I was awake before the alarm, but on this particular morning I didn't mind. I lay in bed looking around the room… our room. Even though we had lived together before this still felt like a big step.

The first time had more or less come about as a matter of circumstance. Paris had kicked me out and I had nowhere to go so he spontaneously invited me to move in with him. This time is different… I'm not homeless, Logan has obviously put thought and consideration into it and it's about us wanting to live together. This time it's a real, sincere commitment. Definitely a big step.

I had to get ready for work, so I slipped out of bed to take a quick shower. I heard the alarm going off as I brushed my teeth.

"Waking up alone had me worried for a second, Ace. Thought maybe you changed your mind already…" I looked up to see Logan leaning against to doorway; sweatpants, no shirt, messy hair, that smirk… if I didn't have to go to work…

"Nope, you're stuck with me now."

His smile widened and he put his hands on my hips as he kissed me. This was not helping my resolve to finish getting ready for work, but I had a feeling that was his intention. "Good." He kissed me again. That was definitely his intention.

"Logan…"

"Yes?" He continued to kiss me.

"I have to go to work…"

"No you don't…" Another kiss.

"Yes I do. And you have a meeting..." He moved his kisses to my neck.

"I really think that this is a better use of our morning." I was inclined to agree with him, but the real world was waiting.

"…and then you have a flight to catch."

The kissing stopped and he sighed, "Don't remind me."

"When do you get back?"

"Hopefully Sunday."

The prospect of missing him while he's gone for a week seemed strange, considering we had been very much apart for so long, but I knew I would.

"Hopefully?"

I finished getting dressed as he explained how it really depended on how things went. He had meetings with a couple of their West Coast clients while he was out there, in addition to the big picture stuff he was taking care of.

We made our way downstairs, and I poured coffee.

"And this meeting with your dad?"

He looked less than pleased at the thought of it, "Once I get back here, there will only be a couple of things to take care of before we announce the merger, so we're going over contracts to make sure they're ready to be signed."

I thought back to the fight he and Mitchum had when he showed up that morning; about how Logan threatened to pull out of the deal. "You are still signing contracts, right?"

He put his elbow on the counter, leaned his head against his and sighed, "Yes. But I'm sure we'll have at least one or two things to discuss before we meet with the lawyers next week."

I eyed him. Knowing exactly what I meant, he held up his hands in defense, "No rash decisions."

"So, meet with Mitchum, and then on a plane?"

He nodded with a disappointed look on his face.

"On the bright side, I'll be here when you get back…"

He pulled me in for another kiss, one last attempt to persuade me into wasting the morning.

"Logan…"

He rolled his eyes dramatically, "Fine, go to work, plot your takeover of The Times…"

"I love you."

"I love you too." He pulled me in for one last kiss, the best one yet, and that was saying something for this morning.

"That was a hell of a kiss…"

He grinned, "It's got to last a week… I want you to miss me."

"Well, I think you can rest assured there."

I grabbed my bag and started to leave, but he grabbed my hand, "Ace…" He picked something up from the table by the door and put it in my hand. A key. Of course… I live here now. It was on a key ring and as I turned it over in my hand I saw that the keychain attached was a small rocket.

He might have scaled down the grandeur of his gestures, but he was still Logan. I didn't have to say anything; I just looked at him and that sly smile of his and he winked.

"Call me when you land?"

He nodded and kissed my forehead before I left.

On my way to work I sent a text to my mom, "Call when you have a chance."

I thought just telling her now, but I could only imagine the grief I would get for a by the way I'm moving in with Logan text message. This should be for a real conversation, besides I had to tell her about this deal Dominic and I had worked out.

"After Town Meeting tonight. Got something juicy?"

"Like a peach."

I already knew Leslie would be thrilled, so when I ended up behind her in line at the coffee cart I figured I'd dive right in.

"Have any boxes I can borrow?"

She hadn't even turned around yet, "Are you serious?"

I held up my key as she turned. Her eyes got wide and she let out a shriek that would rival my mom at a Bangles concert.

"Is that really necessary?"

The guy in line ahead of her apparently didn't think so, given his unpleasant glare in our direction.

"We just had this conversation the other day, and now you're surprised?"

"About him asking? No. But about you agreeing to? A little."

"I repeat, we just had this conversation…"

"I know but… Two caramel macchiatos…" We had gotten to the front of the line, but she didn't bother to focus on one conversation. Always a multitasker, she just handed the man money and stepped to the side to wait for our drinks before continuing. "…but this is big."

I smiled, thinking about the little talk I had with myself that morning. "I know."

"So what did he say? Did he buy you another purse?"

"No… He just…" I couldn't help but smile as I said it, "He told me that he wants to come home to me."

She looked at me in disbelief, clearly not satisfied with that story so I elaborated, "He's going to be in California all week, and he said that when he gets back he wants to be coming home to me."

"Ugh. You two are sickening." Leslie had a habit of feigning disgust to cover her inner romantic.

"Oh excuse me, but you aren't exactly Girls Gone Wild these days either…"

"Well, I'm waiting for Joe Francis to call me back."

"Don't try that… I saw you and Finn last night, acting all relationship-y."

"We're having fun."

"You're dating."

"We're just…"

"Give it up Les, you're smitten and you know it… So, are you going to help me pack or what?"

"Definitely… Tonight?"

"I've got a phone date with my mom…"

"Tomorrow it is then. And with him out of town I'll be able to do some serious snooping in that penthouse."

I shook my head at her as we got off the elevator, "I thought we talked about the whole gawking thing?"

"Is it really considered gawking if he's not there?"

"Yes." She shook her head in disagreement as she passed my desk on the way to hers.

I sat down and stared at my desk for a minute. I needed to come down out of the clouds and figure out my plan of action. I had finally figured out what I wanted to start working on for Dominic, but my priority right now had to be finishing my space shuttle series. I had the bones of the last to pieces laid out and if I could put them both together this week that would free up my time for my other work.

I was still debating about whether or not I should tell Gerry about my plan to continue pushing pieces to The Times, but he was in a meeting this morning anyway, so at the moment it didn't matter. I took a long sip of coffee and dove in.

Late in the morning I got a text from Logan, "About to take off. Love you."

I smiled at my phone, appreciating how far we had come from the couple we used to be. Back then it wouldn't have been unlikely for him to already be in another country before I heard from him. "Love you too."

I took the welcome interruption as a chance to re-up my caffeine supply, grabbed a cup of coffee, and was about to get back to work, when I was again interrupted.

My work line rang; it Sarah at the reception desk, "Rory, someone is here to see you." I looked bacLeslie is at her desk, Logan's on a plane… Who would be here to see me?

I was about to ask her who but I heard a man's voice in the background before she hung up, "Thanks I can find my way."

My stomach turned. Mitchum. What the hell is he doing here? I had about thirty seconds to prepare myself before I heard his voice as he came around the corner. I stood up, not about to give him the advantage of standing over me at my desk. I went as far as to meet him in the aisle of the newsroom. When I saw him, I felt that resentment I had had in Logan's kitchen kicking in.

I looked him in the eye, "Can I help you?" Good start… Control the conversation.

Gerry appeared to my right. He was supposed to be in a meeting, but he must have seen Mitchum walk past his office, and he had definitely heard my less than friendly greeting. He eyed me as he put his hand out to Mitchum, "Mr. Huntzberger…"

"Gerry…" Of course he knows Gerry.

"Gilmore, this is Mitchu…"

"I know."

They were both surprised by my curt interjection, but I was becoming increasingly irritated by the fact that Mitchum thought he had the right to show up here. Gerry looked slightly embarrassed, but Mitchum actually appeared to be a little amused.

"Don't worry, Gerry. Rory and I go way back... I'm surprised she didn't tell you."

He kept his eyes on me while he spoke; this was clearly a test to see how honest I was being about keeping the Huntzberger name out of my career.

"It never came up."

"Really? Not even on your resume?"

"I had other references… And let's be honest Mitchum, the circumstances of that internship were let's say, convoluted at best." I guess the last part was a little gratuitous, but did he honestly think I would use him as a reference?

"Even still, most of my interns make it a point to show potential employers my name."

"I'm not most of your interns."

He raised an eyebrow, "No, I suppose you're not."

There was a pause and I got a glimpse of Gerry out of the corner of my eye. Poor Gerry… he was very clearly confused by the situation. Of course he was… why would a young reporter fail to use the biggest name in the industry as a reference? And what was Mitchum Huntzberger doing unannounced in the newsroom of a paper that he didn't own?

"So… Mitchum, what brings you to The Post today?"

"As a matter of fact, it's Rory..." He eyed my desk, with the framed copy of my article from The New York Times clearly displayed and then turned to Gerry, "…is there a place she and I could talk? We have a few things to discuss."

"Uh…" I guess I shouldn't be surprised to see Gerry be intimidated by Mitchum. "Yea… the conference room is free until…"

"Don't worry. This won't take long." I wanted to know what this was about, but I wasn't about to let Mitchum take up any more of my time than he already was.

I led Mitchum to the conference room, and made sure he had taken a seat before I sat down myself.

"So Mitchum, what exactly is it that we need to discuss?"

"I had a meeting with Logan this morning. He and I have some important things coming up."

"I've heard rumors…"

"I imagine that you have. So I also imagine that you can understand just how important these things are."

"I can..." Let's get to the point, Mitchum. "…What I'm having trouble understanding is why you're here." Even I was impressed with how assertive I sounded.

"I told you, we have…"

"…Things to discuss. We established that. But I'm surprised that you came here to do it. What with all of your blustering about not wanting Logan influencing my career, it seems rather paradoxical for you to come to my workplace and advertise our association. Although I guess this was probably some kind of test, right?"

He wasn't going to admit it, but I knew I was right. He narrowed his eyes and avoided the question completely. "I came here to talk about Logan and this merger."

"You want to talk about the merger to me? What does your business have to do with me?"

"Quite a bit, evidently… After all, he was about to threaten to pull out of it in your defense."

Now the pieces were starting to come together... He thinks I am one of the ducks Mitchum needs to line up. This duck isn't going down without a fight. "Well, making rash judgments seems to be a family trait..."

He knew that I was referring to how he had jumped to conclusions about me, and he finally conceded with a slight nod and an audible exhale, but quickly moved on, "Thankfully he's come to his senses."

"He needed some perspective."

"And you gave it to him?"

"I reminded him that he deserves to be recognized for his success, regardless of any satisfaction you may get out of him rejoining your company."

He leaned back in his chair, "I guess it's fair to say that I underestimated you."

I had to figure out which direction he was taking this before I could figure out how this was not an actual compliment. "How so?"

"Well for one thing, I had forgotten the amount of influence you can have on my son."

Did he think I was mind controlling Logan into disrupting their plans or something?

"Logan makes his own decisions."

"And he has clearly made some about you."

Something about the way he said it made it seem like a loaded statement, and I was tempted to ask what he meant, but I was determined to be in control of the conversation.

"Mitchum, is there a point to this discussion, or are we just going to keep rehashing your disdain for my relationship with him? Because if that's the case, I have an article to get back to."

Once again a slightly impressed look flashed in his eyes, "Another mark on my list of underestimations. You've got a good thing going here, Gerry's a good editor; and that piece in The Times was respectable work."

"I'm surprised you bothered to read it, given your assumption that it got there based on the fact that I was… how did you put it? Sleeping with a major influence in the industry?"

He nodded. It felt good to make Mitchum Huntzberger eat his own words. "As I said, I underestimated you."

We'd been down this road before, and I would not be Huntzbergered again.

"So is this different than the last time you underestimated by abilities as a journalist, when you told me that I 'didn't have it'? Because you followed that one up with an offer to work at my choice of any Huntzberger owned papers. You know, now that I think about it, it's astounding how often your faith in my ability as a reporter waivers. And remarkably enough, an uptick in that faith always seems to coincide with an opportunity you see to bolster your relationship with Logan."

I wasn't finished but I paused for just a second to see if he had anything to add at this point. He didn't.

"Take now for example, not four days ago you made it pretty clear that in your opinion there was no way that I could have forged a moderately successful career on my own. However, now that you seem to be worried about the supposed influence that I have on your business arrangement I suddenly have a 'good thing going'. Curious, no?"

He just sat there for a second; he was caught and he knew it. "Well, you always have been a smart girl."

He was not a man who was used to being put in his place, and I could hardly believe that I had been the one to put him there, but I knew I had to take full advantage of it.

"Mitchum, I'm still not exactly sure what your intentions here are, but I want to make something very clear. Logan and I are not the same people we were four years ago. From what I hear, he has done quite the job of evening the playing field between the two of you, and I am not some green college kid looking for approval, so if this is some kind of attempt to get me to play a part in whatever agenda you think you have for him you're wasting your time."

He took a deep breath before he finally spoke again. "You're right… It's pretty obvious that neither of you are who you were before. And you're right about Logan holding his own power within the company, and as far as agendas go believe me, he has his own… which brings me back to my intentions here. We seem to have gotten a little side tracked. I came to discuss your role in this merger."

"This merger is between your companies. I don't have a role in this merger."

"Just when I've given you credit for being a smart girl, you say something like that… you can't possibly believe that that's true."

"I told you, Logan makes his own decisions."

"Yes, and he has decided to add stipulations, well more of a subcontract, really, to our merger negotiations regarding my relationship with you."

"A subcontract based on you and me?"

"Yes. It seems that it was only after reuniting with you that he made the final decision to accept my proposal for the merger, and as such Logan feels that I owe you..."

I'm going to kill him. He promised not to do anything rash.

"…Of course my initial reaction was to tell him that he was being ridiculous to balance the biggest deal of his life on whether or not I agree to play nice with his girlfriend, but after some consideration, I found that to an extent I had to agree with him."

"Excuse me?" Mitchum agreed with Logan, about me? That couldn't be it. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop…

"Do I think it's realistic for the two of you to believe you can have a successful relationship given the circumstances? No. Am I thrilled that Logan will have the distractions that come with a relationship in his life? No. Do I think that you are prepared for what it means to be with Logan? No…"

That was quick.

"…But I can acknowledge the possibility that he would have continued to turn down my offers without some, to use your term, perspective. And if I have to accept that the perspective came from you in order to make this deal work, then I will."

That's the final piece of this puzzle. "So you came here to tell me that you are going to put up with me to keep Logan happy?"

"That's a pretty blunt way of putting it, but essentially… yes. If he's happy, things will continue to go according to plan, for me and for him."

"Fine. What are the stipulations of this subcontract?"

He took a beat before he answered, "The details aren't what matter, but it basically comes down to me respecting you and your relationship together."

"And you're agreeing to it?"

"Like I said, apparently your role in the merger is larger than you realize."

I didn't care about Mitchum, and Logan was crazy for making me any part of this arrangement, but I guess I can't really do anything about it now. "Then I suppose we could manage some civility… for Logan's sake."

"Alright then…" He stood up from his chair and I followed suit, "I'll let you get back to that article." And just like that he walked out of the conference room, as if it had been just another business meeting.

I, on the other hand, collapsed back into my chair as soon as he had left. Theoretically, this would be a good thing. It will make Logan's life a lot easier, but this was all very surreal. I just agreed to practice decorum with Mitchum Huntzberger; a man who works only in his own interest and is otherwise completely unwilling to support the relationship between me and his 's not ideal, but I guess it's a step in the right direction.

And what the hell is Logan thinking? He promised not to make any rash decisions, but suddenly he has terms incorporated into their contracts that require his dad to be nice to me? And what kind of terms did he set that Mitchum would actually agree to them? It's not that I'm ungrateful for him defending me, and if this is really going to make him happy then I'm happy to do it, but this is pretty extreme, even for him. He's lucky he's on a plane right now.

I finally steadied myself enough to get back to my desk; unfortunately this crazy morning wasn't over yet. I was hoping to get passed Gerry's office unnoticed, but that was not happening; he was standing in his doorway waiting for me.

"Come on in, Gilmore."

Reluctantly I took a seat across from him at his desk.

He looked at me enquiringly, "So?"

"So…"

"So you know Mitchum Huntzberger?"

"Yes." I couldn't tell if he was upset or not, but I knew this was going to be a difficult conversation. In fact, I decided that I needed come clean before this went any further. "Gerry, I need to tell you something before we continue this conversation."

"About?"

"My freelance writing. I thought I should let you know that I'm working on pursuing more chances to be published at The Times."

He gave a tight lipped nod. "I get it. Bigger market, bigger draw, but remember what I said about your responsibilities here."

"I know, but I'm going to be focusing on more political pieces, probably outside the realm of our Features column. And I don't even know how successfully I will be."

He rubbed his hand along his jaw. "Well, I can't stop you, but if this interferes with your work here it could be a problem. I can't let my staff make outside work their priority."

"Of course."

"And as far as your success goes, having connections certainly won't hurt you."

"Mitchum is obviously not a connection that I am interested in relying on."

"Right… I have to agree with him about being surprised about that. I would think that anyone with experience like that would put that at the top of their resume."

"Would 'It's complicated' be a sufficient response?"

"I guess, though I can't imagine it was all that bad. I did a little digging while you were in your meeting; found an article where he touted his contribution to your success at The Yale Daily News."

"To be fair, I wasn't asked to confirm that statement. Things did not in fact go as well as you might think. He has a history of wavering opinions on me on personal and professional levels."

"Not any that would give him reason that would give him reason to try and effect our publication I hope."

Well, I had started this conversation in the spirit of full disclosure, and it was going to get out eventually. I took a deep breath, "I'm dating his son."

Gerry just stared at me for a minute with a blank stare. It was like he wasn't sure if he had heard me correctly. "His son. You're dating Logan Huntzberger?"

Here we go. "Yes. And with all due respect sir, I would really appreciate it if this could be the end of this discussion. I try to keep my personal life and professional life separated. The interruption from Mitchum this morning was unexpected to say the least, and it won't happen again."

His eyebrows had risen as I made my little declaration, but he nodded, "I can respect that."

Phew. "Thank you… and I will respect my priorities here. So if there's nothing else…"

He nodded and dismissed me. Oh boy. I knew I was naïve to think that I would never have to have that conversation, but I was really hoping that I would be more prepared for it. I seriously hope that really is the end of it.

** I do not own any characters or content related to Gilmore Girls or any other entities mentioned. **

A/N - I know this was a more serious chapter, but I really wanted to tackle Rory and Mitchum. What do you think about how she handled it? How do you feel about Logan's arrangement, and the agreement Rory and Mitchum have come to?

Keep the comments coming... I would love to hear your feedback and even incorporate some of it into the story in the future! xx