After All These Years
Chapter One - Late Night Blues
--Flashback -- -- -- -- -- --
"We can't do this anymore…" He muttered the words he had already began to regret.
"I know…" was her only reply as a silent, lone, tear cascaded down her pale cheeks.
--End Flashback
"Mommy…"
"Yes, Emma, baby?" Rory, mother of one, looked into her daughters sleep-filled eyes and gave her a small smile.
"I love you."
"I love you too, baby." Her small smile, turning into an eye reaching, smile as she kissed the top of the four year olds blonde head.
"And I know that my daddy doesn't live here and that I have never met my daddy, but I love him too, and my only wish is that I could see him. Just once." Emma added with a sad smile.
"I know baby, I know." Replied Rory as she held her daughter in her arms and waited for her to fall asleep.
Rory sighed as she stood up from the couch, holding Emma as she slept and turned the television off before making her way up the stairs and down the hall of their three-bed-roomed apartment and into Emma's room. She quickly changed Emma into her pink and purple pocka-dot pyjama's and pulled back her sheets and tucked her into bed. Emma gave her mom a lazy smile and a quiet 'love you mommy' before turning on her side and attempting to fall to sleep once more.
"Love you too babe." Rory whispered as she smoothed her daughter's long, blonde hair out of her face.
Rory sighed once more and left for her own bedroom at the opposite end of the hall. She herself quickly changed and hopped into bed, she knew it would be another night of restless sleeping. Most nights Rory could fall to sleep without even thinking of him for she was either too exhausted from her busy day at work or she had other things on her mind, but there were nights like these that were just too much and she allowed herself to think of all the pain she had gone through almost five years ago.
--Flashback
Logan Huntzberger made his way down the hall to their Hartford apartment knowing that whatever he was about to say or do would be the right choice. Whatever he did, he had to do it, it was his only choice.
He pulled out his key and placed it in the lock, paused for a moment and took a deep breath. 'I don't want to do this, but I have to do this.' He thought to himself.
Logan turned the key and walked into the apartment. He didn't see her anywhere. 'Maybe she isn't home?'
"Ace, are you here?" he called out to Rory, hoping she wasn't home so he could think everything through one more time. He knew he wouldn't tell her the absolute truth, just part of it.
"Yeah," she called back. "In the study."
'Damnit!' he inwardly cursed. "Um, do you think you could come out here for a minute?" he called to her again.
"Just a sec." she replied before getting up form her place on the floor and walking into the living room to find Logan, her boyfriend of nearly three years, sitting with his head in his hands. "Hey," she said, voice filled with concern as she sat next to him and placed a hand on his upper arm. "What's wrong?"
When her hand touched his arm, Logan flinched and stood up and started pacing in front of her.
" Logan, what's wrong?" Rory said, eyebrows furrowing. To say she was taken aback by his actions towards her and what was supposed to be a comforting gesture, would be an understatement, she had never really seen him like this. At least not towards her.
He stopped and looked at her and then continued pacing. "Um … well … you see …" he stuttered and tried to find the right words, but failed.
" Logan, spit it out. What's wrong?" Rory asked more forcefully, causing Logan to stop and look her in the eyes. They were filled with hurt, concern and confusion. All were caused by him and that broke his heart.
'Damnit! I just wish it didn't have to be this way.' "We…" he started again but stopped.
"Yes…?"
"Wecantdothisanymore." He blurted out in a quiet and rushed voice, though Rory was very good at picking up things and understood what he had said.
Rory let out a hollow laugh. "I'm sorry, but I just thought that you said that we can't do this anymore." she finished looking up at him questionably.
"That's right. We can't do this anymore." He said slowly and clearly whilst looking in her eyes for a sign or something as to how she was feeling but he couldn't see any. Her whole face had paled and become expressionless. She just sat there, her eyes wide and mouth agape. She couldn't and didn't want to believe what he just said.
After a few moments Rory spoke up. "Huh?" she paused. "Can I ask why?" he nodded "Ok. Are you bored? Are you cheating on me? Is it my mom because I swear she likes you, she took her time but I kn-"
"Rory," Logan cut her off. "I'm not cheating on you and it isn't your mom." He spoke slowly as he was thinking every word through. "It's not working anymore. Not for me." 'That's lie number one.' Every word he spoke seemed to be breaking her because every time Logan opened his mouth she flinched.
"My grandfather is pressuring me to find a suitable wife; he wants me to have an heir for the business A.S.A.P." 'Lie number two.' Those words struck a cord for she was now slumped back in the chair and she looked like she had been slapped across the face. "I didn't want to do this to you Ror. I'm sorry. I really Am." he ran a hand through his hair. "I love you, but I'm not in love with you." 'Lie number three.' "I don't want to hurt you."
"Too late for that now isn't it." She muttered to herself though Logan still heard her. "This hurts. I can't believe this. God…How long have you felt like this? I love you" she heaved a heavy sigh. "This hurts." She repeated. "You have no freaking idea as to how much this hurts." Her voice quiet, but low, and full of anger.
"Rory …" he started and moved forward and placed a hand on her thigh.
"No." Rory stated firmly as she stood and walked a few steps away from him, out of reaching distance. "No," she said again, shaking her head. "You did this." Tears started to fill her eyes and her voice was full of hurt and anger as were her eyes. It was all starting to sink in.
Logan nodded his head. "I know." Another pause then a quiet, "We can't do this anymore…" He muttered the words he had already began to regret.
"I know…" was her only reply as a silent, lone, tear cascaded down her pale cheeks before she walked out of the apartment and to someone she knew she could count on.
--End Flashback
Rory lay motionless in her bed, as tears rolled down her flushed face. She would never forget how hurt she had felt when he said he wasn't in love with her anymore. It was so hard, still is so hard, but she couldn't help but think that there was something more to the reason he broke-up with her, something he didn't tell her. Rory felt as though that day was horrible, though the day after wasn't much better.
--Flashback
Rory looked awful. She had been crying all night at Steph and Colin's whilst eating junk food and watching movies with Steph. She had showered but she hadn't put any make-up on and her eyes were puffy and red. She also knew that going to the apartment today was going to hurt but she had to get everything out of there before she couldn't, or before he had a guest over. Today it had to be.
Rory looked in the review mirror of her car one last time before getting out and heading up to their apartment. 'No, it isn't their apartment anymore, it's his. God, this is too hard.' She had to keep telling herself it wasn't hers anymore; it hadn't been hers since last night.
Rory had been to deep in thought to have noticed that Finn, one of her closest friends in the world, was paying Logan a visit. But once she got to the front door of the apartment, she had, because the accented Australian could be heard quiet easily, yelling.
"Why are you doing this? She is the best bloody thing that has ever happened to you." The obviously angry Australian exclaimed.
Rory couldn't hear Logan's reply, she guessed that he was trying to calm Finn down. She took a deep breath, slowly and quietly opened the door and walked in trying not to let the boys hear her enter. Rory had been too busy trying to keep quiet that she hadn't noticed a pair of shoes near the door and tripped causing her to loose her balance and let out a slight squeal. She hadn't thought the noise was loud enough to interrupt the boys but she was wrong as they both came around the corner to find her fixing herself up. Finn looked shocked, obviously surprised that she be here.
"Love?" he asked in a quiet voice.
"Hi Finn." She stated as she walked past both of them and into the study to start filling box after box with all her possessions.
Finn followed her and started helping her with her books, claiming the quicker she left the better she would feel though they both knew that she didn't want to leave, she loved Logan, even after what happened. The two had been through too much together to just give up on him in a few hours. No, she knew it would take quite awhile to get over one, Logan Huntzberger.
Logan had walked into which ever room the two would be in and gave them both coffees. He knew Rory wouldn't ignore the drink but was a little surprised when she did at first. After a few minutes her plan to ignore the beverage was destroyed as the smell took over her. Logan had also tried talking to her but that was a dumb thing to do as it was though he was talking to a brick wall. What surprised him a lot though was that Finn was ignoring him, so he thought, just like Rory was. 'I never knew I could loose a best friend over a girl. But Rory was never just some girl; she was 'the' girl. Man this is screwed up.' Were Logan's thought as he was forced to pretend he had things do to whilst the two laughed and giggled about things they found.
Rory and Finn had been packing things away for about three, four hours when Finn stood at the front door waiting for Rory as she checked that she hadn't left anything behind for the last time. "You got everything, love?" Finn asked for the third time.
Rory gave him a sad smile and nodded. "Yeah, I do." She looked around the room one last time, somewhat wistfully. She was definitely going to miss this place.
"Ok then. We'll get you settled in the quest room in my apartment before we go to meet your mother?" asked Finn.
Rory turned to look at him, fully aware of Logan's presence in the room with them. "Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks Finn."
"No worries, love. This is what a friend does for the ones they love." He gave her a sweet kiss on the top of her head and picked up the last box and walked out the door and into the hall to wait for her.
Rory and Logan stood there for a few moments, silently, until Rory moved to pull something out of her pocket. 'Gosh. This makes it so final. I don't want to do this.' Rory thought as tears started to spring to her eyes. 'No. Don't cry, it'll only make it worse.' She took a deep breath and held out the object from her pocket out to him.
"What's this?" he asked as confusion washed over him.
Rory rolled her eyes. "It's my key to your apartment." She stated with a slightly shaky voice and emphasised the word your.
Logan took the key from her and looked at it sadly. 'This makes it seem so final.' He thought. He looked back at her and nodded. "So I guess this is goodbye?"
Rory looked to the floor, hoping her tears would subside but it didn't help. It only caused them to roll down her cheeks. She looked back to him and nodded also. "Yep, this is goodbye." She said in her calmest voice possible.
Seeing her cry, Logan felt another painful tug at his heart. "Ace…" he said stepping forward which only made her step back. He sighed.
"You don't get to call me 'Ace' anymore Logan; you lost the rite last night, along with so many others."
"Rory…" he tried again.
"No. This is goodbye, so…" she looked him straight in the eye and saw the emotions swirling through them. 'There is so much more to this break-up…' "Bye Logan." She stated simply.
"Bye Rory." He said with another sigh. He felt the heat in his eyes and knew he was on the verge of tears.
Rory ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "I better get going…Finn might…" she started feeling very awkward.
Logan nodded in understanding. "Bye Ror."
"Bye." She looked him in the eye once more as the tears began to spill. She quickly turned and walked out of his apartment and joined Finn, the tears not stopping anymore, nor was she trying to stop them. Finn placed a comforting arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. He pressed the button for the elevator and the doors opened immediately. They stood inside, waiting for the doors to close. Rory looked to the door of Logan's apartment and saw Logan standing there looking hurt and noticed that there were a few tears slowly spilling down his beautiful face. The doors closed and he was gone. She would never have anything to do with him again.
--End Flashback
Rory took a deep breath and wiped the fallen tears from her cheeks. She pulled the covers back and walked down the hall and stood in the doorway to her daughter's room. 'Their daughter…" she thought as she sniffed and wiped a tear from her face. Gosh, Emma had always reminded her of him so much, and of herself. She had his messy blonde hair and his clean and tidy ways. She had Rory's startling blue eyes and crazy coffee addiction even at the age of four. She had both their intelligence combined and already had a passion for reading and writing. Emma really was their daughter, there was no doubt about it.
Emma felt a presence in her room, she hadn't been able to get to sleep. She rolled over and looked at the figure leaning against the doorjamb to her room. She rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Mommy?"
"Sorry babe. I didn't mean to wake you." Rory answered as she made her way to sit on the edge of her daughters bed.
"You didn't wake me. I can't sleep." The young girl stated as she sat up.
"Really? What can't you sleep?"
"I have been thinking about daddy."
"Oh," Rory paused for a moment. She should have known this. Always, after they talk about Logan, even for only a minute, they both end up lying awake in their beds. "Well, come on. You can come sleep with me."
"Really?" Emma asked as a huge smile appeared on her face.
"Really." replied an also smiling Rory. Emma slipped out from her bed and ran to her mother's room. Rory walking behind her, slipped under the covers next to her and pulled her close as Emma snuggled into her side.
"Mommy?" came Emma's quiet voice.
"Yeah honey?"
"Were you thinking about daddy too?"
"Yeah, baby. I was thinking about Logan too." Rory replied with a small sigh.
"Can you tell me another story about him, and uncle Finn, and uncle Colin, and uncle Tristan?"
"Of course." Rory made sure they were both comfortable before continuing. "It was a few years ago, before you were born, and they were all on a yacht. It's like a boat." Rory added seeing the look of confusion on Emma's face. "The four of them were sailing around Fiji when …"
A/N: This story will probably be confusing if I don't do this so here it is. An explanation of my story.:
Lorelai Leigh Gilmore-Hayden, aka Rory:
Age: 26
Marital Status: nil. Single mother
Children: one, Emma Victoria Gilmore-Hayden-Huntzberger, 4
Job: BLUSH! magazine in Hartford. Fashion editor.
Parents: Lorelai and Christopher Hayden
Siblings: one. Kevin, 22.
Rory Gilmore-Hayden is a single mother at the age of twenty-six. Her daughter, Emma, has never met her father, Logan Huntzberger, but knows a lot about him. Rory and Logan dated, like in the show. Practically, everything that happened on the show has taken place before my story, with a few little added bits and some taken out for my liking, but Logan never left for London at the end of season six. He still graduated early but stayed in Hartford working for Mitchum for a year.
They had been dating for a while and were living together, after Rory graduated, around one month after her twenty-second birthday, (8th October) her and Logan broke-up and Rory was actually a month pregnant but she didn't know this. She went another month, then being two months pregnant not knowing until one day she was out to lunch with Stephanie Vanderbilt, and collapsed in the toilet of a restaurant. Steph took her to the hospital and they found out she was pregnant.
Logan had disappeared about a week after he and Rory broke-up. No-one knew why or where he went except for his father, mother and older sister Honor. He had began working in London and when Rory was given the news that she was pregnant she had looked for him to let him know, knowing that she couldn't and shouldn't keep the news from him. She had no such luck though and decided to tell Mitchum and only Mitchum, that she was carrying his son's child. (Lorelai, Chris, both grandparents, Finn, Colin, Steph, and a few other knew that Logan was the father also.)
Mitchum was left with the decision as to tell Logan, if he heard from him or not. (Rory didn't know that Mitchum knew of Logan's whereabouts and still doesn't). If you hadn't figured it out already, Mitchum never told Logan about Rory and the baby, knowing that if he told Logan, he would be on the first plane back from London and he knew that his son couldn't do that. So that brings us to the happenings of now….
Rory lives with Emma, her four year old daughter in a spacious apartment in Hartford, Connecticut. She works for a women's/fashion magazine and is the fashion editor. (She advises all the photo shoots held for the magazine. If you don't get what I mean, I mean she picks all the clothing for, you know how in the magazines there are multiple pages of a single model in different clothing styles. Well Rory consults those; I think that's what I mean. She also writes story every now and then on new designers and all those sorts of things.)
Rory's twenty-seventh birthday is coming up and a party is held at the elder Gilmore's estate for her. Little does Rory know that one, Logan Huntzberger is back after an almost five year hiatus and everything is shaken up more then just a little.
Rory also has a good relationship with the elder Hayden's and they live in Hartford. During the story there will be many Finn moments along with Tristan, Colin and Steph. They, along with Rory and Logan all attended Yale and their times together will be explained better, later.
I guess this story is said to be predictable, as in Rory and Logan will meet and the truth of Emma will come out and all that, but I hope it wont be like that, at least not too much.
If there are anymore confusions, just ask and I'll be more then happy to clear them up. I hope my explanation doesn't confuse you too much; I tried to explain it as best as I could without giving a lot away. But we'll see how it goes.
Please Review and let me know what you think. I love to know what people think but please if you didn't like it, don't abuse me or anything. This is only my first fan-fiction.
And if someone would like to be my beta i would love that. Even if they just read through it to make sure there were no spelling errors would be fantastic because I am such a careless typer. Lol!
I should update soon….
- Kassidy .