AN: Have I told you lately that I love you? Have I told you there are no reviewers above you? You fill my heart with gladness, take away all my saddness, ease my trouble, that's what you do.

OK, so that was my ode to you...my lovely reviewers. You guys are awesome, keep the reviews coming.

"Did you talk to her?" Logan asked impatiently the second Stephanie appeared back at the table.

"I talked to her."

"Talked to who?" Finn asked. He had come to the club with Rosemary, Juliet and Seth and had finally made his way over to the rest of the group.

Logan ignored the Australian sitting next to him. "And…?" he asked Stephanie.

"And….it's sort of under control for now."

"What's under control?" Finn asked, he was ignored again

"Sort of? What the hell does that mean?"

"It means things are screwed up pretty badly, Logan. She thinks she has something to prove but I at least made sure she won't be proving anything tonight."

"Who has something to prove, Love?" Finn directed to Stephanie this time.

"Oh, well that's reassuring," Logan said angrily. He knew the person he was really angry at was himself—not Colin or Stephanie but he couldn't help himself.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Finn yelled, fed up with the lack of answers.

Steph turned to him. "Logan slept with Rory," she informed him as though she were taking about something as mundane as the weather.

All the color drained from Logan's face and he stared at Finn like a deer caught in the head lights. Finn's face was completely blank and then, all of a sudden, he began laughing hysterically.

"Oh, that's good. You almost had me there, Love. Logan and Rory, like that would ever happen." Finn's laughter finally died down and he turned to his blond friend with a smile. "You have thirty seconds to prove to me that she was joking or start running, either way—I suggest you act fast," he said in the sweetest voice he could manage.

"Finn, I can explain…it wasn't…I didn't…" Logan had no clue what to say and so he decided to go with the next best option…running. He moved to stand up from the table but Colin grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back down.

"You're not running away from this, Logan." He looked across the table at Finn. "Finn, try to refrain from going kung-fu on Logan's ass. And Stephanie," he turned to the last person in the group…"How about we don't tell any more people about this."

"Oh come on, it was Finn. You really think the four of us can all know something and keep it from him?"

"Whatever, just…no one else knows."

Finn was staring angrily at Colin now. "You knew about this?" he growled.

"I figured it out this morning," Colin admitted.

"You knew what he did and yet he's sitting here with us right now instead of in the emergency room?"

"Stop with the dramatics, Finn. You know you're not going to hurt him either…you're a lover, not a fighter." Colin knew that Logan probably deserved anything Finn could throw at him, and even Colin wasn't done letting Logan know how badly he screwed up, but Finn had a tendency to get overly dramatic and it always fell to Colin to keep his friend at a reasonable level of insanity.

"The bloody hell, I'm not. I'm going to kick his scrawny American ass. If we were in Australia they'd be giving him the boot."

"Yes if we were in Australia and he was a cartoon character with a paper bag shaped head. But we're in the real world, Finn, and in the real world we already knew that Logan was a screw up…"

"Hey!"

Colin continued, despite the interruption. "So you can yell and scream and threaten him all you want, I know I have, but let's at least try and remember that he's been your friend since the first time you stepped foot on American soil when you were seven."

"Fine," Finn pouted. "But I'm still pissed as hell."

"As you should be…"

"And I am reserving the right to give him the silent treatment for at least a couple of days."

"Fair enough."

"And if he touches her again…"

"He won't."

"I really didn't mean for this to happen Finn, I swear…"

"I'm sorry, did either of you hear something?" Finn asked, pretending Logan wasn't there.

The group at the table rolled their eyes. "Come on, Logan," Steph said. "Let's dance," she suggested. She thought he could use a break from the bitterness at the table. Colin had defended him to Finn because acting as the mediator was what Colin did, and Finn had agreed not to attack Logan, but she knew they were both still upset with him.

Logan looked at Stephanie and saw her give him a small smile. It was comforting to know not everyone hated him. "Yeah, sure," he agreed, standing up from the booth and taking Steph's hand. Besides, by dancing with Steph maybe he'd have to opportunity to find out more about how Rory was doing and what was going on with her. He hated the thought that she was acting out because of what had happened between them. If he knew exactly what was going on with her, maybe he could figure out how to fix it.

The pair of friends made their way out to the dance floor and began swaying to the beat. "So, what exactly did Rory say?" Logan asked her, not bothering to beat around the bush. He knew Stephanie wouldn't be offended; she was the definition of 'blunt' herself.

"Huh?" she gave him a quizzical look.

"Rory?" Logan tried again.

"I can't hear you," she mouthed exaggeratedly, tugging on her ear and then pointing to the DJ booth to indicate that the music was too loud.

"I was asking about Rory…" he mimicked her act of mouthing out the words.

Steph shrugged her shoulders. She really couldn't hear anything. "Just dance," she instructed with dismissive wave of her hand. She did a crazy little jig to illustrate her words.

Logan rolled his eyes at the girl and chuckled a little. Steph was crazy. He was disappointed they couldn't talk but at least she could make him laugh. Perhaps it was best just to try and not think about things right now anyway.

The dancing continued for a few songs until Logan got tired. "I'm gonna go sit down," he yelled to Steph, pointing towards where their table was…or maybe their table was the other way…or was it off to the left? He spun around, trying to remember where their friends were sitting until his eyes landed on something that made him stop in his tracks. His eyes narrowed in anger, his lips pursed up into a scowl and his breathing got heavy. He looked like a bull getting ready to charge.

"Logan," Steph said, even though he couldn't hear her over the music. She placed her hand on his shoulder comfortingly and tried to guide him back the other way but he refused to budge. She grabbed his hand and tried to gently tug it in the direction she wanted him to go but he pulled out of her grasp and stomped across the dance floor towards the couple grinding lewdly a few yards away.

Logan grabbed Rory by the arm and pulled her away from the guy who had been, basically, coping a feel. He dragged her to a spot far enough away from the speakers that she'd be able to hear him.

"What the hell, Rory?"

Before Rory could speak her dance partner butted in. "Excuse me, the lady and I were dancing."

Logan turned to the guy and glared angrily.

"Sorry man, didn't know she was taken," he replied, backing away slowly with his hands up in front of him.

"I'm not taken," Rory said defensively. "God, Logan. You'd think after everything that happened last night you'd stop treating me like a little kid. I'm a grown woman in charge of my own life so stop butting in and leave me alone."

"I'm not going to just sit idly by and watch you throw away everything that you are. This isn't you, Rory. I know we got carried away last night but this isn't the answer."

"Oh yay; the infamous Huntzberger ego strikes again. News flash, Logan, not everything is about you. Maybe I've just realized that I don't want to be that shy, insecure little girl anymore. And the only thing about that that has to do with you is that you're the one that taught me I don't have to be. So thank you, Logan, but your job is done. Now if you'll excuse me, Brian and I have a dance to finish." She motioned to the guy she had been dancing with. She turned away from Logan and strung her arm through Brian's but Logan immediately reached out and grabbed her, spinning her back to him.

"So you're just going to walk away from me?"

Rory shook herself out of Logan's grasp. "There's nothing more to discuss. Stop acting like an idiot and just leave me alone." She turned away again and Logan tried to stop her once more but Brian spun around this time.

"She told you to leave her alone."

"Stay out of this," Logan growled.

"I don't think I will. She made her choice and it isn't you. Get over it," he said, slipping his arm around Rory's waist.

Logan wasn't sure what came over him; he just snapped and the next thing her knew his fist was flying through the air and then, making contact with Brian's face. The only thing Logan regretted was that the music had drowned out the satisfying 'crunch' that had inevitably gone along with the breaking of the jerk's nose.

Brian swung back and Logan dodged the punch, taking another swing of his own. A few more punches were made before Colin and Finn rushed up, pulling Logan off the other man. Stephanie had gone to get them as soon as Logan had approached Rory; she knew something bad was going to happen.

Colin and Finn were still struggling to restrain Logan when four club security guards made their way through the crowd that had assembled. Each guard grabbed one of the arms of the men responsible for the fight.

"Time to break it up punks," one of the guards said as he began pulling the men off the dance floor.

"Hey! Where are you taking him?" Rory rushed after them. "What's going on? Are you kicking him out?"

The guards holding Logan stopped and turned around. "The cops have been called, lady," one of them informed her.

"The cops? You're having him arrested?"

The guard that spoke looked behind him where the fight had just occurred. "There doesn't appear to be and damage so the club probably won't press any charges but he's still gonna have to go down to the precinct. The rest depends on whether the other guy wants to pursue assault charges."

"Assault?" She turned to Logan. "God damn it, Logan. What the hell were you thinking? This is serious. And now we're going to have to go down to the jail and bail you out. And if you do get charged then we're going to have to call Andrew," she said, referring to Colin's father, who happened to be a very prominent lawyer whose firm handled many celebrity clients. "Don't you think he's got his hands full dealing with all of his paying clients without having to worry about the messes you get into?"

Logan didn't have anything to say so he just stood there and let her yell. He knew he screwed up—again, but he just couldn't deal with everything falling apart around him. Colin and Finn were mad at him, Rory was apparently having a severe identity crisis, and the weekend that was supposed to be filled with friends, good drunken times and lots of hot girls had turned into a weekend of alienating the people he cared about, drowning his sorrows in scotch and sulking over the one girl he should never, ever have had any non-platonic feelings for. Everything was wrong and he didn't know how to make it right again and he had just lost it.

"We're gonna have to take him now," the guard told Rory, before leading Logan the rest of the way off the dance floor and disappearing into a back room somewhere. Rory just stood there and watched. Stephanie approached her and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"What the hell is his problem?" she choked out.

"I think you know, hun."

"No, seriously; one night I'm adult enough to well…you know and then as soon as it's someone else's hands on me he goes right back to thinking of me like some naïve, innocent little girl? It doesn't work that way."

"No, it doesn't," Steph confirmed.

"So then I repeat, 'what the hell is his problem?'"

"He isn't thinking of you like that anymore, Rory; exactly the opposite, in fact."

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?"

Steph chuckled a little at her friend. Rory may have suddenly taken to not acting 'innocent and naïve', and Logan may not be seeing her that way anymore, but that didn't mean that in a lot of was, she wasn't. "Come on, let's get our stuff and go back to the hotel, I'll explain it on the way there."

"Yeah, except that we have to go bail Logan out," she replied angrily.

Steph looked over her shoulders at Colin and Finn. They shook their heads in understanding.

"The boys'll take care of it," Steph promised.

Rory sighed, she was too upset and angry to deal with Logan anymore that night anyhow. "Alright," she agreed. "Let's go."

Logan walked into the hotel room and flopped down on his bed. Colin and Finn and come and gotten him from jail but they hadn't spoken a word to him the entire ride back. Luckily, they didn't have to post any bail since all the charges had been dropped. The guy was going to press charges at first but all it took was one mention of the fact that Colin's father represented 50 Cent to have the guy insisting that he was never all that fond of his nose anyhow.

Logan was so exhausted that he contemplated not even getting changed and just passing out right there on top of the covers. As soon as he closed his eyes, however, he became aware of soft muffled voices floating through the wall between his room and Rory's. She never fell asleep with the TV on so he knew she was still awake.

He pulled himself up off the bed and walked over to the doors between their rooms. He knocked for a few seconds but heard no signs of movement in the other room. "Come on, Rory, I know you're awake. You can't ignore me forever. Please, just open the door." After a few more seconds he heard footsteps and he breathed a sigh of relief, until the piece of paper slipped under the door.

"I'm not speaking to you.

Go away."

Groaning frustratedly, he banged his head against the door, but only let the self pity consume him for a moment. He wasn't going to give up; she was going to talk to him. He started banging on the door more fervently.

After about a minute the door swung open forcefully. "What part of 'go away' didn't you understand?" she asked frustratedly, her arms crossed over her chest, he fuzzy, pink slipper clad foot tapping impatiently.

"I'm not going away, not until you let me apologize."

She sighed and leaned against the door frame. There was silence for a moment. "Well?"

"Oh, you want me to start now?"

"Isn't that why you were knocking furiously at my door at 1 o'clock in the morning?"

"I was waiting for confirmation before I started," he argued.

She rolled her eyes. "Just say what it is you have to say, already. And Logan…"

"Yeah?"

"It better be one hell of an apology."

Logan took a deep breath, trying to figure out where to begin. He decided that the actual 'I'm sorry,' was probably a pretty good bet. "I'm sorry, Rory." He paused…apparently starting was easier than finishing.

"That's it?" she asked him incredulously.

"No," he insisted.

"Well then, by all means, continue. I would like to get to bed sometime tonight."

"It wasn't supposed to be like this Rory. Last night, we both agreed it didn't mean anything. We weren't supposed to let it affect us."

"I'm not the one who's letting it affect us," she argued.

"Are you serious? Rory, look at you." She looked down at her bathrobe, ducky pajamas and pink slippers, then back up at him questioningly.

"Ok, well not 'look at you' right this second. But earlier, at the club. That wasn't you."

"What I wear and who I dance with has nothing to do with you, Logan. It has nothing to do with us. We were fine before we got to that club. Then you had to go start acting all crazy. If I didn't know any better I'd think Stephanie was right."

"Right about what?"

"You—being jealous."

"I am not jealous," he replied defensively.

"I didn't say you were; I said if I didn't know any better I'd think you were. You started a flipping bar fight, Logan. A bar fight! You broke some guy's nose, you embarrassed us all, you got arrested. And why? All because you didn't like me dancing with some other guy? What were you thinking?"

"Well gee, maybe I was thinking that I didn't want you to get raped, or murdered or kidnapped or something. You can't just go off and sleep with random guys, Rory. It's not safe."

"Why not? You go off and sleep with random girls all the time."

"That's different."

"Oh, really? I'd love to hear how."

"Well for starters, I'm a guy."

Rory stood there, mouth hanging open in awe. "What?" he asked her defensively.

"I think your double standard's showing," she said pointing at him accusatorily.

"It's not a double standard, Rory. It's the truth. That guy was twice your size. If he got you alone and he wanted to hurt you—there's nothing you could have done to stop him."

"You know what? I take it back."

"Take what back?"

"You are jealous."

"You're crazy."

"You wanted it to be you," she said, taking the octave of her voice down a notch. She stepped towards him and he went to step away but realized that his back was up against the door frame.

"That's insane," he chocked out.

"You wanted to be the one getting all hot and sweaty with me on the dance floor." She stepped closer to him again, pressing her body up against his."

"You don't know what you're talking about," he gulped.

"The thought that I might go home with him was tearing you up inside, because you didn't want me in anyone's bed but yours." Her lips were millimeters from his face now.

He shook his head this time, no longer able to find any words. She smiled at the reaction she was getting from him and then suddenly, she stepped away. "No?" she asked innocently, looking him up and down, knowingly. "Oh well then."

Logan took a deep breath, stepping back into his room a few inches. He tried to steady his erratic heart rate and waited for a moment until the blood started flowing back to his brain from its currently location in other parts of his anatomy. When he could finally think straight again, he spoke.

"So that's how it's going to be now?" he asked angrily. "You're going to use your newly discovered powers of sexual persuasion to get what you want? You're better than that Rory."

"I was just trying to prove a point," she shrugged.

"And what point would that be?"

"That you let what happened last night get to you."

"I let it get to me? Are you serious Rory? At least I'm not the one who's suddenly dressing like a slut and throwing myself at the first hot guy who looks my way." He regretted the words before they even finished coming out of his mouth but before he had a chance to apologize he found himself looking at the cold, white door.

"Rory! I'm sorry, Rory…I didn't mean it, I swear…Ace! Open up." He pounded at the door furiously, pleading with her. He continued to knock for what felt like hours but was really only more like five minutes, until his hand couldn't take it anymore. He slid down until he was sitting on the floor in front of the door and let his head fall back against it in defeat. He felt the tears welling up in his eyes. Sometimes, even grown men needed to cry, and for Logan Huntzberger, this was one of those times.

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