Yes! Under a week, guys! I was hoping to have the chapter up within a week and ba-da-boom here it is. I've written so far ahead for this story, but editing is just a real stinker. I hate proofreading.
Thank you so much to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter. I really, really appreciate it.
CHAPTER 7: Interrogations
Amazingly, Logan had managed to quickly get through the meet and greet, without leaving a rushed impression on the crowd who had come to see him.
People wanted to see him to either meet the Huntzberger heir for the man that he was when he was notorious for bringing shame upon his family as the black sheep of the Huntzberger's, or, they wanted to see the man who he is now known as for managing to rise from the ashes and successfully rebuild himself not once, but twice.
Either way, within an hour, both Logan and Elleigh were sitting in the back of his limo, being driven out of New York and away from the city, headed for the small town of Stars Hollow in Connecticut.
In between small talk and throughout the three hour drive home, both Logan and Elle had used the opportune time together to subtly interrogate each other on their secret suspicions.
"So... you said that your mom didn't know about your little adventure, hey Nancy Drew?"
Elle looks down to her feet before her gaze meets Logan's with a sheepish head-shake.
"Have you been to New York before today?" he asks conversationally to change the focus of the discussion for the guilty nine-year-old.
"Yeah..."
Elle's face lights up as she remembers the day with her mother.
"We went into the city. We didn't have a lot of money, but we went to Central Park to feed the ducks, then we went to the museums and the New York library! Our special treat for the day was that mom and I got ice creams and hot dogs!"
Watching the little girl intently as she speaks, it brings a smile to Logan's face. Not only can he see her happiness at the simplest things in life, a lesson to be learnt for himself, but he watches the way she speaks and the way her sparkling blue eyes light up when she's talking about something she's enthusiastic about. He notices the way that she nods just a little, almost like she's agreeing with herself, when she's speaking about something that makes her happy.
So much like Rory...
As nice as it is spending time with her daughter, as nice as it is feeling like he's with spending time with Rory again even just a little, there's a sweet sadness as he listens to what she's saying.
Of course Rory would have struggled as a young mother; after all she would have been just fresh out of college. Sure her family was from money, but of course she wouldn't have taken handouts... That sounds just like Rory; it sounds just like her mother.
But, despite sympathising for his ex-girlfriend and her daughter, he knows that what the two may have lacked in money there's no doubt that it would have been made up for in love and support. The polar opposite of his own upbringing; lacking love, lacking loving parents, but by making up for it with his parents buying both he and his sister's love and affection.
As she stops speaking and sharing her memories with him, he looks over to the young girl who's sitting on the other side of the limo. Logan watches her contently looking out the window and watching as the road speeds by.
He just sees so much of Rory in that little girl. So much of his Ace...
He lets them fall to a silence once again; still trying to grapple with the fact that Rory is a mother. That, right there in front of him, is her daughter.
However, after a short while, it's Elleigh's turn to raise the next question, to pump Logan for the answers that she wants.
"Logan? I saw photos with you and my mom jumping with those umbrellas and wearing costumes and things like that. Why did you and my mom stop being boyfriend and girlfriend like you used to be?"
The question instantly panics Logan, not that he doesn't know what the reason why they broke up is, but rather, he doesn't know how to put it a child, especially her child without making it sound negative, which their breakup had been from his perspective. No matter how he felt, he doesn't want to make Rory the bad guy in the story he tells her daughter.
"Um, well, your mom and I, uh, we um couldn't agree on something."
Elle crosses her arms in front of herself, sitting up a little straighter in her seat as though she senses Logan's cop-out of an answer; she's onto him.
"Well, I've always been taught to keep trying and find compromises with my friends when we can't agree on something."
"That is a very good thing. It's best to try and find a compromise with people, Elleigh" Logan begins to say, fumbling with words that just fall out of his lips without much thought as he works on how else he can say to gently explain the situation to the child in front of him.
"But, you see Elleigh, the thing is that there wasn't really a compromise between what we couldn't agree on. One person would be happy and the other wouldn't and your mom and I loved each other enough so that we didn't want the other person to compromise and be unhappy."
Elle sits there for a moment, thoughtfully pondering Logan's explanation before she just shrugs.
"Well, I still don't think that that's a good enough excuse. Keep thinking of a better one."
Logan has to hold back a smirk. He can't help but be impressed by the child beside him. Not only is she perceptive enough to recognise that he is trying to skate around an issue, but she is also confident and bold enough to call him out on it.
However, despite how impressed by her perceptive skills and detective work he is, Logan still decides to try and lead the conversation in a different direction, this time asking Elle a question that is on his own mind.
"Hey, how old are you Elleigh? When's your birth date?"
"I'm nine. My birthday is on the twelfth of December."
Logan nods, trying to appear carefree and as though he isn't frantically trying to do the math, determining what month you get when you subtract nine months from the twelfth month of the year; while simultaneously remembering what month Rory's graduation and their breakup was during the same year.
... Okay, that makes it around early to mid-March. He and Rory didn't break up until mid-May...
His theory is not impossible. However, there are still a lot of question marks surrounding his theory, regardless.
After all, he had been back and forth between the US and the UK at that time. Logan may have been oblivious that there was another man in Rory's life at the same time. Not to mention, if he is right, then why is he only working this out for himself, now, nine years on? Why wasn't he informed at the time?
He itches to ask that question, but he knows that it's not appropriate. He can't just ask the nine-year-old in front of him whether she has a father that's in the picture. He can't just ask her who her dad is. He can't just ask her whether or not he is her father. No... No, he has to save those burning questions that little bit longer for Rory.
A silence falls between the two until Elle looks out the window of the limousine, noticing where they are and panicking at how close they are to approaching their destination.
She can't have gone all that way and she can't have gotten herself into all this trouble without any success. So, she quickly asks Logan straight out what she has been trying to determine all day.
"Excuse me? Logan? Are you my dad?"
The blonde man is momentarily startled by her question, especially since he too has been trying to determine the same answer to the same question.
However, he just looks at the little girl sadly, releasing a small sigh before trying to respond as gently as he can.
"I don't know the answer that question... I'm sorry. But, whoever your father is, is a very, very lucky man, Elleigh."
An initial sadness spreads across Elle's face at the fact that after everything, she's still no closer to the truth. She has no outcome from her scoop. But, then the rest of Logan's response brings a smile to Elle's lips as her face lights up.
Seeing the effect it has on the child consequently lightens his own mood, bringing a smile to his own face.
"Was that why you came to the city? Why you came to see me, Elleigh?"
Elle just looks outside the window, suddenly seeming sheepish. It's as though, without the confirmation that she is looking for, her 'scoop' and her idea seems silly.
While Logan doesn't push when the little girl doesn't answer his question, he does have a pretty good idea of what the answer is, going off of her body language as the silence returns between the two of them.
The next thing they know, the limo has pulled to a stop and Elle jumps out of the limo, racing to the front door as Logan follows behind suite. The child knocks and the front door loudly, before rattling the doorknob impatiently until finally the door is opened, following the biggest gasp of relief.
"Elleigh!" Rory exclaims the second that the door is opened, instantly hugging her. Tears of relief fill her eyes as the weight of the world, her greatest fears are instantly removed as soon as she holds her daughter's body in her own.
After a good, solid minute, the child grows impatient and squirms from within her mom's grasp and the two release each other. It is only now when Rory realises that she and Elleigh aren't alone and it's only now that she notices the familiar, blonde man standing beside them.
"Logan? What on earth are you doing here?! Why is she with you?"
This chapter was originally a little shorter than this, but I added a bit to it to lengthen the conversation a little more. Don't worry. There is plenty of Logan and Elle coming up. And Rory and Logan too... Most of the upcoming chapters start getting longer and longer, too.
As usual, I'd love to know what you thought of this one and also if there's anything in particular that you'd like from this story or you'd like me to try and include. More townies and more characters are going to be included in upcoming chapters too.
Next chapter: As Elle faces the music for her actions, will Rory be forced to, too? The three spend some time together after the events of the day.