A/N: Sorry for the long days. Life, work, etc. got in the way. Hope this was worth the wait! Some of you may hate it - but it will lead to good things! I promise!

Chapter Four

Several weeks passed since Rory's drunken confession to Logan, and everything seemed to go back to normal. She turned in her piece to her editor, receiving minimal edits and a passionate plea to return to the tech beat, which she gently declined. That wasn't her world anymore, none of it was. She went back to her political beat, and patched things up with Rob. She didn't see Logan much, save for the odd run-in at Whole Foods or occasional text. She'd been bothered by it at first, but told herself that it was the best case scenario. She saw Logan again, exorcised the demons between them, and both left unscathed. There were other ways all of that could have gone, and Rory much preferred the version they ended up with.

Rory was back in Stars Hollow for the weekend, which always created a strange sort of déjà vu for her. She couldn't deny that she'd changed after being in New York for all these years. She was a bit less open. She walked faster. But whenever she came home to Stars Hollow, she could feel her city self shrink back, unable to compete with the excessive cheer.

She was back for the Harvest Festival, and the town square was packed to the gills with scarecrows and bales of hay. They'd stopped doing mazes a few years back when Kirk got lost, and in a panic ran into one of the tall bales of hay with such force that it knocked him out. Taylor, fearing future lawsuits from less forgiving townspeople or tourists, of which he kept insisting were going to show up but continued to elude the town, put a definitive end to mazes. Rory didn't really miss the maze. It never was her favorite part of the festival, and besides, it made her think of Logan.

She pulled her car up in front of her old house. She killed the engine, taking one parting glance in the rearview mirror before getting out with her bag. She fished her key out of her purse, quite the feat considering all that she forced in there, and then opened the door. She immediately heard the sound of light argument between Lorelai and Luke.

They found their way back to each other, although it took longer than anyone expected. Rory remembered Lorelai telling her about their kiss after her Bon Voyage party, her smile evident through the phone.

"It felt right," Lorelai had said. "Like things are finally how they are supposed to be."

The kiss was definitely the start, but it took several weeks before both were all in, as Luke had said all those years before. He was hurt by Lorelai's sudden marriage to Christopher, and Lorelai still had lingering resentment over how April had been kept from her. Eventually, all the ground of painful yesteryears were covered, and at the close of all that hurt both were resolute in the fact that they still wanted to be with the other. They married only a few months later, and hadn't looked back since.

Rory closed the door and the voices stopped. Lorelai rushed over to the foyer and grinned wide when she saw her daughter. She launched herself at Rory, hugging her with such force that it knocked the breath out of her. Luke strolled in behind Lorelai, smiling as he said, "Hi Rory. It's great to see you."

"Thanks Luke," Rory said, after Lorelai relinquished her and she could breath again. She tucked her hair behind her ears and said, "The town square looks great. Did I detect some extra bales of hay this year?"

Rory knew Lorelai had been campaigning to up the town's decoration game that year – a humorous endeavor to most since Stars Hollow typically looked like a toddler decorated it with the sheer amount of stuff everywhere – and Lorelai nodded excitedly and said, "It took some wrangling to get Taylor to stop harping about his 'vision', but if your mother is anything, she's persistent."

"She also threatened to mix up the barrels of candy at the soda shoppe," Luke added.

Rory smirked. "You drive a hard bargain."

"So, how are you?" Lorelai began, taking a hold of Rory's arm and steering her toward the kitchen. "Tell me everything that's happened to you since we talked."

"Since we talked yesterday?" Rory prompted with a grin.

"A lot can happen in a day. In fact, just this morning I got a tweet from Bjork! I can't believe I forgot to call you."

"I can't believe you forgot to call, either," Luke said drily. "You told me about eighteen times."

Rory smirked. Lorelai discovered Twitter a few months ago – years behind the rest of society, which is how Lorelai was with most technology – and became entranced by the opportunity to interact with her favorite celebrities. Her account was an embarrassing smattering of direct tweets to celebrities, but Rory was glad it paid off.

"Did you pass out when you saw it?" Rory teased.

"No, I was remarkably calm."

"Yeah, so calm that you knocked over an entire cup of coffee at the diner," Luke added.

"You only knocked over a cup of coffee?" Rory said. "That is remarkably calm for you."

"Right?" Lorelai turned to her husband. "You still don't totally understand it, babe. Bjork is…Bjork."

"I get it, I get it," Luke said, holding up a hand. "Please spare me another Bjork conversation. I've had enough for a lifetime."

"So, what's on the agenda for today," Rory said, changing the topic of conversation. Luke gave her a grateful look and she nodded happily.

"Well, as you know, no visit is complete with a well thought out itinerary. I mean, without one you might as well not visit."

"Here here," Rory chimed in.

"So, we are starting out with lunch at Luke's. I made sure he had apple pie for today. And good thing I did, because he was going to have peach for today. Can you imagine?"

"The horror," Rory said solemnly.

"After that, I blocked in some alone time for you and the bookstore."

"That is much appreciated."

"Then, pumpkin carving contest is at 3:00. Taylor rooked Ms. Patty into leading a square dancing lesson, which can only be hilarious, and then I thought Al's Pancake World and a hate-viewing of Crossroads. What do you think?"

"You planned the perfect day. I'm impressed."

"Luke gets some credit here," Lorelai said loftily. "He did get to hear all of my previous versions of the day."

"Yes. Previous versions where the only difference was the phrasing," Luke pointed out. "How many different ways can you describe going to a bookstore?"

"Oh Luke, how little you know," Lorelai returned with feigned disappointment. "Now, let's go get some lunch. I'm starving!"

After eating their way through almost an entire apple pie, Rory parted ways with Lorelai and Luke, and headed over to the Black, White and Red bookstore. She was crossing the street, when she saw something that made her stop dead in the middle of the intersection. A car honked and she clumsily made her way to the sidewalk, her heartbeat deafening in her ears. Logan had just walked out of Weston Bakery, two small coffees in his hand. The number of coffees didn't register at first, only the fact that he was there, and since he wasn't there for her then who for?

Her feet took her over to him without much say from the rest of her, and then her voice had its own idea too, and called out for him. He turned around, shoulders just a bit tense, but then relaxing as if some internal cue took place.

"Rory, hey."

Her feet took her a few more steps, and then she was standing in front of him. She still couldn't quite believe he was there. It was strange enough running into him around New York, but here it seemed downright loopy.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. "And why did you get your coffee from Weston's?"

"Seasonal lattes," he returned, holding up one of the cups.

"Ah, that's a good reason. My mom's been trying to get Luke to add a pumpkin spice latte for years now. He won't budge, even now that they're married. She almost considered making that a condition for their marriage, but wasn't sure he'd see the humor in it."

Logan laughed. "Yeah, it was probably wise on her part that she didn't go through with that."

"So, is Finn here or something?" Rory said, looking over his shoulder to try to catch sight of the tall Australian.

"No, Finn's not here," Logan said, his voice showing the slightest bit of discomfort. "I'm actually here –"

"There you are," a female voice said. Rory turned her head and saw that the voice belonged to a small redhead. She had a paper bag clutched in her hand, and Rory could only imagine whatever sweets were enclosed inside. The girl was one of the few adult women that Rory would consider cute without looking childish. She had short curly hair and one of those button noses that seemed straight out of a painting or something. She wore a cherry red pea coat with an ivory scarf tucked around the collar.

"Rory, this is Molly."

Rory nodded, trying to find some words to say in response, and failing miserably. Logan hadn't quite spelled out what the relationship between him and this Molly was, but it was fairly clear. If not boyfriend and girlfriend - which Rory had to assume was not the case since he hadn't introduced her as his girlfriend - they were at least dating. Logan was dating a girl from Stars Hollow. Huh.

"Molly, this is –"

"Rory Gilmore," she said with a grin, nodding happily. "You probably don't remember this, but we were wise men together in the Christmas play when we were in fourth grade." She paused, eyebrows furrowed. "At least I think it was fourth grade. Yeah, fourth grade sounds right. It was the year that Kirk tripped over an extension cord and twisted his ankle? He broke his fall on –"

"Reverend Skinner," Rory finished, her face flushing. "Yes, I…I do remember that. It's Molly Porter, right?"

She nodded. "Yep. That's it."

She hadn't thought of Molly Porter in years. Probably wouldn't have even remembered her if she hadn't suddenly met her again outside of Weston's, her ex-boyfriend holding a seasonal latte for her.

"Anyway, it's so great to see you," Molly said. "You're up in New York now, right?"

Rory nodded.

"That's where Logan is, too. Such a small world, huh?"

"You can say that again," Rory said. "So, um, how did you two meet?"

"Online, if you can believe it. I was really against online dating, but then I just thought, why not, and took the plunge." She looked up at Logan, practically beaming. "I think it turned out pretty okay. Don't you?"

Logan nodded stiffly. "Yeah, I do."

"Anyway, I brought him back here for his first Harvest Festival," Molly continued. 'I can't even imagine what experiencing your first Stars Hollow festival is like."

Probably a bit like this moment, Rory thought. There also was the fact that this wasn't Logan's first Stars Hollow festival. She held that honor five years back, when she took him the Hay Bale Maze. But, he seemed to want Molly to think she was taking that honor, and Rory wasn't about to interfere. Her mind was too muddled at this point to even consider it.

"Well, it was nice seeing both of you," Rory said, desperately wishing to be anywhere but on this sidewalk with her ex-boyfriend and Molly Porter. "Enjoy the festival."

She turned around and continued her way to the bookstore, feeling Logan's gaze on her for a moment, and then the feeling was gone. How the hell did he end up dating another girl from Stars Hollow? What were the odds? She told herself that she didn't have a right to be affected by any of it. She was dating Rob. They were happy, or something close to happy. They both moved on, as they should.

She went into the bookstore and distracted herself by allotting an almost endless budget for books. She picked up anything that looked good, knowing full well that she was stress shopping, and not caring. She turned a corner, arms straining from the weight of the books, when she nearly ran into Logan. Several books went toppling onto the floor and Logan quickly crouched down to help her retrieve the lost ones.

"Are you buying the entire store?" he asked glibly.

"Only the parts I like."

He didn't give her back the books he picked up, and she waited. Instead of handing them back, he said, "I'm sorry about before. With Molly."

"It's fine."

"I was going to tell you. But, it felt weird to do it over text. It's a recent thing. After we went out with Finn. I should have told you, but –"

"You don't need to tell me anything," Rory said resolutely. "I think it's great. Molly is great."

"Thanks."

"So, online dating? If college Logan saw you now, he'd probably make fun of you mercilessly."

"I think college Logan would be like, why doesn't this exist now?"

Rory smirked. "Fair point."

"Early college Logan, of course," he clarified. "Later college Logan was pretty happy with what he had."

Rory nodded. "I remember that. But really, I'm happy for you. It's sort of weird that she's from here, but…it makes it pretty hard for me to not like her. Not that it matters if I like her. You don't need my approval or anything. Obviously. I just –"

"No, it does matter," Logan said. "I'm glad you like her. Now I just need to meet your Rob."

"We could double date," she joked. "Because that wouldn't be weird at all."

"Not a bit. Do you need help bringing your haul to the cash register? I don't want you to get buried under them or anything."

Rory grinned and shook her head. "I'm fine. Thank you, though."

He handed her the books back and she shifted them a bit to get a hold on the new additions. It was a struggle, but she managed to keep them all balanced.

"Well, I better…" Logan said slowly, tilting his head toward the door.

"Yeah, it was nice seeing you. Maybe I'll catch you again at the pumpkin carving?"

"I'll be there. It's the part Molly's most excited about. And apparently there's something about a square dancing lesson?"

Rory nodded. "It'll be a festival you never forget."

"I guess. Well, I'll see you later then."

Rory nodded. "Bye Logan."

She waited until he left and was at least a good block away before reshelving the books, her hands shaking the entire time. She left the bookstore and completed a thorough evaluation of who was on the street before venturing out. She headed straight for Ms. Patty's studio, knowing exactly what she wanted. Sure enough, there was a folding table set out with a bright orange tablecloth and three bowls of punch. The Harvest Festival punch wasn't quite as volatile as the Founders Day punch, but you could still smell the alcohol from a few feet away. She ladled a spoonful into a mug and took a hearty mouthful.

"Be careful with that, dear," Ms. Patty warned.

"I'm only having one," Rory promised, and she meant it. The last thing she needed right now was to not have proper control over her tongue. She worked on the mug as she walked over to Lorelai, who already staked out two tables for them at the pumpkin carving contest.

"Well, you're starting early," Lorelai said, eyeing the mug.

"I'm getting in the Harvest Festival spirit," Rory countered.

"I can't argue with that. What did you…" she trailed off, spotting the source of Rory's sudden festiveness. "Is that who I think it is?"

Rory didn't even need to look to know what Lorelai was talking about. "Yep."

"What is he doing here?"

Rory didn't answer, waiting for Lorelai to see the last part of the Why-Is-Logan-In-Stars-Hollow puzzle. When she did, she gasped.

"Is he –"

"Yep."

"With another girl from Stars Hollow?"

"Yep."

"Wow." Rory felt a hand on her arm. "Are you okay? Do you want to leave? We can go home and hate-watch another movie before Crossroads. Pick up some ice cream on the way."

Rory took a deep breath. "That's not necessary. I'm fine." When Lorelai didn't say anything, a clear sign that she wasn't buying what Rory was saying, she looked up at her mother and said, "Honestly, I'm fine. I mean, it's weird, but it is what it is. At least she's nice."

"Yeah, that's good. Does she know about you?"

"I don't think so. She thinks this is his first Stars Hollow festival."

Lorelai snorted. "Ah, so the lies have already started. Well, that's healthy."

Rory shrugged, thinking about how she still hadn't told Rob about Logan. "It's probably easier. Him and I…it's a long story to have to tell someone."

"Well, yeah, you guys have a lot of history."

"A lot," Rory echoed.

Luke showed up, two paper coffee cups in his hand. He crouched down and told them, "If you tell anyone that I made you these, you are never getting another, understood?"

Lorelai narrowed her eyes in confusion and said, "Cryptic much?"

"Just drink the coffee, Lorelai."

She took the cup from him and took a sip. Her eyes widened and she breathed out, "You didn't."

"I did. But only this once. Your next one isn't coming until next year."

Rory took her coffee and after one glorious pumpkin-spiced sip, knew what all the hullabaloo was about.

"This is better than Weston's," Lorelai said. "You could make a boatload of money."

"I'm good," Luke said, sitting next to her. "So, when is all this crap starting? I told Cesar I'd be here for about twenty minutes." He looked over Rory's shoulder and said, "Hey, isn't that –"

"Yes, it is," Lorelai interrupted. "And we aren't talking about it."

He looked at Rory and said, "You get a second one."

"What? That's not fair!" Lorelai said.

"She's emotionally compromised," Luke returned. "Are you?"

"I'm not emotionally compromised," Rory said.

"I can be emotionally compromised, too," Lorelai said. "They cancelled that Duggar show. You know how much I liked to mock it. Can I get an extra one for that?"

"You're ridiculous. Are you honestly comparing at TLC show with loss of someone you love?"

"Hey, not emotionally compromised over here," Rory said futilely, knowing fair well that when Luke and Lorelai get into one of these arguments, little can stop it. "No lost love. Really. I'm good."
"You know how much I love to mock things," Lorelai continued. "It is perhaps one of the purest loves. The greatest love of all."

"Mocking things is the greatest love of all? As your husband, I'm a little offended."

"I'm going to go…be anywhere but here…" Rory said, standing up. Lorelai and Luke barely noticed, and she walked back over to Ms. Patty's. Lane was there with Zach and their brood of children, who were straining to get away from their parents and join the kids playing over by the bales of hay.

"Rory, oh my God!" Lane exclaimed, launching off toward her. She hugged her and said, "It's so great to see you! You didn't tell me you were coming to this!"

"Sorry. It's been crazy lately."

"It's okay. I'm just happy to see you."

"Hey there, Rory," Zach said. "Lane, I'm going to take these guys over by the kids. I don't think they can handle being still for much longer."

Lane smirked. "Sure. Go take them." When he was out of earshot, she added, "I don't think their dad could handle being still for much longer, either."

"You guys seem happy," Rory noted.

"We are. How about you and that hedge guy? Wait, that doesn't sound right. Hedge something?"

"Hedge fund," Rory corrected with a smirk. "And he's good. We're good."

A flash of concern passed on Lane's face. "That good, huh? You sound like I used to when I would talk about the future Korean doctors I'd go on hayrides with."

"Not all relationships are fireworks and…and rocket ships. We're happy. Stable."

"Well, if you're happy then I'm happy."

Rory nodded. "I am."

"Is it weird to be back? I'm mean, I know you visit and stuff, but living in New York for so long, it has to be sort of weird, right?"

Rory was going to say no, but then her gaze landed on Logan and Molly. She was showing him something on her phone, and he was laughing. He looked happy.

"Yeah. It is weird."

A/N: I know. I pulled the most over-used storyline ever of Logan randomly having a new girlfriend/dating partner. But my take on it will be different, I promise! Molly will not be some evil hag who screws over Logan or hates Rory...you may even end up liking her. GASP.

Review are love!