Tomorrow :
Logan got there early having decided in a fit of sleep deprived genius that if ever there had been time to pull out all the stops it was now. He had a plan prepared that seemed flawless but if there was one thing he had learned about Rory it was that she threw the unexpected into even the most foolproof plans and this time he was determined to be prepared. There was no way that he was going to let a girl that could reduce him, the worldly Casanova, to a grinning idiot with a single kiss, run without a fight. Life was about chances and this one was a doozie. Once he was sure the scene was set he settled in to chair and waited for the opening curtain.
Rory rolled out of bed early unable to sleep with thoughts of the first coffee 'date' with Logan carousing in her brain. She restrained herself from being early to the address on the card, not wanting to look too eager but it was clear he had her number because he must have known that the suspense and curiosity would eat at her until she broke. She pulled into a small parking lot at the given address with five minutes to spare. She sat in her car for two of those minutes lecturing herself about her resolutions. Yes, she wanted to explore this new thing with Logan but she was only going to do it on her own terms, she was going to set boundaries and adhere to them.
She got out of her car and looked up at the old building in front of her and stared blankly at the sign that read 'Wit's End Bookstore and Cafe'. A bookstore? Now that was a curve ball, of all the places she might have guessed an old bookstore wouldn't have made the top twenty. She walked over to the door and peered inside but couldn't see past the winding maze of bookcases. She pulled open the door a bit hesitantly and stepped inside. The spacious room was illuminated by the winter sun streaming in through the tall windows that made up the whole front of the building. She breathed deep the dusty aroma of old well-loved tomes and aged leather and shook her head again in wonder. Just when she thought she had Logan pegged he threw another surprise at her. She wondered if she would ever peel her way to the heart of the onion that was Logan Huntzberger.
She had yet to see any signs of life in the vast space so she followed a meandering path through the towering stacks of books, there were a few times that she almost succumbed to the temptation to browse but knew that was a path of no return. Had she been a girl of less fortitude she might have fainted dead away from the over stimulation of it all. She cast a covetous eye at many a treasure but continued resolutely on through this paradise of prose. It was the grind and whir of an espresso machine and the wafting heavenly aroma of coffee that kept her on the straight and narrow. She finally found an open archway at the very back of the large room and glimpsed what looked like a cozy little cafe through its portal. Her eyes went wide with wonder when she took in the warm painted murals on the walls, there was a small espresso counter at one end and the rest of the space was taken up with large comfy looking armchairs and coffee tables. It looked like a portal into a scholar's study straight out of an old turn of the century English novel. A room dedicated entirely to the worship and praise of the written word. There was even a fire crackling in a small fireplace on the far end. Rory sighed in pleasure; she could happily spend a good month or two in this spot right here and let the rest of the world drift away outside its inviting confines. It definitely threw her world off balance to realize that Logan was the one who was introducing her to such an idyllic place. That brought her back to the purpose of her presence here and her eyes scanned the room in search of her companion. She saw his spiky blond hair over the back of one of the chairs facing away from the doorway and she watched silently as he absently reached for a steaming cup of coffee that sat at his elbow and he flipped a page in whatever he was reading with such total concentration.
She crowed in delight "I knew it, I just knew it, I bet you are even a closet book sniffer. "
Logan spoke without looking in her direction" You got me, I am at your mercy now since you've got such scandalous blackmail material you could ruin me for good, I'd be the laughing stock of the LDB."
She waved a hand in dismissal as she rounded the chair "Nah, no one would believe me anyway, but I think that you knew that or you wouldn't have let me in on your little secret."
Her breath caught in her throat when she came face to face with him and he lifted his head to give her a pleased smile. There might be call for those smelling salts after all. Be still her beating heart, he was wearing glasses, cute glasses that lent a scholarly edge to his usually clean-cut, boyish good looks. With a brown sweater with the sleeves pushed up his forearms, and an old book resting in his lap he looked every inch the highbrow literati, whiling away a pleasant morning with a cup of coffee and a dog-eared copy of Hemingway or Salinger and ready to spout Shakespearean poetry at the drop of a hat. She felt her heart give a little flutter, damn; it was like he knew about her secret fetish for the cerebral type. She had probably been the only young girl ever to confess to her mom after watching Superman that she was in love with Clark Kent, the way she saw it who needed a guy in tights and a cape when you could have the guy in the glasses. A dashing hero was all fine and good but give her a bookish hottie any day and she would be drooling in no time, it didn't help that recent memory reminded her that she already thought he was drool worthy for other more physical reasons. Those glasses on his adorable face combined with the mirthful wit in his eyes and the quirky smile was a deadly combination.
She searched for words and for composure "You look..." sexy, irresistible her mind supplied, no, no, no her rational side screamed, way too soon for those kinds of declarations "different".
He raised an eyebrow suggestively as if he had heard her silent mental arguments. With supreme effort she broke his teasing gaze and dropped into a chair opposite him across the table. She looked around idly, trying not to focus on his new look too much. He waved a hand at the woman behind the small counter for another cup of coffee as he watched Rory take in her surroundings with an air of awe. He had taken a gamble showing her this place, one of his favorite hideouts that few if any of his friends knew about. It was one of the few places that he usually preferred to be alone with his thoughts and a good book.
When the woman arrived with a second cup of coffee he sent her a friendly smile
"Do you need cream or sugar?" the woman asked casually.
"No, she takes it black, thanks Marie." The woman smiled and headed back towards her counter. Logan turned his head to catch Rory's curious gaze, if she was surprised that she knew how she took her coffee she didn't show it. Her curiosity seemed to stem from his familiarity with the barista.
"Another conquest?" she couldn't quite help the edge of accusation, this definitely wasn't going to work if every other second she was faced with one of his cast offs.
He smiled as he lifted his own cup to his lips "Why if I didn't know better I would think that was a tinge of jealousy I detect."
She glared at him and crossed her arms "Don't flatter yourself, I just like to know what I am getting myself into and whether I have to spend all my time watching my back for some Fatal Attraction type attack from one of your spurned lovers."
He shrugged "If you say so. To answer your question, firstly I have to tell you that rumors of my promiscuity have been highly exaggerated, there aren't nearly as many spurned lovers as over inflated estimates might predict, secondly, I do have standards, some people have rules about dating in the work place, my rule is I never date anyone where I read. You can always get a new job but it's hard to find a bookstore of this caliber with coffee this good. I come here a lot so I know the names of the people who work here, you aren't going to accuse me of being gay when I say hi to Simon are you? If you are I should warn you he is kind of a tough guy and I don't think he would take questions about his sexuality too well.'
Rory laughed despite herself. "Has anyone ever told you that you are incorrigible?"
He nodded thoughtfully "Several actually but I think you may be the first one who could actually quote the dictionary definition of the word."
Rory took a sip of her own coffee and was pleasantly surprised by its rich flavor. She sighed "You know Huntzberger, with your apparent good taste in book stores and knowledge of superior coffee, you might just be the perfect man after all."
He grinned widely "So I've been told."
That got a chuckle and sarcastic eyebrow raise "Ah, now there is the Big Mac I expected to meet this morning. You had me thrown there for a moment with the whole Peter Parker look. "
He smiled his irascible smile that made her heart flip flop again. She was going to have a serious chat with that particular organ when the chance presented itself, one would think that it was trying out for the Olympic tumbling team the way it flipped and spun at ever other word out of this boy's mouth.
"I have it on good authority that girl's love the intellectual look."
She gritted her teeth and sent him an insincere smile hoping he wouldn't guess how close to the mark he had come on that one. "And who would be your source for this infinite wisdom?"
"Finn of course.'
"Seems sort of like asking for investment advice from the head of Enron."
He laughed "You'd be surprised, Finn seems to have a natural acumen for understanding the confusing psychology of the female mind " actually this didn't surprise Rory at all "maybe its because of his complete disconnection from the state which is normally referred to as sanity."
She gasped at the teasing slight to womankind "We were having a perfectly lovely cup of coffee and a nearly normal conversation so I am going to side step that little comment for the moment in the name of maintaining the peace because any conversation stemming from that topic will undoubtedly end in you becoming a eunuch and me leaving in a huff which seems rather unproductive all around. Besides I have something to ask you."
Logan raised his cup "Do pardon my slip of the tongue. Since you were so kind I will agree to answer your query. Ask away Ace." He set down his cup and focused all of his considerable attention on her, bracing himself for what he was sure was the first obstacle she was going to throw in their path. He wasn't disappointed.
Under his sudden scrutiny she shifted in her seat and fumbled a bit for the words, it had seemed very straightforward when she had practiced in the car but now the words didn't sound right in her head, she took a deep breath and launched into her spiel "Well, um, I guess that I am wondering what exactly this whole agreement to explore this, um, thing between us entails."
His brow wrinkled "You lost me Ace. Was that a question or a mission statement?"
She sighed in exasperation "How do we start this whole" she waved her hands vaguely "exploration thing?"
He nearly laughed but he could see that she was dead serious, oh dear; they had farther to go than he thought. "Well, um, actually, I hate to break it to you but I think we already heard the starter's gun and we are well into the first lap."
She nodded as if assimilating this information into some databank in her brain and he resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "So, uh, what exactly is it that we are doing? "
This time he did roll his eyes "Would you like a road map or directions for assembly or something? I thought girls were supposed to be good at this stuff."
She bridled at the exasperation in his voice "Look, I'm just trying to get the ground rules straight, so there are no misunderstandings."
He gave a beleaguered sigh "Okay, well, if you insist, I had thought we would make it to at least the second sort of date before discussing the ending but here is the game plan. I figured we would have a nice little honey moon period, you know get to know each other, act all googly eyed and mushy and generally make people who are forced to be around us physically ill, that will segue right into a brief period of turbulence and identity crises, I understand that is often how these things work, after a few detours we will realize that ours is a star crossed love, we will settle down, get hitched and build a happy little life with 2.5 children a Labrador retriever and white picket fence and live happily ever after."
She looked at him like she was secretly calling the men from the loony bin with her cell phone right that minute and in the mean time she just had to keep him from jumping. Her voice came out strangled "That's not exactly what I had in mind"
He thought there was a tiny chance that she actually thought he was serious and couldn't quite resist the urge to have a bit of fun with her obliviousness. "Well, okay, the kids are optional but the dog is definitely a deal breaker, I'm planning on naming him Spot but that is negotiable."
He could see she was battling between and angry retort and the urge to laugh so he cut her off at the pass. "If you want I can have my lawyer draw up a little pre-dating agreement and lay it out all these stipulations nice and neat. I wouldn't want there to be any misunderstandings.' He smirked at her look of total disbelief.
"You are certifiable do you know that?" she scoffed.
He raised an eyebrow "Now there's a case of the pot calling the kettle black if I have ever heard one."
"I just asked for a little clarity not the next 50 years of my life signed, sealed and delivered.'
He smirked "You say tomato, I say tomato." He stood up and grabbed his jacket from where it hung on a nearby coat rack. Shrugging it on he stepped closer to her." Well my dear Ace its been enlightening, as always, but I have run out of time for chit chat, places to go, people to see you know and apparently I have to see my lawyer about a contract."
She sat stone still the disbelief painted in garish relief across her features and he couldn't resist the urge to lean down and kiss her. He intended it to be only a chaste kiss but within seconds all the frustration she was feeling over the conversation gone so utterly wrong came bubbling up as passion and she grabbed his shoulders and pulled him into a deeper kiss. He was a little dizzy when he finally pulled away and he sent her a pleased smile "Whoo. I'll have to argue with you more often if that's the result."
She gave him playful look laughing at their ludicrous conversation now that the heat of the moment had passed, her eyes were dancing, her fears somewhat relieved for the moment.
She crooked a finger for him to come closer and she whispered in his ear "It's the glasses, I can't help myself.'
"Mental note recorded" he said as he straightened. "Same time, same place tomorrow?'
She smiled and nodded. He headed for the door with a last playful leer "I'll be the one in the specs. Until then Elinor."
She waited until he was out of sight to pick up the book that he had left sitting on the table and look at the front cover, Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, she should have known.
After a bruising day in class Rory bit the bullet and made an appearance in the newsroom holding her breath in hopes that she would get lucky and miss both Paris and her new beau. Seems her lucky streak was all out of steam because when she entered the newsroom the first thing her eyes landed on was Doyle leaning over Paris' desk whispering sweet nothings in her ear although she shuddered to imagine what that might entail in their case. Heaven help the sane when the psychotic found love. She spoke before she could stop herself "Hey, no canoodling in the newspaper office, have you no respect for the sacrosanct?"
Doyle tittered a little before straightening. He pulled his sweater vest down a little self consciously when he met her eyes and then puffed his chest out and advanced on her trying to look intimidating she guessed although it was a little difficult when he was shorter than her and she had only recently had the image of him in blue flowers and trouser socks indelibly burned into her brain.
He glared and his first words were accusing "I thought you said you hated Huntzberger."
So this was the way it was going to be, first blood went to the combatant in argyle. "I thought you said that romance screwed up the whole dynamic in a newsroom." She said with a little challenge and glare in Paris' direction no doubt in her mind what his source had been for that little tidbit.
He narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips "Touché Gilmore."
"Just calling it like I see it Doyle."
He nodded as if the argument were called at a draw "Insolence, I can respect that. Now get to work, I don't pay you to stand around taking jabs at my love life."
Rory rolled her eyes "You don't pay me period."
He waved a hand as he stalked off "Lets just go with it shall we."
"Whatever you say chief." she called with a little lilt of insubordination in her voice. Maybe this whole Paris and Doyle things wasn't half bad after all, as long as their mating rituals stayed behind closed doors he could actually use this to her advantage. She gave Paris a little wave and then plopped down behind her desk glad that little hurdle had been cleared.
Thirty minutes later she was chewing on her second pencil, having already been the demise of one innocent #2, she was beginning to feel a bit hypnotized by the blinking of the cursor on the still empty screen and she was getting absolutely nowhere. The emotions and experiences of the past days were swirling so rapidly in her head that she couldn't seem to grab one and bring it to ground to start her story. She didn't know where to even start the explanation of all that had changed in her world in the mere span of 48 hours. She needed a little time to have it all settle into a big picture that she could see and understand. Of course the whole debate with Logan this morning hadn't exactly gotten that whole clarity of mind and purpose off to the right start. She hadn't asked for that much really just a little clarification about where they were going and how they were going to get there. It wasn't unreasonable, was it?
She sighed in frustration and was just shutting down her computer to call it a day having given up on putting words to paper anytime in the next hour or two when Logan breezed in to the newsroom. She found herself smiling unconsciously and waited for his eyes to meet hers as he passed. She was still waiting as he charged right past her desk and sat with a great deal of aplomb in his own chair, never once sparing her a glance. Her impromptu smile faded into a frown of confusion and then turned to shock as she watched him do something she had never seen him do in the newsroom, turn on his computer. All motion stopped as everyone observed this uncharacteristic behavior.
He raised his head as if just realizing that all attention was focused on him and said in a rather snappy voice "Don't you people have anything better to do than watch someone work?" All eyes snapped to their desks, computer's etc and there was a great flutter of activity as everyone pretended to be busy while watching Logan out the corners of their eyes. "Yes" he snapped again "I do know that computers are used for purposes other than footrests and have on occasion even used them myself. Shocking I know."
Rory held in a chuckle. He was in rare form today and just to annoy him she made no pretense of hiding her curious stare, propping her chin on her hand and watching in fascination as his fingers flew over the keyboard. Something about him ignoring her made her want to pry into his activities. "Got a hot story?"
He didn't look at her "You know curiosity killed the cat Ace."
"Yeah but satisfaction brought it back" she was sort of enjoying poking this prickly Logan, that was until he finished whatever he was typing. She watched him wait with a foot tapping impatiently at the printer, and then watched him take out a long envelope and seal the document inside. She was totally taken by surprise when he walked straight to her desk and dropped the envelope in front of her.
"What's this?" she asked but she was talking to his back as he headed out of the newsroom, apparently having completed his desired task.
Once he had cleared the door of the newsroom Logan slowed to a leisurely stroll predicting that it would only be a matter of minutes before Rory followed ho on his heels. He had spent most of the afternoon replaying the conversation form this morning and he after a bit of therapy from Dr. Finn he had decided that it was time to grab the bull by the horns. If she wanted clarity, she was about to get a whopping dose of it.
Still perplexed she slit open the top of the envelope and pulled out a typed document. Her mouth dropped open when she read the top line; Pre-Dating Agreement for the undersigned parties and listed hers and Logan's complete names. She snickered a little at his middle name, Marlow, but when she scanned the rest of the odd document she snatched up her coat and grabbed the document and envelope and followed after him at a run. She was going to get to the bottom of this strange behavior; this was taking the ridiculous too far.
She caught up with him outside the building and yelled at his retreating figure "Huntzberger." No response "Logan, wait, I want to talk to you." finally he stopped and turned slowly, ever so slowly keeping a carefully neutral face. , Still panting for breath she advanced on him and waved the offending document in his face "What is this? A joke?"
He gave her a serious look and she couldn't tell whether it was for real or only a very convincing act. "I'm giving you what you wanted. An agreement, all the rules laid out nice and neat, I think if you read it you will see that I have been quite generous." He pulled a pen out of his pocket and twisted it to show the writing tip in a very good emulation of every lawyer movie she had ever seen. "Now if you will just read over the conditions and sign if you are in agreement then we can get on with this relationship, or shall I say contractual agreement."
She gaped at him; he never ceased to turn her words into the most ludicrous of statements. "This is utterly ludicrous, you know this isn't what I meant. You are just twisting my words.'
"How can you call it ridiculous, you haven't even read it?" He grabbed it and pointed to one of the conditions "As you can see here there are even early termination stipulations should we end said relationship I will keep Colin but I have ceded Finn to you, a fair distribution of assets if I do say so myself.'
Rory stared at him as if he had suddenly grown a second head "You are giving me Finn?"
Logan cracked a smile at this "Well, honestly, I've been trying to fob him off on some unsuspecting victim for a long time, but you two seemed to hit it off so I thought you might like him, he's not even hard to take care of, just feed him and give him liquor now and then and he pretty much amuses himself."
She shook her head at his insanity "This is totally preposterous."
"Oh really, as nonsensical as say asking for a list of ground rules on our first not quite date?"
She stamped her foot in impatience "Don't you ever take anything seriously?""
He looked at her with a completely solemn expression "Actually the point here was that you are being ridiculous, but I am deadly serious about this. I understand you are scared, I understand that stubborn is practically a religion to you, I even understand the compulsive need to try to control the uncontrollable but Rory this isn't just about you. You've fought the good fight but now you won't accept the peace treaty."
She retreated a little "What do you mean?"
He sighed and leaned back against a stone balustrade before looking over at her. A relationship. Any relationship is about more than one person, in this case I happen to be the other person and I have a few stipulations of my own. In my opinion a relationship is kind of like a good mystery book, there are ups and down, spine tingling moments of fear or anticipation, some good some bad but you work your way through the clues and the circumstances one step at a time and in the end maybe there is some great revelation or maybe you knew the answer all along but that isn't as important as reading the story. Now I would think being the lover of literature that you are that you would never consider reading the end of the mystery and then trying to start at the first page. It would be ruin the whole build up, the enjoyment of the suspense and that sublime frustration of thinking you have figured out the answer but never quite knowing for sure. If you already know how it ends its basic human nature that even that little piece of knowledge takes away from the enjoyment of the moment, you can step back and analyze it better the second time around but its never as exciting or thrilling if you already know its secrets.
I don't know if what we have can even be classified as a relationship but I still can't bring myself to turn that last page and read it before ewe even start. I can't tell you how its going to end or who dun what, I can't promise you a sure thing and I can't promise you happily ever after, nor would I want to try, but I can promise you it will be the ride of a lifetime. You know how I feel, I want to see what's around that next bend in the road but I can't do it with rules and boundaries that take away the thrill of living it. There is always a risk when you take that first step on a new path but that's the only way you really live. I can't accept halfway, I'm not a halfway kind of person; it's either all the way or nothing. We can go back to friends or acquaintances if that's what you want but I won't go forward fettered by a bunch of guidelines and I can't give you a map. If you are looking for those kinds of assurances then I'm not the guy for you. There is no point in even starting this if you think you already know how it ends.
Rory crossed her arms in a defensive position and finally interjected "You are twisting my meaning. I'm not asking how it ends; I just wanted to know how it starts, whether to turn left of right at the first stoplight. I just want..."
Logan put a hand over her lips and silenced her "You want me to tell you that you won't get hurt, but I can't do that. I'm not some all seeing god, you might get hurt, I might get hurt, its the risk you always take if you decide to let someone in to your life, if you let someone see the real you. I can't give you a fortune cookie that tells you it will all work out like in the fairy tales because I don't want to lie to you and I don't want to make promises that I don't know if either of us can keep. All I can tell you is that I am willing to take a chance, to grab your hand and jump off that cliff but I can't guarantee you a parachute."
He paused and looked into her eyes for once without any trace of laughter, his eyes sincere, penetrating and completely resolved, he grabbed her hands and pulled her close until his breath tickled her cheek as he gave her his ultimatum "Its your choice Ace, no one is forcing you but if you choose to jump you have to commit to it without a safety harness.'
She was silent as she leaned back slightly and looked into the warm caramel of his eyes. Finally she spoke in a soft voice "So no potato crash test dummies on this one huh?"
He cracked a small smile as he stepped back from her and released her hands "You jump I jump Jack."
She was motionless for a long time as she watched him walk away until his figure disappeared around the corner of a building and was lost from sight. Could she do it? She had jumped with him once before, physically but could she take the leap emotionally? Logan made no pretense of pretty promises, he gave her nothing but truth and that scared the hell out of her.
This was no beginners board anymore, this was the high dive and nothing guaranteed that there would be water in the pool when she landed, maybe the best case scenario was an ungraceful belly flop.
She managed to put off deeper thoughts until after dinner but only barely and his words still echoed. She walked back towards her suite slowly moving on autopilot her mind consumed by the what ifs, her perpetual demons. She was curled up on the couch staring out the window deep in thought when Paris came charging into the suite. She stopped and scanned Rory's position with an officious air.
She rose an inquisitive eyebrow "You sure shot out of that newsroom like a bat out of hell, care to explain the hasty departure? You and the Skipper have a little lover's spat?"
Rory rose to the bait, only to willing to sidetrack herself from the current thoughts running like a squirrel on a wheel in her brain. "We are not lovers, we are.... well I don't know we are but it definitely isn't that.'
Paris shrugged with a an arch look "Sure, and the SS Minnow was only out for a three hour tour. My instincts distinctly detected love in the air during the last little interlude that I interrupted, or do all your little male friends always wander around looking like a page right out of the Chippendales calendar?"
Rory scoffed "I certainly hope you are talking about the horses because otherwise I am going to be forced to remind you of the little peep show that I was treated to by your little boy toy."
Paris put her hands on her hips "I'll have you know that is a very comfortable robe."
"Yeah, and it was a perfect fit if Doyle is planning to audition for the Victoria's Secret men's catalogue as a little side job."
That was like poking an angry alligator and as expected Paris snapped back "You know a friend would be happy that I found someone with whom I could converse without fearing for the degradation of my brain cells just by association. A friend wouldn't stand in the way of my personal growth."
Rory gave her a toothy smile "and a friend doesn't let a friend screw their editor."
"And consorting with an emotionally unavailable hotshot is your idea of a good relationship choice? Call me crazy but I think I'll stick to Oprah for advice before I take your word for it."
They were practically nose-to-nose when a knock on the door interrupted the face off.
"Why don't you get the door Paris, its probably Doyle looking for a matching teddy to go with the robe."
Rory could practically hear Paris' teeth grinding and neither one of them budged. They were both surprised when the door swung open and revealed a hesitant Marty who held up two paper bags and shook them merrily "I come bearing gifts...." he trailed off as he took in the tension that was rife in the room. "Uh, maybe I should come back later."
Rory stopped him "No, come in Marty, Paris and I were finished anyway."
Paris backed off with a huff "yeah, remind me to return that knife you just stuck in my ribs after I have it surgically removed." She spun on her heel and headed for her room.
Marty raised an eyebrow "I see Paris forgot to take her medication today.'
"Har har har, very original' Paris muttered.
Marty ventured further in to the room "I brought some goodies from the party...' he trailed off as if he suddenly remembered what party he was discussing and flushed a little "Uh, well, I guess you were there so you probably already tried them but it can't hurt to have a few more. Those chocolate cream puff thingies were to die for."
Rory smiled in relief glad that things between her and Marty seemed to be back in equilibrium "Chocolate cream puffs, how did I miss those/? My dessert tracking device must have been on the fritz.'
Marty nodded as he opened the bag for her perusal "Might have something to do with the dancing or the kissing." Rory's eyes shot up to his but he was smiling, friendly and without malice. That's what she loved about Marty; he was truly a nice guy. Paris on the other hand, was not so nice, at mention of a party she had stopped in her tracks and the comment on kissing had her abruptly changing direction.
"Party? Kissing? My investigative instincts are telling me there is more to this story."
Rory sighed dramatically, who needed pestilence and locusts when you had friends and potential suitors. "Look, it's not even an interesting story, oldest one in the book, girl meets boy, girl argues with boy, girl dances with boy and girl kisses boy on a dare. Old news, nothing more to see here." she turned Paris by the shoulders and pushed her back towards her room.
Paris resisted, of course, nothing got Paris' interest piqued more than being out of the know. "If you don't mind I think I will cross examine the witness."
Marty looked a little scared as she advanced on him like a cat about to have a mouse for lunch. "Is she always this litigious?"
Rory almost laughed "This is nothing, you should have seen her when she thought I was trying to seduce Doyle to get the religion beat." she paused "Hey now thats an interesting bit of Freudian foreshadowing wouldn't you say? "
"Laugh it up Gilmore, I'm going to get to the bottom of your little escapade. So, Marty tell me all about this little party. Who was doing the dancing, who was doing the kissing, and I want names."
Marty stuttered a little "Uh, maybe I should just be going, I just remembered I have some studying to do."
"Cute Marty, trying to pull the old I've got to study ploy. I'm not stupid Marty and I could eat you for breakfast so don't toy with me."
Marty sent a helpless look at Rory and she jumped to his defense. "Stop badgering the witness Paris." She grabbed Marty by the arm and pulled him towards the door, she whispered in his ear "Okay, here's the plan, I'll distract her and you make a break for it.' She turned back towards Paris "You win Gellar, I admit that I have to recant my previous testimony regarding my sentiments about one Logan Huntzberger, it turns out that he is not exactly the villain of the play. I saw a different side of him this weekend and I guess you could say there is an unexplored attraction between us."
'Now there's a headline for the Daily News.' Paris caught a glimpse of Marty's face as it fell before he turned and opened the door. She actually felt a little sorry for him. Much as she enjoyed goading him Marty wasn't a bad guy and he totally had a hopeless case of Rory Gilmore infatuation, a syndrome that Paris had seen from behind the scenes a few times. They always fell for the sweet, innocent princess bit but they had no idea what they were really getting. It wasn't even like Rory did it on purpose she just seemed to have that strange effect on men but she was just too clueless to pick up on the signals.
"What does that mean?"
Paris nodded sadly and spoke as if explaining the workings of planet earth to a being from another galaxy "Rory, its like a preordained certainty that you are always the last to know when a guy is in to you. I just don't get how an intelligent girl like you is so totally imbecilic about a thing like love. I would think with your touchy feely up bringing you'd be ahead of the curve on this type of thing but it never fails that you manage to somehow get the guy to fall in love with you and you are still floating along in la la land oblivious to it all and telling them how you are such great friends."
Rory paled, she hated it when Paris was right. "Logan's not in love with me.' It came out defensively, he couldn't be right?"
Paris snorted "maybe not yet but I'm sure its only a matter of time before you cast your Rory spell on him, guys are suckers for it, besides I wasn't talking about boat boy.'
Rory winced in recognition and her voice came out guilty and weak "You know about Marty don't you?"
Paris looked a little surprised "I'm just shocked that YOU know about Marty. He told you didn't he? You would never have figured it out on your own.'
Rory nodded and now she collapsed back into her fetal position feeling a bit sick about the whole thing as she dropped her head to her knees," He kissed me." it came out a mumbled confession.
"Love makes fools of even wise men. So what happened?' Paris sat down next to her.
Rory sighed before raising her head "Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Marty is a great guy but at this point kissing him was kind of like kissing my grandfather, a little icky and totally platonic. I guess you just can't manufacture chemistry when all there is to work with is friendship."
"And with the other recipient of the kiss?'
Rory got a far away look "Chemistry isn't the problem there, in fact I think if we had anymore chemistry we would be in real danger of spontaneous combustion."
Paris nodded "So what is the problem?"
"Logic."
Paris threw her hands in the air and stood up "No, your problem is that you are so busy envisioning yourself in the David and Goliath kind of battle that you don't see that right under your nose is a guy that by your own admissions isn't as much of a monster as you thought he was."
Rory looked up at her "You know for a non believer you spend an awful lot of time spouting biblical references."
"I'm immersing myself in the culture, what any good reporter does.'
"Uh huh, and that's what I was doing with Logan and his friends, immersing myself in the culture, so what's the difference?"
Paris gave her a completely exasperated look "personally I try to stay away from amorous interludes with priests, I may not be a believer but when it comes to eternal damnation I'm willing to hedge my bets. Nice attempt to change the subject though. Look Rory, its no skin off my nose if you run from another Prince Charming but if you want to get on this ship you better do it quick because a captain like Logan isn't going to weigh anchor for long. Now I've got a prayer circle to attend so I will leave you to your mantra...maybe it should be O' Captain my captain."
She was in and out of her room with her coat on as she rushed out the door, her last words carried behind her. "I'll pray for you."
Rory laid her head back on the couch arm and stared out the window again for a while before pulling the Pre-dating agreement out of her book bag and looking at it for a long moment. Was Paris right? Was Logan right? Was she really so paralyzed by the fear of the unknown that she couldn't see past that barrier in the road to what might lay ahead? It seemed like no matter what road she took she ended up right back at this impasse with her fear the main impediment to forward progress. As hard as she looked she could find no way through the hurdle except to go over it. What was holding her back, what was she waiting for? A divine sign?
As if on cue her eyes caught a slight movement out of the corner of her eye. She looked out of the window to the now darkened sky and her mouth fell open in wonderment when she saw small white flakes of snow spinning and twirling in the light from the windows. She got up slowly and walked like a woman in a trance towards her door and out into the courtyard. The night air was chilled and she felt the tiny kiss of the icy flakes on her bare arms but she still could do nothing but marvel at the strange twist of fate that had brought the first snowfall on the very brink of this moment of reflection. . Maybe it was only Gilmore superstitious belief in the mystical powers of snow but her mother had always claimed that the best things in her life had happened when it snowed. Could it be that the magic worked for her as well? If she was waiting for a portentous sign from God she wouldn't get much better than this. She looked down at the mock contract in her hand and in a split second her decision was made. She knew exactly what she had to do. The time for indecision and doubts was past. She practically ran back into her dorm room, anxious now to step into tomorrow with a clean slate.
Logan was lounging in front of the TV flipping channels aimlessly when he heard a strange soft thudding noise in his bedroom. He went in to investigate and saw the remnants of a small snowball splattered across his window. That was odd because he didn't remember any mention of snow in the forecast, in fact this afternoon it had seemed unseasonably balmy. He went over and looked out into the newly white landscape but saw only a couple of small footprints on the sidewalk to indicate the recent presence of another person, probably just a random passerby who was out frolicking in the winter wonderland. He turned back towards the room but stopped abruptly when something caught his eye. He slowly unlocked the window and pushed it open until he could reach the envelope that was taped to one corner. He pulled it inside and quickly shut the glass to keep out the swirl of icy air that had blown in a few stray snowflakes.
He weighed the envelope carefully in his hand as he walked back towards his bed. He knew whom it was from but he was undecided about whether he wanted to know her response to his rather unceremonious mandate. He wasn't usually the sort to resort to ultimatums but desperate times called for desperate measures. Taking a deep settling breathing he gingerly opened the top of the envelope and reached in to pull out its contents. He sat for a full thirty seconds in silence before a throaty chuckle escaped his lips. He knew his decision had been the right one because he had finally found a girl that never ceased to amaze him.
In his hands sat a small plastic baggy filled with what he guessed were the shredded remains of the Predating agreement with at purple sticky note stuck to the front of it that said in bold capital letters 'I'M IN'.
A/N Hello all, I just wanted to say thank you so my reading and reviewing so loyally it has really kept the momentum going. Even though we have now reached the point where Logan and Rory have "gotten together" I am planning on continuing this story onward into their relationship. However, as I have now reached chapter 31 (gasp, how the chapters fly when one is forced to amuse oneself over the hiatus) I thought it the opportune time to take a little poll about whether you all would think it better to continue this story (is 60 chapters too many?) or to end this story here and pick it up as a new story? Please weigh in if you feel strongly either way. For now I will plan to continue. Thanks again for all the great feedback, you guys rock!
