AN: Hey guys! I know it's been forever and I know I promised more frequent updates. Sorry! But I just watched some of the seasons on DVD and got inspired, so here you go. I'm hoping to finish this up while I'm on winter break. I won't make any promises, but I'll do my best. Reviews help! Thanks for your patience!

It had been three months, six days, seven blondes, three brunettes, and a red head since he last talked to Rory. There were days when it didn't hurt as bad, but there was always something around to remind him of her. It was like seeing you nose. You never realize you can always see your nose until someone points it out to you and then you can't stop looking at it. Except, it wasn't everyday that somebody reminded you of your nose. He was reminded of Rory Gilmore everyday.

"Morning, Logan," Colin greeted as he emerged from his bedroom, "Coffee?"

Logan winced slightly, but managed to keep the reaction hidden from his friend, "Sure."

He couldn't stop drinking coffee. That was unnatural as a college student. He needed the coffee to live. God, now he even thought like Rory.

"So that means we'll have to go to Stars Hollow this weekend."

"Excuse me?" Logan's head snapped up as he sat down and realized Colin had been attempting to carry on a conversation.

"You didn't catch any of that did you?"

"No," Logan shook his head, raising the coffee mug to his lips, "Sorry."

"You're getting worse than Finn!"

"Hey!" the Australian walked out and sat next to Logan, "I resent that."

"I was saying," Colin continued, "That we have to go to Stars Hollow this weekend, because we've backed out three weeks in a row."

"Four," Finn corrected, "Stephanie's party, remember?"

"Right," Colin carried his coffee over to the couch and flipped open the newspaper, "So, yeah. We won't be around."

Logan nodded slowly and grabbed a stray section of the newspaper, clenching his jaw in an effort to show no emotion. His friends had been bringing up Rory more frequently lately, letting her name slide off their tongues and then pausing to gage his reaction. He'd been working on remaining completely still, giving them not even the slightest eye flick to latch on to. He was tired of Colin and Finn tip-toeing around him. Rory was still one of their best friends, so obviously they were going to visit her, talk to her, and talk about her.

Although, he noticed they had been spending less time visiting Stars Hollow or even talking on the phone with Rory over the past few months. A part of him felt bad for the girl, but he quickly repressed those feelings. In a way, this was her doing. She pushed him away and he guessed, in the end, she ended up pushing her best friends away, too. Maybe that wasn't fair. However, as far as he was concerned, nothing about this situation was fair, especially not to him.

He tried desperately to put the whole situation behind him, but it was near impossible. He was still in love with her, he didn't know if he would ever stop. He wondered where their relationship would be right now had they stayed together. Would he have told her he loved her? Would she have said it back? Would she finally trust him the way he trusted her – whole heartedly and without looking back?

He slammed his coffee down on the counter, sending Finn and Colin's heads snapping in his direction. Refusing to meet their eyes, he simply turned the page of the paper and eventually they shifted their attention elsewhere. Logan knew the second he met their gaze they would launch a parade of questions and "Rory really misses you"s in his direction and he really wasn't ready to deal with that, especially not this early in the morning.

"Good morning, boys!"

"How did you get in here?" Logan asked, turning around to meet Stephanie.

"Colin gave me a key."

"Why?" he dead panned, "Now I'm going to wake up one night with you standing over me all perky and smiling and I'm going to have a legitimate heart attack. And die."

"Well, in that case, I'll be sure to get on that first thing."

"You're hilarious, Stephanie. Really."

"And entirely too bubbly for this early in the morning," Finn added, slipping off his seat next to Logan for a more comfortable location on the couch.

Stephanie readily bounded over to his vacated position and rested her hand on Logan's shoulder, "That's because my parents generously offered us our New York City pent house for this weekend. I thought we could leave Friday night."

"Well—" Colin stuttered, desperately looking at Finn and Logan for help.

"I'm in," Logan grinned.

He felt guilty for a moment for not aiding his friends, but then pushed the emotion aside. Why shouldn't he enjoy himself in New York City? Colin and Finn didn't have to come. But he knew they would.

"Well, Stephanie, you see—"

"This has something to do with her, doesn't it?" Stephanie rolled her eyes and rested her chin on her hand, feigning boredom; "She can live without you for one weekend."

"This will make five in a row," Colin pointed out, "I feel bad. We haven't been around in forever."

"Maybe she can fine tune those social skills of hers and actually make some friends. Wouldn't that be a shocker? Of course, she'd probably just alienate them anyway if they had classes too far apart."

"Knock it off," Colin warned, his voice taking on an edge, "I know you took Logan's side on all of this, but Rory is still our friend and we love her. We're not going to just leave her in the dust because she broke up with Logan, that's not fair."

"Oh" Stephanie stood up, her eyes shooting sparks, "But it was perfectly okay to instantly take her side when she claimed Logan cheated on her."

"That was a mistake," Finn jumped in, "A big one and we apologized for it, love."

"If you should have taken anyone's side, ever, it should have been Logan's for this! I know she has big blue eyes and kind of reminds you of a cute cartoon character, but she treated him like crap! And she doesn't even care!"

"That's not fair!" Colin yelled, "She does care. She cares a lot. It's tearing her apart."

"But he's perfectly okay?

"No. But she's a good person, Stephanie," Finn stated, rising from his eat.

"You two make me sick, do you know that? He did so much for her, what did she ever do for him?"

-----

He opened the door to insistent knocking. It was two in the afternoon, but he only woke up fifteen minutes ago. His dad dragged him off to another slew of meetings, which meant little sleep, a drop in self-esteem, and a wide range of insults ringing in his head. But when he opened his front door, he couldn't help but smile.

"Hey, Ace," he greeted, rubbing his eyes, "Not that I'm complaining, but what are you doing here?"

"You sounded tired when you called, so I brought you coffee," she explained, holding out a steaming cup, "And you sounded sad so I brought you this."

She reached out and placed her hands on his shoulders, pressing her lips to his in a long kiss. He grinned as they pulled apart and stepped aside to let her enter the house.

"I feel better already."

"I'm not even done yet," she said, "I also brought you my favorite movie of all time."

"Which is?" he questioned, wrapping his arm around her waist as they walked to his bedroom.

"Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," she grinned, leaning up to kiss him again, "You can't not be happy with little men singing to you."

He raised his eyebrows, "Is that a fact?"

"It sure is," she paused as they got to his doorway, growing serious, "How are you? Really?"

"Before you got here, pretty lousy," he admitted, grabbing her hand, "But seeing you has infinitely raised my spirits and I hear that these little singing men do wonders for the psyche."

"I just wanted to make you happy. You're always there for me. I wanted to do something for you," she told him and entered the room to sit on the bed.

"You make me happy. Thank you for this," he sat down next to her and pulled her into a kiss, "You are amazing."

"I missed you."

He smiled and pressed play on the DVD, lying down and pulled her onto his chest, "I missed you, too, Ace."

-----

"Enough!" Logan shot up out of his chair, interrupting the yelling that was still taking place around him and pointing a finger in Stephanie's direction, "Colin and Finn can stay friends with Rory as long as they want to. It's their decision, not yours. And although I appreciate you taking my side on all of this, I understand where they are coming from."

"Right," Stephanie breathed, turning back towards the counter, "Sorry."

"And you two," Logan shifted his attention to Colin and Finn, "I don't care if this is tearing her apart. If I have to hear another Rory pity story, I'm going to throw up. I want you to be able to talk about her, but don't you dare feel bad for her in my presence."

"Sorry, mate," Finn mumbled.

"And stop arguing with each other! I have too much going on in my mind than to deal with you three yelling. Now," he paused and took a long drink of coffee, "I'm going for a walk. Work it out."

He grabbed his coat and walked out the door, slamming it behind him. He leaned against the outside wall and took a deep breath, attempting to calm his nerves. The whole situation was morphing into less of a Rory and him issue and into more of a friendship issue. His three friends usually offered sarcastic and snide comments to each other involving the break-up between Rory and Logan, but there was never a blow-up like that. It was ridiculous.

Although he knew Stephanie meant well, he didn't appreciate her bringing up Rory in a way that made Colin and Finn defensive. Because when Colin and Finn got defensive about Rory, Logan wanted to punch a wall in. He couldn't stand listening about how bad she felt or about how she was insecure and that's why she broke up with him. In the end, she broke up with him. In the end, it hurt all the same.

He pushed off the wall and headed out into the campus. Hopefully when he came back, all three of his friends would still be alive. As selfish as it seemed, he hoped that Colin and Finn decided to travel New York with Stephanie and him instead of going to visit Rory. He realized how much she must miss them, but at the same time, he wanted to be able to enjoy himself this weekend. Finn's crazy antics and Colin's sarcasm would only add to the fun. Moreover, he would have absolutely no reason to think about Rory if all his friends were with him. Not that he needed any other reason other than the fact that Rory existed to think about her.

He tried not think about her, of course. A parade of women had walked in and out of the room apartment he shared with Colin and Finn ever since that first girl he picked up at The Pub. He was trying to find one that was good enough in bed to distract him from thinking about Rory, but it was starting to believe that was impossible.

The holidays had been miserable this year. The four friends didn't even go home, but simply set up Thanksgiving and Christmas meals in the apartment and then celebrated the New Year by getting so drunk that Logan couldn't remember a thing the next day. He was pretty sure there was a brunette involved, however. Of course, this holiday season was nothing compared to the last one – when he was with Rory. He could still remember kissing her as the ball dropped and how perfect she felt in his arms. He could still remember their first Christmas as a couple.

-----

"Hey, Ace."

"Logan, what are you doing here? It's midnight!"

Rory wrapped her winter coat around her and stepped outside, crossing her arms over her chest. Logan stepped forward and pulled her into his embrace.

"Not true" he corrected as he rubbed his hands on her upper arms to keep her warm, "It's 11:58 and 30 seconds."

She smiled slightly, "You know what I mean."

"I wanted to be here to wish you a Merry Christmas."

"You could do that tomorrow," she pointed out, "When you come over for dinner with everyone."

He grinned and shook his head, wrapping her arm around her shoulders and guiding her to the porch swing. A light snow was beginning to fall, covering the Gilmore-Hayden's yard in a blanket of white. Logan sat on the swing and Rory sat next to him.

"Yes, I could have done this tomorrow," he agreed, glancing at his watch, "But I wanted to be the first. Merry Christmas, Ace."

A slow grin took over Rory's face. He couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked, with her nose pink from the cold and her cheeks glowing from surprise.

"Merry Christmas, Logan."

He cupped her chin in his hands and connected their lips, still amazed at the spark that seemed to erupt between them. When they pulled apart, he reached into his pocket and produced a small box. He offered it to her slowly, smirking.

"This is just the first part, but I wanted to give you something tonight."

She grabbed the box from his hand, sending him a confused glance before slipping off the wrapping paper. When she pried open the lid, he eyes lit up at the sight of a gorgeous, pink gold necklace complete with a heart charm on the end.

"Logan, this is beautiful. It's amazing," she looked up at him again and smiled, leaning over to kiss him, "Thank you."

-----

They ended up going inside her house that Christmas. They curled up on the couch with hot chocolate. She couldn't stop tangling the necklace in her fingers and every time she smiled, he would lean over and give her a kiss. They fell asleep in each other's arms, her head resting gently on her shoulder, and woke up long before the rest of the household. He kissed her forehead as the sun crept through the windows and when Lorelai woke up, she lied to Christopher and said Logan arrived early that morning. He spent the day watching them open presents and went to Weston's for candy cane coffee with mother and daughter. He felt like he was a part of the family. He loved every second of it. He loved Rory Gilmore.

Had it really been over a year since that day? God, he missed her. How could he love someone and be so angry with someone at the same time? She made him as happy as he'd ever been and now he was as miserable as he'd ever been. It was vicious and cruel and he wanted to hate her. But he knew he couldn't love and hate someone at the same time.

-----

"What made you change your mind?" Logan asked, swinging his suitcase into Stephanie's penthouse.

"Rory was cool with it, mate," Finn admitted, "She said it was no big deal and she'd see us next weekend."

Colin entered behind them with his bag, closing the door as he entered, "Which was strange, because she's been so upset all the other times. I hope she's okay."

"Why are you worried about her because she's not upset?" Stephanie questioned, "That's strange, Colin."

"She's got a point, mate."

"Let's stop talking about Rory," Logan suggested sharply.

"Yeah," Stephanie grew quiet, "That sounds like a good idea."

They settled into an awkward silence, and Logan instantly regretted his tone. He was desperately trying not to let the Rory talk affect him, but sometimes it was just too much. Sometimes he didn't want to hear her name, because he was sure he would have a breakdown. He knew Colin and Finn were still connected to her, and that it was impossible for them to never discuss her, so he was trying to give them that freedom. But sometimes, he just couldn't take it.

"So, I found this great club," Stephanie chirped, breaking the silence, "My friend up here knows the bouncer, so we'll have no problem getting in. It's new and it's supposed to be a lot of fun."

"Sounds great, Steph," Logan smiled, "Thanks for having us up here. This is great."

She smiled, "No problem. It wouldn't have been nearly as much fun by myself. Plus, who's going to protect me from all the scary guys without you three?"

Colin rolled his eyes, "Like you need protecting. You practically spit venom."

"Okay, true," she laughed, "But it's still nice to have you all around."

They settled in to an easy conversation and Logan slowly began to relax. Maybe this trip wouldn't be stressful, maybe they could avoid talking about Rory and he could actually have a good time. He was sure he'd find a girl at the club tonight. Maybe she would finally be the one to get his mind of Rory for longer than one drunken evening. Even if that didn't happen, at least he could just spend a fun, long weekend with his best friends.

Colin's cell phone interrupted the conversation and he fished it from his pocket, his brow furrowing as he read the caller id.

"Who is it, mate?" Finn questioned, but Colin simply waved him off.

"Hello? I'm in New York City, that won't exactly be easy," he paused, listening,

"What? Are you okay? Is she okay? Oh my God. Why didn't she call us?" he stopped speaking again, rubbing his hand over his forehead.

"Yeah? Well, that's too bad, because we're coming there anyway. I'll take the limo back right now."

Colin closed his phone and remained silent, slowly raising his eyes to meet the concerned gazes of his friends.

"Who was that? Is everything okay?" Logan questioned, taking a step forward.

"That was Lorelai," Colin explained, "Her and Christopher are getting a divorce. They just told Rory."