Puppet Master
Logan fumed. It was bad enough for him to get involved in a prank war with a girl who was turning out to be much more of an evil master mind than he'd ever thought she could be, but he'd made the mistake of assuming his friends weren't corruptible. He should have known that they'd turn on him – especially since they'd gotten the mock-able idea that he had fallen for Rory Gilmore.
He laughed. Him fall for Rory Gilmore? She was so not his type. Shy, and bookish, she had a razor sharp tongue on her. She was so obviously from a different background than he was that he had been speechless when he'd seen her at her grandparent's house weeks ago. He had been so surprised in fact, that he'd asked his father about her life. His father, being up to date on the continuing Gilmore saga, explained all about Lorelai, Rory and the animosity between Emily and the younger generations.
Sure he enjoyed bantering with her. Sure he looked forward to seeing her at the newspaper, but that was because he enjoyed annoying her. Wasn't it?
Great. He wasn't even convincing himself. He had begun to think that Colin and Finn's diagnosis had been close to the truth. The Casanova had fallen for the Ace Reporter. And that didn't sit well with him at all.
Logan was dangerous. She'd determined that much already. Not violent dangerous, not pulling a daring prank dangerous, but dangerous to her way of life. She'd always lived a quiet life. Books, school, coffee and a couple of loyal friends; those things were her life.
Logan could change all of that. He had already begun changing that, in fact. He'd upset her careful balance, pulled her into a dangerous stunt, mixed her up in a clandestine society whose members were known for their carefree attitudes.
And if he'd already managed to change all that with only a tentative acquaintance-ship, what could he do if they managed to establish a friendship? Or a relationship? Would she be able to hold back? The chemistry between them was so obvious that even she couldn't deny it.
No she didn't deny it. She just attributed it to other factors; it was a passing fancy, she told herself.
Finn and Colin found Logan sitting in his room, listening to music and lost in deep thought. They flopped less-than-gracefully onto his bed.
"So, got any plans?" Colin shouted, lifting the headphones from Logan's ears.
"Why do you care?" The sarcasm in their friends' voice astounded Finn and Colin.
"What's up, mate?" Finn asked, flinging his arms around Logan.
"'What's up mate?' That all you got? You stab me in the back and all you've got is 'what's up mate?'"
"Hey. We're sorry. It was all in fun."
"Yeah," Colin added. "Why are you all bent out of shape? We've done worse!"
"So past behavior is now being used to excuse current behavior?"
"As a matter of fact, yes it is."
"Hey Colin, let's go. Maybe we'll come back when it's safe and when he doesn't have such a large stick up his ass."
The two exited the room, making a point of slamming the door behind them. Logan doubled over in silent mirth. Those two were so easy to manipulate.
As soon as they left, Finn and Colin headed to the pub.
An hour later, they still sat nursing their beers. Rory walked in and immediately saw them.
"Why the gloomy faces?" Even the continually upbeat Finn had a look of absolute guilt on his face.
"You were right." Colin sounded surprised.
"Of course I was." She paused and then when no explanations were forthcoming, she gave in. "What was I right about?"
Finn looked up. "Well," he started, "it wasn't so much what you said, per say, but your attitude. You knew Logan wouldn't appreciate us helping you pull a prank."
"Ahh…" a knowing grin came to rest on Rory's face. "He won't let you help pull the next prank on me, right?"
"Well, yeah. He's being a complete stick in the mud." Colin paused and made a face, obviously repulsed by the mental image that his comment conjured up in his mind.
"You can say 'I told you so.' You were right. We admit it. We bow beneath your superior wisdom." Finn said sardonically, but the corners of his mouth pulled up in a wan imitation of his charming smile.
"Well, why would I want to say 'I told you so'? You took all the fun out of it by telling me to say it. But, I'm glad you admit that I am superior in wisdom. Now that we have that out of the way, we can start planning."
"Planning?" Colin was obviously a bit drunk and having trouble following the conversation.
Rory rolled her eyes. "You don't actually think I'm gonna sit back and let him play a prank on me without starting on my game plan?"
"I like the way you think, Gilmore." Finn was intrigued.
The three bowed their heads together and Colin and Finn listened attentively as Rory laid out her plan.
Meanwhile, Logan had snuck into the newspaper room. He quietly made his way to Doyle's desk where the final copy of tomorrow's newspaper sat unobtrusively in a disk. He had to admit that the time he so unwillingly spend in the newspaper office really worked out this time. Now he knew that Doyle left the disk on his desk when the newspaper was ready to go and the person in charge of printing the newspaper would pick it up in the morning, before Doyle came.
He slipped the diskette into the computer and opened the lone document. A few minutes later, the crucial changes had been made. It really was ironic, he reminisced, that his first published article would go completely unedited. Absolutely against the rules, but hey, rules are meant to be broken, right?
A mere ten minutes after he had come in, Logan snuck out, leaving behind no evidence that he had been there, except the change in the document on the disk. Tomorrow, pandemonium would rule.
The following morning, the entire newspaper staff gathered for the arrival of special holiday edition of the Yale Daily News. Rory was especially excited because it was the first time she had made the front page. Granted, it was just a small bit of her article on the front page, but in her book, that was the front page.
The paper was delivered and each member of the staff quickly grabbed a copy. Rory grabbed it triumphantly and scanned the front page for her article. 'Funny,' she thought, 'I must have gone over it too quickly.' So she looked the front page over, more slowly this time. Halfway down, a small headline caught her eye.
Two Historic Families Will Finally Be Joined
As she read on, her mouth dropped in disbelief.
Yale sophomores Lorelai Gilmore and Logan Huntzberger are engaged to be married.
The article went on to detail the histories and legacies of both families, carefully omitting any reference to the 'happy couple' themselves, save the first sentence.
"You are dead, Huntzberger. Dead, you hear me?" Rory muttered, even though she knew perfectly well that Logan would not be caught dead waiting for the Yale Daily News to come out.
Logan relished in the feeling of a job well done. He jumped up at the sound of a knock on the door, but by the time he got there, she was gone. Sitting on the welcome mat was a copy of the newspaper.
Logan grinned to himself as he picked it up. As he opened it, a small note fluttered out. He stooped to pick that up as well, but before he could read it, a bit of color on the newspaper caught his eye. Rory had encircled his article with a red heart. He laughed. He looked down at the note in his hand.
Logan,
Logan – 2
Rory – 2
Much better.
Much much better.
I wouldn't have thought you would voluntarily work on the newspaper, but you proved me wrong.
Good job.
Ace
P.S. Thanks a lot for getting news of our engagement out there.
He chuckled and practically skipped out of the dorm.
AN: Thanks again for all of the reviews. You guys make me soooo happy! Hug I hope y'all like this chapter too. I had fun writing it. Sorry if you don't like the drama going on at the beginning of the chapter – I'm just trying to add it in as some sort of a transition!! But whatever…what do you think?