Puppet Master

They wandered into the pub, quietly making their way to a secluded, dimly lit booth in the back corner of the establishment. Awkwardness had temporarily set in and in an act of desperation, Logan offered to get drinks.

"Sure, I'll have a coke."

"A coke?" repeated Logan incredulously. "You come to a pub to drink coke?"

"Fine, you decide what to get me. I trust you." Rory smirked and Logan gladly returned it.

Logan chatted up the bartender, with whom he obviously had a standing repartee. When he returned to the booth, just minutes later, he was dismayed to find Finn occupying his spot and Rory laughing at some stupid, yet ingeniously clever thing Finn had said.

"Trying to steal my date again?" Logan kept his voice mild and let the death glare he was sending Finn do all of the talking.

Finn imperiously ignored Logan's hints. "Of course not. I just thought that you might need some help. After all, Rory did say that while she didn't have time for you, she could have penciled me in." While Logan fumed, Finn winked at Rory.

"How did you -" Logan cut off, unable to articulate anything.

"I was on the other line. It really was amusing to watch you chew your fingernails with anxiety before making the inevitable call to Rory."

"I did no such thing," Logan replied pompously, internally berating himself for not making the call on his cell phone.

"Actually that's not why I'm here."

Logan raised his eyebrow at Finn inquisitively. "Colin needs your help."

"What did he get himself into this time?"

"Vodka," Finn deadpanned. "Well, the vodka was only part of it."

Logan narrowed his eyes. "The only vodka we have around is mine. How much of it did he drink?"

"That is immaterial at this point. We have bigger things to worry about."

Rory, who had been watching this verbal tennis match with fascination, suddenly spoke up. "Finn, what were you saying about Stephanie when Logan walked up?"

"Stephanie?!" Logan was positively confused. "What does Stephanie have to do with why Colin needs my help?"

Finn looked at him as if the answer should have been obvious. Even Rory, who had only been a part of the group peripherally for a couple of weeks, regarded him like he was some kind of slow fool. Logan sat for a minute. "Stephanie is going out with David…Colin is secretly in love with Stephanie…Colin was in my vodka…" Logan looked up at Finn, with an almost fearful look in his eyes.

"He didn't," Logan gasped.

Finn's eyes were serious, "He did."

"Colin got smashed and asked Steph out in front of David?" Logan asked, just to be clear.

"More like professed his love for her. Poor chap, he never had a chance." Finn took a swig of the drink Logan had brought for Rory with a mournful air about him.

"Professed his love for her in front of David Sutherland?"

"The man wasn't thinking too clearly, mate."

"You can say that again," piped up Rory. Finn and Logan looked at her. "What? I've seen David Sutherland…you don't want to get on his wrong side!"

"Well, now Colin is going to be perpetually on his bad side. Stephanie broke up with Sutherland on the spot, right after his first go 'round with Colin; right before the second."

"Two rounds with Sutherland? Is Colin still alive?" Logan inquired.

"Yeah, but I don't think he'll be leaving the suite anytime soon."

"But at least he got Steph, right?" Rory asked worriedly.

"Hell no," both boys answered at the same time.

"Steph hates him for ruining her past…how many is it now…three relationships."

"Four, actually," interjected Finn helpfully. At Rory's puzzled look, he took pity on her and explained. "Colin has been in love with Steph for years, but he can't seem to maintain, or even initiate a non-platonic relationship with her. He hates to see her with other guys, but hasn't admitted how he feels…until now," added Finn darkly.

"In front of David Sutherland…" Rory breathed in both shock and awe.

"Obviously, not a very good idea, wouldn't you say mate?"

"It may have been the worst idea he's ever had."

"No, it couldn't be. What about the time he hit on Mrs. Schmidt?"

"How about the time he jumped off of his house with a Superman cape tied around his neck?"

"No, that wasn't anywhere near as stupid as the time he broke into his dad's safe and set off the silent alarm."

Rory, who had been listening quietly, let out an unladylike snort. "Do you guys all lead parallel lives, or something?"

Logan and Finn gave her a confused look and she explained. "A guy I went to Chilton with broke into one of his friends' dads' safes and got caught. Sent to military school, as I remember."

Finn laughed. "Well, as I remember it, Dugrey always was quite dense."

"Tristan Dugrey?!" Logan looked astonished. "You went to school with Tristan Dugrey?"

"Unfortunately," muttered Rory darkly. She looked at Finn. "How'd you know it was Tristan?"

"His parents are friends with my parents. In fact, I think he got the idea from an anecdote I told him over dinner once. As I mentioned, Colin did that once."

Rory cleared her throat. "As scintillating as reminiscing like this is, let's get back to the topic. What are we going to do about Colin's little problem?"

The boys were abruptly brought back to reality. "There's not much to do, is there?" Logan asked.

"I don't know what you guys are going to do, but I plan on talking to Steph," Rory informed the other two.

Finn piped up. "Logan you might want to go talk to Sutherland?"

Logan looked surprised. "Why would I do that?"

"Because Sutherland has threatened to turn in the LDB to the campus police."

"He has nothing but hearsay."

"I know that, you know that, he knows that, but he wants 'his due,'" Finn made air quotes with his fingers while rolling his eyes, making for a quite amusing picture.

On that note, the trio got up to leave, each going their separate ways. Logan caught Rory's gaze apologetically, but she just shrugged her shoulders.

Que sera, sera!

AN: I'm sorry about not updating sooner. I'm having a real case of writers block. Any suggestions on where to take this would be welcomed, truly they would. Hope this didn't disappoint too badly, even though the story keeps going downhill. Ahh! I should stick to one-shots!

Thanks for all of the lovely reviews. You guys are too kind – didn't your mother ever teach you not to lie? Thanks anyway! - Rebecca