Chapter 9

Since Rory only really had one afternoon class on Friday, they'd decided to go out on Thursday. Naturally at first Logan had suggested Friday, but Rory had cleverly decided to tell him she already had plans for Friday, maintaining some mystery. After they'd run into each other the coffee cart, Rory had let Logan walk her to her dorm room and during the walk they'd talked about Rorys coffee habits and how Logan had once visited this amazing coffee plantation in Costa Rica that had served the most amazing locally roasted blend. A very safe topic, still yet another piece of their mutual puzzles.

It was because of that same walk, why Logan now knew exactly where to pick Rory up on that Thursday evening.

Rory was still putting on her earrings, having taken her time with curling her hair, wanting to appear casual but also like she'd put some effort into it - again a fine balance, when there was a knock on the door. She turned the Belle and Sebastian's 'I'm a Cuckoo' album down a little, and pondered whether it could already be him and looked at her outfit that was not yet quite ready in panic.

Glancing quickly at the time, she figured it had to be Logan, though she did hope he'd been more late than this, the time showing only 3 minutes past 8.

She hated to have to do this, but considering she was still missing boots, one earring and lipstick, she resorted to asking for help.

"Paris, I know you're busy, but would you mind getting that? I'll be just a minute, I'm sorry," Rory said, hoping for the best.

"Yeah, because who am I other than your butler," Paris grumbled, possibly loud enough to be heard even on the other side of the door.

Rory swallowed her need to point out how she'd helped Paris get ready for her first date with Jamie, knowing she wanted Paris at her best behavior. It was kind of two-sided though, since it was a pretty good test of character how well one tolerated Paris Geller, and she was sort of curious how Logan would handle her.

"Oh, it's you," Paris said, answering the door, her tone holding some disgust.

"Hi to you too, Geller," Logan replied.

"Rory will be ready in a minute," Paris said. "I could offer you a drink but I'd be lying if I wanted you to have my last diet coke. But do we have tap water?" she added, clearly not expecting Logan Huntzberger to go for the latter. While they didn't exactly know each other, Paris was famous around the paper by now.

"I'm fine, I'll just wait right here," Logan said.

Rory hastily finished up her look, deciding to fight the self criticism that stared back at her from her mirror. She was not used to dressing herself up quite so… sexy. She was wearing her mother's blue silky spaghetti strap top, a broad collared henley-type shirt that was becoming one of her favorites for light layers, over it and a short blue skirt. The boots versus shoes dilemma had been won by boots. She wore all the items on her body often, just not usually together, and the curls and the lipstick… it was definitely coming off like she'd made an effort. She just hoped it wasn't too much, not wanting to appear... easy. But either way - the look was bringing back that thrill she'd felt when meeting up with Logan in Rome. She'd dressed up sexy then too - cute kitten heels and a very low cut sundress she usually only ever wore with a sweater on top around her grandmother.

"Hey, sorry…," Rory exhaled as she emerged, grabbing her coat and purse on her way out and then stepping back in, realizing her stereo was still playing on low. The stereo had given Logan a glimpse of her taste in music, which was definitely a first besides having said at the party how much she enjoyed Franz Ferdinard when it came to dancing.

Rory also wondered whether Logan would get the meaning behind the Gloria Steinem poster just by the door or would he think of her as just an average playful Playboy bunny.

"It's fine… and definitely worth every second of the wait," Logan said, looking her over appreciatively. It was his smile that did the complimenting for him, and frankly she was relieved it hadn't been something less original, because she didn't want to transform all blotchy red from giddiness right at the first minute.

"Oh, jeez," the two could hear Paris muttering from her little craft corner, its meaning left uncertain whether it had been directed at them or something she was doing.

"Here," Logan said, handing her what looked like a skewer stick with a swirl of red paper around it, forming the shape of a rose.

For a moment Rory thought he was kidding. Logan really didn't look like the guy with the craft corner in his dorm room. He did live in a dorm room, didn't he? Or was that beneath him?

"Oh, wow," Rory commented, and almost on instinct wanted to sniff it as if it was real, but clearly her mind was playing tricks on her at that moment, Logan's handsomeness right then and there definitely having caught her off guard a little. He was wearing a black button up, the first few buttons undone, and a semi-casual dark gray blazer, but overall he looked well put together, definitely something that could've just walked off the cover of a magazine of some teen magazine running a story about a boy band - 5 years later.

"Unfortunately duplicating the scent was beyond me," Logan replied along with a chuckle.

"You made this?" Rory asked, crooking her eyebrow.

"Technically no, but I thought of it," Logan explained with a smirk.

"Still, it's great, unique - thank you," Rory said and tucked the rose into her purse, leaving its paper flower sticking out of it. Rory checked her purse one more time to see if she had everything she needed - definitely not bringing a book tonight - and headed out the door, Logan following her.

"So… you live with Geller?" Logan inquired after the door closed behind them, some confusion being evident in his tone.

"Yeah, I do," Rory replied. It was not the first time she'd have to explain that.

"Um… why?" Logan asked in a non-offensive way but his meaning was not lost on Rory.

Rory chuckled, half having assumed the question would be coming. "Believe it or not it's by choice…," Rory replied, curious to see what he thought of it.

Logan raised his eyebrows, expectantly, clearly wanting to hear that story.

"We went to high school together. Nemeses turned into friends, I guess? She's actually a good friend when you look below the thorny surface. She pushes me to work hard, some might say we are each-other's Rusty the rabbit, you know?" she discussed. "Besides, there's the whole thing about it sort of doing the public a service by sticking with her, I can just tune her out when I need… for other's it may not be that easy," she explained.

Logan was just about to comment about it being a huge public service, but didn't get a chance since on their way out of the last alleyway Rory nearly ran into some tall guy.

"Oop, sorry! Hey, Marty!" Rory apologized and greeted, seeing who the guy was.

"My fault, I wasn't looking… Hi," Marty replied, looking over the two, suddenly becoming rather avoidant.

"I'll see you around, okay?" Rory added, already seeing him disappear into the courtyard.

"Uh-uh," Marty mumbled from the distance.

"Friend of yours?" Logan asked.

"Yeah, kind of…, we used to hang out more, not much anymore," Rory replied, not liking the fact that she had likely broken his heart by not liking him back.

"He looks familiar… but I can't quite place him," Logan pondered.

"He works a bunch of jobs - bartends mostly. Maybe that's how?" Rory speculated.

"Must be that," Logan replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"Hey, I actually wondered - do you live on campus or...?" Rory asked, curiously as they walked out into Chapel street.

"I mean if that your way of saying you want to head over there right now…," Logan began to say, looking like he'd been unable to hold his tongue. "Sorry… that wasn't very tasteful of me. I promise - tonight I'm at my best behavior," Logan added, holding up his hands apologetically.

"You can joke all you want, as long as you don't really think of me as just that…," Rory said genuinely.

"I don't. I promise," Logan assured. "And yes, I do still live on campus - over at Berkley actually," Logan said, gesturing behind them towards its general direction. It really wasn't very far from Rory's dorm.

"So where are we going? Should I have worn something better for walking? As I'm not exactly the outdoorsy type, and especially not in heels," Rory said, hopefully.

"Just down the road, don't worry," Logan said, his million-dollar smile plastered onto his face. "Can I just ask - why the 20-dollar rule? Well - I assume I can imagine in part why but… it's an awfully specific amount...," Logan contemplated.

"Well… somehow what you said about wining and dining girls the other night and then you followed that up with the offer to take me to that fancy place in Old Saybrook, or what was it? After that I felt like I wanted to push you out of your comfort zone and see what you'd come up with. Because I really don't need to be dazzled with fancy food or whatever…," Rory continued, wanting to add 'gifts' but she didn't want to assume. "I'm not interested in dating your wallet or your family. I am interested in getting to know who you are," Rory said, realizing how easy it was to be this honest around him, despite all the worrying she'd done during the week.

"You know, that's by itself already probably the biggest compliment anyone has ever given me?" Logan replied, not explaining his thought further, leaving Rory with something to think about. Did nobody else want to get to know him as him? That actually sounded sad - Rory thought.

They walked for a bit in silence, which was a surprisingly comfortable one, until Logan came to a halt in front of the University Art Gallery. Rory knew this place was free of charge, hence the choice wasn't really all that surprising. She almost felt a little disappointed, having expected something more from him. But perhaps with the limited budget, that really was the best he could come up with. She decided not to judge him at this minute, quite knowingly trying to tone down her expectations - after all not everyone was like her mother who could make a whole birthday party happen with 20 bucks, staying up all night making paper garlands by hand and melting together old candles so she would have something to blow off on the cheap whipped cream covered pie in the aluminum tin.

But Rory did enjoy how relaxed just doing something as simple as this with him made her feel - there was no pressure like this - unlike what one might assume otherwise when a guy paid hundreds of dollars for a meal and then one almost felt guilty if one wasn't going home with him - at least in theory. Rory had no experience with such dates, the best she had to go off of was what she'd seen in movies.

"Have you been here before?" Logan asked.

"Actually, no," Rory confessed. "Well, I was supposed to go when we came for a visit before I applied, but that day didn't exactly turn out the way it was planned," Rory found herself sharing. The place looked deserted, just the guard sitting at the front desk to whom they both nodded in greeting.

"Good, or not good I guess? What happened?" Logan inquired.

"We came with my grandparents, me and my mom - that is. And it was all a nice day, and we rarely saw my grandparents as affectionate and relaxed - it was where they fell in love. So it was sweet to hear them tell stories about their college times. That is - my grandfather went here but my grandmother went to Smith's, but still…," Rory babbled, realizing it herself. "Sorry - I am babbling," she apologized, sounding nervous.

"No, go on..," Logan encouraged.

"Well anyways - it was a perfectly nice day until my grandfather pulled me over at the main administration building and told me, completely out of the blue, he'd made me an appointment with Harris Fellow… who just 'happens to be Dean of Admissions' and practically guilted me into taking the meeting," Rory explained, as they walked into the exhibition on "Private Faces of Public" keeping their voices down a little. This particular exhibition wasn't much to either one's liking but both really seemed to be more interested in hearing the other speak over looking at old portraits from the 1750s to 1900s.

"Sounds like something my dad would do. Except for the part about him being here with me to do it or even the choice of venue… he'd probably just send me out to play a game of golf with him or something," Logan explained.

"Um.. yeah, well… I was completely unprepared, I wasn't even planning on applying here. The plan had always been Harvard. And it just turned into this big fight… sure we made up in the end but just the way he did it. The way he thought he could meddle, it was just the first time I was truly, deeply, hurt by his actions, you know," Rory continued to explain.

"Yeah, I can get that..," Logan nodded along. "But I'm glad you ended up here though - meeting or no meeting," he added.

"Yeah, I am too," Rory replied, smiling up at him. But naturally his presence right now wasn't the sole reason. "Though I am not really sure if the meeting played a role… I might have chosen to apply here either way. I applied to at least a dozen places..," Rory said, shrugging her shoulders. Frankly she preferred not to know whether that meeting had played a role, wanting to believe she'd gotten in fair and square.

"So what did eventually change your mind? Why not Harvard…? I kind of assume you got into a bunch of places," Logan said. Rory really would've much rather heard about him, but it seemed he was the one with the good and snappy questions.

"It was a lengthy process. I did a pro-con list… and I guess just the proximity to home and it had the courses I wanted…," Rory confessed.

"And where is home…?" Logan began to ask, curiously.

"Hey - my turn," Rory scolded him. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk about Stars Hollow, she just felt he knew a whole lot more about her than she did about him.

"Fine," Logan agreed, as they continued onwards into the permanent exhibition hall with it's burgundy walls and classical paintings, stopping to observe a few paintings a little closer.

Rory liked how Logan was actually genuinely looking at the paintings, at times also reading the accompaning text, not just rushing through the place like many would. Not quite the famous 'Frown, step back, wrinkle and sigh' - but close enough.

"So did you dad actually do that to you? I mean with Harris Fellows? Did you play golf with him or something?" Rory inquired.

"Nah," Logan replied. "But he did have him over for dinner. I was supposed to sit there, all buttoned up and neat, assuring how the days of getting kicked out of four boarding schools were behind me," he added.

"Right… wow, four schools?" Rory exclaimed, that really sounded way worse to her than the fact that Jess had gotten kicked out from Stars Hollow High for his lack of attendance. "What did you do?" she just had to ask.

"Ah… so not the conversation I hoped to be having tonight. And technically there were seven schools - I just changed schools on my terms a few times too," Logan chuckled in a low tone as they moved onwards the the gothic part of the museum that held most of their sculptures.

The room's large gridded windows showed it was rapidly growing darker outside. Suddenly, having not seen another soul in the museum, it hit Rory and instead of returning to the former topic, she asked instead - "Hey, how is this place even still open?"

"Ah.. well you set a budget on the date but you never said I couldn't use my connections or call in any favors," Logan smirked, looking proud of himself.

"Oh, okay…," Rory said, nodding along, nearly wanting to punch his shoulder for his loose interpretation of her rules. But she did like this - this also meant they didn't need to watch their voices as much. "But go on," she said, assuring him she still wanted to hear about his high school years.

"Well… there was South Kent and Chilton," Logan began, the familiar name definitely catching Rory's attention and nearly made her want to stop him right there and ask about it, but she decided to hold off declaring there was a connection. "Then there was St. Mark's, Rivers, just for a couple of months, and then there was Groton. Mostly they kicked me out simply due to pranks - I got bored. I didn't exactly love authority when someone tried to make me do something I didn't want to do. That was no-doubt juvenile of me, I know… but I won't deny I enjoyed doing them. It was a hell of a lot of fun at the time too," he said, unable to hide some pride in his tone. "And of course then there was Andover, that's in Switzerland, where I did my final year. Then I finally realized I actually needed to show people I wasn't a lost cause - that I could study. It was one of the hardest years I've ever had to push myself through, because I was making up for years of patchy education," he explained.

"Wow, that's… different," Rory exclaimed, taking in all of it. Clearly he was smart if he had managed to make up for all those years like that.

"How many points do I lose for that?" Logan asked.

"Not many…," Rory commented, knowing how common it really for teenage boys to act out, like she knew from her dad's stories.

"Okay, not to assume… but, what's the worst thing you did during your school days?" Logan inquired.

"Hey… you assume a lot, don't you? You assume that I'm some goody-good, you assumed that I was not seeing anyone, you probably assume that I'm sheltered…," Rory suddenly said, not liking the way he'd framed that question, a lot of her own insecurities coming to the surface.

"Hey, I'm sorry - I didn't mean anything bad by it. I was just curious if perhaps you have something hidden in the back of your closet just the same as I have at the bottom of the South Pacific," he added with a wink, knowing she knew about the yacht.

"Fine..," Rory frowned, feeling a little apologetic for having exploded like that.

"Well, are you? Seeing anyone?" Logan decided to ask.

"No. What kind of a girl would I be if I didn't meet the same criteria I had set for the men I choose to date?" Rory shot back, with a twinkle in her eyes.

"Good," Logan said, as they made it to the room with Central- and South-American native art.

"But I was a goody-good, I suppose. Top of my class, never got into much trouble. I did get busted for breaking into the headmaster's office one time. But because I essentially ended up there because they told me to be more social and I had a fit about it right to the headmaster's face, I sort of got excused from that," Rory explained, just in case not wanting to mention the Puffs, worrying he might link it to Chilton. She was actually a little concerned perhaps they'd have joint acquaintances, but she at least assumed there couldn't be many since Logan didn't seem to know Paris from before either.

"That probably speaks a lot about your debating skills," Logan said as a compliment.

"Maybe," Rory shrugged. "Now these I actually like…," she said, switching back to actually observing the paintings that they'd reached now that they were faced with a room full of Gauguin, Picasso, Degas and van Gogh.

They discussed the paintings along with bits of art history - which artists had gone crazy in which way and pondering over at which stage these particular masterpieces had been completed, even bringing out some linkages to literature. Logan was surprisingly good at following her banter, which was a welcome discovery.

"You want to go check out what's up there?" Logan asked after a while, gesturing up to a roped-off section at the top of a flight of stairs.

The look on Rory's face was certainly one that was hesitant. It didn't look like somewhere they were supposed to be going. But that sneaky look on Logan's face along with knowing he had set this whole thing up with some inside connections, she decided to not hesitate for long, loving the adrenaline just hanging out with him brought her.

Logan unhooked the rope and let Rory through.

They climbed the steeper flight of stairs and Logan pushed open the door that to Rory's surprise opened up to the roof.

He'd definitely gone through his share of trouble setting this up. On the rooftop, between two large pyramid skylights that were illuminated from the inside, he'd laid out a large blanket with a picnic setup, a few lanterns with candles lit inside, creating even more of a romantic mood. There were also a few other blankets for warmth and pillows around to make them more comfortable.

"That must've been a lot of favors..," Rory commented, being in awe.

Logan did one better though and turned on the boombox on low, starting off with The Shins' 'New Slang', which frankly Rory appreciated, not feeling like they could just fall into the deep end by playing something too corny.

"It's beautiful," Rory commented, having now also glanced over the ledge of the rooftop to see the campus lit up in the evening lights and the sculpture garden.

He then held out his hand, and suggested Rory get comfortable on the blanket. His hand felt hot to the touch, and frankly Rory was a little reluctant to let it go after she'd settled between the pillows.

"Wine?" Logan said, having gotten down on his knees too, and opened up the basket.

"Now that's got to be more than 20 bucks," Rory commented, teasingly, but held out the glass for him either way as she watched him open the bottle of Pinot Noir.

"I had this sitting around on my shelf," Logan smirked. "The lanterns are from one of our events, the blankets and pillows I borrowed, the music's mine...," he added, making himself comfortable as well, proving indeed that he'd fit into the budget, even though he'd definitely thought outside the box.

"Uh-uh," Rory replied, smiling. God, that smugness of his was addictive.

The basket held an assortment of meat cuts and cheeses - nothing overly fancy, olives, some fruit salad and a box of chocolate chip cookies. Rory did a quick calculation in her head, but no longer really cared - whatever this had cost or whatever he had borrowed or found in his minifridge - it was close enough.

"Hey, I never asked - what's your major? I assume you know mine because you said you knew my schedule. I won't go into that being creepy, but… just to even the playing field," Rory said, after a sip of wine, leaning back onto her arm.

Logan seemed to be reflecting her position - Rory wasn't sure if consciously or not, but either way, having read about this being a thing from a couple of books on relationships, she'd read a few summers ago just out of curiosity, she quite appreciated it. He really seemed to like her, especially if he was willing to go through all this trouble - the thought made her stomach flutter.

Logan went on to explain how he was double majoring in management and computer and information sciences, the latter coming as a real surprise to Rory. He also explained that the latter hadn't really been the plan but he'd felt like this was the one part of his future he could control. Even with a fixed path ahead of him, one that Rory already head heard about in Florida, he could control with what kind of knowledge and skills he went into that future. He was pretty sure he was never going to be a programmer, but he at the very least wanted to understand how things worked.

Rory explained her choice of majors as well - English with a mix of this and that, wanting to come out of this with a broad spectrum - taking anything from business and economics to politics. But what she didn't go too deep into was her dream of becoming a foreign correspondant - not wanting him to think she was there with him because she was interested in him for his connections.

They also talked a little about what kind of music they liked - Logan's list of songs being a pretty good conversation starter, playing Arcade Fire, Phoenix, OMC, Tal Bachman, The Goo Goo Dolls amongst others. It was when the song of the latter - one called 'Slide' - played, and their casual topics had reached their end, and little by little they'd inched closer to each other. She couldn't be sure, he'd planned it just like that, but just as the lyrics said "I wanna wake up where you are" his lips brushed against hers again, his victorious smile still evident through the kiss, giving her with a very attractive prospect to consider.

AN: I considered adding Logan's POV, but I don't want to - I want his side to remain a little bit more mysterious in this and I'll just let him speak his feelings a little more than in the OS.

Hoping to hear what you think about the date! Should Rory go even further with him at the end of this date?