This isn't at all where Rory thought she would be two years ago. Heck, even six months ago she didn't think she'd be here. Yet, here she was sitting on a hard plastic chair in a brightly lit waiting room waiting for her number to be called so she could apply for unemployment benefits. She shifted, trying to find a comfortable sitting position for the umpteenth time in the last hour. No matter what though, she was uncomfortable and there was nothing for it.

"How did she get here?" you might ask. It's a question she asks herself daily. She was so hopeful after graduation, setting out on the campaign trail full of zeal and a love for live and adventure, even if it was dampened some. Even still, she was ready for what life threw at her. But, the trail ended and so did Rory's job with Hugo. Then, it was a string of freelancing that, at first, seemed like it might lead to something. Then, it quickly became obvious that it wasn't. The economy tanked and everyone tightened their purse strings.

She found herself having to economize in ways she never thought she'd have to again. She was living in a seedy neighborhood of New York City with three other girls. Reminiscent of her apartment with Paris off campus, there were multiple locks on the door and they all were careful coming home in the evening hours. Even the daylight hours weren't all they were cracked up to be.

She sold her car and invested the money from it. She downsized immensely and sold whatever she could. She shopped in second hand stores to supplement her wardrobe. She shopped in bargain grocery stores and at a lot of ramen and mac and cheese. All of these things were things that her family was unaware of. She didn't know how, but she was the first 24 year old in her friend group that had failed.

If she could just last until her 25th birthday in a year, then she would be able to breath. Her trust fund would disperse and she could finally relax a little. But, that was over a year from now and she was struggling to make ends meet now. Jarred from her rumination, Rory heard her number called and walked to the indicated cubicle.

The woman that greeted her looked haggard and was brusque as she told Rory to sit down.

"Got your paperwork?"

Rory nodded and handed her the packet. The woman took it and looked over it. There were silent as Rory watched the woman read all about her humiliation. Finally, she finished reading and looked at her. "Ok, your paperwork is good. I'm going to key you into the system while you look over this list of jobs. For you to get your benefits, you have to show that you're actively looking for employment by applying to jobs listed here and taking interviews. We will be doing follow ups, so don't think you can cheat the State of New York out of its money."

The woman handed Rory a thick packet of jobs that were currently open. Thankfully, there was an organization structure in place and Rory first checked in the journalism and writing fields. There was, of course, nothing. She then slowly looked at the other categories. Nothing really stuck out. When she reached the office section, she paused, remembering what Mitchum Huntzberger told her all those years ago about her being better suited as someone's secretary.

She wanted to cry with that memory and the fact that he was apparently right. She looked over the office positions and saw there were several listed for secretaries and office assistants. "Excuse me, do I apply here? Or do I do it some other way?"

The woman rolled her eyes and asked what jobs she was looking at. Rory told her and waited while the woman looked through her files, eventually pulling out a file that she took several papers from. "Since you're coming from us, we have a set application that you'll use. Since you're here, if you fill them out, we'll have them dropped off today."

Rory nodded and took the papers. She started to fill them out very carefully, making sure to accurately describe her qualifications and tried not to feel like she was being scrutinized by not only the woman in front of her but every other person in the office.

Finally, she finished the applications she wanted to do that day. As she finished, the woman helping her finished inputting her information in. They went over her information to make sure it was okay before Rory digitally signed it. Rory handed her the applications, which the woman noted in her file. They shook hands and Rory was on her way.

She blinked owlishly in the sunlight when she stepped outside. She had been in the unemployment office for hours and she was shocked to see it still sunny outside. Used to, she would use the little bit of downtime to head to a local coffee shop to indulge in her favorite caffeinated beverage. But, that wasn't really an option now.

Sighing, Rory trudged to the closed Metro stop and made her way down the steps, fighting the tide of people moving around her. While she knew she made the right choice in applying, it didn't sit well with her. She was a Gilmore and she always did everything to perfection. She felt like admitting that she was struggling was a nick in that stellar performance thus far. It is for this reason that she hadn't informed her mom or grandparents of her struggles.

She made sure to never invite them to her place and, if they wanted to meet her in the city, she made sure to select something far from where she lived so they didn't run the risk of even running into people she knew from the neighborhood. She didn't want to see the looks of horror on her family's faces and listen to their insistence on paying for a place for her. She was too proud to endure that.

Seeing her stop, Rory fought the crowds again to make it to street level and the three blocks to her apartment building. She scurried down the street, checking her surroundings for anything that might hurt her and breathed a small sigh of relief when she shut the door to her apartment behind her. The inside of her apartment wasn't much better than the outside, but she and her roommates had done what they could to spruce it up.

They had homemade curtains on the windows which were dingy with age. No amount of cleaning made them clean either. There were cracks in the walls. But, they covered the worst of the cracks with framed pictures and knock off artwork and posters. They also kept cheap lamps scattered throughout the room to help detract from the walls. The carpet was very threadbare, so they had brightly colored rugs scattered throughout to hide the worst of it.

Their furniture was an eclectic mix of thrift store finds and online sale pieces. Generally, their furniture was the stuff that no one else wanted. But, they wanted it because it was all they could afford.

Rory dropped her purse and keys on the table by the door and walked down the narrow hall to the galley style kitchen. She went about getting the coffeemaker ready and got it going. Once it was gurgling, she walked through the living room to the other narrow hallway to go to her room. Walking into the first room on the right, Rory plopped on her bed. Her room was wall to wall bookcases with hardly any free space. She had a queen bed with a small media shelf at the end that she put odds and ends on.

She opened her dresser and pulled out a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. After changing, she went into the bathroom she shared with one of her roommates and splashed some water on her face. Catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror, she winced at her pale, wan face. Rory looked about as bad as she felt.

She made her way back to the kitchen as her coffee finished brewing. She poured herself a cup and savored the smell. The advantage of her mom dating Luke was that Luke kept her in good coffee. He constantly sent her care packages with homemade cookies and the same coffee that he used in his diner. It wasn't much, but it certainly went a long way to help her home sickness.

Fortified with caffeine, Rory sank onto a couch with her latest book and lost herself in the pages.

β€”

Two days later, Rory was puttering around the apartment when her phone rang. Hoping it was a call for an interview, she took a calming breath before answering.

"Hello?"

"May I please speak with Lorelai Gilmore?"

"This is she."

"Miss Gilmore, I'm Rita McConnell calling from Rocket Publishing. How are you doing today?"

Rory smiled as she answered, "I'm doing well, Ms. McConnell. How about yourself?"

"I'm doing well also. I was calling because your application came across my desk today and I wanted to reach out to schedule an interview with you."

"Let me grab my calendar!" Rory enthused, wincing at the excitement in her voice. She didn't want to overdo it.

"What day did you have in mind?"

There was a moment of silence as Ms. Connell flipped through a book on her end. "Is there any chance you're available this afternoon around 3 o'clock."

Rory's eyes widened. Before she could respond, Ms. McConnell continued, "One of our main publishers is in desperate need of a new secretary after the last one had to be fired for sexual harassment. So, we were hoping to interview you today, and if it went well, go on and get started on the hiring process."

Rory gathered herself together. "Of course I'm available. Where are you located?"

Rory dutifully took down the information on the location of their building and where she should go. Once she hung up, she jumped up and down and screamed. From what Ms. McConnell was saying, it sounded like Rory was all but hired. She just had to make a good impression. Glancing at the time, Rory realized it was almost noon and she needed to get moving to make sure she had plenty of time to make it uptown.

She ate a quick lunch and then moved to her room to get ready. She took a shower and took extra care with her hair and make up. She dried and curled her hair and did a natural look with her make up, just emphasizing her eyes. She then turned to her closet. She had several suits, but she didn't know if a suit was the way to go. She came across a simple black skirt that she paired with a light blue Oxford shirt and a grey cardigan. She slipped into a pair of black kitten heels and checked herself in the mirror.

It was weird to see herself looking so nice since it had been so long since she had any steady work. Deciding she liked how she looked, Rory vowed to not give up if this interview didn't go the way she wanted. Checking the time, Rory was still a little early, but decided to leave anyways since the Metro was notorious for running slow.

Gathering her things, she left her apartment and made her way down. She double checked what stop she needed and her route. Confident she could get there, she made her way to the right platform and boarded the train. She had a book on her, but she found herself too nervous to read.

Her left leg continually jiggled and she found herself wringing her hands the closer she got to her stop. Realizing her stop was next, Rory stood and made her way to the doors. Once the door opened, she made her way up and checked where she was. She was two blocks away and started to walk. Upon reaching the building, she looked it over. It blended in with all the other large buildings around her and she couldn't tell anything about the other businesses in the building. She was about fifteen minutes early, but she saw the security checkpoint inside. She decided it was better to go on through than waste time.

She made her way in and stood in line to talk to the guard on duty. When she reached the front of the line, she gave her info and what she was doing there. She waited for a temporary badge to be printed before joining the line for the metal detectors. Once through, she checked the building directory and made her way to the elevators.

The ride up to the sixth floor she tried to calm her nerves. When the doors opened, she was greeted by a smiling middle aged woman. "Miss Gilmore?"

"Yes," Rory said as she stepped out. She stuck her hand out. "I"m Rory Gilmore. It's nice to meet you. Are you Ms. McConnell?"

They shoo hands. "Rory, did you say?"

"Yes ma'am. My application has my birth name on it, but I go by Rory since my mom's name is Lorelai as well."

Ms. McConnell nodded. "Well, before I take you back for your interview, would you like anything to drink? Water, coffee, tea?"

Rory told her she was fine and followed her through the lobby and through the door to the right. A short walk down the hallway and Ms. McConnell directed Rory into a small conference room.

"Please, have a seat."

Rory smiled and sat, crossing her legs at her ankles and sitting up straight. Ms. McConnel sat down as well and went through her papers and sat back to look at Rory.

"So, I can tell from your application that you're a very bright young woman. Yale educated. Editor of the Yale Daily News. Top of her class in high school and college. What it doesn't tell me is the type of person you are. So, tell me about yourself."

Rory took a few moments to think before answering. "I'm an avid reader and writer. If it's written in a language I can understand, I'm going to read it. I'm also a very hard worker. I transferred to Chilton about halfway through my sophomore year in high school. I was behind in all of my classes and I struggled to make up the difference. But, through perseverance and the help of my family, I was able to catch up and even surpass the expectations of the people there."

Ms. McConnell nodded and made a note. "Why are you applying for this job? You have a degree in journalism, so you must want to write. Why us?"

Rory smiled wanly. "I may as well be honest. There are no jobs for me. I tried freelancing and it just didn't work for me. So, I have some experience in this area and I thought it to be the best fit for me."

This continued for another 15 minutes. By the time Ms. McConnell asked her last question, Rory was sweating and hoping that no other questions were going to be asked. Rory watched as Ms. McConnell looked over her notes before looking at Rory.

"Well. I knew when I asked you in today that you would be an excellent fit for our company and I was right. It's obvious from your application as well as your references that you are a hard worker that always does her best. This was more of a formality than anything. So, with that out of the way, what do you say? You ready to jump in?"

Rory nodded vigorously. "I am very ready!"

"Alright then. Let's get you to HR so we can get your paperwork out of the way. Before you leave today, we'll have a permanent badge made up for you. If you don't mind, we'd like you to be in tomorrow at 9. We'll introduce you to the editor you'll be working for and get you settled. But, know it'll be off to the races right off."

"That's not a problem at all. I am happy to start whenever."

The next few hours passed in a blur and by the time Rory left at 5 o'clock. most of her paperwork was filled out and she had a badge for the next day. She was briefly shown her desk, but was told to talk to the receptionist the next morning. She would ring for Ms. McConnell to come get her.

Rory thanked her for all her help and left the building with a new outlook on life.

β€”

Bright and early, Rory was awake and unable to contain her excitement. Much like the first day of school, she found herself ready to go and at work too early. Deciding that showing up early the first day wouldn't be that bad, she showed up about fifteen minutes early again. She was able to get through security much quicker this morning since she had a badge and was quickly on her way up to the sixth floor again.

Smiling as she stepped from the elevator, she stepped up to the desk.

"HI! My name is Amanda! How can I assist you today?"

"Hi, Amanda! My name is Rory Gilmore, well Lorelai Gilmore. I was just hired as an office assistant. I was told to check in with you today so that you could call Ms. McConnell to come up to get me."

"Yes! She told me about you. Welcome to the team! If you'll have a seat, I'll give her a call. It should be only a few minutes."

"Thank you," Rory said as she sat on the couch.

She only had to wait about 5 minutes before Ms. McConnell came out to get her. "Good morning Rory! How are you today?"

"I'm doing well, Ms. McConnell. How about you?" Rory said as she rose to meet her.

"Rita, please. We're not so formal here. I'm doing well. Are you ready to get started?"

"I am more than ready."

Rory followed her back down the hall from the day before. At the end of the hall, it opened up into a small atrium that had her desk in it as well as a copy machine, coffee machine, and a few other amenities outside of a set of double doors.

"Like I showed you yesterday, this is your area. All of the items you see out here are for your use. If you run out of anything, give me a ring and I'll show you where the supply closet is. If you don't like a brand of something, like the coffee, you have to supply it yourself. Though, I have to say, I think it's a pretty good brand."

Rita led Rory to her desk. "Here I've written down your log in credentials. The password is your temporary one. So, once you're logged in, you'll want to change that. You should see your e-mail there and a calendar that's already synced with today's items. I've placed a list of the numbers in the building. I highlighted my number just in case. Any questions?"

Rory thought for a minute. "What's the name of my boss? I guess I forgot to ask that yesterday."

"Oh! Silly me! It's Logan Huntzberger. If that's it, I'll leave you to it."

With that, Rita walked off leaving Rory in a daze. Of all the places she would be interviewed at and hired, it had to be Logan's company. In a daze, she sat at her desk and booted her computer up. She logged in and waited for everything to sync. Once it was up, she clicked on the calendar and laughed when she saw Logan's daily schedule laid out for her. She couldn't believe her dumb luck. And she could only imagine what Logan's reaction would be once he arrived and realized she was his new assistant.

To try and calm herself, she got up and walked over to the coffee machine. She smiled when she saw the coffee brand. It was a good one. It was one that she and Logan picked out together when they were dating and did a coffee tasting. That was one of their better dates, in her opinion, because it allowed them to have a lot of fun with it. She ran out of the blend ages ago and couldn't afford it anymore, so she did a little happy dance at the realization she would have it again.

Coffee machine gurgling, Rory looked over the other things in her area. There was a mini-fridge that was stocked with water and she thought she could rearrange it some to accommodate a lunch from home if she so chose. The microwave was clean and the copy machine was straightforward.

While she was doctoring her coffee, she heard Logan's voice coming down the hallway. He was obviously on the phone with someone, discussing a book or something. She caught a glimpse of him as he turned the corner and breezed past her and into his office. The door remained cracked.

Rory quickly gathered her coffee and sat down at her desk. She didn't know if he'd come out to introduce himself to her or if he'd call her in. Either way, she wanted to be prepared. After a few minutes, her phone buzzed and she heard Logan say, "Can you please join me in my office? I'd like to introduce myself. You can bring your coffee. Do you mind bringing me a cup also?"

Rory stood up and poured another cup before grabbing her own and stepping slowly into Logan's office. She carefully put his cup down on his desk and sat. "Thank you," he said, distracted by something on his screen.

Rory placed her cup on the edge of his desk, scared she wouldn't be able to keep her grip on the mug once he realized who she was. Finally, Logan finished whatever he was doing and started to turn to her. "Hi, you must be my new assistant. My name is…" he trailed off. Rory saw his eyes widen and his face reflect disbelief.

"Rory?"

"One and the same."

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, funny you should ask. I had an interview yesterday for a job and turns out, it was for your assistant."

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Rory broke the silence first, "I understand if you're uncomfortable with me working here. If I had known it would be for you, I would have never accepted the job. I don't want to put you in a weird position and I'm sure this does. I mean, how awkward, right?"

Logan stopped her before she could continue. "Rory, stop. It's fine. I'm just shocked to see you here. Last I knew, you were still writing your heart out and being published."

"Yeah, well. Turns out there isn't as much of a need for reporters as there used to be."

Logan didn't respond, just picked his coffee cup up and took a sip. He got a thoughtful look on his face. "You remember how I like my morning coffee?"

Rory shrugged. "It's hard to forget some things, you know?"

Logan nodded and said, "If you're uncomfortable working here, then I understand you wanting to leave. But I don't want you to leave on my account. I'm fine with you continuing here as my assistant. I know how you work and you know how I work. I think we'll make a pretty dynamic duo if I'm honest."

"Are you sure? I really don't want this to be weird for either of us."

"Ace, I'm very sure."

Rory blushed at Logan's use of her nickname, but didn't comment on it. "Then, I'm happy to stay."

"Alright then, let's get down to business. You've seen my schedule?"

Rory nodded. "Yes, you're slated for meetings all day it looks like."

"Yep. All of them will take place in here most likely. They're all authors that I've taken on. Make sure you offer than some coffee when you show them back. There should be a small coffee and tea service in the cabinet out there. If you go down the hall, you'll find a small break room for the rest of the staff that you can wash any dishes in. Anything else, I'll go over with you as it arises. You ready for this?"

Rory smiled. "You jump, I jump Jack."

With a nod at each other, Rory picked up her cup and made her way back out to her desk, closing Logan's door behind her. Alone again, she allowed herself a minor freak out before forcing herself to get it together. She couldn't afford a freak out at her desk on her first day. She was reserving that for the second day.

The next several hours flew by. Even though it was her first day, Rory was incredibly busy and felt that she was learning the ropes rather quickly. By the time the end of the day rolled around, Rory was trying to remember if she had actually eaten or not. Deciding that she must have since she wasn't ravenous, she gathered her things before poking her head into Logan's office.

"Hey, I just wanted to ask what time do you want me here in the mornings? Rita told me 9 this morning, but I didn't know if that was normal or not."

"Yeah, 9 is fine. If it needs to be different, I'll make sure to let you know well in advance. How was your first day?"

Rory smiled. "It was pretty good to be honest."

"Good. You have a good night Ace."

"You too, Logan."

With that, Rory left the building. Upon making her way outside, Rory paused and savored the feeling of being outside. Today was the first day of a new world.

β€”

In the months following her start at Rocket Publishing as Logan's assistant, Rory found herself quickly falling into a rhythm at work with not only Logan but the other assistants. She was usually early, so she handled making the first pot of the day in the main break room as well as the coffee for herself. She made sure to anticipate as much as possible for Logan and he told her frequently that she was one of the best assistants he'd ever had.

The praise went a long way to helping build Rory's confidence back up. Even though it wasn't in the field she wanted, she was working and she had a steady paycheck coming in. She was able to finally put some money back, dreaming of the day she could afford a nicer apartment in a nicer area. For now, it was enough that she was able to go to a real grocery store every so often and buy name brand products and not the off brand ones.

In all honesty, Rory couldn't have asked for a better job. Because she was so quick to get hired, she never had to get her unemployment benefits either. All around, she was much happier with her life.

That came to a crashing halt one Tuesday in March, about 6 months after she was hired. Rory was checking Logan's schedule for the following day and making changes as needed as well as making a list of anything she needed to do upon arriving at work the following day when she heard a voice she thought she'd never hear again: Mitchum Huntzberger.

Rory tenses, remembering what he said to her when they had that disastrous meeting at the newspaper. She had no idea he was coming today. She pulled Logan's schedule up and saw that he wasn't on it. In a panic, Rory paged Logan's office.

"Logan, I can hear your father."

In lieu of responding, Logan came tearing out of his office. "What, you can hear my father?"

Rory held her finger to her lips and tilted her head down the hall. They both listened and, sure enough, Mitchum's voice was coming down the hall and getting louder.

"Thank you so much for understanding how much I want to surprise my son, Amanda."

"Oh, it's not problem Mr. Huntzberger."

Rory's eyes widened. Wasn't Amanda there to help screen people that just showed up? She had a feeling that there would be a new receptionist the following day. Rory and Logan didn't have a chance to say anything before Mitchum rounded the corner.

"Logan, my boy! How are you?"

"I'm doing well, Dad. What are you doing here?"

Mitchum looked wounded. "What am I doing here? Can't a dad decide to visit his son whenever he wants?"

"Oh, I'm sure a dad can. But, you haven't done that before, so I'm not sure why you'd start now."

"Now, Logan. Come on. Why such a long face? I just wanted to drop in to see you. Listen, why don't we move this into your office. Have your assistant bring me a decaf coffee."

Without waiting for an answer, Mitchum swept into Logan's office, leaving him standing there looking angry. "I'm so sorry, Ace. If you want, you can leave and I'll handle him."

As much as Rory wanted to take him up on that, she realized that running from Mitchum wouldn't fix anything. "Don't worry about it. Go in there and I'll be in there once I'm able to get him a cup. Do you want one?"

Logan shook his head no and walked into his office, closing the door behind himself. Rory sighed and set about getting Mitchum's coffee ready. She'll readily admit that she dawdled as much as possible, but she couldn't put it off forever. Taking a deep breath, Rory arranged the coffee service and knocked on Logan's office door. Hearing him tell her to enter, she carefully opened the door and stepped in.

She walked to Logan's desk and placed the tray down. She asked, "How would you like your coffee, sir?"

"Rory Gilmore?"

Rory inwardly sighed. She faced him and smiled. "Yes, sir. One and the same."

"Huh. Of all the people I thought I'd see here, I wasn't expecting you. Finally discover that journalism wasn't for you?"

Rory gasped, feeling as if she'd been slapped. Before she could respond, Logan interrupted, "Rory, that's enough for today. Go on and gather your things. I'll see you tomorrow."

Rory nodded her understanding and walked out of his office with her head held high even though she felt anything but confident. She quickly got her things together and left. She decided to splurge that night and stopped at her favorite Chinese place for take out. Armed with her food, Rory made her way home.

She collapsed on her couch as soon as she got home. As usual, none of her roommates were home and she definitely could use someone to talk to. She would call her Mom or Lane or even Paris, but no one knew where she was working, so that wouldn't really work.

Sighing. Rory put her food out and turned Netflix on, searching through the options to try and find something that struck her fancy. Settling on Grey's Anatomy, she got herself a plate and fork and made her way back to the living room. She was about to get started when she heard a knock on her door.

This was an odd occurrence as no one knew where she lived. In fact, they never had visitors for any of them. Rory waited to see if it was a fluke and the person would go away. It wasn't and the knock repeated. Sighing, Rory made her way to the door and peeked out the peephole. She was confused to see Logan on the other side. She undid all the locks and opened the door.

"i gotta say, Ace. I thought that place you lived at Yale was pretty bad. But, I think this takes the cake. I mean, this is seedy."

Rory rolled her eyes and invited Logan in. "What are you doing here?" she asked as she relocked the door.

"I thought I was going to check on you. But, I see you live in Fort Knox, so it's not like anything can actually get to you unless they try to go through the walls too.

"Really, Logan, what are you doing here?"

"Exactly what I said I was here for, Ace. I wanted to see how you were. My dad was his normal self and you got put in the cross-hairs. I could tell that his comment hit a bit too close to home and I was worried about how you were."

"And, you had to come to my 'seedy apartment' to check this out?"

Logan shrugged and didn't respond. Rory continued, "It couldn't have waited until tomorrow when we were both at work?"

"Why are you so defensive about this? I've done stuff like this before, Rory. It's never bother you before."

"Well, that was before. This is now."

Logan's brows furrowed. "What does that even mean?"

Rory sighed, exasperated. "It sounds like it exactly sounds like. Before was Yale. Now is after."

"Rory, come on. It is not that black and white. My dad hit a nerve back there and I know he did. I know what he was referring to. You forget that I got to live that aftermath with you."

"It is that black and white!"

In lieu of a response, Logan stepped forward and pressed a hard kiss to Rory's lips. Surprised, Rory didn't respond at first. After a few beats, though, she clued in and returned the gift with equal fervor. Logan pushed her back into the wall, pressing her between it and him. Tearing her mouth away from his, Rory gasped, trying to catch her breath.

Logan used the opportunity to press kisses down her neck and towards her cleavage, which was peaking out of a v-neck shirt. She felt his fingers work their way under her shirt and start to lift it.

She stopped him. "My roommates could be home at any minute."

Logan looked confused until she said, "Let's continue this in my room."

She took his hand and led him to her room, shutting the door behind them. Logan pressed her against it and resumed his previous activities. This time she didn't stop him when he moved to lift her shirt. Shirt gone, Logan continued to press open mouth kisses on her breasts and Rory found herself becoming breathless again.

It had been so long since she was with anyone that she almost felt unsure of what to do. For right now, she was content to let Logan continue his ministrations. He reached behind her to undo her bra, yanking it off before taking her left nipple in his mouth. Rory arched and pressed her breast further in his mouth.

While Logan was thus occupied, Rory pulled his shirt out of his pants and got to work on his buttons. Logan switched breasts, which made Rory lose concentration momentarily. She finally got the last of the buttons open and pushed Logan's shirt off. She then yanked on his undershirt. He pulled back to she could take it off. Before he could continue his ministrations, Rory gave him a push, causing him to step backwards. She guided him to her bed and made his sit.

She knelt before him and started to take his pants off. She made quick work of his belt, button, and zipper. Logan lifted his hips to allow her to talk his pants and underwear off. She got a bit caught up at his feet since his shoes were still on. He quickly kicked them off and Rory finished pulling his pants off.

Before he could say or do anything, she took him in her mouth. Logan groaned at the feeling and Rory slowly moved her mouth up and down his shaft. She teased him for several minutes before taking more of him into her mouth and adding her hand to the mixture. She squeezed him lightly as she bobbed up and down his length. Before she could really find her rhythm, Logan pulled her up and kissed her hard.

"As much as I'd like to continue, I'd like to have something else if you don't mind."

Logan quickly unzipped her skirt and helped her out of it and her underwear. He then guided her onto the bed and tried to guide her to her back. She resisted and instead hovered over him, guiding his length into her once she wrapped him in a condom. They both groaned at the sensation. Rory paused for a few moments once he was fully sheathed inside her to give herself time to adjust. Once she felt ready, she started to rock and then move up and down. Her breath sped up, as did Logan's, and she felt herself quickly approaching the edge.

Before she knew it, she fell over the edge and Logan flipped them over, pushing himself as far in as he could. He hooked her arms over his legs and leaned forward on his hands, causing Rory to bend in half and allowing Logan to hit a spot deep inside her she didn't know existed.

Logan started out slow, building her back up slow. Eventually, he dropped her legs and started to thrust faster the closer he got to completion. He brought a hand to her clit and applied pressure, pushing Rory back over the edge. He quickly followed.

He pulled out, pulled the condom off, tied it off, and threw it in the trashcan before collapsing on the bed next to her. They lay there, panting for several minutes. Logan finally said, "I had no intention of that happening when I came over today."

Rory laughed. "I think we should both know what we're each like here. Is it a surprise that this happened?"

Logan sighed. "I guess not. But, it doesn't change that I didn't mean for it to happen."

Rory shrugged. "What's done is done. May as well accept it."

It was Logan's turn to shrug. "True, but I'll be honest. I want to repeat it."

Rory looked at Logan and saw the truth on his face. "What do you mean? You want another stringless relationship?"

Logan shook his head. "I think we both know that wouldn't work."

"So, you want strings?"

Logan nodded. Rory continued, "Isn't it a bit, I don't know, sudden?"

"Is it really? We've been in each other's lives for 6 months now. You've consumed my thoughts recently, and not just because you're my assistant and a kick ass one. I never should have given you that ultimatum two years ago. You considered me and I didn't consider you."

Rory didn't know what to say, so she didn't say anything. "Ace, say something?"

"I'm just thinking about what this would mean. Would I need to find another job? I mean, think about it. If it gets out that we're dating, someone could claim nepotism or something."

"Ace, come on. I don't think that'll happen But, if it makes you feel better, we can be discreet. No unusual touching or anything in the office and we make sure we're careful if we're out in public. When you're comfortable with going public, we'll decide when that'll be publicly."

Rory thought about it for a few moments before smiling. "You know, I think I can live with that."

Logan smiled at her and leaned over to kiss her. "Now," he said, "I would love a repeat of earlier. But, I'm hungry. Did I see you had Chinese out there?"

Rory laughed and told him yes, kissing him again, deliriously happy they found each other again.