"This is THE most romantic thing that's ever happened to any of my people. Absolutely straight out of a 90's rom-com. Mindy Kailing would eat. this. up. She's going to put this on her show, I swear."

"April, stop it."

"But it is, Rory! Girl meets boy. Boy and girl fall in love. Boy proposes to girl—"

"Boy dumps girl in public on her graduation day."

"Oh shush. Girl and boy have a fabulous meet-cute reunion on the streets of the most romantic city in the world and BAM: magic."

"I think the most romantic city in the world is Paris, April."

She laughed when April shushed her again and sighed dreamily as she flopped back on her mattress in her small studio loft. April shared the space with two other girls, and Rory couldn't imagine living in close quarters like this when trying to finish her own college tenure at Yale. She thought having a single room and sharing a common space with Paris was difficult. But it wasn't like April was in her studio that often. Classes kept her busy, and she worked a part-time job as an assistant at a medical clinic in to get some experience on her resume. It wasn't lost on Rory how similar she and April were, and she knew that was why they had become so close since their parents married. April loved medicine and science the way Rory loved journalism and current events.

But despite her passion for scientific advancement and chemistry equations, April did have a sentimental side with a flair for the dramatic and a love of all things romantic.

"It doesn't matter. You reconnected on the streets of NYC with bright shiny lights around you in the rain. Under an umbrella. I mean, my God, Rory. I can hardly stand the fabulousness of it all."

Rory continued to sip her coffee, cross-legged on the window seat. She wished that the cronies at MSNBC could see her now, with her Yale sweatpants and her Bret Michael's oversized t-shirt that Lane had given her as a Christmas gift a few years ago. It had been so long since she'd had a nice, cozy Saturday morning doing nothing with her sister.

"Those bright shiny lights were cheesy ads and LED screens. It wasn't like we were surrounded by twinkly Christmas lights."

"You are such a negative Nancy." April threw one of her pillows towards Rory in punishment of her annoying realism. "Is your phone booted up yet? Has he sent you a text yet?"

Rory had stopped by the phone store and purchased a new phone to replace her wet one on her way to April's apartment this morning. She'd plugged it up the minute that she'd gotten to the tiny loft, but so far, no text message had come through from him yet.

"No, but it's still early. And he might not even text me back."

"Oh stop it. He wouldn't do that. Y'all aren't teenagers. People my age have to worry about stuff like that. Not you. You guys are mature."

"Geez, April. You make me sound so old. 'People my age…..'"

"Rory, it's not like you are two preteens on an ABC Family show. This is not 'Switched at Birth.' You guys are adults. Like it or not, you're 30. He's older than that. He's not going to play games. If he says he's going to text you, then he'll text you."

And as if April had willed it from the technological heavens, Rory's new iPhone rang the familiar chime of a text message.

Ace, hope I'm the first text message on your new phone. Let me know if you got this. Meet me at 727 5th Ave at 5:00. Wear those new pumps of yours.

Rory read the text message aloud to April, who immediately opened up the laptop that laid beside her on the bed. "Fifth Ave? I'm googling that address." She hit enter and a look of awe covered April's face. "Rory. Look." She turned the screen around to show Rory the glamourous building that was displayed.

"Tiffany's!? Why on earth would he want me to meet him at Tiffany's?"

"Maybe he's going to 'Sweet Home Alabama' you and propose on the third floor! You'd have your pick of any ring in the entire store!"

"April, really!" Rory exclaimed as she threw the pillow back toward her sister who was in a fit of giddiness at this point.

"I'm kidding! I'm kidding!" April exclaimed in a fit of laughter. "But seriously, Rory. Do you get the full magnitude of this? You have a date tonight with the man you've loved for the past 10 years. A man who admits to thinking about you and worrying when you travel to Istanbul and Paraguay and all of the other places you run off to. A man who has used his very own employees to dig up information about your super-hush-hush-deep-dark-book-secret. A man that I know you've been thinking about yourself for all that time."

Before Rory could protest, she held up her finger to stop Rory who was about to interject a defense, "I was with you at Luke and Lorelai's wedding. Remember? Same dress, same shoes? I saw how hurt you were when you caught the bouquet. You were crying at the table while everyone else was doing the Electric Slide. Did you really think you hid that that well? You aren't that great of an actress, sister dear. I may have been a selfish 16 year old at the time, but I was a perceptive 16 year old. Of course you were thinking about him."

"I didn't think anyone saw that." "Of course we did. And this is your chance. The timing wasn't right then. None of it was. But you know, deep down in your heart, that the timing could very well be right now." Her eyes widened with excitement. "That feeling is actually related to the anterior cingulate cortex of the brain, which might be causing the tightening in your chest right now and the nausea. There's a theory by Eisenberger that showed that the dorsal anterior—"

"I get it, April. I get it."

She hadn't brought extra clothes with when she packed for this trip. She was only supposed to be here on Friday, do the live Fox News interview and tape a couple of panel discussions that would air on the Sunday morning news shows, so other than her pj's and workout pants, all she had was her business suit and various colors of button down blouses. April, in her excitement, demanded that Rory take the cocktail dress she kept on hand for special occasions. Despite the 9-year age gap between them, Rory was able to wear the simple black dress and pull it off without looking to ridiculous, she thought.

Perhaps someone would even mistake her for a 22 year old.

Getting a cab hadn't been too difficult now that the rain had moved out of the city and it had been a gorgeous November day. As she rode uptown, she couldn't help but feel the nerves in her stomach start to increase and the questions start to multiply. He'd asked her to meet him at the Flagship store of one of the biggest jewelry stores worldwide. While it was sweet and charming, it wasn't something that was going to impress her, and if he knew her at all, he'd know that.

"Looks like there's a crowd up ahead miss. I can't get to the front. Can I let you out here?"

Rory looked out the front window and she saw the crowd the cab driver was talking about. At the entrance to Tiffany's was a long red carpet and hundreds of reporters and cameras set up, waiting for what looked like an important arrival. This had to be a mistake, she thought, as she handed the cab driver his payment and got out of the car. Surely, Logan hadn't brought her here for this. Not after saying last night he just wanted to reconnect with her.

She began to make her way towards the entrance where she could see a white tent near the end of the red carpet. When she squinted her eyes, she saw him standing there talking to a girl dressed in all black with a headset and a clipboard with long red hair. He looked so handsome, but she couldn't help but wonder just how many trench coats he owned. He was wearing a beautiful beige coat that reminded her of the one he used to wear when they lived together in New Haven with the same red scarf she'd seen so many years ago. He was deep in conversation with the girl who was obviously an employee when he saw Rory start to walk up.

"Ace, you made it."

"Well, I'll admit I was tempted to take a little jaunt down the red carpet. What's going on here?"

"Tiffany's has a new engagement ring app, and my company's covering the launch. There's going to be some pretty big names here; I bet if you took a walk on the red carpet, you'd be asked to host next time George Stephanopoulos is out on 'This Week."

She crossed her arms uncomfortably. "Listen, Logan, if you had to work, we didn't have to meet up. It was so wonderful to see you yesterday, really, but maybe I should just go back."

Worry covered his face. "No, God no. Ace, I mean, yes this is a work thing for my company, but I'm not working tonight. Just checking in on things." He handed the clipboard back to the redhead. "I had you meet me here because I have a surprise."

"Are you 'Sweet Home Alabama'ing me?"

"What?"

"Nothing. Let's go." With that he grabbed her hand, and she couldn't help but feel blissful at how natural it felt to have her hand in his again.

She noticed as they walked up the red carpet and towards the entrance that they were the only people walking in front of the cameras at that time. "When does this shindig start?"

"Not for another hour or so. The few celebrities we booked should be arriving in the next 45 minutes. We've got the whole place to ourselves, Ace. I just need to run one errand, but I thought exploring could be fun first." He pushed open the revolving door that led to the famous first floor. They had already started decorating the store for Christmas, and Rory was taken aback by all of the lights and sparkly Christmas trees. The ceiling was an intricate 1920's design and the displays were filled with silver and teal sparkly Christmas ornaments and pristine white ribbon.

"Oh, pretty!"

"Wow," he laughed. "Such big words by the world-famous hot-shot reporter."

"I've never been here before, and at Christmas? It's stunning."

"Well, we can look around as little or as much as you want, but I really just have to pick one thing up from the third floor and we can be on our way to dinner."

"Far be it for me and my feminine affection for shopping hinder you from your errand. To the third floor we go." She realized she hadn't let go of his hand since he grabbed it outside, and to her relief, he hadn't tried to pull it away.

When the elevator dropped them off at the third floor, she was blown away by the rows and rows of jewelry cases, each holding intricate silver designs. "The Tiffany's charm bracelets! I've always heard of these, but I've never seen one in person." She finally let go of his hand to run over to a case filled with the famous key charms and heart lockets.

By the time he walked over to the case she was busy admiring, he couldn't hide the amusement on his face. "Ace, I know for a fact you've seen the Romanov jewels. Are you telling me that all I needed to do to impress you was show you some silver?"

"This isn't just any silver, Logan. This!" she gestured towards the glass case "This is a cultural icon. A statement piece for any warm-blooded American female. Every girl over the age of 14 knows Tiffany's and wants that pretty blue box. If they don't, they lie!" She continued pointing toward the case, and she could feel a classic Rory Gilmore bit coming on, and it felt so good to show her silly side around him once again. "And you can't just go buy one of these yourself. No, it has to be a gift. Some girls wait for years to have the pleasure of undoing that perfect ribbon for the first time. I may have seen Anastasia's crown, but I ain't ever seen insides of the little blue box, my friend. That will be a show stopper of a day."

"Well, it's a good thing I thought ahead then, now isn't it?" His grin was wide as he waved over to the sales person behind the counter.

Rory suddenly felt embarrassed and the comfort she had felt suddenly retreated. "Oh Logan, no, I was just kidding. Please don't buy me anything. It was a rant! A bit! Old times' sake! Please, Logan. Let's go run your errand and then just go to dinner." The mortification was evident, but he continued to smile at her.

"We 'are' running my errand."

She watched as the sales lady handed Logan a small blue bag the size of her palm. Proudly, he presented it to her. "For you, Ace. I've had this on hold since last night."

Quizzically, she opened the bag and saw a perfect, blue box with the perfect pristine white ribbon waiting for her to open it. Hoping to seize the moment and hold on to it a bit longer, she nervously began pulling useless antidotes from her brain. "You know I read once that they iron the ribbon before wrapping the boxes with them."

"Rory."

"And I read that they have explicit instructions on how to tie it the exact way, every time?"

"Rory!" He tapped the box in front of her. "Don't be nervous. This is not a big deal. It's just something that I saw, and I knew that you had to have." And as he put his hand on her arm, he lowered his voice and said, "Don't worry. I'm not 'Sweet Home Alabama'ing you….not yet anyways."

At his playful wink, her nervousness melted as she realized he had completely understood her obscure pop reference before. Embracing the moment, Rory untied the ribbon and lifted the top of the box to find a delicate silver chain with a tiny black shoe charm.

"Since you wouldn't let me get you a new shoe last night, I had to take drastic measures. It was only the fair thing to do. Can I?" He gestured towards her neck and she lifted her hair to allow him to place the thin chain around her neck. "I know despite your earlier gushing that jewelry still isn't your thing. You don't wear statement pieces in your interviews on TV, and I would assume it's not practical when you are visiting orphanages in Thailand. But I thought something like this…." he struggled for the right phrase. "Maybe no matter what happens, you'll understand how profound running into you yesterday was for me."

She fingered the new chain around her neck for just a few seconds before she suddenly stepped towards him and stood ever so slightly on her tip toes in her new shoes and kissed him in the middle of the third floor of Tiffany's. His arms slid around her waist, and when he kissed her back, it was as if none of the heartbreak of the past 7 years had happened.

"I wasn't expecting that until I dropped you off at your doorstep much, much later, Ace." She couldn't deny she adored the way his eyes twinkled as his cocky retort to her.

"Well, if it's going to be 'much much' later, then we better get the rest of the evening, then, shouldn't we? What else do you have up your sleeve, Huntzberger?"

Although Rory had expected a fancy 5th Avenue dinner after they snuck out the back entrance of Tiffany's to avoid the media event, she was thrilled and surprised when Logan had his driver drop them off at Eataly, a restaurant they had frequented many times when Rory visited Logan during his short tenure with his father's business. Over wine and plates of bread and pasta, she shared stories of her trips overseas and of her favorite interviews. She told him about the little girl at the orphanage in Thailand he mentioned earlier that stole her heart and inspired her piece on international adoption regulations. She updated him on her status as "Aunt Rory" to Lane and Paris' children and how she spent a good chunk of her salary it seemed sending their sweet little ones gifts from all over the globe.

He was equally as chatty, eager to swap stories over their shared cheesecake and tiramisu about Honor and her two boys and how he'd gotten one of his engineers to design an app just for them that would slay dragons by using nouns and verbs as weapons. When Rory teased him about slaying the written word, he told her she was an expert on the topic cause she was already working on slaying his heart.

When they closed down the restaurant, they opted for a walk to Rory's apartment rather than taking the car service. He held her hand as they walked past the emerging Christmas lights in the window displays and talked about old times, like the hay bell maze in Stars Hollow and the time he'd played the prank on her in the middle of class. It was the memory of sneaking into the dining hall at Yale and stealing Cocco Puffs and ice cream that led them into a 24 hour convenience store to purchase ice cream sandwiches from a dirty, run down freezer at 11:00 at night in freezing cold temperatures.

To Rory, ice cream had never tasted any sweeter.

When they reached the entryway of her hotel, Logan turned to face her. "He rubbed her arms to keep her warm as they stood in the cold, frosty air. "So, what time does your flight leave tomorrow?"

"10:30. I have to get back to file some articles for the online content before I go in on Monday."

"Do you have to go? It's too soon, Rory. You just got here."

"That's because of the whirlwind 24 hours we've had."

"32 hours." He grinned. "Not that I'm counting, and if you tell any one differently, I'll deny the fact that I just said that."

"Yes. 32 hours. But I really do have to go tomorrow."

"I know."

They stood there with their foreheads pressed against each other for a few seconds, waiting for the other to make the first move to separate.

"I can't walk away this time, Ace. I won't. "

"No one's asking you to."

"Is that an invitation?" She knew he was teasing her, but in her mind, there was no joke.

She knew they still had a lot to talk about. Despite the amazing evening they'd just had, Rory was a realist. She knew that major conversations needed to be had about the proposal and the past and how the future might possibly work..if at all.

But she knew that for tonight, and in this moment, she couldn't let him walk away. Not again. Not yet.

"Want to come up to my room for a bit?"

Kissing her cheek, he held her hand as they walked through the revolving doors of the Westin together.