Chapter 14: The Morning After
It was Saturday morning and Rory was only on her third cup of coffee so she felt that she was not fully prepared for a full dose of Paris' paranoia about the geriatric set.
Paris was in fine form this morning and it definitely didn't sit too well with eggs and bacon, maybe she needed some pancakes to help it go down easier...what was it Mary Poppins always said about a spoonful of sugar?
She mumbled something to Paris about more coffee and escaped the table leaving her companion casting furtive looks at the faculty table at the far end of the room.
She was just soaking her pancakes in syrup when she bumped into Marty, ah, just the distraction she needed.
"Marty" she exclaimed with perhaps a bit more excitement than the occasion warranted, she latched on to his arm and began to drag him back towards the table ignoring his puzzled look.
"Hey Paris, look who I found, you don't mind if he eats with us do you?"
Paris looked up glumly "Hey Naked Guy." Then she brightened ,she grabbed his arm and pulled him down to the seat across from her where Rory had been sitting "Sit here, that way you will block their view and I can eat in peace at last, Thumbelina over here does me no good as a screen."
Rory plopped down next to Paris with a grin and rolled her eyes at Marty.
Marty leaned forward and asked in a stage whisper "Have the men from the institution finally found you?"
Paris glared and huffed "Har har, funny, I think I liked you better when you were naked and wearing Rory's robe. If you must know I am being stalked."
Marty glanced around now with a hint of concern. "Really? Do you know who it is?"
"Only most of the English Department and the Poly Sci department. I should just transfer now before they start following me home like puppy dogs."
Rory laughed at Marty's baffled look and made a looney tunes motion behind Paris. Then she noticed a slight bruise on Marty's jaw and sobered quickly.
"Hey, what happened to your face? Are you all right?"
Marty flushed and dropped his head focusing his attention on his pancakes as if they were suddenly the most interesting thing in the world. "Oh, that, its nothing important. It's just a little bruise, I'm sure it will be gone by tomorrow. Just a by product of a little pre-midterm relaxation gone wrong."
His evasiveness had her radar up "What do you mean nothing important.? I'm not an expert on the subject but I believe that I am safe in saying that it is a little difficult to get a bruise on your jaw by doing nothing."
"It was just a little misunderstanding fueled by a few too many alcoholic beverages."
Her voice rose in surprise "You got in a bar fight? With who?" Despite the circumstances of their initial encounter Rory knew that Marty wasn't really a big partier and it was impossible to picture him in the middle of a bar room brawl.
He waved a hand in dismissal but he still wouldn't meet her eyes "Don't worry about it, it was drunk guy who got upset about a girl and we had a few words."
Paris finally dragged her attention away from the old men across the room "What guy?" she asked in a stern tone, there was something more to this story than he was telling.
He glanced up at the faces of the two girls across from him and realized there was no way they were letting him out of telling the story. "Logan" he mumbled around a bite of pancake.
Rory didn't understand him the first time but Paris caught it and gave Rory a funny look as she queried him. "Logan Huntzberger?"
Rory's eyes narrowed at the name and she said in an incredulous tone. "You got in a bar fight with Logan Huntzberger? There has got to be more to the story. Please explain."
Marty really did not want to have this conversation but he was stuck now, damn, he knew he should have skipped breakfast this morning.
"Like I said, it was just a difference of opinion. Logan was drunk and he made some stupid comments about a girl I know, I reacted and insulted him back and then he tried to punch me. Luckily he was too drunk to see straight so he only clipped me." He shrugged as it to say end of story "In fact I'm sure that Logan is feeling a lot worse this morning than I am given the quantity of alcohol he consumed."
Rory was sure there was more to the story but she wasn't sure how to get to the bottom of it, fortunately while she was pondering what the next question might be Paris cut right to the heart of the matter. "Who was the girl?"
Ah,now there was the rub, Marty thought frantically for a minute but couldn't find a way out of the corner he was in. He grimaced as he said it quietly "Rory."
Rory was half out of her seat "What?! What the hell are you talking about? You are telling me that you got into a barfight with Logan about me? Why would he do that? Why would you do that."
Paris pulled her back into her seat "Hey Fido take the voice down an octave before you break all the glassware. Maybe before you go skin boat boy we should get the whole story."
Rory was seething inside but she knew Paris was right. She looked expectantly at Marty. As he told the story she could practically feel her blood boiling in her veins.
How could he say those things about her, about Marty. She had trusted him enough that she had thought he would keep the thing with Dean to himself and he had betrayed her. Not to mention the fact that he had tried to punch her friend.
The Logan she knew seemed like the Captain Jack character in Pirates of the Caribbean, a little crazy, a little wily and always in search of an adventure but she hadn't pegged him as the violent type.
This whole thing seemed totally out of character for him but she couldn't deny the evidence that was staring her in the face. Her first impression of him had obviously been wrong and everything she had seen since had just been some suave game he played to suck her in to his crazy world. Well she was going to put a stop to it right now.
She had heard enough and she rose from the table with a steely look in her eyes. Paris stopped her with a hand on the arm "What are you going to do?"
"I don't know yet, a quick death is too good for him, I'm thinking torture, slow, methodical, painful. I'll come up with a fitting punishment, right now I think I should just go have a little chat with his royal highness."
Paris and Marty watched her walk away every muscle in her body radiating anger, then Marty turned an looked at Paris a little wide eyed "Remind me never to get on Gilmore's bad side."
Paris watched her roommate thoughtfully as she vanished from sight "What do you think this was really all about?"
Marty looked up and contemplated for a second "I think he has a thing for her but he won't admit it, or he is scared of it....I'm not sure which but a guy doesn't get that riled up over some girl he hardly knows unless there is something more to it. That's my humble opinion, I don't like it but there it is."
Paris cocked her head consideringly "You like Rory don't you" I'm surprised I didn't see it before. Are you going to do anything about it?"
Marty sighed, sometimes Paris was too inquisitive for her own good. "Yeah, I like her but I am pretty sure she doesn't look at me like that. She is a good friend and I would rather stick with that."
He was dreaming of Rory Gilmore, it was a good dream and the happy feeling lasted until he came to the surface of consciousness. Then reality hit him like a sledge-hammer or maybe WITH a sledge-hammer was a more accurate description.
Logan woke to an insistent pounding. He had no recollection of how he had arrived home but through bleary eyes he recognized the contours of his bedroom. He was laying face down on top of his bed in a puddle of drool and he still wearing all his clothes, including his shoes. He was fairly certain that there was a horde of tap dancing demons in stilletto heels merrily reducing his grey matter to unrecognizable mush.
It took him a moment of painful concentration to realize that the pounding on the door was indeed separate from the pounding in his head. He twitched a muscle experimentally but quickly subsided the movement when it set off a cascade of aches, clearly whatever angry mob had dragged him here had not been kind in their treatment. Maybe if he just played dead the evil knocker would eventually give up and go away.
Sadly, the gods were not with him and the knocking continued, growing louder and more impatient. He sent a silent prayer to whatever gods might still be on his side that they might prevent his head from actually falling off at his feet and his eyes from being shrivelled to raisins by the blinding light.
He slowly pushed himself to a sitting position and rose unsteadily until he stood swaying on his feet. He clamped one hand above his eyes to block the stabbing sunlight that was creeping through the curtains. Taking a shaky step forward he lurched towards the door, his entire being motivated by one goal...stop the pounding.
He fumbled with the lock and finally managed to pull it open before he sagged against the door jam. He wrinkled his forehead in confusion at the form that greeted his eyes. He took in the sight before him racking what was left of his brain for an explanation of what would bring Rory Gilmore to his door on a Saturday morning. She looked fresh and beautiful and if the venomous look in her eyes was any indication, absolutely furious.
A lazy half memory floated to the surface of his mind, something about the bartender and Rory, but it was gone before he could grasp it.
She started in before he could even think of a suitable welcome "You arrogant, self important ass, how dare you treat my friend that way."
At a loss he said the first thing that came to his enfeebled brain "Good Morning." It came out hoarse and finished on a grunt as her hand connected with his chest and pushed him back into the room. Fearing for his balance he fell into chair as he watched through one half open eye as she paced the room.
"Good morning, GOOD MORNING? That is all you have to say after your reprehensible behavior last night. I had a little visit with Marty this morning who I might add looks a hell of a lot better than you despite a bruise on his jaw. Geez, you really look terrible. "
He wasn't catching most of her tirade but suddenly something clicked, "Marty, your friend Marty?"
She stopped mid-sentence and looked at him with her mouth agape, her eyes snapping with outrage "Yes, my Friend Marty, the one who bartends for you, the one you tried to assault last night. What the hell is wrong with you?"
He scratched his head trying to scrounge the details out of the caleidoscope of blurred colors that made up most of his memories from last night.
"I punched your friend Marty?" He sounded almost incredulous and Rory would have laughed if she wasn't so livid about the whole thing.
The ironic words popped out before she could stop the "Actually you just tried to punch him and missed."
He put his head in his hands, he was beginning to think that his brain cells had the right idea, this was clearly a recollection that was best left buried.
Rory took a good look at Logan slumped on the couch, she had been so completely floored when she had heard Marty's tale that she hadn't even thought twice about charging over here to skin him alive.
She had told Logan once before that she didn't like seeing her friends get hurt and this was even worse because this was personal, this was about her. She didn't even know where he had gotten his ridiculous accusations but she had been ready to blister him with a scorching commentary on just what she thought of his deluded life.
The anger was still there but he looked so abjectly miserable right now that she couldn't help but pity him. Besides, he clearly wasn't absorbing much of her monologue at the moment. She decided that she would just come back later after he had a little time to really revel in his misery and remorse.
"You are pathetic, you aren't even worth wasting my breath right now. However, you had better know this, I do not tolerate people who mess with my friends so don't even bother coming near me again unless you are on your knees begging forgiveness."
She turned and stalked towards the door only turning when her hand touched the knob "and maybe you should take a shower because let me tell you right now you could be mistaken for a half dead corpse that someone dragged in off the trash heap."
The door slammed behind her and the noise made him wince in pain. He slumped down on the couch and tried to think about what she had said but his synapses weren't firing fast enough to make sense of the jumble of words and memories yet so he slid back happily into oblivion.
Things weren't looking much better when he woke up the second time, now he had added a sore neck and an audience of two to his list of problems.
He heard Finn whisper in a fake announcers voice "This is very exciting folks, I think that we are about to see a historic moment in the making, the mystery creature that is inhabiting Logan's couch appears to be waking up."
Colin appeared to his left and held a divine offering out to him...water and aspirin, like manna from the gods.
He struggled to a stitting position and regretted it instantly as he peered at his two compatriots.
He downed the full glass of water before he spoke "Okay, I have to ask, did either of you even put up a fight before you abandoned me to the barbarian hordes last night?"
Finn gasped "Me thinkst the creature doth speak. Could it be that this Mr. Hyde is really our lost friend Logan?"
Fragments of time were coming back to him now, flashes of the bar, of Marty and of Rory....oh damn, Rory.
"So, uh, guys, I had a little visit from our intrepid reporter friend this morning and I was a bit incapacitated and lacking a few key details, but I do remember a few things she yelled and unless I intend to move to Antarctica and change my name I had better get my story straight. Care to fill in a few of the missing pieces?"
Colin got the honors on this one, he had been practicing. "It was a classic saga of star crossed love, heros and dragons and a great battle for the love of a beautiful damsel."
Logan could see where this was going and cut him off "I can tell it is an epic story, care to enlighten me as to my part in this little fairy tale?"
Colin sighed tragically "Ah, well, sadly you would be the dragon in this one and lets just say the dragon's fire was doused with a little too much liquid courage." Finn chortled from his seat.
Logan waved his hand in surrender. "I can't take anymore right now. I am glad that I am providing the two of you with such a plethora of entertainment but now I think I should take a shower before we have to fumigate the suite. Then we'll go to breakfast" he glanced at the wall clock "okay, lunch and you can regale me with the full horror of my stupidity."
As he staggered to his feet his two so called friends regarded him with jovial grins. He just shook his head at them in disgust as he headed for the bathroom.
It was under the spray of the shower that scenes from the previous night began to take full shape in his mind. He leaned his head against the tile groaning as he recalled his nonsensical actions....what the hell had gotten into him?
Suddenly the epiphany hit, the happiness when she had seemed jealous of Darcy, the edginess of the last week, the irrational irritation with the bartender, all the pieces fit into place and the picture that was left was Rory.
He was falling for Rory Gilmore.
He stood under the pounding water for a whole minute speechless. Then he mentally slapped himself upside the head. All this ridiculous denial and confusion weren't doing him one bit of good.
So what if he had never fallen for a girl before, it couldn't be that difficult to do it right. Clearly this past week or two he had been going about things all wrong.
He was Logan Huntzberger, he could do anything, get anything if he set his mind to it. Until now he had been muddling about unsure of his objectives but now he had a clear goal. He wanted Rory Gilmore.
He was feeling very pleased with this decision until an image of her fuming face and scathing words from this morning flashed into his mind. Okay, maybe he needed a little help from the troops but he could get past this little obstacle. It would be a challenge but that just made it more interesting, he was confident he could overcome anything with the right plan of attack.
Tomorrow would begin a whole new game.
