Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girs. if I did, believe me, it would have turned out quite differently.

A/N: Happy new year, dear readers!

Sorry for the delay. I hope you are well, safe and can enjoy this new chapter! I think this may not be what you expected, but I have a reason, I hope you understand that it was necessary, cause some things need a closure to make room for new ones.

Please, review!

CHAPTER 13 – TELL NO TALES

"It just happened once."

Logan said desperately, but the silence on the other side said it all.
"I didn't know who she was. That was just a bad coincidence." He tried again, but had no response.

Jess was still trying to digest his friend's words. It was hard to swallow, like really salty food.

"I met her at a party. We hit it off and it just happened."

"Wait..." Jess finally said. "Are you telling me you picked Rory up at some random party?"

"Yeah..."

"Rory?" Jess cleared his throat. Not sure if he had heard right. "Are we even talking about the same person? Rory doesn't hook up with random guys like that."

Logan swallowed hard. He could feel Jess's voice shaky, halting. So he just nodded softly. "She did. With me."

"You gotta be wrong"

"I'm not wrong."

"You have to be wrong. You must be confused."

"Jess, wake up. Rory isn't some kind of untouched biblical virgin. She's a woman. I saw her, we talked, I made a move, we hooked up. I'm telling you, this happened, just once. Since I found out about you two... I've been feeling pretty awful. And so does she."

Jess shook his head to clear away all those intrusive thoughts that suddenly couldn't leave him alone.

"I'm sorry." Logan said, pushing his hair back with the palm of his hand in frustration.

Jess said nothing more. Just sat on the couch, numb. That was the longest silence of Logan's entire life. He kept waiting for Jess to say something. To scold at him or yell out, anything. But he didn't move. Logan could read throught his mind, like if he was searching for something.

Jess just got up, instead. Headed for the small bar in his living room and chose his most expensive whiskey.

He brought the bottle to the coffee table and helped himself, sipping his Golden liquid like if it was some kind of pain killer.

"I thought that was for celebrating."

Jess pursed his lips, every word still cutting right through him. "Love, pain... Same difference."

Logan just stared at the floor. It wasn't his place to give him an advice. If only there was a real question. To him, it felt like an outburst.

"You're not gonna yell at me? Punch me in the face?"

Jess snored. "I have a presentation tomorrow. I don't think getting our faces broken is the solution here."

"And getting shitfaced is it?"

"What you want me to say?"

"Guess there's nothing to say."

"My point exactly. Why did you decide to tell me this now?"

"It was the right thing to do. I just want you to know that I'm sorry. If I knew she was your girl..."

Jess would have to stop him right there. "That's the problem." he sipped his bitter drink. "She's not my girl." Jess paused for a second. "I just wanted to know..." Now his words sounded like a self reflection. "How many guys she will be with before..." then he became self conscious and restrained his next line.

It took no more than half a word from Jess for Logan to realize what was really going on there. He was not imagining things. Jess probably liked this girl way more than he could have imagined.

He would risk saying that maybe Jess could even love her. Which made him feel a thousand times more guilty. And futile. And selfish.

And how about himself? How did he feel about Rory? He avoided as much as he could go into that place, but was it love?

He didn't know what it was like to be in love. Was that weird feeling in his chest worth stepping on the toes of his friend?

It was not. So he took a deep breath and said the most unbelievable words he could say. "You should ask her out."

"What?" Jess's attention snapped to his friend.

Logan couldn't believe he would repeat that. Talk about patient. "I said you should ask her out."

Jess chuckled. "You must be crazy."

Pushing a girl he liked to another guy? Yeah, he surely must be crazy. "I just think you two have history. Maybe you should try to see how it ends."

"It doesn't matter." He looked down at his glass, shaking the ice cubs in circles. "I don't have time to date anyway."

"What are you saying?"

"You know how busy my life has been. Now isn't the time to be rejected by her again."

"Then you should ask Chloe out."

Jess frowned. Maybe he was a little embarrassed. "What?"

"Oh, come on, Jess." Logan replied with a smirk.

Jess tried to pass it as if he was confused by the insinuation, but, yeah, he knew exactly what he was talking about. But he tried to deflect it. "You know you shouldn't try to sleep with every single woman breathing next to you, don't you?"

Logan smiled. "Defensive question as an answer. I like it. That means you have already considered the idea, but never acted on it. You're giving this too much thought."

"And you're always give things too little thought."

"True. That's why we're friends."

Jess roaised his brows. Perhaps agreeing with the theory. Then something occurred to him. "Don't you think it's weird that you're encouraging me to go out with girls you've been with before?"

"I rather think I have a good taste in women and wish the best for my friends."

Jess had seen Logan repeat his speech proudly many times before, but this was the first time that it sounded more like a mantra he was repeating to convince someone. Probably himself.

"So you think I should really ask her out?"

"You better do." Logan said, firmly. "If you don't do something about it, maybe I will."

"What day is today?"

"Sunday"

"And what day is tomorrow?"

"Monday." Rory answered wondering if that was just another of Finn's daydreams.

"This is weird."

"Do you think it's weird Monday comes after Sunday? "

The corner of Finn's mouth kicked up into a smirk. "No, it's weird you're here, drinking with us when you have class early in the next morning."

"Oh well" Rory said airily. "I know I said I was giving myself a little time to figure things out, but in fact, I'm not any any more elucidated that I was a few months before. This is kind of bothering me. Seems like I'm not going anywhere."

"I'd give you some advice but you're too lost already."

"I think you're right." Rory couldn't agree more, but maybe Finn had changed his mind.

"What the hell, I'm giving you anyway. This is what I learned so far from school: Do not purchase twin beds to bring a girl over and make her go away when you are done. And bunk beds? I think I almost broke one once. Lesson learned? Don't have sex on the top bunk in a dorm room. It doesn't matter if the girl weighs a buck-oh-five and you know you plan on only lasting for ten minutes tops. Those bunk beds are made out of sticks. Don't say I never warn you about it. "

Rory pressed her lips together, wanting to laugh or die of shame, not sure which." How does this help me with my problem exactly?"

Finn frowned. "What problem?"

"Nothing. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with me."

"Anytime."

Rory downed the rest of her drink and slammed the glass on the table. "It's not okay that I'm getting used to this."

She thought her personal outburst was private, but apparently her words could echo throughout the entire room.

"It's not okay to get used to what?" Stephanie joined the conversation.

"Oh nothing, I just feel that I lose a brain cell every time I try to have a conversation with Finn."

"That's how he keeps us away from drugs." Logan added, following Stephanie.

He sat down at the table and greeted Rory with a little nod, so gently that she suddenly felt happy.

Rory was committed to hiding how blissfully surprised to hear his voice she was. "Hey, I thought you wouldn't come anymore."

"Did you miss me, Ace?" He winked at her.

"Sure", she said, "My cup is almost empty, I need somebody to go fill it up."

"I don't have time to be used, Ace."

"Well, I was just about to offer you my watch."

"Do not let Logan borrow your stuff, you'll never see them again." Stephanie meddled into their conversation and Logan took the hit.

"Excuse me, I do not."

"Either you lose them or break them, you know it's true."

"Like what?"

"Like that time we were fighting over who would light the grill at the 4th july. It's usually me—"

"Actually, we're supposed to take turns," he reminded her.

"I did two years in a row." She argued and he crossed his arms, a playful spark in his brown eyes.

"Obviously you just don't remember it right. I did it in the between."

"Oh please." She tilted her head and smirked. "I got sick before that, remember? Your mother accidentally put expired eggs in the cookies and I spent the whole day throwing up. You stole the grill from me my year."

"Whatever, it was my house and my grill." He shook it off.

"Anyway," She turned to Rory, hoping to finish her story without any interjections." We were fighting over who got to do it, and suddenly... My favorite lighter broke when Logan tried to tug it out of my hands," Steph finished, dramatically. "He tends to break a lot of things."

"I broke your Barbie's legs when we were seven. Get over it!"

"You ran them over with your bike" She replied.

"Well, you shouldn't have left them in my driveway," he said, as if that solved everything.

They finally finished their little spat and Rory felt like it was her clue to step in before it could get out of hand. "Guys, the watch thing was a joke."

But that wasn't enough to make Steph at ease, she seemed unusually moody that night.

"Oh good, Colin is here." Stephanie sighed heavily. "Maybe I should take off."

"Wait," Rory argued. "So you're just leaving me here? What happened to girls' night? You said we were coming here to drink and dance."

Steph pouted her glossy pink lips. "I know. I'm sorry. But I didn't know Colin would be here."

Rory was pretty sure she did.

Out of all the parties they could've gone to, she kept insisting on going to this one, which wasn't even the most fun one.

She said a band would be playing but Rory wasn't seeing any signs of a band. There was no stage. No musicians. They were in a regular frat house off campus in a living room that's been cleared of furniture and was currently packed with wall-to-wall people. Club music blasting from speakers, one of which was right next to her head.

If Rory didn't know her, she would say Stephanie wanted Colin to see her, but didn't want to admit it. Maybe something had happened between them.

And the minute she left her reverie, she looked around and just like that, Steph was gone. And so was Finn.

"What happened to her?"

"I guess they did it." Logan pointed out and Rory followed the motion of his head to Stephanie and Colin who seemed to have founded a new thing to argue about. "What? Are you sure?"

Logan snorted. "Ace, those frat walls are really thin. So, we just pretend we don't hear anything and works for everybody."

Yeah. She knew what he was talking about. "You're right, like earlier this night for example, I was hanging out with Finn in your place and your room was specially loud."

Logan almost stuttered. By now, he was quite out of words. Technically, he didn't owe Rory anything but still this was weird territory. So maybe he should try to change the subject. "Why were you hanging out with Finn exactly?"

"He gave me a ride tonight, but that's not the point here. You told us you wouldn't come to the party cause you were busy."

"And like you heard, I was!"

"I mean..." She rolled her eyes. "Why did you feel you couldn't tell me that you were with a girl? Aren't we friends?" There was an obvious plea in her tone, and she knew he would hear it.

His face twisted briefly before he said, "Yeah, we are."

"So?"

They stared at each other for a long time. In a twinkling of an eye, they shared a bond; feelings passed from him to her, and Rory felt the knowledge that she was tied to this boy, for better or for worse, sinking into her bones in a way it never had before. And somehow, she suspected he was feeling like that too.

Logan finally grinned over the rim of the glass, but never answered her question. "You know I don't kiss and tell."

"And you never answer my questions without some kind of smart-ass remark first."

He made a sound like a snicker, his eyes spilling over with warmth. "You are very nosy, you know."

She was still half smiling, but her expression also twisted reluctantly. "I couldn't help to notice that you changed after that day, in the lake. Still, you don't wanna tell me why."

Unable to resist her rosy and slightly swollen lips, he leaned toward her, and she was almost convinced he was about to kiss her, but she could tell something held him back.

"I just realized..." Logan hesitated to tell the truth immediately. He hated how good a friend of Jess he was. Finally when he spoke his voice was quiet, almost a whisper, "We made the right call when we decided to be friends. I'm glad that our little experiment in the lake didn't blow up in our faces."

Rory quickly acknowledged the butterflies bouncing in her stomach. But probably not in the good way. Maybe they were trying to kill each other. Like she should probably do with her long lost hope that this guy would change his mind about her.

With a flat voice, she didn't have another say in this. "Yeah."

Getting information out of Logan was like pulling teeth, so she gave up as she felt a light touch on her shoulders. She looked up into the pale, agitated face of Jess and she hardly believed what she was seeing.

"Oh my God! What are you doing here?" She shot up from her seat and ran to give him the biggest hug.

"Surprising you," he announced.

She hadn't seen or heard from Jess for weeks now. "How did you know I'd be here?"

"I didn't. At first, I tried your dorm, but Paris said... Let me remember the exactly word she used..." Jess made a strategic pause. "Rory is in perdition." With humor in his eyes, he quoted Paris and Rory immediately rolled her eyes.

This sounded a lot like Paris's regular drama, but she let Jess finish. "So I figured out you were with Logan and texted him."

Logan waved sarcastically at her.

Her eyes fixed on Logan's. His eyes were unreadable as he watched her. Them.

"How are you, anyway?" she said after a short pause.

"Right now? Almost deaf, to tell you the truth. This place is loud. Can we talk somewhere else?"

She smiled, her eyes drifted to Logan briefly. But it was enough time to understand he was okay with that. Or maybe be was acting okay, then she turned her interest back to Jess. "Sure!"

Rory followed him out through the door and disappeared from Logan's sight.

Logan huffed, not-so-discreetly letting out the air he'd been holding up in his chest.

Why are you guys looking at me like that?" Logan asked with a frown. He'd been having a bad night and for some reason the weird way his friends stared at him was hitting hard. Logan felt a kick of pain in his chest.

"What's the matter with you?" Colin asked.

"Nothing," Logan said quickly. "Just drank too much." He'd had four beers, but that wasn't anywhere near enough to affect his ability to think or function.

It was something else that had hit him.

Something emotional.

"You must be getting old if a few beers put you in this kind of stupor." Colin said, his voice making the words light and ironic as if it were a joke.

Logan knew it wasn't a joke. Even with a slightly fuzzy mind, he knew his friends were probing for information.

"This is my fourth beer of the night, so if you're expecting some sort of deep conversation, you're going to be disappointed. I'll be lucky if I don't fall asleep in this chair."

Colin must have been thinking about their conversation because after a minute of silence he said slowly "Why don't you just admit you're into her?"

Logan straightened up with a jerk. "What?"

Colin gave him a little smirk. "You heard me. It's pretty obvious, so why don't you do something about it instead of sitting here with that ugly face letting Jess have her?"

Logan shook his head dismissively. "You're crazy"

"I'm not crazy. You're so sprung over her it's almost painful to witness. You get that dreamy look in your eyes every time someone even mentions her name. It's pathetic."

"Oh, we're talking about reporter girl." Finn connected the dots. "Now that she's Stephanie's best friend, we're hanging out a lot. She's nice."

Traitor.

Logan wanted to ask if she said anything about him but kept his mouth shut.

"She asked me what your deal was," Finn added. Finally Logan couldn't stand it any longer. "What did you tell her?"

Finn wiped his mouth with a napkin. "I told her you were a horn dog with a capital H and D and that she should steer clear."

Great. "You made me sound like an asshole."

"You are an asshole."

Logan had genuinely no idea that anyone other than Steph knew anything about what was going on between them. He'd never been obvious with his feelings—so he wasn't sure what to make of the fact that Colin — and even Finn —
had picked them up so easily.

"I'm not an asshole. I just don't do relationships," he said at last, when it was clear they were waiting for a response.

"I know that's what you've been saying, but I don't get why you have to stick with it. If you're into her, what's the harm in changing your mind?" asked Colin.

"Are you really going to give me advice about relationships, when you spend all this time doing the same thing?" Logan's voice was light, not bitter, but he used the words intentionally to redirect the focus of the conversation. Away from him.

Away from answers he didn't have, couldn't say.

"Stop changing the subject," Colin said, not taking offense the way he could have.

Finn laughed. "Yes. I like when things turns tables like that"

"Finn, can you give us a minute?" Logan pleaded and Finn whined. "But I want to hear this."

"Then Colin can tell you later."

"Tell me what? That he has been in love with Steph for like 10 years?"

The two guys stared at Finn incredulously. "Yeah. Not even I am so clueless."

"Look, Colin. You're not wrong. I just wished you followed your own advice."

Colin stood up, clapped Logan on the shoulder, and then started collecting the bottles of beer scattered around the room. "Maybe, my friend. Maybe."

Logan just sat there for a long time, nursing his last gulp of beer.

A/N: Tell me what you think!