"I can't understand why you are making me go to this stupid party anyhow," Lorelai groaned fiddling with the hem of her dress. "I must have been very bad in a past life!"

"Mom! You know the DAR is important to Grandma and she asked us to come along as I helped her with some of the prep. The least we can do is make a brief appearance."

"It had better be brief" Lorelai warned "A formal dance? Really? No wonder Luke seized the chance to stay in with Lily tonight. I still can't believe that a daughter of mine actually joined the DAR. I expected more from you".

Rory rolled her eyes "C'mon mom, I promise this will be as swift and pain-free as possible."

"Hopefully like my death when I am forced to drown myself in the punch."

"A DAR party? Really mom? You know it's not really my scene…" Logan groaned as her mother laid out their plans for the evening. Mitchum wasn't really well enough to be going out to parties and Shira was insisting Logan accompany her.

"Oh Logan, don't be silly, just come for a little while. Everyone will be so pleased to see you and hear that you are moving back to Hartford" Shira said straightening her son's tie. "You never know, there might be some nice young ladies there," she said with a smile.

Logan groaned. The last thing he needed or wanted was to be set up on a date with another airhead hand-picked by his mother. "I'll come, but I'm serious mom, no trying to set me up with any of your friend's daughters, I am not interested!"

"Okay, okay, I promise" Shira smiled sweetly at her son. "Now come on, the car is outside waiting".

Lorelai and Rory stood outside the party. "You owe me for this remember!"

As they walked into the party, Emily greeted them and thrust a martini into their hands.

"Rory I have someone that you must meet!" Emily said gleefully, grabbing her granddaughter by the hand.

"Oh hi mom," Lorelai said sarcastically "Why hello Lorelai, don't you look beautiful tonight," she said faking her mother's voice "Gee thanks, mom, so kind of you to notice…"

Emily scowled at her daughter and rolled her eyes. Ignoring her she leaned to whisper into her granddaughter's ear "His name is Carter Hamilton, he is a Harvard law graduate and he's the son of one of your grandfather's clients. They are a very nice family Rory. He's very nice indeed, I think you'll like him."

"Grandma…" Rory started to protest.

"Oh, Rory! Just meet him!" Emily pleaded.

Rory signalled to her mom for help.

"Don't look at me kid, you got yourself into your own sorry mess" Lorelai chuckled as she walked in the opposite direction.

"So what did you do after graduating from Yale, Lorelai"

Emily had succeeded at flinging Rory together with Carter and had made her excuses and left them to chat at a table near the edge of the dance floor. Rory was silently cursing her grandmother and her matchmaking obsessions.

"Rory," she said pointedly.

"Sorry?" Carter said.

"Rory. Nobody calls me Lorelai. Ever." She said taking a sip of her martini. Rory immediately felt bad for being so standoffish with Carter. It wasn't his fault, he was actually a really nice guy and she knew she wasn't being particularly pleasant to him but these forced situations always got her back up.

"Okay, Rory" He smiled "After Yale, what did you do?"

Rory debated over which version of the story to give him. Should she just offer the glossy version or the highlights reel? In the end, she decided to go with the honest truth.

"I had a baby." She said twizzling her drinks stirrer around in her glass.

Carter spluttered on his drink.

"Are you okay there?" Rory asked with amused concern.

"Sorry, that wasn't really what I was expecting," he said shaking his head a little.

"No, me neither," Rory said wistfully "But there it is!"

Rory thought announcing she had a baby straight out of college would have been enough to put Carter off and that he'd make his excuses and leave as soon as he could but surprisingly he didn't. Instead, he continued the conversation, asking lots of questions about Rory's life with her daughter. Before she knew what was happening, she found herself enjoying his company, which came as a real surprise to her.

"We've been talking so long, our glasses are empty. Would you like a refill" Carter said standing up.

This was normally the point that Rory would make her excuses and leave but she was actually having a really nice time talking to Carter. "Yes," she smiled "That would be lovely". It was rare finding a man to talk to that didn't bolt as soon as they realised she was a young mother.

Rory spent the next hour listening to Carter talk about his experiences at Harvard. She found it really interesting to hear his stories seeing as she had once been heading there herself. She couldn't help but wonder how different her life might be right now had she followed her childhood dream to attend Harvard instead of choosing Yale.

Carter looked at his watch. "Rory, it's been lovely talking with you tonight. I'm really sorry but I have to leave now as I have to get a train back to New York for an early meeting in the morning, but if it's not too forward or presumptuous of me, I'd really like to take you out sometime?" he asked her hopefully.

Rory was taken a little aback "Oh!" she said. It really wasn't a good time for her to get involved with anyone. She still had all this mess to sort with Logan. Then again, she thought, she had no idea when that would come to a head and perhaps going on a date would take her mind off her problems. It couldn't hurt to have a little fun. "Sure Carter. Let me give you my number." she smiled.

"Getting on well there" Lorelai winked and nudged her daughter after she'd said goodbye to her new friend.

"Yeah! For one of grandma's picks, he's actually okay" Rory said, slightly surprised.

"Really?!" Lorelai exclaimed incredulously.

"Yes! We're going to go out on a date actually." Rory smiled.

Lorelai raised her eyebrows "Wow." She was somewhat surprised at this turn of events. Rory had resisted dating anyone since Lily had arrived so she couldn't help but wonder why she'd decided to suddenly give this guy a chance. Before she had time to ask she spotted something or someone that made her wince.

"Uh-oh," Lorelai said before taking a big swig of her martini.

"What uh-oh? What have you done?" Rory asked suspiciously.

"Oh, I love how you presume that I have done something" Lorelai pouted.

"Mom, if my 24 years on this planet have taught me anything, it is that an uh-oh uttered from your lips is not normally followed by anything good". Rory laughed.

"Well, I guess it all depends on how you feel about a Huntzberger being in the same room as you right now," Lorelai said watching her daughter's reaction.

"What?" Rory said with wide eyes.

"Logan Huntzberger at 6 o'clock" Lorelai said quietly.

Rory spun around on the spot just in time for Logan to look up from his drink and straight into her eyes. Her stomach flipped.

"Shit.' She said turning back quickly to her mom "Shit, shit, shit."

"Got any other words there my oh-so-intelligent Yale grad?" Lorelai said sarcastically.

"Godammit!" Rory said clenching her fists.

Lorelai wrinkled her nose "Not really the word I was looking for but still a good choice given the circumstances."

Rory closed her eyes. She was in no way ready for this.

"Do you think it would be considered bad form to run?" Rory asked.

"In those heels?" Lorelai joked "I'm not sure what the etiquette is on running away from your ex, but I'd make your mind up quickly as he's coming over" she wrinkled her nose.

Logan had spotted her immediately. He had seen her talking closely with a dark haired man. She looked like she was having fun, though it didn't seem like she knew him well as he could from her body language that she wasn't entirely comfortable.

Rory looked incredible in her fitted black cocktail dress and strappy sandals, her long hair cascading in curls down her back. It was the first time he had laid eyes on her since her graduation and he was glad to see that she hadn't cut her hair, he'd always loved it long.

He debated whether he should pretend that he hadn't seen her. A DAR event really wasn't the place he wanted to have an awkward first meeting but as soon as he watched her walk back over to Lorelai and she had turned around to look at him, he knew that he would have to go talk to her. It was going to take all his strength but he would act with bravado.

XXX

"Well, of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine," Logan said.

"Logan" Rory smiled tentatively.

"Rory, good to see you" he smiled back. "Lorelai didn't think I'd be bumping into you again quite so soon."

"Ha, no me neither." She said downing her drink "Oh! Look at that, my glass is empty. I'm just going to…." She gestured towards the bar and started to walk away.

"Real subtle mom" Rory hissed as she passed her.

Logan laughed.

They stood awkwardly for a moment, neither of them really knowing what to say to each other or how to start a conversation.

"So…" Logan said as he brushed his hand through his hair "Do you want to dance?" He cursed himself as the words came out of his mouth, he didn't really know why he asked her that. They had barely even spoken to each other yet here he was asking her to dance. Anything to avoid the awkward silence that was occurring.

Rory looked at him in surprise. "Oh…I don't…know. Wouldn't that be a bit…awkward?"

"More awkward than this!?" Logan joked.

"I guess not" she laughed and relaxed a little. Rory figured one dance wouldn't hurt and would certainly help break the ice a little. She had no idea what to say to Logan and was scared in case she just blurted out everything that was in her head.

"Well, let's go then, Rory!" Logan said taking her hand and leading her to the dance floor. Rory tensed at his touch. She inwardly groaned as predictably the song had changed to a slow one. He put his arms around her waist and she hesitantly put her arms around his neck.

"So, how have you been?" he asked her.

"I've been good" Rory smiled. It wasn't the whole truth, but strictly speaking, it wasn't a lie either.

"Life is treating you well?"

"Life is…hard". This time it was the absolute truth.

"No one said it was meant to be easy" Logan laughed.

Rory smiled. "What are you doing back in Hartford anyhow? Don't tell me you're fed up of all that fabulous California sunshine?"

"Something like that…" he smiled.

"Really?"

"No, not really. California has been great but I'm moving back here. My dad hasn't been so well so I've sold my stake in the company I was working with in Palo Alto to take over from my dad at HPG."

"Wow".

"Yeah, big change, but I'm looking forward to being back in Connecticut again." Logan paused "I've missed….it."

Rory tried to inwardly process what Logan was saying without looking too alarmed. He was moving back to Hartford permanently. Which meant they'd both be living in the same place, going about their daily lives alongside each other. Alongside Lily.

"It would be nice to catch up sometime…properly I mean, over dinner or something" Logan continued, his heart beating hard in his chest. He'd wanted to forget all about Rory for so long but here she was, in front of him and he knew he wanted to find a way of reconnecting with her.

"Oh! I erm, I don't know if that's a good idea…" Rory started to shake her head.

"Why not? Are you seeing someone?" Logan asked.

"No, that's not what…" Rory paused when Logan interrupted her.

"Don't panic Rory, I just mean as friends, that's all." he shrugged.

"Friends," Rory said resolutely "Yeah, why not" she smiled, as they continued to slow dance to the song the band were playing.

When the song finished playing, Rory made her excuses and headed off the dance floor to find her mom. Logan walked over to where Shira was standing with her friends.

"Was that Rory Gilmore?" she asked her son.

"Yeah," Logan said sipping his scotch.

"I didn't know you two were still in touch?"

"We're not" Logan shook his head "Or we weren't anyhow"

"I always wondered what happened to Rory after she ended your relationship…"

Logan cringed at hearing his mother say those words. It wasn't strictly true. Yes, Rory had told him she couldn't marry him but he was the one who had decided it had to be all or nothing. He listened to his mother continue.

"….We didn't see her around for quite a while. I guess she went off to chase that career she wanted. She completely disappeared from the scene. Emily never said anything but I heard that she helped to plan this little event so she must be back here for a while" Shira said conspiringly.

Logan watched Rory across the room as she collected her coat with Lorelai. He had so much he wanted to know about her life over the past 18 months - he wondered about her constantly. He resolved to call her first thing in the morning and make the first steps towards getting to know Rory Gilmore again.

A/N: Thanks for all the lovely feedback so far, I am so pleased you are enjoying my new story. It's just flowing out of me at the moment! Always happy to receive your thoughts and comments x