Disclaimer: None of it mine

A/N: The reviews are much appreciated! We're winding down, only a couple (not sure how many) chapters left. Enjoy!

Chapter 6

The next morning, Rory emerged from her room fully dressed and ready to start the day.

"Hey, you look much better." Lorelai said, smiling over her coffee cup.

Rory nodded and returned the smile. "I feel so much better. Still a little tired, but besides that the Good Ship: Illness has departed."

"Yeah? Good. How about the Good Ship: Indecision?" Lorelai asked.

Rory sighed and sat at the table. "Still in port, I guess. I just…Do you have the energy for another Jess-related talk?"

Lorelai nodded. "I was never really open to them in the past, so I guess I've got to make up for it somehow. Lay it on me, sister."

"I was never really convinced Jess was the one, you know? I really thought I loved him but everything was so complicated that I couldn't be sure. With Logan though, I was so sure. I was like, 'this is it. This is the one.' But now, that definite feeling isn't there."

"Because of Jess." Lorelai interjected.

Rory shook her head, "That's the thing…not entirely. I mean, ever since Logan left it hasn't felt right. This distance between us, it's not just physical. I mean, with Jess…he just showed up, like, three years after the last time we really talked and it was strange, but it wasn't uncomfortable. We just fell back into our old selves."

"And you don't feel like that with Logan?"

Rory looked up with sad eyes. "No. I don't. Maybe the distance isn't the only reason we can't connect. We've always had trouble with it, I guess. Mom?"

"Yeah, babe?" Lorelai asked, touching Rory's arm across the table.

"I think I want to break up with Logan."

Lorelai nodded and rubbed Rory's arm. "If that's what you think is best, then I'm right behind you. But are you doing this just to be with Jess, because if you are…"

"No." Rory shook her head adamantly. "No, this isn't even about Jess. This is about Logan and me. We don't connect anymore. Yeah, Jess sort of showed me that and yeah I'm confused about my feelings for him, but I'm not confused about Logan. That I'm sure about."

"Wow." Lorelai said, nodding. "I'm proud of you, kid. You've never been good at the guy decisions, especially breakups, but it sounds like you've really got your head on straight here."

"One of us has to." Rory said pointedly, looking at her mother.

"Hey!" Lorelai protested. "Low blow, Rory."

Rory sighed. "I know, I'm sorry. I just hate watching you like this, Mom. You're not happy with Dad."

"I'm not unhappy." Lorelai said in way of explanation. "He loves me."

"Is that enough, Mom? Really?" Rory was reminded suddenly of her relationship with Dean. He'd loved her, so she'd convinced herself that was enough even though what she wanted and loved had changed…into Jess.

"It has to be." Lorelai said, standing and putting her mug in the sink. "I know you're worried, but don't. Please, Rory, just let me handle things my way." The sadness in her eyes showed that she had taken Rory's words to heart, as strong as she was trying to be.

Rory nodded and stood. "Hug it out?" She said with a playful pout.

Lorelai took her daughter in her arms and hugged her tightly, kissing the top of her head. "Everything's going to be good eventually." She said, and she really sounded as though she believed it.

"I think so too." Rory agreed, pulling away from her mother. "For both of us. I've gotta get to school before Paris takes over the paper."

Lorelai nodded, "I'm gonna go the inn. I'll see you tonight?"

Rory nodded. "Love you, Mom."

Lorelai smiled sadly. "Love you too, kiddo."

The phone rang a few times before Logan answered it. "Hey, Ace."

"Hey, Logan." Rory said, twisting a piece of hair around her finger. "How are you?"

"Well I'm living." Logan responded. "Just got out of my last meeting for the day. How was your day?"

"Still going on." Rory responded. "It's only noon. I've got class in an hour."

"You sound upset. Are you OK?" Logan asked, concern filling his voice.

Rory bit her lip and hesitated to answer him. This was it. If she started this conversation, she couldn't go back. Was she really ready to do that?

"I've been thinking, Logan." Yes, she was ready.

"Uh-oh." Logan said, a teasing laugh in his voice. "Planning a hostile takeover?"

He sounded so happy, so amused. Did he really not feel it? Was she only imagining the awkward silences? Was she just looking for a reason to end this? Maybe she was being silly about this. Maybe she and Logan weren't done yet.

"Do you ever feel like…this is harder than it should be?"

There was a moment of silence, and Rory wondered if he'd heard her. Then she heard him exhale a long, slow whoosh of breath. "I was wondering which one of us it was gonna be."

"What?" Rory asked in confusion.

"I knew one of us was going to have to bring it up. I wasn't sure if it was going to be me or you, but…I didn't really expect it to be you, actually." Logan finished.

"So…you've noticed it too?" Rory felt somewhat relieved by this fact.

"Yeah, I've noticed. It takes so much energy, and…"

"It still doesn't feel right?" Rory offered.

"Exactly!" Logan exclaimed. "It's like we're trying so hard to connect and it just never happens. I guess that's always been our problem. I mean, it was hard enough when we were living together."

"Now that there's an ocean between us…" Rory said, her eyes filling with tears. This was what she wanted, but it still hurt so much for her to let go.

"It's gotten too hard. I don't want to say it's not worth it, Ace, but…"

"But it's not." Rory finished for him, sniffling. "It's just not right."

"I mean, I love you, but sometimes I feel like I don't know you at all." Logan said. It was obvious that this was difficult for him too.

"I know. I know exactly what you mean." Rory agreed with him, closing her eyes. A few tears fell and she said, "Just love isn't enough. There's got to be connection, understanding. We've never really had that."

"No." Logan laughed, but he didn't sound amused. "I guess we haven't. I knew this was coming, but it's still hard. I do love you, Rory."

"I know." Rory whispered. "And I love you. But…there's more. For both of us, there's more."

"Yeah. It's funny, isn't it? The only time we can actually connect is when we're breaking up." Logan said, trying to lighten the mood a little.

"We are complicated, aren't we?" Rory asked, smiling through her tears.

"Ridiculously so." Logan agreed. There was a long moment of silence, but for the first time since he moved it wasn't tense. "I think this is it, Ace."

"I guess so. Take care of yourself over there, Logan." Rory said.

"I will. You too, Rory. Bye."

"Bye." Rory parroted, ending the call. She clutched her phone against her chest and let out a long sigh as she continued to cry quietly. She felt sad that it was over, that once again she'd loved and lost, but through it all she also felt a little relief.

It was funny, actually, how many of her breakups came coupled with relief. The last time she'd broken up with Dean had relieved her of some sort of burden--certainly the first time had as well. The only one that left her unsettled was…Jess. It was a funny thing, really, that it always seemed to come back to Jess.

Rory looked at her phone through bleary eyes and absentmindedly went through her contact list until she saw the name Truncheon JESS. She'd gotten the store's number from their website. She bit her lip as she debated calling Jess right now, but it seemed so desperate and so contrived. She'd broken up with Logan less than ten minutes ago, and she already wanted to call Jess? Breaking up with Logan wasn't supposed to be about Jess.

It was though, at least a little. Mostly it was about Logan and her and the fact that they were wrong for each other, but Jess was the catalyst. Him and his mashed potatoes and the memory of his warm, Italian hands and reading excerpts from his new novel. It was all those little things, adding up and winning her over before she even realized it.

Rory looked at the clock on her phone and sighed. She had to get to class anyway. She'd call Jess later though, she knew that for certain.

Rory's finger was on the 'send' button of her telephone the moment she was out of her car. She wanted to wait, but at the same time she needed to hear Jess's voice again. She needed some sort of solace; some assurance that she'd done the right thing.

"Truncheon Books. Open til midnight. This is Matthew. May I service you?" A cheerful male voice greeted her on the other end of the line.

"Empire Records, right?" Rory asked, amused.

"Good ear!" Matthew praised. "What can I do for you today, wise one?"

"Is Jess there?"

"Jess, huh? That depends. Business, personal, or sexual?" Matthew asked seriously.

Rory felt herself blushing at the question and she began to stutter out an answer. "I…well…I…"

There was the sound of a slight scuffle as the phone switched hands. "Jess Mariano."

"Hi." Rory said quietly.

"So lucky." Jess mumbled to Matthew with a shake of his head. Into the phone, he said, "Rory. Hey. Are you OK?"

"Yeah." Rory said, walking up the porch into the house. "Yeah, I'm OK. How are you?" She dropped her bag next to the door and sat down on the sofa.

"Alright." Jess said. "You sound a lot better."

"I am." Rory agreed. "Thank you again for taking care of me like you did."

"Don't worry about it. No, those go on the shelf in the back."

"What?" Rory asked, wrinkling her nose.

"Not you, obviously. Store stuff. Sorry. Was that why you called, to thank me again?"

Rory frowned. He seemed very brusque. She should've expected as much. He'd made himself perfectly clear when they'd spoke last.

"Can't a girl just…call up an old friend?" Rory asked weakly.

Jess sighed. "Rory…"

"I broke up with Logan!" Rory interjected before he could finish whatever thought he was about to express. "Earlier today…we broke up."

"Huh."

When it became apparent that he wasn't going to say anything else, Rory sighed. "Jess?"

"Still here." He said. She could hear murmuring in the background and Jess mumbling 'not now.' "You broke up with him?"

"Yeah. It just wasn't working." Why was this so awkward? She hated awkward.

Jess was quiet for a moment, then he said, "Long distance relationships can be tough, I guess."

"Yeah." Rory agreed. "Very. Logan and I, we never had a strong enough connection to make that kind of thing work."

"Why are you telling me this?" Jess demanded suddenly. His voice had gone very soft, indicating the something about this conversation was upsetting to him.

"I…" Rory hesitated.

"I mean, is this just one friend telling another friend about their day because really Rory, that's not fair."

"No! No, Jess! That's not what this is." Rory's voice took on an urgency that shocked the calm exterior right off of Jess.

"Oh." He said thoughtfully. "Rory?"

"Yeah, Jess?" Rory asked, hopefully. At that moment though, the front door slammed shut and Rory looked up to see her mother standing in the doorway, tears in her eyes.

Lorelai looked over at Rory and whispered, "I broke up with Christopher."

Rory's eyes widened and she stood up. "I've got to go, Jess…I'm sorry to cut this short but I've got to go." She hung up before Jess could respond and threw her phone on the couch before running over and taking her mom in her arms.

"You were right." Lorelai said, wiping tears. "It's not enough. I just couldn't do it anymore."

"I broke up with Logan too." Rory said, tears filling her own eyes.

Lorelai smirked and held on tightly to her daughter. "We're huge idiots, aren't we?"

"Probably." Rory said, resting her head on her mother's shoulder as they both cried.