Glimpses

Chapter 4

October 9th, 2016

It was in the middle of the night at the King's Head Inn. It was just the low moonlight that illuminated the rooms and the sound of leaves brushing against each other in the wind as the soundtrack. There was not a car or person in earshot. Yet something had woken Rory.

Rory had followed Logan into his room, excitement and euphoria having overcome her just like it happened nearly every time she was with Logan. His presence and his touch made her forget their circumstances, making her feel invigorated, cleansed of her worries, career issues, and anxieties. A best friend, a trustee, a cure, a lover...

But she knew this was the last time. She had begun to let go already before last night, after their last phone call - 'Because we're nothing!'

When Logan had shown up in Stars Hollow, just barely 9 hours ago, Rory had nearly considered that teasing herself with his presence was probably the worst thing for her, but she just couldn't say 'no'. She almost felt like Logan was the top shelf drug in her vague and aimless existence. She was lost as she was, and like any addiction, tempting herself with it wasn't good for her. It was beginning to become clear to her now as the drug, fast asleep, wore off. For that reason Rory slipped out of bed.

She needed to distance herself, knowing it was the only way she was going to survive their goodbye without turning into a blubbering mess. She knew already then that it needed to be their goodbye.

Rory made her way down the stairs of the gorgeous hunting lodge styled Inn. She was just wearing a robe, basic underwear underneath, and some hotel slippers - she wasn't really sure where she was going like that. Leaving was tempting but she was determined to say a proper goodbye. But she hadn't wanted to wake Logan, she wasn't ready to face him yet.

With some imagination, the place really didn't look all that different from the Dragonfly if one stripped it down to it's bones, perhaps added some more brighter colors. There were a couple of lights on downstairs, which Rory hadn't quite expected. Surely it was just one of the guys who hadn't bothered turning them off, being so drunk they had just barely made it to their rooms.

She walked around the downstairs sitting room, looking at the pictures on the walls in the low light. She wasn't even sure what she was doing, but she'd felt she needed to get out of Logan's bed, it was too painful to be there. 

Just like Logan hadn't wanted her to come to the airport when he'd left for London after graduation or he wouldn't leave... It felt like that. If she lingered in those emotions too long, she might reconsider the house in Maine, which she'd already made her mind up about. The thought made her sniffle, but she needed to hold it together better than that, hence she focused on the photographs that showed the Old Bradford Mill across the water with some people - they all looked so serious. The handwriting underneath wasn't easily decipherable leaving Rory guessing what this picture was truly about.

"Hello darkness, my old friend. I've come to talk with you again...," an intoxicated Aussie mumbled from the couch, having not made it further than that, jolting Rory thoroughly, having thought she was all alone. The couch was very much in the shadows, so it was no wonder she hadn't noticed him.

"Surely your room would've been more comfortable than this?" Rory said to him, sounding completely sober compared to him.

"It just seemed so far...," Finn exhaled, and sat up, which was way more than Rory would have expected from him in his state. But then again Finn had the ability to appear more drunk than he was, often choosing it.

Rory took a seat next to him, pulling her legs up under her, feeling a little chilly. They sat there in silence. It was a comfortable silence, not necessarily needing to be broken.