WARNING: Characters, more specifically Huntzbergers, aren't written as they are in the show. This is the only warning you're getting about it. All I want to know is whether you enjoy the changes or if you hate them. I'm easy going either way, but I adamantly rule for my choice in how Elias reacts to Rory.

And...

This goes to EvenAngelsFall22, who not only read all 12 chapters, but left me absolutely fabulous reviews for them. I hope this one is up to snuff!

Rory was thankful the Huntzbergers were the first of their families they ran into. Her nerves were shot to hell and she had been feeling the need to get this meeting over with as soon as humanly possible.

"Mother, Dad," Logan greeted.

"Logan," Shira greeted happily. "You remember Melissa Fallon, don't you?"

Logan managed to resist the urge to roll his eyes. This was exactly the matchmaking scheme Logan had been angry about in the limo. "I do, how are you?"

As was expected, Melissa acted sweet and demur when she responded with a simple 'well, and yourself'.

"Busy," Logan answered. "I'm sure you remember Lorelai Hayden?"

Melissa's gaze flicked angrily to Rory for a moment. "I do. Pleasure to see you again."

"And you," Rory answered automatically. God she hated the superficiality of society.

"Mitchum! These hooligans were into my private supply!" an elderly male voice interrupted their calm conversation, drawing all gazes to their group.

Rory couldn't see the man who had spoken, but assumed it was Logan's grandfather. Logan confirmed her hypothesis.

"Elias Huntzberger. Patriarch and my grandfather."

Rory had heard stories of the relentless Elias Huntzberger and felt her palms start to sweat. She hadn't even been formally introduced as the girlfriend to his parents. There was no buffer or good opinion on her side besides Logan's.

"I'm sure they meant nothing by it, Father," Mitchum responded, stepping around Shira to approach the elderly man.

With Mitchum out of the way, Rory could get a clear glimpse at Logan's grandfather. The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. "Eli? What are you doing here?"

Elias' eyes locked on Rory's and brightened. "Lorelai! You don't attend these functions."

Rory's smile was genuine though an embarrassed blush had stained her cheeks. "My grandmother can be thanked for my attendance, but you are right."

"Well, come along! I believe I once promised to show you the library here."

Rory's blush intensified at the looks of the other Huntzbergers. "You did, but it can wait."

"Now or never," Elias replied. "I have a book I wanted to you take a look at."

Rory could feel the pull of a good literary conversation and valiantly resisted. "I'm sure Logan will show it to me some other time," she said, the repercussions of a statement like that completely obliterated in her embarrassment and nerves.

Elias raised an eyebrow. "He could, could he?"

Rory almost groaned and smacked herself in the head, but refrained from any outright showing of her frustration at her slip. "Or Honour."

"Honour hates the library."

"She can show me where it is."

It was Mitchum that finally got control of his voice. "You know each other?"

If it was even possible, Rory's blush intensified and she unconsciously stepped towards Logan. She could feel the tension radiating off of him, but took comfort in his presence anyway.

"We met at one of her Foundation's benefits. I'm sure you're aware she's Honour's partner," Elias answered.

"I never knew you were her grandfather, sir," Rory said in a small voice. In her surprise any manners she'd been taught had flown out the window. Now that the initial shock was wearing off, they kicked back in.

"No back tracking, Missy. It took me five formal benefits to get you to drop the 'sir', I won't work up to that again."

Rory felt a smile peeking out of the corner of her mouth. "Sorry, sir."

"Lorelai!"

"Sorry, Eli."

"Much better. Now, what are you doing here?"

"At the party?"

"In this group of people. Aren't gatherings like this times when you and my granddaughter are attached at the hip?"

"I'm here with Logan," she finally said, fixing her eyes on Elias' and not the other Huntzbergers.

"My grandson? Well, I'll be. I do hope he's been treating you right this evening."

Rory looked up at Logan, smiling softly at his still stunned expression. "Like a princess."

Elias nodded. "Well? What do you have to say for yourself, boy?"

Logan jumped at the harsh tone. "I'm sorry, Grandpa, but the idea that you knew my girlfriend before I did is a little surreal."

"Girlfriend?" This squeak came from Shira.

Logan's body relaxed and he pulled Rory into his side. "Three weeks," he confirmed, noticing the dark look that came over his mother's face. Quickly he grasped for a change in subject. "How did you meet Rory, Grandpa?"

"By blind luck," Elias recalled. "We were discussing a business merger the Bauers were going through and Lorelai offered her opinion. I was surprised at her intelligence, but I assume I have the business degree at Yale to thank."

Rory blushed again. "Really, it wasn't that impressive, Eli."

"No need to get modest, Lorelai. You're business skills are something to be proud of."

"Thank you," she said softly.

"The next day I was talking to Straub about this lovely young woman and he mentioned his granddaughter going through Yale business."

Rory couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. She'd always adored her conversations with Eli, almost as much as she enjoyed her conversations with Logan. She was suddenly struck with how much both men were alike. "The next thing I knew I was checking the guest list of every event to see if you were on it," she recalled. "Grandmother called me the morning after you talked to Grandfather to yell at me about poor society manners."

"Where are Francine and Straub? I haven't seen them around."

"Spain or Italy, I believe, but you'd have to ask my father to make sure. Grandfather finally got some time off from court so he took Grandmother to Europe."

"Well, I'm sure Logan will be willing to let you go to come and visit the library," Elias pushed again. "I'm sure I can find the first edition Austin novels buried in the shelves."

Rory knew she was a goner. Mentioning her favourite author and first editions in the same sentence sounded like heaven. She appealed to Logan.

"Go," he urged. "I'm sure Grandfather knows the library better than I do."

Rory rolled her eyes with a smile. "I find that very hard to believe," she answered, turning her body slightly into his. "You sure?"

"Go," he repeated with a chuckle, kissing her cheek. "If you're not back by the time your parents show up I'll come and find you, okay?"

"You've got yourself a deal, Huntzberger," Rory answered, slipping out of his arm and linking one of hers with one of Elias'. They weren't even two steps away when Rory couldn't hold herself in any longer. "I wanted to pick your brain over the presidential candidates…"

Logan turned his attention to his still stunned parents. "Mother? Dad?"

"Girlfriend?" Shira hissed. "You have to be joking."

"Now, Shira," Mitchum began. "Passing judgement without knowing her is a little premature."

"Passing judgement? She is not an appropriate Huntzberger wife, Mitchum! She's the scandal child," Shira continued, taking great care to keep her voice low.

"Her parents are married," Logan shot back. While he'd been aware his mother would most likely be less than thrilled, he hadn't been prepared for the pure venom in Shira's voice.

"She was still born out of wedlock. And she works she doesn't know how to throw the proper society function."

"She seems like she can hold her own just fine, Shira," Mitchum spoke up in Rory's defence. As stunned as he'd been by the revelation that one, Logan had been dating the same girl for three weeks and two, said girl had known and had the affection of his father, this wasn't the first time he'd had the privilege of watching Rory and Logan interact.

Mitchum knew what it was like to have someone who was your equal. He'd found it in Abigail Brenner during his second year of Yale and she'd been his polar opposite. She'd hated him from day one, arguing with him over the littlest of things and condemning him for being the playboy Logan had once been.

Abigail had come from New York, working herself to the bone to get her full ride scholarship to Yale. However, he'd only found that out when she agreed to finally go to dinner with him. They'd become best friends, companions and confidantes but she hadn't been able to handle the society he came from. She couldn't handle the rumours or the gossip and eventually they had gone their separate ways. Mitchum had thrown himself into his work until he'd met Shira in a California bar.

Logan and Rory interacted like he had with Abigail. Their affection was genuine and he hadn't been stunned enough to notice that his son had kept contact with the prized Gilmore-Hayden granddaughter throughout her exchange with Elias. And it wasn't the first time he would have formally met Rory either. Logan had briefly introduced them months ago and he hadn't been able to watch them, remembering that the affection between them could have been his life.

He was brought back into the conversation by Shira's sarcastic laughter. "She's an outcast, a scandal, a lesser woman."

"A what?!" Logan exclaimed, immediately apologizing when he caught the attention of the room. "A what?" he repeated softer.

Even Mitchum was taken aback by the harsh words from his wife. "Shira, that was uncalled for."

"Uncalled for? That gold-digging child has been nothing but trouble since day one. She supported Honour's crazy idea to start her own business, she helped Honour set it up, she works with our precious daughter who should have long ago been married, not travelling because of work."

"Honour loves what she does and so does Rory," Logan defended.

"She was not bred to be part of this family, Logan. I forbid this."

"I'm twenty-seven, Mother, you don't have a say anymore."

"Enough, both of you. I will not have this conversation in public like this. Logan, I just saw Christopher Hayden heading towards the bar. Shira, give her a chance. She's as much society as Melissa Fallon."

When Logan stalked off, Shira spun on her husband. "How can you support this?"

"Enough, Shira. She's a Gilmore and a Hayden, she has been brought up within our society. Is it that hard to believe that she wants more in life?"

"I will not have my son throw away this family like that!"

"This could be a phase for him," Mitchum tried to soothe, though he doubted his own words. Three weeks was a long time to have the same girl around.

Shira took a breath, putting her mask for society back in place. "I'm sure that's what it is, you're right. He'll realize she's not good enough for this family and move on to a more suitable bride."

Mitchum desperately hoped Shira was wrong.

"My grandson, Lorelai?" Elias asked as Rory ran her fingers along the dusty tomes in the Huntzberger library.

Rory blushed and nodded. "I'm not exactly sure how it happened," she admitted.

Elias watched her for a few minutes. "You're good for him."

"That's what Honour said," Rory responded with a smile. "I don't know how that makes sense."

Elias smiled slightly at the childhood glee on Lorelai's face as she browsed the titles. If he was honest, the relationship between Logan and Lorelai surprised him. His grandson wasn't the commitment type, fighting back at the set in stone future much like Mitchum had. Lorelai, on the other hand was the plan-for-every-situation type and definitely a commitment girl.

That was part of what scared him. Elias wasn't stupid and he was proud of his ability to read those around him. Logan's feelings for Lorelai ran deep, that Elias knew and he knew that they had yet to admit it to each other. He was worried about Lorelai, yes, but he was worried about Logan too. Logan had a past, had a reputation and it had grown out of his grief for Catherine.

"Lorelai?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you know about Catherine?"

Rory was taken aback by the question. "Logan told me about her."

"Everything?"

Rory stopped looking at the books and turned to face Elias straight on. "Where are you going with this?"

"The world may see me as a stubborn, traditional man, but I want what's best for my family."

Rory knit her brows. Having a conversation like this one with Elias was making her nervous. "I never doubted that."

"Most people think I'm cold, distant, but I notice things. Catherine's death tore Logan apart. I've never been one for outward signs of emotion but her death hit all of us."

"Honour started the foundation because of it," Rory said softly. "Logan told me that."

"She started the foundation because of Logan," Elias corrected gently. "Honour and Logan are close. What they know of love and family they learned mainly from each other. She hated seeing him so broken, we all did, but none of us knew how to help."

Rory fixed her gaze on the dark Huntzberger grounds. "He credits Honour with bringing him out of his funk."

Elias laughed. "Honour has a little bit of spitfire in her. They had a huge fight about how he was wasting his life and it wasn't what Catherine would have wanted." Then he went sober. "I know many people will be warning you about Logan, and warning Logan not to hurt you. I will be doing the same thing. However, I'm telling you the same goes for Logan. You have power you have yet to understand."

This surprised Rory. "I won't hurt him, Eli."

"Not purposefully, but remember, the last woman he loved died."

"We just started our relationship," Rory protested. "We're not sure how things are going to work out."

"Logan has never looked twice at a society woman. Not since Catherine." Elias wasn't sure how to explain the ways in which he'd observed Logan interact with the women that Shira wanted for him to make Lorelai understand that she was different. "You're a Gilmore and a Hayden but looking at the two of you, last names don't matter. He cares about you."

Rory smiled looking down at her hands folded in front of her. "He does. Did you know he cancelled everything for a weekend to baby-sit my adopted daughter? And he worked from my house for a week when I was sick, just to make sure I was alright?"

Elias had heard no such thing. The idea didn't surprise him. Logan didn't talk much to his family about the women he entertained, but Lorelai held a special place in Elias' heart. He truly believed she held one in Logan's as well. "Lorelai, you mean a lot to my grandson and I need you to keep in mind that adjusting to another woman, a stable, successful, caring woman, may be more difficult than you anticipate. Be patient with him, work with him, but don't push him."

Before Rory could respond, a knock sounded at the door and Logan poked his head in. "Ace, your parents are here."

She nodded, heading towards the door and Logan. She stopped before she headed out, her hand on the doorknob and the other encased in Logan's. "Eli?"

"Yes Lorelai?"

"I promise."

Elias grinned to himself, understanding she was promising him everything he could want for his grandson. Logan has found his partner and equal, the woman that would do whatever it took for him. She was promising not to hurt him to the best of her ability. She was promising to take care of him and watch over him. She was promising to care and keep him close. She was promising not to leave.

And Elias couldn't ask for anything more.

"You and my grandfather?" Logan asked in a low voice as they weaved through the people in the room.

Rory blushed. "I didn't know he was your grandfather. He never told me his last name."

"You won over the biggest critic in the Huntzberger family without batting an eyelash."

"I didn't know he was part of your family," Rory said in exasperation. "Now where are my parents? And don't think you're off the hook either, mister. I expect a full recount of your parents' reactions."

"You don't want that, Ace."

"If you get to see the expressions on my family's faces, I get to at least hear about yours," she bargained.

Logan, however, was adamant. "No, Rory." He cursed himself when he felt the smoothness of her gait hitch.

"That bad?' she whispered, suddenly insecure. "Should you even be meeting my parents as my boyfriend?"

Logan sighed. "My father defended you, my mother hates you."

Her body stiffened beside him and he changed their course to the patio. He needed a minute with her, to soothe both of them. He was surprised when Rory stepped away from him immediately after the door closed. "Ace, don't."

"Is this where we end it? I mean, we knew your mother wasn't going to be happy but to hate me Logan?"

He grasped her hands, holding tighter when she tried to pull them away. "I'm not breaking up with you," he said, his voice full of conviction and honesty. "Not over my mother."

"She hates me, Logan," Rory said softly.

"Hating you is like hating Thumper." The comment was designed to lighten the mood.

"Your mother hates Thumper?"

"She never was the Disney type," he admitted, thankful it got a laugh out of her. "You can't let what my mother says get to you. As of right now you've won over every important person in my family and the ones with the most influence and pull. That's what matters, not my superficial mother."

Rory sighed. "I'll never understand how you can't be close with your family," she admitted. "It doesn't make any logical sense."

"Ace, I spent my years in boarding schools. I barely know who my parents are," Logan tried to explain. "I was brought up mainly by a nanny and it's only been in the last couple of years that my father has even thought to see me as his son."

"Still…"

Logan smiled down at her. "We aren't all as lucky as you," he said. "Colin and Steph will tell you the same thing. Colin had a new step-mother every month."

Rory's eyes widened. "Every month!?"

"Finn is the closest one to his parents," Logan revealed. "Well, besides you."

"Of course."

He allowed his body to relax when she allowed him to press a kiss to her forehead. "So we're okay?"

Rory's smile was small, but genuine. "We're okay."

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Rory shrugged. "It's a little bit to get used to," she said honestly. "I mean, I always knew society was brutal, but hates me?"

Logan chuckled, pulling her to his body and holding her head gently against his shoulder. "Ignore my mother," he advised. "Now, I'm sure Lorelai's going crazy without you in there."

"She's got my dad," Rory murmured, not quite ready to let him go just yet.

Logan grinned, his hand drifting down her back to settle with it's mate at her waist. "Uh huh," he said, sure there was more to the story than allowing her father to handle her mother.

"And I'm comfy," she finally admitted. "You smell good."

"And if your mother catches us here she's going to go ballistic because she didn't know before,' he pointed out calmly. "Come on."

"Mini-Me, thank God! I thought you'd already found some young rich boy to whisk you away for the evening," Lorelai exclaimed upon seeing Rory.

Rory grinned. "I did. Mom, you remember Logan?"

"He brought you to the hospital, I remember," Lorelai responded. Then she narrowed her eyes at her eldest daughter. "What are you not telling me?"

Rory smiled as Logan wrapped an arm snugly around her waist. "Mom, meet my boyfriend Logan Huntzberger."

Lorelai squealed. "Boyfriend? Does Honour know? He so picked you up at the house! And I didn't know! Not, I didn't know he picked you up, I didn't know you were dating! I was upstairs! You are a horrible daughter."

Rory laughed, used to following her mother's strange ways of conversation. "Yes, he picked us up, that's why the limo was in the driveway, yes, Honour knows, they interrogated us on the way here, and no one knew until tonight," she replied.

"Well, its about time! Honestly! Honour was starting to freak out."

Christopher approached, handing Lorelai a drink before turning to his daughter. "Rory," he exclaimed, pulling his daughter into a hug. "Logan, I shouldn't be surprised you're here."

"Good evening, sir," Logan replied, holding out his hand for Christopher to shake.

"Chris is fine. And shouldn't I be the one all flustered? You are a Huntzberger after all."

Rory groaned. "Dad, stop it! You hate it when people point out you're a Hayden,": she defended. "And plus, meeting the parents of your girlfriend will always put people on edge."

Christopher's eyebrow raised as he took in Logan. "Boyfriend, that does change things."

"Don't harass him, Dad, that's not nice," Rory admonished. "We've dealt with enough tonight."

"You've met the Huntzbergers, I assume?" Lorelai asked knowing the torture society could be. "I believe your grandmother mentioned something about Huntzberger Junior and someone named Fallon?"

Logan groaned. "I knew there was a reason my mother was so angry at me."

"Well, we're the least of your worries," Lorelai pointed out. "When the grandparents get a hold of this relationship they're going to start asking for children's names."

"I think we're both hoping to avoid that as much as possible. We were just going to head to the bar to find Finn," Rory said, looking up to Logan to tell him to just work with her. "If you have problems come find us. Apparently there's forty three ways out of here."

"You're on," Lorelai said with a smile. "I'll see you at home later?"

"I'll let you know," Rory promised. She hugged her mother. "I'll bring Sophie down Christmas Day, as usual?"

"Eh, call me," Lorelai said with a wave of her hand. "Now run before my parents show up."

"We're gone," Rory promised, pulling Logan away.