A/N: Sorry about the long delay, vacation and catching up from vacation sort of swamped me. Here's a compromise on the whole new story vs. continuation question, hope you like it. Thanks so much for all the feedback.
Part 2: The Point of No Return
The first morning was a little nerve-wracking. Although Rory awoke refreshed and without regret about her impromptu acceptance of Logan's little challenge that didn't make it any more certain where the path would lead from this moment. Could be the path to happiness, could be the road to ruin, she supposed the only way to know for sure was to pry herself from her warm cozy bed and face the lion in his den. She glanced at her clock, surprised when it only read quarter after eight. If she put herself in gear she might just beat him there today and afford herself a little leisurely time to peruse the fine establishment and get the lay of the land so to speak.
She sailed into the Wit's End and a pleased smile lit her face when she saw that she had beaten him there. Intuitively Rory knew that it didn't matter who got there first but there was a certain admittedly childish satisfaction to settling in to one's seat, savoring that first sip of coffee with a nice side dish of surprise when he saw her already comfortably settled into the same seats they had occupied the day before, although that mere span of 24 hours seemed to have been a lifetime. Rory was ready this time, ready for the pleased smirk, the donning of the glasses, and the scholarly pose with newspaper in hand. She was ready to dissect, examine and scrutinize the mystery that was Logan Huntzberger. She had read the first page and she figured him for a page-turner. Every sleuthing instinct from her brain straight down to her gut said that this would be no predictable ending where the butler did it all, this was going to be one of those twisting, convoluted hair pin turn kind of rollercoaster rides of a story. Now that she had stopped denying to herself and everyone else that she was interested in finding out what really lay behind that sexy smirk her curiosity was piqued and she was on the edge of her seat waiting to start the next chapter.
Once she had settled her belongings so they indicated that the two chairs were taken she approached the behemoth of a man behind the counter somewhat hesitantly wanting to make a good impression, if there was one lesson she had learned from her mother it was that it always paid to make friends with the provider of the coffee. Rory was guessing that this mountain of a man was perhaps the Simon character that Logan had mentioned, he was muscular and built a little like a linebacker but had curiously artistic features, nearly beautiful in their sculpted perfection.
He caught her staring at him and she blushed and then stuck her hand out to him. "Hi, I'm Rory Gilmore."
He raised a bushy black eyebrow and eyed the outstretched hand for a long moment before engulfing it his massive one. "I'm Simon. Now what can I get for you?"
She leaned forward and considered the drink options, "I'll take the largest cup of coffee you have and then about three refills."
His eyebrow rose "You know that much caffeine could kill a little thing like you."
She scoffed and the automatic retort slipped out before she could stop it having been conditioned by the similar lecture from Luke "You know I would think that people that work at coffee shops wouldn't discourage paying customers who buy coffee."
He shrugged "Hey, its a good business strategy, in order to be a good paying customer you have to live to come back and buy coffee again."
"Well, at least if I die, I'll die happy, I am willing to take my life into my own hands. I do appreciate the concern though.'
She looked back at the two chairs pulled together. "I don't know what Logan drinks so I will let him order when he gets here.'
That got the mountain man's attention and she wasn't sure is his voice bordered on friendly or hostile "You are a friend of Logan's?"
She was slightly nonplussed by the abrupt interrogation "Uh, yeah I guess you could say we are friends. I take it you know him?"
"You could say that, I'm just surprised, Logan usually comes here alone."
That got her attention "You mean he never comes here with Finn or Colin or Stephanie?'
Simon shook his massive head "I don't know any of them."
"Hmmm, now that is interesting." Rory shot him a brilliant smile and grabbed the cup of coffee that he had placed in front of her "Thanks for the info."
"My pleasure, anything for a friend of Logan's."
Rory found it curious to note that no matter where she went the mention of Logan's name seemed to elicit a variety of responses, she had seen respect, admiration, greed, lasciviousness and curiosity but in very few had she seen a lack of recognition, it seemed that the eminence of his reputation preceded him. She wondered how many of the rumors and tales and outright urban legends about him were really true. Now that she had opened that door just a crack she was dying to know the answers. It was the beginning of a new Age of Exploration right up there with Magellan or Cortez.
Logan broke through her randomly wandering thoughts as he came in cheeks flushed from the cold, hair spiked to artless messy perfection and a pleased smirk on his face. If he was surprised to see her already there he didn't show it, instead he headed straight for the counter where the giant Simon crooked a finger and leaned over towards him. She could hear a mumbled conversation and guessed from the eyes that slanted in her direction that it somehow concerned her presence here in what appeared to be his sanctuary. She actually felt a little flattered that he had invited her into this little corner of his world but she decided not to let that go to her head.
She gave him a nearly coquettish look over the rim of her cup as he approached with a cup of coffee and a newspaper in hand. "Hi there my fellow explorer, running a bit late the morning I see." She gave him a winning smile.
He grinned back at her "How do you know I didn't just come late so that you would get be happy about beating me here?"
Her grin slipped a notch, wouldn't that be just like him to let her win "I think you just overslept."
He shrugged nonchalantly "Hey, whatever makes you happy, I aim to please."
She looked at him suspiciously "Since when?"
He gave her a brilliant smile as he pulled his glasses out and put them on. "Since you agreed to do things my way.'
She ignored the irritating flush of heat as she stared at his attractive visage and glared and muttered something that could only be construed as an unkind comment regarding his ego.
He gave her a considering look "You seem a little testy, maybe we shouldn't talk until you have drunk a few more gallons of coffee.' He unfolded his paper and began to peruse the headlines.
She was having none of the dismissal and swiped the paper back down to his lap. "What did Simon have to say that was so top secret?" she questioned.
He ignored the irritated tone "If you really must know he was complimenting me on my superior taste in literary companions. Glad to know you are making friends with the locals and dropping my name never hurts around here." He said it with a self-satisfied smirk and she couldn't fight the urge to roll her eyes.
"Maybe we should pull up another chair for your ego, it must be getting crowded in that one."
"I was just trying to humbly compliment you on your networking skills, there is no need to unsheathe the claws just yet.'
She snorted rather indelicately in clear skepticism.
He raised an eyebrow and lowered one corner of his paper "Are you going to continue to heckle me or do I get to finish this story sometime this century?"
Rory shook her head sadly and settled back into the chair "I was all prepared to make you Lewis, but if this is your idea of humility I'm naming you Cortez and you can just deal with the karma of that bloodthirsty legacy. Now give me the comics." She held out a hand imperiously.
Logan sniffed and raised his paper back up "I don't think I look much like a Meriwether anyway, what kind of name is that for an explorer? Besides I don't believe in Montezuma's revenge so I think I'm safe."
Time passed, as time often had a sneaky way of doing when you weren't paying close attention and a mere fortnight found our recalcitrant romantics desperately trying to find their way in the shifting landscape of two lives that have quite suddenly had a head on crash and both come out off kilter and irrevocably different.
Life had a funny way of sneaking up on you when you least expected it. While your attention was focused off in the distance these insidious little day-to-day decisions designed the world you roamed through with blinders on. Then one day, someone came along and snatched those blinders of without so much as a by your leave and suddenly you were face with a whole wide world that was completely unfamiliar to you despite the fact that you had lived and breathed in that world for your entire nineteen years of life. Rory guessed that perhaps this was one of those seldom discussed facts of life that adults preferred to frost right over with sugar coated platitudes. Her own mother had long been forthright about the little vagaries of the process of growing up but Rory realized now that you couldn't truly appreciate the wisdom of your elders until you had seen it for yourself. Unfortunately proper respect was quiet often strengthened by the retrospective analysis. Rory shook her head to loosen the hold of this circuitous train of thought knowing better than most that a Gilmore could wander quite a distance on a tangent and quickly be lost to the world of reason. She should at least leave a trail of breadcrumbs so she could find her way back to the original thought that had started her on this merry journey; apropos it was a conversation with her mom.
She lay in bed staring at the ceiling and tracing aimless patterns with her eyes as she contemplated the strange twists in the road of life. In the mere twinkle of an eye that two weeks represented in the fabric of time Logan Huntzberger had become part of her routine. Like a piece of the puzzle that you had abandoned all hope of finding, figuring that someone had vacuumed it up or lost it for good until you found that perfect piece that somehow, despite appearances to contrary just fit into that little corner and completed a picture that you hadn't anticipated. They had met daily for tankards of coffee, banter, friendly debate and pastries, the last of which was definitely not the least. After one of Simon's homemade scones with raspberry jams she would gladly die a blissful, sated death.
She and Logan rarely came down on the same side of any subject but they did share an uncannily similar list of favorite authors. They had talked about all manner of subjects and she was always surprised at how their scant time flew. She had been skeptical about their compatibility even after that illuminating weekend with him on the scavenger hunt, Part of her had wanted to prove him wrong, to fall back on her original safe assumptions about him but she had forced her self to take the step forward with her eyes wide open and tried to keep her mind flexible with the possibilities and he had continually surprised her, shown her unexpected sides of himself that she guessed the world outside the Wit's End bookstore rarely came into contact with. She wouldn't ever call him sweet, that would have been trite and actually quite far from the truthful, but he was shockingly observant for someone she had initially assumed to be completely self-absorbed and he was a frighteningly accurate judge of character which allowed him to do those thoughtful little out of the blue things for someone that went far beyond charm and little by little like a wave against a rock he wore a hole in even the tightest defenses. And now the old and comfortable routines didn't feel so comfortable. She had thought she was ready but she wasn't, not really, she wasn't ready for the beat her heart skipped whenever he walked into a room or the unbidden smile that she could feel on her lips whenever he winked at her or sent her one of his patented smiles that seemed aimed directly at her despite the room full of people. She had know she would enjoy their banter as that was the one constant form the beginning of their acquaintance but she had been unprepared to miss his company when he was not around, she enjoyed kissing but had been caught unawares by the way he made her body burn and melt at the same time and left her breathless with even the smallest kiss. She was fond of him but had nut fully considered the ramifications of falling into, well, whatever came after fondness.
It was a prescient statement by her mother two weeks ago that had Rory staring off into space and worrying her bottom lip. They had been having a perfectly reasonable discussion, well, okay perhaps it wasn't reasonable by any standards but their own but for them it was downright mundane. Her mother had run out of steam or at least was taking a bit of a sabbatical on the mockery of the pom pom incident and had moved on to greener pastures, the analysis of her budding relationship with Logan Huntzberger. It wasn't that you could really even define their relationship yet by any traditional categorization, they were teetering on that edge between friends and something more than friends but hadn't quite stumbled forward into the whole morass that the civilized world would term dating.
She should have expected it. Her mother certainly had, when she had relayed the tale of the first bookstore coffee date and the predating contract it had taken Lorelai a full five minutes to stop laughing in appreciation. Then she had sobered slightly and delivered her judgment in a matter of fact tone "this one is good kiddo. He keeps up with your sharp tongue can reference nearly as many out of print literary classics as you can and had you pegged to a tee on the whole first coffee date at the bookstore thing. Add in the glasses, the cuteness factor and that deadly smirk and you might as well just run up the white flag and surrender now."
Rory knew that she had been petulant when she answered, "If he's so perfect maybe you would rather date him."
"You have your arms crossed and you are tapping your left foot and pouting right now aren't you?"
Rory looked down at her crossed arms and tapping left toe, damn her mother for knowing her so well "I wouldn't admit it even if I was."
"Oooh you got me there. Don't think I could date Big Mac though, even if the age factor made it just a shade shy of the whole Douglas and Zeta-Jones level of ickiness it would be sort of like dating myself, or your father which I already tried, twice and I prefer to be the person who does not play the fool more than is absolutely necessary. Sorry kid, he's all yours, smirk and all. If I were you I wouldn't fight it so much. Maybe it will be fun.'
Rory started to cross her arms again but forcibly restrained herself "I already told you that I agreed to the let's see where this leads with no rules bit."
"Yeah but I can hear that stubborn little imp I like to call pig-headed Rory rearing it's little head and raring up for battle and I have a feeling that this guy isn't going to give up without a fight and rarely ever stops until he has gotten what he wants. "
"Please enlighten me oh wise and exalted one, what is it that you think he wants?"
"For the sake of my pride as a mother please tell me you aren't really that clueless."
She was right about the pig-headed bit, Rory could hear it in her own voice but couldn't seem to stop it from speaking its mind "I don't know what you are talking about."
"That boy wants you, he is one-hundred percent, prime-time in, well if not love at least infatuation with you."
Rory's retort was a little edgy "Well I haven't decided if I want him yet so there is no telling what will happen. I might get to know him better and decide that I don't like him at all and just walk away from the whole crazy idea.'
The disbelief practically dripped from Lorelai's words "Sure kid, keep telling yourself that, but in the meantime just don't turn your back on him. I like him, which means he has a crafty devious streak that you should never underestimate. That kid could probably talk an angel to giving up his wings in favor of a good party in hell." There was a brief pause as Rory heard a door opening in the background and muffled words exchanged "Okay sweets, I gotta run that's Luke and he is looking particularly yummy tonight in the flannel du jour. Or maybe it's just the French fry smell, I think it acts as an aphrodisiac."
Rory made a disgusted sound "Ew mom, daughter here you know, a daughter who would prefer not to have to spend thousands of dollars in therapy to erase the memory of those images. I'm beginning to think that whole spotless mind concept isn't such a bad one. What do you think they would charge to wipe all memory of one's mother from the subconscious?"
Lorelai hissed in a breath "ooh, playing dirty now, better be careful, you know I do have all the baby pictures and the diaries and the debutante gown. I bet it wouldn't be too hard to find a little number in the phonebook, I mean how many Huntzbergers can there be in Connecticut?"
Rory stifled a chuckle "Fine, fine, I won't have you erased from my memory just yet, but you are on propagation, now more lubricious comments about Luke or I'm making an appointment tomorrow.'
Lorelai's smile could practically be seen over the line "Empty threats, you know you would be lost without me, who would be your love guru, your psychic hotline for prognostication of the future of your not-relationship."
"Keep talking and I might just take my chances. Bye mom.'
"Bye R---" the last word was garble by what Rory was sure was a French fry, she rolled her eyes before she hung up and then laid there staring out of the windows into the dark snow covered landscape for a long time, her mom's words echoing. At last she slept, the exhausted and surprisingly dreamless slumber of one at who has reached a critical turn in the path. It was amazing the clarity that came with resolution.
Logan Huntzberger was perturbed, or maybe tormented would be the right word. This was not a state of being that Logan particularly enjoyed, so this made him understandably edgy. It was Finn that had pointed out this particular form of snappiness much to Logan's chagrin over dinner. Although in a characteristically Finn manner it came out more a sly allusion to said behavior than an outright accusation of said taboo. He leaned across the table with a false tone of understanding and patted Logan sadly on the shoulder "She's driving you crazy isn't she?"
Logan sniffed and bit into his sandwich. "I'm quite sure I haven't the faintest idea what nonsense you are babbling about now."
Finn leaned back with a triumphant look that seemed to claim that Logan hade somehow just proven whatever inane claim he was making about Logan's current problems with the girl who should not be mentioned while he was stewing.
"This one is good."
Logan snorted around a bite of sandwich and rolled his eyes. "As amusing as you can be when you are trying to be all cryptic and wise I think you are off the mark with whatever comment I assume you are trying to make about my relationship with Rory. Things are going well."
Finn nodded as if assimilating this information and tipped back in his chair until he was staring up at the ceiling, hands behind his head in a contemplative pose. "Good, good, I'm glad to know things are just hunky dory in fantasy land, now I can worry my pretty little head about more pressing matters, like say, where shall I invite the newest object of my adoration to go to dinner with me, or shall I just skip the dinner invitation and head straight for drinks with an option for a little hanky panky." He contemplated for several long drawn out moments of silence.
Logan finally sighed in resignation "Okay, lets say I am interested in your analysis of the current climate, what exactly would that analysis be?"
"I fear I have barely made it in time. Clearly my friend you are in dire need of an intervention. She has you buffaloed. You thought you won, that you had somehow outsmarted her or outmaneuvered her into giving you exactly what you asked for and now you are even more tied up knots that you were before. She gave you what you thought you wanted, you spend every morning in her divine company speaking books and bizarre references and setting your little heart all a pitter pattering and then nothing, no forward progress, just friends with a little kissing on the side and while that's all great, it irks you, it irks you that it breaks your pattern and it irks you that you don't see a way out of this neat little catch 22 you have built yourself."
Logan crossed his arms in annoyance and his voice was tinged with just the slightest touch of nasty defensiveness "Has your weekly diversion into the land of the funny farm suddenly convinced you that you are Dear Abby?"
Finn tilted his head for a moment in reflection "You know I have always thought that nice rubber room could be quite entertaining, kind of like a 3D trampoline."
"I'll call the nut house immediately and provide you with your own little playroom."
Finn looked wounded, as only Finn could. "Sarcasm is no way to repay a friend who only wants what is best for you. I do so hate to see you in pain, whimpering in the corner." he placed a melodramatic hand to his chest "Don't hate me because I care."
At Logan's derisively skeptical look he gave a harrumph and tilted back in his chair again. "Fine Oscar the Grouch, I'll give you my advice but only because self pity really doesn't suit you and the sight of you licking your wounds at the dinner table is enough to ruin even my appetite. You are seriously killing my enjoyment of the whole torturing the love struck game. So here it is, take it or leave. Ask the girl out.'
"What?" Logan's expression cast a substantial shadow of doubt on the state of Finn's mental well being, since Finn was all but immune to this whole you might need the men in white coats look he sailed right past it and spoke in a condescendingly molasses slow voice that you might use with someone who has just disembarked from the slow bus and you suspect may be the king of the idiots. He clearly enunciated each word "Ask her on a date." Then he counted on his fingers "Five syllables, something even a genius like you should be able to grasp."
Logan's voice had shifted to perplexed "But I have asked her out. I have invited her to two LDB events and have spent the last two weeks having coffee with her every morning.'
Finn rolled his eyes "Not an excuse to spend time with her you dimwit, a date,. You know the concept, age old ritual of boy pretending to be all sappy and romantic, flowers, chocolate, expensive dinner, looking at the girl all googly eyed until she is so enamored of your angelic alter ego that she will agree to go anywhere with you, even back to your bedroom. Come on Casanova, you used to be a whiz at this stuff, I think Woodward must have some sort of charm debilitating stun gun that she zaps you with every time she sees you because your circuits are completely fried. The end of an era really, perhaps we should have a funeral for your charm and lay it to rest with the respect it deserves. Anyway, that is another subject for another tragic day.'
He looked at Logan's face and sighed "Seriously Sherlock how many times do I have to explain this? Nothing that the two of you have done actually qualifies as a date in girl world." He ticked the examples off on his fingers "She went on the first LDB event for a story, she went on the scavenger hunt half for a story and half to fulfill some crazy deal you two made, anything that happened during the event is purely secondary to the reason for the initial invitation. She has agreed to your whole get to know each other plan but the coffee dates were arranged prior to that agreement due to another of your brilliant dares. This isn't the kind of girl you have a one nightstand with; this is the type of girl you woo. Now I personally am a strong proponent of one night stands, if more people participated in them.... well there would be more girls to choose from which is never a bad thing in Finn land, however, if ever there was girl that would be worth giving up a scoundrel's promiscuous ways it would be Rory. Sadly for the rest of mankind she seems to prefer you over her infinite wealth of more suitable choices, so she must see something redeeming in you that somehow escapes the rest of us. My humble suggestion, if you want to date this girl then ask her on a date, and not just the kind of date that you would take one of your high-class arm charms on, no martinis and flashy dance clubs. Take her someplace quirky, like her. "
Logan considered for a long silent moment and despite the slight shudder in the fabric of the universe he had to admit, if only to himself, Finn was right. God, why was it that Rory seemed to turn him into a bumbling idiot he was usually so good at this whole romancing part. Although he thought that might be exactly the problem, Rory didn't seem to respond to normal "romancing", she wanted him to be himself, the real Logan, and he resisted that at some fundamental cellular level. Usually if his relationships even lasted this long by this point they were on the wane. He wasn't quite sure what to do with a girl like Rory, a girl that intrigued him more with every minute that he spent with her. She was so far off the beaten path of his previous relationships that he was pretty much wandering in the woods right now completely without a compass or any clue which direction led to the road he was looking for. She was like some kind of addiction, the more time he spent with her the more time he wanted to spend with her, a vicious and unheard of cycle in the carefree life of Logan Huntzberger. Did he want to date her? Did he want to commit to one girl like that?
The answer crashed through his enfeebled brain and was an unequivocal yes. He rose to his feet with new resolve. Time to break out the strategy books and plan a new attack.
He patted Finn hard on one shoulder as he passed "Thanks Finn."
He chuckled to himself as he heard the crash of Finn's chair behind him as he unbalanced and toppled to the ground and the grumbled curse "That's the last time I help you Huntzberger, you are on your own and I am going to laugh when you fall on your ass.'
The next morning was going just like clockwork. Logan had it all figured out, the right nuance, the edge of challenge, the perfect intonation and just the hint of something more to come, he would back her neatly into a verbal corner, and she, the possessor of the Gilmore pride which he had already seen in action would never be able to back down. There was no way she could turn him down. It was a perfect plan.
The day started out with a routine that in a remarkably short time had become formulaic, whoever arrived first ordered coffee and pastries and claimed their customary seats, heaven help the unlucky intruder who dared to snag them if they were a bit late, Rory herself had intimidated a poor young thing out of one on Tuesday with a rather ill tempered glare and an accidental spilling of coffee. The other member of the intrepid pair would then arrive and they would settle in for the daily grind, there was the usual shtick regarding who got to read the comics page first, a few irritable grunts from Rory before the caffeine started to kick in and then they would lapse into what both secretly considered to be one of the best parts of the day, the peaceful silence punctuated only by the sound of coffee being sipped and pages being turned. This day was no different. Logan had the spread prepared by now having learned that one scone per person was clearly no where near adequate, especially if he planned on actually eating any of it himself. Rory was no pushover when it came to protecting her share of the food and in some cases his share as well and she was a dangerous as a mother bear with her cubs on scone day. She trudged in this fine Friday with a downtrodden look that so often represented the end of a long week at the grindstone. Not surprisingly she looked adorable and pissy. He knew she had a paper due today which he had quickly learned led to exponentially increased caffeine consumption and many grumbled disparaging remarks. Best to be well prepared for such an onslaught so today he had planned ahead and ordered accordingly. No one could accuse him of being a slouch when it came to self-defense. She pulled of her coat, shook some errant clumps of snow from her boots and then collapsed into her chair grabbing at the hot cup of coffee nearest her and taking a dip draught of the liquid as if she were it were the very antidote that was standing between her and the gates to the underworld.
He quirked and eyebrow "Bad night?"
She took another long drink "What was your first clue?"
He gestured towards her scowl "Well, that's not exactly a happy TGIF kind of smile and you look a little like I imagine that death warmed over might look."
She drained the first cup of coffee and grabbed for the second one. "I hope you realize that this was only the first round."
'Hey, I would never accuse you of being a cheap date, I am seriously considering asking my father to invest in coffee stocks because I am sure that between you and your mother you are seriously depleting the world's coffee resources on nearly a daily basis. I think poor Simon has had to start ordering double the inventory since you started coming here."
"Funny, speaking of which where are the comics? I definitely deserve to read them first today."
"Well princess, since I, as always, am your loyal servant I had already made that executive decision and had quite thoughtfully placed them on your throne. Unfortunately you were in such a rush to commence your defamation of my fine character that you are now sitting on poor Opus."
With obvious ill humor she stood to retrieve the slightly mangled comics. "Well how was I to know that today would be the day you suddenly decide to be all conciliatory and altruistic" She narrowed her eyes at him "Why are you being all Mr. Rogersy anyway?"
"Mr. Rogersy? I am sorry but I am going to have to challenge that one. I may not use the Oxford English Dictionary as bedtime reading but I am pretty sure that the last time I checked Mr. Rogersy was nowhere to be found in that particular bible of yours. Besides, what is so suspicious about a guy being pleasant and trying to make a tough morning a little easier for a friend?"
Her eyes pretty much reduced him to ashes with a look that could only be read as utter repudiation of his claims of piety "Sure, you are a saint and I am the Duchess of York."
He raised an eyebrow "Really? You've lost weight."
She seemed to be considering the best object to fling at him in her fit of pique so he wisely subsided thanking his guardian angels that it was against her own peculiar beliefs to throw coffee, unless under dire threat of attack.
He waved a napkin in a sign for truce. "Lets call a cease fire shall we?"
"Fine, but only because I haven't the energy for the proper tongue lashing you deserve."
He wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively "Calm down and have another cup of coffee and I promise a rain check on that whole tongue lashing thing."
He settled back in his chair and pushed his glasses up on his nose and began to peruse the front-page headlines. He could see Rory sulking out of the corner of his eye and didn't miss the look of defiance on her face when she reached over and snatched his scone in retribution. Finally she settled into a comfortable position and took up what he thought of as her reading trance, eyes focused, one strand of hair worried beneath her teeth and her mind blind and deaf to the world around her, he figured the building could fall into rubble around her and she wouldn't even notice when she was in this mode. In her mind he had no doubt she was in the doghouse with Snoopy or running across fields of daisies with Bill the Cat. She relaxed visibly as she became engrossed and unconsciously let out an occasional giggle or snort of laughter. She was a fascination to watch when she was like this and too often in the past days he had found himself entranced for moments of time. Caught by the play of emotion over her features. This suddenly brought to mind his purpose for today. He sipped his coffee slowly as he worked out the perfect opening feint in his little proposition. He shook his head in exasperation after a moment, what was wrong with him? He remembered the first time he had asked a girl out and it had probably been on the playground when he was about four, flirting, charm, sweeping a girl off her feet, these skills he had considered practically second nature, requiring no more thought than breathing or having your heart beat or putting one foot in front of the other when you walked, until he met Rory and then all of a sudden it was like he was back on the bike with the training wheels and kept losing his balance. No more. He snapped his paper shut with loud thwack. The time for hesitation was past, they had been caught in this quicksand for two weeks and he was ready for a change. This battle wasn't won by timid, it was won by those who persevered, who took no prisoners and never quit the field until the battle was won or they died fighting for the cause. He turned to Rory with a nearly grim smile and to his surprise she was already watching him with keen eyes.
His brow furrowed in confusion when he saw her hands twisted in her lap, a sure sign that she was nervous about something. He met her eyes again and she blurted out the sentence that had obviously been on her mind "Do you want to go out sometime? " she stumbled a bit when his expression took on the stunned arrangement of someone who has just been that a giant comet was about to hit the Earth "I mean I like the coffee shop but I just thought that maybe we could go watch a movie or get dinner or something." He looked stupefied and she was starting to feel a little insulted "never mind, forget I said anything, we can just keep coming here and drinking coffee every day until the obligatory month is up and then I will be out of your hair for good.'
Logan snapped his mouth shut and tried quickly to rectify the damage that his reaction had engendered. He should have been exultant that she was the one suggesting a date outside of the coffee shop but it had come so out of left field that he had been completely unprepared for her stealing his thunder. He backtracked hurriedly "No, its a good idea, I was just surprised because it was kind of out of the blue."
She crossed her arms in irritation in full defensive mode now that he had so rudely rebuffed her attempt to move on to the next step. "No need to conjure up an elaborate brush off, I think your bottom lip hitting the floor was pretty much as eloquent an answer as I've seen. I don't need any pretty excuses."
Logan rolled his eyes "Now you are just being ridiculous, it just took me by surprise because I was about to ask you the exact same thing."
Rory glanced sideways at him but seemed reluctant to accept his rationalization "Oh really, that's convenient isn't it, that's so like you Huntzberger, I say it and then you claim the credit for the idea. That's rich."
He laughed a little at this, where had he gone so wrong, he wondered for a split second whether Finn had a hand in this turning of the table. "Look Ace, let's start this conversation over shall we? You ask me out and I will be properly excited and all will be well."
Rory shook her head stubbornly "Nope, sorry I already tried that.... your turn Mr. Sensitive."
Logan wracked his brains for a way to erase his stupid reaction. "Okay let's rewind. I was reading the paper, I set down the paper and then I looked at you. Here is how the conversation should have gone. " He turned to face her fully with a winning smile "My dear Ace, as lovely as these morning confabs have been I was thinking that perhaps we should expand our horizons past the narrow walls of this fine literary establishment, you know, see the world maybe visit a restaurant or a movie theater."
She snorted but gave him another little half glance "Expand our horizons, that's the best that you could come up with? Did you Don Juan charmometer have a little writer's block?"
He pursed his lips but gallantly continued, "I would greatly enjoy the pleasure of your charming company. How about tonight? I know this lovely little Indian place that would be right up your alley."
She cast a considering look in his direction and she was tempted at his offer, unfortunately she had Friday night dinner to go to tonight and she had no doubt that her grandmother would flog her verbally trying to pry the reason out of her if she tried to come up with a lame excuse at the late a juncture and the last thing she wanted was to tell her grandmother the truth about Logan, things were going so well and Emily Gilmore's brand of meddling was sure to ruin everything and she definitely wasn't ready to invite him to Friday night dinner, that who inviting a boy to dinner thing had never gone all that well for her.
She worried her bottom lip between her teeth and felt a little shiver up her spine as she saw Logan's caramel eyes drop instantly to her mouth and he licked his lips, she relented, some battles weren't really worth fighting. "I can't tonight, I have a previous family engagement but how about tomorrow night, I hear there is a great old film festival in town."
He flashed her a gorgeous smile that made her heart trip over itself in its speedy rhythm and her breath halted for an instant when he grabbed her hand and pulled it towards him. "You my dear Ace are worth the wait.'
She rose from the chair still a little flustered as his eyes held hers with the promise of more to come. Her words came out in a breathy rush. "I have to miss our coffee date tomorrow though because I am spending the night in Stars Hollow. How about we meet outside my dorm at 6:30 tomorrow night.'
He parried, back on solid footing at last and with his heart soaring at the possibilities "How about I pick you up at your door at 6:30 sharp.'
She smiled and the smile lit her eyes a brilliant blue "You do know that means you will be subject to the unforgiving commentary of Paris Gellar?"
He turned her hand over and placed a kiss on the inside of her palm "For you I would risk the fires of hell. I'm sure I won't even feel the daggers.'
She shook her head and laughed, "You really are a silver-tongued scoundrel aren't you?"
He winked at her before finally releasing her hand "Today I am a lucky scoundrel."
On impulse she bent and pushed him against the chair back as she lowered her mouth towards his, her voice came out a soft whisper that tickled his lips "Do you think if you kiss a scoundrel they turn into a prince?"
"Nah, but then princes are kind of overrated in my opinion. Scoundrels are much better kissers.' He smiled and then closed the gap pulling her down towards him as he kissed her into breathlessness. They were lost in moment, the anticipation and the rising passion enough to sweep them away on a tide of emotion. Finally a dim thought floated to the surface in Logan's besotted mind and he pushed her gently up and away from him. "Don't you have a paper to turn in?"
Her eyes were dazed and for a split second they were blind to the world that swirled around them and then she inhaled deeply. She put hand her fingertips to her mouth and then placed them on his lips as if passing a kiss "Until tomorrow then my charming rogue."
