Chapter 37

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"What the hell was that, Huntzberger!?  What happened over here!?  What did you say to her!?" Paris demanded, being her loud and the abrasive self she can be. 

"Woah, easy there, Bulldog.  I didn't say anything to her, not really anyway.  I don't even really know what happened - it all happened so fast, she got upset and she left!" Logan said with his hands raised in defense.

"And in traditional Logan style, you clearly decided not to chase after her" Honor said indignantly, rolling her eyes. 

"Hey, it was only because she told me to stop... I've never seen her like this, she seemed very different to me tonight, but I couldn't put my finger on it. But she told me to stop, so I stopped. I assumed that meant she never wanted to see me again" he said, looking as if he were crushed.  "Do you really think I should go find her?" he asked. 

"YES!!!" Honor, Colin, Robert, Finn, Lane and Paris all said in unison, but Lorelai shook her head.

"No, give her some space right now, Logan.  I'll go find her and figure out what happened" she said, grabbing her purse.

Lane and Paris started gathering their things up as well, but Lorelai stopped them.  "No, you guys stay!  Seriously, stay and have some fun.  She'll be alright" she said. 

"Are you sure?" Lane asked.

"I don't want Rory to think we just up and abandoned her" Paris added.

"You both have kids at home - you NEED this girl's weekend. Don't worry, I'll text you both later and give you an update. Seriously, stay and have fun ladies. You know Rory would be pissed if you missed a girls night in Vegas worrying about her" Lorelai said.

The girls nodded and then Lorelai turned and pointed at Logan.  "My little girl is heartbroken right now and I may not know exactly what happened, but I know that you're the reason.  Please DON'T follow us.  Take care of Lane and Paris, and I'll let you know if there will be a reason to catch up with us later on" she said firmly and walked away. 

Logan raked his fingers through his hair and sighed.  "A little heads up that Rory was coming this weekend would have been nice, you guys" Logan groaned to his friends and his sister. 

"You're such a sodding idiot, Logan. What will it take for you to ever figure it out?" Finn asked.

"Cut the crap, Huntzberger. Do you want to be with Odette or not?" Paris asked.

He was silent, not sure if he wanted to be a hundred percent honest with someone like Paris who would use anything he chose to say against him at any point throughout the weekend.

"Okay, then tell me if you still have feelings for Rory" she said.

"Or course I have feelings for her. That never changed" he said.

"Do you love her?" Lane asked.

"I've always loved her. She's my Ace" he said sweetly.

"You need to fight for her, damn it! What the hell are you waiting for? A frickin invitation!? That girl is crazy about you and just wants to be with you. And you want to be with her. Forget about your damn parents and their so-called legacy and do what makes YOU happy" Paris said.

Logan looked at his phone in surprise. "Wow, they actually left. Odette wanted to go back to the hotel and she left me here with you guys" he said.

"About bloody time, innit?" Finn asked with a scoff.

**********

I'd finally gotten back to the hotel, and already I was sobbing uncontrollably. The uber driver must have thought I was either stoned or insane - or both. I immediately changed into my pajamas and opened the sliding glass door to the veranda, and sat down on a chair outside, trying to calm myself down. I was so angry, and so defeated, and so humiliated that I just couldn't even think straight.

There was a knock on the entry door. At first I wasn't going to answer it, but thought maybe it was one of my suite mates who had forgotten their key. Boy was I surprised when I opened the door.

"What - are you doing here?" I asked unsurely.

"You ran away before we could REALLY talk. Can we do that now? Talk?" Odette asked from the doorway.

"Talk? Why? I'm done interfering, I promise. I'm done making the mistake about trying to convince Logan Huntzberger to EVER be with me again" I promised her.

"I wish you would be done... Being done" she whispered.

"What...?" I asked her in disbelief, certainly I had either not heard her right, or I had fallen asleep on the veranda and was now dreaming.

"Rory, I read what you wrote. And at first I wasn't quite sure how I felt about it. But then I read it again, and again, and I see what you see now. In him, I mean. I never gave him a chance. I never wanted to be with him, but my dad promised me so many things if I went through with it. But the things that you wrote - about how we should be marrying for love, not money. How life is too short to settle and it made me realize - I don't WANT to settle. I want to marry someone who loves me as much as Logan Huntzberger loves his Ace. And I want to love someone as much as R. G. loves Logan Huntzberger. I was engaged. Before Logan. To a man named Demitri. I passed him off as my cousin to Logan so I could still have him in my life. He IS the love of my life. I think he knew I was lying. He seemed to get rather suspicious of him here lately, especially since I've been talking to him secretly and I invited him this weekend. I just, I can't turn my feelings off for him, and I know he loves me the same way that Logan loves you. But my father sees no benefit to me marrying him, because Dimitri doesn't come from money like we do. But what you wrote - it was beautiful. LOVE is what matters, not money. And I DON'T want to marry Logan. I just don't. He's such a great guy and even though I've been nothing but a total bitch to him, I would be lucky to marry someone like him. But he deserves better than me. He deserves love and happiness, too. He deserves to be with YOU" she whispered.

I didn't know what to do, or say... I wasn't even sure I could process what she was saying to me. Was she being serious right now!? How do I respond to that!?

She looked at me with a funny expression on her face. "You okay?" She asked with a laugh.

I took a deep breath and sighed, and then I nodded. "Wow. I just - wow - I don't know what to say, except... he doesn't want me. That's why I left so quickly tonight. He's still saying he HAS to marry you. That he has no choice" I whispered.

"That man is madly in love with you, Rory. Believe me. He will find a way to be with you. Mark my words" she promised.

I looked at her in amazement. "You're not at all like how they made you out to be" I told her with a smile.

"Who? Logan's sister and his friends? Yes I am. I'm exactly who they said I was. At least to them. I was just so angry at the situation my father put me in. I took it out on Logan and those he cared about the most. I've been trying to sabotage this - union - since it started, but Logan's a loyal man. He may not have been faithful to me, which, I can't say I blame him. But he was always faithful to his family and to his friends, and that is something so admirable in a man. But, no, to everyone else, I'm still a strong and very opinionated woman, but I have a soul, and I have a heart, they just don't belong to Logan, they belong to Dimitri" she told me.

"So... What now?" I asked unsurely.

She smiled. "Get some rest. You look exhausted from all of this. He'll come to his senses. I promise you that" she said.

"For what it's worth, I really didn't know this was your bachelor and bachelorette party weekend. I didn't even know Logan would be here. Honor just made it sound like it was a girls weekend away. So I'm so sorry if I've ruined anything" I assured her.

She laughed a whole-hearted genuine laugh. "Oh god, girl. You haven't ruined a thing. You've saved it!" She said with a warm smile, and with that, she turned and walked out the door.

Holy crap... What. In. The. Freaking. Hell. Just. Happened. Here...?

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