A/N: I'm going to try to have this whole story up by Thursday at the latest because I'm going away for Spring Break and I don't want to leave you guys hanging for two weeks... Thanks again for all the reviews, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!


Logan had never seen Rory like this before and it scared him. He had seen her cry before, seen her angry but had never seen her break down so completely. Feeling somewhat guilty, he catered to her every whim for the day, making trips to the grocery store so that she had everything that she might need.

He hadn't meant to mess things up between Tristan and Rory; hadn't meant to make his best friend cry and it was killing him that he did. Even knowing that the tears were partially caused from what her dad had done didn't help for despite what Rory wanted to think, Logan knew that breaking up with Tristan had really hurt her.

It was around noon and Rory was lying on the couch with her head in Logan's lap. She had cried for hours, great heaving sobs and now she was just staring off into space. Smoothing her damp hair away from her face, Logan tried to think of something that would take her mind away from her troubles.

"Remember how we first met?" He asked quietly.

Rory gave a watery chuckle. "Of course I do. I saved you."

Logan rolled his eyes and poked her, happy to hear her laugh. "You didn't save me."

"Yes I did, you were about to get in major trouble, maybe expelled and I took the blame for you. Thus, I saved you." She sat up a bit, stretching her cramping muscles slightly. "You've saved me more than once since then though," she added quietly.

Logan's heart broke at her words and the voice that she said them in. "What are you talking about Ror?"

She laughed bitterly. "Everything in my life always becomes so fucked up and you're always here to help me pick up the pieces."

"That's not true. You're strong; you probably don't even need me."

Rory shook her head and looked up at Logan seriously. "You're the only person I can count on; I need you." Her voice was solemn when she continued, "You're my best friend."

He pulled her closer to him, caught up in the moment. "You're my best friend, too." He paused for a moment. "Tristan was an idiot."

Rory looked up curiously. "For what?" She laughed bitterly again. "I dumped him."

He looked down at her, not expecting that. "I thought he broke up with you?"

She shook her head, trying to hide the tears that were threatening to fall. "No, we got into this huge fight about the lack of communication and then I told him that he either loves me or we're over."

"And he told you that he didn't love you?"

She shook her head again. "He asked me whether that was the only option; whether there was any in between. I told him that it was the only option and that there's no in between and so we broke up." She paused a moment, not bothering to wipe the tears that were streaming down her face. "I mean, I guess in the end he broke up with me but it was my fault, you know?"

Logan nodded slowly, trying to piece everything together. "Was this whole lack of communication thing out of the blue?"

She thought for a moment. "I guess in a way it was." She paused, gathering her thoughts. "But he asked me questions sometimes about my mom and stuff and I always just changed the topic so maybe it just finally all came together."

Logan loved Rory like a sister and he knew what he was about to say might ruin everything. They had gotten past a lot in their four years of friendship and although Rory had gone through countless break-ups, this was the first one that had really fazed her. He hated to know that he caused it.

"I talked to Tristan," he blurted out and then felt stupid for not easing his way into it.

She sat up. "You what?"

"I talked to Tristan. A couple days ago, right after you introduced us. I told him that you weren't serious about him, that you were going to dump him soon. I told him that he should get out of it if he wanted to leave with his pride intact." He sighed and looked at Rory. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"What did he say in return?"

"He called me crazy and told me to fuck off."

Rory nodded, her anger ebbing away and she put her head back down on Logan's lap. "It wasn't your fault. We would've ended eventually, maybe its better that it ends now."

He shook his head. "Yeah but how do you know that? Maybe the two of you would've been great together."

"All good things come to an end," she said, her voice matter of fact. "You know this better than anyone. Me and you, we're two peas of a pod."

He nodded, running a hand down her cheek. "Yeah," he said quietly but all he could think of was Rory's face when he came to the door that morning and Tristan's face when he had told him about Rory's past. Logan knew that he had really messed up and this time, there was no sure way to get out of it.

The next morning, Chilton was abuzz with the news that Rory Hayden and Logan Huntzberger had arrived at school together, with his arm around her shoulders. The rumors followed them as they made their way to first Logan's and then Rory's locker. Abby and Alex were there to greet them when they arrived at Rory's locker.

"Hey," Abby said sympathetically as Rory spun the combination on her lock.

Rory managed a grin and said, "Hi."

Abby looked at Rory from top to bottom and nodded in approval at what she saw. It wasn't anything spectacular, it was just the way that Rory usually came dressed for school but it showed that she wasn't completely depressed over her break up. She had had to use more cover up and less blush than usual but other than that everything was the same.

Logan leaned against the locker next to Rory's on the opposite side of Alex and Abby. He picked up Rory's backpack and opened it, beginning to take out all of her books that hadn't been touched since they had been put in there.

"So I guess everyone knows, huh?" Rory asked dully. She had gone through countless days after breakups but none of them seemed to be as horrible as this one was already.

"Well if they didn't they sure do now," Alex commented, looking at something over Rory's shoulder and scowling.

The four of them turned to see Tristan kissing another girl on the cheek who giggled and blushed. Rory quickly turned back to her locker, trying to hide the tears in her eyes.

"What a bastard," Alex growled. Abby nodded in agreement while Logan glared before turning to Rory, his face softening.

"We can go," he suggested quietly. "Skip the day and drive around. We can even go to New York if you want." He tugged on a piece of her hair gently. "You love New York; it would be awesome."

Alex and Abby nodded, showing their support.

Rory sighed. "That's sweet you guys but it's not that big of a deal; breakups happen all the time. Besides, I broke up with him; he has every right to see other girls."

She picked up her notebook, closed her locker and took off down the hall on the way to class, going in the opposite direction than where Tristan and the girl were. Walking into her class confidently, she took her usual seat at the back of class.

"Did you hear that she cheated on Tristan with that new guy Logan?"

"What a slut."

Rory tried to ignore the whispers and the stares, knowing that they were all lies but they hurt anyway. She frowned when the girl who was with Tristan that morning walked in smiling, obviously walking on air. It made her feel worse to know that she used to be like that but she gave it all up because she was scared; hell, she was still scared. No breakup had affected her this much before and that unnerved her.

Finally reaching lunch, Rory took a seat at her usual table, smiling when Logan joined her. He reached for a chip from the open bag in front of her, but his hand was slapped away.

"No! They're mine," Rory said pouting.

Logan scowled playfully. "And here I thought what's yours is mine," he retorted.

Rory went still, remembering Tristan speaking similar words before they started dating, when everything was simpler. Abby waved her hands behind Rory to Logan, signaling for him not to say any more.

"Actually you know what? I'm not hungry; you can have them." Rory pushed her chips towards Logan and stood up, leaving the cafeteria quickly before anyone could say anything.

"I'm an idiot," Logan said, putting his head in his hands. "I don't even know what happened."

Alex shrugged. "I don't get what happened either."

"You're both idiots," Abby put in. "Logan just said what Tristan just said to her before they started dating."

Alex looked at her in amazement. "How do you remember that?"

She shrugged. "Lack of anything better to do."

Rory walked out of the cafeteria not knowing where to go. She knew that she was being stupid, that she had overreacted but she was obviously still not over Tristan. Wondering whether she would ever be over Tristan, she was pushed out of her thoughts when she bumped into someone.

"Oh, sorry," she mumbled, looking up to see Devin Martin standing there.

He shrugged. "Not a problem." He paused for a minute, looking at her face. "Are you okay?"

Sighing she replied, "No not really."

"Want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

He nodded easily, respecting her wish for privacy. "I lied," he said suddenly.

She looked at him curiously, wondering what he could've lied about. "About what?"

He sighed. "Remember at the party a couple days ago?" At her nod he continued. "We were talking about our dads and you asked if I knew yours. I said no and that was a lie."

Rory nodded, not really wanted to talk about her dad with an almost stranger. "That's nice. I should be-"

Devin cut her off. "He dated my step-mom." He paused. "And they had a kid together."

Her eyes widened as she realized the implications of that statement. "Your step-mom is Lorelai?"

He nodded, looking at his feet. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I didn't know until after parent's night a month or so ago. I wanted to say something but mom said that your dad was going to tell you."

"Great job he did of that," Rory retorted bitterly. She thought over what he had just said. "You call her mom?"

Devin nodded. "Yeah, she's been more of a mom to me than mine ever was."

She snorted. "That's ironic. The mother that's never cared about me, cares more about you than yours did." She paused. "I should be going." She turned around to leave.

"She does care, you know. She talks about you all the time," Devin called after her.

Rory turned back around and he was shocked to see tears in her eyes. "You don't know shit. If she cared about me she wouldn't have left. If I had meant anything to her, I would have seen more than pictures of her while I was growing up."

"She was scared, Rory. You can't blame her for that."

"So was my dad and he managed to stick around!"

Devin sighed. "I know that everything's fucked up right now but it will get better. I know that you and mom- Lorelai- will never have that great of a relationship but don't you think that you'll wake up one morning and regret not trying? She's not perfect but she's trying to fix things, get everything together."

Rory stared at him in shock for a moment, never having heard Devin string that many words together before. When she finally spoke her voice was defeated, "I don't think I can ever forgive her."

"You don't need to; just get to know her."

She finally nodded. "I'll think about it." She hesitated momentarily. "Thanks, Devin."

"No problem." He shoved his hands in his pockets and watched as she started to walk around. "Oh wait!" He pulled out his wallet and opened it, taking out a picture. "Here." He handed it to her and turned, walking down the hall.

Rory stared at the picture in her hand. It was of a little girl not older than four wearing a pair of pink overalls and grinning at the camera. She had brown hair and bright blue eyes and Rory knew who she was right away. Turning over the picture, she read the back. Rebecca Elizabeth Martin, Age 4. This was her little sister, the little sister that Rory had never met.

Putting the picture in her pocket, Rory turned to walk down the hall but was blocked by someone.

"Making a date already? And here I thought I was special," Tristan said sarcastically, his words cutting through her like a knife.

"Don't play the bitter ex, Tristan. It doesn't become you."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He went to brush past her when she started talking again.

"He's my step-brother, you know." Tristan stopped and stared at Rory. "My mother married his father."

He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again and looking at Rory. "That's just the point Ror, I didn't know," he said softly. "That's the problem."

Again he turned to walk away and again she said something before he could. "I'm sorry, okay?"

He looked back at her sadly and could tell that she was close to crying. He didn't want to admit that he wasn't that far from it himself. "I know, but sometimes sorry just isn't enough."

This time he turned and walked away down the hall without her calling after him and he wished he had never said anything to her in the first place. Maybe he would be better off if he just avoided her from now on. He arrived at his locker and was surprised to see Logan Huntzberger standing there waiting for him.

"What, come to kick my ass for hurting her?" Tristan asked before he could help himself; he was mad and Logan seemed like the logical person to take it out on.

"Was it because of what I said that you guys broke up?" Logan cut straight to the chase.

Tristan snorted. "Don't think so much of yourself Huntzberger; it had nothing to do with you."

"I think that it did."

"Wow, somebody should give you a prize; you can actually think!"

"Why are you being such a jackass? I'm trying to help!"

Tristan leaned against his locker, scowling at Logan. "Don't you get it? I don't need your help; Rory and I are done! End of story."

He took off down the hall, tired of confrontations. Deciding that he didn't want to spend the rest of the day pretending that everything was okay, he headed towards the parking lot. Getting in his car; he once again wondered if he should just give in and get back together with Rory even though he knew that everything would never be the same. He sighed realizing that he needed time and Rory needed time. Only once they had had some time apart could they decide what they really want.

Rory trudged into her house after school. Her day had been filled with whispers and stares and she had felt awful after her confrontation with Tristan. She had spent the remainder of the day trying to avoid thinking about it. Constantly looking at the picture in her pocket had helped and she realized that she wanted to meet her sister. She wondered whether she went by Rebecca or Becky and what she liked to do. She sighed and headed towards the kitchen. She had seen her dad's car in the driveway and she was ready to talk.

"Hi," she said simply, startling Chris from the newspaper that he was reading.

"Hey kiddo," he replied, looking at his daughter surprised that she was looking at him never mind speaking to him. "You're talking to me?"

"I might have overreacted." Rory bit her lip, looking down at her feet.

"No, no sweetheart, you didn't overreact." He stood up, looking with concern at his daughter. "I should have told you sooner."

"You should have told me." She paused. "It hurt that I found out the way that I did and that you didn't tell me."

"I know, I know. I was scared." Chris looked away embarrassed. "I thought that you might want to live with Lorelai and her family." At Rory's shocked look he explained further. "When you were little, every holiday you asked for your mom to come home. I was worried that once your mom finally did come back, you'd want to be with her. You know, be part of a real family."

"That's stupid."

He sighed. "I know."

Rory stepped forward and hugged Chris. "We are a real family but thanks for caring so much," she whispered in his ear.

"I'll never stop."

They sat down at the kitchen table. Everything might not have been solved but they were getting there.

"So I talked to Devin," Rory said, smiling slightly.

"Devin?"

"Devin Martin."

"Oh, that Devin."

"He gave me a picture of Rebecca."

"Rebecca?"

"My half-sister."

Chris nodded. "Oh yeah, I remember Lorelai mentioning her. She sounds like she's quite a kid." He paused. "But of course she can never compare with you."

Rory laughed. "You're my dad, you have to say that." She thought for a minute. "I want to meet her."

He nodded. "I can arrange it if you'd like."

"I would."

Hours later the father-daughter duo were sitting in the living room eating pizza and watching a movie. As the credits rolled, Chris turned to Rory.

"So you haven't mentioned Tristan yet tonight. It used to be that you couldn't go ten minutes without talking about him."

Rory froze. "We broke up," she said, looking down at her hands.

He reached for her hand, holding it comfortingly. "I'm sorry sweetheart," he said, his voice soft. "He's an idiot."

She laughed half-heartedly. "I broke up with him."

Chris looked at her in confusion, frowning. "I thought that the two of you were getting along so well. It seemed like you really liked him. What happened?"

She sighed. "I don't know, I guess I got scared. I relied on him so much and I'm not used to relying on anyone, you know?"

"Of course I know. What do you think has ended the majority of my relationships?" He laughed almost bitterly. "Like father like daughter, I guess."

Rory nodded before sighing. "Everything's so messed up now," she whispered, tears threatening to fall.

"Do you love him?" Chris asked carefully.

She shook her head. "No." She paused thoughtfully. "But I think I could have someday."

"Then everything will work out in the end, trust me."

Rory wanted to trust him, wanted the reassurance that everything would be okay but she wasn't so sure that she believed him. With the way things were going, she would be surprised if Tristan and her ever became friends again, let alone boyfriend and girlfriend. She sighed, listening to her dad talk about his relationship with Lisa and realized that that was her problem in the first place; she didn't have faith. From then on, Rory vowed that she would have faith that everything would work out in the end; it had to.