Rory sighed for what felt like the thousandth time that hour. Resting her head in her hands for a moment before looking back up at the man sitting across from her, she tried to remember the reason why she had agreed to help him. He looked back, smiling in satisfaction.

"It's brilliant, isn't it?" he asked as his smile grew, obviously not noticing the look on her face.

"Finn," Rory started, biting her lip trying to figure out how to discourage his latest plan tactfully. "While that plan is certainly unique, I don't think that it's quite what you're looking for."

"You hate it," he replied bluntly, pouting dramatically before sighing and putting his head down on the table. "We're never going to figure this out and I'm never going to get her back." His voice was muffled and she had to strain to hear it.

Putting a comforting hand on his shoulder, she tried to squelch her own doubts. "We'll figure something out eventually."

Bringing his head off the table to look at her, his expression turned serious. "What if it's too late, what if she's already found someone else." He sighed. "She was serious this time, I know it. She isn't going to wait around for me anymore. I fucked everything up."

"And now you're trying to rectify the situation. Yes, you did mess things up with Steph but in order to succeed at making things right you have to suck up your self pity."

Finn smiled. "That's exactly the attitude I was looking for. It's good to see that you're taking this seriously." Rory opened her mouth to argue that her attitude had been fine all along and she had always taken this seriously but he interrupted her. "Now c'mon love, we really need to get back to work if I'm going to get Steph back."

-

"Logan! Colin!"

Finn's sudden shout had shook Rory out of her thoughts. It was almost an hour later and the two of them were still located at the same bench, staring at the same ground, united for the same cause. Looking up, she could see the familiar blond man and a brunet making their way towards her and Finn. Her and Logan's last conversation drifted to the front of her mind and she poked the man next to her in the stomach.

"Finn," she hissed, trying to inconspicuously catch his attention until he finally turned his head to listen to her. "What's Logan's last name?"

"Now, now Rory, I believe that's what we call cheating." Logan's chastising voice interrupted their conversation before Finn could answer her. He turned towards his Australian friend. "Don't tell her anything Finn."

Rory could feel her face starting to flush. "I wasn't cheating," she protested, making Logan raise an eyebrow skeptically.

"You weren't using your journalism skills."

Her eyes narrowed. "How did you know that I'm a journalism major?"

He smirked. "A true journalist never gives up his sources."

Rory smiled in triumph. "So you're a journalism major too."

He raised his eyebrows, a small smile on his face. "Maybe, maybe not. I guess you'll just have to find out."

Before Rory could respond, the brunet standing next to Logan cleared his throat meaningfully, looking at her pointedly.

"Sorry Colin, you haven't met Rory yet, have you?" Without waiting for a response, Finn started making introductions. "Colin, Rory. Rory, Colin." He leaned back on the bench, his job now officially down.

"Hi." Rory smiled.

Colin nodded in response and smiled back slightly. They stood there in silence for a moment, not quite sure what to say to each other when Finn spoke up.

"I've got it!" Grinning he jumped up from the bench, holding his arms up in triumph. The others had no time to comment for he was already running down the path, pushing people out of his way in his rush to get to his destination.

Colin sighed, watching until his friend was out of sight before turning to Rory. "He didn't get another STD did he?"

-

Tristan tossed his worn bags into the trunk of his car, eager to put them down after dragging them from his dorm. Over the last couple months, his laundry had really built up and, as a result, he had over four bags full of dirty clothes to take home to be washed. He grinned, remembering that just a year ago he wouldn't have had the nerve to bring home dirty laundry, that it would have been unheard of in the Dugrey household. Actually, last year Tristan hadn't even bothered coming home unless ordered, so anything was an improvement.

"Tristan!"

He turned to see Curtis, a close friend of his, approaching with a smile on his face. Closing the trunk after throwing the last bag in its depths, he turned and smiled back.

"Hey man."

"Going home?"

Tristan nodded. "Just for a couple of days." Running a hand through his already tousled hair, he mentally ran down his check-list, trying to make sure that he had remembered to bring everything.

Curtis nodded and looked away from his friend. "I saw Caitlyn the other day."

His eyebrow rose. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, and you know what she told me?" Without waiting for a response, he continued. "She told me that the two of you went out for coffee."

Tristan furrowed his brows, confused at Curtis' tone of voice. "Yeah, we hung out but we're friends, we're allowed to hang out."

Curtis narrowed his eyes before sighing and putting his hands in his pockets. "She knows that the two of you are just friends?"

Tristan nodded.

"You've done nothing that could be classified as being more than friendly?"

He shook his head before finding his voice. "What's all this about, Curtis? You know that I told her that we're just friends and that's all we'll ever be. So what's your problem?"

He sighed clearly agitated. "I'm worried about her. She doesn't deserve to be played. I don't want her to be part of your games."

Tristan could feel anger rising in him. "You're fucking kidding me, right?" He laughed bitterly. "You really think that low of me?"

Curtis looked away.

"Forget this." Tristan jerked open the driver's door and got in his car, quickly starting the engine and putting it in reverse. He could see Curtis in his review mirror, watching him drive away. As he put more and more distance between them, he could feel his anger ebbing away.

Was he really that bad of a person that even one of his best friends doubted his character?

-

Textbooks were strewn across the couch and although her laptop was situated in her lap with her hands poised to type, the words just weren't coming. Rory sighed as she won her umpteenth game of solitaire and closed the laptop, tossing it lightly to the side. She just couldn't concentrate.

After Finn had run off to win his girl back, Rory had made an excuse about homework and had left Logan and Colin to their own devices. She was still trying to determine whether she had imagined that look of disappointment on Logan's face.

Leaning her head back against the couch and closing her eyes, she debated what to do. On one hand, it would be beneficial to finish her work for the week now and get it over with. On the other hand, she really wasn't up to it and knew that whatever work she produced today would definitely not be her best work. She sighed again, when she was interrupted by a knocking on the door.

Taking her time as if not appear too eager, she stood up, stretched, and leisurely made her way towards the door. Opening it, she could not suppress the look of surprise on her face as she came face to face with Logan.

"Hey."

"Hey Rory," he said with an easy smile, making no move to come in. "We're all getting together to celebrate Steph and Finn's reunion and we thought that you might like to come."

Rory smiled. "Finn and Steph got back together?"

"That they did." He rocked on his heels slightly as he waited for her to either reject or accept his invitation before he realized that she had ignored everything that had followed the fact that Steph and Finn had got back together. "I'm sure that Steph will tell you all about it if you come out with us tonight."

Rory blinked, looking behind her at the couch with all of her school stuff piled on it. She thought of the consequences of going out instead of staying in to study and she thought of everything that was on her to do list that could be done that night. She thought of every possible logical reason not to go and had her mind made up that it was best not to.

And then Logan smiled charmingly, already backing up out of the dorm as if he knew that she would agree, not aware of her inner battle. And Rory found herself smiling back at him, picking up her coat that was strewn by the door.

"Let's go," she said, in that moment not caring about anything else but seeing him smile again.

-

"Well actually the idea stemmed from the two of you actually," Finn was saying, gesturing with the beer bottle that he held in his hand with Stephanie at his side. She was harmlessly flirting with the waiter who came to refresh their drinks but Finn didn't seem to care, so secure in their new relationship.

They were eating dinner at a restaurant that Rory had only been to once with Tristan over the summer. She remembered the food to be exquisite though, but despite that, had only ordered part of what she usually would have had she been with her mother or her closer friends. She didn't know these people well enough, other than Stephanie, to subject them to the Gilmore eating habits

"The two of us?" Rory repeated, looking at Logan who smiled and shrugged back equally confused by Finn's proclamation.

"What about me?" Colin asked, pouting slightly. He tried to look pathetic and would have succeeded if Steph hadn't poked him the ribs, making him laugh.

"You had no part in reconciliation," Finn replied airily.

"How did we have a part in it?" Rory asked again, gesturing between her and Logan with a confused expression on her face.

"Well technically Logan brought it up first but it was all because of you. Therefore the idea came from the two of you."

Logan smirked. "I'll drink to that." He lifted up his glass and did just that.

Rory brought a forkful of food to her mouth and, after swallowing, persisted on her line of questioning. "What was the idea?"

Finn smiled proudly, making Steph roll her eyes at him. "He had the brilliant idea of putting out a full page spread in the newspaper for me," she explained, rolling her eyes again as she told the story. "Luckily I ran into him and stopped him from publicly humiliating both of us."

Finn frowned. "It was a good idea. Don't tell me that you wouldn't have been flattered love?" He looked down at Steph who smiled back and reached up to kiss him.

Logan rolled his eyes at Rory, who managed a small smile despite the tightening in her chest as realization hit her.

She wanted a relationship.

She wanted what Finn and Stephanie had, albeit without all the drama and heartbreak. She wanted someone who would be there for her after classes, someone who would drag her away from her studying when she was overworking herself. She wanted someone who she could rely on, someone who would always be there for her.

Smiling, she become conscious of the fact that this new yearning for a relationship meant that she was moving past what had happened the previous summer with Dean. Looking up from the table top that she had been staring at, she met Logan's eyes. Raising her barely touched alcoholic beverage that Finn had insisted on ordering for her, she touched it gently to Logan's.

"Cheers."

-

She could almost see it, she just needed to crane her neck a little bit further and he needed to move his hand an eighth of an inch to the right. Moving closer without being obvious was harder than it looked and the two drinks that she had consumed earlier were not making it easier. Finally, she had caught a glimpse and, after a moment of scrutiny, could make out the first four letters. Hunt. Hunter? Huntington?

"That's cheating." Rory looked up to see Logan looking at her with a smirk on his face, his credit card with his last name printed in bold letters safe in his pocket. She frowned, disappointed.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she replied, smiling innocently.

He snorted. "Sure you don't."

"No seriously, I don't. How is that cheating? I'm using my journalistic skills and that's what you told me to do."

He smirked. "So you do what I tell you to do? That can come in handy." His voice was heavy with innuendo, making Rory flush slightly.

Rolling her eyes, she tried to ignore the heat she could feel from his arm that was draped over the back of her chair. She couldn't remember when it had appeared there but it had felt natural. And it had stayed there throughout the entire dinner up until now, after dessert had been consumed and all their excuses for one more drink had tired even Finn.

Pushing back their chairs, the group stood up one at a time, stretching after being seated for the last two hours. Rory found her shoulders were feeling cold after the loss of contact with Logan, making her frown slightly.

"Don't worry," Logan whispered in her ear, making Rory look up in confusion, suddenly filled with the irrational worry that he could read her mind. "You'll figure it out eventually."

Rory sighed as she realized that he was talking about her hunt for his last name and smiled. "I know I will. I would have earlier if you didn't keep stopping me." She pouted exaggeratedly, making him laugh.

He stepped closer to her as they made their way out of the restaurant under the pretense of being unable to hear her. "You'll find another way. I know you will."

She grinned. "Glad to see you don't doubt me." She furrowed her brows. "Hunter?"

"Hunter?" he repeated, raising an eyebrow.

Shrugging, a corner of her mouth quirked up and she smiled. "Yeah, that doesn't really seem to fit, does it?"

He laughed. "Hunter?" he asked again. "It's so… common."

"And of course you wouldn't be caught dead with a common name." She rolled her eyes as they stepped out into the cool autumn air and wrapped her arms around herself.

"Of course," he agreed with a grin.

-

Finn wrapped his arms around his shivering girlfriend and pulled her close. Stephanie was his girlfriend, he was her boyfriend. He still couldn't wrap his mind around it. Pulling her closer, he nuzzled her neck and smiled when she tilted her head for better access.

"Are you having fun?" he asked in a low voice.

She smiled, looking him in the eye. "I am." Playfully poking him in the stomach, she continued. "I'm glad you finally shaped up."

He raised an eyebrow. "I finally shaped up? You're the reason that we were dating other people from the beginning!"

She rolled her eyes. "Let's not play the blame game," she said patronizingly.

"Oh yeah? What game should we play instead?" His voice was low and full of innuendo, making Steph shiver from more than the cold.

She tilted her head, turning around in his arms. "I don't know." She bit her lip. "Why don't we go back to my dorm and see?"

He grinned in response, leaning in to touch his lips to hers.

-

Rory sighed as she saw Finn and Steph having a moment and knew that she would be left alone with Logan and Colin in a minute. Not that that was a bad thing, although she sometimes felt like the guys of the group were just putting up with her because she was friends with Steph.

"Shall we then?" Logan asked, holding an arm out to Rory who took it with a roll of her eyes and a smile.

"We shall," Colin put in. He looked towards Steph and Finn and called, "Hey, are you guys coming?" Lowering his voice, he added, "Ten bucks says they aren't."

Logan shook his head with a laugh. "I don't take fool's bets, McCrae."

"Yeah, you just make them Huntz…" He was unable to continue as Logan had leaned forward and covered his mouth with his hand, a stern look on his face.

"Don't say it," he warned, looking over at Rory who was pouting that she had been unable to hear the rest.

"Huntz?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "What kind of name is Huntz?"

Colin frowned as Logan took his hand away, wiping his mouth before asking, "Why can't I say your last name?"

Rory rolled her eyes. "Logan thinks that I should find it out on my own."

Colin met Logan's eyes, knowing immediately that Logan didn't want Rory to know his last name at all, that he didn't want her to look at him differently which she inevitably would if she found out. He wondered why he cared, why this would be such a big deal to his friend who had gone his whole life being treating differently because of his last name.

And then realization struck him.

Logan Huntzberger had a crush.

Colin grinned to himself; Logan Huntzberger did not have crushes, at least not since seventh grade. He couldn't even remember the last time his friend had mooned over a girl. How the mighty had fallen.

And oh, how he was going to enjoy this.

-

Rory smiled as Logan offered to walk her to her dorm. After Finn and Steph had left, Colin had made an excuse and left, leaving just the two of them remaining. After sharing a cab back to campus, they began making their way towards Rory's dorm.

"So did you have a good time tonight?" Logan asked, breaking the silence that had engulfed them since getting out of the taxi.

"I did." She smiled. "Thanks for inviting me, Huntz."

"Huntz?" he asked, lifting an eyebrow.

Rory shrugged. "Well you won't tell me your full last name so I have to make do with what I have."

"And so you're going to call me Huntz?" He frowned slightly, remembering times when he had heard his father being called that. Any nickname that his father had ever held, he did not want to be associated with.

She patted his shoulder reassuring. "Don't worry; I'll Google you in the morning." She shook her head as she saw his smirk and spoke before he could say anything. "Yes, I know, dirty."

He laughed. "Rory keep your mind out of the gutter," he teased, as they came up to her dorm. "So I'll see you later?" he asked, ignoring how badly he wanted her to say yes.

"It's inevitable, isn't it?" she said, smiling slightly as she unlocked her door and turned around, leaning against it.

Her smile disappeared as he leaned in closer, and suddenly the mood turned from playful to something else, something heavier. She couldn't think, couldn't make a coherent sound.

"Good-night," he whispered and then he leaned forward and touched his lips to her.

She closed her eyes instinctively, putting her hands lightly on his upper arms as he moved closer, putting his hands on her waist.

"Good-night," she whispered back, as they pulled apart, opening her eyes slowly. She backed up, turning the knob of the door and slipping inside, throwing him one last smile.

Once she was inside and had closed the door, she resisted the urge to squeal. He had kissed her, he likes her. She smiled brightly, tossing her coat on the couch. She knew that she would soon be panicking about the meaning of the kiss and so, for the moment, she was relishing in the feeling that had engulfed her when his lips had touched hers.

"Good night?" A voice came from her left and she spun, surprised, for she hadn't noticed another presence in the room.

"Tristan!" she practically squealed, moving across the room quickly to throw herself in his arms. After a moment she leaned back to look him in the eye. "How did you get in here?"

"Paris let me in." He shrugged, pushing a piece of her hair behind her ear and noticing how much she looked like a little kid with her eyes shining. "You look happy," he commented, noticing the flush on her cheeks.

"He kissed me," she whispered, feeling girly for a moment, not caring that it was Tristan that she was talking to, just wanting to tell someone.

"Who's he?" he asked curious, for he couldn't remember Rory telling him about any guys.

"His name is Logan," she said with a smile, moving to sit on the couch and pulling Tristan down beside her.

"What's his last name?" he asked idly.

She shrugged. "I'm not sure."

Tristan laughed. "Rory Gilmore, I'm disappointed in you, kissing boys without knowing their last name? At least get his last name before you sleep with him."

Rory blushed. "Tristan," she complained, hitting him lightly in the chest. "So what are you doing here?" she asked, changing the subject.

He put an indignant hand to his chest. "You don't remember?" he asked, acting insulted. At her confused look, he continued, "Family dinner tomorrow night at my house?"

"Oh," she said, as comprehension dawned on her.

"Yeah, I thought that we could hang out tonight but you weren't here." He pouted at her. "And so I spent two hours watching CSPAN with Paris until she left. I'm not sure where though." He contemplated for a moment before shaking his head.

"Why didn't you go home?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Didn't feel like it."

Rory frowned, knowing that there was more to it than that. "Tristan."

Sighing, he knew that she would give up on it until he told her. "I'll tell you later, okay? I just need to figure some stuff out first."

She nodded, accepting what he told her and she settled back on the couch with one of her best friends, turning on the TV. They didn't talk for almost two hours after that, instead just taking comfort in the fact that the other was there. And they didn't need words.

-

The candles illuminated an elegant dining room, complete with crystal chandelier, crystal figurine and crystal champagne glasses. The light reflected on the walls flickered, sending shadows dancing across the room. It was a room designed for the illusion of intimacy despite its large size. The lights were dimmed low and soft jazz could be heard being played from softly from the speakers located on the ceiling.

All in all, the Dugrey dining room was designed to impress.

The first time Rory had been in it, it had unnerved her. She had been afraid to touch anything, afraid that she might sneeze and it would all blow away.

Tristan of course, had no such problems. "It's a room, Rory," he had said half way through the grand tour of his house, rolling his eyes at her stunned expression after he had stomped through the room with no care for the valuables, having been used to such luxury from a young age. Rory had rolled her eyes back and flounced away to the next room, eager to get away from the breakables. Of course the house had plenty of breakables throughout, but the dining room was definitely a congregation of the most impressive.

Over the summer she had become used to eating in there, used to treating priceless antiques like they were plastic. Still when she entered the room for dinner, she had treaded carefully, subconsciously tiptoeing to her seat and sliding in slowly.

Tristan exchanged an amused look with his parents as they watched her take her seat before they took their seats themselves.

"You're not going to break anything Mare," Tristan said with a grin, as he picked up his glass to take a drink.

Rory rolled her eyes. "So you tell me, that's what they all say."

"Who are they, the voices in your head?"

She refrained from a childish gesture such as sticking her tongue out and settled with an indignant, "Maybe."

"Well then you should listen to what they're telling you, Mary."

As the children bantered, the parents exchanged a look from across the table, rolling their eyes. Tristan and Rory refused to tell them what the nickname Mary meant but they could guess, and it made them amused every time.

Cynthia sighed happily, looking around the table at her family. The Dugrey family dinner was a success so far. Most families wouldn't think anything of spending an entire dinner together without yelling or fighting but to Cynthia, it was a big deal. Even though they had had a peaceful summer together, she was still worried that they would slip into old habits, that Tristan would end up resenting her again and that she and Eric would go back to simply cohabiting the same house. She was afraid that Rory would leave, that their togetherness wouldn't last forever. But Cynthia vowed that everything would be okay and that she would make sure that her happily ever after would remain happy.