Chapter 8

Rory POV

It's been two months since Logan and I found out that he might possibly have a kid. Logan decided that he just wanted to forget about it and see how things play out. I agreed with him. Other than that, things had been great. Yale was going well, and I loved it there. I had gotten all of my Chilton assignments in on time. Headmaster Charleston had called to congratulate me on being Valedictorian. I had my speech ready. Graduation day was here, and I was beyond ready. "And now…your valedictorian, Lorelai Hayden." Headmaster Charleston said.

I stood up from my chair and walked up to the podium. "Thank you, Headmaster. The time has come my friends for us to say goodbye. Goodbye to our teachers…friends….and Chilton. It is time for us to start a new adventure. An adventure with endless possibilities. The only thing that I have left to say to you is don't be afraid to take a chance. Thank you." I said taking my seat. When graduation was over I went to find Mom, Dad and Logan. They all hugged me.

"You were great." Logan said putting an arm around my shoulders.

"Thanks." I said.

With graduation over, I could focus on summer. Logan and I were spending the summer with Steph, Collin and Finn on his Dad's yacht. Logan said that he wanted a summer away from Hartford and New Haven. I was excited. Logan would be moving in with me when we returned from our trip and I couldn't be happier. Things were really great with us. While on our trip, we stopped in Italy, Greece and Spain. We had a week left on our trip and we were still docked in Spain. Collin, Finn, and Steph had gone to a beach party. Logan and I had decided to stay on the boat. We were on the deck, sitting in a lounge chair with me leaning back against him. "This is nice." I said.

He kissed the top of my head. "Yeah, I'm gonna miss this when we go home." He said.

"I know the feeling." My phone starts ringing. "Ugh." I look at the caller ID…Mom. "Hey Mom."

"Ror, you need to come home." Mom said. She was crying. I sat up.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"It's Grandpa Straub, honey. He passed away this morning."

"What?" I felt tears run down my face.

"Mitchum is sending a plane and there will be clothes on the plane for you guys."

"Okay." I said and hung up. I sat there frozen.

"Babe? What is it? What's wrong?" Logan asked.

"Grandpa Straub died this morning. We have to go home. Your Dad is sending a plane."

"Okay. I'll call my Dad and get the flight information." Logan said and goes to call his Dad.

Several hours later, we find ourselves at my grandmother's house. I was sitting on the couch in the sitting room when Logan came and joined me. He put his hand on my knee. "Babe, are you okay?" he asked.

The only thing that I could do was nod. The next couple of days felt like a dream. I felt like everything was happening in slow motion. The day after the funeral we gathered in Grandma Francine's living room to meet with Grandpa's lawyer. He went over the will. "To my granddaughter Rory, I leave her…her inheritance, trust fund and the title of the Hayden heiress." The lawyer said.

"What?!" I said.

"Ror, calm down." My dad said.

"I need to get out of here." I said getting up and walking out. When I got outside, I felt anger. Sure, I had grown up in society and I had always had money but in the back of my mind, I had always wanted less. I didn't want to have a trust fund. I wanted to work and make my own money.

A few minutes later, I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Babe, are you okay?" I heard Logan ask me.

"I wanna go home." I said.

"Okay, go to the car and I'll go and tell everyone that we're leaving." He said.

I nod and make my way to the car. Logan comes and gets in the car a few minutes later and we head home. When we get to my apartment, I go into my bedroom and put on my sweats. I find myself sitting on the edge of the bed for what feels like forever. Finally, I look up and see Logan standing in the doorway. I look at him. He walks over and sits beside me on the bed.

"It's going to be okay." He says pulling me into his side. He kisses the top of my head as I lay it against his chest.

The next morning, I woke up in Logan's arms. I got up and started a pot of coffee. While the coffee was brewing, I took a shower. When I got out of the shower, I walked into my room and grabbed my jeans, a tank top, and my flip flops. I went back to the bathroom and got dressed. I went into the kitchen and fixed my cup of coffee. The phone started to ring. It was Mom. "Hey mom."

"Hi sweets. You okay?" She asked me.

"I'm dealing. Dad working today?" I asked. I needed to talk to my Dad about everything.

"Yeah, he's at the office. He's trying to take care of some stuff."

"Okay." I said. "You wanna get dinner tonight? Just me and you?" I ask.

"Sure. Just let me know where you wanna meet."

"I will." I say and hang up. I fix me a cup of coffee to go, grab my phone and keys and walk out the door. When I get in the car I sync my phone like always. As I get on the highway going towards Hartford, my phone rings. Its Logan. I answer it. "Hi baby." I say.

"Hey where'd you head to so early?" He asked me.

"To see my Dad."

"Oh ok. Well the guys will be here soon so that we can move all my stuff." He said.

I was happy. Logan was moving into my apartment. It still seemed like it was too soon but with the news a few weeks ago about our marriage arrangement, we figured why wait? "That's great. How long do you think it will take?" I asked.

"Not too long. Some stuffs going in storage. Have you heard from Steph? Collin said that she's not answering his calls." He said.

"Not in a few days. I'll swing by her house while I'm in Hartford. Maybe convince her to come up for a couple of days." I said as I got off at the Hartford exit, heading towards my Dad's office. "Okay baby, I gotta go pulling in. I'll see you tonight."

"All right. Love you" He said.

"Love you" I said and hung up. I pulled into the parking lot of my dad's office. When I walked in my dad's assistant Virginia was sitting at her desk. "Hey Virginia, is my dad busy?" I asked.

"No go-ahead in." she said as I walked toward my dad's office.

The door was open. I knocked on the door frame. "Hey kiddo. This is a surprise." He said looking up from the files on his desk. He waved me in. I walk in and sit in the chair in front of his desk. "What brings you by?" He asked.

"I wanna talk…about me being the heiress." I said. I could see the hurt in my dad's eyes. He had always thought that the title would go to him, but clearly Grandpa had other ideas. "Why? Why me?"

Dad sat back in his chair. "Ror, growing up, Grandpa always said that I would be his heir. After my accident, Grandpa and I talked, and he asked me how I would feel about you becoming the heir. I told him that I had made peace about me being the heir but if he really wanted to name you as his heir then I would understand." My Dad said. "As far as a reason…I don't know he never said. Grandma might know." I nod my head. I hug my dad before walking out of his office.

When I pulled out of the parking lot, I drove over to Steph's house since I have a few hours till I have to meet Mom for dinner. When I pull into her driveway, she is sitting on the front porch. I get out of my car and approach the front steps. "Hey." I say.

"Hey." Steph says.

"So…um you ok?" I sit next to her on the swing. She nods. "Ok…Nobody's heard anything from you in a few days."

"I screwed up Ror. I really screwed." She says looking like she's about to cry.

"Well, whatever it is I'm sure we can get through it." I tell her.

"I don't think so."

I look at her. "Steph? What did you do?"

"I'm sorry, Ror. I'm really, really sorry."

I stand up. I turn towards her. "What did you do?"

"I was mad at Collin, so I went to Paris's end of the year party and I got drunk. Really drunk. And I sort of slept with Tristan." She says starting to cry.

"Steph! How could you?" I yell at her, turning around and walking towards my car. I get in my car and speed out of her driveway. I call my Mom and tell her that I need to reschedule dinner. I jump on freeway and head home. When I walk into my apartment, Logan, Collin and Finn are sitting on the couch drinking. I walk straight to my bedroom and slam the door behind me. I change into my sweats. A few minutes later, I walk into the kitchen and begin looking for the tequila. "Logan, didn't we have a bottle of tequila?" I ask. When I turn around all three guys are staring at me. "Long day?" they nod and Logan hands me the tequila.

"Hey Ror, did you talk to Steph?" Collin asks me as I take a shot.

"Yeah. We're not friends anymore." I say and take another shot. My cell starts ringing. I look at it and see Steph's name on the screen. I send it to voicemail. A few minutes later there is a knock on my front door. I walk over to the door and open it. "What do you want?" I ask.

"Can we talk?" Steph asks as I turn around and walk back towards the kitchen.

"There's nothing to talk about." I say as I reach for the alcohol.

"RORY." Steph yells.

I turn around quickly and glare at her. The guys are staring at us at this point. "What!" I yell walking towards her. "What do you want to talk about? The fact that you betrayed me? Huh? What about Collin?" I yell.

"Rory, don't do this." Steph begs.

"Don't you think that Collin has a right to know? I mean this affects him too?" I said.

"What is she talking about Steph?" Collin asks.

I take another shot of tequila. "Steph, we've been best friends our whole lives. You were the one person that I didn't think I had to worry about betraying me." I said. I slap her. "You tell him, or I will." Steph doesn't say anything. "Good ol' Steph here, got drunk and slept with Tristan." I said.

"No." Logan said. "She wouldn't."

I look at Collin. "How could you?" He asks.

"I'm sorry." She says. "I was mad at you and I started drinking and I wasn't thinking clearly."

"Get out." I said. Steph turned around and walked out shutting the door behind her. I turned around grabbing the bottle of tequila on the counter, walking into my room and slamming the door again.

LOGAN POV

"What the fuck?" Finn said.

"Shut up Finn!" Collin yelled. "I gotta get out of here." Collin said and walked out.

"Finn, follow him. Make sure that he doesn't do anything stupid." I said. Finn nods and follows Collin. Now to check on Rory. I walk into our bedroom opening the door slowly. I walk in and see Rory asleep, tequila bottle sitting on the floor beside her. I'll talk to her tomorrow.