It Was Never Really Goodbye - Gilmore Girls

Chapter 6

Logan looked around at his empty apartment in Palo Alto.  It had been his safe haven for the last four years.  For a long time, all he did was go to work or hole up there.  It wasn't what he had first envisioned his life there to be like, and it had taken quite some time to comes to terms with that.  Losing Rory had been hell, to put it simply.  This apartment had been a safe place to wallow while he got over that loss. 

Now his life was taking a huge turn.  He had a place ready and waiting for him in New York.  The event to announce the company changes was set for the following evening.  He had invited all of the old gang, hoping that would make the night a bit more bearable.  So, now it was time to say goodbye to his old life and hello to the new one. 

Once he boarded the plane, he sat down and thought about all of it.  He wondered where Rory was.  He knew Finn still kept in touch with her, but he didn't ever mention her.  Logan worked very hard to keep her off of his mind.  One important thing was to keep from looking her up.  It wasn't always easy.  Sometimes he would only just stop himself before pressing the search button after typing in her name.  He wondered where she was all the time.  He didn't know if his odds of running into her would increase by moving back or not.  Reminding himself not to think about her, he got up and got a drink then settled in for the flight.

Finn was waiting for him at the airport.  He had insisted on it.  "Welcome home mate!"

"Thanks Finn.  Is everyone ready for the party tomorrow night?"

"Ready as they'll ever be," he mumbled back. 

Logan raised an eyebrow but decided to move on.  "It's good to be back man. Do you and the other two want to have a couple drinks?"

"Ya, they're waiting in the car actually."

Logan had missed them, and he was ready for some time spent blowing off steam with them. Tomorrow night, he would have to behave himself, so tonight he wouldn't. They got to the car and he greeted Colin and Robert. "Boys! Nice to see you!" They got to a bar and ordered their dinner and drinks. "So, what's everybody been up to? How are the girls? Same old, same old?"

Colin chuckled, "oh ya. Everybody is good. It will be fun adding you to the mix again."

Robert chimes in too, "the girls would have come too but there was something said about beauty rest? Anyway, everybody is pretty pumped about this big announcement. Any clues as to what it is?"

"Sorry guys, I was sworn to secrecy. Mitchum will kill me if I let the cat out of the bag."

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Finn watched Logan closely. He was still the only one who knew why Logan was moving back. The others knew he was moving back but had all agreed not to tell Rory yet. They knew something would probably come out at the event tomorrow night. He was the only one that knew the whole truth about both Rory and Logan working for HPG. It wasn't easy keeping it all in, but hopefully it would be worth it in the end. They were all going tomorrow, they had been invited for both Rory and Logan. He was actually Rory's date. That was something that he had wanted to turn down but couldn't find a reasonable excuse for.

And, even though he wanted to turn it down, he knew Rory would need his support after the cat was out of the bag...or half-out so to speak. So he was stuck between a rock and a hard place, but he just kept telling himself that it would all be worth it in the end when his two best friends were finally happy together again.

He watched Logan and realized that he was happier now than he had seen him in some time, so maybe even moving closer to his friends would help a lot. After leaving him at his new place, he texted Mitchum to know that Logan was there and getting settled. Also to let him know that no one currently knew about the reason for Logan's move. It felt pretty wrong having an alliance with Mitchum, but it felt like even his heart was finally in the right place this time. Tomorrow night would be an interesting event for all involved, that was for sure.

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Rory sat in her apartment with a bowl of ice cream, staring at the dress.  The girls had insisted that it was the perfect choice for tomorrow night.  It was dark blue, with beautiful beading on the bodice, a sweetheart neckline, and a decent sized slit up one thigh.  It hugged her body perfectly and succeeded in being both classy and sexy.  She even sprung for an expensive pair of heels to go with it. 

The event itself didn't make her nervous.  The announcement did, though.  Currently, only her close friends, her parents, and her grandparents knew about the new position.  Her mother had sure made her feelings known.  The woman did not hold back.  She had actually managed to get herself pretty worked up until Luke stepped in and helped to calm her down.  The woman was about six months pregnant, something that had served as a shock to basically everyone.  Luke had hauled her straight to Vegas and married her...also a shock to everyone. 

After Luke had settled her down so that she could talk coherently, she had proceeded to tell Rory all of the reasons that it was a bad idea.  Rory had let her speak her mind.  Then she told her that, while she wasn't wrong, she had missed the fact that this was a huge career opportunity.  She pointed out that she had worked with Mitchum before, yes it had turned out very badly, but, this time, Rory was all grown up.  She knew all of the reasons it was a bad idea, but she couldn't help hoping that it would turn out to be a great thing.  It was that hope that was driving her to do this.  She also told her that it wasn't like she couldn't find a different job if this one didn't work out.  She still had basically all of her trust fund that had been given to her at age twenty five, and she wasn't scared about uncertainty when it came to her future. 

Her mother had finally just decided to sit back and watch it unfold.   She had also promised to say 'I told you so' when whatever Mitchum was getting at came to light.  It's not like Rory didn't suspect some larger ploy in all of this, she just couldn't find a good enough reason to not let it play out. 

She texted Finn, "got that tux ready?"

He texted her back quickly, "of course love, but aren't you supposed to be getting your beauty rest?"

"I was, but I'm having trouble getting to sleep"

"Well put on an old movie and lay down.  It'll help you relax.  I'll see you at 5 sharp.  I'll be the exotic Aussie with the limo.  Have fun pampering yourself with the girls tomorrow."

"🤨 so the exotic thing is gonna stick?  Sounds like a plan.  Thanks Finn 😘"