This is a one-shot sequel to "Happier Endings". A prelude of their first meeting, after they decided to get back together. This won't be a multi-chapter story, but I'll surely do at least a couple of encounters, preceding their wedding. Rogan. Post Season 7.
He was nervous. He should be used to that feeling by now, because, although this feeling of nervousness was somewhat foreign to him, that girl always had the ability to make him feel strange things... like nerve-racking nausea, while he waited for her at baggage claim. He was used to be the cool, collected one. He was not used to be nervous, or doubt or second-guess himself. He should be, by now.
They had not talked during the rest of the week, after she said she was done with the campaign. He didn't know if she had changed her mind, if that was a spur of the moment thing. He knew that she had received some proposals. Hell, he even knew about the New Yorker, and he hoped that this was one of the offers she wanted to talk to him about over the weekend, because that was the only reason he could think of why she still haven't mentioned it yet. He wouldn't even know about it if the editor himself hadn't called him.
He looked at his watch again, and tried to breathe. He loosened the knot in his tie, and checked her flight again on his cell phone. According to that damn Track Flight App, her flight had landed and passengers were already de-boarding. He felt sick, as sick as that day he decided to come after her, before her farewell party, and tell her he was not letting her go. His hands were clammy, his mouth was dry, and he was fairly certain that he was going to throw up any minute now.
Get a hold of yourself, Huntzerger! He told himself. There's no need to panic. She's just figuring out what to do. We are not an issue here. Her job is. And we are going to decide, together, the next step in her professional life. She's still your fiancée, we are still going to get married. Nothing's changed. But even he knew that it was a big fat lie. Everything has changed. She said she was leaving the campaign. That had to mean something.
He watched people walking by, searching for her familiar face. After a couple of minutes he found her, trying to carry two carry-on, her tote bag, a cup of steaming hot coffee and talk on the phone at the same time. He smirked, and ran to her, to help her with the carry-on and the coffee. He kissed her lightly on the cheek and smiled while he waited for her to finish her call.
"Mom. Mom. MOM! It's okay. Listen, I'll call you back later, ok? I just spotted Logan, and, you know, it's been awhile since I last saw my fiancée. No mom, web-cameras do not count. MOM! No, I will not talk about that with you. My sex life is none of your business." She said, shutting her phone. "Crazy woman..." she muttered, and launched herself into Logan's arms.
"I missed you." Rory said, looking up at him and smiling.
"I missed you too, Ace" He said, covering her lips with his own. It was a sweet, not-at-all demanding, loving kiss. And he would be content to leave it at that, if Rory hadn't dropped her tote, cell phone and carry on the floor, slipping her arms around his neck and holding him close, practically molding her body to his. For a minute, he totally forgot they were in the middle of the airport, dropped her cup of coffee on the floor and kissed her senseless.
"Wow. I missed this too." Rory said, after a couple of seconds. "Thank God that cup of coffee was almost empty."
"Come on, before I completely forget where we are and decide to press you into the nearest wall and finish what you've just started." He said, taking her hand and pulling her along, his nervousness totally forgotten by now.
Rory could barely catch her breath. Before she knew it, they were inside a taxi, and Logan's lips were on her again, and she just stopped thinking. It was a good thing Logan's house was close to the airport, because she would not be able to stop kissing him. She didn't even mind the smirk on the driver's face, looking at the two of them making out like teenagers in the back seat of his car. She missed him so much that she didn't have enough strength to resist when his hands were all over her, her skin seemed to be catching on fire under his touch, and he was driving her mad sucking the pulse point on her neck, and whispering unspeakable things at her ear.
When Logan undid the button of her jeans, she heard the taxi driver clear his throat and announce their arrival. She didn't even look at his face. She open the door, caught her things, and ran to the door. Logan could deal with paying for the ride and her luggage. She found the keys to his house in her purse, open the door, and had enough time to hang her tote on the wall, and put her phone over the table. Suddenly, she was pressed against the door, with Logan's body holding her in place, both of them frantically trying to get rid of their clothes. Soon, both shirts and jeans were on the floor, followed closely by her underwear, and as Logan picked her up, Rory wrapped her legs around him and screamed his name as he entered her.
After a couple of minutes, when Logan was sure he could breath properly again, he helped Rory slide to the floor. He was still holding her up, pressing his body to hers, and she was grateful, because she would fall flat on her face if he let go. Her legs felt like jello. They stayed like that, in each other arms, pressed to his front door, until she found the strength to move. Then, she stepped over the discarded clothes on the floor, and started walking to their bedroom, buck naked. When she reach the door, she looked back at Logan and he could see that her eyes were still a deep blue, clouded with lust. She open her mouth to say call him, but one minute he was leaning on the door, and the next he was almost on top of her. They could talk tomorrow. Right now, the only thing he wanted was to bury himself into her and hear her scream his name over and over again. He missed her.
After spending most of the night making love, Rory was starving. She got out of bed, and went to the kitchen to brew some coffee, and search for something to eat. She poured the water into the coffee-maker, and the coffee grounds, and when she was about to press start she felt Logan's arms around her. She leaned into him, content, and sighed as he nuzzled her neck.
"Good morning, gorgeous." She heard him say, his voice still laced with sleep.
"Huummm. Good morning to you too." She replied, and turned in his arms to kiss him. "I'm sorry if I woke you. I'm starving."
"Well, it's a good thing I'm up, then. I can cook us some breakfast." He told her, smiling. "And then, we can talk."
"Oh. Okay." Rory said. She had been expecting that. She knew that they needed to talk, but she thought that maybe they could spend the day together, and talk over dinner. She was nervous. She had decided what she was going to do, well, what she wanted to do, but she was not sure if Logan would like that or not. She sat on the table, while Logan started making some pancake batter.
"Rory. I know about New York. I know you've got a good offer. But you said you wanted to talk about your options. So, let's talk options." He said, knowing that Rory usually hated starting those talks.
"Oh. What do you mean you know about New York?" She asked him.
"The editor of the New Yorker called me last week. They were looking into hiring new people, and the heard good things about you from Hugo, and they wanted a recommendation, I guess." Logan said. He was occupied flipping pancakes, but every now and then he would turn around and look at Rory, who was still sitting on the table, quietly sipping her coffee. He started to wonder, again, why she hadn't said anything about it, but before his mind start filling with worry and doubt, he told himself to stop thinking about that. They were in a good place now. So he thought about living in New York again.
He was prepared for that. He always knew that the Times was her dream, and this was one step closer. And at least she would be at one place. Not all over the country. They could make this work, and he could start looking into jobs in Manhattan. That was not so bad. And in the mean time, they could alternate weekends. This, this was doable. New York was doable. Right?
"Logan. I'm not going to New York." Rory said, biting her lips. She stood up to refill her cup, and to pour some coffee for Logan, while he searched the cabinets for some maple syrup or chocolate sauce.
"You're not?" Now he was confused. He closed the cabinet, and just stood there, looking at her, with a bottle of syrup in his hand.
"No. I... I received another offer. Well, I received a lot of offers, actually. You already know about Chicago, and Boston. And well, New York, apparently. But there's something that I wanted to ask you." She rambled.
"Okay..." Logan said. He sat down, after placing the dishes on the table. In omnia Paratus, right? He thought.
"What would you think about getting married next month?" She said, looking into his eyes?
Logan froze with his fork in mid-air, a piece of pancake dangling from it. "What?"
"What do you thing about getting married next month?" Rory repeated nervously.
"Why?" Logan asked, confused. "Rory, I thought we were going to discuss job offers, not our marriage. What is this about?" He said, putting his fork down. Breakfast was going to have to wait.
"Well, I want to discuss both of them..." Rory said, this time, not looking into his eyes. Her blue eyes were glued to her plate.
"Again, why?" Logan insisted. He was not getting it. Something was up, and he wanted to get to the bottom of it. He was not going to humor her, he was not answering her questions until she told him what the hell was going on.
"I want to be sure that we will be together before I tell you about opportunities. I want you to say that we'll be married before I tell you what I'd like to do, carrier-wise." She told him, biting her lip. He could tell she was nervous. He could tell she was scared, and that scared him too.
"It doesn't work this way, Rory. I don't want to marry you that, just because you're scared." He started to say, but before he could elaborate, Rory looked at him, and he could see in her eyes how much his words hurt her.
"You don't want to marry me anymore?" She asked, her eyes starting to fill with tears.
"I didn't say that, Ror. I want to marry you, more than anything in my life I want to marry you. I want to spend my life with you, because I love you. But we decided that we were going to wait until the right time to do that. And, I'm sorry babe, but next month, or the month after that, is not the right time. I don't want to rush into that just because you are scared. I want you to marry me because you love me, not because you're scared you're going to lose me if I don't like your career choices..." He said, covering her hand with his and giving a gentle squeeze.
"I love you!" Rory said.
"I love you too."
"I've been offered a position in a new British political magazine, that is going to be launched next year. But there's some conditions. I'd have to spend a least 4 months in Oxford, for a couple of management classes, and a training. I'd have to leave in 45 days." She told him.
"Okay..." Logan said, squeezing her hand a little harder. He was sure that his heart stopped beating for a couple of seconds. He took a deep breath, and tried to formulate the questions that were going through his head.
"And after Oxford, what would happen?" He decided to start with the most import one. He was scared he was not going to like the answer...
"Well, after that, I could be based anywhere. I'd have to fly down once a month, for at least 3 or 4 days, for each press-time. I'm not sure were it will be, because the guys are opening an office here in the States. They were talking about New York or Boston, but it could be anywhere. I would be assistant managing editor for political issues, but because I have experience as Editor in Chief, I would be more like a Managing Editor than Assistant Manager... But they don't have enough money to pay for a Managing Editor position right away, and I was not interested in being an investor to get the title. But as I would be acting as Managing Editor, I would need to be present for each edition press time. It's a big thing, and I have no idea if it will be worth it, but I'd get to choose what I wanted to write, and where I wanted to live. It would be like... "
"It would be perfect, Rory. Is it what you want to do?" Logan asked, even though he already knew the answer.
"It is..." Rory said.
"And what is all this 'let' get married next month' really about?" He asked. When she didn't answer right away, he pushed it. "Is it about spending 4 months in England?" She still didn't answer, but he could see that she was afraid.
"Hey, talk to me, Ror." Logan whispered.
"I told you I was tired of the distance, of never seeing you. I hate life on the road, and I want to be with you. I'm quitting the trail to be with you, and now, now I'm going to be in a whole other continent, and I'd see you even less. I wanted to do that to be closer to you, not to be even more far away. I thought that, if we were married-"
Logan cut her off with a kiss, before her rant got the better of her. He held her close, his hands caressing her cheek, and looking into her bright blue eyes, he said.
"It wouldn't make a difference if we were married or not. I'd still miss you like hell, and we would still be in different parts of the world." He started, and before she could say anything, he stopped her, putting a finger to her lips and continued.
"But, I'm do for some vacation time. And we could still see each other on weekends. We can work it out. And then, we can get married when you come back."
"Really? You're sure about it?" Rory whispered, this time it was her hand covering his on her cheek.
"I'm sure." He said, smiling, closing his eyes when he felt her lips on his, on a feather-like caress. She brushed her lips once, twice, barely touching him. Logan slid one of his hands to her neck, and used the other one to pull her even closer to him, deepening the kiss. Rory melted against his body, and sighed into his lips. Before the kiss got completely out of hand, Logan took a step back, and smiled.
"Does that mean that we are setting a date for our marriage?" He asked her.
"Yeah, we are!" Rory said, taking a step closer to Logan, closing the gap he created between them. She kissed him again, this time, not at all a feather-like kiss. She attacked his lips hungrily, and in seconds Logan's hands were holding her up, and he was carrying her to their bedroom, the breakfast all but forgotten.
