The summer alternated being the tortoise and the hare as it raced toward fall. Luke spent most of it with his sister and T.J. on the Renaissance Fair circuit. With Luke gone, it fell to Caesar and Lane to keep Luke's running through the summer. Lorelai maintained the running commentary Luke reported to her on the goings on at the Fair. Of course, she also counted the days he was gone, and missed him more than she cared to admit to anyone. Rory knew how much her mom missed Luke, but kept reminding her about the silver lining of their Emily-free summer – no Friday night dinners. Then of course, they both knew the craziness of the split up would need to be dealt with eventually, but until Emily returned from her Room with a View European adventure they would simply enjoy their Friday night freedom.

"Luke said he was going to be home today," Lorelai told Rory as they walked to Luke's.

"And you believed him?"

"Eventually his Pinocchio nose will run out of space and the inconvenience of its length will force the truth from his lips."

"So no."

"No, but I was hoping you'd see him before you headed back to Yale."

"Well, that would be nice, but since Luke's food tastes the same with or without Luke, as the summer has proven, I'm good," Rory responded, a twinkle in her eye.

"With you back at Yale and Luke teasing me with the promise of his return, I'm a step away from becoming an eccentric millionaire business man and registering for classes at Yale."

"Aw, you'd become Rodney Dangerfield and accompany me to school to avoid your loneliness?"

"Of course. You're my only daughter."

"Luke!" Rory exclaimed as they walked into the diner.

"Why do you both look so surprised? I told you I'd be back today," Luke said.

"But, you lied to me numerous times, so your creditability is shot."

"I'm back," Luke said, eyes locked on Lorelai.

"Okay, well, that's sufficiently awkward," Rory said, watching her mother and Luke basically strip each other with their eyes. "Can I get some coffee to go?"

Neither adult responded, they were both engaged in the long awaited return home moment.

"I'll go ask Lane," Rory said to no one in particular.

"Coffee to go?" Lane asked as she saw Rory approach the front counter.

"Yes. And some bleach."

"Do you want that to go, too?"

"No, I'll perform the cleanse before attempting to drive on the highway."

"Good plan, very responsible," Lane chattered as she filled a large cup with coffee and handed it to Rory.

"I'm glad Luke came back today, though," Rory said.

"Today?"

"Yeah, mom was a step away from changing us into Jason and Thornton Melon, and aside from the sex change, I don't really need my mommy with me at Yale this year. I reserved that experience for my freshman year," Rory explained.

Logan grinned at Colin and Finn as they paraded around his room. He shouldn't be amazed by their antics after all of these years, but he still was. They sunk a boat over the summer, which had been fun until Mitchum heard about it…which was inevitable since it was his boat they sunk. The trio was getting ready to head out and face the campus. Logan knew the iron bonds of his future would be attached securely to his wrists this year. His dad had reminded him once again that he was a junior, nearing graduation and he needed to find his focus. Instead of finding himself over the summer, as was suggested, he and the boys had spent the island forgetting. Well, he spent it forgetting.

"Logan," Finn said, his voice only slightly slurred, "You have no woman on you. We must fix that."

"It's the first day back, Finn. Give the boy a minute to recover from what was probably the final deleted scene to Amityville that occurred at his house after you sunk their yacht," Colin responded.

Logan just shook his head. Sure the scene had been bad, but nothing he couldn't handle. He'd been handling Mitchum for years. If he sunk a couple of boats along his journey to Davey Jones, all the better. "You're right, Finn. I am in desperate need of a blonde, wouldn't you agree, Colin?"

"You're the master, Logan," Colin replied with a flourish and courtly bow.

The trio headed out of the dorm and into the campus, which was rife with freshman looking more and more lost and returning students meeting up with long lost friends. After being among the masses for a few minutes, a blonde girl worked her way over to the group.

She batted her overly mascara covered eyelashes up at Logan in a manner he'd become overly used to recently. "Hi, Logan."

He quickly checked the somewhat mocking smile that threatened to take over his face. After all, he was one of the richest playboys on campus. Girls usually came up to him in such an obvious manner, their obvious sycophantic manner only marginally annoying. This was one of the primary reasons Logan kept any conversation to a minimum, he asked enough to learn their name, their major, and at least one other tidbit to make them feel as though he'd put enough effort into their meeting.

"I'm Treena," the blonde purred up at him.

Reflexively, Logan slung his arm around her. Again, he hid his smile. Treena? Was that even a real name? He could feel her puff up a bit at having been accepted for the moment. At least the both knew what was going to come of this meeting. She would have the ability to say she'd been with the Huntzburger heir, and he would not have to call her in the morning.

The group wandered a bit aimlessly around the campus, mostly to allow Finn to at least experience sunlight and to give the blonde, he'd already forgotten her name, a chance to be seen with him. It was just part of the unspoken, but clearly understood rules.

"I'm sorry, you didn't see me there?" Colin asked, clearly outraged.

"Not everyone's staring at you, Colin," Finn added.

Logan laughed under his breath. He knew his putz of a friend had knocked into the guy standing at the coffee cart. Actually…

"Hey, I know you. No, wait-wait, don't tell me. I'm seeing a uniform of some sort," Logan hinted.

Bouncing a little, Finn added, "Maytag repairman."

"I've bartended for you – for your parties," Marty stuttered out, clearly uncomfortable around the group.

"That's right," Logan said, his eyes lighting up. He needed to find a bartender for the first party of the year. "You're a talented man."

"Thanks," Marty mumbled. A bit helplessly, Marty glanced at Rory. He kept shifting his weight from one foot to the other, wanting to find a way to escape the awkward encounter soon. This wasn't how Rory was supposed to see him, not around people like this.

Noticing the direction of his eyes, Logan saw the brunette girl for the first time. Her blue eyes blazed with a strong emotion that Logan couldn't quite read, but guessed it wasn't happiness. "He makes a kick ass margarita." Logan directed the compliment to the girl hoping she wouldn't think he was insulting her boyfriend. If the girlfriend decided not to like Logan, Marty wouldn't bartended any parties.

Logan could tell the guy was uncomfortable. "It's good to see you again. What's your name?" He wasn't trying to be an ass, but if this guy bartended a party on campus, chances are Logan didn't know his own name by the end of the night.

"Marty. Uh, this is Rory." Marty gestured vaguely towards Rory, hoping that she'd say something and save him from this increasingly uncomfortable situation.

"Hi," Logan greeted the girl quickly. He needed to remove Colin and Finn from the area. Standing in one place for too long with his friends tended to end badly.

He turned to address Marty once again. "So, assuming your services are still for hire this year, your financial situation hasn't changed at all?"

"Nope."

"Good. Okay, I'll give you a call. Where are you living now?"

"Branford."

"Oh, excellent - Branford. All right. Good running into you," Logan said, ending on a friendly remark for the girlfriend's sake. Marty was a good bartender, but he was just so boring.

Rory had returned to her dorm room to find Paris had finally arrived, and had in short order, rearranged the entire area to suit her needs. She was also dressed from head to toe in black, clearly showing her mourning for Asher Flemming.

"I want to have a wake," Paris announced without preamble.

"A what?"

"A wake in Asher's honor – here. We'll give others the chance to pay their respects, to say goodbye. People are going to want this closure. I just think it's the right thing to do."

"Sure," Rory agreed.

"Good," Paris said with a nod. "You can put these up."

Rory looked down at the pile of posters Paris had thrust into her arms. With a shake of her head, and the realization that she would never fully understand Paris, Rory went back out into the mess of people getting settled into Yale. Rory was a bit annoyed by the buzz of excitement around her. She hadn't been able to get over her funk from the summer. The Dean situation still bothered her. It didn't escape her notice that she'd been ready to give it up to him, that she'd nearly overlooked her whole way of processing things in life. More recently, she'd found herself wondering what it would have been like to take that heedless plunge. Of course, she knew logically it would have ended badly, and that everyone would have been hurt in the end, but there would have been a rush.

Dean mentioning Jess had hurt, too. She had felt bad about that whole situation the entire time, she really didn't need Dean rubbing it in her face. She'd said no to Jess' offer to just take off for New York, because it was nuts. There was, however, this nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach. She never did anything spontaneous, not really. Well, she did go off to New York to see Jess, and had ended up missing her mother's graduation.

Rory stopped suddenly as realization crashed down on her. She was scared. Absolutely terrified of making a move that wasn't on her list of things…that hadn't been derived from a pro/con list. Her entire life had been spent living out the plan. For a moment, she wondered if she was missing her life. If her continued planning kept her from truly experiencing things, after all, her upbringing was far from normal or planned. A giggle bubbled forth as she felt the overwhelming urge to sing Auld Lang Syne…this was as close to a serious resolution as she'd ever come…well, a serious one. She realized that if she was going to be an in the trenches reporter, she would need to be able to adapt to change, to do things more in the moment…to live.

"Okay, Finn. Last building, tell me it looks familiar," a voice said, pulling Rory from her musings.

Finn, looking around wildly, stumbled into the area. "Ah, ahh…"

"Apparently it doesn't look familiar," Logan said, resigned.

"No, hold on. Hold on, yes…here," Finn stated. "This is where she lives."

Eyes wide, Rory watched as the group stopped in front of her room. "Can I help you?"

"No thanks," Logan answered dismissively.

"Don't put your number," Logan pleaded. "Don't put your number!"

"I'm not putting my number," Finn replied. He smiled and pointed to Logan. "I'm putting your number."

Confused and secretly amused by their antics, Rory felt she should save them from Paris. "That's my room."

The trio looked at her, noticing her for the first time. Rory noticed their attention, and felt a little irritated that even after she'd offered to help them, they'd ignored her as if she didn't even exist. Reporters were noticed when they spoke to people. They were remembered, not simply forgotten after the moment.

A smile full of seduction spread across Logan's face. The girl was gorgeous, and vaguely familiar. "Okay, put my number."

"Don't put your number," Rory snapped, tired of being ignored. She allowed her earlier irritation with Paris to bleed into her current situation.

Finn and Colin moved closer to the stairwell. They were going to continue the search for Finn's elusive redhead and allow Logan to fight his own battle of the sexes with the apparently irritated brunette.

"You don't like me," Logan stated gently. "You don't know me, but you don't like me."

"I know you," Rory practically growled at him. Could his memory seriously be that short? Sure he was attractive, and he seemed very sure of himself…like life was just his oyster. She would not allow herself to find his ego super attractive.

"You do?"

Logan looked down at her. Angry really worked for her; it brought out the fire in her blue eyes and brought a nice glow to her face. He would maim Colin and Finn to leave him here to face off with her; he was completely unprepared for his charm to have zero effect on a girl. This was new territory for him.

"Your memory can't be that short, Logan!"

Rogan, as promised. As always, if you have thoughts, I'd love to hear them.