Christopher Hayden was in a sticky situation, he felt Lorelai's hand squeeze his own tightly. Part of him wanted to stand next to Lorelai and hold her hand while she faced a very upset Luke, and part of him felt it would be more appropriate for him to let the two of them talk in private. He thought about what he would want if he were in the situation, and disentangled his hand from hers. She looked at him, her eyes filled with concern, like she was silently asking him not to leave.
"I'm going to go get the nurse, and tell everyone else that Luke's awake," he said as he headed towards the door. "Luke, I'm glad you're back with us."
"Chris…" Lorelai started.
"I'll be back," he told her, and Luke grumbled from the bed.
"So what the hell is going on here?" Luke asked as Christopher left the room, he was intent on getting the door shut before he could hear Lorelai answer.
In the hall he looked up as he closed the door to see Rory and Logan standing close together, eating tacos, and Jess and April in quiet discussion not far away. All four heads turned to look at him when the door clicked shut.
"Luke's awake," he said simply. "I'm going to go get the nurse."
April headed for the door quickly but Christopher put his hand out to stop her. "Get out of my way," she said, not trying to be rude, but trying to get to her dad.
"I think it would be best if we let the nurse check him out first," he told her quietly. He hoped she'd listen, but he knew he had no right to restrain her. She started to go around him when Jess reached out and grabbed her arm.
"April, he's right. You know Uncle Luke, if you're in there while the nurse checks him out, he'll tell her everything is fine. We need to know what's really going on with him," Jess explained.
Christopher was pretty sure Jess had no idea that he wanted to give Luke and Lorelai a few minutes, but he was grateful for the help, and the kid did have a valid point. "Okay, then I'll go with you to find the nurse," April insisted.
"Of course," he replied. She spun on her heel and headed towards the nurses station and he followed right behind her.
"Dad, is Luke okay?" Rory asked, falling in step beside him so he wouldn't have to stop and answer.
"I don't know kid. He seems like himself to me," he answered. "But then again, I was only in there for a minute, I don't know what he remembers or anything like that."
She nodded and backed off, retreating towards Logan instead of continuing to follow him. He heard Logan's voice softly behind him reassuring his daughter, "he'll be okay Ace." The situation was miserable, but the corners of his mouth turned up slightly at the thought of his daughter getting a chance to sort things out with Logan. He always liked Logan, he reminded him of himself at that age, no wonder Lorelai hated him.
He was snapped back into the present situation when he heard April addressing the nurse, "Yes, my dad just woke up."
"Who's your dad honey?" the nurse asked kindly.
Christopher spoke up from behind her, "Luke Danes in room 624."
"I'll page the doctor," the nurse said as she grabbed Luke's chart and headed down the hall they had just come up, with April and Chris right behind her. "What did he say when he woke up?" she asked.
"He asked what the hell I was doing there," Christopher admitted, rather ashamed of the situation. April scowled at him, no doubt bothered by the fact that he upset her father.
"And you are?" she asked, trying to piece together the situation.
"My ex is Luke's…" he trailed off not knowing how to accurately explain the situation. "She's in there with him now."
"You two stay out here, and I'll come get you in a few minutes," the nurse told them as they reached the door.
"But…" April began to protest. The nurse opened the door, slid into the room, and swiftly shut the door behind her.
"What's going on?" Rory asked.
"The nurse called the doctor and then went in to check on Luke. She's going to let us know when it's okay to come in," Christopher shared.
"I still don't see why I can't be in there," April stated. "If nothing else it would be a great lesson in science."
"Even if it would a great lesson in silence, I think that falls into the whole doctors can't treat their own family members realm," Rory told her. "Jess was right earlier. Your dad is easily embarrassed, and we wouldn't want him to not tell the doctor something because he didn't want you to know about it."
"Fine!" April exclaimed. She crossed her arms across her chest and glared down at the floor.
The door to Luke's room opened, and Lorelai came out, slamming the door behind her. "That nurse kicked me out!"
This caused Jess to snicker and Rory to shoot him a dirty look.
"Why'd they kick you out Mom?" Rory asked.
"I don't know, something about getting better answers if Luke were alone," she spat bitterly.
"I'm sorry Mom," Rory replied.
Christopher stood back and observed the scene, contemplating what his purpose was now.
"Earth to Christopher," Lorelai called to him.
He shook his head to clear the thoughts. "I'm sorry, what?"
"I was just wondering-" she started, but was cut off by the nurse opening the door to Luke's room.
"The family can go in now," the nurse informed them.
April dashed towards the door quickly, with Jess on her heels. Lorelai headed towards the door, "Come on Kid," she called to Rory.
"But…" Rory began to protest.
"We're close enough to family, let's go."
Rory followed Lorelai into the room, leaving Logan and Christopher in the hallway.
"So, Logan," Christopher started, "How's California?"
"It's good Sir," Logan told him.
"It's Christopher, or Chris, please," Chris told him. "Are you enjoying being away from your old man?"
"Definitely," Logan answered.
"So, about my daughter…" Chris hinted.
"I love her. I'm trying my best to win her back," Logan admitted honestly.
"Don't hurt her."
"I'll never hurt her intentionally," Logan told him.
"Well I suppose that's good enough," Christopher told him with a smile. So this is what it's like to do the protective dad thing, he thought.
"So, what about you and Lorelai?" Logan asked.
He was a little taken aback, he didn't realize he was so obvious. "I love her. I'm trying my best to win her back," he used Logan's words finding he couldn't come up with better ones of his own to describe the situation.
"Cool. Good luck with that man."
"And to you as well. Gilmore Girls are hard to catch, and harder to keep, but if you can make it work, it's the best thing in the world," Christopher said wistfully. The two stood silently together for a moment, not quite sure what to do next. The silence was finally broken by the ringing of a phone. Both men reached for their pockets, Christopher being the winner. "Hello?" he answered.
"Mr. Hayden, it's Molly," his housekeeper told him.
"What's going on," he asked.
"I just had to pick Gigi up from school early, apparently she's got a touch of the flu. She's asking for you, and I just wanted to let you know," she explained.
"Thank you. I'm about an hour and half away, but I'll leave right now," he said. He knew how Gigi was when she was sick, and he knew Molly probably couldn't handle it. Most of the time Gigi was well behaved, but when she was sick, she turned back into a little monster that didn't understand the word no.
"All right, I'll tell her," Molly replied. He hung up the phone and looked up at Logan, who was looking at him with concern.
"Is everything all right?" he asked.
"Just a small problem at home. I've got to go though. Could you tell Rory and Lorelai as much? Tell them to call me if they need anything," Christopher said.
"Of course. Good luck." Logan stuck out his hand to shake Christopher's.
"Good luck to you too!" Christopher repeated as he shook the young mans hand, hopeful for the first time in a while, that his daughter would find happiness again soon.
He spent the return drive to Boston lost in thought, wondering if Lorelai would call him. He knew that Logan would pass along the message; they were kindred spirits, each seeking their lost Gilmore Girl. He had no clue if Lorelai would still need or want him around now that Luke was awake. The ball was in her court, so to speak, and he would just have to wait it out.
He pulled his car into the garage and raced into the house. He wanted to make sure Gigi was okay, but he also wanted to relieve Molly as quickly as possible, it was hard to find good help, and he didn't have time to look for a replacement at the moment.
"How is she?" he asked as soon as he found Molly, who was looking a little worse for the wear.
"She's asleep. Finally. I thought she was going to scream herself hoarse!" Molly told him.
"She gets like that when she's sick. I'm sorry about that," he apologized. "I can handle it from here if you'd like to head home."
"Thanks," she told him heading for the door. "Do you need me to come in tomorrow?"
"Let's see how G's doing, I'll call you in the morning. If she's feeling better, probably yes, if not, then I'll just take care of her." He watched as small look of relief crossed the girl's face.
He flipped the lock on the door behind Molly as she left, then headed to Gigi's room to check on her.
She was asleep in her bed, covers flung off her, pajama pants pushed up to her knees, blonde curls everywhere. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead. She was slightly feverish.
"Daddy?" she asked.
"Hi honey, I'm here," he answered.
"I don't feel good," she whined.
"I know. I'm sorry baby," he soothed. "Can I get you some 7Up?"
"Okay."
He left to get some soda for her, and returned with that and a few of her favorite books. "Can you sit up a little to drink this?" he asked.
She nodded and struggled into a sitting position. "Will you read to me?" she asked.
"That's why I brought the books silly. Which one do you want first?" he asked.
"Alexander!" she told him adamantly.
"Okay. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, by Judith Voirst," he started. "I went to bed with gum in my mouth and woke up with gum in my hair." Gigi smiled a little, and Christopher continued to read the story to her. "Even in Australia. The End," he whispered the last sentence as Gigi had fallen back asleep. He took the soda from her, and laid her back down on the bed, pulling the covers up over her.
He dropped the soda glass off in the kitchen, and wandered aimlessly around his house, wondering what he should do with his extra time. He finally decided that he would pull his laptop into the living room so he could hear Gigi if she woke, and got to work trying to catch up on things he'd missed the last two days by visiting Lorelai in the hospital. An hour later he was deeply engrossed in a budget review and his cell phone rang. "Hello?" he answered without bothering to check the caller id.
"You just disappeared!" Lorelai scolded.
"Well hello to you to," he said with a smile.
"Is everything okay?" she asked.
"Yes, pretty much," he responded.
"So what happened? One minute you're in the hall, and the next you're gone."
"Didn't Logan tell you that something came up and I had to go?" he asked, hoping he hadn't underestimated the guy.
"Sure. But why would I listen to anything that guy says, and he didn't have any details at all, and was therefore of no use to me," she informed him quickly.
"You should give Logan a break, he's a pretty good guy," Christopher told her.
"Of course you would like him, he's just like you!" she exclaimed annoyed.
"Maybe that's why you don't like him. Maybe you should give him a chance to make his own mistakes, and not impose my mistakes on him. Did you ever think of that?" he shot back.
"Maybe you're right," she said evasively. "I'll take that under consideration."
"Thank you," he replied.
"Now, why did you leave so quickly?" she changed the subject.
"Gigi's got the flu, and when she's miserable she likes to make everyone else miserable. It was self-preservation. If she makes Molly miserable I'll have to find a new housekeeper, and that's a lot of work that I don't want to do," he explained.
"Oh, poor kid. I understand why you left. I hope she feels better soon. Give her a kiss for me."
"So how's Luke?" he asked hesitantly.
"Awake and angry," she said with a sigh.
"I'm sorry. I'm sure my being there didn't help."
"You said it, I didn't. But that's not the bulk of it," she started.
"Oh?" he said, hoping she'd continue.
"He's pissed that I told Anna and April about his condition. Apparently I should have waited more than a few hours to alert his daughter to his situation."
"Wow. Well I guess everyone's different. If it were you in the coma, I wouldn't have even waited an hour to call Rory."
"I know! That's exactly what I thought! I did what I would want done if it was me in that position, and apparently I was wrong."
"I'm sure you two will work it out," he said knowing that's what he should say.
"I'm not so sure Chris. I've known the guy for a decade and I still sometimes feel like I don't know a thing about him," she said softly. "Everything I do seems to come out wrong." He could hear her start to cry on the other end of the phone.
"Don't cry Lore. It'll all work out. I promise," he reassured her.
"Thanks Chris," she said with a sniffle.
He heard Gigi in the background calling for him. "G just woke up. I've got to go," he told her.
"Alright, bye."
"Lore," he started, hoping to catch her before she hung up.
"Yeah?"
"If you need anything, you can call me any time," he said.
"I probably shouldn't, but thanks."
"Well, bye."
"Bye."
He hung up the phone and headed towards Gigi's room completely unsure of what was to come.
Christopher Hayden was sure of only one thing, he loved Lorelai Gilmore, and there was not a damn thing he could do about it. The ball was in her court and he hoped to hell that she did something, anything, with it soon.
Logan Huntzberger hated not knowing where he stood. And for the last few weeks, he felt like he had been standing in the middle of no mans land, waiting for a flare, telling him which direction he should head in. As he paced the hall waiting for everyone else to return from Luke's room he pondered the conversation he'd just had with Rory's father. For a moment it gave him hope, he finally had someone, other than his friends, in his camp. But just as quickly as the hope arrived, it fled. Christopher was a cool guy and all, but he and Rory hardly had a relationship. He sighed aloud. The only person it would help to have in his corner was Lorelai, and he knew, barring a miracle, that it would never happen. He had his suspicions about Lorelai's role in their untimely demise, but he thought it best to keep them to himself. For now he would continue his current pattern of guess and check, and hope that it would be enough in the end.
He heard a door open and turned around to see Lorelai coming out of Luke's room. Alone.
"Where's Christopher?" she asked him without addressing him.
"Uhm, something came up at home and he had to go. He said if you or Rory needed anything to call him," Logan relayed. He watched as she frowned slightly at this information.
"What came up?" she asked.
"I don't know Lorelai. His got a phone call and he left. I only heard his side of the conversation," he said trying not to be rude, and let her know that even if he knew more he wouldn't share it out of respect for Christopher. At this moment he really wasn't sure what the man saw in the elder Gilmore Girl, but he could sense that she felt something for him too.
"Okay," she said shortly as she sat down on the bench.
"So, about Christopher," he started feeling bold. She shot him a look that made him lose all of his courage and silenced him completely. A minute later he started again, this time on a completely different track, "how's Luke?"
"Angry as, as, some metaphor that I can't quite form right now," she told him.
"Okay," he nodded. "Is he going to be okay?"
"I think so. Rory would be a better person to ask, she was taking notes on what the doctor was saying."
Silence overtook them again, and he tried to think of some kind of conversation to make, or some way out of this situation. "I'm going to go get a cup of coffee, do you want me to bring you one?" he finally asked.
"Sure. Better bring refills all around," she told him.
"I know how Rory takes hers, Jess takes his black, what about you and April?" he asked politely.
"Herbal tea for April, and cream two sugars for me," she answered.
"Okay, I'll be back in a few then." He turned and started down the hall towards the elevator.
"Logan," Lorelai called after him.
"Yeah?" He didn't turn around, but he looked over his shoulder.
"Thank you."
He merely nodded and continued on his way. Did Lorelai Gilmore just thank me? I must be hearing things, maybe I should get my ears checked when I get back to California, he thought.
He gave the girl at Starbucks a big tip, and asked one of the other baristas for an extra cup to cover the name and phone number had been jotted on the side of his latte. When he returned to the hospital he found everyone in the hall again, apparently the doctor was giving Luke a closer examination, and Luke demanded that everyone leave the room. He passed out the beverages to a chorus of 'Thank you!' Okay, it was thank you from Rory and April, a nod from Lorelai and a grunt from Jess, but he took them all to mean thanks.
He sidled up to Rory and she smiled at him. "So what's Luke's prognosis?" he asked.
"I'm not completely sure yet. There doesn't seem to be any long term brain damage, he remembers everything up to and including the accident," she lowered her voice, "much to my mother's dismay."
He looked at her curiously, hoping she would explain without him having to ask.
"Mom and Luke were fighting when the accident occurred. About my dad. Well kind of," she told him in a hushed whisper.
"Kind of?" he asked equally quietly.
"I'll explain it to you later," she glanced meaningfully at her mom and April, and he understood. "Anyhow, the doctor is checking him over for other possible physical effects from the coma, and then we'll know more," she finished in her normal voice.
"So," he started, "how much longer are you planning to stay?" He wanted to stay with her, but he knew she had to get back to work, as did he.
"I don't know, a couple of days I guess. Luke will be here for at least that long, and I want to help my mom get stuff set up for him at home."
"I can't-"
"I know you can't stay that long Logan, I don't expect you to," her voice was rather sharp though, and he hoped she might secretly want him to stay. The trip to the hotel earlier had gone well, they got along the whole time, and he even made her smile and laugh a little, but they hadn't discussed anything deeper than which store they should have a new clothes delivered from as he wasn't given time to pack, and her mother had taken her suitcase to her grandparents house.
"Rory, it's not that I don't want to," he said softly.
She looked up at him, and sighed. "I know."
"Plus, I feel like I'm in the way here. Now that Luke's awake, things will get a lot easier."
"You're right," she told him. "So do you have your return flight booked yet?"
"I flew McCrea air to get here, I intend on flying McCrea air back. He dragged me out here, he can send me back." He caught the brief glimmer of hurt in her eyes and quickly added, "Not that I wouldn't have come on my own had I known."
"Let me know when you're leaving and maybe we can have dinner before you go," she said. He looked up at that moment to see Lorelai sitting on the bench behind them grimacing at her daughter's statement. Yep, Lorelai was definitely NOT team Logan.
"Of course," he reassured her. "But for now, I guess I'm going to back to the hotel and get some work done. Call me if you need anything." She nodded and he looked around at everyone else. "April, it was nice to meet you, Jess, Lorelai, it was… I'm sure I'll see you again before I leave."
"Bye Logan," April called cheerily. The other two just stared after him with looks that said 'Good riddance to bad rubbish.' He sighed and reminded himself again that he was here for Rory, not for them.
"Bye Logan," she said, giving him a quick squeeze.
He decided a cab would be quicker than waiting for the car service, and climbed into the first available one that stopped at the hospital. He instructed the driver as to which hotel to take him to, then dialed Colin to find out how quickly he could get back to California. As he waited for Colin to pick up he thought back over the last portion of his life. Were he still working at HPG he wouldn't hesitate to stay until Rory headed back to the campaign trail, but now he had to go back to work. Sometimes he hated being 'Responsible Logan' but if he wanted a chance to be successful with Rory if he ever won her back, she needed to know how he really was now, and that included the workaholic tendencies.
"Hey Logan," Colin answered on the fourth ring.
"Hey. So when's the next departure time for McCrea air?" he asked.
"She send you packing already?" Colin asked worried for his friend.
"No. But since Luke is awake and she doesn't need me anymore I've got to get back to work."
"Who are you and what did you do with my friend Logan?" Colin asked in an accusatory tone.
"He grew up. Luke's out of danger, and I need to get back to work. You got me here, you get me home," he said slightly snarkily. He figured Colin would be the one person to understand him; he was putting in crazy hours at his dad's firm, and knew what lay ahead for him as a lawyer.
"Fine. I think one of the planes is coming in to Hartford tonight. I'll arrange for you to fly back out tomorrow morning. Is that soon enough?" Colin snipped back.
"Yes. Thank you Colin," Logan said gratefully.
"Any chance you'll have time for Finn and me before you go?" he asked hopefully.
"I told Rory I'd have dinner with her before I left, but how about after dinner drinks?" he suggested.
"Sure. Wait, Gilmore wants to have dinner with you?"
"Yeah."
"That's great man! Just let me know when and where for drinks and I'll round up Finn."
"Will do. Later," Logan said hanging up the phone before Colin had a chance to say anything else.
The car arrived at the hotel, he paid the cabbie, and he went inside to inform the staff that he'd be checking out in the morning.
When he reached his room he called his assistant to let her know when he'd be returning, and sat down to check his email. Logan was only a few emails in, when he realized he needed to let Rory know when he was leaving. He dialed her number from memory and waited for her to pick up.
"Hello?" she answered on the second ring.
"Hey Rory, it's Logan," he said formally, not wanting to assume she would recognize his voice.
"I know."
"Oh, sorry. I just wanted to let you know that I'm leaving in the morning. If you still want to have dinner it'll have to be tonight," he informed her.
"Uhm," she hesitated, "tonight will work."
"Great. Where do you want to go?" he asked brightly.
"There's a little French café around the corner from the hospital, let's meet there at 6:00," she suggested.
"That sounds fine. I'll see you there," he said. He hung up the phone and tried to get his brain back into a work mode so he could get something done before dinner, and not try to do it drunk after hanging out with Colin and Finn.
He arrived at the restaurant with five minutes to spare, but Rory was already inside, waiting for him.
"Hey," she said quietly.
"Hey." He smiled at her.
With a generous tip the hostess led them to a private booth in the back of the restaurant. They sat in a familiar silence trying to decide what to order.
"Can I get you something to drink?" the waiter asked when he arrived.
"Can I get a scotch on the rocks?" Logan asked. "Ace, you want a martini?"
"I'll have a Grey Goose and tonic," she told him.
"Very good, do you two need another minute with the menu or would you like to order?" the waiter asked.
"If you're ready Rory go ahead and order for both of us," Logan told her. He was trying to ensure that they both got things that she wanted to eat, but the slight glare she shot him made him wonder if he'd screwed up.
She ordered for both of them, and the waiter went to the kitchen to put in the order.
"So what was the glare for?" he asked. "I was just trying to be nice and make sure you got a variety. I know you'll eat half of mine anyhow, you may as well enjoy it," he teased her.
"I appreciate that Logan, but that menu is huge! Too many choices," she explained with a smile.
They fell into random chatter until their drinks arrived, at which point, she took what appeared to be a bracing sip of her drink and looked him in the eye. "What do you mean you'll come to my grandparents party if I want you to?"
He sighed, he could tell she'd been fixating on it for a while now. "I miss you Rory. I miss us. I want us back. But I also respect you and your decisions. I don't want to make you uncomfortable."
They sat in silence as she processed this. The food was served and they began to eat still in silence. A few minutes in Logan finally spoke. "Rory, say something, please."
"This chicken is really good," she replied with a smile.
"I'm glad, so is my steak, but that wasn't what I was talking about and you know it."
"Logan, look, I love you." He wanted to smile, but he sensed a 'but' coming, "But I don't know what I want yet. I'm not sure about anything right now."
"Geez, it's not like I'm asking you to marry again Rory," he grumbled.
"You want what you want when you want it. You always have. It's not fair to me Logan," she told him angrily.
"Do you even see a place for me in your life at all?" he asked bitterly.
"I don't know. I hope so, but I honestly have no clue."
He stood up from the table and pulled his money clip from his pocket. He threw several bills on the table and looked down at Rory who was still seated. "So I take it you want me to RSVP 'No' to your grandparents anniversary party," he stated.
"God! Why can't you understand me? I'm not saying no Logan, I'm saying I need more time," she said heatedly. "Yes. I want you to RSVP 'Yes' to the party."
"Okay Rory. I'm going to go now, before either of us says anything else we'll regret. Call me when you figure things out, or if you just want talk about them," he said, his temper calming by the minute.
"That's probably for the best," she agreed. "Thank you for everything Logan. I'll see you in a little over a month for the anniversary party." She stood up to hug him goodbye.
"Bye Ace," he said. "And for what it's worth, I do love you."
He could feel her smile against his chest. "I know you do Huntzberger. Now go have fun with Colin and Finn," she instructed. "I'm going to enjoy the rest of my chicken, and some of your steak."
He walked out of the restaurant and dialed Colin. He seriously needed to get drunk and forget about life for a while.
Logan Huntzberger was sure of only one thing, he loved Rory Gilmore, and there was not a damn thing he could do about it. The ball was in her court and he hoped to hell that she did something, anything, with it soon.
AN: Happy New Year! I hope 2010 is a great year for everyone. I thought I'd start the new year off with a new chapter, hopefully I'll be able to update more this year… but we'll see.
Standard disclaimers: I don't own Gilmore Girls. I also don't own Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day – However, it is my favorite children's book ever… the quotes were from memory though so don't sue me if they're wrong.
Also - if you're curious as to the punishment for breaking a pinky promise, there's a tiny little one shot between Rory and Lorelai that I did that explains (and I do mean tiny, like less than 500 words) it's called Pinky Promises.
As always, I welcome your thoughts and feedback!
S