Rory stared helplessly at the blinking cursor on her computer screen. She had no idea what to write next. She had to finish up the article she was working on before she left for the day and it was already 7 o'clock. The office was empty except for her; the place had started clearing out at three since it was the day before Thanksgiving and everyone had been gone by 5:30-everyone but her...and him. She looked up at his office door for what felt like the millionth time since he had last gone in there 3 hours ago. He had once again not spoken to her all day and she didn't know if it was because of the agreement he had made with her or if he was mad at her for what had happened outside the restaurant last night. She couldn't blame him if he was mad; she had no right to kiss him and run away like that but she had been so confused. She needed to talk to him; she needed to clear some things up in her head before making her decision. She had originally made a snap decision and stuck by it out of stubbornness; she wouldn't do that this time. This time she wanted to analyze the situation more fully, with both her head and her heart. Unfortunately Logan wouldn't come out of his office and she was too chicken shit to knock on his door, so she continued to stare at the article she had to write even though she knew she wouldn't be able to write it until after she spoke with him.

When he finally opened the door she looked up at him tensely. "Hi," she managed to say.

Logan looked across the room at her, startled by the sound of her voice. "Hey," he paused. "I didn't realize you were still here." He took a few steps towards her.

"Yeah well this article isn't going to write itself." She gestured towards her computer.

"It's not due for a couple of days," he reminded her. God this was awkward.

"Yeah but I'm going to Mom's first thing tomorrow so I won't have time to write," she explained.

"You are?" he asked cocking his head to the side curiously. "Why? Did something happen?"

"Thanksgiving," she said pointedly

"Oh holidays, I forgot about those," he said, his tone was joking but in all actuality he was completely serious.

"That's just sad, Logan." She managed a weak smile.

"What can I say, I haven't been in a very celebratory mood lately," he admitted. The smile on Rory's face fell into a frown; she didn't know what to say. Logan spoke again, trying to stifle the awkwardness. "So you're going to be here for a while?"

"Looks that way, why?" she asked.

"Well I was just going to go down the block and grab a slice of pizza but if you're hungry we can just order a pie," he offered.

Rory thought for a moment before answering. "Make it Chinese and you've got yourself a deal."

"A deal? Don't most deals involve both parties benefiting? You get a free meal of the ethnic food of your choice, what do I get?" he teased lightly, glad to see the tension easing a bit.

"You get to not eat dinner all by your lonesome," she stated simply.

"Right...good deal. I'll be back in a bit," he said with a smile, moving towards the elevator.

"They do deliver you know," she reminded him.

"I know but I wanted some fresh air anyhow. And don't worry Ace, I remember what you like. Now get back to work, I ain't paying you for nothing," he scolded playfully.

"'Ain't' ain't a word cause it ain't in the dictionary," she retorted.

"It is so."

"Is not."

"Is too."

"Is not."

"Fine Ace, you look it up, I'm going to get some food. When I'm back you can tell me all about how right I was." He smirked and left.

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

Logan returned twenty minutes later carrying a large plastic bag full of food in one hand and a cardboard cup holder with two large coffees and two cokes in the other. He set the beverages on Rory's desk and began pulling cartons of Chinese food out of the bag. "I hope I got enough, I know how you like to pack it in," he said with a smile.

Rory looked at the numerous food items crowding her desk and nodded, "I think this will suffice."

Upon hearing her approval her turned to the next desk over and pulled up a chair. As he sat down Rory began opening cartons, looking at his choices. "What's this?" she asked skeptically. "There are vegetables in here; I thought you said you remembered what I liked."

"That, Ace, is pepper steak, and it's for me. Now quit your complaining and enjoy your free meal, there's plenty here for you," he said, pulling the box away from her and picking up a pair of chopsticks.

"So what's the verdict," he asked after taking a few bites. He leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on the corner of her desk, looking at her intently.

"Verdict on what?" she asked looking up from her meal.

"Our vocabulary lesson." He already knew the answer. He knew his Ace well enough to know that she would have checked her dictionary instantly to prove him wrong and she would have wasted no time once he got back to let him know if "ain't" really wasn't in the dictionary, still, he loved to goad her.

Rory scowled at him but didn't answer.

"I'll take your silence as an admission of defeat," he said smirking.

"Fine, so Webster agrees with you, are you happy?" she said defensively.

"Score one for Huntzberger, Gilmore- zero," he gloated.

"It also said it was a word used by the uneducated. Are you uneducated? Bringing shame upon your fellow Elis?"

"Hey, at least I'm educated enough to know that ain't is a real word." He stuck his tongue out at her.

"Put that tongue away Huntzberger," she demanded.

"Is that really what you want?" he asked suggestively before he could stop himself. And with that the conversation came to a screeching halt. Welcome back awkwardness.

Rory stared at him with wide eyes for a few moments before finding her voice. "Logan," she said softly.

"We don't have to talk about it Ace," he said without looking her in the eye.

"Yes, we do," she replied, her voice soft but insistent.

"It's really alright, I understand. You were upset, confused. You made a mistake. You don't have to apologize," he assured her.

"I wasn't going to."

"Huh?" he asked, bringing his feet back down to the floor and turning to look at her straight on. Don't get too excited Huntzberger he warned himself, you can't get your hopes up, not again.

"It was all wrong, Logan. But it happened. It happened and I made it happen; this time it wasn't you."

"So what are you saying?" he asked, his heart beating a little faster. He didn't want to get too excited, he stole a glance at her left hand which still clutched a carton of food; there was the ring. He sighed, partly in disappointment, partly in relief- at least he knew what she wasn't saying, at least he could let that idea go, he didn't have to wonder.

"In all this time I haven't denied my feelings for you, but I have tried to convince myself and everyone else, you included, that they don't matter. Well obviously they do. How many times have people said you can't just bottle up your feelings? I have to deal with this. That's what Colin and Finn made me see last night and what that little incident outside the restaurant proved. I can't just push my feelings aside, I have to face them head on."

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

"By talking to you. By finding out the truth. I'm not making any promises here Logan; I just want to know exactly what my options are. I know what my future with Jess holds. I know what he can offer me. With you I've just made assumptions; assumptions which some very good friends pointed out were a little unfair."

"What did they say to you?" he asked curiously.

"A lady never tells."

Logan rolled his eyes. "Fine Ace, be that way," he sulked. "So what are these assumptions I have to disprove?"

"Well...let's start with this," she began. "Are you always here this late?"

Logan looked at his watch, it was just after 8. Not that it affected his answer, lately he was there all night so it could have been 1 AM and the answer would have been the same. "Lately," he admitted.

"Why?"

Logan sighed. "I don't really have much reason to go home."

"What about Colin and Finn? They came all this way to visit you and yet here you are."

Logan laughed. "Finn met a feisty red head after dinner last night and she introduced Colin to her pretty blonde friend."

Rory smiled. "Well we wouldn't want to keep Finn from a willing feisty red head."

"Definitely not," Logan agreed.

"So what you're saying is that you don't go home because there's nothing there for you but if there was..."

"I'd be there in a heart beat."

Rory sighed, good answer. "OK, moving on. Do you know if you're here in Philly for good or is your Dad going to move you again?"

"I don't know," he answered truthfully. "But I've been meaning to speak to Dad about it. I don't want to keep moving, regardless of what happens here," he said motioning between them. "It's no fun not knowing if you're going to have to up and leave everything as soon as your settled some place new. I don't want to keep doing it, I won't."

"But if Daddy says..."

"Daddy can shove it."

"You'd really be willing to risk it all?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes," he said, "but I won't be."

"Huh?"

"I don't know why I let Dad's threats rule me for so long. He's not going to cut me off. Who the hell would run this business? Even if he would ever consider letting a woman run his precious media empire, Honor was an Art History major, she knows nothing about journalism. And all his siblings went their own way too. There's no one else to do this job, Ace. I'm sure some compromises will have to be made but that's true for him as well as me."

"Alright, what about business trips? How much time do you usually spend traveling?" she asked her next question.

"Unfortunately I can't get out of business trips, Ace." he told her.

"I didn't ask you to get out of it; I asked you how much of your time it would take up."

"Um, well I know I haven't been on any trips this past month because I just got here and am getting things settled, but normally I'd say I have to go away a couple times a month for 2-3 days each time," he answered the question and then added a little more. "The real problem is that Dad likes to spring them on me, something else I plan on talking to him about. I can't always be at his beck and call."

Rory processed the information for a moment. 4-5 days a month was fairly reasonable. He was willing to stand up to Mitchum, that was definitely a pro though he wasn't 100 percent sure of the outcome so that was a con but he seemed to think they could come to a reasonable agreement so hopefully it wouldn't be too big of a con. She paused before asking her next question. Normally it was a sure fire way to scare a guy off but she had to know and besides, it was obvious that if she went back to him it was for the long haul. She wasn't giving up on an engagement just to give this thing another try. Taking a deep breath she went on. "What about kids?"

He looked at her with narrow eyes, was she kidding? "Of course there will be kids. I have to have kids."

Wrong answer, but she'd give him another shot. "I don't want to know if you have to have kids. I want to know if you want to have kids."

"With you?" he asked with a raised brow, leaning forward in his chair. "Sure, let's go make some right now."

"Logan, be serious," she chastised.

"Sorry, couldn't help myself," he smirked but then obliging her he turned serious again. "But my question still stands...Do you mean with you?"

Rory was slightly taken aback. "Well, it doesn't...I mean maybe...well I..." she stuttered but then she remembered what Finn had said- family's most worth having when you have it with the right person. She had to answer him, it made a difference. "Yes, with me."

"Then yes," he answered without hesitation. "I want to have kids with you. I want to have a family with you if you'll only give me the chance."

She couldn't help the grin that took over her face. Another right answer. There was only one question left for her to ask, this one courtesy of Colin's little speech. "Are you in love with me?"

"You know I love you," he said matter-of-factly.

"Yes, I know you love me, but are you in love with me," she asked again.

Logan took a second to ponder this one. What did she mean in love? How was it different from him just loving her? "You mean can't sleep, can't eat, always have you on my mind, feel like a shell of the person I used to be because you're not with me- in love?" he asked.

Rory felt a lump forming in her throat that she tried to swallow. His words rang in her head-can't sleep, can't eat, always have you on my mind, feel like a shell of the person I used to be because you're not with me. She nodded her head. Colin was right. It didn't matter how much she loved Jess, she was in love with Logan. She didn't need to hear Logan say yes our no. Her answer was enough, but he answered anyway.

"Yes, I'm in love with you."

Rory stood up from her chair. "I have to go," she said.

"What?" he asked. He didn't understand? Had he said something wrong? How the hell could yes, I'm in love with you, be the wrong answer.

"I have to go," she said again, walking past his chair.

"Ace, wait," he begged, swiveling the chair around to where she now was. She stopped walking and turned back to look at him. She took a few steps back until she was standing directly in front of him. Bending down she gave him a quick peck on the lips before turning back again and racing towards the exit. He watched her as she retreated wondering, just like the previous night, what the hell had just happened. Why the hell did she keep doing this to him? What did it mean? This whole kiss and run thing was getting to be a little much. Sure this time it had only a little peck but a way that was worse because it could have so many meanings, it didn't have to be intimate.

Rory pushed the door to the stairwell open; she couldn't be bothered to wait for the elevator. There was something she had to do.