Thanks for the feedback! You may have guessed that I am not overly fond of Logan and felt that Paris said it best when she told him 'You, Logan Huntzburger, are nothing but a two-bit, spoiled waste of a trust fund! You offer nothing to women or the world in general! If you were to disappear from the face of the earth tomorrow, the only person that would miss you is your Porsche dealer!' but I will be a little kinder later on.

Later that night Rory woke up suddenly. She didn't know what had woken her but she got out of bed to get a glass of water, looking out at the city lights which always shone so brightly. The dinner already felt like a bad dream and she put the glass down and went back to bed, sliding under the covers with Jess. He had been asleep before but woke up as she lay down beside him, frowning and blinking.

"What time is it?"

"It's late, I'm sorry I woke you," Rory said apologetically. "I tried not to."

"It's okay."

Jess sat up slightly and looked at her. Rory was lying still, her eyes wide open and he said knowingly,

"You can't sleep, can you?"

"No," Rory said honestly and she sat back up, turning to face him. "Logan was there."

"Logan? You mean that guy?" Jess exclaimed and Rory nodded, heart throbbing. "He was at that dinner?"

"I did not know," Rory said quickly and he said,

"I kind of figured that. What was he doing there?"

"He said he was on town on business, but Grandma was setting me up," Rory said angrily. "She just completely blindsided me, told me to look nice and he was just sitting in her living room with this grin on his face and champagne. She wanted me to take him to my Chilton reunion."

"Jesus. What did you say?"

"No, of course," Rory said. "It was awful. Grandma was yelling at me, asking me to give her a reason so I said..."

"What did you say?"

"I said I was in love with you," Rory said shyly, her cheeks feeling hot suddenly. "I said I couldn't go because I was in love with you."

A smile crossed Jess's face and they kissed for a moment.

"What did she say?" he asked when they had stopped. "What did they all say?"

"Grandma and Grandpa don't remember who you are," Rory said. "Not your name, at least – Grandpa thought I was talking about a woman."

"Because of my feminine charm?"

"That has to be it," Rory teased but she grew serious again. "Mom was just in shock, I think, and Logan was a total jerk and asked if we were doing each other in high school."

"What did you tell him?" Jess asked quietly and Rory shrugged.

"Nothing, really. I said I didn't lose my virginity to him, he figured it out."

There was a pause and Jess let out a whistle.

"Makes my dinner there seem like a Sunday school picnic, doesn't it?"

"I would gladly relive that again over this. It was awful and Logan was being such a jerk. I don't know what he was expecting."

"Was he how you remembered?" Jess asked and Rory frowned, not saying anything for a moment.

"Yes and no," she said eventually. "I don't know if he's changed or if I see him differently now. He wasn't how I remembered."

"I guess you were different then," Jess said and Rory nodded and then shook her head.

"No, that wasn't it," she said pensively. "I don't know what it was but it was something else entirely."

He nodded and they lay down, Rory laying her head on his chest.

"Grandma called me Lorelai," she said thoughtfully. "It was the weirdest thing."

"Does she ever call you that?"

"Never," Rory said. "She acted like I was Lorelai once though, my mom – it was when I was at that function I told you about and I hadn't worn the dress you'd made fun of. I was wearing regular clothes."

"You showed up in jeans?" Jess laughed. "Man, I wish I'd seen that."

Rory laughed ruefully and shook her head.

"I wasn't that brave but it was just as bad in Grandma's books, she was so mad, and then I snapped and told her about how I was sleeping at Logan's rather than Paris's and that she was controlling me and she called Grandpa my dad. I think she actually thought I was Mom, for a second, and it was the weirdest thing. I was glad to get out."

"Do you think she thought the same thing tonight?"

"I don't know," Rory said honestly. "I mean, Lorelai is my real name, after all, even if no one calls me that. If someone said it to me I would think they'd have my name wrong for a while. Even at Chilton I was Rory, I remember them asking which name I wanted to be known by."

"Lorelai," Jess said, trying it out. "Lorelai Leigh Gilmore – it's kind of pretty, even if it doesn't sound like you."

"You remembered my middle name," Rory said, sitting up and looking at him. "When did I ever tell you my middle name?"

"I read it in one of your books."

"You mean when you were snooping through my books," Rory accused and he went red and laughed. "Which book?"

"Franny and Zooey – I remember, you'd written in the front: Property of Lorelai Leigh Gilmore, age eight, call me Rory and please give me back this book. Very advanced third-grader. You made your i's into flowers though."

"I was eight!" Rory protested through her laughter. "It made writing more fun."

"Yes, but did it make you cool?" Jess asked seriously and Rory swatted him with a pillow, laughing.

"What's your middle name?" Rory asked curiously, sitting up on one elbow. "I don't think you've ever told me and you hardly went for writing your name in the front of books."

"Let alone with flowers," Jess grinned. "It's William."

"William," Rory echoed, frowning and then a memory flashed in her mind. "Oh! After your grandfather?"

"That'd be the one," Jess said with a crooked grin. "Never met the man but I hear he was a decent guy and, honestly, I'm just grateful his name wasn't Egbert or something."

Rory giggled and then looked slightly sombre.

"It's nice that your middle name has a meaning," she said, playing with the quilt. "I don't even know where Leigh came from – Mom said she just liked it. She probably got it from an eighties girl group or something."

"I like it," Jess said, tracing her face with his hand. "You give it meaning – it's named just for you."

"Thank you," Rory said softly and they leaned over and kissed again.

"I don't know where Liz got Jesse from," Jess said, laughing slightly. "She's never told me and somehow I doubt it was the Bible."

"I can't imagine you as anything else."

"I can't imagine you as Lorelai," Jess said, staring at her. "Even if it is your true name."

"I've always been Rory," Rory said, lying into the crook of his arm and closing her eyes. "Never anything else."

"Lorelai Leigh," Jess said and he shook his head. "Not you at all," he said, looking down and then smiled. Rory was already asleep.

After Rory had stormed out there was a deathly silence to the house. Lorelai watched her daughter drive away, waiting despite knowing Rory was not coming back before finally walking slowly back to the house, waylaid by Emily who was standing between the fountain and house, unsure of way to go.

"Well, that was a fine display of behaviour!" she said angrily to Lorelai, as though it was her fault. "Your daughter has no manners whatsoever!"

"Rory has no manners?" Lorelai exclaimed, laughing in disbelief. "She's not a kid, Mom. This isn't over...I don't know, her sixteenth birthday party which was bad enough, this was setting her up. You set her up with the guy she almost married and you didn't tell her. That was cruel, Mom."

"Cruel?" Emily exclaimed. "Cruel?! I was trying to do something good for her! She's been alone for years now, she had no one to go with and Logan's marriage didn't work out like I knew it wouldn't –"

"Would you listen to yourself?" Lorelai said furiously. "Rory's not alone. Even if she wasn't with that guy, she's not alone, she's fine."

"She's twenty-eight and she isn't married!"

Lorelai stared at her, appalled.

"So what?" she asked, her voice shaking. "So what, Mom? She's gone and done something with her life, you know how well she's done and all you care about is that she isn't married?"

"I didn't say that!" Emily said sharply. "I never said I wasn't proud of Rory, you know how much I am, it's just a shame that it didn't work out with her and Logan, she could have had both!"

"That was for Rory to decide, not you!" Lorelai said angrily. "She doesn't think that! Does none of it matter if she isn't married? I'm not married, Mom, do I disappoint you? Actually, I know the answer to that."

"Lorelai," Emily started to say but they were cut off as the front door opened and Logan walked out, looking embarrassed.

"I'm going to go," he said, trying to sound upbeat but his smile false. "Thanks for having me over, Emily."

"Oh – you don't have to go, Logan," Emily said, tripping over her words. "Stay for drinks, we'd be happy for you to stay, wouldn't we?"

"Oh, I'd be just ecstatic," Lorelai said coldly. "We have all sorts of things to talk about."

There was an awkward pause and then Logan shook Emily's hand.

"It's been a pleasure, Emily," he said politely. "Maybe another time. I'm in town until next week. We probably should have warned Rory first."

"Yes," Emily said dimly. "Probably. Goodnight, Logan."

"Goodnight," he said to Emily, nodding to Lorelai, and then walked slowly down the drive, kicking a piece of gravel as he went. Lorelai watched until she heard the hum of his car and then turned to her mother.

"It's been a memorable evening, Mom, one of your best. I'd say this outdoes the party which you paraded Rory around to rich men like a cattle auction."

Emily looked hurt for a moment but shook it off, settling her mask back on her face.

"I seem to recall Rory having a wonderful time at that party," she said coldly. "After all, that's how she met Logan. He was perfect for that new part of her life."

"Maybe then," Lorelai said, shaking her head. "But not now. She was very young then, Mom, and she's an adult now. She doesn't love him anymore."

"He proposed to her!" Emily exclaimed. "You know how much he loved her, how much she loved him and he's ready to move on! They can start over!"

"Mom, she doesn't want to!" Lorelai shouted. "She doesn't want to! She has someone else and you heard her, she doesn't love him anymore anyway!"

"Who is this Jess?" Emily demanded after a pause. "Who is this man?"

Lorelai opened her mouth and then shut it, shaking her head.

"If you want to know that you'll have to talk to Rory," she said angrily. "It's up to her if she wants you to know. Besides, shouldn't you remember?"

"Lorelai, must you be so dramatic?" Emily snapped. "Remember what? My granddaughter's telling me she's in love with someone else, some Jess, when I didn't even know she had a boyfriend! I just want to know who he is!"

"Talk to Rory," Lorelai said, going back into the house for her coat. "You can ask when you call to apologise."

"Apologise?" Emily exclaimed. "Why should I after the way she treated me tonight!"

"Mom, you can't be serious!"

"I am serious, Lorelai," Emily said coldly. "Now if you will excuse me it is late and I want to go to bed."

"Mom, it's not even nine," Lorelai protested but Emily was already sweeping up the stairs. Lorelai watched after her and then jumped as she heard her father blearily say behind her,

"Jess? What kind of name is that for a man?"

Lorelai turned to see him with a stiff brandy and she smiled, somehow unable to feel angry with him.

"It's short for Jesse," she told him. "Goodnight, Dad."

"Yes, yes," Richard said in a confused voice. "Goodnight, Lorelai."

Lorelai turned to go and then, before she could think about it ran upstairs to where her mother was. Emily was sitting in front of the mirror, taking her makeup off and she jumped and Lorelai shouted,

"You can't control her, Mom! You can't control her!"

Emily stared and before she could open her mouth to answer Lorelai was running downstairs and out into the night.

Rory woke the next morning to the sound of her cellphone and she sat up, rubbing her eyes. It was her mother and Rory pulled her shirt and pants on and tiptoed into the hall to take it.

"Hi Mom."

"Hey, sweets," her mother said anxiously. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Rory said honestly. "You don't need to worry, Mom."

"I don't need to worry? You stormed out in a way that did me proud and then drove away like you were going to mow down anyone who got in your way."

"I'm sorry, Mom."

"Don't be sorry," Lorelai said. "It's not that. I just...you scared me, Rory. Are you really okay? Are you home?"

"I'm at Jess's," Rory said awkwardly. "I'm fine, I promise."

Lorelai nodded and didn't say anything. Rory asked tentatively,

"Do they remember him now?"

"No," Lorelai said. "Grandma asked but I said she should ask you."

"I'm not calling her," Rory said angrily. "And somehow I doubt she's going to be calling me. You can tell her, Mom, I don't care. I don't care what she thinks."

Lorelai could not help feeling upset at the anger in her daughter's voice, despite feeling the same and Rory added,

"What happened when I left?"

"Your grandmother and I had a fight, huge surprise," said Lorelai with a short laugh. "Logan left almost straightaway, he said he'd be in town until Sunday."

"Well, good for him," Rory said coldly. "I wish you had given him that black eye, Mom."

Lorelai laughed.

"So do I," she said honestly. "Is it worrying that at some point I've felt like punching all of your boyfriends?"

"Maybe," Rory giggled. "They probably deserved it."

"Oh, they definitely did."

They both laughed for a moment and then Lorelai asked in concern,

"You promise me you're okay?"

"I'm mad at Grandma, but I'm fine. I'm going to head off now, Mom. I'm sorry I left the way I did, it's just..."

"You don't need to explain, Rory," Lorelai said firmly. "I understand. Call me if you want to talk, okay?"

"Okay. Love you, Mom."

"Love you too, kid."

Rory hung up and then saw that there was a text message on her phone. She opened it and then stared as Jess came out and wrapped his arms around her.

"Who was that?"

"Logan," Rory said in disbelief and Jess exclaimed,

"He called you just then?"

"No, that was Mom," Rory said hastily. "But look, he's texted me, how did –?" She stopped and then said in quiet fury, "Grandma. I'm going to kill her."

"What does he want?"

"He wants to see me," Rory said, staring at her phone. "He wants to see me again."

"To say what?"

"I have no idea," Rory said, finally looking up. "But it doesn't matter anyway, I'm not going."

Jess nodded, kissed her cheek and Rory snapped the phone shut and turned away, determined to forget all about it.

The rest of the day was quiet. Rory and Jess caught the subway across town, walked around the park and stopped at Bill's for a danish on the way home. Rory was just breaking hers into half when Jess looked at her and said,

"You're thinking about it."

"What?" Rory asked, knowing what he meant as she asked and he sighed.

"Logan's text."

"I don't want to be." Rory tore her danish into thirds.

"But you are. You're curious, aren't you?"

"I'm curious about what made him think I'd want to go with him," Rory said defensively. "I don't want to see him."

"Rory, be honest with yourself, I know you. You want to know what's going on, I know it's bothering you."

Rory paused, afraid to look up and then she finally burst out,

"Then I'll just be bothered, screw him. I don't owe him anything, if he wants to see me without any warning that's his problem, isn't it? I didn't ask him to come, I didn't ask for any of this."

"No, you didn't," Jess said gently, taking her hand across the table. "But he's here and even though I am completely with you on him being a bastard I think you should go and find out what he wants, get it over with, say what you need to say."

Rory stared at him and then she said quietly,

"I don't even know what to say."

"I didn't know what to say to my dad," Jess said. "But I found out when I went."

Rory was silent and he looked at her carefully.

"It's your life," he said eventually. "And I get why you don't want to go but I think you want to see him and I think it would help with closure, or whatever it is they call it."

"Closure?"

"I remember Liz throwing that word around after reading some self-help books," Jess said and they chuckled. "Seriously though, I think you should."

"Wouldn't it bother you?" Rory asked after a pause and he shrugged.

"This is your thing, not mine and besides, something tells me you won't be riding off with him into the sunset."

"You're definitely right about that," Rory said and she sighed. "And I think you're right about the other stuff. Okay, I'll find out what he wants but I'm not seeing him after this ever again."

"That's your call," Jess said and Rory nodded, getting out her phone. She sent Logan a somewhat formal message agreeing to meet and he replied asking if she would see him the next day. It was short notice, but Rory figured it would be worse if she waited anyway so she agreed to meet him in Hartford at noon. The next morning, after a sleepless night, Rory was ready to go and Jess kissed her goodbye.

"It'll be fine, Ror."

"Yeah, I know," Rory sighed and then she looked at him. "No it won't, we both know that. It's going to suck."

"It'll suck but you'll be glad you went," Jess said seriously and tucked a stray hair behind Rory's ear. "I promise."

"I know," Rory said, kissing him goodbye. "I'll be back before you know it."

"Call me if you want me to come and punch him. I'm still kind of sorry that I didn't get to do that last time."

They laughed and Rory said,

"Thanks, but if anyone gets to punch him it'll be me. Okay, I guess I should do this."

"You'll be fine," Jess said seriously, holding her face in hands for a moment. "Be brave. I love you."

"I love you too," Rory said and they kissed for longer than necessary before Rory finally broke away and got into her car.

"No riding into the sunset?" Jess teased and she rolled her eyes.

"No riding."

"Sure you don't want me to come?"

"No," Rory said heavily. "I have to do this on my own."

Jess nodded, kissed her again and then said teasingly,

"Drive safe, Lorelai Leigh!"

"Stop calling me that!" Rory laughed, starting the car up. "Just because you have a such a normal name!"

He laughed, waved her goodbye and, as Rory made her way out of Manhattan and onto the roads she felt her courage fade and gripped the wheel. She began to doubt what she was doing but she knew there was no going back and she played Jess's words over and over in her mind – be brave. You can do this.