Finished 25 like 5 minutes ago, so here's the next installment in the grandparents saga.

Um... someone pointed out to me that the last chapter seemed like a filler, and yeah, it was. So is this one. There's character development that needs to happen and you kind of need to get an idea of the type of people Rory and Logan are dealing with. I hate the way I write Emily though so I 'm sorry if she seems out of canon, or as canon as I'd usually make a Gilmore Girls character in an alternate universe. And I know Rory's interaction with Richard is brief but I couldn't bring myself to write a mean Richard! I love him!

And since I beat you guys on reviews this time, we'll try it again! Actually this is just a tonne of fun. Get me to 390 reviews (that's 4 less than before by the way) I'll post 24, whether I've written 26 or not!

You guys are the greatest.

Luckily for Rory, finding Logan and finding her Hayden grandparents was the same thing. He spotted her as she approached and suddenly, with the arrival of his smile, the world seemed okay again. He held an arm out for her and she immediately stepped close, pressing a chaste kiss to his cheek.

"Lorelai, that's a fine young man you've got. Much better than that Warner boy," Straub said jovially.

"I like him too, Grandfather," Rory said. She could feel the ache in her cheeks from the fake smile she'd been sporting fade with the appearance of a genuine one.

"I hear he's here," Francine spoke in a guarded whisper, referring to Robert.

"We've said hello," Logan acknowledged on Rory's behalf. His hand squeezed her hip gently.

"Grandma has him sitting at our table," Rory revealed.

"Leave it to Emily to sabotage a good thing," Francine said with a shake of her head. "It's bad form to put disagreeing parties at the same table."

"Grandma hasn't met Logan yet, Grandmother," Rory placated, placing her hand over Logan's on her hip. Sometimes the yo-yoing opinion in the elite society threw her.

Francine gasped. "Why ever not!?"

"Scheduling conflicts," Logan volunteered, lying smoothly.

"And it just never came up," Rory agreed, threading her fingers through Logan's.

"But you have said hello today, correct Lorelai?" Francine asked hurriedly. "She is your grandmother."

"I just saw her," Rory responded with an affectionate smile. She was very used to the sticky society standards the Haydens adhered to.

Straub's eyes, meanwhile, had been taking in the room. "I believe lunch is served. We'll talk to you youngsters later."

Logan chuckled softly as the Haydens walked off. "You have… interesting grandparents there, Ace."

Rory raised and eyebrow as she allowed him to lead her towards their own table. "I have odd grandparents? This coming from the man who's grandfather reads the Harry Potter series because a nine-year-old suggested he give them a chance? And yes, I have pictures."

"Oh that is beautiful," Logan crowed. "A Huntzberger straying from the true classics."

"Hey, no mocking the literary genius of Ms. Rowling, Huntzberger," Rory reprimanded. "Those books may not be a brilliant work of fiction to rival the Bronte sisters or Virginia Woolf, but she's a Dickens in her own right."

Logan stopped dead. "Dickens?"

Rory rolled her eyes. "Who else do you know that can take millions of characters and make them all believable and lovable while weaving them intricately into the plot line?" she asked, tugging on his hand as they finished the last couple of steps towards their table. Steph, Colin and Robert were already seated, as well as a boy Rory didn't recognize.

"The Harry Potter discussion again?" Steph asked hearing Rory's argument.

"He seriously doesn't believe they could be classic works of fiction," Rory responded with a smile, grinning and shaking her head at both Logan's 'ignorance' of good literature and his ingrained chivalry that had him pulling out her chair.

"She just related them to Dickens!" Logan exclaimed moving to his own chair and holding out a hand to the man seated beside him. "Seth, my friend, how are things?"

"Good," Seth agreed happily. "Unfortunately Gwen couldn't make it, but this is looking to be much more entertaining anyway."

Logan sighed. "I certainly hope not. Seth, my girlfriend Rory. Ace, this is Seth."

Rory smiled. "Another friend from Yale?"

"The man's a genius," Steph gushed. "I swear. A technical genius."

Seth blushed modestly. "My father is a nuclear physicist. It's genetic."

"So you studied physics in Yale then?" Rory asked, ignoring Robert who sat on her other side.

Seth grinned. "Biochemistry, actually. My wife, Gwen, was the physics."

"Wow," Rory said. "That's… that's really impressive."

Seth blushed at the compliment. "Yes well… what about you? I can't remember seeing you around campus."

The words were said carefully. "I studied business," Rory answered happily. "Started a charity with Logan's sister after I graduated."

"Catherine's Foundation," Seth said with a nod. "I've been to a few of your things."

"Really?" Rory asked in surprise.

"I've known Seth since junior high," Logan provided.

"Ah," Rory nodded in understanding.

"Enough about Yale, I hate Yale," Steph said with a sour face. "Tell me about living with a guy."

Rory laughed as lunch was set in front of them. "It's… different. I mean, I never really lived with my dad, you know? Kitty's eight and I'm twenty five… my parents were living together for a year before I left for Yale's dorms and in that time they got married and had Kitty… It was a crazy household."

"You lived with me," Robert pointed out snidely.

Rory considered this for a minute before carefully answering. "Not really. We both worked a lot." And she used the term 'work' loosely. "We both pretty much led separate lives." It felt good to say that.

"And you guys get a chance to spend time together?" Robert snapped.

"Every night, actually," Logan responded, reaching under the table cloth to draw small circles on Rory's knee. He'd prefer the spine because it did a better job of relaxing her and putting her back in her element, but he'd take what he could get. "Rory's addicted to crime dramas."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Not addicted, but it's really the only thing that's on these days. I've been keeping up with One Tree Hill for my mother's sake, but they look so much older than high school kids. And Soph likes to put on a movie when she's done with her homework."

"Soph?" Seth asked.

Logan almost hugged Seth at his unintended but excellent shift in conversation.

"My adoptive daughter. Right now I'm pretty sure we could both quote you the entire script of Finding Nemo."

Logan breathed out an unconscious sigh of relief as the plates were cleared. Seth's questions about Sophie had segued smoothly into how he and Rory had met and Steph and Colin had been able to add enough anecdotes to keep conversation flowing and avoiding any outright confrontation. He'd vaguely heard the strings strike up and noticed some of the couples making their way to the dance floor. He offered Rory his hand with a smile once she finished the story she was currently telling.

"Dance with me?"

Her eyes sparkled as she put her hand in his. "Always, Mac."

He pulled her up, wrapping his arm around her waist until they made it to the dance floor in the center of the room. "Seth is a godsend."

"That he is," Rory agreed, settling her head on Logan's shoulder. "You don't dance."

"I hate Robert."

"Oh."

"And I'm not crazy. I'll take any excuse to hold you like this."

Rory looked at him with that teasing glint he loved so much. "I need to go brush my teeth now so that sugary sweetness doesn't give me cavities," she quipped.

Logan sighed exaggeratedly. "Give a girl a compliment and she assumes you're buttering her up."

"Buttering me up? Why Mr Huntzberger, what exactly are you thinking?"

He pulled her closer again so his words brushed over her ear. "We take advantage of the fact that Babette is currently watching over both Sophie and Kitty and take a room at the Dragonfly tonight."

Rory shivered. "A very tempting proposition."

"You think about it," he said with a grin, playfully tapping her nose.

They turned when someone cleared their throat, both relieved to see Lorelai and Christopher dancing beside them. "Think you can take this crazy woman off of my hands for a bit, Logan?"

Rory laughed lightly, exchanging a glance with her mother. "I'll give him up if you'll take on another crazy woman instead," she offered with a happy smile.

Seconds later she was dancing around the floor with her father. "You looked happy."

Rory smiled brilliantly. "I am happy. Well, happy with Logan. I'm not exactly thrilled with this botched matchmaking attempt on the part of my grandmother."

Christopher sighed. "She means well, Ror."

"I know, I guess, but… I'm happy."

"Has she seen you happy?" Christopher asked logically. Years of practice with both Lorelai and Rory gave him a little bit of insight as to their ways of dealing with Emily Gilmore.

"Do you think she'd really give him a chance?" Rory answered, her tone just as pointed as his. "You heard her after the break up, Dad. I disgraced the Gilmore name. The Warners are such close friends and I'm an embarrassment."

"Because you didn't marry Robert."

Rory sighed. "Because I didn't marry Robert."

Christopher was silent for a moment. "I always hated Robert."

Rory almost stumbled in her steps. "You did?" Her parents had been generally ambivalent to her relationship and the ensuing break up. They'd taken the side of their heartbroken daughter without asking, but the subject had become taboo.

"He never really made you happy. I mean, sure, you maybe loved him but it just… wasn't right."

"Thanks, I think."

"You and your mother are very much alike," Christopher began, picking up on the sarcasm in Rory's previous comment and feeling compelled to explain. "I can always tell if Lorelai's truly happy by a little sparkle in her eye and the dimple in her left cheek when she really, truly smiles. You're the same way. You get the same sparkle, but you get this… exuberance for life that you don't usually have. Robert never brought out the exuberance that the Foundation did, or that Sophie did, and definitely not like Logan."

"So why did you stay quiet?"

Christopher shrugged. "Everything seemed fine. I didn't want to fix what wasn't truly broken, not when everyone else was one hundred and ten percent behind it."

Rory was surprised at the next voice. "Christopher, mind if I cut in and take my granddaughter for a spin around the floor."

Christopher smiled at Lorelai's father and stepped back gracefully. "Of course not, Richard."

Rory wanted to glare at her father, the unrepentant impish man who winked as he walked away. "Hello, Grandpa."

"Hello Rory, did you enjoy lunch?"

Rory smiled genuinely. Lunch had been… well, less awkward than she'd imagined it. "I did."

"I always knew Yale was the right place for you," Richard boasted of his alma mater.

Rory nodded indulgently. Sometimes, with Richard, it was better to just go with the flow. "They were excellent years."

"And how's your charity? Still going strong?"

"Of course, Grandpa. Honour and I both love it."

"I'm surprised you're here. Isn't there usually a charity run this weekend?"

"The run itself is usually in September but there is usually another little fundraiser for cancer research around this time. This year it was last Saturday so I had a free schedule to come here."

Richard took in the guests. "Where is Honour? The Huntzbergers gave their RSVP. I've even seen Elias about."

"Eli's here?" Rory questioned, her mind already going over the million and one ways she could probably con Eli into helping her convince Logan of the literary genius in Harry Potter.

"Rory, please."

"Mr Gilmore."

Rory groaned at the voice and the tap on her grandfather's shoulder. "May I cut in."

Castration was too mild a punishment for Robert. Dismemberment too. Maybe disembowelment was cruel enough. "If it's all the same to you, Grandpa, I'd rather continue. I haven't seen you in ages."

"Nonsense, I'll talk to you later, Rory. Robert, it's a pleasure to see you again."

Rory mentally listed her curse words as she felt Robert pull her close. Her tense posture kept her that hair's breadth away, but she really, really wanted to get out of this predicament as soon as possible. Since there was no Logan in sight, she had to get creative.

"You picked an interesting rebound guy."

Rory took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself. This verbal game she'd bested Robert at many times. "Well, this version of Boyfriend is definitely better than the last. And I hardly think eleven months equates to a rebound relationship."

"Logan Huntzberger, Rory? You're lucky you made it to eleven months."

Rory shrugged. "I know. I'm lucky to have him."

Robert rolled his eyes at what he perceived to be her naivety. "You're a marrying girl, Pookie. He won't settle down."

Gah, that name again. Her revolted shiver was unfortunately timed to coincide with Robert's hand dragging lower over her back. To her disgust, he took it as encouragement. "Mr Warner, we're in public," she said, barely veiling her anger. "It'll do you good to remember where to keep your hands."

"Rory stop this. You're being difficult."

"You're hitting on another guy's girlfriend. And I'm not stupid, there's history there. So what annoys you more, Robert? That he has something you want or that he actually found someone that made him want to come home at night?"

Robert was stunned. This wasn't the timid doe he'd dated years ago. Rory had a backbone and wasn't afraid to show it. "And tell me Ace," he began, emphasising the nickname. "Do his parents approve of a working mother of one?"

That was a low blow and Rory had to resist with everything she had not to slap him at her grandparents luncheon. "His grandfather loves me and his father is coming around."

"And the Mrs?"

"Doesn't matter." Rory was surprised at the conviction and true belief she felt saying that.

Robert grinned evilly as he spun her out, but his grin dropped when the loose grip on his hand was broken and Rory was pulled from his grasp. He'd always known the three musketeers were literally all for one and one for all. Colin's timing was atrocious.

Rory on the other hand, felt like Colin had impeccable timing. "That's two I owe you now," she said as he spun her away.

"I'll just put it on my tab. Everything's okay though, right?"

"Nothing I couldn't handle," Rory promised with a sincere smile. "Though you did save me there at the end. Well, actually, you saved Robert. I was thirty seconds from killing him, right here, grandparents and society or not. It wasn't going to be pretty."

Colin chuckled. "In which case, maybe I should let you head back there. He's always been an arrogant pompous ass."

"You guys knew a totally different Robert than I did. Well, up until the end anyway."

"You lived with him though. You must have seen parts of it."

"We were barely together when we were at home. He hated Sophie and Sophie was my life. I held out for a month before finally caving to the pressure to move in with him. Sophie didn't talk to me for a week unless she absolutely had to after that."

Colin raised an eyebrow. "Sophie's that vindictive?"

"Sophie relishes normalcy," Rory countered easily. Sophie wasn't the only one with a twisted fetish for psychology when no other literary material was around. "She's a routine kid for the sole reason that she needed it to battle her cancer. The routine gave her a sense of comfort, like her homework always did. It offered her a way out of thinking about chemo and transplants, transfusion and needles."

In some ways, Rory was completely shocked with her candidness. On the other hand, she'd long since realized that there was very little unknown between Colin, Stephanie, Logan and Finn. Her own immersion into that world had been fluid and easy. She knew she could trust Colin simply because Logan did.

"I'm not following," Colin admitted.

"Logan treats Sophie like a person, like the kid she is. He doesn't walk on eggshells around her, doesn't think of her as an invalid or as a tag-along. To him, she's like the greatest sounding board for his literary opinions, for his story ideas. Sophie's nine, but she's incredibly smart. She's read Dickens, Austen, Proust… and understood and enjoyed them. Logan sees her as a young adult, not really as the child she is and she loves that. She loves Logan."

"And she hated Robert."

"Robert never let Sophie have her routine. Logan didn't take long to pick up that she needed it and it just seemed to fit into his life. She still heads over to his office after school sometimes because she loved working there."

Colin smiled. "Your own little newspaper mogul," he teased.

Rory smiled. "If that's what she wants, that's what she'll do. She likes being around people just as much as she likes sliding into the world of her books."

"And Logan gets all of this."

"I think Logan's a lot more perceptive than you give him credit for," Rory replied with a secretive sparkle in her eyes. After all, Logan had been the one to reveal that Colin and Stephanie had been dancing around each other for the better part of ten years.

"Speak of the devil," Colin said, easily letting Rory go as Logan wrapped an arm around her waist.

"You were talking about me?" Logan asked.

Rory rolled her eyes. She could almost see his ego inflating. "Nothing necessarily good or necessarily bad, Huntzberger. Don't build yourself up just yet."

Logan mirrored her eye roll before turning his attention back to his friend. "I saw Steph looking a little cornered by Jordan Chase. You mind playing Knight in Shining Armour?"

Colin's face fell, but both Rory and Logan could see the slight sparkle that flittered through his eyes. "Don't I always? How many does she owe me now?"

"I have no idea. You get on that," Logan suggested, absently pulling Rory closer. He'd watched her dance with Robert, her posture stiff. He'd also witness Robert's wandering hands and had to valiantly refrain from pulling away from Lorelai – who, it seemed, loved to dance, much to both Chris and Logan's utter dismay – to pull Robert off of his girlfriend. She'd handled herself brilliantly until Colin showed up, but he wanted to wipe the memory of Robert off of her skin and out of his mind.

Rory turned in his arms, her lack of heels – she'd chosen flats because she didn't need aching feet on top of the headache that came when dealing with the Gilmores – put her at exactly the right height to press a small kiss to the bottom of his jaw. "Remember how I said Seth was a God send?" she questioned absently, already wrapped up in his warmth.

"Mmhmm," Logan hummed in response, his hands drifting over the expanse of her back in his efforts to erase Robert's memory from her skin.

"I'm rephrasing. Your friends are God sends. And perceptive. Where were they all my life?"

"Hiding in the other half of Robert's twisted existence?"

"Okay, new rule. No mention of the bastard ex."

He was slightly taken aback by her less than sophisticated vocabulary. "Lorelai Hayden, did I just hear that out of your mouth? What would Emily Gilmore think."

Rory pulled back, surprised slightly when his arms barely gave. "Don't get me started. She's the reason he's here. She's the reason he was sitting right beside me and she's the reason you are going to give me a massage when we get wherever we're going."

"You're considering the Dragonfly?"

"I'm going to need some serious therapy tonight. Serious therapy."

Logan chuckled and pulled her head to rest back on his shoulder. He loved her all malleable and pliable against him. "Therapy it is. A nice relaxing bath, a massage…"

Rory hummed against him in contentment. "Where have you been all my life?"

"Obviously under some sort of huge boulder to have missed you at Yale. That still baffles me."

"In your defence I wouldn't have given you a second glance," she admitted, closing her eyes and allowing him to take most of her weight.

He shifted to accommodate her. "Really?"

"A cocky rich playboy? Not a chance."

"Huh. I guess it's better we met later then."

"I never thought I'd be thanking Honour, but hey, it's her fault."

"Fault?" Logan asked in mock hurt.

Rory slapped his chest playfully where her hand had come to rest between them. "You know what I mean. If she hadn't agreed to allow you to do the article in return for sponsoring that benefit, we never would have met."

"And that," Logan decided, his voice dropping. "Would be very, very bad."

Rory had every intention of keeping the sweet and quasi-private moment going and had even opened her mouth to give him an honest, sincere and maybe even vulnerable answer, but some twisted trickster had other plans. The Powers That Be weren't going to give Rory and Logan an inch.

"Rory Gilmore, is that you?"

Rory opened her eyes, resisting the urge to groan as she took in the pair. The ex-maybe-in-laws. The jilted parents of a gorgeous baby boy that had been dropped by his girlfriend. She was so not looking forward to this conversation, nor stupid enough not to anticipate a confrontation. Marcy Warner's middle name was 'meddling' and with Emily and Richard Gilmore close on her heels, Rory felt her body tense in fear, apprehension and the helplessness that came when escape routes were rare. Logan tensed with her, obviously seeing her grandparents make their approach.

Oh, this was not going to be good.