Rory had just finished writing her last exam of the term, 17th century English Literature, and while her thoughts the past week in studying for it should have been occupied by the works of the era, they remained focused on Logan. It had been three months since they broke up and Rory was now surer than ever that she made a wrong decision. Rory's regret reached it's peak on her birthday, her mother had wanted to throw her a big party, in another effort to get her over Logan, but Rory declined. Rory spent the evening with her mother in her and Paris' apartment watching movies. Nothing special, but Rory didn't feel like celebrating. The whole night, she kept on guard for a phone call, hoping against hope that Logan would call and wish her a happy birthday. She hadn't been called Ace in so long and thought maybe tonight she would hear the words. She waited and waited for a phone call, but it never came. She was disappointed but she understood. She was the one that dumped him. She was the one that broke his heart. Why would he call her to wish someone that hurt him so badly a happy birthday? She understood all the reasons why he didn't call, but that didn't make the fact that he didn't any less painful.
Rory made her way back to her apartment, thinking about Logan the whole trip back. How he was the one that she could count on for support, be it in person, on the phone, through a letter. She thought about how it was Logan who challenged her, who tried to bring out something new in her, something that was dormant, something that needed to be unleashed if she was going to be the person she wanted to be. No one else had done that, everyone else had discouraged that Rory; they preferred the sheltered version, the one that wouldn't branch out, the one that didn't take chances, and the one that didn't live life. At one point Rory would have been okay with that, but not since meeting Logan. This period of living without Logan in her life had shown in her one thing, she hated it. She wanted Logan in her life, she needed Logan in her life, and not just in a friendly way, Logan was her one. This period without him had just solidified that fact. She got to her door, walked into her apartment and surveyed the scene. After thinking for a few moments, she knew that something had to be done, she needed her one back in her life, permanently, the only question was: How?
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Logan spent another consecutive night working late at his office, ever since the phone call in September. It was past 11 o'clock at night and he had forced a few employees to stay and work on reports for the New Year with him. The employees didn't protest, Logan had been a different person. He was impossible to talk to, difficult to reason with, easily irritated and very unforgiving. He was mean, he was cold. He was his father.
His employees had just finished the newest task he had set out for him, and Logan begrudgingly gave them permission to leave. The employees mumbled to themselves on their way out, all Logan could make out was "like his Father," thought he knew they were right he couldn't help but feel angry at the admission. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. He wasn't supposed to become Mitchum. He was supposed to be different, friendly, savvy, loved, but that all changed that night six weeks ago. He wondered what Rory was doing at times. Wondering how she was feeling, if it was as bad as he was feeling. He hadn't been out with friends since then, he hadn't had friends since then. He was lost, for the first time in his life he didn't know what to do, he told himself so many times that he had to move on but he didn't know how to move, unless it was with his Ace.
He sat in his office, with the lights of London behind him in the window, and thought about his situation. He had wondered if he should call Rory, she said not to, but he wasn't always the greatest listener. A battled raged within him, and had for a long time. Go against Rory's wishes, call her and try to be a friend to her, just hearing her voice might make him feel better and might lead to something more. Then the other side of him struck down that idea. She was the one that didn't want to talk to him. She was the one that didn't care. Why should he try to be a friend that made it explicitly clear that she didn't want him as one? If Colin or Finn had seen him like this, they would be merciless in their taunting, but they weren't here and they couldn't understand the tumult he was going through. Tonight's battle had ended like all the other ones had. He did nothing; he gathered his things and made the lonely trip back to his London flat.
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Rory looked at the ceiling, from her comfortable position on her bed, she was thinking about what she would do with the month she had free from obligations at Yale. She could spend some time with her mother in Stars Hollow and have a month long wallow. She could take up a language or a cause to keep herself busy. She could do many things with the intent to make herself feel better, but nothing would do the job.
Rory had a few other moments like these, moments that she knew would shape the course of her life for the years to come. Decisions she knew the might be irreversible. First was with deciding to attend Yale University, she had made a lengthy pro/con list over that one, had mounds of information to look at and to make an informed decision, and she did. Second, was more recent, and was her decision to break it off with Logan, who she thought was her one. That decision had been made after weeks of internal monologue, plotting out future scenarios and determining what would be the least painful for her at the time, she thought it was the right decision, now she realized it wasn't. This decision was the easiest of them all, either she could try to be happy, or she would have to live with being miserable and so far that wasn't going well. This decision didn't need charts, or data, or scenario plotting, all it needed was a way to start.
Rory lay still with that thought for a couple of minutes, thinking about her next move. She made a move up from the bed as she reached a decision. New Year's was still a few weeks away and so were resolutions, but she made hers today and her happiness just couldn't wait until 2007.
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Logan was awoken from his half sleep by a sound at his door. He turned to check the time on his clock and, just as he thought, it was early in the morning 3:00am, and he had just gotten back from the office a couple of hours ago, keeping the same people who worked with him yesterday in for more fact checking. He heard the banging again, and got out from his bed, wearing only boxer shorts and made his way to the door.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," he shouted at the door, wondering who could be behind it at his hour. Thoughts went to Colin or Finn, drunkenly expecting Logan to be up for some late night fun, or maybe it was his father sending him in person on another emergency business trip, that thought made Logan stop walking and wonder if he should answer.
Knock Knock
He knew that the person wasn't going to go away so Logan continued walking to the door, hoping that it would just be a quick visit, he wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone and hadn't been for a while. His jaw dropped when the last person he thought of was the one who was standing there before him as he opened the door and revealed the late night guest.
"Rory?"