"Ah, good to see you, mate!" Finn exclaimed, standing at the end of his sister's driveway, his hands in his pockets, and watched as Logan stepped out of the Uber Black with his luggage.
"It's been too long, Finn," Logan sighed, in a little more understated tone, and gave his buddy a half-hug, patting his shoulder.
No matter where life took them, in some ways they always felt connected and they all knew their friendship was the unconditional kind. You know, the kind of friend you'd call to bail you out or to help you bury a body if one ever were in that situation.
"I heard about the mayhem at SYD, glad you got out of there alright," Finn commented casually, having worried Logan might be delayed because of the public transit strike over at Sydney.
"Tell me about it!" Logan exhaled. "Ah, it's great to be here, finally!" he exclaimed, feeling truly joyous to see Finn after what seemed like years, even if there had been an occasional lunch when Finn had been in London and other brief run-ins in the meanwhile. It just wasn't enough and it was for that reason he'd made sure he had the time to combine this into a working holiday for him - hoping to manage 50-50 at balancing the two if he was lucky.
"So, is Sylvie around?" Logan asked. It was not his first holiday in this place. The first time he and Colin had come to visit Finn had already been in their junior year in college, after the dramatic boating accident when they'd needed to hide out somewhere neutral for a while before flying back to the US.
To Logan's eyes the place looked a lot more put-together than last time. The guest house was actually fully ready, the trees and shrubs full-grown, the last time having been when Sylvie had just purchased the place and began landscape work on the place with the help of her then husband.
"She'll be here tomorrow. Until then it's just her two mini-me's," Finn explained.
"Wow - there's two?!" Logan asked, having only ever heard about one. He really hadn't done a great job at keeping track, but he was just being polite and making a genuine effort to know the setting that he was walking into.
"Yup, Chloe and Daphne," Finn shared. He was leading Logan towards the guest house out by the pool and outdoor rec area, and frankly he was hesitant to tell him what he knew he should. Small-talk was easy compared to the bigger revelations.
"Can't wait to see them and Sylvie too, of course," Logan replied. "And Colin - when is he coming?" he asked, eagerly.
"Just before the bachelor party, I'm afraid. He's got some big corporate trial going on…," Finn said, explaining why Colin couldn't get away sooner.
"Ah, that's too bad. But better late than never, right?" Logan commented, walking into the room that Finn had shown him.
"Uh-huh," Finn replied, continuing to stand around the doorway awkwardly.
"And when do I get to meet that future wife of yours?" Logan inquired, giddily, almost feeling like teasing his friend on the topic, even though in this stage of Finn's life it was certainly no longer something tease-worthy. But this was Finn, after all.
"Tonight, she should be back soon," Finn replied, eager to show Gigi off and in return have her meet
"Good, good…," Logan said, patting Finn's shoulder once again. It was strange - Logan hadn't expected to feel this energized coming here but there was an odd rush of positive energy coming from this place.
Maybe it was the sun? Or maybe just that he was away from his usual obligations? Even his tone and presence was more energetic as a result. He felt genuine excitement, both for himself to be out here and for Finn to have finally met someone significant. Logan felt oddly expectant, too, like something good was about to happen that he couldn't quite place his finger on it.
"Um… yeah," Finn hummed, continuing to stand around.
"Something going on?" Logan asked, looking Finn over from head to toe, sensing something a little odd about him. Was he nervous? But before waiting for a real response he just continued to joke, hitting him with a fairly childish one like they'd often shot back and forth when they were younger, "I was going to take a shower, but if you're looking to join me, I should probably remind you that I'm still not into you."
"Aw, I'm crushed," Finn pretended to swoon, playing along.
"But really? What's up?" Logan asked more seriously.
"I need to tell you something. And I need you to believe me, I had nothing to do with this. This is not intentional, I promise!" Finn blabbered.
Logan raised his eyebrows urging him to continue.
"As it turns out, Gigi's sister… The one who lives in the US and who I hadn't seen or heard much about until a couple of days ago," Finn continued.
"Who's her sister then? Spit it out, Finn," Logan replied, not understanding why his friend was blabbering like this. His mind started thinking of women he knew in the States, and there were certainly many, some ex-es, some not, whom he would've liked to avoid. But somehow in this moment Finn's response was very far from his train of thoughts.
"Her sister is Rory. Rory Gilmore. And I had no idea, I swear! And she's here. She's here with her dad, they're here for the wedding," Finn explained, still blabbering.
"Are you serious right now?!" Logan exclaimed in disbelief, actually sounding a little mad.
"Yes, Rory - the same girl who was first ever to twist you around her little finger in the best possible way," Finn said, choosing to say that next to many other descriptives. The girl that stomped over Logan's heart when she'd turned down his proposal. The one that got away. Mother. Dorothy. Princess Lorelai. You name it.
"What?! Rory - she's here?" Logan repeated, those words not quite registering with him just yet. There was urgency in him, however, once they did, and that was evident to Finn as well. It was almost as if every cell in Logan's body was now looking for her. His body language showed it.
"She's out with Gigi right now. But she will be back here. And I get it, if…," Finn began, feeling like a broken record.
"Right," Logan exhaled, his tone full of regret. But it wasn't regret about coming here, it was like he wanted to be more excited than he knew he should be. He wanted to be more elated than he let himself be. "Gigi… yeah, I think I remember something. I think her name was Georgia, Georgia Hayden?" he tried to recall, feeling now pretty stupid for not having connected the name Gigi to Rory.
"I swear I didn't know, or I would've told you sooner," Finn apologized.
"This isn't some ploy, is it? To get us together or whatever. Because clearly you could've told me sooner - even a half an hour ago, let alone a day or two ago, whenever it was that she got here. I know you had a soft spot for Rory, but…," Logan said, fluctuating between defensive and eager.
"Well, I didn't want you to chicken out now, did I?! I wanted you here or I might chicken out myself, alright?!" Finn replied, confessing to his friend how he was actually a little worried about the marriage himself. It wasn't cold feet, but considering what a forever-bachelor he'd been most of his life, it was something to joke about, and while Finn loved Gigi dearly, a part of him was doing this out of desperation, not wanting to watch her have to move or move himself. For 40 years Finn had not pictured himself marrying anyone, and now he had every intention of going through with it anyway.
"Ah…," Logan exhaled, trying to wrap his brain around it. "Does she know that I'm coming? Does she even want to see me?" he asked, his questions remaining hanging in the air.
"That must be them now," Finn said, hearing the gate open and a car pull in.
"Ah, crap. I stink…," Logan muttered, having been up since 4:30 AM and traveling around a good chunk of the day.
"So you do care?" Finn chuckled, musing slightly.
"Ah, shut up!" Logan said, punching his shoulder.
"Sure, take a moment. But not forever, okay? I want you here!" Finn insisted.
"Yeah, I'll be there," Logan exhaled deeply, closing his door behind him, aiming to take a shower. He could feel his elevated heart rate, having not expected to have to face something like this. But panicking really wasn't like him, and consciously he tried to talk himself out of it. This was good. Wonderful, really. A happy gathering of old friends, right? What could be better than that? But he knew it was dangerous too.
With a mixture of thoughts in his head Logan went through the motions of unpacking and settling in, whilst keeping an ear out for the mystical creature that was Rory Gilmore.
Seeing Rory was dangerous from his point of view not just because of some social construct that the ring on his hand symbolized - but more so because he was afraid. Afraid to let himself remember what he'd felt for Rory, what he'd loved about her - afraid to go through that pain of losing her again, because surely someone like Rory had moved on. He'd picture Rory as happily married, doing beautifully at whatever career she'd taken upon herself, kids running around her back yard in a gorgeous Stars Hollow house. Picturing her living a wonderful life was the only way he'd been able to move on, needing to know she was better off and happier without him.
"Oh, boy…," Logan exhaled, having stripped down to step into the shower, and let the cool water wash over him, not having a clue how he was going to survive these weeks with his heart intact.