Chapter 49

"You're gonna to wear that blue top?" Rory asked her daughter who was in the other room getting ready, referring to an item they'd bought together in Boston.

Rory was getting ready herself, having agreed to take advantage of the final moments of summer with Logan and have a real date.

Logan had hinted that he'd made some reservations at a gorgeous waterfront grill in Falmouth, knowing she'd appreciate the heads up on proper wardrobe choices. Though then again - Rory only really had two kinds of clothes - the kind where she just cared about being comfortable and the kind that could be referred to as smart casual but still had the undertone of 'old money'. You know, the kind of things that her grandmother would have approved of. The mindset was very similar at her workplace, hence by now it had become second nature. There was hardly any question which ones out of the two that a venue like that required, since Logan had mentioned them getting in some of his all-time favorite champagne. Logan had made it sound not only delicious and exciting, but also glamorous, almost as if taking her out for something extraordinarily special. But then again, Logan often made her feel like that even at their more humble outings, like the time when he'd joined her to go shopping to make sure she didn't lift a finger as he placed her groceries into her car.

Rory was currently in her underwear, cursing herself that her favorite briefs were in the wash, hence she was left battling whether to change her dress or simply try to ignore the underwear lines showing from under her light-knitted hip-hugging dress. She was not usually easily bothered by things like that, but since they were now no longer counting weeks but days before her departure, she really just wanted to make sure they departed with the very best memories. She wanted to control what she could control - the elegance she showed, the conversations they had, the attention she paid to him in bed… she wanted herself and their time to be perfect.

"Nah, I was thinking… the new black one. The one with the mesh back," Corinne replied after some thought.

For the moment, her former dilemma was pushed aside by her daughter's words.

"Are you sure?" Rory asked, biting her lip on second thought, popping her head into her daughter's room through the open door, not bothering to cover up for just that.

Rory didn't like to be that parent - the one that made their child doubt their sense of child - but when it was her 13-year-old thinking about wearing a half see-through top to her first real party, she just couldn't help herself.

It wasn't a real party-party as such, just Liam's girlfriend's birthday, and as they'd been assured even the girl's parents were going to be there. But it was still a party - a party with a pool, a DJ, and possibly catering. While she generally trusted Corinne to attend things like this, now, sending her off with Logan's kids, teenagers who were mostly older than she was, was creating some doubts on her parenting style. She knew that just Corinne's outfit wasn't going to alter the outcome of that party - what was or wasn't going to happen. Realistically thinking - what 13-year-old didn't like to get flirted with by a cute guy and maybe get a good night kiss? While Rory believed her daughter had every chance of having that happen to her even with more modest attire, she didn't want to kill her confidence by making her feel bad about her outfit.

"Yes, I'm sure," Corinne replied, firmly, rolling her eyes at her mother.

"Just… bring a cardigan or something? It'll get cold," Rory said, not knowing what else to say. It was not like she was going to insist she wear something bland just because of a 'what if' scenario, especially when the top in question was something Corinne had bought with her own birthday money. Her little girl was growing up, and there was little she could do about it.

One needed to test out one's own style by buying their own clothes. There was no other way to test out the boundaries between cool, sexy and tasteless. She'd done that too, though thinking back, she'd probably done that years later than she should've, having not really found that part of her until she'd broken up with Marty and for the first time in her life dated around more casually. In that sense she hadn't really applied the phrase 'It was college' until her third year at Yale.

"Yes, mom!" Corinne replied, almost mockingly, knowing exactly what her mother was thinking. That it was probably a little too mature for her to be wearing. But that was exactly what she was going for.

Rory took a few deep breaths and returned to her own room, wanting to push through her own insecurities and wear the bodycon dress anyways. It looked good on her, and she figured her purse could just hide the lines enough to not look too conspicuous.

"Mom, can I have some money for the cab ride back in case I want to leave separately from Liam and Theo?" Corinne returned, catching her mother in the middle of applying her mascara.

Within the past ten minutes or so Corinne had visually matured a good five years by adding an unusually thick layer of makeup and opted for adult-looking clothes, which to Rory looked rather scary.

"Um, sure," Rory replied hesitantly. She wasn't going to nag her about having spent her allowance already, knowing she kept her daughter on much lower spending habits compared to Logan's kids. But mostly Rory was just concerned about the reasons why her daughter would want to return separately from the guys. Eléa wasn't going, not liking the birthday girl much.

"Thanks, mom," Corinne replied, being eager to leave before her mother said anything else, especially about her outfit and make-up that she'd worked so hard on.

"Wait, wait - hold up," Rory stalled her, causing her daughter to groan silently.

"What, mom?" Corinne whined.

"Everything okay between you and Theo? I thought you guys were good again… I just mean, why don't you think you wouldn't be coming back together," Rory said, having hoped that to be the case.

"Theo and I are just friends, I've told you. It's not like we're tied in the hip, you know?" Corinne chimed.

Rory wasn't sure what that meant exactly. Was Theo seeing someone else? Was Corinne? Has something else happened between them?

"Yeah, so you've said," Rory replied. "You can talk to me about things, remember? And it's fine if you need to call me to come get you. Any time. You don't have to take a cab," Rory encouraged.

"Mom, you're going out with Logan," Corinne reminded her, finding the thought ridiculous.

"Yes, but I can still come and get you. It might take me a little while to get there, but I'll be there. I will always be there," Rory said, the statement coming out a little forced despite being well-meaning.

"Yeah, I'll have to remember that when I'm 21, at a rave, tipsy, and struggling to find a cab to take back to my college dorm," Corinne said, rolling her eyes again, but wanting to amuse her mother enough to get her off her back.

"Ha-ha," Rory said, shaking her head, knowing she was exaggerating and trying to challenge her. After a brief pause, she became more serious again. "You don't have to try so hard, you know?" Rory said, stopping Corinne from leaving for the second time, referring to her look for the evening. Rory had by now figured that if Corinne and Theo weren't an item, as she so strongly had assured her, then maybe there was someone else. They did on occasion hang out with other friends they'd made in town, and Rory hadn't met all of them. She trusted Theo, knowing him to be a decent and respectful guy, but did she trust just any guy with her daughter?

"I'm not, mom. Okay?!" Corinne exhaled, finding it annoying that she was being stalled. "I just want to go out and have some fun. It's the end of summer - why can't I just have some fun?" she added, causing Rory to ponder what exactly did she mean when she said 'fun'.

"Of course, you can," Rory soothed her, touching her shoulder. "Just, remember - safe, responsible, and sober fun, okay?" she added. "And remember to call me if there's anything, promise?" she repeated the protective sentiment.

"I promise, mom," Corinne groaned.

"Okay, bye. Have fun!" Rory said, tentatively, giving her daughter a quick hug and peck on the cheek.

She couldn't deny that being around Logan had also shifted her own parenting towards being a little bit more relaxed compared to how she'd been before. Though, then again - before, she'd likely been influenced more by Tucker's strictness rather than her own protectiveness. It was as if being around Logan, was reminding her of her mother a little, having that little rebellious streak about him, not accepting every societal rule in the book and just doing what one felt was respectful and right.

Rory pushed her worries aside with a deep sigh, knowing that this was a fairly safe area to send her daughter out into. There was only so much she could protect her against and worrying about her hardly helped anything. There would be parents around, and her friends. She made a quick money transfer ensuring Corinne could get a ride home if needed, and continued to get ready. And most importantly, the echo in the back of her mind, just assured her - her mother would've totally allowed her to go under the same conditions. There would've been rules, curfews and agreements, but the same did apply for Corinne.

A couple of hours later Rory and Logan were through with the second course of their dinner. It had been an amazing dinner - mussels, crab cakes and scallops along with some gorgeous seasonal vegetables and microgreens. It had been the perfect evening, enjoying the waterscape, laughing and indulging the best the ocean had to offer.

"Could we get the Louis Roederer 2012 now, please?" Logan asked the waiter, pulling the man aside.

Despite this having already been a wonderful evening, Rory couldn't help but to notice that there had been a certain nervousness to Logan, too. Rory had not quite been able to pinpoint the cause, at best thinking he must've been a little nostalgic of their summer together with her impending departure.

But from this moment, after seeing Logan at his best behavior the entire evening, Rory got a sudden fright.

He couldn't possibly be…? - she thought, getting a jolt of nervousness through the front of her chest. A series of glimpses from movies and tv-shows, passages in the many books she'd read, stories she'd both written, read and edited - they all spoke of this romantic narrative.

A special dinner, at a fancy location, followed by an extraordinary bottle of champagne… often gestures like that were followed by a gesture even grander. While there was some small part in her that had always fantasized about the perfect guy wanting to spend the rest of their life with her, making the grand gesture to ask her, right now, with the baggage they both held and their situation with Rory's impending departure, inside Rory begged for her hunch to be wrong.

Rory finished her wine in one sip, not knowing what to do about it. She didn't want to jump to conclusions, nor on the contrary, bury her hunch. Most importantly, however, she just didn't want to answer the question, her heart and mind conflicting on the answer. She was supposed to be smarter than this, they were supposed to be wiser after everything they'd already experienced in their lives. But maybe she didn't know Logan as well as she thought she did?

"There was actually something I wanted to talk to you about tonight," Logan began, causing Rory to hold her breath for a second.

His thought was interrupted by the waiter, who'd returned sooner than he'd imagined and poured them two glasses of his favorite champagne before putting the gorgeous bottle on ice next to them.

"So, where was I?" Logan began for the second time, needing to regain his train of thought.

"You wanted to talk to me about something?" Rory reminded him, reluctantly, hoping her skeptical look would ward him off from asking that.

"I did…," Logan exhaled. "I just wanted tonight to be about celebrating this summer… and us. This experience has changed the way I look at life in so many ways, and I truly hope this won't just be a nice memory, thinking back," he continued, and picked up his glass, suggesting Rory do the same.

"To us?" Logan suggested as the toast.

"To us," Rory reflected despite remaining hesitant.

"And I just want you to know that I am so grateful for having met you. You're just gorgeous. You look wonderful tonight," Logan continued.

"You already said that," Rory replied humbly, pausing him.

"Still," Logan replied, smiling smugly. "And what I especially adore is that brain of yours. You have such a fascinating mind - the ideas, the imagination… the way you express yourself," Logan continued.

Hearing such praise from his mouth made Rory panic.

"Logan," Rory called him to a halt. "Can you just not? It's just making me feel all weirded out… I'm sorry," Rory said.

"Weirded out? Why?" Logan replied, feeling confused.

"Just this row of compliments. We both know we're not perfect, for one…, and it just sounds like you're making this into a very big deal, like some grand gesture," Rory explained, not wanting to quite say out loud what she was thinking.

But as it often was, Logan was on a surprisingly similar wavelength with her, once he caught up with her, that is.

"What? You think I was…?" Logan finally caught on, getting a sudden lump in his throat as well. He needed to clear his throat once the sentiment reached him. He really hadn't imagined Rory would think that out of this, but on second thought - it was kind of how one went about something like that, didn't it?

Oh, crap - Logan thought to himself.

"I don't know!" Rory chimed, desperately, shrugging her shoulders dramatically.

"Well, I wasn't. I'm sorry if I made you think that. Not that I wouldn't just...," Logan explained, but he wasn't doing the best job at it.

Rory's phone was what interrupted them.

"Ah, I got to take this," Rory said, knowing this to be Corinne's ringtone.

Logan sighed, not appreciating the interruption - both from what he'd actually been wanting to tell her and his apology. But he understood, and followed the mumble he could overhear over the phone with caution.

"I'll be right there… 20 minutes, tops," Rory promised, urgently, alerting Logan as well.