CHAPTER 8

A/N: Thanks for your patience and reviews. I know I haven't been updating as quickly as I want. Hopefully the muse doesn't leave any time soon.

Again, I am not claiming to be a Spaniard or a resident of Spain. The characters and events are based on the things I've seen and done as an American tourist several moons ago. The SK and LDB are seeing and experiencing Spain the way I did. The trivia mentioned on all the landmarks are real and as accurate as I can get but should not be taken as Spanish history gospel. Barcelona uses both Catalan and Spanish so terminology may also be used interchangeably.

Moving right along...

Logan slept very little that night. He lay next to Rory, stroking her hair as she slept. He sighed, rolled out of bed and used the facilities.

In the bathroom, he stared at his reflection on the mirror. He was tired and torn. He turned around and stole a glance at Rory's sleeping form through the crack of the door left ajar.

He was used to being in control. He knew what he wanted. He knew when to have it. However, with Rory, it wasn't a matter of wanting, needing, or controlling. He just never thought things would get complicated between them.

He turned the spigot and let the water run. He got his fingers wet. The cool water on his skin calmed him.

When he first met Rory, she was nothing more than a distraction. Finn was fascinated with her. He thought she was someone he can bide the time with if she got her nose out of the books and away from Marty. When she penetrated the closed LDB circle, he couldn't get enough of her. Now she shared his bed and snuck in his heart.

He splashed the liquid on his face. Dribbles fell on his naked chest, the drips eventually cascading down his bare body.

She was not even the kind of girl he was used to having around. Stephanie was more his speed. Not Rory. However, she was the itch he can't seem to scratch. She was sweet. She was innocent. She didn't buy his charm.

He should've realized then and there that she was trouble. The qualities that made her the woman she is should have disqualified her as the good time gal.

He was used to being in the limelight. He was used to having an entourage. He was used to getting what he wanted and discarding it the moment he was done with it.

Not Rory. She would put him in his place when he got out of hand. She preferred not having the entourage and she fought tooth and nail for the things she believed in.

Subliminally, maybe that's why he fell for her and felt guilty for not letting her go despite their earlier "dating other people" status. That was his modus operandi.

That was why there was a Camilla. That is why he and Tristin can never be friends again.

He wasn't expecting DuGrey to be part of the spring hunt. At least, not after what happened between him and Camilla. He sighed. Camilla.

He and Tristin quickly became friends the moment they met. They were in Düsseldorf and had a great time the moment the two groups squared off. However, as quickly as they bonded was how fast their friendship ended.

Logan turned around and leaned against the cool marble counter, still watching Rory as she dreamt away.

Why did she have to be partnered with him?

Logan hung his head. He had to admit that Tristin could be worse. They may have had a fall out but at least he knew and secretly trusted him.

So when he saw Tristin sitting in the common room earlier this evening, alone, looking miserable, he knew something was wrong.

"Where's Rory?" were the first words from his mouth. Panic was beginning to set in.

"Funny you should mention that," Tristin looked up from the TV screen. "Last I checked, a boyfriend doesn't pawn off his girl to the vultures."

Logan was about to be physical with Tristin when he realized his weary look.

"Look, I don't want to pick a fight with you," Logan pointed out.

"Who said I was looking for one?" Tristin countered. He reached for the remote and channel surfed until he got to CNN International.

"Tristin, where's Rory?" Jared asked, hoping to alleviate the tension.

"If you must know," Tristin glared while speaking to Logan, "you're girlfriend drank the night away since you weren't even around."

Logan countered his stare.

"Right now, she's in her room, maybe passed out from all the drinks your buddies gave her."

Logan came inches off Tristin's face. "For your sake, I pray you didn't touch her."

Logan's heart started racing as he pushed Jared aside. Taking the steps in twos, he ran to the suite. He rushed into the darkened room to find Rory sleeping on her stomach. An odd sensation of anger and overwhelming terror filled him. She lay there, guiltless, unaware of the state of panic she put him through. He touched her arm, ending at the wrist, just to make sure she was still breathing. He kissed her lightly on her crown before marching off to Finn's room where the party still kept going.

"What did you do to Rory?" he spat out the moment Finn opened the door.

"What?" Finn retorted. He exited the room and joined Logan in the hallway.

Logan started pacing the carpet. "You were supposed to watch Rory, not get her drunk."

"She's a grown woman, Logan, not some stupid innocent lass," Finn interjected.

Logan undid the button on his collar and sat on the floor close to Finn's door. He closed his eyes and ran his fingers though his hair. Finn followed suit and sat next to him.

"Alright, out with it," Finn said. "This isn't your usual M.O., Rory or no Rory."

"I am screwed," he said, exhaling.

"Figuratively or literally?" Finn asked.

Logan shot him a withered stare. "Finn."

"I'm sorry," Finn apologized. "By the way, Colin was the one giving her the drinks. But Tristin made sure when she had enough, drinks were taken away. Don't tell me he… I am sorry!" Finn's eyes bugged out.

"Tristin didn't do anything," Logan corrected his assumption. "I saw him downstairs and said Rory was upset over my absence."

Finn shot him a sympathetic look.

"After what happened between me and Tristin, I feel like a heel," Logan confessed.

The admission lingered in the air.

"Is this the moment you tell me what the bejezus happened between you and him? I was just afraid to ask."

"I slept with Camilla."

"You what?" Finn was taken aback by the revelation. "Pre-Tristin or post-Tristin?"

"Mid-Tristin."

Finn was flabbergasted.

"It just happened!" Logan defended himself. "And I'm not proud of it."

"When? Where?" Finn inquired, wrapping his head around the bomb Logan dropped. "How long? Or serious?"

"She was planning on joining us on the yacht trip," he said.

"But-," Finn stuttered.

"I told her she was fun the week we all spent together in Germany but that was it, a fling," he buried his face in his hands.

Silence.

"Is this why you and Tristin are at each other?" he probed.

Logan looked at Finn. "Quickest way to destroy a friendship is by having your significant other in a compromising position with someone else."

"And you haven't told Rory any of this," Finn stated. "And you're scared that there is something happening between Rory and Tristin."

Logan banged the back of his head on the wall. He hated it that Finn was on the money.

He heard Rory roll over. He turned the faucet off and dried his face and hands. He knelt at the side of the bed she faced. She opened her eyes slowly, trying to get used to the morning light seep in.

"Morning, sunshine," he whispered, kissing her forehead.

Rory just mumbled and closed her eyes again.

"Do you want anything to drink? Eat?" he whispered.

She opened her eyes again and pouted at him. Logan got up and went to his side of the bed. He slipped between the sheets and sought her out. His right arm rested around her waist while the other slipped under her head. In spoon fashion, they cuddled. For now, their world was secure.

.------oooo0—0oooo---------

Right before the alarm went off for eight forty-five, Logan turned it off. He made the decision for her. She was not going to complete her mission today.

He slipped out from under the covers and got dressed. Throwing on a pair of shorts and an Abercrombie and Fitch shirt, he snuck downstairs to the dining area. Other than the functioning alcoholic Finn, everyone looked like they were nursing headaches from the drinking binge the night before.

"Is everything all right?" Finn asked as he joined Logan on the breakfast bar.

"Yeah. Rory's not going to Barcelona today," he announced.

"Did she make that decision or did you?" Finn probed.

"I did," he confessed. "She needs the vacation. She came here to have some quiet time with me and I've neglected her."

Finn knew better than to make any more inquiries about his affairs. "Well then, I hope you two have a great time today. Hopefully we would come back with points for the team!"

Just like that, Finn took off to join his dining compatriots.

As soon as Logan was done surfing the continental breakfast bar, he sought out Rory's partner. He noticed Tristin sitting in solitude reading the paper. He looked up once and reverted his gaze when he acknowledged Logan's presence.

"If you're still flexing your guns, Logan, I'm still not going to fight you," Tristin said.

Logan pulled a seat when he placed the food and drink on the table. "I came to apologize."

Tristin was taken aback. "Come again?"

"I'm sorry I was angry with you. I had no right," he murmured.

Tristin put the paper down and stared at Logan.

"I don't need an Oprah moment, Logan," Tristin retorted.

Logan glared at Tristin. "Damn it, Tristin. I am not going to grovel. I wanted to… thank you for watching over her."

"Just because you're a weasel doesn't mean we all are," Tristin answered heatedly.

"How would I know? We are cut from the same cloth," Logan hissed back.

Tristin remained mute.

"Anyway," Logan stood up and policed his tray and drink, "I just want to tell you that Rory's not joining you today. It's up to you if you want to go to Barcelona by yourself, but Ace needs time off."

"Ace, huh?" Tristin sipped from his coffee cup.

Logan snorted and left.

Tristin watched him walk out. Sighing, he ripped the envelope open and read the clue. He didn't have to go to Barcelona to know they were headed for the Olympic Village.

It would have been a nice trip.

.-----oooo0----0oooo-------------

"Hey, Ace, you up?" Logan asked as he came into the suite.

"I think The Blue Man Group is in my head," she groaned.

"Poor baby," he sympathized, handing her an aspirin and the orange juice to drown the pill.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" she asked after taking the tablet.

"I thought you might need some extra sleep," he said, taking the glass from her. Then he sat and took her hands in his.

"But Tristin!" she exclaimed.

"I've spoken to him," he confessed, kissing Rory.

"And?" she kissed back.

"And I told him that you and I are going to spend the day together as my girlfriend, not as one of the boys," he explained.

"I would like that," she sighed.

"Good. That's what I wanted to hear," he winked at her. "I brought you breakfast. I hope you like it."

"I love it," she confessed, kissing him once more. "Let me get ready."

Logan was smiling when she disappeared to the bathroom.

An hour later, they stepped out of the hotel, hand in hand, in search of the bakery Rory fell in love with the first day she strolled the boardwalk by herself.

Tristin was on the patio, staring at them as they crossed the street, and headed for the boulevard.

His jaw was clenched. His hand searched for the cigarettes in his pocket.

Déjà vu.

It hurt then seeing her make out with bag boy. It still hurts him seeing her four years later with someone else.

When will he stop caring?