It was approaching eight o'clock in the evening when Logan was riding up the elevator to his apartment. Over the past week he had been increasingly looking forward to getting to his door. Every night, he would find Rory there waiting for him. He was surprised to see her after that first unannounced visit, so Logan was caught off guard and didn't really know what to say. Every night the conversation became easier, every night talking to Rory became less frightening and more enjoyable. Every night he was more and more reluctant to shut the door on her and leave her for the night.
The conversation that went on in Logan's mind was less light and had far greater reach than knowing if Rory enjoyed the London Eye or not. With each conversation his resolve weakened, remembering how much he enjoyed talking with Rory and how he could never spend enough time with her. Slowly the intense feelings of anger dissipated and instead of being ever present they were only there when reminded directly. Logan was slowly coming around to the idea that maybe their relationship was worth another chance. That it was worth risking is heart again, if he could feel like he did when he talked to Rory for those minutes a night outside his door.
Logan also noticed a shift in him this past week. He was less obsessed with work than he had been. He was slowly unlearning all the Mitchum-esque qualities that had possessed him since that phone call in September. Little by little the man that he was before that awful month was coming back and he didn't need to be told the reason why. Also taking note of his changed attitude was his employees, who now no longer walked on egg shells around him, which in turn led to a more productive work force. This also raised production which made Mitchum happy, giving Logan another reason to feel good about the change. His sister was also happy for Logan, but was a bit more cautious. Honor had called Logan nightly to see how he was, and to check what he thought of each Rory encounter. Initially Logan had understood and appreciated Honor's skepticism, having felt the same way himself, but has his feelings grew more positively towards Rory; Honor's seemed to take a more negative turn. Logan had chalked it up to Honor being overprotective older sibling, but he had told Honor that he was a grown man and that if what he was doing made her happy she should stop trying to derail that. Honor had been surprised by his tone, but in it she found that Logan was serious, and she had to admit he was doing a lot better since Rory had shown up. Their last phone call had Honor tell Logan that she was happy for him and would support whatever decision he made. It was genuine, it was real and it meant a lot to Logan.
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Logan stepped off the elevator expecting to see Rory there, but there was no one. Logan smile immediately faded and he looked at his watch to check if the time was right, it was. He then decided to look at the time on his cell phone to see if maybe his watch had stopped for some reason, but the cell phone confirmed the time. Logan reasoned that it wasn't exactly eight o'clock and that he shouldn't worry, he had grown to have faith in Rory that she would be there. Eight o'clock came and went and Logan's feelings began to teeter from worry to disappointment. He was worried that she was hurt, or that something happened back home to cause her absence because he had thought that they were slowly rebuilding a foundation of trust. Then more negative thoughts entered his mind. She got tired of waiting, she didn't have the commitment to them she said she did, she didn't think he was worth it. At 9:00 p.m Logan was ready to give up on her for the night, and possibly forever, when a familiar knock came from his door. He sprang up from the couch and quickly made his way to the door. When he opened it his face managed to convey the surprise, relief and confusion he was feeling at that moment.
"Hey," Rory started, breathing heavily from running to his door, "I'm sorry I'm late but you have no idea how hard it was to find these clothes in London."
Logan confusion only grew greater with that remark as he scanned Rory. She looked like someone familiar but couldn't place it, noticing his reaction Rory decided to answer his unasked question.
"You'd be surprised to hear about how man stores one has to go to in order to pull off an outfit that bares a striking resemblance to Alyssa Milano on Who's The Boss," Rory smiled.
The realization that Rory wasn't late, or hadn't abandoned him, made Logan smile wide. He was worried for nothing, she was late because she had remembered the one and only time that a reference to his childhood crush was made. He was also smiling because the outfit looked really good on her, "You had me worried there, Rory."
While Logan's tone was light, Rory frowned; she had hoped that the past few days had helped instill some level of trust in him of her. "Really? After everything I've said, you thought I'd just ditch you?"
"I'm not saying it was the first thing that went through my head, because I was worried that you were hurt or something happened in the states, but the thought of you giving up did cross my mind," he noticed Rory's sad expression, "and has great as this past week has been those feelings might crop up from time to time, but if it makes you feel any better, they are weakening," Logan finished, trying to reassure her as much as he could.
"I was worried about that, I was thinking of calling you, but then I left my cell phone at the hotel room and didn't think of a pay phone. I also thought that if I told you anything that it would ruin the surprise. Guess I didn't think of where your mind would go. I'm sorry for that. Forgive me?" Rory asked seriously, but also good naturedly.
"Yeah, I forgive you, seeing as though the end result turned out to be spectacular."
"Good surprise then?"
"Absolutely."
"Good, that's what I wanted," Rory then sighed, "I didn't realize how late I'd run, I bet you have a ton of work to do, or need to eat or something. I guess I'll just talk to you tomorrow night, I promise I'll be on time," Rory turned and took the first steps back towards the elevator when Logan's voice stopped her.
"Wait," Rory turned to face him, "you're right I haven't eaten, but I bet you haven't either, even if you did I remember the capacity of a Gilmore stomach, so what do you say to joining me for some takeout?" Logan asked, taking the first major step by asking her into his apartment, only Rory wasn't sure.
"In your apartment?"
"No, we're going to eat in the hall. I mean the lighting is okay, and I'm sure the custodial staff wouldn't mind. Of course in the apartment Rory."
"I'd love to," Rory said as she walked through Logan's door with him holding it behind her as she got her first glimpse of Logan's London habitat.
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Rory immediately noticed at how empty it was. It only had the basics, television, couch, table, and she could see a bed in another room, but it lacked the feel of a home. "Uh Logan, I think you need a trip to Ikea, things are looking pretty bare."
"Lately I haven't been living for comfort or the feeling of homey-ness, god did I just say homey-ness? Is that even a word? Anyway, I think it just needs a woman's touch,"
"Well I'm sure Honor would have helped," Rory responded oblivious to Logan's implication.
"But it wouldn't have been like it was back home, in our apartment in New Haven, that's probably under the care of some stuffy blue blood. Anyway, what do you want to eat? Chinese?" Rory nodded, but was still struck by his reasoning as to the bare apartment.
Rory and Logan spent the time waiting for their food talking about their days. Logan talked about an acquisition that was going south until someone on his staff formulated a plan and they all put it into action to make the deal successful. Rory was engrossed with the tale and conveyed genuine feelings of happiness when Logan told her it ended well. Rory told Logan about her adventures in shopping in London, and how European sizes will take some time to get used to. By the time their food came they had exhausted all manner of small talk for the day and both knew that they couldn't avoid the larger issue. Logan was the first one to address it.
"So I guess we should talk about important stuff now?" Logan asked as he munched on some noodles.
"Yeah, now is as good a time as ever," Rory said as she put down the carton on the table and got ready for a major conversation.
"I won't lie to you Rory, I've liked these past few days, I liked seeing you at my door every night, trying, fighting for me. I don't care if that sounds arrogant, or rude, I liked it, I liked it because I don't think I felt from you, ever."
"I don't mind, I like that you liked that I was trying, that you liked seeing me at your door and didn't label me a crazy woman. I realize that in the past I may not have been the best at fighting for you or convincing you of the depth of my feelings for you, but I'm not going to make the same mistake again. This is a new and improved Rory. I just want to know if you want her," Rory's voice lowered at the end, not wanting to consider that maybe Logan didn't want her.
"I do," Logan softly whispered as Rory's head snapped back up to look at him with excitement and joy, "but," Rory's face fell, "I want you to know that it may take some time to get back where we once were. If we, I guess if I decided to give us another shot. I'm not saying I'll never get there, in fact I'm pretty sure I'll get there quicker than I'm thinking right now, but it won't be some magical reset button, if it happens," Logan told her, stressing the 'ifs' in his speech."
"I understand that Logan, I really do, I'm just glad you're thinking about it."
"If we do, we're going to have to have a real talk about the reasons why we are where we are. Not something like this either, I think we would both need time to reflect on what got us to this point so we wouldn't say something hasty or anything that we would regret later on."
"Okay, I get that, what did you have in mind?" Rory asked.
"I know this restaurant, serves some really great Italian food; I think you'll love it. It's also quiet, so that it would give us some level of privacy."
"So when I start crying I won't be embarrassed?" Rory sounded jovial.
"I was thinking more of if I was a wreck no one would notice and take a picture of the despondent mogul."
Rory didn't know what to say to that, Logan looked so sad when expressing that fear. "I don't know what to say, but I'll do everything in my power to make sure that doesn't happen. I don't want to hurt you, again," Rory told him.
"This may not mean a lot right now, but I believe you."
"That means a lot more to me than you think Logan," Rory said with happy tears in her eyes.
Logan handed her a tissue to wipe her eyes, "So I was thinking I'll pick you up at your hotel at 7:30?"
"Is it a holiday or something? You're taking off early from work?"
"Who's the boss?" Logan said, unable to keep a straight face.
"You are, and that was one bad joke Huntzberger," Rory told him, feeling comfortable with calling him that once more.
"I've been keeping them in reserve, just for you, Ac…Rory," Rory's face faltered only slightly at the correction. It would have been nice to hear, but she understood how much harder this was for Logan than for her.
"7:30 it is. I'm looking forward to it, and dreading it at the same time."
Logan looked puzzled, "Do you not remember how good I am at picking out restaurants, this is a great place Rory," he told her leading Rory to the door.
"No, it's not that. It's just that this dinner seems to final, it's do or die for us and I'm just not sure I'll ever be able to accept the die part," Rory told him as they stood by the now open door.
Logan heard what Rory was saying and couldn't help but think that was the case as well, and spoke to ease his fears as much as hers "Don't think of it like that. Think of tomorrow as a great meal with an opportunity to put all of our cards on the table and potentially end this misery both of us have been feeling lately."
"Okay. Great meal, great opportunity, that's how I'm going to look at it," there was a brief silence where no one knew what to say, which Rory broke "well I guess this is good night," Logan nodded, "Until tomorrow night."
"Tomorrow night," Logan said as he gave Rory a goodbye smile and watched her walk to the elevator, at this moment hoping that it would be the last time she would walk away from him, but tomorrow was another day.
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Author's Note: I didn't anticipate having this chapter up so quickly, especially since it's my longest one so far, but the material and the reaction to the previous chapter fueled my creativity and there you have it. I also wanted another update before the weekend and this is it. Thanks for the readership, as always reviews are appreciated.