Response to the first fic exchange at Eventintegrity. Made to suit the following requirements

To Include:
1. Jealousy
2. A Life and Death Brigade Trip
3. Sledding

Not to Include:
1. Jess
2. Rory with a guy other than Logan
3. Parental Interference (Lorelai can be in it, but don't make her interfere)

Ace, it said on the envelope. Nothing more, nothing less, but quite enough to disclose the identity of the sender to Rory.

She'd actually grown to like the nickname over time, as she'd grown to like the arrogant, cocky, smirking idiot that had invented it. It wasn't something she'd planned to happen—falling in like with him; she had always hated guys like Logan Huntzberger, but he had been very good to her after Dean had broken up with her—in front of a crowd of Yalies, of which she made a mental note. And he had helped her to get that scoop on the Life and Death Brigade. She wouldn't call them friends, especially not after the pranks they'd pulled on each other; it was a kind of mutualism rather, existing together and benifiting from being close to each other. He apparently benefited from getting her easily worked up with his pranks and obscenely elitist behaviour, she benefited from having a guy on her side for once, one not pursuing her, not in love with her, not her ex-boyfriend, and unmarried to boot!

As she reread the note she bit her lip in contemplation of her next action.

Ace,

You are cordially invited to join the LDB on their annual winter trip 2004.

There are three rules.

1. No reporter activities this time, no notebook, no story (hence, pictures are allowed, for private use only.)
2. Do not mess with the integrity of the event, i.e. you do what we say and you shall enjoy it.
3. Have fun, live a little!

What do you say Ace?

Meet us at the courtyard, 7 a.m. tomorrow, no blindfold this time.

P.S. It's an overnight thingThree nights, actually. Pack warm clothes. Just though I'd give you notice this time.

Her heart fluttered a little at reading his words (over and over and over). She'd now been invited to a Life and death Brigade event, for the first time not as a reporter, but rather as a participant. On the one hand it was a pity, it could have made a good story (and thus it could have saved her a lot of horribly mindwrecking hours in search of a topic for her next feature article), but there was something enthralling about being asked along just as Rory, Logan's …mutualist.

"Mutualist, not friend!" she reminded herself, it came out barely above a whisper, however, nothing gets past some people.

"Please tell me you don't cut yourself! That is so nineties…" Paris sighed with a frown on her face as she walked into their common room.

"Mutualist, not mutilist," Rory pensively added, "was I talking out loud?"

"Only the "Rory; mutilist" bit. "You need therapy girl, would you like me to give Terence a ring?"

"Ugh, no thanks," Rory said "I've got to start packing anyway. No time for a sofa session. Or whatever you do with Terence…"

"Hey, now don't you go start accusing me! I had trouble enough over Terence with Jamie, and Asher didn't like him either. What, you secretly fancy me or something?" Paris bellowed as Rory slammed the door of her room shut and started hastily packing. Tuning out Paris was a habit she had luckily acquired within the first week of living in a dorm with her.

She had to call her mom, though she dreaded having to tell her about going off to some unknown destination with rich frat-boys. Limo-boy hadn't been a favorite with Lorelai ever since he had dropped off a drunken Rory. Her mom had gotten over the drunkenness pretty soon, and though the limo-part took her a little longer, Rory was quite confident that Lorelai was almost fine with Logan now. What she dreaded more was the possibility for mockage. It could really go either way: hurt anger or the "mock-Rory till she cries" show. Bracing herself for what was to come Rory pressed the speeddial.

"House of pleasure speaking. For Giselle press one, for Lydia press two, for Lorelai press three."

"You know mom, those funny phone pick-ups are getting way too long, it's tedious." Rory sighed.

"Oh no! Tell me it's not as bad as Sookie and Jackson and," she got into a high pitched cooing voice "Davey's answering machine message, please, or I will have to kill myself for losing my knack at the pick-up!Hello!"

"No, you'll be fine, some phone fitness will do." Rory chuckled, her mom was still like a sixteen year old sometimes. More so perhaps than Rory.

This seemed like the 'opportune moment' to bring up the real sore point, explaining to her mom why she would be spending the start of the Christmas holidays away from home.

"You'll have plenty of time for that anyway," Rory cautiously continued, "because I'm going to spend the next few days away with some friends…if that's okay with you, that is."

"What friends?"

"From Yale." Rory couldn't quite gauge the tone of her mother's voice.

"Somewhere where?"

"I…don't exactly know…" Rory had to admit that sounded rather stupid.

"Aaaaaah, so it's limo boy and his secret society friends. Uh-huh. Okay."

"Okay Mom, please don't be mad?" Why did this have to be so difficult, Rory thought.

"Oh, hun, I am far from mad. You have no idea how far from mad, and disappointed, and frustrated and sad for that matter, I am. Having you off with the glitzy glam boys will give me and naked Luke some precious alone time." Lorelai's grin was audible. Not difficult at all then, huh.

"Ugh, okay, thanks for the visual Mom. I'm really glad you're okay with it though." Rory breathed out audibly.

"Well, you know hun, at your age I can't really stop you from hanging out with the people you like, doing crazy stuff, right? Just be glad that you don't have a bitter mom who hates you for taking her childhood away from her and thus depriving her of said crazy friends and outings."

"Wow, now I've got a complex to add to my incestuous visual imagery, again Mom, thanks so much!" Rory added in mocked exasperation.

"You know I love you, with the complexes and all! Oh and Rory,"

"Yeah?"

"If you end up making out in front of a fireplace…" Here we go, Rory thought, oy with the mockage already!

"Mom!"

"Well, just make sure your hair doesn't get caught in the flames because that is not a pretty sight. Frankly, I think Betty Sherwold never got over the embarrassment of being half bald all through spring."

"Bye Mom!" Rory hung up the phone and grinned a little. How come she felt little butterflies at the thought of making out in front of a fireplace? Come on, who would she make out with anyway?

A.N.: This fic has been completed already, so don't worry, I won't abandon it like I did my other multi-parter. It's just long enough to cut into a few pieces. Let me know what you think, so I can decide on whether I should post the other parts too...