AN: Thank you guys all so much for the reviews! I'm sorry for the delay. I had to deal with a family emergency and a lot of school things. The next chapter should be up Tuesday.
Chapter 9
"Well, how do you want to go about setting him and Haley up?" Lucas asked Rory.
It was an hour later, and they were both much more alert and fed. They wanted to plan how to set up Nathan and Haley for the summer. After little deliberation, they decided that they would, in fact, make a cute couple.
"Well…" Rory started, "I'm really not sure."
"Yeah, me neither." Lucas shrugged, standing up and pulling Rory to her feet. "Come on, let's get out of here and do something. We'll figure it out later."
She followed him out of the house and walked around with him for a while. His arm was around her waist and her head was on his shoulder.
"I've got it!" She said, stopping suddenly.
"What?"
Rory rolled her eyes. "The idea. How to get Haley and Nathan together? A party!"
Lucas raised an eyebrow. "What kind of a party?"
Rory shrugged. "It doesn't matter. We'll tell them both we want to throw a party, and we'll pretend to be busy with something, so we'll have them plan it."
Lucas thought about it for a minute as they continued to walk. "That's actually a pretty good idea."
"I know. I'm just great like that." She teased, grabbing his hand and pulling him along.
-GG-OTH-
It was later that afternoon and Rory and Lucas were just returning from their stroll. They had stopped at a few shops here and there and then went to the library where Rory made good use of Lucas' credit card.
"Nathan, hey!" Rory said, smiling as they entered the house to find Nathan sitting on the couch playing video games.
"What's up?" He greeted, not taking his eyes off the screen.
'Now?' Rory questioned, mouthing the question to Lucas.
'Why not?' He shrugged in response, as they sat on the couch by his brother.
"So Nate, do you have any plans for the next few nights? Are you busy doing anything?" Rory questioned, knowing full well that the answer was no.
"Not really." Nathan replied, still pressing buttons on the controller as he shot at something.
"That's great!" Rory replied, trying not to laugh at his expression of concentration at the game. "So… I don't suppose you'd mind helping us plan a party then, would you?"
Nathan hit the pause button on the controller and looked at her. "Party?"
She nodded, smiling. "Yep. Party. Lucas and I wanted to throw one, but we both have a lot going on, so we thought that we could get you and another friend to help. You want to help?"
He shrugged, looking back and forth between the two. Rory had never been a good liar, and had a guilty expression on her face. But still, he couldn't see the harm in helping throw one little party. "Sure, why not." He replied, hitting the pause button once again and continuing to play his game.
Lucas and Rory hurried out of the house and to the café to plot.
-GG-OTH-
"Can you believe she had the audacity to tell me she would send me back to Hartford if I interfered?" Logan ranted, pacing around the room.
He hated not knowing where Rory was. It was killing him. All he knew was that she was staying the night- all the nights- with Lucas. His girlfriend should be in his arms at night, under his roof; she most certainly should not be having sleepovers with some other guy.
Colin rolled his eyes. "You brought this on yourself by coming here. You knew it would piss her off, but you did it anyway. Now deal with it." He turned back to his Financial Times, hoping Logan would leave him to read about the future trends of the stock market.
Logan's jaw dropped. He could hardly believe one of his best friends had just said that to him! "I thought you were going to support me in this." He accused, glaring.
Colin sighed, placing his magazine down beside him. He knew trying to read it while Logan was in a mood like this was a futile effort. "I am, I do. Look, I'll help you, but you need to do something other than just complaining."
Logan nodded. "Yeah, yeah, you're right. I do."
With that, he left the house. He was going to do whatever it took to make sure Rory stayed his.
-GG-OTH-
"So, we'll divide up the lists? You and I will take one, and Haley and Nathan will take the other one?" Rory questioned as she picked up a french fri to munch on.
Lucas nodded, taking a bite of his cheese burger and placing it back down, pointing at the lists. "Make sure you send them on all the out of town errands. Keep them alone together as long as possible."
Rory nodded. "Yeah, you're right. If this is going to work, then they need plenty of alone time." She smiled, eating another fri. "Besides, the longer they are alone together, the less time Nate has to follow us around. Which means-"
"More alone time for us!" Lucas finished, smiling.
"Exactly! I am so glad we're here for the summer. It's so much nicer than going to Boston. I seriously doubt I could handle another summer with my father." She shook her head, pausing to take a drink.
"What's wrong? Is he being more of a jerk than usual?" Lucas questioned, pushing his plate aside and concentrating solely on the girl in front of him.
Rory shrugged. "It's just his usual stuff. Trying to be in control of everything… it's just, he's being him, you know?"
"Yeah, I do."
And she knew he did. She knew he understood all too well what she was going through. After all, he went through the same things with Dan every time he went back to Boston. Thankfully for both of them their summers with their fathers ended once they turned eighteen.
"Come on, let's get out of here and do something fun." Lucas suggested, wanting to lighten the mood.
-GG-OTH-
Logan walked around for a while, before stumbling across a park. He sat at a bench and looked around, before spotting something that made him feel even worse.
"Higher!" Rory giggled as Lucas pushed her on the swing. She continued laughing even once he stopped the swing.
Lucas stood in front of her and held out a hand to her as she stood up. Taking it, she smiled up at him, before wrapping her arms around him in a huge hug.
"I'm so glad I came here. I missed you." Rory said, still holding him.
"I'm glad you're here too." Lucas told her, holding onto her just as tightly as she held him.
Logan watched the scene and his shoulders slumped slightly. Standing up he quietly walked away. He didn't want to lose her, but he knew he had to figure out some way to keep her. He now knew it wouldn't be easy. He saw the look in her eyes; whether she realized it or not, Rory was falling for her best friend.