In pure indecisive form I decided that I was going to post this now instead of tomorrow just before I left for my cottage. It's going to be weird, and I'm going to try not to check my e-mail for alerts after posting this, but the chances of me actually going through with that are slim to none.

Okay, so, Rory and Logan are 'fighting'. Well, Rory's huge pissed at Logan and Logan's a little annoyed at Rory. So here's my warning: Pay Attention. There's a couple of huge shifts without much warning. Oh, and remember that it's the little things that matter. Now, go gush.

Logan stood outside Rory's house, his heart beating a mile a minute. For all he knew, there was no way she was going to even listen to him, let alone try to explain himself. And that was only the surface. He was determined to hear the cheating story from her first hand and knew he had to in order to continue his relationship with her. Taking a deep breath, he finally knocked.

When the door finally opened and Rory got a glimpse of who exactly was knocking, Logan was a) glad he'd put a foot just inside and b) thankful for his greater strength. When the door slammed, he was on the inside, his body up against hers. "No, Rory, we need to talk."

"I don't want to talk to you," she shot back.

"I know that."

"Then why are you here?" He was braving her anger, knowing she didn't want to talk or deal with him.

"Because I need to be."

She struggled against his bodyweight, slowly stopping as she came to the realization he had her pinned. "This the way you talk to all your dates?"

"Apparently just my angry girlfriend. And I'll have you know anger works for you." The glare she sent him told him this really wasn't the time to joke. "The picture was nothing."

"The caption didn't say it was nothing."

"Didn't we promise to trust each other unconditionally?" he pointed out softly. "She was the daughter of one of the editors of a London newspaper. I met her when I started working for my dad. We're good friends and we danced, why it ended up in the society pages, I'll never understand."

Rory's eyes were still blazing, but some of the anger had dissipated. "You hate dancing."

"I do," he acknowledged. "But my father is scarier than you think, Ace." He'd pinned her wrists against the wall and only now did he start loosening his grip. "I tried to get you to come, remember? I wish you were there."

"So that you wouldn't be in this mess?"

"For one. I missed you. Amber and I talked about you constantly. Of course, that may have been my fault but…"

Rory rolled her eyes. "It's not that easy, Logan."

"It was an innocent dance, Rory. The angle and the article make it seem like so much more. I went back to the hotel room solo that night and e-mailed you."

Rory remembered the re-capping e-mail that was in her inbox before she went to bed. He hadn't mentioned anything about the girl or the dance. "You didn't say anything in your e-mail."

"Because I didn't think it mattered. I didn't expect a huge picture to show up in the paper," he told her. Then there was a pause and he let her wrists go completely, boxing her in instead. "Honour was livid."

Rory sighed. "She worries too much."

"She cares," Logan corrected. "Why did you jump to the immediate conclusion that I was cheating?"

Rory took a moment to absorb the change of conversation. "You went from how many girls to one? I figured you'd realized that one girl wasn't enough."

He couldn't stop himself from cupping her face. "You're more than enough."

She blushed. "You're just saying that."

He took comfort in the fact that she was blushing. "I wouldn't say it if I didn't believe it. But you're avoiding the question."

"Logan…"

"No, Rory. You know six months is a long time for me to be completely devoted to a woman and we've spent way too much time together for you to jump to conclusions like that without good reason. I also have it on good authority that you've gotten used to hearing gossip and dealing with rumours. All in all, that tells me something else set this off."

"I don't want to talk about it," she said stubbornly.

"Unconditional trust, Ace."

"No."

"I deserve to know."

"You what?!" The anger was back with a vengeance. "You don't deserve to know anything."

"I told you the truth and quite frankly, I'm hurt that you could think so low of me." He hated the guilt trip with a blinding fiery passion, but if it was going to be the only way he could get Rory to expand on the story Honour had given him, he was willing to risk not only her wrath but his own guilt.

"What else was I supposed to think? You go to London for a week and the next thing I know there's a huge picture of you and another woman plastered all over the society pages of every newspaper."

"And I can guarantee my mother had a hand in that, but you're avoiding the issue."

"I'm not avoiding anything! Just because you're my boyfriend doesn't mean you get to know absolutely everything."

He met her blazing blue eyes with his own determined brown. "So I'm still your boyfriend?"

She glared up at him. "You are infuriating."

"No more so than you. Now tell me what was going through that pretty little head of yours to make you jump to the conclusion that I needed another woman in my life."

He was taking an interesting approach of pressure and flattery that left Rory reeling. "I don't want to talk about it," she said stubbornly.

"I do. I think we need to."

"I don't."

"Rory, you're not being fair."

"You're pressuring me to tell you something I don't want to and I'm not being fair!?"

"No you're not. First you make an assumption that I'm sure you knew wasn't true, then you get angry about it and ignore me because of it and you expect me to just let it go? You're not all that innocent here."

Rory's mouth gaped open then closed a few times. She hadn't expected him to turn the tables. Hell, she hadn't expected him to come to her. "I…"

"I'm here, standing in front of you, trying to make this work, but we agreed that we trusted each other unconditionally. Prove to me that you still do. Prove to me that you trust in our relationship enough to share this stuff." Logan could almost see her making a pro-con list in her head as she chewed her lip. He forced himself to focus on her eyes, relentlessly holding her gaze.

For her part, Rory was torn. Paris, Lane and Honour knew. Her mother wasn't even aware of why she broke off the relationship and her Gilmore grandparents had been almost livid. But she trusted Logan, she cared for Logan. She felt guilty that she'd jumped to conclusions like she had. It was the guilt that opened her mouth. "It wouldn't be the first time someone cheated on me."

If he wasn't completely focused and tuned to her, he probably would have missed that statement. Nevertheless, the fresh pain that took over her startling blue eyes explained how much it took for her to say even that. "He didn't deserve you."

Rory closed her eyes, the only reprieve since his hands were still cupping her face, holding her in place. "He cheated. He told me he loved me, told me he cared and then I found him in bed with another woman."

Technically, Logan knew all of this and part of him wanted to make her stop, wanted to keep her from reliving that pain. But another part of him recognized that this was probably something she needed to do, just like he realized he'd needed to tell someone about Catherine after he'd told her the whole story. "He didn't deserve you," he repeated.

"My grandparents took his side. They told me that I wouldn't find better. I never told them he cheated."

"He didn't deserve you."

But Rory was too far gone to really register he was there anymore. "I guess it serves me right. I mean, I work too much, I'm raising a little girl all by myself, I'm not really truly society…"

"Ace, stop," Logan pleaded, suddenly distressed with the way the conversation had turned.

"She was blonde, leggy, the classic trophy wife bimbo. He wanted me for my name."

"Rory…"

Her eyes flew open. "I'm not beautiful enough, I'm not smart enough, I'm not good enough for a man to want to keep just me."

"Rory!" By this point he was almost yelling, trying to get her attention out of her insecurities and nightmares. He almost kissed her in relief when she finally met his gaze, but didn't say a word. Instead, he pulled her body away from the wall, steering her down the hall and into her bedroom. Her closet doors were full length mirrors and he forced her to stand in front of them, while he took his place behind her, his arms keeping her from moving.

Logan saw Rory fix her eyes on her own reflection, watched as her gaze followed her own body. "I want you to look at yourself and I want you to listen to me. Understand?" He waited until she nodded her head to continue.

"The first thing that caught my eye about you was your curves," he admitted, his hands moving from just below her breasts to her hips and back again. "I saw you from behind at that gala a year ago and found myself moving before I'd even registered I'd done it. You're stunning. You aren't skin and bone like most society women. You know how to eat and you enjoy eating. I've never been turned on by a woman eating, but the way you savour each bite is one of the most effective aphrodisiacs I've ever experienced."

Rory's breath was caught in her throat as her eyes followed his hands, allowing his words to wash over her.

"Then came your eyes, those beautiful blues that tell every little bit of what you're thinking at any particular point in time. It's the way I can tell when you're lying to me, the dead giveaway when you're not truly happy but doing a damn good job at pretending. It's the way I know you hate society parties as much as Honour does but you'll put up with them and the benefits and galas if it'll bring in more money for the children."

Rory closed her eyes as she felt his lips brush her neck.

"The minute you started to talk I knew you weren't just going to be a good lay," he said against her ear. "I knew there was more to you than that, even before I knew you were Lorelai Hayden, my sister's business partner and Yale graduate. And you proved me right when you didn't flirt with me or hit on me, you fought back. You called me on being a jerk, on changing my dates like I changed my underwear. Even that first night I knew it wasn't enough."

He was saying all the right things, everything Rory needed to hear and yet part of her still held back, still mistrusted his reputation.

"Honour had mentioned your addiction to coffee and I took a chance, glad when you didn't turn me down. I can still remember the contentment of that breakfast, Ace. I can remember the disappointment when you turned down my invitation to dinner. I can remember the excitement when you proposed lunch instead."

This was starting to get too intense. Rory could feel her emotions welling up inside her, threatening to weaken her knees. She wanted dearly to pull away, but leaned into him instead, allowing him to take her weight and wrap his arms around her. Her walls were crumbling, and fast.

"Rory, open your eyes," Logan commanded softly, waiting until she did to continue. "What captivated me was your mind. You have so many layers to you, so many quirks that any man that would cheat on you, leave you, would be insane. You never cease to baffle me. You've never held back, never been anyone but yourself. A man that would leave you is a man that didn't take the time to know you."

Rory whimpered, feeling the ache in her throat that foreshadowed tears, tears she could feel welling in her eyes as he talked. "Logan," she pleaded.

"I'm almost done," he promised. "What endeared me to you was your heart." His words had dropped to a heated whisper over the skin of her ear and neck and he could feel her shaking against him. His hand moved without his conscious knowledge, dragging across her skin until it rested over the fast pounding in her chest. "Do you know how many of the single women I interact with every day would take on a child after her parents died? Do you know how many people would sacrifice the time you have to raise a daughter and not just any daughter but a daughter with a life-threatening illness? Do you know how many women would fight for a dying girl? None, Rory. Not a single one except maybe Honour or your mom."

The tears dropped out of her eyes slowly, leaking over her eyelashes and cheeks.

"Do you know how many women would jump for the chance to be in your shoes?" At her startled and offended look, he pressed a finger to her mouth, imploring her to let him keep going with this. "A lot, I know that, but they don't want me. They want the money, they want the name, they want the society, but never once has a girl taken the time to get to know me. You took that time, you don't care about the Huntzberger name or the Huntzberger fortune. You care about me."

Rory followed the pressure of his hands as he turned her around, one arm around her back for support, the other cupping her chin, making sure she continued to hold his gaze.

"You drive me insane. Mentally, physically, you make me crazy and yet I can't get enough of you. You infuriate me, you arouse me, you worry me, you make me more protective than I can ever remember being. But most of all you scare me."

That surprised her. "Scare you?"

Logan nodded. "I'm not used to needing people, Rory. I don't need my family and I don't need my friends. Don't get me wrong, I like my friends well enough and I enjoy spending time with them, but it doesn't kill me when I don't. I love Honour to bits but before I met you we talked maybe once a month. I can't go a day without talking to you, without thinking of you and it's getting harder and harder to go a day without seeing you. London was torture to me, knowing I couldn't just get in a car and drive over with ice cream and a bad movie for you, me and Sophie to mock. I need you."

Rory allowed the silence to engulf them for a few minutes, her mind reeling with everything he'd just told her. When her mind settled – which took much less time than she imagined – there was only one thought left in her brain. "I love you."

Logan had expected her to burst into tears, to collapse against him in a sobbing mess. He was intrigued when her eyes cleared, but never in a million years did he expect those words to come out of her mouth. And from the widening of her eyes, neither had she.

"I'm sorry."

Surprisingly, Logan wasn't hurt by her apology. "Are you?"

Rory hesitated only a split second. "No."

The relief that washed over Logan almost sent both of them tumbling to the floor. He managed to catch them however, pulling her body as close as he could to kiss her. He broke away when they were both breathing heavily. "Good."

"Good?" she questioned breathlessly.

"Good," he repeated, showering her face, her neck, her collarbone, with kisses. Finally he met her lips again, pouring all of the intensity of his feelings into that kiss. He met her eyes as he pulled away. "I want to return the feeling, Rory, I do. But I'm not sure you'll believe me."

Her mind was clear, her heart was full and Rory had never wanted to hear anything as badly as she wanted to hear him say those words. "I'll believe you."

Logan took reassurance from her eyes, two endless pools that could never lie. He brushed his lips gently against hers, mere butterfly wings in comparison to the heated passion they'd shared minutes before. "I love you." And his lips met hers again.

Rory was soaring. She had never felt as good as she did at that moment, had never experienced the euphoria that raced through her veins. She'd exchanged 'I love you's with Robert and they'd never meant as much as it did from Logan, had never felt as good as it did when Logan said it. It suddenly didn't matter that he'd had women before her, that he probably told them the same thing just so they'd sleep with them. Instinctively she knew he'd never meant it, never once had that heat and intensity in his eyes when he spoke the words.

Childish squeals and laughter broke through their haze, but in no way could dampen their spirits.

"I'm sorry I didn't trust you," she whispered to him. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Robert, I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions."

"I'm sorry he made you believe you weren't good enough," he replied. "I'm sorry he made you doubt yourself and doubt loving someone."

"We've got thirty seconds before she comes bursting in here with Finn on her tail," Rory whispered against his mouth, kissing him gently.

"That's more than enough time to tell you I love you," he responded, his own voice a low rumble in his chest.

Her eyes sparkled in unrivalled happiness. "I love you too."

Sophie's loud entrance to the room forced their attention on the eight-year-old ball of energy. "Guess what Finn promised?"

Neither Rory, nor Logan was sure they liked where this was going. "What did Finn promise?" Rory asked, eyeing the Australian over her daughter's head.

"If I ever want ice cream, all I have to do is call him and tell him! He'll even get his driver to come and get me and take me!" she squealed, racing off down the hall again, Finn shrugging at them with an unrepentant smile before following her.

Logan breathed out a sigh of relief. "That could have been a lot worse," he murmured to her.

Rory felt his breath fan across her skin and shivered. "It could have," she agreed. Her eyes narrowed as his took on the mischievous sparkle they did when he was planning a surprise. "What are you thinking?"

Logan only winked at her. "Hey, Half-Pint, come back for a second?"

Sophie was at the door in an instant. "I'm not a half-pint."

Logan smiled at her indulgently. "Of course not. Do you think you and Rory could make yourselves even more gorgeous than you are now in time for me to take you out for dinner?"

Sophie's eyes lit up. "You're going to take us some place fancy?"

"Maybe not as fancy as some of the parties you guys go to, but fancy enough to necessitate a dress," he agreed. "You think you can do it?"

Sophie looked to Rory, who despite her nerves about not knowing what he had planned nodded. "Yup!"

"Fantastic," he said, kissing Rory's cheek before reluctantly removing himself from her embrace. "Now, I have a few calls to make, but I'll be back around five thirty to pick you ladies up, okay?"

Sophie was jumping up and down like a kid on Christmas morning. "I'll make sure she's ready!"

Logan grinned, scooping her up and heading back to the living room. "I trust you to do that," he said depositing her on the couch. He noticed Finn standing in the doorway, watching carefully. "I'm going to take Finn with me, okay? We'll leave you ladies behind to do whatever you do to make yourselves even more beautiful." He turned to Rory who had followed them into the living room. Kissing her cheek again, he whispered his adoration of her into her ear.

Rory knew she'd never tire of hearing him say that. "I love you too," she whispered back, watching until the door closed behind him. Already her heart stung in loss.

"Rory, come on! We've got to get ready!" Sophie urged, pushing her back down the hall.

"Okay, okay," Rory said, laughing as she allowed Sophie around her and followed her to her room. Looking in on her surrogate daughter as she threw open the doors to her closet, Rory couldn't help but smile. Her life was good. In fact, all of a sudden, her life was perfect.

"Rory!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!"

Okay, now who needs to go brush their teeth?