CHAPTER 4

They all sat in the newly renovated living room, making themselves comfortable.

Rory let her eyes drink in the two people across from her for a minute. Luke was wearing what she had always thought of as his uniform; flannel, jeans and a baseball cap. It was a heartwarming thing to see. It made her feel like normal.

Her mother was wearing jeans too, but hers fit a little tighter than Luke's. The jeans were topped off with a t-shirt that had a vintage Coca Cola logo emblazoned on it. Her hair was down around her shoulder in a curly tumble that made Rory smile. Her mother could look like a boardroom killer when she wanted to, but Rory liked it when her mother looked like this.

Her own hair was straight as a pin, something she had gotten from her father. Rory had let it fall back behind her ears so that it just touched her shoulders. She was wearing a fitted tweed jacket over a white blouse. It was a nice complement to the charcoal pants that she wore below.

"So, anything new happen lately?" Luke asked Rory in a nonchalant tone when the silence stretched out. He couldn't know that this was the girls' way of taking each other in after such a long time apart.

Rory took a deep breath and dropped a bombshell. "Logan asked me to marry him"

There was complete silence after that; for about two seconds.

"What?" Luke burst out, jumping from his seat and staring down incredulously at Rory. Lorelai just looked at her silently, waiting for her to continue. Rory knew that her calmness only masked how upset she was.

"He asked me last night" Rory answered. "I told him that I needed time" she lied when she saw Luke open his mouth.

"How much time?" Lorelai asked quietly.

Rory glanced at her nervously, having not expected the calm to last this long. That usually meant that her mother was furious. "Uh…we didn't specify" Rory answered hesitantly.

This was a mistake. She just came home and she was already lying to her mother. She had wanted to ask her mom for advice in getting out of this, not deny that there was something to get out of.

"I'm lying" Rory said bluntly, looking down at her feet. "I said yes to Logan" she ended on a whisper.

That's when all hell broke loose.

Logan had decided to stay over night at his parents so that he could be closer to Rory when she got back to her grandmother's house. He wanted to talk to her quickly so he could fix whatever damage her mother had made.

If Shria was right about this, then he had to get to her fast.

It was close to dinner time and he was planning to eat with his family so he had to change. His mother always insisted that he leave some suitable clothes at the house, so he was all set to stay.

All he had to do now was make it through a meal with his father; which was easier said then done.

As he made his way down stairs after changing he thought of what his mother had told him. She had agreed with his idea to tell Rory that they could have a long engagement. Logan would tell Rory that their engagement would only make their relationship more official and permanent, and it wouldn't stop them from living their lives.

Logan hadn't wanted Rory to feel that way. He just wanted to make sure that he wouldn't lose her. In the past month Rory had been less approving of how he had been acting and Logan had feared that she was going to break it off. He knew that she still would if he didn't change some things. And he was willing to do that.

No more binge drinking, no more blowing off school, no more complaining about his father's plans for him. No more anything.

Logan frowned at the thought. If marrying Rory was going to stop him from having fun, then why was he in such a rush. They could actually wait, instead of the pretending that his mother had proposed. He wouldn't have to trap Rory.

He had decided to do just that right as he entered the dinning room. His parents were already there and his father looked up at him with a frown.

"Logan. Just the man I wanted to see" Mitchum said sternly. "What's this your mother tells me about you marrying Rory?"

Logan sighed and looked at his mother with exasperation. He had told her not to say anything. But Shria never kept anything from her husband; she didn't have the guts to. "I asked her, but she hasn't really said yes yet" Logan answered as he sat down across from his father.

Mitchum's frown deepened. "What do you mean she didn't really say yes?"

"Well, she did when I asked, but the next day she panicked and went to her mother's" Logan answered honestly, knowing that his father could smell bullshit from a mile away. It had made childhood…interesting. "I plan to tell her that it would be a long engagement" he continued quickly.

"Long engagements are for people who don't know what they're doing" Mitchum said with a dismissive wave of his hand. Logan's eyebrow rose. Apparently his mother hadn't told his father her plan. "If you want to marry her, then you'll do it. None of this…waiting crap. It's too late for that now that you asked." Mitchum continued.

"You mean…you're okay with it?" Logan asked with shock evident in his voice.

Mitchum laughed ruefully. "I'm sure that it disappoints you to hear it, but yes, I am pleased to hear the news" he answered. "Rory is a very capable girl who will be able to handle your household wonderfully" he finished with a smile.

"My household?" Logan said with a nervous laugh. He didn't like where this was headed.

"Yes of course. With a wife to support you would need to start establishing yourself in the world; getting a job being the key part of it" Mitchum answered. He noticed Logan's appalled look and chuckled. "You don't have to work in the newspaper business; just as long as you work. A married man doesn't need his father telling him what to do with his life" Mitchum finished.

Logan was speechless. His father had spent his whole life telling him he would be taking over the family business, and now…he didn't have to? What the hell else was he going to do if not run a paper? It was all he was trained for after all.

Logan suddenly realized that although he had always fought against it, the only thing he wanted to do was work for his dad. He was good at it and it was fun. The only thing that had gotten to him before was the lack of respect his father had shown him. It had always felt like he was a little boy visiting his father's office when he had gone there. It hadn't mattered that he was there to work or not. That was what Logan had been trying to get away from, not the work.

"Holy shit" Logan said. His mother sent him a disapproving look and his father laughed. Logan looked at Mitchum in shock. "I want to work for you"

"Don't sound so surprised son" Mitchum said on a chuckle. "I always knew you were made for the job, I just had to wait for you to know"

"I needed to wait for your respect" Logan retorted at his father's flippant tone. He had just realized how tired he was of being treated like a child, and he wasn't going back.

Mitchum looked at his son appraisingly for a second then nodded. "All right then, you've got it" he said seriously, extending his hand over the table to shake on it. Logan did the same.

"Don't disappoint me Logan" Mitchum said as he took his hand back. Logan knew that he spoke of Rory and their engagement. If he wanted respect he would have to follow through on what he started. Either he had to marry her, or break up with her. Because long engagements are for people who don't know what they're doing.

Luke was still pacing the hallway, muttering under his breath. All Rory could make out was Logan's name and the occasional swear word. It wasn't a good sign.

"So you're going to tell him tomorrow?" Lorelai rechecked, looking at Rory seriously.

Rory took a deep breath and nodded.

They had talked about it for an hour and had decided (other then that Luke didn't like Logan) that Rory would have to break off the engagement. Lorelai had gotten right down to the matter and had asked Rory what she wanted to do. Rory had given her answer and they had made a plan.

The actual plan making had only taken 15 to 20 minutes. It was calming down Luke that took long. He had exploded when had heard what she had done; going on about how she was wasting her life and how the Huntzbergers were poison. It had been the first time she had ever seen him mad at her and it was upsetting. She had always seen him as a father figure and knowing that he was disappointed was painful.

So she was going to fix it.

She was going to see him tomorrow and call off the engagement. He would be upset, but he would understand that it was too soon for him to ask. He had seemed to know that her mind wasn't all the way made up, so it shouldn't be too surprising. She hoped so anyway.