Hello all! I am sorry but this next segment is going to be into two parts. It was just too much information, and I needed the first part in order for my next step to be possible. So, bear with me please!
Rory sat down and took a sip of her coffee. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear that had fallen out of her small pony tail. It was stifling in this California heat and she longed for her somewhat cooler Connecticut summers. Whoever thought visiting California in July had been extremely uninformed, or else they were just that cruel. Rory sighed and took another sip of coffee while typing up her latest article on her laptop. This was her first day off in weeks, and here she was doing work anyway.
She checked her email and received a message from her mother with a picture attached. She and Luke were standing on a mountaintop in Alaska. Luke had wanted to take Lorelai to a place so north and beautiful that it had snow all year round for their honeymoon. Rory was so happy for the two of them. She had loved Luke as a father for almost as long as she could remember and she felt as though this wedding was a long time coming. Their wedding had been beautiful and Rory was grateful to her editor for allowing her to take a few days off from the campaign trail to be able to participate in the wedding festivities. When she had taken this writing job two years ago, no one knew how well Barack Obama would do. She was grateful that the trail was almost over. She longed to go back to Stars Hollow for a time and then find a writing job that was based in a central location.
"Ace?" the question went straight to her heart and she did not dare look up. He was the only reason she dreaded coming to California, especially Palo Alto. She could not believe how much she had missed him, how much she still loved him. She had been tempted to contact him so many times, but she had resisted the urge. She thought that the only way to fully get over him and move on with her life was to quit him cold turkey, like Mr. Medina had tried to do with Lorelai. Rory had wondered how that had worked for Mr. Medina, because it was truly taking its toll on her. She looked up, wide-eyed, and saw Logan standing in front of her.
"Logan," she breathed, looking at him more carefully. Instinctively, she looked at his hand and felt surprisingly relieved that there wasn't a band on his fourth finger. The two years since they had gone their separate ways had not been kind to him, not unlike the unkindness they had shown towards Rory. There were deep bags under Logan's eyes, his hair was overgrown in parts and it had lost its shine. He had lost a lot of weight and his eyes stared vacantly ahead, no sparkle left in them.
"May I sit?" Logan asked, motioning to the seat across from her. His voice was soft, though unsure and tired.
"Oh! Of course," Rory answered, closing her laptop and moving it to the side. Logan sat, placing his coffee in front of him. They stared at each other awkwardly, taking in each other's appearance for a few moments.
"Nervous? Because I am," Logan said, breaking the silence.
"A bit," Rory admitted.
"So, what brings you to Palo Alto?" Logan asked, figuring it was a safe place to start. He had missed Rory, unbelievably so. He had wanted to chase back after her as soon as he had walked away. But, his Huntzberger pride got in his way. When his friend Hugo had called him to ask if Logan thought Rory would be interested in the job on the Obama trail, Logan had read all of Rory's articles and followed their progress on the trail. He had been nervous and elated ever since he learned that Rory would be coming to Palo Alto. He had talked to Hugo, and Hugo, having noticed how unhappy Rory had become, convinced her to take a day off. He suggested a good coffee shop, and then told Logan what he had done.
"This is part of the campaign trail I've been on, writing articles for Hugo's online magazine. I thought he would have told you," Rory replied.
"Well, he told me that you were writing for him, but I guess you coming here, to my neck of the woods must have slipped his mind," Logan said, a little bit of a spark coming back to his eyes.
"You're lying to me, Huntzberger," Rory accused, knowing the smile he wore all too well.
"Never can tell," Logan answered, and he and Rory started laughing. It felt good, great even, to be laughing again. Rory could see that the twinkle had returned to Logan's eyes, even if just for a moment. They both took a breath and calmed down once more.
"So, really, Logan. You had to have known I was going to be here. It's not like Fate had a hand in any of this," Rory said, smiling a little despite herself. Fate had always been brutally kind to Rory, and, she couldn't help but feel that it would not surprise her if it had been entirely Fate. She did miss Logan, a lot. She still loved him more than she ever thought she could.
"Okay, you caught me Ace," Logan began, running a hand through his lackluster hair. "I needed to see you." He looked into her eyes pleadingly.
"You were the one who walked away, Logan, not me. All of this time you could have contacted me whenever you wanted to," Rory said quietly, tears prickling at her eyes.
"I know," Logan replied, "but I was afraid to talk to you, knew you'd be mad. I thought I was doing the right thing, giving you an ultimatum. I thought you would choose me. I regretted walking away as soon as I did it. Look at me, Ace. I am not that same guy." Rory did look at him and she had noticed that he had indeed changed a lot since she and him had parted ways. Still, Rory did not know what she wanted to say. Logan seemed to be the only person still who could make her forget her words.
"Rory, please," Logan begged. "Say something. I know you miss me too, or you wouldn't look the way you do," and he gestured to her own sallow, un-makeup-ed face and tired eyes. Rory looked at him with daggers in her eyes. Logan paled slightly at the glare.
"You know what I mean, Ace," Logan started again, backtracking. "I know I was an idiot for making you choose, but you have to realize that you saying "no" hurt me too. I thought my life was ending. No-I'm not being overdramatic, it's true. Ace, Rory, say something, please," Logan finished, looking tired. Rory took a breath and allowed her words to form proper sentences.
"Logan, I don't know what you want me to say. Do you want me to run into your arms right now, and kiss you, and elope with you this moment? We have a lot of history, good and bad. Yes, alright, I admit it, yes, I miss you. I have never stopped loving you! Does that make you happy? Ever since you walked away, I have missed you. I wasn't ready to get married yet. What would have happened to this job? Would it have broken us? I needed my options, Logan, not just deciding upon the avocado tree. But, you, you-" Rory couldn't continue. Tears streamed down her face as her hands clenched upon the table top.
"You left, Logan," she continued in a whisper. "I never heard from you again. I tried, I tried so damn hard to move on from you, and I never could. You have haunted me since that day." With that, Rory lost all control and put her head in her hands. It was the first time she had really allowed herself to mourn the whole situation. She had never liked wallowing, and she had refused to do it for Logan. Now, two years later, she could not stop herself. All she could think of was how she should have listened to her mom and eaten all that cookie dough before she left for the trail.
Rory heard Logan get up, and thought for sure that he was leaving her. It would not have surprised her. She had not meant to sound so harsh and to lose all control. But, she was so lost. She did not know if she wanted to make up with him, or to use this meeting as closure so she could move on. Before she knew it, she heard a chair scrape the floor, and Logan's arms were on her shoulders.
"Ace, I never said this, but, I'm sorry. For everything," he said, putting his head lightly on top of hers, tightening his grip on her, his eyes wet with tears. He couldn't believe he was actually holding his Gilmore Girl again.
"I'm sorry, too," he heard her mumble through his arms.
Once they had calmed themselves down, they talked for another half hour before Logan had to leave for a meeting. They had decided upon dinner that evening, to truly catch up and to figure out if and how they should proceed together from there. They awkwardly hugged goodbye, with Rory planting a light kiss on his cheek. Logan went off, looking a bit more sprightly, and Rory sat back down and pulled her laptop out to email her mom a "Call Me!" message as soon as she was back from her mountain adventure. She felt good, better even, than she had in a long time. Little did she know that a man was looking at her curiously from the corner of the coffee house.