Chapter 4

The Huntzberger Plan

Logan spent the next few days thinking of little else other than Rory and how to get back onto her good side, not that he was ever really on her good side to begin with. All of the debonair plans he created did not seem to fit Rory. Admittedly, Logan knew he had an abundance of charm. Previous to now, he had never had a problem when it came to getting the girl. The majority of his female companions fought for his attention and he was left to simply choose their company. He knew that the best girls were worth fighting for, yet he had never been in a situation where fighting were required.

He knew that he had been going about getting her attention all wrong. His childish antics did nothing but annoy Rory and push her further away. Logan thought about wooing her with flowers and candy, but he knew that it would only take him so far with her. Rory was a girl unlike anyone he had ever met. The traditional forms of romance would not get him far.

Logan's goal was to suffer through finals attempting to keep Rory off his mind and then spend the winter break devising the ultimate plan to win Rory's affections. He had previously determined the best time to tell Rory how he felt about her would be at the annual LDB New Year's Eve Ball. It was one of the few events where each member was allowed to bring a date. Logan could think of no one else who he would rather spend his evening with than Rory. His plan was to casually invite her as a truce. Once she agreed to go as his date he would spend the evening acting as a gentleman, rather than trying to egg her on as he normally would with their usual banter. He desperately wanted to kiss her at midnight, and he could only hope that she would come to feel the same.

Logan sighed as he crashed to his bed after completing his last final of the term. Unfortunately both Finn and Colin had one more final the next day, so they were not in the mood for his gloating nor celebrating. After laying in his bed for a while, Logan decided that he would get out of the dorm for the evening and try to get his mind off of Rory and New Years. He had still not come up with how he was going to ask her out, and he was scared that if he waited too long she would make other plans. He knew it had to be done, but he was terrified that she would reject him. Rejection was something that Logan had never had to deal with previously. This alien feeling left him weak and nauseated.

After circling campus for the second time, he finally decided that it was time to confront Rory and ask her out. Gathering up his strength, he turned around and slowly started making his way to her room. After walking a short distance he heard his cell phone ring. Hoping it was Finn and he had changed his mind about studying, Logan answered. He was disappointed when he heard his dad on the other end.

"Logan, good, I am glad I caught you." His dad said.

"Hey dad, what can I do for you?" Logan said with a hint of sarcasm.

"I was calling to tell you about New Years. You are coming with your mother and me to the annual Gilmore party." His father said in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Umm, yeah sure dad. I will be there right after I hear Bush is out of the office." Logan said, in no mood to put up with his dad's unreasonable demands.

"I don't know what you have against Bush, and frankly I don't care to hear about it, but this is not a request Logan. Your presence was requested at the party and The Gilmore's are good friends of ours, so you are going to be there." He said in a way that appeared to end the conversation with that.

"What do you mean my presence was requested? Who would care if your screw-up son was at some posh party? Besides, I have a previously planned engagement that I must attend."

"Well then you are just going to have to cancel. Apparently Gilmore's granddaughter asked that you attend the party. Richard thought that this was a great idea, and we agreed that you two would go together."

"Rory Gilmore?" Logan asked hopefully.

He thought for a moment and said "Yes, I believe he said Rory, it is Lorelai's girl. You go to Yale with her, I believe Richard said she was also on the paper. Very impressive girl, I think you two will get along well."

"Okay dad, I will go to your party—under one condition." Logan said finally.

"I don't think you are in any position to make demands Logan." His father said.

"Well that is too bad, because the only way I will go to the party is if I will be allowed to leave at 11 to go to the LDB event." Logan said with a tone of finality.

"Fine Logan, go to the LDB event, but you will entertain Rory throughout the evening and not act like you have another place you would rather be." His father said just before he hung up.

"Fine…goodbye dad" Logan said to a dead line.

He could not believe that his father was still demanding that Logan attend these parties. If it had not been for Rory, there was no way he would have even considered attending the event, but this new development actually worked in his favor.

Logan continued walking towards Rory's room, but now with a more confident step. His trademark smile reappeared on his face as he strutted up to Rory's door and knocked forcefully.

"Huntzberger." Said the unwelcoming voice of Paris. "What are you doing here. The keg party is two doors down."

"Why hello Miss. Geller, it is lovely to see you," Logan said coolly. "I hope that finals are going well for you."

"Blah blah blah, what do you want?" Paris said rolling her eyes at him.

"Well I actually came to see your roomie, is she in?" He asked sweetly.

"GILMORE…YOU HAVE COMPANY!" Paris shouted, not even bothering going to her door or letting him in.

A minute later, a disheveled Rory emerged from her room. "This better be good, I just got done with finals and I was finally able to sleep…" Rory stopped once she saw who was standing in the door. "Logan, hi."

"Hey Ace, I had to talk to you before you went home for break. I am sorry that I woke you up." Logan said staring at Rory. She looked so cute, even after just waking up. Her hair was a mess, and she had lines of sleep on her face, yet she looked so innocent and adorable that his heart could not help but melt at the sight of her.

"It's okay Huntzberger. I just wasn't expecting anybody. I would suggest we get out of the dorm because Paris is studying, and I don't want you to face her wrath, but.." she gestured towards her pajamas "I think maybe we should stay in. You can come to my room."

Relieved that she was not too upset with him, Logan followed Rory into her bedroom. It was the first time that he had been in her room, and he was not surprised by what he saw. Her room was filled with every book imaginable. He recognized many of the titles, but there were a few that he was unfamiliar with. He picked up a much worn copy of Slaughterhouse Five.

"This is one of my favorites," he said to no one in particular. He started thumbing through the novel looking for his favorite part when he noticed scribbling in the margins. He did not take Rory as someone who would write in their books, he figured that she valued their contents too much to deface them.

"Do you always take notes when you read?" he asked her.

"Ohh, uh, well no. I don't like to mark up my books." Rory said, trying to get out of the conversation.

Logan noticed her shift uneasily at this line of questioning. He did not want to press the issue, but he was also interested in why she had a copy of the book covered in scribbles. "So why is this one so special?" He asked her innocently.

"Well, an old friend of mine had a thing for taking notes in books. He liked to borrow mine and write down his thoughts in them as he read and then I would re-read them factoring in his own interpretations." Rory explained awkwardly.

"Wow, he seems like the perfect guy. Not only does he like reading as much as you do, but he also likes to share it with you." Logan said, feeling slightly jealous of this bond she has with another guy.

Rory stared at him for a moment, deep in thought and simply said, "yeah, well he was not really the perfect guy at all."

Logan did not want to press the issue because it was obviously making Rory uncomfortable and that was not the purpose of his visit.

"Anyway, I don't want to interrupt your sleep for much longer, so I just came here to talk to you about New Years. According to my father, my presence has been demanded at a little party hosted by your grandparents."

"Oh, well, I don't know how much it was 'demanded' but it would be nice if you wanted to go." Rory said, obviously embarrassed.

"Yes, well, my father seemed to think that I would be going as your date."

"I think my grandfather may have mentioned something about that," Rory lied, looking down at the floor.

"So you are okay with going as my date?" Logan asked a little too hopefully.

"Oh yes, well that was the plan. I think it would be okay to go with you to the party. Do you want to go as my date though? I don't want you going because your dad forced you into it." Rory stammered.

"Yeah, I am okay with it." Logan said, trying to keep his cool and not reveal exactly how okay he was with it. "There is a slight problem though."

Logan could not help but notice the slight fall her face took after his last comment.

"It is just that the LDB has a huge New Year's party every year. I have kinda already told the gang that I would be there. I talked with my father, and he has given me permission to leave a little early. I think I will be sneaking out around 11." Logan explained.

"Oh, okay. I understand. I don't want you to have to miss that." Rory said, obviously hurt.

"Ace?" Logan said, trying to get Rory to look up at him again.

"Yeah?" she responded glancing up quickly.

"Do you think you would want to come with me to the LDB party? I would really like it if you would go as my date." Logan asked, completely sincere.

"I think that it may be hard to get away from my grandparents, but I will talk to my mom and I am sure she can create some sort of distraction so I can sneak away from the party." Rory said, finally smiling again.

"Okay Ace. That sounds like a plan then. I will swing by here to pick you up at 7pm on New Years Eve. I will arrange the transportation to the LDB party, so all you have to do is be here." Logan said.

"Okay Logan. I look forward to it." Rory said. And for the first time, her tone held absolutely no traces of sarcasm.

"Well if I don't talk to you until then, have a nice Christmas Rory." Logan said.

Looking confused by his change in attitude towards her, all Rory could do was smile sweetly and mumble something to the affect of "you too."

Logan left Rory's dorm oblivious to his surroundings. He not only managed to get a date with Rory Gilmore, but he managed to get two dates with her…two in one night. He could not wait until the parties. He was never more excited to get past Christmas as he was now.

Eager to tell Colin and Finn about the new developments, Logan rushed back to the dorm to finish packing and tell his friends about what had just happened.

Thank you all so much for the reviews! I love hearing that you guys are liking this. So far I have pretty much been making this stuff up at random, but I think I have a story forming here…so I have at least a few more chapters in me.