What Happens In Hamburg

Chapter 2

Rory felt reluctant to move from his side, yet the wine and the jet lag together with the overall lack of sleep were getting to her. Her eyelids felt heavy and she'd swallowed several yawns already.

"I'm sorry to say this, but I really ought to get some sleep, it's been a really long day," she sighed, yawningly.

"Of course, I'm a little surprised you made it this far," he commented as they both rose, Logan folding up the chairs and closing the door behind them.

Rory headed to the bathroom to get ready for bed, Logan stayed in the kitchen for a while, placing the empty wine glasses in the dishwasher. Those last few hours out there had been the best he'd experience in a while, in years, in fact. What was he doing actually? What was she thinking? It wasn't really like him to be this insecure, but then again she was the one that got away, after all.

As he walked back to the hallway, Rory was already in her room, looking for something in her suitcase. He went to brush his teeth, but as he returned, the light in Rory's room had already been switched off and he could hear her turning in bed, quietly. To his surprise, she'd left her door wide open. He stood there in the hallway a good few minutes, contemplating what to do. Was that an invitation?

Rory had been tired, and surely she needed a good night sleep, he thought. And the excess wine he'd kept offering, certainly hadn't helped. He'd really needed the wine himself, to ease the tension. And it really had helped. Compared to earlier that day, he was feeling like the flow between them was returning, it was less awkward, but not comfortable enough to actually say what he wanted - what did he want exactly? He only wished he knew. The truth was, he was scared. Scared to get hurt again.

The floorboards squeaked as he turned to leave, deciding simply that she, and probably he too, needed to sleep on it, leaving his door ayar as well. Rory sat up on her bed on the sound of that squeak, realizing it had been him, standing there, just out of reach. It was as if she wanted to reach out her hand, to be near him again. But what would that mean? She brushed the thought aside, surely it was the wine, that was making her imagine things.

She woke feeling hung over. It was barely 6 AM, the sunlight just beginning to eluminate the otherwise dark room. She wanted to head for the kitchen to grab a glass of water, hoping by the time she'd actually have to head out, her head wouldn't hurt so much. As she inched gently across the hallway, the floorboards squeaked again, making her stop at her path, not wanting to wake him. She saw Logan's door open, his bare legs visible from under his blanket. He seemed to be still asleep. She found a jar of ibuprofen on the kitchen cabinet, which it seemed Logan had left out for her. Thankfully she took one and drank a large glass of water to flush it down, glancing outside to the balcony where they'd sat the night before. The sun had just barely begun to rise, rays of sun just beginning to shine in over the house across the canal. As she crept back down the hallway, she couldn't help herself but to glance over to his room. He still slept on his usual side, and somehow just going to lay next to him seemed so tempting. For old time's sake? She might have been temporarily out of her mind just then but even before she could finish her thought, her legs already moved over to the bed, climbing carefully to lay next to him. She observed his face briefly, soon feeling the heavy pull of her eyelids, which soon closed again drifting her off to sleep.

He would've thought he'd wake startled, seeing someone sleeping next to him who hadn't been there when he'd gone to bed, but seeing her there felt so organic, casting a wide smile across his face. Perhaps he wasn't imagining things after all? He checked the time, 7.45 AM, and rose and carefully placed the blanket over her, letting her sleep a while longer. Her conference programme wasn't starting until 10.30.

Rory woke to the sound of the doorbell, old fashioned and loud, hearing Logan answer the door hastily, speaking a few words in German. She felt slightly embarrassed finding herself in his bed, she wasn't quite sure what tricks her mind had played on her to end up there. She rose to her feet, hoping to slip quickly into the bathroom without any awkwardness.