Running back to the cabin, Rory felt rather displeased with herself. Why had she run again? Just when she and Stephanie had promised each other that they wouldn't be afraid anymore. And what was she afraid of anyway? Hadn't Logan shown himself to be capable of being more than an asshat after her break up with Dean? Why was she refusing to let herself believe that there was more to this guy? She was still trying to figure all this out when she saw the note Stephanie had left for her on the table as she walked into their cabin.

Making up with Colin. Won't be back tonight if all goes well. Thank you Rory! I'm ready to commit to my true feelings. How about you?

xx Steph

P.S. Don't wait too long. Logan is quite a catch, but he'll be off the hook if you don't tend to your line…

Rory couldn't help but smile at the note. She hadn't expected to be so transparent.

Rory sighed deeply. She had sure messed things up. That kiss was so perfect and thinking about it practically made her legs give way. How could she have run? Suddenly, feeling very cold and wet, she decided to get into the shower to get warm. Maybe it would clear her mind a bit. She needed to focus on how to redeem herself with Logan. She would fight for him if she had to. If Steph could do it for Colin, so would she.

Just having undressed, Rory heard a soft knock on the door of the cabin. Not wanting to come out, being naked, wet and cold and all, she shouted, "I'm in the shower, door's open."

Against all odds she hoped it would be Logan, even though she was sure she'd scared him off for life by now.

As Logan apprehensively entered the cabin, he saw Rory peeking around the door of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel. Gosh, that small bit of shoulder skin was already sending heat waves up his spine.

"Um, hi…" he said. He really didn't know how to start a conversation in this odd arrangement.

"Gimme a sec, I need to warm up a little." Rory said. Her eyes looked soft and not as scared as when Logan had last looked into them.

"Sure, I'll wait, if you don't mind." he said.

Rory nodded and went back into the shower. Despite the sudden need for a cold shower she decided to make it a hot one anyway. She'd had enough of everything cold today. She couldn't help thinking of Logan as the water cascaded down her body. About the mind-numbing kiss they'd shared, his tongue sweeping through her mouth, starting so sweetly but growing more hot and demanding. She wondered what would have happened hadn't they ended up out of breath, giving her time to think and run. She was getting rather hot and bothered now as she couldn't send the images of Logan's eyes, his smell, and his touch from her mind anymore. Resolutely she turned off the shower. She had to do something about this situation. Right now.

In the meantime Logan had lit the fireplace in the cabin, it had central heating, but Rory seemed like a girl that would get cold easily, with her slender posture and almost translucent skin. As he heard the shower splash Logan couldn't help but imagine how she was in there, her body as fair and soft as her cheeks and her hands, soft, so soft. He thought of how he'd touched her cheek and how they had moaned and shivered. What would have happened, hadn't she run away during the short breathing pause they were forced to take? Logan willed himself to think of something other than Rory and him having passionate sex in the snow, but right at that moment Rory stepped out of the shower, hair still dripping wet, wrapped in a towel. That wasn't helping the chaste thoughts at all…

Tiny drops of water were running down her shoulders onto her towel-wrapped chest. Logan felt his mouth go dry and Rory saw him staring at her. She smiled a little and said, "You lit a fire, that's really nice."

"You… um..." Logan cleared his throat, "Don't you need clothes?" He uncomfortably ruffled his hair and looked at the ground. Those legs, oh my…

"Yes, I do, I believe, but I forgot to bring any into the bathroom. I was a little distracted when I got home." She smiled sweetly and took a small step towards Logan, who felt like the room was closing in on him. Rory had made up her mind in the shower. She was going to take this chance. She wasn't going to be like Luke and pine for years when she could have something great right now.

If Rory took a few more of those steps Logan wasn't sure whether he would be able to breathe anymore.

"And I forgot to bring my large towel too, I only had this tiny one." One step closer again.

"Do you want me to get one for you?" Logan asked hoarsely, seeing the determined look in her eyes he now dared to take a small step Rory's way himself.

"No, I think I'll be fine," Rory almost breathed rather than spoke, never letting her gaze fall from his eyes.

"Are you sure you will be fine?" Logan asked softly as he closed the distance between them. They both knew that he was asking a totally different question altogether.

Rory answered by placing a kiss on his lips. Softer yet than the one they'd shared in the snow. Logan responded with a sigh which made Rory grin like a chimp. She really did feel ridiculously happy. Logan wrapped his arms around her wet, towelled body and felt how cold she was.

"Here, let me warm you up." he said, and took a blanket from the couch, wrapped it around Rory, towel included. She was indeed shivering by now, from the cold, but also the excitement rushing through her body. As Logan picked her up and carried her to the fire she silently wished he'd never let go. It had been so long since she'd felt so safe with a boy, or a man, whatever you want to call people in their early twenties and late teens. Dean had been awkward compared to this, even though she thought she felt safe at the time. But being here with Logan… she never wanted it to end.

"You know, this isn't exactly fair," Rory said as she sat warming by the fire, Logan's arms still wrapped tightly around her, leaning her back against his chest.

"I'm sitting here in nothing but a towel and a blanket, and you, are fully clothed." She smiled, turned around as far as she could and started to kiss Logan, more passionately than a few minutes ago, her tongue demanding entrance to his mouth immediately.

Logan was surprised but pleased at this change of events. He was perfectly content just holding Rory and slowly rubbing her warm body, but boy, this girl was one heck of a kisser. It felt foreign to him to be touched so wholly by a kiss, being altogether consumed by someone, even more so as Rory started slowly to unbutton his shirt. The undressing became more impatient and Rory's blanket and towel fell a little as she pressed Logan to the floor and moved over him to take of his undershirt. He was still wet and felt a little cold as well from the snow.

Logan's breath hitched at the sight of Rory's beautiful almost naked body, luminescent in the light of the fire. Rory was surprised as Logan tenderly took the blanket that remained half around her legs and covered the both of them with it. For the moment they lay totally content, just holding each other, stroking each other's warm skin under the blanket by the fire. Rory chuckled as she remembered her mother's words: Make sure your hair doesn't get caught in the flames.

Logan felt her silent giggle. "What's wrong Ace, do I have a third nipple I didn't know about?"

"No, just a mole in the shape of teletubby, the gay one, with the purse. Should I take this as a sign that You're just not that in to me?" Rory grinned. How was it possible to feel so comfortable with someone?

"You're evil, you know that?" Logan laughed, "evil and damn sexy." He kissed her neck and Rory immediately felt goose bumps all over her body.

"Are you cold?" Logan asked concernedly.

"Extremely…"

Logan kissed her once more and then stood up, wrapping Rory in the blanket again and picking her up in order to lead her to the bedroom.

"How do you know where my bedroom is?" she asked incredulously, "Have you been in here before? Should I report you to the authorities as my stalker?"

"This is my mom and dad's cabin," Logan said "they don't use it anymore, they go to Switzerland nowadays, but we used to stay here as kids."

Something dawned on Rory and a rather mischievous smile crept across her face.

"Hey, Logan?"

"Yeah?" he said as he laid her down on the bed.

"Does this mean we are going to make love in your parents' bed? Because I must say, that is rather kinky and I don't know…"

Logan swallowed thickly at Rory's directness. She had surprised herself too, but she owed it to herself and Logan to go through with what she had promised herself and Stephanie: no longer be afraid. She was embracing her feelings, and those feelings currently led her into bed with this wonderful person. The words had slipped out, verbal diarrhea she'd call it at any other time, she couldn't take them back and hoped Logan wouldn't think she was an easy lay now.

Logan silenced her thoughts with a kiss and crept into bed with her. "And what if we are? I think stripping me down on their rug by their fireplace might have already cost you your place in prude heaven, Ace." he managed to say it with a smirk, trying to keep things light and desperately hoping that she felt the same way about this as he did.

Rory softly smacked his shoulder and they laughed and kissed feeling relieved about the openness they had achieved on the matters at hand.

Slowly the cuddling turned beyond playful. Rory felt now that it was more than a physical yearning to feel him inside her that drove her actions, it was a passion unknown to her, one she had never felt for anyone else.

For Logan as well it was more than arousal, and it was about more than just sleeping with a beautiful woman; this felt special because he recognised a stronger version of a feeling which he thought he had lost through the heartache of years ago, he felt a deep-rooted love for the girl that was sprawled over him.

"Ace," Logan's ragged breath burned her skin, "Are you sure about this?"

By now he could no longer feel where he ended and Rory began.

Rory knew what direction they were heading, and some grain of responsibility still resided in her clouded mind.

"Logan, do you have erm…"

"Yes, wait a second" he reached for his jeans, luckily lying close to them on the floor.

Condoms could be a hassle, but at this moment he didn't give a thing about that. He was slightly nervous though, and Rory could see that he struggled a little, which surprised her. She kissed his hand, and he relaxed visibly. Rory didn't know that—despite his reputation—Logan had never ever felt so nervous before having sex. Nor that it was because he truly cared for her and he wanted everything to be perfect.

Rory on the other hand was surprised at her comfort with being naked, with Logan, in his parents' bed of all places. She really didn't care; she just wanted him as close as possible.

Their lovemaking turned more passionate and urgent by the second. It felt so safe, so comfortable with him that she could let go of everything that had held her back before when she was with Dean. No shame, no guilt, no wives or possible intrusions by roommates, mothers and… God forbid, Miss Patty. He could worship her body for ever and ever, he would never grow tired of her.

Tonight it was just her and Logan, and it was perfect.

"This… was amazing…" Logan panted and a few drops of sweat ran down his forehead.

"Yes, it was..." Rory said as she leaned over and softly kissed him tenderly, devoid of passion but full of something that they would later be able to call love. But for now, just lying here together, was quite enough. Logan held Rory tightly as they drifted off to sleep.

Later that night Rory woke up shivering. The blankets had fallen to the ground. She found herself still lying in Logan's arms but he didn't feel very warm either. She was slightly surprised to see that he was awake too.

"How long have you been watching me?" she softly smiled.

"Just a few minutes. You are so beautiful when you sleep."

"As opposed to when I'm awake you mean?" Rory grinned at her little midnight wittiness.

Logan softly kissed her shoulder, "You know damn well that I always think you're beautiful. The fact that you're asleep and can't talk back just makes you even more attractive." He smirked as Rory gently bit his arm. "Or perhaps it's the way your lashes lie on your cheeks like a butterfly resting on a rose petal." he added...and broke out in a fit of boy-giggles as Rory made gagging noises...

"That was a bit much, wasn't it?" Logan said softly...was that a blush on his face?

As he got out of bed to pick up the blankets from the floor, in order to provide them a little more warmth in the cold cabin, Rory was lost in thought. This was more than lust, she knew it, but she just didn't know how to make sure of it. As she lay pondering her previous relationships, a sudden moment of clarity put everything into perspective a little more. This was the fist time that she had fallen for a guy because she had actually fallen for him. Of course she had fallen in love, or whatever that was, with guys, but only after she was certain they liked her back. And now, now she was here, with someone who she'd desperately tried not to like, but had found herself head over heels with anyway. And thankfully he seemed to feel the exact same way about her. She just wished it could be put in writing, have the fine print checked out by her granddad, have Kirk make it into a film… Rory's thought became incoherent and slightly disturbingly mixed up as she drifted into slumber again in Logan's arms. She hadn't even felt him get back into bed in her deep, sleepy stream of thought.

Logan watched Rory's frown as she shifted her head on his chest. She was obviously thinking about something important. He hoped that he had been all that she had expected, and he hoped that she felt the same way about him as he felt about her. He just wished he knew exactly how she felt. It had been a long time ago that Logan had had his heart on the line like this, and it getting trampled on a second time around might break it forever. He sighed as he told himself that that probably wasn't going to happen and tried to fall asleep.

Neither of them slept very well after the first rush of post-coital peacefulness, not to mention tiredness, had lifted. When Logan woke up the next morning however, he found comfort in the fact that, despite all his dreaming, and the tossing and turning he had felt Rory do, she was now clung to him, her arms wrapped tightly around his middle and her head in the crook of his shoulder. The frown he saw on her face last night had left it and he felt rather certain that they would be all right, the two of them, even though it might take time. He kissed Rory's head and she relaxed a little more.

"Morning Rory, Morning Ace" he softly whispered into her hair.

"Hmmm…coffee…" Rory muttered.

At least some things hadn't changed during the amazing events of last night.

Logan laughed. "Coffee it is, my love," he whispered, "Coffee it is."

The End

A.N.: that's it my friends, I couldn't divide this chapter in two so it's extra long, lots of fluff and romance and finally something worth the R rating... Please let me know what you think :) Thank everyone who's reviewed this story so far, and of course my wonderful beta Pixelie