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Rory sighed and looked around the empty apartment. Though she was excited to move to Palo Alto and start her next chapter, she felt as though she was leaving a piece of herself here. Logan set the last box down in the hallway and turned back to look at Rory.

They'd spent yesterday packing the last of their things and had taken turns driving to Hartford where Emily and Richard had kindly set up a storage locker for them as well as storing a few things in their pool house. When they left New Haven, Rory would return to Stars Hollow while Logan was staying with Honor and Josh while he sorted out what to take with him from his parents' house and what he would leave behind.

"Rory? Are you ready to go?" Logan asked. Rory turned and nodded before joining him in the hallway. After Logan had locked the door behind them for the last time and picked up the box, the two of them headed to the elevator. Rory bit her lip as they stood in the elevator and watched as the door to the apartment was concealed by the sliding doors. She sighed and looked at Logan, who looked back at her knowingly. "I'm going to miss this place too. It's where my life with you truly started," he said.

"We were happy here, weren't we?" Rory said. It wasn't a question. Logan nodded and shifted the box to one arm so he could hold Rory's hand.

"Yup, but I'll be happy wherever we end up because we'll be together. Are you sure you don't want me to come to Stars Hollow?" Logan asked. The previous night, during a takeout dinner eaten on the apartment's living room floor, they'd discussed Logan going with Rory to Stars Hollow and whether or not she would be staying there until they left for California. Rory didn't think Lorelai was done with whatever she had up her sleeve, and when they'd come home from the pub, she and Logan had stayed awake until nearly 2:30 in the morning trying to figure out what had been going through Lorelai's head when she told the townspeople about Luke and Lane being invited to Rory's graduation and then their engagement. Rory nodded.

"I'm sure, but just in case things don't go well, can I call you?" she asked. Logan nodded as he released her hand to slide his arm around her waist and hugged her to him.

"Of course! Of course, you can, Rory, you don't even need to ask. Say the word and I'll come as fast as I can," he said. By this time, they had reached the ground floor of the building, and after saying goodbye to the doorman and the security guard on duty, they stepped into the warm May sunshine. Logan unlocked his car and set the box on the front passenger seat before he turned to Rory and pulled her into his arms.

"Don't forget grandma wants us to come over tomorrow and help with the invitations for the engagement party," Rory reminded him. Logan nodded and kissed her quickly. He was surprised and grateful to Emily for planning their engagement party on such short notice. He never thought he'd be helping to address invitations for his engagement party, but he was looking forward to spending more time with the elder Gilmores and building his relationship with them.

"See you later, Ace, drive safe," he said before kissing her one more time.

"See you later, you too. Text me when you get to Honor's," Rory said. Logan nodded before the two of them separated and got into their cars. On her way out of New Haven, Rory stopped at a Starbucks for coffee before continuing her drive to Stars Hollow. As she drove, Rory thought about Lane's phone call on her graduation day. While she and Logan had been packing, she'd managed to keep her mind off of what the residents of Stars Hollow would say, but now that she was driving back to her hometown, her anxiety about it was starting to rise.

Growing up, she had always thought of Stars Hollow as a tight-knit community, and to a certain extent it was, but when she'd moved away from home to attend Yale Rory had realized that there was a line between being close and being too close. She loved the people of Stars Hollow and always would, but she wasn't okay with knowing everyone's business and having everyone know hers. Rory gripped the steering wheel as she thought about Lorelai telling the townspeople about her engagement and their reaction. She was dreading returning home and having to listen to the tidal wave of opinions that were surely coming her way.

An hour later, Rory had arrived in Stars Hollow. As she came out of the stationary store with some empty boxes, she heard her name being called and turned around to see Babette and Miss Patty hurrying towards her.

"Rory, sweetie! You're home! Now we can do the re-enactment of your graduation ceremony. We all wanted to come so bad, sugar! How come that boyfriend of yours didn't try and get extra tickets for the whole town, he's loaded isn't he?" Babette said in one breath. Rory raised her eyebrows and busied herself with putting the boxes in her car before taking a deep breath and turning around to face Babette and Miss Patty, who were looking at her expectantly along with Taylor who had joined them. Rory drew herself up to her full height and squared her shoulders.

"First of all, Logan is my fiancé now, Babette. Second, it's very rude of you to assume he could get tickets for the entire town because he has money. We will not be doing the reenactment because Logan and I are moving to California next week and I have a lot to get organized before we leave. My graduation from Yale wasn't about Stars Hollow, it was about my fellow graduates and myself. Logan tried to get tickets for Luke and Lane because I said how much I wished Luke could be there," Rory said. She spoke calmly but she could feel the slow burn of anger beginning in her belly. Before anyone else could say anything, Taylor jumped in.

"Of course, we're doing the reenactment, Miss Gilmore. It was decided at the town meeting that there would be a reenactment of your graduation ceremony for those, aka the people standing in front of you and the rest of our town, who were not invited," "Taylor- "Rory started to say but she was cut off, "Secondly, your engagement was discussed at the town meeting, how do you expect to survive in a strange city without the people who raised you? That and the fact you're too young to get married," Taylor finished. Rory's fingers curled into fists and her cheeks became flushed.

"No, we are not doing the reenactment! I already stated my reasons as to why not to Babette and Miss Patty and you were standing right there when I said it! What's next, you want Logan to reenact his proposal to me?! That won't be happening and I won't be alone in Palo Alto, I'll be living with my fiancé! The same man I have been with for three years! I am twenty-two years old, Taylor! I am old enough and more than capable of making my own decisions for the next chapter of my life, which I am embarking on with the one person I love more than anything in the world!" Rory snapped.

"Rory, honey, just listen to us. You're making a big decision that impacts not only you but the rest of us! We thought the plan was for you to go to college and then become an overseas correspondent. You've always been so focused on your dream and now all of a sudden, you're throwing those away for some boy," Miss Patty tried to explain. Rory shook her head in anger, she'd had enough.

"Well, I hate to break it to you Patty, but this isn't your life, it isn't any of your lives, it is mine! It's my life and I'm the only one who gets to decide how to live it and who is going to be in it! I'm not throwing anything away; I just found a new dream that I want to come true!" Rory shrieked. Looking around, she saw a lot of people watching the confrontation, including Theresa and Lindsay Lister, but she was too angry to care. She turned back to the three people in front of her and shook her head. "You know something, I'm not going to miss this town. I'm not going to miss having my life discussed and judged and having all of you try to push what you want onto me. I'm not going to miss people who have no concept of boundaries." With that, Rory turned on her heel and got into her car before driving towards her mother's house.

Rory sighed as she folded another shirt and put it into the suitcase Emily had lent her to pack more clothes and any other belongings she wanted to take with her. She'd already loaded two of the boxes she had labeled "Donate" and "Storage" into her car, and had packed all of her books and the rest of her shoes into the remaining two boxes. She paused as she picked up the blue dress she had worn to that disastrous dinner, if you could call it that, at the Huntzbergers. Rory chewed her bottom lip as she held the dress in her hands and looked at it. Did she leave it at her mother's house? Take it to California? Donate it? Put it in storage? Burn it? No, despite the bad memories associated with the dress, it was far too pretty to burn. Rory pursed her lips and put the dress in the box holding her shoes. She looked around her mostly barren room, all that was left were her clothes. Rory lifted the box holding her books and carried it out to her car before she returned for the final box. She was just packing the last of her clothes when she heard the front door open and close. A few seconds later, Lorelai appeared in the doorway. Her eyes took in the empty room before focusing on Rory, who placed the last pair of jeans into the suitcase before she zipped it shut and turned to face her mother.

"I heard about the confrontations," Lorelai said. Rory snorted.

"Stars Hollow gossip mill strikes again, ladies and gentlemen," she said sarcastically.

"Rory, did you have to say what you did to Patty, Babette, and Taylor?"

"Did you have to act the way you did on my graduation day? And did you have to come back here after and tell the whole of Stars Hollow about my engagement before I'd had a chance to say anything? Mom, not only did you take Logan's generous gesture and twist it into something horrible, but you ruined what should have been one of the happiest days of my life!"

"Well maybe you shouldn't have told us about your engagement on your graduation day then," Lorelai said, not wanting to admit Rory was right. Rory's mouth dropped open.

"Are you serious right now?! I wanted to share that with you and dad and grandma and grandpa! They're all happy for me and Logan, Grandma even gave me advice to talk to Logan and figure out where we were headed next, so why can't you be happy for me?!" Rory shouted.

"BECAUSE THIS WAS NEVER PART OF OUR PLAN! You weren't supposed to get engaged at twenty-two and sign your life away to some trust-fund brat, Rory, that was never supposed to happen! I can't be happy for you because I think you're too young to get married. It will impact your career; you won't get to travel to different countries and report on the events there. You wanted to be an overseas correspondent, the next Christiane Amanpour, remember? That's always been the plan," Lorelai yelled back, the words she'd been wanting to say to Rory for the last two days, to talk sense into her, finally coming out. Rory shook her head.

"My dreams have changed, Mom. I still want to be a journalist, because I love writing, but I don't want to be worried about my safety in the middle of a warzone or being taken hostage while I'm on assignment. I still want to work in journalism, but I want a life with Logan too. I don't want to have to choose between my career or love when I can have both, it doesn't have to be one or the other," Rory said.

"No, no, Rory listen to me. You have always wanted to travel and write about the events in the world. Reporting on the action, sleeping in tents, the excitement, that's the part of the job, you have always wanted that," Lorelai said, only to be met with another shake of Rory's head.

"No, Mom, that isn't what I want. You're the one who has always craved excitement and adventure, remember? Being an overseas correspondent sounded good, but it doesn't give me stability or someone to come to at the end of the day. I would spend more time on a plane or a bus than I would in my own home. Logan is who I want to come home to at the end of the day, not at the end of a month or a year," Rory said, her voice shaking.

"Why does it have to be him, Rory? Why can't you travel and be in a long-distance relationship? You two have done it before," Lorelai said.

"It's him because he's my true love! I love Logan more and more every single day. My love for him grows every day if that's even possible! I told you at the vineyard I thought he was my one and he is! I know that, I've known it for a long time. We've done long-distance and it sucked! You wouldn't understand because you've never been in a long-distance relationship but I know what it's like to live without Logan, even for a year, and we both know we don't want to do that again. What did you think was going to happen after I graduated, that Logan and I would go our separate ways?"

"Yes! That's exactly what I thought would happen, Rory. I thought he would be your college sweetheart, I never expected him to ask me for your hand and that you would say yes!" Lorelai exclaimed. Rory's head was spinning.

"Well, I did say yes. It's obvious you were hoping I would say no, it's written all over your face! Logan and I love each other and we are going to get married! I don't want to walk away from him and look back ten years from now and wonder what if! If you can't be happy for me, that's your problem!" Rory said as she picked up the suitcase and slung her purse over her shoulder. She couldn't stay here.

"Where do you think you're going?" Lorelai demanded.

"Away from you! I'm not going to stay here for the next week and listen to your pathetic attempts to talk me out of the decision I've made," Rory snapped as she pushed past her mother. She walked down the hallway to the front door, Lorelai following behind. At the door, Rory turned to look at Lorelai, whose face was a mask of anger. "You know what makes me sad? I thought you were starting to understand and accept Logan after you saw how Mitchum treated him at Martha's Vineyard last year. Your words and actions over the last few days have proven otherwise," Rory said quietly before she turned to the door and pulled it open.

She shut the door behind her and headed down the porch steps of her childhood home. Rory opened the passenger side door and settled her suitcase and purse in the front seat before closing the door and walking around to the driver's side. She took one last look at the house and drove away, one destination in mind.

Thirty minutes later, Rory pulled into Richard and Emily's driveway. How strange this house used to seem daunting and foreign to her, and now she was coming here for comfort. Leaving her bags and boxes in the car, Rory held her purse in one hand as she knocked on the door with the other. She heard footsteps on the other side and the door was opened by Emily.

"Rory! What a lovely surprise! We weren't expecting you until later today. I – Rory is something the matter?" Emily stopped and studied her granddaughter. She took in Rory's pale face and her wet looking eyes. She ushered Rory into the house before shutting the door behind them and leading Rory into the sitting room. Once they were seated, Rory spoke.

"I, um, I just got into a big fight with Mom, and I – I didn't know where else to go so I came here. I'm sorry I should have called first," she said.

"Nonsense, Rory! You know you're welcome here anytime!" Emily said before turning to the maid who had entered the room. "Danielle, would you please go and tell Mr. Gilmore that his granddaughter is here? And then could you bring us some tea, please? Rory, what kind of tea would you like?" Emily asked.

"Peppermint, please, if you have it," Rory said. Emily nodded to the maid who nodded back and disappeared. A few moments later Richard arrived and took in the scene before him. Emily was holding one of Rory's hands while smoothing her hair with the other.

"What is wrong? What's happened?" Richard asked as he sat down and steepled his fingers together. Emily told him what Rory had told her before she lapsed into silence and Richard rolled his eyes in frustration. He started to speak only to be stopped by a look from his wife, who turned to Rory.

"Rory, what was the fight about?" Emily asked. Rory took a couple of deep breaths before she told them about the confrontations that day and Lane's phone call from two days ago. The maid brought the tea in while Rory talked and Emily nodded a thank you at her.

"I don't know why Mom can't accept the fact I'm marrying Logan! I love him, and she's acting like our engagement and upcoming wedding are a death sentence!" Rory sobbed before taking a rather large gulp of tea. Emily and Richard looked at each other, they were at a loss of what to do. Rory sniffled as she set her tea on the table in front of her and opened her purse to look for a pack of Kleenex.

"Rory, I assume you're not staying with your mother while you and Logan prepare to move?" Richard said. Rory shook her head as she dabbed at her eyes.

"No, I actually don't know where I'm going to stay tonight or for the next week. Maybe I'll just go to a hotel," she said hoarsely.

"Don't be silly, Rory, you'll stay here! Your things are here and we have a lot to do before the engagement party. We can go shopping one day and get you a new dress and some shoes, maybe invite some of your girlfriends along and make a girls' day of it?" Emily suggested. Rory nodded.

"I would love that, Grandma. That reminds me, Logan and I made the list you requested for invites," Rory said. She reached into her purse again and took out the piece of paper before handing it to Emily.

"Excellent, we can work on the invitations tomorrow and send them out. Now, how much luggage do you have in your car?" Emily asked.

"I have some boxes and a couple of bags," Rory replied.

"All right, why don't you leave them for now, go and have a nice bubble bath and then lay down for a little while? I just bought some lavender scented bubble bath and body oil I think would do wonders to help bring your nerves down," Emily said. Rory nodded as she and Emily stood up.

"That sounds good, Grandma, thank you," she said. Emily nodded and led Rory upstairs. Once her granddaughter was settled with some comfortable clothes and the bath running, Emily headed back downstairs and rejoined her husband.

"What are we going to do Richard? Can Lorelai not see how much she's hurting Rory?" she asked. Her husband shook his head.

"Oh, she can see she's hurting her, but she doesn't care. All we can do, Emily, is be there for Rory and Logan. Let them know they have our support no matter what," Richard replied. Emily had to concede her husband was right. As the two Gilmores sat there, lost in their own thoughts, the doorbell rang. Before Emily could get up to answer it, the maid made her way to the front door and they heard her greet someone before closing the door. She appeared a few seconds later with Logan behind her.

"Hello Richard, Emily. I hope you don't mind my dropping by like this but Rory texted me and said she was here. Did something happen?" Logan asked. Emily nodded as she gestured for Logan to take the seat across from her. Richard handed Logan a drink before settling back in his seat. Logan looked from Richard to Emily, who both sighed before Richard told him what had transpired between Rory and Lorelai and some of the Stars Hollow residents earlier that day. Logan felt a cold feeling grow in his stomach as he listened, was this what waited for him with his own family when he and Rory announced their engagement?

"It feels like for every person who supports us, there's people against us. How can we make this easier?" Logan asked.

"I'm not sure there is a way to make things easier, per se, but something you can remember is when you and Rory are faced with a problem, it's not the two of you on opposite sides of the issue, it's the two of you against the problem, son. You remember that, and you will be able to get through anything," Richard said. Emily nodded in agreement.

"Another thing you must remember is love is stronger than anything else in the world. The love you and Rory share, Logan, will get you through some of the hardest and darkest days of your lives. Good times, bad times, your love will only grow and prosper through them all," she said gently. Logan nodded as he brushed his hand over his eyes. He could only hope he and Rory would be like Emily and Richard and not like his parents. Emily watched him with a soft smile on her face.

"Why don't you go check on Rory, and when the two of you are ready come down and we'll order dinner in?" she suggested. Logan nodded and Emily got to her feet to lead him upstairs. Once she'd shown Logan the bedroom Rory was settled in, Emily left him alone. Logan carefully pushed open the door before stepping through and shutting the door softly behind him. Rory was fast asleep on the bed, one hand tucked beneath her cheek. Logan removed his shoes and socks before padding across the room and carefully settling onto the bed next to her. As he lay down and wrapped an arm around her, she cuddled closer and rested one of her arms across his stomach. Logan rubbed the spot between her shoulder blades and exhaled.

"We won't let them win, Ace. I promise," he said.