Thanks for the feedback!

As the train picks up pace Charlotte clenches and unclenches her hands. She wants to listen to music, but doesn't want to turn her phone on, and she didn't bring anything to read. All she can do is stare out of the window, but as it's night there's not a lot to see. Water splats against the glass, so it must have started raining. Charlotte wonders if her parents know she's gone yet. That makes her conscience prick a little. They must be worried, but Charlotte decides that this is more important. They wouldn't be worried if they hadn't started lying in the first place. Charlotte settles back against her seat. She thinks of what Logan will say when he sees her. That makes Charlotte worry too and she concentrates on putting the diamond necklace back around her neck.

Some time later the train pulls into New York. Charlotte had been bored but now that the train is here the journey felt too quick and she gets up on wobbly legs. Grabbing her jacket, she tugs it back on and follows the rest of the passengers off the train.

Charlotte knows it's not far to Logan's from the station but she can't remember the way. It's dark and the rain is sheets of water streaming into her eyes and drenching her all over. Charlotte's jacket doesn't even have a hood and soon she's soaked through. Everyone around is her is running, jostling their umbrellas and jumping into cabs and as Charlotte moves towards one the car drives through a puddle, sending the water straight up and over her legs.

Charlotte jumps back too late and almost falls, and jumps again as a voice says, "Hey kid, you alright?"

"I want a cab," Charlotte says, "and I got soaked."

She has a horrible feeling she's about to cry, out of nowhere, and the man whose voice it is says, "If you need a cab you need to call for one! Haven't you ever been to New York before?"

Charlotte nods, shivering slightly, and his face softens. The man steps forward, calling the cab approaching, and says, "Take that one. I'l grab the next one - you'll be here all night if you just stand there like that. You know where you need to go?"

"Yes," Charlotte sniffles. "Thank you."

"That's alright. Now jump in before the driver gives up and goes to the next person. Go on."

Charlotte nods, trying to smile, and gets into the cab. When she's asked where to go her mind blanks for a moment but thankfully the address shoots back into Charlotte's mind. She turns around to try and see the man who helped her but he's already gone.

"Horrible night," the driver declares as he pulls up to the apartment building. "You're lucky to go in and get warm."

"Right," Charlotte says softly. She digs into her purse, getting the money from her wallet and pays and thanks him. Charlotte gets out, staring up at the building. Despite the rain, she goes over hesitantly, having that shaky feelings in her legs again.

To her luck, a couple are just going into the building. Charlotte waits for a moment and then dives for the door, getting it just before it closes. The doorman is greeting the other couple but narrows his eyes at her. "Hey," he says. "I didn't let you in."

"I've been here before," Charlotte says, trying to sound confident. "Remember?"

The doorman grunts and she says, "I went to see Logan Huntzberger with my mom."

"He didn't tell me you were coming."

"He knows," Charlotte says quickly. "It was a last minute arrangement."

"If you say so," the doorman replies. He turns back to the other couple and Charlotte releases a deep breath, going over to the elevator. She punches in the floor number and stares at herself in the elevator mirror. Charlotte looks a complete mess but there's nothing she can do about that. Her nerves are the main focus anyway. The diamonds catch the dim rays of light here and there.

The elevator pings as it reaches Logan's floor and Charlotte steps out, trembling slightly. She doesn't have to do this, she thinks. She could just turn around and go home and get killed by her parents, but Charlotte takes a step forward, and then another. She's here now and she wants to know what Logan will say. Charlotte takes the last few steps to his door, pulls in her breath, and knocks on his door.

Logan opens it a few seconds later. He stares at her, stopping, and says, "Charlotte?"

"Hi."

"What are you doing here?" Logan asks, rubbing a hand across his head. "It's late. Is your mom with you?"

"No."

"Did we arrange something I forgot about?"

"No. I'm just here."

Logan stares at her and finally says, "Come in, you're soaked."

Charlotte follows him inside. The apartment is empty, aside from a few beer and wine bottles knocking around. Logan is wearing a crumpled shirt and jeans, looking considerably more casual than the few occasions Charlotte remembers.

"Lucia is visiting family," Logan says with a nervous laugh. "I need to fix up the place a bit."

Charlotte wraps her arms around herself and Logan asks bluntly, "What are you doing here, Charlotte?"

"I wanted to see you," Charlotte says. "That's okay, right? I'm wearing the necklace you gave me and everything."

"It's not a good time -"

"You said you wanted me here," Charlotte challenges him. "Remember? When you made us go before?"

Logan squirms slightly. "Here - let me get you a towel or something."

"I don't want a towel or something," Charlotte says loudly. "I want you to tell me what happened."

"What's going on?" Logan demands. "Why have you come here? Did you Rory send you?"

"Mom doesn't know where I am," Charlotte says. "I decided this on my own."

"Your mom doesn't know you're here?" Logan echoes, eyes widening. "Does she know you've come to New York?"

"No."

Logan lets out a groan and stretches out his hand. "Give your phone."

"What? Why?"

"Because mine is broken - of all the damn days - and your mom will be going out of her mind."

"Good," Charlotte says spitefully and he looks at her. "Are you here because you read that book of hers?"

"What do you think?"

"You should go home."

"No."

Charlotte folds her arms. Logan looks at her and glances back at the door.

"Listen, you can't be here," he says urgently. "Besides Rory not knowing where you are, my wife is going to come home any minute."

"I don't want to go home!" Charlotte shouts, making him jump. "I don't care if your wife comes back!"

"Hey -"

"I'm sick of everyone lying to me!" Charlotte cries. "Why is it my problem if you haven't told your wife? I just want to know why you did it!"

"Did what?"

"Had an affair with Mom," Charlotte says. "Lied to everyone - kept me secret."

Logan looks away and Charlotte says, "Don't you want to know me? Didn't you ever care about me?"

"Of course I cared about you," Logan says, going over to her but Charlotte shakes her head, her eyes stinging.

"No. You kept me secret. Even if you didn't stay with Mom, you never told your wife."

"I wanted to stay with your mom," Logan says angrily. "Did she tell you that? I loved her. I didn't want her out of my life."

"Mom said you asked her to marry you," Charlotte says, sniffling. "But you didn't want to have a baby."

"I didn't," Logan agrees. "But I was willing to try. When she told me she was pregnant I offered to get married."

"Then why didn't you try harder?"

"She'd stopped loving me," Logan says, his voice hurt. "And I'd already agreed to marry Odette."

"You didn't have to marry her," Charlotte argues and Logan laughs, making her frown. "What? Did you love her more than Mom?"

"No, I didn't love her more than Rory. Not then, anyway. But it was arranged. I couldn't just back down from that."

"Why not?"

"Because it was the plan," Logan exclaims. "The plan was to marry her and have heirs - kids."

"I know what an heir is," Charlotte says quietly and Logan goes on, "My whole life was arranged for me. I knew I'd only marry someone pre-approved. And it wasn't all bad. I like my life - took a long time to admit it, but I do. I like being rich, I like being able to do anything. Anything I can afford, which is almost everything. So when your mom turned me down I went with the plan."

"You don't have other kids," Charlotte says slowly and Logan shakes his head. "Odette can't have them."

"Oh."

"We didn't know that when we got married."

Charlotte doesn't know what to say to that. She assumes no one else in his family knows he has a child, not that Charlotte thinks she's any kind of heir. The water from her jacket is steadily dripping onto the carpet and Charlotte watches it make a pattern. She's got mud on there too. Appropriate, she thinks.

"Your mom didn't want that life," Logan says. "Not in the end."

"She told me that. But she liked it, I know she did. I read about how much she liked it."

"Rory loved it at first. She was so young and pretty innocent."

"I don't know," Charlotte remarks and Logan says, "She seemed that way to me. Rory was sheltered. She was so young, we both were, and she loved everything about my life. We had a lot of fun but she got to see the dark side of it eventually. She said it was shallow - and she's right, it is. It's shallow and trapping but I like the other stuff more."

A lump is growing in Charlotte's throat. "More than me, right?"

"No," Logan says quickly but Charlotte shakes her head, starting to cry. "I bet you wish I'd never been born."

"That's not true."

"If it's not true then why have you kept me secret?" Charlotte cries. "Why didn't you tell your wife about me? I hate my mom for lying but she's still my mom. Why didn't you ever want to be my dad?"

"It's complicated -"

"No it's not!" Charlotte shouts. Tears and snot are streaming down her cheeks. "It's not! Mom had me and you pretended she didn't. You pretend I don't exist! You just send me stuff now and then and only talk to me if your wife's not around!"

"Charlotte -"

"Why don't you care about me?" Charlotte asks, hiccuping over her sobs. "Why don't you want to know me?"

"I do," Logan argues. "That's why I asked to see you whenever I was here. I do care about you, I love you."

"Only when it's a good time for you," Charlotte says, wiping her eyes. "It was like that with Mom, right? You'd see her when it was a good time for you."

"No, Charlotte. It was nothing like that."

"If it was nothing like that, why didn't you tell Odette about her? Why'd you offer that house for Mom to stay in? I read all of it!"

"You don't know anything about this!" Logan shouts, making her jump. "You're just a kid. You don't know how my family works. I took your mom to my parents' house, when we were in Yale, and they dismissed her right away. She was never going to be good enough for them. There wasn't any point trying. But I loved her."

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why did you love Mom?"

"I loved her because she was funny and smart and I had adventures with her. She wasn't part of that stifling world I grew up in. I didn't want to let that go."

"Nana left that life. You could have tried."

"I could have," Logan agrees. "But I was happy with my arrangement. So was Rory, when it comes to that. She wasn't complaining. She wanted that house, I know she did."

Charlotte starts feeling sick. She stares at the carpet until her visions blurs and Logan says, "Hey, come on. Sit down, let me get you a drink. You're shivering."

"No," Charlotte says, her voice ringing. Her hair is wet and matted against her head and she pushes it back. Charlotte catches sight of the piano in the corner and resists the urge to go and bang on the keys. "I don't want to sit. I don't want a drink."

"I'm sorry it all happened this way," Logan says gently. "This is why Rory didn't want to tell you. She didn't want you to be hurt by all of it either."

"You should have told me," Charlotte says, looking up. "I already knew you didn't want to be my dad. I could have dealt with the rest."

"Your mom loves you more than anything, do you know that? I came to see her, when she had you. And she was very fierce about what we did never hurting you."

"Too late for that," Charlotte says quietly. Logan looks at her and says again, "Give me your phone, Charlotte. I need to call her."

"No," Charlotte says, stepping back. Logan tries to laugh. "You're as stubborn as she is, that's for sure. Come on."

"No," Charlotte says loudly. "I'm not going until I'm ready to go."

"I said you can't be here," Logan says angrily. "And your mom needs to come get you."

"I don't want her to come get me," Charlotte spits out. "I'm not leaving."

"I don't have time for this!"

"I'm here!" Charlotte says furiously. "You can't pretend I'm not here!"

"I'm saying it's a bad time -"

"I don't care!"

"Hey, don't talk to me like that!"

"Why?" Charlotte demands, her eyes flashing. "Because you're my father?"

Logan folds his arms and Charlotte starts feeling a rush of tears again. "When's my birthday? When did I start talking? What was my first word? When did I learn to read?"

"Charlotte -"

"If you're my father, you should know these things, right? Why don't you? Why does Mom have to tell you to email me and send me Christmas cards? Why don't you just do it because you love me?"

Before Logan can answer the front door opens and they look round to see a woman come in, the woman Charlotte recognises from Logan's wedding photo as Odette. She puts her umbrella in the stand by the door and startles at the sight of Charlotte.

"Hello," she says curiously. "Logan, who is this?"

Logan doesn't answer. Odette stares at Charlotte for a moment and then laughs.

"I'm sorry," she says. "You look a lot like someone I saw once - someone my husband knew."

"I'm Rory's daughter," Charlotte says. "If that's who you mean. My name's Charlotte Gilmore."

"Yes," Odette says curiously. "Why are you here? Logan, this girl is dripping water everywhere and doesn't even have a drink. This child should be sitting down and given some dry clothes."

Charlotte and Logan both stay silent and Odette says loudly, "I don't understand."

She looks at Charlotte and asks, "How old are you?"

"I'm sixteen and a half," Charlotte answers. She looks at Logan, and Odette does so too. She doesn't say anything but her eyes narrow. When it's clear Logan isn't going to say anything Charlotte answers for him, "He was with my mom around then. Right before you were married."

Logan closes his eyes and then jumps as Odette shouts, "What?" She jumps into a stream of French, English interspersed here and there, and Charlotte catches the words your daughter?

"Odette," Logan says weakly, "It was a long time ago. It was a big mistake."

Tears fill Charlotte's eyes. She wrenches off her diamond necklace and throws it at him. It hits Logan on the arm and he stares at her.

"I'm your mistake," Charlotte sobs, "but I don't want to be. I hate you. I have my mom and my dad and I don't need this stupid necklace you gave me. I want my real dad."

"Charlotte -"

Charlotte flings the front door open and runs out. She can hear Logan and Odette call after her but she ignores them. Tears are running so hard down her cheeks Charlotte can't see properly. It's like being in a nightmare. Charlotte finds the elevator, runs inside and cries the whole way down. Every time she thinks of Jess shouting you're my daughter! it hits her all over again. He knows all the answers to the questions Charlotte demanded of Logan. And Charlotte said she had a whole other father. What kind of a father is Logan? One who couldn't even tell his wife who she is and calls her a big mistake. She automatically lifts her hand to touch her locket but that's gone too, making Charlotte's heart ache again. Charlotte is still crying when she gets out of the building, the rain pouring all around her. She was wrong before she was even born.