The Springhill Suites in Hartford, Connecticut was probably the least fancy hotel Logan ever considered spending the night in. Even when he was a teenager in boarding school, he had considered the Marriott low-class and but rented a room specifically because it would have made his mother cringe. No 24 hour concierge? No bellman? No way. But United Airlines had provided Logan and Rory each with vouchers for rooms at Springhill Suites, the hotel attached to the airport. He knew 2 things: 1. he was no longer traveling on the Huntzberger dime - this was painfully apparent because he was flying commercial in the first place. 2. Rory would have thought that wasting 2 perfectly good hotel vouchers to pay for a different hotel was ridiculous. So - he was going to figure out a way to sleep with less than 800 thread count sheets and not have piles of tripled milled French soap.

Once the shuttle bus stopped and all 40ish people grabbed their luggage and filed out, Rory stood frozen on the sidewalk. Logan stood with her and furrowed his brow. "Ace?" he asked. She didn't respond. "Ace, something going on in that head of yours?"

Before she could say anything, thunder crashed very loudly and she jumped. He grabbed both of their bags and put his arm around her. "Come on, let's get inside."

She sighed and ended it with a very exaggerated pout on her face.

They stood their a minute in the lobby, silently until she said, "I need to let Mom know what's going on. She's expecting me to call and say I've landed, so I need to let her know about the delay. Besides, if she worries, she will call. Often."

Logan grinned, "I'm guessing she can be persistent?"

Rory nodded. "You know Lorelai."

Rory sat down on a couch in the lobby and made her call to Lorelai. She kept the call brief and left out important facts, like Logan's presence how confused he was because of his presence.

By the time Rory was done with her call, the line for check in was gone and it was time for Logan and Rory to check in. Rory stepped up slightly ahead of him and handed over her voucher. The clerk immediately assumed she and Logan were together so she asked, "What type of room for you and your husband?"

Rory stammered a little and coughed. Logan finally spoke up and said, "We're not married. We will each need a room," as he slid his voucher across the counter.

The clerk looked at both of them and said, "Oh, I'm so sorry. I just assumed..."

Rory said, "Its fine."

The clerk asked for their IDs and began processing the rooms.

"Ms. Gilmore, will a room with a king size bed be okay?" the clerk asked.

Rory nodded. She accepted the proffered plastic key card with an automatic, "Thank you."

"Mr. Huntzberger, a king as well?"

Logan nodded and thanked her. He then asked, "Can you recommend anywhere that will deliver dinner this late?"

The clerk said, "Well, you might be able to get pizza delivered this late, but that's about it." She handed him a badly-printed paper menu.

"Thank you, pizza sounds great." Logan nodded at her.

The lightning crashed again so loudly that it sounded like it was in the hotel with them.

Rory yelped and grabbed Logan's arm. "Its okay, Ace. Just a storm," he said as he rubbed her upper arm.

She realized she was clinging to him. "Sorry, I'm just not myself today," as she pulled away from him.

Logan frowned. "Okay..." he said as he trailed off, for once not knowing what to say.

Rory looked around for a minute and finally found what she was looking for. "Oh, there are the elevators," she said as she started walking toward them.

Logan followed after her. "Right." He tried and tried to figure out how to stay in her presence for the rest of the night. He knew we wouldn't be able to sleep (maybe ever again) with her in the same building.

After the elevator arrived, Rory walked in while Logan held the door for her like he always did. She silently pushed 7 for her floor and looked at him for his floor. "Oh... Right." He pulled his card envelope out of his pocket and said, "7 as well."

They stood silently in the elevator for a minute and Rory finally quietly said, "She thought we were married."

Logan didn't move a muscle and said, "Yep."

She didn't move either but sighed deeply and loudly.

The elevator dinged signaling that they had arrived to the 7th floor. Rory grabbed her bag and walked forward slowly. "I'm sorry, Logan. I'm not ready to get married."

Logan stared at the floor. "I can see that," as he blinked back tears.

Rory left him standing there in the elevator while she started down the hall to her room. When she got to her room, she glanced down the hall and saw him stopping at a door further down the hall. "Good night, Logan."

"Good night, Ace," he replied quietly as he slipped inside his room before he crumpled against the door. "So close," he thought as he kicked the floor.


Rory pushed the door to her room closed and then latched the security bolt. She leaned against the door and sighed. Logan was just down the hall - and they just kissed. And she made a point of telling him that it was over for good. And once she closed the door, she felt like it really WAS over for good. Maybe this was the universe giving them the closure that they needed.

Rory's stomach rumbled and she thought about dinner - and the fact that she hadn't eaten in a while - and Logan had the pizza menu. She could go back to the desk and get another menu and order her own pizza. She didn't need Logan for pizza. Or anything else. She decided to do just that. She put all her luggage on the bed and grabbed her phone and purse. It was time to be her own person and it was going to start with dinner. It was almost 8pm so it was the perfect time for dinner. Maybe they could deliver alcohol too? Its always time for pizza and tequila when you're trying to forget about Logan freaking Huntzberger!

Just as Rory put her hand on the door to begin unlatching the locks, her phone rang. It was a number she didn't recognize - might be someone from Hugo's company.

"Hello?" she answer.

"Rory Gilmore, please?" asked the person on the other end of the line.

"This is Rory. Good evening." she said.

"Hi, Rory. This is Steve Baker. I'm the assistant to Jerry Adams at the San Francisco Chronicle."

"Hi, Mr. Baker. What can I do for you?"

"Rory, we received a resume from you last month. We have an opening for a fact checker on our International Desk. Jerry really needs someone to start as soon as possible. He asked me to call you - he's seen your work in the Yale Daily News. Is there any way you have time for a phone interview?"

"Um... this is so unexpected."

"Rory, I realize that and I'm sorry to call you so late. We're about to close for the day and - oh, you're probably on the East Coast, so it must be late there. Again, I'm sorry. But if you're at all interested, can you speak with him?"

"I... um..."

"Rory, he's in his office waiting to be patched through to potential candidates. If you don't want to speak to Jerry, I can keep going through resumes."

"He wants to speak now?!"

"Right now. Do you have time to talk?"

Rory finally realized what was happening and got her crap together. She already had a job. Hugo was counting on her. Logan was down the hall. The thunder was crashing outside. But this was an opportunity. "Yes. Thank you. I have time to speak with Mr. Adams right now. Thank you again." She sat down on the ottoman in front of the couch and straightened her back.

"Sounds good. Standby for Jerry..."


35 minutes later, Rory knocked wildly on Logan's door. "Logan! Logan! Please open the door! Logan!" She continued knocking.

About thirty seconds later, she saw Logan exiting a door 2 doors down the hall. "Rory?" She looked up quickly. "You okay?"

"Who's room are you in? What is happening?" she interrogated him.

His eyes widened and he said, "Well, not that its any of your business, but MY room."

"This is your room!" She screeched at him.

The door she had previously been banging on opened and an older woman in a track suit opened it. "I can assure you that this is NOT his room. Can I help you? I apologize for the delay, I was getting dressed."

Rory's face went white. "Oh, no. I'm so sorry. I was mistaken. I'm sorry to bother you."

"No problem." and she closed the door and was gone.

Logan stood there with his arms crossed and his trademark smirk. "So, Gilmore. What can I do for you?"

Rory smiled a sheepish smile. "Sorry about that. I thought for sure this was your room," as she bit her lip.

"I figured," he grinned at her. "Are you hungry? I ordered too much food."

She nodded. "Starving, but I have another problem."

"Come on, we can discuss over pizza and soda," he said.

She followed him to his room. As they entered the room, her nostrils filled with the smell of pizza. He gestured to the couch and she sat down. He silently passed her the remote for the television. "Thank you, but we should talk first."

As they each grabbed a slice straight from the box, he asked, "So, what's on your mind?"

"Well, I have another job-related dilemma."

"Is Hugo giving your drama or something?"

She shook her head. "No, nothing like that." She took another bite of pizza and chewed thoughtfully.

"Well?" he prodded.

"I just got a call from the Chronicle."

"The San Francisco Chronicle?!" Logan set his pizza down and stared at her.

She nodded. "I had a phone interview. They offered me a position as a fact checker for the International Desk. They need someone right away." Logan's mouth dropped open. "I have to let them know by tomorrow."

"What are you going to do?" he asked her.

"I've already made a commitment to Hugo."

Logan nodded, "Sure, but this is the Chronicle. This is a huge opportunity."

Rory nodded quickly. "I know! I can't believe it! I have no idea what to do!"

Logan stared at her and took a big bite of pizza. "What did Lorelai say?"

"I haven't told her yet. I haven't told anyone. I hung up the phone and ran down the hall to you!" she shrieked. "What the fuck am I going to do?"

Logan chuckled. It wasn't often that Logan got to see manic, unhinged Rory and it was kind of fun. "Relax, Ace. What do you want to do?"

"I HAVE NO IDEA!"

Logan burst out laughing. "Well, you have to decide tonight. What about a pro/con list?" He got up and grabbed a notepad and pen from the desk and brought it to her.

Rory grabbed a slice of pizza and said, "Well, here goes nothing!"


Four hours later, Logan asked Rory, "Are you sure you're happy with your decision?"

She lifted her head from his chest and kissed him. "So happy." She kissed him again. "What about you?"

"Happy that you're coming to San Francisco to live with me?" She nodded. He kissed her on the forehead. "Um, yeah. I literally have everything I've ever wanted."

Logan rolled over so that he was laying on top of her. He dipped his head down to kiss her again. "Rory, I love you." He picked up the sheets and looked down at their naked bodies. "I really, really love you. All of you."

Rory giggled and said, "Yeah, that's never been the problem. You know I'm still not ready to get engaged, right?" He nodded and kissed her again.

"But... are we back together?" He looked deep in her eyes and wrapped his hand around the back of her neck. "Please?" She shrugged and tilted her head as if thinking about it.

"I don't know..." He kissed her neck and she giggled. "Logan!"

"I'm going to keep doing this until you agree to take me back," he murmured against her neck.

"If you ever break up with me again, we're done." She grabbed his face and looked him in the eyes. "If you ever break up with me again, or walk away with no explanation, we're done. You will NEVER see me again. You won't have a chance to explain, you won't have an opportunity to do crap. Do you understand?"

He looked her in the eyes and said, "Yes. I'm sorry and I promise it will never happen again. Ace, I'm sorry."

She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close. "Ok. And I'm serious." He buried his face in her neck and nodded.

"I love you, Rory. And I understand." He pulled back and looked at her and said, "I won't ask again, but you need to tell me when you're ready to get engaged. Because my feelings haven't changed. If you want rid of me, you're going to have to do it. Otherwise, you have to tell me when you're ready to get married. All I want is you, Rory Gilmore."

"And all I want is you, Logan Huntzberger!" She shouted and kissed him hard.

Logan said, "So I guess you have to call Hugo... and probably Lorelai... and let them know about your change of plans."

"I will. In the morning," she said as she wrapped her arms around Logan again and kissed him with a big smile. "And after that, we'll go home. Together. To California."


THE END