A/N: To those who are first time readers of this fic, thanks for reading and hope you're enjoying it. To those who had been following it, my sincerest apologies for the long hiatus between updates, my fanfic muse is very fickle and for a long while left me to fend for myself, which clearly is never a good thing. I had the ideas but could not get them from my head onto paper. Anyhow, here it is the next chapter and yes more chapters are coming. I'm currently living in the UK severely GG deprive, so it's just my imaginary GG world and me; hopefully that bodes well for frequent updates. Thanks for reading.

PART VIII: The Art of Surprise

Surprise: "To cause to feel wonder, astonishment, or amazement, as at something unanticipated." –dictionary dot com-

Rory woke with a start. Her head was pounding quite painfully and she groaned before burying her head deeper into her pillow. Laying in discomfort she thought back to the previous evening and the reason behind her pounding head- none other than her new found friend, Logan Huntzberger. It turned out that Logan was quite apt at making many drinks that either tasted of coffee and chocolate or one or the other. He was also quite apt at convincing Rory to give each and every one a try. As always it had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now laying in her bed hung over, she silently vowed she would never listen to Logan again.

Turning her head rather painfully she glanced at her alarm clock and did a slow-motioned double take; the time read 11:51 AM. Groaning again, she realized not only was she hung over, she was about to miss a very important appointment.

Slowly getting up she reached for her cell phone and dialed a familiar number; however the voice that answered was not one she was expecting.

"Hello?"

Rory surprised by the voice, looked at her cell phone to see if she had dialed the right number. Sure enough the display showed the words: calling home.

The voice impatiently demanded again, "hello!"

"Luke?" Rory asked tentatively.

There was a moment's pause, before, "Oh umm yeah, hi… Rory?" Luke on the other line answered sheepishly.

"Yes Luke it's me. I was just surprised to hear your voice."

Luke still sounding embarrassed replied, "Yeah. Your mom's just in the shower. She should be right out."

"Oh right. Not working at the diner today?"

"Believe it or not, your mom convinced me to take today off."

Smiling, Rory imagined her mother badgering Luke till he did what she wanted, replied, "Yes she can be a little persuasive."

Rory laughed a little when she heard Luke snort, "I'm fairly certain a little, is a great understatement when you're talking about anything to do with Lorelai."

"I heard that!"

Rory grinned upon hearing her mother's voice in the background. Followed by a greeting in her ear: "Good morning sunshine!"

Wincing a little at her mother's gusto that caused her head to pound harder, replied, "morning mom. Luke sounded embarrassed."

"That's because he's currently lying here in bed… naked."

"LORELAI!" "MOM!" Two groans of mild protestations replied simultaneously.

"Hey kid you asked. And Luke, you should know better. I'm not going to lie to my daughter."

Rory couldn't help the small grin on her face, hearing Luke's protest in the background and imagining the wicked smirk that must currently be on her mom's face.

Lorelai's voice filled with a gleeful satisfaction continued, "So you are either calling to tell me that you, as my smart, time managed daughter is currently on your way to the diner and am calling to nag me to be on time for our 12 o'clock lunch date at Luke's or you're still lying in bed recovering from a night of college debauchery that I don't know whether to be proud of or pull out one of my patented save for emergency mom cards."

Rory groaned, "How are you so full of energy already? Usually I'm the one dragging you up for noon on a Saturday."

"It helps to have Luke, also known as 'the coffee god' here in the morning. By the way, that was a very poor attempt at avoiding my question. So I take it the answer is the latter then?"

"How did you know?"

"My mom-dar went up with you're unenthusiastic, morning mom."

"Sorry mom."

"No worries kiddo, it's happened to all of us. You think you'll make it home for dinner at Luke's?"

"Absolutely."

"Good. Give me a call when you're heading back. And remember nothing cures a hangover like an aspirin, water or a good water substitute coffee and of course a heart stopping grease soaked burrito."

Rory smiled, "alright I'll call you soon."

"Lots of coffee and a greasy burrito." Lorelai reiterated.

"Thanks mom." Rory replied as she hung up the phone.

Putting down her phone, Rory ventured to sit up. Not met with the most pleasant reaction, she still willed herself out of bed. Grabbing her robe, she stumbled out of her room as she called out, "Lane. Got to get up. Need to go for a greasy food and coffee run."

When greeted with silence, Rory glanced over at the couch to find it empty. The blankets she had laid out for her best friend appeared untouched. Crinkling her nose in confusion, Rory walked over to Paris' room to find the door open and her bed made. Silently Rory wondered if the pair had gotten up before her and had gone out. But, there was no note; and Paris was queen of the notes.

Stumbling back to her room, she picked up her cell phone again and dialed first Lane and then Paris' number but neither answered. Sitting on her bed, Rory thought back to the previous evening. She had stayed mostly in Logan or Marty's company but remembered spotting Lane with Colin throughout the evening and when there was the occasional ruckus at the party it usually produced an appearance by Finn, with Paris strangely at his side.

Rory's last saw them all towards the end of her evening. She had been ready to leave but they hadn't been. So Logan had walked her home where she promptly fell asleep. So the question remained where were they now?

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Knocking on the door where Rory had been only hours earlier, she half expected to be greeted with silence or the appearance of someone feeling as disheveled as she was; as a result, was annoyingly surprised when the door opened to reveal a grinning well rested Logan.

"Good afternoon Ace, miss me already?"

Rory asked with minor disgust, "how are you feeling so chipper?"

Logan moving aside to let her in, replied, "Ah Ace, I'm what you would call a seasoned drinker. I know the secrets to both preventing and curing the cursed hangover."

"I need coffee." She replied simply.

"Coffee won't help. You should drink water. Or have a bloody Mary."

"I don't care if you're the all knowing messiah of hangovers. One thing you clearly don't know, is never deny a hung over Gilmore coffee." Rory replied with a glare.

"Alright, alright. I was just trying to help." He answered before handing her a steaming cup, "Here you go." Taking it eagerly, she breathed in a deep whiff of it before quickly downing half of the cup. Feeling the caffeine course through her body, she felt slightly better.

"So did you come over here simply to bite my head off for a cup of coffee or you're here for more mocha-tinis?" Logan asked with a grin.

Rory whimpered. Just the thought of more alcohol was making her queasy, "Remind me never to drink anything you offer again."

"Duly noted and ignored." The answer came with a wink.

She would have shaken her head, if she didn't know how much it would have hurt. "I'm actually here because I'm wondering if you remember seeing Lane or Paris when you got back last night?"

Logan thought for a moment, "no I don't think so. But when I got back, there were still quite a few people around, so I may have just missed them. Why?"

"They weren't there when I woke up this morning. So I'm trying to track them down."

"Any chance they went out for breakfast? Or maybe met someone last night?"

"I'm pretty sure it's a no to the first, cause there was no note and Paris is always compelled to leave notes. And I'm pretty sure also no to the second question cause Lane has Zach and the only person I saw Paris with was Finn and she for all intensive purposes she appears to hate him."

"Well I've been told there's a very fine line between love and hate." Logan replied chuckling. "But let me check with Colin."

"Thanks Logan." Rory replied as she watched him walk over to Colin's closed door.

Knocking and opening Colin's door, Logan called out, "hey Colin, wake…" Rory watched as the words died from his mouth. His face registering a look of surprise before a grin spread across his face. He stood staring for a moment before slowly closing the door.

"What?" Rory asked curiously.

Logan still grinning and shaking his head in disbelief turned to Rory and gave her a comical look, "well… Let's just say you don't have to worry about Lane."

Rory surprised, looked between Logan and Colin's closed door, "You don't mean…" her words trailing off. She walked towards Logan and stood staring at the door. After a moment she reached down, opened it and was greeted with an unexpected sight- Lane and Colin, asleep in his bed. Their heads just popping up from under the blankets with Lane's face buried in the crook of Colin's neck; the two were sound asleep.

Stepping away from the door, Rory closed it behind her, still in a state of shock. Logan's grin if possible became even wider as he said, "Well that's the second time I've caught those two in a compromising position."

Registering his words, she asked, "second time?"

Logan leading Rory back to the couch, refilled her coffee cup, replied, "Sorry Ace. I swore to protect the lady's honor."

Rory shaking her head said, "but Lane has Zach."

"And now it appears that Colin has Lane."

"This doesn't make any sense. Lane would never do that to Zach."

Shrugging Logan stated matter-of-factly, "Well Ace, you might be surprised by what people would do to one another for sex and love."

Logan's comment caused Rory to glance up at him with a despondent look that surprised him. "No Logan. I know exactly what people can do to one another."

Taken aback by Rory's answer and the sudden change of her mood, Logan watched as she turned away from him and took a sip of her coffee. There was something behind that comment, but it was obvious she was not going to elaborate.

In an attempt to bring back the light-hearted chitchat, Logan said with a chuckle, "I don't see why you're so upset by this Ace. I'm the one who should be worried."

"Worried?"

"I'm the one that is going to have to deal with Colin's broken heart when Lane wakes up, realizes she's been cuddling with the wrong guy and runs out of Colin's room screaming." Logan replied, a grin appearing on his face as Rory gave him a small smile.

Suddenly another look of apprehension mixed with horror appeared on her face. "What is it Ace?" He asked in concern.

"Wait, if Lane's in there." Rory began pointing at Colin's closed door. "You don't think that Paris could possibly be in there do you?" She finished, pointing at Finn's closed bedroom door.

Logan's eyes also widened at her remark before he broke out in laughter, "well I wouldn't put it pass Finn."

"Maybe we should check." Rory said cautiously.

Shaking his head, Logan replied, "Sorry Ace, we're just going to have to wait and find out. Both Colin and I have learned our lesson when it comes to Finn's closed bedroom door. Never open it unless Finn's the one opening it. We have both been met with some rather unpleasant sights. But by all means, you can check if you want."

Rory shook her head. She had quickly learned that when it came to Finn, it was best to heed the advice of those who know him best.

Logan and Rory both silent for a moment pondering the somewhat terrifying possibility of Paris and Finn, when the sound of Colin's door opening caused them both to glance up. They both watched with slight amusement as Lane emerged from the room, her back to Rory and Logan. She appeared to be trying to leave the room unnoticed. In one hand she held her jacket and shoes and with the other she was inching the door quietly shut. They watched her sigh with relief when the door closed with a subdued click.

Lane began putting on her jacket when she turned around, met with the sight of Logan and Rory, let out a yelp of surprise.

"Oh umm hey guys. It's not what you think." She said sheepishly.

"Now where have I heard that one before?" Logan asked innocently.

Lane blushing, beckoned to Rory, "can I talk to you for a second?"

Rory nodding, replied, "We should get going anyhow."

"Wait Ace, you need to stay to see if your other missing roommate is going to emerge from my other roommate's bedroom door." Logan intervened with a grin.

Lane's eyes widened, "you don't mean that Paris…"

"I'd put money on it."

"Of course you would Logan, you have money to throw away." Rory quickly added, "We aren't sure where Paris is."

Logan just grinned and said, "Look ladies, if you need to talk, use my room. I'll keep a look out for Paris."

Rory glanced over at Lane who nodded and the two headed for Logan's room. "Thanks Logan."

"Two thank you-s in one morning. See I knew the mocha-tinis would get me on your good side." He answered smirking, as Rory rolled her eyes, closing his door behind her.

As soon as the door click shut, Lane burst out. "Nothing happened! I swear to you Rory. Nothing happened."

"I believe you Lane." Rory replied. "But elaborating might be good."

"Nothing happened." Lane said for the third time, before continuing hurriedly, "It's just last night the party was going great and Colin and I were getting along talking about everything and anything. Then we started talking about music and you know how I love to talk about music. We went into Colin's room to listen to some of his CD's. Next thing you know it's getting really late and I'm tired but you've left and I can't find Paris, so Colin says he'll walk me home. But he seemed so tired too so I told him not to worry about it, but he wouldn't let me walk home on my own. So he told me I should stay and he'll crash on the couch. Only problem was the party was still going on and people were on the couch, so I some how end up suggesting he just sleep on the bed till everyone leaves. Next thing you know we both fall asleep and then it's morning or afternoon or whatever the time it is now and I wake up asleep in Colin's room in Colin's arms. Oh my goodness! What am I going to tell ZACH!"

Rory watched her best friend pace frantically, "Look Lane. Calm down. Like you said nothing happened. So you have nothing to freak out about, Zach will understand."

Lane turned to Rory in disbelief, "You've met Zach right? Do you really think he would understand? The guy was getting angry at me for trying on a slightly short skirt."

"Okay. Right. So he might over-react at first but I'm sure you two will make up."

"Right. Right. Sure. You're right. Nothing happened. I shouldn't feel guilty and Zach will be fine." Lane continued, still pacing. Stopping abruptly she turned to Rory, "Wait. What are you doing here?"

"What?" Rory asked bewildered by the sudden change of conversation.

"What were you doing sitting out there with Logan earlier? Did you end up staying here? Did you and Logan…?" Lane asked expectantly.

"What!" Rory exclaimed. "No! I was here looking for you and Paris."

"Right. So nothing happened between you and Logan last night? Cause at times it looked like something was going to happen between you two."

"Okay Lane. How did this conversation turn into a conversation about me and Logan?"

Before Lane could answer, the door burst open and Paris entered, closing the door behind her.

Paris looked at the pair before her and simply stated: "I had sex with Finn."

The two looked at her with shocked expressions before Rory said, "What?"

"What Rory, your mother never had a conversation about the birds and the bees with you?" Paris retorted sarcastically.

"No I meant what, as in I thought you hated him and wanted nothing to do with him."

"Well that's true. But you can still have sex with someone that you want nothing to do with." Noticing Lane's expressions, Paris added, "don't give me that judgmental look, I'm a grown woman and can have sex with whomever I like."

Lane quickly protested, "This is not a look of judgment. This is a look of awe. You just had sex. A one night stand. No wait sorry, are you two dating now?"

Paris let out a snort.

"I take it by that noise the answer is a no?" Rory asked dryly.

"Look, I just thought I would let you two know what transpired last night, so that there won't be any unnecessary awkward moments if and when we see Finn again."

"Okay thanks Paris for sharing your information." Rory replied wearily, "So now that I have found you both, can we please leave this house of surprises and head home."

"Wait!" Lane protested. "Paris? When you came out of Finn's room was Logan alone?"

"Yes. Why?" Paris asked suspiciously.

With a blush Lane quickly said, "no reason."

Paris rolled her eyes and just opened the door to Logan's room and headed out, followed by Rory and Lane.

"Ladies. I hope all is well." Logan said with a smile.

"Absolutely dandy Huntzberger." Paris snapped as she started for the door.

"What? Are you ladies just going to sneak off without even waiting for Finn and Colin to wake up? How very un-lady like."

"Logan, try and remember that Paris does not find you charming or witty." Rory said as she gently guided a glaring Paris and blushing Lane out the front door.

"But you find me devastatingly charming and witty don't you Ace?" Logan grinned.

Rory rolled her eyes at him for what seemed like the hundredth time, "Have a good holiday Logan. Thank you for the coffee."

"Three thank you-s in one visit." He replied in mock awe.

Rory simply shook her head with a grin before closing the door behind her. Walking with Lane and Paris back towards their dorm, Rory suddenly remembered a moment from the previous evening, stopping she asked, "Paris? What happened when Finn went into your room last night to make you go to the party?"

Rory and Lane looked at Paris expectantly. Rolling her eyes at the two, she simply said, "I threw a book at him and he kissed me."

Lane's eyes widened, "He just kissed you?"

"Yes."

"Is he a good kisser?" Lane asked.

Paris with an impatient look and in a tone that implied the answer was obvious said, "Why do you think I had sex with him?" Turning on her heels she continued walking.

Lane turned to Rory with a look of disbelief as Rory shrugged in reply. As the two starting walking to catch up to Paris, Rory couldn't help but think that apparently an evening with three brigadiers mixed in with a couple of her friends was always eventful.

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Rory finished re-reading the last chapter of her book and let out a sigh of content. She was currently sitting in the quiet surroundings of her dorm room completely at peace. It was three days after Christmas and Rory had left the quirky chaos of Stars Hallow for a day, to return to Yale for some clothing and to do a bit of reading.

She had come to love Yale during the breaks, as there was hardly ever anyone around. Rory could wander throughout campus and on these days, Yale felt like it belonged to her and her alone.

Standing from the couch she stretched with a grin still beaming across her face. The last week had been a welcome reprieve; spending time with her mom, having Luke around the house (which meant there was actual home cooked meals to be consumed), seeing Lane and just being back home surrounded by the various eccentric townsfolk of Stars Hallow and their shenanigans.

Her thoughts were interrupted by what sounded like a knock on the door. Rory stood for a moment before walking suspiciously towards it. Standing at the door, she waited. Sure enough, someone rapped on it again.

Opening the door revealed none other than Logan Huntzberger holding out a travel cup with a bow wrapped around it. "Merry Christmas Ace."

Rory startled, but pleasantly surprised by his appearance, asked, "Logan, what are you doing here? And what is that?" Gesturing towards the cup.

"This is coffee for you. I've come to discover that coffee makes you happy and as a consequence of you're happiness, you're much more susceptible to my delightful personality." Logan answered with a grin.

Smiling she accepted the cup and took a big gulp. Her smile grew bigger, "this is good coffee."

"For you Ace. Only the best."

Sipping her coffee, she asked quizzically, "How did you even know I was here?"

"Colin mentioned that Lane said that your mom told her that you were going to be at Yale today."

She chuckled, "How did you keep all that straight?"

"I'm really good at broken telephone." He quipped.

"Ah I knew I should have listened to my teachers when they said that game was an important learning tool." Rory replied with grin, "so Colin finally convinced Lane to talk to him again?"

"Yes, just this morning. Apparently Zach is no longer jealous of what happened and Lane is no longer so embarrassed by what happened that she can't speak to Colin. And yes. Colin is still broken hearted."

"Why is it that you know more about Lane than I do?"

"It's because Colin is secretly a girl and I can't get him to stop talking about Lane even if I wanted to."

"Oh poor Colin."

"I believe the words you meant to say were Oh poor Logan."

Rory smirked, "So, you didn't answer my other question. What are you doing here?"

"Well I came here looking for you." He replied with a grin.

When he didn't continue, Rory shook her head with an amused sigh, "Right I think I got that part. But the more important question is why."

"Well, it's quite simple Ace. I'm here because I need to evoke one of the great perks of our newly established friendship."

"Our friendship comes with perks?" Rory asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Absolutely. Don't all friendships?"

"It depends on what kind of perks you're talking about."

Now it was Logan's turn to raise an eyebrow, "my Ace. You really do have a dirty mind."

"Logan." She answered in exasperation.

He laughed, "Kidding Ace. I'm talking about needing a favor."

"Aha! I should have known you needed something. The coffee should have been my first clue."

"Now wait a minute. If I wanted to bribe you into helping me, I would do much more then bring you a cup of coffee."

"So the coffee wasn't a bribe then?"

"No, but this is." He said as he went into the hallway and emerged with a wrapped gift box slightly bigger than a shoebox.

Rory looked at him in disbelief, "You got me a present?"

"Well yes, you can call it a belated Christmas gift or a bribe. Whatever you fancy." Logan answered with a grin.

"What is it?" She asked curiously.

Still grinning, he put the box down on the table and said, "Well listen to my favor first, agree to my favor and then you can have it."

Rory bit her lip to stop from matching his grin, before replying, "Huntzberger you are one tough negotiator. Alright what is it?"

"Well every year around this time, my mother organizes a rather extravagant holiday party at our house. She invites all of Hartford's riches and finest and gets them to donate some of their hard earned cash to her chosen charity of the year. This year it's the Red Cross and Tsunami relief fund."

Spotting Rory's look of admiration, Logan continued with disdain, "before you start thinking highly of Shira Huntzberger, please let me just tell you she is not doing this for the suffering people in Thailand. This is strictly a business and social transaction for her. Whatever it takes to further the Hunztberger's good name."

Rory was somewhat stunned to hear the bitterness in his voice. Her grandparents had done nothing but praise the Hunztberger's since they had heard that she knew Logan. "Okay then. What do you need me for?"

"Ah right." He said, the lightheartedness returning to his voice. "See, the thing about these functions is, it is deemed completely inappropriate, in fact socially unacceptable to arrive to them without a companion on your arm."

Rory beginning to understand what he was asking, listened to him continue, "So this is where the favor part comes in. I need you to give up your evening to attend this thing and in return I will owe you and trust me there is nothing like having a Huntzberger owing you a favor. Plus, more significantly, you get what's inside that box." He finished, pointing to the present.

Looking between Logan's grinning face and the present, she replied with a smirk, "So I get a present and you'll owe me huh?"

Logan nodded smiling.

Thinking for a moment longer, she nodded. "Alright. I'll go."

"Great! So we're agreed?"

"Yes." She replied with a nod and a smile, suddenly feeling unexpectedly giddy.

"Finn will be ecstatic."

His comment confused Rory, "Finn? Why?"

"Cause you'll be Finn's date."

"What?" Rory asked, the giddiness slowly dissipating.

"Yes. Finn needs a date for this thing and he asked me to ask you if you would go with him."

Rory still slightly stunned, demanded, "why didn't he ask me himself?"

"Ace. Finn's deepest, darkest secret is he's severely frightened of rejection, so he normally doesn't do anything related to women unless he knows he can woo his way to her heart, which he usually can. You on the other hand he has deemed unpredictable and is convinced that you may be inexplicably immune to his allure." Logan said grinning.

"What about Paris?"

"Well, Finn said he knew that Paris would fall for him. He boldly stated that any woman, who would go for a geezer like Asher Fleming, would definitely go for a strapping lad like Finn. His words not mine." He replied, raising his hands in the air in defense just in case.

"No I meant why didn't he ask Paris?"

"Ah see, that's where Finn miscalculated. Apparently Paris didn't fall head over heels in love with Finn like he anticipated. Since their fateful rendezvous at our party last week he has been unable to contact her. She hasn't returned his messages and he hasn't been able to get her on the phone. Hence he needed a date. Hence why you're doing me a favor."

"Oh." Rory replied, contemplating the twist of the whole conversation. She was inwardly trying to sort out her unexplainable feelings of disappointment. She then asked a question that she realized she really wanted to know the answer to, "What about you and Colin?"

"You know you should really keep up with your so-called best friend. Lane has agreed to go with Colin."

"Oh. And you?"

"Ace, I thought you knew me better than that." Logan replied smugly.

"Ah right. Of course, you're taking one of your many followers." She replied, sounding unconvincingly nonchalant, although again, the information was oddly bothersome.

He just shrugged with a smirk, before continuing, "Okay Ace, so it's this Thursday and your dress will be delivered to your house. Finn is already picking one out and don't worry, he has very good taste in women's clothing. Don't ask me why."

The thought of Finn rummaging through women's clothing momentarily distracted Rory from her current confused feelings as she quipped, "Besides me disregarding that information about Finn and women's clothing, I'd like to add that given the right amount of notice I can find a dress on my own and make myself fairly presentable. There's no need for Finn to buy me one."

Logan shaking his head explained, "Don't take this as a personal offense Ace. This is strictly a preventative precaution. If you take into account the number of times Colin, Finn and I have been to one of these parties and if you include Steph's numbers as well, there have been more than enough parties to fill over 20 people's lifetime. And within that time, we have had a number of extremely badly dressed dates; including one of Colin's dates wearing a VISA card dress ala the AMEX lady from one year's Oscars, a cutoff jeans wearing fiend of Steph's, Finn's leather donning dominatrix, granted he loved it but still quite a low point for everyone else. And yes I had an infamous skintight tie-dyed dressed blond and that's only naming a few. So all in all, we much rather shell out the money to buy our dates clothing then have to endure the backlash and ridicule of an inappropriately dressed companion."

"I think that's a sign of having too much money."

Grinning Logan countered, "yes well money may not buy happiness but it does buy a lot of other things. Including your present." He said as he picked up the forgotten gift-wrapped box and handing it to Rory.

Looking suspiciously at the box, Rory accepted it, causing Logan to laugh. "You know, I hope one of these days you won't have that apprehensive look on your face whenever I give you something. Come on, just open it."

Sitting on the couch, Rory placed the present on her lap. Undoing the ribbon she lifted the cover of the box. Removing the layers of tissue paper, revealed a 40's style hat. Looking up at Logan in confusion, she saw an eager expression on his face, "Take a it out." He beckoned.

Removing it from the box, she realized in her hands, was a familiar looking old fashion reporter hat. It was similar to the one that Logan owned and had put on in the newspaper office to mock Doyle. Except instead of having the word 'Press' on it. Hers said 'Ace'.

She couldn't help the grin that came over her face. Logan who had been waiting for her reaction, beamed when her grin appeared.

"I saw it and I knew I had to get it for you."

Rory standing up gave into an impulse and hugged him. "Thank you Logan."

Surprised, his arms wrapped around her and for a moment the two just stood there, before he replied, "It's my pleasure, Ace."

She pulled away from him and with a smile put the hat on, "well what do you think?" She asked grinning up at him.

She looked absolutely adorable to him and he was tempted to pull her into his arms again, but something stopped him. Grinning back at Rory he quipped, "you look like a true reporter."

Rory laughed, "and to think, all it took was a hat and there I was wasting all that time writing those articles."

"Why do you think I have mine?" He said with a chuckle.

"Thank you." She repeated, before realizing, "I didn't get you anything."

"No worries Ace. Although I can think of a perfect present you can give me in return."

"Which is?"

"Wear that hat into the newspaper office. I can just picture Doyle's reaction. That will be a present enough for me."

The two laughed and Rory nodded, "you have yourself a deal."

"Alright I should get going. Finn is probably eagerly waiting by the phone to hear if you agreed to be his date. See you Thursday, Ace." Logan said as he headed for the door.

Rory walked him to the door, "Bye Logan and thanks again."

"No, thank you." He replied, stopping he took in one last look at her with the hat on her head, before waving and headed off.

Rory watched him go and when he was out of sight she was left alone to think about their relationship. Logan was definitely someone who added a bit of flair to her life, and their newly discovered friendship was undeniably exciting and unpredictable. But Rory thought back to her earlier mixed emotions and began to wonder if she could be just friends with Logan. Well, whatever the answer to that question was, Rory didn't know it yet. All she knew was she had a date with Finn on Thursday and that thought was somewhat worrisome. Chuckling softly, she closed her door and went back to her reading.

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A/N part 2: Hope the chapter was worth the wait. As always, feedback is greatly appreciated.