Puppet Master
Rational thought quickly returned to Rory and she pulled away. "God, what did I do?" She turned to start running away, but found her arm held in a firm grip. She hesitantly turned to face Logan and the expression on his face quickly took all words from her lips.
He looked so uncharacteristically vulnerable, but there was definitely passion beneath the surface. However, all that he said was, "Don't run."
"Logan, let me go." She begged him hysterically.
"Don't run," he repeated more firmly. "Please, don't run, Rory."
Hearing the desperation in his voice, Rory relaxed into his grip. As Logan realized that she wasn't going to run, he awkwardly put his arms around her as she further melted into his body.
As they stood there together, Logan unexpectedly felt moisture on his neck. He realized that the moisture was tears, and as he knew that he certainly wasn't crying (Rory Gilmore was in his arms, for goodness sakes), he pushed her away to look in her face.
"Why are you crying?" He brought his left hand up to wipe away her tears. "I didn't bite your lip or anything, did I?"
A strong feeling of déjà vu swept over Rory, and she let out a shaky laugh as she shook her head.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Rory kept repeating.
Logan held her against his side. "Do you have any plans tonight?" He felt Rory shake her head. "What do you say we go see how that Monopoly game is going?" Rory nodded her head. Glad to have her agreement, he sure-footedly steered her towards his suite.
By the time they arrived, Finn and Colin had started another game of Monopoly, this time accompanied by Stephanie and a great deal of alcohol. When they saw Logan and Rory enter the dorm together, they gladly scraped their current game to deal the two in, so to speak.
It wasn't until ten minutes into the game that Rory discovered the slight twist that Finn had added. As she landed on Colin's Baltic, Finn shouted out, "You owe Colin six dollars and a shot." Grudgingly, she took her shot.
"So, Rory," said Stephanie, her voice slightly too loud from intoxication, "I haven't congratulated you on that prank yet. I'm glad you went for Logan right were it hurts."
Rory and Stephanie giggled obscenely as Logan glared. Suddenly, Stephanie's radar went off and she spied the ring on Rory's necklace. "Nice rock, Ror. Where'd you get it?"
Rory, who was still in the midst of a fit of giggles, pointed at Logan. Stephanie rounded on him. "You gave that to her?"
"Don't sound so impressed. I know my way around jewelry."
"I know that. But why does Rory have such a fine piece of jewelry around her neck?"
"You'll have to ask her that. I thought, based on the size and shape, that that specific object was supposed to be worn on a finger."
Stephanie smacked Logan upside the head. "Well, duh. But why does she have it in the first place?"
Finn finally caught the thread of the conversation. "Didn't you hear Steph? Logan here is off the market. He and Rory are engaged."
Seeing the four break out in raucous laughter, Stephanie got that she was missing some key piece of information. She glared at them until Rory got her laughter under control and regained the presence of mind to let Stephanie in on the joke.
"You know about Logan's little trick in my class a couple of weeks ago?"
"Yeah." Stephanie was still confused.
"You know about my response to that?"
"I only heard about it in passing – that you played a prank on Huntzberger."
"Yeah. I got my grandfather to corner him in the courtyard and inform him of our engagement. Welcome him to the family, that sort of thing."
Logan picked up the narrative. "She cleverly got my father in on the scheme and he called and verified Richard's story." Colin and Finn perked up, having not heard the second part of the prank.
Finn looked at Rory. "You got Mitchum Huntzberger to participate in a practical joke?"
She nodded. "You'd be surprised at the sense of humor some of these people have, especially when my grandfather calls in a favor."
"Anyway," Logan broke in. "To congratulate her on a job well done, I sent her the piece of jewelry in question."
"Ahh," Stephanie said with a look of dawning comprehension on her face. "I get it."
"The explanation isn't quite complete if you don't read the inscription," Rory volunteered.
Stephanie grabbed at the necklace to inspect the inscription, but due to her hindered dexterity, she missed completely, instead grabbing Rory's face. On the second try, she managed to snag the necklace and brought it up to her face.
"The game's afoot," she read aloud for the benefit of Finn and Colin. The necklace was pulled from her grasp as Rory and Logan doubled over in laughter.
Finn looked from one to the other. "Boy was it ever!" The only response he received was renewed laughter from the rest.
An hour later, Monopoly long having been abandoned, Colin passed out on the floor. At this point, the rest decided it would be a good time to break up the party. Leaving Finn and Stephanie to fend for themselves, Logan helped Rory off of the floor and guided her into his room. She cautiously opened her eyes and snorted at the sight.
"Pink?!" was all she could manage to get out coherently.
"If I may be so delicate as to remind you, this is your work," said Logan, who either held his liquor better, or hadn't had as much.
Rory shook her head, and then moaned. She opened her mouth to change the subject. "I can't believe I lost three times in a row."
"Never underestimate Finn's prowess at board games. It's quite an unexpected talent, I must say."
Logan deposited Rory on his bed and then moved towards the closet.
"Where are you going?" mumbled Rory distractedly.
"Getting a blanket and a pillow for the couch."
"Don't go," said Rory and pulled him back towards the bed. Logan stiffened, but swiftly acquiesced to her demands, and they laid down on the bed and quickly fell asleep.
AN: Here. Was this up to expectations, or did it revisit the past too much? I'm thinking it's going to take a couple of chapters for things to settle back to normal, so please bear with me. Thanks again for the great reviews. You guys rock!