Trial of Error

Chapter 13: Coming to Terms

Description: Set after Will You Be My Lorelai Gilmore? Logan heads off to Vegas with Colin and Finn, but Rory doesn't just let it pass without having her say. Unfortunately for Rory, what happens in Vegas isn't going to stay in Vegas.

Ship: Rogan

Rating: T

Logan sat on the ledge of the window, looking out on one of the best views in Manhattan. It was considered a job perk, one of many million he'd given up without regret. Still the rewards were great, for doing all his father did. If he'd been anyone but his father's son, he might have been inclined to rethink his choice of walking away. He knew Rory's decision was a hard one. His main lament was that she had to make it at all. He'd never wanted to be a reason her life was harder.

His father entered the room as he did all rooms—as if he owned the place. It was a valid move in this case, but he let out a sound of utter irritation. "Logan. Who let you in here?"

Logan was unaffected by the lack of welcome. "Does it matter?"

Mitchum waved off the question. "You've been here more since you quit than you ever were willingly when you worked directly under me. Why is that?"

"I want you to rescind the offer you made to my wife."

"It's far too late for that," Mitchum retorted. "She has no idea you're here, am I right?"

"She knows I love her and that I vowed to honor and protect her. That's what I'm doing here."

"Protecting her from me?" Mitchum clarified, no doubt amused at the idea.

"I'm protecting her from giving up on her dreams out of some misguided ideal of duty on my behalf."

"You honestly think she wants you storming around like this on her behalf?"

"Honestly I think she'll be pissed, for a while. But that's not going to stop me, because I'd rather her be mad at me for a little while than live her whole life in regret."

Mitchum let his head fall back slightly as he rolled his eyes. "For the record, not everyone views the job offer that was extended to her as a life sentence."

"But it was. That's exactly what it was. That's what it means to be a Huntzberger and work for this company."

Mitchum gestured out to Logan. "You got yourself a get out of jail free card."

"She's a better person than I am. Made of tougher stuff, that's for sure. If she took this job, it would be her whole focus, even after she realized that it would never be what she really wanted."

"Then it's a good thing she didn't accept my offer."

Logan blinked, stunned momentarily. "Wait. What?"

"She was in here earlier, telling me just where I could stick my job offer."

Logan couldn't quite believe it, after the way they'd left things. "She did?"

"Which makes this overkill, if I say so myself. And just so we're clear, I understand that you love her and just how seriously you take your marriage. It's not necessary to keep bursting in my office and making these displays. I have work to do, and a protégé to find."

Logan smiled. "I'll let you get back to it. I have to find my wife."

-X-

Lorelai wrinkled her nose. "Ew, no."

Rory flipped a few pages and held it up for review. "This one?"

Lorelai stuck out her tongue. "Bleh," she said with a shudder.

"Mom, come on. They're all more or less the same."

"That should tell you something."

Rory continued to flip along, not exactly caught up in the act. "It's symbolic, or something."

"It's archaic or something," Lorelai corrected. "I won't be a party to it."

Rory put down the catalog and focused fully on her mother. "You don't want to come to my wedding reception?"

"Of course I want to come to your wedding reception. But I don't want to have to stand in a crowd of crazed women while you throw flowers at us, all in the name of hoping to be the next to get married."

"Grandma said it would be a nice gesture, to make our guests feel more included, since the ceremony was already done."

"Grandma is trying to guilt you into agreeing to whatever she wants, because you didn't let her show you off to all her society friends as you landed the biggest catch of your generation."

"I didn't think you thought that highly of Logan," Rory said appreciatively.

"I don't. I was talking about his former status as the most eligible bachelor among the upper crust. Though I guess now he's not eligible, a bachelor, or upper crust. You really knocked him down a few pegs. Of that, I approve."

"I do what I can," Rory said with a heavy sigh as she dropped her gaze back to the pictures of the sample bouquets. "What if he hates me now?"

Lorelai picked up the catalog that had been supplied by Emily's florist. "Pssh. You have enough to do, so I'll make a short list of these, if it's important to you, then I'll drop them by Mom's for her to pick the final choice since she'll pick her favorite in the end anyhow, and see what I can do about adding a few foods we actually like to the appetizer list."

"What should I do?"

"Go home and wait for Logan. He's probably already there, waiting for you to come home."

Rory nearly perked up. "You think?"

"He's growing on me. Maybe he wasn't the most eligible bachelor in the world in my eyes, but he loves you and I think that if he's willing to prove that he's worthy of you, then I will be glad he's part of our family."

Rory hugged her mom after she stood to leave. "Thanks. For everything."

Lorelai shooed her daughter toward the exit. "Go. I have flowers to judge."

-X-

He wasn't home when she got there, so she decided it was in her best interest to keep busy. She'd never done well with unscheduled down time. She cleaned the apartment, which didn't take very long. She had opened her laptop and was most of the way through editing the articles for the following weeks' paper when he put his key in the door and let himself in.

He stood there, staring at her, and she stared right back from her seat at the table. "Rory."

She stood up. "You came back."

He nodded and eased his keys out of the door. "I came back."

"Logan, I didn't take the job."

He closed the door behind him and took off his jacket. "I know."

She frowned. "You do?"

He crossed the room toward her. "I did something you won't like. But, if it helps, after that I did something you will like very much."

She blinked at him and shook her head with determination. "Whatever you did, I trust you."

"Did you not want the job?"

She sat back down and considered his question. "I don't know. I went back and forth, and never really landed on how much I wanted it. But there was one thing I did know."

He knelt down next to her chair. "What's that?"

"That I don't want any job that will come between us. I told you before, you should take that job in California, and I meant it. Which means I'm on board. I spent the day looking at apartments online, well, part of the day. I also started planning our reception, so it will feel like us and not Emily Gilmore's idealized version of us, and I went down to the social security office to change my name." She pointed at her laptop. "I also cleaned the apartment and finished the final edits for next weeks' paper."

He grabbed her hand, running his thumb over her wedding band. "You've been busy."

"So I hope you haven't changed your mind about anything, because I just became Mrs. Huntzberger and I kind of like the sound of it."

He smiled at her, soft and happy. "I turned down the job in California."

Her eyes widened in shock. "You what? Logan, no. No, no, no. You can't."

He cleared his throat. "They wanted me to start right away. I would have to start a week from Monday. You have two more months of classes, the paper, then finals and graduation—there would be no way to split the time. I don't want to go without you, it's a deal breaker. There will be other jobs."

She leaned down to kiss him. "At the rate we're turning down work, we'll be living on the streets."

"But we'll be together, sharing that cardboard box," he mused.

"I guess my telling you that two months isn't very long won't make you reconsider calling them back to say you've changed your mind."

"I thought you'd be happy about not moving to California."

She stared at him blankly. "Then what did you do that you knew I wouldn't like?"

He let out a low whistle. "I told my dad he had to revoke the job offer he made you."

Her eyebrows shot way too far up her forehead. "Logan. You did not."

"If it had been any other job, I swear to you I wouldn't have. But I did it for us."

"That was completely unnecessary, forget how insane it was!"

"I realize that now. He told me you'd already turned him down."

"I don't mean because I turned it down before you got there," she snapped.

Her tone was effective in quietening and chastising him. "Oh. Right."

"You can't fight battles for me. That isn't how this works."

He set on her highly irritated blue eyes, not willing to back down on finding that particular bottom line. "It is how this works. I am going to protect you, whenever possible."

"You still have to allow for me to make mistakes. I can't be perfect, no matter what. I am going to make bad decisions, that's part of how people learn and grow. You can't expect me never to do those things."

"I understand that," he said, to which she sent him a questioning grimace. "I do!"

"Remember how shocked people were when we came back and told them we got married?"

He scoffed. "I recall the incredulity, and I realize it was mostly aimed at me."

"No, it wasn't just you. We were basically the least likely people to ever get married, spontaneously or otherwise. If it had been anyone else in this with either of us, we would have bailed that next morning. A quick annulment and we would have had a Britney-esque anecdote to tell at parties about the perils of getting drunk in Vegas."

"I wasn't drunk," he pointed out fruitlessly.

"Tell me I'm wrong."

He hesitated and brushed her hair back off her face before he spoke. "If it had been anyone else, it wouldn't have happened at all."

She put her hand over his as it rested on her cheek. "We can do this, but it will be about us making our own rules. Deciding for ourselves how it works and what we can endure. I don't want anyone else's marriage. I want you and me, and who cares what anyone else thinks," she said strongly.

He pressed his lips firmly to hers. "I love you."

"I love you too. Now call them back and take your job."

"Rory."

"That's Mrs. Huntzberger to you, buddy. Call them. If your phone is low on battery, mine is right here," she said, holding it out.

"It's two months of being apart."

"And of me doing my last ever finals prep. You hate me at finals. I have total tunnel vision and barely eat or sleep. I won't even know if you're here or in California, or if Finn kidnapped you and convinced you to dress up as mermaids for Carnival," she said, with an amused twinkle in her eyes.

He rubbed wearily at his forehead. "Finn told you about that?"

"Finn has amazing recall of things that have occurred while he was obscenely wasted."

"Finn's dead to me."

"Stop trying to change the subject."

He gripped her hands tighter. "You're sure we'll be good?"

"We'll be great. I can come out and help you narrow down a place to live before things get super crazy here, I can take one or two long weekends, if I have the rest of the time to myself to crunch it all in."

"I can scout out restaurants to take you to, once you get there, when I'm not working."

"See? This will work out great. And it will give me time to job hunt before I move."

"We're doing this?"

She nodded with resolution. "We're doing this."

"This is our first major decision as a married couple."

"Well, beyond deciding to stay married, yes," she said and smiled at him. "Don't worry, there are more huge decisions we'll have to make. Our first house, when to have kids—what schools to send them to."

"Kids, huh?"

"First we'll focus on the jobs, then maybe a house, and then way later, potentially, we'll get to kids."

"Becoming Mrs. Huntzberger has been sort of a power trip for you, isn't it?"

His grin gave him away. He was glad she'd done it, no matter how much he teased her. "You have fifty years or so to get used to it."

For the first time in the history of their marriage, he did something for one major reason—because his wife told him to, and he knew he would not regret it at all.

-X-

"But we're going to miss you so much!" Lorelai cried.

"It won't last. No one in their right mind stays in California for very long. There's too much sun. I give it a couple of years and you'll be back," Emily said empirically.

"Don't listen to your grandmother, who apparently has become a vampire," Lorelai said, taking her daughter by the shoulder.

Emily groaned and moved on to mingle with her guests. Lorelai gave her daughter a pout.

"We'll come and visit, no matter how long we're there. And you'll come visit us."

"Is that an open invitation?" Lorelai asked. "Will you have a room set up for me?"

Logan stepped up and put an arm firmly around Rory's waist. "For certain family members, absolutely."

Lorelai shot a glance at Logan's parents, who were in deep, if vapid, conversation with people across the crowded room. "How are things going with your folks?"

"We're keeping it cordial."

"At least Honor still loves you," Rory said with a smile. "She offered to come and help you get settled, after I come back to school."

He laughed. "Yes, but that isn't the nice offer you think it is. She just wants to criticize my taste and play big sister. Josh can only take so much, and she has to expand her reign of terror."

"She's not that bad. Josh is fine; he loves her."

"He loves her, but it's like living with the fashion police," Logan explained.

"Let's hope she never ventures to Stars Hollow," Lorelai cringed. "There might be bloodshed. Can you imagine if she saw the full scope of Luke's flannel supply?"

Rory laughed, still holding onto Logan. "He has nice clothes. He looks great tonight."

"He has three nice dress-up outfits, all of which he had no part in obtaining. I bought them all and forced them into his closet. The rest is all flannel or stamped with a team logo."

"Not every man can be a clotheshorse," Logan said.

Rory shook her head at them. "The point is, Honor is doing something she perceives as nice for you. And your parents are coming around. I think."

Logan eyed her suspiciously. "Based on what?"

"Well, they showed up tonight. You and your dad shook hands, and your mom told me that my dress was lovely."

"Lovely is code for passable," he began.

"Yes, I know, but she said it without cringing much. I call that progress," Rory announced.

"She's an optimist, my daughter," Lorelai said with a shrug at Logan. "You can't squash it out of her. Lord knows I tried."

"As long as you don't think you have to do anything to get into their good graces. It's not worth the effort. If they're going to come around, it won't be because of anything we do," he advised.

"I know, I know," she said.

Emily approached the trio yet again. "You two have been talking to Lorelai too long."

Lorelai's jaw dropped. "My daughter is about to move cross country. I think I'm entitled to monopolize her time a little."

"It's a party, for which they are the guests of honor, and they've been talking to you for fifteen minutes. If they allotted all the guest that kind of time, we'd be here into next Tuesday."

"I only get fifteen minutes?" Lorelai asked, outraged.

"We all get our fifteen minutes," Logan quipped, to which he earned scarily similar glares from the Gilmore women. "Sorry."

"Calm down, Grandma, we're going. We're mingling," Rory said, dragging Logan by the hand.

"I'm not finished!" Lorelai called after them.

"Where's the shrimp?" Emily asked.

"Oh my God. I'm out of comebacks. I knew the day would come," Lorelai bemoaned.

"There is supposed to be shrimp on every third tray. I don't see any shrimp!" Emily said as she stormed toward the kitchen. Lorelai rushed after her, past Rory.

"What are you doing?" Rory asked.

"Preventing the death of many cater-waiters, I would imagine," she called over her shoulder.

Logan leaned his head down and kissed his wife's cheek. "Everything okay?"

Rory beamed up at him. "The insanity continues, with or without me it seems."

"As soon as we get settled, we'll have your mom visit. And you'll have a few girls' nights before you move."

"I know. Did you call about that place I saw last night?"

He nodded. "I did. We're seeing it Wednesday, before you fly back."

She felt relief. "Good. I know I can't see every apartment, but that one was great."

"Yeah. Hey, now it's a party!" he said, moving to greet his two best friends.

"A fond farewell to our best mate. Wouldn't miss it for the world," Finn said.

"And we are grateful for the consolation prize you're leaving us," Colin added.

"Consolation prize?" Logan asked. "What's this?"

"Rory," Finn announced. "Don't worry, chum, we'll look after her properly."

Logan's eyebrows raised in protest. "Rory is self-sufficient."

"It's true, I was raised that way," she informed the boys. "I realize it's a foreign concept."

"You can't just let her go out night after night alone, with you on the other side of the world. The girl will be overrun with blokes if not for us standing guard. Like twin pillars. Or centurions," Finn mused.

"Oh, boy," Rory said under her breath.

"Rory has final exams to prepare for."

"Exactly. What helps one study better than beer?" Colin asked. "Perhaps Scotch."

"And you two made it through Yale?" Rory checked.

"And it only took five years," Logan added.

"Five and a half," Finn said. "If you're getting technical."

"I've heard Yale is quite technical when it comes to graduation requirements," she acknowledged. "It's not that I don't appreciate the offer," Rory said.

"I don't appreciate the offer," Logan added. "She's my wife. Different rules apply."

"Yes, apparently he can go all caveman-like and get a pass in certain situations. I suppose this might be one of them," she said, checking with Logan.

"Not letting drunk men hit on you? Yeah, that qualifies."

Rory gave Colin and Finn a plucky shrug. "Sorry, boys."

Colin sighed. "Fine. I'm going to the bar. At least this crowd is a little different than our usual one. Maybe I can find a willing cougar to take me on."

"Blimey. I love cougars. Congrats, you two. We're on a new mission now!" Finn declared as they took off.

Rory giggled as they left earshot. "Part of me hopes those two never change."

He stiffened. "You don't need to worry about that. Speaking of never changing, heads up. My parents are approaching."

She put a hand on his arm. "It's okay. It'll be fine."

He pressed a kiss to her hair before they turned to face his parents. "Mom. Dad," he said with caution. "Good of you to make it."

"Logan, it's your wedding reception. Of course, I'd always pictured your wedding day and it was nothing like this," Shira lamented. "But this is just lovely."

Rory squeezed Logan's hand. "Honor and Josh are here somewhere," he supplied.

"Yes, she suggested we go in with her on your gift," Mitchum supplied. "I believe she was afraid we would forget our manners, given, well, everything," he finished.

"Gifts weren't required," Rory said primly. "We just wanted to celebrate and see everyone before Logan has to be in California."

Shira gave a little sniff. "Surely there were good jobs to be found on the East Coast."

"They have five-star hotels in the Bay Area, Mom, don't worry," Logan gave her a knowing smile.

"Oh, you," she said dismissively. "Go, on, Mitchum, give it to them."

"Give us what?" Logan asked guardedly.

Mitchum pulled out an envelope from his inner breast pocket, just as Rory had seen her grandfather do countless times. In fact, he'd done so earlier that night, even though she'd protested and insisted that the party was gift enough. Richard had been resolute to contribute to their honeymoon fund, and let Logan know on no uncertain terms that he was to make time in that busy schedule of his to take Rory on a proper honeymoon. She couldn't help but smile as they'd shaken on the deal.

"My gift to you. Both of you," he added, passing it into Logan's hands.

"Thanks," Logan said hollowly, making no effort to find out the contents.

"Open it," his father encouraged.

"During a party?" he asked. "We can put it on the pile."

"Logan, open the damn envelope," Mitchum instructed.

Logan looked to Rory, who shrugged and kept her eyes on the white parcel, as if it might explode as soon as contain a million dollars. "Fine," he muttered, tearing the seal and pulling out the papers it held. He skimmed over the words and flipped through the few pages before looking up at his father, dumbfounded. "What is this?"

"Just what it claims to be," his father answered. "Nothing more, nothing less."

"But, why?"

His father sighed. "The idea that you'd have nothing to do with the company has never sat well with me. You don't want to be at the head—I've accepted that. But you are never afraid to stand firm in your ideas and beliefs, and I want to know that in thirty years, no matter who is at the helm, that my son is involved somehow. This, hopefully, will make us both happy. All you have to do is sign."

"What is it?" Rory asked, doing her best to read over her husband's shoulder.

"He wants me to be on the board."

"Now, you will have to sit in on meetings, but you can do it remotely, and it's only every quarter. Most of it is B.S., anyway, but every once in a while there are key decisions to be made," Mitchum explained. "You know the drill."

Logan looked from his father to his mother. She smiled at him. "You'll always be a part of our family, Logan. And now Rory as well."

Logan folded the papers up. "I don't have a pen on me, but I'll send these back over to your office before I leave."

"Bring them yourself, and I'll buy you lunch. When do you head out?" he asked.

"Tomorrow night, we have a red-eye."

"I'll come to you. Make it easier."

"It would," Logan said warily. "Thank you."

"We'll let you get to your other guests. We'll say goodbye before we leave," his mother said as she kissed his cheek.

Rory looked at Logan, studying his movements. "You okay there?"

"I'm stunned. Was that really my father?"

"Or an incredible impersonator," she assured him. "Are you going to sign on to the board of directors?"

He flipped the pages out and glanced over them. His eyebrow raised and he looked up at her. "Will you?"

"What?"

He held down the paper for her to see. "This is a joint offer. We'd each have a vote, as well a separate percentage of shares in company stock."

She blinked. "This is our wedding present? Whatever happened to toasters and pasta makers?"

He considered her question. "That isn't really how Huntzbergers do things."

Her mouth hung open for a little longer than was necessary. "It's like I married into some alternate reality."

He considered her in puzzled awe. "You're only just realizing this now?"

"There you two are!" Honor exclaimed as she barreled toward them. "What's with the confounded looks?"

"Dad just gave us a rather unique wedding gift," he said, handing over the contract.

Honor barely glanced at it. "It's hardly unique. It's what he gave us. Well, in addition to the wedding and the honeymoon in Barbados. I love it there. I should make a reservation, for after I get back from San Fran. I'll need a vacation after getting you settled."

Logan balked. "You're on the board?"

"I am. Daddy knew I didn't wasn't going to nine-to-five it, but he wanted me to feel involved. I thought it was sweet of him."

"And you and Josh both got stock shares?" Rory asked.

"Not Josh, just me," she said, her eyes widening. "Which means you can't mention it to him. He thinks that money is interest on my trust fund. I don't want him to feel emasculated. Men are weird about needing to be the breadwinner. It's one of the reasons I don't work, officially. The poor guy works hard, and makes a good living. My money is our fun money. And my shopping money. And our rainy day fund," she added.

"And more than the GDP of many third-world countries," Rory said.

Honor straightened her back. "You're one of us now, Mrs. Huntzberger."

Rory wrinkled her nose as she smiled. "Logan told you?"

"He was excited. It was sort of adorable," Honor said.

"I'm not adorable," he said, nearing embarrassment.

"Yes, you are," his wife and sister double-teamed him in unison.

"There's an open bar here, right?" he asked Rory.

She gave a snort. "Please, we're WASPs. Or, at least, Emily is. I'd head that way," she said, pointing toward the cake.

He kissed her cheek before giving his sister a side hug. "We don't need much in the way of decorating help."

"We'll see about that," Honor said dismissively as he sighed and took off for the bar.

"Be good!" Rory called.

"I'll bring you a drink," he promised, making her smile.

"So, California," Honor said.

"Yep."

"You two are brave. I know this room is filled with plenty of opinions about your marriage," Honor began.

Rory groaned. "We're happy. Isn't that enough?"

Honor gave her a hug, surprising her. "It is for me. Thanks for making him adorably happy."

Rory hugged her back. "My pleasure."

Honor pulled back. "Now, I know Logan's obstinate about it all, so I'll send you some color swatches after you choose an apartment. I need lots of hi-res photos, preferably with natural light, at different times of day. What kind of camera do you have?"

Rory had never been more grateful for her grandmother to interrupt. "Rory! Where is Logan?"

"Um, he went to get me a drink," she said.

"Hello, Honor. I don't mean to interrupt, but you two need to cut the cake. If we don't keep this moving, it will drag, the appetizers will run out, and my chances to chair the next symphony fundraiser will plummet. I will not sit through another evening planned by Muffy Henderson."

Rory shared a look with Honor, who was doing her best to hide her smile. "I'll get Logan and we'll meet you by the cake."

"Good. With any luck you can be throwing the bouquet by the top of the next hour, and we can get to the dancing."

Rory's steps faltered as she did her best to keep up with her grandmother. "There's dancing?"

"It's like I'm the only one in this family that's ever seen a wedding before. Of course there's dancing!"

Rory veered off toward Logan and yanked at his elbow. "There's dancing."

He handed her a flute, filled to more than the requisite half. "Here. This will help."

"Keep 'em coming," she said, before she downed the whole glass.

"You're a good dancer," he said.

"No, you're a good lead. There is a huge difference."

"Then don't worry," he said, his lips at her ear and his words warm on her skin.

She relaxed into him. "You've got me."

He nodded. "I've got you."

She calmed visibly. "We're wanted at the cake table."

"Ah, my favorite part."

"Actually, mine too."

"Here's the big decision, though. Are you ready?"

She stared at him with slight hesitation. "For what?"

"Do we feed each other nicely or go for the cake smash to the face?"

Her eyes widened. "Oh, you wouldn't."

His eyes twinkled with mischief. "You only live once, Ace."

She followed just a half step behind him, hanging onto his hand on the way to the cake table. "We have got to get you a new motto!"