Deconstruction of a Kiss

It was only six when Rory pulled in to the lot at the Dragonfly Inn but she was hoping to catch her mom before she called it a day and talk her in to dinner as well as coffee, not something that should be a hard sell as her mother was eternally starving. She headed for the main entrance but stopped abruptly when she heard a heated argument going on between, the two easily predicted combatants. Some things never changed.

"There is no way in my lifetime that we are serving cookies that were not made in my kitchen for the Dragonfly Inn's first Christmas buffet I don't care if they are from the King of France himself. " Sookie's voice was shrill and climbing to new registers as she spoke. Rory winced; apparently pregnancy was setting in with a vengeance.

Michel's snooty French accent made clear the identity of the other combatant and without even looking Rory could envision him stamping his foot and crossing his arms in petulant exasperation. "The end of your lifetime could be arranged quite soon if you wish and then all of our guests will be able to sample the superior desserts of the French, none of these American atrocities, candy canes, cakes that look like tree stumps and gingerbread dressed up as little men, with buttons no less. It is an embarrassment that they are called pastries at all."

Sookie's tone had dropped to threatening and there was no doubt in Rory's mind that a hormone fueled rage was well under way, beware the scorned expectant mother "If I see even one of those silly excuses for a cookie near my buffet table we will be having a French rack of concierge for our main entree. You and your little doggies too." She cackled to display her evil tendencies.

Michel gave a snort of disgust that only he could make sound as if King Louis IX himself had looked down on you and found you wanting in both manners and breeding. Rory heard him storm off towards the back of the Inn. Rory peeked around the corner to see if the coast was clear and saw Sookie still ranting and raving with wild gesticulations and periodic snorts of disgust. Thank god there were no guests in sight because they would probably be running for the hills right about now sure that the chef was soon going to go mad and chop them all to bits with a butcher knife. She was aiming for her mom's office but a creaking floorboard gave her away and Sookie whirled clearly ready for a second skirmish. She paused surprised when she saw Rory.

She looked slightly abashed when she caught Rory's guilty look. "You heard it all didn't you?"

Rory nodded with a hesitant smile and coughed to cover her amusement "Yeah, another knock 'em down drag 'em out over the Christmas buffet? Seems like a holiday tradition at this this year huh?"

Sookie laughed "You know I think you are right, just doesn't feel like the holiday season without a few go around with good old Michel over his ridiculously overpriced French confections." She giggled now with a Cheshire cat kind of grin "They're actually pretty good but at this point it's the principle of the thing and that secret I will take to my grave with me." She winked "I assume you are here to find your mom, she's in her office, probably listening to Michel tattle on me as we speak. Now I have a roast to attend to so don't let me keep you." She turned and started back towards the kitchen and Rory breathed a sigh of relief thinking that maybe no everyone knew about the cheerleading incident. Sookie turned and looked over her shoulder just before disappearing into the kitchen "Oh, by the way, I signed the petition?" when Rory's expression remained blank Sookie's forehead wrinkled "You know the petition about showing your little film at the Red, Black and White...well you mom will tell you all about it. Hey are you feeling okay? You look a little pale. Do you need some coffee or cookies or something?"

Rory all but felt the blood drain with a precipitous rush from her head. Oh god, it was worse than she expected, it was a town conspiracy. "Uh, no, thanks, I think I'll just go find my mom."

"Well, okay kiddo, just let me know if you need anything." Sookie watched as Rory vanished back towards Lorelai's office. Lorelai had been right this was going to be too much fun.

Michel's voice had reached new and unexplored octaves by the time Rory stood behind him in the doorway to Lorelai's office and Lorelai rolled her eyes expressively when she caught sight of her daughter. With impatience she shushed the ranting Frenchman "Look Michel you know Sookie has complete control of the buffet, even I would not tread on that sacred territory for fear that she strangle me in my sleep, she knows where I keep my extra key you know. You can have you cookies at the front desk and that is it. If they end up anywhere near the buffet you will be the sacrificial lamb of choice. Now go, answer phones with snide remarks, insult customers, whine about your lot in life, in other words, get back to work."

He narrowed his eyes" I have told you before they are not called this vulgar name cookies, they are Madeleines." He stormed off in a huff of indignation.

Rory watched her mom for a moment with a little smile "You know exactly what they are called, you were just goading him."

Lorelai gave her a wicked smile "My day is not complete if I don't make Michel squeak once at least, its the main reason I keep him around, that and he is good at keep bats out of the attack with that soprano of his."

She came around to the front of her desk and found an empty corner to perch on swinging her leg as she observed her daughter with her head cocked to one side for a long moment "You don't look any different."

Rory rolled her eyes "It was only two days, its not like they gave me a complete overhaul and reprogrammed me or anything."

Lorelai pursed her lips and then indicated that Rory should spin around for her perusal "You never know, have you ever seen Alias? You underestimate the creativity of evil genius. No piercing that I can see, no tattoos, although those could be hidden so I will have to sneak in on you in the shower sometime and check just to be sure. Your hair isn't blonde or any other shade of the rainbow. Of course, I can't comment on any microships they might have implanted. My censor is on the fritz. Barring that I guess you are right, on the surface you are the same Rory Gilmore that has always inhabited that body.

She gave her daughter a keen eyed look "It's like a Oreo cookie though, its the inside that is the most important part, without the cream filling all you would have is two chocolate cookies and well, that just wouldn't be an Oreo at all....right Krissy?"

Rory let her head fall back with a groan before she slumped into the chair in front of her mom's desk. "How much do you know and why is it that all of your analogies involve snack foods?"

Lorelai gasped "See I knew it they brainwashed you. No self-respecting Gilmore girl would ever call the sacred Oreo a mere snack food,. Why it is one of the five great religious emblems that form the core of the Gilmore creed, the other four being of course coffee, cheeseburgers and fries, pizza and Ben and Jerry's ice cream of any flavor but sorbet...ice cream with no fat and fruit is just a cheap attempt to fool us wiser folk into eating something good for us."

Rory was still staring at the ceiling but a smile graced her lips now, she realized sometimes amid these completely inane conversations that she really missed her mom. "I think that was one too many."

Lorelai shook her head sagely "No, only five because cheeseburgers and fries must always be eaten together, they are like Lucy and Desi or Ben and Jerry, one simply can not exist without the other, it is against all laws of nature. "

Rory laughed and then sat up. "So how did you find out?"

Lorelai gave her a smug look. "Let's talk about it in the car, all this talk of food has me starved." She grabbed her purse and coat and headed for the door. "Come on Krissy, I know the emaciated look is in amongst the pep crowd but it goes against the Gilmore code."

"You spent all day thinking these up didn't you?"

Lorelai gave a delightedly wicked laugh "I have a list, wanna see?"

Rory silently geared herself up in anticipation of the humiliation "What ever happened to a mother protecting her daughter? Have you no motherly instincts at all?"

"You know I think you are breaking some rule of pep. Don't the bouncing tiggers in skirts say cheerleading is more than a sport - it's an attitude?" She considered her daughter for a moment "Maybe you need a tune up."

"Are you going to do this all night?'

Lorelai put a companionable arm around Rory's shoulders "probably. Buck up little camper Of all things you wear, a smile is the most important. Although I always say some pants don't hurt.'

They were settled in the jeep before Lorelai launched into her tale. "They always say the mother is the last to know and in this case I think they were right. It seems that Kirk has a bit of an obsession about collegiate sports and religiously tapes the broadcasts of all collegiate football games that occur in the Ivy League conference, why this is the case is clearly beyond the scope of this particular investigation. Anyway, you can imagine my shock when Babette told me that there was some pirated footage of you in a cheerleading outfit apparently making what sounded like a porn flick from the seventies. Of course I defended you, no Gilmore would ever be caught dead in the outfit, much less playing the princess of pep to an audience of Harvard fans. It would go against everything in the code. Since I was so adamant in my denial of said event I was forced under some coercion into Kirk's basement, a little field trip that I would highly suggest you leave off your must see list unless you plan on reliving the worst parts of the Eight Legged Freaks, apparently besides the somewhat obsessive watching of college football games Kirk has a rather unhealthy fascination for arachnids, I'm going to be getting the creep crawlies for months after that little visit with in the underworld. They could write an entire textbook for Abnormal Psychology on Kirk. Anyway, as the resident naysayer I was treated to a personal, exclusive viewing of a piece of filmmaking history starring none other than my esteemed daughter carrying, drum roll please, pom poms. It was a cathartic event, the moment when I realized that somewhere in your childhood I must have gone terribly, terribly wrong, I almost wish it had been drugs, that would have been easier to explain, but pep, the antithesis of all that is Gilmore, the death knell to the age of mockery, such a crime has never been perpetrated in the annals of Gilmore girl history. It was a blow to the very integrity of the culture." She gasped and clutched her chest as if in pain, "You, my only child, have gone over to the blonde side."

Rory moaned "You have been waiting all day to say that haven't you?"

Lorelai nodded gleefully "Yep. Just wait I've got more. Do you know what bumper sticker they saw on the back of the cheerleaders car?"

Rory leaned her head back in resignation "No." she muttered.

"Body By Nautilus; Brain By Mattel" Lorelai clapped her hands against the steering wheel and bounced in her seat as she chortled.

Rory put a hand over her eyes "Okay, I hate to do it but I have to threaten you, if you keep it up with the rah rah jokes I'm not going to tell you about the kiss."

Lorelai's mouth made an 'O' of captivated interest and then transformed itself into a masterful pout "Mean, you are so mean. You know the only joy in my life comes from mocking the pretty and the peppy?"

Rory crossed her arms "Nope, the pouting won't work and don't even bother giving me those Bette Davis eyes, I won't be budged, one more reference to pep, cheerleading, pom poms or short skirts and you aren't hearing a single word out of me about the rest of the weekend."

Lorelai seemed to be mulling over her options. This was a prime mocking opportunity but tales of a kiss could be good too. "How good of a story are we talking? On say a scale of one to ten, ten being the story about Kirk getting treed in the town square during his night terrors."

She pondered "A nine at least.'

Lorelai sighed in a belabored manner "And the moratorium on the pom pom jokes would only count for tonight?"

Rory rolled her eyes "Fine, only for tonight.'

"Okay but this had better be one hell of a story."

They arrived at the diner and the looks they got just walking into the familiar surroundings were enough to make Rory want to turn tail and run. She had a bad feeling about this, a very bad feeling. They made it to a table without mishap but that might have been just luck or the rather menacing glares that Luke was aiming at anyone who came near them. Her diner man in shining flannel to the rescue again. Sliding into their seats Rory carefully kept her face averted in hopes that lack of direct eye contact would convince people to stay away...as if that had ever worked in Stars Hollow. Luke approached with a greeting and a pot of coffee, welcome offerings in both respects. He poured coffee and took their orders with little mishap although he did seem to be attempting rather unsuccessfully to hide a smile.

Rory leaned across the table and asked in a half whisper "You told Luke?"

Lorelai laid her hand on Rory's and gave her a sad eyed look "Honey, Luke is my boyfriend, we have no secrets.... but actually in this case I didn't tell him...Kirk did."

"Kirk?

"It seems that Kirk has taken it upon himself to become your local Stars Hollow one man PR firm, he is a BIG fan and I think he is planning an entire line of Krissy merchandise to be produced and sold over the internet."

Rory's eyes went wide "Tell me you are kidding, pleased tell me you are kidding."

Lorelai gave a pitying shake of the head "Alas, I wish I could."

Thud...this was the sound of her head hitting the top of the table and then being lifted a scant inch and allowed to drop again. Thud, Thud.... this was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder and Rory raised her head only to be met with the visage of the infamous Kirk himself.

"Rory, just the person I was looking for. I wanted to ask you for an autograph, you know one of those I knew her before she was famous kind of stories that I can show to Letterman and Barbara Walters with a charming anecdote about small town life." He handed her a napkin "Here you can sign this, nice down home authentic napkin from the diner you used to frequent." She looked at him dumbly "You don't mind if I frame it do you, that might be worth a lot on eBay some day" he made some imagined slight and hurried to reassure her "Not that I would sell it of course, I'm sure I would never be able to part with it for purely sentimental reasons."

Thud....

"You know I started a petition to allow the showing of the movie at the theater, I've gotten over 30 signatures so its looking very good. Will you be coming back for the premiere?"

Thud...

"You know you really shouldn't do that, a bruise on your forehead will be very hard to cover up in the publicity photos. I read in Celebrity magazine that you can't be too careful about those things, once there is a picture of it out there somewhere on a paparrazzi there is no end to the rumors."

Thud...

Rory punctuated the thudding with a beseeching look at her mom who was clearly enjoying this whole scenario way too much, She had the look of someone watching a particular fascinating movie. "Now all I need is some red vines." She said with relish.

Rory glared and her voice came out in a hiss "You know you could help me get rid of him."

Lorelai considered this for a long moment "Yes, yes I could, but why would I? This is better than watching reruns of Growing up Gotti any day."

"Nice to know you will sell me out without a second thought just because it's the hiatus and there is nothing good to watch on TV."

"Well that and I am just so proud that my little girl has finally grown up and become the talk of the town, I had hoped that it would be for something that didn't involve showing your underwear on national television but what can I say, I'm just proud to be the daughter of a rising star."

Thud.....

"Okay, okay" Lorelai laughed as she put a hand down to stop the head pounding "All that head banging can't be good for those precocious little brain cells of yours. I'll get rid of him.' She turned to Kirk, "You know Kirk I bet you have a lot of great ideas for a promotional tour, why don't you show us a few of those.'

Rory whipped her head up and glared "What are you doing?"

Lorelai gave her a quieting look, "Shhh, I know what I'm doing, it takes finesse to get rid of Kirk." She turned back to Kirk "So as I was saying..."

Kirk cut her off "Oh, I do have ideas, great ideas. I've even worked out a cheer routine, let me demonstrate." He backed up a step and shouted "Give me a K" he jumped into a cheering stance that Rory supposed was intended to look like a K and held up a napkin in the air , he gestured towards it "You just have to pretend this is a pom pom. Give me an R" he formed a circle with his arms and kicked one leg out nearly tripping Luke in the process.

Luke stopped directly in front of him with two loaded plates of food "Kirk, does this look like a football field to you?"

Kirk made a garbled little sound "Um, er, well, no, but I was just demonstrating my routine for Ror..."

"No cheers in the diner." Luke said in a no nonsense tone.

"Well, um, " Kirk gave them a sorrowful look "Maybe I could draw up a few ideas for you and show them to you later."

Lorelai nodded solemnly "That's a great idea Kirk, why don't you get back to us on that."

"Yeah, oh Rory can you sign my pom pom, er napkin...."

"KIRK!" Luke's growl had become ferocious and Kirk cast one last glance at the irritated diner owner "Uh, never mind, I'll just get that from you later."

He nodded excitedly and Lorelai smiled at him brightly "Great, so I will have my people call your people and we will set up a meet. "

She laughed out loud when Kirk had backed out the diner, stumbling as he tried to walk out the door backwards. "I have always wanted to say that." She said with an evil smile. "Now we just have to get you out of here before he comes back with the megaphone and real pom poms' she shivered "Kirk in a cheerleading skirt is too scary an image for words."

Rory wrinkled her forehead in confusion "Why wouldn't he wear those little shorts the guys wear?"

"It's Kirk."

Luke brought their food and Rory grabbed it and tore into it with gusto, her appetite returned now that they had gotten rid of Kirk the king of kook.

"Whenever I get homesick for Stars Hollow all I will have to do is think of this moment and it will all go away."

Lorelai smiled "Ah, you know you love us, we grow on you, kind of like warts. " Lorelai took a big bite of her own burger and chased it with a gulp of coffee....."mmmmm, heaven on a bun." Her eyes popped open "Okay sweets, enough stalling, spill, and I want all the gory details every cough, snicker or sneeze."

"Lets see, I think we last left out heroine" Rory pointed to herself " that would be me, in the streets of New York, I believe you spoke with Logan, and by the way I still want to know what you threatened him with, I must not have heard that one before because he turned about three shades of white whenever I mentioned it."

Lorelai shook her head "Sorry, no can do, its specifically states in the mommy handbook that when one of the big threats is used it must never be disclosed to anyone who is not a fellow mother. I'm afraid if I tell you then they will take away my membership card and then what will I do? No more ice cream socials, no more quilting bees or tea parties....my life would have no meaning."

"Okay Mrs. Van de Kamp chill, I won't make you divulge your top secret curses on young men. " She went on to tell her the tale of the break in at Columbia between bites of hamburger.

Lorelai gave a shocked gasp and clutched her hand to her chest "You stole a book...the star of the Stars Hollow library, the winner of most responsible book loaner five years running, stole a book? You better not say that too loud, they might take away your certificate and I was saving those for a special little expose project."

She gave her mom a disgruntled look "You're funny...a regular Janine Garafalo. Can I finish please?" Lorelai waved for her to continue "After New York we headed for Boston and I think you probably know most of the story from that little outing. I am going to kill Logan for conning me into that outfit."

Lorelai gave her an inquisitive look as she paused with a fry halfway to her mouth "So it's Logan now is it?"

Rory waved her off "I'm getting to that..."

"Getting to it...does that mean that there is something to get to?"

"Don't heckle me or you will never hear the end of the story."

Lorelai pouted "But that's what I do, I heckle, I mock, I deconstruct, it's my calling in life. Are you asking me to give up the only talent I have that is worth anything?"

"Save it for the stage Norma Rae."

Lorelai sighed dramatically "No pity whatsoever, where did I go wrong?"

Rory took a couple more sips of coffee and started looking around for pie, which seemed to magically appear when Luke realized they were finished with their burgers. Lorelai gave him a sweet joyous smile "I love dating the diner man. You just have to love a guy who brings you coffee and pie whenever the whimsy strikes you?"

Luke looked a little unbalanced at her off hand confession of love but quickly backed away from the table pretending to hear Caesar calling. Rory looked at her mom "Did you just say you loved Luke?"

Lorelai paused as if the words that had tumbled out of her mouth had only just registered in her brain. Rory had rarely ever seen her mom as flustered. "I, I guess I did....I don't think I meant to, I hadn't planned to, at least not this way, but I must have meant to because I said it and it came out without even a hiccup, usually that doesn't happen unless its for real right?"

She looked at Rory with a slightly panicked expression as if begging her for an answer to that age-old question, Rory pointed to herself in shock "You are asking me?"

Lorelai cast another half scared look at Luke who was doing his best to avoid eye contact behind the counter and then shook her head in consternation and smacked herself on the forehead. "How do I get myself in these messes, maybe I should listen to my mother about that whole running at the mouth thing..." she gasped in horror and clapped a hand over her mouth at the blasphemous words that had somehow just escaped.

Rory grabbed her hand and pulled it away laughing now at her mom's antics "Now that's just the crazy talking. I'm sure its fine, you and Luke will figure it out. Don't worry so much, I know he loves you too and he is used to your crazy brain to mouth talking without he filter so once the shock wears off he'll be fine, better than fine probably."

Lorelai sat for a long moment and stared into her coffee cup as if trying to see the prophesy for the future in the dregs at the bottom. Finally she took a deep breath and looked up at Rory with a nearly incandescent smile. Rory felt her own lips curving, it was such contagious joy that you couldn't help but smile in response. Lorelai whispered in an almost awed voice "I love Luke."

Rory giggled at the happiness that touched her heart, happiness for her mom, for Luke and for herself that her mom had finally realized that she loved the man that had practically been her father for so many years. "I know mom, I know."

Lorelai sat there with shining, dreamy eyes for a long minute before blinking herself back from that starry eyed world. She would settle things with Luke later, when it was just the two of them. For now she had a story to get to the bottom of and a daughter to advise. Rory had come to her with the puppy dog eyes and wrinkled brow, classic signs of an impending romantic entanglement and she would bet her last cup of Luke's coffee that their old friend Big Mac was the man responsible. She knew the type. In fact she was the type, and Christopher was the type, Rory was practically genetically programmed to respond to that piper when he played. The fact that Rory had somehow escaped this trait in her teenage years had always been a secret wonder of Lorelai's but now she saw that perhaps it was a latent genetic predisposition which did not rear its head unless confronted with the correct stimuli and there was no doubt that Logan Huntzberger was a lethal dose of that stimuli. Lorelai only hoped that Rory knew what she was getting in to. In the end she could threaten young Mr. Huntzberger with all manner of physical and mental tortures but she couldn't keep him from breaking her little girls heart much as it pained her to admit it. It was painful sometimes to realize that Rory wasn't that adoring little clone of her anymore. She was a woman with her own heart and mind and her own life choices ahead of her.

Her head came up "Okay, if I remember correctly before this touching little Hallmark moment we were just getting to the good part. Don't think you are going to derail me that easily, you promised full disclosure and that is what I expect to get."

Rory continued with the story of the Trivial Pursuit, game leaving out only a few of the more touchy spots, those weren't really her secrets to tell. "Good thing you said Willy Wonka, I would have had to disown you otherwise."

Rory laughed aloud "I told them exactly that."

Lorelai sniffed "I've taught you well my child. Willy Wonka is a god. I think I want that on my tombstone 'I'm not going to heaven, I'm going to the Chocolate factory'"

Rory nodded and pretended to be jotting it down on her hand "Noted. So, back to the game, for the last question we had to divulge our deepest secrets or fears and somehow, although I don't think I really intended to I ended up telling them all about Dean."

Lorelai sobered quickly "You haven't really talked about it much, do you feel better about it now?"

Rory thought for a moment and then nodded slowly "I guess I do, it was one of those things that felt like this huge weight on my shoulders and somehow telling them about it was like casting off the shame I felt about it, facing it head on. Actually Logan was astonishingly sweet about it, not sappy sweet so much but sweet with that sarcastic edge, just the medicine the doctor ordered as it turns out."

Lorelai nodded, all bets were off now, no question Logan was in the game. "Okay, so we had a little night of unveiling secrets, some soul cleansing, then what?"

Rory talked her way through the Sunday antics and was telling the story of the Hollywood themed gala with great exuberance and many impressions of the involved parties when she got to the dance. Lorelai saw it the minute the tone changed, Rory's eyes got that far away look like she was imaging herself there right now, dancing the night away in the arms of attraction so to speak. Lorelai shook her head almost imperceptibly, she was definitely starting to see a trend here, Rory was either teetering on that edge or hanging on by barely a fingernail but it was only a matter of time before she tumbled and if she knew her daughter that was exactly the source of her angst,. Rory didn't like to lose control, she didn't like to go into the unknown without a guide book, she always asked directions when she got lost, she was in some ways mentally unequipped for love although Lorelai didn't believe that she had actually experienced the real thing yet. Dean had been her first love, her trial run and a sweeter first boyfriend a mother couldn't ask for, although some of the after effects were less pleasant to remember. Jess had been Rory's form of rebellion, she had no doubt that she had been attracted to him, had even believed herself in love but it was a love based on finding a kindred mind, on challenging her own views of the world and she had learned that lesson perhaps more harshly than was deserved. Now this Logan, he was everything Rory had always detested, cocky, rich, oozing charm, yet she had seen the way that Logan looked at her daughter, even then at the dawning of their acquaintance. He had looked like someone who had just seen the most beautiful piece artwork they had ever laid eyes on and were stunned speechless by its exquisiteness. She didn't know his motives but he cared for her daughter, perhaps more than he wanted to, and therein lay the danger.

She leaned forward after Rory summed up the rest of the night in broad strokes "My god, I am in awe, its like the plot of a Mel Brooks movie, I don't even know where to start my interrogation. The law breaking, the lush making or maybe the frog kissing." She tapped a finger to her lips in mock indecision "Lets start with the last one and work our way back shall we."

Rory sighed in a much-maligned fashion, she should have known her mom would latch onto the situation with Logan and worry it like a dog with a bone, although in reality she was kind of glad because she could really use some advice. Lorelai nodded decisively "So lets sum up what we know of the frog in question. He is rich, cocky and charming....three strikes against him right from the start" she held up three fingers on one hand "on the other hand he is witty, appears to have more than a solitary pair of neurons to his name and knows how to make good coffee, those three kind of cancel out the first three so we are back at square one which is good because I was going to have to go to toes next. The dancing was good, I'm going to assume the kissing was good from the loopy look on your face and the guy has an impressive cadre of friends all of whom are masters of film trivia and quotes, I've got to meet this Finn guy by the way. So what am I missing? What do you think of Logan?"

Rory stared out the window for a long moment weighing her mom's words. Her eyes landed on the gazebo, the last time she had sat there it was the night that she and Dean had broken up. It seemed like a millennium ago now but it had really only been a couple of weeks. The wounds were healing and they no longer hurt to touch. That wasn't what made her hesitate. The truth was she was scared of what she thought of Logan. She was scared that she had someone who could match her and challenge her. She had never been one to jump headfirst into love, "I guess he intrigues me."

"Intriguing...that's good, what else?" Lorelai was looking attentive now. "When you kissed who kissed who first?"

'Well, I guess technically I kissed him, but only because he sort of dared me to."

Lorelai raised a surprised eyebrow, Rory wasn't usually the one to initiate things in this kind of setting so this Logan fellow must have really gotten under her skin. "So if someone dared you to kiss, say Kirk, would you do it?'

Rory made a disgusted face "Ew, no, but what does that have to do with anything?"

Lorelai held up a hand "Hold on, I do have a point. So, Logan dared you to kiss him and this was enough to override your usual timidity and make you kiss this guy in the middle of a room full of virtual strangers and you are claiming it was just because of a little challenge?"

Rory flushed "Okay, well, maybe not entirely because of the challenge. Its just he really knows how to push my buttons and push me to do things that I wouldn't normally do. I don't know what it is about him that I always rise to the bait, usually I have no problem walking away from a dare." She sighed as if she felt defeated by this revelation.

Lorelai put her hands over her daughter's on the table "Maybe you like him."

Rory shook her head almost sadly "I do, I do like him, I didn't want to but somehow that didn't matter because here I am, in like with a guy I thought I hated a couple of days ago.'

"Sometimes the line is a little smudged between like and dislike." Lorelai paused unsure about how much to say, Rory had always been a little touchy when it came to discussing relationships and especially after the whole blow up about Dean this summer she was still careful to tread lightly in this direction. "Do you want my advice?"

Rory nodded slowly "Yeah, I guess I could use it right now, I'm just sort of all turned around, since the day I met Logan he has made it a habit of turning all my predetermined notions on their ear. I don't know what to think anymore."

Lorelai looked her in the eye "You just hit the nail on the head my dear, this is meant in the nicest way possible but that is exactly your problem, you think too much, I do it too so it doesn't take too much for me to recognize it in you. If you really think that you want to give this guy a chance you have to just let all your charts and graphs and lists and rules go. Love or like or whatever this is, those aren't rational things and you can't analyze them no matter how hard you try. You just have to let go and see what happens."

There was a long moment of silence as Rory digested her mother's words of wisdom, she knew from first hand experience that those words came from her mom's own hard learned lessons and she knew she was right. It was just that she had never been very good at losing control, it went against her nature. Maybe if they just set some ground rules then she would feel better about just playing it by ear. She nodded now with new resolution, yes that was it, she would meet Logan tomorrow and they would talk about what all this meant and then she could relax and ride the current the rest of the way. She looked back up at her mom "Thanks mom."

Lorelai looked into Rory's now decisive eyes and stifled a little groan "You're planning the strategy already aren't you?"

Rory opened her mouth to answer but never got the chance as Lane bounced through the door just at that opportune moment and made a beeline for their table . "Rory, I just heard you were here, I didn't have to work tonight and no one bothered to tell me that you were going to be in town tonight." She mock glared at Lorelai "Some surrogate mother you are."

Lorelai looked properly chastened "Sorry, I will take my punishment like a woman and get you pie." She started to slink towards the counter.

Lane laughed as she pulled Rory up by the arm. "I'll take a rain check, right now I'm going to steal Rory for some much needed girl talk" she looked around the diner now as if checking for spies "it is of a sensitive nature and there are too many eyes and ears here for the discussion, you know Mama Kim has informers everywhere. Besides , I just saw Miss Patty and Babette on their way here with Kirk and he was carrying a megaphone so I figured now would be a good time for Rory to disappear."

Rory looked at her mother in surprise "How did you know about the megaphone"

Lorelai laughed and tapped a finger to her head "I have mastered the art of following Kirk's particular brand of insanity, it is a must if you want to stay one step ahead of the nutcases, as I myself am a nutcase I take great pride in stealing his thunder. Now you had better skedaddle, Kirk on a mission is not a man to be trifled with, you just leave him to me, I'm great at obfuscation and misdirection."

Lane pulled her out of the diner at a near run and they made it to the corner just in time to see Miss Patty, Babette and Kirk decked out in full cheerleader regalia storm the diner. Rory had to smother a giggle as they watched Luke rant and Lorelai bat her eyes innocently as the three gestured wildly.

The walked the rest of the way to Lane's place at a quick clip trying to avoid any ambushes. The apartment was unoccupied when they reached it and Rory heard Lane heave a sigh of relief. Her eyebrows rose "Boy trouble?"

Lane collapsed onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling "More like dating your roommate and bandmate troubles."

"Ah" Rory plopped down next to her and prepared to hear the latest in the saga of the wooing of the somewhat clueless Zach.

"It's just that Zach is the lead singer you know, and he has that sort of lead singer appeal that is like some sort of special pheromone that attracts bimbos and trollops."

Rory nodded, personally she couldn't quite see the appeal of the unkempt band mate but everyone had his or her own type. Lane continued "Its just that Zach is used to dating band groupies and wanna be musicians who somehow think that by having sex with a musician they will grow some actual musical talent themselves and become the next Gwen Stefani or something. Or, worse, they think maybe they will be the next Yoko and go down in history for breaking up this great band, and while I have to say with little humility that Hep Alien is a totally rocking band I hardly like seeing these arm charms draped all over my boyfriend."

Rory nodded again trying to keep up with the somewhat circuitous logic "So, what exactly are you worried about? Do you think that Zach will cheat on you?"

Lane looked up the ceiling "I am afraid that if I don't have sex with him it will only be a matter of time before one of the skanky hoes gives him a better offer and he starts to wonder what he, the lead singer, is doing with the dorky, short, eyeglass wearing, Korean virgin. I'm mean it helps that I am an awesome drummer but that only goes so far in making me redeemable in eyes like his.'

Rory thought for a long moment, it wasn't like she was the expert on the birds and the bees, she had sex with one guy and look how that had turned out. "You're not dorky."

Lane grunted "That's the best you can come up with? There is no hope for me is there?"

Rory shrugged, "Well that other stuff was sort of true, you are Korean, you are sort of short and you are a virgin....I guess you could get contacts and that would take one off the list."

Lane threw a pillow at her "Some pep talk Oprah."

Rory laughed "Let me ask you one question. Do you want to have sex with Zach?"

Lane sighed and stared up at the ceiling "I don't know. I mean I know it's totally un-rock and roll of me but I guess I always thought that I would have sex for the first time with a guy I loved. I don't love Zach, I like him, he's fun and cute and sort of endearing in a cave man kind of way but I don't love him at least not yet and I don't think I can have sex with him until I know if I can love him. Am I being crazy?'

Rory lay back on the bed now as well and looked at the glow in the dark stars pasted on the ceiling thinking about her own recent initiation into the realm of the devirginized. "I don't think you are crazy at all. I mean I enjoyed sex with Dean, I loved Dean but it wasn't that kind of passionate, all consuming, drive you mad kind of love anymore and part of me kind of wishes that I had waited, that my first time was fireworks and the marching band and not just a nice subdues string quartet." She turned her head to meet Lane's gaze "I guess I should have stuck with the short answer instead of waxing poetic. I don't think you are crazy."

Lane smiled "Thank you oh wise one, I consider you my guru in all matters of the heart."

Rory shook her head sadly "Then you and I are both up a creek without a paddle because I don't have a clue what I am doing when it comes to anything concerning that rather indiscernable organ."

Lane leaned up on one elbow "Okay, enough about me, tell me what's going on with you and your preppy Bulldog friend."

Rory propped her self up on an elbow as well so she was facing Lane "I don't even know where to start....I kissed him on a dare, and then he kissed me on a balcony and then I spit coffee all over him and kissed him half naked. I think I may be insane.'

Lane squealed in delight. "Thank god someone besides me is all mixed up by love. Tell me all sister, I hear confessions are good for the soul."

Rory began the tale, all the while pondering the right starting point for tomorrow. She knew there was little chance of sleep tonight while these new emotions played havoc with her dreams. Well, tomorrow was a new day with no mistakes in it. An orchestra poised waiting for the first downbeat from the conductor an that downbeat would set the tone for the entire symphony.