As soon as Rory had agreed to move into the house with him, Logan put in an offer which was accepted immediately. The house was vacant, the previous owners had already moved out and so they only had to wait a little while before they were able to take possession of it. A few weeks later they found themselves in an office downtown ready to sign the papers and collect the keys.

"Okay, I just need you to sign on that line there Mr Huntzberger," the clerk said indicating to a space on the document "and then Miss Gilmore you will need to sign next to that."

Rory looked up at the clerk confused and then over at Logan. "What am I signing?"

"This is to formally register the property – you need to sign the document so that both your names are registered as owners" the clerk answered.

"Oh, okay but I am not the owner, Logan is," Rory said.

"Ace…we're going to both own this house" Logan smiled.

"I don't understand," Rory said shaking her head.

"I don't want it to be MY house, I want it to be yours too. If I just own it, you're always going to feel like you're a guest in my house. I don't want that, do you? It's got to feel like your proper home."

Logan had thought long and hard about entering into this with Rory but he knew that the only way it was going to work was if they were equal partners. He hated the idea that she might feel that she couldn't treat the place as her own and so he had decided the best way forward was for them to be joint owners. What might happen in the future didn't really worry him too much – he viewed it as providing for his family, and whether he and Rory were together or not he would always want to do that.

"I guess…but…it's a lot you know? I mean, you can't just buy me a house!" Rory said. She was struggling to comprehend what Logan was doing. It was one thing to ask her to come live with him, another thing altogether to actually give her a share of it.

"I haven't" Logan smiled "I've bought you half a house" he added.

Rory rolled her eyes.

"Honestly, it's no big deal Rory, please don't over think this – I didn't mention it before now as I knew you would do anything to stop me. At the end of the day it's my responsibility to support Lily and by extension of that, you as well." Logan shrugged.

"But I can't afford to contribute anything right now…" Rory grimaced. She felt a bit embarrassed that she had no spare money right but with studying and not having a job things were often tight and her dad had been providing for her up until now.

"I know! I'm not asking you to but if it means that much to you, I'm sure one day you'll be back working and you can contribute then in whatever way you want to. Hell, maybe I'll be a stay-at-home dad for a bit and you can support me and my expensive golfing habit." he winked as he handed Rory the pen.

"You don't play golf," she said dryly, as she took the pen out of his hand and hesitated, hovering over the dotted line. "Are you really sure about this Logan?"

"Absolutely"

"Where do you want these boxes love?" Finn asked as he walked into the house balancing two heavy boxes full of books.

"Better ask the lady of the house," Logan said as he walked past carrying another box.

"Logan, it's been a long time since I call you love," Finn shouted.

Rory stood by the door with her hand on her hip and brushed her hair out of her face with the other. "Erm, I don't know. Maybe in the main living room…no, the sitting room."

"Come on love make a decision, I'm not as strong as I look" he winked. "Some of this is just for show…"

"Definitely the sitting room, follow me," Rory said leading the way.

Finn followed Rory into the small sitting room that was just situated off the entrance foyer. They already had a large living room that led straight into the dining room so they had planned to use the smaller room as a study. Finn placed the boxes on the floor just as Logan walked in with another box of books.

"Rory, the delivery guy has just turned up outside with the furniture for Lily's room. I'm not sure where you want it…"

"I'll go" she nodded. "Thanks, Finn," she said as she walked out of the room.

"So," Finn said looking at Logan "You're still on casual dating terms but you're moving in together…how does that even work?" he asked.

"Just like it sounds" Logan shrugged "I am going to live here, Rory is going to live here."

"But you're not together, together are you?"

"Not at the moment," Logan said quietly.

"So…what are the sleeping arrangements? I mean, you're not sharing a room or anything?" Finn raised an eyebrow.

"Not that it's really any of your business but no" Logan shook his head. "We have our own rooms, it's still early days in the whole dating thing. I think we both need our space. Plus, there's no way on earth Rory would have agreed to come live with me if that had been the offer that was on the table."

"And just how long are you both going to carry on living in denial?" Finn laughed.

"We're not in denial!" Logan said "We're just taking things slowly, for Lily's sake…but yeah, me and Rory together, that is the endgame."

"I give it one week until you're in the same bed," Finn said pointing at Logan "One week!"

After a really long day of shifting many many boxes around and arranging and rearranging their new furniture, Rory finally went upstairs to put Lily to bed in her new room. They had not yet decided on a color scheme or theme for the room but that didn't matter to Rory at all, she was just really happy that Lily finally had a room of her own.

Once she had settled her daughter, Rory went across to her own bedroom. Logan had insisted that she take the master suite that came with its own bathroom, dressing area and sitting room and after a lot of debating the issue with him she finally relented and accepted it, realizing she wasn't going to win the battle. She took a quick shower and changed into her pyjamas before heading downstairs to where Logan was stretched out on their new sofa watching TV.

Logan lay back on the sofa enjoying a cold beer. It had been a long day and his mind wasn't really on the TV in front of him. He couldn't believe that they were actually there, together in their own house. When he'd first had the idea about Rory and Lily living with him he hadn't actually dared hope that she would go for it. He had been completely prepared for the knockback so it had come as a really pleasant surprise that she had decided to throw caution to the wind and take a huge leap of faith.

Rory walked into the living room and sat down nervously on the sofa next to Logan.

"What, are you scared I'll bite or something? Come here!" Logan said pulling Rory over to him. Rory lay down next to him and put her head on his shoulder. They were both completely exhausted from the long day of moving and so they simply lay together quietly watching TV together. Neither had the energy for much conversation.

When the show they were watching ended, Rory looked up at Logan to find that at some point he had drifted off to sleep. She smiled and shook him gently "Hey Rip Van Winkle, I think it's past your bedtime."

Logan opened his eyes slowly. "I wasn't sleeping, I was just resting my eyes…"

"Right, I've heard that one before" Rory laughed pulling Logan up. "Bed!" she said sternly.

"Wow, all you needed to do was ask Rory" he winked "but I have to say, I like this dominant side of you"

"Nice try buster, you are going to your bed and I'm going to mine," she said as she headed up the stairs.

"Goodnight Ace" Logan said as he kissed her briefly on the top of the head and they both went into their own rooms.

Rory lay back on her bed. After the busy day they'd had, she had expected sleep to come quickly but instead there she lay staring up at the ceiling. It felt weird to her that Logan was in the same house as her, sleeping in a different room. It was definitely something that was going to take a bit of getting used to, she thought as she rolled over and tried to get herself comfortable.

The first few days sharing a house went by swimmingly. They'd both settled into an easy routine and much to their relief, there was no awkwardness. It felt almost like old times, though neither of them wanted to admit that out loud.

Logan walked into the kitchen and stood by the door, quietly watching Rory and Lily. They were totally oblivious to the fact that he was there. Rory was doing her best to multi-task, trying to read the newspaper, drink her coffee and helping to spoon cereal into Lily – which was easier said that done as the little lady had recently decided that she wanted to use the spoon herself. This often resulted in anything within a five-metre radius being covered in breakfast. Logan loved the scene of domesticity that he had just stumbled upon.

"Morning ladies," he said happily as he walked over to the counter and poured himself a coffee.

Rory looked up and smiled "Morning." She said handing him the business section of the paper, which was always his favorite place to start reading. "What's your plans for today?"

"Meeting in New York," Logan said sipping his coffee. "I'll probably be back quite late tonight, I'm expecting it to be a long one. You?"

"Ah well, Lily and I have very exciting plans to go to the park. We might feed the ducks or Lily might just try and chase after them, fall on her face, cry for a little bit…" Rory smiled. Lily had recently become more confident on her feet but she was still wobbly and often forgot that she hadn't quite mastered the art of walking gracefully yet.

"Ugh," Logan said as he read something on his phone.

"What's the matter?" Rory said without looking up, too busy wiping cereal off her skirt.

"Summons for a family dinner tomorrow at my parent's house," Logan said pulling a face.

"Bad luck. I'm so happy that my grandparents have finally given up on the Friday night dinner thing…" Rory trailed off.

"Why bad luck for me? You're coming too!" Logan said.

"Me?!" Rory looked up at him exasperatedly.

"I guess they consider you part of the family now" Logan smirked "Bad luck," he said mimicking her earlier sentiments.

Rory groaned.

"Well, that was not as painful as I thought it would be," Logan said as they pulled up outside their new home after having dinner with the Huntzbergers. He still wasn't sure exactly why his parents had invited them there. Shira had said it was because she thought that they had probably been too busy to cook for themselves this week, but that seemed far too thoughtful of his mother. Nevertheless, it hadn't been a bad evening, everyone had remained cordial and his parents were pleasant to Rory which had been a concern for him since he knew that they hadn't been thrilled when the plans for their living arrangements had come to light.

"No, not at all. And your mom only actually made one small dig about us and our 'relationship' – well that I caught anyhow". Rory laughed.

Logan smiled in return. "Thanks for coming. I know there are better ways to spend your Friday night…like toenail extraction."

"You're not wrong!" Rory said getting out of the car and leaning into the back seat to get Lily out. "Oh, she's fallen asleep." Rory whispered "Logan, do you think you can get her out and carry her upstairs?"

Logan reached in and carefully unclipped and lifted his sleeping daughter. Rory was glad that she had changed Lily into her sleepsuit before they left, knowing that the car journey was normally enough to send her off.

"I'll take her up and put her to bed," Logan said as he walked into the house and Rory closed the front door behind them.

Rory went to her room and got changed into her own pyjamas. She went back downstairs to fetch a glass of water and as she headed back to her room she bumped into Logan coming out of Lily's bedroom.

"All asleep?" Rory asked.

"Out like a light" Logan smiled. "You off to bed now?"

"Yeah, I thought I'd just get an early night. I've really been struggling to sleep a bit this week, probably just being in a new place but it's starting to catch up with me"

"You want to come and sleep in my room tonight?" Logan asked tentatively.

Rory raised an eyebrow. "Logan…"

"No funny business Ace, just straight sex…" he put his hands up in defense "I'm joking, I'm joking!" he laughed as she shot him a look. "Come on, it might help you sleep a bit better," he said pulling her by the hand and into his room.

Logan climbed into bed and Rory sat uncomfortably on the edge.

"Are you going to lie down?" Logan laughed "It tends to make the sleeping thing a bit easier…"

"I just feel…weird" Rory said looking at him.

"Well don't, we've slept in the same bed a lot of times" Logan reasoned.

Rory bit her lip. "But this is a bit different isn't it?"

"Doesn't have to be?" Logan said. "Just relax…" he said as pulled Rory down and wrapped his arms around her.

Rory listened to Logan's breathing slowing down. She had her back to him but she knew that he had fallen asleep. She was finally starting to feel sleepy herself and all she could think about as her eyelids were getting heavier was how good it felt to be lying there, wrapped in Logan's arms.