowers. Recognising her mother's handiwork, Rory found her in the crowd, standing with one arm wrapped around Luke's waist. She mouthed thank you, and Lorelai simply smiled and blew her a kiss.

Logan's voice captured her attention once more. "Hey ace? Would you still marry me if I was poor, and disinherited?"

Rory shook her head slightly, confused. "Logan, what?"

He sighed. "In the spirit of full disclosure, there's something you should know."

Rory stiffened. "Go on…"

"You have agreed to marry a nameless, penniless, jobless and probably now homeless loser."

"What?"

Logan took a deep breath. "Mitchum wasn't impressed when I told him about you and the baby. I'd already told Odette, and we ended our engagement. But he was furious. Got out his chequebook and asked how much it would be to make you and it go away."

"He did what?"

Venom laced Logan's tone as he spoke. "Oh, I'm far from done. I refused his generous offer and told him I planned to propose and that I loved you but he was having none of it. He told me I wasn't fit to be a Huntzberger. He threw me out of the family and the business. All of my cards have been cancelled, my phone is cut off. The lawyers are already fighting it, there's a trust fund I might be able to gain access to… But the bottom line is that I'm broke, Rory."

"Oh my God. I hate your father. In fact, your father is a jackass. Our baby is so not calling him Grandpa."

Logan laughed. "That's it? You're not mad?"

"Mad? At you? Logan, you've given up everything for me. Everything. I'm not mad. I'm deeply, irrevocably touched. And so proud of you. It couldn't have been easy."

"Oh, I love you, ace."

"But, wait, how did you pay for all… Colin. That boy loves to spend, huh."

"He was happy to do it. It didn't cost all that much actually. Well, the rocket did. And we had to bribe some guy to keep some old guy out of town so we could do it."

"Ah, good old Kirk."

Rory leaned her head back against Logan's chest, revelling in the feeling of being in his arms. They were quiet for a while. Rory's head was still swimming with everything she had learned tonight. He gave up everything he had to be with me. I really don't deserve him. Rory hugged Logan just a little bit tighter.

Logan kissed her forehead. "We have a lot of things to sort out, Rory. A house, for starters. We can't raise a family in your old bedroom."

"You're right. We have a lot of things to sort. But there's something else we have to do first. And it's going to be worse than telling Mitchum."

"What could possibly be worse than that?"

"We have to tell Emily Gilmore."