Disclaimer - I don't own a thing you'd want, so don't sue me. :)

Note: Story title and chapter titles are from Dashboard Confessional.

Note2: Lorelei/Rory have made up, and Rory is living at home. Logan and Rory are still together.

The Swiss Army Romance

Chapter 1: Hey Girl

Rory was lounging aimlessly on her bed, resting her eyes complacently and listening to the music she was playing softly. Her rest was interrupted by her cell phone ringing, and she answered it, yawning a "hello" into the phone.

"Hey there. Wow, you aren't up yet? What happened to getting more done before 9 A.M. then a sane person does all day?" said Logan.

His sarcasm and quippy comments had been starting to annoy her. She no longer saw them as indearing, instead she knew they were just another front, another wall that he wouldn't let her break through. She sighed, "I'm up. What do you want?"

"Well aren't you sweet. I'm calling to tell you to clear your schedule. It's the Huntzberger Colorado Retreat this weekend, and we've got our own cabin."

She raised her eyebrows to herself and said, "Why do you sound exciting about spending the weekend with your family?"

"Well, of all the stupid events my parents can think of, this one isn't actually to bad. It's a bunch of my father's nearest and dearest and their families, schmoozing it up and bragging about who has gotten richer in the last year."

"Okay, I'm still missing the part where that sounds fun."

"I did mention that we have our own cabin, right? Come on. If we're going to be "serious" like you want to be, this is something you've got to do. Good? Good. Pack your bags, Ace."

Rory started to protest but she found herself talking to air.

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A few days later the limo driver was putting Rory's bag in the limo while she crossed her arms and glared.

Logan had went up a day early, without even telling her, and now she was forced to ride alone. Of course, he'd been sweet enough to provide a limo, but Rory felt like she was being forced into some trophy wife position. She missed the more light-hearted days with Logan. Ever since his father had became more serious about him taking on responsibility at the company, things had been different between them. She tried to chalk it up to his stress, but the more the space between them grew, the less she cared about what was causing it. "This is not working," she had said a few weeks earlier in protest.

He'd looked amazingly hurt, then kissed her and said, "we'll make it work."

The next day he sent several dozen roses to her house. Nothing ever changed, but she couldn't stop holding on to the idea that the love was there, they were just going through a rough period. Everything kept building up, but Rory had no idea to tell him she couldn't be this girl, especially when sometimes he made it fun for her to be.

The ride was lonely and boring, Rory found herself drinking several glasses of the complimentary wine and reading her book, wishing Logan was there to make the ride more interesting. She tried to talk with the chauffer, but he'd only smiled, nodded, and called her ma'am.

When the limo pulled up to the ski resort, Rory forgot her anger for a moment. The place was magical, with beautiful log cabins outlined in glistening snow. She just stopped and looked around at the place. "Wow," she said to herself.

"Wow is right," a voice responded, and Rory turned around quickly to see Logan grinning.

He grabbed her hand and led her towards their cabin. Rory was just amazed with the cabin as she was with the outside. It was two-stories, with it's own kitchen and huge windows looking out at the view.

"See, I told you it was amazing," Logan said proudly, noting the signs of awe in Rory's face.

"Yeah, this is amazing, but i'll tell you what isn't," Rory sighed, "riding alone on a long drive because your boyfriend left you alone."

Logan pulled her close to him and sighed, "Sorry, I just got so excited to come up here, I couldn't help myself." When that got no response he continued, "besides you had a book to read, right?"

"Right," Rory said, forcing it.

"Good," he said, kissing her, "because we wouldn't want you slacking off on your reading."

"No, we wouldn't want that," Rory said half-heartedly.

Logan kissed her firmly and smiled, "Okay, well, I'm going to go down to the main hall. Everybody's going to start getting here and I need to shake hands and all that nonsense. You can change and I'll see you at dinner in an hour?"

Rory thought about protesting, but it seemed futile. She knew that him being happy about doing something his parents wanted him to was only good. He was having to endure a lot as the next Huntzberger, so if it made him happy for once, she didn't want to ruin it. She kissed his cheek and smiled, "well, you better get to it!"

Logan ran off like a man with a purpose, and Rory just sighed and lay back on the bed. She would have loved spending a weekend away with Logan in a paradise like this, but she hated the idea of having to do it while also trying to please all his family and his family's friends.

At Logan's insistence, the Hutzberger's had, for the most part, accepted Rory as Logan's girlfriend, and had come to terms with the idea that they might someday be more than that. However, they made no effort to be welcoming or really include her. She felt like a fish out of water trying to maneuver these social events with them breathing down her neck. They saw every tiny mistake as proof that she oculdn't handle being the next Hutzberger wife, and to be honest, she didn't want to. She never wanted to settle for being some guy's trophy wife and function planner.

Logan was all for her having her own career, but the logistics just didn't work out. Every high society wife did all the right things. They attended different functions, supported different charities, and planned parties. Rory had no intention of becoming that girl, and it was becoming more and more clear to her that to be with Logan in the long-term, she almost had to be.

With a certain amount of apathy, she pulled out her nice outfits and debated on which to wear. She finally selected a modest but nice outfit that would hopefully help her blend into the scene. She primped for a long time, making sure that there was nothing about her the Huntzbergers or their friends could use against her.

Around the time she was done, Logan opened the door.

"You ready?" he said cheerfully, offering his arm to lead her to dinner.

"I suppose," she said, faking a smile. She didn't want to ruin this for him.

When they entered the "main hall", a tall cabin with huge glass windows that was the center of the campground Rory almost gasped. The place had been set up with fake snow all over, it was like a warm winter wonder-land. Logan smiled at her reaction and kissed her cheek. "I thought you'd like it."

They sat down at the center table. All the Huntzberger family was there.

"Logan, Rory," Mr. Huntzberger said with a certain stiffness that made Rory have to fight the urge to roll her eyes at him.

All around them, other tables were full of important and rich people, who were talking and gossiping.

Although the dinner was delicious, Rory had a hard time enjoying it. She found herself listening quietly to the conversation. Logan drew her into it now and then, but overall he seemed pretty wrapped up in talking of memories from previous Colorado Skiing Retreats. After dinner, the Huntzberger's all went their seperate ways to go talk to all their guests, leaving Rory alone at the table.

She sighed to herself and tried to fight back the urge to scream or cry. She thought about going back to the room, but didn't want to seem rude. She definitely didn't want to go up and talk to this crowd of people she barely knew.

She spun her wine around in the glass and frowned. The night was shaping up to be rather boring.

Suddenly, a familiar voice interrupted her train of thought.

"Well, well, well, I didn't expect to see you here."

Rory turned around quickly, and her suspicion was confirmed. Standing in front of her was Tristan DuGrey.