Disclaimer-Own nothing except for a few minor characters that may make a appearance.

Ch.3

Together they walked in a close comfortable silence through Stars Hollow toward Luke's to meet Lorelai for lunch. Logan and Rory greeted everyone they saw- Rory had known most of the town her whole life. As they neared the diner Logan suddenly pulled Rory to an abrupt stop in front of a shop window. Rory shot him a questioning look and he only smirked in response.

"Logan, why are we stopping? Luke's is only two blocks away." She tried to walk past him but he stood in front of her, effectively blocking her path. The townspeople around them glanced at the couple as they walked around the pair to continue on their way.

He paid no attention to Rory's attempts to get to the diner, but kept focused on his own mission. "Know where we are, Ace?" He motioned to the two black skid marks on the sidewalk at their feet. She rolled her eyes, not even bothering to look at the marks. She knew what he was getting at.

"Of course I remember, Logan. I've been walking on these streets since I was very young." She answered smartly and again tried to brush past him. Logan shook his head in amusement, but held her hand firmly so she couldn't get away.

"This is where we met, when we bumped into each other on our fell off of yours and hit your face on the ground, and a few days later a cute little scab appeared on your nose- which, of course, gave me the ingenious idea to dub you Miss Scab Nose." He smiled, hoping she would return it. He knew she could use one.

Rory finally glanced down at the skid marks, then back up at Logan. "First off, Mister, we met at school in the second grade; and here is where we met for the second time…" she said, pointing to the sidewalk, "…when you ran into me with your bike and knocked me to the ground. Because of you, I fell and scraped my face on the sidewalk. And you- being like you are- saw your handy work on my nose in the form of dried blood and dirt, and began to call me 'Miss Scabby'." Rory folded her arms and huffed. "What were you even doing in Stars Hollow that day anyway?"

He gazed at his girlfriend, thoroughly amused at her memory of their first- or rather second- meeting. "Finn had mentioned to Colin and me that some girl told him about a place that had really good food here; so we decided to check it out."

She rolled her eyes at his story; Logan just smirked. "That girl was me, thank you very much."

"Well then, thanks for introducing us to what we've come to know and love as Luke's." He smiled as she let out the laugh that he had been so desperately aiming to hear. He gave her a kiss on the nose as Rory smiled at him lovingly.

"Thanks Logan. I needed that." She smiled and hugged him, and he held her tight in return. When they broke apart Rory ran a hand through his blonde hair and kissed him softly on his lips.

"Anything for you, my little Scab Nose." He laughed as she gave him a small punch in the shoulder.

"…And since we're on the subject, do you have any idea how long it took for me to get the class to stop calling me Scab Nose?" She didn't give him a chance to respond. "Well, I'll have you know, it lasted through middle school! It took six years for me to convince everyone to call me Rory in lieu of Scab Nose, and now here you go, years later, bringing it up again!" She pouted.

Logan laughed and grabbed a hold of her hand to lace his fingers with hers as they began to walk again. He placed a sweet kiss on the back of her hand. "Aw my poor little Scab Nose." Logan teased as they neared their destination.

They both smirked as they saw a haughty Taylor and an angry Luke fighting over whether or not Taylor could sell his ice cream in front of his Soda Shoppe. "Some things never change." Rory mumbled with amusement. Logan chuckled at her comment.

The couple walked into the diner only to see Lorelai with a coffee cup already in hand. She was staring out the window, intently watching the little show that took place outside between Luke and Taylor. When the door opened to reveal her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend, Lorelai smiled and ushered them over to her table. "Well hello my darling daughter and her boyfriend. Take a seat and let Mommy get you two some coffee." She got up from her chair to go behind the counter just as Luke walked back into the diner.

"Lorelai, what are you doing behind my counter?" He asked through gritted teeth. He was already annoyed at his girlfriend; she knew the rules.

"Just getting my baby and her boyfriend some coffee." Lorelai gave him her most innocent look, in hopes it would convince Luke not to be mad.

"You should have waited for me to get it for them."

She started to whine. "But you were outside; and my baby girl just came in from the cold. She would have gotten hypothermia if I didn't get her coffee the second she walked through the door."

Luke could only roll his eyes at her logic. "Why do I put up with you?" He gave a grunt; but still, he took the two coffee mugs and filled them to the top for Rory and Logan.

"Because you love me." Lorelai smiled as she grabbed the two full mugs and carried them to Rory and Logan. Luke rolled his eyes and grabbed his notepad from the counter.

"Still can't get Luke to allow you to go behind the counter?" Rory asked as Logan grabbed her hand under the table and rested both of their hands on his lap.

Lorelai got situated in her chair and scoffed in mock annoyance. "No! I mean I'm sleeping with the guy, so shouldn't that give me 'go behind the counter' rights?" Logan and Rory cringed when she mentioned sleeping with Luke- gross!

"Yes. You should get certain rights because of your…relationship with Luke." Rory whole heartedly agreed as she glanced at the full cup of coffee that sat before her, taunting her to take a sip. Her mouth watered at the thought. She needed to distract herself from thinking about coffee. "So Mom, how was your date with Luke last night?" Rory cringed. She should of not have asked that after the details Lorelai just gave her minutes before.

"It was good. I tried to get him to watch Shrek with me but he claimed it was a boring kid's movie."

Rory gasped. "He did not say that!" She was indignant at Luke's insinuation.

"Oh yes he did." Lorelai noted as Luke came over to their table, flipped open his notepad, and grabbed the pencil from his shirt pocket.

"What can I get you guys?"

Lorelai took the liberty of ordering for the three of them. "Burgers and fries all around and refill our coffee cu-" Lorelai stopped herself. "Rory are you feeling alright? You haven't touched your coffee. Logan even finished his coffee before you!"

"Well, I'm just not in the mood for coffee… I was going to ask Luke for some tea instead."

"Tea? You, my Gilmore Girl-Coffee Addicted-daughter, want tea?" Lorelai was shocked to say the least. "Logan what on earth did you do to my innocent daughter?"

"I-uh-" Logan stuttered, but Luke thankfully cut in and saved him from having to come up with a response. Lorelai was intimidating, especially when it came to all things coffee.

"Maybe from all the death warnings that I've given her over the years on her eating habits have finally gotten through to the smart girl. She finally decided to go healthy." Luke smiled giving Rory a pat on the back.

"No, that's not it. I just thought I could use a break from coffee that's all." She smiled as Lorelai continued to stare at her daughter in wonder.

Luke nodded and wrote down their orders and then left the table. Once Luke was a safe distance away Lorelai turned to her daughter. "Okay, what's wrong?"

Rory stole a glance at Logan and squeezed his hand tighter under the table before she met her mother's blue eyes with her own. "Nothing. I'm just not up for coffee today." Rory snapped at her mother as if saying, 'Get off my back!' She ran her free hand through her hair in frustration. Logan noticed her nervousness and wrapped his arm around the back of her chair in hopes that his gesture would provide her some comfort. He knew it had to be killing her not to share their big news with her mom.

"No need to get snippy Rory; it was just a question."

"Mom! I'm not getting snippy! You're just making such a huge deal about me not wanting coffee right now."

"I'm sorry, Hun. It's just that you love coffee and it's weird to me that you aren't drinking it. I've never known you to refuse coffee."

Rory sighed. "Can we just drop this?"

"I guess." Lorelai agreed.

Logan took that as his cue to try to ease some of the tension. He steered the conversation away from Rory's coffee drinking habits-or rather lack thereof- and onto something more pleasant for Lorelai. "So Lorelai, how're things at the inn coming along?" Rory shot him a grateful smile and he gave her a gentle squeeze on her thigh in return.

Lorelai lit up at the mention of her project! "We're making really good progress. We should finally be able to open it in May." She glanced toward her daughter again, who was looking out the window.

"Hey Hun? Are you sure you're okay? You look a little pale." She started to get concerned that something was seriously wrong with Rory.

"Mom! Really, I'm fine. I was a little sick last night but I'm fine now." She looked up as Luke brought their food to the table.

"Is that why Logan came back from New York early? Because you were sick?"

Rory nodded and Logan replaced his arm around the back of Rory's chair.

"Yeah when he called last night to check in I mentioned that I felt a little sick and he insisted that he come over." Rory lied. But she really had felt sick- just not the way she implied to Lorelai.

Lorelai didn't exactly know how to react to this news. She sort of felt hurt. "Oh well…I could of taken care of you, Sweets."

"I know but you were with Luke; and Logan wanted to come over anyway, so I thought it would be best to do it the way we did it." Rory smiled as she fidgeted with her hand under the table.

"Oh…okay…" Still put off that her daughter turned to Logan in her time of need instead of her own mother.

The dynamic was definitely shifting for the mother-daughter duo. There was an awkward silence until Logan's cell rang from his inside jacket pocket. Logan motioned for Rory to come with him when he noticed Finn's name on the display.

He flipped his phone open. "Hello?" Logan walked out the diner door, making sure to hold it for Rory. Rory followed Logan outside, not noticing Lorelai roll her eyes in annoyance at the couple.

Lorelai was quickly becoming frustrated with the noticeable change in her daughter's attitude. She noticed that Rory's demeanor had been less than stellar since she'd begun dating Logan in the year before.

Lorelai didn't outright blame Logan for the difference in Rory, but something was definitely diffrent with her daughter. It wasn't that she hated Logan either, but the closer she saw Rory get to him, the more Lorelai felt like her daughter didn't need her anymore, like Rory didn't even want to be around her mom anymore. That was hard for Lorelai to swallow, however, it sort of fit in with everything else that was going on. Trust was seriously lacking between the Gilmore Girls- which had never been an issue for them before. Lorelai wanted to trust her daughter. There was a certain gnawing feeling that wouldn't go away. Like, while Lorelai got along well with all of Rory's friends, she couldn't help but feel that Rory had begun hiding things from her since she'd gotten together with Logan. Lorelai wondered if her daughter was still the same girl she raised her to be.

Lorelai remembered that one night Rory came home smelling of alcohol; she claimed Finn spilled his drink on her, but Lorelai just didn't buy it- alcohol was too precious to Finn to spill. Rory had been drunk. And another day, when Lorelai was looking in Rory's closet for a top Rory had borrowed, Lorelai came across four designer ball gowns along with a tiara- all of which Lorelai was sure cost a bundle. But the kicker came in early September. Lorelai had found Rory's luggage with tags that showed she's traveled to Europe that summer. She never asked Rory about any of this for she wanted Rory feel like her mother trusted her. However, it was becoming hard to keep up the pretense of trust and a solid relationship when Lorelai discovered different ways that her daughter had misused that trust; thus their seemingly fool-proof, closer-than-close relationship had become quite strained. In fact, Lorelai often wondered if Rory actually lived a separate life with Logan and their friends. All of these things were such a point of contention for Lorelai. She didn't want the relationship with her daughter and best friend to deteriorate anymore than it already had, but how could she trust her daughter to make good choices when she'd seen evidence time and time again that proved otherwise?.

………………………………...........................................................................................

"Mate! We're free!" Finn squealed into his phone with great delight.

"What do you mean? 'We're free'?" Logan switched to speaker phone so Rory could hear too. He wrapped an arm around her to shield her from the wind- after all; it was his duty to protect the mother of his child.

"The girls, Colin, and I! We came back early this morning and have successfully set up camp at the pub. Now, the only people missing are you and Rory!"

"How do you know I'm with Rory?" Logan asked as he led Rory to a near by bench where they sat down.

"Honor." He said this like it was a matter of fact. "She told me you left early to go see Rory."

"Yeah. We just got finished eating at Luke's." Logan explained.

"Does that mean you two are free to come out then?" Logan looked at Rory to see what she wanted to do before answering Finn. She nodded her head and Logan shrugged, seeming to accept her decision.

"Yeah, sure. We'll see you in thirty minutes."

"Good then. Later, Mate." Finn replied and disconnected the call.

Logan turned to Rory as he placed his phone back in his pocket. "Are you sure you want to go to the pub right now?"

"Yeah. I want to see everybody." Rory smiled as she took his hand. Logan waited before responding. He knew there was more…and there was. "I just can't handle being here with my mom when I'm hiding something this big from her. I'm snapping at her for no reason! I never snap at her!" Rory took a deep breath. "I just wish she wasn't so worried about me all the time. I can't handle the pressure anymore. This past year has been so good between you and I, and I hate that she doesn't completely support our relationship.

"Then why don't you stay here? It would probably make your mom happier than if you went out to the pub with me." Logan thought his suggestion would make Lorelai feel a little more at ease, which in turn would make Rory feel better.

"But I haven't seen you for almost two weeks; I missed you, and want to spend time with you and everyone else too." Rory smiled. "I live with Mom and see her everyday. It's getting to be too hard to look at her and know that I'm constantly lying to her."

"You have your reasons, Rory; and this secret that we have right now will be exposed in a few weeks- or whenever we feel like telling her."

"You'll be there to tell her with me, right?" She looked up at him with pleading eyes.

He wrapped his arms around her and spoke so closely that she could feel his breath on her lips. "Of course I'll be there. This is my child too, and I want to share in the joy of telling our news to those we care about the most. I will be with you when we tell anyone and everyone. There's no other place I'd rather be." He smiled as tears formed in Rory's eyes. With the tip of his finger Logan wiped away her tears, kissing each of her cheeks. Rory let out a blush and smiled at him.

"Logan? Do you think I should tell her about everything else at the same time we tell her about our baby?" Rory's hand automatically went to her stomach. She didn't notice this, but Logan did. "Should we get it all out quickly, like tearing off a band aid?"

Logan noted the earnestness in her eyes as she asked him such a difficult question. He covered her hand with his for a moment then took her hand in his again so no one would see her holding her belly. He squeezed her hand and looked directly into her eyes. "It's up to you Rory. I know how much you love your mom and how much it kills you to have secrets from her. I wonder if maybe it wouldn't be best to get everything off your chest in one fell swoop." He raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders.

"I think I agree. I just know she's going to hate everything I have to say. She won't approve of the fact that I've been to society parties- and that I actually had fun at some of them. I mean, you know how she feels about that world. Remember how she reacted when she found out that Francine was going to throw a party for baby Gigi and how Dad wanted me to come and spend the weekend with him? She hated that I spent even a few days with society- even when she didn't have to be there to endure it herself!

And you know that Mom will never accept that at that party, me- her perfect baby girl got very drunk. I spilled my last drink all over myself and I know she smelled the alcohol on me when I got home. The next day, I was so hung over that I woke up late and had to drive to school, but before I could get to Chilton, I, of course, got hit by a deer! Yeah, that was great. I could barely pay attention to the road thanks to the pounding in my head, so being rammed by a wild animal was the last thing on my mind! As if that wasn't enough, I failed two tests that day too! She doesn't want to hear about that stuff! She has this idea of me, and I don't know what she will do when she finds out that there's this side of me I'm afraid to show her; I don't want her to be any more hurt than she already will be. I mean, I know getting wasted is not something to be proud of. That the day the deer hit me I realized that I don't ever want to be drunk again! I feel so stupid about it, and I regret it all –except the really fun parties and the time I got to spend with my Dad." She smiled at the memory of her much needed weekend away with Chris and Sherry. Sherry had still been pregnant at the time. "And then, I guess I'll have to break the news to her about our wonderful escape to Europe." Rory had a deep sadness in her eyes, Logan could see it. "Knowing that I already went to Europe even though it was for a good reason- that could be what hurts my mom the most about all of this. You know we were supposed to go to Europe together a few weeks after graduation." Logan nodded. "Now, that's going to be impossible." By late spring, Rory would either be very pregnant and ready to pop, or Logan and Rory would have a newborn to care for- traveling would be out of the question.

"It will be okay Rory; I promise you that,"

"Are you sure Logan? …Because I'm really not." She felt the tears in her eyes fall down her cheeks.

Logan lifted her chin with his fingers so she met his eyes. "Yes, I'm sure- and you know why?" Rory nodded her head, but Logan verbalized it anyway. "…Because your mom loves you. She loves you so much that she took you away from a world that she didn't think would shape you into the amazing person you are. She got a job to support you; she made sure you had everything you needed, and has always put you first. She went back to college for you so she could be something better for you, and now she's opening her own inn. You two have such an amazing relationship- one that other people we know would kill to have with their parents. Your mom even welcomed your friends and still treats us as her own- even though it kills her to know that you may choose the world that she ran from all those years ago, instead of the one she created for you here. But you know she supports you in which ever road you choose. That's the important thing.

Remember, how your whole life you and your mom had planned for you to go to Harvard?" Rory nodded. "…but then, after doing your research, you started to think Yale might be the better choice for you?" She nodded again. "Lorelai was the one who convinced you that it was ok to change your dream if it was really best for you. She was the one that finally convinced you that Yale was it for you. Don't you see Rory? Lorelai will stay by your side no matter how unexpected the truth is, no matter how much the truth hurts- she will love you and she will support us. I know it; her track record proves it." Logan pulled her into a hug as Rory wiped the tears off her face and pulled her arms tighter around him.

"I love you so much Logan. If you weren't here with me right now, I would probably still be in my bedroom crying."

"I love you too, Rory." He smiled and rubbed Rory's back before they finally pulled apart.

Rory was the first to speak. "Now, let's go see our friends." She smiled.

"So you're coming with me?"

"Yup."

"You got it, Ace."

"Okay, I'll run in and tell Mom that we're leaving." Rory smiled and kissed Logan on the lips before she scampered up the steps to the diner leaving Logan on the sidewalk to wait for her. He could see Lorelai's face through the window and he could tell by her expression that she was hurt and not at all happy to hear that they were taking off so quickly.

Logan sighed. Lorelai would never understand this. The lifestyle of Society was different from the Stars Hollow life. He know Lorelai knew this intellectually, but her behavior and expressions showed him that she would still wonder why the life she made for Rory in their small town wasn't enough. He knew though, that the small town life was great for Rory while she was growing up; but that Rory had outgrown the town. She was a big girl with big dreams. Stars Hollow wouldn't cut it for Rory Gilmore. His problem was that he couldn't find a way for Rory to tell Lorelai without hurting her feelings. He hated that.

Logan's mind was jerked back to reality when he heard the door to Luke's open and saw Rory coming down the stairs. He pasted a smile on his face and took her hand in his.

He couldn't help but be glad that Rory hadn't chosen to retreat into her small town and give up the Society world where she so obviously thrived; but at the same time, he hated that the rift between his girlfriend and her mother was ever widening- he was sure Lorelai put at least some of the blame, if not more, on him.

AN: Sorry for the wait I took a while to get this chapter right. Thanks again to my beta for helping me. Would you like me to add more drama to the story with many twists and turns, not necessary for Rory and Logan but other characters? It would be something different? Let me know J