Jumping Back In

8

The vibrations from Rory's phone seemed to shake her whole bed. What kind of sadistic jerk is calling me at 8am on a Saturday? 

"Hello?" her voice was raspy.

"Did I wake you up?"

Rory yawned, "Who are you?"

"Wow Ace, one day away from me and I'm already getting the cold shoulder? You should come to California and warm that cold heart of yours" the caller joked.

She smiled, "Isn't it like 5 in the morning where you are?"

"Well I don't have much time on this trip but I really wanted to go for a run around San Francisco"

Rory tiptoed into the kitchen and began to make a pot of coffee, "Right, you're healthy now" she recalled. She was unsure if she should bring up the conversation from the night before.

"How's Stars Hollow? Is it as nutty as I remember?" Logan joked.

"Oh yeah. Kirk and Lulu are pregnant"

Rory could hear Logan burst out into laughter from the other side of the country, "Is that legal? Surely there must be some town ordinance against Kirk becoming a father!"

"You didn't even let me get to the best part! They're having twins!"

"No way. Kirk can barely take care of himself!"

Rory laughed as she sipped her coffee. It was nice having him to talk to about various things. She had been getting lonely in New York.

"Hey Rory?"

Logan using her actual name threw her off, "Yeah?"

"I am really happy we ran into each other. I missed you."

Rory's heart nearly skipped a beat, "I really missed you too."

Nearly 3,000 miles away, Logan was staring up at the Golden Gate Bridge- feeling a slew of emotions. He never stopped caring for Rory. Their relationship didn't end because they were fighting or because they were no longer in love- he just wanted more and she wasn't ready for that. They never really had closure. If Logan let himself fall for her again, he wouldn't be able to handle her not wanting to commit to her longterm. Every time he saw something interesting on his trip, he wanted to share it with Rory.

***

Rory sat at the kitchen table, organizing her schedule for the upcoming week. She could hear Paul Anka galloping down the stairs, followed by Lorelai's steps. Before saying anything, Lorelai made a beeline for the coffee pot. She held up the coffee pot and gasped.

"Rory!"

"Hmm?"

"Mommy needs coffee! Have you forgotten everything I've taught you about common coffee courtesy? If you finish the pot, start a new one!"

"Okay..." Rory replied, without even looking up from her screen.

Lorelai began to make a fresh pot of coffee. "Rory? Please tell me you didn't work all night."

"I slept." She continued to scroll through her calendar, filling in various meetings and deadlines.

"Okay, if this is going to be the extent of our conversations during your visits, I'm going to start charging you rent" Lorelai waited for a response. "In fact, I could start charging for WiFi... Did you hear that? I'm walking into the living room and pressing the pretty flashing button."

Rory's head snapped up, "Huh?"

"Oh so if I threaten the internet, you listen!"

Rory frowned, "I'm sorry! I woke up really early and just got sucked in to work stuff but I'm almost done! Give me half an hour and I'll be yours all weekend."

"Except for when you leave me to go play with your friends" Lorelai pouted.

"Now, you don't get anything if you're passive aggressive," Rory teased her mother.

"Fine. I'm just so excited to have you here! Why were you up so early anyway? Did Luke wake you up when he was leaving for work?"

Rory's eyes darted away nervously, "Actually, Logan woke me up"

"Logan?"

"Yeah, he just wanted to say hi" she shrugged.

Lorelai pulled out a chair and sat across from Rory, "So how serious is this?"

"We're just talking"

"It sounds like more than just talking if he is calling you early on a Saturday morning."

Rory took a deep breath, "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? You're the one doing it- or not doing it?" Lorelai stared into her daughter's eyes, "Are you doing it?"

"Mom! No! I told you, I ran into him one night and the next day we went furniture shopping together and he spent the night at my apartment."

Lorelai breathed a sigh of relief, "Well, an adult sleepover can imply a lot of things"

"Mom, that's not me."

"Okay, so tell me. What is going on? No judgement, I just want to know."

"I kissed him. A couple of times. But thats it. I think I like him again but I don't know what this is. Its not like this is a new relationship. Do we go back where we started? We were almost engaged and we really loved each other! I don't think I'm quite at that level with him but I definitely have feelings."

Lorelai looked at her daughter sympathetically, "It sounds like you should talk to him about this. Take it from someone who had a kid with a guy and then had an on and off relationship with him for decades. Things make a lot more sense if you two are open with each other."