A/N: So hi I know that some people will recognize this, but for those who are reading this for the first time let me explain. I started this story back when season 5 was originally airing over at the original 'Illusive' site. I got up to chapter 14 and then stop. That was many years ago.

There were a number of reasons why I abandon the story, at the time I went on a medication that caused me anxiety and I couldn't sit still long enough to put anything to paper. I was also losing interests in the show cause I felt the characters where becoming something they weren't (Real Rory would have never left school cause of what Logan's dad said, seriously).

Among other things Kismet just got pushed aside. Still it's one of my best received stories; years later I still get e-mails asking about it, which really honors me. So it's because of those lovely people that still ask for it that I have started writing it again. I dedicate Kismet to them, the girls at Illusive and in particular to my beta Em who has been the greatest supporter of this story, Kismet getting finished will be because of her.

1. Saying Goodbye, Saying Hello

'What have I done?'

Amazing how four words and the action that prompted them can change everything you know and love. Change the way you view yourself, the life you lead, the people in your life, how you view them and how they view you.

Rory Gilmore stared blankly at the people buzzing by as she sat at one of the outdoor tables of the small Barcelona café she had been visiting since her arrival with her grandmother in Spain. She asked herself the same question over and over again. She replayed the events of the past week over and over again also - as if her brain was in some vicious loop that wouldn't let her have a moment's rest. Her mother's distress, Dean's anger and her own actions continued to play - asking herself when she had become someone she couldn't even begin to recognize.

**Lorelai stared at her daughter with a pained expression as she pinpointed the emotion she had been feeling since Rory and Dean walked out of Rory's bedroom.

Disappointment.

She was disappointed with her daughter, something she never thought she would feel about Rory.

She watched as her daughter and her daughter's ex tried to fix their disheveled clothes, watched as the boy that she once loved for her child left their house - leaving a thick cloud of silence and awkwardness between mother and daughter, something that had never occurred before that moment.

"How could you do this, Rory?"

Rory sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I don't know what happened, Mom, but I do know I don't want to talk about it right now."

Lorelai felt her anger grow as she heard her daughter. "Too damn bad, Rory, he's married!"

"I know he's married, Mom, do you really think that that little fact has escaped me!" Rory shouted back as her mother got louder.

"Then, why, why would you do this?"

"I don't know alright… I didn't plan for this to happen. I didn't wake up and say what should I do today… Oh! I know, let me lose my virginity to my ex-boyfriend who's married." Rory threw back at her mother, knowing that the only way to get through the horrible moment without breaking down was to be defensive.

"Don't joke, Rory, not now!" Lorelai said sternly.

"Has it occurred to you that maybe I was just lonely and that I, in a moment of stupidity and fear, turned to a secure place?" Rory asked pleadingly, begging silently that her mother would understand, but as she looked at her, she knew that the shock of her discovery was still with Lorelai and that, for the moment at least, she wouldn't get an ounce of understanding from her. With every bit of strength that she could muster, she channeled her grandmother - stood up straight and looked at her mother with a steady gaze. "But like I said, I don't want to talk about this."

Lorelai stared at her, shaking her head softly and spoke before she started to leave the house once again. "I'm so let down by you, Rory."

Rory stood there watching her mother leave; the sob she was holding in did not come out until she heard the door shut. Hearing her mother voice over in her head, she sank onto the floor, overcome by the power of her own weeping.

'Not as let down as I am in myself, Mom.' **

"What can I bring you, Bonita?"

Rory looked at the young waiter in front of her who spoke in a heavy Spanish accent; she smiled at him, grateful that he had interrupted her turbulent thoughts even if he didn't know it. "Café solo, por favor."

"The lady knows Spanish." The waiter smiled at her warmly as he had been doing for the last week that she had been visiting the small establishment.

Rory shook her head, laughing softly. "Poquito… I'm practicing."

The waiter laughed with her. "And I practice my English... un café solo... I'll be back."

Rory watched the waiter walk away. "Back…"

** "I want you back, Rory. We can go back to the way we were before, before everything went wrong."

Rory looked around Miss Patty's dance studio, unable to look straight at Dean as she heard the hopefulness in his voice. He knew. He knew what she had come to say when she called him. He also knew that she was right, deep down he knew, but he couldn't go back, she knew that herself. He couldn't say it was a mistake when the damage was already done.

Looking up at him, pain flashing across his face, she started finally, "Dean…" and quickly before desperation took over, a desperation thinly veiled by false hope.

"Rory, we can be happy, I…"

"You're married."

"Rory…."

"You're married to Lindsay." She said softly, tears welling up in her eyes as she said it. Not because she had lost her first love to the other woman, but because in her need to feel safe and loved she had hurt the first boy she had ever cared for. Twisted their love so much so that neither would ever be able to remember it with fondness. And now, they had both hurt an innocent woman who had no idea of the betrayal.

"I was married to her last night too, Rory!" Dean screamed, tears rising up in his eyes also. His were tears of anger at her, tears of frustration at himself and tears of defeat. "What am I going to do about Lindsay?"

"That's up to you, Dean… I won't interfere and while I have no right to dish out advice and you have no reason to listen to me… lies and secrets are the fastest ways to ruin a relationship."

"Yeah, look at us and your lies." Dean spat at her.

Rory took the insult head on. "You're right, we are a perfect example… if I had told you from the beginning that I fell out of love with you and that I was falling for Jess, maybe we wouldn't be here today, maybe we wouldn't have hurt each other so much, but that stops now. Our mistakes stop now. I'm saying good-bye, Dean, to our past, to our mistakes, to our pain. I'm sure we'll see each other around town but as of now our past should be left where it should have been left long ago… in the memories of first love… good-bye, Dean."

She looked at him once more - his face hard-lined with pain and anger. He hated her, at least for now, and as much as that hurt her, she knew that his hating her now would be better than all the added pain they would cause each other if they tried to revive their dead relationship from the ruins. **

Rory broke away once more from her reminiscing; she and Dean had not talked since. Her mother and she weren't much better after her confrontation with Dean. She had gone to the Dragonfly where her mother and grandmother had been waiting to have lunch with her. The uneasiness between her and her mother had been so overwhelming that when her grandmother had asked her if she wanted to travel Europe with her, she had jumped at the chance. After that, Lorelai and she had had nothing but short and tensed conversations that frankly after a while had stopped hurting her and had downright annoyed her. She made the mistake, she knew that and she didn't need Lorelai to remind her anymore than her own mind did already.

"Café solo for the beautiful niña." The young male waiter said as he placed the cup of coffee.

Rory looked up at the charming, smiling face of the waiter and smiled back. "Thank you."

"And this is from the señor over there." He continued as he placed a long-stemmed, red rose on the table.

Rory looked over where the waiter had gestured - there sat a young man who had to be at the most one or two years older than her. He was looking straight at her and flashed her a warm smile when her eyes locked with his. He was well dress in black slacks and a thin-fitting, dark grey, long-sleeved shirt. He had blond hair that laid disarray as if he had just gotten up and his brown eyes twinkled playfully as she stared a little too long. His smile grew with her scrutiny and she couldn't help the smile that played at her lips. His expression amused her and even though she would never admit it to anyone, she was always a sucker for the mischievous hand-caught-in-the-cookie-jar type.

"He's been here just about every day this week like you have." The waiter commented and she nodded absently as she thought back to the days before. The waiter was right; she did vaguely remember having seen the blond man before.

"Thank you."

The waiter gave a slight bow that made her smile once more and then he left. She took the rose and touched the petals softly; she looked over to the table where the young man sat only to find it empty. A surprising wave of disappointment passed through her that she quickly, mentally scolded herself for. She wasn't here for that, she was here for rest, to recoup before she had to face her life once again.

"Mind if I sit down?"

Rory looked up; there next to her stood the man smiling down at her. He was better looking than she had first thought. He had the looks that could take someone's breath away. She gestured at the other chair at her table, which he took.

"Thank you for the rose… it's beautiful."

"You're welcome. I've wanted to approach you before but you always seem miles away… today, I couldn't contain myself anymore."

Rory smiled at him. "So, you've been watching me."

"Yes."

"So, you're my stalker? Huh! I always thought you had to come out with a C.D. before you get one of those."

He smiled at her response. "Am I freaking you out?"

"Not yet."

"Well, allow me to introduce myself before I do…"

"Oh! So, you're planning to?" Rory interrupted.

He rolled his eyes playfully which caused her to chuckle. "I'm Logan."

"Rory"

"I've never heard that name before." He commented.

"It's my nickname, my real name is Lorelai."

"Well…" He began taking one of her hands that rested on the table and brought it to his lips. "It's very nice to meet you…Lorelai."

xxx

Logan Huntzberger sat for the fourth day at the local café - it was a quarter to three - if the same pattern held up, she would be arriving any minute. Everyday this week, the same girl had been showing up at the same time when he was usually there. The café being always slow at this time of day was the excuse his brain gave him for noticing her right way. That excuse was nothing but a lie. She was beautiful, that was the reason why he had noticed her right way. Shoulder length hair the color of chocolate, porcelain skin that was flawless and a body that could make any man's mind wander. However, her most beautiful feature were her eyes - big blue eyes that would suck anybody right in. The first time he had seen her eyes, he had forgotten how to breathe for a moment.

Blue eyes full of sadness. He could tell right away, eyes like those couldn't hide anything. He watched her everyday knowing he shouldn't but not being able to stop himself. Just by looking at her, Logan could feel her sadness in waves. Every time her eyes glazed over, he knew she was thinking about what was causing her so much pain. She always had a smile for her waiter, but that smile always left her lips when she was left alone.

He understood that being alone, she had to think. It was why he always surrounded himself with people. That was why he finally approached her when she arrived, after watching for a while as she went into her world. He watched as the waiter came and went, finally calling him over so he could ask him to give her the rose he had bought from the vendor who passed the café. He watched her smile as the rose was place on her table. As she looked over at him, he reminded himself to breathe, to smile back and not just stare like a small boy with a school crush.

When the waiter left her table, he stood up quietly and walked over to her. "Mind if I sit down?"

She looked up at him and he told himself once more to breathe, to keep breathing. She motioned to the only other chair at her table and he took it. She thanked him for the rose and he told her about wanting to come up to her and she made a crack about him being her stalker. For a moment he was afraid he had upset her.

"Am I freaking you out?"

"Not yet."

"Well, allow me to introduce myself before I do…"

"Oh! So, you're planning to?"

He rolled his eyes and she laughed; he couldn't help but grin. She had a beautiful laugh and he was surprised at how happy he was that she was joking with him. "I'm Logan."

When she introduced herself as 'Rory', he made a comment that he had never really heard the name before. She explained that it was her nickname, that 'Lorelai' was her name. Rory. Lorelai. Both names were beautiful. He took her hand, trying hard for the moment to ignore the spark that went through him when he touched her and brought her hand to his lips.

"Well…It's very nice to meet you…Lorelai."