I'd traded a few texts with Logan throughout the day; he was working late to be ready for their press conference tomorrow. I had plenty to do on my own, plus I figured it was the perfect chance to find Les and figure out where her head was really at. I looked back towards her desk but didn't see her, so I sent her a text, "McConnel's tonight?"

"Definitely."

It was relatively quiet when we walked in around seven so we grabbed a booth and Sam brought our usual drinks and fries.

"Alright, let's hear it…"

"Hear what?"

"Come on Les, you know what…" I looked at her for a second before I dove in, "I've done it…"

"Done what?"

"I've done the, 'We're just having fun, keep it casual, while I'm actually falling for you' thing."

She took a swig of her martini and rolled her eyes at me, "I am not falling for him. Maybe it just would have been fun to go to Vegas with them…. And when did you ever keep it casual?"

I must have told her about this before... "With Logan. We talked about this…"

"No… we talked about him being an ass, we talked about him repeatedly messing up and begging to take you back… and this whole destiny brought you back together thing is great and all, but we never talked about you having fun."

"Oh geeze. Okay, well when we met, we weren't exactly friends…"

"Yea, you told me that part… you fought, but then you realized you were challenging each other, blah, blah, again with the destiny…" It was my turn to roll my eyes, but I knew she was kidding.

"The point is, he helped me with this article I was working on and we started hanging out, but I had just broken up with my last boyfriend, which had been this really complicated thing…"

"Complicated?" I had obviously peaked her interest. I reluctantly indulged her because I knew she was probably feeling less than stellar at the moment…

"Well, he was kind of married when we started dating again, but…"

She almost spit out the last of her martini, "Well aren't you just full of surprises."

"Yea, yea, okay…" That was so not the point of the story. "Anyway, we had this weird period where we kind of flirted with each other for a while, but I didn't know if anything was actually going on, and so I finally mustered up some courage and asked him if he was ever going to do anything about it…"

"Hell yea!" She graciously accepted another martini from Sam as she over exaggerated her enthusiasm.

"So, he told me he wasn't a boyfriend type of guy, and after what had happened with Dean I tried to convince myself that I didn't have to be a girlfriend kind of girl. It worked out okay for a while, but at one point I just decided I couldn't handle it anymore."

"So what happened?"

"I got really drunk one day, wallowed with my mom for a little while, and went back to school to tell him that I shouldn't have tried to be something that I wasn't. I told him we could still be friends, but I didn't want to be one of the many anymore."

"And then what? He just agreed to be your boyfriend, like that?" She snapped her fingers.

"That's not the point. The point is that I know what it's like to…" She was looking at me like I was hanging her out to dry by not finishing my story, so I obliged before continuing, "Not exactly, first he got upset and started yelling about me issuing an ultimatum… Ironic, right?" We both got a chuckle out of that one, "Then, yea, he told me that he would be my boyfriend. Naturally I told him he was crazy and couldn't do it… but eventually he figured it out."

"By eventually, you mean like two weeks ago?"

We laughed again, but I we were getting off topic, "Back to my point… I know what it's like to want more than fun out of a relationship."

She looked defeated, "But I want to want fun…"

"So did I…"

"So you're telling me that I need to get really drunk? If they'd invited me to Vegas I could have… "

"Not what I meant... But I did tell you before you started this that you should be careful."

"I know, but…" I looked at her expectantly... she still hasn't actually said that she has feelings for Finn, but I was pretty much certain that she did. "Well, how was I supposed to know that he could be so…"

There it is. I never thought I'd see the day that Finn was the one being pursued for a relationship, but low and behold it's actually happening. "Charming?" I offered for her, knowing that it was a descriptor that I would have used for Logan.

"Yea." She downed the rest of her second martini, clearly hating what she had finally admitted to.

"Happens to the best of us…"

"So Ms. Omniscient, what now?"

"Well… Are you going to tell him you want more than fun?"

"No… I don't know. That will just make things complicated…" I stifled a laugh. If only they knew how complicated things could be.

Suddenly, she took a deep breath and stood up. "I've got to get out of here…"

I got worried for a second, "You're not going to…"

"No… I'm going to go home and sleep. I've got a deadline Thursday, so I'll be too busy to notice if he doesn't call."

I didn't really believe her, "You're sure?"

"Yea... I think so…"

"Want me to kick his ass for you? Maybe have him drawn and quartered?"

Remembering the conversation she had with Logan after our first 'date' made her smile, "No, drawn and quartered is not necessary."

I agreed to let him keep his limbs, but I made a mental note to call him when I got home. Honestly, who does Finn think he is?

Les went straight home, but I made a stop back at the office. If I was going to do it, not only did I need to do it well, but I wanted to get it done first so I went back to my desk and boxed up the rest of the research.

When I got home I was expecting to add my research to the boxes that were stacked in the dining room, but I was surprised to find that there were no boxes there. Instead, I placed the box on the table and went upstairs to see if the others had disappeared in a similar manner. Sure enough, I found all of my clothes and shoes arranged in the closet, pressed and unpacked. It's like the unpacking fairies have been here…

Downstairs I found the rest of my work stuff had been put in an extra desk that now sat in the office, pictures of my family that used to sit on the window sill above my bed now sat on the mantle… all of my stuff had found a home here; and there was a note… "Thought you could use a hand. See you tonight. – L"

I shook my head… Logan and his notes. He was right though; unpacking was definitely at the bottom of my to-do list.

First things first, call Finn and tell him off for running off to Vegas just when things were getting good between him and Leslie. I called, but there was no answer. I sent him a text instead, "You're on notice."

While I was at it, I dialed my mom's number. Admittedly, I should have let her know when we got back yesterday and filled her in on Logan's plan. I should also probably put her mind at ease about him proposing, but this could be fun…

"My darling daughter… what can I do for you?"

I knew she was going to kill me for this later, but I couldn't help it, "Are you sitting down?"

I could actually hear her breath catch in her throat, and I knew her body was frozen where she stood. Ladies and gentlemen, my ever predictable mother…

"Rory…"

"Relax. No news is…" I got stuck on the 'good news' part, remembering the conversation I'd had with Leslie about what I would have said if he asked me now. I shook my head quickly and got back to it, "Anyway… He didn't propose. He did however rent out a carousel…"

"He rented out a carousel?"

"Yep."

"How Barnum and Bailey of him…"

"Oh yes, I think he's expecting his ring leader hat in the mail tomorrow."

I could tell she was wrestling with what she wanted to say next, "So… We didn't exactly get to finish our conversation the other night..."

…About the ring. "Right… Honestly, I don't know."

"You don't know what? What you'd say?"

"Yes… I mean… No… I…" Calm down. I took a deep breath, "I think I know what I'd say."

I imagined her nodding on the other end of the line. "I figured…"

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing… I just... wanted to know where you stand."

She wants to know where I stand? "That's it?"

"Yea…"

"Really?"

"Look Hun, you're both successful adults, you love each other… What do you want me to say? Be careful?"

"I don't know. You usually have something to say…"

"Well, given his outpouring of apologies and confessions of love since he waltzed back into your life, I'm pretty sure his Warren Beatty days are behind him, so…" There was definitely a tone of sarcasm there…

"So you'd be okay with it?"

She exhaled, "Yea… As long as you are, I am."

"Mom…"

"Yea, Hun…"

"I love you."

"I know…"

I filled her in on getting my latest article submitted to Dominic, and gave her the big picture stuff at The Post. I didn't want her to be worried, so I left out some of the finer points, and by the end of our conversation I was more determined than ever to put my article together.

I set myself up at my new desk, which I very much appreciated, and got to work. At the very least I wanted an outline done to bring with me when I met Gerry in the morning. I had completely lost track of everything else when I heard the key in the door.

"Ace?"

"Hey…" I looked at the clock to find that it was almost one o'clock in the morning. Yikes.

"What are you doing up?" He walked into the office and kissed me on the cheek.

"Just, uh, working on that article…"

"At one in the morning?"

I'm not sure why, but I was reluctant to tell him about the latest development with Gerry. I guess I wanted to find out what all this was really about... "Yea…" I stood up from the desk, kissed him, and decided to change the subject, "Just thought I'd break in the new desk."

He smirked, "You like?"

"Very much… So what, did you sneak out in the middle of the day and unpack all of my stuff?"

"No, actually, I got some elves to do it… Had to pay an arm and a leg for it too; did you know they unionized?"

"You don't say… Is there a teeny tiny Jimmy Hoffa in charge?"

"I think so…" He chuckled and kissed me again, "So, you ready to call it a night or you going to keep burning the midnight oil?"

I looked back at the desk, saved my work, and followed him upstairs. I definitely needed sleep, especially if I was going to beat Gerry into the office in the morning.

I was in a hurry Wednesday morning to get out of the house, but as I was getting dressed it occurred to me to ask Logan about Finn. He was just getting out of the shower, so I yelled to him from in the closet, "Hey, have you talked to Finn?"

"Uh… not since Saturday, why?"

"Saturday?"

"Yea… usually comes after Friday, before Sunday…"

I rolled my eyes at him as I sat on the foot of the bed to put my shoes on. "You're just so clever…"

He gave me a wink and kissed me on his way to the closet.

"Did he say anything about what he was doing?"

"Yea; He and Colin were in Vegas for the… Uh oh…" He caught my drift. "I take it that Leslie is less than thrilled?"

"She said she's disappointed she didn't get invited, but I think there might be more to it than that…"

"And you want me to do some recon?"

I shrugged my shoulders like it didn't matter to me, but definitely suggesting that it wouldn't be a bad idea.

"Fine. I'll see what I can do…"

He emerged from the closet in a very nice suit, looking very dapper. "You clean up pretty nice, Huntzberger."

"Why thank you…"

I put on my watch and checked the time. Crap. "I've got to get going."

He looked at me, almost surprised to see that I would be ready to go early, "Now?"

"Yea, I just… have to take care of a few things this morning…" I should tell him, but I want to be able to take care of this on my own.

"Like picking up The New York Times?" Oh my God. I totally forgot; Dominic said they were running my article, which meant it should be in The Times today…

"Yea… Definitely." It was not actually what I had to get done this morning, but it was definitely a good excuse.

"Good. And dinner tonight?"

"I'll be there..." I'd almost forgotten about his press conference, too. Shoot. I gave him a kiss for good luck, "Break a leg today… I love you!"

"I love you too…" He was holding out for another kiss, so I gave him a quick peck and was out the door.

I stopped at the newspaper stand on the corner to get two copies of The Times, picked up a cup of coffee, and was in the office barely before when Gerry normally arrived. I dropped my stuff off at my desk and casually hung around outside his door as people started to trickle into the newsroom… Where is he?

After about ten minutes his assistant Sherry showed up at her desk. Good.

"Sherry, do you know when Gerry will be in?"

"Oh, he's out of the office this morning…" She shuffled through the mess of papers that was always on her desk, "He'll be back after lunch." Great. I rush in this morning to meet him, and he's not here.

I made my way back to my desk, took a long drink of coffee and opened The Times… Holy cow. Front page of the features section… Below the fold, but still... I read the byline: Rory Gilmore; that's me. Seeing my first article was amazing, especially since I didn't know it was even happening, but somehow I think this was even more exciting. Not only did I make it into The Times, but I did it twice… and I could do it again.

Leslie came into the newsroom a few minutes later, and I handed her the other copy of the paper as she walked by my desk. She had an excited look on her face before she even opened it, "Really?"

I nodded excitedly as she flipped through to find the article. She sat on the edge of my desk to read through it as I started to click through my email. When she finished she sighed and folded the paper under her arm.

"Well, I guess it's only a matter of time…" I wasn't exactly sure what she meant, but when she saw the slightly confused look on my face she continued. "…until you're on to bigger and better things; you know… greener pastures, your big break, your shot..."

Oh. She was being dramatic. I rolled my eyes, "I'm not on to anywhere…"

"Yet."

I thought about it for a second, and ultimately decided to let her in on what Dominic had said about the possibilities if I could find a source close to the upcoming election.

She suddenly looked very sad, "I really am going to lose you…"

"You are not going to lose me… besides, I haven't even really started looking for contacts; and I've got to figure out what's going on with Gerry before I do anything else…" I filled her in there too.

"What's his problem? He should be trying to keep you here, not push you away…"

"I don't know, but…" I got distracted looking at the first email in my inbox.

"Rory?"

"Yea?"

"You alright? You kind of trailed off there…"

"Yea… I just… I have to get some more work done on this piece."

"Alright… let me know when you talk to Gerry, I want to know what his deal is."

I nodded, and then I opened the email. It was from somebody I knew on the campaign; a guy named Jeremy. I'd emailed him on a whim yesterday in a desperate attempt to get information about the trial anywhere I could, but I never expected to hear back from him.

"Rory… Good to hear from you; it's been a long time. As it happens I do have some information on the WikiLeaks hearing, give me a call. Hopefully we can do some catching up, too. – Jeremy"

He closed the email with his contact information, and as I finished reading it I flashed back to being on the campaign. We'd spent time together on the trail… not just us, a group of us; younger reporters that kind of flocked together. Honestly, the whole thing with Jeremy reminded me a lot of Marty. He was cute and sweet, but I was such a mess after Logan that it never would have worked.

The night of Obama's inauguration, though everyone was celebrating and drinking Champaign, and he kissed me. He'd wanted to for a long time, I knew it, and I almost let him keep kissing me, but I couldn't. It wouldn't have been fair to him, and I was so embarrassed that the next day, now that the campaign was officially over, I packed up and headed back to Star's Hollow without another word.

I don't know what I was thinking when I emailed him yesterday. My first instinct was to delete the email. What was I thinking? Is this going to be a thing? No. It's not going to be a thing. It's just work.

I flipped through what I already had for the article. I definitely need more; I need a source close to the case. I had to call him.

I picked up the receiver, and immediately put it down, having pictured Logan in the back of my mind. Oh my god. Stop. I don't want anything from Jeremy except information. Pick up the phone. I dialed his number and waited… one ring… two rings… three… "Hello?"

Deep breath, "Jeremy?"

"Yes."

"This is Rory… Gilmore."

"Rory, hi! How are you?"

Okay, this is okay… Maybe he didn't even remember that night, "Not bad; yourself?"

"Doing alright…"

An awkward pause…

"…I certainly hadn't expected to hear from you."

Nope. He remembers. "Yea… uh… I remembered seeing somewhere that you were working in the district courts in D.C."

"That's right. And you're at The Post… Congratulations."

"Thanks; you too…" I just want to get the information and move on, "So…"

"So… Oh, right…" He chuckled nervously for a second before he started speaking again. "So I'm not reporting on the case personally, but a friend of mine has a lot of information on it. I can have him forward you some of what he has; might be a little more than what's coming through the AP."

"That's… great! That's exactly what I need, something a little more… Thank you."

"That's what old friends are for, right?"

"Right…" He paused again for a second before continuing…

"So how has life been since I saw you last?"

Life? I had no reason to be nervous; really… it's been years. The fact that I'm back with the guy that made me run out of his hotel room four years ago was only a minor complication. "Life is… busy." Busy was vague, but it's the truth.

"I hear you… Listen, we should really get together and catch up some time."

He probably doesn't even remember who Logan is. It really shouldn't be a big deal. Besides, he's in D.C.; who knows if we'll actually ever get together… "Yea..."

"Yea? I'm actually going to be in the city next week…" Of course he is.

I swallowed hard. I can only imagine how awkward this could be. "I'll have to make sure I can get away from work, but..."

"Great. My wife and I are going to be in town for a couple of days, I don't know exactly what our schedule is like, but maybe I'll give you a call."

He's married? Thank God. I don't know if I've ever been so happy to hear that someone is married. "Sure… Maybe we could meet you for coffee or something?"

"We?" I was hoping to have worked that in more subtly… too bad.

"Yea…" I realized afterword I said it that I should probably check with Logan first, but that was too late now. "His schedule is pretty hectic, but hopefully we can make something work."

"Well alright then… Talk to you soon."

Right. This won't be weird, right?

Later that day I did hear from his friend, and I got some great information from him, so regardless of how potentially awkward our interaction could have been I was thankful to have heard from him.

By four-thirty there was still no sign of Gerry… well that's just fantastic. I added much of my new information into the article and decided to send it, along with some more of my research to him and see what he had to say. If he knew how much I had gotten done there was a good chance I'd have an upper hand.

When five o'clock rolled around I was packing up my desk so I could get to dinner with Logan and his partners I finally saw Gerry trying to sneak out of his office. I don't know how I missed him going in, but I wasn't going to let him get away. I grabbed all of my stuff and followed him to the elevator.

"Gerry!" He didn't look up right away. He was definitely avoiding me. What is his problem? "Gerry!"

"Gilmore?" He finally acknowledged me as we stepped into the elevator.

"Listen, after our meeting yesterday I was thinking… I wanted to check in with you and make sure you got cc'd on the article I sent to Dominic the other day…"

He looked up from the papers he'd been reading, "The one that's in The Times today?"

Yikes… Deep breath... "Yea…"

"I got it."

He got it? And we're still doing this? "Right… good…"

The elevator doors opened and he stepped out, "I have to run Gilmore; did you need anything else?"

"I…" What am I supposed to do? He's not giving me any indication of what the problem is, but clearly there is one. Do I try again tomorrow? "No, I guess not."

"Good." And just like that he was gone. I have never been so confused or frustrated about anything. I really didn't have time to worry about it right now; I had to change and meet Logan for dinner. I stopped at the apartment and for once I called for a car to take me to the restaurant.

When I walked in I was glad to see that they were on their way to the tables that occupied the smaller dining room in the back… I managed to almost be on time. Logan had been leading the group, but motioned for them to go on without him and came to meet me.

"Hey…" He kissed me, "you look great!"

I had to laugh a little, "I take it things went well today?"

"Very…" I was still a little flustered from my encounter with Gerry and Logan could tell, "You okay?"

I nodded my head, determined not to interrupt the celebration. He was skeptical, so I assured him best I could "Just work stuff… I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yea…"

I could tell he wasn't going to let it go that easily, but he relaxed for the moment and led me to the tables, where thankfully most of them were still milling about, finishing their cocktails.

He introduced me to several of their biggest investors… very impressive… and a couple of board members. Also flitting around the party was Rebecca, who headed up his PR team.

"Rory this is Rebecca, she's in charge of PR for the company… Rebecca, this is Rory, my girlfriend." She and I exchanged greetings, but I was a little preoccupied by the suddenly curt tone of his voice; and then it hit me… He's slept with her.

Be mature… I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that it was before he came back to New York, but when I noticed how enthusiastically she gushed about Logan's statement at the press conference that day I couldn't help but have a minor flashback of the jealousy I had felt towards Bobbi.

As we walked away I had to find out if I was right, "So… Rebecca?"

"She's one of the best in the business…" I could tell he was trying very hard to be nonchalant about our encounter.

"I bet…" I had no right to be mad. What he did when we were apart was his business; I came to terms with that a long time ago, but I couldn't help the sarcasm.

"She is. She…" He really thought he'd gotten away with it… How cute.

For the most part, I was only interested in giving him a bad time… which, I can proudly say, is more that I could have said for myself in this situation several years ago… so I kept my voice low as goaded him, "Oh, come on Logan…"

He knew he was caught now, "Rory…" When I saw the pleading look on his face I had to bite my lip trying to keep a straight face. "…it was…"

"Stop." I really don't need to know the details. "We weren't together… it's none of my business…"

"This isn't going to be weird?"

"Well it's a little weird, but…" I took a deep breath, determined to keep the weirdness to a minimum, "I trust you."

He stopped, looked at me and asked in all seriousness, "Really?"

I was a little taken aback by his solemnity, but I meant what I said. However, that didn't necessarily preclude me from having a little fun with this. "Unless I shouldn't…"

"No. Rory, please…"

"Relax…" Forget smiling, I was trying not to laugh at this point, "Yes; I trust you."

He breathed a sigh of relief, but at that moment I realized that he would have his chance to trust me, too.

"In the spirit of full disclosure…" He actually looked intrigued at this… perhaps happy to not be the only one with some skeletons in their closet. "…I talked to a friend from the campaign today."

"A friend?"

"Yes a friend… He said he and his wife might want to meet us for coffee"

A sly smile spread across his face as he nodded. I could tell he was going to revel in the prospect of meeting someone from our lost years, even if he was just a friend.

Once we sat down I met the majority of his team… There was Vince, Marcus, Michael, and Scott, plus Michael's wife, and Vince's fiancé. Scott was the Vice President and Logan's apparent right hand man; Michael was acting president of the California office, while Vince and Marcus managed the smaller offices in Portland and Seattle.

It was a little overwhelming, but they all seemed very nice and I found myself blushing at their congratulations when Logan made it a point to tell them that I'd gotten another piece published in The Times today, in addition to my regular work at The Post.

After dinner Logan stood up to say a few words of thanks and gave a congratulatory toast to the team. They all seemed to respect Logan an awful lot, but the respect was mutual… he definitely did not to business like his father.

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

A/N - Hope you're all continuing to enjoy the story... a few more twists ahead, plus some fun! Follow/Favorite and Comment! xx