This is sort of a double chapter, to satiate you for the next few days in case I don't update. I got some shopping to do for camp and I won't be on the computer much. Sorry if it isn't so good, I'm a bit off of my game right now, but I'm getting better again, so it's all good.
Enjoy! Don't forget, review means faster update. Plus, if I get enough reviews, I put aside some time at camp to write in a notebook.
By the way: I just want to say that Finn and Colin do not like Rory. Tristan and Jess do, and Logan's on his way, but Finn and Colin don't like her.
Disclaimer: I might own the plot… maybe. But that's it.
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Chapter Four
Dance, Dance (part two)
Logan needed to be out of gym. It was hot, loud, and he just needed a break.
When he ventured out into the hallway, he saw Rory apologizing to someone named Dean over the phone, before wrapping her arms around herself and sighing.
Logan looked at her, feeling something akin to sympathy rising in him.
She leaned against the wall, sinking to the floor. Logan thrust his hands into his pockets, walking over to her and joining her.
"Nice night, eh?" he said humorlessly.
Rory snorted, looking over at him. "Lovely," she said sarcastically.
"So who were you talking to?" he asked, preparing himself for her to say no and leave him sitting there. It wouldn't be weird, after all.
Rory didn't know why, but before she knew what she was doing, she was spilling her guts. "My ex-boyfriend, Dean. We broke up two months ago because he thought I liked someone else, and I didn't. So he called because he wanted to get back together… but I don't want to. So I told him no." She chewed on her lip, looking up at Logan, who just nodded.
"That sucks big-time," he said, as he couldn't really think of anything else.
Rory nodded. The two sat in silence for a minute, before Logan got to his feet, holding his hand out to her. She looked at him curiously.
"Well, we're here, right?" he said. "Might as well enjoy ourselves."
Rory couldn't help but smile, grabbing his hand and pulling herself up.
"Wanna dance?" he asked, and Rory nodded shyly. Logan didn't let go of her hand, but led her into the school's gym.
The DJ was playing a slow song that Rory recognized faintly but couldn't put a name to. However, she didn't have much time to dwell on that, as Logan put his hands on her hips and she subconsciously put her arms around his neck.
He leaned into her, and they moved slowly, silent for a moment, before Logan decided to strike up conversation.
"So… you go to Chilton?" Immediately, he mentally smacked himself. That had to be the dumbest question he'd ever asked.
"Yeah," Rory replied.
"Any extracurriculars?" he asked, and Rory nodded.
"Actually, I write for the school's paper," she said. "Sports aren't really my thing. Actually, I don't know of any Gilmores who play sports. What about you?"
"Actually, I play a few for fun. Nothing for school. Dad makes me write for the paper, though. He wants me to take up the family paper business, though I'd rather be a journalist, myself," he replied
Rory grinned. "That's why I'm gonna be. A journalist," she said, sounding very sure of herself.
"You seem certain about that," he said, smirking.
"Well, I am. I'm going to be a journalist. Actually, an overseas correspondent," she said, and Logan laughed.
"So your parents don't want you to take up any family business?" he asked. Rory frowned slightly.
"Nope. My mom runs an inn and hasn't mentioned me taking it over one day – she thinks she'll never die – and I don't really know what my dad does. All I know is that he works in Boston," she said, shrugging.
"Huh," Logan said. "So… do you like school?" he asked.
Rory nodded. "Yeah. I do well, so it's fine, really," she said. "What about you?"
Logan shrugged. "I go to boarding school," he said, as if that answered the question. "Enough said."
Rory laughed. "So you're saying you don't like classes?"
Logan snorted. "When a lot of your teachers live on campus, you get tired of seeing them," he said.
Rory laughed again, feeling completely comfortable as the conversation somehow turned to books and the two of them bantered back and forth about whether or not Hemmingway's works were dead impossible to get through.
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"Logan and Rory've been gone for a long time," Finn said suggestively, making Steph slap him.
"They're over there, moron," Colin said, gesturing to them and rolling his eyes. The rest of the group looked where he'd pointed.
"Aw… they're dancing," Steph said.
"And he's smiling," Colin added.
"Haven't seen that in a while," Finn commented.
"I wonder what their talking about," Stephanie said, crossing her arms and looking at them.
Nobody noticed the look of jealousy and disappointment on Tristan's face.
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To Logan, the song ended much too soon. He didn't want to let go of this fascinating girl, who could talk at length about anything and everything from books to pop culture.
To Logan, she was completely captivating.
Finally, he dropped his hands from her hips, and she reluctantly removed her arms from around his neck.
"So… we should head back," she said, looking down and twirling her hair around her finger.
"Yeah… we should…" Logan agreed, letting her lead the way, before strolling after her.
When they'd rejoined the group, Finn was singing, Colin was laughing hysterically, Steph looked ready to commit suicide, and Tristan was looking a bit sullen.
"Do I want to know?" Rory asked, and Steph shook her head.
"No," she said, giving Finn an annoyed look. Finn just grinned. "Finn, you're the only person I know who can get drunk off a school dance's punch."
"Who said he was drunk?" Colin said, still trying to stop laughing. "He acts like an idiot all of the time."
Rory had to say, this group of friends was… bizarre, to say the least, though she'd taken an instant liking to each and every one of them.
She heard her phone buzzing in her purse, and she took it out, looking at the caller ID. Seeing Dean's number, she scowled, shoving it back into her purse. Logan gave her a curious look.
"Dean," she said shortly, and Logan smiled sympathetically.
"Dean? Isn't he that ass from last year's dance?" Tristan asked. Rory rolled her eyes. "I mean, that charming boyfriend of yours?"
"The one you picked a fight with? Yep," Rory said, glaring at him.
"Trouble in paradise?" Finn asked, and Rory shook her head.
"Nah, we've been broken up for two months," she said, and stopped there. Finn was going to ask more about him, but Stephanie stomped on his foot.
"Ow, what was that for?" he snapped at her, but lost track of his thought pattern when he saw a redhead walk by.
"Talk to you later…" he said faintly, trotting after her.
Only minutes later, Steph and Colin had moved onto the floor to dance, leaving an awkward silence between Rory, Logan, and Tristan.
"So how much time do you think is left in the dance?" she finally asked, just to break the awful silence.
"I'd say two hours," Tristan replied with a shrug. Once again, it was quiet.
"So… Tristan, haven't talked to you in a while, what've you been up to?" Logan asked, looking uncomfortable.
"Dad tried to ship me off to military school," he said nonchalantly, and Rory laughed.
"Too bad he didn't succeed…" Rory said, and Tristan elbowed her.
Logan smirked slightly, and the song that was playing ended, and Colin and Steph rejoined the group.
"What happened to Finn?" Colin asked.
"Redhead," Logan said, as if that explained everything.
And Rory guessed that it did.
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The night ended all too soon. She'd danced with Logan again several times, and every time they danced, a weird squirming happened in her stomach. It wasn't a bad squirming; on the contrary, she found that it was okay.
The small group stood outside, bidding their goodbyes to the members of the opposite school.
"It was good meeting you guys, maybe I'll see you soon," Rory said, smiling at each, thinking that maybe they'd be at school functions.
"Yeah, maybe," Colin said at the same instant Finn curtsied and bid Rory a good night, making her laugh.
"Alright, see you guys," she said, walking off.
She hadn't gone far when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, maybe I'll talk to you soon," Logan said when she turned around. Rory blushed and smiled.
"Hopefully," she said shyly, and Logan grinned, waving to her and taking his leave.
"So who was that?" asked her mother the second that Rory climbed into the car.
"Who're you talking about?" she asked.
"Blondie," Lorelai clarified, pulling out of the Chilton parking lot and driving down the road.
"I'll tell you at Luke's," she said, still reveling in the happiness of the evening.
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"Alright, so before you get into super happy mode," Lorelai said, entering Luke's Diner, "I have something I need to tell you."
"Yeah?" Rory asked, as they took a seat at the counter.
"We're going to a party next week," Lorelai said.
"So?"
"You don't understand, Rory," she sighed. "This is a Gilmore party. Meaning a party that my parents are throwing."
"So?"
"You're so naïve," she sighed, shaking her head. "We have to go and get you a new dress. Your grandmother wants to come with us when we do that to make sure you look 'appropriate'," Lorelai said, saying the last word in a high-pitched mocking voice.
"I'm sure it'll be okay, Mom," Rory said.
"I guess," Lorelai groaned. "So anyway, tell me about Blondie!"
"You guys want some coffee?" Luke asked, not waiting for an answer and pouring two mugs. "So Rory, how was your dance?"
"She was just going to tell me about a mystery man she met there," Lorelai said teasingly, and Luke raised his eyebrows.
"Mom!" Rory whined, and Luke just sighed, shaking his head and walking over to a table to take their order.
"So, spill," Lorelai said,
"There's nothing much to say," Rory shrugged. "We danced, we talked, and then he said goodbye to me. I'm probably never going to see him again," she sighed.
"I doubt that," Lorelai snorted, before taking a long drag of coffee.
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A week passed without much event. Soon, Friday the 21st was upon them, and Rory had to say that she wasn't looking forward to it.
Dress shopping had been… eventful, to say the least. Lorelai and Emily had fought over every dress that Rory tried on, until they found an extremely pretty dress.
It ended at her knees and was sky blue, bringing out her bright blue eyes. It was a halter top, and Rory figured she could wear a jacket over it. Emily and Lorelai finally agreed that it was the best dress for Rory, and hell, in Rory's mind, was over.
They stood outside of the mansion for several minutes, debating who was going to ring the doorbell.
"There's still time to run," Lorelai offered, and Rory sighed, pressing her finger on the doorbell.
The maid opened the door and took their coats. Emily rushed out into the hallway to greet them.
"Rory, there's some people you're age I want you to meet," she gushed, and Lorelai made a noise halfway between a laugh and a snort. Emily stared at her.
"Excuse you," she said, before leading Rory off.
She led Rory to a small group of teenagers who looked oddly familiar from the back…
And she almost burst out laughing when she realized who they were.
"Rory, this is Stephanie Vanderbilt, Finnegan Morgan, Colin McRae, and Logan Huntzberger. I'm sure you know Tristan DuGrey," Emily said, looking at each as she introduced them.
"Hey, Mary," Tristan said cheerfully. Emily gave him an odd look, before walking off to get Lorelai out of the center of a large group where she was telling a rather inappropriate joke.
"Well, this is ironic!" Finn said cheerfully, swinging back some form of alcohol.
"So, how long do you think until we can sneak off and form a sub-party?" Colin asked.
"Ten, fifteen minutes," Logan said, watching Lorelai continue her joke, even as Emily hissed warnings at her. "Who's that?"
"Dunno, never seen here around here before," Steph said, shrugging.
"That's my mom," Rory said off-handedly, and Finn gaped.
"No way," he said. "She's much too young to be a mom."
"I heard that," said Lorelai, who'd gotten out of the group and was being trailed by her mother. "Rory. Doe-eyes, stat. I think my mom might kill me," she hissed, before Emily grabbed her arm.
"Lorelai! Behave yourself!" Emily snapped, keeping a strong hold on her daughter's wrist. "Come with me, there's a man I want you to meet…"
Lorelai made a face, before being dragged away.
"Hey, it's Blondie!" Lorelai exclaimed, spotting Logan, who blinked at her, before she was successfully dragged away.
"It's safe to say she's mental," Rory said, taking a glass of champagne from a waiter.
"Cooler than our parents," Colin shrugged, grinning.
"I'm Blondie?" Logan asked, arching an eyebrow.
Rory blushed. "Yeah… my mom likes to give people nicknames," she explained.
"You think we can get away?" Colin asked, looking over at the rest of the group. Steph nodded.
"The adults seem to be distracted," she said quietly.
"Where shall we go?" Logan asked.
"Our last sub-party here was in the pool house," Finn supplied, and Rory rolled her eyes. "I guess that's where we're going."
"Someone swipe a bottle of champagne," Logan said quietly. "The rest of us will head outside."
"Can do," Finn said, before marching off. The rest of them made their way to the pool house. Rory lingered, unsure, and Logan stopped and turned around.
"Coming, Gilmore?" he asked, grinning at her, and Rory stopped for a minute, unsure, before making a split-second decision and following.
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"Let's play a game," Finn said cheerfully when the group had settled in the pool house with the bottle of champagne.
"I don't like the sound of that," Colin muttered, and a murmur of agreement passed through the group.
"Well, it's nice to know I'm loved," Finn huffed, crossing his arms and turning away from the others.
"Aww, Finn, we're just kidding," Steph said, with a dramatic wink at Rory, who snorted.
"So, game?" he said hopefully, and Colin sighed.
"Fine. Game," he assented, and Finn brightened up.
"Let's play a rousing game of Truth or Dare!" he said, taking a long swig of the champagne.
Logan looked warily at the others. "Alright…" he said cautiously.
"Who wants to go first?" a brunette boy that Rory didn't know asked. As if Logan had read her mind, he said, "that's Robert."
"Ah," Rory said, as Finn frantically began wailing, "Me! Me, me, me!"
"Go ahead, Finn," Colin said wearily, rolling his eyes at the rest of the group.
"Truth or dare, Steph?" Finn asked, and she looked warily at him.
"With you asking? Truth," she said, and Finn pouted.
"No fun," he whined, and the game got underway.
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"Truth or Dare, Rory?" Colin asked, and Rory decided to play it safe.
"Truth," she said.
Colin's eyes flicked over to Logan, before he asked, "Who're you interested in?"
"That's such a sixth-grade question," Finn scoffed, but Colin waited patiently for Rory's answer.
"Um… I don't know, really," she said, decided to go for honest.
"Which means there's the possibility that it may be, say, someone in this room?" Colin asked innocently, and Logan sent him a death glare.
"Maybe," she said coyly, deciding to play along. "But that was two questions."
Colin grinned. "Fair enough," he said. "You're up."
She looked around. "Logan… truth or dare?"
"Truth," he said, not doubting Rory's dare-possibilities.
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"Rory, truth or dare?" Finn asked. After ten minutes, it'd rolled back around to her.
"Tru—" she started, but Finn cut her off.
"Lo-ove," he whined, and Rory rolled her eyes.
"Fine. Dare."
He smirked. "Kiss me."
"Finn," Colin said warningly. "I thought we established in eighth grade that that was against the rules."
Finn sighed. "Fine," he grumbled. "Her loss. Um…" His grin widened. "Kiss Logan. That ain't against the rules."
Logan glared at him, but was distracted when Rory kissed him on the cheek.
"Never specified," she said sweetly when Finn sputtered.
"You just wait, Gilmore," he growled, crossing his arms over his chest.
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The game was still going strong an hour and a half later, and it was nearing ten o'clock.
"Alright, Truth," Rory said. She'd done four dares in a row and decided that with Finn asking, she'd play it safe.
"How many boyfriends have you had?" he asked.
"One," she replied, taking a swig of the champagne. "Two years, I think."
Finn looked startled. "A girl like you only having one boyfriend? Impossible!" he scoffed, and Tristan elbowed him.
"My turn," she said, turning away from the sensitive topic. "Logan, truth or dare?"
"I think I'll take a dare," he said, smirking at her with a challenge in his eyes.
Rory smirked back, as if accepting the challenge.
"Remember, Gilmore, nothing to do with the families inside," Colin warned. "Nothing like a good disowning to start off our holidays."
"Of course not," Rory said, still smirking.
"I don't like that smirk," Logan said, sounding a wee bit nervous.
"You shouldn't," Rory said sweetly.
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After Logan jumped in the pool twice, Finn gave Colin a lap dance, and Robert drunkenly professing his love for Mariah Carey's Glitter, the group laid around sleepily, occasionally asking for the near-empty bottle of champagne.
"Mm. Should go inside," Rory said tiredly, trying to get up.
"Don't leave yet," Finn whined.
"Sorry, I gotta go…" she muttered, getting to her feet and wrapping her arms around herself, leaving the pool house.
On her way back into the room, she checked her appearance. Not too bad, she just looked a little tired.
She walked back into the ballroom, immediately being grabbed by her mother.
"Where've you been?" she hissed.
"Sorry, Mom—"
"You left me by myself!"
"Sorry—"
"Leaving. Now," Lorelai said, dragging her daughter off.
"Wait, Rory!"
Rory turned around, seeing Logan coming towards her.
"I'll be at the car," her mother said, giving her daughter an evil look and leaving the ballroom, Emily giving her a confused look.
Rory turned back to Logan. "What's up?" she asked.
"Do you have your phone on you?"
Rory pulled it out of her purse, handing it to him, looking puzzled.
He began to push buttons into it, before handing it back to her.
"Call me," he said, smiling at her. "Talk to you soon." With that, he turned and left, leaving a strangely happy Rory behind him.
Logan smiled as well, heading back to the pool house with a squirming feeling in his stomach.
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"So, are you going to call him?" Lane asked, sitting across from Rory in Luke's diner.
"I don't know," Rory said, moving her phone from one hand to the other, occasionally looking at the screen where Logan's number was displayed.
It was Saturday, the day after her grandparent's party, and Rory had been wondering whether or not she should call.
"Won't it seem kind of desperate? You know, it's only been a day," she said.
"Yeah, but if you wait, it'll be like you couldn't be bothered," Lane pointed out, and Rory groaned.
"When did this get so complicated?"
"When you were all happy-happy with Dean."
"Ah. Must've missed the memo."
"Bet you did."
Suddenly, the phone went off, causing Rory to shriek and jump, almost falling off her chair.
"Graceful," Jess commented dryly, putting two cups of coffee in front of them.
"It's Logan!" Rory exclaimed, looking at the screen.
"Is he telepathic or something?" Lane asked, as Rory pressed a button and said, "Hello?"
"Hey Ace," said Logan through the phone.
"Who's Logan?" Jess whispered to Lane.
"Ace?" Rory asked, as Lane replied, "The guy Rory's on the phone with."
"I deduced that," Jess said, turning and leaving the table.
"Rory," Luke hollered, tapping on his infamous sign. "Out."
"But it's cold!" Rory whined.
Luke just stared at her until she complied, going outside.
"So, what's with Ace?" she asked, standing outside.
"You mentioned you wanted to be a reporter. Seemed to fit. You know, ace reporter?" Suddenly Logan seemed embarrassed.
Rory laughed. "I like it," she said, and she could hear Logan's sigh of relief.
"Good, I'm not making a complete idiot our of myself."
"I never said that."
"You're cruel."
"I'm a Gilmore," she said, as if it explained everything. "So what's up?"
"Well, you know, I decided that I'd call you and see what you were up to this weekend," he said, walking around his room at home, in Hartford.
"Dunno," Rory said. "No town events. Next one's Fall Fest in two weeks…"
"Maybe you want to hang out with us this weekend?" he asked, fiddling with the zipper on his backpack.
"Maybe," Rory teased, sitting on a bench. Logan smirked.
"But…"
"But?" he asked, looking at a book on his desk, before tossing it over his shoulder carelessly.
"Aren't you guys in Boston?" she asked.
Logan shook his head, then realized that he was on the phone. "We're home for the weekend. And then, we have Monday off of school," he said.
"Oh… where's 'home'?"
"Hartford, actually. Aren't you twenty minutes from here?" he asked.
"I haven't counted, but that sounds about right," she laughed. "What were you thinking?"
"Well, I was thinking we round up the gang for a rather tame night," he said, sounding rather amused while he said it.
"Tame?"
"As in, no crazy underage clubs," Logan snickered. "Dinner at some pizza joint and then a movie, maybe?"
"That sounds pretty cool. It'd have to be tonight, I don't have the luxury of having Monday off of school," she said.
"Too bad, Ace," he said. "Well, tonight it is. I'll give the others a call. Call you back when I have more details?"
"Alright."
"Talk to you later, Ace."
"Bye."
She hung up, staring at her phone with a look of happiness on her face.
What's wrong with me? she thought to herself, shaking her head. You've only known Logan for little more than a week.
And what a week it'd been.
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That night was a blast. Rory had gone to a pizza joint about ten minutes outside of Star's Hollow, where Finn had proceeded to order a pizza with the most disgusting of combinations. Well, they were disgusting to Rory.
"Who puts pineapple, sardines, and onions on the same pizza?" she asked, and a general murmur of agreement went through the group.
"Don't knock until you try it," Finn said snootily, taking a large bite of the pizza. "Delicious."
The movie wasn't bad. It was a crazy action-thriller-horror combination, not Rory's usual, but she enjoyed it all the same, especially since Finn would lean over and whisper, in a high pitch voice, the leading lady's lines… but they had an interesting, slightly vulgar twist to them. Rory and Steph took turns whacking him after each innuendo.
When Colin, who was driving, pulled into Rory's driveway, she made a dry comment about how Babette was probably phoning the entire town about the strange car, before she climbed out. To her surprise, Logan offered to walk her to the door.
Rory found this rather strange, but Logan smirked slightly and said it was only proper. Colin and Finn exchanged knowing glances while Steph giggled.
"If you really want to," she said sweetly, leading the way to the door.
"So did you have fun?" he asked, walking up her steps.
"Yeah… it was nice to get out of the house," she said honestly, smiling.
"So… call you later?" Logan said.
"I'll look forward to it," Rory said, her smile growing slightly.
"Alright… well, bye," he said, winking at her and turning and walking down the steps.
Rory waved to the car, before entering her house and squealing as soon as she shut the door. Never had she been so excited by the words "call you later". From Dean, they meant that she had to keep an eye on her phone, because he'd spaz if she didn't pick up.
What was so different about Logan?
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"That was so chivalrous of you, walking her to the door," Stephanie teased as soon as Logan got back into the car.
"Oh, shut up," Logan said.
"You two seemed to be doing a lot of smiling up there," Finn suggested coyly, smirking at Logan.
"Be quiet."
"Bit defensive there?" Colin laughed, looking at Logan in the rearview mirror.
Logan grunted, looking annoyed.
"You like her, don't you?" Finn asked, now serious. "You definitely act like you do."
The blonde frowned. "Maybe," he admitted.
"Aw, Logan has a crush," Steph said, and Logan glowered at her.
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So, what'd you think?
Leave a review… please? pouts
--Ace
