AN: I'm traveling a bit in the beginning of this week so I wasn't actually going to post this until later. But I am anxious to post everything quickly, so here it is in unedited format for now. I'll try to fix any mistakes later.

Chapter 20

"This is not a good idea...," Rory mumbled to herself as she made her way to Logan's yard, walking behind him.

As a woman, naturally, she was willing to offer a few words of encouragement regardless of who the girl was. But as someone who wasn't viewed too kindly in that household, as far as she'd understood, she really didn't feel like the right person to do this. But as a courtesy to Logan, wanting to genuinely help him, she was doing this anyway.

She tried to understand what Eléa must've been feeling, and think back to how embarrassing something like that might've felt for a young girl. With Corinne, things had gone a lot less awkwardly and she'd already been very aware of what was going on once it had happened.

The world had come a long way since Rory herself had been her age and in her position, so maybe it really was no longer that big of a deal, and the girl was just mad at having gotten dragged onto a small boat with his brothers and father for the day.

"Hi," Rory mouthed quietly to the two boys who were seated on the living room couch, as they observed her with curiosity as she walked in. It was the first time she'd faced them ever since they'd found out that something was going on between her and their father.

"I figured we needed some advice on this," Logan added to the questioning faces of his sons, looking at them as if he expected them to come up with something better than this if they so much as dared to complain or object.

Rory and Logan made their way up the soft carpeted stairs, that to Logan screamed Honor's taste in interio design. This felt like new and unknown territory for Rory, having never set foot upstairs before. It felt more personal too, even if Logan's room was situated on the first floor.

"Eléa?" Logan knocked on her door. The music was still playing, classic behavior for a teenager not wanting to acknowledge anyone.

"Look, I know this is weird and awkward and… everything. But I figured you could use someone who understands this better than I do. So, I invited Rory over. I know you are probably not a fan... considering, but I don't know what else to do… So please, open the door or I'll open it from here and let her in myself," Logan asserted himself, opting for the less than ideal course of events.

Rory would've never opted to barge into her daughter's room like that unless she believed her life to be in danger. So, she was a little surprised by this development.

Both the parenting style she'd experienced herself and what she had used on Corinne had been very much about respecting personal space and allowing things to mull over. But she did understand that if the girl was in there just worried and confused out of her mind, maybe even lacking any sanitary products… then maybe some half-forced help was indeed what was required. Nevertheless it didn't make her position any more enjoyable.

Reluctantly the door unlocked with a slow snap of its lock.

"I guess that's as much of an invite you're going to get," Logan replied. He didn't like this either, but he was desperate.

The girl's bedroom was painted in a shade of heather, but considering they hadn't been living in this house for very long, Rory didn't really know whether it had been an intentional choice or not. There were small, modern-looking, chandeliers in the ceiling and a white iron-framed bed, making it look delicate and dreamy. There weren't a lot of books, like Rory was used to seeing in her daughter's room, but her laptop and her choice of headphones stood prominently on her desk, originally a vanity table she didn't seem to be using for those purposes much.

Rory closed the door behind her, and made the logical assumption that after unlocking the room door, Eléa had barricaded herself into her bathroom instead - or maybe that was the closet, Rory really couldn't be sure without being fully aware of the whole layout of this place.

"Hey, this is Rory, Corinne's mom. But I guess, you know who I am…," Rory said, hesitantly, stopping behind the adjacent door.

There was just silence on the other side of the door.

"You're dad's just really worried about you. Trust me, I get that I'm probably the last person you were hoping to see tonight… Maybe last after your dad and your two brothers, that is? Honestly, I'm not even sure it was a good idea of me to come here," Rory blabbered, feeling nervous.

She could just envision Eléa yelling at her something along the lines of her not being her mother or why couldn't she just leave her dad alone. She probably had every right to express those emotions too, feeling protective of him. After all, as far as Rory knew, the girl had been a mere month ago been taken away from the life that she'd grown accustomed to.

"I get that there's a lot of changes in your life right now. And I probably don't know the half of it, but I can imagine - I mean the move, new friends, soon a new school. And now this…, if it's what I think it is?" Rory continued, trying to recall her wording for this talk that she'd had with Corinne about a year and a half ago.

"And I get that you're mad at your dad... Though I don't completely understand it. Maybe you're even a little mad at me for taking up his time?" she added, continuing her monologue.

"Maybe you already know everything you need to know about periods and maybe this is just about the awkwardness of the situation you had… If all you need is some supplies, I've got some here," Rory continued. "But if you have questions, you can ask me. Woman to woman. At least until your aunt gets out of surgery," she added, feeling like she was essentially just saying all the right things but didn't really believe they would go to work.

Silence prevailed and Rory just leaned her head against the wall, hoping Eléa would answer.

"I guess I could use a tampon or something," the shy voice Rory was not too used to hearing, said.

Rory exhaled from relief, the questioning answering many of their concerns.

"Here, sure. I have this little pack of things that I had lying around at home. You can have them all. See what works best for you. If you don't know how something works, you're free to ask, okay?" Rory offered, coming off overly enthusiastic.

The door peeked and Rory handed the little bag over. A small hand grabbed it from the other side, closing the door at the first chance she got.

Rory felt strangely victorious having completed such a simple task. Though she wasn't entirely sure if Eléa wanted her to stick around. She really didn't know this girl, nor how she functioned.

"I'll just be out here if you need anything," Rory announced.

After a while there was just quiet.

Even Logan peeked through the bedroom door, questioningly after a short moment. Rory just shrugged, not knowing what to say. But it was an interesting dynamic, being put between her very fresh infatuation, putting it so due to the lack of a better term, and a young girl at the verge of womanhood who meant everything to him but whom she barely knew.

Logan closed the door again, giving them some space.

"Any chance you're going to come out anytime soon?" Rory asked after a good ten minutes. She assumed that the girl must've been trying different products or just figuring out how they worked, possibly googling on the side. If she didn't want her help, she couldn't force her to hear her advice.

"I'll come out when I feel like it," Eléa replied.

"I'm just saying that you can," Rory suggested.

"What is it that you want from me? I feel crappy as it is," Eléa huffed, the anticipated reaction coming out, and marched out of the bathroom in a stormy manner. The girl was clearly getting a crash course in what period hormones could be like - Rory thought.

"I just want to make sure you're okay and that you have all the information, so you don't have to go looking for it from sketchy sources and thinking you're a freak. Because I promise you, you're not," Rory said, feeling like she'd sounded like a teacher in the beginning of that sentence.

"You don't know anything about me!" Eléa exclaimed, adding - "So why do you even pretend to care?"

Rory was certain the next words out of her mouth were going to tell her to get out of her room, and she wouldn't have blamed her.

"You're my daughter's friend… If this happened to her I'd like someone to help her out," Rory said, shrugging her shoulders.

"And you're my dad's…," Eléa began, squinting her little nose, struggling to find the word. She huffed, not finishing the sentence.

"Yes, I like your dad. And I don't think I need to apologize for that. I'm not trying to replace anyone in your life, I'm not trying to take him away from you. I'm not after your money or your home… I've never knowingly done anything to harm you, have I?" Rory blurted, not liking the fact that she had to defend herself on this in her age. She'd had to do that with so many of her relationships in the past, she was just sick of it.

Eléa continued to pout, as if mulling things over but not quite ready to admit Rory had said many of the things right.

"Sorry if that was harsh…," Rory apologized, calming down a little. "The offer still stands, if you want to ask me anything...," Rory added, realizing that the focus had been drawn away from the girl.

"Thanks… for the stuff," Eléa said, gesturing towards the bathroom.

"So you're good?" Rory wanted to double check.

Eléa shrugged.

"Ask your dad for my number and text me if you want… or…whatever," being unsure whether texting really was something 12-year-olds did, having lost track of which app her own daughter mostly used with her peers.

Rory exhaled, and stepped out of the room, meeting Logan's raised eyebrows down the hall. Clearly he'd heard some of that.

"She's okay as far as I could tell," Rory whispered.

"Okay, good," Logan breathed out in relief. "Thank you," he added, touching her elbow.

"You're welcome, though I'm not sure how much good that actually did," Rory said.

As they made their way back downstairs, Logan hated the idea of showing Rory out after something like this, it just didn't feel like something he would do. And Rory didn't seem just like some random woman he dated either. He didn't want to hide her, even if he realized he couldn't just outright show his affection.

"You want a glass of wine maybe, or tea?" Logan offered, and noticed Theo's grumpy glance towards him.

"Um…," Rory hesitated, not feeling entirely comfortable. "I'm fine right now. Maybe later?" she added, still hoping he'd come over later.

"Please," Logan said, indeed feeling like if he showed her out now, it'd just mean he'd be giving into his kids' judgment. But for once he knew he knew better than day did.

"A glass of wine would be good," Rory exhaled, feeling indeed a little tense.

Logan continued to pour both himself and Rory a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon.

"So, guys?" Logan said to his sons, wanting their attention that was currently glued to some international soccer game on the TV screen. "Not a word of what happened to your sister. Everything is normal, no reason to make her more self-conscious about this than she already is," Logan lectured.

"I mean, it's not something to be ashamed of," Rory decided to say. "You'll have your girlfriends, wifes and maybe even daughters one day, and trust me they'd prefer you didn't freak out like your dad just did," she added to the boys.

Logan was momentarily stunned.

"I guess, I kind of did, didn't I?" Logan admitted, loving her twist, and chuckled. This relaxed him a little too.

"But just consider that she might be more sensitive to what you say or grumpier during this time..," Rory added.

"More grumpier than she usually is?" Liam snorted, actually seeing the humor in this.

Theo and Logan laughed, and even Rory mused to herself.

"She's indeed got a slightly different temperament than these two," Logan commented, handing Rory her glass. He pulled out a bar stool for her by the kitchen counter, suggesting they sit.

This way they remained in the same space as the guys, but separate, able to actually continue to talk amongst themselves if they kept their voices low.

Honestly, Logan wanted nothing more than to sneak over to Rory's house and enjoy their time even more privately. But right now he truly felt like he needed to be present. This was something all four of them were going through, and honestly it took him a minute to realize what this meant. This meant Eléa was a woman now, and the flood of hormones and new issues was only to come. In that context there was now a lot more for him to fear, both considering physical changes and mental issues that in her case involved a genetic factor.

Logan and Rory talked about neutral topics for the next hour or so, their boat trip, for example. Logan even attempted to explain the point of soccer to her. But mostly it was just a humble enjoyment of the other's presence, a few stolen touches and glances when the guys weren't looking.

"What the..," Theo cursed, jolting the two for a moment, but they soon realized he was deep in the game, cursing at the players on the TV screen. This way - things were almost normal, weren't they?