Title: Pulling Strings

Author: Kathea

Rating: PG13 or it will be at some point

Spoilers: "But not as cute as a Pushkin"

Summary: Since both Rory and Logan come from money they are used to seeing strings pulled. They never thought their friends would use it against them.

Disclaimer: I don't own this or anything related to Gilmore Girls or the WB. Like you didn't already know that.

AN: This is the first GG fic I've written. I'm trying to stay true to character but we'll see how that goes. Reviews are welcomed and treasured unless of course you say nasty things and then I'll just have to hunt you down and duct tape you to the train tracks.

AN2: I'm taking a lot of liberties here. I can't remember when the show left off as far as seasons. So this is set before Christmas. Also, I refer to the "Marty debacle" in this and probably subsequent chapters. This is the imaginary scene when Marty admits that he likes Rory and Rory, being herself, is confused and says the normal line about just wanting to be friends. I'm sure you'll all understand.

AN3: I am trying to update on a daily basis since this story just wants to be written but please be patient if over the weekend nothing comes up. I wrote this chapter during my Research Methodology class last night. And now that I have my own laptop, I'll write more during my classes.

Reviewers: MsLessa: I'm glad you liked what I did. Also thanks for the great comments about "Difficult Moments". I would've loved an on screen kiss too. Sigh. Nikki: I'm glad you've read so much of my stuff. THANKS. Megliz716: Well now you know what's going to happen next. Boston-bound09: I'm glad you loved it. Chrissie: Thanks and I love Alias too. RJS0123: Thanks for further inflating my already enormous ego. You said such wonderful things about me. Cancat90: I'm updating now for you. Whisperofinsanity: Here you go. Screaming Truth: Well, I took your idea to heart and a good Marty/Rory heart to heart should show up soon. But for the time being, I'll just reference it. Blahblah00: ;) Aphi72: She's definitely downtrodden sometimes. Lovelock79: Well I hope you can read and love chapter 4. Snow White: You make me blush. Sylvie: You've got the right idea. Let's just say, Rory will be acting out how I would love to treat some of the guys that have broken my heart. Steph: God, do you people read my mind or something. Jess/Milosgirl: Your wish is granted. I am so continuing this. Alley: Thanks. Readergurl87: Here's another helping to go with your coffee. Smile1: You caught me. I forgot the "don't". To EVERYONE: You guys flooded my email. I couldn't have been happier to read all your wonderful comments. I really appreciate it.

Chapter 4: The Will to Wallow

Rory never would have guessed that Paris Geller would have been capable of a proper wallowing experience. Her extremely uptight friend/roommate, had always seemed just a bit to high brow for such plebian activities as wallowing. But, surprising her once again, Paris had constructed, at the last minute, the perfect experience. There were an assortment of sugar laden candies, most of which came from Rory's personal horde, and several quickly ordered pizzas. Coffee was brewed by the bucketful and thoughtfully laced with whiskey. The movies of the evening and early morning, were a blur by mid afternoon of the next day but it was the thought that counted after all.

Standing under the warm spray of her shower, she tried desperately to wash the traces of alcohol from her system. To be honest, the events of the previous evening had not been completely digested. In the back of her mind, Rory knew that repression was not healthy. Her mother was the perfect example of this. Her repression had led to several badly ended relationships until she had finally come to her senses and was now happily with Luke. Okay, bad example. Her mother seemed to come out of her repression unscathed, so that boded well for Rory.

She remembered then what Logan had said. She was just a pawn to him but she had sort of known that all along. Logan had always seemed like the kind of person who would use others to reach his goals. It was disappointing however that it took her so long to realize it. Intelligence was something she prided herself on. It was too bad that she would never speak with him again. Logan had certainly spiced up her life for the short time he was in it. She would definitely miss Finn and Colin, perfect foils for Logan they both were.

Her anger sparked with the thought of Logan's carelessness. He could've at least warned me, given me a clue, a heads up. I could have played it way up and we could've parted friends. But no, he had to come out of the blue with it. It still pricked at her that he had the nerve to look shocked and hurt when she said goodbye. Like he didn't know that I would react that way. I guess he didn't know me as well as he thought. I guess I didn't know him as well as I thought.

Her knees started to shake when Rory realized her mistake. She leaned back against the wall of shower stall and let herself slide to the floor. The water beat down on her head. How could she have so vastly underestimated him? With all her investigative skills and study, she should have figured him out. That was her defense mechanism after all. Analyze the men in her life to the nth degree and then after knowing all their faults, dump them without regret. She let the tears start to fall then. It was worth it to cry after all. He had hurt her, more than Dean had. In her heart of hearts, Rory knew that Dean hadn't hurt her. That was her decision, she had known all along. It was sad, that much was true.

She had really thought that maybe, once, Logan would look at her and not see "reporter girl". It was a high hope, for sure, but not unreasonable. Surely, Logan would see that she was better than the bimbos that hung on his arm, better than the hordes of girls that flocked to him. She was his equal. Logan would appreciate that, or so she thought. She had to cry for her own stupidity now. The coherent Rory knew that such hopes were dumb. Logan wasn't that kind of guy. The guy that had the "light bulb moment" and suddenly saw the girl in front of him instead of the friend. Marty had said as much. What hadn't she realized how much Marty liked her? Rory had had a hard time explaining how she felt to herself much less to him.

When the water had turned cold, Rory didn't notice. Paris was staring down at her where she was huddled in the corner with her knees pulled to her chest. The water turned off and Paris was pulling her off the floor. A towel was wrapped around her and she was bustled into her robe. She felt the couch under her bare legs.

"OWWWW!" Rory yelped and grabbed for the sore, red spot on her forearm. "What was that for?"

"Necessary steps. You need to snap out of it, Gilmore." Paris said matter-of-factly.

"Did you really have to pinch me? It hurt!" Rory whined.

"You were verging on morose, so yes. You should thank me."

"Right, I'll do just that. After my arm stops hurting."

"Come on, get dressed. We are getting out of here."

"Do I get coffee?"

"Of course and you are supposed to be smart." Paris huffed and pushed Rory off the couch and towards her room. "You have five minutes, Gilmore."

Once the door to Rory's room was shut, Paris flipped her cell phone open and pushed a quick series of numbers.

"We have to talk. Rory is getting desperate. I am taking her out for coffee at the corner stand. Meet us there in three minutes." There was silence as the person on the other end digested the instructions. "Don't argue with me. This was your grand idea in the first place. If your idiot friend hadn't screwed it up, we wouldn't be dealing with this right now." Silence again. "Yes, I know." The phone clicked shut as Rory opened the door. Her face still looked pale but at least her eyes weren't so lifeless.

"Who was on the phone?" Rory asked as she shrugged on her jacket.

"Oh, just Doyle." Paris replied and stuffed her phone in a pocket and took Rory by the elbow. "Let's go." Rory was ushered out the door and into the snow-dusted quad. Paris could tell when Rory could smell the coffee fumes. Thankfully, Colin and Finn were both in line when they turned the corner. For a Sunday afternoon, the coffee stand was fairly busy so there were several people between Paris and Rory and Colin and Finn. Rory was quiet while they waited, her arm still looped through Paris'. When Finn's distinctive accent floated back to their ears, Rory's body visibly stiffened before Paris felt Rory pull to walk away. It was too late then though. Finn and Colin had turned back towards them and made eye contact. Rory relaxed slightly when she realized that the normal addition to their trio was not there. She might be able to stomach Finn and Colin today.

"Well, if it isn't the lovely Paris Geller and her equally beautiful roommate, Rory Gilmore."

"Finn, Colin." Paris said perfunctorily.

"Hey, guys." Rory said quietly from beside Paris.

"Come, walk with us, talk with us. It's a lovely day." Finn said sweeping an arm around Rory's shoulders as Colin fell in beside Paris.

"So…" Rory began unsure of how to proceed or how much the boys knew.

"So…" Finn echoed her. "How are you holding up, dearie?"

"Finn." Colin said warningly.

"No, Colin. It's alright. I'm doing okay. I guess you heard about what happened?"

"You know those Deltas, always quick to capitalize on the freshest gossip. It was quite a show."

"You were there?" Rory asked hoping that they hadn't witnessed the spectacle.

"Indeed. Colin and I applaud you. Logan deserved everything you shot his way. He treated you horribly. We would apologize for him but even we won't sink that low."

"What Finn is trying to say," Colin said from the other side of Paris, "We know that Logan can be an idiot sometimes but we just didn't think he'd be an idiot with you."

"It's okay, really. We all have those moments."

"True, but we expected better from Logan." Colin replied.

"You're not going to leave us are you?" Finn cried mock-hysterically, clinging to Rory's arm.

"No, this isn't you're fault. I certainly can't hold you accountable for his actions, or lack thereof." Rory said with a smile. Colin and Finn quieted suspiciously at that comment. If she only knew, Paris thought from the other side of Finn. The quartet meandered down the concrete path, headed aimlessly around the campus. A loud bark of laughter followed by several girlish giggles turned their attention to the side path and they all stopped suddenly.

Logan, standing with a guy Rory didn't know, was engaged in an animated conversation with several girls. It must have been preordained for at the moment Rory stopped walking, Logan turned his head to look down the sidewalk and noticed his friends. He raised a hand to wave and made eye contact with Rory. Her face blanched and then even at a distance he could see the steel come into her eyes. He couldn't hear her say goodbye to Colin and Finn but with a determined turn on her heel, she pulled Paris by the arm and headed back towards the dorms. Finn and Colin were left standing in the middle of the path looking back and forth between Logan and Rory's retreating figure.

And so it began. The number of day since the "incident" stopped being counted. Whenever Rory saw Logan, she turned and headed in the other direction. Several times they were only a few feet apart but she would still turn and walk away from him. Once he had tried to speak to her but when he looked back up she had disappeared into the crowd. Her desk was always empty at the Yale Daily News office. He knew she was still working as she always had an article in the paper but she had altered her schedule and was never there when he was. Doyle was cold to him too. The sarcasm was gone and replaced with a frosty demand for an article. Paris must have scared some spine into him.

It was weeks later, the New Year fast approaching, when he finally couldn't stand it anymore. She had actually been in their dorm, talking happily with Colin and Finn when he had walked in. Without another word, she rose gracefully from her seat and passed him without comment and was out the door.

"Guys, I can't take it anymore." Logan said in frustration.

"What's that? You need something, mate?" Finn said casually.

"Ace, Rory, she's driving me crazy. She won't talk to me, look at me, share the same space with me."

"I wonder why?" Colin said in his most confused voice.

"I realize that I was a royal shit to her. I'm not an idiot."

"I think you are a bit wrong there." Finn said good naturedly.

"Excuse me?" Logan asked starting to get pissed at his friend's attitude.

"You ARE an idiot."

"Would you care to explain why you have come to this conclusion?"

"Of course, chap. You are an idiot because you had Rory, a perfect specimen of the female species if there ever was one, at your fingertips and you let her go. All you had to do was tell her how you felt. She would have been more than happy to help you get back "on the market" and then the two of you could have started a normal relationship."

"And how do I feel about her?" Logan asked Finn.

"You like her, of course."

"How do you feel about her?" Colin asked breaking Logan's attention away from Finn who was coming perilously close to a fist in his face.

Logan sighed, trust Colin to cut to the heart of the matter. "I miss her."

"You know what that means you have to do then." Colin said.

"What?" Logan asked hoping it wouldn't be to painful.

"You, my friend, have to grovel." Finn said in a chipper voice and slapped Logan on the back.

Rory stood in front of a familiar door. The message board on the front said that Adam would be back in three but Marty would be home all afternoon. She knocked tentatively on the door. She could hear the radio faintly from inside the room. After a few seconds without response, Rory backed away thinking this was a bad idea but then the door opened.

"Marty, Hi."

"Rory."

"Can I talk to you?"

The door was opened wide enough to allow her to enter and then shut behind her. She took a deep breath and looked expectantly at Marty.

"I need your help." Rory began.

AN: I know, cliffhangers are bad. I'll work on chapter five this weekend and hopefully have it posted on Monday. Thanks for the fabulous reviews.