Rory gulped back the last of her fourth glass of champagne, tossing the glass into the back seat, and followed the rest of the group into the pub. She tripped ungracefully over the door stop, but Logan caught her, and wrapped his arm around her waist. She giggled, looking up into his face and admiring the way his eyes were looking at her, scanning quickly across her face and down her body. He smiled and whispered warmly in her ear, sending shivers into her fingers, unless that was just the champagne.
" Ready for your debut Ace." Rory nodded, and gathered up her courage. Finn passed her the toy microphone, pulled out a chair and offered her a hand up. Rory climbed up onto the table. Looking around the pub, she felt dizzy, but quickly steadied herself. Her gaze fell upon a familiar dark head. She watched a tanned, blonde girl walked up, very close beside him, and put her hand on his arm, looking into his face.
Marty turned around from the bar, sliding his fake ID back into his pocket. He looked down to get a grip on the glass. Glancing back up he suddenly saw Rory slide through the door, wrapped in Logan Huntzberger, who was whispering in her ear. He swallowed thickly, and pushed his way through the crowd to the pool table. He dropped the glasses irritably on the table and beer sloshed across the felt.
" Watch it!" Brian complained. " I need as much of that as I can get."
" What's wrong?" Tara put her hand on Marty's arm, looking concerned.
" Nothing." Marty sighed and turned to take his shot.
Rory steeled herself and looked at Logan. He grinned at her and she grinned back, feeling bolder. Finn clapped loudly.
" Ladies and gentlemen, my fine companions, tonight, you have the great pleasure of experiencing the American debut of the delightful…..LORELAI VICTORIA GILMORE! Take it away Lorelai!" He announced and Rory coughed, giggled nervously, and then started.
" On a Monday…I am waiting… Tuesday I am fading…." She started timidly, but the bar-tender shook his head and popped a CD into a player. Rory smiled gratefully for the back up and sang louder.
" Oh my go-" Marty dropped his pool cue at the sound of the voice.
" What's wrong?" Ana's brow creased with concern and followed his eyes. " OH."
" Rory." Marty sighed. He started towards the table.
" Excuse me. Excuse me. EXCUSE ME!" Marty finally just bull-dogged his way through the crowd that had begun to gather.
" Rory! RORY!" Rory looked down happily at his voice, but then quickly turned away, remembering that she had blown Marty off. She started to sing even more loudly and tried to ignore Marty.
" As if you know me better than I ever knew myself…."
" Rory, please get down from there before you fall down." Marty reached ou his arm to her. Rory waved him away. Marty looked around himself and didn't really like Rory in her short length skirt, standing on a table that was surrounded by partially drunk college boy. True, he was a partially drunk college boy, but it was different. " Rory, you're making a fool of yourself. Come on. You should go home." Logan noticed, and came over, maneuvering himself behind Marty.
" She's just having some fun Marky. She needs to one in a while." Marty turned around to see who was talking and frowned. Logan took the chance to slip in between Marty and the table Rory was on.
" It's Marty, and you know that. She could get hurt." Marty turned, pushing past Logan. "Rory, come on, get down." He glanced around at the crowd as she continued to sing, or tried to. "Please Rory." She looked down at him. He thought that for a moment, she had a hurt look on her face as she looked into her eyes, but shook her head.
" See, the lady wants you to leave her alone. Isn't that right Ace?"
" Yeah, well ACE is drunk. Se doesn't know what she wants." Marty retorted.
" Well apparently it's not you kid, so why don't you go back to the sand box."
" Don't call me kid." Marty said indignantly.
" Marty." Brian said warningly from the crowd behind him. Tara watched apprehensively.
" You're going to loose a lot of business if you take this any further. I'd be careful." Logan warned.
"Do you only think about money? I'm so tired of all you rich kids thinking you're better than everyone else!" Marty shot at Logan.
" If the shoe fits."
" Conceited jackass." Marty mumbled, shaking his head.
" Charity case."
" At least I earned my spot here." Marty pointed his finger at his chest.
" What's that supposed to mean." Logan stepped in closer to Marty, not intimidated by his greater height.
" You don't study, you don't go to class, you don't work, you're daddy's just paying you're way into and through school. You're pathetic."
" Jealous?" Logan said, trying to sound cocky, but also trying to hide that Marty had hit a nerve.
" Yeah, my life goal is to be a big tool." Marty shook his head and tried to step back towards the table, were Rory had been drowned out by the argument, and was now just murmuring the words in confusion, looking concerned.
" What makes you think you're good enough for her, you're just lower middle income. She's debutante. Money. She's one of us. Maybe that's why she cancelled on you for us."
Marty looked up at Rory, hurt, but he quickly hardened his expression.
"Maybe you don't really know her then." Marty said quietly. Logan laughed.
" Yeah, maybe, but I probably know her more intimately than you ever will." He said with a sly smile. It wasn't really all that true, but he would pull anything for this fight. And he could tell that this was all more than just concern for a friend on Marty's part.
" Logan!" Rory exclaimed indignantly, turning red, and looking around herself in embarrassment. Jonathan laughed, but both Colin and Finn frowned and smacked him. Marty tensed his jaw, and looked up at Rory, who was looking confused and embarrassed on top of the table.
" That's it." Marty lunged forward at Logan, punching him in the face.
" Marty!" Rory cried out in surprise. Logan was stunned for a moment, then the pub burst out in noise and he lunged back. He grabbed the back of Marty's sweater and swung him towards some tables. Two chairs flew out of the way as Marty struggled to catch himself, and get back up. Grabbing Logan's arms, they wrestled, until Logan smacked up against the bar and Marty freed a hand, punching him in the face. With a hand from Finn, Rory stepped quickly down from the table.
" Marty! Stop it! Marty! Logan!" She shouted helplessly. Logan slipped out from the bar, punching Marty in the stomach, and in the face as he doubled over.
" HEY! THAT'S IT BOYS." A waiter shouted, and a couple of the bartenders waded into the fight and pulled Logan and Marty off each other, from where they were grappling on the floor. Brian and Craig tried to calm Marty down, and hold him back, while Colin and Finn helped Logan up. Logan pushed their arms away, and touched his swelling eye. The two glared at each other. " Out. Both of you now." The waiter told them, but Logan shook his head and pulled out his wallet. He passed over three hundred dollar bills.
" Forget it. We're going. That should cover the damage. From both of us." He glanced over at Marty, who clenched his fists angrily. " Come on." Logan turned and the others followed him out, Finn grabbing the microphone from where it had been dropped onto the table. Rory looked at Marty, who was looking ashamed, as he wiped the blood from his split lip with the back of his hand. She ducked her head and started to follow Logan out.
" I can't believe this!" Marty exclaimed as he saw her following them. " Damn it Rory, they're all drinking. How can you drive with them? What are you doing?" Rory stopped, holding the door open.
"Finn hasn't been drinking, I swear!" She protested.
" You know what? Who cares. Do what you want." Marty shook his head in disappointment and turned to go back to the pool table.
" Wait. I'm sorry Marty." Rory pleaded.
" For what?" He said in disbelief.
" For lying. I just…. I don't know what… I just know I'm sorry. Really."
" Look, Rory, I'm not just going to forgive you like that. Don't you even know that's not the way it works?" Marty looked at her incredulously.
" It's….just the way it's always been." She said. He almost stopped, feeling remorseful
for the confused look on her face, but at the same time it infuriated him.
" Yeah, well it's not. Not with me. Not anymore. You can't step all over me Rory."
Marty explained fervently. As she looked down at her feet, he felt even more compassion for her, which just made him more determined to tell her off for once. "You can't suddenly leave a conversation and not give me answers, and blow me off, and do….this, and still expect me to show up to help you at a moment's notice. It's not fair for me. I can't keep doing this. Next time you're in trouble that you just can't fix on your own, call some one else."
" Marty." Rory said quietly, furrowing her forehead.
" Grow up Rory." Marty sighed and turned around for a minute. " Maybe……..No. You know what. Just go home. Or go out. Your boyfriend's waiting for you." Marty glanced dejectedly at Logan. Rory followed his eyes.
" He's not my boyfriend!" Rory protested, but Marty ignored her, pushing through thepub. Rory watched as a blonde came up gently beside Marty, laying her hand on his arm and reaching up to touch his cut lip, and swallowed a sharp jerk at the back of her throat. She turned around, avoiding the people who had been covertly staring at the end of the disturbance, and stumbled back to where the rest were standing by the SUV. Jonathan opened the door for her and she crawled into the back. Wedged back in between Logan and Colin, she felt like she was being suffocated by the silence. It seemed like the only sound was Finn unconsciously, repetitively, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel. They pulled to a stop at a red light and Rory moved her eyes from her lap. She glanced over at Logan, who had moved to make as much room as possible between Rory and himself. She could tell that he was aware she was looking, but he avoided any eye contact. As the opposite lights turned yellow, Logan looked up at Finn.
" I think we call it a night, eh Finn?"
" Right Captain." Finn said somberly. He turned left onto the street that held both Rory and Stephanie's dorms. He glanced back in the rear view. Logan was staring at the window, but not out of it, his mouth set in a tight line. Rory was staring at her lap, her hair falling into her face.
Logan stole a glance at her while Finn stopped to let Stephanie off. He watched her swallow slowly as Finn gallantly kissed Stephanie's hand, then daringly pulled her in for a real kiss. He saw Rory bite her lip as Stephanie pushed Finn back into the driver's seat reprovingly with a simple "Down Finn. Night everyone." Rory glanced back up as Finn pulled the car back into gear, but Logan looked quickly away again. When they got to Rory's dorm, she gathered her scarf in her hand and looked up at Logan.
" I'm sorry. Really sorry Logan. I…I didn't mean…I do. I like you, all of you." She looked up nervously at the rest of the occupants, and continued more quietly to Logan.
" I'm just not sure right now because…. I don't know why. I'm not any good at this." Rory muttered. She decided quickly that there was nothing left to do, or say, so she wrapped her coat more tightly around herself and slipped awkwardly out of the SUV. She didn't look, but she heard the door slam behind her and the car pull off quickly. Pushing her hair behind her ear she hurried inside, fumbling with her key. The key slipped around the lock. She scratched the paint on the door when she started suddenly at a noise on the stairs, the idea that it might be Marty popping into her mind. But when she looked, it was only a couple of girls from the third floor. When she turned back, the door was open and Paris was standing right in front of her. Rory let out a little yelp, and the two girls on the stairs looked back in surprise. She looked down in embarrassment and pushed her way inside.
" Paris." Rory said irritably.
" You look awful."
" Nice to see you too." Rory pulled off her jacket and threw it angrily at the coat rack. It slumped to the floor, and Paris stood watching her with crossed arms. Rory stormed to the fridge, opened it, saw nothing, and slammed it angrily. She finally walked over the couch, but instead of sitting down, she hovered over it, unsure as to whether she should sit or not. Paris walk over to the loveseat indifferently, sat down and looked at her.
" What happened."
" Nothing."
" That's a lie." Paris said simply. Rory frumped onto the couch and grabbed a pillow, hugging it fiercely to her chest.
" So."
" So are you going to tell me, or are you going to be annoying and sulk."
" Sulk." Rory replied decidedly.
" Fine." Paris stood up and started for her bedroom.
" What's wrong with me." Rory said suddenly. Paris stopped.
" In what way?"
" Tonight. I was stupid, and drunk on champagne." Rory shook her head. " And I went to the pub, and I was singing Ashlee Simpson on a bar table."
" In the name of all things holy, why."
" A dare. And champagne. Mostly champagne."
" Still." Paris said reprovingly.
" I know ! But it gets worse."
" Do I really want to hear this?"
" Marty was there, and I saw him with this girl, but he tried to get me to stop, and he got in a fight with Logan, and then I pissed him off, and then he said Logan was my boyfriend, and I said he wasn't, and Logan heard, and now I think he's angry at me…." Rory dropped her head onto the pillows next to her and further explained the event.
"Guys." Paris said decidedly.
" What?" Rory looked up from the sofa in confusion.
"Guys. They seem to be you're biggest area of difficulty. I'm going to guess it has
something to do with your father."
" Paris."
" You always have two around."
" I do not!" Rory protested.
" One reliable, very John Brown or A.J. Citizen type, and one all James Dean, or James Bond, or what have you." Paris continued.
" I do not!"
" Dean, and Tristan."
" I never went out with Tristan." Rory interjected.
" Well you never really got a chance did you." Paris pulled, as a counter point. " Dean and Jess."
" So?"
" Dean and Logan. Logan and Marty." Paris listed.
" Okay. Maybe. But why? Why would I do this?"
" According to my psychology class, I think it has something to do with your relationship with you father. If you are essentially attracted to the type of person your father is."
" Ew!"
" It's just the Elektra complex. Relax. It just means that you look for some one interesting. Unpredictable, like him. Thus Jess and Logan. Meanwhile, you have abandonment issues with him as well, so you look for a stable, constant, if sometimes boring, guy, like Dean." Paris explained rationally.
" And Marty?" Rory added hesitantly.
" I'm not sure about Marty yet. He seems more like Dean, but definitely an upgrade. He's more your equal, so to speak, in some ways. I think he presents somewhat differently that past interests."
"Ugh. I hate men." Rory whined, rolling her face into the pillow.
" You might consider lesbianism."
" PARIS." Rory yelled through the pillow
" Doyle and I saw Kinsey last night. Ambisexuality of some degree is very natural. You
might want to explore it."
" I can't believe this." Rory groaned
" Relax Gilmore. I was just kidding. You need sleep." Paris rolled her eyes and tossed an afghan from over the back of the loveseat at Rory.
" This is not a time for kidding."
" You know, I don't like Logan Huntzberger, but he was right about one thing. You take
yourself too seriously." Paris said over her shoulder,
" I can't believe YOU'RE telling me this!"
" Well, you had to hear it from some one. Better a friend." Paris said decidedly.
"I'm going to sleep."
" I'm just saying." Paris excused .
" GOOD NIGHT Paris." Rory said finally, pulling the blanket up and over her head.
Paris shook her head and headed for her room. She stopped at the doorway and turned back.
" You know Rory, you're lucky that you have so many people care about you. Marty. And Logan. They're just some of them. I think you just have to be more aware. If you have more people, you have to more careful, because sometimes you can hurt them, because of someone else, and you don't realize it."