A few weeks later Logan was still hanging in there at work, although he worried about the future of his job once fall turned to winter and there wouldn't be much to do outside. Carlos had assured him that there was endless work for them, especially with the pool house which they were also responsible for the upkeep of.

The first day Logan had been sure that he would never make it through the day. He had realized just how little he knew when he had been put to work. Carlos had little patience for him because he had to meet the Gilmore demands on schedule and didn't have time to train anyone else. He did appreciate the extra pair of hands though. The work was very strenuous and it was difficult for Logan to learn to take orders instead of give them.

At first he had gone home every night with his body screaming for a rest. He had been sore every morning when he started work and his hands were easily cut by the plants. He came close to quitting several times when it seemed too difficult but he had stuck with it and kept trying to improve, or at least not get fired.

He soon realized that although Emily had no love for him she was giving him an honest chance to prove himself instead of looking for the first opportunity to fire him and knowing this made him dedicate as much effort as he could to his work.

Rory had been less than thrilled at first when she knew he had gone to her grandparents but they did have some cash coming in now which definitely helped them. They were both starting to realized that it might not be enough and Rory might need to get a job as well, especially as it was getting harder and harder for four people to share the small apartment.

Now that a few weeks had passed Logan reflected on how hard he had worked but how good he felt about himself. It was the best he had felt since that fateful day when a stranger had appeared claiming to be his dad. He was doing something on his own and he was doing okay. And he wasn't even confined to one life the way he had been before. He felt like eventually he would have any future opened up for him, not just the Huntzberger future that he had grown up with.

He looked down at his arms, dirty but strong and tan from hard work. His clothes were dirty too, and not the same quality he had been used to but he was starting to feel comfortable in them. It would be more humiliating to just disappear, to fade away and fail than to strive to be better.

Carlos came around the corner and looked approvingly at the flowers that Logan was working on. "You are getting the hang of it." was all he said before walking away. Logan was grateful that he had always been a quick study and able to pick things up without much effort. He was working more mechanically now which gave him time to think about the future, about Rory and how they were going to make things work together.

He grew more and more exhausted as the day wore on. He hadn't had the day off in the last few weeks and the strain was beginning to show. He was physically stronger than he had ever been, but he could really have used the break. The constant flow of money was a good trade off however.

Finally Carlos came back to him. "Hey Logan, you have the weekend off. Enjoy." he said as he tossed some cash to Logan.

"What's this?"

"Tip for working hard."

"From you or Mrs. Gilmore?" Logan asked.

"Of course from me. You are really learning fast though, and it's saved me a lot of work so I wanted to reward you a little. I worked for your family years ago when you were younger and I would have never guessed you had it in you."

Logan smiled back at the man who was quickly becoming his friend.

"Thanks Carlos. I'll see you on Monday."

"Oh just so you know, my name isn't Carlos." the other man answered. "Thats just what Mrs. Gilmore calls me. It's really John."

"What? Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Logan asked, feeling foolish.

"I didn't even know if you would stick around, so I didn't want to confuse you. She never did get my name right."

"Well sorry for calling you Carlos all this time."

John nodded and turned away.

Logan hopped into the car, regretting how dirty he was and promising himself to clean out Rory's car when he got the chance.

When he got home he found Rory sitting at the table writing a paper.

"Hey!" he said with a smile.

Rory looked up, admiring his body in those clothes. The dirt only added to the look.

"You seem happy." she said.

"Yeah, well I got the next three days off. And Carlos, whose real name is John, gave me some extra cash. He said I was doing a good job."

"Logan I'm really glad that things are going better for you, but I really hate that you have to work there."

"It's okay. I mean sure it isn't where I thought I would be right now, but it's not a bad place to be. I don't care what happened with my family, I'm not going to lose my dreams Rory. Now I just have to start the same place as everyone else, thats all."

Rory smiled and was about to hug him but refrained. "I'll hug you after you change so we can save on laundry money." she said.

He smiled, leaned in for a careful kiss and then went to the bathroom to shower.