disclaimer: don't own Gilmore Girls

A/N: Wow, can't believe it has been so long since I posted. This has been in the writing for a while. Part of it was written since I first sat down but needed to find the right spot to have it work. I really wanted to get a few months into the trail time - remember she graduated in late May, so this picks up in late August. I am trying to incorporate ideas and suggestions from the reviews I receive, so if there is something you think would work well, feel free to leave me a note and I will consider it. For the next couple of weeks, I am finishing course work and then we move so no promises that updates will be speedy, but they will come - eventually.

The second half of July found her back on the east coast, and both of them had been working really long days. Fortunately, Obama wasn't one to make up lies, so most of Rory's time was spent doing additional research to provide different perspectives or compare and contrast articles. As they adjusted to the new routine, Rory started to send Logan her recap on the day as they doubled as her notes for writing up her bi-weekly article for Hugo. Logan got up extra early so he could read his morning news by Ace before heading out to bring on as many news outlets into social media's newest and fastest growing company with Mark. In the meantime, he was also starting to make connections and have thoughts on his own spinoff creating a consolidated online platform to publish newspapers or journals, an idea that had come to him at a conference. This would let him combine his knowledge of the newspaper business and the opportunities available in tech.

The weeks began to blend together. The time difference between her and Logan was challenging, as she was mostly on the east coast. They did get a weekend together in mid-July and another in mid-August, both in Nevada, Logan was able to make the trip and they holed up in a hotel room with a lot of room service. Rory only left for the speeches Obama gave during the 3-day stops.

During the long bus rides and their hotel room time, Rory and MK started developing a friendship. They talked about why MK was following Obama instead of Clinton or McCain, as she was doing the video logs or VLogs, and how she felt that Obama was reaching the younger audience by utilizing the internet and social media. And while politically she didn't agree with a lot of his positions, she felt she could learn from him in the approach to using technology to expand the interest in politics to the younger voters. MK had a wide variety of friends, making Rory or Leigh as MK knew her, feel comfortable. Rory wasn't ready to make any revelations, but they were slowly starting to tell each other stories. Rory could talk all day about the antics of Star's Hollow and slowly, MK began to open up about how she thought she would never find anyone and one night they talked a bit about relationships. Rory did most of the listening and offered up insight that her Mom had found the perfect guy, but it had taken a while, so don't worry.

By late August, talking to her Mom was no longer torture, she was focused on the wedding and Luke. The date had been selected as 27 DEC as Obama was going to stop campaigning over Christmas, and Rory had agreed to be the Maid of Honor while Sookie was the Matron of Honor. She listened to her Mom talk about the wedding and then later she would listen to her Grandma tell her about how Lorelai was doing it all wrong. Never one to upset the boat, Rory agreed with both of them and tried to gently steer each one closer to the other so there wouldn't be as much fighting.

"Rory, she needs to have a proper wedding. After that, well, I don't really know what that thing was in Paris, so she needs to do this right."

"Yes, Grandma, but she wants a small wedding."

"A small wedding can still be done right, not a three-ring circus in that crazy town of hers."

"Grandma, that is her home and those clowns are her friends."

"I know, but still, it is winter and she deserves a proper wonderland, it is what she deserves, talk some sense into her. She won't let us pay for it. Our only daughter and she won't let us pay." Rory heard the pain in Emily's voice, she really wanted to be helpful and supportive, it is just that was not really Emily's strength, she sighed and thought about a way to let Emily help while not giving her control.

"Grandma, I will talk to her. Sookie is going to do all of the cooking, maybe I can convince her to accept money so she can hire more staff to help on the actual day."

"Oh, that would be lovely, yes, we will plan to pay for the staff, of course, getting competent staff these days, is just impossible."

"Grandma, Sookie has some great people who have worked for her. I am sure we can hire them."
"Well, if you think they can do the job; otherwise, there is an agency"

Rory cut her off, "Grandma, please let me talk with Sookie."
"Ok, dear, well, oh, your Grandfather just walked in - Richard, Richard, Rory is on the phone, do you want to say hello?"

Rory smiled, she loved her Grandma, but talking to Grandpa was just so much more enjoyable. "Why, yes, Emily, I would"

Emily, returned for farewell, "Rory, thank you, we will talk again soon. I miss you at Friday night dinners, thank you for calling."

Rory and Richard discussed the trail and her latest articles.

"Rory, this online stuff, is really hard for me, but I do check for your work each day, I just miss it being in the newspaper." Rory took a deep breath, she hadn't told Logan yet, but she would be calling him soon.

"Grandpa, can you keep a secret, well, at least until after I tell Logan?"

"Of course."
"One of the stories I did for Hugo, well, it caught the attention of the southeast region's AP political editor, so I am working on a new piece that examines the differences between Obama and Clinton and if they like it then it will be picked up by the AP. He said that if that went well, then I am invited to submit additional pieces for the wire. I just have to make sure that whatever goes to the AP is distinct from my work with Hugo. I talked with Hugo and he is completely supportive."

"Oh, Rory, that is, well, I just knew you would take the world by storm. I am so proud of you."

"Thank you, Grandpa."
"Is the name Gilmore going to be attached to that?"
Rory's shoulders slumped, she knew that was important to him, that he could brag about her and show off the Gilmore name. "I am not sure yet."

"Well, Rory, that is ok. I will know it is you and I am proud of you."

"Thank you." she could hear the disappointment in his voice but appreciated that he wasn't pressing the issue.

Rory was feeling good, her stories as Leigh Danes were getting positive responses, and the opportunity with the AP was on the horizon. She was making a name for herself and didn't feel like she was taking advantage of being Logan Huntzberger's fiancee.

It was two weeks before Labor Day weekend and they were going to California for Obama to campaign there. She was practically walking on air thinking about being in the same time zone as Logan for an entire week. It had been nice having the time in Nevada, but this would be a chance for her to go home for a few days too. MK was out of the room working on a vlog and Rory had just gotten out of the shower feeling good. She hears her phone ringing and gabs it.

"Hello?"

"Um, I just found out that you were in New Hampshire and you couldn't be bothered to stop in and say hello to your best friend? What happened, too good for me now? You know I am stressed about starting medical school and everything that is going on with Doyle, that he is following me to Boston and well, he actually got a job writing at the Globe and now I think he is going to propose and he might try pressuring me to marry him before I am ready and how am I supposed to handle all of this without having you to talk to? And I was okay with you not being there and just being a phone call away until I found out that Obama has been to New Hampshire twice and one of those times he even made his way to Hartford. Am I not good enough to fit into your schedule? Thanks a lot, Gilmore"
"Hey, Paris, I am great, and you." Rory needs to finish drying her hair and pushes speaker on her phone.

"Oh, don't play coy with me, you and I both know you picked your fiancee over me"

"Um, and mother, grandparents, future sister-in-law, Paris, I was hoping to visit, but the time was really short and my Mom is engaged and it was going to be weeks before I would see Logan again." Rory walks toward the bathroom. She has the volume up on the phone, not that it was really needed with Paris on the other end. She doesn't hear the door to the room opening as she is walking into the bathroom.

"Gilmore, we both know you didn't stand me up for your mother or grandparents or even your Huntzberger future sister-in-law. I heard you spent all of your extra time with Logan, yeah, Doyle found out from his two failure friends, that he picked you over them. Now, I can understand why blondie would want to be with you more than with those bozos, but how could you pick him over me, Rory? Doesn't our time together at Chilton and Yale count for anything?"

Rory is rolling her eyes and gauging how much longer she can count on Paris to continue her self-pity rant before she expects an answer or at least an acknowledgment. She has the towel over her head and she walks out to grab her phone, picking it up she sits down on the bed with her back to the door, taking it off speaker. "Paris, I am sorry we didn't get time together when I was in Hartford, I really did intend to see you and Lane, but I ended up flying out of Hartford straight to South Carolina. Turns out that Honor is pregnant and Logan and I wanted to spend time with her and Josh before the baby is born and that was our last opportunity. Plus, Luke finally asked my Mom to marry her and we started doing some wedding planning while she was there. It was a really nice time and I needed it with Logan. Come on Paris, he is my fiancee and we have only seen each other for about 10 days since we got engaged after graduation."
She can hear Paris breathing, not exactly calm, but at least reasonable. Her head comes up as she finishes playing with her hair when she sees MK standing next to the door in the mirror with her mouth hanging open. "Um, Paris, I need to go."

"What is it now Gilmore, blondie calling?"

"Ah, no, I think my alias is blown," with that she pressed end.

Mary Kay is standing next to the door, she has closed her mouth, but it is still very clear that she is in shock.

Rory stands up and turns around to face her.

"You, are Rory Gilmore?"

"Yeah."

"You are the fiancee to Logan Huntzberger? You have been keeping this a secret for how long? Why? Why would you do this?"

"Well, I didn't want people to think I was, you know, getting ahead because of who I'm going to marry."

" But Leigh or Rory or whatever your name is and we will discuss that part later. This is the news. It's journalism. It's who you know. You know, that's how you get your leads. That's, that's how you find out information. This is Hollywood and being a model or movie star, it is journalism and networking."
"Yeah, I know the difference" Rory is feeling very awkward, she is biting her lip as she listens to MK not knowing how to respond, "But, I wanted people to know I could write and wasn't just given a job because of my connections."

MK looks like she is going to explode and she practically screams, "It's called networking.

Rory shakes her head, "Well, actually, Logan, I mean, Logan's not even in the news business anymore."

MK is starting to collect herself, "Oh, my god, don't be ridiculous. He might not be in the business directly, but he has a name. He, he has a name that will help you get your pieces in front of the editor of the New York Times or the Washington Post, or whichever newspaper you wanna get into. I mean, I can see why you wouldn't wanna work for his dad. From what I hear, he is kind of an asshole. But, you know, still, as a reporter, you should know it is all about connections, and networking. And still, the Huntzberger name will get you places."

Roy takes a deep breath. "Yeah, but I wanna prove that I can do these things on my own. I don't need help or connections, I am a good writer and I don't want people to think the only reason I am on staff or getting published is because of who I know."
"Fair, but come on Leigh, you really think any reputable paper is going to publish crap just because of who you are sleeping with? The industry is changing and it is getting harder and harder to get these jobs. They want quality not skirts. You are a good writer and damn, your reputation as Rory Gilmore on the Yale Daily News was solid. With your background no one would have thought for one second the only reason you were hired is because of your fiancee." she took a deep breath, "So what other connections do you have? Who else do you know?"

Roy kind of looks sheepish, "Well, I met Christian Amanpour and well, she gave me her card and said I could send her stuff for her to review."

"Have you sent her anything?"

"Well, no, I mean, no, cuz you know, I, I wanna prove myself."

"oh my God, Rory, seriously, or Leigh, or whatever your name is, what the fuck? Did you grow up under a rock? You don't just allow contacts and networking to go untapped. Did no one teach you that? This is so important to utilize every single network and resource you have. I mean, that's how it gets done. Like, look, I, I'm conservative. If there's anything we Republicans learned, it's to network. You get to know everyone. And let me tell you if I wanna get something published or I wanna get on TV, which is my goal, is to actually get onto Fox News, I'm not going to go out and say, oh, let me go play my station, my, my video blog for the guy who's living on the street. I mean it is great if the random person is watching, but that is not gonna help me get my job. But hey, I mean, like, if I run into Bump, into Bill O'Reilly, or you know, anybody else, I'm gonna be like, Hey, have you checked out MK blogs? And I can guarantee you if I had Christian Amanpour's contact information, I would be 100% sending her things and asking her like, what do you think? Is there a way for me to punch this up? Would you mind being a mentor? I mean you don't just randomly send her stuff, obviously, you ask, would you be my mentor? But I mean, my God, it is Christian Amanpour, if she's willing to actually read your stuff. Come on Rory, you gotta use these connections. And let's face it, Huntzberger like you really wanna have it out there that he's dating someone or he's engaged to someone, but not stake your claim as to who it is that you're engaged to.

He's incredible. He's so hot."

Roy's just sitting there looking overwhelmed, everybody's been telling me I should network. Have I been doing it all wrong? Do I really need to use my connections? Will people really think that I can write even if I am connected to the Huntzbergers? After sitting there for a moment, she looks at MK and says, "Yeah, he really is hot. Like super hot. But back to the networking thing. So I don't know, my mom always told me that I had to do it on my own, prove myself, and like not to use any connections.

But really, you think I should use my connections?"

MK looks completely relieved that Rory is not just repeating her line, "Oh my God, Rory Journalism is shrinking. They are hiring fewer reporters. It is harder and harder to get a job and it is going to keep getting harder. This online world is going to change the face of journalism. There are going to be so few jobs out there. You have got to make it. And if you're not willing to utilize your network, why would people wanna network with you? I mean, think about it. If you are someone who knows Logan Huntzberger and somebody is trying to break into the journalism online world, and they know that you have a contact in social media who's huge do you really think that they are not going to ask you for a contact or to at least look at their stuff and see if you would be willing to help them out? You're an excellent writer. People are gonna read you. I mean, let's face it, people aren't gonna read your column if it's crap. People don't wanna read terrible writing. Especially not if you're at a serious newspaper and with your contacts, you can be at a serious newspaper. You don't need to go to the second, third, or fourth tier. And if you wanna make your way up in the online world, that totally makes sense. I mean, Logan left HPG to go online. It's a clear win-win. You do the online journalism, he does the online social media - you guys will be an unstoppable team. But anyway, work your contacts, work your connections, and then be the person that other people, people wanna be connected to. Let them come to you and say, Hey, I'm really interested in this and can you help me?"

Rory is still not sure what to do, chewing on her lip, she has to acknowledge now that MK knows that she is Rory Gilmore. "Look, I am going to need time to process all of this, so, I'm Rory on the trail, but I think I'm gonna keep writing under Leigh Danes, at least for the foreseeable future. I kind of like it, it, it's a little freeing to be able to write that way and not have everybody kind of associate me with the other stuff. I don't know, it just, I like it."

"Okay, sure. That's what you want. I mean, Leigh Danes is definitely getting a lot of hits and I've noticed that on social media there are a lot of shares and they aren't just coming from Logan Huntzberger. I mean you're making it, and from what I heard, you might even be like looking at some possible freelance or some syndication or whatever it's called."

Rory walks over to MK, and extends her hand, "Hi, I'm Rory Gilmore."

MK shakes her hand, "I'm Mary Kay, nice to meet you, Rory. And tomorrow I will introduce you to everyone on the bus."

Rory swallows, "Ok." She knows her days as Leigh Danes are coming to an end. She feels a bit bad for Luke, he liked her using Danes, and it doesn't mean she can't use the pen name in the future or keep using it for her work with Hugo and then publish under Gilmore with the AP. She just needs to make sure they know she goes by both names so there is no conflict of interest.

She walks out of the room and finds a private spot, looking at the time, she texts Logan: "Time to talk?" watching the screen closely "Yes" she sighs in relief.

Hitting Logan's number she starts in as soon as he answers,

"Logan, she knows, she knows, I can't believe it, how could Paris? Why, why do I answer the phone when it is Paris, but I was alone in my room? I am such an idiot. I put the phone on speaker and Paris of course, Paris can't keep her big mouth shut. This is the woman who announces on TV that she lost her virginity, why would I think it would be safe to let Paris speak in my hotel room? Logan, what am I going to do?"

"Hi Ace"

"Hey"
"Um, having some problems tracking here."
"What have you figured out?"

"Paris did something."

"Wow! You are a genius."
"Thanks" She can hear his smirk.