She was sitting alone at her desk when he walked in. She was bent over and deep in thought. He stood there watching her for a few minutes not saying anything. It was another one of those moments where he thought she was so beautiful that she took his breath away. If he told her that he felt that way about her she would shrug it off and tell him to stop using such old fashioned clichés. He shrugged off his jacket and threw it on one of the chairs. As quietly as he possibly could he snuck up behind her and kissed the back of her neck.
She jumped a little and then turned around. She let her smile talk for her. She let it ask him why he was here instead of at school where he was supposed to be.
He shrugged. "I needed to be with you. I miss you so much. Between this D.A.R. thing you're planning and fall semester starting up I've just been dying to see you." He kissed her softly on the forehead.
She sighed. She missed him too. It was like they never had time to see each other anymore. Things at the D.A.R. were so crazy and now she was planning this big bash and she was sort of worried that she was out of her league when it came to this. She knew that he was busy to. His father was riding him hard to finish school this year and probably didn't help that he was still dating her. "How is Yale?"
Logan looked at her and sighed. "It's absolutely boring without you. The milk maid is learning English, or rather Australian. Finn has sort of come accustom to spending a great deal of time with her. Colin is Colin and I think he's in love with Stephanie. Paris wants to kill me. Really kill me. She keeps threatening to dismember me. I miss you there. I go to our coffee cart every morning and you're not there."
"Finn being in love with Colin's mild maid is quite the funny twist. Plus Colin has always been in love with Stephanie. I mean come on it's so obvious. The only question is will she ever love him back. Paris will stop wanting to kill you soon enough it's just she's not used to being poor." Rory joked. She made a point to avoid the topic of her not being there. She sensed that Logan wanted her at Yale more than anyone else.
Logan shook his head and sort of half laughed. "I can't believe you're going to try to avoid the subject like that. I mean Rory it's sort of an important one. I miss you. I really miss you."
Rory got up from her chair and sort of paced around the room. "I know you miss me it's just Logan I need to do this right now. I really like working for the D.A.R. and I'm good at it. I miss you too and of course I miss Yale it's just this is what I need right now."
"And you need to me to at least try and support your decision to take time off. I know we've been over this a million times it's just I never thought you would go this long. I mean how much more time are you going to need?" Logan asked in a soft voice. He didn't want to fight with her about his. It was just he had to know.
Rory ran her hand over her face really quickly and then took a seat. She closed her eyes. "I still have about ninety more hours of community service left. Then I have a few more big events with the D.A.R. so I don't know. I'll be back by spring semester more than likely. Can you deal with that Logan?"
Logan walked over to where she was standing and kneeled down. He took her hands into his and smiled. It wasn't his usually cocky grin. It was more like a soft and simple thank you kind of smile. "So you'll be back by spring? You're not just saying that to end the subject. Because if you'll be back by spring then I'll stop pestering you about when you're going to coming back."
Rory nodded and then she smiled. She'd go back in the spring. She would only take a semester off. For the first time in a long time she felt her age. She once again felt twenty.
"We need to celebrate. We need to do something crazy. We need to make a memory." Logan started to ramble. He pulled Rory up out of her chair and kissed her on the cheek. He was so happy to hear that she wasn't going to stay away. He needed to know that she was going to give into temptation sooner or later. He'd felt so miserable all this time because he knew that he could have helped her avoid this situation.
Emily watched as Rory and Logan pulled out of the driveway. She smiled at how happy her granddaughter looked whenever she was with Logan. She was sitting on her bed looking through a Spiegel's catalog when she heard the boy pull up. She knew that Richard was downstairs in his study listening to an old jazz record and doing some work. She thought about going downstairs and joining him. She started to get out of bed and pull on her robe. As she started to leave the room the phone rang. She thought about not answering it for a moment and then decided against it. She picked up her phone and in her usual smooth high class voice replied "Hello?"
Francine Hayden was sitting in her parlor sipping a glass of chardonnay wondering if she should have bothered Emily. Things between them had never been the same since Lorelai ended up pregnant. It really strained their relationship. At the time Francine hadn't wanted to admit the truth about the fact that Christopher and Lorelai were better off together than they were apart, but ever since the death of Straub she had started to question her decisions in life. "Emily its Francine. I thought maybe we could talk."
Emily was caught off guard and sat down on her bed. "Hello Francine it's been a long time hasn't it." For the first time Emily was at a loss for what to say.
"Yes it has been a long time. I hope you got my thank you card for the flowers. It was very kind of you to send them."
"It was the least we could do. Once upon a time we were all good friends." Emily wasn't sure that was really the right thing to say, but she had to.
Francine took a deep breath. "I wanted to apologize for the way I treated Lorelai. Ever since Straub died I've really been thinking and it was very wrong of me to do that to her. Christopher gives me pictures of Rory. She's quite beautiful. He told me that she was taking some time off at Yale."
"You know Francine it sounds like you want to maybe see Rory. I mean I hope that's not too forward of me to say."
"No it's not because I would like to see her. It's always been one of my biggest regrets. I would like to maybe know her better. I'm sure she thinks Straub and I are horrible people."
"Rory is the sweetest girl. She doesn't harbor any resentment towards you one way or the other. She is planning this D.A.R. fundraiser for our boys at Ft. Drum. You should try and buy tickets. I would think Christopher would like to join you. We would love it if you joined us." Emily felt awful for Francine. She had recently lost the only person who ever really meant anything to her. Christopher had left her a long time ago. Still Straub had always been there for his wife. Now that he was gone Emily understood that Francine was lost. She wanted her only son back. She wanted her family to be put back together.
"Thank you very much for this Emily. I really need this right now." Francine confessed. "What should I know about Rory?"
Emily smiled. "She's brilliant and beautiful. She's not snobby like most of the teens. She's very humble about who she is. Sometimes I think she doesn't realize just how important she is. She's also dating Logan Huntzberger."
"Oh please tell me he's not Shira and Mitchum Huntzberger's child."
"You don't like the Huntzberger's?" Emily was a little surprised.
Francine sighed. "They are just so stuck up. I mean really and they think they are the best this town has to offer. I don't think they realize that they aren't the richest people in this town."
Emily laughed. "I don't think anybody realizes that they aren't. Really the other day Constance kept going on and on about how much money they have. Nobody even tried to point out the fact that you have always had the most money. Logan's a sweet boy though. He's very appropriate for Rory."
Francine sighed. "I guess I'll just have to take your word for it. Still his mother is absolutely horrible."
Rory and Logan got back to the pool house late that night. They had both had more then their fair share of drinks meaning they took a cab back. After spending a good hour of their evening in bed Logan came up with the brilliant to find them a song. He turned the radio in the living room on and told her that whatever song came on next would be their song.
Rory came out and followed him. He was wearing his boxers and she was wearing his shirt. She smiled when she heard what song came on. It was perfect for them. He sang the song softly in her eye. "I can't help falling in love with you…." So they danced in her living room to that song as if there was no one else on the planet…as if nothing else mattered, because for a fleeting moment nothing else did.