Logan lay back on his bed and thought about the almost-kiss that had just occurred that night. It had come out of nowhere. If they'd hadn't been interrupted what would have happened? Logan had mixed feelings on the subject. Part of him was longing to kiss Rory again, the other part of him felt that his heart was betraying him. Rory had hurt him so badly, he just wasn't sure if that was a road he could go down again.

Rory had put Lily straight to bed when she got back to the pool house. She was really glad that as she was tired out from all the excitement of meeting new people, she was happy to go straight to bed as she desperately needed some thinking time. Once she had settled her daughter, Rory poured herself a large glass of wine and relaxed onto the sofa to relive the events of what almost happened. They had almost kissed! Rory had no idea whether it was herself that instigated or was it him? She wasn't even sure that was something she really wanted and yet, she couldn't help feeling a little disappointed that they had been interrupted.

"Lorelai's House of Pain…."

Rory cut her mother off before she could go any further. "Mom, one day you're going to do that to the wrong person you know."

"Duh, we have this new-fangled technology these days, you might have heard of it. It's called caller ID…."

"Whatever" Rory laughed.

"So, what can I do for you dear daughter, I am presuming that at this time of the evening, this is not just a social call…" Lorelai asked.

"Not really. I just needed to talk to someone." Rory said tentatively.

"Gee I feel special" Lorelai joked "Sounds ominous kid. Shoot."

"So…I went to dinner at the Huntzbergers house tonight, you know, so we could break the news about Lily and introduce her to them."

Lorelai was a little surprised. "Really?! And how did they take it?"

"They were a bit shocked, obviously, as you would be, but they took it surprisingly well actually. But that's not what I need to talk about." Rory said firmly.

"It's not. Okay…I'm all ears"

"When we were saying goodbye…Logan and I we…nearly kissed." Rory said quickly.

"Oh my gosh Rory, what a startling revelation. Whatever you do, don't let Emily Gilmore know that you're kissing boys now….she'll have that Reverend back around faster than you can blink…."

"Mom!" Rory sighed.

"What!"

"Be serious!"

Lorelai laughed. "Sorry kid, but you and Logan have kissed like a million times. Maybe more. I know. I've had the unfortunate experience of walking in on you two making out on more than one occasion. That boy can certainly go for it huh!"

Rory groaned and rolled her eyes. "I knew I should have called Lane instead"

"Okay, I'm being serious. So you 'nearly' kissed, what does that mean." Lorelai asked.

"Exactly that. I gave him a hug goodbye and then we just nearly kissed." Rory said reliving the moment in her head for the hundredth time.

"And what stopped you?"

"My cell phone – thanks for that timely interruption mom!" Rory had checked her cell as soon as she had got in the car and had seen that it was her mom messaging her a dirty limerick.

"Ha, okay, whoops, it was good one though wasn't it?" Lorelai said getting distracted. "So anyway, who was the instigator of the kiss? I mean was it you moving in for the kill or was it him because that makes a difference."

"I don't know that's part of the problem. Both of us maybe? I honestly don't know." Rory was so confused.

"And how did you leave things then?"

"I got in my car and drove home. Ugh, this is so awkward." Rory said slapping her palm against her forehead.

"Well, is it what you want Ror? I mean, did you want him to kiss you?" Lorelai asked gently.

"Yes. No. I don't know." Rory said indecisively. "No. It's not what I want" she said firmly, although Lorelai couldn't help but think it sounded a lot like Rory was trying to convince herself rather than offer up a firm declaration of what she truly wanted.

"It's not," Lorelai said resolutely. "Definitely not."

"No. Logan and I, we can't get into that right now, if ever. I mean, he's only just getting to know Lily and it's been a long time sine we've been together. Trying to make a relationship work now, it will just complicate things, right?"

Lorelai nodded. "You're probably right, but there's obviously still some feelings there. Or maybe you just really really need to get laid."

"Mom!"

"What?! All I am saying is that it's been a while since you got any bow chicka wow wow action, am I wrong? I'm not wrong am I…" Lorelai teased her daughter.

"No but…I can't really see how that is going to help things." Rory rolled her eyes even though Lorelai couldn't see.

"This kissing thing. Perhaps it's not really about Logan, perhaps you're just missing that intimacy you know. You've decided you're not going to get down and dirty with Logan so maybe what you need is a date to take the edge off. Ooh, what about with that whatshisname that my mother tried to pair you off with" Lorelai said eagerly.

"Carter? Well, he did message me the other day asking me to meet up…"

"Can't hurt can it?" Lorelai encouraged. She knew that Rory needed to relax and let her hair down a bit. And maybe, just maybe, she thought that going on a date with someone else would help her understand her feelings for Logan. Lorelai was nothing but sneaky and underhand sometimes when it came to helping Rory to make decisions – it was always meant with love though!

"Guess not, I did like him." Rory nodded to herself "Okay, you're right, I'll call him back. There's nothing to lose right?"

A few days later Rory found herself getting ready for her first date with Carter. She hadn't seen or heard from Logan since they'd nearly kissed which she thought was a little bit unusual as he'd been pretty much omnipresent over the past few weeks but she figured he was perhaps feeling as awkward as her about the near-kiss experience and she tried not to read too much into it.

Carter had been really quite pleased to hear from Rory and she was even half-excited herself to be going out on an actual date, and getting dressed up. It was a long time since she'd been out to dinner with a man she wasn't related to, so she spent a little extra time pampering herself and making sure she looked her best. She picked up her clutch bag and ran to the door when she heard her date arrive.

"Wow, Rory, you look amazing," Carter said with a smile as he handed her a bunch of flowers.

Rory took the flowers and put them on the side table. "Thanks, Carter" Rory said blushing slightly. It was a while since she'd be complimented by someone she didn't know very well but it was nice to know that her efforts had been appreciated. She'd decided to play it safe but sexy with a fitted black dress which had a slightly daring backless design, paired with strappy black heels. She had curled her hair lightly and kept her make-up simple with a flash of red on her lips. She'd always been a 'less-is-more' kind of girl when it came to jewellery but had settled on the diamond chandelier earrings she had received as a 21st birthday present.

"Are you ready to go?" Carter said holding out his arm for her to take.

A short drive later and they pulled up outside a restaurant in Hartford called The Capital Grille. Rory had passed by several times but had never been before.

"I hope this is okay for you?" Carter asked somewhat nervously as they took their seats at their table. "I wasn't really sure what you would like and I've heard this place is really good."

"This is great" Rory smiled. "Wow it all sounds so delicious," she said looking at the menu. After some deliberation she settled on the prosciutto wrapped mozzarella for her appetizer, followed by the fresh Maine lobster and finally finished off the meal with warm double chocolate cake with port wine infused cherries and ice-cream.

The date had been what she would consider a success. She'd had an enjoyable evening and her mind had definitely been taken away from Logan. While she wasn't sure that there was any real chemistry between herself and Carter she had enjoyed his company.

"I am so full, I don't think I could eat another thing," Rory said picking up her glass of wine. Just as she took a sip, out of the corner of her eye she noticed the people sitting in the booth on the other side of the room. She couldn't believe that out of all the restaurants in Hartford, Logan and his family would be dining in the same one as her and her date. She hoped that they would be able to leave without them seeing her. Rory knew she wasn't doing anything wrong but she just didn't want any awkward moments to ruin what had been a nice evening.

After Carter had paid the bill, he went to collect their coats. Rory was just waiting by the entrance to the restaurant when she heard someone call her name.

"Damn!" she thought to herself before turning around to see Honor bounding towards her with a beaming smile.

"Fancy seeing you here Rory! You look a-mazing, that dress is gorgeous on you. Are you just arriving?" Honor chatted enthusiastically.

"No, I've just finished dinner actually I'm just on my way…"

"Isn't it delicious?" Honor interrupted "I've eaten so much I think they're going to have to practically roll me out of the door in a moment" Honor laughed "Are you here with friends?"

"Um, sort of…" Rory started to say.

"Logan! Look who is here!" Honor called her brother over enthusiastically.

Rory pursed her lips. This is exactly the scene that she had wanted to avoid. She looked up to see Logan approaching with his parents and Josh trailing behind.

"Rory, I wasn't expecting to see you tonight" he smiled. She smiled back as his parents greeted her and silence fell on the group.

Well, this couldn't really be any more awkward, Rory thought to herself. Except as with all these situations - it could get more awkward and it did when Carter arrived back with her coat.

"There you are, sorry it took so long Rory, they couldn't find one of the coats." He said as he walked back over to her.

"Thanks," she said as she took her coat out of his hands.

"Are you ready to go?" he said gently placing his hand on her lower back. Logan glared at Rory as Carter's hand connected with her bare skin. Rory held his stare. Carter looked up at the people that she was now stood with and smiled at them. "So sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. Are you friends of Rory's? I am Carter Hamilton" he said breezily.

Logan went to open his mouth but Rory jumped in. "Yes, these are some old friends of mine." She said quickly. Logan scoffed and Rory rolled her eyes. This wasn't exactly where she wanted to have this conversation with her date or anyone for that matter but she wasn't about to start letting Logan have the upper hand. She was sure that Logan probably thought that she hadn't told Carter that she had a child.

"In fact, this is Logan, he is Lily's father" she smiled sweetly.

"Oh…right," Carter said. "Nice to meet you." He said sticking out his hand.

Logan paused long enough for it to feel like he was going to leave him hanging but eventually he took his hand and shook it firmly. "Likewise."

"Hamilton….are you Spencer Hamilton's boy?" Mitchum asked.

"Yes sir, I am." Carter nodded.

"Ah very good, very good" Mitchum smiled. "Me and Spencer, we go back a long way, he's a good man".

Rory couldn't take much more of Logan staring at her. "I'm sorry to rush out on you guys but I really have to get back now for the sitter. Carter, could we…? It was nice seeing you all." She said as she walked away.

Carter dropped Rory home. There was the awkward moment when they didn't quite know how to say goodbye to each other. Carter would have loved to have kissed Rory and earlier in the evening he had thought that was perhaps how the night would have ended but there had been a shift in Rory's mood so he settled for a chaste kiss on her cheek after he walked her to the door.

She had only been in the pool house for a few minutes when there was a knock at the door. Half expecting it to be Carter back for some reason she jumped up and opened it, surprised to find Logan standing there.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

Rory raised her eyebrow and gestured for him to enter. "What are you doing here Logan?" she asked him pointedly.

"You were on a date?" he asked her incredulously. She didn't answer him immediately. "Well?"

"Oh come on Logan, you know I was," Rory said throwing her hands up in the air.

"You never told me that you were dating anyone. In fact, when I asked you if you were seeing anyone you said no. Was that just another of your lies?" Logan said slightly bitterly.

"I'm not seeing anyone! It was just one date, that's all." Rory said, wondering why she was explaining herself to her ex-boyfriend.

"Well you looked pretty cosy"

"He's a nice guy," she said simply.

"You should have told me" Logan demanded.

"Why! Why do you care? It's none of your business" Rory said, frustrated.

"It's absolutely my business who you bring into our daughter's life," Logan said firmly.

"Oh for heaven's sake Logan. You're going to start to tell me what I should and shouldn't be doing with Lily? You've only been in her life for five minutes." Rory yelled. She immediately regretted the cutting words she threw at him.

Logan looked at her open-mouthed. "Are you for real? That's my fault?! That's real nice." Logan said shaking his head before walking back out the door.

"Logan, I didn't mean…" she started to say before Logan cut her off.

"Forget it, Rory."