CHAPTER 8

Logan's Wednesday started on the wrong foot. Hearing his father first thing in the morning wasn't the first thing he'd want to deal with. Come to think of it, he'd prefer to avoid his father totally any day of the week.

"Do you have the ring yet?" his father asked.

"We're getting it this weekend, dad," he assured him.

"Good. If anything else, I don't want this thing to blow up on our faces," his father reminded him.

Logan had heard the mantra so many times from his father that it made him sick to the very core.

Logan left his father rambling on his ear as he let his thoughts wander on to Rory.

Funny thing was that he never thought he'd be so fortunate to be with someone like her. Before he met her, he was clueless; a wandering Neanderthal that didn't see any purpose to life other than be the heir to his father's newspaper fortunes and be the darling of the public eye. Everything was a calculated effort to become bigger and better. Rory's innocence in the world of the wealthy made him realize that not everyone in life is jaded. He just hated the fact that as he had introduced to her a lot of firsts in her life, he probably would be the first to introduce to her treachery and deceit.

She spent the night over after he convinced her to leave her dorm and have dinner with him. He marveled at her diligence despite his persistence to have her drop her books and spend quiet times with him. That night, they made love. It wasn't there usual encounter, at least in Logan's mind. He knew that this would be one of the few moments before the truth would come out. Relinquishing what he has with Rory would prove difficult even for the likes of him.

"Remember, drinks are going to be served at seven. Don't be late," his father reminded him.

"I won't," he responded through gritted teeth.

Like any other business arrangement, the phone went dead without an ending salutation. Logan felt so used after what had just transpired.

Logan hated being sneaky around Rory but he stole her cell phone from her the night before. He flipped through her phone book and dialed a number he hoped would pick up. When the answering machine came on, he decided to leave a message.

"Hi, this is Logan..."

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All is right in Rory's world. With last weekend's headaches behind her, she was able to refocus on Logan. She never thought that things could be better between them. She breathed a sigh of relief that Tristin didn't make things awkward between her and Logan. She would've bet her whole tuition to Yale that years before, he probably would have. Now, she was glad that he was an ally she could depend on.

She stopped typing midway through her paper. She tried to suppress a giggle that wanted to escape. She could still see his wide, blue eyes wondering why her mother was persistent to have him sit on their table last weekend. Could she consider that their coffee date? Lorelai admitted to Rory that she just wanted to see if Tristin would be able to hold on to his own if she pulled the 'mother' card on him. She admitted that she was rather impressed that he handled her with such grace and finesse.

"If I were sixteen years younger, I would have him on his knees!" Lorelai squealed in delight.

Rory didn't know if that was meant to be a compliment or a gross out comment.

Nonetheless, she felt guilty that she was thinking about Tristin among all times and places.

She felt rather confused as to why she was enumerating the finer points of Tristin DuGrey when she should be planning her surprise weekend with Logan. Was it because she missed the barbed comments she and Tristin used to hurl at each other eons ago? Or is it because she knew that eventually, she had to make peace with said past to move on?

"Boo!" spooked the voice behind her.

Rory let out a little yelp before settling back to her seat. "Logan, you scared me!"

"Aw, I didn't mean to, Ace," he apologized, dropping a big kiss on her forehead.

She stared at the golden haired boy with fondness despite his affinity of calling her with the annoying nickname "That's okay. I needed to be woken up."

"From what? Daydreaming about me?" he teased.

"Among other things," she said with vagueness.

"Cut school tonight," he dared her.

Impish delight danced in Rory's eyes for a moment. However, it was quickly dashed away. "I can't."

"Why not?" he asked indignantly. He pulled the chair from a nearby desk and rolled it next to Rory.

"Because I have this paper due and Doyle wants me to edit this article..." Rory listed.

"If I promise to help you with your paper and have Doyle find another fact finder in your place, would you take me up on my offer?" he sweet talked her, pulling her and her chair close enough for her to smell his subtle aftershave cologne.

Rory wanted to cross him but she knew the point was moot. He almost always gets his way when he sets his mind to make things happen.

"It's not fair," Rory said, guilt creeping in her voice.

"To whom?" he asked. "Whatever happened to 'In Omnia Paratus'?"

"It went out with 'Carpe Diem' and left me with all the work to deal with," Rory sighed.

"C'mon, with Christmas coming up, I can't guarantee you that we'd have any time to spend together," he reminded her with urgency.

Rory's heart dropped to her stomach. Logan never spoke with such seriousness before. "Logan, is everything alright?"

Logan sat up straight to face Rory. "Uh, yeah, everything's peachy keen," he stammered. "I just want us to spend quality time together."

Rory smiled. "Aw, you softie. I was going to surprise you. I won't be going home this weekend. We can do something more than just spend quality time together then."

Logan heaved a heavy sigh. "But I won't."

"You won't?" Rory's smiled expression reverted to a frown. "So what am I to do with myself this weekend?"

"Maybe you can hang out with some old buddies of yours," Logan suggested.

"Like whom? And don't say Paris," Rory threatened. Rory was still trying to hide from her old roommate when she started grilling her about Tristin when she came back to school that Monday.

"I don't know," he feigned ignorance. "How about that friend of yours from last weekend? Tristin!"

'Tristin?' Rory questioned his suggestion. "Why would you want me to hang out with him?"

"I know for a fact he won't dare try and take you away from me," he said with smug arrogance.

"Have you lost your mind, Huntzberger?" Rory questioned his sanity. "You don't know the Satan's spawn and he is a tricky devil, mind you."

"Let's say that I trust him," Logan said, his clear blue eyes egging her to challenge his decision.

"Why can't I go away with you this weekend?" Rory quietly asked him.

Logan sighed. He felt like the biggest creep. "Because the family's having a quiet get together."

"Oh," escaped from Rory's lips.

Rory had met his parents once and they gave her the cursory once over. She hated it. She felt worse when they found out that she was a Gilmore; like the name mattered.

The thought of the condescending stare made her shudder. She'd seen her grandparents do it to Luke and Dean when they came over to the Gilmore mansion and she still thought it wrong to make someone feel so invaluable.

"Rory, don't get me wrong," Logan tried to appease her. "I would love you there but the trip to Boston will be long and boring..."

"And your parents would be embarrassed to have to introduce me as your girlfriend," Rory finished his statement.

Logan touched her knee. "It's nothing like that."

Rory was trying not to feel emotional about the whole ordeal but was finding it rather difficult to remain upbeat about it. "I know."

The tension between them was so thick, Rory felt suffocated by it. She started rummaging her purse for the cell phone when Logan offered it to her from his pocket.

"You left this over my place last night," he said.

She grabbed the device from his hand and deliberated whether to call her mother at that very instant or deal with the problem at hand.

"Logan, I'd like to be alone, if you please," she ordered him, the lump on her throat becoming evident as she spoke.

Logan sighed and got up from the chair. "Rory, let's talk."

"Logan, please leave me alone," she repeated her plea.

Logan bent over and kissed her on the cheek. She tried to avoid him but her body won't allow her to. She wanted to assure herself that the childish act she just pulled was an overreaction to her willingness to give in to his demands when he had the ability to brush off any of her requests without a second thought.

"I'll call you tonight," he said softly before walking away.

She heard the door shut with a light thud. She surveyed the room only to see two other people that Wednesday afternoon: the custodian emptying out some bins and Glenn walking in and out of the microfiche room.

Pressing the up arrow on her cell phone, she dialed the first number that came on the screen, thinking it was her mother. She was rather surprised to hear a man's voice greet her.

"Hello?" the tenor voice greeted her.

"Tristin?"