Chapter 35
"So, who exactly are we meeting?" Logan asked, as he got out of the passenger seat of his car, which Liam had driven all the way to New Haven.
It had been an odd drive in the sense that mostly they hadn't talked but listened to music, as Logan tried to learn a thing or two about his son's tastes. He'd told little stories about the places they passed, but had gotten wrapped up in his head as soon as they'd passed the Hartford sign. There were a lot of memories there for him, but at the same time he kept picturing Rory driving or walking along the city's streets. He realized he didn't even specifically know where she lived in Hartford. For him there really only existed the Rory who lived in Freeport, Maine, and it was a sharp reminder that there was a danger of losing that Rory if he didn't figure things out come fall.
From there on, the highways and streets were full of different kinds of memories. Some were from his Life and Death Brigade days, some from his time with Whitney, but also others who'd made his college time enjoyable. Arriving at Yale, years since he'd been there last, brought a whole other breath of air, however, adding a touch of hopefulness that connecting on this front might be something for him and Liam to share. His hopes for him were not like his father hopes had been for him, but he did have hopes - wanting him to do well, but also to have fun like he had, thinking of it as no less important part of college.
"Aunt Honor gave me this contact for a realtor," Liam said, and showed his father his phone with the contact. The name was foreign to him, but that wasn't really what made him surprised.
"I thought we were checking out the dorms," Logan replied, reflecting his surprise.
"Um… I never signed up for on campus housing," Liam said. He didn't sound too sure of himself, as if he was expecting Logan to be mad.
"You didn't? Why not?" Logan inquired, this coming as a surprise to him. When he'd asked him to come with him, he'd been vague enough so Logan hadn't realized it was apartments rather than dorms, e.g. which dorm to go for, they'd be looking for. Financially it wasn't an issue, of course, but on other levels Logan did have an opinion on the matter.
Liam had always been the responsible one in his eyes, the nannies and teachers really having done a great job with him in Logan's eyes, even if he had on a handful of occasions brought him to the office with him when he was already older.
"You know it might surprise you, but I'm not really very crazy about having a roommate," Liam replied, teasing him slightly. You see - he very much already understood how Logan was trying to be a better father with them, hence he on occasion teased him about these things. Logan wasn't offended by it, knowing he deserved it, but at the same he believed it was better if they all took it with a sprinkle of humor.
"You know that talk on the homepage about freshmen having to share a room is just for the public, right?" Logan said, being more than certain that a hefty donation would get his son a similar arrangement to what he'd had for the first couple of years living here.
"Yeah, I know," Liam replied, knowing how things worked in their circles.
"Well, it's up to you but if I do say so myself, you might be losing out on making some great friends," Logan replied. "Though I'm pretty sure, having an apartment will be quite a draw for certain friends," Logan added, very much intending to hook him up with the Life and Death Brigade crew. The campus just added a sense of mystery to the whole sorority thing that living on his own really didn't. To him it was important he did have the right kind of friends. Not necessarily the rich and well connected kind only, but just not the kind that wanted to take advantage him or would use him to trap him.
"I'm not really here to make friends," Liam replied, surprising Logan again. "I mean, sure - I'll meet new people, maybe some of them will become friends. But it's not the reason I'm going here," Liam explained.
"Then what is?" Logan asked, following Liam to the other side of the parking lot where he assumed they were meeting the realtor.
"I'm here to continue the family legacy. I know how much going to Yale meant to grandpa and you, and I respect that. I really do. I'll gladly get a Yale diplomt, but I am not exactly sure, I'll be here that much," Liam explained, surprising Logan yet again.
"What!?" Logan reflected, looking even more confused.
"There's this great program I've been wanting to try in Copenhagen and another one in Cambridge. So, if all turns out well, I might try a year or two abroad or something," Liam shared, shrugging his shoulders.
"Why didn't you just say so?" Logan inquired, feeling guilty that perhaps he had somehow influenced his decision. He didn't want him doing this just for the legacy.
"I am saying so now. I just graduated high school, I hadn't figured everything out. I am not sure I have everything figured out," Liam explained.
"And I mean, that's fine. I don't want you to think I would've had a problem with any of it. Even if you'd told me you didn't want to do Yale, you could've said so. You could've gone straight to Copenhagen had you wanted to," Logan replied.
"I don't have anything against Yale. Like I said. The diploma is worth it, especially if I want to come back to the States someday. It's just not all I want," Liam shared.
For a moment they were quiet, allowing them both a moment as they crossed the road.
"For what it's worth, I'm proud of you for knowing what you want. For doing all that research that you've clearly already done," Logan exhaled.
Liam went quiet, not replying with anything. But there was certainly some part of him that had needed to hear something equivalent.
They were soon met by the realtor and topics moved on to other matters.
Logan didn't fully understand why Liam was so insistent on staying on his own during his freshman year, but he had no problem providing him with the opportunity. After all, he did have the right to change his mind and try other solutions if he changed his mind.
While the first couple of apartments they saw, simple freshly renovated one-bedroom apartments, right off campus, were pretty decent, Logan couldn't help but to notice the way the realtor was making eyes at him. The woman was no doubt attractive, a real cougar type one might see in 'Selling Sunset' or some show equivalent to that.
Naturally Logan wasn't going to shut her down in a way that would hurt his son's housing options, not wanting to have to find another realtor and waste his time, but as time ticked past, and the woman was moving on from another flirty question aiming to determine the existence of 'his wife' to asking about his current residence, Logan had just about enough.
"Liam, so what do you think?" Logan tried to hurry things up.
In Logan's mind there was no going wrong when one was paying this amount of money and going through a trustworthy realtor. He could've claimed how the second and third apartments were better than the first, those having a little more storage space, and a better view. But in the end all that mattered was that Liam had a safe, comfortable space that was convenient for him, not for Logan.
"This looks good, I think," Liam replied, glancing around another time.
"I agree. It's a decent place," Logan commented and went on to list the pros, and agreed on Liam taking the place. To him the realization that his son would have a place of his own was kind of a reality check. Liam really was all grown up. He was glad to do this little thing with her, because maybe with him Logan was already too late to do much more.
"Okay, we'll take it," Liam had the privilege to announce. He sounded excited, despite his earlier logical discussion on maybe not needing the place for many years. It was still a fresh start, a start for just him, separate from the rest of them.
"Excellent!" the realtor replied with a broad smile.
"Good, maybe we'll still have time to go check out the Mexican place Rory swore by," Logan exhaled, knowing that it wasn't as good as saying out loud he had a girlfriend. He wanted to neutrally make it clear he had other priorities in mind and that he wasn't interested without having to declare his relationship status, not that he was eager to hide it. He just believed it not to be anyone's business, especially when the realtor was likely well connected throughout his family's circles and news might travel.
Liam made a face at that, but was not really meaning anything bad by it. Besides, it was not like he'd been oblivious to the realtor's advances on his father.
"Yeah, maybe we should even pick some stuff up for her, so you can surprise her and whisk her away for a romantic dinner or something," Liam said, mockingly, catching on to what Logan was doing. He wasn't nearly as smooth as his father was with things like this, but he was smooth enough.
That certainly changed the mood on the realtor's face and she said - "I'll draw up the papers and send them to you today."
"Thanks for that," Logan said to his son, as they walked back to the car.
"No prob. But I am starving," Liam replied.
"Well, we can certainly see if the place is still there," Logan replied, not minding one bit about exploring the city through Rory's eyes.
On the way he showed Liam a few of his own favorite places, including the building he'd lived in his senior year.
To Logan's surprise the taco place was indeed still there, and the food they got was indeed delicious, even if on the spicy side for Connecticut's standards.
"Hey, listen…," Logan began by taking a deep breath. He needed to just rest a little, before even thinking about driving back. And he didn't want to have this talk while driving.
"Uh?" Liam hummed, finishing his last bite.
"I didn't want to make this trip about me. And I hope I haven't… it's been great being a part of this with you," Logan said.
Liam continued to chew, not really knowing how to respond.
"I want you to know that you guys are my priority. Whenever you need me, I'll be there, okay? If there's any issue, you need someone to, I don't know… bail you out of jail or pick you up from the emergency room. I'll be there, okay?" Logan assured him, feeling like he'd come off sounding a little needy even. "And whatever you do in your studies, I trust you to make good decisions. And even if they don't turn out that great, that's fine too," he added.
"What's this about, dad?" Liam asked, finding the discussion an odd one.
"I don't know how to explain it any better…," Logan exhaled again, and rubbed his forehead. "I am making up for my past mistakes, at least I hope I am doing something right. But I just wanted to say 'thank you' for the fact that you seem to be accepting me as your dad. And that you're accepting Rory and me. While I want to put you guys first, she is very important to me," Logan explained.
"I don't care who you date, dad," Liam replied, trying to maintain an indifferent stance.
"I am not going to do the type of things with her as I might've with O, you get that, right? She's responsible, she knows what having kids is like," Logan added. He could've said the same thing about Odette, but while she had had a kid, she had always been more of a fun girlfriend to her daughter than a mom. But Rory was different, he hoped Liam saw that. She was also good for him, being around her was helping him too.
"Yeah, she really doesn't seem like the type," Liam agreed.
"Good," Logan sighed. "But there's one more thing I wanted to run past you…," he added, deciding to touch upon a much more sore subject while they were having this heart-to-heart moment. To him, Liam seemed ready for this.