When Pete's alarm went off it took Rory a few moments to remember where she was. Then she remembered her horrifying pink night gown and it all came back to her. Beside her Pete had sat up in bed, stretching.

"What time is it?" she groggily asked as she also made a move out of bed.

"2pm. We only got a couple hours but should be enough to see us through until tonight" Pete answered. "If you pop in the shower I will find you something to wear".

An hour later they returned to the hospital. Rory was wearing the same clothes from earlier. Nothing of Mrs Wood's had fitted her. They found her asleep in the chair next to Dr Wood's bed. They returned to the waiting room, not wanting to wake either of the two up.

Hours passed. Finally, an exhausted looking Mrs Wood appeared and took a seat next to them. T

"They've taken Stewart into surgery again, hoping to release the last of the blockage" she said as she sat down.

"It'll all be okay, mum" Pete said as he wrapped an arm around his mother, pulling her in closer.

The three of them continued sitting there in silence for what felt like eternity. Rory was in the middle of suppressing yet another yawn when the same doctor from the night before appeared.

"Miles, are there any news?" Mrs Wood said as she arose from her seat.

"Yes, this time I have good news. Stewart's surgery went really well, we were able to clear the rest of the blockage surrounding his heart with minimal complications"

Mrs Wood burst out crying and grabbed Pete in a bear hug.

"We'd like to continue keeping him in the hospital for at least a few more days while he recovers in case there are any further set backs, but at the moment things are looking good. If you'd like to go in and see him he should be waking up any minute" the doctor continued and the three followed him through to Dr Wood's room.

The next morning Pete dropped Rory off at the airport. She had to go back to work the next day and as Dr Wood was out of critical condition. Pete was sticking around for some time as he had no immediate commitments as school had not started yet. As she sat and waited to board the plane she contemplated the last week. How did everything become so screwed up? She knew how, of course. She'd slept with Jess. Cheated on her boyfriend. Why did she do that? She knew why. She didn't love Pete. Not really. These last few days had confirmed it. She cared for him a lot, and she didn't want to hurt him, but she did not love him. She needed to break up with him. Yes, it was the humane thing to do. But she couldn't do it over the phone, he deserved better. When he got back to Washington she'd do it.

When Rory landed at Ronald Reagan Airport she had a message off Sam on her voicemail. She was asking Rory to cover some society event for her that night. Apparently the vet had some romantic evening planned and Rory needed to get back on Jerry's good side so she reluctantly agreed to help her. She'd not gone to many high society events after she left Yale and she had not been in a rush to change that, but it would be a nice distraction for her life.

Rory's outfit choices were limited. She'd ditched ball gowns and elegance for jeans and comfort two years ago, but in the back of her closet she found a dress that would work. She had bought it on some crazy whim last year when she got an invitation to Juliet's wedding last winter. She hadn't gone in the end but she'd kept the dress. It was a floorlength V-neck with a deep, open back, made of dark glistening silk that stuck to her curves in the right places. She pinned her hair up with some diamond studded pins and put on a pair of hanging, silver earrings. The tennis bracelet was still laying on top of her jewellery box from last weekend and she decided to put it on again. She'd managed to wear it without even a glimpse of thought about Logan and it would suit this dress perfectly. Satisfied with her appearance Rory headed out the door.

It was opening night of L'Orfeo in the Kennedy Center and everyone who was anyone in the city was there. Rory flashed her press pass as she walked in and grabbed a glass of champagne from a nearby waiter. She really wasn't the right person for this job. Yes, she was the granddaughter of an upper class society couple and she could've covered this gig with flying colours in Hartford, but here? Here she was a low level politics reporter that barely ever read the society pages, let alone knew anyone of importance. She chugged back her champagne, grabbed another glass and then dove in to the nearest group of people. She would get through this and she would produce a first class article about it.

When the first bell chimed, warning people that the show would be starting soon, Rory was talking to a software developer she'd already forgotten the name of.

"Looks like the show's starting, I better go find my seat" Rory started to excuse herself, relieved to get away from the indescribably boring man.

"No, wait, here comes my partner in crime I've been telling you about" he said eager as he turned Rory around to face the young man that had appeared to his side.

"Rory Gilmore, meet Logan Huntzberger"

"Rory, nice to see you" Logan said as he raised his hand to greet her.

"Yeah, nice to see you too" Rory said hesitantly as she shook his hand.

"Wait, you two know each other?" the software developer asked, confused.

"Yes, we used to date in college" Logan said.

"Oh, how lovely. Things must have ended amicably I see" he continued, oblivious to the tension between the two.

"Yes, very amicably. Now, if you'll excuse me, the show is starting" Rory said as she hurried off to her seat.

Rory had to fight her hardest not to think about what had just happened. She had a job to do and she would get it done, for herself and for Sam. She could not let her friend down. So, she pushed all thoughts off Logan and that weird greeting out of her head and focused on the opera in front of her.

She had been wearing his bracelet. Logan had seen the small diamond band on her arm when she'd shook his hand. It may have been two years since he'd last seen the piece but Logan was an expert when it came to those things. That was the tennis bracelet he'd given her two and a half years ago on Valentine's. But what did it mean? As he sat there, in the most expensive box in the house with what many call the best opera ever written going on beneath him all he could do was stare at her profile sitting there in the press box in the opposite end of the room. He'd never gotten over Rory. He never would. She was the girl that had made him see what it's like to commit to one person. She'd taught him to love, to care for that one person more than anything. He'd made a massive error in judgment when he proposed that way and an even bigger one in giving her the ultimatum.

"I love this scene" a female voice whispered in his ear, tearing him away from his thoughts.

"Yeah, it's great" he whispered back in his girlfriend's ear.