AN: So, this chapter was not supposed to exist but then I had a spark of inspiration and hammered this out in a few hours. (Yay for quarantine making it so I have no good reason to do anything other than to write.)

I've always had some opinions about the fact that they lived in a potting shed for a few years in Connecticut and that Lorelai was so focused on what she wanted or needed that she was putting her, at that point, young daughter in a potentially unsafe situation. I also found it strange that no one did anything about it. Anyway, so this was my way of dealing with the situation.

On with the show!

Chris and Rory were staring at each other as neither knew exactly where to start. Eventually, Chris spoke. "So, we were talking about a potting shed?"

"Right," Rory rubbed her hands together awkwardly for a minute, in an action that Logan hadn't seen since they first met. "Well, I was a baby when most of this happened so I don't know how it exactly happened, you understand that right?" Rory was on the verge of a nervous babble and that made Logan oddly pleased. She hadn't done that in a long time, and her nervous babbles were a part of what made her Rory. He was starting to realize that her babbles were often related to Lorelai, which concerned him. He was brought out of his thoughts when Rory started speaking.

"All of this I got from mom, then it's what I remember from when I was a kid. So, who knows how accurate it's going to be, it was a long time ago-"

"Rory, honey, you're making me nervous. Please just tell me what happened." Chris said calmly, cutting Rory off and refocused her a little.

"This feels a bit like a fink out thing, and I hate being a fink." Chris laughed at the use of a similar phrase he used with Lorelai.

"This overrules the fink out thing, so tell me."

Rory sighed and tried to figure out where to start, realizing that it wasn't going to make a whole lot of sense otherwise she started from the beginning. "Ok, well according to mom she packed up and left Hartford when no one was home one day. She packed up her car and drove to Stars Hollow. She showed up at the Independence Inn and asked the owner, Mia, if she could have a job. Apparently, she looked pathetic because it was raining and she was soaked for some reason and was carrying me, the owner took pity on her and said that she could be a maid. Because of the odd circumstances, I guess Mia asked if she had anywhere to go, and when she said no Mia offered the potting shed out back for us to live in."

"THE POTTING SHED!" Chris yelled as he leapt out of his seat. Both Chris and Logan knew, even with their limited child-rearing experience, that it was not safe or healthy for anyone, let alone a toddler to live in a shed at all, let alone during their early developmental stages.

"Yeah, the potting shed." Lorelai had once told her that she shouldn't tell anyone that they lived in the potting shed and that if people asked, she was supposed to tell people that they lived at the Independence Inn. At the time she thought it had to do with their mail, but now she wasn't so sure.

Chris took a few deep breathes then sat down. "How long did you live there?"

"Until I was 9. That was when we moved into the Crap Shack."

Chris gapped at Rory not sure what to say for a minute. "Was it an actual potting shed or was it an apartment that used to be a potting shed?" Chris asked thinking about a renovation he saw once where a garage was turned into a sitting room.

"It was more potting shed then apartment. It was one room; the bathtub was in the corner and mom and I shared the bed."

"Was it insulated at least?"

Rory went to defend her little home when an odd thought occurred to her. The shed didn't look insulated and the temperature inside was always similar to what it was outside.

[Flashback]

5-year-old Rory woke up frozen. As she looked around the potting shed, she called home she realized why. The little electric furnace they had wasn't on, it must have finally bit the dust, but it was the wind outside that worried her. If it got too windy outside the shed would freeze.

It was still dark out so they couldn't go back to the Inn yet, plus with the worsening weather, they might not be able to get there.

Rory slowly slipped from the bed and gathered another pair of socks, a sweater to pull over her pyjamas and a hat to keep her head warm. She thought that most kids didn't have to sleep in winter hats and she wondered why her mom would leave a big house where she was warm all the time.

When she crawled in next to her mom, she began dreaming of the day they would have insulation and central heating and not worry about freezing in the middle of the night. Rory knew that you were not supposed to fall asleep while this cold, one of the lessons Laura Ingalls taught her, so she cracked open her book and began to read by the glow of a flashlight that was kept under the bed.

[End flashback]

"Rory?" Rory's eyes snapped back to Christopher realizing she had zoned out. "I asked if the potting shed was insulated."

"No, I don't think it was."

Chris took a couple keep breaths trying to steady himself as what exactly had happened started to sink in. "What did you do in the winter?"

"I remember at one point we had a little space heater. It broke one year in the middle of a storm and I remember I was so cold, but it was the middle of the night so I couldn't do anything about it. The wind had picked up and it made the shed so cold. I remember I got out of bed to get a hat and wondered why mom would leave a warm house where we wouldn't have to sleep in winter hats."

"You didn't go somewhere that was winterized?" Rory just shook her head stunned at what she was realizing.

"I don't know why we didn't, someone in town would have let us stay with them, I'm sure of it."

Everyone in the room got quiet as the truth of Rory's childhood sunk in. "You said something about the bathtub being in there? So, you guys had plumbing?"

"Kind of. We didn't have a sink or a toilet, but the bathtub was connected to the Inn's outdoor water supply, so the water came from the hose and in the winter we'd have to go to the inn to have a shower or bath."

"Ace," Logan chimed in finally having a question that he felt Chris wouldn't have the willpower to ask. "What about in the middle of the night? Or if you couldn't make it to the inn in time to do your business?"

"We would have a bucket to use if we had to, but that was it." Chris looked like he was ready to blow an aneurism his face was so red.

"A goddamn bucket," Chris muttered to himself as he shook his head in disbelieve. Suddenly something occurred to him. "Oh my god."

"What?" Rory said baffled

"I didn't understand it at the time but now it makes sense. Your mom knew about Stars Hollow because we had driven through there a few times. If your mom and I needed to get away we'd sometimes go to Weston's and wander around the town. She used to describe it 'Willy Wonka's Factory' because it was so colourful and cute that she thought it belonged in the movie."

"Ok?" Rory said confused. "You're drifting."

"It didn't take me too long to figure out where you were, she said that Stars Hollow would be a good place to run away too. So I called everyone in Stars Hollow and asked if I could speak with Lorelai Gilmore. It only took about three phone calls before I was talking to Babette and she told me exactly where Lorelai was and what she was doing there. So, I called the Inn and I spoke to your mom. She said that you guys were fine and that I didn't need to come down,"

"And you agreed? Did you think you were being let off the hook?" Rory got slightly hostile at the idea that her dad just left her.

"No!" Chris exclaimed, hurt that his daughter thought that he didn't want her or that she was a situation that he wanted out of. He understood why she'd think that he didn't exactly have a great track record for showing up. "I did see it as an opportunity to get out from under my parents' thumb though and I did prioritize that. I did call the inn a couple of times a week to check-in and when I finally pushed the issue about seeing you, Lorelai told me that she'd meet me in Hartford. I never understood why she insisted on that, I knew where Stars Hollow was and it would have been easy enough for me to come and see you, but now I think she was hiding the fact that you were living in questionable conditions, to say the least." Rory took in what her dad said, and while she wanted to be mad at him, she couldn't fault him for using her existence as a reason to take off from a life he didn't want. Lorelai had done essentially the same thing and she was doing something similar. "Your mom was always so sure of what she wanted, and I was a scared kid who was handed the biggest responsibility and I was petrified. I was so sure that I would screw you up and hurt you, so I stayed away. When I did see you when you were little, you didn't know me or trust me, and I'm still not convinced you didn't hate me, but you loved your mom and that just confirmed that I was a terrible dad and there wasn't much point in me fighting for you.' Chris spun the glass he was holding around in his hands before he spoke again. "I'm so sorry, I should have fought harder for you. To see you and to spend real time with you. I should have checked where you were living and there are probably a thousand other things I failed at, but I am really very sorry."

Rory looked at her dad and she wasn't quite sure what to say or do. He had never apologized for the way he acted when she was growing up and she was starting to wonder if what her mom did was really for the best. Growing up in a potting shed without heat or plumbing, while a unique and interesting experience, should not have happened and her mom could have stuck it out in Hartford until she could afford a real place to live. Or she could have seen if Mia would have let them live with her temporarily, just until she could afford a real place. Mia adored the Gilmore Girls and likely would have taken them into her home. Rory was starting to wonder if maybe Mia or someone did offer to have them move in, but Lorelai turned it down.

"It's ok dad. Mom was always a force to be reckoned with, and you were a kid. I didn't lie awake at night and hoped someone would come and save me, I did hope I could have plumbing and heating, and I separately wished that my dad was around more but I didn't connect the two until now."

"So, we're moving past this?"

"We are. Just promise not to kill mom when you call her?"

"I'll be nice. I will yell though."

"I appreciate that. I have a few questions of my own I'd like answered."

Chris smiled sadly at his daughter, realizing that he may have inadvertently shattered Rory's perception of her childhood and that his staying away may have done more harm than just having an awkward relationship with Rory.

A clearing of a throat brought Chris out of his musings and he watched a small scene play out in front of him. Rory was leaning into Logan's side, clearly exhausted from the adventures of the weekend and Logan was bringing her attention to the time. With a slight nod of her head, they began getting ready to leave.

"It was good to see you dad, but we have to go. I have to work in the morning and it's an hour flight back to New York."

"It was good to see you, kiddo. With another round of hugs and handshakes, Logan and Rory headed back to New York.

It was getting close to ten o'clock when they arrived outside Rory's apartment building. It had been a long weekend and they were both exhausted, though Rory was nearly falling asleep on his shoulder.

"Ace, we're here." Rory groaned but refused to open her eyes, causing Logan to chuckle. "C'mon sleepy head, the bed will be more comfortable."

"Don't want to sleep without you." Rory groggily replied.

Logan smiled at her knowing that she wasn't fully aware of what she said, but was glad she voiced it none the less. "Well, it's a good thing you don't have too. But I can't carry you and our stuff at the same time, so you'll have to propel yourself."

"Wait," Rory said finally perking up enough to be aware of her surroundings. "What do you mean it's a good thing I won't have to sleep without you?"

"Well, I packed a bag of work-appropriate clothing and had Frank keep it in the car in case I ended up staying at your place."

"Really?"

"Really. I've quickly gotten used to sleeping beside you again and I know that we said that we'd take it slow but I refuse to be separated from my family because we're working our crap out. I'm not suggesting we move in together yet, but I think we can skip the weird awkward dating part and go straight to staying the night." Logan said passionately. "Plus, I like your place more than mine."

Rory smiled at Logan, glad that they were on the same page. "I'd like you to stay."

"Good. Now that we have that covered, go upstairs and be the organization freak that you are and get ready for work tomorrow, while I get our things out of the car."

"I am not a freak! I just like very specific pens." Logan laughed as Rory stuck her tongue out at him then slid out of the car before he could argue with her. Rory went upstairs and as she organized everything to be ready to go for her first day as an editor at a New York City paper. As Rory looked at her stack of pens, sticky notes, and anything else she could possibly need, she felt that her life was falling into place.

When she came out of her makeshift office and saw Logan on the couch watching TV with two cups of tea on the coffee table, she knew that this was exactly where she was supposed to be.

AN: I know the thing with the toilet might be pushing it a bit but I swear they didn't show a toilet in the shed so I'm rolling with it. I also know that it was officially a renovated potting shed but to me, it didn't look renovated beyond what Lorelai did to the inside and that's how we got this chapter.

Review if you please!