It was dark by the time I finally got home. My phone buzzed in my pocket as I rode the elevator up to the apartment, but with my hands full, it would have to wait. I managed to get my key in the door and clumsily push my way inside.

"Ace?"

"Hey…"

Logan came around the corner with a look of mild relief on his face, "I thought for sure you'd beat me home. Where've you been?"

"Oh, you know… stopped by for a quick chat with the grandparents and left four hours later."

"Four hours?"

I raised the garment bag draped across my arm in response, "Grandma called in reinforcements…"

"So you found something to wear?"

"With the help of Miss Celine." I draped the bag over the chair and unloaded the rest of my belongings onto the dining room table. Logan gave me a kiss, finally greeting me.

I pulled out my phone now that my hands were free to see that I had not one, but several unread text messages from Leslie. I picked up my things once again to bring them upstairs. I'll call her while I unpack.

"I'll be down in a few…"

"Okay. Pizza is on the way…" Bless him.

I dialed Leslie's number as I dropped everything on the bed.

"There you are! I've been texting you all afternoon!"

"Nice to hear your voice too…"

"Well, sorry but can you blame me for being worried. You get fired, and then I don't hear from you for a day and half. I was starting to worry you'd pulled a Grey Gardens and wholed yourself up somewhere."

"No, just went home for a bit. I was driving back this afternoon."

"So, how are you coping? What did Lorelai have to say? You told her, didn't you?"

Oh boy. "Yes I told her. I'm… dealing? There have been some developments."

"Developments?" She was intrigued.

I told her about Mitchum and his lawyers while I unpacked my duffle bag.

"Are you shitting me?"

I cringed at her vitriolic response, but given what she knows about him, I shouldn't have been surprised. "I know… this feels like some sort of alternate universe, but it's not like I have a ton of other options. Besides… I really don't think he would risk his work with Logan over something like this."

She processed it all for a minute before posing what was supposed to be a hypothetical question, "Could your life be any more dramatic?"

I bit back the smile on my face, knowing full well that the next development I had to fill her in on would send her over the edge, "Actually…"

"What else could have possibly happened in the last thirty…" she calculated in her head, "four hours since I saw you last?"

"Logan proposed."

I had to hold the phone away from my head, given the ear-splitting shriek that was emanating from the other end of the line. She finally calmed down just enough to form some actual words, "How? When? What did you say? I mean, you said yes, right? You said that you…"

"Les!" The girl needs to breathe.

"Sorry, I just… Holy shit. He actually proposed?" I nodded before I realized she couldn't actually see me. "Well?"

Logan's voice came calling from upstairs, interrupting our girl talk, "Hey Ace, pizza's here…"

"Well… how about you come help me get ready for this Benefit thing tomorrow and I'll fill you in?"

"Every detail."

"Yea, yea, yea…"

"Excellent! I'll be over at lunch!"

Of course she would. It was very typical Leslie to take a half day to sit around and gossip, and yet somehow she was still very good at her job.

Over pizza, Logan asked how my conversation with the grandparents went. Better than his conversation went with his parents, I imagine.

"Grandma is thrilled. Grandpa was… Grandpa." Logan looked intrigued. "He's happy for us, just wanted to make sure it was what I wanted. You know him…"

He nodded, understanding.

"So, how about your conversation?"

Logan stood up and started to clear our now empty plates. Uh oh.

"Logan?"

He put the dishes down on the kitchen counter and turned back to me, "Well, They're staying at The Plaza this week so that Mom can terrorize the staff leading up to tomorrow, which means I've had the pleasure of Mitchum's presence in the office all week." Fun. "So, I told him this afternoon."

That's it? "And?"

"And what? I told him, but he knew it was coming…"

What? "I thought you said that you didn't…"

"I didn't, but he knew…" Logan paused, I could see him wrestling with whether or not he wanted to divulge more information. "It was part of the contract." The contract about me. Oh… "I told you, Ace. I never had a doubt in my mind that I would be asking you to marry me again, so I made it very clear that if and when you and I got married there would be no obstacles in the way. I didn't want them coming in and trying to waive a bunch of prenuptial agreements or God knows what around…"

We will definitely be tackling the prenuptial agreement topic at a later date, but in the meantime… "So was Shira in on the contract?"

"Honestly? I don't know."

"Well, did Mitchum tell her about us being engaged?"

"If he knows what's good for him and the rest of mankind, I hope he did."

Yikes. I can only imagine how that conversation went. "Well, who knows how she reacted… maybe there won't be a Plaza left standing and we'll be off the hook for tomorrow night."

That finally got a smirk out of Logan, "On the bright side, we know someone in my family is excited for us."

"You tell Honor?"

He nodded before continuing about her enthusiasm. In turn, I let him know that Leslie would be hounding me for details tomorrow. I didn't press him any more about his parents for the night. Ending up in an argument was the last thing we needed before

Logan was already out of the house when my alarm went off the next morning. Alarms… a quaint reminder of when my life had structure… No, no pity party here. I laid in bed and made a mental list for the day. I'll shower, have some breakfast... I've got a few hours before Leslie is supposed to be here, maybe I could actually try to get some work done… Yes, good plan. Plus, it will keep me from thinking too much about what a disaster tonight might be.

I cranked some music while I showered, enjoyed my coffee over the paper, then settled in at my laptop. Work, right… All of a sudden I felt a sudden sense of dread. I had no sense of direction, no one assigning me pieces or guiding me, giving me real time feedback… What am I doing?

But then it dawned on me, this is what I wanted… kind of, anyway. I wanted the freedom to pursue the stories I wanted to, to follow my writing instincts. And I had a vague direction from Dominic. Politics. That was going to be my best shot at staying relevant to The Times. I went back to folders I had started before the WikiLeaks debacle. Right, Obama and education… I took a deep breath and dove in.

I barely registered my phone buzzing on the desk next to me. I finished the section of outline I'd been typing and absentmindedly picked up the phone, "Hello?"

"Hey, I'm on my way over! Shall I pick up lunch?"

It was Leslie. Sure enough a glance at the clock let me know that I had successfully burned through the morning. "Hey, yea sure… anything you want. I'll be here."

I looked over what I'd been working on, an outline for an article questioning how the current administration would approach the No Child Left Behind Act. It clearly wasn't working, and they knew it, so how would they fix it? It felt good. Nobody looking over my shoulder, nobody breathing down my neck while I wrote. I'd gotten several emails sent out looking for commentary and speculation. And all the while, no worrying about tonight. Definitely a well spent morning.

I saved my work and shut the laptop. Leslie's impending arrival would need my full attention. I grabbed my phone and headed back into the kitchen to freshen up my coffee. I noticed that I'd missed a text from Logan.

"Sorry I had to sneak out early this morning. Leslie still coming over this afternoon?"

I replied with a quick, "Yep, on her way now."

No immediate reply, but as well since only a few minutes later there was a knock at the door.

As soon as I opened it, "Okay, spill!"

Leslie came bursting through the door, a bag of takeout in hand. She led herself into the living room, dropping her enormous purse near the stairs on the way, and began unpacking Chinese takeout containers on the breakfast bar. From the kitchen, I grabbed a couple of sets of chopsticks and walked around to sit on the stool next to her.

"Well, after I left work I went to talk to Logan…"

Through a bite of potsticker she inquired, "How'd he take it?"

I shrugged a little, "He and Mitchum think I've got a case for wrongful termination…"

She almost spit out the other half of her potsticker, "I'm sorry… Mitchum?"

"I know…" I really didn't want to get into that again, so I skipped ahead to going home to Stars Hollow. "Anyway, I went home to tell my mother and just get away for a minute, and then last night he showed up."

"Mitchum?"

"No. Logan. Come on, keep up…"

"Sorry! Continue…"

"So he showed up, and apparently he'd talked to Lorelai beforehand because she'd somehow convinced the town to disappear. We had the square to ourselves, and it was all decorated for this big festival they're having tonight, and…"

"And he asked you to marry him."

I nodded, "There was a little more to it than that, but…" I could feel the dreamy, lovestruck look creeping across my face. "Yea."

"Ugh." Sarcasm was a strong suit of Leslie's. "I need new friends… One's without such perfect lives."

Perfect. Yea, right… "Yea, all except that unemployed thing."

She asked me about what I had planned so I filled her in on how I'd spent the morning while we finished eating. She offered to raid archives at The Post for me, but I politely declined. I needed to do this myself.

There was a knock on the door, interrupting our conversation. I looked at Leslie, curious if she was expecting anyone. She looked just as surprised as I did.

I went and answered the door, even more surprised to be faced by two ladies in tidy smocks, carrying various supplies, and curiously two small tubs. One of them kindly but confidently asked to confirm my identity, "Rory Gilmore?"

I answered tentatively, "Yes…" They instantly looked pleased and began to move forward into the apartment. What is going on? "Um… Can I help you?"

The other woman spoke this time, "We're here for your nail appointment. Logan sent us."

Logan sent them? I shook my head. Of course he did. I showed the ladies upstairs to the master bathroom while Les cleaned up lunch, skeptically eyeing us on the way up the stairs.

She met me in the bedroom a couple of minutes later, "What is this?"

"Logan." She raised her eyebrows and eyed me as I pulled my phone out of my pocket. "He booked them for us to get our nails done."

"Nice!" Utter appreciation washed over Leslie as she headed into the bathroom, where the ladies had filled their tubs with warm bubbly water and placed them on the floor, one below the vanity stool and one below the chair from the bedroom. Our own private spa…

I sent Logan a text, "So should we be expecting anyone else from the Wash and Brush Up Co.?"

He quickly responded, "I don't think so, but I'll double check with Carlene."

I knew I liked that woman. "Thank you."

"No problem, Ace. Enjoy it. See you tonight."

No wonder I couldn't shake the goony look from my face. I joined Les and the ladies in the makeshift spa, and we definitely enjoyed our afternoon of girl talk and pampering. Leslie wanted more details on the proposal so I filled her in. She gushed about the ring, of course, which was now sitting in my small jewelry box on the counter. She told me about the apartment that Finn signed a lease on earlier in the week. It was just like old times, plus the perks of having a very wealthy fiance.

When our nails had finished and the ladies had packed up, Leslie got to work on my hair and makeup, a favorite pastime of hers. I sat at the vanity while she bustled around me, not so gently reminding me to sit still.

"So how is tonight going to go?"

I sighed. "Nothing too dramatic, I hope… It is a public event after all. Logan told his dad about the engagement yesterday. We're assuming he told Shira, but we haven't heard anything from her."

"Oh, well that will be exciting…"

I felt a pang of loneliness, wishing that Leslie were coming with us tonight, but Finn had long since been banned from Huntzberger events, and I wouldn't put her through a night like this without a date.

By the time I heard Logan coming in downstairs, Leslie was just putting the finishing touches on me. She curled and pinned my hair up into a loose updo. My makeup was subtle, but lovely. She was zipping my into the dress when Logan appeared in the bedroom doorway.

"Ace…"

Leslie, always happy to show off her handiwork, stepped back to show me off, Vanna White style, "You like?"

"You look stunning." He walked into the room and gently, but passionately kissed me. It nearly made my knees buckle.

Leslie's voice interrupted our moment, "Okay, on that note…"

I felt myself blush, even if the PDA was only in front of her, it was not my usual style. "Les…"

"No, no… my work here is done. You look hot." The blush that had been subsiding flared up again. "Good luck tonight." She dramatically air kissed near each cheek. "Call me tomorrow."

With that she excused herself down the stairs and out of the apartment, disappearing like the fairy godmother she was.

"She's right you know…" Logan snaked his arms around my waist from behind, planting a soft kiss behind my ear on my exposed neck. Brace yourself. "Play your cards right and you might get invited back to my place tonight…"

I could feel his smirk on my skin, "I certainly hope so…" I do live here after all.

I was a little disappointed when his hands slipped away from me and he stepped away, "I'm going to hop in a quick shower."

He disappeared into the bathroom while I finished putting on my shoes and packed my clutch for the evening. Cell phone, wallet, lipstick… maybe I should throw some pepper spray in for good measure.

I glanced at myself in the mirror over the dresser as Logan emerged from the bathroom, towel around his waist. Mm, never gets old…

I watched him saunter confidently into the closet to get dressed while I went back into the bathroom for last minute touch ups.

I added an extra pin or two to my hair, and pulled open one of the drawers of my jewelry box to retrieve my one pair of real diamond earrings. Grandma and Grandpa had given them to me when I graduated from Yale; simple teardrop posts. Just enough of a sparkle.

Logan appeared next to me in the mirror, artfully arranging his hair, tux on, bow tie loosely draped around his neck as I reached for my engagement ring. A little voice in my head was doubting if I should wear it. Logan had spotted my hesitation.

"What's up, Ace?" I could tell that he already had a pretty good idea of where this was going?

"I just… maybe it's not the best idea to…" The look on his face did all his talking for him. He thought I was being ridiculous. "Logan, we have no idea what your mom's reaction to this is going to be, plus if I wear it to this event then everyone will know…"

He looked surprised. "Are we keeping it a secret?"

Not many people outside of our little circle knew we were together at all, let alone how serious we were. It would come out eventually. "Well… no, but…"

A hint of a smile played on his lips, "Then I don't see the problem." I opened my mouth to remind him of the Huntzberger situation, but he shook his head before I could say anything. "Don't worry about it, Ace. This is about you and me, remember?"

I smiled in spite of my worry and nodded. He picked the ring up and slid it onto my finger. "Now you're perfect. Ready?"

I took a deep breath, "As I'll ever be…"

**I do not own any characters or content related to Gilmore Girls or any other entities mentioned.**

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