AN: Sorry about the long wait. It's a crazy time at work right now, so expect delays.

Chapter 23

Logan closed Rory's bedroom door behind him, and exhaled deeply, fighting a sense of guilt for leaving Rory alone in there. It was past midnight, and Rory was asleep on the other side of that door. But Logan just hadn't been able to sleep - nor stay there besides her like he, supportively, had for several hours.

His mind was a mess of emotions. Confusion. Anger even. But it was all conflicted - it was like he couldn't quite understand how he could even be feeling anything negative towards Rory in this situation. Yet - there were some parts of him that wanted to demand an explanation of why she hadn't told him.

They had talked a little, Rory having explained to him the gist of things a little further, but mostly it had been just about apologies. As far as details went - she hadn't given him a lot to go on. While he understood that she'd miscarried early on, thinking there was nothing to tell him - he still felt like asking 'why didn't you just tell me?', feeling like having had that information at the time would've changed everything.

Despite being understanding and compassionate, there was an odd sense of resentment that lingered beneath his surface.

Logan was just about to take the stairs back to his room, needing a moment away from Rory to figure out what this meant.

"You know there's nothing shameful about the walk of shame in your age, right?" Finn's voice said from behind him.

"What are you still doing up?" Logan turned and asked.

"Ah just…," Finn said, holding up a book. He had a glass of scotch in the other hand.

"Never gathered you as much of a reader," Logan replied, joining Finn on the outdoor couch, the space illuminated by the porch light and the moon.

"Couldn't sleep," Finn replied. The book in his hand wasn't really his thing, but it was one Gigi had been raving about.

"Same here," Logan said, exhaling deeply. "You're not having cold feet, are you?" he added, half-jokingly.

"Nah," Finn replied.

"Good. I'm glad," Logan agreed. "Just imagine that this time next week you'll be a married man," he added.

"Yeah, it's strange. I can't deny it," Finn shared. "And really, I don't think it is even so much about signing some papers or saying some vows," he added.

"Oh yeah?" Logan asked him to elaborate.

"Um… well, I don't think it's really as much about getting married than proving something by the act, you know?" Finn shrugged his shoulders.

"To her or to her dad?" Logan inquired.

"A little to both, I guess," Finn replied.

"Ah-ha," Logan noted.

"Mostly her though. She knows what my life was like, I want to show her I am not just that person," Finn explained.

"I know you're not," Logan agreed.

"And what about you? Figured you two would struggle getting out of bed, and yet here you are jaywalking in the middle of the night? Almost looks like you're sneaking off into the night," Finn commented.

"Ah... tonight was just… heavy," Logan exhaled.

Finn raised his eyebrows curiously, it being close to the last thing he'd expected to hear from two of his friends who'd just recently looked like a young couple in love.

"She told me something tonight. Something I had no clue of until today and I am just at a loss… I don't know what to do with this information," Logan exhaled. Was he supposed to grieve? He just didn't feel that part yet - how could one even begin to grieve something one had no idea about.

"Sounds like you just need some time," Finn said, lightly, not knowing exactly what this was about. He could guess, but he couldn't be sure this was it.

"Yeah, but time isn't exactly something we have a lot of here. It's like we're supposed to fast forward this entire relationship here in mere weeks. And the minute we get back to our lives, I feel like unless we're in a really solid place, there's no guarantee she'll still want this bad enough. I mean there's a lot of changes involved. For both of us. We're complicated, there's no denying that," Logan explained with a sigh.

"I bet you're actually a lot more solid than you think. You two have history, not just the complicated kind…," Finn replied. "Besides - did you not already make the biggest change of them all yesterday?" Finn asked, having gotten a brief overview of how his conversation with Odette had gone yesterday, having joined him for a drink.

"Yeah, I guess I did," Logan agreed.

"Then what's the problem?" Finn asked.

"She hid something from me. Something big. Something that would've… it would've changed everything," Logan exclaimed, showing his frustration.

It was now more than clear to Finn what Logan was speaking about. But despite knowing honesty was often the best policy, he was cautious enough to not spill this one particular secret. He wasn't sure Logan would ever forgive him for not telling him, even if at the time all he'd been trying to do was spare Logan from further hurt over something he would have no control over. He truly believed some things were better left buried for the sake of the greater good.

"Changed how?" Finn said, hoping this, hiding the whole truth, wouldn't come back to bite him in the ass later.

"I would've never married Odette," Logan said. He at least liked to think that that would've been something he'd done. "Or I don't know - the 'what if' game is never a terribly useful one. I don't know… but I would've appreciated having all the information," he added, failing to add what that piece of information had been, thinking he was leaving Finn guessing.

"Hm-hmm…," Finn nodded along.

"I mean - didn't she want me to know? Didn't she want to use whatever information she had to see maybe I wanted to change my mind? All I ever wanted was her to give me something more than cryptic messages and those sad eyes of hers," Logan explained, remembering so well how she'd asked him if he was really going to marry Odette. She'd only ever given her a hint of what she felt, never asking for anything.

Logan just couldn't overcome the possibility that maybe some part of her hadn't wanted him at the time. Not really. Maybe she hadn't wanted her to be a father? Maybe she hadn't wanted everything that came with him. Rory was his biggest insecurity - her not wanting him or not being ready to accept all of him. It was as if this recent news had just poked a hole into their newfound trust.

Finn knew well enough that Rory was a complicated individual with her own set of insecurities.

"Honestly, I don't think this is something time apart would really fix for you two. You've already had your share of that. But if that's what you really feel you need, having been cooped up here for weeks with more people than you're probably used to, you're free to take the boat out for a day or something. Get some clarity. Just promise me, you don't use that time to overthink things. In the end you'll still have to just sit down and ask her," Finn said.

"Since when are you the one giving relationship advice?" Logan replied, finding it utterly curious how wise his friend sounded.

Finn chuckled, smiling broadly.

"But I might take you up on that boat," Logan noted, indeed feeling like maybe a moment to breathe was what he needed. It had been forever since he'd been out sailing and there was a part of him that had always romanticized being out there on the ocean by himself. Maybe this was what he needed to grieve the end of an era, and pep-talk himself to putting the past behind them and stepping into the future with his back straight and no regrets?

Rory woke feeling more at ease than she had since forever, expecting to find Logan by her side, sleeping next to her. She was overcome by disappointment, followed by confusion, however, finding the other side of the bed not slept in. She'd slept late, too. It was for that reason she expected him to have gone down for breakfast, or for a change of clothes in his quarters.

She got up as she usually did, taking her time in the shower.

"Good morning," Rory said and smiled, last night's traumatic topics having been exchanged with a light feeling, as she made it to the kitchen, finding her dad, Gigi and Finn at the breakfast table.

Last night Logan had looked and sounded fine, even if a little shocked. He'd comforted her, but not really said much. She hadn't really expected him to take offense to any of it. If anything, she hoped he would be relieved that he was not infertile, maybe even glad for the fact in some extent.

"Good morning to you too," Gigi chimed, bringing her a cup of coffee.

"Thank you," Rory replied.

The others continued to talk about their plans for the day, having a few options on the table.

"Hey, has anyone seen Logan this morning?" Rory asked.

Christopher smiled, finding it adorable, how Rory was so focused on that guy of hers.

"Um, he actually, took the boat out this morning. He's schedule freed up and he'd been talking about trying his hand at fishing. Figured he told you," Finn replied.

"Um, I haven't checked my phone, to be honest…," Rory said, finding it a little odd, but also possible that she'd just missed a note somewhere. But it was not like she would've been terribly keen on fishing. Logan was allowed to do his own thing.

"I wouldn't worry about it," Gigi replied lightly. "Hey, what about going out exploring the North Stradbroke today? The weather's perfect!" she added, getting another idea.

"But Logan does have the boat," Finn pointed out.

"There is the ferry or, I don't know, we could borrow your dad's or something?" Gigi suggested.

"You up for it, Rory?" Christopher asked, wanting a day with both of his daughters.

"Um, sure… why not," Rory replied, having not really expected a big trip out of that day. But it was not like she had any other plans with Logan disappearing on her. Maybe it was better to take her mind off of things anyways, rather than obsess over why Logan had needed a day to himself.

"Yay!" Gigi clapped her hands excitedly.

"I better go give my dad a call then," Finn said, knowing better than to not try to provide his fiancé with the best that he could offer.