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It was just another party to him, another social event that he was required to attend. He didn't even know what the gathering was about, and neither did anybody else. It was top secret, apparently. But those who didn't attend would be forever cast down in the social ladder. And he, he had a reputation to uphold. His family name couldn't take another hit so Father called upon him, while he was London and demanded that he make retribution for his sloppy marriage and catastrophic divorce by attending the sure to be boring party. And he wonders how drunk he must have been to have willingly said yes. But that was in the past now, as the party was in the present. He wandered around, smiling at the appropriate people and making mandatory conversation with associates of his father. He answered endless questions about the demise of his marriage to Lily Summers. He was just about to make a huge revelation by stating that he never wanted to marry Lily in the first place and had she not manipulated him into it by pretending to be pregnant none of this would have happened, but then he saw her. She was in the kitchen with some others, sitting down and sipping coffee, he was sure. She looked tired and sad. Was this party to celebrate someone's life?

"Logan? Did you here me boy?" Logan turned to face the old man and nodded. He made up a cheap excuse and left the conversation. He bumped into Cal Bloom, an old friend of his and Rory Gilmore. She won him in the divorce, at least that's what his friends called it after they broke up. It was mutual, sort of. They were both cheating. He slept with other women and she had casual dinners with her ex boyfriend, Jess. By the time everything was hashed out, after he'd been caught with his pants down and his dick inside Lily, he found out that Jess was in a stable relationship and was asking Rory had to propose to his girlfriend. Logan had never felt like such an ass. He spent six weeks calling her, begging her for forgiveness and just when she starting talking to him, Lily told him she was pregnant. And then everything went haywire, he was forced into a shotgun marriage with Lily before he could even blink. He was married by the time Rory and his lunch date came around.

"Lily's pregnant." He sheepishly said and showed her the gold band around his finger. He was horrified at the reality of what that simple band meant to him. He had somehow imagined that she'd reach out and take his hand offering him support and telling him she understood and that she loved him and they would still find a way of being together.

"Me too." She whispered to him and got up and left the table without looking back. He was so shocked and flabbergasted that he didn't even know how to think. He tried calling her. He wasn't surprised that she never picked up. After a month he gave up and came home to his wife who announced that it was a false alarm but they could now enjoy all the fun of trying for a baby. Somehow Logan convinced himself that he owed it Rory to get Lily pregnant. He didn't want to admit that he'd been within days of marrying his love, that instead of having crude sex with an attractive blonde 24/7, he could be sitting by the fire holding hands with his brunette beauty and thinking up baby names. It just hurt too much to think that way, so he stopped and tried to erase Ace from his life. It was about a year later that he saw her again at a Holiday Party, sadly Lily was in Aspen preparing for a romantic week. They had yet to conceive. Logan found himself with no one to hide behind and forced himself to say hello to her. It was awkward, he had found himself almost beaten to a bloody pulp by Lorelai and Emily Gilmore. He was in awe at how well the estranged mother and daughter worked together.

"Lorelai, let me talk to Rory." He pleaded with her after she had slapped him hard and Emily had stomped on his foot. If it wasn't for Rory noticing the scene and coming over to save him, he'd probably be in the hospital.

"Mom, Grandma. Go away." The elder Gilmore's did so without even blinking an eye. It must have been the tone in Rory's voice that made them leave, the tone that meant business, that meant she could kill me if she wanted to tone.

"You want to talk Logan, talk." He wasn't ashamed to admit he was scared, Rory always did have a temper.

"The bab, ba ba baby?" He asked barely able to get it out.

"I was in a car accident and miscarried. There is nothing binding me to you anymore." And then she turned and walked away, like that was all she wanted to say, as if she had all the power. He was quite turned on by her sudden confidence, but was unable to fulfill it with actions. He caught a late flight to Aspen and pretended he was making love to his Ace. That was the last time he thought about her until now.

"Hey Cal, is that Rory in the kitchen?" Logan asked calmly after all Cal used to be his friend too.

"Yeah I guess. I got to go, sorry about you and Lily." Cal quickly fled for an exit and Logan was understandably confused. He stood there in that same spot for a moment or two, enough to get people to stare, before he worked up the courage to go into the kitchen.

When he entered all the others had left leaving Rory all alone. She looked up at the intrusion and smiled.

"You came to my party." She stated and he didn't know what to do, he didn't know this was her party. "Just nod your head Logan, it's not that hard." He nodded his head and took a seat at the table.

"I heard you Lily divorced, such a shame to see a manipulative woman back in the market. But hey, I'm surprised you stayed with her this long. In fact I'm a little hurt to see you stayed with her after you found out about her lie, since you could have been with me and raised a family all this time." He opened his mouth to protest.

"What's the party for?" He asked instead of debating the issue of his marriage. He knew it was true, he could have been with Rory for all that time. "Ah. The party. I guess it's a get well, farewell present from Grandma, she seems to think it's so unfair to society that they're losing a good one, or something as stupid as that. Mom is just so upset about it all. It really is hard to accept." She looked down at her hands like they held all the answers.

"What? I don't understand. Are you leaving"

"Yeah, you could say that. I'm going far away, and I won't be coming back. It's a contract and all." She laughed and he noticed exactly how scared she looked.

"Well people can visit. I'll visit"

"I really hope you don't Logan, I'm not worth losing everything for. I'm just an average girl with a liking for coffee and books. I'm just a nobody, and I'm not saying that as a bad thing. You don't know Logan, but you wish for it everyday, you just want to be an ordinary person. You don't want your personal life painted on a billboard for all to know, you want the shadows. I know you do, and I could've given that to you. But it's too late, for me anyway. You can still disappear"

"It's not too late for us Rory. We're meant to be together. Look at us, we're both here, we both want the same things. We can disappear together." He took her hand and leaned in close to give her a kiss. She pulled away.

"Logan…"

"Shhh!" He cut her off. "I'm trying to kiss you"

"And I'm saving you by not letting you." She backed away and took her hand with her. He stood up as well.

"I lied to you Logan." She tells him. He looks confused. "You're going to hate me Logan. You really are. But I was hurt and struggling to hold on to the surface. I've had to fight tragedy after tragedy and I swear my life is greater than Shakespearean play. I hope you'll understand, and I hope you'll do the right thing, and stay away. I love you, that's apparent, but your timing is wrong." He looked at her while she broke down into tears. He wanted to go to her, hug her, but her words not only confused him but hurt him. She was within reach but kept backing away. Logan was a fighter, he was going to get her back. Even if that meant cornering her.

A week after the party and after doing some last minute work before taking some leave and attempting to find his Ace, he ran into Stephanie, Finn and Colin at a restaurant. He walked over to their table and sat down with them. They were still good friends even though the distance had pulled them apart. They welcomed him with smiles and laughs.

"God, did you guys hear about Rory?" Stephanie asked the boys, they looked at her, intrigued before shaking their heads no.

"Oh well I got an invitation to her funeral in the mail. It's so sad." Colin and Finn were too shocked to do anything and Logan was close to tears.

"I called up Lorelai and gave her my regards and she seemed to be okay, she said she'd been expecting this for awhile. I asked her some details and she said that Rory had HIV, she explained that Rory had been raped when she contracted it. They found it right away and all. Lorelai said that Rory was fighting it well, until one winter when she caught pneumonia. It drained her, and she just couldn't get better. Apparently the virus won the battle and the war. Rory stopped treatment in March, she said that it was a pain in the ass and she was going to die anyway. Mondays are never good days, Rory woke up, exhausted and had a cup of coffee, she picked up Little Women and crawled back into bed. They think she finished the book before she died." Stephanie took a break and wiped her eyes. All the boys were crying.

"What about her little boy?" Finn asked barely able to hold back from erupting into hysterics. Finn and Rory had gotten really close after college. He was the sole godparent to the kid, since some crazy fan had shot Lane to death.

Logan's ears perked up at the mention of Rory having kids. "I lied to you Logan, You're going to hate me Logan" echoed in his ears. "I hope you'll do the right thing, and stay way" rang through his ears. Logan collapsed into a fit unable to take anymore. "I don't hate you Rory"

"Little Logan found her an hour later. He's pretty put off about it, but he too saw it coming. It was Rory's wishes that he stay with her mother, granted Lorelai agreed, otherwise he's all yours Finn." And Logan cried out even more at the child's name. Finn lost in and fell into hysterics. Colin was still silent, too shocked to do anything. And Stephanie just cried I into her hands.

It took Logan a year to visit her grave. He read the inscription: Lorelai Leigh Gilmore III. Oct. 08, 1984 - Aug. 10, 2011. Loving mother, Loving daughter, loving granddaughter, and loving friend. Rory is forever in our hearts, as her spirit lives on…

Logan got down on his knees and cried. He had never imagined her to die young. They world was just cruel this way. He had spent the last year soul searching, trying to blame himself for her cruel fate. It took him awhile to finally realize that even though she suffered tragedy after tragedy and eventually succumbed to death herself this was just meant to be. And he thanked her, because even in death she saved him.

The end