Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls. If I did, believe me, it would have turned out quite differently.
A/N: Hi guys, I'm updating the story again.
I must say, that this chapter had been ready for over a month and I thought long and hard if I should really publish it.
I'd like to thank all the messages (there were many) I've got from my last update, and all my readers who support my work. I also would like to ask you something.
When I check how many views my story is getting, I don't know if people just came in or read it until the end. There's no way of knowing who is sticking with me or if I'm following the right path. The only way to find out if this story is still interesting enough so I can keep updating, is you telling me so.
If you are following a story, support it. I have noticed that stories about Gilmore Girls have disappeared. The new (and very good) stories that emerge are not appreciated enough. In a short time this fandom will likely to disappear and there is no point in publishing stories for just ourselves. So, if you follow a fanfic, interact. Tell us what you think. It takes zero effort to leave a message. And we still keep this fandom alive.
I would also like to send love to all my readers around the world, as we are facing a difficult time. Take care. Stay safe. I hope everything is fine with you all.
Now, I am going to introduce a new plot in this story that I had already hinted in the last chapter.
Please review!
CHAPTER 9 – THROW OF THE DICE
"Is my watch broken?" Stephanie asked, sounding bored.
"Unfortunately no." Rory answered equally sick and tired.
That's because they were bored. Holed up in a crappy little underground poker palace run by those supposedly legendary gamblers and all of their rich friends.
And apparently the boys had to do this because they had a reputation or whatever.
"I can tolerate maybe two more rounds of this and then I'm walking," Stephanie muttered before Rory finish off the rest of the warm beer in her requisite red solo cup.
Grimacing, Rory set the cup on the table behind her and let out a big sigh, earning a quick glance from her friends. It wasn't too long until she caught Logan's face. He did looked stressed. He had been wearing that look a lot lately.
She wondered if their blunt conversation in his car had something to do with that. Or maybe lack of funds would do that to a person.
Instead of saving the money his dad gave him, he went and blew it on stupid stuff. Like poker.
Or like that pair of designer sunglasses he promptly lost when he was at one of those pool parties, got drunk and went swimming with them on.
Logan was very different from all the friends she had before. She still couldn't tell how that friendship still could work out so fine.
Friendship.
"Logan doesn't have very many chips left either," Stephanie mentioned, leaning in close to her when she noticed Rory couldn't take her eyes away from their blonde friend.
"Good. Maybe that means we can leave soon." Rory grabbed her cup from the table and brought it to her lips only to realize it was empty, then she frowned. Not that she wanted more warm beer but…
"Get her another." Logan rose his hand, a smug grin stretching his lips wide, revealing perfect white teeth. How was he paying attention to her and playing that game at the same time?
A second later she noticed he wasn't the only one looking at her closely.
Robert's gaze also snagged on hers, those green eyes never leaving hers. She was the one who had to look away first. Logan wished he could rip Robert's eyes off.
Asshole.
Among all of Logan's friends, Robert was the only one she hadn't figure it out yet. Okay, he was nice to her, as were all of them. But she could have sworn sometimes he looked at her strangely. As if he wanted something else from her.
"What a creeper." Stephanie stated as she saw the little eye interaction.
A shiver moved down Rory's spine but she ignored. Rory sipped her beer, thankful it was colder. They must've cracked open a new keg. Because Logan told them so.
"Ha! If Robert is a creeper then I hope he abducts me in his tricked out van." Rosemary bursted out laughing at her own crude joke.
"For God's sake, Rosemary" It was only what the other girls could say. That they were joking about being kidnapped was one thousand times wrong. That they were joking about Robert kidnapping them was a million times wrong.
"What do you mean, his tricked out van?" Rory asked, baffled.
"So many creepers have those equally creepy vans. You know which ones I'm talking about." Rosemary mocked shudders.
"So gross." Stephanie finally said.
Their conversation had taken a weird turn and Rory blamed boredom. She needed to get out of there. But nobody seemed to be paying attention to them.
Robert was too busy gnawing on his lower lip and sweating bullets.
Colin was hunched over his cards, as if he was afraid someone might catch a peek at his hand.
Finn was way too drunk to know where he was.
And Logan was sprawled in his chair, legs spread wide, one arm slung over the back of an empty chair, his other arm resting on the table, cards fanned wide so anyone can see them.
He looked just as bored as the girls were. But that was a good look for him.
Damn.
"I'm done." Colin threw his cards down in disgust and got up from his chair, moving so he was sitting on the bench behind Logan. Finn also admitted defeat and followed him.
Colin clapped a hand on Logan's shoulder in a good luck gesture and plucked the beer out of some random chick's hand, downing it before he grinned at her.
Everyone playing had already dropped out, one by one, until it was just Logan and Robert left. Some had even abandoned their chairs, moving on to grab more beer or play at another table. Or to leave the party with their tails tucked between their legs and their wallets empty.
Rory felt Robert tensing up and couldn't blame him.
Sitting up straight, she peeked over Logan's shoulder to see exactly what he was holding. And oh my God, he was holding something amazing.
Thank God her grandpa had taught her everything she needed to know about poker and blackjack. Even thought her gambling knowledge wasn't that impressive, she knew enough to know Logan's hand was about as good as it could get.
Talk about luck.
She could only guess by the way Robert was still sweating and muttering unintelligible words under his breath that he got nothing. Or he was the best bluffer ever.
She was guessing the first option.
"You in?" Logan asked, his deep voice rumbling from his chest, low and intimidating. Robert looked up, his teeth still sunk in his lower lip and Rory noticed all at once how incredibly young he looked. Maybe Rosemary had a point. Not about the kidnapping part, but about how Robert could be cute.
"You in?" Asked Logan again.
"Uhhh…" Robert drew out the sound, his gaze flickering to Logan. He was shaking his head no, slicing his finger across his neck. He was already close enough to losing it all. And his lack of response was making Logan even more impatient. For a minute, Rory could have sworn they weren't all that friends. "You gonna raise the pot or what?"
"I won't."
"So why don't you drop?"
"I'm not dropping." Robert reassured him and rested his cards on the table. "I want something else."
Logan looked confused. "What?"
"Come on, Logan. We've been bored out of our skull betting money here. The pot is small, maybe five thousand bucks. Big deal. Let's bet something else."
Logan stiffened in his chair. "What do you want?"
Robert clasped his hand over the table showing a little grin for the first time in hours. He glanced from Logan to the girls, laying his eyes on a very specific girl. "You know what I want."
Logan caught his intention and felt disgusted by the idea, answering him promptly. "No, ask something else."
"I don't want something else."
"So raise the damn pot or leave the damn table."
The room fell silent. They knew at this point that things were getting nasty. So Robert whispered, low enough so that only the people closer to the table could hear him.
"Come on, Logan. We don't want another 'Steph' here. I thought you were confident on what you had in your hands."
That just made Logan ever more irritated. "Do you want my blessing? Because that you'll never have."
Robert held his eyes defiantly. "If you win, I'll give up."
Logan was listening carefully and nodded at him to go on. "But if I win... You'll stay out of the way."
Logan shook his head and his forehead furrowed. His jaw was tight and he appeared angry. "It's never gonna happen anyway."
"So you have nothing to worry about, right?"
Logan thought long and hard. He took a quick glance at the four queens in his hands. No much could beat that but the Ace caused him major concern.
Ace.
He had too much invested. He couldn't lose that. What are the odds though? Really? They were in his favor. They had to be
Robert probably had nothing.
He was just trying to confuse him. Mess with something he cared about to make him lose his mind.
Nice try.
Logan's chip went into the pot with confidence.
Robert was right about one thing. The anticipation was half the fun of this game. And maybe he had missed it before, but that kind of thrill was only worthy when he was fairly sure he would win. "So what you got?"
"Call." Robert said.
"Here you go." The smugness in Logan's voice was unmistakable.
"Read 'em and weep." Logan spread his cards out in front of Robert. Four queen's and one Ace.
A really nice hand for sure.
Logan smiled victoriously and started to reach for the pile of chips, coins and dollar bills, looking like a greedy kid who just found the keys to the candy store and had no plans on sharing any.
"Hold it." Robert paused in his gathering. "I haven't showed my hand yet. Ready?"
Logan cocked a brow, as Robert drew out the suspense. There was a vibration beneath his skin, a buzzing that grew until it was a dull roar in his ears.
Robert crinkled the cards between his fingers before slowly drop them onto the table, one by one.
King of clubs.
King of spades.
King of hearts.
King of diamonds.
And—dramatic pause—the Ace of hearts.
Shit.
The entire room erupted into cheers, choruses of 'no way' and the occasional 'he beat you!'
"Looks like I got the Ace now." Said a triumphant Robert.
Logan had lost all coherent thought. He had also lost the ability to think, apparently.
"Screw this." A defeated Logan pushed away from the table so fast his chair fell backward with a clatter. He stormed out the room in a huff, never once saying a word to anyone, looking at Rory just once more and leaving behind his cards facing down into the middle of the table, right on top of the pile of chips, thousands of dollar bills and even a small mountain of quarters that were part of that round's pot Robert was so carefully gathering with a big nasty smile on his face.
"I didn't even want the money, Logan." Robert bragged about it once more, sulking him in his misery.
What a jackass.
"I didn't know you smoked." Rory declared, surprised when she finally found Logan alone with his thoughts on the porch.
"I don't."
She rested her hands on her hips. "So did that cigarette fall right in your mouth by mistake?"
He shrugged, tossing the cigarette butt on the floor and crushing it. "Well, I'm pretty pissed at myself. Swallowing poison didn't seem such a bad idea right now."
"Because of what you lost tonight?"
He looked down intently into her face. She couldn't read the emotions in his eyes. "Yeah..."
They fell in silence for a minute. Maybe she never had seen him that upset. Maybe it wasn't the best moment to ask that question, but the curiosity was driving her crazy.
"Hey, Logan. What did Robert meant by 'we don't want another Steph'?"
He sank his hands into his pockets and looked at her carefully, smiling for the first time. "You ask way too many questions, Ace."
Her face broke into a grin. "And you never easily answer them."
He nodded in agreement and walked back onto the porch, sitting on the step. Rory stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do. Then she sat on the step next to him. They stayed in silence again for a few moments, looking at the sky. It was a pleasant evening for a late fall.
"Look up at that cloud above us", Rory said. "What does that cloud look like to you?"
Logan gazed up at the cloud. "Does it look like it's giving us a thumbsup?"
She laughed. "Yeah, kinda."
Rory could feel him cooling off as he pointed to another cloud. "What about that one?"
She thought for a second, afraid of what she thought she was seeing. "It looks like a phallic symbol."
He cocked his head to one side, in question, and took another look; he glanced up perfectly joyful. "It so does not."
She cocked her head with a semi-scowl as she replied. "Yes, it does."
"I don't know if I'm more worried about your eyes health or scared about you seeing a penis everywhere."
"I don't see it everywhere."
"Say penis."
She blushed violently at the words, and the accompanying image that had just popped into her head. "I don't want to."
They shared a laugh and continued their exploration through the sky, until he saw her face lighting up to something else. "What was that little grin about?"
"It's nothing." She said, not at all convincing. Logan smiled and glanced at her with the corner of his eye. He seemed to smile even more when he noticed her twirling her hair with her fingertips. Like if she was thinking something he might like to hear.
My God. She was sexy.
Normally, he wasn't attracted to cute, cuddly women, but from the moment he'd spied her beautiful kissable lips, nothing about her felt normal.
Or ever rational.
Since he promised they would be just friends, he told himself he wouldn't do anything that would tempt him to break their agreement.
But at that particular moment, his gaze drifted to her body fixing on the lush curves in that blue top. That just got even more attractive mixed with her flustered face and eyes so blue like thick ice.
He was mesmerized as he was watching her adjusting her hair. She flipped her dark hair off her shoulder and onto her back. "Tell me what you're thinking, Ace."
"Alright! You caught me." She dropped her hands to her lap, so embarrassed she thought she would burst at any moment. "I was just thinking... don't you think it's weird that we're friends and I've had already seen you naked?"
He shrugged like if it wasn't that big deal. "Well, you're friends with Jess."
She considered. "Yeah, but..." she hesitated, calling his attention.
"But what?" Logan asked, afraid to have come to the right conclusion. "You guys haven't have sex?"
She shook her head 'no'. God, telling him this was awkward.
Logan couldn't hide his surprise. "But didn't you date for like months?"
"Yeah..."
Not believing what he heard, he snorted, shaking his head. "Poor guy."
"So you don't think it's weird for friends to have sex?"
"Not really."
Huh. Suspiscious answer. "Have you ever slept with Stephanie? Is that what Robert was referring to before?"
"No..."
Logan sounded really uncomfortable with that conversation. He really didn't like to answer her questions. And he seemed to have so many secrets. She thought about backing down, but she had to know. "'No' to which question?"
"'No' to both questions. Robert wasn't talking about her and I never slept with Steph either."
Rory nodded reflectively, quiet.
"You sound surprised." Logan said and she gazed at him. "Why not?"
"Well, if something had happened between Stephanie and me, Colin would have killed me. He likes her. Steph is like the forbidden fruit to us."
"So you would never consider to have something with a girl your friend likes?"
"Most likely."
Rory didn't get it. Did he think the way he was looking at her just a few minutes ago went unnoticed? What if he looked at Stephanie the same way, but didn't act on it?
What a cold shower.
Not speaking, she came a little closer. For several minutes she stood as motionless as him. She bit her lower lip and whispered in a low, soft voice. "Logan, how often you think about that night?"
She was so close now he could smell her light peachy scent, which made him travel immediately to the moment she was talking about. He'd lost count of how many times he'd revisited the memories of their night.
It was such a shame he wasn't allowed to think about this. "You mean the thing we were never supposed to talk about?"
She smirked. "Yeah."
Logan swallowed hard. "I don't want to sound creepy so I'll ask you to go first."
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, never breaking their eye connection. "It still comes across my mind occasionally."
"So I envy you, cause I think about that all the damn time when I'm with you."
His words made a shriver move all way down her spine. If only she wasn't a coward and let him kiss her now. Better, if only she wasn't a coward and decided to kiss him now. "Do you mean, you want to do it again?"
She was flirting. Hard. Which was okay with him. He was the master at flirting. And keeping things casual. And superficial.
Which was where exactly lied the problem in that case.
"You know we can't." He said, a little hesitantly.
Rory noticed the things cooling down between them when Logan struggled to keep the conversation going. He had doubts. She had too, but that shouldn't get in the way of what she really wanted. If he wanted it too.
Underneath all the shame she felt for a possible rejection, she wore a smile and backed off. "Logan, I was kidding."
Slightly humiliated, she tried to withdraw and go back to the room, where the girls were waiting for her, but before she could cross that door, he softly called her name and caught a glimpse of her disappointed eyes. "You may be kidding, but I wasn't."
Rory felt like her heart might beat its way out of her chest. Still, she also felt like her heart could break into a multitude of tiny pieces. She wasn't aware he could do that to her. Until now.
And to be honest, she still wasn't even sure If her heart was fixed just to be broken again.
So she just smiled, repressed her feelings and gave him a small nod.
He liked her not.
A/N: I realized that I have not yet made this challenge in this story. But there will be a party in the next chapter including all the LDB characters and some exciting things are going to happen. It's going to be a loooong chapter.
Anyone who guess what's going to happen will receive an exclusive sneak peak from the next chapter before I publish it. The clock is ticking.
Also, tell what you think of chapter 9.
