Rory sipped her frappuccino as they wandered through the mall. After they'd eaten lunch, Honor had insisted they stop at Starbucks for a little pick-me-up. In her right hand, Rory held two shopping bags, one containing her outfit for the town meeting, the other, a gorgeous royal blue maxi dress that the girls had talked her into buying.

"I declare, there's no better cure for the blues than girl time, retail therapy and coffee," Steph said, linking arms with Rory as they walked. Rory was about to comment when she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. Turning her head to the side, she slowed to a stop when she saw the bridal boutique and the wedding gowns displayed in the window. Her friends paused to see what had caught Rory's attention.

"Do you want to go in there, Rory?" Rosemary asked. Rory nodded slowly.

"I do, but I also want to wait to go dress shopping with grandma," she admitted even as she looked longingly at the dresses. Honor stepped over and put a hand on Rory's shoulder.

"I'm sure Emily wouldn't mind if you went in and looked to get an idea of what you want. Brides rarely find their wedding dress on the first go," she said. Privately, Honor thought it would be good for Rory to try on some wedding dresses. The whole time they'd been shopping for outfits, Rory had been subdued, only responding with a "yes" or a "no" when asked if she liked something.

Honor didn't have to work too hard to figure out where Rory's head was at, because she had been thinking about Lane's email all day. Honor had grown up in a world where petty backstabbing and two faces were quite common, but Rory had had a different upbringing than her and the other girls. Every time Rory had talked about Stars Hollow, Honor had found herself slightly envious of Rory being raised in a close-knit community.

But she didn't feel envious anymore. No, now she felt disgusted and sad on Rory's behalf. Honor was broken out of her thoughts by Juliet speaking.

"Honor's right, Rory. It wouldn't hurt to go in and look, maybe try a few dresses on," she said. Rory hesitated and then nodded.

"Okay, let's go. I wonder if I need an appointment to try dresses on," she mused. After recycling their empty cups, they headed into the boutique. Rory looked around at the sea of dresses. "I don't even know where to start," she said, laughing nervously. A woman in a sharp black suit approached them.

"Can I help you find anything, ladies?" she asked. Rory nodded.

"Yes. My fiancé and I just got engaged a couple of months ago, and we're beginning to think about wedding plans. I saw your store as we were walking past and I wondered if I needed an appointment to try on dresses here," she said.

"Congratulations! We do appointments but we also do walk-ins. Unfortunately, we're closing in twenty minutes," the saleswoman said.

"Okay, could I make an appointment then?" Rory asked. The other woman nodded and led Rory to the counter, where she pulled out a planner and flipped it open. After a few minutes of going over available dates, Rory booked an appointment for Monday morning, which would leave her plenty of time to drive Honor and Josh to the airport. With her spirits considerably higher and her feet aching, Rory suggested to her friends that they call it a day.

While the girls had been shopping, Logan and the boys had gone into town to pick up some groceries. Since Rory and Logan had only been planning on cooking for four, they needed to fortify their meal plans since they were now cooking for ten. After that, they'd gone to check out water ski rentals and had spent a few happy hours out on the ocean.

"I've gotta say, mate, I understand why you moved out here. It's beautiful," Finn said as they all nursed a beer. The other men all made sounds of agreement.

"Do you think you and Rory will stay in California?" Colin questioned. Logan swallowed a mouthful of beer before he answered.

"At this point, I'm going to say yes. We're happy here and we're making new friends. We've gotten together with my coworkers and their families throughout the summer, Rory has met people at the cooking classes she's taking that she does stuff with, and being out here has been good for Rory, I think."

"I was going to say, she looks lighter and happier than I've ever seen her. She always looked like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders when we were at school," Robert commented. Logan rubbed the back of his neck.

"She's finally realizing she doesn't have to live her life to make other people happy," was all he said. Since they'd started going to counselling together, he and Rory had talked a lot about her upbringing, and she had let him read entries from her journal. Logan had known Rory for three years, but he hadn't realized how much of herself she'd hidden away. Her appointment with Sasha yesterday tugged at his mind as he wondered what had come up, but he knew that wasn't a conversation to be had while their family and friends were here.

The sound of the door opening signalled the sound of the women returning. A moment later Rory appeared, closely followed by Honor, Rosemary, Juliet and Steph. Rory grinned and headed straight for her fiancé.

"Well, did you buy up the whole mall?" Colin asked. Juliet shook her head.

"Don't be silly, we do have some self-control," she said, settling herself on the arm of Colin's chair while Rosemary and Steph sat on the floor with Finn and Robert. Rory sat down on Logan's lap and he kissed her bare shoulder. Josh pretended to count the shopping bags.

"You're right, I was expecting Hon to call saying that you guys needed us to come to carry your shopping bags," he said half-jokingly and Honor rolled her eyes.

"That can easily be arranged," she said sweetly. Rory and the other women nodded, and Logan, knowing full well that they could make good on their threat, signalled for them to drop it.

"What did you guys do today?" asked Rory, running her fingers through Logan's hair. Logan leaned into her touch as he placed a hand on her bare outer thigh.

"We went and picked up some more groceries and then we went water-skiing, and when we came home, we were going to sit on the deck but decided it was too hot to sit outside," he said. The other men nodded as Steph exchanged a look with the Life and Death Brigade and raised her eyebrows. Colin, understanding the look, stood and picked up an envelope that had been lying next to him.

He held it out to Rory, who smiled at him and moved off of Logan's lap so they could open it together. Logan pulled the piece of paper out and unfolded it.

"You booked us an engagement shoot, Colin?" Rory gasped. Colin shook his head and gestured to the other Life and Death Brigade members.

"It's from all of us. We knew you hadn't booked one," Steph explained. "That dress you bought today would be perfect for it, Rory!" Rory nodded, beaming.

"This is amazing, you guys, thank you so much!" she exclaimed.

"It is! I can't believe you guys did this for us," said Logan as he and Rory gave each of their friends a hug.

"Well, we know certain members of your families have not been supportive, and we wanted to let both of you know that we've got your backs and are here to support you in any way we can," Juliet said, wrapping an arm around Rory's shoulders. With throats too tight to speak, Rory and Logan both nodded. It was a few minutes before any of them spoke again.

"Where's the engagement shoot?" Honor asked. Logan checked the paper.

"Muir Woods. That's somewhere we haven't been yet!" he said. He looked at his fiancée. "We should go before the engagement shoot." Rory nodded as she read the paper in his hand.

"We could all go tomorrow before we go paddle boarding," she suggested. Rory's suggestion was met with enthusiasm and they happily chatted about plans for the next day as the ten of them worked together to make that evening's meal. Logan and Rory had planned a lobster dinner with salads, so while Josh helped Logan with the barbeque, Finn, Robert, Colin and Steph were put in charge of moving the living room furniture and putting a massive blanket down for them to eat on.

Under direction from Rory, Rosemary and Juliet prepared the salads. As Honor mixed pitchers of iced tea and lemonade, she thought of how nice it was to do this.

"When did you start cooking Rory?" Juliet asked as she mashed potatoes. Rory looked up from the cream she'd been whipping.

"A couple of weeks after we moved here. When Logan and I still lived on the East Coast I learned how to do some basic stuff when I moved in with him, but no matter how delicious they are, we can't survive on grilled cheese sandwiches and macaroni and cheese. And it's not fair to Logan to do all the cooking either. So when I started working, I signed up for cooking classes," Rory responded.

"Is it hard?" Rosemary asked. Rory shook her head.

"Not really. I mean, I had a few mishaps when I first started, but it all comes down to practice. It's like driving or riding a bicycle, the more you do it, the more comfortable you become." Her girlfriends nodded thoughtfully, all three of them had been raised in homes where the cooking was done for them, but if Rory could learn how to cook, maybe they could too.

That night, Rory and Logan's house was filled with the laughter of friends as they sat on the living room floor and ate a lobster dinner. For dessert, there were brownies with whipped cream and fresh strawberries. Happy and full, the group went outside and watched the sunset before the boys, Rosemary, Juliet and Steph headed back to their hotel.

The following day, the ten of them walked awestruck through Muir Woods. Rory and Logan held hands as they walked, heads turning to take in the glorious beauty around them.

"I can't wait to do our engagement photos here," Rory breathed as she watched a bird fly overhead. Logan clasped the hand that wore his ring tighter.

"Me either, Ace. Do I get a sneak peek at your dress before the shoot next week?" he asked. Rory looked at him with a playful smile on her face.

"I kind of want to surprise you," she said, as they stopped in the middle of the path. Logan looked at her, his brown eyes twinkling.

"Okay, Ace. I guess I can handle a little suspense." Rory grinned and kissed him.

"Think of it as practice for our wedding day, because you won't see my wedding dress until then either," she said with a wink. The camera flash startled them both and they turned to see Honor lowering the device.

"Oh, that's a good one!" she exclaimed, turning the camera around to show Rory and Logan. A wide smile spread across Rory's lips as she looked at the screen. Her forehead was pressed against Logan's while both his hands rested on her hips, her left hand curled around his bicep and her engagement ring glinting in the sun. Logan smiled too and looked up at his sister.

"Can you send us a copy?" he asked. Honor nodded and pocketed her camera.

"Come on, we better catch up to the rest of the crew," she said. The three of them walked in the direction of Finn's voice as he admired the Redwoods populating the forest.

After spending the afternoon on the water, where everyone in their party fell into the water at least once, it was time for Finn, Colin, Robert and the girls to head home. As Rory hugged each of them goodbye, she knew that the next time she saw them would be when she and Logan returned to Connecticut in a month. Only five more weeks, and she would set the record straight with Lindsay and with Stars Hollow.

Hello again! Yes, it's been a while but this summer has not been easy by any stretch of the imagination. Even as I move through the different stages of the grieving process, there are still days when I don't have the motivation to write. I don't think I will ever fully understand what happened this summer, and I thank you all for your patience as I navigate this new reality. This is a short chapter I know, but I thought Rory's final thought seemed like a good place to stop. I have the next two chapters outlined and I'm excited to sink my teeth into them.

Reviews:

YaleAceBella12: More is on the way! Thank you so much for your kind words ❤️❤️❤️

Red lighting: I'm glad you enjoyed the Emily smackdown because I loved writing it! Thank you for your condolences and I hope you enjoyed Chapter 20 ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

LissaP: I could imagine your cheering, and I love Emily's quick wit and sharp tongue too! Yes, Sookie is going to regret drinking the Lorelai Kool-Aid. As for what was in the takeout boxes, we will find out soon enough! I had forgotten the duck he prepared while Sookie was on bed rest, thank you for the reminder! Thank you for your review and I hope you enjoyed Chapter 20!

Kellybras: Thank you! And thank you for your condolences ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Guest: Thank you so much, I'm happy you love it because I'm loving writing it!

Guest: The next chapter has arrived with more to come!

Nicholsndimes08: Thank you very much for your kind words. ❤️❤️❤️❤️ You're absolutely right when you say that death, no matter how close or distantly related, can be hard. These past few months have been hard and while I didn't know either of my brother-in-law's cousins that well, I am deeply saddened by the loss of two young men who had their whole lives ahead of them, and it's not fair that they're gone. We are heartbroken still, but we are healing day by day. I'm so glad you enjoyed Chapter 20 and I hope you enjoyed this one! It makes my heart happy to know that you love this story so much!

Guest: The next chapter has arrived!

Guest: The next chapter has arrived and there's more to come!

dmpgirl8: Thank you :) Some days are harder than others so it's not always easy to find the motivation to write. I hope you enjoyed the latest installment.

Guest: Assuming this is the same person, I hope you liked Chapter 21!

Thank you, guys, for all the reviews, I'm off to work on Chapter 22!

Until next time, xoxo