December Bells Chapter Five : The Best Part Of Believe Is The Lie

Rory was sitting in her room while "Satellite Of Love" filled the air. She was trying her best to pack some things for Yale, but her mind was too distracted. Why had Logan called? What was he going to say to her when they actually did see each other? That was, if they did.

What was she thinking? Of course they would see eachother. They go to the same school. Given, it is a very big campus, but it's hard to avoid a person for an entire year while living in the same place, and actually succeeding at it. But she couldn't meet with him behind Jess's back. She could attempt to tell him though, right? And if he knew, she wouldn't have to feel guilty about it.

Rory moved from her dresser over to the window. She lifted the white, lace curtain to the side. Outside, she could see her mother talking to Babette and Maury. Babette was hosing down one of her many lawn gnomes, and it looked like she was telling a story to Lorelai. Her hands were waving widly around the air, as she accidentally squirted Maury in the face with the hose. She intently watched as her mother fiddled with the locket around her neck. She knew that every time she touched it, she was thinking of Luke, because every time that Rory touched hers, she thought of Jess.

Rory's thoughts haulted when her cell phone started to ring again. As she walked over to her vanity to retrieve it, a great hope that the phone call was coming from anyone other than Logan rose up in her throat. She bit her lip, flipped open her phone, closed her eyes, and said in a low voice, "Hello?"

"Ror-" the phone cut off. Rory couldn't figure out who it was.

"Hello?"

"I... so tha.. decora..th...orm."

"Paris?"

"Uhh..ess."

"Paris, I can't hear you. You're breaking up. I'll call you back later." Rory hung up the phone, relieved, and went back over to her window.

This time, though, she was focusing on Jasper. The small kitten that Jess and her had found a few months ago. He was at Lorelai's feet. He'd gotten so much bigger over the course of three months. Jasper had taken quite a liking to Lorelai, as soon as Rory brought him home. He went wherever Lorelai went, and, like a dog, sat by the door until she came home. Luke, surprisingly, had even grown a liking to the little guy. They were like a family, in a weird way. Mother, father, and cat.

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The cafe was small. A place that Rory had never been before. In her opinion, it was a bit too cutesy for her. This was the kind of place that her and her mother would mock and never set foot in, with it's big plush chairs and neon, funky looking tables. But, this is where Logan asked her to meet him.

She didn't tell Jess that she was meeting him, because she knew that shew as kidding herself if she believed that Jess would actually go for the idea. So, instead, she lied to him. She told him that she was meeting Paris so that they could figure out who needed to bring what for their dorm at school. She didn't like lying to Jess like that, about something so big. As big as meeting up with the ex-boyfriend that she left for Jess. As big as even being in contact with him anymore. Everyone knew that Jess was the jealous type, and she just didn't want to get him mad.

Rory went up to the counter and took a seat on a bright orange, furry stool, that had shoes on the end of the legs. The plush material sank as she sat on it, leaving an impeccable imprint of her butt. She looked down at the menu, and realized that this was the only cafe she'd ever been to that didn't serve regular coffee. It took about five minutes to get the attention of the young, numerously peirced girl behind the counter to take her order of a bottle of water, and it took even longer for Rory to actually get her water.

Rory glanced at her watch, 4:15. Logan was supposed to meet her there at 4:00. Fifteen minutes and half a bottle of water. Rory decided it was time for cake. After waving down the disturbing looking girl once more and ordering a piece of cheesecake, Rory was about ready to bail. She decided that if Logan didn't show in the next five minutes, she'd leave.

4:20..4:21..4:22..4:23..4:24...

Rory felt a hand lay lightly on her right shoulder blade. It was Logan. She knew by the way he touched her, without even having to look at his face. She bit her lip, layed down her fork next to her plate, and turned around. He greeted her with a big hug, and kissed her softly on the cheek. The awkwardness of the moment sent a shiver up Rory's spine, and made her feel guilty, before words were even spoken.

"Hi." Rory said, with a bit of a shakey voice.

"I'm sorry I'm late. I know that you hate that, but I couldn't find my keys, and there was a lot of traffic coming from my parents' house." Logan was wearing a bright green polo t-shirt and a pair of fitted, light wash jeans. His thick, blonde hair was messy as usual, and his shirt brought out the blue in his eyes. Rory had always thought him to be handsome.

"It's okay. I had a bonding experience with a piece of cake."

"Not a surprise." Logan sat down next to Rory in an equally fuzzy, equally bright, purple stool, that had flippers on the end of the legs. He looked around as if he'd never been to this place before, and made a face when he saw the girl behind the counter, with her bright pink hair and too-tight tank top. "Sorry about the location. I asked my sister if she knew of any places around here and she gave me the name of this one. I guess I should have figured that a place called Fuzz would be a little too hip for me."

Rory laughed, politely, while all she really wanted was to get this over with. She was feeling so uncomfortable and didn't like being here. She just had a feeling that Jess would walk in at any moment, and things would just be havoc.

Logan turned his stool to the left so that he was facing Rory. "So," he said, letting out an awkward breath, "anything on the menu good?"

"Look, Logan.. I don't want to be rude," Rory started, and slowed down, surprising herself by her aggressive tone, "but what is this all about?"

"What do you mean?" a small trace of hurt spread over Logan's evenly tanned face.

Rory took in a deep breath and pushed her plate to the side. She picked up her water bottle and took a swig, then placed the cap back on top. "You know what I mean. We don't talk at all, the whole summer, and then you call me out of no where, telling me that you need to talk to me. So come on, what do you need to talk about?"

Logan opened his mouth, as if he were going to start talking, but soon got distracted by something in the direction of the door.

Rory looked at him, "What? What are you looking at."

Logan simply lifted his hand and gestured toward the door. Rory's jaw dropped as she saw Paris, storming toward the glass exterior of the cafe, locking the door to her blue civic behind her. The expression on her face scared Rory a little bit, but she was used to that kind of thing. As Paris swung open the door, Rory jumped up. "Paris! What are you doing here?"

"I called your mother to ask where you were, because you weren't answering your cell phone, as usual." Paris looked down at Logan, surprised to see him with Rory. She quickly grabbed a hold of Rory's arm and pulled her aside. "What are you doing here with Logan? I thought you got back with Jess."

Rory moved a piece of hair out of her eye, and tucked back into her sloppy ponytail. "I am with Jess. But, Logan called me and asked me to meet him, he said he needed to talk to me aobut something."

"About what?"

"Well, I was just going to find out before you walked in. So, why are you here?"

"The other night when I dropped by, I left a few books at your house. They were my cousins and he needs them back in like twenty minutes because he's going back to school. So, I need to get them."

"Well, I can't leave now. I'm busy."

"Rory.. I need those books."

"Alright, go back to my house and ask my mother, she's home."

"Okay. Thanks. I'll call you later." Paris turned to walk away, then turned back to Rory. "Oh, and," she gestured to Logan, "good luck with that."

Rory watched Paris get into her car and drive away, thinking of what Logan was going to say. She wanted to just run after Paris and leave, but she knew that she couldn't. She knew that she needed to talk to Logan and get this over with so that there could be peace between the two of them. But she knew that walking over to Logan and listening to what he had to say, was most likely going to dig her in even deeper. It would make things awkward between her in Jess, because she would know something that he didn't, and that's not the way she wanted it.

Rory slowly turned around and walked back over to Logan. She picked up her purse, checked her cell phone for any missed calls, and sat back down on the fuzzy orange stool. "So," she said, almost out of breath, "you were saying.."

"I miss you."

Rory looked down in her lap. Awkward.

"I know that you're with Jess. I know that you love him, and I know I'm not going to get you back. But, as stupid as it sounds, that doesn't do it for me."

"Logan.."

"No, just let me finish, alright?"

Rory nodded and gestured for him to contiune.

"I don't expect you to leave Jess for me, and I'm not suggesting that you cheat on him with me or anything like that.. I just.. I want to be in your life again. And, if just being your friend is as close as I'm going to get, then so be it. I don't want you to just be another girl that I dated. You know that you were one of the few that I got very serious with. Heck, you were the first girl I called my girlfriend and actually meant it with. So I don't want you to just rush out of my life because I wasn't the right guy for you. You obviously meant a lot to me."

"Logan, you know that you meant a lot to me too."

"Well," he said, with an agitated look on his face, "then why have you been avoiding me these past months?"

"The phone rings both ways, ya know."

"Yeah, but you were supposed to call me."

"Uhmm.. I was?" Rory said, confused.

"Yes. You dumped me. I didn't want to call you and put pressure on you. But in the end, I had to. We still go to the same school, Rory."

"I know! I just.. I though that you'd hate me by now. So, I stayed away."

"Well, that was obviously wrong."

"Yeah. I guess it was." Rory focused on the floor, looking defeated. She brushed her foot over the purple and green tiled floor, thinking of what to say next. She fiddled with her locket, and, as usual, Jess flew through her mind. He wouldn't like this. Not at all. She started to picture him in Stars Hollow, behind Luke's counter.. and then her thoughts trailed off as she realized something. "Oh my God, Star's Hollow!"

"What?" Logan said, startled by the volume of Rory's voice. "What's the matter?"

"Paris!"

"What about her?"

"I told her to go back to Stars Hollow to pick something up from my house! What if Jess sees her?" Rory got up and started pacing. "I have to go. Right now."

"So what if Jess sees Paris?" Logan asked, completely thrown off by Rory's sudden outburst.

"I told Jess that I was meeting Paris for lunch. If he sees her in town, he's going to wonder why I lied to him."

Hurt swept over Logan's face. "Why did you lie to him?" he asked, softly.

"I just. I didn't know what was going to happen, and I didn't want Jess to blow it out of proportion. He tends to get jealous really easily. But, if I don't get to Stars Hollow before Paris, he will go nuts. So, I have to go."

"Wait. Can you, give me a ride?"

"Are you kidding me, Logan?" Rory sounded annoyed. "I just told you that I need to leave right now."

"Well, I had to get a ride from a buddy because my car's in the shop. I was hoping this would go well and you'd drive me home."

"Fine. Where are you going? I hope it's near by."

The two walked quickly to Rory's car, hopping in and driving off. "Are you going to tell him?" Logan asked.

"Tell who? What?"

"Tell Jess. That you met with me today."

"Oh, I don't know. If it comes up, yeah."

The two drove in silence until they reached the house of a friend of Logan's. As Logan got up, Rory said, "What would you have done if it ended badly and I didn't drive you home?"

Logan leaned his head in and said, "Hitch hiked I guess." He smiled and closed the door. Rory watched him hop up the steps and smiled. Then, she drove off as quickly as she could. She hoped to God that Paris would go straight to her house and straight back to Hartford.