A/N- This chapter starts during the party.

-I don't own Gilmore Girls

Chapter 3- The Youth of Hartford Society

'Another gin and tonic, please.'

The bartender handed Rory her third drink. She stood, leaning against a chair, her eyes focussed on Logan and his date. Steph was no where to be found, and Colin was trapped talking to some aunt of his. Paris was busy arguing with someone over the merits of a growing unemployment rate, and Finn was nursing his empty bottle on a sofa.

She was sick of the jealousy. All night she had been unable to look away from Logan and Charlie for more than a minute, even though she glared every time Charlie laughed. She sighed. She wanted nothing more than to talk to Finn- he would cheer her up. But she wasn't sure how to approach their kiss earlier. Did they ignore it? Or address it immediately? She wasn't even sure what it meant. It wasn't like she felt anything emotional when kissing Finn, but the heat that came out had surprised her. Was it right that someone who she had no attraction to could evoke such intense feeling? She hadn't ever been kissed like that before. Pure lust, exactly what she needed in the moment. Kissing Logan had never been like that. But then, she always got the feeling that she wanted more than he did. She wanted a connection between them, but all the while it felt like Logan didn't want anything more.

She sighed. 'I'm overthinking this,' she mumbled. Looking down at her glass, she realised it was empty. Turning around, she ordered two drinks, and made her way over to where Finn was sitting.

She sat down next to him without a word. He didn't look at her. Did he know she was there? Rory leaned back, relaxing into the couch.

'I have never been boreder in my life.' Finn announced, leaning back next to Rory.

'I hate to break it to you, but I'm pretty sure the correct term is 'more bored'' she corrected, smiling.

Finn laughed. 'Love, I hate to break it back you but I'm pretty sure they mean the same thing.'

Rory didn't reply, she was too busy watching Logan and Charlie. She took a long sip of her drink and curled up on the sofa. Finn followed the line of her eyes until he noticed Logan, now engaged in a heated make out session while glancing at Rory over Charlie's shoulder.

'You know, I've been there.'

'You have?' Rory was surprised.

'I think we all have. You wouldn't expect it, with our rep, but every so often there'll be a girl that we can't have.'

'Looks to me like Logan can have as many girls as he wants.' she replied, but not bitterly. The thought just made her sad.

'Logan doesn't know what he wants, love. Just try not to get too attached.'

'I'm… I'm just so jealous! Of Charlie, for being his date, but also of him. Why am I the one sitting here alone when he is with another girl?'

'The non-exclusive part of the relationship applies to you as well, kitten.'

'Do you think I would have agreed if it didn't?'

'Well, no. And I'm guessing that's why you kissed me,' he paused. 'Cause you wanted to prove to yourself that you could kiss other people as well.'

'Yeah, and I wanted to make him jealous.' she admitted.

'I think it worked. I've never seen him throw himself at a girl like that before.'

'Finn, I don't want to know.'

'You need cheering up! We're at a party, for God's sake.'

'For someone as drunk as you, your words are surprisingly wise.'

'Kitten, this is not drunk. Hell, you've seen me far drunker than this. But later, when the sub-party kicks in, I am gonna get so wasted that I won't be able to think tomorrow. So if you decide that you wanna make Logan even more jealous, I'm not gonna remember.'

'I think I'll be okay, Finn.'

They both rested their heads on the back of the couch. Rory was just reaching the peaceful state before sleep when Finn exclaimed, 'It's time!'

'Be quiet,' Colin hissed at a giggling Juliet, who promptly stifled her laughter.

The fifteen of them were making their way out to the pool house, all the while trying to avoid the gazes of their relatives. They had snuck out through the French doors in the second sitting room, and followed a cobbled path out to where the pool itself was. Rory shivered. It was freezing, the February wind cutting through the thin party dress she had on. She didn't even recognise half the people she was walking with, but Steph had finally reappeared and was right behind her.

'Steph, we don't even know where the pool house is,' Rory sighed.

'Relaaaax!' Steph slurred. 'Helen Bradford is Colin's godmother, he's been here before. It's a great pool house too. Lots of BOOZE!'

'Steph! Keep it down!' Colin said, louder than Steph.

'Hypocrite much,' Steph grumbled.

Rory tripped over the step into the building, but luckily the guy in front caught her.

'Thanks,' she mumbled, embarrassed.

'Hey, no problem' the guy replied. 'I'm Jake.'

'Rory.' she smiled.

Suddenly, the lights were on and the antique style room was illuminated. To the right was a kitchen, and to the left was a large sitting area. There was a fireplace, with an armchair to one side and a loveseat to the other, and facing it was a huge couch. On oriental rug covered the whole floor.

Jake went over to the fireplace and switched on the electric fire, while the others positioned themselves on the couch and the floor around the coffee table. That is with the exception of Finn and Logan who were pushing the drinks cart over. Finn went over to the fridge in search of beer, and came back with a six pack in each hand. Once everyone had a drink, Finn raised his bottle up and declared,

'Ladies and Gentlemen, the sub-party may now officially begin!' and with that, he flung his head back and took a swig of his beer. Everybody else followed suit, except after they had all swallowed their gulp, Finn was still going. At last, he slammed the now empty bottle back down on the coffee table.

For a while, they just joked and drank. But eventually the party descended into its usual drinking games, which Rory opted out of. She sat behind on the couch while the others were placed on the floor around the coffee table, playing truth or dare. She had a good position- she could watch the dares and listen to the truths without any risk of embarrassing herself. Paris had already smoked a whole cigar, Charlie had given Logan a lap dance, and now Colin was preparing to kiss Steph. They were both given each other the angriest glares they could muster up, but finally Colin just went for it. The kiss was short due to the ridiculous stubbornness they both possessed, but it was obvious to everyone else that they both wanted more. There was a bit of an awkward silence following the kiss, as nobody wanted to ruin their moment, until as usual, Finn stepped in.

'Kitten, I want a turn! Why should Colin get to kiss you when I can't?'

The answer was obvious to everyone considering the tension that was currently filling the room, but the look on Colin's face at the suggestion was just too hilarious.

'Yeah. I want a turn too.' Logan added, smirking.

Steph was enjoying Colin's discomfort immensely, so replied 'Okay boys. We can spin the bottle to see who goes first.'

'What about me?' Charlie interjected.

'Yes. What about us?' Paris said. 'Stephanie isn't the only girl in the room, you know.'

'Why don't we just play spin the bottle?' Rory asked, very quietly.

'Love, that's a great idea! I for one would like to kiss as many girls as possible.'

'Ew Finn! Again, we don't wanna know!' Steph exclaimed.

'Let's make it more interesting. How about the first person has to close their eyes, and then they have to guess who kissed them.' Colin suggested.

'Nah,' Jake replied. 'I want to play a drinking game.'

'Fine.' some other guy replied. 'If they know who it is, they take a drink. If they don't, we take a drink.'

'But what if their wrong?' Rosemary questioned. 'That would be kind of embarrassing.'

'Tell the person next to you your guess, so that only one person knows. Then they either do or don't take a drink, and everyone else copies.'

'Let's just play already!' Logan shouted, grinning.

'Oh, and by kiss, we mean make out!' somebody added.

Juliet grinned evilly. 'If it's not good enough, you have to do it again!'

Someone dimmed the lights, so Rory could only make out the faces of the people near her. Paris was on her left, and Jake was on her right. Finn decided he should be in charge of spinning the bottle, so leaning forward, he positioned it on the table and flicked it around. First it stopped in front of a girl sitting on the other side of Jake that Rory didn't know, who closed her eyes. Finn spun it again and it landed on Paris, who with a roll of her eyes, moved to sit in front of the girl. She leant forward and kissed her quickly but surely, then pulled away and moved back to her seat. The girl opened her eyes and whispered something in Jake's ear, who burst out laughing and took a drink.

'Why is that so funny? I couldn't have been that far off!' She said indignantly.

As Finn spun the bottle again, Rory leant over to Jake, and asked him who the girl guessed. In response, he tapped his nose. The bottle landed on Logan next. Rory inhaled sharply. It occurred to her that this was her chance to show Logan what he had been missing. She tried to catch Finn's eye, but he had no control over where the bottle stopped and to her dismay, it landed on Steph. Steph looked at her as if to say 'Is this okay?' to which Rory nodded, knowing that she couldn't object, especially with Logan's date here.

Steph crawled over to him, took a deep breath, and kissed him. Unlike Paris, Steph's kiss was longer. Rory couldn't look away. It killed her to see Steph's face- she was obviously battling with herself. Part of her didn't want to hurt Rory, but Logan was a good kisser, and Rory knew that Steph would do anything to make Colin jealous. She broke her gaze and looked over at him. Colin had fixated his best angry glare on the Steph and Logan, who were still at it. 'Surely that's good enough?' Rory thought.

She heard the door to the pool house open, and the shuffle of people making room for whoever had come in to sit down, but she didn't look away. At this point, Steph was trying to pull away, but Logan wouldn't let her. Rory wasn't sure what to think. Was she even mad? It occurred to her that though she was hurt, the rational part of her brain was prevailing. It was just a game.

Finally Steph returned to her place across the circle, and as soon as he opened his eyes, Logan looked at Steph, smirking.

'Steph.' he said, and before anyone could reply, took a drink.

'How did you know?' Charlie asked, a little put out.

'You forget, Steph and I have been friends since we were born.' he reminded the group.

There was another silence, as each person tried to figure out what that could mean, but this time it was Paris that broke it.

'They've obviously kissed before.' she said, then turning to Colin, said 'You need to chill out.'

Rory was stunned. She'd never thought the day would come when she would hear Paris say 'Chill out'.

'Let's just keep playing.' she finished.

Finn spun the bottle again. As it stopped, Rory's eyes widened. Why her? Slowly, she closed her eyes.

He walked in on a game of spin the bottle that had obviously been adapted to include more drinking. He party had been the most boring three hours of his life. He had socialised with all manner of relatives and family friends, and was just in need of a break. Finally, he had escaped and had wandered outside. He meandered down a cobbled path, just planning to take a short walk to clear his head when he heard laughter. He turned the corner around a hedge and came across the pool house, full of kids his age.

Logan knew he was coming to this party. After all, he had been back since Christmas. But he had asked Logan not to say anything. He didn't want anybody that he didn't already know to judge him based on his name.

Having stepped inside, he looked around. He recognised Logan and Steph, who were engaged in some serious liplock, and some of the guys, as well as a few of the girls from before he left Hartford, but nobody else. He sat himself down next to a blonde-haired girl, and surveyed the faces of the circle. Suddenly, he stopped. His eyes widened as they fell on the blue-eyed girl. What was she doing here?

The Australian that had spun the bottle nodded to him as if to ask if he was playing. He nodded back, then continued watching Rory, who was so obviously pained by the couple kissing across the circle. He wondered if she knew what had happened between them, but that thought was broken by Paris' commanding voice.

Ah, Paris. He wondered if she would recognise him. No, it was too dark. He'd just have to wait until that one played out.

The guy spun the bottle again. He watched as it landed on Rory, and smirked as her eyes widened in surprise. Some things never change. Unwillingly, she closed her eyes and waited as the bottle was flicked around.

It slowed down to his left and stopped right in front of him. He grinned, and moved across the circle.

Rory heard the bottle spin, and she could feel someone move over to her. She tensed. She was overwhelmed with the smell of expensive cologne. 'It must be a guy,' she thought. He moved towards her very slowly, as if he was giving her a chance to back out, although he knew she wouldn't. She could feel the cold radiating off of him like an icy draft. He must have been furthest from the fire, she deduced. But just as she was beginning to recall who was sitting there, she felt his lips meet hers.

They were warm and soft, a sharp contrast to his cold cheek, and she wanted nothing more than to spread the warmth all over. She brought her hands up to his cheeks and felt him lean farther over her. There was something so familiar that filled her with nostalgia, like she was visiting somewhere she hadn't been since she was little. She felt his tongue swipe over her lips, reminding her that they had to make out, or do it again, although she wouldn't have minded kissing the mystery man once more. She opened her mouth just enough to let him in, and felt him kiss her more thoroughly. It couldn't be Logan; he would have gone straight in right away. No, this mystery man was exploring, and almost savouring her. Just as she was about to ask him for access, he broke away. She fought the incredible urge to open her eyes long enough for him to return to his place.

She looked around, trying to see each and everybody sitting around the circle. There were some blonde girls near the door that she couldn't quite make out, but that was okay considering she was positive she had been kissed by a guy. She tried to think of who would've kissed her like that. It was so intense, so there must have been some attraction there. Her eyes fell on Jake, and she decided it must have been him, even though he was sitting right next to her. She whispered her answer to Paris, who answered angrily, 'No.'

'Paris, are you all right?' Rory asked.

'I'm fine.' she spat out, before taking a huge sip of her vodka tonic.

The bottle was spun again, this time landing on Finn himself.

'Mates, Kittens, you are in for a treat!'

'Shut up, Finn.' Colin said as he leaned forward and spun the bottle.

It landed on Rosemary, who groaned, then turned to her left and kissed Finn hard and fast. Just as he was getting over his original surprise at such a forceful kiss, she pulled away.

'That doesn't count! I didn't get to kiss back!' he exclaimed.

'Poor you, Finny. But we rule that it counted.' Steph said, smirking.

'Fine.' he sulked. Then, turning to Rosemary, he whispered his guess in her ear. She turned bright red and Finn, tilting his head back, finished his beer.

'Let's watch a movie!' Charlie said perkily.

'I don't think we have time, I mean, we should probably be getting back' Colin replied.

Rory looked down at her watch. 'Guys, it's ten thirty!'

'Shit!' Logan swore. 'I guess we'll have to get the caterers to let us out.'

'What about our rides?' Paris questioned.

'Finn, Charlie, and I came in a limo, as did Juliet and Rosemary.'

'Yeah, we did too.' a voice Rory didn't recognise called out.

'Okay. We can just spit into three groups of people going the same way.' said Steph.

Everyone got up and eventually there were three groups, one of people going back to New Haven, and two dropping off around Hartford. Then they straightened out the room, and filled the dishwasher with all of their glasses. Colin flicked off the lights and they all headed out into the dark.

It was freezing and pitch black apart from the light from the main house. Rory stumbled and shivered the whole way back, all the while telling Paris to be quiet whenever she complained. Finally the group reached the door they had left from, with nobody left behind in various parts of the garden. They stepped inside and relished in the warmth, before locating the room that held their coats. The caterers were almost done packing up, and gave them some weird looks, but other than that nobody said anything.

Rory walked out to the limo she was riding in, accompanied by Paris, Logan and Charlie. Great. Now she was going to have to deal with them for the whole ride back to grandma's. Charlie started giggling as soon as they got in the car, and Rory couldn't help but roll her eyes, which of course Paris picked up on.

'Would you just stop? You're making me want to puke all over you.' Paris grumbled.

'Lighten up,' Charlie replied, 'It's not my fault you don't have a date.'

'What?! Listen up, you dumbass, you're too stupid to even know…' Paris was cut off by Rory's hand over her mouth. As Rory retracted it, Paris opened her mouth in response but was silenced by the death glare Rory gave her.

The rest of the journey passed in a tense quiet, as Logan and Charlie tried to be subtle and Paris and Rory tried to ignore them. Finally, the got to the Gilmore estate. Rory got out of the car, thanking the driver, and walked up to the house, only to be confronted by darkness. Nobody was awake, not even her grandpa! The maid had gone home, and there was no one to let her in. Rory sighed, then walked back to the limo.

'They've gone to sleep, and I don't feel like scaling the wall and climbing in a window.'

'Relax Ace, you can just stay at mine.'

'In the guest room, right?' Charlie asked, jealous.

Rory turned bright red. She hadn't considered that Charlie might be going home with Logan, actually definitely would be going home with Logan. There was no way she was staying at his house while he had another girl there.

'She can stay with me.' Paris said.

'Glad that's sorted!' Charlie said with a fake smile.

The limo pulled up at Paris' parents' estate, and the two of them got out. Paris strode up to the front door, but Rory lagged behind. She threw one last glance over the receding limo, imagining what was going inside, before moping up the walk to join Paris at the door.

'Are you okay?' Paris asked in a soft voice, unusual for her.

Rory replied a little too harshly 'I'm fine.'

'Well, it's not like I care anyway. Guest room's upstairs, the second room on the left.' she said with her façade back up.

'Thanks,' Rory replied with a smile that Paris didn't return.

She followed Paris upstairs but she disappeared around a corner too quickly for Rory to keep up. She located the door that Paris had mentioned, and stepped into the room. It was huge, with a queen size bed and soft green walls, and everything from the curtains to the duvet was trimmed in gold. There was an ensuite bathroom freshly stocked with fluffy towels, also gold trimmed, as well as an antique closet. It was then that Rory realised she had no pyjamas, or anything to sleep in for that matter. Sighing, she deposited her purse on the chair next to the bed and went in search of Paris.

He had escaped the party while everyone else was dealing with rides home, and was now speeding down a residential road towards his parents' house. He hated staying there, but at least the bed was comfortable. The roads were empty so he made it there in no time. Good, this way Paris wouldn't be asleep by the time he got there.

He hoped that the maid was still up to let him in, even though he was only making a quick stop. After punching the code in to the keypad, he pulled into the drive and sure enough, there was a light on in the foyer. He walked up to the door and knocked quietly, so as not to disturb his parents. The maid opened up, and after persuading her to leave the door unlocked when she left, he slipped upstairs to his bedroom where he retrieved a shoebox. Then he went back downstairs, apologised to the maid, and headed over to Paris' house.

He hoped that the engine on his Porsche wasn't too loud as he manoeuvred his way into a spot near her house. Parallel parking was not his forté. Finally, he got out of the car and made his way over to the door, but none of the downstairs lights were on. Lucky he knew which room was hers, he thought as he retrieved some pebbles from the drive. He threw a few at her window, gently enough so as not to leave a mark but with enough force for her to hear them.

'I've never felt more cheesy in my life,' he mumbled, just as Paris looked out to see who it was. She glared at him for a moment before making her way downstairs and opening up the front door.

She was dressed in nothing except for her matching tank top and shorts set, her skin inappropriately bare for the frosty February weather.

'Stop staring at me and come inside, I'm freezing.' she grumbled before closing the door behind him.

She headed upstairs, assuming he would follow her.

'We're moving a little fast here, don't you think? But if you're ready…' he trailed off, smirking.

'Fuck off, I'm not in the mood for your retarded jokes.' she replied, snarling.

'Okay, okay!' He put his hands in the air in mock surrender, but gave in and followed her up the stairs.

He stepped inside and closed the door.

'Are you crazy? Who do you think you are, showing up here?' she screamed.

'I'm sorry I didn't warn you first! You'd think you would be happy to see me.'

'I don't care about that! In fact, I am happy to see you, considering I thought you'd died!'

'What?'

'You told me you were going to Iraq, and suddenly we went from a letter a week to no contact!'

'Again, what?'

'I thought you'd been shot, captured, taken prisoner, I don't know! I still don't even understand how you got yourself deployed that quickly after enrolling.'

'Paris, what are you talking about?'

She took a deep breath, and started calmly. 'You told me you were going to Iraq. I refrained from commenting on your rash decision to enrol, because I thought you'd be in training for a while. Then suddenly you just stopped writing to me! I thought you'd been sent out and killed!'

'I'm still here, aren't I?'

'Obviously!'

'We have to clear this up.'

'Huh?'

'I went to Iraq as an intern, to get a feel for life in the military. I didn't enrol.'

'Why didn't you tell me that? Do you know how much worrying I did? I don't worry! At least, not about other people!'

'I didn't think about it.'

'Why'd you do it?'

'What?'

'The internship.'

'Just wanted to keep my options open.'

'I never thought I'd see the day when you of all people started planning for your future.'

'I never thought I'd see the day when you invited me upstairs,' he shot back.

'What's that?' she asked, looking at the shoebox he had deposited on the side table.

'All the letters.'

'You kept those? Anyone could think we're secret lovers.' she joked.

'Well, I am in your bedroom…' he smirked.

'Get out.' Paris replied, although she was smiling.

'Gladly.' he paused. 'Paris, could you do me a favor?'

'Yeah?'

'Don't tell Rory I'm here.'

'I'm not stupid, there's a reason she doesn't already know.'

'Thanks.'

'Anytime.'

Rory was creeping down the hallway that she'd seen Paris go down, when she heard voices. She figured they must be coming from Paris' room. 'Good, that'll make it easier to find.'

As she neared the door, she could make out the high-pitched tone of Paris' voice, but she couldn't recognise the other one. Whoever it was was talking very quietly, even though Paris didn't seem to care.

'I thought…shot….prisoner….understand…deployed….' Paris screeched.

Rory could only understand fragments of what she was saying, and couldn't hear anything in response. She waited for a moment, before she heard Paris again.

'Just stopped writing…sent out and killed!'

Is she okay? Did somebody she knew die? Then she heard the response.

I'm still here, aren't I?'

It was a guy. There was a guy in Paris' room that almost died.

Rory tiptoed back to her bedroom. She decided she would just sleep in her underwear, but opened up a drawer in the dresser in some vain hope that the Gellers stored clothes there. To her delight, she pulled out a matching set of flannel button down pjs. She changed into them, then crawled into bed.

She should have fallen asleep right away. After all, she had never been in a bed that comfy, and never worn pyjamas that soft. But she laid awake for a while, and even as she drifted off to sleep, she had one thought;

Who was Paris talking to?

A/N- Btw military internships do exist, but I have no idea what you do in them.