RATING: Upped to PG for some language some may find objectionable.

SPOILERS: Up to and including "Emily Says 'Hello'"

DISCLAIMER: Not mine. All characters are property of ASP and the WB.

NOTES: You wanted Colin and Finn, I give you Colin and Finn. I love those boys.

Three: Party All the Time

Rory had to give Logan points for managing such a quick recovery. The crack in his composure had only lasted a few seconds and had she not been watching him intently she'd probably have missed it all together. The peanut gallery clustered on the couches in the middle of the room certainly had. He'd quickly stowed her coat in one of the rooms off the common area and returned to holding court.

Rory followed Colin into the small kitchen where an impressive array of bottles, mixes and garnishes awaited her. Apparently, this was not the first party they had hosted. So Gilmore, what's your poison?"

Rory inspected the spread and realized she had not the slightest idea of what most of them contained. Not willing to admit it, she decided to trust in Colin's clearly superior knowledge of all the things that could make her drunk. "Surprise me."

"A lady with a sense of adventure," Finn noted approvingly. "That's our favorite kind."

Rory peeked out into the living room and made a quick survey as Colin began her drink. "So is this your suite?" she asked, though she was fairly certain of the answer. The sleek lines and unapologetic opulence felt like Logan.

"It is. Finn, Logan and I have lived together since freshman year," Colin answered.

"Who's your fourth?"

"Haven't got one. We tried that first year. He was a physics student," Colin explained.

"And is there something inherently wrong with those who study physics?"

"They're twitchy," Finn complained. "And studious."

"Perish the thought," Rory remarked dryly. "I counted four rooms."

"She can count," Finn noted, somewhat mockingly.

"There are four rooms. Three are occupied, one is not," Colin explained. "There's not really another guy that we could collectively stand to live with"

"And sadly," Finn interjected, "Yale policy prohibits cohabitation among people of different genders. They're Puritans that way."

"Officially, that is. Finn's quite fond of cohabitation with people of the opposite gender, at least on the short term."

"I can hardly help it if the ladies can't get enough of me."

Rory cut off another round of sniping and accepted the finished drink from Colin, "And Yale doesn't mind this arrangement?"

"Throw enough money at the powers that be and…" Colin started.

"They won't mind any arrangement." Rory finished. She debated whether or not to summon some righteous anger over the unfairness of it but remembered that she'd been in their limo wearing a tiara not that long ago. "There has to be at least one person you could live with, though. What about…" she poked her head around the dividing wall and pointed, "him wearing the red shirt."

Finn checked to see who she was talking about and made a face, "McCabe? Uber wanker." She took an experimental sip or her drink. Not bad. Like really foamy Coke.

"Translation: Finn slept with the youngest McCabe daughter. Big brother did not approve."

Finn reached over and covered Rory's ears, quite ineffectively, "Colin! Don't tell her that!"

"It's true."

"You're going to make her think I'm a slut," Finn's tone was hilariously indignant.

"If the shoe fits, wear it."

Rory shook her head managing to dislodge Finn's hands. Sniping, it seemed, was inevitable.

"Moving right along. Contestant #2: Dark hair, excessive stubble. Huge ring."

Colin looked and summarized, "Ryan Elliot. Such a mama's boy."

"Then the guy to his left. With the glasses."

This time it was Colin who made the face. Finn smiled gleefully. "Hmm. That's James Pace." He exaggeratedly tapped a finger to his chin. "Why don't we like him again, Colin?"

Colin rolled his eyes, "Because he's a self-important wheezer?"

"Translation: Colin hooked up with his girlfriend bringing about the end of their relationship. Now who's the slut, whore?"

Miss Patty would love these two, Rory thought. "I give up. You know, hanging with you two is like walking through a Danielle Steele book."

Finn smiled cheekily at her and slung an arm around her shoulders, "You know you like it."

Logan choose that instant to join them. "A sub-party? I'm crushed." Logan found himself glaring at the arm Finn had wrapped around Rory. It did not budge. Not that he was jealous or anything.

Colin looked at him quizzically. "You're welcome to join us."

"More than welcome," Rory piped up, "I'm sure the dirt these two could spill on you would fill many a page."

Finn's grin turned a little maniacal. "You have no idea."

Logan's glare intensified. Who did he have to pay off to get a little loyalty around here?

Colin, being slightly smarter and a lot less intoxicated than Finn, diffused the situation neatly. "Logan's right. We're being rude. Let's get back in there."

"But…" Finn would have protested but Colin gave him a firm push that propelled him into the living area. He'd have fallen, if not for the chair that he caught a hold of. "Hey! Watch it."

"You'll thank me later."

"For what? The dashing bruised shins I'll be sporting tomorrow?"

"Finn. Buy a vowel and keep your hands off of the reporter."

Finn considered, "But she's pretty."

"It seems Logan thinks so too."

"And?" Suddenly Finn got it. "Oh."

"He did see her first."

"Lucky bastard. Always manages to call the best ones."

Once Finn and Colin were gone Logan stepped closer to Rory, purposely invading her personal space. When she neither stepped back nor threw out some sarcastic quip, he was intrigued. There was a game afoot. She calmly sipped her drink before asking, "What was the diversion?"

He had no idea what she was talking about. "What diversion?"

"Hold this," she handed him her drink and dug her cell out of her purse. She pressed a few buttons and handed it to him, taking her drink back. He listened to Finn's message and shook his head, "He has an impressive vocabulary when he's drunk."

"I noticed. Listen to the next one."

He did. "So that explains how you got your invite," he placed her phone on the counter. "I was wondering, since as far as I know you and Colin and Finn don't travel in the same circles."

She raised an eyebrow, "Was that an insult?"

"Not to you."

She considered him. "That might have been a little charming."

"Ha! Point: Huntzberger. So it seems that you are not as immune as you claim."

An eye roll as she downed the last of her drink. "Apparently alcohol weakens my defenses against smarm."

"Allow me to get you another drink then."

"See, that? Was smarm."

"Was that a no to the drink?"

"No. So, the diversion. I here Stephanie was involved?"

"Yeah. She set a throw pillow on fire."

Rory laughed, "So she wasn't lying when she said she was good."

"Steph has a great many talents."

"I'm not sure I want details." The easy, affectionate way that he shortened the other girl's name irked her.

"You, Ace, need to get your mind out of the gutter," Logan held up a shot glass with red liquid in it. "Drink?"

It was a challenge. Rory took it.

There was a ringing sound. Finn woke up unwillingly. He was definitely not in his bed, which was not a bad thing. It appeared he wasn't in someone else's bed either, which was. And still the ringing did not stop. He sat up and pain shot down his neck. Mental note: do not fall asleep hunched over coffee table. The ringing stopped. Sweet merciful relief.

He stretched experimentally. Not bad. He stood up. Bad. Very bad. Pain. He needed aspirin. And coffee. Possibly a frontal lobotomy. The first two were located in the kitchen. He made his way over to the kitchen, stepping over a few people who had passed out on the floor. Stupid heavy sleepers.

Finn fished some Advil out of the cupboard and filled up a glass of water. Tap water, ew. But desperate times called for desperate measures. He downed three pills in quick succession. As he went to start a pot of coffee the ringing started again. Slightly more alert now he recognized the culprit as a cell phone sitting on the counter opposite him. It wasn't his. He had lost his umpteenth cell phone last weekend and had yet to get around to replacing it. It couldn't be Colin's. Colin's phone was almost certainly on the charger in his bedroom where he anal retentively charged it every night. And Logan, being the unofficial cruise director of their motley crew, almost always had his phone on his person so in all likely hood it wasn't his either. The usual suspects eliminated he figured he might as well answer it.

"'ello?" He winced. He sounded like death.

"Hello?" It was a woman.

Finn cleared his throat and tried again. "Hello?"

"Who are you and where is my daughter?"

"I'm Finn and that depends on who your daughter is."

"Rory Gilmore."

"Oh. Hi Rory's mom. I'll check Logan's room for you."

"You'll what?!"

Rory's mom's screech hurt his sensitive head and he held the phone far enough away so he could only barely hear her threats on his life. He probably shouldn't have implied that her daughter had spent the night with Logan. Oops.

Finn picked his way back across the living room and opened Logan's door.

"Logan."

"Mmrph."

"'Mmrph' to you too. Is Rory with you?"

That woke Logan up. "What? No. Why would she be?"

Finn shrugged, "You were the likeliest suspect, mate. Her mom's on the phone." He chucked the phone at Logan, narrowly missing his head and retreated.

Shit. He seriously considered hanging up the phone. But somehow, alienating Rory's mother seemed unwise. "Hello?" He pasted his best 'meet the parents' grin on his face, even though she couldn't see it.

The other line was silent save for even breathing. "Do I have the pleasure of speaking to Logan?"

Oh was she ever pissed. "Yes, ma'am."

"Is Rory there with you?"

"No, ma'am. I walked her back to her dorm last night. She just forgot her phone in our kitchen, I guess."

"You're lucky. I was seriously considering breaking the laws of time and space to teleport over there and go Tarantino on your ass."

"Oh," he could tell that she meant it.

"I'll still do it if you call me ma'am ever again."

"Noted."

"Now that we've cleared things up, I'll try Rory at her dorm. I'd say good-bye but something tells me I'll be speaking to you again."

"One never can tell."

"I'm her mom and I can. You hurt her; I hurt you, are we clear?

"Perfectly, Mrs. Gilmore."

"It's Lorelai." She hung up. Logan stared at the phone. Never had he been so sufficiently intimidated.

Rory was partially awake and watching a T.V. when her mother called. "Good morning. Whatcha doing?"

"I'm watching Friends."

"A good one?"

"The one with the cheesecakes."

"I never bought that Rachel would eat a piece of cheese cake off the floor. She's clearly an Atkin's girl. Oh, hey, I found your cell phone." It was said in a forcibly casual manner that was somewhat suspicious.

Rory was puzzled. She wasn't aware that she'd lost her cell phone. "Where?"

"Well, I called it this morning to talk to you. Imagine my surprise when not only did you not answer it but a worse-for-wear Australian guy did."

"Oh. That'd have been Finn."

"Of Passion of the Christ, fame, yes. He introduced himself. I experienced shooting pains down my arm."

"Luke always said you ate too much grease."

"Then, when I asked where you were and he said, and I'm pretty sure this is a direct quote, "'I'll check in Logan's room…'"

Rory grimaced, "Full on heart attack, got it."

"I'm starting an aspirin regiment tomorrow. Oh, and I threatened to gut this Logan character with a samurai sword."

"How'd he take that?"

"With an appropriate amount of shock and awe."

"You do have that affect on people."

"It's a delicately honed skill. Anyway, the reason I called: what's your schedule like for the week?"

"Pretty much the usual. An insane amount of class work. An article. Oh, Hep Alien is playing a show here Thursday, so I'm going to go to that."

"Are you free Sunday for a mother-daughter day?"

"I'll write you into my planner."

"In pen?"

"In indelible ink."

"Great. I'll tell Lane to break a leg when I see her, and I'll see you Friday, then."

"Looking forward to it."

"Bye."

"Bye mom."

Not half an hour later Rory opened her door to find Logan in her entry way with her phone in hand. "Hi."

"Hello. You left your phone at my place," he handed it to her.

"Yes. And you talked to my mother."

"I did. She's…"

"Intense? About some things, yes. Me being first and foremost on that list. Coffee second."

"I was leaning towards the word 'scary' but intense works. She reminds me of Emily, actually."

"Tip: never, ever say that to my mother's face."

"Yeah. I kind of figured there was an absence of familial warmth there."

"You have no idea."

"I probably have a better idea than you think. I'm hardly the model son, you know." Logan took in her coat and bag. "Are you headed out?"

Rory positively itched to explore the model son comment but wisely decided not to. They had not reached that level of intimacy. "Yes, I am. I'm going to swing by the paper."

"Work? On a Saturday? Tsk. Tsk. You're hopeless, Ace."

Rory stepped into the hall and shut and locked the door to her room. "Not work. I'm going to see if Janine's there, actually."

"Janine. Janine…" Logan tried to remember who that was but generally he tried to ignore the people at the paper. There were so many mindless Doyle's, sucking up to him in hopes of earning a good word with daddy dearest, that the people there tended to blend together.

"She's one of the entertainment writers."

"Well, if it's not work related, I'll tag along."

"Why?" Rory eyed him warily.

Logan shrugged, "Nothing better to do than grace you with my presence."

"I'm flattered. Truly."

Rory turned to leave the building and Logan fell into step with her. "Why the burning urge to chat up the entertainment reporter?"

"She does the write-up of not-to-miss events of the week. I'm going to try to get the Hep Alien show on it."

"'Hep Alien.' Never heard of them."

Rory looked at him appraisingly from the corner of her eye. "That doesn't surprise me. They're not very well known. Plus you're…never mind."

"I'm what?"

"Don't take this the wrong way or anything," she hesitated, "but you hardly seem like the type to be on the cutting edge of the music scene."

"Are you saying that I'm not cool enough to like Hep Alien? Whoever they are?"

Rory considered it. He had the uncanny ability to put a sharp point on things. "Yeah, that's pretty much exactly what I'm saying. It's not that bad. You just seem like the type of guy who bought a White Stripes CD, brought it to a party, and felt superior."

"You're mean."

I call 'em like I see 'em."

"Mean."

He pouted visibly. May whatever higher power who happened to be listening help her, but her stomach did a little flip at the sight. It made her impulsive. "What are you doing Thursday?"

"Oh, you know. There's this Linkin' Park documentary on MTV and since I'm such a huge fan…"

Rory rolled her eyes. "Shut up. Why don't you come? To the show?"

It was due to years of practice in masking what he needed to that he managed to sound not the least bit shocked at the fact that Rory Gilmore appeared to be asking him out. It was greatly out of what he thought was her character. It seemed that she was never short of surprises. "You're not embarrassed to be seen with me, a philistine?"

"It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make for the greater good. Though you'll have to agree to listen to my Franz Ferdinand CD beforehand."

"What a world we live in when assassinated Archdukes can still record."

Rory placed a hand over her heart, "Please, please tell me you're joking."

"I said philistine, not imbecile, Ace."

"I thought it best to check. Hey, you should see if Colin and Finn want to come. The more tickets sold the better."

"Are you their manager?" Apparently she wasn't asking him out, which was more disappointing then it should have been.

"Nope. The drummer happens to be my best friend."

"Will I get to meet him?"

"Her," Rory said pointedly. "And no sexist assumptions in front of her, mmkay?"

"Deal. What times the show?"

"They go on at nine, but I want to try to get there early."

"So I'll pick you up when?"

"How about I pick you up? Say, 7:30-ish?"

"Will you bring me flowers?"

"And some candy, if you're lucky."