Rory had been driving around for hours in her sparkly silver Mercedes. She just couldn't bare to even think about those pictures, the magazine was only a week old so the pictures must have been taken fairly recently. She glanced at the clock sitting in the dashboard. 3:00am big red numerals blinked at her. God, she really had been driving around for hours- 4 in fact. She decided she should take a break but she didn't know where to go. By now Logan would have found out about her little disappearing act and would be calling her soon. She couldn't go to her mom's because that's where he would probably look first, she couldn't go to Lane's, Paris' or any of her Yale friends. He would be there within minutes of arriving. A thought suddenly struck her- Ben and Lori's. Sure Lori was a close friend but Logan would no doubt be searching her very close friends houses before he even thought about Lori's, giving her much needed time. She started to turn around to head to their Hartford home when a light flashed on, her petrol was low. She quickly made the decision to stop at a gas station and headed off down the normally traffic full road.
10 Minutes later she pulled up to a gas pump and stepped out of the Mercedes SLR Mclaren. She shut the door and began filling the tank. She looked up and noticed a gang of about 5-6 men standing a few yards away looking her up and down. One of them licked his lips lustfully and began staring at her. He looked towards his friends who smirked at him. Rory looked back down at her car and tried to avoid the fact he was making his way over. She gripped the pump tighter and cast a quick glance at the shop where a man was reading a magazine, paying no attention to the going on's outside-unfortunately. The man sauntered over the her and placed his hand on the car window, leaning against it. Within the close proximity Rory could smell the extremely strong scent of alcohol on his breath- and lots of it. Without staring directly into his eyes she studied him. He hadn't shaved in a few days, he wore a button down dark blue shirt and a pair of light blue jeans. His shoes were shiny black and the cheap watch shone in the pale moonlight. His breath stunk of alcohol, lots of it and Rory had to try and stop herself from turning away. He glanced back at his group of merry men who gave him the thumbs up. That's when he began talking.
"What's a pretty thing like you doing in a place like this at 3 in the morning?" he said cheesily- as if she hadn't heard that before. She tried to think what Lori would do in this situation as she was the most confident person she knew.
"What does it look like I'm doing, Going for a midnight stroll in a gas station?" She rolled her eyes then looked into his dark grey eyes. He smirked at her and looked once again at his friends.
"Nice Ride" he said, admiring the $500,000 car. Rory only prayed the tank would hurry up and fill up.
"Thanks" she replied, trying to mask her fear.
"Why don't you ride me instead?" he said making his friends burst into hysterics. Did this guy honestly think he was funny?. Rory didn't reply but once again rolled her eyes as she tapped her Gucci shoes on the floor impatiently.
"I'm Chuck" he said holding out a hand. She reluctantly shook it remembering the manners she had been taught.
"Seriously though you must get a whole lot of pleasure riding around town in one of these beauties but it still doesn't compare to the pleasure you would be feeling if you went home with me" He licked his lips once again and Rory could feel her insides churning. The tank was still only half full.
"Hey wait aren't you that heiress, Rory Hayden?" he said. When she didn't reply he whistled and leaned back a little.
"Hey guess what guys we got ourselves a little rich girl" he shouted to his mates who jeered and cheered and laughed again.
"Well now you have an extra reason to come home with me Don't cha?. Your bad ass boyfriend cheated on you so why don't you and I return the favour?" he said leaning forward so he was only centimetres from her face. He whispered something in her ear and sent chills shuddering through her spine.
"Oh come on now Baby, he obviously doesn't like you anymore but Chuck does oh yes he does" he said looking her up and down again. That was the final straw! How dare he asses her relationship with Logan, he didn't even know her!. She noticed the tank was full and placed the pump back in the stand. She turned to face him so she could stare him in the eyes.
"Listen you idiot. There is no way I am going to be going anywhere with you. How dare you make an assumption about me, you don't even know me. And as for those chat-up lines If that's how you expect to get women to sleep with you no wonder you're hanging round gas stations at 3 in the morning. I feel sorry for you, I really do" she shouted before storming into the shop and slamming her black card down on the desk. The man looked up from his magazine and looked out at her car. He punched some numbers in on the cash register and swiped her credit card.
"Are those guys always there?" Rory blurted out before realising what she had actually said. He looked up at her briefly before carrying on with what he was doing.
"Most nights" he said simply. She nodded and took her card as it was handed to her. She nodded good-bye and made her way back to her car. Chuck had re-joined his gang and was now sitting on a nearby wall.
"What's the matter Princess? Am I not good enough for you?" he shouted over.
"Everyone is too good for you" She said stepping into the lavish interior of the car. She breathed a sigh of relief and pressed a button so she was locked in. She started the engine and revved it, glared at him in the eyes and sped out of the station- leaving a trail of dust In her wake.
She pulled up to the large iron gates of the house and looked in awe at the gorgeous house. This part of Hartford had only recently been built and it was kind of like the Beverly Hills of Connecticut. While the elder members of the families resided in the older part of Hartford the younger members had snapped up houses here when the plans had been announced, including Ben and Lori. She racked her brain for the gate code that Lori had told her when they had moved in about a month ago. When she remembered it she punched it in and a minute later the gates swung open. She hoped that when Lori said she could stop by 'anytime' she meant 3.30 am as well. She hadn't been here yet and before getting out the car she admired the gorgeous house. It was a 3 story home decorated in white paint. Red and Green Ivy covered one side of the house and partly covered some of the front of the house. A lot of garages lay a few feet away from the house and Rory could see some of a large pool in the backyard. Rory made a mental note to book herself an appointment at the realtors, she needed to get a place of her own for after Yale anyway. She carefully stepped out of the car and tried to close it with as little noise as possible but with doors that were made to be bullet proof it proved hard. She walked the short walk to distance to the door and reluctantly rang the doorbell. Instantly she heard a few dogs barking loudly. She could vaguely remember Lori mentioning something about her dad and Ben's dad buying them some guard dogs to keep the paparazzi in line. A few moments later a light switched on near the door and a dishevelled Ben answered the door in only his pyjama bottoms.
"Rory? What are you doing here?" He asked scratching his head and standing aside to let her in. She smiled appreciatively and stepped in to the dark house.
"Ben I'm really sorry to do this to you but do you mind if I spend the night only I don't really want someone to find me at the minute and this was the first place I thought of" she said suddenly feeling very guilty for intruding on them.
"Sure, no problem" he said. They stood awkwardly for a moment. Rory had never really spoken to Ben, well of course she had spoken to him but she hadn't really made an effort to get to know him.
"Do you want some coffee?" He asked as he adjusted his eyes to the light.
"That's the best thing I've heard all day" Rory smiled as she followed him to the kitchen.
A.N PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE R.R