CHAPTER 20

"Rory, how long have you been standing there?" Emily asked when Logan revealed their presence.

"Enough to hear this pathetic excuse," Rory answered as she took long strides towards the group.

Rory's heart shattered to bits and pieces, as she got closer to Logan. Everything felt so surreal to her. It was like Logan morphed from a once-handsome being to an ogre not worth loving. She knew deep inside that he wasn't a hideous creature but she was at this point unforgiving.

"Rory, I am glad that you're here," Logan responded meeting her halfway. He tried to plant a kiss on her lips but Rory turned her head away to avoid it. She felt his hand on her shoulder. Flashbacks on how his touches used to make her weak now just made her angry with herself for being so gullible.

"Please, Logan. We are past civility here," Rory responded as a tear escaped from the corner of her eye.

"Rory, dear, you do not have to deal with this," Emily responded.

"I have to, grams. I will be alright," Rory said, trying to keep calm.

"Mr. DuGrey," Richard acknowledged Tristin despite his current disposition.

"Mr. Gilmore, Mrs. Gilmore, I came to apologize," Tristin straightened himself in front of Rory's grandparents.

"Now is not the time, son," Richard silenced him.

"Grandpa, can you see to it that Tristin gets home safely?" Rory pleaded.

"Rory, you're not serious," Tristin stated at Rory's request.

"Tristin, it's okay. You don't have to protect Rory anymore," Logan offered almost apologetic. "I have to tell Rory myself."

Rory picked up on the subtleties Logan planted. She stared at Logan first before she shifted her gaze to Tristin. Confusion overwhelmed Rory. A wave of emotion seemed to have changed Tristin's demeanor and Rory began doubting them. Did Tristin know the truth all along?

"Tristin, what is he talking about?" Rory asked, taking a step back to distance herself from Logan.

None of them noticed that Emily and Richard had become the spectators to the drama unfolding in the sitting room.

"Logan," Tristin issued his warning.

No words were exchanged but accusations seem to be flung. 'Damn it!' she cursed herself. She prided herself for falling in love with her head and not her heart. However, the events that unraveled in front of her had turned out to be a tragedy she would rather forget.

"Is this true, Tristin?" Rory questioned, having trouble accepting what seemed to be half-truths.

"Rory, I can explain," Tristin said.

Rory did not give him time to talk. "Tristin, I suggest you leave."

"Rory, please," Tristin pleaded.

"I suggest you take Rory up on that offer, Tristin," Richard quietly suggested.

"It's not his fault, Rory," Logan tried to clarify.

"Tristin!" Rory gave Tristin a commanding glare. "Please leave."

"Tristin, I'll have my man take you home," Richard led Tristin away from the couple by the shoulders.

Rory could see disappointment in Tristin's eyes but she cannot let him know that she had to deal with Logan in her own terms and without his interference. She would love to think of him as her pillar of strength. However, the implication of his contribution to the situation left Rory seeing red.

Tristin was livid. He was hell bent on winning Rory's affection but the white lie he and Logan weaved made things suspicious. He should have listened to his instincts and not have Logan manipulate him. Now the cat's out of the bag and he has to deal with Rory differently. He was repentant for all being an accessory to the deception. Now if he can just convince her to believe in him again.

Tristin was led once more to the entrance he and Rory escaped from a few weeks ago. The bittersweet irony made Tristin irrational.

"Thanks for the offer, Mr. Gilmore but I think I will walk home," Tristin said sadly.

"Are you mad, son? It is at least a twenty-minute hike to your parents if you jog along. In this weather, I will not be held responsible if you catch your death," Richard argued with the young man.

"But Mr. Gilmore!" Tristin tried to argue.

Richard cupped Tristin's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "I will not take no for an answer. You are a good man, Tristin. Your ways are a little unorthodox but nonetheless refreshing. I just hope you mean well when it comes to my granddaughter."

"I guess that is one fate only time can reveal if Rory takes that step," Tristin answered truthfully to Richard.

"Give her some time. Rory is slow to trusting. She will come around eventually," Richard advised. "I will assure you though, you are always welcome to this house, Tristin," Richard confided.

"Thank you, Mr. Gilmore," Tristin responded with appreciation.

"Call me Richard, son. It's Richard."

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Rory asked her grandmother to leave when Tristin was ushered out. She hated the thought of being left alone with Logan but having an audience won't make the situation any better.

When they were left to their own devices, Rory squared her shoulders and faced Logan once more.

"Logan, let's not make this any harder and say our goodbyes while we're still civil to each other," Rory suggested as she wiped her tears with the back of her hand.

"I want to tell you the truth," Logan coughed up.

"Funny, I thought that's the foundation of every relationship," Rory grunted. She took a seat on the ottoman opposite of where Logan sat earlier.

"You're different," Logan stated before sitting once more. "Rory, do you know how much I love you?" He chuckled bitterly. "I can't pinpoint the day I actually fell in love with you. It might have been the moment you defended Marty to me. That's his name, isn't it?"

She nodded her head in agreement.

"It might have been the time you badgered me to be your insider to the LDB," he shrugged, reminiscing like the person he talked about passed away. "But I knew that when Dean broke up with you, all I wanted to do was kiss all your tears away. I wanted to hug you until you can't think of him anymore. I wanted to be your superman."

Rory remained numb to his confession.

"Sydney and I were drifting. You can say we had a sabbatical from each other when you came to my life and that's no lie. Finn thought that you were all I needed to get over Sydney. For once in a long time, I was back to being in love and you showed me that."

"So how come you never told me about her? How did we get to this screwed up place?" Rory asked. She played with an imaginary lint on her lap.

"Well you heard my confession," Logan sighed.

"I want to hear your version… to me," she urged him on.

"Rory," he said, "when I mentioned you to my grandfather, I was ecstatic but he made my world crash around me when he vehemently told me that I can't see you. He told me that a Huntzberger can never marry a Gilmore if it's the last thing on earth," he said bitterly. "And my dad is making sure this happens."

"Oh, Logan," Rory said sadly.

"Unfortunately, this might stand longer than the curse of the Bambino," he snorted.

Rory wanted to laugh at his analogy. If there was one thing that Logan was good at, it was making light of such a depressing situation.

"Sydney and I have a past dating back to when we were five and I will always love her. I also would like to believe that we are together because we truly like each other but last night, I've realized that my relationship with her is fabricated like any business deal and I am so sorry that you're caught in it," Logan said, sorrow painted all over his face.

Rory was dumbfounded with the revelation. She wanted to be sympathetic but her skepticism still kept her away.

"What did you mean about Tristin?' she asked.

"He's a victim," he said without emotion. "He put out a vibe that he knows you, maybe even love you."

Logan looked back to the Thanksgiving party not so many nights ago. Tristin stood next to him. He commented on the weather. All Logan could do was grunt a stupid response. He was rehearsing his break up speech when Tristin strutted in. He remembered him earlier from the night watching him and Rory dancing. Tristin was an easy prey. Him walking on to the balcony while he rehearsed made the whole process more intriguing.

Rory thought of Lorelai's words on how scuzz balls identify scuzz balls immediately flooded her thoughts. Maybe she had a point after all!

"Did Tristin tell you that he saw me in New York when you guys were there?" Logan volunteered.

"No," Rory admitted.

"Rory, please don't take it out on him. If he was half the man I think he is in hindsight, he is a saint. If I was in his shoes, I would have sold him down the river just to get my way," Logan confessed.

"What are you trying to say?" Rory stammered.

"Tristin seems to care for you… a lot. Even when I asked him for help, he showed a lot of distrust," Logan said.

Rory got up from her seat and hugged Logan tightly. No words of comfort can come out of her mouth. She was parched and her command of the English language seems to be beyond her reach.

"So what are you going to do now?" Rory finally asked.

"I don't know. I really don't know," Logan regretted saying.