The Days in Between

Rory woke early the next morning and from the moment she was conscious she knew she was alone in bed. She got out of bed and put on the gold silk robe that was lying across the bed. The robe was a bit too broad in the shoulders to be meant for a female. She held the collar of the robe to her nose and was overwhelmed by the scent of Logan. She had missed this smell.

Rory walked bare-footed into the living room; she was not surprised to find Logan awake and busily typing away at his laptop. She was surprised to see that he was dressed for the office.

Logan looked up when he became aware that he was being watch, "Morning, Ace. There is coffee in the kitchen."

"You're dressed for work."

"Yeah, I have to go in for a little while."

Rory walked into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee, "Were you going to wake me before you left?"

"Yes, I was," Logan watched as Rory pursed her lips, "What's wrong?"

"I don't know... I thought it would be just us until New Year's." Rory gestured to Logan's dressed-up body. "I wasn't expecting this."

"Rory, you know I'm in London for business, that doesn't stop just because of our arrangement."

"Thanks, now you're making me feel cheap."

"That's not what I intended." Logan was frustrated. Why were they so good at misunderstanding what the other was saying? "Come with me to the office."

"What?"

"Come with me. You can be my consultant for the day, tell me what you think of the papers I'm looking at."

"But, Logan, I'm just a writer."

"Rory, you were never just a writer, you're good at this stuff. You may not be able to name every country that you have been to, but the odds are that you have read these publications. You probably even know their target markets."

Rory thought about the offer, "Okay, I'll come but I will need to stop off at my hotel, I can't go to the office dressed like this."

Logan looked Rory up and down; she looked good dressed in nothing but his robe. "I won't complain... but you're right, I wouldn't want the staff to get distracted." Logan smirked at Rory and went back to typing on his laptop.

***

Rory had been surprise how much she enjoyed working with Logan, he seemed genuinely interested in her opinion and she had been surprised by just how much input she had. She hadn't felt challenged like this by her work in years.

That night they went back to Logan's apartment, Rory was exhausted but felt strangely content.

The next days were simply spent without trying to sweep the other off his or her feet, or trying to impress the other. They just spent time together. Whether it be at Logan's office or in his apartment. They would take walks through Hyde Park and buy bags of freshly roasted chestnuts. Logan told Rory all about his time in California and his return to the family business. Rory could see the joy in Logan's eyes as he spoke about Honor and the kids.

***

It was New Year's Eve and it was the first time Logan had been alone since Christmas Eve. Rory was at her hotel, packing. Logan was still unsure why she was doing it so early in the morning. He looked out the window and could now only see the first rays of light over the city.

There was a knock on the door. Logan looked at his watch; it was too early for Rory to be done packing. He walked to the door and looked in the peephole – it was a FedEx delivery man. The average person would be annoyed to have a delivery man knocking on their door before six a.m. but not Logan, he was on their anytime delivery list, which means that he got his packages within hours of them arriving.

He signed for the mystery package; he was surprised by the weight of the box as he took it from the delivery man and placed it on his dining table. He got a knife from the kitchen and opened the box. At first appearances the contents was of no help. Why would someone send him a box of old diaries? He picked up the diary that had 2007 printed in gold on the cover. He flipped through the first few pages and found not a single entry until he reached the end of the month May. He sat down and read the first entry:

Logan,

It's been two days since we have seen each other. I tried to call you but I was scared you would hang up on me and I couldn't bear that, particularly when I hope in a few days or weeks that we will reconcile. I know I'm probably being naive as something feels very permanent about our breakup this time.

But I'm going to ignore that feeling and write this like we are going to get back together and when we do, I can share this with you, so you won't have missed a moment of my life while we were apart.

Logan started reading through the entries. They covered everything from her first day of work to the movies she had seen or a funny anecdote from the day's events. Some entries were more riveting than others, not to say that Rory's life or writing was ever boring, it's more that some entries were truly captivating either for the event that she had witnessed or the humor or the sorrow.

Such as the entry for October 13, 2007:

I think that it has finally dawned on me that we are over. I don't know why today was the day that this realization occurred to me. There was nothing special about today, I didn't see your doppelganger, and I didn't hear someone speak your name, nothing... There was nothing that reminded me of you today not even a guy wearing the same cologne you wear, not that it would smell the same on anyone else.

I understand now that we are over and I have to work out a plan on how to deal with this. Do I keep writing in this diary even though you will never read it? Or should I throw these pages away and start to forget that I'm still in love with you? Will I ever be able to forget you? I'm not sure how I will go about achieving this; I can't even fathom where to begin. I'll get back to you on that. I'll work out some kind of plan. Maybe I should get an exorcism, not that I'm possessed but I think that you are so ingrained in my psyche that I will need to go to extreme measures to remove you from it.

The next stand-out entry was November 21 of the same year:

I met someone today, I'm sure that you don't want to know but he's the first person who has caught my attention since you. His name is Kris. I have no idea what it's short for, or at least I assume that it's short for something, as you can tell we're destined to be soul mates.

April 14, 2009:

I have done it! Today is my first day reporting from overseas. I know that it must be a surprise as I haven't mentioned it till now, but I wanted it to be a surprise and I knew that you would be worried. I'm in Afghanistan. I don't know what it's going to be like to see war for the first time outside of a book or newspaper. I'm too excited to be scared right now, I'm sure that will change. I just hope I can make a difference, I hope that with the might of my pen I can make people understand what is really happening here, for better or worse.

April 15, 2009:

I told you that it wouldn't take long for me to feel scared. We were under mortar attack today. I saw bloodshed in the name of violence for the first time. I saw people, both soldiers and civilians, get injured and die; it's such a waste of life and blood.

I wasn't completely a bystander in the bloodshed; a piece of shrapnel came through the window and cut my left shoulder. Max the Medic (Honestly, that's his name, I'm not making it up.) said I might get a scar. My first war wound.

Logan paused in his reading and put the diary down; he tried to think back over the last few days. Did Rory have a scar on her left shoulder? He didn't know and he couldn't remember seeing it and he felt like he should know if there was a scar on her shoulder.

Logan picked the diary up again and kept reading.

I don't know how friends and family survive sending their loved ones off to fight in a war and maybe to die. Just watching you leave for London had killed a little piece of me.

Today someone won't get a phone call from the one they love, there will be no more letters sent home. Instead, families at home will get a telephone call or a knock on the door, telling them that their loved one is hurt or dead. I cried for the friends and families of the hurt and fallen. I don't know these people but I think I feel kindred to them, having had my own phone call, informing me that the one I love was hurt and maybe dying. I can still remember how I had felt the day that Colin called, telling me that you were hurt in Costa Rica, tearing my life asunder.

Even now while sitting in a mesh tent surrounded by people, I still feel the pain of you walking away from me like a gaping wound, but at least I know that you are alive and well and that very thought gives me strength.

***

Rory arrived back at Logan's apartment not long after lunch time, Logan hadn't locked the door so she let herself in; she had checked out of her hotel so she was pulling her luggage behind her.

"I'm so sorry that it took me so long," Rory called out hoping that Logan could hear her. "My suitcase exploded so I had to go and buy another one."

Rory had turned to close the door behind her and when she turned back Logan was standing in front of her. She was stunned when Logan pulled her into his arms and kissed her deeply. He kissed her like he hadn't seen her in years instead of hours.

Logan pushed off her coat and broke the kiss to pull off her sweater and t-shirt. Once she was only in her bra, he kissed his way down her neck and shoulder. "You got this scar from a shrapnel wound you sustained on the fifteenth of April 2009 while you were in Afghanistan."

"My diaries came?"

"Yes." Logan kissed Rory on the lips again, "I take it back. I was wrong, you have lived a life, it has been amazing or at least what I've read so far. I wish I had been there with you."

"What? To watch me get shot at?" Rory tried to find some humor to break the seriousness of how Logan was looking at her.

"No, to experience it with you." Logan missed the humor; he was so in awe of Rory's life. "My life has been boardrooms and bungee jumping, but you… you really went out there and lived. You did it, Ace, I'm so proud of you."

Logan kissed Rory again; when the kiss broke, Rory said, "Thank you."

"Why are you thanking me?"

"Because if it hadn't been for you I would never have done it, Logan, I didn't want you to be disappointed in me anymore. Somewhere along the way I got it in my head that you wouldn't be mad at me for saying no if I had done everything I wanted to do."

"Rory, you have never disappointed me!"

"Yes, I have, I disappointed you the day I said no." Rory was crying and she didn't know why. She buried her face in Logan's shoulder.

"No, Rory, I wasn't disappointed. You were honest with me and that's all I ever wanted."

Rory pulled back from Logan's embrace, she wiped her eyes and looked around the apartment. She saw her diaries, her life, spread out on the table. "I didn't think that they would come in time. How far have you read?"

"I'm halfway through May 2014."

"How was May for me?" Rory walked over to the table and looked down at the books that held the story of her life.

"So far it's been a good month, but not as good as the May of 2012."

"Why? What ever happened in May 2012?" Rory acted coyly as if she didn't know.

"Well, it was a very long time ago so let me refresh your memory. That would be the year that you won the Pulitzer." Logan knew exactly where he was when Rory had won the Pulitzer; he had been in France and he had watched the broadcast live over the internet. He had been in a meeting not really paying attention to what was being said. When Rory's name had been announced, he had jumped out off his seat and punched his fist in the air.

"Me? Win the Pulitzer? Hmm... I vaguely recall that, but it's not my best May ever."

"Really," Logan had no idea what could be better than a Pulitzer. "What was your best May?"

"That would be May 2010 when Paul Anka became a dad?"

"The real Paul Anka?"

"No the dog Paul Anka."

"Well, I can see how that would top the Pulitzer." Logan laughed as he pulled Rory back into his arms for a hug, "I can't believe you did all of this." Logan looked at all of the diaries.

"It just started when I had so much to tell you but couldn't so I started writing and then I didn't know how to stop."

Logan and Rory read all day long and into the night. They both shared stories and thoughts that came to mind while reading her diaries.

"Logan, look." Rory pointed to the window where in the distance fireworks could be seen going off.

"It's midnight."

"Happy New Year, Logan."

"Happy New Year, Ace."

"Our arrangement has come to its expiry date."

"So, what do you think about our arrangement?"

"I think that we need to spend more time together."

"How much more time?"

Rory smiled, "I don't know, but let's find out together."

Logan smiled; he pulled Rory into his arms and kissed her. This was only the beginning.

Well that's all folk's - It was really fun being involved with the Fic Exchange no doubt I will partake again in the future.

Below is Cuppacuppajoe's Prompt:

- Post-season 7 (when sadly, Rory denies Logan's marriage proposal and Logan disappears off the face of the earth).
- Rory and Logan meet again, 10 years later, at a Christmas Eve party in London. The fic should begin at that event, and end 7 days later on New Year's Eve. As to the events that transpire in between, that is up to the author. As to how it ends, up to the author.
- Assume that Rory and Logan NEVER physically crossed paths prior to that party.
- WANT: Lots and lots of classic Rory-Logan banter. Sexytimes/smut, go for it, but nothing gratuitous or just-for-the-sake-of.