Rory was sitting on a couch in her favourite library on campus, going over her notes from an earlier class. It had been six weeks since she broke up with Logan and the relief she thought she would feel still had not come. The emptiness, doubt and pain she felt upon breaking up with him, that wouldn't go away. Gone was the witty, talkative, full of life Rory, replaced by a listless facsimile whose only goal was to make it through the day without tearing up.

A couple of people in her eleven a.m. class were going out for lunch and had asked her if she wanted to join in. Rory politely declined, wanting to spend some time going over the notes for the same class, this was now the daily routine of Rory Gilmore. Even school work wasn't as fun for her as before. Now it only served as a distraction from her thoughts, not as a joyful exercise in learning.

Rory turned the page and began highlighting when she was approached by someone she had seen before, but couldn't place it.

"Rory?" The stranger asked, causing Rory to look up from her page.

"Uh, yup, that's me." Rory said, trying to determine where she knew him from and why he was now talking to her.

"Hi, I'm Tom; I'm in your Eastern Philosophy class with Professor Hithers,"

"Oh yes," Rory now remembered him, "sorry, I was just…"

"Heavily interested in highlighting today's date several times," Rory gave him a polite smile, "hey, no sweat, I do it all the time."

"Really?"

"Well no, not really, but I thought it would just make you seem less pathetic."

"Are you always this charming with the ladies Tom?" Rory asked now no longer feeling the need to be polite.

Tom realized his misstep, chuckled slightly, before continuing to speak, "So, I was just wondering if, maybe you would like to get something to eat sometime, like tomorrow night?"

"You mean like a date?" Rory asked, wondering if this was the same Tom present for the first part of their conversation.

"Well if you want to place a label on it, yeah, like a date." Tom gave Rory a smile, which she didn't return.

"Sorry to disappoint you Tom, but I have a boyfriend," Rory said without even realizing she didn't anymore.

"Really? How come I don't see him around?" Tom pressed on.

"Because he's in London for a year and we're doing the long distance thing." Rory's voice wavered as memories of her broken relationship with Logan resurfaced.

"Doesn't sound very stable."

"Thanks Dr. Phil, I'll be sure to discuss your prognosis of my relationship with my boyfriend tonight." Rory gathered her belongings in a hurry, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to our apartment, mine and my boyfriend's," Rory left in a huff, and quickly made her way outside, once out she stopped and leaned against the outside wall of the building. Her actions and words didn't sound like those of someone who made the right decision two weeks ago. They didn't sound like someone who wanted the freedom of being single, they didn't sound like someone who was happy and Rory was starting to finally clue into that fact.

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Logan sat alone in the bar at the hotel, where a conference was being held for media innovations in the 21st century. This was the first time he had been outside the paper and his apartment in six weeks, and if his Father hadn't demanded his presence that streak would have continued.

The past two weeks saw a further deterioration of the once happy and affable Logan. He became more intense, more work-driven, stayed longer at the office, and was more controlling with his employees. He was becoming Mitchum, and had little desire to prevent it.

Logan was nursing a glass of Scotch when the once empty bar stool to his left became occupied with a tall blonde woman, wearing just enough clothing to be allowed into the bar in the first place. Logan felt a new person in the room, but didn't bother looking away from his glass.

"What does a girl have to do to get a drink in here," the lady asked hoping to get the attention of both the bartender and Logan, she got one as the bartender came to her and took her order. Having already taken care of the bartender she turned her attention solely to Logan. "So, what is someone so attractive doing all by their lonesome at a hotel bar at this hour?"

Logan said nothing in response, and was tapped on the shoulder; he briefly turned his head to meet her gaze and quickly went back to his drink, "Trying to get some peace and quiet."

"Well, I'm not sure if I can help you with the peace and quiet, but I do have a way to keep your mind of things for a night." The woman told Logan's side, hoping that her seductive voice would cause Logan to focus on her.

"I'm fine where I am." Logan curtly responded.

"I'm sure we can find somewhere more accommodating, I have a suite on the tenth floor, we could go up, escape from the bar, take your mind off things…in a variety of ways." She continued trying.

"I don't think my girlfriend would appreciate that."

"Girlfriend? What kind of girlfriend leaves her boyfriend alone in a bar nursing a glass of scotch for twenty minutes?"

Logan got mad at how this woman talked about Rory, "The kind who is living in America and who trusts me well enough to know that I would never do anything to hurt her, and that includes fooling around with some 40 year old trying way too hard to look 20," Logan put down a few pounds to cover his tab and leave a generous tip, before making his way back up to his suite. Logan only realized how easy it was to still refer to Rory as his girlfriend once the door clicked shut behind him in his room. He then thought about how easily it was to defend her, and how much he hated to hear anyone speak of her like that, Logan wasn't sure that was ever going to go away, he wasn't sure that his feelings for Rory ever would. Tonight only solidified that, a few years ago, that woman would have at least rated a second glance from a lonely Logan, but not tonight.

Logan sat on the bed and took off his shoes, thinking about the night he had. If he ever needed a reminder, this was it, he wasn't over Rory. It had been six weeks and still he thought about her, wondered what could have been his life with her.

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Logan had phoned Honor and told him about the breakup and she was very sympathetic towards him, knowing how much Rory meant to her brother. She was upset at Rory because of how she tossed her brother aside, but she picked up on how Logan still cared for her and didn't want to upset him by talking badly about her. Honor was put in a tough position, she sensed that Logan wanted to fight for Rory, but wasn't sure if she wanted her brother to be the one in the relationship always working hard. Eventually, she was able to tell Logan that there should come a point where Rory wants to fight for their relationship as well, it can't always be him, and that maybe this is fate's way of saying that it wasn't meant to be. She tried to tell Logan that at some point he had to try and get over her, but could tell Logan wasn't at that stage yet. The call ended with Honor telling Logan to call if he needed anything, wondering if her brother would ever be the same again.

Logan broke free of the memory of that phone call when a siren wailed in the distance. He heard Honor and understood what she was saying, at some point he had to get over Rory, but the wounds were still too fresh and the feelings still too real and present to get over them in an instant. He thought that it should be a step by step process and decided that the first step should be made tonight. Logan got up off the bed and stood over the small waste bin his room provided. He took his wallet from his back pocket and took out the picture of him and Rory that had been prominently featured in one of the plastic sleeves. He looked at felt a rush of happy emotions remembering them together, but those emotions were quickly replaced with hurt, anger, sadness. Logan was about to throw the picture away after being filled with such negativity, but something stopped him. Be it hope, sentimentality, or just it being too soon, he didn't use the waste bin. Instead he took the picture, turned it around, and put it back where it once was, turned off the light by his bed and plopped down on it hoping for sleep to take over him soon. 'Baby steps' Logan thought as he drifted into slumber.