Chapter 26

Logan was plating his children their breakfast in the kitchen, feeling relieved to have all three of them in front of him without having to insist. Not that they were paying a lot of attention to him presently, two out of three with their noses in their phones, and Theo's in a book. But at least they were there, none of them were fighting - not with each other nor with him. He wanted to have a word with them.

This was a result of having spent the past few days talking to Rory, more so talking than doing a lot else, considering Honor had also popped by for a few days and he hadn't wanted to act like some horny teenager around the one person who would mock him remorselessly. He had more tact than that, besides that hadn't stopped him flirting with Rory via text, which was definitely borderline sexting by now. They'd also allowed their kids to see them more - just talking, either hanging out on Rory's porch or just taking little strolls, half the time joking to themselves how they were probably now acting their age in the eyes of the kids.

"So, I'm sure you're excited about the concert tonight," Logan began, wanting especially his sons' attention.

"Uh-huh," Liam looked up, whilst keeping his phone in exactly the same place.

"I have an announcement. Well… a suggestion, a request… whatever you want to call it," Logan continued, searching for words, which was very unlike him.

"What now?" Eléa groaned.

"How would you feel about going to the concert as well," Logan decided to turn to her, hoping for a different kind of attitude.

"You're serious?" Eléa reflected, not believing her ears.

"Well… since Corinne is also going, I figured maybe we could all go. Make a family trip of it of sorts," Logan explained.

"I was thinking for a sec there that you just wanted to have the house all to yourself, but clearly you just want to take Rory to the concert yourself," Theo noted with a snicker.

Liam laughed at his brother, clearly feeling like they had a little bit of an upper hand with their dad with the knowledge of this information. They'd been pretty good at keeping their mouths shut while Honor had been there, but it had just made them cocky in the end.

Eléa's face looked pouty, but Logan knew that her poker face wasn't that great, hence he believed that a part of her was pretty excited about even being allowed to attend this concert. Logan had checked, the age limit was 13 at this thing, but with an accompanying parent it was no longer a problem.

"I mean, I'm sure I won't mind having her there," Logan decided to be honest. "Though we'll probably spend the night keeping tabs on you and making sure you don't get into trouble," he added.

"Also, I already canceled your apartment and booked us someplace bigger," he added, having grabbed the bull by its horns. He hated to admit it, but the gist of this had been Rory's idea. But honestly, he was enjoying having someone advise him more than he liked to show. It was so easy, and he really had no reason to doubt Rory would take advantage of that side of him.

Liam was wordless, having been in charge of the arrangements, and staggered a bit, clearly wondering how he'd managed that.

"I control your card, remember?" Logan reminded him, answering his question.

"So, everyone happy? So, after breakfast - let's get packing. We leave around 2, so we have time to get settled and have dinner in Portland first," Logan announced, clapping his hands together, not waiting for a response, but took his own breakfast plate and coffee and headed to the back yard to enjoy it. While he appeared all cool and confident, inside he was terrified this might somehow backfire. But in this moment, removing himself from the situation actually felt kind of empowering.

For the sake of feeling independent, the kids had insisted on taking Liam's car, leaving Rory and Logan alone in Logan's, driving along Route 295. It was a scenario which neither minded, despite feeling like they were probably being talked about behind their backs in the other car. But this did give them some distance, which they didn't mind.

"The first concert I went to…," Rory began, thinking back a little, and I mean the first real concert, was The Bangles at the Pastorella," Rory shared. "I mean, I'd naturally been to concerts in Stars Hollow or Hartford, but nothing big like that," she added.

"That's quite an odd choice for someone your… our age," Logan commented.

"It was one of my mom's favorites. I was just going to go with my mom and her friends but then out of the blue she did the coolest thing ever by inviting some friends from school to join us. And considering I hardly had any real friends at Chilton, that totally made me the 'girl with the cool mom'," Rory reflected.

"Well, it sure sounds like you've learned from the best," Logan said, referring to their present endeavor.

"Yeah, she was cool. But then when two of those girls followed two strange guys to some party like a couple of fools, she stormed into that building and knocked on every single door before driving them home and having a word with their parents," Rory explained.

"Wow," Logan commented, knowing well that at best his parents would've sent some search party for him, had he ever been in a similar situation, if that.

"But the concert was great." Rory chimed.

"I bet," Logan said, finding there something utterly dreamy about her when she reminisced about the good in her past. He could only hope he had as many as those moments in his, but even the majority of times when he'd been doing the greatest things money could buy, inside he hadn't been feeling all that great.

"What was yours?" Rory inquired.

"My first concert?" Logan reflected, it really taking him a moment to recall.

"I bet you've seen some incredible things in your life." Rory chimed.

"I feel like I should lie and say I haven't… I have been to a lot of things." Logan replied.

"Why, why should you lie?" Rory laughed, not following him.

"I have, but I haven't. Often, I would just get dragged back to the VIP zone and miss most of it. I mean, it's cool to meet all the members of Korn when you're 17, but after a while the socializing aspect, rather with everyone else who consider them as 'important' than the band, doesn't really go with actually being able to enjoy the show," Logan explained before checking his GPS for the right exit.

"You know Korn used to rent a house from my great-grandmother," Rory said, not wanting to express pity for him. She'd begun to sense that most of the things people considered Logan special and privileged for, definitely had another side of the coin as well.

"They did? Next, you'll tell me the same place in Hartford where I joined them for the afterparty, right?" Logan joked, not believing any more coincidences were possible.

"Well, I don't know how many houses they had in Hartford, but in case you noticed a lovely tulip bed in their front yard, I guess it could've been hers," Rory chimed, shrugging her shoulders.

"I can't say that I noticed," Logan laughed.

Rory laughed too, but soon felt she wanted to state something more serious.

"Isn't it odd that we had at least a dozen moments we could've met, but didn't?" Rory reflected what had been on both of their minds for a while now.

"It is." Logan replied.

"I know there's no such thing as fate, but it's like there's been this cosmic draw. Or maybe rather like two magnets just bouncing off of each other," Rory described poetically.

"That's one way to put it," Logan mused.

"Of course, the latter would mean we'd still be doing that, but clearly we're not." Rory replied, slipping her hand into his that was just resting on the armrest.

"No, we're not." Logan chimed, and stretched his neck and stole a quick kiss while keeping his eyes on the road.

"Maybe it was the universe's way of keeping us close so we'd only meet when we were ready," Rory replied, regretting it the second she'd said that. It felt like she was saying too much, like she was considering this as too much and too important.

"Maybe," Logan replied, not daring to make any big declarations yet. But he did feel it.

"I'm just saying that… whatever summer fling this is, more or less, I am just so over having to hold back what I feel and express, you know?" Rory explained, having spent much of her youth worrying. These days, usually a logical explanation sufficed, giving her the necessary freedom to do what she wanted.

"Definitely more than just a summer fling, I'd say. How much more… that we'll see in due time, I suspect." Logan replied, huskily.

Rory tickled the palm of his hand with her fingers, feeling a pleasant giddiness in her gut. She was going to a concert with this handsome man, who genuinely cared for her and enjoyed her company. There was no doubt in her mind about that. They were taking their children, no doubt coming off as the cool parents in this moment even if they were doing the right thing by accompanying them. Rory couldn't wait to take this concert in, feeling like a teenager who was hanging out with their new boyfriend, all that excitement of each touch and kiss still freshly tingling their nerves.

AN: I know there's not a lot happening right now. But I've been some stuggles writing these days, but hopefully next chapter will be more action packed.