AN: Yay! Finally seeing reviews again. Thank you for every single one of them!
Chapter 6
Rory really wasn't following where they were going, being utterly entertained by Finn, Stephanie, Logan and the bottle of Dom, while Colin did the driving, nearly not realizing they'd been driving for the better part of an hour already. Most things seemed funnier when one was a little intoxicated, the people around her definitely bringing out a whole other side of her only few people at Yale at so far gotten to see.
After a while they turned a sharp right, causing the girls in the car to yelp - along with Rory grabbing a hold of Logan's thigh on instinct to steady herself, clearly feeling pretty comfortable around him despite everything. After a couple of miles of gravel road, Finn announced - "Finally, we're here!"
"What is this place?" Rory asked, looking out the front window of the car, seeing a huge old warehouse, lit up in string lights, its large gridded windows, far from perfect condition, illuminated from the inside like a lightbulb.
As the car doors opened and the wave of music, Street's song 'Fit but you know it', came from that same light-bulb-like venue, it became very clear it was a party alright, and for an after party it looked like a huge one, the building itself looking like it was the size of half a football field. The place itself was located in vast darkness, no other houses in sight, no-one around for miles, complaining about the noise.
"Oh my..," Rory exclaimed taking in the estate.
"It's an old lace factory," Logan explained.
"And they were only willing to rent the place out if it was a wedding, so for the sake of formalities there's a wedding taking place," Colin explained.
"Pretend wedding - one of which I believe we're late to," Finn explained, returning from taking a piss at the nearby bush, the champagne bottle perfectly hiding his intimates, and made a speedy way towards the building. The girls were very cautious and keeping their eyes on Finn's eye level, but either way his nakeness seemed to be an endless source of entertainment, Finn having elaborately spoken in car on their way over how it was an excellent way to boost his immune system for the coming winter.
"Oh, okay...," Rory nodded, still looking amazed. Without asking, Logan grabbed her hand and the group made a dash towards the building, barely leaving Rory time to think that she was still not particularly well dressed for a wedding just like she'd feared.
However, as they got to the door, there seemed to be a costume booth, to which Rory automatically got dragged towards. She didn't go through a full change of clothes or anything like that, but the costume girl fitted a feathery hairpin hat, kind of looking like s small top-hat, into her hair and decorated her otherwise modest turtle-neck with a lacy and pearl decorated faux collar, dressing her outfit up a bit. Finn was also around, attempting to find himself something to cover up, and resorted to an inpromptu hula skirt made of silk ties - technically not consisting of clothing items but accesories.
Rory looked herself over in the mirror as the costume girl was finished with her, not quite knowing where the others had disappeared to. She liked her look though, it was sweet, but nothing too revealing like she'd feared the minute she'd seen the costume booth full of all sorts of glittery and revealing outfits.
"You look gorgeous," came a familiar deep voice from behind her, just out of the line of sight of the mirror. Logan had to speak loudly over The Killer's 'All These Things That I've Done' which was making it difficult to hear otherwise.
"My, thank you," Rory said, turning towards him, remaining a lot more courteous than she had the last two times, when she'd definitely responded a lot more flirtily whenever he said anything about her looks. Despite her best efforts she couldn't help but to be a little flattered, but she tried to remain indifferent.
"You ready?" he asked, offering his hand again.
Rory considered it briefly, but the situation was hardly intimate but rather engaging, and she took the hand, trying very hard not to think too much about what it meant.
The ceremony was definitely a mock-wedding through and through. The guests stood on either side of the gigantic hall, decorated with string lights, lace and candles. Rory stood half a step in front of Logan and while he wasn't holding her as such, she wasn't even sure she'd allow that, there was definitely something intimate in the almost accidental brushes against each other that occured on numerous occasions. The bride and groom dressed head to toe in steam punk style with some Victorian era accents, their costume artist deserving a prize for the piece of art those outfits were, and spoke their vows without using the letter 'E, which Rory had figured out on her own and asked Logan about.
The ceremony was followed by wedding traditions of various different cultures - there was a gong, a waterpipe, the shattering of glass by stomping on it, releasing of two white doves and a couple of other smaller things which Rory couldn't quite follow from the back, where she was standing. She actually was just quite enjoying observing the other guests - outfits varying from tuxes to Halloween costumes, her favorite being the girl in the Harley Quinn outfit and how comfortable Finn felt in his own skin barely wearing anything - it was almost enviable how confident he looked.
"Cool or what?" Logan asked, reminding Rory that he'd been standing next to her, and briefly brushed against the small of her back.
"Yeah, this is amazing," Rory exclaimed, speaking to his hear, and joined the cheer of the crowd that followed.
The DJ turned up the beat again, starting things off with Franz Ferdinard. The caterers began to bring around trays of appetizers and hand out champagne coupes, which they both accepted.
"So you do this kind of thing a lot?" Rory asked, curiously.
"Something bigger like this - maybe once a month," Logan replied nonchalantly.
Rory was just about to ask about the hush-hush part of this event as it had become clear in the car that this was some secret society kind of stuff, but they were interrupted.
"Logan, a word," a tall man Rory didn't know pulled Logan aside.
"Excuse me, I'll be back," Logan promised Rory, and left.
It didn't take long until Stephanie pulled Rory along, demanding she dance with her, already feeling very ready to party.
"Got to dance some of the champagne calories off," Stephanie laughed, and Rory threw back her drink in a couple of sips, simply drinking from thirst by now. Not that she agreed, but the dance floor did look fun - the music was great, not some average disco and Lane, most definitely, would've been proud. Just people watching in this crowd was entertaining as hell, and she stuggled to fight the smile that crept onto her lips. This was fun and she was glad Logan had invited her.
Rory danced for a while, but at the same time kept looking around the room, finding it a little worrisome Logan was nowhere in sight. What she did see, however, were several girls looking at her. She wasn't quite sure what it was - was it that she looked out of place, not in costume enough, or perhaps that she was something between her teeth or a stain on her face.
"Do your really think Logan's going to get in trouble for inviting me?" Roy asked Stephanie.
"Oh, please...," Stephanie laughed as if it was ludicrous.
Rory shrugged, not knowing what to think. Maybe it really wasn't a big deal.
"Do you know which way to the bathroom?" Rory asked Stephanie after a while, not really as much into dancing but rather hoping to go explore a little on top of checking herself over in a mirror in the bathroom, still curious to what all the looks were about. And if she happened to ran into Logan, all for the better - as she did eventually want to talk to him. Her champagne buzz was actually beginning to wear down a little too by now, the dancing having helped.
"I think over there," Stephanie said, pointing to a corner by the entrance, and continued to dance with Colin.
Rory was just about to head down the narrow passageway, a white blinking sign for the bathroom indicating the way, when two girls emerged, one of them bumping into her. It looked accidental, but the glance that followed really was not that innocent. Rory was lucky she hadn't been holding a glass.
"What's your problem?" Rory mumbled quietly, not quite being the type to jump into a confrontation, and continued towards the bathroom.
Thankfully, there were plenty of stalls and Rory didn't need to wait in line. As she emerged a minute later she carefully inspected herself in the mirror, nt finding anything wrong with the way she looked. A little innocent, perhaps - but no stains, no toilet paper stuck under her shoe or funny post-it's sticking to her back. Her first thought was that people must've not liked her because of what Colin had seen earlier - essentially that she was the outsider in an event she wasn't really supposed to be in. But then again the way Stephanie had laughed the thought off, left her conflicted.
But as she then noted a group of girls standing at the back of the bathroom, correcting their makeup and one of them mumble quite audibly "Who does she think she is?" and she recognized one of them as the girl she'd seen with Logan with a few days ago at the paper she began to suspect something else.
The group of girls raised their chins in the air and walked out, passing her, one of them passive aggressively nudging her with her designer purse.
"Jeez, what's the deal!" Rory mumbled again, this time a little more loudly.
"There's a line to get to him, you know," the short girl whom she'd seen before, dressed as Harley Quinn, said.
"What?" Rory reacted, having not really expected anyone to hear nor reply her.
"To Logan… there's a line," she repeated.
"I don't want to be in any line," Rory said, confusedly, shrugging her shoulders.
"Oh…, I just guesse people saw you being all close with him earlier," she shrugged.
"We're friends," Rory fibbed, leaving out the past.
"Right, good - finally someone other than myself who isn't fooled by his generic charm," she said, leaving Rory actually feeling a little offended. "I'm Angie, by the way," the girl introduced herself.
"Rory," she replied.
"I like my men a little more exotic," Angie explained. "That Finn guy… he's just gorgeous, but impossible to get to. He seems to have a thing for redheads," Angie added, touching up her eyeliner. "But red is so not my color," she commented.
"Oh, he's definitely exotic. I'm not quite sure how exclusive he is to redheads though," Rory said, trying to be helpful.
"Oh, you know him?" Angie asked.
"I don't know him, know him. But I have hung out with him a couple of times, yes. If you want - and if you're not scared away by his current bet of staying nude for a month, I could introduce you if you want," Rory offered generously. "No promises though," she added.
"Maybe not tonight, he was just dancing with this other girl… Rosemary was her name, I think," Angie said, showing incredible patience.
Rory shrugged.
"Maybe I'll see you around sometime," Angie added, and walked out ahead of her, and Rory only now realized she was still in the middle of washing her hands.
Rory emerged from the bathroom with newfound determination, knowing that she'd gotten herself into an inconvenient situation. She wanted to find Logan and give him a piece of her mind but at the same time she knew she couldn't quite do that as he was also her drive home - well technically Colin was, but it was close enough. She didn't even know where she was. But the champagne in her body was giving her a lot more courage than she normally had.
"Hey, I've been looking all over the place for you," Logan said, as he found her, not too far from the costume booth.
"Well you found me," Rory exhaled, not looking very excited anymore.
"Some of the guys drove a car into a ditch n their way over her, I had to figure out a confidential tow truck that wouldn't reveal our location. But everyone's fine, they even made it to the party," Logan explained his absence, leaving Rory with the impression he was quite an important part of whatever this was.
Rory nodded, understandingly.
"Come on, I want to show you something," Logan said, again inviting her along, and the way he offered his hand to her again seemed so natural.
But this time Rory was reluctant to take it, and clung to her book bag instead. For a second Logan looked confused, but since she followed him nonetheless, he didn't seem to make it into a big deal.
There was a small lake in the backyard, its surface full of floating paper lantern. The romantic mood they created didn't quite fit Jet's 'Are You Gonna Be My Girl' that was being played inside. Rory could definitely tell that there was a whole other space out here, despite the music - and many people were taking advantage of these calmer surroundings. There were several couples holding each other or even making out or simply talking out on the benches and picnic blankets, enjoying the view. This was the equivalent of the make out room at house parties, but this was outside, the only privacy being offered in the form of three-four of baldachin double loungers, giggles coming from some of them.
Rory no doubt wanted to say that it was beautiful, but she was too distracted to enjoy this. He wasn't thinking he'd just get her to have sex with him out here, was he?
"What? Not quite your thing?" Logan asked, disappointedly.
"It's beautiful but I just… I don't even know where to being, Logan," Rory exploded, still managing to keep her tone low enough to keep the conversation private.
"What?" Logan insisted.
"I'm not that girl! I'm not the girl who will just fall for your tricks and charm. Here at Yale - I'm not that girl," Rory explained.
"I didn't force you to come," Logan said, shrugging his shoulders.
"I know, but you were pretty convincing. And don't get me wrong - I am thankful to be a part of this gorgeous event. It's a gorgeous view, it's romantic... I just don't appreciate the label that was put on me by daring to appear here with you as your…," Rory said, not quite daring to say it out loud. Escort? Geisha? Someone who was easy?
"My what?" Logan raised his eyebrow, half teasingly.
"Another one of your... arm candy or whatever," Rory blurted, trying to put it nicely.
Logan smiled, as if enjoying seeing her like this a little, which frankly just made her more mad.
"I'm not just that girl you saw in Florida or in Italy… I'm a lot more than just that. And I don't want people to look at me and think my sole goal is to bag you or something. I have a brain and I couldn't care less who your dad is," Rory blabbered.
"I know," Logan said, timidly, but his words hardly registerd with Rory.
"I couldn't care less about the size of your wallet, the connections nor do I particularly care about the type of guy you've made yourself out of he around these people - or a the paper. This smug and cocky person who doesn't care about anything, who thinks he's above rules and agreements," she continued, thinking back to the way Logan had been around Doyle.
"I kind of got that yeah," Logan said.
"Well good! Because you should!" Rory huffed, her energy burning down, not knowing what else to say. She'd expected him to argue, but he hadn't.
"Hey, you ever consider that maybe I chose to invite you along tonight because I am sick of those fake girls who can't keep up with a half-intelligent discussion if they wanted to? Those who lie to me to just get me to wine and dine them every night?" Logan explained.
"Yeah but that's the thing - you didn't invite me. You just happened to see me by accident and made it a spur of the moment thing," Rory said, still feeling like she needed to stay mad at him about something - anything.
"That was just luck, yeah. But if you eventually get back to your dorm you'll see that there's a message on that answering machine of yours with me leaving my number and asking your out. It took me a little longer than I expected to get your number and I tried catching you on campus but our classes overlapped so I never did... So what else was I suppose to do? Not see you at all or grab a chance when I saw one? I wanted to see you," Logan explained.
"Yeah, but apparently by doing this… whatever this is… I'm the number one enemy over there amongst the female population," Rory explained, looking visibly upset.
"Well there isn't much I can do about that other than say that I'm sorry," Logan shrugged, humbly.
"But still - I'm not that…," Rory began, wanting to say again that she wasn't the girl that just sleeps around through college.
Before she finished her thought Logan's lips crashed into hers, making her forget all she'd wanted to say. The kiss was a lot more gentle than during their last encounter in Rome, but it perfectly soothed Rory's earlier anger.
"I won't be one of the many, Logan..," Rory insisted, the second the kiss broke, speaking quietly just mere inches from him.
"I'd be lying if I said that isn't presenting a challenge. But I'm willing to try if you are...," Logan said, pulling her closer by her waist, and kissing again her already reddened lips.
AN: It might be the end... I am not sure. Don't hope for much, but whoknows...