Rory sighed happily, gazing into Logan's brown eyes while he stroked her hair, and rested her chin on his bare chest. "We've never had sex by candlelight," she said softly. Logan chuckled, brushing his fingers through her hair down onto her bare back.

"No, we haven't. It's something we'll have to do again," he said. Rory grinned and pulled herself up to kiss him.

"I agree. I always thought it was cliché, but now I get the appeal," she said, turning onto her side and pulling the blankets up to cover herself. Logan nodded, studying her. Her lovely alabaster skin glowed in the dying candlelight, and Logan thought he'd never seen anything more beautiful. At that moment, his stomach growled, sending them both into giggles.

"I guess we should eat something," Logan said. Rory yawned and stretched before nodding. Getting out of bed, they set about finding clothes, Logan donned a pair of pyjama pants and a Yale sweatshirt while Rory pulled on a pair of black boy shorts and one of his long-sleeved Henleys. They blew out the candles and went downstairs to heat leftover spaghetti. After cleaning up the kitchen, they headed back to bed.

"Have you heard from your mom at all?" Logan asked. Rory sighed, snuggling into him.

"Nope. I think she's repeating the whole process from when I took a semester off," she replied. Rory paused. "I know I could reach out to fix things, but I feel like she should be the one to. Does that make sense?" Logan nodded and pulled her closer.

"It does," he said. He wanted to apologize again for the rift between Rory and Lorelai, but he knew what Rory's reaction would be. This wasn't his fault, neither of them was at fault. Their families were the ones who would miss out on their lives if they couldn't accept them. A part of Logan hoped that his family and Lorelai would come around, but the logical part of his mind told him it wouldn't happen any time soon.

"What about you? Have you heard anything from your parents or grandpa?" Rory asked. Logan shook his head.

"No, but I heard from Honor. I think she's getting antsy to come visit, she dropped several not-so-subtle hints during our phone call today." Rory chuckled and tucked her head against Logan's shoulder.

"We should extend an invite then. They could come this weekend or next," she suggested. Logan hummed in agreement and they spent a few more minutes discussing a visit with Honor and Josh before kissing each other good night and turning the lights off.

Emily and Richard were seated in the sitting room when Danielle walked in. "Mr. and Mrs. Gilmore? There are some people here to see you. I believe they were here for the engagement party," she said.

"Send them in, please, Danielle," Emily instructed. The maid nodded and left the room. A moment later, Finn, Colin, Robert, Juliet, Rosemary and Steph appeared. Emily and Richard looked at each other in surprise, they hadn't expected Rory and Logan's friends to come and see them of their own accord. Steph stepped forward.

"We're sorry to drop by unannounced, Mr. and Mrs. Gilmore, but we had an idea that we wanted to run by you," she said.

"All right, let's hear this idea. Please," Richard gestured to the furniture and their guests sat down while Emily asked Danielle to arrange some refreshments before retaking her seat. Richard steepled his fingers together and observed the six young people sitting in front of him.

"We know that traditionally the engaged couple arranges an engagement shoot, but given everything that happened before Rory and Logan moved, we thought about surprising them with an engagement shoot in Palo Alto," Colin said, with his friends nodding by his side.

"What a marvellous idea! Do you have a location in mind?" Emily asked. Finn nodded, taking some folded papers out of his jacket and passing them to the Gilmores, Richard putting on his glasses as he did so.

"We all did some research, and we narrowed it down to these two places, Muir Woods and Marin Headlands," Finn said. Some photographs fell out of the papers as Emily unfolded them. Picking them up, her breath caught at the stunning images.

"My goodness, these are lovely!" she exclaimed, taking in the forest scenery. Richard nodded as he peered at the photos.

"That's what we thought too. We looked at some of the libraries in Palo Alto, but you'd be hard-pressed for good lighting in there, and there's so much more to play with when you're outside," Juliet explained as Danielle re-entered the room with a tray of drinks and snacks.

"Thank you, Danielle. Well, I certainly think either of these spots would work fine," Emily said as she handed around drinks. Danielle tipped her head in acknowledgment and turned her attention to Richard.

"Excuse me, Mr. Gilmore? There's a phone call for you in the study. A Mr. Luke Danes," she said. Richard and Emily looked at each other in surprise and a bit of worry. Luke's situation had crossed their minds more than once over the last few weeks, and the fact that he was calling now was troubling. Richard got to his feet and followed the maid out of the room.

"Luke? That's the guy who owns the diner in Stars Hollow, right? Rory told us about it," Rosemary questioned. Emily nodded.

"Yes, that's him." Emily paused, wondering if the young people in front of her knew anything of what was occurring in Stars Hollow. If Rory and Logan hadn't said anything, then Emily wasn't sure if she should.

"Mrs. Gilmore, are you all right?" Steph asked, watching the older woman in concern. Emily came back to herself with a start.

"I'm fine, Steph, thank you. I think both of these are beautiful spots, the photos will be stunning! I'm sure Rory and Logan both have attire that would suit either of these. How do you plan to pull this surprise off?" Emily asked. She settled back in her chair as Steph outlined their plan: in a few weeks, the six of them were planning to go and visit Rory and Logan. As she talked, Emily found herself thinking once again what wonderful friends Rory and Logan had. She knew, that if it came down to it, the six people sitting in front of her would step up and help plan the wedding along with Honor and Josh.

In the study, Richard picked up the phone. "Luke! To what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked, settling down in his desk chair. Luke rolled his shoulders and looked around at the small apartment above the diner.

"Do you have time to meet tomorrow?" he asked haltingly. Richard raised his eyebrows. He could hear in the younger man's tone that there was more he wasn't saying, and Richard wondered what was afoot.

"I do have time tomorrow. Why don't you come to the house at two?" he suggested. After Luke confirmed that two o'clock would work for him, they said their goodbyes and Richard went back to rejoin his wife and their visitors.

The next day, Luke arrived at the Gilmore residence promptly at two. He was quickly shown into Richard's study where the Gilmore patriarch and his wife were waiting.

"What can I do for you, Luke?" Richard asked. Luke raised his eyebrows and rubbed a hand over his mouth.

"I'm thinking about franchising Luke's," he said to the great surprise of Richard and Emily. The two of them looked at each other before turning their attention back to the diner owner.

"I have to admit, I wasn't expecting that. What made you decide this?" Richard asked. Luke sighed heavily.

"My business is suffering," he said before telling them about the treatment he and his staff had been receiving. As Emily and Richard listened to Luke's account, they had to agree it would be in his best interests financially to expand his business. When Luke finished talking, Richard assured him that he would bring some of his business associates on board and they could begin scouting locations as soon as possible.

By the time Luke left the Gilmore residence, he felt better about the situation. While he was emotionally tied to his dad's hardware store, he knew that if he wanted to have enough money for retirement, he had to branch out. Richard had convinced him that the lawyers and other business associates he was planning to bring in were at the top of their fields and would lend their expertise in every way possible to ensure the franchise succeeded.

As he drove back to Stars Hollow, Luke wondered if there was a way he could keep the diner in town as his home base and travel to the other locations a few days a week. His thoughts turned to Rory and he smiled sadly as he thought how much she would have liked to have had a Luke's diner near Yale when she was still a student there.

Rory nervously jiggled her foot as she sat in the waiting room. She usually had counselling at the beginning of the week, but Sasha had reached out to her last week to ask if she would mind changing their Tuesday appointment to Friday this week as something had come up unexpectedly.

Rory had agreed and worked out a plan with Logan. Honor and Josh were flying in today to spend a few days with them, and she and Logan had decided he would drive her car to work and the airport while Rory took his car. They were planning to take Honor and Josh on a hike this weekend and do some sightseeing. Rory smiled as she looked at the faint but visible tan she was beginning to get. She and Logan had gone hiking the weekend before, and Rory had been surprised to find she was enjoying it. Feeling the warm sun on her face as she breathed the fresh air in, Rory regretted all the years she hadn't been active due to Lorelai's influence, but that was changing. They had plans to go paddle boarding with Josh and Honor this weekend, and Rory was excited to try being out on the water.

"Rory?" Sasha's voice sounded, jolting Rory back to the present. Grinning sheepishly, she stood up and followed Sasha into the room. "You looked like you were in very deep thought out there," Sasha remarked as they sat down in their usual spots. Rory let out a soft laugh.

"I guess I was. I was just thinking about how much my life has changed since I moved out here now that I'm not letting my mom's opinions influence mine," she admitted.

"Yes, you've said that your Mom has always called you her mini-me," Sasha said. In their last session, Rory had begun to open up a bit more to Sasha about her relationship with Lorelai and her upbringing. She'd told her about their unhealthy habits of eating junk food and never exercising because Lorelai hated exercise, and she'd told her how they ate out for every meal, which had made Rory wonder how her mom had managed to keep the lights on. "Did you ever want to learn how to cook, Rory?" Sasha asked. Rory shook her head.

"Not when I was younger. My mom told me that the stove was the devil's hands, and we didn't have a stove or oven in the first place where we lived," she admitted.

"Where was the first place you lived?" Sasha questioned gently. She'd seen the subtle but certain change in Rory's body language as she spoke the last part of her sentence. How she'd curled in on herself while twisting her engagement ring around on her finger. Rory swallowed hard and mumbled something. "Can you repeat that?" Sasha prompted kindly. "You don't need to be ashamed Rory; this is a judgment-free zone." Rory licked her lips and spun her ring faster.

"Um. . . the first nine years of my life, my mom and I lived at the Independence Inn. Or more accurately, we lived in the potting shed on its property," she said softly. Haltingly, as though she wasn't sure if she should say more.

Sasha sat stunned as Rory's words sank in. Normally, she was good at pushing her feelings down to help her clients, only allowing herself to feel them when she was home in her own safe space. This time though, she couldn't school her features, and Rory saw the horrified look on her counsellor's face.

"Your expression mirrors my grandma's when she saw where we used to live," she said quietly. Sasha took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself before answering.

"She didn't know?" Rory shook her head.

"No, my grandparents only became a regular part of my life when I was accepted into Chilton. She'd come to Stars Hollow to spend time with me that day and I took her to the Independence Inn so she could see where Mom worked. After that, I showed her the potting shed and she left really fast. A few days later she called me asking what kind of stuff I liked so she could design a room for me at their house," Rory said, blinking away a few tears that had made their way out of her eyes. Sasha held out a box of tissues, which Rory accepted gratefully.

Sasha let Rory have a few minutes to calm herself. As she observed the young woman in front of her, Sasha thought about how to move the conversation forward. If her instincts were right, this was a topic Rory hadn't discussed very much, if at all, with anyone else. Rory took a couple of deep breaths.

"Are you okay to continue?" Sasha asked. Rory nodded. "Okay. Did anybody know you were living there? In the potting shed, I mean?"

"Mia did. She was the owner of the inn and she said we could live there rent-free while Mom worked as a maid. I was only a year old when my mom ran away from my grandparents' house." Rory paused. "I wonder sometimes, I mean I could be wrong, but I think had my grandparents known, they would have tried to get custody of me had they known what our living situation was. Does that sound crazy?" Sasha shook her head.

"It doesn't sound crazy at all, from what you've told me about your grandparents, they love you very much and want the best for you. Frankly, I'm surprised no one called CPS on your mom. Both she and Mia could have been arrested and charged for child endangerment." Rory nodded, the harsh reality of her early years shattering the last of the rose-coloured glass she'd viewed her past through for so long. She remembered clearly her puzzlement at her grandmother's reaction at the potting shed, but as she'd grown older, Rory had begun to realize and understand Emily's reaction. Her grandmother's heartbroken, horrified expression flashed before her eyes.

Rory couldn't say how she got through the rest of that appointment and confirmed a time for the following week, nor could she explain how she was able to drive home and not get into an accident.

She saw her hand reach for the door handle and push as though it was someone else's, mechanically stepping into the house and shutting the door behind her. Rory sagged against the door before sinking onto the floor and placing her forehead on her knees.

Today was the first time she'd cried in a counselling appointment, and as Rory sat there, tears coursing down her cheeks and falling onto her bare thighs, she wasn't sure if she was crying out of sadness or anger. Maybe a mix of both. Sadness that it had taken her so long to understand the conditions she had lived in as a toddler and young child were unsafe and unsanitary, and angry that her mother and Mia would put her and her development at risk like that. Why? Rory wondered as she sat there. Why didn't Mia send Lorelai back to Hartford? Why had Lorelai put her own needs and desires above the safety and shelter needs of her daughter's? So many questions beginning with "Why?" were swimming in Rory's mind. Somewhere through the anger and sadness, she felt a small glimmer of relief that she had come to this realization now, in therapy, and not before or during Mia's wedding. She had never been good at faking her emotions, and Rory knew she would have found it hard to be happy for Mia when there was so much anger and sadness swirling beneath the surface.

Eventually, her body began to protest sitting on the hard floor. Rory grunted as she got to her feet, shaking out the cramps in her legs and bringing feeling back into her feet. She walked over to the couch and settled herself against the cushions, pulling a blanket over her lap and reaching for her journal and pen on the coffee table. Flipping to an empty page, Rory began to write about her appointment. About the emotions and realizations that had come up during and after.

For half an hour, the words poured out of her and onto the page before her pen halted. Rory stared at the five pages she'd filled, faintly acknowledging that this journal was almost full and she would need to buy a new one. As she read her words about her childhood and relationship with her mother and the emotions surrounding them, she no longer felt the burning of anger. In its place were exhaustion and waves of sadness crashing over her.

Rory looked at her watch. It was 3:30 now, Logan would be off work in 45 minutes and then he would be picking up Honor and Josh from the airport. Rory bit her lip and looked over at the corner where her yoga mat leaned against the wall. This wasn't something that yoga or meditation could fix. Rory pulled her purse onto her lap and felt around until her fingers found her phone.

Pulling the device out of her bag, Rory found the number she was looking for and dialled. The phone only rang twice before it was picked up.

"Hello, Gilmore residence," Emily said as she flipped through some papers. She stilled her movements as she heard a shaky breath on the other end.

"Hi Grandma," Rory squeaked out as tears made their way out of her eyes. Emily quickly got to her feet.

"Rory? What's wrong, sweetheart? Did something happen to Logan?" Emily questioned as she walked towards the stairs, intending to pull out her suitcase and start packing at the slightest indication from Rory.

"No, no, nothing like that. Logan's fine. I just – I had a rough counselling appointment today and I wanted to talk to someone," Rory said. Emily stopped at the foot of the stairs. Her heart warmed at the thought Rory had chosen her to talk to before it squeezed in worry. She turned around and walked back to the sitting room, where she sat down in one of the armchairs.

"Tell me about your counselling appointment, dear. What did you and Sasha talk about today?" Emily asked. Rory took a deep breath and started talking. She was unable to get the words out without crying, and Emily felt her own eyes getting wet.

"I'm so sorry, Grandma. I never understood why you were so horrified about the potting shed," Rory whimpered. A few tears trickled down Emily's cheeks. When she spoke, however, her voice was steady.

"Rory, you have nothing to apologize for. If anyone should be apologizing, it's me. I'm sorry we didn't try harder to find you both. If we had known where you were-" Emily broke off. There were a great many things she would have done when it came to her granddaughter, but that couldn't be helped now. Rory shivered and pulled the blanket more tightly around her.

"I know, you would have tried to help us. That's all you've ever done is try to help. I'm – I'm really glad I decided to start accepting it, Grandma," she said softly. Emily nodded, even though Rory couldn't see her.

"I am too, Rory. Are you still happy with your choice to go to counselling?" she asked.

"Yeah, I am. It's helping me. I don't think I've told you this, but in my very first session Sasha recommended I try journalling, yoga and meditation to help my anxiety, I've been doing those every day and it's making a big difference," Rory said, a smile spreading across her face.

"My goodness, Rory, that's wonderful! Yoga is so beneficial for your health! Does Logan do yoga with you?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, he's tried it a few times. He does yoga with me and I go hiking and biking with him," Rory said, smiling. She felt lighter now than she had an hour ago.

"Well, that sounds lovely! Do you have any pictures of where you've gone hiking?" Emily asked.

"No, I don't. I've forgotten to take my camera the last few times, but I'll try and remember to take it this weekend. Honor and Josh are coming to visit so we're going to take them hiking and paddle boarding. Do you think you and Grandpa would want to do those things when you come visit?" Rory said eagerly.

"I don't know about the paddle boarding, but I think your grandfather and I could do a hike," Emily said, marvelling at the changes in her granddaughter.

"Okay, we will scout out some hikes to take you guys on. It's so pretty here, Grandma, and there are many beautiful places to go hiking. How are things with you and Grandpa?" Rory asked.

"Oh, things are fine here. I've been busy with the D.A.R. and your grandfather has been splitting his time between the office and the golf course. Speaking of which, he should be home soon." Rory smiled as she made a mental note to scope out some driving ranges where she could practice her golf swings.

"Well, I'm glad things are going so well for the both of you," she said.

"Thank you, Rory. I'm glad you're enjoying California and that you're benefiting from therapy. You kids have fun this weekend," Emily said.

"We will," Rory said. After promising to talk again soon, the Gilmore women hung up and Rory went into the kitchen to make some tea. As the kettle boiled, Rory thought about how her relationship with her grandparents grew stronger and deeper, while her relationship with her parents declined. She was still furious with her father for the stunt he'd pulled at her and Logan's engagement party and she sincerely hoped that the Haydens would have the sense to stay far away from her after her words to them.

Where Lorelai was concerned, Rory's sessions with Sasha had opened up a new view into who her mother was, and the view was not a pretty one. The kettle whistled, jolting Rory out of her thoughts. She filled her mug with the water, watching as it turned from clear to the green colour of peppermint tea. Picking up the mug, she carried it over to the couch and sat down, pulling the blanket over her legs before reaching for her laptop.

Rory logged into her email account and grinned as she saw two emails from Paris and Lane. She clicked open Paris' first and settled in to read about her and Doyle's trip so far. Rory could practically hear Paris' voice as she read through her friend's email describing everything from their takeoff to landing in India and the things they'd seen.

Paris finished off her email by asking Rory how the house was, and how she and Logan were settling in before inquiring about whether or not they'd started the wedding planning. Rory took a sip of her tea and began to write back, commenting on the contents of Paris's email and answering her questions. She finished the email with an invitation for them to come and stay in California before sending the message.

Rory took another drink of her tea and opened Lane's email. Her smile and the warm feeling she'd had from talking to her grandmother and Paris' email disappeared as she read past the first two lines of Lane's message and were replaced by a cold shock. Rory shook her head and blinked her eyes, maybe she'd misread it. She read it again. And again. And again. By her fourth read-through, Rory was sobbing into her hands, never even noticing that she had dropped her tea mug, which was now on the floor in a mess of broken shards and liquid. She never heard the garage door open or heard Logan call out to her until her fiancé was sitting on the couch, holding her as Honor and Josh stood frozen behind him in stunned shock.

Hello, hello! I hope you enjoyed Chapter 18. The course I mentioned in my previous update is now complete, so I ask you all to be patient with me while I get back into a regular writing routine. Thank you so much for your reviews on Chapter 17 and I will be back! Happy Easter to you all!

Reviews:

Red Lighting: Oh yes, everyone is very frustrated with Lorelai, and the calling out is coming!

YaleAceBella12: More is on the way!

December Jeffries2: I'm so glad you appreciate Lindsay's choice to stand up for Rory and tell the police what happened. Sadly, I can see Stars Hollow turning on someone they consider to be one of their own if that person made a choice they didn't approve of. Look at how often they railroaded Rory until she went along with what they wanted. Rory's heartbreak is going to lead to anger, and I have plans for what she's going to do with it. Sadly, they have chosen to be on Lorelai's side, but they're going to regret it later ;).

LissaP: It made me so happy to see your review! The writers did Lindsay's character dirty and I wanted to bring back the character that Rory described in the series. Now that I think about it, they did Rory's character dirty in regards to Lindsay and wrote the classic narrative of pitting women against each other, which I've always hated. I agree with everything you said about Logan's issues and Rory's, and Lorelai's manipulation of everyone, including her parents, is shameful. She never treated Luke or Christopher fairly. I would agree that Christopher is beaten down, but we also never really see him take a stand with anyone. I'm glad you like the dialogue between the therapists and Rory and Logan. The town is crazy, but I promise they're going to get what's coming to them. As for Luke putting up a curtain or painting the glass window in the building he has ownership of, I feel as though Taylor would find some way to manipulate him to take the curtain down/remove the paint, but that's just me. I'm so glad you are loving the story!

Kellybras: Thank you so much!

Navywife07: More updates are coming!

Guest: Yes, there is going to be more added. I have every intention of finishing this.

Thank you for your reviews, everyone! Stay safe and I will be back soon.

Until then, xoxo