10. Cosmic Joke

Stunned didn't even begin to explain what he was feeling. Suddenly the phrase 'you could knock me over with a feather' made a whole lot of sense. To say that he was floored would be the understatement of the year.

"Logan," she whispered in that same tone that came back to him each night as he slept.

Dimly hearing her say his name, Logan could only stare at the girl before him, his eyes moving as he blinked a few times, trying to get her in focus through his momentary haze with every other part of his body frozen in place. He wasn't imagining this; she was here, standing in front of him, a little pale, her eyes filled with confusion and surprise. A look he was sure he matched. She was a deer caught in the headlights, yet still stunningly beautiful.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered, a question he completely ignored, along with the looks he knew his friends were giving him. Taking a step forward he raised his hand to her cheek, savoring the smoothness he knew he would feel. He had branded that piece of skin, along with every other on her body, with his kisses. This was real, she was real, and for the life of him, he didn't know what to do with that. Touching her smooth cheek, images bombarded him: their first meeting, their dates, their first kiss and their last night together.

Memories of her skin, her warmth, her kisses, were pushed aside by the memory of him waking up alone in his hotel room nothing but a note to warn him. It was a memory that left him cold; a feeling that wasn't supposed to be associated with Rory. Dropping his hand, he took a step back. "You left."

Rory felt like everything was going in slow motion. She could see every emotion and thought that passed through Logan's eyes: surprise, shock, momentary joy, before something else took over, something that sprung a solid wall between them and suddenly Rory couldn't see anything. As he spoke, she realized why. Guilt flooded her at his tone, leaving her with nothing intelligent to say. "You made me drop my coffee."

Logan cracked an involuntary smile, a surprised chuckle coming out. "Yes, yes I did."

They continued to stare at each other, neither knowing how to continue or even how to start. Only when one of their companions moved did they react to the world around them.

xxx

Marty placed his arm around Rory's shoulder. He had watched as Rory paled when she recognized the guy in front of her, watching him as intently as he was watching her.

"Are you okay, Rory?" he asked her while looking at the other guy who narrowed his eyes at his gesture, giving Rory a hard look.

"Boyfriend?"

"No, Logan," Rory answered quickly, taken aback at the question. "Marty is…"

"Wait, I know you," Logan interrupted, looking at the guy Rory called Marty. "I'm seeing you in a uniform of some kind."

"Maytag repairman," Finn offered, obviously tired of staying quiet this long.

"Cleaning service?" Colin asked, taking a shot at the other boy, his tone amused, while he continued to study his friend and the girl in front of him. Logan's reaction to the girl had his interest; Logan's reaction to the idea that the girl was taken by the boy who was now blushing with discomfort shot his curiosity sky high.

Logan watched as Rory narrowed her eyes at the comment. He continued looking at her carefully, tuning out while her friend answered that he might have bartended for one of his parties, all the while not taking his arm off Rory, something that was slowly driving him crazy. As she met his eyes again, he didn't see the girl that he had met in Europe, the girl who he had been dreaming about since returning. He also didn't see the nervous, guilt-ridden girl of a few moments before when he had questioned her about her disappearing act their last night together. No, the girl he saw now was staring him down; the girl he saw was pissed off…at him.

He continued to question her expression when he realized that she was saying goodbye to her friend and starting to walk away, again. Watching her turn her back to him, something broke inside and he quickly moved, grabbing her arm. He turned her around a few feet away from where their friends stood, not even bothering to hide their interest.

"You're just going to walk away, again?"

"We had an agreement," was her only answer and Logan had a strong urge to shake her, kiss her, anything to remove the detached look on her face.

"That agreement went out the window our last night together, and if it didn't, it's definitely out the window now. You're here, Rory, and so am I," Logan answered, feeling himself get more aggravated by the moment. More desperate, too, a feeling he didn't like at all.

"Logan…"

"You left," Logan repeated.

"You knew I would," Rory pointed out, knowing she was right when he didn't answer right away.

"I was hoping you wouldn't," Logan said honestly and waited for an answer; one he knew she didn't have. Knowing he should leave it at that, walk away, think about how both of them being in the same place at the same time didn't change things, he still couldn't help but ask, "What now?"

Rory sighed, once again not having a response for him, but a part of her glad that she wasn't the only one blindsided and lost with this new development. "No clue."

"This conversation isn't over," Logan said, letting go of her.

"I know." Rory gave him the first smile since he had bumped into her. It was small, but it was there nonetheless. "I know you."

"Yes, you do, just remember that, Rory, that's all I ask," Logan said quietly as he turned and walked back to his friends.

xxx

By the time Rory made it back to her dorm she was shaking, her nerves shot to hell and for the life of her, she had no idea what to think or feel. Things like this just didn't happen in real life. No, they were only supposed to happen in Danielle Steel novels.

For days now, she had wondered about Logan − where he was, what he was doing. She had daydreamed about seeing him again. Seeing him at her school hadn't been part of the fantasy, him being upset with her wasn't part of it either. This was not supposed to happen. Fantasizing about them meeting was all fine and good, wonderful even, but the reality of it was a completely different story.

All Rory saw out of this scenario was chaos. More than once, they had established that they were different people in their respective worlds; those people wouldn't work. Knowing that, knowing what they had had, and now knowing that they were closer than either one expected was a recipe for pain. Pain that was already starting with their short meeting. The look he gave her, the tone his voice had taken when he asked her about Marty had been hard and distant, two things that weren't associated with Logan.

** I'm a different person back home; I don't always like it, but it's who I am. **

Groaning, Rory made her way to her couch; dropping on it, she brought her hands to her face, stifling a scream of frustration. Before he shut down on her, he had touched her the same way he had the last time. Thinking back to their night together, Rory let a soft smile pass her lips. That night had been amazing; the way he had touched her had awaken every nerve in her body. Everywhere he touched, kissed, sucked, had burned, clouding her vision until all she saw were spots. Her body was left shaky and boneless after his attention to it.

Closing her eyes, Rory felt like she was back in his hotel room, reliving every moment. She could hear their shallow breaths mingling again, their moans, Logan whispering, in broken groans, her name echoing in her ears. Promises of how good he was going to make her feel repeated in her head… he kept that promise. Sweet words in hushed tones telling her that this was different, that this changed things, that they were meant to meet. Things she had agreed to in the haze he had put her in. Shaking her head, Rory broke from her memories. He had every right to be furious with her for sneaking out on him like a thief in the night.

"This is bad."

"What are you babbling about?"

Rory looked up at the question. Walking out from one of the rooms, her roommate moved around their dorm suite like a woman possessed. Paris was dressed in complete black, her hair neat in a French braid; the only dash of color on her was a string of pearls around her neck. Remembering her friend's loss, Rory got up quickly from the couch, walked over to Paris, and enfolded her in a tight hug, a little surprised when Paris returned the embrace.

"I'm going to miss him, Rory," Paris whispered as they separated, the tears she was holding back apparent in her voice.

"I know," Rory said, leading her friend to the couch.

"I want to have a wake," Paris said, going into what Rory had come to know as 'Paris mode': intense, focused, and collected.

"A wake?" Rory asked slowly.

"People who want to pay their respects to Asher should have a place to do so," Paris delivered the line defensively, as if counting on a battle that Rory wouldn't give her. "Here"

"Then we'll have a wake."

xxx

Logan walked quietly, his friends walking behind him as he led the way to their dorm. They were plotting, plotting for a way to get him to talk. He knew the curiosity was killing them, and if it wasn't for the shock that still lingered inside him since seeing Rory, he would be enjoying baiting his nosy friends.

"Logan?"

"Drop it, Finn, it's none of your business, or Colin's, or Stephanie's when you go and tell her," Logan answered, not bothering to turn around to face his friends as he spoke.

"So there's something to tell?"

"Colin…"

"She's hot, Logan," Finn said, grinning as he remembered the brunette, only to lose his smile at the glare Logan sent his way. "Or not."

Rolling his eyes, Logan just made his way to his room, shutting the door on his questioning friends.

Sitting down on his bed, Logan laid back, staring at the ceiling with a humorless smile playing on his lips. Rory, of all places, was at Yale. Thinking back to their summer and their conversations of their real lives, both thinking they would be worlds apart, and in the end, they shared a college campus. Someone, some higher being, was having one hell of a laugh at his or her expense. If this wasn't a cosmic joke, he didn't know what was.

** "I think maybe we were fated to meet, don't you?"

"I think so, Rory, I think so." **

It looked like they were right.

xxx

Logan walked out of his room after dark, only in search of a drink. Somehow, he had fallen into a sporadic sleep where visions of the past mixed with the present. Words, looks, and touches drowned his senses, leaving him in the same warm mist he always had around Rory before waking up to his dark room. Making his way through the common room, he ignored his friends who had stopped their conversation the second he came into view.

Dipping his head back, he took a large gulp of the bottled water, mentally preparing himself when he heard his friends move from the couch, making their way to the small kitchenette he was standing in.

"So, we saw that girl again," Colin started off.

Logan, not bothering to ask who he was referring to, waited for Colin to continue. When Finn continued where Colin trailed off, Logan smirked. Tag-teaming always amused him.

"She was putting up posters," Finn said, handing over one of the said posters.

Logan took it, reading what it was. Once checking all the information out, Logan looked up at his friends, his face giving away nothing. "Professor Asher Fleming died, there's a wake tomorrow."

"Yeah."

"Okay," Logan said going back to his room. Stopping at his door, he offered his friends a small smile. "What are you guys doing tomorrow?"

Colin narrowed his eyes in question while Finn responded, already knowing where this was headed, "You tell us."

"We're going to a wake."

A/N: Hope you guys liked it! Reviews have been awesome, thank you so much!