Puppet Master

The next morning, Rory woke up disoriented – partly from the hangover and partly from the fact that this was most definitely not her room. She heard her cell phone ring and rolled over to reach for it, and came face to face with Logan.

"Ahhh!" she screamed.

"Rory, calm down. It's just your cell phone." Logan always managed to play dumb and say precisely the right thing to save his own butt.

Unintentionally, Rory giggled and then moaned. "Obviously."

Logan rolled over and flipped open Rory's phone. "'Lo?"

From her side of the bed, Rory could hear her mother take a confused tone and then proceed to rant her heart out. After listening patiently to Lorelai rant for more than a minute, Logan stuck the phone in Rory's face.

"Mom?"

"Yes, this is your mother. Who was that?"

"That was my darling fiancé."

"So that was the Mr. Huntzberger that I've heard so much about?"

"Yeah."

"And why, may I ask, was Mr. Huntzberger answering your phone?"

"Well, I happen to be in his very pink room."

The diversion temporarily succeeded. "It's still pink? He hasn't changed it?"

"Nope, still pink. I must admit I was surprised when I saw it."

This brought Lorelai straight back to the scent. "And why did you see it?"

"I'm not quite sure. This hangover is wreaking havoc on the finer points of last night."

At this, Logan raised a single eyebrow and Lorelai let out a squeaked, "What?!"

"As I told you, I met Logan at the pub."

"Yes…and then?"

"Then we came back to his dorm and played…Monopoly?" The last part of the phrase was directed at Logan, who nodded, a smirk apparent on his face.

"And where did the alcohol that gave you said hangover come into play? The pub?"

"Surprisingly, no. The Monopoly part. After an hour of taking shots, we were all tipsy and I passed out in Logan's room."

"That explains it then. Not in enough detail though, and we'll talk about this later, but I have the feeling you need some time with lover boy?"

"Yeah, love you, Mom." Rory hung up the phone before her mother could change her mind.

"Miss Gilmore, I do believe you left out some of the finer details of last night."

"Quite observant of you, Mr. Huntzberger."

"So do you want to talk about it?" asked Logan, specifically not saying the word kiss.

Rory thought it over and then shook her head. Stifling a moan, she said, "Surprisingly no." Then she amended her statement. "Not right now at least. I have a hangover, and I need to get to my room. Maybe later?"

Logan looked relieved about having temporarily dodged that bullet. "Sure, later sounds good. Maybe I'll see you later today?"

"Yeah," muttered Rory distractedly, searching for her purse.

"Here," said Logan, handing it to her.

"Thanks," said Rory, and leaned in impulsively to give him a kiss before darting quickly out of the room, giving lie to any rumors of a hangover.

Three hours later, Rory dragged herself out of bed for the second time that day. With a sense of foreboding, she showered and dressed. As she opened the door to head to the newspaper, she almost stepped on a single red rose. She picked it up gingerly, avoiding the thorns and read the note attached to it.

Ace,
I enjoyed last night.
Logan

She smiled. No one had ever done something like this for her. Just a rose, to let her know he was thinking of her. She was, however, not naïve enough not to realize that a part of him was still trying to win her over, just as a part of her was still not completely won over by him.

After taking the rose inside and caring for it properly, Rory set out for her destination again.

Logan, on the other hand, had been awake since Rory left. After dodging probing questions from his indelicate roommates (who had thankfully waited until Rory left to begin the interrogation), he escaped to wander the campus. He knew perfectly well, based on Rory's reaction, that he had some work cut out for him, before Rory completely accepted that his intentions were honorable.

His intentions? Honorable? Most people would find that to be an oxymoron, but they had no proof to back it up. Although he had a player persona, he really wasn't into playing the field. He had more fun goofing off than he ever could have had jumping from girl to girl. It was his way of rebelling from his father's expectations, which were for Logan to concentrate on his studies, become the next newspaper tycoon and find a dependable girlfriend.

Until recently, the last item had been out of the question. He had not found a girl who could keep him sufficiently entertained. Rory however, he could see himself with her. And, as much as that scared him, he had matured enough to realize that some of the best things in life were scary. Although at first glance, it seemed that they were opposites, he knew they had enough in common to make it. As a couple, they could have fun and still last. He knew this; it was just a matter of convincing Rory Gilmore.

When Rory arrived at the newspaper, she found a steaming cup of coffee waiting next to her computer, and another rose laid carefully atop her keyboard. As she sat down, her hands cradled the coffee lovingly and she inhaled it quickly. It tasted heavenly.

She set the cup of coffee down and noticed as Logan walked in. She lowered her head and smiled at the state of dishevelment of his hair. He paid her not a glance, but plunked himself into his chair, and proceeded to take a nap.

A smile slowly spread over Rory's face. She fished through her purse and found her phone. She dialed what was becoming a familiar number, and waited.

"Finn? It's Rory. Listen, I need you to do something for me."

AN: I know, I know. I'm sorry, but I just needed to have a sort of filler chapter here...still working on the next chapter, but I seem to be having some trouble with it. Obviously you guys can expect to see it some time next year.

Happy New Year's everybody!