Finn's last comment was running wild laps in his head and Logan cursed the picture those words had painted in extremently vivid detail. Somehow he suspected that had been exactly Finn's plan.

He found Rory in the spacious kitchen observing the room with a somewhat daunted expression. She turned when she heard his footsteps and frowned.

"I don't suppose you know which one of these high tech gizmos is the coffee maker?"

He grabbed her by the shoulders and steered her around a big granite topped island to a bar stool on the far side where she sat down and began swinging her feet. He rolled up his sleeves with a look that suggested he meant business.

"You just leave the coffee making to me." He gave her a little wink "You can be the cheering squad."

"Ha ha." She said with bitterness. "You are never going to let that go are you?"

He tossed a quick smile her direction as he pulled out coffee beans and prepared the espresso maker. "Probably not."

She tilted her head and watched him curiously. "Color me shocked, Ritchie Rich knows how to make coffee. Don't you usually have servants for that type of thing?"

He shrugged diffidently "Man cannot live by bread alone. I, not unlike yourself, consider coffee to be a necessity for survival and, contrary to popular myth I have neither a Starbuck's franchise or a manservant in my dorm room so given this need of mine it behooved me to become proficient with an espresso maker."

"Another fantasy bites the dust."

He wiggled his eyebrows "Ace, you've been fantasizing about me? Now I feel all warm and fuzzy."

She rolled her eyes and blatantly ignored the innuendo "Brownie points for the biblical reference but I would think that it would be easier just to buy espresso than learn how to use one of those newfangled toys." She gestured at the silver machine "too many buttons and gadgets if you ask me, when it comes to caffeine I will gladly pay for the path of least resistance."

"Well, I clearly have a more refined palate."

She covered her head with both hands and he gave her a strange look. "What are you doing?"

"Avoiding the lightening bolts. You know what they say about hubris being the downfall of man?"

He shrugged "It is hardly hubris if the praise is deserved. My coffee is easily as good as your precious Luke's"

Her eyebrows shot up, those were fighting words. "I see your delusions of grandeur extend even to coffee making."

He smirked her direction and maneuvered to regain a little of the ground he had lost in their earlier agreement. "If I were you I would reserve judgment until you taste the fruits of my labor but since you seem determined to impugn my coffee making skills how about a little wager."

She regarded him with wary eyes "What kind of wager?"

"Double or nothing. I suggest, my little misanthrope, that we conduct a little taste test with you acting as the judge. What do you rate Luke's coffee?"

She considered, "I guess I would have to say a 9."

"Okay, if you find my coffee let's say an 8 or above we will stick with the original deal, one month all the coffee you can consume except you have to drink said coffee in a spot of my choosing, in my illustrious company. If you find my elixir unpalatable then I will give you two months of coffee and you can chose the location and the company."

She pondered, "Your ego really is immense isn't it? An 8 on the Gilmore scale is not a goal easily attained."

He gave her a smile "I'm not worried. Are you?"

"Nope. It's a wager. Now lets see if you can back up that impressive braggadocio."

"I have only one condition, if you are finished with your heckling I ask for silence, an artist needs the right environment to produce a masterpiece."

She made a locking motion over her mouth and pretended to throw away the key.

Logan had never considered making coffee to be a particularly sensual activity, but the intensity of Rory's cerulean gaze focused so unblinkingly on his hands as they ground, scooped, measured and tamped felt oddly like foreplay. He, despite a slight tremor in his hand was able to pull a nearly perfect shot of espresso and set in front of her with a proud flourish.

She regarded it avariciously for a moment and then the heat of her eyes was burning him, her look bordered on adulation. "If I had known you could make coffee we might have been friends a long time ago."

He smiled "If I had known that winning your friendship was that simple I would have unveiled that little talent the first day. I did give you coffee though, I should get some points for that."

Rory lifted the demitasse cup and sniffed the heavenly aromas with a smile that bordered on ecstatic "There is a great deal of distinction between a giver of coffee and a maker of coffee. A giver of coffee can be replaced should one have a falling out with said acquaintance, a maker of coffee is a precious commodity...well at least if the coffee is good."

She saluted him in a mock toast with the cup "lets see whether you are worthy of worship or not shall we."

Logan watched enthralled as she took a sip of the thick, syrupy liquid and rolled it around in her mouth with the same concentration that any wine connoisseur would use with the first sip of a 200 dollar bottle of Bordeaux. He felt a little twist in his gut but was unable to look away as she downed the espresso shot in one swallow and allowed her eyes to flutter closed as the rich, smooth flavor of superb coffee slid along her tongue tingling on her taste buds. Her eyes opened languorously and she gave a sigh of pure bliss as the last dregs vaporized in her mouth. Logan watched mesmerized by this play of emotion. The look she aimed at him when her eyes finally opened felt like a shot of lightening slicing through him and he suddenly felt uncomfortably warm.

He tried to cover it with a short chuckle as he leaned across the granite island "I've also found that coffee making skills works well on the ladies although diamonds usually work better."

She mirrored his stance and leaned on her elbows meeting him halfway across the island "I guess its a matter of knowing the subject of your affections, don't get me wrong, diamonds and chocolates and roses are nice and all but a superior shot of espresso If a guy started a seduction scene with coffee like this my reputation as a Mary would be in serious jeopardy in short order."

Logan's smile took on a flirtatious edge as he leaned closer yet "So, you're saying that now that I have revealed my secret identity as a master barista you find me irresistible?"

Suddenly Rory became aware of the scant inches that separated their faces. She felt a slight shift in the air between them as she met his light caramel eyes and saw the glitter of something dangerous.

Things were changing, maybe in him, maybe in her, maybe in both of them. They danced, had been dancing since they day they met, not physically but with a well choreographed play of words, facial nuances, intonation and body language. Every dip and spin was elegant in simplicity, flawless in execution and duplicitous in symbolism. Despite a scant term of acquaintance they had fallen into an easy rhythm of banter, comfortable, practiced, graceful even, its flow like that of an old married couple who had enjoyed many a waltz and knew the steps by heart.

But someone had changed the tune.

Maybe it was a gradual shift from 3/4 to 5/8 time, but it felt like going from the airy strains of Beethoven to the downbeat of a Tango within a single measure and suddenly their steps were no longer in sync. The usual easy air between them was marred by a strange new awareness. Rory felt herself pulled into the force field that seemed to connect them. Desperately and with some effort she pulled her eyes from his compelling gaze only to have them land on teasing half smile that quirked his lips. Lips that suddenly looked.... inviting. Shit!

She blinked once, twice, back pedaling madly to extricate herself from this new and unwelcome awareness. She had only broken up with Dean a couple of weeks ago, she wasn't ready to be attracted to anyone, much less to a cocky blonde Lothario like Logan Hunzberger. If the debacle with Dean had taught her anything it was that her hormones were not the trustworthiest judges of character.

"Your coffee...I find your COFFEE irresistible." Her voice came out much hoarser than she had intended. She coughed and then tried again, this time with a little more oomph.

Logan sucked in a steadying breath still reeling slightly from the dawning comprehension he had seen in Rory's eyes. Change was gonna come, of that much he was sure. He carefully wrapped himself in the cloak of careless teasing. "Does that mean I win?"

It took Rory a long second to remember what they were talking about, the coffee...right? "Yeah, yeah, much as I hate to admit it as I am sure you will now be insufferable, you win. I would give the coffee an 8.5 at least."

He grinned, "I knew it...you're easy."

She shot him glare but couldn't quite hide the little smile." Don't write me off as a cheap date just yet Juan Valdez." She gestured to the empty espresso cup "I'll need about 6 more of these to refill my tanks. Then I need a shower."

He gave a grievous sigh "Are you always such a task-master?"

"Yes, and just think...you just bought yourself a month of my electrifying company. Lucky you."

He slapped a hand to his forehead as he laid another two shots of espresso in front of her "What was I thinking? Can I plead temporary insanity?"

She downed the two shots of espresso and handed the cups back to him to be refilled. " I think not my friend" two more shots went down the hatch. "You bribed me fair and square...it was a verbal contract."

"At least there is a bright side. I get to choose the location." He gave her a playful leer "What do you think of coffee in bed? My bed of course."

"In your dreams Huntzberger." She finished off the last of the savored coffee. "Now where can I take a shower? I am badly in need of a wardrobe change. Then I think a ritual burning of this outfit is in order."

"Upstairs and to the right, there should be towels in the linen closet next to it." He watched as she hopped off the stool and bounced to the doorway of the kitchen. "You know Ace, most girls would be happy to have a starring role in my dreams."

Her hand paused on the door and she turned with a particularly saucy smile "In case you haven't noticed Huntzberger, I'm not most girls." She vanished from sight with a jaunty step.

He stared at the swinging door for a good 30 seconds after she was gone and then rubbed his hand over his eyes and dropped down on her vacated stool. He couldn't argue with the unadulterated truth of that statement. She definitely was NOT most girls.

They met again at the base of the stairs. Rory's hair was still wet from the shower and she was clad again in black, only this time with the addition of the pink bunny slippers.

He smiled in appreciation when hisgaze lit on her feet. "I see our old friends have joined us. "

"The outfit seemed a bit monochromatic and since you said we were resting here for a bit it seemed the opportune time to break out the Pink Floyds. Where is everyone?"

Before Logan could even form a reply the question was answered by a clatter coming from the back half of the residence this was followed in quick succession by a girlish squeal. "I believe that is Stephanie now." Rory trailed behind him as they headed towards the room from which the sound had emanated.

When the door swung open it revealed a spacious room that appeared to be an entertainment room. Central to the space was a beautifully built pool table upon which Finn and Stephanie were engaged in a game that at least vaguely resembled pool. There was a pool table involved and there were colored balls but that seemed to be where convention ended. Rory was no expert but she was pretty certain that pool wasn't usually played while standing on the rim of the table sans shoes and she distinctly remembered something about pool cues being involved. She almost hoped that there had been alcohol involved in the planning stages. At least that would make some semblance of sense. It disturbed her a little that this behavior, normally the realm of a psych ward or a maybe a party in Stars Hollow had now become almost blasé. In fact she might have been more shocked if they had shown up and found Finn doing nothing out of the ordinary, which for him would have been extremely abnormal...it was a tricky piece of circular logic that she decided was best tackled another day when she had returned to the land of relative sanity. Some mysteries were better left unsolved. They had at least clearly identified the source of the noise.

Finn looked up at them with an inquisitive expression. "Ah, Master Huntzberger has returned along with our long lost friend. Its about time too, we had become quite desperate for entertainment. Skinny-dipping in the neighbor's pool was next on our list. You can join us if you like."

Logan rolled his eyes "No skinny dipping in the neighbor's pool my parent's still haven't forgiven or forgotten the little debacle from last year. We are on thin ice so be on your best behavior."

"Yes sir, what ever you say sir." Finn saluted smartly and then put his hand over his mouth and said in a stage whisper to Stephanie "I think Big Mac needs to get laid. He is way too uptight."

Logan heard the smothered snigger behind him but would not deign to respond. That was the road to hell for sure. "How about we find some other form of entertainment."

Finn dropped down on the edge of the pool table and sat swinging his legs with his hand on his chin in a thoughtful pose. "Let me think...a new game to play. Hmmm." His eyes lit with mischievous glee as he jumped off the table. "I've got just the thing." He headed towards a large cabinet on one side of the room and stuck his head in and began to rummage around with some muttering. Finally he pulled out two boxes and held them aloft triumphantly. "Ah ha, perfect. Since Gilmore is our guest I will let her pick the game."

He presented them to Rory and she stared at them for a moment, uncomprehending. Something didn't add up. One was Monopoly and the other was Trivial Pursuit, as far as she could see they weren't X-rated or modified in any way and were definitely too tame for Finn even on his least manicl days.

She gave him a perplexed brow-wrinkling look. "I don't get it."

Finn shook the boxes at her "I'm not asking you to decide the fate of the free world or anything here. Pick a game. It will be fun, trust me."

She hesitated and looked at Logan but he was displaying the same total confusion that she was. She was sure Finn was up to some trick but she gave in. "I think you all would have an unfair advantage in Monopoly...too much similarity to real life...I wouldn't know what to do with a hotel if I had one." She pointed decisively "Trivial Pursuit it is."

Finn grinned "Excellent choice my dear." She didn't much like the scheming look in his eye but the decision was made now. The group trooped towards a corner of the large room to a corner that held a low coffee table surrounded by a couch and several chairs. Rory looked around curiously at the room that was empty except for them.

"Hey, where is the rest of the team?"

Logan answered. "They are off on another errand. We are in charge of holding down the fort during this leg of the trip. They should be back in a couple of hours."

Finn set down the board and gestured for the others to take their chairs. He started with a very official sounding announcers tone. "There are a few stipulations and amendments to the rules that I would like to suggest for this game, all in the name of maximizing enjoyment of course."

Logan groaned and slumped in his seat, he should have known. Rory glanced at him uncertainly still in the dark as to the nature of the game. Her eyes widened when Stephanie suddenly appeared at Finn's side with two bottles of liquor one of the clear sort and one of the brown variety. When she set the on the table next to the board Rory began to have an inkling about the nature of this evening's entertainment. She was quite certain that alcohol was not mentioned anywhere in the official rules for Trivial Pursuit. All eyes were focused on Finn, apparently the master of this little ceremony.

"Finn..." Logan said in an exasperated voice

"Now before you get your panties in a twist let me explain the rules. Then, we will have a nice democratic vote and I will bow to the will of the majority. I am hardly running an autocracy here and if you all want to find some other source of amusement for the next" he grabbed Colin's wrist and looked at his watch since his had been missing since the unfortunate incident at the gay club "four hours, then be my guest."

He waited as the others exchanged glances. Since the consensus seemed to lean in the direction of hearing him out, if nothing else it would be worth a good laugh Logan finally gestured with a hand to indicate that he should continue.

Finn rubbed his hands together. "We will play in teams and the rules will be as follows: As per the normal procedure you will answer a question for whatever category you landed on, now here is where it gets interesting, if you answer the question correctly then you get to take a shot"

Rory interrupted "Wait a minute you have to do a shot if you get the question right? That sounds backwards, why do you get punished for getting it right?"

Finn gave her a pitying look "Its all a matter of perspective my dear, one man's punishment is another man's reward. As I was saying, if you get the question incorrect then a member of the other team is allowed to ask a personal question from a list for that category. Each member of the team will answer the question." He held up a hand as several mouths opened in protest "I have not relinquished the floor yet, each player has the option to pass but will be required to do another shot for the privilege or you can agree to come back to that question later in the game. If you get a pie then you get to pass on the questions for the next round. The game ends when someone wins or we run out of liquor. Does everyone understand?"

Rory looked around a the other faces "What do you get if you win?"

Stephanie gave her a savvy wink "Honey, this isn't about who wins or loses its about how you play the game."

Rory looked skeptical but fell into silence as Logan took up the argument. "Finn, I thought we agreed that there was no more drinking until the end of the game."

Finn aimed his most patronizing look at his friend "Logan, you disappoint me, I hardly expected you, the poster boy for social deviants to be the stickler for the rules. Okay, how about this, we will make the alcoholic part of this game optional. You choose whether you drink or not, it takes half the fun out of it but you know me, always willing to compromise."

Logan rolled his eyes with ill humor; leave it to Finn to back him into a corner. "Fine, if the rest of you agree then I guess I am outvoted anyway."

Colin looked at the rest of the quintet and then nodded "I'm in, but how are we going to split up into teams, there are five of us."

Finn nodded in acknowledgement "good point. I say we put 2 numbers into a hat and draw, there will be two on one team and three on the other."

Everyone agreed that this sounded reasonable and Finn quickly scribbled numbers on slips of paper and dropped them in a dish on the coffee table "no hat in sight so this will have to do." They each slowly pulled numbers and looked at them with some trepidation. The teams ended up quite interestingly split with Logan, Rory and Finn on one team and Colin and Stephanie on the other. This was shaping up to be quite an interesting game, Rory actually felt a bit safer with Finn on her team but Stephanie was still a bit worrisome. After a short squabble over the color of their markers the game began. Logan had decided that he was not going to drink; someone had to be at least remotely sane around here

. Logan's team was up first and landed quite regrettably on the arts and Entertainment Square and it was a sports question, damn.

"What sports did the Philadelphia Atoms and the Dallas Tornados play in the 1970's" the three teammates exchanged blank looks.

Finally Logan ventured an answer "basketball?" his tone was querulous.

Stephanie looked triumphant. "Nope! "Soccer."

Rory groaned and smacked Logan in the shoulder, he gave hre a disbelieving look. "Hey, what was that for?"

"You should have known that."

"Pardon me, you didn't know it either so I wouldn't be too quick to throw stones."

Rory gave him an exasperated look "I'm a girl, I am not supposed to know. You are guys, you have testosterone and a Y chromosome I thought that the encyclopedia of obscure athletic knowledge came with the set."

Finn piped in "I think my parents got me on clearance and mine was missing."

An unapologetic grin split Stephanie's face as she rubbed her hands together. "Alright Colin lets pick a question." Logan shuddered; maybe he was going to need a drink after all.

Everyone was surprised when Colin read a question from the handwritten list. "Name your favorite movie of all time." He shrugged in a show of good will, "No use pulling out thebig guns on the first round."

Rory smiled in a thanks "Start with the difficult ones why don't you, how can I possibly narrow down a century of cinematic greatness to one paltry name?"

Colin laughed "Okay, top five then."

"Oh, well,thats a little better, let's see there are the obvious ones, Princess Bride, Casablanca, Sixteen Candles or really anything from John Hughes made before 1987."

Logan frowned "What happened after 1987?"

Rory shuddered in horror "Have you seen Home Alone?"

She was really warming to the question now and the others watched with amusement "Of course I have to include Willy Wonka for purely nostalgic reasons and because my mother would disown me if I didn't and." she paused with a painful expression "well, I am torn and I do so hate to be disloyal but I would have to say my final choice in the top five is Roman Holiday or Breakfast at Tiffanys, although Sabrina runs a close third, well pretty much anything wiht Audrey Hepburn, or Humphrey Bogart for that matter." She finally subsided with a tragic sigh. "Maybe you should have said top ten."

Logan cocked an amused eyebrow in her direction "Willy Wonka?"

"Hey, don't knock the oompa loompas...that is a dangerous thing to do around a Gilmore Girl, my mother wants to marry one."

Logan was next "I guess I would say my favorite movie is Dr. Strangelove. You just can't beat Stanley Kubrick for pure satirical genius and Peter Sellers riding that bomb was one of the most classic scenes ever.

He caught Rory's surprised look in his peripheral vision "What you expected me to pick Showgirls or something from the Hugh Hefner archives?"

She coughed over a laugh "I'll admit I did expect at least a few scantily clad women."

"What do you call Tracy Reed as "Miss Foreign Affairs"?"

Finn cut in "My turn. My favorite movie of all time...lets see" he made a big production of pondering the question "I guess I will have to a dirty little secret. I just loe When Harry Met Sally."

Rory's mouth dropped open at this one. Finn continued "What can I say, I guess I am just a romantic at heart" he leaned over and winked at Logan "plus its a great movie for picking up women, they love that mushy stuff...makes me look sensitive."

Rory groaned, "Do you do anything that isn't ultimately aimed at getting women?"

Finn looked shocked "What would be the point?"

Colin coughed "Shall we move on?"

Stephanie surprised everyone when she knew what animal was paraded through the streets of Paris on Mardi Gras to remind people not to eat meat during Lent (an ox). Stephanie giggled "What can I say, everyone has their hobbies, I happen to be an expert on all things Mardi Gras."

They did their shots and the game moved on. Both teams got the next three questions in a row right, mostly thanks to Finn and this meant three consecutive shots.

Rory turned to Finn with an accusing scowl "Who knows what the hell a furlong is?" she turned to Logan "is he always this good at trivia or is this just a ploy to get me drunk? I think you are a charlatan."

Logan, who had decided that drinking was definitely the lesser of two evils in this particular game leaned towards Rory and whispered, rather loudly "Don't underestimate Finn, he may seem like the original American idiot but he's kind of like Rain Man, he has an impressive capacity for retention and recall of completely random and useless trivia. Just be glad he is on our team.... I think."

Finn fluttered his eyelashes at them, innocence incarnate. "O ye of little faith."

Colin and Stephanie finally got one wrong not surprisingly, even Finn probably couldn't have guessed what arachibutyrophobia was (a fear of peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth). They were on the wild card category so Rory looked down at the questions that they could chose from favorite guilty pleasures, heroes or darkest secret. She shied away from the last one, they weren't nearly drunk enough to open that particular can of worms.

She pointed to one and her teammates agreed, "Who are you heroes and why they can be either fictional or real."

Colin answered first "I'd have to say Linus Pauling because he is brilliant and anyone who is awarded two individual Nobel prizes deserves respect, Monty Python because, well he is a comedic genius, favorite movies by the way, two way tie between Life of Brian and Search for the Holy Grail and lastly my brother for doing what I would never have the guts to do and telling my dad to take a his money and shove it where the sun don't shine."

"The black sheep?" Rory asked in a curious voice and Logan gave her a funny look

"You know Ian? "

"I met him. He helped us with the Columbia thing."

Logan crowed "Ah ha...I knew it, I knew the two of you would never have pulled that off by yourselves." Rory regretted mentioning it.

Colin sniffed and looked insulted "Well, its nice to see your true colors and what you really think of my abilities as a criminal mastermind."

Stephanie was up next "That's easy my heroes are Madonna, because she is one of the few famous people with the guts to keep reinventing herself and Sandra Day O'Connor because she has an absolutely incredible legal mind and the guts to be outspoken."

Rory looked at Stephanie with new eyes. There were several seconds of silence before Stephanie crossed her arms and wrinkled her forehead "Come on you guys who did you think it was going to be Paris Hilton? I do have a few brain cells to rub together you know. My life isn't all frivolity and champagne." They wisely moved on.

On a losing roll the threesome was up for questioning next, Stephanie grabbed the card and read off the same question. "Heroes."

Logan was first "Leonardo da Vinci because he was the true renaissance scholar and wasn't afraid to challenge accepted wisdom and Bill Clinton because despite his less than sterling character he was one of the greatest political minds of our century."

Finn snickered "Plus he's got the women falling at his feet to kiss his boots and anything else he wants them to."

Logan grinned "Yeah...that too."

Rory rolled her eyes "And just when I thought you were showing your deep side. You are clearly past all redemption."

Logan gave her a saucy wink "Redemption is overrated Ace, what do you do once you have been redeemed you just have to sit around being good all the time. Personally I'd rather be dancing in the fires of hell. You're up Ace."

Rory thought for a moment "Maureen Dowd because she is smart, gutsy and witty and isn't afraid to take on the establishment and besides her commentary of Bush usually just has me in stitches and my namesake, my mom because she is the bravest and most unique person I know."

Logan widened his eyes and nodded in agreement "She lends new meaning to the term odd-ball...of course I mean that in the best possible way."

Rory nodded "I'm sure you do but I will take it as a compliment on her behalf. Okay Finn, how about you?"

"Well, obviously there is James Bond the man I consider to be my guru in all things pertaining to attraction and seduction of women"

"Big surprise" Rory muttered and Finn sent her a censuring

"Shhhh. And I would have to say Don Quixote."

Logan was even surprised at that one "But Don Quixote was a joke, a fool."

Finn nodded pensively "I don't see it that way, I think that Don Quixote was an optimist and a dreamer." There was definitely an element of the ridiculous to Finn but Rory actually thought his analogy was pretty spot on. He wasn't afraid to be himself as foolish as that seemed at times and Rory respected him for that trait, it was more than she could attribute to herself at times.

This was an interesting new side of all of them, who knew the misfits and troublemakers would have this thoughtful serious side to them? Rory felt for the first time like she was actually getting to know the people behind the shiny happy facades. She felt a little like she was in one of those John Hughes movies, Breatkfast Club maybe.

They won a few rounds on each side and several more shots slipped down their throats to join the others. They got the next one wrong and waited for their question. Rory was beginning to feel a bit lightheaded but she shook her head and tried to focus on what was being asked.

"What is your biggest character flaw?"

Finn jumped in first "That's easy. I have no flaws." He gestured proudly to his chest "I'm perfect just the way I am."

Logan just snorted and Finn stuck his nose in the air "No comments necessary from the peanut gallery. You are just jealous because I am confident."

Rory patted his arm "I'm not sure that confident is quite the right word but I think that we can all agree that no one would ever call you insecure. I guess my flaw would be my tendency to overanalyze things."

Logan put his hand to his mouth in a parody of shock "You? Overanalyzing? No!"

"Funny" Rory returned with a disgruntled look "maybe you should quit school and become the next Robin Williams."

Logan ignored the dig and pondered his own answer "Well, I would go with Finn's answer but I do so hate to be redundant so I guess I will say impatience. I have never liked having to wait for something I want. I am a big fan of quick service and speedy resolutions."

Rory tilted her head at him "Haven't you ever heard the saying that the best things in life are the things worth waiting for?"

He met her eyes in a quick flash of surprise wondering if there was a hidden subtext to her comment but when she broke her probing gaze and focused her attention back on the game he waved it off.

They had definitely all reached the tipsy stage and Stephanie slumped over sideways on to Colin after they lost the next question. Rory was taken aback when Colin cast a furtive glance at his teammate and paled dramatically. She watched in fascination as a deep flush started to creep its way up his neck. Was it possible that Colin had a thing for Stephanie? She was even more sure of it when she saw the knowing looks that Finn and Logan were exchanging. Logan smile held just the tiniest edge of the Mad Hatter as he read the question on the card. "Have you ever been in love?"

Rory sucked in a breath...way to go for the bazookas, apparently Logan was done pussyfooting around. If it was even possible Colin turned an even more translucent shade of white.

"Uh..." he stuttered and gave a panicked half glance at Stephanie who was gloriously oblivious to his discomfort as she leaned against him "I don't think so."

He gave Logan a pleading look which Logan blatantly ignored "What do you mean you don't think so, it seems like a yes or no question to me, flip a coin if you have to."

Rory felt a sorry for Colin she would hate to be in his position. Casting a disapproving look at Logan she jumped in to rescue him, Colin cast her a grateful look "I think that is a perfectly reasonable answer. I mean I would probably have to say the same thing. I've thought maybe I was in love before but how am I supposed to know if it was the real thing? I mean if you have never been in love then what do you really have to compare it to? Is it any less real just because it isn't the spine tingling-heart stopping-life changing- fairy tale variety that you see in the movies? I don't know." Rory could feel herself rambling and could have smacked herself for giving away too much, the intent look in Logan's eyes said she had already gone too far. She quickly rerouted her monologue to go on the offensive trying to unbalance him so that he would stop analyzing her little slip.

"Maybe there are different degrees of love. Who are you to say? Have you ever been in love?" This came out as a challenge directed at Logan and Rory realized as soon as it slipped from her lips that she was suddenly intently interested in the answer.

Logan looked like he had just choked on the canary that he had swallowed and he quickly tried to derail the conversation with a little banter "It's not my fault you decided to give us a little freebie there, no one asked you for full disclosure."

Rory crossed her arms and gave him look that implied that she knew exactly what he was trying to do "Hey, no problem Huntzberger, I guess you can dish out but you just can't take it. Not so easy to take when the stones are aimed at you huh? Sad, though I would never have pegged you as a cowardly lion. Where is all that chutzpah now?"

He held up a quieting hand "Fine, fine, if we are going to slide into childish name calling I will appease you." Rory 's eyebrows arched in surprise when he stopped and poured himself a fortifying shot. Now she was dying to know whatever juicy story had his knickers in a twist. He met her eyes and then focused them behind her on some point on the wall as he answered; his voice was an eerie emotionless monotone that she had never heard from his before.

"Yes, I have been in love. She was a girl in high school, a girl who very clearly did not meet with my parents approval. In fact my father specifically forbade to see her, seems kind of Shakespearean I know but that is the way old money acts in Connecticut, as if they were left behind somewhere in the eighteen hundreds while the rest of the world evolved without them. Anyway, I was young and foolish and I thought I was in love so I ignored my father's implicit instructions. We dated secretly for almost nine months and then my father found out. Unfortunately I didn't know find that little tidbit out until much later, what I did find, as my father intended, was my girlfriend having sex with my brother in the place we usually met for our secret trysts."

Rory sucked in a shocked gasp as Logan's eyes met hers...they were flat and emotionless on the surface but she could see just behind that curtain a swirl of suppressed hurt and anger. She felt a tightening in her chest in sympathy for his pain.

His eyes dropped to his lap and his voice was soft and introspective now as if he were talking more to himself than his audience "It broke my heart. I learned my father's lesson well. I swore that I would never be a fool for love again, that I would never let anyone get close enough to cause me that kind of pain. I did learn about my father's duplicity later but by then it was too late to rectify the situation, she had moved on and cynicism had healed a nice scar over my wound." He looked up with a self-deprecating half smile and tried for a lighter note "So there it is all the information you ever need to bring me to my knees and expose me as a fraud."

He gave a bitter little half laugh "Sounds kind of like something out of a Greek tragedy huh."

Rory gave him a sad, empathetic look "God, I'm sorry Logan, I shouldn't have attacked you that way. I didn't know...."

"Its okay Ace, its ancient history now. At least this way I don't need to pay to go to therapy, my soul is clean...I have professed my deepest wound. I'm sure Freud would have something inspirational to say about it." He looked around at his assembled friends "hey, don't make me the kill joy. Let's toast to past loves and lessons learned and move on shall we."

Finn smiled "Now there is an idea I can get behind. Nothing like drinking yourself into oblivion to exorcise those demons. " He poured a round of shots and they all raised them in salute "To the ghosts, may they stay in the past where they belong and may the future hold nothing but fun."

Rory's eyes met Logan's in a long penetrating stare and he felt like she was staring straight into his heart, he gulped and tipped back his shot and she slowly mirrored the action letting the alcohol slide down her throat, feeling it cleanse her soul of painful memories.

Finn shook the nearly empty bottle of vodka and then topped off his glass one more time. "Seeing as we are nearly out of alcohol and have clearly reached a turning point in our little game here, I say we have one last question to end the game and then call it quits."

Everyone nodded somewhat belatedly; they were all still feeling a bit rocked by the raw emotion engendered by Logan's tale.

Finn dropped all the questions into a pile and gestured to Rory "You may do the honors." Rory plucked a card out of the pile and looked at it with some trepidation.

Her heart dropped to her stomach as she read it aloud "What is your darkest fear or secret?" There was a long heavy silence over the table, nothing like going out ion a burst of flame.

Logan cracked a joke trying to break the mood "Can't I get credit for the last one?" he looked around a sighed dramatically "ok, I'll go, not many skeletons left hiding in the closet at this point anyway might as well make a clean sweep of it. This may seem sort of odd after my last confession but my greatest fear is that I will never live up to my father.... my second greatest fear is that I will become my father...quite a quandary huh. Okay, who's next."?

Colin jumped in "I am afraid of being average. "

Stephanie snorted drunkenly "that doesn't seem like much of a fear to me."

Colin pushed her genlty "Hey, you can't ridicule someone else's phobia, that's not allowed. If you think you are such a qualified judge lets hear yours. "

Stephanie closed her eyes but kept her head on Colin's shoulder "I'm afraid of being alone." Colin gave her a slightly surprised look, he had always thought of Stephanie as so self assured, so fun loving and beautiful, he could hardly imagine her without a doting boy toy. Who knew that was her secret fear?

Finn broke the silence; Colin staring at Stephanie could go on for hours if someone didn't jump in to stop it. He made a sweeping gesture with his hands and spoke in a grandiose tone "Well, I for one have no fear and no secrets...what you see is exactly what you get." Everyone regarded him with slowly blinking eyes and he dropped his hand to the table in defeat "Yeesh, tough room. Okay, okay, I guess it is only fair that I show you mine since you all showed me yours." He played with the shot glass in front of him for a contemplative moment before tipping it back and draining it of the last drop of liquid courage "I'm adopted."

Stunned silence descended with a crash onto the table. "What ?!" Logan was the first one to interject. "What do you mean you are adopted? I've known you since we were three years old, we have shared everything from a sand box to a jail cell how could I not know this?"

Colin was next "How long have you known?"

Finn looked up with a sigh and answered the questions in order "You didn't know because I didn't want you. I've known since I was 10, at first I didn't tell you because I was scared that you would somehow look at me differently and then it was because it just didn't seem that important anymore."

The silence stretched on and Rory figured she was the only one who could break it. Her secret could top even that. There was no use in adding a preamble, clean and quick was the best way to avoid the pain of a jagged wound. She blurted it out "I had an affair with a married man"

Four heads snapped towards her, four pairs of eyes blinked in obvious incomprehension. She continued with a slghtly shaking voice "I slept with Dean when he was still married to Lindsay and then I went to Europe to escape and I wrote him a letter and she found it and they ended up separated. I am the other woman and I didn't even do it for love, I did it because I was afraid and I was selfish." she was standing now with her hands on the table as she gestured emphatically, she could feel the hysteria and the repressed shame bubbling up inside her "I criticize you guys for your silly stunts and petty misdemeanors but in reality I am the only one at this table who is really a bad person. Who has really done something so wrong that it has probably left a permanent stain on my soul. I am over Dean but I'm not sure I will ever get over the shame of my cowardice."

She kept her head down. She didn't want to look at their faces, didn't want to see their disgust and disbelief. She could feel the tears threatening. She shoved away from the table scattering game pieces in her rush and she stumbled out the door towards the stairs. She made it to the top step before she collapsed as the tears overwhelmed her.

Shocked silence descended on the space she had vacated. Logan looked at the other three stunned faces and stood resolutely "I guess I had better go after her."

He found her on the top of the stairs and he felt a little crack in the walls around his heart when he saw her sobbing her heart out with her head on her knees and her arms hugging her legs to her body. He slowly ascended the stairs and sat down gently beside her. She didn't acknowledge him at first but continued the gut wrenching sobbing. When it began to subside he figured it was time to jump in. He cleared his throat, he had never known quite what to do with a hysterical female, and Colin was usually the supportive shoulder to cry on guy.

He went with his instincts "Well Ace, I have to give you credit, that was definitely a show stopper."

She gave a soft hiccupping sob and slowly raised her head. She looked at him through bleary bloodshot eyes, red rimmed from crying and he felt a little jolt in his heart. It wasn't even his mess to clean up but all he wanted to do was gather her in his arms and tell her everything would be okay.

"I guess you didn't see that one coming." She said in a soft forlorn voice "I think that I am a horrible person, I can't imagine what you think of me."

He leaned back on the top stair behind him and casually dropped his arm behind her, pulling her gently towards him. "It was unexpected. I never would have guessed you for the bombshell dropping type but you are wrong if you think it makes any of us think less of you." He turned her face with his other hand until she was looking at him "I may not have known you for very long Ace but I have seen enough to say without reservation that I know you are a good person. You might have a dangerous wit but you are sweet and smart and you genuinely care about people. If you were really a bad person you wouldn't have a second thought about what you did, instead you are sitting here wracked with guilt for something that was just a mistake. Granted it was a big mistake and you have probably used up your quota for a while" she gave a little half tilt of the lips at this "but in the end that is still what it was, a mistake an error in judgment, it happens to even the best people, it just means you are human. I'm sure you are very sorry and that you have done your penance with due diligence but now its time to give yourself a break." He looked her straight in the eyes "its time to let it go."

She stared at him for a long solemn moment and he could all but see the battle in her mind, the war of guilt and self-preservation. Finally she nodded ever so slightly and then laid her head down on his shoulder snuggling neatly in to the crook of his arm. "How did you get to be so smart?"

He smiled "I have lots of practice dealing with errors in judgement. Plenty of personal experience. Remind me to tell you sometime about Fiji, then you'll see what I mean."

Rory gave a little laugh "Thank you Logan. I misjudged you. You have your good moments and I'm lucky to have you as a friend."

He gave a friendly chuckle "Damn and with no witnesses for posterity. You probably won't even remember you said it tomorrow."

She gave him a sweet half smile "You can remind me."

They sat there for a long moment until Logan suddenly realized that Rory had dropped into sleep and was snoring slightly. He chuckled and spoke softly to himself "First girl that has ever fallen asleep literally on you and this is the second time she's done it. Logan, I think you are getting soft." He slowly extricated his arm from behind her head and stood facing her on the step below. Clearly she couldn't stay here, considering the options for a moment he finally sighed and bent down. In one smooth motion he lifted her and stepped into the upper hallway aiming towards one of the bedrooms. May be he would get a little shuteye as well while he was there.

Finn, Colin and Stephanie exchanged knowing glances as they stood at the base of the stair way and watched Logan carry the snoozing Rory out of sight. It was only a matter of time before those two figured out what the rest of them already knew. They were perfect for each other.