Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter Eight

Logan woke up and the first thing he felt was pain, a shooting pain in his neck and the second thing he felt was a warm body pressed up against him. He moved his head to the right and he could see the skyline and smiled. They had fallen asleep talking on the couch. They had talked about everything. The end of their marriages, their hopes for what their relationship could be. The fear of the unknown and the concern for their children. Rory told him about how she worried about how coparenting with Dean would go and Logan admitted that he was concerned that Noah was bottling his feelings in because he was simply too calm and collected about all of it. However as he was now realizing, they should have moved their conversation somewhere more comfortable at some point in the evening. He moved his arm and took a glance at his watch. It was late, but definitely not late enough to justify remaining on the couch. "Ace," Logan brushed a hair away from her eye and fought the urge to kiss her. "Ace, we fell asleep."

"Hmmm?" Rory pressed her body further against his, her head on his chest, her arm draped over his body, they were still fully dressed but her dress had ridden up her body as the night had worn on and Logan certainly didn't mind the view.

"Come on," Logan sat up slightly, the ache in his neck making him regret his current predicament the tiniest bit. "We can go to bed."

Rory barely opened her eyes before she spoke, "sleepy." Logan managed to adjust himself enough that Rory was more or less forced to stand up, even if it was against her will. She rubbed her eyes and pouted at him and then a moment later smiled as Logan led her to the bedroom. He opened his dresser drawer and tossed an old t-shirt at her as he undid his already loosened tie and the buttons on his now wrinkled shirt. Rory was back under the blankets much faster than he was as she quickly removed her dress and bra and then climbed in, she bristled at the feel of the cold sheets against her previously warm body. "Come on," Rory didn't even open her eyes, she just extended an arm to him and a moment later after discarding his clothes on the ground and pulling on a pair of pyjama pants he crawled into the bed, only once he was there he wasn't really sure what to do. It was nearly three in the morning but Logan felt almost immediate relief as Rory scooched herself back against his body. Without thinking his arm went around her waist and held her snuggly against his chest. "I love you," he murmured against her hair as he placed a quick kiss behind her ear where he could access.

"I love you too."

He woke rested which was surprising given the pain that had been in his neck not four hours earlier. He felt her body against his still but now their legs were intertwined and his arm wasn't so securely draped around her. "Ace," he mumbled, if it weren't for her physically being attached to him, he would believe it was all a dream.

"No, sleepy," Rory pushed herself against him.

"It is Tuesday. I have to go to work, and you have no clothes."

Rory turned over to face Logan, "I thought you liked me with no clothes?" she thought back to his comment from the night before, "I should have gone home."

Logan shook his head, "no, you shouldn't have. You would've gotten home stupid late, and then you would've been up stupid early. Take the morning off, tell Parker to cancel your meetings, go shopping and come in late. Spend the week with me," he added but then continued before Rory could speak, "we need to go slow, and trust me…I want to not go slow. I'm not particularly good at slow."

"I know," Rory smirked.

"But we need to go slow, and you can't spend five hours a day commuting. Stay here, I will be a perfect gentleman and next week maybe you'll have a better idea…but you can stay here as long as you want."

"What if I don't want you to be a perfect gentleman?" Rory asked him, she pouted as he rolled out of bed but she appreciated the view of his toned back as he walked to the bathroom. "If I had clothes I would give you shit about telling me to take the morning off."

"I'm only telling you to take the morning off because you have no clothes. You go back in today with the same thing you wore yesterday and people will talk."

"I have a spare outfit in my office."

"You'd still have to walk of shame. Your call, but…I'm offering you the morning."

Rory sat up and grabbed her phone. She sent a quick message to Parker telling him she would be in at lunch and to reschedule her morning, then she e-mailed her team to notify them of the same. She stood up and walked to the kitchen in just the tee he had given her in the middle of the night and began to brew a pot of coffee. He could refuse to sleep with her, but he couldn't keep her from coffee. She saw a missed call from Emma and her heart fluttered a bit, the idea that Emma had called for something was a relief to Rory given how tense things had been. She hit the button to call back as she opened the cupboard and pulled out a bowl as the phone rang. It seemed to take forever until she heard the muffled voices on the other end, it took her a second to realize it was Dean talking to their daughter and there was a pang of guilt that she wasn't there, even though she wouldn't be there anyway, she was normally at work already.

"Mom, hey."

"Hey kid," Rory pressed the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she grabbed the yogurt from the fridge and mixed granola and fruit in for Logan. "I saw you called," next she grabbed two coffee mugs and poured herself the first cup while the rest continued to brew.

"Yeah…I was just…are you still going to have lunch with me on Saturday? You said we would…"

"Of course I am," Rory told her as she sipped her coffee. "I don't really have a place to stay yet that has room for you to spend the night, but I'll pick you up and we can spend the afternoon together. I just have a work thing at night that I have to go to."

"I just wanted to make sure…"

"Is that coffee I smell?" Logan came into the kitchen causing Rory to practically jump out of her skin and start waving her hand around to get him to stop talking. "Sorry," he mouthed without any accompanying sound.

"Who was that?" Emma asked

"That was," Rory exhaled, "that was a friend of mine, you remember my boss? Logan. We are just having a meeting," ok, so it was a half truth but that was better than trying to convince her that it was Luke which would be a straight up lie, not to mention she knew his voice.

"Oh, yeah I guess you're already at the office."

"I'll call you after school, ok?"

"Dad wants to talk to you later?" Rory could hear Dean in the background.

"Tell Dad I will give him a call this afternoon?" Rory told her calmly, she didn't want to ever put Emma in the middle of their issues, and she knew that something as simple as asking her to call wasn't worth getting upset about. "I love you Em."

"Bye mom, I love you too."

Logan gave Rory an apologetic smile as she put the phone on the counter. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize," Rory gave him the cup of coffee and immediately noticed how quickly he had gotten ready, "you are running late?"

"We slept in by our standards," Logan nodded. "Everything good with Emma?"

Rory nodded. "I have to tell her the truth…the lying will just cause more problems in the long run," she pushed the bowl of yogurt towards him. "So…on Saturday…we're meeting for lunch and I will tell her…what did you tell your kids?" Logan clenched his jaw a bit and his eyes widened. "You haven't told them, have you?"

"Not exactly," he admitted. They hadn't discussed many of the details of his infidelity but just that he had been in a relationship with someone, "they know there was…someone, but they don't know it was you. I will tell them, but Abigail and I will talk about it and then decide…"

Rory felt a pang of sadness, not at the fact that Abigail and Logan were still getting along, but more a longing for the same thing for herself. She wished that she and Dean could have a civil conversation when it came to Emma. A conversation that wasn't clouded with anger and nasty comments. "I'm glad you two can do that."

"It…I can't pretend Abigail is happy about this. She isn't…but we'll figure it out, and the kids are more important…I'm sure that you and Dean will get there," he added cautiously. Although from everything he had ever known about Dean and everything Rory had told him the night before, Logan wondered if they would ever be on the same page.

"You need to go to work."

"I'll see you…later? Dinner?"

"I'm actually going to have dinner with Paris tonight," Rory explained. "But…maybe a drink tonight?"

xxx

"Let me taste," Rory stood up slightly on the rail of the barstool she was on and leaned over the counter with her mouth partially open hoping that Logan would take pity on her and give her a taste of the risotto he had been cooking for the last hour. "I've been patient."

Logan leaned forward and put the wooden spoon to her lips. "It's hot," he warned before Rory recoiled at the temperature of the dish. "I told you!" Logan put the spoon back in the black Le Creuset dutch oven and grabbed a glass of water from the counter. He pushed it towards her and then he walked around the island so he was standing beside her. "Tongue," he smirked as she put the water down and stood up when he got there. "You're fine," he told her with a smile.

"I'm not fine," Rory countered, "it hurt. Your mean rice hurt me."

"My mean rice?" Logan repeated, he stepped back allowing Rory to step away from the island. "You just said it smelled delicious, and if I recall, you wanted to try it even though I told you it wasn't ready to eat, it needs to sit."

"Well you didn't tell me it was going to hurt!"

Logan reached forward and put his hand on her cheek, "I'm sorry you burnt your tongue." He gave her a smirk as she leaned into his palm, "what are the chances you'll stay past this week?" His voice was low and gravely, they had spent the week passing each other. That was largely because Rory had filled her calendar with visits with friends in the city before she had ended up staying with Logan. While she had dinner with Paris on Tuesday, she saw a friend from Harvard on Thursday and Logan had been with his kids on Wednesday night at the house, so now on Friday it was their first real chance at relaxing together. While Logan was clear on the fact that he wanted to respect Rory's boundaries, and he respected that she wanted to tell Emma a bit more of the truth before they were intimate, the sexual tension had been rapidly building since Monday night. Maybe it was the fact that somehow Rory had forgotten to buy pyjamas when she went shopping and seeing her sleep in any one of his t-shirts was damn near intoxicating to him, and maybe it was the fact that for the first time in the two years they had been together they could just be but there was a buzz of anticipation in the air when they were together.

"Depends on if you try to burn me again," Rory turned her head into his hand and kissed his palm. "God," she breathed as his lips inched closer to his. She could feel the hair on her neck stand up and her lips parted ever so slightly, "Logan," she wasn't sure what the point of saying it was.

"Hmm?" Logan dipped his head to the left and brought his lips to her neck, just below her ear.

Rory closed her eyes and relaxed into him. His hand dropped from her cheek and found her waist, he pulled her in and her arms went around his neck while his lips moved up her neck and to her jaw before finally reaching her lips. "God," Rory moaned at the sensation of his tongue against her lips. He was grasping at the hem of her shirt now and she had moved her hands to his back and she pulled at the fabric of his shirt as they explored each other, "Logan," she breathed after a moment.

"I know," he rested his head against hers as they both caught their breath, "I'm sorry."

"Well don't be silly," Rory pressed a chaste kiss on his lips, "I'm not sorry but I…I can't lie to her. I need her to understand before we do this again. I know it sounds weird and silly because we were together for so long…but I need this to be different. If we're going to be together, we need to start off on the right foot."

"So you're admitting it then?" Logan grinned widely as they slowly separated from each other. She gave him a look, a confused one and he realized his statement was a bit accusatory on some levels. "We're gonna do this? For real…like we can be seen and go out for dinner and hold hands and we can go to work together…"

Rory laughed, she loved the childlike grin on his face as he rhymed off all of the things that they could do if they weren't hiding in the shadows. "I think some of that stuff, yes…but we also have to be smart. We both just came out of marriages, and…work," she exhaled.

"What about work?"

"I don't want anyone to think I'm fucking the boss."

Logan hated that sentence. He had hated it when Abigail had said it to him, he had hated when Rory recounted her and Dean discussing it, he hated it on television and movies and anywhere else he might have heard it over the years. "You're not fucking the boss."

"Well, I am, but yes, I know what you mean. It does beg the question though of whether or not I should entertain other offers."

"From other men?" Logan laughed. He knew what she was saying but he didn't even want to consider it. He returned to the kitchen and put the risotto on the plates that he had taken out and delicately sliced the pork tenderloin that had been resting out of the oven for a few minutes. "Or work…"

"Wouldn't this be simpler if I wasn't at Huntzberger?"

"I don't want it to be simpler," Logan admitted. It was selfish of him of course, to want her there, to want to work with her when he knew that their relationship would put a target on her back in many ways. He also knew that if she got out ahead of it, if she left Huntzberger then it wouldn't matter if they were together…but if she left Huntzberger and they were together it could also create an enormous conflict of interest for both of them. "And I don't want there to be parts of your life that you can't talk about, things that I can't tell you because of our jobs…we've spent so fucking long keeping secrets," he started plating the rest of the food and then grabbed the bottle of pinot noir that had been breathing on the counter and poured it into the two Camille glasses from Crate and Barrel. "Sit," he put the plate down on the placemat where she had been sitting before and then he went to join her with his plate. "I don't want lies, I don't want secrets…"

"Easy for you to say," Rory gave him a look as she picked up her fork and smiled at him. "This looks delicious by the way, thank you."

"Are we bickering?" Logan smiled at the normalcy of the interaction as he took a bite of his foo. "Why don't we cross this bridge when we come to it? I just want you to be happy and doing what you love. So if you want to leave, I won't stop you, but I want you to know as your boss and as your…partner…boyfriend…whatever you want to call it…I don't want you to leave."

"We can talk about it later," Rory agreed. "What are you doing tomorrow? I have to leave early."

"I thought you were meeting Emma for lunch?" Logan asked as he took a sip of his wine and looked towards her.

"We are," Rory told him, "but my car is in Stars Hollow, so I'm going to take the train," Logan was looking at her like she had three heads now, his mouth slightly agape as she continued, "and then get my car and drive back to Em, and then I'll see if I can park the car with a friend or something in Farmingdale until I figure things out and come back here for the party. What?"

Logan couldn't help but laugh, "take my car."

"I don't need to take your car. I have a car, and if you don't recall, you were with me when I bought it," she smiled. "It'll be an early start, but it'll be fine."

"By the time you get to the dinner for Rob," he referred to the retirement party the following night, "you will be exhausted and grouchy and I for one think that I am offering you a simple alternative that doesn't inconvenience me at all."

"What are you doing tomorrow?" Rory asked him again.

"I'm going to see Noah and Lily," he told her, "I can call for another car. Hell, I have my car here if I really want to drive. But you are talking about four hours of driving just to get your car…come on Ace."

"Fine," Rory agreed reluctantly. "But I don't want this to be a regular thing. I don't need to have a car take me places."

"You're a strange woman, did you know that?"

xxx

Rory felt strange as she knocked on the front door of the home she had lived in for so long. She took a step back when she saw Dean swing it open, "hi," she smiled awkwardly. "Is Em…"

"Getting ready," Dean shrugged and dug his hands into his pockets. "Where's your car? Did something happen?" he almost sounded worried as he spoke.

"My car is in Stars Hollow…"

Dean nodded his head, "ahh, so this is his."

"Dean can we talk for a minute? Can I come in? Or…out here? In the garage?"

"I don't have anything to say to you Rory. Anything else can be through the lawyer. You've moved on," he nodded to the black Suburban, "clearly."

"Dean I want us to get along. I know I hurt you, and I'm sorry. But…we need to be a team."

"Says who?" Dean asked as he stepped outside and closed the door, he knew Emma would be a few minutes yet. "Is that what your boyfriend says?"

Rory pulled her coat around her body, "no, it is what I say because I believe it is best for Emma."

"You two are really going to try to be together?" Dean asked. He squinted a little bit as he looked at her. "You're taking his car…why is your car in Stars Hollow?"

"I spent the week in Manhattan," Rory answered vaguely. He could take what that what he wanted from that, but Rory didn't owe him a full explanation.

"So you're living with him? Don't you think I should know that? We share a child in case you forgot…"

"Oh come on Dean," Rory rolled her eyes. "I didn't forget, and right now I am just staying there. I don't know if I'm going to live there or what, but when that is an issue, when I have a place for Emma to stay, you will know if anyone else is living there. If for no reason other than the fact that I respect that you are her father. I do plan on telling her today."

"Telling her what?"

"About Logan," Rory was really wishing that her daughter had inherited her propensity for being early. "I'm going to tell her that we are seeing each other. I don't want to lie to her."

"Why worry about that now?" Dean muttered under his breath.

Rory was about to bite back when she saw the door swing open and Emma came outside. She looked awkwardly between her parents before she gave Dean a hug and then turned to greet Rory. "Hey," she smiled.

"Hi sweetheart," Rory accepted the hug that Emma offered and then both of them turned to Dean. "I'll have her home by three."

"Bye Dad." Dean waved his goodbye and watched as the two got into the waiting SUV. Rory had told him the plan for lunch and maybe some shopping, nothing outrageous, just a chance to unwind and talk after spending the week apart. "Where's your car?"

"It is in Stars Hollow," Rory explained, "so I borrowed this."

"You borrowed a driver?" Emma giggled.

Rory smiled at her daughter as they drove towards the restaurant that they had agreed on. It was only a few miles away and Emma caught Rory up on her week at school, the projects she was working on at school, her upcoming swim meet. "I'll be there," Rory assured her of the event that was a couple of weeks away, "I'll take the afternoon off work."

"What about Dad? He is coming."

"Dad and I can both be there together," Rory assured her. This was all new, Rory knew that and it was a delicate dance for everyone involved, but she would do anything she could to keep things normal for Emma. "Don't worry about him and I. We'll be fine. I know he isn't happy with me right now, and…I can't say I blame him, but he's a good man, and he loves you and that is all that matters." The car stopped and Rory got out first, they were going to an Italian restaurant on Main St that Emma had always liked. They walked inside and waited to be seated, Emma continued telling Rory about her week, Rory managed to get a couple of questions about how things had been at the house and she was relieved to hear that things were going well. Emma explained that Dean had been working so she had to get herself home from school which she had been doing for a while anyway, and Dean was normally home within a few minutes of her return. Rory had known that separating would be difficult. She never anticipated it would be easy. A huge part of her felt relief, she felt relief that the weight of her marriage was off her shoulders, but it didn't mean she stopped worrying about Emma, and even Dean. She may not have been in love with Dean anymore, but she still wanted him to succeed and not just for their daughter, for himself as well.

They ordered drinks, Rory got a coffee and Emma a Coke, a comfortable silence settled over them as they perused the menu for their meals. They came here often, it had been one of their favourite places to go when just the two of them went out for a meal. Dean didn't love it but he would tolerate it when Rory and Emma asked, so it was a special place for the two of them. "Mom?" Emma looked at Rory after they had ordered.

"Mmmm?" Rory smiled as the drinks came and the waitress told them she would be back with their meals.

"Why….why couldn't you and Daddy stay married?" Emma asked calmly.

Rory felt her stomach make its way to her throat and she swallowed slowly, she knew this question would come, but she hadn't expected it yet. They had given her some vague reasons for the divorce. Things weren't working, Rory's work schedule, but they hadn't gone into detail. Rory didn't want Emma to worry about the nitty gritty of their split. "Well, it's a bit complicated. And like Dad and I told you, we love you so much and that is the most important thing of all of this. You don't have to choose between us, we will both be there for you."

"I know, that is what everyone says when they get a divorce."

"Everyone?"

"My friends."

"Ok…"

"But I want to know why because something had to change. You don't just wake up one day and decide that you don't love someone anymore, do you? If you can do that, what about me? You could decide you don't love me anymore."

Rory thought she had felt a lot of emotions in the past few weeks, but the one she felt in that moment was the worst. "I could never stop loving you," she said it like it was the simplest thing in the world because to Rory, as a mother, it was. But she could see that the fear Emma had was real to her and Emma couldn't understand the difference between the love a parent had for their child and the romantic love between her and Dean. "Things with Dad…he is a good man, but…we had been together for so long and I think at some point, we stopped growing together and we started to grow apart. I wasn't happy. I worked all the time and my job is very busy and I just…your Dad is an amazing father, and he is the best parent I could ask for for you, but he wasn't a good husband for me anymore, and I wasn't a good wife."

"So where are you going to live now?"

Rory took a deep breath. "Em, I think that you need to know the truth about everything going on here. And I want you to know how much I love you, and how sorry I am for how this has all happened. I'm not proud of how things have happened and how I have handled things, but I have been seeing someone else."

"Like…dating them?"

Rory nodded as she watched the confusion wash over Emma, "my boss Logan and I have been seeing each other for a while now. I'm not…I wish I hadn't hurt your Dad and you in the process because I know this isn't easy, but Emmie, I promise you we are going to figure this out."

"So you left Dad and I for him?"

"Em I didn't leave you," Rory told her desperately, "I am just…I'm living somewhere else."

"With someone else."

"Emma," Rory took a deep breath. "I know this is confusing, and hard for you and…I know that it is more than you should have to deal with at your age. I understand all of that, but I need you to trust that I didn't make this decision lightly. I love you, I love you more than anything in this world."

"But you don't love Dad?" Emma challenged her.

"I don't love Dad, not in the way a wife should love her husband," Rory admitted quietly. "When you're older you will understand this…you will understand that I chose happy and that you never have to stay somewhere that you aren't fulfilled anymore no matter what is holding you there. I can still be a good mom to you without being married to Dad."

"So you just leave? When things get hard you are saying I can just quit? If I don't like school anymore I don't have to go to school?" Emma countered in a way only a child of her age could.

"Em, no, that is not what I'm saying," Rory sighed. "Honey, is this really what you want to talk about?"

"Well what else can we talk about other than how you ruined my family to go and be with your boyfriend while Dad has to do everything!"

The food came and Rory and Emma sat in silence for a moment while they waited for the waitress to walk away. Rory could see that Emma was upset and Rory herself was barely keeping her composure. "You being with dad full time is only until I get settled."

"With him?" Emma countered, her displeasure was clear in the tone of her voice and her furrowed brow. She was much more like her mother than most people would give her credit for, her expressions were all Rory, even if some of her mannerisms were more like Dean.

"Yes, maybe it will be with him…Em…I really don't want to argue with you."

"I want to go home."

"We haven't even eaten," Rory pointed out.

Emma crossed her arms over her chest and repeated the statement, "I want to go home," but this time she really drove her point in, "I want to be with Dad."

AN: This chapter was supposed to end differently, but I felt the weight of the Emma conversation meant I needed to end it here. Emma is 12, so she thinks she understands adult things, but she is in fact a child. The rebuilding of their relationship will be complicated, and it is further complicated by her closeness to Dean. The next chapter will be Rogan-y goodness. I will hopefully get another chapter up by early next week but my focus for the weekend will be EHC and IKY and laying 1500sqft of sod...so wish me luck (again). Please read, review, enjoy...if you haven't figured it out, reviews make us authors happy.