A/N: I am extremely sorry. It has been way way way too long. I think… two months? I really did not mean for that to happen. I have an excuse, even though it may be a lame one. I wrote a book. And that one kind of took all my time and inspiration here for a while, keeping me from finishing this or any of my other started stories (both fanfiction and not). But, now I am back. I don't know if any of you still remember this story, or if anyone new will get interested now that I'm posting again, but anyway, here is the next chapter.

Chapter Six

Slowly returning from lands of dreams where everything was different, she stretched her arms and yawned quietly. Her mouth was dry and she must have slept in a weird angle, because her neck was throbbing a little as she started to move, unwillingly awakening and returning to the real world.

As she let her eyes fall open, she found the space next to her in the bed empty. For a split second, she thought Logan hadn't ever made it home last night. But she had no time to get filled with any kind of emotion over that, because the next second he must have seen her move as his voice suddenly flowed through the room. "Good morning, Ace," he smiled happily, barely looking up from the drawer where he was looking for something to wear for work.

However, he noticed her lack of answer, and looked up at her confusedly. She had sat up on the bed, and was giving him a dark look under her messy hair.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today," he commented, not concerned, more like annoyed. But probably that wasn't it either. It was more that it didn't sound like he cared at all that made her even surer in her decision.

"Something wrong, Ace?" he added, very much too late, and probably just because she still remained quiet and that bugged him.

"Where were you last night?" she asked accusingly, causing his smile to fade. "I waited up for you."

"Oh, you shouldn't have," he said lightly, breathing out as it was nothing worse, the smile working its way back into place. "I told you before, I was going out with the guys and you know how that gets."

"You didn't tell me you were going to be out all night," she responded coldly.

"Well, I'm sorry, Ace, I just…" he started, but she interrupted him.

"Don't… call me that."

Now he looked more confused than ever. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Nothing," she sighed. "I just… you know, you promised when we had Shira, it'd be different. That you wouldn't do this anymore."

"Whoa, where's this coming from?" he asked, frowning and completely forgetting about finding the right socks for a moment.

"It's coming from me!" she exclaimed. "I'm just… I'm so tired of how you just…" She paused, not knowing how to finish that sentence, suddenly being hit with how dangerous this was – how much she was jeopardizing, and she started doubting if she really really had thought this through enough and in a enough not-sleep-deprived state.

"Just what?" he asked, getting worked up now.

"I don't know," she mumbled, keeping her eyes on the duvet cover, avoiding his eyes.

"Maybe you're just getting tired of me," he concluded, bitterness in his tone. "Is that it? Maybe you've just finally decided that you're tired of this little game you obviously have been playing with me and us and everything we've built up together. You're just gonna throw all that out the window now for whoever he is, is that it?"

Tears had started streaming down her face. She wasn't sure for what. For him or for his words or for the look on his face or for herself or for the future or for Jess. Perhaps it was just everything together that made her cry quietly in this deafening silence.

He help up his hand to keep her from speaking as she finally attempted to, letting her mouth fall open, grasping for air to her aching lungs, desperately trying to find some words.

When he spoke, his voice was just a little broken with something that could have been sorrow but just as easily could have been anger. "Just tell me one thing," he said, sounding so defeated she almost felt bad for him. "Just tell me one thing before I'll go and leave you alone. Did you sleep with him?" Okay, she did not feel bad for him anymore.

"No!" she protested, offended. "No, Logan, no," she added, wiping her nose a little and feeling pathetic, the energy to be angry gone again, as quickly as it had appeared.

"But you kissed, right?" he asked, smiling cynically down in the sock drawer that had regained his attention.

She opened her mouth to tell him 'no', but couldn't. Another tear found its way into her lap. God, she had never thought this would be her.

"That's what I thought," he said, reading her lack of answer correctly.

"It's not what you think," she whispered. "It was one time. It wasn't… I'm so sorry."

She was. She was sorry. He may not be perfect, but he didn't deserve this, and she was sorry.

"Yeah. Yeah, me too, I guess," he said, frowning. "I gotta go to work. I… I'll be back later to pick up my stuff. And I'll set up a meeting with my lawyer for tomorrow so that we can settle the divorce and the custody of Shira," he said, sounding a bit mechanical, and looking like he somehow had no idea what he was really saying.

"We'll have joint custody," she hurried to pitch in, receiving a grateful small smile from him. She gave him one back. Even if she never loved him, he had always loved Shira, and she wasn't going to let her daughter grow up without a father.

"Thank you," she said pointedly as they held the stare for a moment.

"Yeah," he said, drawing his hand through his hair. "Bye."

And then he was gone. She heard the door slam after him. She breathed out.

"Mommy?"

A small voice came from the doorway, quickly causing Rory to look up. "Where's daddy?"

Rory interrupted Shira, while gently placing a curl of hair behind her ear. "Um, sweetie… It's… been a change of plans. Daddy's gonna be gone for a little while and then mommy and daddy aren't gonna be living together anymore. You'll be living with one of us at the time, but you'll still have both of us. Just not at the same time, okay?"

She wasn't sure Shira understood the meaning of this. She was pretty sure it was way too much for such a small kid to grasp. But she said the words out loud because she had to try, making it more real. Feeling as though she had a little trouble breathing, she lifted Shira up and hugged her tightly, searching for some comfort.

"Mommy? Are you crying?"

Shit. She should have wiped her wet cheeks before squeezing Shira against her them.

"No, no, of course mommy's not crying, sweetie. Mommy's just… um, having a cold, that's all," she lied, taking the only excuse she could think of. "Come on, let's get you dressed now," she added quickly, realizing they were running late.

Shira gladly jumped down and ran to start picking out some new clothes. Rory slowly followed, wondering how she would get through this day. It was too surrealistic to be true, and she honestly had no idea whether she should be devastated or relieved.

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"I talked to Logan," her voice breathed into his ear, full of hesitation and insecurity, giving nothing away of what the result of that conversation had been.

As full of emotions as Jess was (emotions like dread, nervousness, expectation…), he didn't let any of it slip out. Had he been any other person, he would have burst out an "and?" as the curiosity was killing him slowly. But, he was Jess, and that would just be way too uncharacteristic. He waited in silence, seemingly disinterested in what she had to say. But she was Rory and she knew Jess and his silences. Therefore she continued without response, knowing not to get thrown off track by it, because she felt him listening, waiting.

"It's over."

A/N: I hope you liked it. Kind of intense, I think. Technically this is the end to the story, but I do have an epilogue coming up. If any of you wants to read it and tells me so in some nice reviews I'll post it as soon as I get it done, which won't take as long as the last time… I'll appreciate any reviews, so just push that button and tell me what you think!