AN: I know this story's a little...controversial, lol, but I just couldn't stay away. A lot of you would probably prefer to me to stick with working on Take a Breath and World's Together, but this story was just calling to me. I think it's my favorite work in progress. Once I started writing again, it was only time before I wound up back here. It's like my writing crack. Anyhow, enjoy.

Rory pulled her jacket tighter around her as she made her way down the street in the Meatpacking District, headed towards the address Logan had given her. He had invited her to hang out with him and some of his friends, and with Mitchum still being away on his business trip, she had agreed.

She hated when Mitchum was away. Paris was always so busy with school. She'd hang out with Chase occasionally, but he was more of a work friend. He was too busy with his own packed life to be her social safety net. Rory didn't really have anyone else, especially here in New York. When Mitchum was around it was great, but he was constantly travelling. When he was gone, Rory really felt the pang of loneliness that was the constant undercurrent of her life since moving to New York. It would be good to have friends to hang out with.

She arrived at the address and gave the bouncer her name. He let her through and a hostess greeted her, taking her back to a private room. Rory rolled her eyes. Like father, like son, it seemed. Mitchum would always take her to fancy, expensive restaurants, places where celebrities frequented, and then hide away in a back room some place. She thought it was due to the private nature of their relationship, but apparently it was a typical Huntzberger thing to do.

The hostess opened the door to the VIP room and Rory followed her in.

"Cherry!" She heard Logan proclaim gleefully. It appeared he was already a little drunk. "Cherry, this is everybody." He motioned around the table to the two other men and one woman present. "Everybody, this is Cherry."

"Everybody, really?" She laughed at his exuberance. "It's amazing how they can fit seven billion people in this room and make it look so private."

"Come on, sit down," he patted the seat of the booth next to him.

Rory joined the table, giving herself a proper introduction. "Hi, I'm Rory," she told the group.

Logan's friends introduced themselves. "I'm Stephanie," the girl said. "And this is Colin," she pointed to the man next to her. "And Finn." She motioned to the taller man between Colin and Logan.

"It's a pleasure, Love," Finn greeted in his Australian accent, reaching for her hand. Rory offered it up, expecting him to shake it. Instead he brought it to his lips to kiss.

Rory quirked an eyebrow at the gesture. "Umm, it's nice to meet you."

"Finn will hit on you at least eight more times tonight, and he won't remember any of them," Colin warned her.

"Good to know."

"Drink, Cherry?" Logan asked, reaching for the bottle of Cristal open on the table.

Rory looked at the bottle, eyes wide. "How much did that cost?" And she thought Mitchum had expensive taste in liquor.

"Don't ask," Logan replied, filling a glass for her.

Rory looked at the glass hesitantly, before picking it up and taking a tentative sip. The sweet liquid exploded in her mouth, a kaleidoscope of flavors. "Oh my god, that's amazing!" she proclaimed.

"Worth every penny." Stephanie nodded in agreement.

"Easy for you to say. That one sip probably cost more than my entire grocery budget for the month."

"No worries, Cherry. When you're a famous writer, you'll be buying us bottles of Cristal."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Logan, but I'm pretty sure even famous journalists don't make that much. Especially these days."

"Yeah, our payroll budget is so not that big," Logan agreed.

"Anyway, I'm sorry I'm late," Rory changed the subject. "Paris was having a meltdown."

"I know you explained this to me already, but I still can't believe you live with her."

"Hey, wasn't Paris the name of your crazy ex-editor at Yale?" Colin asked.

"One and the same."

"And Rory knows her?"

"Rory lives with her."

"Why?" Colin had heard tales of the despot who had almost driven the Yale Daily News to extinction

"Because New York is expensive and without a roommate I'd be forced to live in a cardboard box in Queens."

"I don't know, that still sounds better than living with Paris," Logan argued with a laugh.

"She's not that bad."

"Not that bad?" Logan scoffed. "She built a bunker in the newsroom and almost burned the place down with her hot plate."

"She's...passionate," Rory defended.

"Whatever you say."

"So Rory," Stephanie chimed in, changing the topic. "Tell us about yourself. You're a reporter at The Voice, right?

"Yeah," Rory confirmed. "I got a fellowship there, right after graduation. Then I stayed on as a staff writer."

"Do you love it?" Stephanie asked.

"Yeah" Rory smiled brightly. "Being a reporter is the only thing I've ever wanted to do. Christiane Amanpour has been my idol since I was 10. I actually got to meet her once. She stayed at my mother's inn." Rory's smile faded slightly. She used to be so close with her mother. It hurt her to think of how far apart they'd drifted over the last year. It hurt even more to know it was her own fault. She was keeping a monumental secret from one of the most important people in her life.

"My idol is Kevin Federline," Finn volunteered.

"That's an...umm...interesting choice."

"Well, there are plenty of women who get to be famous for doing nothing, but K-Fed is one of the few men. Plus he was married to Britney Spears and I've always had a thing for crazy chicks."

"Well, as long as your reasons are good," Rory laughed. Finn was a weird one. She hadn't gotten a vibe on Colin yet, but Stephanie seemed really nice.

Rory fell into a good rhythm with the group, easily joining in their repartee. They weren't like her friends growing up, but she found herself being charmed by them anyway. They made her feel comfortable, and welcome, like she was immediately one of the gang. It was a feeling she had grown unaccustomed to but one that she liked.

An hour later, she was laughing at a joke Finn had made, when her phone rang. She grabbed the vibrating device from her purse and looked at the caller ID. She felt a strange mixture of emotions at the name that crossed the screen. She felt the familiar swell of warmness, like she always did, but she also felt strangely put out. Still, she needed to take it; she hadn't spoken to him all day, and she hadn't seen him in a week and a half since he left for Hong Kong. Phone calls were all they had when he was away.

"Excuse me," she said to the group, I've got to take this. She got up and walked out, heading towards the bathroom where she could have some privacy. She was sure she felt Logan's eyes following her as she left the room, but when she glanced back, he appeared to be obliviously engaged in conversation with his friends.

"Hello?" Mitchum scowled at the sound of the voice on the other end of the line. She sounded distracted, and there was a lot of noise in the background.

"Hey, Pooh, I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" He asked, putting on his best happy voice. He was happy to hear from her, but she was going out more than usual lately. It just didn't sit right with him.

"No," she insisted. "I just went out for a drink with…a friend from work."

"Chase?" Mitchum asked. He wasn't too concerned; Chase was as gay as the rain was wet. Still, he sometimes worried about the influence that boy had on her. He was often a distraction at work, and she had wound up drunk on more than a couple of occasions when she hung out with him. Mitchum didn't care for Rory getting drunk, especially when he wasn't around to make sure no one took advantage of her.

There was a pause for a second. "Yeah, Chase."

"Well, do you think he'd mind if you cut out a little early? "

"Why?" he noted a tinge of excitement in her voice as her brain started putting two and two together. This eased him a bit.

"I miss you, is all."

"Well what would you like me to do about that?" she asked. "Aren't you on a plane 35,000 feet above the Pacific right now? Because I have yet to perfect my teleporting abilities."

"Well you should keep working on that. It would be a very useful ability. You could join me on these woefully boring business trips. On the other hand, you'd no longer be able to blame the subway for making you late to work."

"Hey!' Rory protested. "I am extremely punctual."

"Of course you are."

"The point of this call, Mitch?" she asked.

"Right, well, as much as I would love to see those teleporting abilities in action, even if they are a work in progress, you won't need them to get to where I am."

"Really?" she asked excitedly.

"I finished my meetings earlier than expected and pushed the flight up. I just couldn't wait to see you. It's been so long, especially since you canceled on me last time." It couldn't hurt to remind her of how she'd ditched him that night. Maybe if she was feeling a little guilty, she'd make it up to him tonight.

"I really am sorry about that."

"I know," he told her. "But you enjoyed your show, right?"

"Yeah," she agreed, though her voice sounded a little sad. "I did."

"Don't sound too convincing there, Pooh."

"No, really," she assured him. "I did. I just missed you."

"Well then, come over and you can stop missing me. You shouldn't really be out drinking that much anyhow, you know how you get."

"And how is that?" Rory asked defensively.

"Oh, just a little—impulsive is all. And Chase doesn't exactly look out for you."

"Yes he does."

"Oh come on, you know he encourages you to be…promiscuous." It wasn't entirely the boy's fault. It's not like he knew Rory was taken. Still, he didn't like the idea of Rory flirting or being flirted with.

"I have never in my life been promiscuous." Mitchum couldn't see it, but he imagined there were air quotes around that last word.

"You slept with your married ex-boyfriend," he reminded her.

"You're really going to throw that in my face, Mitch?" she asked angrily. It was probably time to roll things back. She was getting defensive and it wasn't getting him anywhere. Definitely not anywhere good. And if she didn't come over, he'd be really pissed. He'd cut his business trip short just to get back to her a day early.

"I'm sorry, Pooh," he said. "I just hate even thinking of another man hitting on you. You're way out of my league, you know," he said charmingly.

He heard Rory sigh on the other end of the line. "I'll be there in a half an hour."

"Hey guys," Rory said as she walked back into the VIP room at the club. "Thanks so much for inviting me tonight. I had a really good time, but I've got to go."

Logan looked up at her, trying to conceal the look of hurt in his eyes. He knew who was on the other end of that phone call—well, not who specifically, but still… One call from her puppet master and she went running. She said she loved this mystery man, but how could she? How could she love a man who refused to even acknowledge her publicly? Not to mention the fact that she'd kissed Logan—twice. If she was so happily in love, why was she kissing someone else?

Logan wanted to pull her back down into the booth and tell her not to go. Tell her to blow the man off. Tell her to leave his sorry excuse of an ass and pick him instead. But Logan was smarter than that. Rory was stubborn. Trying to force her to make a decision she wasn't ready to make would most likely backfire on him in spectacular fashion. Rory needed to come to the right conclusion on her own. Until then, he'd just keep being her friend, because it seemed like friends were something Rory was in short supply of as far as he could tell.

"So soon, Love?" Finn asked. "The night's barely even begun."

"Sorry, I uhh…I have an appointment."

"An appointment, huh? What kind of appointment do you have at 10 o'clock on a Friday night?" Rory gave him a pointed glare. That probably wasn't the right thing to say.

"Just a friend I have to meet," she answered.

"You'll come out with us again soon?" Steph asked hopefully. "There's only so much testosterone a girl can take." She motioned to the three boys.

"Oh please, Finn's practically a girl." Colin replied.

Finn shrugged his shoulders. "Gender is fluid," he acknowledged. "But alas, I think I'm mostly cis."

"I'd love to hang out with you guys again," Rory answered earnestly. "You guys are a blast."

"Great! I can't wait," Stephanie proclaimed.

"Bye," Colin said. "It was nice meeting you."

"See ya at work, Cherry," Logan added, watching as she walked out of the room. He slumped a little in his seat, which was not unobserved by Stephanie.

"So, she's cute," Stephanie said, once Rory was gone.

"You want me to get her number for you?" Logan asked wryly.

"I'm just saying…"

"Well don't there's nothing going on there."

"Then why did you look like someone shot your puppy when she said she was leaving?" Colin asked.

"I did not look like someone shot my puppy. I've never even had a puppy. God forbid a dog was allowed to shed inside the Huntzberger museum." Logan tried to divert attention away from Rory.

"You're not fooling anybody, Logan." He should have known his friends knew him too well for that. Stephanie, in particular, was like a dog with a bone (no pun intended) when she found a reason to meddle in any of their lives.

"She's seeing someone apparently." Logan informed them "Which is obviously where she just went. And it's complicated. Anyhow, there's nothing going on between us."

"When has a boyfriend ever stopped the great Logan Huntzberger?" Colin asked.

"You want us to help you break them up?" Finn offered.

"No. In fact, don't even mention her boyfriend when you see her again. No one's supposed to know." Rory was clearly caught up in the thrall of her mystery man. This relationship she was in was fishy on so many levels, not the least of which was the secret of it all. Rory said he wasn't married, but what other reason would a guy have for keeping a relationship secret? Still, Logan hadn't changed his mind about overtly interfering. And that went for his friends too.

"No one's supposed to know?" Stephanie asked incredulously.

"No."

"That she has a boyfriend?" Stephanie clarified.

"Exactly"

"No one's supposed to know that she has a boyfriend?" Stephanie repeated.

"Ooh, elicit affair," Finn remarked. "How juicy."

"He's not married," Logan responded.

"But her relationship's a secret?"

"I don't have all the details. I just—" How to explain how he knew when no one else did. Why would a girl he'd only known for a month tell him something she was keeping from her closest confidants? "She slipped up and I found out. She won't tell me much, and frankly, it's none of my business."

"It's your business if you want to root her."

Stephanie elbowed Finn in the side, shooting a death glare his way. "Or if you care about her as a person at all," she added. "This doesn't sound healthy. It sounds controlling and manipulative."

"She doesn't seem like the kind of girl who would let herself be controlled," Logan argued. She was too smart, too witty, too willing to tell him to go to hell. No, Rory Gilmore was not the type to be controlled.

"No one lets themselves be controlled, Logan. And even strong, smart women can find themselves in unhealthy relationships. A secret like that isolates someone from the people around them. Cutting someone off from their support system is classic way to control them."

Stephanie knew her stuff, she was a Women's Studies major at Yale. Still, Logan couldn't wrap his brain around the idea that Rory was being manipulated like that.

"Well, she's not a hermit," Logan defended. "She's close with her roommate, god only knows why. And she has a good friend at work."

"She mentioned that she used to be really close with her Mom but they'd drifted apart lately," Stephanie reminded him.

"I think that's called growing up, Steph."

"Lots of people keep close relationships with their parents as adults," she argued.

"I wouldn't know, I'd have to have had a close relationship with either one of my parents first, in order to keep it."

"I'm just saying, it's raising some alarm bells, is all.

"Well quiet those alarm bells down. You can't go making those kinds of accusations without some proof." This was insane. Rory Gilmore would never get herself into a situation like the one Steph was talking about.

Stephanie shrugged. "I'm not accusing anything. I'm just saying something seems off."

"So what do we do?" Colin asked.

"Nothing," Logan responded.

"Logan's right," Stephanie said.

"What?" Logan whipped his head around to look at Stephanie. He thought they should do nothing because he didn't think there was a problem. But if there was, there was no way doing nothing would be acceptable.

"Well, I mean we can be her friend. If there is a problem, and I'm not saying there is, making sure she has a support system in place is the best thing we can do for her." Stephanie turned to Logan. "You'll make sure you invite her out again next week, right?"

Now that Logan could do. If fact he'd already been planning on it.

AN: Okay, I'm ready for all the reviews about how how creepy this is. Creepy but wonderful, right? ;)