The Real and Fake Logan Huntzberger

Chapter 1. The Only Way to Fly.

"So anyway, I'm certainly mad at Sammy. His family has what, like seven jets and he couldn't even send one to pick me, his darling best friend, up from school. Business class is so not the same."

He was sitting in first class on a flight from LA to New York, pushed all the way toward the aisle by a large business man with a laptop and many documents spread out on both their tray tables. Across the aisle was a girl, maybe 20 or 21, gabbing away on the inflight phone, earning annoyed looks from the rest of first class.

"I know he wants me to stop calling him 'Sammy.' But seriously, SI Newhouse the Fourth? How pretentious can you possible get?"

A pause.

"Well, his grandfather is still working, and his dad is President of Conde Nast. He's 25. It's not like he's taking over the family business any time soon."

She paused again, and motioned for a flight attendant. "Can I have a Ketel One and tonic, easy on the tonic, with extra limes?" She smiled sweetly and turned back the phone. "You will not believe how drunk I'm getting on this flight. I'm telling you, if you can't be on a PJ, the only way to fly is completely shitfaced."

The flight attendant, whose nametag reads "Jennie", came back with the drink, but the girl barely acknowledged her. Jennie, clearly tired and overworked, rolled her eyes as if to say, "God, I hate rich kids."

He started watching her intently. He couldn't decide if he wanted her to shut up or keep talking because at least she was amusing and he was bored out of his mind. Still, he wouldn't have minded sneaking in a nap…

But she made the decision for him, jumping right back into conversation with whoever is on the other end.

"Back to Sammy, excuse me, SI. What do you think of the girl he's dating? She seems a little, not like us, if you know what I mean. I think he met her in college."

Another pause.

"Do you like Gilmore Girls?"

He had almost stopped listening, but at this he turned his head sharply towards the girl. Did she really not notice me? She seemed not to have. Well, maybe she'll say something about me, he thought to himself.

"I know, it's weird that I kind of look like her and my name is Rory too. Luckily it's not Lorelai. God, could you imagine?" A beat. "Yeah, yeah, I swear I was getting to something new. You know Rory's boyfriend?"

Gold! He turned to pay closer attention to the girl, who, now that he noticed, really did look like Alexis. Pale, brunette, eyes maybe weren't the same shade of blue though.

"I was thinking, he's like a TV version of Sam! Both emotionally unavailable jackass heirs to publishing fortunes. All they do is get fucked up and complain about their futures. As if anyone else would have a problem with owning three G4 jets."

Hey! He thought. There's more to Logan than that! He felt mildly insulted and again, wondered if she really hadn't seen him there.

"Yeah, you're right. They guy who plays Logan is way hotter than Sam. Seriously, too bad SI Newhouse the third couldn't have had kids with mommy #2 or 3."

That made him feel slightly better. The girl, Rory, had moved onto something else and he turned back to the magazine he had been trying to read earlier. He was unsuccessful again and drifted off, but a jerk of the plane woke him. He glanced across the aisle and noticed that the girl wasn't in her seat. She probably went to the bathroom. He faced forward again, and there she was, walking up the aisle.

"Oh my God." She made eye contact with him, and stopped suddenly. "Oh my God. You…you're…and I just…" Her hands flailed about, embarrassment flushing her cheeks.

He smiled up at her. "I'm Matt. Matt Czuchry. The fake Logan Huntzberger. And are you the real Rory Gilmore?" He winced. What a line.

"What? Oh, no, I'm Rory, Aurora really, Rory Weill. I just sort of look like her?" It was more of a question. Rory finally sat down in her seat. "I'm really sorry, about before, when I was talking about you, and you were right there."

She's cute when embarrassed, Matt thought. "No worries, everything you said was good. And you said there was a real life Logan?"

"Yeah, but you're way better looking than him." She clapped a hand over her mouth. "I can't believe I just said that. I clearly need another Ketel One and tonic. Or maybe that's the problem. I'm wasted and talking to a famous person," she mumbled, more to herself than to him.

"That's cute that you think I'm famous. I'm only famous to Gilmore Girls fans. So tell me something about this guy. Maybe I can get into better character." He turned his most charming Logan Huntzberger smirk on her.

"Well, his name is SI Newhouse the fourth, his great-grandfather, I think, owned some newspapers and then bought Conde Nast, which owns Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair, the New Yorker, etc. His grandfather is now president and CEO of Advance, which is Conde Nast and like 30 newspapers, his dad is on the board or something, and he's now VP of magazine development or something. Unlike the Hearst Corporation, which is big trust run by a board of directors, SI four is basically heir to the whole thing. We used to be best friends, though he is older than me, but then he got a girlfriend…"

"And how long have you been in love with him?" He interrupted knowingly, noticing the scowl that had formed at "girlfriend."

"Em…uhh…well, you see…" She trailed off. "But enough about me, tell me about you! Why haven't I seen you in anything else?"

"Well, filming a TV show takes up a lot of time. And I wasn't really an actor until recently. I mean, I went to college and stuff like a normal person. I'm really just a regular guy from Tennessee."

"I knew it!" He looks at her, unsure of what she means. "Your voice, you sound way different than on the show. The Southern drawl thing," Rory explains.

Matt and Rory continue talking for the remaining hour of the flight. Just before the final descent into JFK is called she asks him what he's doing in the city.

"My family, the whole lot of them, wanted to experience a New York City Christmas. All my older brothers and their families, everyone. But I have a few days to myself before they get here. I was just going to relax, maybe meet up with a few college friends," he answers.

"Well, this may be a little much, but do you maybe want to go to a party? Junior Whitney Christmas party. Everyone in New York will be there."

"Uh, maybe…"

"The real Logan will be! You can meet him. It will be fun, I swear. Not stuffy. Debauchery, Logan Huntzberger style, even."

"I guess." She really is pretty, maybe it will be worth it. They exchange cell numbers and Rory tells him to come to her family's townhouse on 85th between 5th and Madison at eight. As they disembarked the plane, Matt turned to her. "You know I'm a lot older than you, right?"

"Aren't you 30? No matter, my last ex-boyfriend…thing, was 34. It's cool."

Boy, was this going to be interesting.

AN: SI Newhouse IV is actually a real person, I went to college with him. He was on the fencing team. So not like Logan at all, really, but we'll pretend. The stuff about Advance, Conde Nast, etc is also true. Also, I don't pretend to know anything about what Matt is like as a person, but I do get the sense that he is a little bit southern fratty. So what do you think? Should I continue? Review, please! This is my first GG (ish) fic.

Margaret