Sorry that this one isn't up a little sooner. It's been all written up, ready and waiting, I just had to proofread it which felt like the hardest thing in the world to find time for! I'll try to have the next one up faster.
But, thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed and stuck with me on this journey. I appreciate the support immensely.
CHAPTER 22: Them Hooligans!
Tonight is the Stars Hollow town meeting.
Now an official 'townie', Logan had planned to attend his first town meeting but warned Rory and Elle to save him a seat because he might be late.
The girls themselves had arrived a few minutes into the meeting too, as Taylor Doose is undoubtedly still reiterating the same points that he'd raised when the town meeting first opened.
"What'd we miss?"
Shifting away from where she's leaning on Luke, Lorelai turns to her daughter as Rory and Elle takes the seats beside her, getting them up to speed in a loud whisper.
"There's actually bit of excitement tonight... We have 'the case of the unidentified hooligans'."
"Rats. That's so typical, though... the one and only night we're late" Rory grumbles to her mother, quickly turning her attention to the town mayor, determined not to miss another minute.
Instead of delving into what the Hooligan's look like or what they had done to deserve the title, Taylor goes on and on and on about what a disappointment Hooligan-like conduct is within a small town.
"Leave them alone, Taylor! Especially that exotic one with the blue eyes..." Miss Patty says with a suggestive smile. "What's next on the agenda?"
"Ah, yes" Taylor begins with, appearing to completely forget about the Hooligan's that he'd spent the last twenty minutes madly raving on about, simply at the mention of the next thing he had to discuss.
"Sorry I'm late. What'd I miss?" Logan says in a hushed whisper as he takes the spare seat beside Elle.
"Hooligans... Not sure of the detail or how many. Mind you, that's a term Taylor Doose applies fairly loosely to people in general."
Logan chuckles at the input from the local. However, Rory doesn't notice Logan's smirk that goes along with what she's telling him before they turn their focus to the town mayor again.
"Now, people, annual games day is coming up at the end of next month. Unfortunately, we have to face the sad truth that we were outdone by Woodbridge last year when they broke the Guinness World Record for the number of games of Twister being played simultaneously. But, not to fear, last year's downfall was a first and a last! This year, bigger is better. We will be setting up giant versions of games throughout the town, including what we hope will break the Guinness World Record for both the largest Snakes and Ladders board and the largest game of Chess."
"I love this guy..." Logan muses to the girls, with an amused grin on his face as he watches Taylor banter on passionately after the loud response from the rest of his town after his latest and greatest scheme...
#
"So what did you think, dad?"
"I think I am a big, big fan of town meetings" Logan says to his daughter with an ear-to-ear grin as they leave the town hall along with Rory, Lorelai, Luke and the flood of other Stars Hollow residents who are exiting Miss Patty's Dance Studio. "What have I been missing all my life?"
The four other locals chuckle at the newly enlightened man who has had his eyes opened to the ways of Stars Hollow town meetings tonight.
"How's the moving going, Logan?" Lorelai asks conversationally, as she walks hand-in-hand with Luke. It's her attempt at trying to be polite with the younger man, who is more importantly known as the father of her granddaughter.
"Good thanks, Lorelai. It's still a work in-progress but I'm hoping I should be all unpacked and settled by the end of the week."
Lorelai simply nods in response, not having a chance to speak before they are all interrupted by Taylor once again, even though the town meeting had been gavelled to a close five minutes ago.
"It's them! It's the Hooligans! Stop right there, young men!"
The entire town stops for a moment, turning to see which poor souls are being targeted by the town mayor now. The entire town includes Rory whose face lights up as she spots three familiar individuals standing across the other side of the town square.
Even in the dark, even across the town square and even after ten years, Rory instantly knows exactly who Stars Hollow's hooligans are.
She looks over to Logan with a look of disbelief as he wears a knowing smirk. "It was supposed to be a surprise, Ace... They've been helping me move in and get my stuff set up."
With surprise still etched all over her face, Rory lets out a little gasp before telling her mother that she'll meet her at Luke's for their post-town-meeting-supper-tradition, before she and Logan drag Elle over to the boys.
"Oh you guys! It's so good to see you."
After hugs and greetings, and many 'darlings' from Finn, Rory finally turns to the town mayor who is trying to scold the boys, with not one word going noticed as they all speak with Rory and Logan.
"It's alright, Taylor, I know them."
"Well, well, well, Miss Gilmore. That's most certainly not 'alright' then! You, being friendly with these thugs...? I'm appalled. What example do you set for your poor daughter?"
Rory rolls her eyes momentarily before changing her tactic.
"Okay, Taylor. You're right. I do know what they're like. I'll make sure they are very severely punished. Don't worry, I've got this. I'm sure you've got other important mayor duties to do tonight."
After some uncertain mumbling and bumbling from Taylor at the idea of leaving something in the hands of someone else, Rory finally succeeds in shooing him away, but decides to take extra measures for privacy.
"My place is just down the road. How about we head there to continue this little reunion?"
#
After the group move their reunion from the very center of the town, they relocate to Rory and Elle's place to continue talking and catching up with each other after almost a decade apart.
The second that the group enters the house, Finn is the first one to speak and ask the question he has safely assumed for himself but looks to confirm.
"Now... Is this little darling who I think she is?"
The Australian holds his arms out open and in the direction of the child standing among the adults, just to make it perfectly clear who he is talking to.
"Yep. This is Elleigh... Elle... Our daughter" Logan introduces with the pride evident on his face, before he points out each of his friends to his daughter. "These are you uncles; Uncle Colin, Uncle Finn and Uncle Robert."
Even though the boys had a pretty good idea of who the little girl with a hybrid of blonde hair and blue eyes could be, there is a flurry of excitement as the boys introduce themselves to Elle and ask why Rory hadn't told 'just them' about her.
"Oh! Little Logan! It's so good to meet you!" Finn says embracing the younger girl in a big, warm hug.
Elle grins at the sudden surge of attention that is being poured over her as Queen of the moment, being hugged by each of her parent's three friends. After the greetings, Finn crouches down beside her to reduce the height between them, in fact, making Elle taller than himself.
"Now, go to Uncle Colin if you want anything bought for you – he has a hole in his hand. Go to Uncle Robert when you need to make a decision – he makes the worst decisions, so you know to go with the opposite of whatever he says. And, last but not least, come to me if you need absolutely anything else – Uncle Finny's always here for you, darling."
Looking up to her parents, Elle's face is lit with a big, wide smile. She's already very taken by the Life and Death Brigade boys – the Hooligans- which would be much to Taylor Doose's disgust.
"I like you guys already..."
#
It was a fly-in, fly-out trip to Stars Hollow for the boys and the following day they all had to return to their city and their various obligations. Despite the path of resistance and as much as they might have tried, responsibilities had crept up on the young men at some point in time over the last ten years, shaping them more than they might like to admit.
Before they have to leave later that day, Logan and the other boys had arranged to meet up with Rory and Elleigh once again. They'd just had lunch at Luke's before deciding to stroll through the town again for a proper tour; even at the risk of bumping into Taylor Doose.
"This town is positively charming. I could see myself settling down here..."
As they walk, side by side, Logan leans in Rory's direction a little to whisper a fact regarding Finn's love of the town.
"He met Patty. Let's just say that I think there's a very strong chance that Finn will be her sixth husband."
Rory chuckles at the information that Logan's given her before Robert chimes in about the minuscule chance of Finn 'settling'.
"You? Settled? You'd settle for five minutes before you get bored of being settled."
Finn just shrugs before nodding his head a little, realising that Robert may just have a point...
The group continues to walk through the town in silence before Colin speaks up.
"So have you guys heard our nickname for Elleigh yet?" he asks, directing his question at her parents as they all continue walking. "It's genius."
Rory and Logan both shake their heads before looking to one another, a little concerned. Anything that the boys deem as 'genius' is most definitely open to interpretation. "No. What is it?"
"Well, I came up with it" Finn begins, prefacing the announcement oh-so humbly by making sure all credit is given where credit is deserved.
"Her nickname is Little L" Robert says, jumping in to make sure that he is included in the name reveal, scoring himself a dirty look from Finn who continues to explain the significance of the nickname.
"Yes... As I was about to say, her nickname's 'Little L'... Get it?! It's got a triple meaning! 'Little L' stands for Little Logan. But, it also sounds like her name, like we could be saying 'Little Elle'. And, most importantly, she's 'Little L' as the youngest member of the Life and Death Brigade! It's a clever nickname!"
Logan and Rory look to each other as they shake their heads at the boys efforts and their enthusiasm and they can't help but share a laugh.
"Like it?!"
"I guess it works, but I don't think that any nickname which needs to be explained so extensively is necessarily the strongest nickname" Logan criticizes honestly, to the objection of his three best mates.
In response Logan's feedback, Finn slings a hand over Elleigh's shoulders comfortingly.
"Don't listen to him... He doesn't mean it. Son't worry Little L."
Elle chuckles at Finn's dramatic reaction to her father's comment.
"Now there's one other issue of importance that needs to be brought up before we boys are on our way" Finn adds, with his arm still around the younger girl. Being an uncle has brought out a soft side and a type of love and adoration for the little girl.
"Elleigh Gilmore... Who is your favourite uncle?"
Much like her mother, Elle has never been one for popular opinion. So, when Elle thinks about the question and draws a conclusion, she grimaces a little knowing that it's not the answer that Finn is going to want to hear.
"Mmm...I think Uncle Colin's my favourite so far."
Hearing his name catches Colin's attention. "Wow, thanks kid."
"Huh, even my money was on Finnegan winning that title..." Robert muses, while Finn tries to disguise his genuine hurt with an over-the-top reaction.
"Well, you mark my words, people -yourself included, Little L- I will be the favourite uncle, if it's the last thing I do."
So this is more of a filler-chapter, but I wanted the boys to return before things start to intensify over the next few chapters. They'll be popping up again later on in the story.
Next chapter: Logan & Luke see eye-to-eye. Also, Logan stumbles across a piece of the past, leading to him asking Rory a surprising question.