With Or Without You
It was a silly little thing to do, Rory knew. A spontaneous decision, like he'd always wanted her to do.
She was sitting in between packed boxes. Her Yale life was coming to an end. What the new one would bring, well, that had a big question mark behind it. Or not.
A notepad was lying on front of her on one of the boxes, a pen in her hand. She kept writing the same two words over and over again. A little change of style here, a bigger version there. It never felt wrong but so very right.
The pro/con list had long been made, just as the decision. Only she was actually scared of saying it out loud. Not those two words — she had actually been practicing that, too, in the last hour and in the anonymity of her dorm room. It had quite the nice ring to it, she had to admit.
Rory Huntzberger
He sure had surprised her with his proposal. In all but the negative sense. The first image that had popped into her mind was them, much older but still as happy as ever, a sense of knowing where to belong. She couldn't speak and act, though; she was, after all, her mother's daughter.
Now, here in her room, where they'd spent many happy hours, it seemed different. Maybe, she reasoned with herself, it was the fact that her mom wasn't around. Sometimes she still felt like a little girl with despite the fact that she was all grown up and so it had to be her decision.
There was one thing left to do. Picking up her cell, she pressed 1 on speed dial.
This was actually another sign for things changing, she noticed. For as long as she could think her mom had always been the number one person in her life, the one she turned to at every possibility. When exactly she'd put him in this spot, she couldn't really remember, probably months ago. Another pro for the list.
"Can you come over?" she simply asked, nervousness now playing evil games with her nerves.
It was as if he'd been waiting outside her door because less than a minute later she heard him enter. She could recognize him anywhere.
Anxiously she looked up, only to see that he seemed to feel just like her. Instead of the smirking smile she'd expected on his lips, there was something strained, almost scared, as if he was preparing himself for the fall from her saying no. Maybe he did wait outside.
"Hey."
"Hey yourself." He had always tried to act all cool but over the time she'd learned to read him quite well and knew he was everything but at the moment.
"Logan, I need to know one thing."
"Wow, you sure dive right in," he interrupted her taking a seat on one of her boxes.
"Yeah, well... see... it's...," he always had a way of constantly rattling her, mushing up her thoughts. "Why did you ask me?"
Silence. He was looking to the ground. She could see his chest heaving and falling as if he had to collect not only his thoughts but also his courage. Something he rarely had to, if ever. The words leaving his mouth then, surprised her once again. Or not.
"It had felt right, like only two other things before." It was simple and to the point; exactly what she needed.
"Which?" Her nerves were fluttering now. She felt like she was standing at the edge of that scaffold once again, not ready to jump but not coward enough to climb down again either.
"Taking that jump together at the LDB event and getting into a serious relationship with you."
A small smile appeared on his lips, obviously in remembrance of this day. It had been another one of those times where they took a big leap together. Maybe now was just the beginning to many more to come.
And so the final decision had been made, although she'd known her answer the moment she had looked into his eyes when he held out the ring for her. Promises of love and happiness, through good times and through bad times, forever.
"Hey Logan," she said feeling completely free and ready for this.
He looked at her with so much hope. If she hadn't made her decision already, she would have in this moment. She was completely sure that it would be the right thing to do.
She reached out with her hand for him then. Not just any hand but the one that counted. Purposely, so he would see her answer before she spoke the words. The engagement ring was adorning her finger looking like it belonged right there, and always had.
"You jump, I jump, MAC."
