CHAPTER 12

"Sydney, can't we talk about this later?" Logan asked the girl who was still sitting on the couch across from him.

"No. Not until you tell me why I feel like you're backing out on me!" the blonde responded.

Logan rubbed his temples hoping the headache he had would go away. He wished the woman in front of him could do the same.

"I am not backing out on you," he sighed.

"Then what is it? Stress? I mean I know your dad can be really hard on you," she purred, walking towards Logan. She sashayed toward him like she had an imaginary short skirt on instead of her low rider jeans.

"Please," Logan snorted. "It just started."

"You're very pessimistic," she huffed before taking a seat next to him.

"Sydney, do you think this is what we really want? I mean, you and I haven't been together…" Logan retorted.

"What happened to you, Logan? When we were kids, we were joined at the hip. Then all of a sudden, I feel like you wanted to get rid of me. We used to have so much fun. I feel like the Logan I left with to go traipsing around the world with two years ago isn't the same one I came home with," she reminded him. "I feel like you've changed and you forgot to take me with you."

"Sydney," he said, kneeling in front of her. "You and I will have something no one can take away from us. But this thing…"

The doorbell rang.

Logan growled. He welcomed the interruption, however inconvenient.

Logan took long strides towards the door and opened it. Right before him stood one Rory Gilmore.

"Ace!" he exclaimed.

"Hey," she said back. She reached out and gave him a tepid hug. "How was your weekend?" Rory asked him as she stepped into his apartment.

Logan hesitated in letting Rory in but he knew that if he stopped her now, red flags would be flying. "Great, I guess."

"Good. I would've…" Rory stopped on her tracks. "Oh… Hi."

"Hi!" said the perky blonde. "You're Rory, right? I've heard much about you."

"Really?" Rory responded, somehow mystified by the thought.

"Yeah. Logan had a ton of stories about you," she said. "By the way, I'm Sydney." She put her hand out for Rory to shake.

"Hi Sydney," Rory said, "I'm Rory." She extended her arm and shook her hand politely.

"I take it Logan hadn't spoken of me," she muttered.

"I'm sorry," Rory apologized.

"That's Logan for you," she chuckled. "Sometimes he leaves out details. He's really good at that."

"Point taken," Rory mumbled. She still was confused at what had just transpired. She was in her boyfriend's apartment having a conversation with a girl she had no clue existed in Logan's world.

"Well, anyway, I have to drive to school now. It's bad enough that my first class is at eight," Sydney said, collecting her coat and purse. "It was nice meeting you, Rory."

"Likewise," Rory responded demurely.

"Logan, call me. We have to finish our conversation," she pointed her finger at him.

"I will, I will," he said, his hand guiding her out the door.

She gave him a peck on the cheek. "Ooh, by the way, you're going to be there, right?" Sydney asked looking at Rory.

"If I knew what you were talking all about, I might," Rory baited her hesitantly.

Sydney rolled her eyes. "Men!" she commented on Logan's inability to pass on information. "This Saturday, we're having a party!"

"You are?" Rory responded, still confused. She could see from the corner of her eye that Logan was perturbed by Sydney's invite.

"I was going to tell you about it when we talked tonight," Logan lied Rory. "Thanks for telling Rory for me, Sydney."

Rory paused before responding to the awkward invite. "Uh, sure. I'll be there if you want me to," Rory replied.

"Super. It's semi-formal but I know Logan will tell you all the details. If not, give me a call, okay love? Gotta go," she said before waving goodbye to them. Seconds later, Logan shut the door behind her.

"Thank God she left," he muttered, leaning his head on the shut door.

"So, who's Sydney?" Rory went for the jugular the moment they were alone.

"No one," Logan denied, closing the gap between them. "I missed you," he said, changing the subject.

Rory tried to read between the lines and found his response ambiguous. Maybe she was just mentally fatigued from the weekend and the almost two hour commute.

"I missed you, too," Rory responded unconvincingly.

"Are you still upset with me?" he asked, nuzzling her ear.

"No," Rory fibbed.

"Good, I didn't like leaving you alone this weekend," he muttered as he nibbled her earlobe.

Rory was getting weak in the knees. He always knew how to get to her. However, the weight of the medallion on her neck seemed to weigh her down.

"Well, I took your suggestion and hung out with a friend," she told him nonchalantly.

Logan immediately stopped what he was doing and pulled away. "How did that go?"

"Actually, better than I thought," she responded.

"Really?" Logan took a step away from her on folded his arms across his chest.

"Yeah? Where did you go?" he asked.

"New York," she said.

Logan turned a shade of red and broke eye contact with her. "That's nice. Go anywhere special?"

Rory stared at Logan like he lost his head. "Aren't you even curious as to who I hung out with this weekend?"

"Well… yeah," Logan paused.

Rory huffed. In her head, she could see Tristin taunting her with an 'I-told-you-so' look. She didn't know whether or not she should admit to Logan that she had suddenly had second thoughts about them as a couple.

"You know, I came here thinking that you and I could work out this – thing – between us. But, now, I am not sure," Rory said to him. She got up and walked wearily toward the door.

"Rory, wait," Logan grumbled. He was quite dumbfounded that his day started badly and it never looked up since then. "What can I do to make it up to you?"

Rory paused, her hand on the door. She turned around to look at him. "At this point, I don't know. When you get a clue, give me a call."

She turned the knob and walked away.

Logan ran his hands through his hair. "Damn it!" he swore. He knew he wasn't supposed to have Sydney around when Rory arrived. It didn't help that Sydney invited Rory to an event he really didn't want her to be in.

"Damn!" he said again.

It really bothered Logan that for once in his life he questioned his very being. He used to be contented being his father's henchman. The last two years, he wasn't sure he wanted to even go down the golden path his father had carefully laid before him.

He recalled the first time he met Sydney DuPont. He was five years old and was forced to go to a play date. He wore a pair of black slacks and a Ralph Lauren sweater. He remembered snagging it and now, the loose thread became his playmate. He was sitting by the alcove close to the door when he saw her.

She walked through the door wearing a red dress, very similar to the Madeline doll she clutched preciously close to her chest. Her blonde ringlets framed her cherubic face. She walked towards him and batted away the hands that pulled on the stray threads. He was going to scream at her when she laced her fingers between his and led him to the group of children playing in the next room.

Since then, they have almost never left each other's side. She was right. They've never really been apart. That's why he felt very betrayed when she transferred to Princeton the moment they came back after wandered the world in his father's yacht. He, Sydney, Collin and Finn decided to see the world rather than attend their sophomore year in Yale. During that trip he decided he didn't want to be his father's shadow. The sudden attack of conscience meant that he would never be able to support Sydney in the manner she is accustomed to in life.

"Forget about her, man. You're in dire need of a new wench anyway," Finn said when she moved away.

So he met Rory. He was fixated with her the moment she berated him for treating his bartender badly. What's his name again? Marty? She was so passionate and it was refreshing. He hated the fact that she still hangs out with him but that's the least of his concerns right now.

Logan sat on the floor and hung his head. What was he to do? He was hoping that Rory going to the Big Apple would at least distract her until he broke up with Sydney. However, from the tone Tristin used over the phone, Logan might as well face the firing squad.

The phone rang on the other end. He prayed that Tristin's phone mail would pick up. Luck was definitely not on his side that night.

"I was wondering when you were going to call," Tristin responded, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You got me. What do you want me to do?" Logan admitted in defeat.

"Be a man," Tristin hissed.

"What?" Logan asked.

"Cut the crap, Logan," Tristin bit his head off. "You lied to Rory and you're using me. Do you want me to tell Rory that I saw you with some chick shopping at Tiffany's?"

Logan bleached at what Tristin said. He witnessed him and Sydney together. What else could go wrong?

"Why didn't you do it, Tristin?" Logan asked through gritted teeth.

"I won't do your dirty work for you," Tristin said. "Do you know what could've happened if Rory saw you with that other girl?"

"Enough. I know I screwed up," Logan confessed.

"Then stop deluding Rory. She deserves more," Tristin said.

"Like whom? Someone like you?" Logan gloated.

"Better than a snake like you," he countered.

"That's it, isn't it? I'll be the bad guy and you're going to be the prince who'd make everything alright?" Logan spat out.

"Who again set me and her up? Oh yeah, you. How do you think Rory would react to that news if I tell her that you're two timing her?" Tristin dared him.

"Okay, you won!" Logan said angrily. "Happy?"

"Only when I know she's rid of you," Tristin grumbled.

"Name the time and place, buddy," Logan dared, using the friend term sarcastically.

"Let's make it a pop quiz, buddy," he said using the same word in a similar derogatory manner. "I'll come down for a visit. If I see hide or hair of you around her …"

Static hummed through the silent air.

"I think you should be asking yourself why you want me around when you feel you're going to screw up," Tristin said before hanging up.

"Bastard!" Logan yelled out when he heard the dead tone on the other end.