What happens when Rory meets up with friends for a day of fun, then suddenly runs into Logan.
Set 6 months after Unto The Breach
Disclaimer: I own NOTHING!
I thought of this a few weeks ago. It's not going exactly how I planned it in my head, but I kind of like it. I was thinking of just leaving it as a one shot, but then I was thinking maybe I should continue . . . What do you guys think? Drop me some reviews! :-)
The Breakdown
"Hey Stephanie!" Rory said as her friend opened the door to her condo in New York City.
"Rory! I'm so glad you are here! Thank you for coming! How are you?" Stephanie Vanderbilt asked as she stepped aside to let her friend into her new home.
"I'm alright, I guess. How are you? How are you liking the new place?"
"I love it! I just couldn't stand living with my parents anymore. I needed my own place. Juliette and Rosemary are in the kitchen. They are so excited to see you."
"It's been a while since I've seen anyone." Rory said as she followed Stephanie.
"Rory!" Rosemary cheered as the women walked into the kitchen together.
"You look amazing!" Juliette told her.
"Thanks." Rory blushed. "How are you guys? It's been a while."
"We miss you! Ever since you and Logan broke up, it's like you've dropped off the face of the planet. No one has seen or heard from you." Rosemary said, handing Rory a cup of coffee.
"Thanks. I've been working. Trying to keep myself busy."
"Just because you and Logan split doesn't mean that you get to split from us." Stephanie told her. "Logan is an idiot to not be with you. But you are still our friend."
"Yeah Rory, you are still one of us." Juliette agreed. "Are you doing ok?"
"Um, yeah. It's hard, you know? I never saw it coming." Rory answered, taking a seat at the kitchen island with her friends.
"What happened? You guys were so perfect together!" Rosemary told her. "All we heard was that you guys broke up. Logan isn't giving anyone details."
"Really? I thought everyone would know what happened by now."
"All Logan has said is that you guys broke up. We all know that it must have been him to break up with you, because last time we talked to you, things were completely perfect. You were graduating, and you guys were so happy." Stephanie said as she set a plate of cake down in front of each of her friends.
"I don't even know. Things were going so great for us. Logan went to California for a job interview with this tech start up, and everything was so perfect. Two days later we were at my graduation party that my grandparents threw for me, and suddenly he's asking me to marry him . . . Out of nowhere! Right in the middle of this huge party full of all of my grandparents' friends, Logan suddenly springs a proposal on me, and I froze. I wasn't expecting it, and I just wasn't ready." Rory told them.
"Yikes! Did you guys ever talk about getting married?" Rosemary asked.
"Not even once."
"And he suddenly just sprung that on you?!"
"Yeah! He pulled out this gorgeous ring, and asked me to marry him. And I panicked! I love him, and I do want to be with him, but I just . . . I'm not ready for that right now. I was just graduating from college, and unlike everyone else I know, I didn't even have a job lined up. I had no idea what I was going to do with the rest of my life, and I felt like I was sinking into a hole, and then all of a sudden my boyfriend suddenly wants to get married."
"That's insane!" Stephanie told her. "Did you tell him how you feel?"
"I tried to. I asked him to let me think about it. But then when I tried to tell him that I wasn't ready, that I can't just up and marry him right now, he left. Logan gave me an ultimatum, and when he didn't like my answer, he bailed!"
"What a jerk! I can't believe he did that to you! I am so sorry!" Rosemary said in an irritated voice.
"Right?! And that was at my graduation ceremony. I was standing there taking pictures with my family, and I saw him coming our way, so I took a break to talk to him, and he gave me this ultimatum of moving to California and getting married, or we were done. And then he just walked away. He refused to try the long distance thing again. He refused to let me figure things out for myself. All I wanted was just a chance to figure my life out. Maybe I would have moved to California. I just needed to get through my graduation and figure my life out. I needed to figure out who I am as an adult, away from my family, and away from Yale. I just needed some time to be me before settling down and becoming someone's wife, and Logan couldn't give me that."
"What an idiot! I want to kick him for you!" Juliette told her. "Scratch his eyes out!"
"You poor thing Rory. I can't even imagine how hard all of this has been on you. We had no idea what was going on until Collin and Finn told us that you two had split up." Stephanie explained.
"What did they say?" Rory asked.
"Rosemary and I were asking how your graduation went and when we were all going to go out to celebrate, and Finn said that we would have to call you to see if you wanted to celebrate with us, and when I asked why, he told us that you and Logan has split up. He didn't give us any reason, and when I asked Collin about it later on, he told me that he didn't even know. Logan refuses to talk about it. We actually haven't even seen him in months."
"Finn said he lives in California." Rosemary told her. "Something about a job he got."
"Probably the tech start up he interviewed with the week before my graduation. I know they offered him the job, but I don't know anything else about it. That's all he told me the night he proposed. He said that they had offered him the job, and he wanted me to move with him." Rory explained.
"So how are you doing with all of this? You must have been devastated." Juliette said standing on the opposite side of the island, facing Rory.
"I'm hanging in there. It's been hard. I'm just trying to focus on work. I travel a lot, so I'm rarely in one place for a very long time. You guys just happened to luck out that I had a stop here in the city for a couple of days."
"What kind of job did you get?" Rosemary asked.
"I am actually writing for an online magazine. I'm a reporter for Barack Obama's Presidential Campaign. I basically ride on his press bus with the other reporters, and write about every speech he gives, and all of the events he goes to."
"Rory, that is amazing! That is right up your alley!" Stephanie told her. "Congratulations! We had no idea!"
"Thank you! It's definitely been a huge change for me. It's lonely though, you know? We're always on the bus going from one city to the next. We are here for two days, then we go to New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Washington DC, North Carolina, and then I think we are in Florida after that."
"Dang girl! You really are all over the place!" Rosemary told her.
"Right?! Some days I wake up and can't even remember what city I'm in." Rory laughed. "This is the first time in months, that I've seen anyone I know other than on my computer screen."
"Well we are so glad that you are here! We miss hanging out with you." Juliette said between bites of cake.
"I miss hanging out with you guys too. I was actually surprised to hear from you."
"Why's that?" Rosemary asked.
"I don't know . . . I guess I kind of thought that you guys were Logan's friends first, so I didn't really have a right to keep in touch with you after he left."
"No way!" Stephanie told her. "I might happen to have grown up with Logan, and spent my entire life having to babysit his crazy antics, but you are MY friend. I don't care that you guys broke up. You never took sides any of the times that Collin and I split up, and I won't do that to you either."
"None of us will. You are our friend too." Juliette agreed.
"Exactly! We all know what idiots those three boys can be. But us girls, we're friends no matter what. We don't care what Logan thinks." Rosemary told her.
"Thanks you guys. That means a lot to me." Rory told them. "So, what's new with you?"
"Well, Juliette finally eats now." Rosemary laughed.
"So I'm guessing that means that you've found a very rich man to marry?" Rory asked. "Or was it a very poor man that you wanted? I don't remember?"
"I don't know about marrying him, but he is definitely pretty fun to be around."
"So tell me about him."
"You actually know him." Rosemary told her.
"I do?"
"Juliette fell in love with Robert." Stephanie told her.
"For real?!" Rory asked.
"They bonded over their mutual plans to be filthy rich some day. Robert plans to put all of his sisters out on the street and leave all of his money to his parrot, and Juliette just wants to be married to some guy that will let her binge eat and not care how fat she gets." Rosemary explained. "Robert found the best chocolate cake in the city, and brings it to her all the time. It's actually pretty adorable."
"Wow, that's crazy!"
"Didn't you go out with him once?" Juliette asked.
"I did. But just once. We went to Finn's birthday party together one year, right before Logan and I started dating."
"Oh, that's right! The Pulp Fiction party. That was a lot of fun. I totally forgot that you were there."
"I went as Gogo."
"I miss those crazy fun parties! This whole adult thing bites!" Rosemary told them.
"Yeah it does!" Stephanie agreed. "But at least we have each other again. I missed seeing you guys all the time. Rory, I wish you could move in with us. We have an extra room. It's yours if you ever want it."
"Thanks, that is so sweet of you. I wish I could move here and live with you guys, but I'm living on the road right now. Maybe in a couple of years after the election is over, if you guys still have this place, maybe I can move in with you then."
"That would be so epic!" Juliette told her.
"What about you Rosemary? What have you been up to?" Rory asked.
"I am actually working for Stephanie. We finally got that makeup line up and running."
"Really?! I remember you talking about wanting to do something like that. I am so proud of you!"
"Thank you!" Stephanie said with a bright smile. "It's been a lot of work, but it's so much fun! We are actually having a big party tomorrow night, you should totally come!"
"I don't know if I can, I have an event to go to in the afternoon, and I don't know how long it will run."
"When do you leave for New Hampshire?" Rosemary asked.
"I'm here until Sunday. I have today and tomorrow, then Sunday afternoon we leave. This is actually the first time that I've had a free Friday since I graduated."
"Well then we need to celebrate having you here. Let's do something tonight."
"Sure, that sounds really fun." Rory agreed.
"Rosemary, why don't you call up Finn, and have him grab Collin, and we can all get together here, and figure out what to do tonight while Rory is in town." Stephanie told their friend. "Juliette, what is Robert doing today?"
"He's at work for another hour, then he has something to do for a friend, but said that he would stop by when he's done." Juliette answered.
"Awesome! So the gang will be mostly back together tonight. Rory, I am so glad you are here! Come here, I want to show you this makeup. I know you don't wear a lot of make up, but I have samples for you and your mom." Stephanie told her.
"Oh excellent! I'm excited! I go to a lot of events lately, so I'll definitely wear it!"
"You should let me do your makeup before you go to your event tomorrow."
"I would love that!" Rory said excitedly. "It's some luncheon mixer thing where we get to meet some of the other candidates on the primary ballot."
"That sounds nice and fun." Rosemary commented as they followed Stephanie to her downstairs office.
"It should at least be interesting. We usually have evening events, so I'm not used to going to luncheons."
"Do you need something to wear?" Stephanie asked.
"I'll probably just wear some dress pants and a nice top."
"I have this dress that I bought last week that would look killer on you. I loved it at the mall, but then when I got it home, it looks terrible on me. But it totally matches your eyes. It's super cute."
"We instantly thought of you when Stephanie put it on." Juliette told her. "It's this really cute suit style dress, but it's just not Stephanie. She bought it thinking that it would be perfect for this cosmetics convention that she's going to in Las Vegas in a few weeks, but it's just not her. You know Stephanie, she's way more loud than that dress is. It's really pretty, but it just screams Rory, not Stephanie."
"Juliette, will you run upstairs and grab that dress for me? It's in the back of my closet." Stephanie asked.
"Sure, I'll be right back." Juliette told them.
"Ok, Rory, sit. I want to try this lipstick on you." Stephanie said pulling a chair out next to the vanity in the corner.
"Stephanie, this office is incredible! It looks like a boutique makeup store from a magazine! This is gorgeous!" Rory said looking around the room at the black and white tiled floor, the black vanity tables with bright pink velvety plush stools and over sized chairs in the corners of the room.
"Rory, check out this awesome chandelier we found at an antique store. It's crystal, and huge!" Rosemary said pointing above their heads.
"Wow! That is big! But it's so pretty! I love how the light bounces off the crystals and illuminates the whole room. It's beautiful! You guys have really gone all out!"
"If we ever get our own store outside of this house, this is what I want it to look like." Stephanie told her.
"You'll get it, I know you will. This is just amazing Stephanie! You've worked really hard for this!" Rory told her.
"Thanks Rory! We just got some new promotional photos done, and oh my gosh, you should see how gorgeous they turned out! Rosemary is an amazing model!" Stephanie said opening the doors to the closet.
"Oh holy cow!" Rory gasped, seeing the makeup display in the walk-in closet. "Stephanie, that closet! Wow! I could live in there!"
"I fell like I do live in there." Rosemary laughed. "The wrap around counter was my idea. Everything is set up by shade starting with the darkest red we carry, and it moves through to the palest pink before going to the more celebratory costume style colors.
"We thought about organizing by color of the rainbow, but we like it this way better." Stephanie added.
"This is completely incredible! I really love it!" Rory told them. "You know, you could still have the rainbow set up with just the more costume style colors."
"I like it!" Rosemary said looking at Stephanie.
"Rory, that is genius! We totally should do that!" Stephanie agreed. "See, this is why you need to moved in with us when you are done with all of your traveling. You have the best ideas!"
"And you're gorgeous! You should do the promotional stuff with me Rory. You have the most amazing porcelain skin." Rosemary told her.
"Yeah, but I'm super shy. I don't do well in the spotlight. I'm a behind the camera person." Rory told them. "I can totally help you out with advertising though."
"We need that too!" Stephanie agreed. "Rory, we totally need you here with us!"
"Rory, look at this dress!" Juliette said walking into the room, holding out a gorgeous teal dress in front of her.
"That's so pretty!" Rory smiled.
"Well it's yours!" Stephanie told her.
"Here, put it on. There's a bathroom right through that door." Juliette said pointing across the room.
"Yes, go put the dress on, I'll be right back. I'm gonna go get the door." Stephanie said hearing the doorbell ring.
"Ok." Rory agreed getting up from her stool and heading into the bathroom. "Of course this bathroom is just as amazing as the rest of this room! You guys, this is incredible!"
"This is my favorite room in the entire house!" Stephanie said with a confidant smile as she left the room to head to the front door, pulling it open to see Robert and another friend staring back at her.
"Hey Steph! Look who I found hanging around the airport!" Robert said excitedly, pointing at the friend next to him.
"Hey Robert! Juliette is in the office. But he can't be here." Stephanie told Juliette's boyfriend, pointing her finger at their friend.
"Well hello to you too Stephanie!"
"Hey Logan." Stephanie smiled briefly. "I'm sorry, but you really can't be here right now."
"Stephanie, don't be silly! He's only in town for two days." Robert said stepping around her, waving for Logan to follow.
"Robert, he really can't be here." Stephanie hissed quietly.
"Why not? Juliette! Babe! Where are you?" Robert called out.
"Stephanie, I thought we were friends?" Logan asked.
"We are friends. I'm happy to see you, but I have another friend here who is only in town for a couple days, and I haven't seen her in months and months."
"So?" Logan asked. "I've met your friends before. In fact, I already know most of them."
"I don't want you making her uncomfortable." Stephanie said as Juliette walked into the room behind her.
"Hey Baby!" Juliette said kissing her boyfriend. "Whoa! Logan! Robert, he can't be here right now! Take him away!" Juliette snapped quietly.
"Dude! What the heck is with you girls today?! I thought you would be happy to see Logan again?" Robert asked. "I thought we were all friends?"
"We are! But he can't be here right now!"
"See!" Stephanie told them. "You both need to go. You can come back later on."
"Stephanie, what is going on?" Logan asked. "This isn't like you. We've been best friends since we were in diapers."
"I know. And normally you are welcome here any time. I'm happy to see you. I know that none of us have seen you in like 6 months, but now just isn't a good time. Please, just go. Hurry up. You need to go. I'll explain later."
"Stephanie, you were right! Look how amazing she looks!" Rosemary said walking out of the office with Rory right behind her.
"Go!" Stephanie said holding her hands out, trying to push Logan back toward the door, but completely failing.
"Rory . . ." Logan said softly, spotting Rory behind Rosemary.
"Oh hell no! You need to go!" Rosemary said stopping in her tracks, causing Rory to walk right into her, not paying attention to where she was going.
"Sorry Rosemary, I wasn't paying attention." Rory said looking up, freezing the moment she realized what was going on.
"Rory, I am so sorry!" Stephanie said quickly moving toward her friend. "Robert just showed up with him, and I've been trying to get them to leave."
"Hey Rory." Logan said softly, smiling sheepishly at her.
"Hi." Rory echoed almost inaudibly.
"Hey Rory!" Robert said excitedly, stepping around the girls to give Rory a hug. "Long time, no see! How are you?"
"I'm ok." Rory responded quietly.
"Robert, you guys need to go." Juliette told him.
"Robert, please. Just go." Stephanie told him.
"You guys, it's fine. I can go. I have a lot of work to do anyway." Rory said stepping back from Robert.
"No, Rory. Please stay." Stephanie told her. "We haven't seen you in forever, and we really miss you! Please. We want you to stay. I had no idea Logan would be here. I am so sorry! I feel terrible!"
"Robert, you should have told me!" Juliette told him.
"Actually, can I talk to Rory? Please?" Logan asked.
"Logan, I don't think that's a good idea. We are having a girls day. You guys just need to go." Stephanie told him, looking directly at Rory. "Rory, I am so sorry! I'll have Robert get him out of here."
"Stephanie please. Can we have a few minutes?" Logan asked again.
"Whatever you have to say to Rory, you can say it in front of us." Rosemary told him.
"Rory?" Logan questioned. "Please? I just need a couple minutes."
"I'll make him leave." Stephanie told her.
"It's fine." Rory finally sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. "This was bound to happen eventually."
"Give us a few minutes?" Logan asked again.
"Yell if you need us. We'll be in the office." Stephanie said seeing Rory slowly nodding her head.
"You had better not say anything to upset her." Rosemary warned, then turned and followed Stephanie, Juliette and Robert into the office, shutting the door behind them, then deciding against it, and leaving it open a crack.
"You look beautiful." Logan smiled looking over the dress Rory was wearing, noticing the tags hanging off her arm. "You guys go shopping today?"
"No. Stephanie bought this but said it looks terrible on her and wanted me to try it on." Rory said softly.
"It looks amazing on you. Matches your eyes."
"Thank you." she blushed, then looked away.
"Look . . . I am so sorry for just showing up with Robert. I didn't know that you were here. Had I known, I wouldn't have come." Rory just nodded her head. "Rory . . . Look . . . I really screwed things up with you . . . I am so sorry! I never meant to hurt you." Logan said taking a couple steps toward her.
"Really? Because you could have fooled me!" Rory said rolling her eyes, still refusing to look at Logan.
"Rory . . . You know me."
"I thought I did."
"It's been 6 months, and every single day I beat myself up for being so stupid. Hurting you was the last thing that I wanted to do. I just . . . I don't know what came over me. But I am so sorry. Walking away from you at your graduation was the stupidest thing that I've ever done." Rory just nodded her head, without even looking at him, just staring at the floor in front of her. "I messed up. Again. And I ruined one of the most important days of your life. I know that now. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry I hurt you. I'm sorry I ruined your graduation, and I'm sorry that I walked away." Rory just shook her head, refusing to look up and make eye contact with Logan. "Rory . . ." Logan started again, taking a few more steps toward her, until he was standing about a foot away from her. "This isn't a conversation that I ever wanted to have with you. Especially not like this."
"What do you want Logan?" Rory finally asked, looking up at him, briefly meeting his eyes, and instantly feeling a pain of guilt, sadness and regret hit her right in the heart, causing her to look away again, shaking he head as she looked back at the floor in front of her.
"Rory . . . I loved you. You know how much I loved you . . . I loved you, and I wanted to marry you . . . I thought we were there. I thought that was the next logical step for us. But you said no . . . I thought I was what you wanted, but you said no."
"And you walked away." Rory told him. "You say that you loved me and that you wanted to marry me. But as soon as I told you that I couldn't, you just walked away. You couldn't even hear me out. You couldn't even try to find a solution that worked for both of us. You just left." she said, finally meeting his eyes again. "You said that I was who you wanted to spend the rest of your life with, but then you left."
"You ARE who I want to spend my life with. I am so sorry Rory! You have to know that."
"Then why did you leave?"
"Because I'm an idiot!" Logan told her
"Well, that's on you."
"Rory look . . . I'm sorry! I shouldn't have walked away from you."
"Then why did you?"
"I don't know . . . I was hurt when you said no."
"You were hurt? Really Logan? YOU were hurt? What about me? What about how I felt?!"
"I know . . ."
"Do you? Do you know?! Because I don't think that you do!" Rory said angerly.
"No, I know that I hurt you when I walked away. And I'm sorry. I never meant for that to happen. Hurting you was the last thing in the world that I wanted."
"Well, congratulations!" she said sarcastically.
"Rory, come on."
"Don't Rory me! You don't get to Rory me! You hurt me Logan! You completely ruined one of the most important days of my life! Now every time I look back at my college graduation, all I see is this horrible thing that happened!"
"I am so sorry Rory." Logan said softly.
"Are you? Because I don't think that you even get it."
"No Rory, I get it. Believe me, I do. And I am so sorry! I never should have asked you to marry me the way that I did."
"So why did you?"
"Because I was excited. Because I had just gotten this amazing job offer, and I was so excited to start the next part of my life. To get a fresh start away from here. Away from my family. To finally be able to have the kind of life that I want, away from my father and HPG. And all I wanted was to be with you. I couldn't wait to tell you. I couldn't wait to have the life I've always dreamed of. And all I wanted was for you to go with me. For us to be together. I wanted to marry you. I still do. I want a life with you Rory."
"Then why couldn't you just talk to me about it? Why did you have to give me that ultimatum?"
"I don't know. I'm an idiot. I want that life with you so badly, and I was scared of losing you."
"Well you lost me anyway. Congratulations!"
"Ok, you need to stop saying that. Don't congratulate my stupidity."
"What do you want Logan? Why are you still here?"
"Because I want you to know that I'm sorry. That I never wanted to hurt you."
"So you've said."
"Rory . . ." Logan said softly as Rory looked back down at the floor in front of her. "Rory, I love you . . . I am so sorry!" Rory just shook her head, refusing to look back up and let him see all the pain in her eyes.
"Logan, I can't do this right now. You need to go."
"Rory, please don't do this." Logan said reaching for her hand just to have Rory jerk it away.
"Don't touch me."
"Rory . . ."
"No Logan! You don't get to do this! You don't get to claim to love me, and want to spend your life with me, then just walk away and leave me when things don't go your way. That's not how it works! You don't even talk to me about things! You just make plans, and expect me to jump up and follow along. You don't even consult me! Everything has to go exactly your way, or nothing!" Rory snapped finally looking him in the eye. "Back in April, you told me to make the decision that I thought was best for me, and that you would factor me into your plans. But you didn't! You couldn't! You just went to California and accepted this new job without even consulting me about it. You made all these plans for us, you found a house to live in, without even talking to me about it. You planned out our life without me! And then when you did finally decide to tell me about it, the second that I couldn't jump on board like you wanted me to, you bailed! How do you think that feels Logan?! You haven't included me in anything! You can't plan our life without me. I am a big part of us. There is no US without me! There's just YOU! And that's what you planned. You planned a life for YOU! You planned the life that YOU wanted!"
"I was doing it for us, Rory."
"No you weren't! Because if you were doing it for us, you would have talked to me about it. But you never did. You just did what you wanted. What you thought was best for you! You never consulted me. You never factored me in, or factored in what I wanted. We never talked about any of it! Factoring me in, means that you have to actually TALK TO ME! You can't just go ahead and plan my life out without me! That's not how things work Logan!"
"What do you want me to do Rory?! Do you want me to give everything up and come back here to be with you?! Do you want me to go back to HPG?!"
"I never asked you to do anything like that! I never asked you to give anything up for me! But yet you expect me to just drop my entire life and move to California for you!"
"So then tell me what you want Rory! Tell me what you want me to do!"
"I want you to leave." Rory said sternly.
"Rory . . . Come on . . . Can we please just talk about this?"
"There's nothing to talk about Logan. We aren't together anymore. You walked away when things didn't go your way. You have your own perfect life, just the way that you wanted it."
"Please, my life is so far from perfect. And it's definitely not what I wanted because you aren't in it."
"Well, that was your doing! You're the one who walked away!"
"And I'm trying to apologize for that. I was an idiot! I messed up!"
"Well, it sucks to be you then!"
"Rory, tell me how to fix this. Tell me how to fix us."
"There is no us, Logan."
"Rory . . ."
"No Logan! You don't get to Rory me!"
"What do you want me to do here?! I messed up, I admit it! I never expected to run into you today, but now I have, and I'm here trying to apologize to you. I want to fix things, and you are making it really hard on me!"
"You think that things have been easy for me lately?!"
"I never said that."
"You hurt me Logan!"
"I know I did. And I am so sorry. I want to make it up to you. I want to fix this. I want you in my life Rory." Rory just stood there silently. "Can we at least try to be friends again?"
"I don't know Logan . . ." Rory said softly, wiping at a tear that managed to slip out of her eye and make its way down her face.
"Please don't cry Rory. I hate it when you cry." Rory just closed her eyes, shaking her head.
"I can't do this right now. Please just go." Rory said softly.
"Fine . . ." Logan said with a sigh. "Call me when you're ready to talk . . . I love you." Logan kissed her cheek, then turned around and headed for the door, pausing only briefly before opening the door and walking out, shutting it behind him, leaving Rory alone to break down in tears.