Disclaimer: I do not own the Gilmore Girls or any of its characters, nor do I have any connection or affiliation with the actors and actresses, producers, show-runners or the CW. Because let's face it – if I did, Gilmore Girls would still be on, Rory would've married Logan, and I wouldn't be writing this fanfic.
Rating: PG for now, for language.
Major Relationships: Rory & Logan, with Luke & Lorelai from time to time.
Author's Note: Hope you continue to enjoy the updates.
If I Never See You Again
By Heather Nicole
Chapter 13
It was about 5 p.m. in Palo Alto. The sunlight was now shining into the bedroom brightly as the sun moved from directly overhead to a more westward position and glared through the windows.
But that wasn't what woke Logan from he and Rory's impromptu nap.
What woke Logan was the familiar sound chime of Rory's Sidekick.
He carefully, quietly, got out of bed, slipped his boxers on and searched for her bag, which was on the window seat. The sun shone bright in his eyes. 'We have got to get curtains,' he thought to himself. He rummaged around in her messenger bag to find the phone and saw the caller I.D. which read clearly "Home."
He sat down next to her on her side of the bed and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Rory," he said softly, rubbing his thumb over her shoulder. "Rory, your phone's ringing."
"Let it ring," she mumbled into the pillow.
"The caller I.D. says it's your house," he said. "I'm guessing it's your mom."
Rory's eyes snapped open.
'Crap,' she thought to herself. 'I haven't called my mom all day. She has no idea that I'm in California. She has no idea where I am.'
She took the phone from him and answered.
"Hello?" she said.
"Hey, there, my little traveler!" Lorelai said, relieved. "How's the open road?"
"What?" Rory said, struggling to gain a clear sense of consciousness after her nap, and trying to formulate clear responses.
"How's the road? You're on the bus right? I assumed you'd gone through some areas with bad reception, which is why you hadn't called to let me know you had landed safely and why you didn't answer before," Lorelai responded.
"Right, right," Rory answered. "Bad reception."
"So how is it?" Lorelai asked.
"It's, um … good, it's really good," Rory said. She struggled for answer. She didn't want to lie.
"So have you gotten to meet him yet?" Lorelai asked.
"Met who?" Rory responded.
"Barack Obama," Lorelai replied. "Is he as cool as he seems?"
"Um, I haven't really gotten to see him yet. Just from a distance," Rory said.
'That was a lie,' she made a mental note, and felt guilty. At that point, she noticed Logan sitting in the window seat, staring at her, head cocked, inquisitively.
"Well, you have time," Lorelai said.
"So, uh, how's Luke?" Rory asked, trying to get her mother onto another topic.
"He's good, he's right here, actually," Lorelai said.
"Well, tell him I say hey," she said.
"I will," Lorelai said.
"Listen, Mom, I should get going, I'm really sorry," Rory interjected before her mother could say anything else.
"Oh … okay," Lorelai said, somewhat disappointed at first. "You want to make a good impression."
"Right," Rory said. "But I love you. And I'll talk to you really soon, okay?"
"Okay, I love you too. Be safe. And make sure you take good notes, so if this doesn't go well, you can write your expose, like Joe Klein did with Primary Colors."
"I will," Rory laughed.
She hung up the phone and looked over at Logan.
"So, that was your mom," Logan stated.
"Yep," Rory said.
"Where does she think you are?" Logan asked.
"Why do you ask?" she said, looking at her feet.
"Because," he said. "You seemed to hesitate with everything you said."
"I'm tired," Rory said.
"And you said you hadn't seen 'him,' yet. And you've seen me. And I'm a 'him,' last I checked," he said.
"Oh, you're definitely a him," Rory looked up at him, and smiled seductively. "I can confirm that as of just a few hours ago."
"Cute," he said. "But not the point. Where does she think you are?"
Rory hesitated for another second before taking a deep breath and telling him.
"She thinks I'm in Iowa, on a campaign bus, about to see Barack Obama," she said. "Which is not crazy, considering this morning, she dropped me off at an airport in Hartford, for a flight to Chicago where I would then get on a flight connecting to Des Moines. And I called her from Chicago, while I was waiting for said flight."
"So she doesn't know you're in California?" Logan asked.
"No," Rory said softly.
"Why?" Logan said.
"Because," Rory began. "Because, I care what my mother thinks. And if I'd told her what I was doing before I did it, she might have been able to talk me out of it. And I didn't want to be talked out of it."
"Your mom really doesn't want us together, does she?" he asked.
"No, Logan, it's not that," she got up to go sit with him on the window seat. "She just … thinks I'm too young to get married. Which is very different from what I think. I'm just not ready yet. Age doesn't really matter. But if she'd known beforehand that I was about to give up this job to come out here … it just wouldn't have been good."
"Will you telling her over the phone that you're in California, with me, not at your new job go over any better?" he asked.
"Probably not. But now it's done," she said. "And I'm happy that I'm here. I'm happier to be here than I would be on that campaign bus. And I'm happy to not be on a bus wondering what I could have, and being stuck on the trail. I'm happy to be here with you."
"Do you really think your mom would've talked you out of coming here? Would she really have been able to?" Logan asked, anxiously. "Because if she would, then maybe you shouldn't be here."
"Logan, no," Rory said, reassuring him. "It's just complicated. My mom and I have such a connected relationship. And my whole life, her opinion has been the one that has been most important to me. Her connection has been the one that has been most important to me. It's strange now … because now there are two people whose connections to me and whose opinions matter to me, equally.
"You are just as important to me as her. But just a little while ago, really, I was standing in front of a sign listing flights to San Francisco, wondering if you still wanted me now, after everything. And if I'd called her telling her what I was about to do, I may have done whatever she suggested, since at that point, I knew that no matter what happens, I'll always have her, because she's my mom. I didn't know where we stood. Do you understand?"
"Yes," Logan said calmly. "I understand. Or at least, I understand what that means to you. I mean, I can't relate, but I get that you have it. And I'm glad that you have it, which is why I'm concerned."
"I appreciate that," Rory said. "But you don't have to be. I'll figure it out."
Logan looked at her and set his eyes on hers, giving her a half smile.
"I'm in this, Rory," he said. "It's never just you, figuring it out alone. When you're trying to figure something out, I'm in this. We're in this. And I have to tell you that the longer you wait, the worse this is going to be. You can't lie to her for days, weeks on end. That will hurt her more."
"I know …" Rory trailed off.
"And someday, Rory, someday … I'm going to propose to you again," he said. "And when I do, I hope you'll say yes. And at that point, you're going to need and want your mother. Whether she's walking you down the aisle herself or if she's your maid of honor, you're going to need her.
"She is your best friend, Rory. And I have seen what going without her does to you. Your mom will always be your mom, and she will always love you. Your mom is great. But this will hurt her, and the longer you go without telling her, the harder it's going to be to repair the damage. But if you tell her now, there may not be any damage to repair. We can't start this life together without your mom knowing. It just won't turn out good for us. And I don't want that to be the way we start."
Rory took a deep breath, and then slowly exhaled and smiled at him.
"I know," she said. "I know. You're right. I can't put this off much longer. I just don't know how to do it quite yet. Can I have some time to think it over?"
"Of course," he said. "Nothing is changing between tonight and tomorrow."
She leaned in and gave him a light, chaste kiss.
"Thank you for watching out for me," she said.
"It's my job," he said.
"Well, thank you anyways," she said gratefully. "And in the meantime, maybe I can watch out for you."
"How's that?" he said, quizzically.
"By pointing you in the direction of the Ikea catalog that I saw on that stack of boxes in the upstairs living room," she said. "We need furniture, Logan."
"Don't you want to help me pick it out?" he said.
"I'm going to take a shower," she said. "Start looking through it, and then I'll help you when I'm done."