A/N: Thanks for teh reviews, what can I say I love them.
These.Words.Are.My.Own.: I like your idea but I already wrote until chapter nine and Greg is definitely out of the picture by then. However if I decide to bring him back I might use your idea.
Wednesday morning Rory was a at 'The Point' making research for her next article, which probably would be the last since she had accepted Debra's job offer. Yet, she didn't want anyone at the magazine to know about it. So she tried to keep it as normal as she could. She was deep into her computer when her cell phone rang. She looked at the screen to see who was calling her but she got an unknown number.
"Hello"
"Hi Rory, how's it going?" Came a bubbly voice from the other side of the line.
"Steph? How did you get this number? Wait, don't tell me, Logan. So how are you?"
"I'm fine, you?"
"Can't complain."
"Good. Anyway, I'm near your office and I thought we could go and grab a bite, what do you say?"
Rory thought for a sec. She usually had lunch with her colleagues in the break room. However, going out with Steph sounded tempting since she was looking forward to rekindling their friendship. "Sure. Why don't you pick me up in an hour?"
"Sounds good. Just tell me to how to get there."
An hour later Steph appeared on Rory's cubicle.
"Hey Gilmore"
Rory flinched and then took her hand to her heart "God Steph, you scared me"
"Well you've always scared easily, need I remember you of ladders, scaffolds…?"
"No you needn't." Rory answered.
In that moment Greg appeared by her cubicle. "Hey Rory…" then he saw Steph " Sorry I didn't know you had company."
"Oh that's okay. Steph this is Greg. Greg this is Steph, she's an old friend from Yale."
"Nice to meet you Greg." Steph said. Noticing the guy's expression she quickly deduced he was the guy Rory was seeing. Steph couldn't understand what Rory was doing with him. The guy looked okay and he seemed nice but she could see he had nothing in common with Rory. Neither his past, nor his interest had anything in common with Rory's. Steph smiled thinking Colin and Finn would love this when she tell them. Colin would probably say he's not enough for her; after all she is a Gilmore. Finn would say Greg would never catch up with Rory's wit. Logan on the other hand would tell her to leave Rory alone and let her live her life.
"Nice to meet you too Steph. " Greg said.
Okay, this was awkward. Rory thought luckily for her, Steph broke the silence. "So are you ready Gilmore? 'Cause I'm starving."
Rory snapped of her thoughts and collected her stuff. "Sure. Let's go."
"You're not having lunch with everybody?" Greg asked.
" No, not today. " Steph said trying to avoid Rory another awkward moment. "I'm sorry Greg but I'm getting married in a two months and I need Rory's help with some stuff."
"Sure" Greg said rather disappointed "have fun" and then he left.
"Shall we?" Steph said.
Ten minutes later Rory and Steph entered a small bistro. Once they had ordered Steph went directly to business.
"So, I have a favor to ask you."
"Shoot" Rory said.
"Well the thing is my maid of honor won't be able to make it to the wedding. Apparently having her breasts done is more important than sharing one of the most important days of my life."
"Okay, I'm following"
"Anyway, my mom suggested that I promote my remaining bridesmaid, aka Colin's sister. But considering I didn't want her to be a bridesmaid in the first place I said no. She doesn't like very much. So Colin had the most brilliant idea. Why didn't ask you to be my maid of honor? " Steph went silent but Rory didn't say anything. "So?"
"Sure Steph, I'd love to." Then she thought " But why me? I mean we haven't talked in six years. Why not Claire? For example."
"Always over analyzing everything. First of all, because I want you to. We may have not seen each other in a while but I still think very fondly of you. You were one of the best friends I've ever had and I know that you are truly happy for me, unlike some of my friends." Rory smiled " Secondly, you are going to look great next to the best man. As for Claire, well, we have a great relationship and she's great but I think sometimes I overwhelm her and not in the good way. So what do you say? Are going to be my maid of honor?"
"Of course Steph, I'd be honored. Who's the best man?" Steph smiled "Logan…why not Finn?"
"Well they did the 'Friends' thing you know? Like Colin was Finn's, Logan is Colin's and Finn is going to be Logan's someday."
"Mmmm I can see Finn as Phoebe." Rory giggled.
"Colin is definitely Monica, neurosis and all. That makes" Steph said, " Logan Rachel, kid and all. How would you like to be Ross?" Rory gave her a bad look "Okay, sorry."
They were interrupted by the waiter who brought their food. "Finally" Rory said.
"So dinner on Friday?" Steph asked.
Rory who was concentrated on her food lifted her head. "What?"
"Dinner, you know, when people eat at night. We talked about it last week. You, me, Logan, Colin, Finn and Claire."
"I know what dinner is Steph."
"Okay, just checking. You can bring Greg if you want. Don't give me that look, anyone can tell he's the guy you're dating."
"Nah, I prefer to keep it small, you know?"
"Sure Ror" Steph said with hint of irony that went unnoticed to Rory.
"Hey little mermaid, aren't you going to say goodbye to me?" Logan asked from the threshold of his daughter's room on Friday night. He had yet to pick up Rory and meet the others.
"No. I'm mad at you." Sarah answered without lifting her head from her little drawing table.
"Sarah…" Logan sighed, "We've been over this. You know I don't want to leave. And I promise we'll spend all Sunday together. But tomorrow I have to work." He walked over where she was sitting and picked her up. "Can you understand that?"
Sarah nodded and hugged her father. "Daddy?"
"Yes sweetie.."
"Can you bring me a present?"
Logan chuckled "What do you think?" Sarah nodded.
"Please be good to Nanny. And remember you can call me whenever you want, Ok?"
"Okay, daddy."
"Now, kiss." Sarah gave him a kiss.
"Bye Sarah, see you tomorrow night. "
"Bye daddy."
Greg was dinning with some friends in one of Manhattan's new restaurants. He had wanted to go out with Rory but she'd been weird during the past few days and told him she had a previous engagement. He was half way through dinner when he spotted a blond woman whom he recognized as Stephanie, Rory's friend. She was accompanied by a man who seemed to be her fiancée. A couple of minutes later the couple was joined by another couple. But his surprise came later when he saw Rory walking in with a man who was no other than Logan Huntzberger. Greg could tell they were comfortable around each other.
Meanwhile at their table….
"Hey guys, sorry we're late. It was my fault." Logan said as he moved Rory's chair so she could seat.
"What happened?" Steph asked.
"I have to go to Montreal on business tomorrow and Sarah didn't take it very well. However, we have already been through the issue."
"Good." Steph said, " Shall we order?"
Greg had been watching the sextet very closely. They seemed to be having fun. He had recognized one of the guys as the owner of Aussie Toys. He assumed they all knew each other from Yale, except for the redhead who seemed different than the rest. Rory was behaving in a way he had never seen her. She seemed so elegant and graceful. Not that before she was a complete mess but that night she had something different. As if the Rory he knew was different person from this Rory. He thought of approaching them before leaving just to say hi. Okay, and maybe, just maybe, check out on Huntzberger. But he decided against it.
After dinner Logan took Rory home. She convinced him of coming up to have some coffee. Once they were in her apartment Rory remembered she'd found a picture she wanted to show Logan and she went to her room to get it while Logan made the coffee. There was a knock in the door.
"Hey Ace, do you want me to get it?" He yelled.
" Please" He heard her say. He then walked out on the kitchen, went to the door and opened it only to find a guy about his age looking pretty angry.
"Hi, can I help you?" Logan said in his best behavior.
"Is Rory around?" Greg asked. What the hell was Huntzberger doing there? Why was he opening Rory's door? "I'm Greg, we are friends."
"Oh yes, wait a second. Hey Ror.." Logan yelled and Greg envied the familiarity Logan had with Rory. "Greg's here for you."
Rory came out her room surprised "Greg what are you doing here?"
"Can we talk?" Greg asked.
Logan took the hint. "I'll go and check on the coffee." And with that he left.
"How can I help you?" Rory asked.
"Rory, what's he doing here?"
"Logan? We went out for dinner and we came back for coffee."
"And you expect me to believe that?"
"Well I do since it is the truth but you don't have to, I don't have to explain my actions to you. I'm not your girlfriend."
"Yeah, whose fault is that?" Greg yelled.
Logan heard the yelling in the living room and yelled from the kitchen. "Ror, is everything okay?"
"Yeah. Greg was just leaving" Rory yelled back rather annoyed.
"Oh, I see Rory. You really know how to ensure your future; I mean Huntzberger is great connection. Isn't he?" That really hurt her.
"Think whatever you want Greg. I can't help it if you feel intimidated by Logan. Your low self-esteem is not my problem." Rory said in a rather harsh tone.
"Please Rory, don't try to make it my fault. You put no effort into this relationship. Maybe I am a little intimidated, god Rory your ex is one of America's most eligible bachelors, but I really like you Rory and I'm willing to start over if you want to. But this time you'll have to try harder and that means no more Logan Huntzberger."
"You're asking me to choose between you and Logan?" Rory asked in disbelief, who the hell did he think he was? " Ok, I choose Logan. So I guess that's it. Goodbye Greg." She said walking him to the door and closing it on his face. The she heard from outside "Goodbye Rory, have a nice life."
As soon as he heard the door close Logan rushed to the living room. "You're going to be okay."
Oh déjà vu, Rory thought. "I know Logan, I know. Now is that coffee ready or not? "
"Oh yeah, I'll go get it."
Logan brought the two cups of coffee to the living room and they sat on the floor, facing each other.
"So what happened with Greg?" Logan asked.
"How much did you hear?" Rory asked.
"Not much, your coffee pot is very loud," he said.
Rory rolled her eyes. " So you heard everything?"
"Pretty much. Now spill."
"There's not much to say. It just didn't work out. Too insecure."
"Just that?"
"What do you want to ask, Logan?"
"If you were clearly not that into him, then why did you date him on the first?"
"Who says I wasn't into him?" He gave her a look, why did he know her so well? "Okay, so I wasn't really into him. I don't know I guess I just didn't want to be alone but I don't want to get my heart broken either and I knew Greg wouldn't break it."
"You can't live your whole life scared" Logan said caressing her cheek. Man, that felt good.
"You know? I could say the same about you."
"Huh?"
"Please Logan. I know you almost haven't dated since Sarah was born."
"It's complicated Rory." He shot at her. Then calmer he added, " You don't understand."
She waited silent for him to continue.
" I have Sarah to think about. I'm not going to bring more people into her life just to have them gone. She already went through that, even if she doesn't know it."
"Logan, look at me." He raised his head to face her "My mom was a single parent and she dated many people before settling down and look at me. I'm fine"
"Well…I wouldn't say fine" He said teasingly.
She rolled her eyes and tried to smack him, but he caught her hand, pushed her to the floor and started tickling her.
"Logan, stop please" She said giggling.
When he stopped he was on top of her, their faces too close, her eyes looking expectantly at him. A thought run through his mind, he knew it was a bad idea but he couldn't stop him. ABORT, ABORT, ABORT! It was too late his lips were already on hers, his hands were on her wais while hers ran through his hair.
