Part 12: Clams

Rory stood in shock as her grandmother hugged her. She left her arms down, still gripping Logan's hand.

"Rory, it's so good to see you, I haven't seen you since-"

"Friday, grandma, you saw me on Friday," Rory said stiffly as Emily let go. "Hey, look, Logan's here." Rory let go of Logan's hand and went into the living room to greet her grandfather with a much warmer greeting.

"Logan, nice to see you," Emily nodded.

"Likewise Emily," Logan said kissing her hand and leading her into the living room.

"Grandpa," Rory smiled, hugging the older man. "It's so good to see you."

Richard smiled and noticed his wife's glare. "Good to see you too, Rory," Richard greeted kissing her cheek.

"Shira," Rory smiled.

"Rory dear, you look wonderful."

"Thank you, Shira, so do you." Rory greeted Mitchum as she sat, Logan greeted his mother and father and fixed her a drink before sitting next to her.

"You all right?" Logan asked.

"No," Rory muttered taking her drink. "I will be though."

Logan smirked. "Please, tell me you're going to yell at my dad again. I would love to document it this time."

Rory gave a small smile and shook her head. She was feeling a little bit better.

"So, Rory," Richard said getting her attention, "Have you read any new books lately?"

Rory smiled at him. "I'm afraid not, grandpa, my summer's been filled with mom's wedding, but school's starting on Wednesday, so I'm hoping to read some new books."

"How was the wedding?" Shira asked. "Emily's raved all about it, how you planned everything."

"She did, Shira, my granddaughter is an excellent party planner," Emily boasted.

Rory gave a tight-lipped smile. "I wanted to plan my mother's wedding and I'm glad she gave me the opportunity. I was happy with the way it turned out though."

"Rory's being modest, mom," Logan said putting a hand on Rory's knee. "The wedding was magnificent, couldn't have been any better."

"How would you know, you only stayed for five minutes," Rory teased, causing Logan to smirk.

"Had I not, we wouldn't have-" He whispered trailing off as Rory blushed lightly. "From what I did see, mom," Logan said a little louder, turning to his mother, "The wedding was great. She got U2."

"Really?" Mitchum asked with interest. "How'd you pull that off?"

Rory smiled. "Apparently you Huntzbergers have many connections. I just used them."

Mitchum smiled, knowing that while others would have loved to use the Huntzberger name to get what they wanted or get higher up in job positions, Rory used it to make others around her happy. He was shocked and pleased with that. "It's 'we'."

"Excuse me?" Rory asked.

"We Huntzbergers. You're a Huntzberger now, Rory, you should get used to saying it."

Logan smiled as Rory gripped his hand on her knee.

"So school starts soon, Rory," Richard stated.

"I'm so excited," Rory said thinking about being back. "I just can't wait to get back in a classroom."

"And the newspaper?" Mitchum asked.

Rory nodded. "One of the many places I can't wait to visit once again and make a part of my daily routine. Doyle's announcing the new editor on Wednesday."

"You'll get it," Logan told her, bumping his knee with hers.

"I'm not getting my hopes up," Rory laughed, bumping her knee with his in return. "Paris is his girlfriend, so..."

"Well, that isn't very professional if he gives his girlfriend the job," Emily huffed.

"It's how it works, grandma. I really can't argue," Rory said smiling tightly, just as the maid walked in.

"Dinner is served," the maid said quietly as she came and went. Shira smiled and stood up, ushering them all to the dining room. Rory took her seat next to Logan, across from her grandmother as Shira and Mitchum sat at the heads and Richard across from Logan.

The salads came out and Rory picked at it as everyone engaged in conversation. Rory stayed silent, trying to figure out if she had made it unclear to Mitchum that dinner was meant only for her and Logan, and Shira and himself. She thought she'd made it clear about family dinners. She just couldn't believe that he'd invited her grandmother .

Her grandfather she could stand. She knew that while he wasn't totally against her marrying Logan and the arrangement of it, he was displeased with the age she married. But she was still angry over the speech her grandmother had given her before she walked down the aisle. Basically telling her that her dreams had no meaning, she had to be a trophy wife and that was all there was to it.

She'd been civil to her grandmother during teas that Shira had begun after she and Logan had gotten married. She'd meet them for tea every Wednesday afternoon, while Mitchum and her grandfather played golf. She forced her smiles and acted as nicely as possible towards her grandmother.

Then for the wedding, her mother, knowing how Rory felt towards the woman, had pleaded with her to just keep away from Emily and if they did cross paths, act as if she loved every bone in her grandmother's body. Lorelai had told her that she wanted one Gilmore event that wouldn't end up in a screaming match. Rory had of course agreed, wanting her mother to have her day be about her, and not her own problems.

But now, she was in someone else's house and she still had to force a smile and act as nicely as possible. Thank god Logan was there as well as her grandfather. At least she could have actual true conversations with them.

"I just don't understand it." She heard her grandmother say. Rory looked up and noticed that they'd moved on from salads and she was now picking at the main course.

"You okay?" Logan asked.

"Yeah, just went to my own world, sorry."

"It's okay, but you've been picking at your food for the past five minutes."

"I'm just..." She shook her head trying to clear it when she heard her grandmother talk again.

"I mean who would let that miscreant stand up at a wedding."

Rory frowned, knowing she'd regret asking. "What miscreant, grandma?"

"That boy that Luke had as his best man."

"Jess?" Rory asked.

"Yes, that ex of yours."

"Jess is Luke's nephew, grandma, he's hardly a miscreant. He's changed since you met him in high school," Rory stated, feeling the urge to defend Jess. He had changed himself so much over the years that miscreant would never be the word to describe him. Mischievous yes, but not miscreant.

"He's a miscreant, Rory."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, grandma."

"He's the one that crashed your car if I remember correctly," Emily pointed out.

"A car I deemed unsafe," Richard pointed out.

"He crashed that car and broke your arm."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Oh please, not this again."

"Jess crashed your car?" Logan asked.

"It was an accident," Rory said. "Some furry thing ran out on the road, he swerved and lost control of the car, it hit a lamppost. I banged my arm on the dashboard and got a hairline fracture, not a broken arm," Rory corrected looking pointedly at Emily.

"And what does the boy do? He leaves," Emily said. "Shows you how responsible he is."

"He got sent away, grandma. He knew that everyone would end up looking at him as the guy that screwed me up. And do I have to keep reminding people that I was the one that gave him the keys, I was the one that told him to keep driving, and he was the one that called the ambulance? He's responsible, grandma. He was responsible then and he's responsible now."

"He flunked out of school, Rory."

"He's got kicked OUT of school! Big difference."

"As if it made it any better."

Rory sighed. "You know what, I don't have to defend Jess to you. He deserved to be up there with Luke, and I, for one, am happy that Luke picked him. Shows that Luke has good taste in friends."

"Was that a crack on me and my friends?" Emily asked, ignoring the stares from Mitchum and Shira.

"Emily!" Richard said, not wanting her to cause a scene.

"Take it anyway you like, grandma, I just made a truthful comment is all."

"Ace," Logan whispered, gripping her knee.

"No, she started this," Rory said.

"I swear, Rory, you turn more like your mother everyday."

"I'll take that as a compliment instead of the insult it was meant to be," Rory told her.

"You should be grateful to me and Shira, young lady."

"And why is that?" Rory asked doubting that she had anything to be thankful for concerning the two older women.

"Had it not been for us, you would have been wasting your life with that farm boy. What's his name..."

"Dean," Rory said. "His name is Dean. And don't think you have any idea about my relationship with him or Jess."

"Had it not been for me, you would have still been in that horrible relationship, wasting away in that small town, going nowhere."

"Thats not true, grandma! That's not true."

Richard sighed. "Rory, what would you have done if you married Dean?"

"Oh god, not you too," Rory sighed.

"You would have dropped out of Yale and and about to have your second kid right about now," Emily said. "Horrible young man, horrible relationship. I saved you from that."

"So what if I had married Dean? I would have had a family," Rory said. "I would have been happy."

"Ace, stop!" Logan said, noticing the shocked stares of his mother and father.

"No," Rory said shaking her head. "Had I married Dean, I would have still been going to Yale."

"All right, had you stayed at Yale, then what, Rory? Where could you have gone with Dean as a husband? Or Jess for a husband for that matter."

"You don't know anything about them," Rory said hating her grandmother for opening the can of worms. "You don't know anything about my relationships with them."

"I know enough. I know you ruined that young girl's life."

Richard glared at Emily. "Emily, stop this now!" That was a subject best left alone. Rory had told them that in confidence, knowing they would never judge her for her mistakes. Emily had no right throwing it in Rory's face at a time like this, when they were guests in some one else's home.

"I didn't ruin her life!" Rory said standing up. "He was the one that lied to me! He told me it was done! It wasn't just my fault, grandma, get that straight."

"Where is that young girl now, Rory? Tell me. After all was said and done, where did that young girl go?"

Rory shook her head. "You have no idea how much I hate you right now." Rory took her hand out of Logan's grip.

"You would have ruined your life with him, Rory. Logan's good for you."

Rory shook her head. "Yeah, Logan is good for me, I'll give you that. But I wish you would have let me be the one to figure it out. Don't think you know anything about me or my life, grandma. And don't think you'll know anything about the future either."

"Yale is starting on Wednesday, Rory. We'll reconvene Friday night dinners just like every other year."

"Funny, because now that I'm married and an heiress to a billion dollar fortune, I think I can pay my own way, as well as pay you back with that interest I promised. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm not hungry anymore."

Rory turned and left the dining room and Logan sighed. "I'll be right back."

"No, son, I'll go," Mitchum said standing up. "Emily, I don't think I have to tell you your behavior tonight was uncalled for." Shaking his head he left the room and grabbed his jacket along with Rory's as he left the house. He found her standing outside the door, her arms wrapped around herself. He handed her her coat as he put on his.

"I didn't know she'd say all of that, Rory. I'm very sorry."

Rory shook her head. 'That was low, Mitchum, even for you."

"When you said family dinners..."

"You know that's a stretch." Rory said putting on her jacket. "Emily Gilmore stopped being part of my family the minute she ruined my dreams."

"Isn't that a bit harsh?"

Rory looked up at the older man. "She said that since Logan would travel for work, I would travel as well." She shook her head. "I wanted to travel so I could report the news, not because my husband went for business."

"You knew going into this, Rory."

"I did," Rory nodded. "I just didn't like the way my grandmother phrased it, as if I should be eternally grateful that I would never have to lift a finger again. I was raised to work hard for what I was given, I never asked to be thrown into this. I wasn't even aware that I was always tied to this world."

"Would knowing you were going to marry Logan have changed you?" Mitchum asked curious.

"Probably in some aspects," she admitted. "But not in the academic aspect. I love school, that'll never change and I love the journalism field, that won't change either."

"Good to know."

"Your son is a good man," Rory said. "I've never doubted that. And he's proven it time and time again. But he's made mistakes and we all know he's not the most perfect guy in the world."

"I know that."

"And my grandmother had no right to throw my mistakes in my face."

"Would you like to talk about them?" Mitchum asked.

Rory shook her head. "I haven't even told Logan. It isn't something I'm proud of or have ever been proud of, and I made the mistake of telling my grandmother about it." She laughed bitterly. "My mother has always told me never to trust her."

"Your grandmother meant well," Mitchum said. "She wanted the best for you."

Rory scoffed. "The best for me would have been leaving me the hell alone and letting me pick my own husband."

Mitchum started to say something when the door opened to reveal Logan with his jacket on. He stepped out and smiled lightly. "It's getting a bit tense in there, so I was thinking Rory and I could go home and maybe try this again next week."

"Of course, son," Mitchum nodded. "Rory, I'm again very sorry about tonight."

Rory nodded as the valet came to the car and opened the door for them.

"Hey Ace, why don't you get in the car, I need to talk with my dad real quick."

"You do?" Mitchum asked surprised there was anything his son wanted to talk to him about.

"Yeah, about this little contract you and Rory drew up. I want to see something."

Mitchum smirked. "I'll be in my office," he said walking back inside.

Logan walked Rory to the car and helped her in. "I'll be right out unless you want to go back inside and listen in. It sort of concerns you too."

Rory shook her head. "I can't," she whispered, leaning her head back against the seat. "I just... I can't."

"Well, if it makes you feel better, when we get home, you can take your frustrations out on me. My body is yours for the taking."

Rory laughed turning to him. "You're sweet," she said leaning in to kiss him lightly. "I might just take you up on that."

"Good to hear. I'll be right out, shouldn't take more than five minutes. Get the heater going."

Rory nodded as he closed the door and the valet closed the driver's. She leaned over and turned on the heater, watching him go back inside the house.

She never meant to blow up at her grandmother, but her grandmother shouldn't have thrown Lindsay in her face like that, especially not in front of the Huntzbergers. If any of the Huntzbergers were to know about her and Dean it was Logan and Elias, only because he had dug the information up on her. And Logan... well, she had yet to tell him the real deal.

Sighing, she laid her head back on the seat and closed her eyes. Hopefully she wouldn't have to deal with her grandmother anymore. She'd already paid for Yale. Well, she and Logan had already paid for Yale. Though she still had to have tea at the club on Wednesday with her and Shira, Rory knew she could probably get out of those when school started.

Opening her eyes she watched her grandparents say their goodbyes to Shira and go towards their car. Her grandfather smiled lightly at her while her grandmother gave her the cold shoulder. Rory just smiled lightly back at her grandfather, before he walked towards the car.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Logan looked over the contract and didn't see any loopholes though he was talking about his father. With a sigh, he put the papers on the desk and nodded.

"Fine, I'll agree to all of that, but I want to add something."

Mitchum nodded. "What's that?"

"I want 72-hour notice for business trips," Logan said looking at his dad. "If you don't have 72 hour notice, then I want at least 12 and I want to be able to decide whether to go or not. "

"Logan, some of these meetings are important for you to attend."

"I get that, dad, I really do. But..." Logan sighed, trying to form the words to tell his dad. "Things are going really good for me and Rory right now and I just... I don't want to leave her at home alone right now."

"Aren't Finn and Colin living with you guys?"

"They moved out months ago, dad," Logan said. "Just... I'll go on trips with you, but I can't assure you that I can go on every one of them."

Mitchum sighed, remembering how Rory had yelled at him for taking Logan away. As much as he hated to admit it, Logan was a big boy with his own life, and he couldn't stay under his wing anymore. And as much as it pained Mitchum to let Logan go, his one and only heir, he knew he had to, on one condition.

"Fine, but what will you do for me?" Mitchum said with the famous Huntzberger smirk.

"What are you talking about? We're having Sunday night dinners here," Logan said.

"Nope, the dinners were for Rory's part of the deal. Read the contract carefully, Logan. In exchange for me calling at reasonable hours, Rory gave us family dinners every Sunday. Now you're adding to this contract, saying you want 72-hour notice for business meetings, which I assume you mean out of town ones, right?"

"Right," Logan nodded.

"Or if I don't get 72-hour notice, you want at least 12. Now is this all correct?"

"Yeah," Logan nodded.

"Your part of the deal is wanting notice. Now I'm willing to give you that if you give me something in return. Rory's giving me something for her part. What are you willing to give up?"

Logan sighed. He knew this wasn't going to be easy. He thought about it and nodded, knowing what he'd give. "Wednesday afternoon golf."

Mitchum raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Logan nodded. "Really. Tell me what time mom, Emily and Rory get together, we'll meet then."

Mitchum nodded, realizing what he was doing. "All right, Wednesday afternoon golf, starting this week."

Logan winced, but nodded. "Deal."

"Deal. I'll write it in and see you on Wednesday."

"See you then," Logan said standing up and leaving the office. He said goodbye to his mother before going out to the car and getting into the warm vehicle.

"What happened?"

"I'm golfing with my father on Wednesdays."

"In exchange for what?" Rory asked.

"72-hour notice for out-of-town meetings."

"Good deal," Rory nodded as he started on his way back to New Haven. Rory looked over at him as he looked out at the road in concentration, looking in his rear view mirror every so often. She was wondering if he'd bring up the conversation or, well, the argument she had with her grandmother, but the ride was spent in silence. He pulled up to the gate, put in the number and drove into the garage.

Rory bit her lip lightly, relieved that he didn't bring it up, and slightly confused. Did he not care one way or the other that she had potentially ruined some girl's life? Rory shook her head free of the thoughts, she wouldn't think about that. It wasn't just her fault.

"Ace?"

Rory looked up to see Logan's concerned gaze looking back at her. "Sorry."

"You okay?"

"Fine, just thinking," Rory said as she unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car, Logan following her. He closed his door and took her hand bringing her to his side and kissing the top of her head as they walked towards the house.

"You sure you're okay?" He asked unlocking the door and letting her pass him as they walked in. He closed the door, locked it in place, then helped her with her coat before taking his off and hanging them on the pegs.

"I'm fine," Rory smiled as they walked to the stairs, Rory taking off her heels. "Just an eventful evening is all."

"Always an eventful evening at the Huntzberger house," Logan said taking the heels from her hand into his own and her hand into his free one as they went up the stairs towards their room. He held in the smile at the thought.

During the weekend, Rory and he had moved most of her things into his room. Clothes, pictures, jewelry, even all her bathroom stuff. He had emptied some drawers for her and she was planning on moving that stuff in tomorrow while he would be at work. All in all everything was starting to work out.

They walked into the bedroom. Logan dropped her shoes by the nightstand as she went to the bathroom to start what he knew to be a nightly ritual. He loosened his tie and sat on the bed grabbing the remote and turning on the TV, flipping through the channels before settling on old 'Friends' reruns. He wasn't a huge fan, but Rory liked it. He turned up the volume so she could hear it in the bathroom where she was going to be for the next twenty minutes.

He started taking off his shoes and socks watching as a very pregnant Phoebe talked to Joey who was in London for Ross's wedding to Emily. He put the shoes at the end of the bed hearing the water run in the bathroom and knew that she was cleaning her face free of the make up, her hair falling in her face since she always forgot to keep her hair up till after she washed her face.

Hearing her growl in annoyance, he smirked and went into the bathroom where she was trying to push her hair out of the way without getting it wet. He went up behind her and gathered the hair in his hand. She looked up and smiled.

"Thanks."

He nodded as he loosened his tie more with his free hand and pulled it over his head, leaving it on the sink. She stood straight grabbing the face towel and patted her face dry. He let go of her hair as she hung up the towel.

"I always forget," she muttered, staying turned as he unzipped her.

"I know," he smirked as he grabbed his tie and left her to change. He stripped from his suit, put the jacket and pants in the closet and threw the button down shirt along with the undershirt in the dirty laundry hamper and walked back out to the bedroom and got into bed. He grabbed the remote while putting the pillows against the headboard for him to lean on and started flipping through again.

"What are we watching?" Rory asked coming out of the bathroom braiding her hair. She was wearing the silk nightgown he'd grown to love, her feet bare as she padded across the bed and to her side, where she sat and turned off the light on her side, only leaving his on and the TV glow.

He felt her settle down at her side, her hand settling on his stomach and her head lying on his chest. Smiling slightly at how routine this all felt, he wrapped an arm around to settle on her back and take out the braid she worked so hard on, so that he could run his hand through her hair.

She made a noise of protest, but kept where she was, her fingers making small designs on his stomach. He kept his eyes on the TV, trying to find something good yet completely pointless to watch before going to sleep.

Rory felt her eyes drifting closed as she felt his fingers run through her hair, the rise and fall of his chest on her cheek and listening to the sound of his even breathing. All of it started to lull her to sleep to the point where she didn't think she could keep her eyes open.

"Is it that horrible?" He asked quietly.

Rory opened her eyes slowly and turned her head to look at him. "Is what horrible?"

"Being married to me? Is it that horrible that you'd rather be with an ex than with me?"

Rory frowned "When did I say I wanted to be with an ex than with you?"

"At dinner."

"I never said that," Rory said propping herself up to look at Logan fully.

"Yes, you did," Logan said looking back at her.

"No, what I believe I said was that I should have gotten my choice of a husband. That you're good for me and I should have been able to figure that out on my own than being forced into marriage."

"Is it still horrible?"

"As in present tense? No," Rory answered.

"Was it horrible?"

Rory looked at him closely as he stared back at her. She could tell he wasn't going to let the subject go until he was given an honest answer. "You're in this marriage too, you should know."

"I know how it was for me. It was complete and utter hell, not knowing how I could make you happy, or if I ever would. It completely sucked not knowing what I was doing wrong and doing right. But I want to hear you say what it was like for you."

Rory shrugged. "It wasn't that bad."

"Rory," Logan said sternly. "I want an honest answer."

Rory sighed and looked down at his chest before meeting his eyes again. "Yeah, it was hell."

"What was hellish about it?"

Rory shrugged. "Just a lot of things. I hated arguing and it's what I would end up doing. I hated crying myself to sleep."

"I hated that part too," Logan whispered.

She shrugged again. "I guess I just tried so hard to avoid problems, avoid you and avoid this whole marriage that I ended up creating more problems and just making things bad for you too. And I never meant for that to happen."

"I know," Logan nodded.

"So yeah, the first few months were good, then they got really bad."

"And now?"

"Now?" Rory asked. "Now they're really good."

"Really good, huh?" Logan asked as he brought her over to straddle his stomach.

"Hmm… maybe down a notch. I don't think that 'good' deserves the 'really' quite yet."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," Rory said before leaning down to kiss him. "I think we still have a few more weeks before that 'good' earns that 'really'."

"Hmm, I think I can work with that," Logan smirked before nipping her lower lip and kissing her more deeply.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Rory looked up from her lying position on her stomach on top of the bed to see Logan walking out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his hips and using another to dry his hair.

"Morning last year college student," Logan smirked sitting on the edge of the bed and leaning down to kiss her.

"Morning working man," Rory replied against his lips. "You're up early. Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Your class doesn't start for another two hours. I didn't want you to be sleep deprived. Plus it gave me enough time to get the coffee started," he laughed.

Rory smiled. "Good man, I knew I did right by marrying you."

"Since it was all your idea."

"Of course," Rory yawned turning over and covering her mouth.

"You got home late. I didn't get to hear about your orientation," Logan said running his fingers over her nude hip that was uncovered from the blanket. Rory smiled.

"Mmm, the girls and I decided to hit the pub. We haven't been there in forever."

"Any cute guys hit on you?"

"A few," Rory laughed. "But I showed them my ring, Evie pointed out Finn who was standing in the corner glaring, with his arms crossed over his chest, looking very protective… and Steph accepted a few numbers."

"Idiot Colin."

"Yes. And I'm telling you, Colin will act like it never happened and like it won't bug him but he really needs to tell Steph that he loves her or I'm putting them in a room together, locking them in and not letting them out until he says it."

"They already live together, Ace. What makes you think that if that confined space doesn't do it, another will?"

"They're living together by choice. My kidnapping them and locking them in a closet won't be and the fact that I'll tell them what they need to do in order to be let out will be a big clue to them. Or they're even stupider than I thought."

"They probably are," Logan laughed. "Colin will probably pretend that he misheard you say something else, and Steph will just glare at him and not tell him he heard what you said."

"God, our friends are idiots!" Rory groaned.

"You're already frustrated and you haven't even locked them in yet."

"When will they wise up, Logan?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Ace. Come on, get up, you've got school."

"Ugh, can I skip out early today?"

"Why?"

"Doyle is making the announcement of the new editor and ten thousand dollars says it's Paris."

"Ten thousand dollars says it's you."

"Why, did you pay him off or something?"

"Come on, I would never do that," Logan said grabbing her hands and pulling her up. The sheet fell away from her body, revealing her nakedness."Looking mighty naked there, Ace," Logan smirked successfully getting her out of bed. She glared at him as she scooped up her nightgown that had been pushed onto the floor, instead of its usual place under the pillows, and put it on.

"That would be your doing, Huntzberger."

"You weren't objecting last night."

"I was drunk," Rory pointed out, slipping the nightgown over her head. She and the girls had gone to get their final list of classes along with their books, and watch the freshmen go through orientation, remembering the long ago time when they had been standing in that line to get their ID's taken.

Then in celebration of getting their classes, they'd gone shopping for the afternoon, then ended up at the pub for a late dinner and drinks which ended up in a surprisingly sober Finn driving each one of them home, and their significant others dragging them to bed.

If Rory remembered correctly, she and Logan had barely made it onto the bed before she'd jumped him.

"You jumped me, Rory," Logan told her with a smirk. Funny how she'd just been thinking that.

"Minor technicality. The point is that you, Huntzberger, took advantage of my inebriated state."

"Just like I did the night of your mother's wedding."

"That was a different inebriated state and you know it."

"Either way, that was some good sex last night."

"I concur. Now I'm going to get in the shower, and you, get me coffee."

"You do know you're turning into your mother more and more, right?"

"Yes and I love it."

"Most would find that thought scary."

"Yes, but my mother is Lorelai Gilmore. What's so scary about turning into her?" Rory asked, leaning against the doorjamb.

"True," Logan laughed. "I'll go get that coffee stared."

"You're such a good husband."

Logan laughed as he walked out the bedroom, down the stairs and to the kitchen to pour his crazy wife her first cup of coffee.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Mmmm," Lorelai groaned as she stretched out on the balcony outside of their bedroom in Rory and Logan's Italian house.

"It is nice, isn't it?" Luke asked, handing her her coffee.

"Very, and relaxing," Lorelai said looking up at her husband."I don't have any French men yelling in my ear, and as much as I love Sookie..."

"I understand."

"Did you get hold of Jess?" Lorelai smiled.

Luke smirked slightly leaning against the railing of the balcony, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah, I got him."

"And what'd he say?" Lorelai laughed.

"I believe his exact words were 'I can't believe you dropped me in this hellhole for three weeks and didn't call to tell me you're okay. I got a call from Rory, Rory of all people, to tell me you made it okay. What's up with that shit and another thing...' at that point he just started rambling and I left the receiver on the counter. I think that if you go down, you can catch him mid-rant."

"He is pissed, isn't he?" Lorelai laughed as she got up from her seat and went downstairs to see if she could catch Jess before he realized no one on the other end was listening. She saw the phone still sitting there and a low murmur of a voice talking rapidly. She picked up the phone and heard Jess ranting on the other end.

"And then Cesar. Dear god, don't get me started on Cesar. If he tells me there's no more ham in this blasted place, I'm killing him, you hear me, Luke? I could care less if you're short a cook. I'm killing the bastard, and after that, I'm going to call the people in the little white coats and get this whole damn place institutionalized. You do realize I'm losing money over this, right? I, being the nice person that I am, decided to give into Rory's suggestion when she said not to buy you a wedding present, instead fill in for you when you went on your honeymoon. Well, guess what, Luke, your honeymoon couldn't have come at a worse time! I have work too, dammit! And I have a life! Remember Joan? Yeah, she's the girlfriend that I haven't been able to see because of this little so-called-present!"

Lorelai stifled a laugh, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Who is this? Luke?!"

"I'm sorry, Jess, it's just that... I've never heard you rant before," Lorelai laughed.

"Yeah, laugh it up," Jess grumbled.

"How are you holding up really? I know you just like to complain. How is it really?"

Jess sighed as Lorelai made herself comfortable at the counter. "It's fine. The diner had its busy moments, then its lulls. Joan came down on Sunday with me and spent Sunday, Monday and Tuesday here, then went back today for work."

"Sexed it up at the apartment, huh?"

Jess laughed nervously. "Um... sure, keep thinking that."

"You guys haven't..."

"We've..." Jess scoffed. "I'm not going to talk about my sex life with you. You're like my... aunt."

"So everything's okay?"

"Yeah, but what I said about Cesar was true."

"Hey, Luke threatens to kill him and Taylor everyday."

"Yeah, Taylor's relatively calm if you can believe it. I think he's only that annoying when Luke is here."

"So he hasn't been bugging you?"

"Nope, a few comments about a permit to park my car in front of Luke's, but it's a bunch of bull. He just doesn't like the way my piece of a crap car looks parked in front of Luke's, in the middle of town. Which is why I parked it there in the first place."

"Good ol' Jess."

"And I have talked to Rory."

"Oh goodie, that's what I've been trying to get to."

"Of course. From what I got last night when we talked, she was pretty drunk."

"Really?" Lorelai laughed.

"Yeah, I ended up talking to Finn. She was trying to call Logan to pick her up and dialed the wrong speed dial. Finn gave me the details of what happened."

"What happened?" Lorelai asked wanting some leverage on her daughter.

"Apparently, they went to go get their classes earlier in the day, spent their afternoon shopping, ending up at the pub for dinner and drinks. Finn ended up coming to pick Evie up since she had called earlier and asked if he could pick her up after work. And when he came, they were all totally smashed."

Lorelai laughed. "Long Island Ice Teas?"

"And shots I think Finn said. Apparently, out of all of them, he was the only sober one."

"Aww, poor Finn."

"Yep. So I think your daughter's doing just fine without you."

"Good to know," Lorelai sighed. "I miss everyone there, but I have to say these past few days have been heaven."

"Tell me everything. Joan's been bugging me about it since Sunday when I told her why I had to come back and asked me to ask for details. So I'm not acting like a girl as Rory so bluntly put it, I'm asking for my girlfriend."

"Of course," Lorelai smiled. "It's beautiful here. Wonderful weather so far too. Logan's grandfather was a saint. He lives in this castle of a house. We stayed there Sunday night, had breakfast and he showed us all the great sights, then brought us to Rory and Logan's house."

"How's that?"

"Oh, Logan has taste, let me tell you. It's a villa, just outside of Rome. Two stories, it's very Mediterranean style, like the roofing and stuff."

"Really don't need to know abut roofing. I think she wanted to know more about the house itself."

"Right. Well, like I said, two stories, four bedrooms. Rory and Logan's bedroom is upstairs."

"You're not staying there, are you?"

"No, of course not. There are two more bedrooms upstairs. we're staying in one of those, then there's a smaller one downstairs and an office which is of course filled with books."

"Surrounding area?"

"Very secluded," Lorelai said as she looked out. The kitchen was filled with moonlight, pouring in from the sky light above her, then the long sliding glass door that when brought outside she could walk out on the porch and see a massive lawn, and then walk to the edge of that and see all of Rome. "It's elevated so it's situated on like some sort of hill that's high up."

"A mountain?"

"No, smaller than a mountain, bigger than a hill and not a cliff."

"Yeah, I don't know, but I get what you mean."

"So outside there is just grass, there's a patio that blocks the sun since there's a roof and all, then there's the back lawn and when you go to the edge of that, all of Rome is expanded."

"Really?"

"Oh, it's wonderful, Jess. So quiet."

"So how were they able to see the paparazzi they saw on the honeymoon?"

"They have a balcony in their room that oversees the driveway. The property itself is surrounded by a gate and you can only get in with a code. A lot like their house in New Haven."

"Is it weird that Rory has more than one house?"

"A little. I try not to think about it much," Lorelai said.

"So what are you up to tonight?"

"We're having dinner with Logan's sister and her husband."

"Honor and Josh?"

"You know her?"

"Yeah. When Rory comes down to New York, I usually meet up with them for lunch. I see Honor more. I've seen Josh a couple of times."

"This is the first time we're meeting them. Logan called earlier in the week and said that Josh had some meeting in France and he had to go there before coming down here. They just got here earlier and Honer called asking if we wanted to go to dinner."

"I'm surprised Logan had a free moment to call you." Jess laughed.

"Oh, why's that?"

"Well, the way they've been going at it, I'm surprised he took the time to call."

"Going at it?" Lorelai asked confused. She was sure it didn't mean what she thought it meant.

"Yeah, like fucking rabbits. In both senses of the word."

"What!?" Lorelai screeched as the doorbell rang and Luke came down to answer it, looking at her oddly. She looked at him quickly before returning to her conversation with Jess, turning her back on him.

Shaking his head he opened the door to see a blonde standing there, reassuring a man and readjusting his tie. She turned and smiled.

"Hi, you must be Luke. Rory's told me so much about you. All good of course."

"Honor, right?" Luke asked hesitantly as he saw her practically bounce in. Dear god, that girl had pep.

"Yes, and this is my husband Josh," she said taking the man's hand as he smiled and nodded.

"Good to meet you. Rory's spoken really highly of you too."

"It's always a pleasure to see Rory around the house," Josh smiled looking at Honor who laughed.

"Wow, Josh, you sounded like you meant it."

"I do!" Josh looked at Luke and smiled weakly. "I love Rory, really I do. Hey look, a kitchen."

Honor smiled. "He flusters easily," she said as she followed him into the kitchen leaving Luke to close the door and follow the lead.

"So you're telling me that Rory and Logan are sleeping together!" Lorelai said in awe, causing Luke to cough and Lorelai to whirl around to see three sets of eyes on her. "Oops."

"What?" Jess asked.

"Well, if Rory didn't want Luke, Honor and Josh to know, it's too late."

"Honor should know," Jess said. "Rory practically lives over there. And Luke... Well, Luke will live. Hey, change of subject. Have you heard from Tristan?"

"Tristan? No, not since the wedding, why?"

Jess sighed. "The guy's MIA. He left the wedding without a goodbye and when I called his apartment to see if he wanted to hang out this weekend and keep me company in this crazy town, I got his answering machine. His phone's also off."

"Maybe he's with his gay lover," Lorelai laughed, causing Luke to glare.

"Tristan isn't gay, Lorelai, so drop it." Luke ordered.

Lorelai rolled her eyes and waved at Josh and Honor. "You know I'm joking Jess, jeez."

"I think that if Tristan doesn't get a girlfriend soon, I'm setting him up with Joan's friend."

"Oh, who?" Lorelai asked.

"Josh," Jess laughed.

"Josh is gay?!" Lorelai squealed. The Josh in the kitchen turned and looked at her wide eyed. Then Lorelai laughed, "Not you, another one."

"Yeah, he's a little too gay, but Joan loves him and insists that he's going to be her maid of honor, so who am I to argue?"

"Aw, look at you, planning out your wedding. This is so far from the James Dean wannabe."

"Okay, I'm hanging up now before this conversation turns mushy. Enjoy the sex."

"Enjoy the insanity," Lorelai laughed as she hung up. She turned to Honor. "You must be Honor. Rory's told me all about how you helped her."

"And Rory's told me everything about you. Never a bad word."

Lorelai smiled."She embellishes, though her description of my beauty was accurate, was it not?"

"Absolutely." Honor humored. "This is my husband Josh."

"Hi," Josh said. "I love your daughter."

"Oh... um I think she's taken, but I'll let her know," Lorelai teased shaking his hand.

Josh cursed lightly and turned to Honor for help.

"What he means to say is that he enjoys Rory's presence when visiting our home and loves her like a little sister, right honey?"

"Right," Josh nodded.

Honor shook her head as Lorelai smiled. "Why don't we go get dinner?"

"Sounds like a wonderful idea," Lorelai said. "Let me just grab my coat."

"I'll go up with you, leave the boys here by themselves, some male bonding," Honor laughed, kissing Josh's cheek lightly. "Play nice."

Josh nodded and sat at the counter as Luke took a seat as well. "So... how about them Yankees?" Josh tried, causing Luke to raise an eyebrow.

"So from what I caught of your conversation... not that I was eavesdropping or anything, was that you just found out about the new development in the Logan/ Rory relationship."

"You know they're having sex?"

"Um, yeah. Actually, the way I understand it, they slept together right after your wedding."

"Really?" Lorelai said, a little hurt that Rory hadn't told her.

Honor nodded sitting on the bed. "I talked to Rory earlier, when I was on the plane. She said that she also moved into Logan's room this week."

"They're even sharing a room?!"

"She also said that she felt bad about not telling you, but she didn't want to bug you with this news on your honeymoon and that when I talked to you, to express how sorry she was."

"My daughter, thinking of others before herself," Lorelai said shaking her head and putting on her coat.

"Rory's like that," Honer shrugged. "Ready?"

"Yes, I am," Lorelai said as they left the room.

"Can I ask you a question?" Honor asked as they descended the stairs.

"Of course."

"Were you talking about Tristan DuGray on the phone?"

Lorelai nodded as she grabbed her purse. "Yeah, he's gone missing and Jess is worried."

"He's not missing," Josh said coming from the kitchen having heard the conversation.

"Josh," Honor said elbowing his stomach.

"Where is he?" Luke asked.

Josh glared at his wife before responding "In the Alps with his girlfriend."

"HE'S WHAT?!"

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Mmm, coffee," Rory groaned sitting at the counter dressed for the day.

Logan poured her a cup, taking in her appearance of dark blue jeans, long black sleeved shirt and denim jacket. Her hair was still wet and loose around her hair, yet brushed out. He leaned over and kissed her softly before setting down her cup.

"When are the girls getting here?"

"Too soon," Rory laughed pulling away and taking a sip of coffee. "They should be here in a matter of minutes."

"Who's first?"

"Evie I think. Finn has an early meeting. Then Steph and Colin."

"Whom you're locking in the closet," he laughed kissing her and walking away.

"Don't think I won't!" Rory called after him as he left the kitchen and went to the office to get papers.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Do I have to go?" Evie whined.

"Yes, you have to go," Finn laughed, grabbing her book bag from the back seat of the car.

"Do you have to go?"

"Yes, love, I have to go."

"When'd you become so responsible?"

"The minute you agreed to become my girlfriend, now go!" Finn laughed leaning over and opening the door.

Evie turned to him. "Kiss before I go."

Finn rolled his eyes and kissed her quickly. "Now go."

"No, a proper kiss."

"Love, I'm going to be late."

"I'm not leaving this car without a proper kiss."

"I'll push you out the blasted car if I have to."

"No, you won't."

Finn growled in annoyance. She'd been bugging him all morning about not wanting to go back to school. She'd protested in the shower, she'd protested during breakfast, she'd protested on the way to the car, and she'd protested on the drive over. The girl was going to school whether she liked it or not.

Getting out of the car, he went around, unbuckled her seatbelt and picked her up bridal style. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he walked to the door and rang the doorbell. Logan opened the door, his eyes wide at seeing the scene, Rory coming after him laughing.

"Did you protest?" Rory laughed.

"Told you I would. And I told you he'd get annoyed." She turned to Finn who looked at her flabbergasted. "You can let me down now, Finn."

Finn dropped her lightly on her feet. She got on her tiptoes and kissed him lightly. "Have a good day at work."

"Yeah, you have a good day too," Finn said shaking his head and leaving Rory and Evie to laugh. A few seconds later the car left the driveway.

"You're mean to the poor guy," Rory said as they went into the kitchen.

"I love him," Evie sighed sitting down. "And I'm going to marry that boy."

"Really?" Logan asked.

Evie turned to him. "Well duh. I think I'm the only one patient enough to handle him. Plus, I give him the best sex."

"Sex isn't everything," Logan pointed out.

"Look who's talking, Mr. Been-getting-some-24/7."

"It hasn't been 24/7," Rory blushed.

"Might as well be with how you two have been getting on, though I have to say it's much better than the fighting. At least these screams are from pleasure, not anger."

"Oh god," Rory groaned.

"Save it for the bedroom, sweetie," Evie teased loving that Rory could be embarrassed so easily.

"We do more than have sex, Evie. Just last night we talked about books."

"And then..."

"We had sex," Logan shrugged. "But come on, we missed the whole honeymoon stage of the relationship."

"And more power to you." Evie stated. "I think I hear Colin's car."

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Have a good day," Colin laughed handing Steph a brown paper bag as she glared at him.

"I hate you."

"Hey, you lost the bet. Now take your lunch and have a good day at school."

"You're a sick twisted little man," Steph said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"And I love that pose, it pushes your boobs up."

Steph dropped her arms. "You know what, just for this, I'm not having sex with you for a week."

"And that's different from every other week because..."

"UGH!" She pulled open the back door, bent down to grab her bag, and heard Colin catcall. She stood up so fast that she banged her head on the top of the car and glared at him once again. "I really, really hate you."

"Shut up and go to the door, Britney Spears."

She took her bag out and slammed the door, watching him laugh as he drove off. She hated him. It didn't matter how much deep down inside she loved that arrogant bastard, right now she hated him. Ringing the door bell she resisted the urge to cross her arms. After Colin's mentioning of it pushing her breasts up, she was avoiding the move altogether.

She could not believe that she had lost the stupid bet. Colin had bet her the night before that she could get through washing all the dishes without cringing. She'd said she could. But of course Colin had cheated, left half his meal on the plate, then his napkin which had gotten wet, knowing that the feeling of things like that grossed her out.

The door opened and she watched Logan smirk and open his mouth.

"One word, Huntzberger, and you won't be having sex with Rory for as long as you both are married, you get me?"

"Yeah, I get you," Logan said straightening his face as he looked Steph up and down. She was wearing a full blown Catholic schoolgirl outfit. Only from the looks of it, it was an exact replica of Britney Spears's "Hit Me Baby One More Time'. The black short skirt, the black boots, the red little undershirt with the white top tied above her midsection and the gray jacket above it. Her hair was done in two braids with the white pom-poms at the top of each one.

"Can I go upstairs before Rory and Evie see me? I'll borrow some clothes from Rory," Steph said pulling down the skirt.

Logan smirked, but quickly hid it as she looked back up. "Yeah, sure."

"Thanks. You're a good friend, Logan."

"Yeah, I know," Logan nodded bitting the inside of his cheek as he watched her run upstairs. "Hit me baby one more time," he sang quietly laughing as he went to the office to get his papers for work.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Steph ran up the stairs towards Rory's room, about to take a left, but remembered her moving rooms with Logan and took the right to the room. She opened the door, only to be greeted with

"Holy crap!"

"Shit," Steph muttered. She should have never trusted Logan.

"Evie,what-."Rory who had had her toothbrush in her mouth, opened her mouth in shock, letting it fall out. "Steph, oh my god."

"Shut up, both of you shut up. I'm embarrassed enough, all right? Just, Rory, I'm grabbing clothes."

Rory nodded. "Yeah, of course, Steph, help yourself."

"Thanks," Steph muttered gong over to the dresser. "Colin decided that today was the day he was going to fulfill his stupid Britney Spears fantasies. I mean he doesn't realize that the chick's been going crazy for the past three months. I mean the girl shaved her head for Christ's sake."

She heard the faint sound of a shutter and turned her head to see the girls nodding and smiling at her.

"Yeah, totally crazy," Rory agreed.

"Totally," Evie nodded.

"Yeah," Steph said slowly, turning back to the nightstand looking for a shirt. "I told Colin I'd wear this this weekend, but the bastard..." She heard the shutter again and turned to see the girls laughing, their hands behind their backs. "You backstabbers, you're taking pictures!"

"Come on, Steph, we had to," Evie laughed.

"Yeah, I mean how I was supposed to know that something wasn't right here."

"Shut up," Steph glared.

"I shouldn't have let you go," Evie said. "And now you're out of sight."

"Shut up."

"Show me, Steph, how you want it to be."

"Tell us Steph, 'cause we need to know now."

"Oh because!" Evie and Rory sang.

"I'm I the only one that finds it sad that you know the lyrics of the song," Steph muttered, ignoring them as she grabbed a shirt and a pair of jeans from Rory's closet.

"My loneliness is killing me!" Evie sang.

"Hey now!" Rory sang backup.

"I must confess I still believe."

"Still believe."

"When I'm not with you, I lose my mind."

"Give me a siggggnnnn."

"Hit me baby one more time!" Rory and Evie finished together bursting into a fit of giggles.

"I'm killing Colin," Steph muttered pulling on the jeans and throwing the skirt in the furthest corner away from her. What a way to start her senior year at Yale.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

AN: And there you go! There's your fight, your surprise and your funny little back to school anecdote that they will never let Steph live down.

More about Tristan on its way. Trust me, not even I expected him to be gay... I was hoping for him to go gay, but eh... so we'll find out more about the girlfriend in later chapters.

Next chapter will be the first Wednesday golf/tea and more about Tristan.

Hope you enjoyed!

Kassandra

P.S. I'm Sorry Flynn...I had Too! lol