Finding Rory

Chapter 69: I've Moved On

"I'm gonna miss you so much, Tris," Rory said tearily. They were standing in the kitchen Tuesday morning, wrapped up in each other's arms, both of them trying desperately to delay their separation. Rory would head off to work while Tristan met Colin and Mindy to leave for Boston.

"I'm going to miss you too, babe. We'll talk a few times a day, though, and I'll be back by Friday. Now, I really do have to leave if I'm going to be on time. I love you, Mare," he said softly. He leaned down and kissed her until she was breathless and smiled to himself at her reaction.

"I love you, too," she whispered. She kissed him one more time and then stood there and watched him walk out the door with tears in her eyes. She didn't know why she was so emotional over Tristan leaving. Of course she would miss him, but it was only going to be a few days.

She pulled herself back together and returned to their bathroom to finish getting ready for work. She put her makeup brush down to take a drink of her coffee and suddenly found herself overwhelmed by the smell. She flew across the bathroom and huddled over the toilet until the nausea passed. Deciding not to try her luck with coffee again, she finished getting ready quickly and then grabbed a bottle of water on her way out the door. She decided to drive the Escalade - it had quickly become her favorite - and took off toward New Haven to start her work day.

All morning, she fought feeling tired and sluggish as she worked. She caught herself nodding off at her desk several times; that was so unlike her. She fought through the morning without her usual coffee. Her stomach still wasn't feeling normal, and she didn't want to get sick if she could help it. She had far too much going on - there was no time to be sick right now.

She looked up at her clock and was relieved to see that it was finally noon. She was feeling quite hungry after not eating breakfast this morning and grabbed her purse and phone to walk across campus to grab lunch. A salad sounded great, and there was a place right across from Sterling Library that had really good salads. She was lost in her thoughts as she walked out of her office building and jumped as someone cleared their throat and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around to see the chocolate brown eyes that she knew so well.

"Logan...you're...what are you doing here?" she stammered.

"Funny you should ask, Ace. You've become almost impossible to track down - your old phone number doesn't work, your emails bounce back, and you don't live in Stars Hollow anymore. I was in town visiting Honor and her family and thought I'd drop by and take my favorite girl out to lunch," he replied with his trademark smile. In the past that smile would have melted her heart, but it no longer had that effect on her.

"I'm just running out to grab something really quickly," she replied, trying to put him off.

"Come on, Rory. We're normally an ocean apart; can't we have lunch and catch up since I'm here?" he pleaded.

Rory quickly considered her options and decided that she needed to face him head-on and talk with him; he wouldn't give up if she didn't.

"Umm...sure. Want to meet at the pub?" she asked.

"Or you could ride with me," he offered.

"No, I'd prefer to take my car," she said firmly.

"Well, at least let me walk you to it?" he asked.

"Sure, that would be fine," she said reluctantly. He followed her toward the employee lot. "This is me," she said awkwardly when they reached the Escalade.

"Either your Prius has grown up to be an SUV or you got a new vehicle," Logan tried to joke, but it fell flat.

"Well, a lot of things have changed. I'll just meet you at the pub," she said as she got into the car. She took a deep breath and pulled out of the parking lot, giving herself a pep talk all the way. She wished that Tristan was here with her for this conversation, but she knew that it was something that she needed to handle herself.