"Rory Gilmore, Will you marry me?"

That was the question that hung in the air as all of the DAR ladies and friends of her grandparents stood around. Logan had chosen this moment to propose because all of her family was there. He knew this wasn't the ideal setting but he just couldn't keep it a secret anymore. He wanted her and everyone in Hartford to know how much he loved her and wanted to marry him.

As he was waiting for her answer, she all of a sudden pulled him up from his kneeling position and kissed him passionately before responding with a "yes!" He could not believe that she had said yes and pulled her back in for another kiss.

She had never been happier. She had only recently told her mother that she had envisioned herself being married to Logan and that he was the one for her.

She stood there smiling as she looked into her future husband's eyes and knew that she had made the right decision. She loved him so much.

"Thank you Rory for making me so happy. I love you Ace." Logan said before pulling her in for another kiss.

"I love you too Logan. So much." Rory admitted before they turned back to the crowd that had formed at the party.

As she was looking around the room she looked over at her mother and could see the scowl she was trying to hide behind her forced smile. Rory thought of everyone her mother would be happy for her.

She told logan that she would be right back but she wanted to talk to her mother.

She approached her mom alone as she wanted to shield logan from any potential rude comments she might make.

"Hey Mom. Look, I'm engaged!" Rory exclaimed

"I see that Hun. Congrats." Lorelai said strained.

"You're ok with this, right?" Rory asked unsure if it would matter to her.

"Let's talk about this later at home. I'm going to get going. Luke is waiting for me and I have to be up early tomorrow to open the Inn. Will you be home tonight?" Lorelai asked

Rory was shocked at her mothers response but knew better than to get into it right then and there so she simply answered with a "Not tonight. I'm staying with Logan. I'll come by tomorrow morning, maybe we can get coffee at Luke's?"

Lorelai simply nodded and headed out. Rory stood there shocked. She didn't know why her mom was acting this way. She thought that her mother would at least try and pretend to be happy right after her engagement. Before she could get too caught up in her thoughts, Logan approached her. "Hey, where'd your mom go?" He asked

"I don't know. She just said she was going home. I don't think she was happy about this." Rory admitted

"I don't understand. She gave me permission to ask you to marry me. She never showed any opposition to the idea. Why would she give it to me if she didn't agree with it?" Logan asked confused

Rory didn't know that Logan had asked for her permission but as she thought over her interactions over the last days she began to notice a pattern.

"When did you ask her?" Rory wanted to know so she could see if Lorelai's change in behavior coincided with Logan asking her for permission.

"A week ago. Right after I got back from California." Logan admitted.

A week ago was when Lorelai had started making comments to Rory about Logan and about how Rory was too young to settle down, how she needed to go out there and be free and how no man should ever come before her career. Rory realized that this whole time her mother had been trying to manipulate her so that Rory would say no when he asked her to marry him. She wanted Rory to feel insecure about her relationship with Logan because she felt insecure about her job prospects but what Lorelai didn't understand was that Rory's relationship with Logan was where she felt the most secure. She couldn't believe that her mother had been so sneaky and she wondered what other decisions did she manipulate.

"Oh my god. I can't believe this." Rory exclaimed quietly.

Logan maneuvered them outside where it was private and quiet. "What's going on in your head, Ace?"

"My mother. She has been manipulating me my entire life. She tried to manipulate me so I would say no to your proposal, she manipulated me when I took time off from school, when I wanted to go to Yale but she convinced me that I should go to Harvard and then she was upset when I still chose Yale. I can't believe I never realized this before…" Rory ranted

Logan listened to rory rant and couldn't help but be shocked at Lorelai's behavior. She couldn't believe that a mother who seemed to love her daughter so much could do this. He knew that his father liked to manipulate him but his father just saw him as his heir.

Logan pulled Rory closer as she began to sob and comforted her. They stayed like that for a while until she was ready to go home. They headed to his apartment in the city and promised to forget about Lorelai for the night and celebrate their engagement properly. Logan spent the night making love to Rory and making sure that she knew that he would always be there for her and would never manipulate or hurt her. He wanted her to know that they were in this together and he had no intentions of leaving her or giving her up. They knew that they would have to deal with Lorelai tomorrow but for today, it was just them in their own bubble.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Let me know your thoughts in the reviews! Thanks