Classic
Chapter 10
She felt torn. Torn between old feelings and the excitement for prospective new ones. Part of her wanted to run and hide from what may come. The rest of her wanted to run it in Logan's face. Anything he can do she could do better. And Rory would. She would move on into a new phase; a Loganless phase.
The doorbell rang and she smiled, it was already a quarter past the time Sean was to pick her up. She was surprised he knew the rule. Logan never did. She always had to be ready before the time indicated. She tried to teach him to be late but the latest he had managed was five past.
Below her she heard Finn open the door.
Shit.
She smoothed out her dress and reapplied her lip-gloss before hurrying down to meet her date.
Rory had to smile when she saw him. Sean was dressed in a casual suit with no tie. He looked slightly dishevelled and she found she really liked that look.
"Hey," he said when he spotted her. "You look … perfect."
Rory's grin spread. "Back atcha."
"Uh – Love?"
She had completely forgotten Finn was there. He stood; hand still holding the door open, with a shocked and slightly frightened expression on his face. What did he have to be scared of? She was the one going on a date with a man she barely knew. She was the one walking into the great unknown, alone. And she wasn't scared either, she was eager.
But then it clicked. Finn's fear, it wasn't at Sean himself but what he represented. Not social class, no, Sean's was the same as Finn's. It was about leaving his best friend behind.
"You ready to go, Rory?" Sean asked motion towards the open door.
"Yeah, I just need to grab my coat."
She turned to head to the closet but Finn was already holding her coat out to her. She reached out to take it but Finn moved closer to her. "You sure about this?" he asked her cautiously.
She smiled as his concern. "Positive."
She slipped into her coat and let Sean lead her away from the house with his hand on the small of her back towards his sports car and a night of surprises.
-
Logan had been deeply immersed in 'To Kill a Mockingbird' when Finn scrambled into the common room, a frantic look in his eyes. Logan watched over the brim of his book as Finn made a beeline for Colin who was sprawled on the couch watching the Disney Channel. Finn leaned down and whispered something in Colin's ear successfully peaking both Colin and Logan's interest, even more so when Colin and Finn tried to look at him inconspicuously.
"You tell him," Finn hissed.
"What! No way!" Colin hissed back. "Its your news, you have to tell him."
"But – but I don't want to die!" Finn whispered harshly.
"Oh," Colin said sarcastically, "and I do?"
"Perhaps," Finn said with a wave of his hand.
"Finn," Colin said. "You're telling him."
"Tell him what?" Logan asked.
Both Colin and Finn looked away from him awkwardly. He tried to catch both of their eyes to no avail. They wouldn't even look in his direction.
"Guys?"
Finn opened his mouth as if to speak only to open and close it several times.
"Logan," Colin started. "Finn found out some …news."
"Rory has a date!" Finn exclaimed before immediately slapping a hand over his mouth. "Shit."
Logan felt faint. No he was nauseous. No he was definitely both. He was having trouble breathing again as well. Rory had a date. She had a date, a date with a man who wasn't him. She had actually been serious when she told him to leave her alone. She actually meant it. Rory was moving on. She wasn't his Ace anymore. She was going to be someone else's.
He could feel tears begin to cloud his vision and his throat tighten up. Now he really couldn't breathe.
He shook his head but both Colin and Finn nodded solemnly.
He cleared his throat but when he spoke his voice was hoarse as though he had been screaming for hours – a feat he really wished he was attempting at the moment. "When?"
"Seven o'clock tonight," Finn whispered his eyes downcast.
Logan glanced at his watch. It was half past. His stomach churned.
"Who?"
Finn hesitated. "Sean Mathers."
Anger flared within him, he could feel his blood boiling, his eyes narrowed. "I'll kill him," he vowed.
-
According to Lorelai as this date with Sean was a rebound Rory was allowed to make irrational and probably foolish decisions. And make them she was.
He had taken her to the Ritz for dinner – dim lighting, isolated tables and a bottle of Champagne – romantic atmosphere at its best.
His gentleman actions shone when he pulled out her chair poured her wine and ordered half the menu with her. He was an exceptional conversationalist, nothing compared to Logan, her mother or herself but he was up there. He was able to follow her tangled trains of thoughts with only the slightest amount of hesitation. She had to smile at that. His face would morph into one of amused bemuse before he came up with a retort.
Rory couldn't pinpoint the exact glass of Champagne that made her decision but she was sure it was around number twelve or fourteen but when Sean slyly asked her if she wanted to head upstairs she readily accepted.
-
Logan didn't head off to kill the man who was trying to steal his girl but he did proceed to the pub with Finn and Colin for a night of frivolous drinking to put his mind at ease.
"You know," Logan said more than a little inebriated, "she was right."
Colin shot him a confused look. "Who was right?"
"Her."
"Rory?"
Logan nodded and knocked back the rest of his drink. He poured himself another one from the half empty bottle on the table in front of him. "This, this," he emphasized, "Is all I am."
"Mate," Finn drawled, "if you want us to comprehend anything you're saying try speaking coherently."
"He can't!" Colin laughed. "He's already completely plastered!"
"Sure he can," Finn insisted. "Like the little engine that could. 'I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.'"
Logan ignored his friends and finished off another drink.
She had been right. She always was. He was all about drinking and partying. He was going to coast through life. Coast into a life he didn't know if he wanted but was too afraid to fight it anyway. He was going to grow up and become his father: a man he couldn't stand, cruel and manipulative. He would become what he always hated and feared. But it was unfortunately inevitable – especially without her to keep him in place. He would drift further.
But Rory, Ace, she will work her ass off until she succeeded and he knew she would have it any other way. In order for Rory to feel like she truly accomplished something it had to be done by her and her alone without the help of her last name or whom she was dating. She would do it
He truly admired her.
He really hated that at the moment.
Another drink made its way down his throat. He didn't even feel the burning sensation anymore. He was numb.
He had lost her.
He reached for he bottle again.
His only consolation was in a few short months he would be three thousand miles away from any reminder of her.
"Logan," Colin said suddenly reaching out and grabbing his arm. "Are you alright, buddy? You've gotten really pale."
"Fine," he slurred.
His eyelids drooped and he felt his world whirl.
"Logan!"
-
Rory lay, wrapped up in his arms, her heart pounding and her mind in uproar.
"Oh God," she whispered. "Shit."
Next to her she felt Sean sit up. "What?"
"No."
She should have been more careful. She should have stayed sober.
"Oh o," she said again this time jumping up and frantically pulling her clothes on.
"Rory! Calm down," Sean said reaching out to her. "I'm sorry! We went to fast. Rory! Wait."
She already had her hand on the door but she stopped nonetheless. He had rushed after her wearing nothing but the bed sheet around his waist.
"What can I do to make this right?" he practically begged. "Name it! Rory please, let me make it right again!"
Rory shook her head sadly, tears filling her eyes. "You can't," she croaked.
He looked at her, a defeated expression crossing his face. "Why not?"
"You're not Logan." With that said she flew from the room, into the elevator and out of the building, the only sound was that of her cell phone ringing.
-
A/N: Okay, not as good as my last chapter I don't think but still pretty good I hope.