Chapter 8: A Voyage of Discovery

The doors slammed and the car was filled with a palpable silence. Unwilling to be the first to break it Rory automatically reached out to flip on the stereo and relaxed slightly when the sound of the Eels filled the small space.

For once the ever-glib Logan seemed to have nothing to say and Rory took the chance to study him out of the corner of her eye as she pulled the car onto the road. If someone had told her only hours ago that this night would find her in a car with Logan Huntzberger on the way to Luke's diner she would probably have laughed herself to tears at the sheer absurdity of the suggestion.

It was only 9:30 but if felt like a lifetime had passed since 6 o'clock. She contemplated the events of the evening and the odd twists that had brought them to this unanticipated armistice.

The ambush by her grandparents had painted her into a corner that had seemed inescapable and then there he was, an unlikely hero at best and with less than altruistic ulterior motives she was sure, yet he had gotten her out of a sticky situation and like it or not she did owe him a debt of gratitude.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad; maybe it would even be fun, in a warped sort of way.

She didn't like him, or at least she didn't want to like him. She knew he was dangerous, not because of any physical risks he took but because he challenged her view of the world, threatened to upset the balance of her precarious happiness. As obnoxious and overconfident as he was she found his eccentricity difficult to truly dislike. In fact she almost wished sometimes that she could adopt his carefree outlook on life. It seemed preferable to the knotted reality that was her life at the moment.

Her mind drifted to the knot that she found most worrisome.

Dean.

She didn't know what to do about Dean. He was her first love, he was safe, sweet, and kind and most importantly he loved her back. That should have been the end of the train of thought but she couldn't quite stop the 'but' her mind tacked onto the end.

Lately she felt like they were drifting, the differences in their day-to-day lives acting as a barrier to their similarities, the stolen moments they were able to carve out of the chaos around them were becoming few and far between. The nice little bubble of contentment they had managed to build this summer had burst and reality had rushed back in with a vengeance.

Plus there was the fact that he technically still had a wife. She groaned at this reminder. Enough with the self-flagellation.

Logan for his part was having similar thoughts, not about married boyfriends, of course, but about the strange collusion of circumstance and whim that had him driving through backwoods Connecticut on an unexpected adventure with a most unlikely companion.

He finally broke the silence. "So, I read your article."

With all the happenings of the day Rory had almost forgotten that her article had come out today. Now a slightly evil smile lit her face as she slid a teasing glance his way. "Really? So Mr. Event Integrity, what did you think...was I 'in the thick of it' enough to please your bloodthirsty tastes?"

He cleared his throat in a half laugh "I think that is an understatement." He sobered "Actually I did want to compliment you. Aside from a rather liberal use of obscure literary references and the numerous undeserved slanderous jabs towards yours truly it was an enjoyable article. A gauntlet well thrown if I do say so myself"

She cocked an eyebrow at him in sardonic surprise. "I see, so what was your favorite part?"

"I particularly enjoyed the tongue in cheek comparison of the Life and Death Brigade to Never Never Land. I will assume to suit my over-inflated ego that I was the Peter Pan that you referred to and though I think that Finn and Colin might object to being labeled the Lost Boys I found the comparison rather disturbingly apt and Stephanie is a spot on likeness of Tinkerbell. I was curious about one thing though.... who were you in this little analogy?"

Rory gave him an incredulous look "Why, I'm Wendy obvously, the practical, mature, intelligent observer who came to the rescue when their capers went awry, which they inevitably did."

"Ah, of course, the stick in the mud character. How appropriate, sort cliché though don't you think?"

"What do you mean by that remark? Is this one of those inspirational 'you need to experience' life comments? I hate that superior tone of yours. I will have you know that I am perfectly happy with the life I have, I have a great life!"

"Uh huh. To quote Shakespeare, I think the lady doth protest too much. If your life is so idyllic then my petty little remarks shouldn't bother you at all."

Logan shot her a knowing look that made her growl in frustration.... how was it that a virtual stranger could so easily get under her skin and cause her to yearn for things that she had never known she wanted.

"I say we call this a draw and move on to a new topic of conversation unless you want me to stop right here and let you walk back."

Logan was in an accommodating mood now knowing that he had won though she would never concede the point. "Now, now, no need to get hostile Ace, we are just having a friendly little conversation here. To show my good will I will let you pick the next topic."

"Okay, fair enough." She thought for a moment, realizing she didn't really know much about Logan outside their few encounters.

"What are you doing at the Daily News? As far as I can tell you have yet to type a single word, other than to text message me and most of your time is spent napping on your desk or making out with a member of your harem."

Logan swallowed a laugh at this cutting remark "Jealous Ace?"

She responded with a snort "Hardly."

"Well, if you must know I take great pleasure in tormenting Doyle, I am currently conducting a scientific experiment to see how many irritating things I can do to him before he reaches his limit and goes postal. So far I am up to 56 sarcastic remarks, three instances of open PDA on his desk, 5 naps (one which included loud snoring) and three raised eyebrows at his fashion sense.... I say we will be reaching eruption point any day now."

She looked at him dubiously "Do you ever take anything seriously?

He grinned. "I take the integrity of scientific experimentation very seriously. If they can spend billions of dollars researching how to create the perfect cream filled Twinkie without using any ingredient that is actually found outside a lab then surely it is a valid use of time to test a man's tolerance for my bullshit.... seems like an important question to me."

She stared at him for a moment in disbelief. "Are you really this much of an arrogant jerk or is it just your way of avoiding a real answer to my question?"

He bravely gave her a cocky smirk and raised his hands as if to say why fight it. "What you see is what you get."

Suddenly the playful tone had turned deadly serious as she looked at him with something akin to pity in her eyes. He heard the words even though they were spoken softly "How disappointing."

The palpable silence was back and this time it was accompanied by an uncomfortable sense of self-awareness that Logan did not like one bit. Who did she think she was? The audacity of little miss perfect in her ivory tower thinking that she had any right to judge him. Why did her opinion of him even matter?

He sulked for a moment before he realized that he had hit the nail on the head with the last thought. The problem was that for some completely incomprehensible reason her opinion did matter...that was something to ponder at a later date.

Usually he would have just walked away from a situation like this unscathed but her remark had cut deep. She had struck a nerve. However, in retrospect it was probably only fair when you took into account the humiliation that she had been through tonight. He just couldn't bring himself to walk away, he didn't understand the desire to be her friend but was unable to ignore it.

That's how he found himself out on a ledge without a parachute... he figured that if he had any hope of her speaking to him after this day, aside from obligatory conversation he had better pony up fast and let her see something of the real Logan that he usually kept hidden deep inside.

He finally marred the surface of the deceptive tranquility that sat heavy in the car. "Do you want to hear the real answer to your question?"

Her gaze was steady but she didn't say anything...the ball was in his court. "The real reason I am on the Daily News staff, the real reason that I attend Yale and live in the same dorm my Dad did is because that is what any good son of Mitchum Huntzberger does. I'm good at playing the troublemaker but deep down my biggest fear is that my dad will never love me, that all I will ever be is a screw up and a disappointment, the unworthy second son of a great man."

She was a little overwhelmed and struggled to digest all this information at once as she watched his face. He was staring straight ahead now, no longer seeing the dashboard in front of him but she saw the flicker of vulnerability in his eyes and felt a pang of sympathy.

She didn't know what to say, what was one supposed to say to a practical stranger who had just sliced their heart open and bled all over the car? The first thought that skittered across her brain popped out of her mouth before she could stop it "So, you have a brother?"

He just looked at her totally perplexed with a blank look until a choked laugh surprised her. Pretty soon he was laughing so hard that the tears were rolling down his face and she had joined him.

The mood was back on familiar ground and they both felt safer there. She pulled to a stop in front Luke's just as the laughter started to die down. "Well, we have reached the promised land, there is milk and honey but I would suggest sticking with the coffee, you can't go wrong with Luke's coffee." She gestured to the diner.

He turned to her, still chuckling.

"Lorelai Leigh Gilmore, you are very odd, do you know that?"

She blinked. "Thank you."

Only later would she remember how closely the conversation reflected another moment on a piano bench with a blond bad boy...and recall how it ended. Foreshadowing perchance of things to come.