Come Back...Be Here (Gilmore Girls Post-AYITL)

Chapter 23

After they had finished at the new apartment, Finn decided to take Rory out for an early dinner to cheer her up a bit. He felt a little bad about hitting her with such brutal honesty but he felt even stronger about the fact that Logan and Rory really needed to get their act together once and for all. Finn looked across the table at Rory who was playing with the food on her plate – he really hated to see her hurting like this, she was more than just a friend to him, she was part of his family.

"Darling, I didn't mean to be so harsh with you back there. I'm sorry if I upset you." He said gently.

Rory looked up and smiled weakly "Oh Finn, it's not your fault at all. You didn't say anything that wasn't true." Rory shrugged "Tough love, huh. I think I probably needed to hear it."

"Maybe" Finn stopped and smiled at Rory "you two are the most infuriating people though you know that? I don't think there was ever a couple more perfectly matched and yet argh, I don't know, you both seem to be running scared all the time."

She knew that Finn was right. The moment things got even slightly complicated they both had the tendency to bolt and the reality was that in a couple of months, they'd have someone else to bring into the equation. Bolting wasn't going to be an option for either of them.

"So you know what you need to do, right love?" Finn said. "You need to call him." He said firmly.

Rory nodded in response and fiddled with her hair nervously.

"What are you scared of Rory?"

Tears had started to form in her piercing blue eyes. "I'm scared that I've ruined everything" she started to say, a lump forming in her throat. "I'm scared that Logan is going to think that any time that we have a fight, that I'm always going to throw stuff like this back at him and he'll change his mind about us being together. You didn't see his face when I was walking out the door Finn, I really hurt him..."

"...and yet, he called you and text you constantly until you finally messaged him back? That doesn't sound like the work of someone who wants nothing to do with you." Finn said reaching over and putting his hand on top of Rory's. "This is our man Logan, he loves you with every bone in his body, he always has. Man, I think he'd forgive you for anything."

Rory raised her eyebrows "I hope so".

After saying her goodbyes to Finn outside the restaurant, Rory settled into her car for the long drive back to Stars Hollow. She felt completely exhausted from the events of the past couple of days, both physically and mentally. The emotional weight of the sheer amount of talking she had been doing that day was taking its toll on her and she felt like she just wanted to sleep for weeks. But before she could get any respite, she knew that there was still one more conversation that she needed to have first.

--

Rory sat perched on the porch steps outside Lorelai's house, clutching her cell phone in the palm of her hand. She didn't feel anywhere near brave enough to make the call but she knew that given the circumstances it really had to be her, not Logan, that made the first move.

Lorelai peeked out of the window at her daughter sitting on the steps. It didn't matter one little bit that Rory was now a grown woman in her thirties, Lorelai still wanted to come to her rescue and help her when she was down like this. Everyone knew that she had never been Logan's biggest fan and she hadn't been impressed with the whole Vegas agreement especially considering that he was engaged to be married, but there was no denying that over the past few months he had really stepped up to the plate and on this occasion, though she loved her daughter more than anything, she'd had to try and make Rory see his point of view. She just really hoped the two of them could work through their differences and deal with the insecurities that both of them seemed to be harboring. Dammit. Rory just had to inherit my hot-headed Gilmore genes, she thought to herself as she let the curtain drop back into place.