Disclaimer: Once again, I own nothing.
A/N: I haven't updated this fic for so long, I hope none of you forgot about it. Summer reading is a time jerker. The next installment will probably come sometime in the next two week.
Chapter 6- Santa, can you hear me?
The darkness of the room was one that used to make him scared and run to his parent's room. He was only five back then when he thought he heard something move in his huge closet. Unlike other kids around his age, going to his parent's bedroom was a mistake. Mitchum had been in bed with a woman that was not his mother. Even worst was that his father had told him to shut up, after he wouldn't stop his sea of tears. With a hard grasp on his then frail arms, his father had yanked him back to his room and told him to suck it up like a man. The little him tucked his blanket closer to his body, but as the sounds entered his ears, he whimpered loudly. Loud enough to wake up his older sister Honor, who had been ten at the time. If it wasn't for her staying with him throughout the night, he swore that he would've turned crazy. And because Mitchum hadn't acted like the father he was, Logan's hatred for him deepened more. As I recalled, he was only five back then.
His eyes fluttered open, the sight before him was nothing but black. It was one of those moments where you couldn't tell if your eyes are opened or closed. But you could tell they're open because you can feel them widening. Closing them, he enjoyed the peace of the quietness he had. All trace of peace was erased when the door slammed open.
"Rise and shine little brother." Honor perkily walked right over to the windows. Tugging and pulling on the golden ropes, which lifted back the dark maroon drapes. The pitch black of the room was filled with streaks of light, poured freshly through the screen.
"Uggh… This must be how Finn always feels." He mumbled to himself. Lifting his forearm, he placed the back of it over his already closed eyelids. He then said in a louder voice, "Honor, I love you, but what are you doing here?"
"You have a lot to explain mister." Taking a seat on the foot of the bed, she summoned him like a judge in a courthouse.
"Explain what?" He propped himself up on his elbow and placed a fluffy pillow between his head and the large headboard. His eyes were still scrunched up and adjusting to the newly bright room.
"When you said you had a girlfriend back in San Francisco, you didn't tell me it was her." She crossed her arms over her chest.
"Because I thought you didn't care. It's actually fiancé now."
"She said yes now? Why didn't you tell me?" She gave him a smack on the chest.
"I sent you a message. Don't you ever check your emails anymore?" He rubbed the spot where she smacked him. "I didn't think you'll be this happy." He had on a questioning look.
"I've been too busy to check my emails, now that I have Bella. And happy? I'm thrilled that you're engaged to her. I've been looking forward for you and her to get married. She's a really great girl." Honor's face lit up with a bright smile at the sudden news.
"I didn't know you knew Sam-." As soon as he said the name, she and interrupted his saying.
"Sam?" She questioned.
"My fiancé, Samantha Cooper." At this, her smile vanished into a frown. "Who did you think I was talking about?"
"Rory Gilmore." When the name left her mouth, she took notice that he had a look on his face that said, 'Are you crazy?'
"Rory? Why would you think that I was engaged to her?" Now it was his turn to be the judge.
"It's just- uggh…here." She took out the white envelope packet from behind her. He took it from her hands and opened the flap. Reaching in, he pulled out a thick pack of pictures. The one on top had been the one they took with Santa Claus.
"Where did you get these?" He pointed to the photo in his hands.
"You left your camera around. Rosa had been cleaning out our guestroom when she found it lying around. I notice your film was full so I developed it while shopping for groceries." She took the picture from her hands and held it in her own. "And know how surprised I was when I saw this picture. When did you start to see her?"
"I ran into at the mall. She was there shopping, and I was with Bella. But that's not the first time I've seen her after three years of not speaking to each other."
"Wait." She held up her right hand. "You mean to tell me that you've met up with her recently."
"Well not exactly met up, except for the third time-"Once again, he was interrupted.
"Three times?" She asked.
"Yea. The first time was in New York, which was a coincidence. The second time was in the mall, but you know that already. And the third time was at Emily Gilmore's party, yesterday evening. And I'm meeting her today-."
"Whoa…hold up. You're meeting her today?"
"Yea, and if you want me to be awake when I see her, please let me get another hour of sleep." He laid his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes.
"Alright then." Getting off the bed, she took her steps to open the door.
"Honor?" He suddenly called out her name.
"Yea?" She took her hand off the door knob.
"Would you please leave two of those pictures on the table for me?"
"Sure." Taking out two identical photos, she placed them neatly by the desk before exiting the room. But she only entered again.
"But are you sure-." Logan groaned. "Okay, I'll leave." She shut the door.
Once again the door opened, "Are you really sure-." This time Logan got out of bed, ushered her out of the room and locked the door in front of him. He planned on having an extra hour of sleep.
Walking right over to the window, he dragged the golden rope, until the dark maroon fabric covered the window completely. The darkness and silence once again greets him. Stubbing his toe on the trunk, he made his way blindly back to the bed and collapsed on it.
Now he lay there, in the darkest place he could possibly be in. He thought back to his five year old self. 'You'll get through it buddy, you're the man that your father had expected you to be and so much more.'
"Well you look nice today. What's the occasion?" Her mother asked as she stepped out into the kitchen from her room. Lorelai's words caused her to stare down on her outfit. All she was wearing was a pair of blue fitted jeans and a matching sweater. It wasn't anything special or eye popping.
"It's Christmas." She stated as a matter of fact.
"Of course it is. But you usually wear your reindeer sweater during this time of the year." Standing up from her chair, she went to the counter to fill her mug with a fresh cup of coffee.
"I have plans today."
"What plans?" Lorelai asked, curiously.
"With a friend, whom I haven't seen in a long time." So what if she was telling part of the truth to her mother. Maybe the only reason she has kept herself from sharing her recent meet ups with Logan was because Lorelai hadn't exactly been fond of this ex-beau of hers.
"I'm sorry mom, I'll make it up to you somehow." She once again stood up and places her now empty mug on the kitchen sink.
"You better." Lorelai took a quick sip. "Oh, I got you something."
"You can always give it to me later though."
"But I don't know what time you're leaving. You're going over to your dad's place later in the day so this is my only chance to give it to you first hand." Lorelai stood up and left the kitchen.
Moments later she returned with a box the size of a shoe box. The wrapping paper was a festive traditional red and green color. On top of it were ribbons and a green bow. Gently taking it into her hands, she placed it on her lap and expertly peeled off the ribbon and bow. By being very neat, she unfolded the wrapping paper without ripping it.
Now on her lap laid a brown cardboard box. Grabbing a pen from the counter, she sliced the tape. Opening the four flaps without ease, she reached into the tissue paper mess and pulled out a fanny pack. "Mom I thought I said no fanny packs, especially lime green."
"No sweetie, the present is inside it." Hearing her mother say so, she unzipped the zipper and saw a type of electronic. Suddenly she knew exactly what it was. A recorder. It was about two fingers wide and four inches tall. It was silver and had blue buttons. On the side of it was her named engraved on it. She remembered seeing this electronic out of a Sharper Image magazine. It was one of the newest and most expensive model they have.
"Oh my god mom-I…I love it. Thank you so much." She lunged forward and gave Lorelai a tight hug.
"No, you earned it sweetheart." Rory took a glance of the clock on the wall. The time was 11:57. Logan was about to be here at any moment now. Pulling back from the hug, she slipped on her cozy Uggs, grabbed a few Weston's coffee flavored candy canes, and went into the living room.
"I think that's him." She said when she saw a car parked outside. "I'll see you later." Giving her mother a kiss on the cheek, she left the door.
'Him?' Lorelai thought.
Opening the front door, she tried to see who her daughter was with. But unable to see his face through the tinted windows, she closed the door and hoped that Rory will share who this 'him' was.
"Hey, did you wait a long time?" She asked as she got situated on the passenger side of his car.
"No, it wasn't that long." He sincerely said.
Noticing the different interior of the car from his usual Porsche, she questioned out loud, "New car?"
"No. It's Honor's Chevy. My car ran out of gas so I had to borrow hers." He answered, his eyes both focusing on the road and on her as well. "So where to first?"
"Let's catch a flick at the Regal Hartford Cinema."
"Sounds good." Turning his steering wheel to the right, he passed Luke's diner and left Stars Hollow. Because of the amount of ice and snow on the highway, he drove at the speed of 45.
Upon parking at a vacant spot near the theater, they both got out of the car and made their way to the theater. Pulling on the heavy glass door, he allowed her to go in first. Standing at a fair amount away from the ticket booth, they observed the board for the choices of movies they can watch.
"I really want to see Mamma Mia but I'm also in the mood for Hilary Swank's movie." She continued to stare at the screen, her right hand on her chin, waiting for a decision to be made. Maybe she should pull out a coin and flip it. Heads for Mamma Mia, tails for Hilary Swank. Her hand was about to dig into her purse for a coin but suddenly it was connected with Logan's, as he led her through the mini maze of velvet ropes.
"Next." The person behind the booth called out.
"Hi." Logan gave her a charming smile. "I would like to get two tickets to Mamma Mia at 12:15 and two other tickets to The Great Escape at 2:40."
"Logan!" She said in a surprising manner. "You don't have to get four tickets. I'm fine with just seeing one movie. Really." She tried to convince him.
"Don't worry, I want to do this." He smiled at her reassuringly.
"The total would bee forty-eight dollars." The woman told them.
Nodding his head, he pulled out his Armani wallet from his back pocket and opened it.
"Logan, I can't let you pay for my tickets too."
"Why not? It's a rule, whoever asks whoever out first has to pay. And I want to, Rory, just let me do this." His eyes were pleading with her.
Giving up with a sigh, she smiled thankfully towards him, "Alright fine, but I'm buying coffee for you later on."
"Deal." He slid in a fifty dollar bill, in return he got four tickets and two dollars back. Retrieving the tickets from the little slot, he held her hand and walked to the escalators.
It wasn't until later on when they got to the second floor that they had to break their hand contact.
"Tickets." A man in his red uniform said to them.
"Here." Taking them out of his pocket, he gave it to the usher.
Tearing off half and entering it in the box, the guy gave them back the remaining half of the four tickets. "Okay, so go down the hall, and take a left until you find 205. Enjoy the movies."
With a quiet thanks, they left to find the room. Reading the numbers on the doors as they passed, they made it to their destination. Finding two good seats in the back, she placed his jacket on his seat as he went to the bathroom. While waiting, she took out her phone and silenced the ring tone to a vibration.
When she saw the familiar blond head coming through the door, she smiled. Not only of his presence, but also because of the jumbo size bucket of pop corn, bag full of candies and two cups of soda that amazed her. Standing up from her seat, she walked down the stairs to help him with some of the stuff.
"I can't believe you bought all this." She noticed that some attentions were on them now as some girls glare at their own boyfriend, hoping that they would take notes from this blond man.
"It's not a lot, I see the way your mom and you eat during one of your movie night. Everything here" He pointed at the food, "would be enough to cover an entire movie."
"You still remember that huh?" Her eyes had a spark in them, it was one that he was familiar with when they dated. The ones that were frozen in pictures inside his album back home in San Francisco.
Before he had the chance to answer her, the lights in the theater flicked off. The huge wide screen before them was suddenly filled with colors from the overhead projector behind them. Previews of shows were currently playing, but he wasn't watching it. Instead, his attention was focused on the brunette next to him.
'She's amazing.' He thought as his eyes follows her every action.
Sometime during the afternoon, snow had fallen from the sky. Rory and Logan walks through the park in Hartford, with the snow crunching under their shoes and both sipping on a cup of hot coffee. The area seems to have cleared since the temperature had dropped and the sky had darkened.
"So thanks again for the movies." Rory said again, for the sixth time of the day, taking one last sip from her empty Styrofoam cup, she discarded it in the nearby trashcan.
"You're too well-mannered for your own good." He pointed out. "Thanks for the coffee." He tipped his cup.
"Oh, that was nothing." She smiled politely at him then her eyes turned towards the sky. "Beautiful night, isn't it? Especially with all the snow around. So what do you think?" When he didn't answer her back, she stopped walking and turned around, "Log-."
Splat!
A soft snowball had struck her gently at the chest. She stared at the wetness that began to form on her beige trench coat. "Oh no you didn't." Her tongue traced the inside of her mouth, and her hand was on one hip. She shook her head in disapproval.
"Oh yes I did." He said, throwing another snowball. He heard her shriek in excitement and ducked to avoid the flying ball. He laughed when she fell flat on her butt, but his laughter was cut short when something cold and wet slid down the right side of his face. Seeing her standing there with a snowball tossing up and down on her right hand and her nose all proud up into the air, he knew where the hit came from. Shaking his head, he told her one thing, "You're going down Gilmore."
"Bring it on Huntzberger." She threw powders of snow on him and ran to hide behind the tall oak tree. Bending down to grab a handful of snow and patting it in between her hands she launched it to his direction.
Logan saw the snowball coming straight at him, he expertly caught it between his hands. Seeing where it had came from, he instantly knew where she was hiding. Ever so gently, he walked towards the tree.
Hearing no response or having snow being thrown at her, she stuck her head out to the right to see where he was. Just as she moved, she knew she made a mistake because he was standing right in front of her.
Moving a foot back without him noticing, she took a run for it. Her legs propelled as fast as it can go. Feeling a snowball hit her behind her back, she didn't stop running because she can tell that he was hot on her track.
'Not bad for a girl who doesn't run much.' He thought as he caught up to her. Placing his hands on each side of her waist, he tacked her onto the soft blanket of snow. His arms were still secured around her waist. His body was facing hers as her back was lying flat on the snow. Suddenly laughter erupted from the both of them, his hands left her body when she proceeded to make snow angels. He had no choice but to join her.
Ten minutes passed, he stood up and brushed the snow off his shoulders and pant legs. Holding out his hands to her, she accepted it and he pulled her up. She also followed his actions in removing the extract snow from her clothes.
"It's getting late, let's take you home." She nodded and pulled off her gloves, with bare hands she placed it on her freezing cheeks to keep it warm.
"Are you okay?" He asked as they left the park to come near the open streets.
"Yea, I'm just cold." Without warning, his palm rested on her cheek. He felt the icy impact of the snow's doings. Taking off his scarf, he lovingly wrapped it around her neck and pulled it up to her cheeks.
"Better?" Nodding a yes, she knew she was fine, more than fine, in fact. Her cheeks had heated up on where his fingers had touched. And the scarf smelled just like him, peppermint and aftershave.
Their eyes had locked for a minute, the gaze they gave each other was so intense and passionate. The moment didn't last as long as they had expected it to, it was ruined when a car came wheezing by, almost hitting them if it wasn't for Logan's quick reflex in pushing them back.
"Yo! Watch where you're going." He yelled out at the black car. The windows rolled down and a feminine arm could be seen flipping the bird right at them before speeding away at the green light. "Drivers these days." He mumbled under his breathe.
"Come on, let's go." She held his arm and pulled him to his car before getting in and turning on the heat.
Buckling his seatbelt into its buckle, he turned to face her. "I know you probably wouldn't accept it but I just thought I'd give it to you." His right hand opened the glove compartment, and there revealed a book with a red ribbon. Taking it out, he gave it to her.
'The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway.' By the looks of it, she knew it was expensive since this was Hemingway's first novel out. Also the fact that it was an early edition.
"This is really nice. Now I feel embarrassed that I haven't gotten you anything. Oh-wait, I do have some coffee flavored candy canes." She fished inside her purse for the candy, finding it, she lifted it out, "or maybe half." She said as she noticed that the candy was broken in half. "It still tastes good." Once again, she glanced at the present, "This is-wow- really kind of you. Thanks."
"No problem, I thought you'd like it. Just promise not to lose it like his wife did." He said hoping she would remember their older conversations.
Logan had seen Rory picking up the coins she dropped and approached her with a striking conversation that she would feel strongly about.
"I saw you with your coins, plus let's remember Hemingway." He had said after helping her pick up her silver and copper coins.
"What about him?" She wondered what a great author would have anything to relate to her and her fallen coins.
"Trusted that wife of his with the only copy he had of the novel he was working on. The silly woman lost it."
"Not so. I know the story. Hemingway left it on a plane. His wife had nothing to do with it."
"That's not the way I heard it."
"Well, you heard it wrong." She refused to believe so, being the feminist she was.
"Logan?" She said his name softly.
"Yea?" He glanced over at her with one eye, the other focusing on the road.
"He lost it on a plane." She said before glancing out the window, a smile slowly creeping onto her face.
Umhmm…I sense some Rogan action coming next chapter. Reviews are always welcomed.