Chapter 14

The next couple of days Rory found herself searching for attention. She considered taking her coffee out to the coast steps again but didn't see Logan swimming there in the mornings. She ate outside on her deck more frequently, she put many good hours into writing that book of hers, and even did a little bit of gardening, which really wasn't something she did eagerly. But for days now there had been no sight of Logan. There were the boys, coming and going, and also Honor and the younger kids, but they didn't stick around for very long, heading out for some other adventure after a day or so.

But strangely enough, Rory hadn't even gotten Logan's phone number. And out here, she really wasn't after connecting via social media, hating the fakeness each profile, photo and post presented. Besides, while she had played along with the developments of the past few decades quite well, when it was 'her' time she often just went back to the way things had been during her college days. Good-old texting, phone calls and post-it notes.

So, the next time Rory had seen everyone except Logan climb into their cars and head off, already feeling like a stalker for keeping tabs on her neighbors, Rory took a deep tactical breath and stepped out of her door with a distinctive plan.

Her very simple plan was to go and invite him over for lunch. She wasn't making anything fancy but did have a nice peach and chicken salad made. Besides, she just didn't believe that after the journey they'd had and all the discussions they'd had that Logan was just out to ghost her.

Rory knocked on the door and waited, growing a little nervous. She'd dressed up a little for this too - still no heels, but a nice semi-casual, blue-toned summer dress and applied some gently tinted lip ink.

"Hey!" Rory exhaled, feeling relieved that the person who opened the door was indeed Logan and not one of the people who helped them maintain this house.

"H..," Logan began, attempting to get the word out. But no voice came out of his mouth. He looked pale, definitely not his usual self.

"You okay?" Rory inquired.

Logan couldn't get a word out and only gesticulated and mouthed what he wanted to say - "I've lost my voice," was what Rory managed to make out.

Logan gestured to her to step inside briefly.

It was evident from the unusually homey attire too that he'd been doing nothing but lounging around.

"Are you sick?" Rory asked, sensing it was pretty pointless asking him much.

At that Logan glanced around and found a notepad on the foyer drawer with a pencil.

"I'm OK. Just caught a cold. No voice," Logan scribbled onto the pad.

"Ah, I'm sorry… That sucks," Rory replied, all of her initial ideas flying out of her brain why she was there in the first place. She figured Logan had caught a cold possibly out on the sea with her, even though she knew that generally it took also being subject to a virus or bacteria of some sort along with coldness for that to actually happen.

Logan nodded. But underlined the "I'm OK," part on the notepad.

"You got everything you need? I mean, I was coming to ask if you were hungry, but maybe I should just bring you some soup instead," Rory replied, feeling like doing some mothering. But she knew it to be a fragile balance with someone she was just beginning to see in that way - a little more than a friend, a little bit less than a lover.

"Got soup," Logan scribbled on the next sheet of paper.

"Okay, then I guess I'll just get out of your hair. Let you rest. We'll have lunch some other time?" Rory said, hopefully.

Logan hated that this was an opportunity to be wasted. He was bored out of his mind and would've loved having some company, but he didn't want to risk Rory catching what he had.

Logan nodded assuringly, wanting desperately to pick up where they'd left off the other day. But reluctantly he just watched her walk out the door.

As Logan closed the door behind her, enjoying the sight of her for a few seconds longer than would've been neighborly, he regained his position on the couch and sighed. Truthfully, this wasn't like him at all to feel so off his game, not just out of practice but rather off physically like he did now, and he truly wished he could somehow relay to her his good intentions.

He picked up his phone from the couch pillow beside him and having already stared at her sparsely filled public profile, he now felt the courage to befriend her, hoping to open a channel of communication that didn't rely on big spiders or running into each other at the supermarket. Besides, after this, he felt like the ball was right back in his court and he really didn't want to miss the opportunity.

"It was great seeing you. You looked great. Blue suits you," Logan typed a message to her, struggling to hold back his smirk as he did.

Rory smiled like a giggly teenager seeing what her phone was pinging about.

"It's too bad you're sick," Rory said, wanting to add something more, but every idea she had just seemed too forward or too boring. But Logan saw her typing and retracting a bunch of times - she was definitely keeping him on his toes.

"I wish there was something I could do to help," Rory added, hoping that if Logan was thinking a little to the left as she was, he could imagine it in a slightly more sultry voice.

"Seeing you did plenty," Logan replied.

"Do you have a fever?" Rory typed.

"Had, but not much," Logan replied.

"And so just a sore throat? No voice?" Rory replied, already looking up some good voice restoring mints she'd used herself before when she'd had throat problems. It was quite a common thing for teachers.

"Probably just some virus," Logan replied. "I hope you didn't catch anything," he added.

"I'll be fine. I am around all sorts of viruses all school year. I'm pretty immune to most things," Rory replied, meaning it.

Rory sent over the screenshots of the mints that usually worked for her. And Logan replied with a genuine 'like' on each of the images.

"So, what have you been doing?" Logan inquired, hoping to entertain himself with her if not physically, then at least with a virtual presence.

"Oh, not much. It's actually been kind of lonely," Rory confessed. Truthfully, she was pretty good at being alone, but it was the contrast that brought out how much she craved his company that stung, making her forget why she'd been eager to come here in the first place. Her writing really wasn't the primary thing for her anymore, even if she was determined to keep at it.

"Me, too. Even in a houseful of kids," Logan said. This was very much their way of saying how they'd missed the other's company, and they both got it. It wasn't so much that they didn't dare to speak in honest terms, it was just that they preferred the indirectness, finding it thrilling.

"And you've got Honor," Rory pointed out.

"Well, true. But she comes and goes. And you know, most people who have sisters also know how they can be a pain in the ass," Logan typed, adding a laughing emoji.

"Yeah, I know," Rory replied.

"I thought you were an only child?" Logan asked.

"Half-sister. She's 18 years younger than me," Rory replied.

"I'm guessing you guys share a dad?" Logan guessed, having never heard her mention anyone else in the context of her and her mom growing up.

"Yup," Rory chimed. "We're not very close, she's very different from me," she added.

"And your dad?" Logan inquired, feeling genuinely interested.

"We were in contact more when I was in Boston. That's where they live," Rory shared.

"We still catch up every once in a while. But close - no," Rory added. Her father was always there for her when she needed help - especially the monetary kind, but generally Rory didn't like going to him, feeling like he was too eager to make up for past mistakes with gifts and pleasantries. It was just not her style.

"He wasn't around much when I was growing up. I guess he always felt guilty about that… the relationship between us and his parents wasn't easy. His family blamed me for ruining his life. It took him a while to figure things out for himself," Rory continued.

Logan recognized a lot of himself in those words. Even if the timeline had been a little different for him.

"I'm the expert of not being around. I am not bragging by any means when saying this… I'm just tired of trying to appear all perfect when I know I'm not. I was absent. My dad was. Mom wasn't much better either. I know it sounds like an excuse… and I don't mean it to be, but I sometimes feel like that was why I've been so absent with my kids. Like I know it wasn't right, but because I was brought up the same way, it gave me the reasoning to do it so long without allowing myself to feel guilty for it. Like 'I grew up fine', didn't I? It's poor logic, I know. And I've spent years trying to work on these issues," Logan shared, realizing that he hadn't told this little part to a soul. Not his kids, not his ex, not even his sister. But since Rory had admitted something of a similar depth, he felt this would only make them even.

It took Rory a couple of attempts to formulate a response, and while Logan hadn't hidden his less than honorable life journey, he grew nervous watching her type and type.

While Rory generally didn't like when people treated their kids that way, she probably understood the reasons behind those kinds of behaviors better than most people, having tried to understand her dad for years. She did understand. She didn't think it was a good excuse, but it was a reason, a sequence of reasons and causes that shaped a person. To her it was sufficient in this moment that he was there, wanting to do things differently, even if the only thing he'd so far mastered doing was taking a holiday with his children and simply living in the same house as them.

"I appreciate the honesty. Really," Rory replied.

"I don't lose all the points for being an absent dad?" Logan asked, hoping to joke his way back to lighter topics.

"Well, I'm not looking for a dad. Nor am I looking for someone to be an exemplary dad to my kid so… I don't think it's criteria I'm measuring you by anyway," Rory admitted, pressing send quickly before she had a chance to reconsider saying that.

Logan chuckled to himself inaudibly, even though even laughing hurt his throat.

"What kind of criteria are you using then? I have every intention of doing well in your class Ms. Gilmore," Logan shot back, thinking it in a very flirty undertone.

Rory mused, smiling to herself, her eyes glued to her phone. So much for smart-phone free holiday - she thought to herself, laughingly.

"That really is a very good question…," Rory began, trying to think how to continue flirting with him. She could've just listed a row of positive attributes back at him. He was handsome, charming, intelligent and had treated her well and without judgment. "But I wouldn't be a very good teacher now, if I just let all your good qualities go to your head, would I?" Rory typed instead.

"You flirt with your students often Ms. Gilmore?" Logan replied.

Even the fact that he'd opted for 'Ms.' instead of 'Mrs.' was earning him points right now.

"Only those born in the last century," Rory replied.

They continued to chat like that for several hours, mostly just teasing each other on this and that and touching a little bit on the subjects of each other's families. Eventually they just created a watch party and watched some generic Hollywood movie. It was a kind of date - one could even say - it was just missing the physical closeness they both craved on a deeper level.

It was also much easier for Logan to pretend to be fine, when in reality he was feeling a lot crappier and stayed up on sheer will, wanting to keep talking to her.

Eventually they said their good nights, Rory actually noting also from her upstairs bedroom window which of the rooms was Logan's by seeing him switch off his light when he said goodbye.

It was kind of cool knowing there was someone who was thinking about you out there, especially when that someone was essentially also so close, but still just out of reach.

It was sometime the next day, in the afternoon, when Rory picked up her phone, feeling genuinely a little concerned for his wellbeing, having not heard or seen him next door.

"Hey! Feeling any better?" Rory typed, adding - "I was thinking about ordering chicken soup from Chinese Rose."

Next door, however, Logan unfortunately wasn't feeling so great and it took him a while to even reach out for his phone. Even stretching out his arm hurt.

He'd been up earlier, talked to the kids briefly, before going back to bed. But he honestly didn't know if there was anyone else in the house, considering he'd been sleeping the day away.

"Hey," Logan typed, misspelling the simple word a couple of times until he got it right.

"I ordered the soup. I'll drop it by when it gets here," Rory said.

"Thanks," Logan replied, though food really was very far from his mind. His throat felt like it was on fire, and he found it challenging to get anything down beyond water.

"How's the throat?" Rory asked. She instinctively felt like mothering him, but she knew that there was a fine line there. It was not like she was his wife or even a girlfriend and there was a balance between being overbearing and caring she didn't want to cross with him.

"Bad," Logan typed.

"Maybe you should really see a doctor?" Rory replied. "How's the fever?" she asked.

Logan hadn't measured his temperature in a while and took a moment to do it.

"You even have a doctor in this area?" Rory asked.

"Not yet," Logan replied.

Rory replied to her own question on the fever - "?" - insisting on a response.

"Taking an Advil now," Logan said, not wanting to admit that it had been over 102 degrees F.

"Men - they're all the same, aren't they?" Rory sighed to herself, recognizing so much of what she'd seen before. Men just didn't know how to be sick, minimizing their troubles and wanting to be strong and unbreakable.

Rory glanced at her phone, curious as to how long before the soup delivery. She was feeling like just going over there and taking charge. She was a mother, after all, and unlike her mother she's actually been pretty capable at knowing when something required medical intervention. She'd had a lot of little scares with her daughter when Corinne had been younger, but as a result she had memorized a lot of the content on WebMD after the first couple of worried emergency calls about her fevers and stomach aches.

The soup arrived twenty minutes later, surprising her with the speedy delivery.

Rory made it to the neighbor's yard without stopping by the front door, knowing that most of the time they had the porch door open anyway. And even if they didn't, she knew where they kept the key.

"Logan?" Rory said, knocking on the window, before stepping in.

Logan still had no voice, hence the only reaction he was able to give was boosting up the volume on his phone as it played some random reel music, indicating his whereabouts just where Rory had guessed his bedroom to be.

Rory placed the soup down on the dinner table for now and went to explore.

It was definitely not the circumstances she'd imagine making her way to his bedroom for the very first time.

Logan was in bed, having pushed himself up a little. But he really didn't look great. He'd been sweating through his clothes, and he looked pale.

"Not how I wanted you to see me," Logan pressed the "Listen" button, having typed the message into Google translate, having not thought of anything cleverer at this moment.

"It's fine," Rory said, genuinely just feeling like she wanted to help. She walked over to the bedside table and picked up the thermometer. Turning it on, she saw the last measurement which caused her to send a reprimanding look towards Logan, who looked a little guilty at that thought, reading her mind.

"Mind if I go get a spoon?" Rory asked, gesturing towards the kitchen.

Even though the place wasn't to her taste, feeling too much like one of the places her grandmother would holiday in, she felt surprisingly at home, considering she'd already emptied out his fridge once. Rory returned with the table spoon in hand, and fished out her phone from her pocket. She took a seat on the side of his bed, just inches from him, and awkwardly tried to not force her into his space too much.

"Open wide," Rory said, expecting him to open his mouth.

Logan was clearly not used to anyone telling him to do anything in such a stern voice.

But she didn't even really need to voice her request the second time, her look already being stern enough.

Logan reluctantly opened his mouth. It was hard to open, the sides of his mouth even hurting so he couldn't get it open as far as he normally could've.

Rory projected the flashlight on her phone to the back of his throat - another thing she hadn't pictured herself doing to the man in front of him.

Logan wasn't feeling terribly comfortable either, worrying how gross he must've looked and what his mouth must've smelled like. But to his surprise a small part of him was strangely enjoying this bossy side of her. His tiredness and the pain, however, were at the forefront of his thoughts right now.

What Rory saw was not pretty.

"Oh yeah, you're going to need antibiotics," Rory said, having seen this sight a few times. She was no doctor, but she was fairly certain of the fact.

"I'll be fine," Logan groaned, barely getting out a whisper.

"Yeah, you will be. Once you see a doctor," Rory said with determination, and stood up.

Logan was too tired to argue.

"I'm gonna make a call, okay?" Rory said, hoping he wouldn't completely object to the idea. For all she knew, maybe he was one of those people who didn't believe in Western medicine.

AN: Okay, I know this last bit is kind of gross, but let's just see where this goes. Trying to take a some of unusual routes to get them better aquainted.