AN: So here's the next chapter. Thanks for the reviews I got from the first one. Tell me what you think about this one…

2. Admitting the facts

Next day Rory is sitting at her desk in her office. Lisa comes to her.

"Morning. I just wanted to tell you one more time that I really enjoyed last night" She says.

"Huh… Oh yeah. Me too" Rory says.

"Is everything ok? You look tired. Are you sick? You shouldn't come to work if you're sick." Lisa asks Rory with concerned voice.

"I'm just tired. I didn't sleep so much last night." Rory answers.

"Was there some specific reason for you not sleeping? You seemed kind of weird yesterday when you left my place." Lisa says.

"Well… yes but if I tell you, you can't tell anyone." Rory starts.

"I promise. You can trust me." Lisa says and moves a chair next to Rory's.

"It's just that… Yesterday you told me about that new neighbour of yours. I realised that I know him." Rory explains.

"You know the mysterious Logan? How?" Lisa asks confused.

"We met in college. We both were working at our college-paper. Or I was working and he was there to annoy our editor." Rory says and smiles at the memory of Logan and Doyle.

"I thought he is a businessman, not a journalist." Lisa says.

"Well he is a businessman now but until last spring he was working for Huntzberger Publishing Group. He had an awful business crisis and he lost a lot of many. After that he quit." Rory explains.

"So he realised that journalism wasn't for him?" Lisa asks.

"He wanted to be free and that wasn't possible in HPG. So he wanted to leave there. And of course he couldn't get a job from any other company in the journalistic field."

"Because of the business crisis?"

"No. Because of Mitchum Huntzberger being his father."

"What? The Mitchum Huntzberger is Logan's father? So that makes Logan the run-away-heir. I read some article about it." Lisa says.

"That would be him." Rory says but before she can continue one of their co-workers comes asking Lisa to help her with something.

"We continue this later. I know that's not the whole story. You were way too upset yesterday for Logan to be just a guy you went college with." Lisa says.

"We could go to my place after work. I really don't wanna tell the rest of the story in any public place." Rory tells her.

"Sounds good" Lisa agrees before leaving Rory alone.

Rory takes a deep breath and starts working.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Rory and Lisa arrive in Rory's place. Rory makes some coffee and soon they are sitting on the sofa in Rory's living room sipping their coffees.

"You were right. Logan is not just a guy I went college with." Rory starts. "We dated over two years".

"Vow. That's a long time. What happened to you guys?" Lisa asks.

"We were happy. We had some ups and downs in our relationship but we always worked through them in the end. I was his first girlfriend. He was one of the biggest playboys in Yale when we met. But he changed a lot in those almost three years that I knew him. For example when we had dated about a year and I suddenly lost my apartment, he asked me to move in with him. He was the perfect boyfriend. He was caring and thoughtful. When we met, I was studious and kind of shy girl who didn't experience the college-life the fullest but he pushed me out of my comfort zone. Last spring one day before my graduation he proposed to me. He had gotten a job in here so he wanted me to come with him. He had everything figured out for our life together. But I was a coward. I made some excuses about my career being ruined if I married him and I turned him down." Rory explains and Lisa listens patiently.

"So what was the real reason for you to turn him down?" Lisa asks.

Rory has never told the real reason to anyone so she hesitates a little before answering. "There were actually two reasons. One was that I was afraid that our marriage wouldn't work. I have seen a lot of failed relationship in my life. My mom has been engaged twice and married one. Every time the relationship ended soon. I have never lived in steady nuclear family. I know this sounds silly. How could I ever have a functioning marriage if I don't even try?"

"It's not silly. I got married when I was twenty-two years old. I had no doubts about wanting to get married but still I was worried if the marriage was going to work." Lisa tells Rory. "You said there were two reasons. What was the other one?"

"This one is kind of embarrassing." Rory says and sits quietly for a while before she opens her mouth again. "I was afraid of letting go of my mom."

"So it was the moving away thing?" Lisa asks.

"No, it wasn't that. I left home about week after my graduation and there was no way I could have stayed in Stars Hollow. It was sad to leave but I really haven't lived with my mom since I went to college. My mom and I have been freakishly close. She had me when she was only sixteen so we kind of grew up together. So it's just that… If I had married Logan, my mom wouldn't have been my closest relative anymore." Rory says embarrassed.

"Getting married doesn't mean you have to give up your parents. Your mom will always be there for you no matter what your marital status is. I became close with my mom again after I had my first child." Lisa tells Rory.

"I understand that now. My mom is once again engaged to our local diner-keeper. She is starting this whole new life with him and probably they are gonna have one or more children. And I'm not gonna belong to their new family as a constant figure. I'm only going to visit them on holidays and so but it's not gonna be me living with them." Rory almost shouts and tears come to her eyes. "I just figured all this too late. I lost Logan and now I don't belong in anywhere."

Lisa puts her arms around sobbing Rory. They sit quietly for a long while until Rory is able to stop crying.

"Do you know what you want from future?" Lisa asks.

"I'm not sure anymore. My dream has been to become an overseas correspondent but six months constant travelling made me doubt about that. My career is always been the thing I have dreamed about. I haven't thought so much about my personal life." Rory answers truthfully.

"Okay. Then we have to figure it out." Lisa says and stands up. "Lie down on the couch and close your eyes."

Rory does what Lisa asked her to do. Lisa sits down on a chair next to sofa.

"Okay. It's ten years from now. Imagine yourself to a place where you wanna be then." Lisa says and waits for few minutes before asking. "Where are you?"

"In a backyard of a lovely house. And there is this beautiful garden around me. I'm sitting in a chair on the patio." Rory answers.

"What are you doing?" Lisa continues questioning.

"I'm reading a book and watching a little girl play." Rory answers again.

"So there is a little girl with you? Tell me more about this girl?"

"She is wearing a pink swimming suit. She is about three or four years old and looks a lot of like me when I was little. She is playing in an inflatable paddling pool. She laughs and splashes water with her hands while looking at me." Rory describes.

"Is there anyone else around?" Lisa asks.

"A little boy, maybe six years old, comes running to me. He tells me enthusiastically how he scored in his soccer game. The boy doesn't resemble his sister. He has blond hair and brown eyes."

"Do you see their father?"

"Yeah. He is standing nearby smiling at his family."

"Do you recognise him?"

"Yes"

"Who is it?"

Rory is quiet for a while before answering. "It's Logan."