A Second Chance

Chapter 5

On Saturday evening, Rory found herself getting ready for her first date in several years. Not only did she have to get herself ready, but she wanted to make sure that Matthew had everything done. She gave him dinner, a bath, and got him into pajamas, and once everything was done, she snuggled up on the couch with him to watch a little bit of Mickey Mouse. A little before 7 there was a knock at the door. 

"It's granny!" Matthew said. Amy was one of 3 people that Rory could leave Matthew with and he would be completely fine. Amy, Lorelai, and Megan. Anyone else and he'd freak out when Rory's left. "I get the door!"

"We'll get it together" Rory said and followed Matthew to the door.

"Granny, I have Mickey Mouse!" Matthew said when Rory opened the door.

"That's great, honey" Amy said and watched Matthew run back to the living room. "You look nice"

"Thank you" Rory said

"Are you going on a date?" She asked. "You better be going on a date"

"Uh, what?" Rory asked. She wasn't sure how her dead husband's mother would feel about her going on a date.

"Rory, you know I see you as my daughter" Amy said. "Matt's been gone almost 3 years. I don't expect you to be hung up on him forever. He wouldn't want you to"

Roti smiled softly.

"So...who's the guy?"

"Just an old friend, and it's not a date...I don't think"

"Did you used to date?" Amy asked

"Yeah, but that was in college. It was like a million years ago"

"Ok" Amy said. She was pretty sure that this was a date, and she also thought she might've seen Rory blush a little, but she wasn't gonna push.

——

A little while later, Rory was sitting in a restaurant with Logan. The dimly lit restaurant was quiet, it was just then and a few other people.

"Hey, why do they call them twinkle lights?" Logan asked

"What?"

"You know..." Logan nodded at the string lights that were being Rory. "They don't blink or flash or anything so why do they call them twinkle lights?"

Rory chuckled softly. "I don't know"

Just then the waiter appeared and handed Logan a long rectangular card. "The wine list for you, sir"

"We don't need it" Logan said. Usually on a date, he'd order a bottle of wine, but he remembered that Rory didn't drink. "Thank you"

The waiter nodded and walked away.

"You didn't have to do that" Rory said. She might not drink, but she knew that Logan did, and she didn't want him not to if he wanted to just because she wouldn't.

"You don't drink" Logan said. "And I certainly don't need alcohol to have dinner with you"

Rory smiled softly.

"Can I ask about that though?" Logan asked. He didn't want to upset Rory in any way by asking, but he was curious. "The reason you don't drink. And you don't have to answer, but I was just wondering"

Rory took a breath. "I met a great man. He was the best person I've ever known. We actually worked together at the paper and eventually we got married. We were really happy and uh..." she chuckled softly. "...we were actually hoping to have a baby. One morning I wasn't feeling well so instead of us driving to work together like we usually did, I stayed home and Matt went alone. Less than an hour l after he left, I got the call. He was on his way to work when he was hit head on by a drunk driver. I was wreck. I couldn't eat. I couldn't sleep. Eventually my mom got so worried that she forced me to go see a doctor who told me I was pregnant. So I was 26 years old, widowed, and pregnant. All because of some drunk asshole. So after that the idea of drinking doesn't really appeal to me anymore"