I ring the doorbell reluctantly, and start when my mother opens it herself.

"Why are you just standing there in the cold Lorelai?" she clips.

I shake my head. "Umm…because you answered your own door?" I offer. Stupid coffee stealing limo boy. I can't believe I have to face my mother with no caffeine.

"Don't be absurd. Gretchen is on vacation, get in here."

I follow her slowly. "So, is Rory here yet? She promised me a story."

My mother shakes her head. "She called about a half hour ago, something about having to pick something up on her way." We enter the sitting room, and she moves to the bar. "Martini?"

I shake my head. "I don't suppose you have any coffee?"

"It was the strangest thing, I went to the kitchen this morning to ask Jessica for some, and she said we were out – and so were all the grocery stores in the area." She offers.

I sit up a bit straighter in my chair. "You're kidding me, right?" I ask carefully. How far did this kid take this?

"No, and I went down the street to the Starbucks, and they were out as well."

I stare at her. He's evil. It's that simple. Crafty, okay. Creative, sure. But none the less evil. "Out out, or fake out?" I ask.

"Out. There was a crowd in front of the building. I couldn't find coffee anywhere."

"Java Hut." I tell her. "Java Hut was the only place with coffee."

"How do you know that?" she asks, sitting across from me.

"Rory told me." I shrug as the doorbell rings. "I'll let her tell the story, she knows more details than I do."

My mother stands. "I should let her in then."

I stare blankly at the wall when she steps out until she reappears. "Don't worry about it dear, I'll talk to Jessica. She can rearrange the portions."

I glance up at Rory as she walks in pulling the perpetrator. "What is he doing here Rory?" I clip.

"Lorelai! Be polite to Logan. His parents are very good friends of ours."

I'm about to interrupt when he smiles softly at her. "Actually Emily, I sort of deserved that." He offers.

"Damn right you did." I tell him, and then turn back to my mother. "He would be the reason you didn't have coffee this morning."

She stops moving towards the kitchen. "I'm sorry, what?"

He shrugs. "To be fair, Ace here started it."

I see my daughter's eyes narrow. "I did no such thing. You started this ridiculous power struggle with your stupid stunt in my class. All I did was return the favor."

"Favor? Favor? Ace, you scared the shit out of me!" he turns quickly to my mother. "Pardon the language Emily, but she did."

"You thrashed my class Logan. What did you think I was going to do? Let it slide? Forget it. We've had this conversation, and that's not why you're here tonight." She pushes him in my direction. "Tell her."

He smiles at me, and I narrow my eyes.

"What is going on here Rory?" my mother suddenly asks.

"Logan is offering himself up to mom's mercy to apologize for the travesty he inflicted upon her today." She clips.

"The coffee issue, I take it?" my mother puts in.

"Yes."

I glance at my mother carefully, and start as she nods. "All right then, I'll go talk to Jessica."

"Wait." I stop her.

"What do you want Lorelai?"

"You're on my side for this?" I ask her carefully.

"I've seen you without coffee Lorelai. Many, many times. You've been drinking coffee since you were eleven years old. The boy should apologize." She looks firmly at Logan. "Profusely." She walks away silently, and I turn back to him.

"You heard her."

He smiles. "Yeah. So, to be fair, I didn't know about the depth of your addiction –

"It's not an addiction. It's a love affair." I cut him off.

"Of your love affair with coffee." He finishes. "And when I came up with keeping Rory from coffee for the day, it occurred to me that I would basically have to clean out the state to accomplish the task." I nod, and he moves on. "So, in my sheer idiocy – I did just that. I understand just how much of a travesty that was, not only for you, but for all coffee lovers worldwide. To try to make up for the tragedy, Ace suggested that I should have four cups of fresh brewed coffee delivered steaming hot to your door every day for the next six months, including statutory holidays. I've arranged for that to happen beginning tomorrow." He smiles. That seems acceptable.

I narrow my eyes at him as Rory pokes him in the side. "There's more, isn't there?" I tilt my head at him, and he sighs.

"I was hoping to surprise her." He offers to her.

"Surprise her with a surprise jackass, not with your punishment." Rory clips. This kid is good for her. Keeps her on her toes.

He turns back to me. "Each week, for those six months, your Inn will receive its full supply of coffee at no charge."

I smile and clap. "Oooh! Free coffee. You can sit next to me now, I like you again."

He takes the seat, and Rory settles in across from us. He glances at her carefully. "I don't suppose I could offer you more free coffee in exchange for details on her so-called retribution is going to be?" he asks.

I shake my head. "Tempting, but no. Though you have made it up to me, you must still pay for the chaos you created by ridding the state of the elixir of life."

"Lorelai, switch places with Rory. There's no need for Logan to sit next to a stranger." My mother's voice clips.

"It's really okay." Logan offers quickly, and I glance at Rory, lifting my eyebrows. She shrugs in confusion, and I smile. He likes her. And she doesn't know it yet. My kid is so cute. I stand, and motion to the empty seat.

Rory's eyes widen a bit. "I'm okay mom." Aww. She likes him too.

"I insist." I smile at her, and she moves slowly next to sit next to him.

"So, Rory, how's school going?" my mother asks, smiling as she sits next to me.

Rory smiles. "Pretty good. I think I may have missed some relatively important lectures today, but Paris arranged for people to take notes for me, so I'll review them this weekend."

"You missed your classes?"

I snort. "You just completely forgot about the coffee thing, didn't you Mom?"

"Why would you miss your classes because of that?"

"I made Logan drive me into Hartford for coffee and then it seemed odd to drive all the way back to Yale only to come back for dinner, so I made him buy me new clothes too."

"Why weren't you dressed?"

"Yeah Ace, why weren't you dressed?" Logan grins at her, and she elbows him sharply.

"Because someone made the coffee disappear, and I always drink coffee before getting dressed." She clips.

He shuffles a bit. "You're going to use that a lot, aren't you?"

She looks at him with a deceptively sweet smile. "Count on it, dear."

He is so screwed.