AN: apologies for a long wait. A lot has been going on and haven't had much energy left in me to write. But I missed your comments so had to pull myself together :) Hope you like it.
Chapter 28
Just like the mood, the weather had taken a turn for the worse over the next couple of days. Rain was pouring down like a deluge, and that had led to Rory and Logan skipping their usual early morning meetings by the water. But after a while, and they were already three days into the rainfall, texting just didn't suffice.
"God, the weather," Rory sighed, panting slightly, having made a quick dash from her porch to Logan's car where they'd agreed to meet. Not for any naughtiness, but just to talk. Mostly at least.
Rory's hair was dripping, and little droplets covered her face until she brushed them off with the back of her hand.
Logan, as one almost would've expected from his person, had taken the umbrella for a couple dozen feet to get there from the house. Sure, they could've technically met in the house, either of the houes, but they didn't want other people's eyes and ears for this.
Logan couldn't wait to kiss her, however, and held her head as he did, stretching out his neck, enjoying the way her damp hair touched his cheeks.
"You taste even better rain soaked," Logan murmured, finding there something irresistible about the coldness of her skin in contrast to the warmth of her mouth and tongue.
Rory giggled at his comment, but couldn't entirely pull herself out of her mental state of worrying.
"So… did you find out anything?" Rory asked, insisting at the very least to keep holding his hand, requiring his physical closeness in any form she could get.
They'd surely gotten some idea of what had happened that night in Portland. Clearly there had been some move made, and Theo had reacted badly, possibly leaving Corinne rejected. But neither of the kids had really commented on the topic, nor had Rory or Logan really gotten a chance to address the subject without revealing they'd overheard it. Even if it hadn't been intentional.
The morning after, the two kids hadn't said a word, even scattered into different vehicles, leaving Rory, Logan and the girls in one car, and the guys in the other, driving home in quiet awkwardness, filled only by Rory's uplifting playlist that seemed to go to deaf ears. But at least she'd tried
"He won't admit that there's anything wrong," Logan replied, having tried to do the fatherly thing and inquire into the matter. But there were few ways to force the boy to speak.
"Same with Corinne," Rory sighed. "What about Liam, maybe Theo talks to him?" Rory asked, hopefully.
"If he does, I don't hear about it," Logan replied, imagining well that if they did discuss such things, it would likely happen in passing during some video game.
"God, I feel so helpless…," Rory exclaimed.
Logan wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and pulled her to his chest, wanting to comfort her.
"I can't really imagine pushing them to do any good," Logan discussed, trying to imagine what being a teenager was like. Not that his father would've ever insisted on having a heart-to-heart conversation with him about something like this.
"And here I was thinking about watching Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind with her, or 500 Days of Summer," Rory said, having been considering an approach more like her mother's. Her mother would just circle around her, gently pushing and nudging her until eventually just coming out with it. It generally worked; she just wasn't sure if it'd work on Corinne, however.
She also wished she could tell Corinne about Logan's suspicion about Theo's sexuality. But she knew that would be breaking his trust in a severe way. Maybe that was the answer and that would mean that it was nothing about Corinne that the girl could help, not her person, her kissing ability or her looks; and that only thing she'd done wrong was read his signals wrong. By Rory couldn't, for the life of her, figure out what they had been doing out there in the first place, had he had no intentions whatsoever.
Rory was also facing the clock to get to the bottom of this. Corinne was due back at her father's in a couple of days.
"Well, who am I to say that won't work?" Logan shrugged, having some belief in him that things just would work out. Teenagers grew, forgot about things and moved on. He had. And a part of him even believed a certain resilience was what one needed to achieve to be successful in the future.
"Yeah, but still - it sucks," Rory sighed.
"Yeah. Here I was thinking about inviting you along to spend the 4th of July with Honor and her family in Scarborough, now that doesn't seem really like a viable option," Logan shrugged lightly.
Rory was a little taken aback, having not expected such a notion. It spoke of how serious he was about this, wanting her to come along as his girlfriend or whatever the term was in their age. 'Girlfriend' almost didn't seem fitting. But at the same time, she was flattered too. Confused, too.
"Too soon?" Logan asked, seeing her go all thoughtful.
"No, it's not that," Rory replied, looking down at her hands, feeling all giddy in her gut.
"Yeah, but I doubt forcing them together would be good right now," Logan exhaled.
"Oh, Corinne won't be here next week," Rory shared.
"She's not?" Logan reflected with some surprise.
"Yeah, she's going to her dad's on Friday," Rory replied.
"Oh...," Logan reacted, it being a pleasant change of events in his mind, not that he hated having Corinne around. Just right now it seemed to simplify things. Besides, he remembered well when they could fully take advantage of the empty house.
"But I don't know… The 4th of July is kind of a family thing, is it not? I don't want to impose on your time with them or your sister," Rory replied, worriedly. She wasn't a huge fan of forced introductions, expecting this to be a big family gathering.
"It's not a big deal. Just Honor, her husband and kids," Logan shared, feeling relieved how big family celebrations were by now behind them whenever they could help it.
"Still," Rory insisted, feeling a little uncomfortable and confused. The latter mostly due to the lack of introductions to the guy at the concert. Logan hadn't seemed ready. But he was now?
"Will you just think about it?" Logan pleaded.
"Fine. We'll see," Rory chimed, and gave Logan a little peck. He was a hard guy to say no to, having a very sweet look about him when he really tried.
It was as they sat there, cuddling in the back seat, which was comfortable, even if a little juvenile, both of Rory's phone and Logan's watched alerted them of an incoming message.
"What now?" Rory groaned, not feeling like checking hers but did anyway.
"Storm warning," Logan replied, having glanced down on his watch and gotten the gist.
"What? It's gonna get worse than this?" Rory reflected, the outside already feeling like it'd been storming for days. The wind had indeed picked up a little. But because one generally didn't spend much time outside, it was not so easy to notice. Mostly Rory just oberved the weather as she drank her coffee and looked out at the ocean from her dining room window, and judging things based on how much the tree moved and the way the waves moved.
"Flood watch near Portland and thunderstorm around us," Logan read out the highlights.
"Oh, great," Rory sighed, knowing this might complicate a number of things.
"You need any help securing the house?" Logan offered.
"Nah, I'll just close the windows and unplug a few things. How bad can it be?" Rory discussed, lightly. She'd lived through a number of storms here, and never once had it been anything too severe. To her, sitting at home, with a good book at hand, was the comfortable thing to do, and it would only bother her once they lost the water pump or all the loss of elecricity would drag long enough to influence her coffee intake.
"Let me know if you change your mind," Logan added.
"You don't have to get back just yet, do you?" Rory asked, not wanting to part from him, and kissed him slowly with more tongue.
"Couldn't go if I had to," he murmured, feeling incredibly silly for having to use his car as a make-out spot at his age. But sneaking around was half the fun with her, and she was eagerly playing along.
To his disappointment Rory was wearing pants that day, but his brief discouragement of having initially wanted to pull her to straddle him, was exchanged by some very deliberate actions of her hand.
"I want to taste you," Rory hummed into his ear, and kissed his neck before sinking lower.
Logan was in no position to argue, and let the pleasure wash over him as her warm mouth enveloped his member.
"Ah…," Logan exhaled from deep relief.
Rory worked her magic, skillfully using her lips and tongue, adding just the right amount of pressure. Logan's head fell back, while Rory's kept bucking at a steady pace, not wanting to rush it.
To Rory, doing this - here and this way was such a high on its own, having discovered how the small chance of getting caught was the ultimate aphrodisiac to her. It made her feel so alive, so did he.
Logan's one hand stroked the small of her back and the other was gently resting in her hair, moving along with its rising and lowering.
"Oh, fuck… that feels good," Logan cursed, being on the verge of his orgasm.
"It does, doesn't it?" Rory said, pulling off of him with a pop, and smiled teasingly, having edged him almost to climax before calling it to a halt.
"Ah, you little minx," Logan murmured.
"Oh, you want me to continue?" Rory teased, not caring one bit about the storm that was blasting around them outside the bubble the car created. It was like the outside world didn't exist.
"Unless you intend to get out of those pants, God - yes," Logan didn't hide his enthusiasm.
Rory smiled and kissed his lips, allowing him to taste his precum on her tongue. But not bothering to undress, simply feeling like she wasn't shaved recently enough, still wanting to make a good impression about some things when around him, she sank her head down again.
Minutes later she could feel him coming, the contracting muscles and the taste of him being a clear indicator. He tried to keep his voice down, but still let out a satisfactory moan, and gently held her head in place, lengthening his release. She didn't know it, but it was one of the best orgasms he'd ever had.
"I didn't deserve that," Logan shook his head after a few minutes of being borderline unconscious as a result.
"Yes, you did," Rory chimed, feeling like inside this seemingly brave and charismatic man was a man who hadn't been praised enough. She saw him for the man who carried too much weight on his shoulders, and if something as small as this, allowing him to feel adored and praised, could help, she was willing to do it. Besides, she found it very pleasurable even without her own release.
"But you do too," Logan said, feeling like she'd neglected her.
"Later," Rory whispered, smilingly, and gave him another kiss. She began to slip out, not wanting to be gone too long for Corinne to ask too many questions.
"Take this at least," Logan offered, handing her the umbrella.
It felt ridiculous almost. A small but sweet gesture. But Rory accepted it nonetheless, and after opening it, sprinted towards her house.
"Oh, god… this woman…," Logan exhaled to himself, staying in the car for a moment longer. His chest felt like it was going to burst, and every part of her filled his mind - her scent, taste and feel… what was happening to him?
They spent the rest of the day, casually texting, every now and again, whilst going about their business, including securing their houses a little for the storm. There wasn't much to be done, loose items gathered up, but it was not like they were expecting a hurricane or something equivalent. It was safe to say, they both underestimated what was to come, however.
Everyone went to bed, feeling safe in their own beds, to the cozy warmth of the house giving that illusion, despite the downpour and thunder going on outside. But had any of them looked out the window, they would've seen how thunder lit up the sky quite close to them.
At one of those lighting strikes, Logan stirred in the middle of the night, and as it was followed about one and then another, he found it challenging to get back to sleep. He got out of bed and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water.
Having drunk the water, he placed the glass back on the counter. It was good he had, or he might've dropped it, as the next moment he felt the whole house rattle and a bolt of lightning so bright it nearly blinded him hit down somewhere very close to the house.
"Oh, hell!" Logan exclaimed, feeling his own body fill with adrenaline. That had sounded too close.
The next moment, however, things took a turn for the worse and he could hear a strong crash, followed by shatter of glass and a loud thump. He raced through the living room to reach the study, which faced Rory's house to get a better look. Almost instantly he made a dash out through the front door, however, knowing he needed to go help.
"Rory!?" Logan yelled, stepping into the pouring rain, and making his way into Rory's house that now had a tree crashed into its roof. His heart raced, and his head filled with panic.