Author:Ozluv04

Title: Hallways

Disclaimer: Not mine. Characters belong to the Palledinos and the WB.

A/N: Quick, introspective Marty. Mainly because I needed to write something that didn't involve

Harry Potter. Enjoy!

It was ironic, Marty thought, that his 'relationship' with Rory began and ended in a hallway. Both situations had been awkward. The difference was in the beginning there was possibility and in end the end there was just finality. 'We'll still be friends' was code for, 'You blew it, Marty'.

He much preferred the beginning.

Passing out drunk and naked is hardly the sort of impression he would have wanted to make. But it was fitting that he would be so vulnerable the first time he met Rory Gilmore. He had been nothing but vulnerable since. Looking back, he was glad he passed out in that particular hallway.

Glad he had that first painful conversation. Glad he still had a blue robe hanging in his closet.

And so it began. His terrifying, frustrating, wonderful dance with Rory. It took them awhile to get started. It took a few more accidental meetings before they called themselves friends. Soon they were sitting together in their Japanese Lit class, and having weekly movie nights. He saw what his place in her life was: friend, maybe even best friend. But somewhere in between the Yale, Harvard game and the beginning of sophomore year he realized what he wanted his place to be.

That was when things got complicated. Little things that he had taken for granted before suddenly seemed huge. The way she clutched his arm when she was excited, the way she casually draped her legs across his, the way he beat out Paris for the number three spot on her speed dial.

Just as every thing fell into place, it began to fall apart. Because he couldn't find the words to tell her he was falling in love with her. But Logan could. Logan could woo and seduce and be every thing she could possibly ever want.

But he couldn't just watch it happen. He couldn't settle for being The Guy Friend. He needed more from her. He wanted to be the one to give her what Logan was offering. Even if it meant risking the chance to have her in his life at all.

So he blurted it out. Standing in another hallway, and feeling every bit as naked as he was the first time. He just said it. It wasn't eloquent or poetic. It didn't even come close to capturing what he felt. The moment the words came out he knew it was a mistake. No matter how relieved he felt that he wasn't hiding his feelings anymore, he knew that he would regret this moment quite possibly for the rest of his life. Mainly, because this time Rory wasn't offering him her robe.

She was polite. But he expected nothing less of Rory. This time she offered him Duck Soup.

He liked that there was such a clear start and finish to whatever it was he had with Rory. It made it feel neater somehow. He missed her. He had stood just outside her door at least a dozen times since. But he couldn't bring himself to knock. It would muddy the picture. It was better this way.

They began and ended in a hallway, with a handful of bittersweet moments in between. He just wished it was more.