Disclaimer: I own nothing. Amy Sherman-Palladino owns everything.
Author's Note: I don't know if this party is an LDB event, but because it's my story it's going to be one. This idea came to me at 3:00 in the morning one day after I had read spoilers for the Pulp Friction episode. I know the title isn't all that great, but I'm not that great at titles so please bear with me. This is my very first attempt at writing fanfic, so please be kind. This is based somewhat on spoilers for Pulp Friction, so if you don't want to be spoiled, I suggest you don't read. As always reviews are appreciated. No flames please. Now on with the story.
Strings or No Strings?
He had heard she would be there. Where exactly would there be? The latest LDB event of course. Everyone had to dress up as a character from a Quentin Tarantino movie.
He was dressed up as Mr. Blonde and his date for the evening was dressed up as the Bride.
But at the moment, as his date Whitney chatted excitedly about something, Logan's attention was focused solely on the task at hand, looking for Rory.
He couldn't understand exactly why he was looking for her. Maybe it was because he was curious to see what she was dressed up as or maybe it was to see if she actually showed up at all.
Either way, he was looking forward to seeing her. As his eyes scanned the room once more, he saw a flash of silver from across the room. Taking a second look, he realized that the flash of silver was Rory and her costume.
She had just walked in the door, dressed up as Go Go Yubari. She had on a plaid skirt that was raised just above the knees, a school blazer, Logan assumed was from her high school days and she had on white knee socks and was sporting a long black wig. The wig made her look sexy and powerful, a definite turn-on for Logan. Swinging from her hand was what appeared to be a mace, the silver from it shining in the light.
This was definitely not the Ace he was used to seeing around school. After studying her for a bit, it was only then that he noticed she wasn't alone.
There standing besides her, smiling and grinning, was his friend and poker buddy Robert. He leaned down and whispered something into Rory's ear, making her laugh.
Logan stood there watching the scene before him. Rory wasn't his exclusively, it was a no-strings deal they had going on. So why did it bother him so much to see Rory and Robert getting along so well.
Logan noticed Colin making his way towards the couple and figured this was his chance to talk to Rory. "Let's get a drink, Whitney," Logan says as he takes his date's hand and makes his way across the room.
"Hey Rory, Hey Robert," Colin says as he gets closer towards the couple. "So where's your date Colin?" Rory inquires. "Oh I went to pick her up and she opened the door dressed like Mira Sorvino." "I certainly wasn't going to the party with her looking like that." "How does one dress up like Mira Sorvino?" asks Robert. "Well you have blond hair and a name tag that says Mira Sorvino. I just turned around and left," explains Colin.
"Well, well, the gang's all here. Robert, good to see you" Logan says as he approaches the group. "Hello Logan" Robert responds. "Rory, I like the costume, definitely works for you." "Thanks Logan, I like yours as well." "Everyone, this is Whitney." "Whitney, Robert, Rory, you know Colin." Logan says as he introduces Whitney to the group.
"Yes I do." "Hi everyone" Whitney smiles and says. "So Whitney is your friend Josie here?" Colin inquires. "Yeah. She's over there with the guy dressed like Harvey Weinstein" Whitney points out. "Well than that's just perfect, talk to you later everyone." Colin says while heading in the direction of Josie. "Colin, leave her alone." Whitney says giving Colin a warning. "Yes, yes of course I'll leave her alone."
"So, good party, huh?" Logan asks trying to make idle chit-chat just so he could be near Rory a little bit longer. "Seems like it" states Robert. "The music is cool, definitely something I like." Rory chimes in trying to make the situation less awkward.
"So Robert, I see that the lovely Ace is your date for the evening." Logan says. "Oh yes, you know it was just one of those things Logan." "I saw here in the library and asked her if she was going to the party, funny thing is she hadn't heard about it." "So I asked her if she would like to join me and she said yes."
"Well how sweet of you to ask her." Logan said trying to keep calm on the outside, while inside he was ready to explode. How dare anyone ask out his Ace. Whoa! His Ace? Where had that come from? She wasn't his. They weren't in a committed relationship; she could go out with whoever she wanted too.
He looked over at Rory, who was standing there oblivious to the internal battle he was having with himself. He just wanted to take her in his arms and never let her go. He had to get out of there before he did something he regretted.
"Okay, well we'll catch you guys later. We're going to mingle some more." Logan says leading Whitney away. "That sounds good." says Rory. "Hey Robert, I'm going to the bathroom, I'll be right back."
As she leaned over the sink, splashing cool water over her face, Rory couldn't help but think of what happened just a few moments ago. She knew he'd be there with another girl, knew she'd probably see him there with the girl. But she didn't realize it would hurt so much. He looked so happy. She wished she could be the reason he was happy, but no all because of this stupid no-strings deal, another girl was making him happy tonight.
She wished she hadn't agreed to it. She wasn't the kind who could just go around and have fun without commitments, she was a commitment type of girl, she needed commitment. She stood back up, dried off her face, and looked in the mirror again. She was damned if she was going to let Logan get to her tonight. Tonight she was going to have fun with Robert and she was going to try her hardest not to think about Logan.
After collecting herself, she opened the door and stepped back into the hustle and bustle of the party. She made her way through the crowd back to Robert. "Hey, are you okay?" Robert asked looking at Rory with concern written all over his face. "Oh yeah, I'm fine, must have been something I ate earlier." "Let's go have some fun."
The night was spent dancing and having a good time. Rory danced a couple of times with Finn & Colin, but she made sure to stay away from Logan. As much as she wanted to dance with him, she knew if she did, she would never be able to let go.
All the dancing was making her thirsty, so she excused herself from Robert to get a drink. On the way to the bar, she was so engrossed in her thoughts, that she didn't notice Logan leaning against the wall watching her. She placed her drink order and waited for the refreshment. Once the bartender placed the drink on the bar, Rory picked it up and let the cool liquid slide down her throat.
After she was finished, she started making her way back to where she left Robert. But before she could get there, Logan from his spot on the wall stopped her.
"God Logan, don't do that, you scared the crap out of me!" exclaimed Rory. "Sorry, I just wanted to talk." "Well hurry up, I don't have all day, Robert is waiting for me." replied Rory who was now a little bit annoyed. "It looked like you were having fun with Robert tonight."
"So what if I was, Robert is a nice guy." "Besides, it looked like you were having fun with Whitney." Rory shot back. "Yeah Whitney is okay, but she's not…" Logan stopped short, realizing what he almost said. "Whitney's not what Logan, what were you going to say" Rory pushed.
Logan took a deep breath, it was now or never. He was terrified of what would happen, but he had to let Rory know how he felt. "Whitney is not you. Ok." "God Rory I don't like this." Logan said. "Like what?" Rory replied, not sure of what Logan was saying.
"You here with Robert." Logan explained.
"Well do you want us to leave?" Rory questioned. She couldn't believe that Logan was jealous. Playboy Logan was actually admitting that he didn't like her being with another guy.
"No, I want us to leave, you and me." Logan replied, looking at Rory with a hint of hopefulness in his eyes. "Well I'm sorry you feel that way Logan." Rory began. "I came here with Robert; I'm going to leave with Robert." "Goodbye" Rory said, turning on her heel and leaving him standing there dumbfounded.
Logan couldn't believe what was happening. He finally told Rory he was jealous. Maybe he didn't actually use that word, but he admitted his feelings, something that he has never done before. And what did she do, she walked away. He was hoping she would have at least agreed to leave with him.
God the nerve of him, Rory thought as she made her way back to find Robert. How could he think that she would just go and leave with him. She would not just leave Robert like that, not after having been invited by him. That wouldn't be right and Rory would feel bad for the rest of the night. Although as she thought about the look on Logan's face, when he told her that he didn't like her being there with Robert, made her smile.
"There you are, I've been looking everywhere for you." Robert said bringing Rory out of her thoughts. "Oh sorry, the line for drinks was really long." "That's ok, how about another dance?" "Actually Robert, I'm not feeling quite well anymore, do you think you could take me home?" Rory felt bad about wanting to leave, but after everything that happened with Logan all she wanted to do was go home and think. "Oh sure, come on lets go." Robert said leading Rory towards the doors.
Meanwhile after talking to Rory, Logan hadn't felt much like partying anymore either. He found Whitney and told her that he wasn't feeling well and wanted to head home, Whitney of course was having too much fun so she stayed behind while Logan left.
Once back at the dorm, Rory immediately changed into sweats and a t-shirt, trying to get comfortable. She couldn't help but think of how Robert had been the perfect gentleman. He had driven her home, walked her to her door, and told her to get better soon. He hadn't once tried to make a move on her. Rory of course felt bad for lying about feeling ill, but she just had to get away from that party. As she lay on her bed, she couldn't help but wonder if Logan really had meant what he said.
Could he really want to commit to her? She hoped so; she wanted nothing more than to be able to call Logan her boyfriend. But as she lay there thinking of what could happen, sleep took over her and she found herself succumbing to the darkness.
Across campus, Logan was lost in his own thoughts as well. Seeing Rory out with Robert tonight, stirred up something inside of him that he's never felt before. Just watching Rory having a good time with someone other than him made him extremely jealous. But could he really commit to her, could he really be a one woman man? He knew for Rory, he could be whatever kind of man she wanted him to be.
Smiling, he knew that's what he wanted. He wanted to be with Rory and only Rory. He wanted to be able to call her his girlfriend, he wanted to be the one who made her laugh, and he wanted to be the one holding her in his arms. Knowing full well what he had to do, Logan grabbed something out from under his bed and shoved it into an envelope and headed across campus to see Rory.
Knock Knock
What the hell was that? Rory, who was awakened by the noise, had been sleeping and was in the middle of an incredible dream involving her, Logan and minimal clothing. She laid there trying to figure out where the noise was coming from.
Knock Knock
There it was again and it sounded like it was coming from the front door. Rory looked over at her alarm clock that was sitting on the nightstand beside her bed. It was 4:00 in the morning. Getting out of bed, Rory put on her robe and walked out into the common room.
"Whoever it is, better have a damn good reason for waking me up. It's 4:00 in the morning." Rory said, throwing open the door. Looking up, she came face to face with none other than Logan. "Logan, what the hell are you doing here, do you know what time it is?" "And since when do you use doors?" Laughing Logan didn't wait to be invited in, but rather walked right in and sat down on the couch.
He was extremely nervous as to what he was about to do. He played with the envelope in his hands. What if she thought that this was stupid, what if she laughed in his face. Well it was too late for what ifs now, he was there and Rory was looking at him, waiting for an explanation.
"Well Ace" Logan began, feeling a knot in his stomach. "Remember how at the party I told you that I didn't like you being there with Robert?" "Yes I remember quite well in fact." Rory replied, not sure where this was all going. "Well I may have left out the reason why I didn't like you there with Robert." "Yes I think you did." Rory replies, getting just a tad bit frustrated. "I didn't like you there with Robert because I was jealous." Boy this was harder than he thought it was going to be.
"Jealous, Logan why would you be jealous?" Rory questions. "Well you see Rory; I like you, a lot more than I've ever liked someone before." "Oh I see." Rory softly whispers, trying to grasp what Logan had just said.
"Just watching you with Robert was killing me." "I couldn't take seeing you having fun with someone else." "After the party, I came home and I thought for awhile about what I wanted and I finally realized something." Logan explains.
Grabbing the envelope that was beside him on the couch, Logan handed it to Rory. "Open this." Logan instructed Rory. Confused Rory did as she was told and opened the envelope. Looking inside she was confused even further by the envelope's contents.
Noticing Rory's confusion, Logan got up off his place on the couch and walked over to Rory. "Logan, these are shoelaces." "You came here at 4:00 in the morning to give me shoelaces?" Rory asked bewildered.
"No Ace." Logan said grabbing the shoelaces out of her hand. "These aren't shoelaces, these are strings." Rory looked up at him, finally catching on to what he was trying to say.
"These are my strings and I want you to have them Ace." "I hate this no-strings deal we have, I want there to be strings." "I want to be with you and only you."
Looking up with tears in her eyes, Rory smiled at Logan and then ran into her room. Confused, Logan didn't know what to think. What was she doing? Moments later though, Rory came back out holding something in her hand.
Taking Logan's hand and pulling it towards her, Rory gently placed something into his hand. Looking down Logan smiled when he saw that she had taken a pair of her shoelaces and placed them into his hand.
"These are my strings and I want you to have them Logan." Rory quietly whispered. "I want there to be strings between us too." "You have no idea how jealous I felt watching you with Whitney tonight."
"I think I may have an idea." Logan replied, smiling at Rory. Pulling Rory closer to him, Logan placed an ever so gentle kiss upon her lips. As he felt Rory deepen the kiss, he knew that not only did she hold the strings to his heart, he also held the strings to hers and he wouldn't have it any other way.
The End