Hey All,

It's back! I LOVE reading reviews so don't be bashful and hit the 'send review' button at the bottom! Hope you all enjoy this new chapter - I'm pretty stoked about it! A MAJOR thanks to all that have reviews, added me to your fav's, story alerts or checked out New York Night (if you hadn't already done so). Awesome and I love ya for it :)

Love,
Gilmoregirl19

ps: i'm not sure about the rating - let me know if you think it needs to be higher!

Disclaimer: Nothing, but this idea, is mine

Risky Business

"Logan," Rory panted, as he continued placing kissing up and down her neck, "Stop…we… not now,"

She really could not think straight, and his kissing did not help much. She could not wait for them to sleep together - in love - again, but for that to happen she needed to be certain he would 'stay the night', and not sneak off to his own bed. Besides, even though tonight had been wonderful, they were not ready for that big of a step. She was determined to make this work, and she did not want to sleep with him until it was fixed!

By now, Rory was lying on the couch, with Logan flush against her, his kissing moving southward.

"Not…now," she managed in short, heated breaths.

Her words took a while to register in his brain, but finally, breathing heavily he broke it off. He sat up, and ran a hand through his hair, before looking a Rory, who was now sitting next to him.

"Sorry…" he said, not really sure, what else he could say. He understood that this was on her terms, and he had best play by her rules.

"Don't be," she sighed, and placed a hand on his knee and continued sincerely, "I want this, but I don't want to rush it…"

He nodded and looked at her. Her cheeks pink, her bottom lip, cherry lipgloss stained and slightly bruised, black eyeliner smeared and her hair had fallen out of her perfectly coifed bun. The top buttons of her signature white blouse opened, per his doing, of course. She couldn't have looked more perfect he thought.

'I know, Rory,' he nodded softly and placed his hand over hers.

The couple sat there in silence for a while until a loud rumbling from Rory's stomach sliced through the room. 'I'm hungry!' she exclaimed, getting up from the couch and walking over to kitchen.

"Chinese, pizza, Mexican, Thai, Japanese, steak, curbside?" she asked, returning with a pile of take-out menus.

"Tough choice," he stated with a tone of mock-seriousness.

"I know," she smiled, matching his tone. "I say the choice is between pizza, Chinese and Mexican,"

"I would agree,"

"Perhaps even between Mexican and pizza – since I had Chinese the other day," Rory rambled, "Mexican or pizza…" she asked holding up the menu's.

"Burrito or Pie," Logan mused.

"Taco or Deep dish" Rory asked back.

"Enchilada or Thin crust" he countered

"Taquito or Calzone," she quipped back.

"Yeah, I'm out of food references," Logan laughed, along with Rory.

Finally, they decided on an order of nachos, a large cheese pizza and breadsticks. She tossed him the phone. "You'll order?"And pressed a light kiss on his forehead and walked off.

"I figured we'd watch a movie," Logan said, as he heard her re-enter the room, "food should take about twenty minutes, so I got you some snacks…" He looked up from the DVD shelf, and saw Rory.

She was wearing her navy blue pajama shorts and an oversized Yale t-shirt. She had installed herself on the couch, with a bowl of popcorn, digging in with the tiniest grin on her face. Immediately, he felt attracted to her. He had forgotten how much he loved her super casual, not a part of society persona. She was the girl who ate popcorn on her designer furniture. It had been a while since he had seen that side of her.

"This is awesome popcorn," she exclaimed and continued to eat. She felt him watching her, making her feel slightly self-conscious. She always wore her Yale t-shirt as pajamas; she always hogged the bowl of popcorn, just as she hogged the remote. This was her - he knew her - so why was he staring?

"What's up?" she asked, breaking his trance.

"Just, uh, you look hot," he confessed like a love struck teenager causing her to burst out laughing.

"You too," she said through her chuckles. Which, admittedly he did in his simple grey sweats and white tee. His hair was ruffled, he had serious five o'clock shadow and bags under his eyes, but what did you expect from a guy who woke up with a hangover and flew halfway around the world? Besides, he looked happy, at home, content with eating greasy take-out and watching a movie and that was something she had not seen in a while.

"Sure, laugh it up," he said feigning hurt.

"I'm sorry," she said mocking sincerity.

"So, action or comedy?" he said, holding up two DVD cases, similar to the way she held up the menus before.

"No, no," she yelled, "not this again! Just throw in, uh... Bad Boys!"

"Bad Boys?" Logan asked in amazement, "I thought Willy Wonka was your default?"

"It is," she admitted, "but I know you hate it…"

"We can watch it, if you want"

"Don't be stupid, I've seen it, uh, before," Rory said quickly, "Besides, Grandma has this thing for Will Smith, so I'm watching Will Smith movies to figure out why…."

"Emily has the hots for Will Smith?" Logan let out a low whistle, "Poor Richard,"

"Poor Will!" Rory laughed as they settled in for an evening of movies, take-out and popcorn.

The last weekend of summer the gang found themselves back in Rory's backyard, but instead of snacking on hotdogs and swimming in the pool, the girls were wearing 5000 sundresses and Jimmy Choo's, and the boys were dressed in white linen suits and overpriced Italian sandals.

Emily and Shira had taken it upon themselves to throw the teens a 'going back to school party', though it was just another way of labeling a cocktail party, charity event or some other ridiculous society function.

"Remind me again how Grandma tricked us in to being here,' Rory whispered in Logan's ear.

"Catered by your favorite Café 1548 and new I-pods," he whispered back honestly, causing her to smile. His hot breath set a tiny, almost unnoticeable shiver up her spine. She noticed it though, and that was enough.

She had been noticing a lot more about Logan this summer, like how hot he looked in his Armani swim trunks, and how sexy he smiled, or that adorable twinkle in his eye. That and the fact that he always bought her ice coffee and never complained when she dragged him into her favorite bookstore.

They had been hanging out a lot this summer. Of course, they always hung out since they spent all their time together since kindergarten, but normally Finn, Lane, Stephanie and Colin were there. However, Lane and Finn spent a great deal of time alone this summer, doing god knows what, and with Stephanie and Colin's constant bickering it was easier, and more fun to spend their days together. Besides, why would they want to make new friends? That would only complicate their lives more; on the other hand, hanging out with your best guy friend all summer long was unexpectedly complicated, too.

Still, Rory wouldn't classify her relationship with Logan as more than 'just friends', though it was on her mind a lot lately. Did she really want to go there, and jeopardize her friendship with the single person that knew her the best?

"I betcha anything that Emily stole this from the 'white party,' Stephanie whispered as she snuck up behind her two friends, cocktail in hand, "you know, the one they have at the Hamptons,"

"Oh yeah, I've heard about those…" Rory answered her friend, grabbed Stephanie's s drink and took a long, refreshing sip.

"Get your own, girl", Stephanie giggled, slightly tipsy, "Have you tried the salmon puffs – YUCK!"

Rory was scanning the room for a waiter carrying a tray of tasty libations, since large amounts of alcohol was really the only way to get through an Gilmore-Huntzberger soiree, though it was Logan who came to her rescue as he shoved a pink frosty glass in her hand.

"Thanks," she smiled at him.

"Cheers," he said as he nodded and tipped her glass towards her.

"Scotch?" she questioned after she took a long sip from her cocktail.

"Always, Ace, always."

She smiled at him again, and again feeling slightly self-conscious. Obviously, time to get her mind off her her object of obession and onto her friend.

"Steph?" Rory sang teasingly. Her friend appeared frozen. Steph? Earth to Stephanie!"

"I can't believe him!" she whispered, obviously upset. It didn't take long for Rory to figure out who the Vanderbilt girl was talking about. She scanned the room and saw Colin shoving his tongue down Missy van Wezel's throat.

Rory squeezed Stephanie's hand for comfort, "I can't believe him!" she seethed.

She tried to make eye contact with Logan, who suddenly was very interested in his scotch.

"Logan," she spat and cocked her head towards Colin, as to ask – what's his problem.

He shrugged in reply, "What's the problem? What happened to Byron the London dish liquid heir?" He cocked his head towards Stephanie, who notoriously lost her virginity to a British millionaire on a yacht over the summer, or so the rumor mill said.

"He's an oil heir, and Stephanie was just waiting for Colin to make his move. They ate dinner twice and made out once. That is IT! And, he's in London now, so it's not like it matters," Rory whispered back, agitated by his indifference. Maybe it wasn't that, maybe he was siding with Colin?

"Stephanie can hear you, you know," Stephanie said unfazed, her gaze still fixated on Colin and Missy van Wezel.

"I can't believe it," Stephanie sighed.

"With a van Wezel, no less!" Rory added.

"Watch yourself, Ace," Logan smirked, "Sounds awfully close to a certain Gilmore Grandma…"

"Shut up," she swatted him playfully, her irritation melting away at the sight of his smirk.

"Do I have to report this as a case of domestic violence?" Finn's upbeat tone came from behind. He was holding Lane's hand, and they were both sipping champagne.

"No," Rory said,

"But you might want to call Larry Law for Colin…" Lane finished her best friends thought as she caught a red-faced Stephanie out of the corner of her eye.

Lane let go of Finn's hand, and crossed her arms over her chest, and narrowed her eyes to slits. "I can't believe it, Hussy van Wezel."

"Love!"Finn cried out shocked but Logan cut off his friend, "It's a chick thing, let it go."

"Damn right it's a chick thing!" Lane whipped her head around and eyed the boys, "If you two had made Colin grow a pair we wouldn't be in this situation now, right Rory?"

"That's right!" she nodded her head for a touch of emphasis, and placed her hand on a near-tears Stephanie.

"I'm just going to go home, okay" Stephanie whispered, taking her eyes off the painful display of affection unfolding before her eyes.

"Yeah," Rory said sympathetically, shooting a disgusted look at Colin and Missy, "Call me in the morning, Steph"

"I will," she blinked back a few tears.

"I'll have Finn kick his ass," Lane said sincerely as she hugged Stephanie good-bye, "You know where I am if you need Ben or Jerry, or a lifetime movie marathon, kay?"

Stephanie nodded, waved a tiny goodbye to the boys and ran off towards the valet.

"Oh dear," Emily said as she and Shira floated by, "Stephanie is alright, I hope?"

"Oh sure, Ems" Finn gesticulated wildly, "Lady troubles, you know."

"Finn!" Shira exclaimed, "Talking about ones," she brought her voice down to a whisper, "lady troubles" is not proper cocktail conversation," she warned.

"Okay, but she just…."Finn tried to explain.

"No," Emily held her hand up, "No more. Have you tried the salmon puffs?" The elder Gilmore swiftly steered back to proper conversation.

"NO! I didn't know you had puffs!" he yelled excitedly, "Come on, love, let's go." He grabbed Lane's hand and sped of in search of his beloved hors d' oeuvres.

Emily and Shira watched as Lane and Finn dodged their way through the crowd, once they were out of sight they directed themselves towards Rory and Logan. It seems that Logan had just whispered something funny in her ear, since she was laughing so hard she needed his help to stay balanced.

"My, my," Shira said, an evil grin forming on her face, "Don't you two make a cute couple!"

"Wh-what?" Rory immediately stopped laughing, "A couple – us – never…. " she rushed to say, as Logan finished her thought.

"Mom, please. We are just friends!"

"Just friends?"Emily questioned incredulously.

"Yes" Rory stated. "Just friends, Grandma!"

"But you could be so much more" Shira said, as if this was a major selling point.

"Friends, Mom. Just friends," Logan stated adamantly.

"If you two say so," the society women sighed in stereo. "Enjoy your evening," Emily said somewhat nicely, before she linked arms with Shira and headed off to the bard before they would spend the rest of the evening mingling.

Rory and Logan watched the pair leave, and stood there in uncomfortable silence for a few moments. "Hey, do you to get out of here?" Logan asked suddenly.

"Walk to the lake?" Rory asked, fully knowing that that's what Logan had on his mind. The Golden Circle always walked down to the lake if they had some major issues to talk about.

"Yeah, the lake," Logan answered.

"Let's go," Rory said, before grabbing a full champagne bottle and his hand.

"Us," Rory exclaimed, taking a swig from the bottle, "I mean, talk about crazy, right?"

Suddenly, Logan grew very quiet. They had been complaining about the party, Shira, Emily and the rest of society for the last ten minutes, but now Rory had brought up the touchy subject that triggered this little midnight walk.

"What?" she stopped walking and touched Logan's arm slightly so he would stop walking, too. "What?" she asked again.

"You really think an 'us' would be crazy?" he asked honestly.

Those words hit her heavy; her slight buzz disappeared instantly, her eyes widened, her palms began to sweat and she felt like she might toss the half of salmon puff she ate earlier. She let go of the half empty champagne bottle, which instantly shattered on impact.

"Sorry," she said, looking at glass covered dirt road.

"Don't worry about that," Logan commanded lightly, "What about us?" he asked with a trace of urgency in his voice.

Rory remained silent. Wasn't this what they were building up to all summer? The flirting, the swimming, the shopping, the iced coffees, just-the-two-of-us movie marathons, inside jokes, secret sharing…. Or was it just a really close friendship? Was she willing to risk it all to give them a chance?

"Logan," she sighed, as he took a step closer towards her and placed his hand on her shoulder, "This summer, it was… amazing,"

"I know," he smiled softly.

"But, you are my best friend. I, I guess I've thought about an us but… "

"But what?" he demanded.

She was slightly taken aback at the harshness in his tone, but replied diligently, "What if we end up like Steph and Colin?"

'What if we end up like Finn and Lane?" he countered without skipping a beat.

"Stop it," she retorted, "Finn and Lane are Finn and Lane – they are going to get married and have tons of babies, we've known that since we were ten!"

"So, who says there can't be a Logan-and-Rory?"

It was a fair question and a damn good question in fact. His face was inches away from hers. All she had to do was stand on her tippy toes, lean the tiniest bit forward and kiss him. Then she would know if there could be a Logan-and-Rory.

The late summer air was sticky and hot and only intensified the pressure that was between the pair. Crickets chirped as Rory slowly stepped away from Logan, letting herself out of his grip, answering his question and unquestionably breaking a little bit of both of their hearts.

She swallowed hard, and met his lingering gaze. "I don't want to risk it, Logan. Our friendship…" she trailed off, words might just worsen the situation.

He remained silent, and slowly accepted that the possibility of 'them' had left before it had a chance to materialize. He didn't know how this would affect their friendship, since it was obvious that they had undeniable feelings for one another, and knowing Rory, eventually she would come around. One day.

"It's okay, Ace." He finally said. "I get it."

Rory shot him an apologetic smile, though she knew he would 'get it'. He always did, that's why they were 'just friends', right?

"Let's get back, I've got to kick Colin's ass!" Logan teased her.

"I know!" she rolled her eyes, and stepped over the shattered champagne bottle, "I need more booze…"

"Well, then," Logan grabbed her hand, "Let race back!"

The last weekend of the hot, sticky summer ended with two very close friends acting, to the out-of-the-loop eye, like a pair of love struck teenagers, wondering where to go from here.

"Mmmm," Rory moaned, "that was some good food!" She lifted up her T-shirt, exposing the tiniest bit of her flat stomach and rubbed it demonstratively, "John's Pizza House has the best pizza in the state of Connecticut, dare I say world!"

"Don't I know it," Logan laughed, and kissed her on the cheek. She blushed slightly, and grinned, which urged him to kiss her again – this time on her lips.

Soon, the couple was yet again engaged in a full-fledged make-out section. "Logan," Rory panted again, and this time Logan knew it was his cue to stop.

"I'm sorry," she apologized again.

"You should be" he said teasingly, "God, Rory, you have no idea how amazing you are – I… I.."

She knew he was going to ramble off in a long apologetic monologue, but she vowed to put all that had happened in the past. They talked, they both apologized and now it was done.

"Hey, it's okay, babe," she said, placing her hand on his knee. "It's a new page, remember?"

He smiled at her, and gently shoved her hand away from his knee. "I know," he said, "But I can still tell you that you are amazing…."

"Then what's with the hand swatting?"

"You don't want to sleep with me – your hand on my knee sort of… you know… encourages me to sleep with you. You get that, right. " He stated very seriously, though with obvious mocking undertones, causing her to laugh.

"Well," she said getting off the couch, "then I'm going to bed. Get that!" she smiled flirtatiously.

"I always do, Ace. I always do!" he called out after her.

Sooo?