OMG I am so so sorry for keeping you all waiting. Hope it's worth it! And believe it or not, after this there's only an epilogue left to go and then it's over. :( Hope you enjoy! I'd like reviews! Ten of 'em before you get the epilogue!

Author's Note: For the sake of this fic, please pretend that Sherry and Gigi don't' exist? Thanks.

Chapter 13:

TWO WEEKS LATER

Two weeks of hospital time and she was finally free. Everything was perfect. She had a fractured wrist, and would have to wear a cast for six weeks, and she had a faint line where the stitches had been on her forehead, but she would be fine. She was more than fine. Dean had been found and was in Juvenile Hall for driving under the influence and leaving Rory for dead in the woods. Lorelai had made it very clear that she would get a restraining order on him if he ever tried to talk to Rory again. Two weeks of bed rest had given Rory and Logan a chance to sort everything out. She couldn't believe he had sacrificed his entire Winter break- not to mention Christmas- to spend every day with her in a poorly lighted hospital room. And while her Christmas experience was far less the fabulous, all of her family and friends had made time on Christmas Eve or day to make their way down and get their presents to her. Luckily she was not a procrastinator, and had all of her gifts put together before the accident.

She smiled, thinking back to late Christmas Eve night…

Logan smiled and walked into Rory's room, somewhat tentatively. He had her present, and he also had something he had to tell her.

"Merry Christmas, Ace."

"Hey Logan," she said, a grin over taking her features.

"So… I have your present," he said.

"Really?! Give it!" she said holding out her hand like a little child.

Logan laughed and handed her a long and skinny package, which she proceeded to rip open. She lifted the lid and froze. A golden card hung from a chain. An Ace of Spades.

"Oh, Logan… it's…" she said, tearing up.

"You like it?" he said.

"I love it."

Logan kissed her softy on the hand and took a deep breath.

"Are things… ok with us, Rory?" he said, using her real name to show he was being serious.

Rory knew exactly what he was referring to. They had never had the chance to discuss what had happened between them officially. It was understood that they were… back together. Or at least not broken up, but Rory didn't know anything other than that.

"Yeah, yeah I think things are good," she said. "But… Seattle. Is your dad still…" she trailed off.

"Colin's parents are letting me stay with them until l work things out. I'm not leaving, I don't care what my dad does," he said, firmness in his voice.

"Good," she said. "So…"

"Rory, I love you," he blurted. He couldn't hold it in any longer. Rory's eyes widened.

"You do?" she said after thirty seconds of shocked silence.

"Yeah," Logan breathed.

"Good." Rory said with a decisive nod of her head. "Because I love you too."

Lorelai had had a fairly eventful Christmas time, too. For the past two weeks, she had been dating the father of her child. Yes, that's right. The day after they had learned that Rory would be alright, Chris had asked Lorelai to eat dinner with him at the cafeteria in the hospital, and from there the two had gone back to flirting and bantering like they had when they were younger. Before she knew it, he had invited her out on a real date, and for full extent of the time that Rory had been in the hospital, the two had gone out to eat almost every day. It was weird. But weird in a good way. Lorelai liked that they were taking things slow, building back up to a relationship, instead of just jumping as they had done in the past.

"Hey babe," she said, stepping up to Christopher and pecking him on the lips.

"Hey, Lore," they were in Luke's Diner, awaiting Logan and Rory's arrival. This being her first day back in town, she had wanted some time alone with her newly instated boyfriend before meeting up with her parents and friends for an informal Welcome Back Rory party.

Luke was behind the counter, watching the scene with growing jealousy. He kept on telling himself that she had only clung to him in the hospital waiting room because she had needed someone and he had been there. It had nothing to do with him. The moment Christopher had showed up, Luke had been left alone to watch her curl up next to a different man.

Logan came in with his arm wrapped tightly around Rory's waist, pulling her into him and whispering something into his ear.

Lorelai smiled and Chris looked disapproving.

"Ace, come to my place tonight. Movie night. Everyone. We haven't done that in a while," Logan said.

"Mom?" Rory looked with a pleading look to her parents. Rory was unsure what her opinion was on her mom and dad's new relationship. She had always thought that her mom and Luke would get together eventually, but it was every kid's dream to see their parents back together. Whatever made her mom happy made her happy.

"Sure, kid," Lorelai said to Rory.

"Lore, are you sure?" Chris whispered into her ear.

"Yeah, Chris, I'm sure. It's her boyfriend. Why wouldn't I let her go?" she gave him a confused glance.

"She just got out of the hospital, Lorelai," he said, talking down to her.

"Chris, it's fine," Lorelai said, pushing his arm off her shoulder and going up to Luke to order.

Everything was back to normal. Logan had to avoid Rory' injured arm as they cuddled up together, and she was given a dozen hugs and concerned questions from all her friends, but everything was otherwise back to the way it had been before Logan had discovered he was moving. Colin, Finn, and Tristan all treated her like a little sister and threatened to beat up Dean if they ever saw him again. Rory laughed at their threats, but on the inside she hated hearing them mention Dean.

Then the movies had started, and all bad thoughts had flown out of her head as she watched movies with the people that mattered to her the most, including the boy that she loved. That thought brought a huge grin to her face, which Logan noticed.

"What?" he said.

"Nothing. Just thinking."

"About me?"

Rory snorted. "The size of your ego astounds me. I was thinking about my other lover, actually. Sorry you had to find out this way."

"Ouch, you hurt me, Ace," he smiled playfully and leaned down to kiss her.

The next morning saw Rory sleeping in at Logan's house and Lorelai and Christopher making their way into the diner for breakfast.

"Oh, Lukey! I need coffee!" Lorelai's sing-song voice carried back into the kitchen. Luke rolled his eyes as he stepped out and froze when he saw Christopher with her.

"Give me fooood!" Lorelai continued.

"What kind of food do you want?"

"Mmmmh…. Pancakes, and bacon, and eggs, and coffee, and a puppy, and a pony and a Barbie, and…"

Luke tried to hide his smile as he rolled his eyes again and said "your food is coming up. The animals are not."

"What about the Barbie?" Lorelai said, sticking her lower lip out, pouting.

"You should be happy that I'm giving you all the unhealthy food that'll shorten your life expectancy by 20 years. No Barbie's."

"Thanks Lukey."

"Stop calling me that," Luke said gruffly, turning away quickly to hide his smile.

"Never, LUKEY." Lorelai said, smiling at the banter that went back and forth between the two of them.

"Lorelai?" Chris said softy.

"Yeah?" she responded, her brow scrunching up in concern at Christopher's sad expression.

"Umm… never mind. Just forget it."

She normally would have pushed, but something told her not to.

"Staaaaaaay…" Logan said, pulling on her arm.

"I can't! I promised my mom lunch, and then I'm going to the book store with Jess."

"But… you just got here," Logan frowned.

Rory laughed. "Logan, I got here last night. Let go of my arm so I can get my stuff!" She was leaning toward Logan's bed, trying to reach her jacket.

"Ok," he said, abruptly taking his hand off of her arm so that she flopped unceremoniously on the bed. Logan jumped on immediately after and wrapped his arm around her waist, effectively trapping her.

"Logan!" Rory tried to keep a straight face, but she erupted into giggles and buried her head against his chest. "Mean."

"No, I'm not. You love me," Logan said arrogantly.

"Yeah, I do," Rory said seriously.

"Love you," Logan said, running a hand through her hair and kissing her tenderly.

"God, you two are sickening," Finn said from the doorway.

"What the Hell are you still doing here, Finn? I thought you left ten minutes ago," Logan said, angry at his friend for ruining their moment.

"Well, I didn't," he replied cheekily. "Come here, love, and give me a hug, and then I'll go."

Rory smiled at Finn, and got up, stepping into his arms. Rory's grin widened when she realized that with Dean, the fact that she was hugging another guy would be an issue, not to mention the fact that she was hanging out with Jess for a couple of hours today. With Logan, it was ok. He trusted her and she trusted him completely. The moment Finn was gone, Rory felt herself being pulled back into Logan's arms.

"Oh, Ace! I almost forgot to tell you! I just got done confirming everything with Colin before he left this morning- you weren't awake yet. I'm moving in with him until my father agrees not to pester me to move anywhere far away."

"Logan, that's great!" she answered. Turning around and kissing him. He smiled against her lips. Everything was perfect.

"Luke?" Lorelai said cautiously, stepping into the diner.

"Hey," Luke said, continuing to wipe the counter, not looking up.

"Umm… can I talk to you for a second?" she sounded nervous. Something was up.

"What's up?" he asked, his brow furrowing in confusion.

"Did you say anything that could've… upset Christopher? I don't know what happened, but ever since we left the diner this morning he's been… well, I don't know exactly. But something's wrong."

"I can't think of anything…" Luke said. He hadn't said anything to Christopher this morning, had he?

"Ok… well, I'll try talking to him again when he meets me and Rory for Lunch- Oh…" Lorelai trailed off as the bell above the door rang. Lorelai came face to face with Christopher.

"Lorelai, could you talk to me outside for a second?" he said.

"Sure…" Lorelai threw a questioning glance to Luke over her shoulder before exiting the diner and being pulled roughly to the side by an obviously upset Christopher.

"Look, Lore… you know I want this to work between us, but… I can't stand in your way any more."

"What? Whoa, Chris, slow down, where is this coming from?"

"It's coming from… me. It's coming from the fact that it's painfully obvious that you love Luke."

"What? Chris that's not-" but she stopped, quite suddenly in the middle of her sentence. She couldn't deny it. She couldn't make herself say the words.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," he said, somewhat sarcastically. "I'll see you around, inevitably, Lore. Good luck, I guess," he said, storming off in the direction of his car.

Lorelai lowered herself onto the curb and felt her shoulders shake with tearless sobs. But even though she was upset, she felt something else, too. Relief? Maybe. But mostly it was just a feeling that after this 3 week relationship with Christopher, she finally realized that he wasn't the one for her. It had been some closure for them, nothing more. Now she could turn her attention to…

"Lorelai, are you alright?" Luke asked, sitting down with her on the curb. She shook her head and threw her harms around him, burying her face in the crook of his neck. It felt right.

"Mom?" Rory gasped, covering her eyes with her hand. When she found that neither her mom or her dad were at the diner, she had made her way home to see if maybe they were running late. She had opened the door to find her mom making out with someone on the couch. It wasn't her dad. It was Luke!

"Ah! Rory! Um… hi,"

"Aw, jeez," Luke said, standing up and brushing past Rory out the door. "I'll see you later, Lorelai."

"What… Mom… what was…" Rory was having trouble finding words. She had just begun to adjust to her mom dating Christopher, when suddenly… this?

Lorelai let out a strangled laugh. "You'd better call Jess and cancel. This story involves junk food and movies and mother-daughter time."

"I'll stop by Luke's to tell Jess on my way to pick up supplies."

"I'll get the movies!" Lorelai shouted, running out the door.

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