Rory stretched gently, trying not to wake the man currently curled into her back. She felt his arms tighten around her and gave a contented sigh.
"Morning, Ace." Mumbled Logan into her hair.
Rory smiled to herself and turned to face him. "Morning, Mac."
Logan smirked for a moment before taking a long look at the woman before him in the early morning sun spilling into the room.
"You look like a freaking Disney princess." Logan teased.
Rory frowned, trying to keep up with his logic. "Are small woodland creatures sewing me a dress?" She pretended to look around.
"First, those are household pests, not woodland creatures, and second, no. You are just glowing. Like a Disney princess. " he responded.
"I'm glowing?" Rory snorted.
"Yes. An honest to god internal radiance." Logan confirmed.
"Right. Just give me ten minutes and I'll be tossing my cookies and looking like death warmed over." Rory jokes as she began to pull away.
Logan tightened his grip and pulled her closer to him.
"Last night was amazing." He murmured.
"It was." Rory agreed.
"But..." Logan sighed.
"Now we need to deal with real life. I know. It was nice to get a little break from it, from thinking, from... just everything. I think we both needed that." Rory replied.
"Right. So. Um. We need to go back to Hartford. All my college stuff is in storage there." Logan began.
Rory nodded as she sat up. Her eyes got huge and she suddenly took a shaky breath before she quickly scrambled out of bed and beelined to the bathroom.
Logan sat up and stared at the slammed door for a second before grabbing his boxers off the floor and approaching the door.
"Ace? You ok?"
"Just a minute!" Rory called back to him.
Logan nodded and stood near the door, feeling helpless. After a few minutes of standing there absently, he ran his hand through his hair and turned back to the suite. He nodded to himself and grabbed the room phone and called downstairs to ask for bagels and coffee to be sent up. He pulled on his pants and tshirt from the day before and wondered where his overnight bag with fresh clothes would be - here or Hartford? It would probably be easier to just go shopping.
The minutes ticked past and Logan occasionally walked over to the bathroom door and after about 15 minutes he heard the shower start. A knock finally came at the suite door and Logan rushed to open it, allowing he bellman to enter with the tray of coffee, bagels and a newspaper. Logan tipped the bellman and poured himself a cup black and sat down with the paper while he waited for Rory.
After a few minutes, he folded the paper open to the crossword and began to fill in a few clues. He heard the shower cut off.
"I need a ten letter word for a Minnie Driver sitcom." He called.
"Speechless" replied Rory from the bathroom.
Logan nodded and carried on. He was almost finished his coffee, randomly calling out clues when he was stuck.
Rory opened the bathroom door and exited wearing a bathrobe and towel drying her wet hair. She looked wan and approached the table cautiously.
"You ok?" Logan asked.
"Yeah. Just nauseous." Rory replied, grabbing a bagel.
"Five lettters. Anglers basket." Logan replied.
Rory chewed her bite. "Creel."
Logan raised an eyebrow. "K-R-E..?"
"C-R-E-E-L." Rory nodded. She poured a small cup of black coffee and took a deep breath inhaling the aroma.
"That's a thing?" Logan asked.
"Yep. Luke has one. Or actually he has several, but one that he really likes." Rory confirmed.
"Weird." Logan shrugged.
Rory nodded. "Maybe, but you have favorite cufflinks. Also weird."
Logan laughed as he nodded.
Rory smiled in memory of her gift of rocket shaped cufflinks to Logan the Christmas he was in London. "Maybe Luke's creel has a back story."
"Maybe." Logan grinned back.
"You know, we probably wouldn't be here not if not for those cufflinks." Rory mused.
Logan shot up an eyebrow "How so?"
"You were wearing them when we ran into each other in Hamburg." Rory replied.
"So? I wear them a lot." Logan shrugged.
"Right. But you don't think that it's a bit odd to continue to wear them even after we had gone our separate ways? And years later at that? I took it as a bit of a sign, actually." Rory replied.
"So if I had put on my onyx cuff links that day, we wouldn't be here now?" Logan teased
"No way to know for sure. But it was the little sign I needed that day to approach you."Rory shrugged.
Logan sat back, surprised. "I don't understand. They were a gift, yes, but I didn't realize how significant they were to you."
"Logan. Seriously. Rockets? The Long Morrow." Rory replied, pouring herself a small coffee.
Logan's expression shifted from confused to shock.
"Logan, I ran into you years after we separated, when it was not at all what I had wanted, and you were wearing the rockets I gave you. Our symbol of true love. Of course I found it significant!" Rory was annoyed at his obtuse response.
"You gave me those cufflinks the Christmas I was in London." Logan replied.
"Yeah." Rory nodded.
Logan groaned and scrubbed his hands over his face. "I was wearing them the day I proposed to you. And the day I let you go. And the whole time, I was literally wearing your declaration of true love to me."
Rory was puzzled now. "I don't think that I understand."
Logan stood abruptly and began to pace. "I was so terrified of losing you after your graduation. I convinced myself that we needed a grand gesture, a obvious sign that we wanted to prioritize each other. Proof of our true love. And the whole time, I was literally fucking wearing your heart on my sleeve."
Rory sat silently. She had no idea how to respond.
"I'm an idiot. You can't have a baby with me, I'll get my stupid all over this poor child! You deserve so much better! Our baby deserves so much more! I can't read even the most basic of clues! Jesus Rory! How do you put up with me?"
Rory chuckled. "I love you. And you put up with me too."
