In the weeks that followed, Rory and Logan's relationship strengthened to new levels. Both were secure in each other's feelings. Both were on the same page regarding the future, both were excited over that prospect. The pain of the autumn had receeded and made them both realize just the extent of love they had found in one another. Weekends were spent in New York, experiencing the city and all it had to offer a couple in love. Rory had grown comfortable with the fast paced city life-style, when she and Logan were out on the town things were hectic, but enjoyable, it was back home, in the penthouse that they slowed things down to a more relaxed speed. It was truly their home in New York City. One weekend in early April, Logan had unpleasantly surprised Rory by waking her early to go shopping. But this was no ordinary shopping trip, this was one to make the penthouse theirs in every way. This was to make the penthouse, not just to Rory's taste, but to their tastes. This was so that both would feel truly comfortable, and that both would be able to say that their home was truly their own. Now, sitting in their home, the weekend before Rory's graduation, eating a late lunch at 1pm, they were both looking forward to taking in a bad movie and an early celebratory dinner, but someone had other plans.
Logan's cell phone rang just as he was putting the dishes in the sink, "I'm not going to answer that."
Rory had been through this before with Logan and reasoned with him, "Logan, you have to take it."
"But it's probably the office," Logan whined over another ring.
"Yes, so the sooner you attend to it, the sooner we'll be able to get on with our evening. And to be honest, I was looking more forward to activities after dinner than the latest movie starring Rob Schnieder,"
"Fine," Logan relented as he answered the phone, "Huntzberger," he answered, what followed was a series of affirmative grunts and exasperated forms of agreement until he closed the phone and turned to Rory, "thirty minutes, tops."
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Logan had just gone into another meeting to rectify a problem he thought he had solved a week ago, when Rory started wandering again. She had come along with Logan so that once he was finished, they wasted no time in getting on with their plans for the day. Seeing as though this was Rory's fourth time in the office she was comfortable with the layout, and with the people. She imagined Logan had helped out with the latter. Rory often took this time wandering to think about things going on her in life, the last time she spent forty-five minutes thinking on how she was going to graduate soon, this time her thoughts went to the man she was waiting for.
Before anything else, her mind went to the fact that he was the one. He was the one that she had wanted to spend the rest of her life with. He was the one that she wanted to share her proudest accomplishments and her most heartbreaking defeats with. He was the one who she wanted to come home to; he was the one that she wanted her kids to call "Daddy" and he was the one that she wanted to be one half of a whole with. When Rory was younger she had thought that this level of admission would have been scary to her, but it wasn't. Her and Logan had been through so much that she couldn't see it not working out, that she couldn't see it ending anyway else. From their first tumultuous meeting outside the coffee cart to the moment she implicitly trusted him with no real reason on the scaffolding. This was what destiny had in store for them. He proved himself to be more than just a rich guy with a vocabulary when he comforted her at the Male Yale party her grandparents threw for her. When she finally worked up enough courage to make a move for Logan she was rewarded with the most spark filled kiss she had ever had, her resolve was further tested when Logan told her the truth regarding him and commitment, and she didn't flinch. She had wanted Logan, and the arrangement no matter how unlike her in the past was something that she needed to be a part of, so that she could get to him. Their no-strings arrangement pulled her in two directions with equal force.
When Logan was with her, the world was hers for the taking. She felt stronger, more confident, more assertive, she felt like she was living fully. She also felt like she was the only woman in the world and that Logan was doing everything in his power to make her feel like it. His scent became intoxicating, his kisses like an addictive drug, she couldn't get enough of him and every time she they parted it felt like a hammer to her heart. When she was without Logan she tried hard to mask the pain that she was feeling, get rid of the questions that were running through her mind. 'Who is he out with tonight? What is he doing with her? Does he have a cute nickname for her?' She knew these questions were just torturing herself, and thought she could handle them when entering the arrangement but when she saw Logan with that girl on State street her resolve weakened. She knew that she was losing herself deeper in him and didn't know if he felt the same. After that encounter everything was so dramatic. From their coming together as an official couple, to dinner with the Huntzberger to the Yacht theft and her dropping out of Yale. Through it all thought he was there. She had thought that at several points he'd say it was too much and just leave, but he didn't. He was there and he wasn't going anywhere. The fall of 2006 wasn't the greatest time in her life. Things with her family were falling apart, but Logan stayed by her side, until things reached their breaking point.
Rory grew morose when looking at their first break up, the dinner with Jess was a bad idea, and completely cutting off communication with him was worse. She had tried to forget about him when she was reconnecting with her mother, but Logan had already engrained himself deep into Rory's life. Walking away from Logan holding coffee that first day back at Yale was tough, slamming the door in his face after his declaration of love was tougher. Eventually, she decided to give in to what her heart wanted and agreed to go out with him again. After coming to her rescue at the paper she had delved full on into their relationship again and she couldn't have been happier. Until Honor's wedding.
The humiliation she felt when being told of his activities during their break was unlike anything she had ever felt. When she was wistfully remembering all the times they had together, he was sleeping with other people. She sat and listened to Logan explain himself but wasn't going to take it seriously. That night, after a detour at a bar, she went back to Paris' apartment to try and forget Logan once again, but he wouldn't allow that. He came to her, explaining himself, desperately wanting her to understand where he was coming from, why he did what he did. This time, she listened, but still couldn't understand. She still loved him, or at least she thought she did, and at that time, that was enough. She went back to their apartment and tried to rebuild. It was tougher than she imagined which led to her passive aggressive behaviour, leading Logan to go to Costa Rica, and her to go Philadelphia.
The trip to Philadelphia was very helpful, it showed her that even for everything Logan had done, she still loved him, she still wanted them to work out, and on the ride back slowly understood his side of the story and where he was coming from. The next weeks were a blur, from the accident that almost cost him his life to their bittersweet departure from one another; Rory's emotions were in a roller coaster ride of flux, all of which precipitated her decision to break up in September.
At the time she thought letting him go at that time would be easier than doing it later on. She tried desperately to be okay with her decision, to make it work, but life before it wasn't okay, she couldn't make it work. She summoned up the courage to go to London, to fight for Logan like he had thought for her, all the while not knowing if anything she could do would be enough to get him back. It took a while, it took a lot of emotional energy, but she was able to convince him that they were worth another chance, that she was worth another chance, and since then she couldn't be happier. Now, here she was, a week away from graduation, ready to live with Logan in New York, ready to start their lives together as adults and a smile passed across her face. With Logan by her side, she truly was ready for anything.
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As if on cue, when Rory was done reminiscing, she got a text from Logan telling her that he was done in the office and that he needed to know where she was so they could get their evening started. She replied that she would meet him in the lobby and they did, and immediately went out into the city, to get back to what they had planned on doing.
Their dinner plates were taken away a few minutes ago in the restaurant that they had went to when Logan took Rory's hand from across the table and began speaking.
"I just wanted to take this time to let you know how much you mean to me. How much this, us, means to me. I know we've had a few rough patches, especially in the beginning, but I also know that they've made us better. I know that there's nothing we can't get through, just as long as we're together. I know I'd never do anything to hurt you, and I know, once more, that you'd never do anything either. I know that you're special, and I'm not going to let that go. I've messed up in the past, but that's what it is, the past. I'm not that guy anymore, I'm not the screwup that everyone thinks me to be, and that's due to you. You made me be a better guy, a stronger person, because I knew I had to be if I wanted to be yours as much as I wanted to be. I don't think I ever thanked you for taking a chance on me that day I became your boyfriend, so this is me, thanking you. Thank you Rory Gilmore, for everything, for being with me, for fighting for me, for putting up with my family and for meaning the world to me."
Rory was able to stem the flow of tears for the first seconds of his speech, but midway through there was no hope of continuing that. She let them flow, and let Logan clear them away. It took her a while to regain enough composure to speak, "Oh Logan, you don't have to thank me, I'm the one that has to thank you, and I plan on thanking you for the rest of my life."
Logan looked at her after her frank admission, and before the scope of her commitment would have been terrifying, unfathomable and something he would run far away from, but with Rory it was different. He wasn't sure of just when he became comfortable with a forever with her, but now, he was sure that he was.
After the cheque was settled the pair headed back to their penthouse home, and quickly got settled in bed, drained from both the unexpected office activity and the emotional outpourings they had both internally and externally. It wasn't long before the pair fell into slumber, with Logan's arms around her waist, drawing her even closer to him and both of them entered into a very good dream.
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Rory awoke in a massive hotel room, Logan next to her, wearing a smile on his face, she felt a weight on one of her fingers and looked down at it, and was surprised to see a ring now on a very important finger. She stared at the beautiful diamond with awe until Logan woke and broke her from her thoughts.
"Good morning, Mrs. Huntzberger," he said as he kissed her shoulder.
A few months ago this information would have sent Rory into a panic, but at this time she felt nothing but happiness at the greeting. She was Mrs. Huntzberger, Mrs. Logan Huntzberger, she was here with Logan, in a hotel room, over looking a brilliant sandy beach on their honeymoon, and Rory's smile grew as wide as Logan's. Rory moaned with pleasure as Logan continued his work before managing to speak in a soft tone.
"If I had known this was how you were going to wake up your wife I would have got you to the altar months ago."
"Well the good news is now I can wake you up like that every single day, twice on weekends."
"Why twice on weekends?" Rory asked, puzzled, but happy as to where this was going.
"I say twice because I imagine we'll be doing something in the afternoons that while tire both of us out."
Rory could not find fault with this analysis and continued to derive pleasure from Logan's touch, "I don't think you'll have to imagine any longer if you keep on doing what you're doing."
Logan laughed at his wife's admission, "well then, lets see what else we can do to expedite that process," Logan said as he and Rory began expending all the energy they had acquired during the previous night's slumber.
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Logan awoke to the sounds of children's laughter as they poked and prodded him while he was in his bed, Rory coming slowly into view from the doorway laughing at the children's antics.
"Now, now, be nice to Daddy, it is the weekend, why don't you two go downstairs and watch some cartoons before Mommy and Daddy come down to make us all some breakfast."
"Awww, but we want Daddy to come watch with us," said the little boy, while the little girl tried her best to give the sad eyes to her mother.
Logan picked up on this play and asked for just a few minutes and told the children that he'd be right down after that. The two kids grudgingly accepted, gave their dad a kiss and hurried out of the room and downstairs to watch cartoons. Rory walked towards a now seated Logan who was still on the bed, and as soon as she was close enough was brought down ontop of him via Logan's strong arms.
"Just a few minutes, huh?" Rory asked lying on top of her husband.
"Well, I don't know, that was just a very rough estimate," he said as he rolled over now with his wife below him, using his arms to stabilize him, as he reached down to give her the first of many good morning kisses.
A loud beeping woke them both from their pleasant dreams, and after Logan had silenced the alarm, he turned back to Rory who was now facing him, and they both smiled.
"Why are you so smiley?" Rory asked.
"Good dream, what about you?"
"The same."
"Care to share?" Logan asked curiously.
"If I did that, then the dream might not come true."
"I thought that was with birthday wishes and stuff like that," a puzzled Logan asked her.
"Well, I think the same principle would still apply, and I don't want to risk this one."
Logan looked at her, recounted his dream and smiled back, drawing her closer to him, "yeah, me neither."
The pair spent the next thirty minutes finding creative ways not to get out of their comfortable bed, each thinking about how happy their respective dreams had made them, and wondering just how long it would take for them to turn into reality.
THE END
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Author's Note: Well, there is the final chapter of One Last Time. I think it ended on a note that leaves the door open for more, but if you don't wish to read a sequel can be taken as a standalone story. Though, why you wouldn't want to read a sequel is beyond me (kidding, sort of) . I'd like to thank everyone who read this piece, and greatly appreciate those who took the time to review it, your feedback and kind words really drove me to write more. I hope to see as great a response with future works of mine! Happy reading!