Chapter 7

The next morning Logan was up early. He was used to it generally, liking the idea of starting his day with a clean slate, having finished the majority of work before other people even got to work. He was the kind of person who didn't require much sleep and who was most productive in the wee hours of the day. And besides that nap the day before had really messed up his sleep cycle, which really didn't help him actually trying to rest during this so-called holiday of his.

By 6 AM Logan had already gone through his inbox and made a few calls to the States. After working for a bit, he'd taken a swim, having the convenience of residing in the guest house that also doubled as the pool house, and done his bare minimum routine of 30 push-ups, 1 minute plank and 50 sit-ups. He'd showered and with his blood rushing, he made it up the stairs, assuming he'd have the kitchen to himself to make himself the protein shake that Finn apparently swore by and had suggested Logan give a try one of these days.

Making his way around the corner to the kitchen, Logan's attention was drawn to the garden, enjoying the view from this place immensely and the way this place always felt like being outside even if one was really inside. It was what Finn's sister did best - interior design and working in cooperation with architects who created such masterpieces as this house, combining old and new.

As he walked, Logan took in a breath of fresh air, moistened by the sprinklers on the other side of the house. All the wonderful scents, the flowers combined with the morning heat almost made him want to close his eyes again for a minute. Having become a little distracted suddenly several awkward exclamations filled the space, hot coffee spilled onto both his and the other person's skin and clothes. An overall clumsiness to recover from this momentary lapse of attention followed.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going," Logan said, his mouth involuntarily taking an upwards curve, recognizing the person as Rory.

"I guess I should go change," Rory said, finding herself suddenly blushing on top of everything, having really not anticipated seeing him this early, nor one-on-one this morning. Worse yet with a big coffee stain on her chest.

Logan had gotten just a few small drops, most of it on his hand that he would simply go wash off.

"Here, I'll get you another cup of coffee while you do," Logan said, determinedly taking the half-spilled cup from Rory's hand with his two fingers. He hadn't done it with a specific plan in mind, but with Rory it had just come so automatically - the way that he'd said that, had definitely had a hint of flirt in it. Delicate, tentative - but still, definitely flirty.

Rory wasn't sure if her radar had picked that up right, or whether she'd imagined that, as she made it back to her room. Now she was not only wondering what to change into but what to change into that also would look good on her, almost forgetting the self-pity party she'd had last night. But she, if anyone, knew how Logan flirted, right?

At the same time in the kitchen, Logan felt oddly similar, having not really planned on flirting with her. As far as he knew Rory had a nice little family back home, and it was not his intention to try to ruin anything for her. If anything, he'd enjoyed seeing her, trying to balance genuine interest for how she was doing and reminiscing of the good-old-times, as innocently as they possibly could. But then again as history had proved - maybe they couldn't? Maybe that was just utterly impossible for the two of them to exist without being drawn together in some way.

Logan shook that thought away, as the loudness of the coffee maker filled his mind, instead. There was no point in getting ahead of himself and thinking he was somehow special or above morals to go through his life making the mistakes he'd made in the past.

Logan continued to make himself that protein shake, adding a couple of fresh fruits on the counter that had looked just too plain delicious to ignore.

"So, I guess I should've said 'good morning', um… before," Rory said, appearing to the kitchen without him noticing.

"Good morning," Logan replied, feeling like this was a good way to start the day over, and moved the cup of coffee he'd made from Rory from the counter to the kitchen island as if serving her.

"My, thank you," Rory said with a small smile. She'd changed into a summer dress, one she'd been planning on wearing later in the day, so it looked perhaps a little more formal than one would wear to just hang around the house in.

"So, you sleep well?" Logan asked, trying to come off friendly but not overly flirty.

"Pretty good," Rory replied, making a small fake yawn whilst not being even entirely sure why she'd just done that. "Did you guys stay up late or are you still the early bird?" Rory asked, having faintly heard Finn, Logan and Gigi hanging out by the pool last night, laughing and talking.

"Not too late," Logan replied, not liking to brag.

For a moment the two just sipped their drinks, trying to appear all casual and carefree.

"This is kind of weird, isn't it?" Logan asked first.

Rory put her coffee cup down, sensing this part of the conversation was going to be a little different.

"Yeah, it is," Rory let out an awkward laugh, knowing exactly what he was talking about.

"Never thought I'd see you again to be honest. Not that I didn't want to… I almost thought I did once. At JFK," Logan shared.

"Neither did I," Rory said, swallowing that lump that had formed in her throat involuntarily. It could've well been her at JFK that he'd seen and to Rory it was honestly pretty weird to think about the possibility of having been in his vicinity at a place that was that busy. It was so easy to pass someone and miss them completely in a crowd.

Both of them sighed in their own way.

"I won't deny that saying goodbye to you was one of the hardest things I've ever done," Logan said.

"Yeah," Rory simply said, knowing that to be equally true. Besides, she had other painful things in her baggage that related to the last time they'd seen each other.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to drag up ancient history…," Logan said, sensing how maybe it hadn't been the brightest idea to even mention it.

"No, it's fine. It's ancient history, like you said," Rory said, bluffing, wanting to seem unshaken.

"And I mean, if being around me through these weeks…," Logan began to offer, coming off a little cocky even if unintentionally. He was reluctant to offer to go to a hotel, loving this place in its entirety, but it felt like the polite thing to do. But maybe a part of him maybe even anticipated a very Rory-like answer.

"Oh, no. It's no problem. I mean… we'll get used to it. We've got a few weeks on our hands and stuff to do. You know - touristy stuff, and wedding stuff… And we can be friends, can't we?" Rory blabbered.

"Yeah," Logan exhaled, trying to hide how amused he felt by her response.

Rory took another sip of coffee, feeling more awake by each sip.

"You know - how about I cook you something. I haven't had a full breakfast in ages, but maybe it's time for a change now that I'm here. Must do things the way the locals do, right?" Logan offered, wanting to relax Rory a little. He could always tell when she was tense - nervous or anxious, and he also knew how to ease her stress.

"If you're thinking Vegemite, then no thanks. Finn already made me try some yesterday," Rory commented in a chuckle.

"I was more thinking along the lines of avocados, eggs and toast?" Logan suggested.

"Music to my ears, Huntzberger," Rory commented, for the first time feeling like maybe this whole thing could actually work out in some scenario without becoming a big mess.

Logan went about the place, appearing like he owned the place - in the best way possible. But it was one of Logan's abilities - in most settings, he could come off confident even if he really wasn't. It was the way he was raised - to never show insecurities. And in that sense, it was odd for him to be around Rory again, or on second thought both Rory and Finn - as those were certainly two out of about five or six people in the world to whom he'd ever shown his real self. But with Rory it had truthfully been a while as the last time they'd been together it had been different. There had been more assumptions between them than ever before, things that had not been spelled out, hoping that what one didn't hear hurt somehow less. They'd been vulnerable about needing a safe haven in each other, but remained at the same time guarded the entire time. It had been thrilling but exhausting, almost like alcohol or recreational drugs.

They talked a little about Honor and her kids, as well as Lorelai and Luke, Rory even brought up Paris and her friend Lane, being unsure if Logan really even remembered her. He did, but the entire time his focus was very much on the unknown - who was Mil's father and was he making Rory happy?