A/N: I'm back, and I plan to see this through :) Thanks for your patience.

Out of the Box

Rory fell on her knees, dry leaves crushing beneath her, but she didn't notice the sounds they made, or what Logan was doing, because she buried her face in her hands and started shaking her head, as if she could send the woods, rocket ship and Logan away by doing so.

"No. No, no, no, no, no. It's not fair! It's really not fair!"

She was about to burst into tears when she felt Logan's hands grabbing her by the shoulders.

"Ace, ACE! Calm down, you're freaking out there."

Yeah, freak out. She was freaking out big time. She lifted her head but didn't look at Logan, she turned her face and looked towards the direction of the bridge. It was so near. She made a violent motion and stood up. She could make it. She could still run to Jess and explain that she didn't want any of this, that she wanted him. But Logan grabbed her by the hand and turned her around.

"Rory! Stop. There's no big threat here to prompt that flee or fight response. This is unfair – you don't even know what I'm here for. Look at me."

Something in the way he rationally summarized her reaction made Rory stop and think. She couldn't tap-dance away her fears in that situation. Sooner or later, she would need to face the fact that Logan had broken down his engagement, that he was the baby's father, and that she wanted to be with Jess. She took a deep breath. No more running away.

"OK. Sorry about that. You really caught me off guard and in a really bad moment. I was on my way to meeting someone who will be waiting for me."

Rory could swear Logan winced.

"Alright. Then call that person and tell them you're late. It's what mobile phones were invented for, right? There was no being late in landline times."

Right. Mobile. Rational, adult behaviors. Rory took her phone out and rang Jess, but it run out of battery and went off before it could dial even once.

"Fuck!"

"You seemed really upset about being late for this particular appointment. Was it a date?"

Rory looked up and found a blank mask on Logan's face.

"Yes."

"Not a first date with some random guy, I assume, since you're this interested. Not Paul, either."

"No, none of that."

Logan was definitely wincing.

"It's the writer, right?" Rory must have conceded with her face, because Logan didn't need a confirmation to start venting. "I knew it, I fucking knew it! You said in London there was nothing there. You said there was nothing there back at Yale, but I always knew there was, he has that aura about him, like you will always be star-crossed lovers to him and he cannot let go. What is it? Is he going to be our baby's daddy? Is that what this is about? That's why you wanted me out of the picture? Is he so pathetic that he's willing to be the father to someone else's baby just for a chance to get in your pants?"

"That's the most disgusting thing that must have ever left your mouth. And I didn't want you out of the picture, for your information, I just didn't want my picture to be modeled after yours anymore!"

"Wow, Ace, nice low blow. So you are saying what, that I forced my lifestyle on you?"

"Are you talking about low blows? After you just implied that the reason I wouldn't want a Huntzberger heir – which, let me remind you, you spent many years fighting off yourself – is because there's a new man on the picture? So, that's what I am to you, right? Rory Gilmore, the perfect white canvas girlfriend! She will become whatever you want her to be if you date her, she's so gullible, so malleable! Rory Gilmore dates an ice skater and suddenly relaunches the Ice Capades! Rory Gilmore, unexpected baseball aficionado thanks to his new boyfriend! Rory Gilmore, joins the Life and Death Brigade, steals a yacht, becomes the Jet Set's sweet heart! Date Rory, and see what she becomes next!" Rory could have gone on, but something about what she had just said chilled her soul, and when she talked again, she came out colder. "You are like the lot of them."

"What lot? What are you talking about?"

"Like everyone else – like my mom, like my grandparents, like Stars Hollow's inhabitants, like everyone who's seen me or known me for a while. You want to put me into your pre-built Rory image space and won't allow anything that departs from your mental picture, and if I do get out of that picture, you'll just blame someone else, something else, as if I didn't have my own hopes and ideas, as if I didn't make my own mistakes, because that would collide with the fake perfect Rory you wished for yourself. You don't care for the real me, for the one that messes up and has a voice. You just care about yourself and about a Rory that doesn't exist anymore, that perhaps never existed. But I'm not having it. You won't guilt me into being that puppet. What are you here for? Speak your mind, and expect me to have an opinion about it. You've made it this far, after all."

Logan seemed defeated, but as much as Rory had spoken truths hard to swallow, he didn't appear angry. If anything, he looked sad. "Me and Odette broke up."

"I know. You father told my grandmother. So, what?"

"It's not what you think, OK? I'm not here to propose to you. I know you're your own person, Rory. Believe it or not, I love that person, however difficult it has been all along to accept that you sometimes didn't want the same thing as I did. I told Odette about the baby, about how I wanted to be in its life, and she didn't think it was such a great idea, so she gave me an ultimatum: to give the baby up or to break up. So I chose the second option. "

"Oh." Rory was shocked, and a bit ashamed to have assumed that Logan broke up with Odette to be with her.

"Oh, indeed. I listen to you, OK? I'm not blind, either. I heard what you said in London, I heard what you said at the inn the night the baby was conceived. I've seen you these last two years with me. I know I'm not it for you. You don't need to spell it out." Rory looked down, feeling mortified. "And please, don't give me that look, I don't need you to pity me, either. I actually think you're not it for me either."

"Am I not?"

Logan laughed. "No, Ace, you are not. But you have been until very recently. If there's ever been such a thing in my life, it definitely has been you, and I will always love you for that. And you know it will be the same way for you – we know each other better than probably anyone else. We've been through thick and thin. We've supported each other, and made each other laugh, and loved each other in any way our sometimes sad lives allowed, which was perhaps not romantically standard most of the times, but real, so don't give me any of that Rory Gilmore is your Barbie doll shit. I won't put you in any preconceived box, so don't do that to me either. And forgive me about my earlier Jess rant. You see? I do know his name and can be civil about the whole thing, even if I momentarily lapsed into puberty. To be completely honest, I'm still jealous of the guy. I'm jealous about the way I imagine he makes you feel. I'm jealous that it's not us – even if I know we're not that anymore, I would still trade whatever future love stories I may have for a chance for both of us to go back there, because you're an amazing woman. But I know it's not going to happen, so hear me out here, Ace."

Rory realized she had been crying silently. They were the saddest tears she had ever shed, filled with understanding of how complicated life could be, and of real love – that burns, then warms, and sadly ends. She felt old. "OK. Tell me."

"Let's do this. Let's do this together. We might not be a couple, but we love each other – let's find a way to be both mother and father to the child without letting all of this back story get in the way. I am the Huntzberger heir, there's no turning back at this stage, so there will probably be some family drama involved, especially concerning the grandparents, but fuck it. You want to go work in a diner and start from scratch? Do it, I'll respect your choice, but don't wipe me out because I will inherit a media empire. Think about your mom. Think about how she tried to avoid the complications her family brought by removing them from the picture and how she had to find a way to live with everything in the end, to work through the problems that had fossilized years before. Let's avoid a huge clash later in the baby's life… let's just deal with the small, daily implications of that clash, little by little, so this complicated mess gets sorted out as we go along and there are no huge dramas further down the way. I think we can do it. Here." Logan went to the rocketship, grabbed a bag that was hidden behind it and took the contract Rory had given him. "Your contract, signed. Sorry it took so long, but I also needed to leave everything settled. It hurt at the time, but I believe this is the best… for the Huntzbergers. They way things work in my family are not really… fair, shall we say, with the female side, so I thought it would be unfair to Honor that our kid would suddenly upstage her, or her girls. So I agree that it's best to leave the family money out. But I discussed things with my sister and she agreed that the kid should be as well cared for as any of hers, so I made a trust for it, and that money will cover tuitions, insurances and things like that as it's done with hers. Whatever else I will put from my money. There's an addenda at the end, go through it with your lawyers and let me know. Think about everything, Ace."

Logan was still holding out the contract for her, but instead of taking it, she looked at his face, and saw a greatness there that she recognized as Logan's best side, and what got her in love with him in the first place. She forgot about the contract and hugged him, crying. "Thanks, for everything. Thank you for being the man I fell in love with. And thank you for making me proud of the father the baby is going to have." She broke the hug and looked at him, smiling. "I will always love you, Logan. I know we'll make this work."

"Me too, Ace. Let's talk about it more when you're ready, so you can finally tell me everything I'm dying to know about the pregnancy. And don't worry… about him. Just be happy, and I'll support you." Rory nodded, smiling, and kissed him on the cheek. "Go, you're awfully late."

"And you're awfully British, Mister Huntzberger."

Logan pushed her gently, motioning her to go, and she stepped backwards, never breaking eye contact with him. He laughed at this, and bowed his head before turning and leaving while Rory watched him go. Once he was out of sight she breathed deeply several times, wiped her face in an attempt to blindly fix what would probably be a non-waterproof mascara mess and turned to go meet Jess. But she didn't have to walk long, because as soon as she started moving, the man himself appeared from behind the trees.