Rory followed Logan out of the diner with a perplexed look that he acknowledged only with a pat on the shoulder. " Trust me Ace, you'll like it." His head vanished as he slid into the driver's seat. She sighed in resignation and joined him in the car.
Rory was staring out the window into the dark night sky when she realized they had missed the turn back to campus. She shot Logan a questioning look "I assume you know that this is not the way back to campus."
"I was actually aware of that but I'm glad to know I have such an accomplished navigator." He was focused on the nearly empty road in front of them.
Rory leaned her head back on the seat and watched the passing buildings until they became trees "This isn't about to become a B grade horror flick is it?"
"Huh?" his voice was tinged with just a hint of 'what the devil are you rambling about'.
"You know the story, good looking, presumably nice guy takes first date out into the woods and then turns into evil slasher dude and chops off her head before he strips naked and wallows in the mud and howls at the moon."
Now there was definitely more than a hint "I must have missed that movie...A Wes Craven classic?"
She shrugged "More of a compilation really... American Psycho meets Teen Wolf with a little Swamp Thing throw in.'
"Uh huh...and I'm guessing somewhere in there is an accusation that I might be a serial killer?"
"Only if you assumed that you are the good looking one...a little narcissistic if you ask me." she was teasing now with a vengeance
"Teen Wolf? Isn't that the one with what's his name... that guy from that TV show, Family something or other?"
She gasped " Family Ties? Perhaps one of the best shows of the eighties, a piquant and often humorous story of the classic conflict between eighties Wall street materialism and Bob Dylan listening free loving hippie parents from the sixties. Its practically an icon of the era and you are referring to it with that derisive tone... was you childhood really that devoid of culture? Do you not know of the existence of that wonderful invention called TV land? Do not even try to pretend that you don't know who Michael J. Fox is... unless of course you are claiming that you existed under a rather large boulder for the first 20 years of your life."
He cleared his throat around a laugh "Actually I would call Mitchum and Elizabeth Huntzberger a rather sizeable boulder when it came to pop culture, perhaps an asteroid would be a better metaphor, you know huge, hurtling piece of space rock that buried me in such a crater that it took a good 20 years or so to climb out from under it. Personally I like a good 1980' s sitcoms as much as the next guy but I'm not sure they would be classified as culture in my parent's crowd... their version of culture was more along the lines of etiquette teachers, waltz lessons and cotillions. By the age of twelve I knew the best brand of single malt scotch, the best place to buy a Cuban cigar, and the best way to eat a snail, I can do a mean Viennese Waltz, a courtly bow and have never to my knowledge used the improper fork on a salad course. I can tie a bow tie and play the piano, a misguided attempt by my mother to introduce me to the non-rock world of music. I have lost count of the number of times that I have seen Madame Butterfly but I admit with some chagrin that the first time I laid eyes on Mr. Fox was on some late night rerun of Spin City about three years ago."
She shivered in repulsion "You make me really appreciate my life. I had to take waltz lessons once... one of the most humiliating experiences of my teenage life and not one I wish to repeat anytime soon."
"You seem to have survived it intact."
She shook her head sadly "Intact physically but emotionally scarred and I'm sure my intrepid dance partner could attest to the fact that three inch heels leave very nasty welts when they come into contact with the top of one's foot."
He smiled into the darkness "yeah, I believe I've had my share of welts produced by debutantes. Most sixteen-year-old girls aren't exactly the pictures of grace, especially when they have knocked back a few before the parade. Talk about emotional scars, try escorting a tipsy husband hunter...not a pretty sight I assure you."
"You sound just like my dad. When I had my debut you should have heard he and my mom going on and on about when they were teenagers growing up in that over privileged world of wealth, they made it sound more like a high security prison... only their version was a little like a comic bit by George and Gracie Allen." She smiled fondly before the edges of her smile fell a little as she remembered the recent tension with her dad.
She abruptly changed the subject not wanting to go into the gory details of that still painful situation. "So are you going to divulge our destination? I'm locked in the car, a captive audience, no way I would try to escape out here in the middle of nowhere."
"It's a surprise."
"Come on, I hate surprises. " her voice had turned pleading and he was sort of glad he couldn't see that masterful pout of hers.
"Too bad...a few surprises in life are good for you...builds character."
She crossed her arms and he had the distinct feeling that she stuck out her tongue at him although he couldn't be certain in the dim light "I like my character the way it is."
He scoffed teasingly "Childish, sarcastic and suspicious?"
"You want to play that way, good captain, I can tell you are dying to tell me more about the Love Boat's cruise to Fiji." Her voice had a wicked edge.
"Did I mention that I find sarcastic and suspicious endearing?"
"Lucky for you I'm in too good a mood to let your Dick Nixon impression ruin it." She huffed as she turned to her purse and pulled out the two remaining CDs from Lane's collection.
"Lucky for me you've just completed your culinary tour of New Haven and all your blood has gone to your stomach in a vain attempt to digest that thermodynamically altered milk and sugar concoction you just ingested" He patted her hand comfortingly.
She laughed "Actually, I think its the banana...I should have known better than to eat healthy."
Without asking she opened one of the cases and slid a CD into the player. The music was pretty, mellow and romantic... until it segued into the silly. Rory let out a little laugh when she started to read the list of song titles on the CD case. She shook her head slightly at Lane's eccentric and yet good-hearted creativity.
"Hey, what's so amusing about that CD cover? More Barry White?" Logan asked in curiosity.
Rory shook her head but then realized that he couldn't make out her expressions in the car "No, that was my so called friend's idea of a joke, this one is more of a narrative. Well, let me read you the list of songs and you can see for yourself. Here are the songs on the CD entitled Fairytale in order...
A Sorta Fairytale
Pure Imagination
A Lovestory
Golden Boy
Miss Teen Wordpower
(aka Sexy girl)
Cupid
Ticket To Ride
The Rollercoaster Ride
Pleasure and Pain
Glimpses at the Good Life
Spoonful of Love
A Charming Spell
And Then You Kissed Me
Epiphany
Falling in Love.
Shimmering Warm and Bright
Sweet Surrender
Shiny Happy People
Flying High
Where Happiness Lives
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Something Special
The Perfect FitHeaven Is a Word
Eden
Paradise
An Eternal Flame
He chuckled "That is one clever Tunemaster."
She smiled "Its a fairytale, sappy with just a touch of the ridiculous. Lane's a little punk on the outside but she is a hopeless romantic at the core."
"Someday I'm going to have meet this poet of yours."
Rory nodded "You'll like her...it's nearly impossible not to. She is one of a kind..." she laughed again "I just got it...that first song, it's the song form Willy Wonka. My mom is going to die when I tell her Lane found a cover of it...major bonus points for that."
They listened in silence for a few minutes before her hand started tapping on his knee "Are we there yet?"
He rolled his eyes "I'm mentally adding patience to the list of virtues you have yet to acquire."
This time he clearly saw the tongue and the subsequent pout "Mean."
It wasn't long before they pulled off the road on to a long paved drive and then the car pulled to a stop. For once Rory had nothing to say but just gaped at the sight outside the window and then her eyebrows pulled together in confusion. She craned her neck to look up at the tall building in front of them and then looked back at him "Okay, I'm still at a loss. You brought me to what, an old missile silo?"
He made no comment and climbed out of the car closing the door behind him. She saw him go around to the back of the car and get something out of the trunk. He was halfway to the dark pillar of a building when she caught up with him and then walked sideways looking at him intently "It's the Bethany Observatory." He finally said in a tone that implied serious surprise at her lack of knowledge.
"It is?" she was taken aback at this...she wasn't sure what she had expected at the end of this trip but it definitely wasn't this. "What are we doing here?"
"What do you think Ace?"
"Well, one usually looks at stars in an Observatory but how..." she trailed off as her eyes widened "Please tell me that we are not going to break in..."
He shook his head at her and then her words ended abruptly when they reached a heavy metal door and her eyes widened in abject shock when he pulled a shiny brass key out of his jacket pocket. He gave her a toothy smile as he waved the key at her "We aren't going to break in."
Her voice came out a little hissing squeak "Why, I mean, what... how did you get a key to the Bethany Observatory? I'm guessing they don't just hand those out at freshman orientation... or if they do then I never got mine. For that matter how do you even know about the Bethany Observatory, it doesn't exactly seem like the sort of thing that is on the wealthy playboy's of Connecticut list of top ten things to see."
He gave her a droll, exaggerated wink thoroughly enjoying his role now "See what I mean... Suspicious. " he gave her a little pat on the shoulder and then pushed her aside slightly so he could reach the lock "Don't worry so much Ace, I hear it's bad for your mental health. This is very simple, we go in, we look at stars, we watch the sunrise, we lock up and head home and no one is ever the wiser."
"Famous last words."
"Only for the ones who get caught. Not to divulge my deepest secrets but I have done this a few times and as you can see I've come out virtually unscathed. The likelihood of us getting caught is..." he pretended to be writing numbers on his hand "lets see, carry the two... I'd say about 1.5"
She almost laughed but stared him down "One and a half? Exactly how does half a person get caught?"
He grimaced and shook his head slightly "Do you really want to know?"
"Okay, what is it you have behind your back?" she pointed to his arm that was hidden behind him.
"Just a little refreshment, always best to come prepared."
She narrowed her eyes "Refreshment? I'm sensing pre-meditation here... tell me this, how many other girls have you brought here?"
"Alone or in groups?" he pretended to be counting on his fingers but looked up with blank eyed innocence when she gasped.
"That's it. Hell will freeze over before I step foot into your little den of iniquity." She crossed her arms stubbornly.
He sighed "I believe that you claimed that particular ice age phenomenon already occurred once today, along with flying pigs if I remember correctly...if you ask me you are quickly running out of euphemistic versions of never." The door swung open with a creak and he grabbed her arm and pulled her through the opening with him. "Best not to stand out here and take our chances on those statistics... those odds go up significantly if you spend your time having a shouting match on the front lawn."
She balked "I am not following in the footsteps of your harem."
"God...you are so easy sometimes. The LDB, I have been here with the LDB okay, I was just teasing you, and I've never brought a date here, that is until your rather stubborn self." He gestured at a central staircase "Now would you care to join me? I hear this is supposed to be an incredibly clear night and if we can keep from strangling each other for long enough we might even get to see a gorgeous sun rise. "
Purely for form she made him go first but she wasn't far behind, it was thrill to be here, even more so to have that little thrill of the illicit. She muttered under her breath as she went, more to keep up the appearance of dissension than from any real irritation.
They finally reached the top platform where Rory stared in awe at the observatory ceiling, which seemed covered in a million stars. The night was dark as an abyss out here, outside the light pollution of the city and the sky looked a velvety black scattered with diamond brilliant stars. She hugged herself slightly and turned a complete circle with her head thrown back trying to get the whole effect of the universe laid out before her in technicolor.
"Wow." Despite her advanced vocabulary it was the best she could come up with in the face of such awe.
Logan was standing a mere foot from her and he tilted his head back and echoed her tone of wonder "I think it was Thoreau who said 'The stars are the jewels of the night and perchance surpass anything which day has to show.' Seeing a night like this certainly is cause for agreement. Its like the heavens have just become a big crystal ball for our personal viewing."
She peeled her eyes from the celestial realm long enough to cock her head to one side and observe him. His face was relaxed, calm, peaceful even, and clearly he was enjoying himself. She was having a bit of difficulty reconciling the cocky playboy troublemaker that she had met mere weeks ago with this beautiful boy who brought her to see the heavens in all their glory and let the words of poets slip so easily from his tongue. "The elusive Logan Huntzberger..." she mused in a whisper "Who are you really?"
He glanced at her and then back at the night sky and she would have sworn that he looked a bit embarrassed but he covered it well by slinging and arm around her shoulder and pulling her closer to his side "Me, I'm just a guy who likes to look at the stars with a beautiful girl at his side. We got really lucky with such a clear night. The visibility is stellar."
She played along with the playful tone "That's an understatement of astronomic proportions if I've ever heard one." she grinned but continued her visual tour of the heavens.
He rolled his eyes "So you like it?"
She gave him a little sideways glance "I'm over the moon."
"Well, I'll thank my lucky stars for that." He winked at her and they laughed together at their silliness.
"A master of the pun, a budding astronomer, a coffee maker and a lover of Peter Seller's...how did I get so lucky?"
"I'm a man of many talents." He raised an eyebrow suggestively "Maybe if you're lucky you will get to experience a few of the others first hand."
She rolled her eye expressively "see, I knew it was too good to be true, you bringing me here just to look at the stars. This is your version of taking me somewhere to park isn't, a nice little seduction scene with the heavens as a backdrop... it is classy I'll give you that.""
He mocked injury "I'm insulted that you think so little of me. If I were trying to seduce you this would only part of my seduction scheme.
Her eyebrows rose "So now you are claiming that you aren't trying to seduce me?"
"I was a bit ambivalent about that myself at the beginning of the evening...right up until the banana split."
Now those eyebrow lines drew together in the beginning of a frown "So, what...my eating habits turned you off?" She crossed her arms and sulked a little, feeling slightly hurt by his seemingly flippant tone.
He pulled her closer despite her resistance and whispered against her cheek "I figured why waste the effort, since I knew you would say no."
She gave him a little shove "Well, I guess since you didn't try you'll never know if you missed out." She sent an arch look in his direction "how do you know I'm not a strong proponent of one night stands... maybe you have to pass a test in order to make it to the second date."
He was enjoying this feisty side of her and couldn't help but goad her "Oh really, so what sort of test is this...is it an oral test or a physical test or maybe a written test?"
"You know, a test of your...um skills." She blushed a little but kept on going.
"Uh huh" he raised an eyebrow in question "And you require every potential suitor to pass this test?"
Now she grinned, "Well, no, you would be the first."
"I see...seems a little arbitrary, making me take a test when none of the other lads were required to."
She nodded seriously "Well, you are a little risky so I have to be sure that it' worth it, you know, the whole sample the milk before you buy the cow theory?"
He couldn't keep a straight face "You do know that only female cows produce milk?"
She waved a dismissive hand "You know what I mean... the cow theory only more politically correct and less gender specific, revamped for the twenty first century, equal rights and all that jazz."
He snorted, "You are quite the feminist I see."
"Well apparently I'm not all that attractive to the males of the species." She harrumphed a little, it's not that she had any intention of being seduced on the first date but she was little miffed that he wasn't even going to try.
Logan grabbed her crossed arms again and brought her flush with his chest "Much as I enjoy watching you stew I have to disabuse you of that crazy notion right now before you take off on some flight of fancy. About the time that you were waxing poetic about the virtues of the banana split was the pivotal moment when I made up my mind." he pulled her towards a bench and then down to sit next to him.
She was still a little wary about his slippery charm "Made up your mind about what?"
He pulled her closer and whispered into her ear "That I wanted this to be more than a short term relationship."
Her eyes widened slightly and she bit her bottom lip before she uttered a slightly sheepish "Oh."
He settled back a little, still maintaining a grip on her shoulder and now she relaxed into his side "You see most of my first dates are pretty much a scene from a 007 film, it's not that one night stands are my specialty exactly it's just that the ardor seems to cool significantly after the first date or two. "
"Okay, so I should take it as a compliment that you don't want a one night stand."
"Yes. You see the difference is that I usually sort of skip the whole getting to know you, seeing if we are compatible stage... mostly because in a lot of cases I already know the answer and I would really rather not have the fact that every time the girl of the evening opens her mouth I am reminded of the dangers of inbreeding or the perils of too many nose jobs imposing on what might otherwise be a very satisfying physical encounter. It's shallow I know but it's a form of self protection, unfortunately this schema usually results in my realization, after a few of these physical encounters that the sex part just isn't worth the ringing in my ears caused by high pitch giggling or the innumerably lost brain cells that come from even being in that close a proximity to that much hair bleach."
She shook her head "A staggering expose of the vapidity of your sexual exploits."
"Yes, I am ashamed." His tone was completely unrepentant
She laughed "that was perhaps the most insincere thing I have heard you utter tonight."
"Okay, so my heart wasn't really in it... however, as you will note, what I was really trying to illustrate prior to that tangential excursion is that you are different, with you I do not feel the overwhelming urge to fling myself off the nearest high-rise building or find scratching my fingernails down a chalkboard preferable to the timbre of your voice...you I find compatible, something I was fairly certain would be the case but hesitated to make hasty judgment about. I want to get to know you...which I think we have been doing an admirable job of this evening but why rush the rest of it...we've got time... right?"
She gazed into those warm chocolate eyes for a long beat knowing exactly what question lay between the words "Yeah...we've got time."
He smiled and touched his lips softly to hers in a sweet, gentle kiss. When they pulled back a little breathless Rory snuggled down beside him and they gazed up at the star and the peaceful silence stretched around them.
He turned towards the East bringing her with him and pointed an arm up at the bright field of glittering star "If you look over there off to our left you'll see a fairly bright star, that's Polaris, also called the North Star and there is the Big Dipper. Now straight ahead you'll see Taurus and Aries, at least you can see two of the stars, now off to the right of that is Pisces, but it is pretty faint so its hard to see the whole shape." He was still pointing up into the endless globe of stars above their heads but now Rory was watching him again.
"You surprise me Logan." there was a tinge of wonder in her tone that got his attention.
He lowered his hand slowly and let it lay on her right cheek, his voice was soft, "I hope that's a good thing."
She smiled a little "I'll let you know when I decide." She looked back up "So Copernicus, on with our visual tour of the stars" she pointed at a bright star higher in the sky "What's that really bright one there?"
He calculated in his head for a minute "I think that must be M31, its actually not a star, its a galaxy."
She shook her head in near repudiation "That is just amazing. I'm beginning to feel a little like that scene at the end of Men In Black with the marble where they just keep zooming out until you realize that our planet, our microcosm is really just such an insignificant part of this infinite cosmic space."
"Yeah, I'll vouch for the fact that looking up into the universe and seeing it's vastness like this is a pretty good way to gain some relativity when you are feeling like your life sucks." He sounded a little introspective.
Rory gave him a slightly perplexed look "You strike me as someone who rarely thinks their life sucks, I always got the impression that you sort of loved your life."
Her tone wasn't insulting but rather curious and he sent her a little smile "I'm good at showing people what they want to see. It's kind of a survival technique where I come from. "
His voice was gentle as he changed the subject "Did you know that the constellation of Taurus is actually a representation of Zeus? The story goes that Zeus fell in love with the beautiful daughter of the king Agenor who was named Europa. In order to win her heart he assumed the form of a white bull and mingled with the herds of Agenor. Europa...being a rather fanciful woman was immediately enchanted by this magnificent creature and climbed up on its back. Zeus carried the fair maiden far away to the island of Crete. Zeus celebrated his love for her by naming the continent of Europe after her and created the constellation Taurus to be seen in the sky for eternity, the symbol of fertility and power."
Rory stared at him as if he might perhaps have just sprouted wings from the side of his head "Okay, I'm officially impressed."
He smiled, a cat with the feather still hanging from its mouth kind of smile "You shouldn't doubt my knowledge of fertility and power."
She rolled her eyes at him with exaggerated disgust "Shall we call you Pan from now on?"
"I prefer Eros actually. I'm a lover, not a reproducer."
She faced him on the bench "Okay, I have to ask... how is it that you, the never present student, know so much about Greek gods and constellations?"
"You could call it a lifetime passion. It's the one thing that my dad and I have in common. My dad is a big astronomy nut. He even has a smaller version of this telescope in the house in Danbury. He has also belonged to the Astrological Society of New Haven since he was a Bulldog himself. When I was a kid he and I used to come here some times, when there was a really clear night like this and we would spend hours looking through the telescope and he would tell me all about the myths of how the constellations got their names. To a little kid it was magical, this entire realm of myth and mystery. When I was seven I remember he gave me this huge wall chart of all the constellations and all the planets, I had it hung in my bedroom until I was in high school and I used to stare at it every night before I fell asleep. At first I was fascinated by the idea of this great big universe that we know so little about, I used to imagine that I was an astronaught and got to travel to all these strange worlds light years away, later when I got older and things turned ugly between me and my dad those fantasies were like a secret way to escape the world I had come to hate." His voice had gone a little wistful and Rory snuggled closer in silent support. "I remember clearly my dad quoting Albert Einstein who said 'Two things inspire me to awe - the starry heavens above and the moral universe within.' When the mess with Rebecca happened I guess I stopped believing in my dad or that moral universe within. I stopped using the stars as an escape because in some way in my mind they were inescapably linked to my relationship with him. I found other ways to escape him and his iron control. It's actually been a long time since I came to here just to admire the universe. "
Rory pitched her voice soft careful to tread lightly "I thought you said you had been here recently."
"Yeah, I have been here several times in the past couple of years with the LDB, but well, without divulging too much top secret information lets just say we didn't spend much time staring at the sky. It was more like a venue for madness and mischief."
She nodded "Ah, I see." She turned her head slightly to see his face "So why bring me here now if this is a painful memory for you?"
His voice was still a bit abstracted "It's not actually a painful memory, just more like something I had locked in a box along with all the other remnants of things that happened in my past that I didn't really want to think about, the arguments with my dad...and then the cessation of said arguments, the pain of Rebecca's betrayal, the hatred I felt for my brother. It was easier to just lock all of that away until it got muted and dull and stopped hurting. I guess recently I've been thinking about it, thinking that perhaps I threw away some valuable things along with the trash. I wasn't sure if I was going to bring you here actually but it occurred to me that this is a good metaphor for the night...a first date, a fresh start. " He cast a droll look in her direction "the beginning of the fairytale."
She had surpassed the point of stunned and felt sort of inundated by all the new things that she had learned about Logan in the course of the night. "So how far do you think this fairytale will take us?"
He shrugged as if willing to leave the exact destination to the caprice of the universe "The sky's the limit Ace."
She stared him in the eye for a moment knowing the comment had been made half in seriousness and half in jest when she caught his little wink her tone came out a touch sardonic "Okay, now that was a little over the top."
A wide smile split his features "Too much?"
She nodded "I'm thinking the sap-o-meter is definitely hitting an all time high on that one."
He neatly changed the subject by standing and pulling her up with him before stepping towards a huge telescope in a disconcertingly competent manner.
Her eyebrows knit together as she joined him next to the telescope. "What are you doing?"
He was looking through an eyepiece as he answered "Looking for Jupiter.'
That had her mouth dropping "Jupiter? As in the planet Jupiter?"
His voice was slightly distant as he continued to fiddle with the lenses "Yeah...if my research is correct we should be able to see it, and Venus in a little while. It's not visible yet but you've got to see the stars through this thing...they really are breathtaking tonight.' He backed away from the eyepiece and gestured for her to take a look.
She stood stock-still, rooted in her spot by sheer astonishment her mouth kept moving despite her mind being a step behind "Research...you did research?"
He grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him, and the telescope "You can be a skeptic later, for now take a look. "
He was close, their bodies touching ever so slightly again as he turned her towards the telescope and showed her how to adjust it. She wasn't sure if the little gasp of awe that escaped her lips was more from the feel of his warmth seeping through the back of her jacket or the truly dazzling array of stars that met her eyes through the lens. "Its beautiful but that seems sort of like an inadequate word. Stunning maybe, or magnificent, or stupendous. I've never seen it like this, in so much detail, like the stars are one of those light bright boxes and are about five feet in front of you."
"Yeah the first time my dad brought me here it was a night like this and I remember begging him to let me live here, I never wanted to leave."
She pulled back from the eyepiece "Wait a minute...that's how you got the key isn't it? From your dad."
"See now that's why you are going to be a great investigative journalist, always looking for the story everywhere."
She was in a dreamy state of awe as she leaned back against Logan and they watched the tendrils of shell pink, crimson and coppery orange seep into the indigo of the predawn sky. It was like watching an artist wash the landscape with a sweep of color and light. It was magical. She felt like the whole night had been magical, as if any moment she would awake from this nebulous dream world and realize that it was all just a figment of her admittedly overactive imagination. As the golden ball of the sun began to peak over the edge of the horizon she felt clean...like this really was a beginning, a new story to be written on blank pages a story that would take them where ever their imaginations might lead.
The early morning sun streamed through the car windows as they headed back towards reality. Rory felt a little punch-drunk, caught in that strange surreal world that overtook one's mind and body after too much stimulation and not enough sleep. She had passed the drowsy, exhausted milepost a good hour ago somewhere amidst the lecture on Cassiopeia and was now feeling that giddy rush of false alertness that came just on the heels of sleep and caffeine deprivation.
"I need coffee," she suddenly announced into the warm peaceful stillness. As luck would have it they were just pulling into the parking lot at Yale and Rory practically bounced out of the car the minute the wheels stopped.
Logan rested his forehead on the steering wheel for a breath moment blinking away the sleepiness and wondering for about the millionth time in the last 12-hour period what the hell was happening to him. There was an exuberant knock on the window next to his head and he raised his eyes to see those sapphire eyes staring into his own. She backed away from the door and gestured for him to hurry.
He climbed from the vehicle and stretched his arms overhead with an exaggerated yawn that did nothing to dent her enthusiasm for the aforementioned caffeine. She grabbed him by the arm none too gently and began dragging him across the parking lot "Come on Rip van Winkle I know it's early or rather late in our case but you have to let me buy you coffee, its the least I can do after you bought me Indian food, movies, movies snacks, banana split and of course the stars."
He was tripping along behind her with a totally bemused grin on his face as they headed towards a nearby coffee kiosk. "You know Ace, I didn't actually buy you the stars." He hastened to continue when she glanced at him "Not that I won't take credit for them and by all means if you want to buy me coffee I won't turn you down, in fact I may have to take up your habit of multiple caffeine delivery devices if I don't see a bed sometime soon."
She all but skidded to a stop in front of the coffee kiosk and Logan laughed at her almost helplessly "Are you sure you need caffeine? You seem to have gotten your second wind and I'm thinking this wind has practically reached Hurricane alert status."
She pushed him up to the counter with an exasperated air "Order already would you, if there is one thing you should know it's that you should never stand between a Gilmore and their coffee especially when said Gilmore is severely sleep deprived."
"Yes ma'am" he saluted smartly and then ordered two cups of coffee from the slightly frightened looking boy behind the counter.
With coffee in hand Rory turned and began ambling in the general direction of Logan's dorm. He caught up with her in a few strides "hey, I thought the guy was supposed to walk the girl to her door after a date?"
She kept walking "Yeah, well, a little change in the rules is in order, you already braved Gellar the Glacier once I think that's enough chivalry for one date, besides you are looking a little worse for the wear and I'm worried you might get lost on the way back to your room." They each finished one cup of coffee on the way there and started on the second.
Before he knew it they were standing in front of the wooden door of his suite. He faced her with a slightly bemused expression and raised his cup to touch it to hers "I think we should have a toast. To a perfect first date." He was surprised when she pulled her cup back.
"No...not perfect, I don't think that we should call it perfect. Perfection is by definition matchless, a pinnacle, the highest aspiration, after you have achieved perfect well then everything you do from that point on has a pretty unattainable mark to live up to. It just seems sort of fatalistic to think that we have already reached perfection because then everything from here on is bound to be downhill, a disappointment. I want to think that things will only get better from this point."
"Okay, I think that whole lack of serotonin thing is starting to catch up with you." When she pursed her lips he continued, "I think we can call this perfect and still have the next time be, well..."
"What?" she interjected "What tops perfect?"
He shrugged "More perfect?"
"How about we call it practically perfect in every way...that gives us a little wiggle room."
The moment was perfect...no matter what she said. He smiled and she returned the gesture, a brilliant smile and her eyes sparkled with something he couldn't quite name. She stepped closer to him. He could all but feel the beat of her heart against him and lowered his lips towards hers.
The creak of a door across the way was an unwelcome interruption. Logan glanced up and groaned a little when he realized it was Finn's door. They pulled apart slightly and watched as it opened and bleary-eyed blonde tripped out of the room and headed down the hall at a fast stumble. This left a rather rumpled looking Finn leaning in his doorway. Even in his sleepy state he managed a rather expressive eyebrow raise that really needed no words.
"Well, well if it isn't the love birds come home to roost. Been out all night?" his tone implied that this was not a question but rather a statement that bordered on 'I know what you two have been up to until the wee hours of the morning'. Logan glanced at Rory for once hoping that Finn's rather lewd intimations wouldn't offend her. He jumped in to correct Finn's assumption but she stopped him with a hand to the arm.
Her tone was conversational "You are hardly the morality police Finn, I'd think you'd be the last to cast a stone in that particular direction given the fact that we just saw your last conquest doing the walk of shame." She put her arm around Logan and then gave Finn a demure look "Besides good girls never kiss and tell."
Before he could comment she turned back to Logan and wrapped her arms around him in a hug, her voice was soft near his ear "Thank you...for giving me the stars." she turned and ambled away at a leisurely pace.
Finn took a couple of steps towards Logan and they both watched her head down the hallway, Finn was just opening his mouth to make a comment when Logan felt something in his jacket pocket and called after her "Aren't you forgetting something Ace?"
She stopped abruptly and after a brief hesitation spun on her heel and marched back towards them. She stopped in front of him and he saw the faintest hint of a blush on her cheeks just before she put her arms around his neck and rose on her toes bringing his lips smashing down on hers. Logan wasn't sure what had gotten into her but he was pretty sure that the top of his head was about to blow off any second. Instinctively his hands came around her waist and they both forgot completely for that suspended moment that they were in the middle of a dorm hallway, with an audience. Finally, she pulled back slightly and then leaned up and whispered in Logan's ear "I forgot to tell you... you are taken."
He liked the happy pounding of his heart, enjoyed the tightness in his chest and the dizziness in his head, he was in fact sure that he had just tried the most addictive drug in the world and was quite content as a junkie. Logan was enjoying her happiness too much to ruin it by telling her that he had actually called her back to give her the CD from earlier that night.
She turned with a pleased smile on her face and sauntered back down the hall with a little jaunty bounce to her step. She waved a little hand behind her "Bye Finley..."
Finn was quite enjoying the role of voyeur. Little miss virtuous was quite a hellion when she wanted to be if his friend's punchy expression was any indication. The look in his eyes was priceless, Logan looked like his knees might give out underneath him at any second and Rory, innocent Rory Gilmore looked like a kid who had not only found the cookie jar but had eaten every last cookie herself. He watched as she whispered something in Logan's ear. Something that made his lips curve in a smitten smile that Finn wasn't sure he had ever seen grace his friend's visage. Then Rory's words carried back to him and his eyes widened as he whirled on his traitorous friend.
"I see this was an educational date." his voice was accusatory.
Logan shrugged and his expression said that he was too far-gone to care what secrets he divulged, "I just gave her a little history lesson...about astronomy and names and yacht sinking." He turned towards his door but Finn caught him by the arm and stopped him his voice now dripping incredulity "You told her about Fiji?"
Logan shrugged, in truth he was glad that weight was off his chest "She asked...I thought she deserved to know the truth if we were going to be in a relationship."
Finn almost fell over in shock "You do realize that without coercion of any sort you just used the R word after a first date?"
"I may be deliriously tired but I am still marginally in control of my mental faculties."
Logan pushed open his door and headed wearily towards the couch. Finn stood stock still in the doorway and watched his childhood friend with an amazed look for a long moment before he joined Logan slouched on the couch and propped his feet up on the coffee table. "How the mighty have fallen. This is a date for the history books, the untouchable Logan Huntzberger captured at last. My condolences mate."
Logan rolled his eyes at him tiredly "Why am I in need of your sympathy this time?"
"You my friend are the pathetic besotted fool that Shakespeare wrote his best tragedies about...an intelligent man brought to his knee by the vagaries of the heart. One date and little Bo Peep has made you one of her sheep." Finn was laughing now. "And to think, all those girls in their slut shoes and tight dresses and sexy lingerie...who knew your weakness would be the girl next door."
Logan gave him a little ironic smile "Finley my friend you have no idea what you are missing."
