Sorry about the lack of updates…it has been a crazy past few weeks for me. I will try harder, I promise!

Chapter 4

The End?

Rory walked quickly down the road to Luke's. She had slept through her alarm, and woke up late to meet Jess. She cursed herself as she approached the darkened diner.

"Rory." Jess yelled from the gazebo across the street.

Rory walked over to Jess who appeared to be engrossed in a book.

"What are you reading?" Rory asked, not recognizing the cover.

"Oh, it is a book about addiction. It's called A Million Little Pieces; it is one of my favorites. It is really graphic. I am sure you would like it." Jess said as he shut the book.

"Well maybe I will have to borrow it sometime?" She asked him hoping he would lend it to her soon. She was in need of a good book to get her mind off of her own problems.

"Yeah sure. You can have it now. I have read it about 5 times." He said as he handed over the blue hardcover. "Anyway, we should get that ice cream now before the store closes." Jess said looking at his watch.

The pair walked across the street to the Soda Shoppe and ordered triple chocolate ice cream—in cones, and left for a walk.

"So I have some stuff to tell you." Jess said after they finished their cones and were seated in the gazebo.

"Should I be worried?" Rory asked, a little scared.

"No, well not really. I mean, maybe…I am worried, but for different reasons…" Jess rambled.

"Spit it out boy, you can't keep a Gilmore in suspense."

"Okay. Well…I am working for Luke now, as you know. And I have been living in the Diner...and…I have kinda been seeing someone." Jess finished lamely.

"Oh, okay." Rory said, unsure of what she was feeling.

"I did not know if you would want to hear about it, so I decided not to tell you. I didn't want you to find out from someone else though, so I figured it would be best to just let you know up front." Jess said.

"Hey Jess, it is okay. I am happy for you. I hope that things work out for the two of you." Rory said, in all seriousness. She knew she would always have a soft spot in her heart for Jess, but she also knew that they would never work out as a couple, not after their first attempt.

"Anyway, she is a teacher at a high school a town over. I met her a few weeks ago…we have a lot in common really. She is originally from New York, she loves reading, and she is a big Hemmingway fan…" Jess said with a smile. "And…well, I don't know if I ever told you this, but when I was in New York for the past few years I have been taking college courses, and I am a licensed teacher now…"

"Oh wow Jess! That is amazing!" Rory said, completely shocked.

"Thanks Rory, that means a lot to me…" Jess started up again. "Anyway Heather, that is my girlfriend's name, she is good friends with the principal at Stars Hallow High…and she got me an interview with him. It is a different guy than who taught me, thank God, and he is actually excited about my prospects. He wants a teacher who is passionate about education and what they teach, and he sees that in me. It is not something they have a lot of in that High School, so…he gave me a job. I start this fall. I will be teaching seniors English Literature."

Rory was stunned speechless. She sat facing him in the gazebo slack jawed and dumbfounded. Jess, her Jess, was going to be a teacher. She always knew that he could do great things, but she never expected him to succeed so fast…almost before her. "Wow, Jess. I am so proud of you. Let me know if you need any ideas for class, I would love to help you out!" Rory said as she embraced him in a hug.

"Thank you Rory. I um, just wanted to tell you about all of this before Taylor or Patty heard about it. I think things are finally looking up for me." Jess said with a small smile. "So I went, now it is your turn."

"What do you mean?" Rory asked him confused.

"What is going on with you Rory? I see you everyday, but we don't really talk. I know things are not what you expected them to be. Are you happy?"

"Not right now, but I think I am getting there." Rory said as she felt herself tear up against her will.

"Rory, you can talk to me. I want to help you, or at least try." Jess said, taking her hand.

"Thanks Jess…I don't mean to be so dramatic. Things are just not working out how I had hoped. I am going to be working for the Stars Hallow Gazette for God's sake!" Rory practically yelled.

"And I will be working at Stars Hallow High. Things that are meant to be don't always make sense Rory." Jess said simply.

"I know that. I just did not expect my first job out of Yale to be back here. I had dreams Jess. Remember? You were going to help me get there." Rory said, a fresh new batch of tears threatened to escape.

"I know that Rory. But nobody can be an overseas correspondent right after graduating! It takes time. You have to get more pieces published, you have to work your way up to that caliber. Don't give up." Jess said.

"It is so much harder than I thought it would be. I never told anyone this, but the whole last semester or college I looked for a job. I applied everywhere, but nobody wanted to hire me. They wanted someone with more experience than their college paper, even if it was The Yale Daily. I thought I would come here and continue looking and pawn it off as me being too busy to look for a job while I was in school." Rory said, outwardly bawling now.

"Shhh Rory." Jess said as he moved his arm and wrapped it around her. "You will do great things. Those idiots did not know what they had in you." Jess said. "At least they recognize good talent in this poe-dunk town."

"Yeah, I guess." Rory sniffled as she gave Jess one last squeeze.

"Umm Rory?" Jess asked her, interrupting the hug.

"Yeah?"

"I think someone is watching us." Jess said, noticing the irritating blonde standing in the shadows of the diner.

Rory sat up with a start and looked around them. After a minute her eyes adjusted and landed on Logan…a very irritated looking Logan.

"Oh God, just what I need." Rory said as she pulled away from Jess. "I have to go Jess." Rory said as she stood up.

"No problem. Say hi to Logan for me." Jess said with one of his wicked smiles.

"Yeah, I am sure he will be happy to hear from you." Rory said as she walked away.

Logan saw her approaching and turned around and started walking away.

"LOGAN, WAIT!" Rory yelled to him.

Logan kept walking away from Rory towards his home, not looking back at her.

"LOGAN HUNZTBERGER, YOU STOP THIS MINUTE!" Rory yelled again to no avail.

Rory continued running after him until she saw him turn and walk into what must have been his house. This did not stop Rory. She walked up to the door and pounded her fists on it until she heard him speak.

"Go back to Jess!" Logan shouted.

"Oh come on Logan, grow up. I am not with Jess anymore." Rory shouted back.

"Then what did I interrupt out there?"

"NOTHING, he was comforting me, something that my mother would have done if she were here."

Rory went back to pound on the door when she noticed he had opened it a crack for her. She gently pushed it open more to allow herself in.

"Logan?" She asked him shakily not knowing where he went.

She saw a light at the end of a long corridor and assumed that he had headed in that direction. The room she found was illuminated by a large chandler and was covered from floor to ceiling in books. There must have been thousands of books in this room, more than she had seen in any one collection in her lifetime.

Rory looked around the room and spotted Logan sitting in a leather chair in the corner.

"I built this for you Rory." He told her. "I did this all for you."

"Logan…" Rory started, unsure of what her next move would be.

"If you are with Jess…then I guess I will have to be fine with that. I will go back to New York and accept my defeat. I just want you to know that I never ever stopped loving you. From the moment I first met you at the coffee stand and then later at the bulletin board, I knew that you were different. I want to be with you forever, and I am willing to give up everything that my father has wanted for me to be with you. If you tell me this minute that you don't love me then I will go. I will sell this house, I will quit my job, and I will leave and never see you again." Logan said, finally looking up to meet her gaze.

"Logan…" Rory tried again. "I…I…I"

"It's okay Rory. I know I was an ass. I know that you deserve better than me. But if you give me a chance, I will try to be everything for you."

"Logan." Rory said again, bawling this time.

"Rory Gilmore…I am only going to ask you this one more time." Logan said as he once again got down on his knee.

"Will you make me the happiest man alive and marry me? I can promise you that I will do everything in my power to make each day better than the one before it. I can promise you that I will NEVER look at another woman, and I can promise you that I will continue to love you more and more as we grow old together either in Stars Hallow or wherever you like." Logan said, letting tears fall from his own eyes.

With that…Rory fainted.

After a few long moments, Rory finally came to, blinking up at a terrified looking Logan, she smiled.

"Are you okay?" Logan asked.

"I am perfect." Rory said as she grabbed Logan by the neck and pulled him towards her for their first kiss after the separation.

Logan finally pulled away with a look of confusion and ecstasy. "So what does this mean?" Logan asked her.

"It means Yes." Rory answered him.

"YES?" Logan questioned.

"It was misery living without you. I am only hoping that living with you will be better!" Rory said pulling him down for another kiss.

"But…when?...why?" Logan asked, completely dumbfounded. He had prepared himself for rejection; he was not ready for this.

"You have changed Logan. I have changed. This past year was a living hell. I know that things won't be a fairy tale after this, but I also know that we will make each other happy. You are my match Logan. I want to see what will happen."

"So we are going to be married?" Logan asked again confused.

"So it appears." Rory laughed.

Logan rolled off of Rory and put his hand to his head.

Rory sat up and looked at him. "Are you okay? She asked."

"I think I am the one who is going to faint now!" Logan said.

"Please don't. I would rather not tell my family and friends that I am going to marry a fainter. It is very un-masculine."

"Okay…but you are sure about this?" He asked her again.

"You are the one who asked me to marry you silly!" Rory exclaimed.

"I know I did, but I thought that I ruined my chance of getting you back. I thought you hated me. I thought that we were over. I thought that you were with Jess!"

"Logan, we were never completely over. I knew that your infidelity was partially my fault"

"Don't say that Rory. It was me who chose to cheat." Logan said.

"I know that, but I pushed you away. I don't ever want to lose you again Logan. I love you. I will always love you. As long as you promise me that you won't ever cheat again, I am going to stick with you…with us for the long haul."

"But yesterday…you did not seem too excited about me being your boss…you did not seem to want to have anything to do with me." Logan asked, completely confused.

"Yes, but you know me…I am good at pretending things are good…when they are really anything but. After the wedding I went looking for you…before the interview I was so excited to see you that I almost lost my nerve. You and I both know that we could not work together platonically."

"Well, I hoped as much." Logan said with a smile.

"And yes, I really do want to marry you. I don't know why you asked…twice mind you…if you were not expecting a yes!"

"Well, my intent was for you to start thinking about it, not necessarily agree to it."

"Well, I agreed, and I want this. Being with you is right. Being without you is misery. I love you too much to let you go, and I missed you too much for you to stay away. We are both at fault for our breakup, and as long as you and I both promise not to repeat our past mistakes, I think this will definitely be for the best." Rory said.

"I love you so much Rory." Logan said as he extracted the ring out of his pocket.

"I love you too Logan." Rory said with tears still streaming down her face.

Logan took the ring out of the case and slid it onto Rory's delicate finger. The ring must have been at least 3 karats, adorned with another karat worth of smaller diamonds on the sides. "This was my grandmother's ring. She wanted me to have it for the day when I asked the woman of my dreams to marry me. I have met that woman, and I am not going to lose her again…ever." Logan said.

"It is beautiful Logan." Rory said as she admired the rock on her finger.

Logan stood up and held out his hand to help Rory up. Together they stood in the library embracing one another for what seemed like an eternity.

"I never want to let you go." Logan whispered to her.

"And I never want to let go." Rory answered back. "But do you maybe want to take this show on the road?" Rory asked, hinting.

With that, Logan swooped down and picked up his fiancé and carried her up to his bedroom. Together the two made love with unbridled passion that neither had seen before. They both knew that this was the way it was supposed to be, they were meant for each other, separation was not a viable option, nor would it ever be.

Right guys, sorry about the extreme fluff, but I really wanted the two together, because come on, they NEED to be together. So on with the wedding plans! Yay—I would really love Reviews!