Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N: The lightening killed my internet and then ff was being difficult, so sorry for the delay. I can't say how much I really do love (and read) your reviews!

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The next week at work, Rory was writing a preview of a festival being held in Central Park for the Fourth of July. She had done her research and set up interviews for Monday. She was planning on covering the general event, but also wanted to include descriptions of the main activities that the festival would offer.

On Tuesday, she met the people she would be interviewing and talked with the event organizers and city officials who brainstormed the idea. All in all, they were informative, and the event organizer offered to allow her backstage for a sort of behind the scenes article, which would give a more up-close look at what they had planned. She even got permission to have photographs accompany the article.

That meant she would have to talk to Bri. Ever since she talked to Steph and decided she wanted to tell her the truth, she found herself unconsciously avoiding the issue and Bri. On Monday, she ate in the break room with Bri, the same as always, but the normally chatty pair was rather quiet. Today, she avoided the newsroom all morning due to the times of her interviews. She didn't even make it into work for lunch, stopping at a taco place instead.

Now, it was near the end of the day, and she wanted to talk to Bri about going to the tour the festival on Thursday and some personal things as well. After looking for 15 minutes, she finally saw Bri get off the elevator, obviously coming up from the dark room. She gave her a few minutes before approaching.

"Hey Bri?" Rory said, trying to alert her of her presence.

"Oh Ella, you're back."

"Yep," she answered, feeling beyond awkward.

"How'd it go?" Bri asked trying to force a normal conversation.

"Really well actually, but there were a few things I was hoping to talk to you about."

"Shoot," Bri said, distractedly searching her desk.

Rory glanced at the clock, and noticing the time, said, "We're basically done here, want to go across the street for coffee while we talk?"

Bri seemed to think about it before saying, "Sure, why not."

The girls walked over to the café, ordered their drinks, and found a seat.

"What do you need," Bri pushed, feeling uncomfortable about the situation. They had never gone out after work, and she wondered what had changed today.

"First thing, are you free Thursday afternoon? I am getting a first look at the big festival coming up and wanted some pictures."

"I have another story to go on in the morning. I can make it to yours, but may need to meet you there," she said, glancing at the planner she pulled out.

"Sounds good," Rory replied, and fell silent almost loosing her nerve to continue.

"Is there anything else, I mean I love coffee too, but we could have figured that out on the walk out of the building."

Rory looked at her cup and then back at Bri, "Are we friends?"

Bri was shocked so she blurted out, "What?"

"I was talking to one of my friends, and she was saying how someone is either a work friend or a real friend. And right now you and I are work friends, but I like talking to you and we have a blast out on assignment, a lot in common too…god I'm rambling...Do you think we would ever be real friends?"

Bri was surprised by the question, but she knew what Ella was referring to because she wondered the same thing, "I think so," she finally said.

This caused Rory to give a small smile, "Good, I think so too, but I need to tell you something that I know you'll be upset about. I just hope that it won't ruin our shot at being friends."

"Okay," Bri said warily wondering what she could possibly say.

"My name isn't Ella Danes, it's Rory Gilmore. I applied and am working under a penname."

"Ella isn't your name? You are talking about being real friends and I don't even know your name! What are you, some famous person in hiding? Are you going to reveal next this isn't what you look like? Is that like a Mission Impossible style mask? Do you have a voice changer?" She ranted, taking a breath which allowed Rory to jump in.

"No this isn't a mask; this is what I really look like."

"Are you even from a small town? Was Yale even the school you went to?"

"Yes. There are only 3 things I lied to you about: my name, my boyfriend's name, well not my boyfriend, my fiancé, but that is the third thing," she said in a calm voice.

Bri just stared at the girl across from her. "Ella," she started, but shook her head, "or Rory, I have to go. I'm not sure what to say. I can't believe I considered you a friend, and all the while you were lying to me." Her voice was steady, but Rory could sense the hurt and anger building. Bri took the final sip of her coffee, set it down and stormed from the café.

Rory sat in silence, she felt so guilty for lying to Bri. If she could, Rory would have gone back and told her the truth from day one, but how was she supposed to know they would become so friendly. She closed her eyes, and then realized she hadn't even reached the part about Logan. She composed herself before heading home.

--

When Logan saw Rory walk in, he knew she was upset, "Ace, what's wrong?" He asked, walking over to her.

"I told Bri," was all she said.

"Oh." He had wanted to say more, but that was all he could come up with.

"I didn't even get it all out, that would have been easier, but she left before I got the chance."

"Maybe she'll let you tomorrow. You know go home and let it all sink in and come back asking questions," he offered, trying to reassure her and make her see reason.

"Maybe," Rory sighed unconvinced.

"Come on, don't worry about it, nothing you can do right now."

"I know, but I feel horrible. I can't even blame her for being angry."

Logan looked at her. There was nothing he could say, so he went for comfort, "Want to watch a movie?"

"Willy Wonka?" she asked in a quiet voice.

He sighed and got up to put the movie in for what he seriously suspected was the 100th time, at least. When he walked back to the couch, he saw her give a real smile as it started, so Logan sat down ready for the Oompa Loompas.

--

The next morning, Rory arrived at work a few minutes early. The night before, she and Logan had talked more, and Rory decided she needed to find a way to talk to Bri. She was confident that if Bri heard her reasons, she would be much more understanding. Rory sat at her desk going through some miscellaneous paperwork wondering how to approach Bri.

Not much later, the person in question walked in, and Rory walked over. Bri took one look at Rory, glared at her, found who she was looking for, and left the office. Rory heard a while later that they were finishing up a story and should be back soon after lunch. This allowed Rory to temporarily relax and get some work done. As she worked, in the back of her mind, she was still trying to find a way to fix her situation.

Rory was thankful when lunch came and, upon her return, saw the reporter that had left earlier with Bri. She looked around and didn't see her and couldn't help but think she was being avoided. A while later, Bri came in and sat at her desk to quickly look over some papers that had been left there before quickly leaving again. It wasn't until nearly 5:30 that she returned again, this time with a pile of photographs with her. She sat down, sorted them into two piles and walked them over to the reporters she had been working with earlier.

She seemed to be done for the day, so Rory finally took her chance. "Bri?" she asked softly.

Bri looked up and a look of anger quickly appeared on her face, "I have nothing to say to you."

"I understand you're mad," Rory was trying to make Bri give her a chance to explain.

"Mad? I want to scream at you," she said in a deadly, but quiet, tone.

"And I deserve it, but can we go somewhere private first?" Rory suggested, hoping to hold off the tirade that would let the whole newsroom in on her secret. Bri stayed silent so Rory added, "You can yell all you want, but after, I ask you give me 2 minutes to explain. After that, you can leave if you want or ask more questions, but I want you to know I do have my reasons."

Bri was still fuming, but part of her was desperate to hear Rory out. The truth was she really missed having a friend at work and was curious about Rory's reasons. "Fine," she finally spoke, "where should we go, and I warn you yelling may occur, so choose wisely."

Rory thought for a moment and then said, "If you're okay with it, my place is only a few blocks from here. We could go there, and then you can yell as loud as you want," she offered.

Bri only nodded, so both girls left, taking a cab to Rory's building, which gave Bri time to cool down. When they arrived, Bri glanced around the apartment in awe.

"This is nice," Bri stated, then blurted, "How can you afford this? I mean…I know my salary and I have a guess about yours…"

"I promise I'll explain this," Rory said gesturing to her surroundings, "but can we get the yelling done first?"

"I want to scream, but really I'm just hurt."

"I can imagine," Rory said teasing, an attempt to lighten the mood.

"It's just I don't really have many friends here, because I'm new and all, except for my sister, but she's busy with school. And then, I meet you, and I thought you were becoming one, only to find out everything I know about you is a lie…Well, I was shocked at first, then I was just mad, and now I'm not sure what I am."

Rory just nodded in agreement, "What I said yesterday is still true. There were only three things I lied about. I know they were big things, but everything else was true. I really am the person you met, just my name was wrong."

"But Ella….I mean Rory…god I don't even know what to call you!"

"Call me Rory," she said, then added, "But I guess you can't call me that at work, we'll have to figure that out."

"Okay Rory, I guess I have no idea what else to say to you so now is your chance to explain, and it better be good."

"Well, it all has to do with my fiancé. I'll get to more on him in a minute, but for now let's just say he's well known in some circles. We've been together for just over 2 years, and the night before my graduation he asked me to marry him. I accepted, but afterwards realized that news of this would get out. Now, I love him and am happy to be marrying him, but I know some people will never see me as anything more than his wife. I don't want critics to overlook any of my journalistic accomplishments because of him or have my co-workers think he's the only reason I got a job, and both are likely to happen if they knew."

Bri stared at her for a few minutes. It was a lot to take in, she still had questions, but Rory seemed genuinely concerned about those things, and if her assumptions were true, Bri couldn't blame her.

First, she needed some things cleared up, "Did you think I would be one of those co-workers?"

Rory was surprised she even thought that, "No! I've been feeling guilty about this for a while. Well, not for most people at work, but I've wanted to tell you for a while, and I really believed you could be trusted with this."

"Who else at The Observer knows?"

"Charles Holmes," Rory said firmly, driving home how much trust she really was putting in Bri.

"And…" Bri assumed that there had to be more who knew her true identity.

"ONLY Charles Holmes knows. When I created my identity, I held off telling anyone until I got a job. Then, I only told the person who absolutely needed to know."

Bri smiled, seeming to get Rory's point, "That makes me feel better. Who is the mystery fiancé?"

Rory took a deep breath, hoping this would continue to go smoothly, "Logan Huntzberger."

Bri looked at her shocked before exclaiming, "You can't be his fiancé. When he was at the paper, I read that her name was Lorelai." Bri felt like Ella, or Rory, was making her go dizzy and began getting more upset.

Rory quietly replied, "My full name is Lorelai Leigh Gilmore…" gaining strength, she added, "but I swear EVERYONE calls me Rory, when your mom is whacked out on demerol and names you after herself, you need a nickname," Rory added the last part, not wanting Bri to think she had lied about her name again.

Bri gasped, "I asked you if you ever dated him, and you told me no! You said you hated him! So you lied about that too," Bri yelled, getting her second wind.

"No," Rory said firmly and waited for Bri to calm down. "When you asked if I dated him, I said I worked with him for an article and got to know him better, I never answered the question."

"But you said you hated him!" She pushed, realizing Rory was right about her first point.

"Oh, trust me, she did," a new voice added.

Bri gasped at seeing her boss really standing in front of her and stared at him surprised. It finally sunk in that Rory really was engaged to Logan Huntzberger. She also noticed Rory had the same shocked look she had, apparently she hadn't noticed he was there either.

He smirked at both girls and decided to break the silence, "Hello Ace, I guess this means you told Brianna."

Rory nodded as Bri seemed to come out of a daze and spoke, "Mr. Huntzberger, I didn't mean to say she hated you." She was stumbling over her words, still regretting what part of their conversation her boss walked in on. From the looks of it, he had just walked in himself. Bri silently cursed herself that she couldn't have held her tongue or her boss could have been only a minute later arriving home.

"First, if you're going to be hanging out with Ace outside the office you'll be seeing me more, which is fine except you need to call me Logan," he said with a reassuring smile, "Second, she really did hate me."

Rory jumped in, "Hate may be a strong word, extremely disliked."

"You called me a butt-faced miscreant." Bri had to hold in a snicker at that comment. She didn't think that her boss would appreciate her laughing at him. But, he did seem amused at the bickering with his fiancé.

"And you were, that didn't mean I hated you."

"I think the adjectives arrogant, selfish, and lowlife were used. You even compared me to Judy Dench!"

"So? Someone had to tell you how much of an ass you were being," her voice sounded mad; however, a smile was on her face.

Bri looked on shocked at the couple before her. She never imagined Ella's boyfriend being quite like Logan, and she certainly never imagined Mr. Huntzberger's fiancé to be like her friend at work. Her mind wondered to how great it will be when all the gossipers at the office realize who Mr. Huntzberger's fiancé actually was. She smiled as she thought about Jacobson telling the two of them Logan wanted to fire them. She finally understood why Ella was so calm when he threatened them…if only Jacobson knew…

Snapping out of her thoughts, Bri asked, "So why are you marrying him?" She had temporarily forgotten the argument and was thoroughly entertained by the couple in front of her.

Logan looked at the two girls, "Okay, it seems you have more to talk about, so I'll go out and get dinner. Brianna, do you like Thai?"

"Ummm…yes, but I'm going to go after we finish talking. It should only be a few more minutes."

Logan laughed, he felt bad because he could tell she was intimidated by him, "It's fine, you are more than welcome here, but really, you should stay for dinner. It will give you two more time to talk, and hopefully by the end, I won't scare you any more." He paused and noticed Bri looked like she was about to protest, so he added, "And don't say you feel like you're intruding, you're not."

She looked at him surprised, "Okay, I'll stay," and saw Logan give her a brief smile.

Logan walked over to Rory and whispered, "Is everything okay?"

She nodded and gave him a quick kiss before he left. Rory looked at Bri and saw she was still very unsure about everything, so she answered her last question, "When I met Logan I was dating this guy, it was stupid and an entirely different story, but I didn't like the way he and his friends talked to one of mine. When I saw him the next day, he didn't remember me, but got a piece of my mind anyways. For a while after that, every time we saw each other it wasn't good. Then, I got a lead on a story and needed Logan's help to get inside information. He helped me, and I started to see another side to him. There were a bunch of other little things over the next few months. Then to make a long story short, we dated casually for about 2 months before becoming exclusive. That summer, I was stressed out and trying to figure out what to do with my life, especially career wise. I can say Logan was the only person unconditionally there for me, always by my side being supportive, not even my mom can say that. Then late in the fall, we broke up over a stupid fight and misunderstanding, soon after winter term started we got back together and have been ever since. I don't really know how to explain it, but I love him and I know he loves me. It sounds cliché, I know, but it's the truth, and he really isn't the guy everyone assumes he is."

Bri knew what she meant by that. "You mean like the rumors of him cheating?" She wagered, unsure how Rory would react.

Rory started laughing, "Yeah, like that. You were right though, listening to the gossip sucks, but I know he's faithful to me."

Bri understood and curiosity began to over take her, so she asked one more question about it, "What about the girl on the phone?"

"Oh Steph. She's actually a very good friend of mine; I met her when I started dating Logan. She's known him since she was 6, BUT is also dating and very much in love with Colin, one of Logan's best friends."

Bri laughed, "So you didn't worry about the call at all, huh?"

"Nope, but you'd have to meet Steph, which you will eventually, for it all to make perfect sense."

"But why did he say that he loved her?"

"Steph called Logan to ask him if she could borrow a pair of my shoes that matched her new outfit she bought for a dinner with Colin. Well, I have stopped letting her borrow my stuff because she forgets to return it, and then I can't find anything when I need it, I swear she's worse than my mother…Anyways, she called Logan. He, in his infinite wisdom, told her that she could borrow my shoes, so she professed her love for him, to which he sarcastically returned the affection."

"Wow," Bri exclaimed. There really was a good reason for what the conversation she heard her boss have at the newsroom.

"Any other questions?"

"This really has all to do with Logan?" Bri needed to hear it again; there was a lot of information.

"Think about it, how many people would say the only reason I was hired was because of him. OR people who would not take my articles seriously because my future last name means that I should be some brain dead bimbo. They would make assumptions without ever looking at my credentials or seriously reviewing my work. I know people will find out eventually, I just want to make a strong enough impression on them first, so that they can't really doubt my place or future at the paper."

Bri was stunned at the confession and thought back to all the rumors at work about Logan's fiancé and suddenly just felt bad for Rory. "It must suck," she knew it wasn't much, but she couldn't think of what else to say.

"It does."

"How can you not say anything?"

"Just like Logan, I am technically a part of society. My mom raised me away from it, but because of my grandparents I've always been connected. My entire life has been subject to gossip. Can you even imagine a society woman being engaged and still working. Scandal! People in society gossip just as much as those in the newsroom, trust me, I learned to turn a deaf ear a long time ago."

"I never thought those things," Bri said softly.

"I know, that's why I liked talking to you and why I felt so guilty for holding out the truth. So are we okay?"

"You know, I came here today telling myself no excuse would be good enough…"

"Oh," Rory said disappointed.

"But if there was a good excuse, that is it. I mean, I'm still a little hurt, but I really do understand."

"Anything I can do to make you feel better? Any more info you want," Rory teased, feeling comfortable with Bri for the first time in a while.

"Hmmm…well I now know how you can afford this place, so don't need to ask that. What's your life like here, lots of shopping?"

"Only when Steph drags me, she's a pro. You have to come with us."

"Do you get along with Logan's friends?"

"At first, I was a little wary of them, but now, yes. First, there is Colin, the responsible one of the group. Likes school and is more reserved compared to the others, which is good because Steph needs someone like that. Finn is well Finn. He's actually a really sweet guy, very protective of those close to him, but knows how to have fun…actually he is an expert on the topic. The 5 of us are close, and we all live in the city now. It's really nice to have them here; it made the transition much easier." Rory realized as she was explaining all of this, for as much as she and Bri talked they hadn't gotten into specifics about people in their lives, it had stayed much more general and people were only mentioned in passing. "What about you, know anyone in the city?"

At this, Bri started talking about living with Rebecca and Madelyn in the Bronx. They talked in more detail about where they were from. Rory told her about her family, Lane, and Paris. Bri talked about her family back near Albany, her parents and youngest sister Vanessa, and a few old friends there. They learned a lot about each other and both definitely now considered themselves real friends. Yes, they didn't know everything about each other, but now the door was open, and they were confident it would remain so. Time seemed to fly and when Logan returned, they realized 45 minutes had passed.

"How is everything?" he asked, knowing how tense it was when he left.

In response, he heard giggles and Rory say, "Good, I was just telling her about the first time you met my parents," to which the giggles increased.

"Lovely, so I take it you've explained the situation," he asked walking into the room.

"Yep, and she understands. Since then, we've been talking about our friends and family, you know girl talk."

"And you think I'm an expert on girl talk?"

"I've seen you and the boys gossip, you're just as bad as we are."

"Dinner's here," he announced as an attempted distraction.

"Nice try Huntzberger, but I'll be coming back to that later."

The three of them grabbed food and sat down. At first, Logan was trying to stay out of the conversation, knowing Bri was nervous around him. Eventually, he got dragged into the conversation, 20 minutes later when Bri finally told him to stop calling her Brianna and use Bri like everyone else, he realized she was no longer nervous in front of him.

"Hey Rory?" she asked, just now noticing something.

"Yeah?" Rory replied, lowering the fork from her mouth.

"Where's your ring? I mean, you should have a ring, right?"

"Yeah Ace, where's your ring?" Logan teased, "it's a sign of my love and affection, doesn't that mean anything?"

"Hush you!" she chided, pulling out her chain and removing the ring to put it back on.

Bri still could not get over how Logan and Rory interacted. After having spent time here, she really understood what Rory had mean by, 'after spending some time with him I saw him in a different light.' She never would have guessed he was this normal of a person, yes he was rich, but still normal. She was pulled out of her thoughts by Rory showing her, her ring, now properly back on her finger.

"It's beautiful," she gushed. She could tell it was expensive, but it was very tasteful.

"I know, I fell in love at first sight. It's sad when I take it off everyday," she pouted.

"Why do you? Take it off I mean."

"Because people, well women, would be much more insistent on meeting my fiancé than they are my boyfriend. And since I am trying to not draw attention to my Huntzberger connection, if you will, I down graded our status at work."

"Makes sense," Bri offered.

"It was actually Mitchum's idea to wear the ring on a chain. He got it for me as a graduation present, and I am grateful I don't think I could part with it everyday."

"I can imagine, Logan really it is a beautiful ring," Bri said, much more comfortable with Logan, but still a little shy.

Before Logan could respond Rory jumped in, "You think his taste in jewelry is good, you should see his ability to pick out dresses," she told Bri.

"Why must you mock me, need I remind you that you benefit from these talents?" Logan said, pretending to be hurt. This caused Bri to laugh.

"I know, but it's still a little unnerving at how good you are at it. See this is why I think you are an expert at girl talk."

"Well you know Steph told me that Colin told her that Finn's mom said…" he started in a gossiping tone.

This caused Rory and Bri to laugh even harder. They continued to talk for a while longer before Bri said she needed to get home.

After Bri left, Rory collapsed onto the couch, exhausted from the day she had. It was hard to not talk to Bri for a few days and then have to rehash most of the events of the past two years to explain her life now. When Logan finally dragged Rory to bed that night, she was happy at the turn of events. It looked like she was right about her new friend and was glad Logan liked her too. She knew that when Logan next came to the newsroom, she would have someone to talk to about it. She felt that Bri may also help by stopping the rumor mill. And, she knew that when her identity came out, she had at least one staunch supporter.

Back at her apartment, Bri was getting to bed after spending some time with Madelyn and Rebecca, and was having very similar thoughts to Rory. She was relieved to have a friend here: She missed her friends from Albany, and her family could only help so much. She knew that Rory would likely need her help at work, especially when who she really was got out. But, she also needed someone to talk to when her life got stressful or wanted to relax, and the more Rory had talked about Steph, the more Bri thought she would like her too.

--

A/N: Please read and review! Any and all feedback is welcome, so please let me know!

I also want to send a huge thank you to my beta, Christi, for helping make this chapter MUCH, MUCH better! So, since I know how much you wanted song lyrics in my fic here you go ;-)

"Did you ever know that you're my hero"…hehehe