The Maine Event

Chapter 11

Rory pulled herself out of the warmth of the bed, feeling pretty well rested all things considered, relieved to find a note from Logan waiting on the kitchen table, informing her of his whereabouts. Her breakfast and coffee, just a press of a button away, waited for her on the counter. 

She was just about to sit down to drink her cappuccino, when she heard the door. Briefly a sense of fear came over her - what if it was someone else, someone who didn't know about her or would not expect her to be there, but that momentary panic was swept away by his familiar steps, along with the slight limp, on the creaky floorboards followed by a wide smile that appeared through the doorway seconds later.

"Good morning," Logan said, leaning down and finally being able to kiss her without worrying. The kiss was gentle but a little celebratory as well, making the two forget themselves.

"Oh, wow," Rory replied smilingly, adding "a really good morning," her cheeks slightly blushing. 

He smirked in return.

Logan took a seat next to her, stealing a bite of her chocolate chip pancakes. God, how he missed just this. The simple things - and her by his side.

"Hey!" Rory scolded him, grabbing herself a bigger bite.

She continued to eat in silence, while Logan got himself a glass of water before he spoke again. He needed to say something important.

"You know we really should try to talk more during these few days. I know there are a lot of emotional things going on, but I think for once we should try to work against that feeling - not hide or substitute those feelings by just the physical. It's just us two here, you don't have to hide what you are feeling from me," Logan said, having gathered up his courage. 

He'd thought about it the entire time she'd been in Nantucket. She seemed to want to escape her feelings and he even understood it, but it didn't seem like a sustainable way of dealing with things. Surely there was therapy for these things, but he knew he wouldn't be able to be there for her every step of the way, and at the very least saying that he wanted to know about her feelings, felt like the next best thing. They needed to overcome the barrier. Speaking honestly they were already doing, communicating more often about every part of their lives also, now they just needed to add depth. That, however, included speaking about things that potentailly hurt.

For a moment Rory considered teasing him, saying that surely he didn't mean that sex was off the table, but she could see it in his face that he was serious. He was really trying, he even looked a little nervous suggesting this, hence she took a deep breath instead. 

"We can try," Rory replied weakly.  She wasn't sure she could hold herself together if she did that, but also from her therapy sessions, she knew that this was recommended. She owed him to at least try.

He took her hand and kissed her knuckles. That was all he needed.

Silence lingered for a while, before she spoke.

"But there's something else, other than us, that I've been meaning to talk to you about," Rory began hesitantly, having decided that she didn't want to keep her suspicions just to herself. After all it had very little to do with her, and everything to do with him. 

"Maybe it's not my business to even say this, maybe you don't even care. I'm not sure even how to say this...," she added precariously.

"Whatever it is, just tell me," Logan assured her calmly.

"I think you might have a half-brother," she sighed, not quite knowing where to start. She supposed that actually having a sibling out there might matter more to him than Mitchum's affairs or the connection to the Maine house itself.