Chapter 1: Break-ups and make-ups

He saw her walking down the hall and called out her name, "Rory!"

Instinct made Rory stop and turn her head to see who called her. She half smiled as she waited for him to reach her.

"Hi, Finn," she said.

"Hi. How you doing?"

"I'm OK," she answered facing the ground.

Finn knew that she wasn't OK. He had been meaning to talk to her ever since her break up with Logan last weekend, but he could never find her. He wanted to know how she was holding up, but one look at her face and he knew the answer. She was sad. Her eyes, usually bright with happiness, were distant, dead. 'How could Logan do this to this girl?' He thought to himself.

"You know, you're a very hard woman to find!" he said now walking together with her, trying to make her a little more comfortable. He saw that she felt weird talking to her now ex-boyfriend's best friend. But she didn't want to. She liked Finn. He was funny, somewhat sweet and a good friend. When he started walking next to her she thought that he was exactly what she needed to get Logan off her mind.

"Some of us actually go to classes, you know."

"Are you implying that I'm here just for the girls and the booze? For your information I was just going to class when I saw your lovely figure down the hall and since it had been a while since I've had the pleasure of your conversation I thought I'd be a little late for my educational experience."

"Well, I almost believe that!"

"Hey, look here," he said showing a couple of books in his hands, "books, you see!"

"Wow, I never thought you knew what books were! Aren't you full of surprises?"

"You ain't seen nothing yet," he said with a playful smirk. Rory just smiled. "So are you doing something tonight? I thought we could hang out, get a little drunk, you know."

"Oh, no!" Rory said with a disgusted look on her face.

"Hey, sorry I asked forget it," Finn said a little hurt.

"Oh, no, it's not you Finn. I'd love to hang out with you. God knows I need some distraction from the drama my life is right now, but it's just that today's Friday and I have Friday night dinner with my grandparents." She was silent for a while and then, as if remembering something she stopped.

"What?" Finn asked.

"Oh crap! Dinner tonight! I was supposed to take Logan with me! I promised my grandparents! Could things go anymore wrong in my life!"

"Hey, now c'mon, don't get all depressed on me! Why don't you talk to your mom? Isn't she the problem solver? I'm sure she can come up with something."

"She would if she knew I'm broken up with Logan."

"You didn't tell her?" Finn asked a little surprised. "I thought you guys told each other everything."

"We do... it's just that I didn't want to tell her because if I did... then I don't know, I just didn't want to believe, you know... I didn't want to believe that it had actually happened," Rory said trying to hold back a stubborn tear. Finn saw this and it was one of the few times he actually wanted to hunt down Logan and kick his ass. But he tried to show that he didn't notice that she was getting sadder so he continued the conversation as if nothing had happened.

"Well, bright as you are I'm sure you'll figure something out." They now passed through Finn's classroom so he stopped.

"This is me hon."

"You're actually going to class!" she exclaimed.

"I'm hurt."

She chuckled. "See you later Finn." She said leaving.

"Hey!" he called her, "don't be a stranger, ok?"

She smiled and then left.

Finn tried hard to concentrate in his class, but he couldn't. He was angry. He was angry at Logan for hurting such a wonderful girl like Rory, he was angry at Rory for letting Logan get to her like that and he was even more angry at himself because he felt like he had no power to make her feel better. When class was over he realized that he heard not a word of the lecture and thought 'great! I might as well not come if I can't make myself focus!' He was back in his dorm room moments later. There he found Colin watching TV in the common room. Logan was in his room.

"Hey man," Colin said, not looking at him.

"Hey." He answered and went straight to his room.

"Finn, is that you?" He heard as Logan called him but pretended not to. Logan stood up from his bed and called again, "Finn!" Again he got no answer so he went to his friend's room. "Hey man, didn't you hear me?"

"I heard you," Finn said dryly as he put his books on his desk.

"You weren't in class, were you?" Logan asked surprised.

"Yes, I was," Finn answered again dryly. Logan thought this was weird. No jokes, no funny looks, nothing.

"Are you ok, man?" Logan asked a little concerned.

"I'm great. Thanks for asking. How about yourself? How are you, Logan? Happy?" Finn asked, now a little angry. Logan saw this and thought it was better to just leave the guy alone. He obviously had something going on inside him and he was sure he didn't cause it.

"Look Finn, I don't know what the hell is up with you. I don't know who did this to you, but if you don't wanna talk, that's fine. Just don't go take it on me, ok?" he said as he left Finn's room.

"You wanna talk, Logan, let's talk," Finn said following Logan out of his room. His eyes showed how mad his was and both Logan and Colin, who had turned the TV off and faced him, saw this. "You want to know who did this to me, huh?" Finn continued, "Do you?"

"If it's going to make you feel better, less angry and more like yourself, then yes, I want to know who did this to you."

"Rory Gilmore." The words came out like knives and the victim was Logan. Finn wanted to hurt him, badly. It had its effect, but Logan didn't demonstrate.

"I don't get it. How did Rory make you this angry?" Logan said calmly. Colin just watched from the sofa.

"You don't get it? Come on Logan, don't play dumb, it doesn't suit you."

"I seriously don't know what you're talking about."

"How could you do this to her? How could you hurt someone like Rory? Tell me, what the hell were you thinking?" Finn said, yelling.

Logan didn't answer, he just stared at his friend, not believing his reaction. Colin was also a bit surprised at Finn's breakout. It wasn't something that Finn usually did, much less sober. But he didn't want to interfere, this was between the other two, but he didn't leave either. There was no way in hell that he was going to miss this.

Seeing that Logan wasn't going to say anything, Finn continued a little more calm, "She's a great girl Logan, I'm sure you know this. She's smart, funny, sweet and drop dead gorgeous. Do you actually think that you're going to find another girl like that in this lifetime? Plus, a girl like that that actually likes you!"

"You don't understand," Logan was going to continue, but Finn cut him short.

"Damn right I don't understand. Do you know how hard it was to talk to her and see in her eyes the sadness that you brought to her. Do you know how hard it was to watch her fight a tear? A tear that you brought to her? You, my best friend! You hurt that girl more than you can imagine, Logan. Why? She loved you. She still loves you, and that's another thing I can't understand."

Logan was going to answer but Finn's cell phone rang in his room, so he just looked outside the window waiting for his friend to return.

When Rory left Finn in his class she felt a little happier. Not that she had left him, but the fact that Finn made her smile, even laugh made her happy. She hadn't had many of those moments this week. Her break up with Logan was a bad one. She couldn't understand it. Everything was fine and then suddenly he wants to break up. He gave her no reason, he just left her standing outside her dorm room stupefied. She couldn't even cry then, it was like it was a dream, a bad dream and she just wanted to wake up. She had just heard the guy that she loved, the guy that completed her in every way, the guy that made her happier than she ever thought she could be, tell her that he couldn't be with her anymore. It was a dream, it had to be a dream, but the days passed and she didn't wake up from it. She had to believe it and that made her miserable. She cried alone, not having the guts to tell her mother. She actually avoided conversations with her mother all week long, afraid that the subject of Logan would come up. Her mom left innumerous messages in her cell phone but she never answered them. She wouldn't know what to say, she wouldn't know how to explain it, because she actually did not have the explanation. Plus she didn't want her mother chasing Logan and beating him up, cause she was sure that's what Lorelai, with the assistance of Luke, would do. She preferred to be alone, but her conversation with Finn made her realize that she didn't have to be alone, she still had her friends, she still had Finn. At this thought she smiled. But her smiley face soon turned to a frown when she remembered her latest problem: Friday Night Dinner and no Logan. Now that was problem indeed and to solve that, she needed coffee.

She walked aimlessly around campus with her second cup of coffee in hand and yet no solution presented itself to her. She could not go, but then her mother would kill her. She could go alone but there were two problems there: one, her grandmother would kill her. Two, she couldn't lie and tell them that Logan couldn't come because she was a bad liar and her grandmother would kill her. She could ask Logan to go with her, but that would also kill her. So all possible solutions involved her death and she wasn't quite prepared for that yet. She then made the resolution to finally call her mother, Finn did say that she was the problem solver.

Grabbing her cell phone from her back pocket Rory exclaimed as a bright idea crossed her mind "Finn!"

"Hello." Finn said as he answered his cell phone.

"Hey Finn, it's Rory!"

"Hey," Finn answered cheerfully. He thought she sounded happy.

"Ok, so I know this is not what you had in mind when you suggested that we hang out tonight, but it's the best I can offer."

"Oh, you got out of your mandatory dinner thing!"

"Not exactly."

"I don't get it"

"Come with me."

"Where?" He wasn't following.

"To Friday Night Dinner, dummy!"

"Uh, you do know I'm not Logan right? I mean, won't your grandparents notice?"

Rory laughed. "I know you're not him, and yes, my grandparents will notice, but this is the only solution that does not involve me being killed."

"Uh, ok, you're not making any sense. Why would you get killed?"

"Not important, Finn, just trust me on this. I really thought about it, I tried to come up with

something, but I couldn't. You're my last hope! I need you there with me or this night will be the most horrible one of my existence!"

Finn didn't answer right away, he was processing her words. 'I need you' she said. He smiled. How could a guy turn that down?

"Fine, but you owe me!"

"Big time! Thank you Finney!"

"Oh, don't call me that! It's cowardice. You already got what you wanted Gilmore." He heard her laugh on the other end. "So what time should I pick you up?"

"Well, we have to be there at 7, so 6:00? That'll give me some time to talk to my mom outside so she won't be so surprised when she sees you."

"6:00 it is, then."

"Once again, thank you, you're a life saver! Bye!"

"Bye doll." Finn flipped his phone closed with a smile on his face. He couldn't say why he was smiling but he was. But he had to quickly withdraw that smile off his face and go back to the common room, his conversation with Logan, he feared, was not over, but he thought that after his talk with Rory, there was no way he could maintain his angry posture in front of Logan.

Logan was facing the window of the common room, trying to figure out how to explain the unexplainable. Why did he break up with Rory? He knew the answer, but somehow, after what Finn had said just now, it didn't seem enough. She was smart, she was funny, she was sweet, she was gorgeous and she was in love with him. So why? He was afraid, that's why. He had never felt like this for anyone and that scared the hell out of him. He thought he was just too young to feel like this. So he thought that maybe if he broke up with her, he would just forget her and move on. He was trying to do that, but it wasn't working. He still liked her, he still loved her, he loved her more than ever. It felt like the distance did nothing but make his feeling stronger. So he wasn't surprised when he felt crazy jealous when he heard Finn say her name on the phone. He instantly turned the other way and looked at Colin. Colin shrugged his shoulders, he didn't know what that was about either. Logan than started to listen to Finn's conversation. 'He's going to pick her up? For what? 6:00. What the hell is he doing? What the hell is she doing? Why is she doing this? To make me jealous? She's using Finn to make me jealous. She has to be. Maybe they're just hanging out tonight. Wait, tonight's her Friday night Dinner with her grandparents! She never could get out of that! What the hell does this mean?' All this thoughts were rushing through Logan's mind as Finn walked back into the common room, with a much more relaxed and happy expression than just moments before. 'Rory Gilmore has that effect on people' Colin thought to himself.

Now Logan was the angry one. "So who was that?" he asked straight away.

"None of your business."

"None of my business? You're talking to my girlfriend on the phone talking about picking

her up and it's none of my business!" Even Logan was surprised at this explosion.

Finn tried to talk unaffectedly. "One: eavesdropping is very poor manners. I thought a highly educated young man like you would know that. Two: she's not your girlfriend anymore mate, you let her go. You gotta deal with it now."

"Deal with it? Oh, come on Finn! You are in this together aren't you?"

"In what?"

"You're doing this just so I'm jealous and ask her to get back together with me."

Finn gave a small laugh. "You're so vain, Logan! Not everything is always about you! No, we're not plotting against you, my friend. If you really are jealous, then it just proves my point, you're a dumbass for letting her go, because you obviously still care about her and whatever stupid reason drove you to break up with her seems like not enough right now."

Logan just stared at him. Damn Finn for knowing him so well!

"Are you going out tonight?" He asked more calm.

"Yes, but don't worry it's just as friends, I'm just doing her a favor, I don't want to steal her from you, don't worry." He said slowly. 'Even if I wanted to it wouldn't work, she's still hung up on you' Finn thought to himself.

Logan was facing the floor. Finn felt sorry for him. He was definitely suffering, and as much as he tried to hide it, sometimes it was just plain clear that he was miserable.

"I can't stay mad at you long, my friend. I love you man, and that's why I'm giving you this free advice: talk to her. Tell her that you've been the world's biggest idiot and that you'd do anything to get her back. Make up a long beautiful speech, bring her some coffee and tell her how you feel." He paused and then joked: "Just don't do it today or you'll mess up my date, hehe. Free food, open bar and the company of the lovely Rory Gilmore. I'd kill you if you messed that up." They all laughed. 'Good to have things back to normal' Colin thought.

A/N: This is my very first fanfic ever... well not ever if you count the Backstreet Boys one... oh, boy forgot I said that! Such a dark period in my life... Anyway, I'd really appreciate it if you guys could review this and tell me what you think. Suggestions to improve my writing or ideas for the story are very welcome! Hope you guys liked this, I'm having a great time writing it. I have some thought for the next 3 chapters so I'll probably update soon, depending on your response of course. If you guys tell me I suck I'll just disappear, hehe. So again, please review! Thanks!