Reviews: Over 100? You guys are awesome! Thanks so much!
I'm not sure about this chapter, it wasn't really working for me. Hope you enjoy it anyway!
Rory could feel her fingers cramping up but she didn't stop, so intent on getting the words on the page, on getting her voice heard. Inspiration had hit her suddenly two hours previous and so she had detoured from her coffee run and headed straight to the newspaper office. Sighing, she saved her work and leaned back in her chair, running a hand through her hair. Her article wasn't yet up to standard meaning that she still had an hour or so more of work to do.
"Rory!" She turned in her chair, eyes narrowed, as she heard her name being hissed from nearby. Surveying the room quickly, she located the source barely in the door of the office and her eyebrows rose.
"Logan?" she questioned.
He made a shushing motion and gestured for her to follow him out into the hall. Hesitating for a moment, just staring at the empty doorframe, curiosity eventually won and she did as he asked.
"Hey," she said when she located him down the hall. "What was with that?"
He grinned at her and leaned against the wall. "Doyle gets on my nerves," he confided, lowering his voice slightly. "I didn't want him to see me."
Rory looked at him questionably. "You know Doyle?"
Logan nodded and shrugged. "I'm on the paper."
"You're on the paper?" she repeated incredulously.
He smiled sheepishly in response and shrugged again. "So what do you say we go get a cup of coffee or a bite to eat or something?"
She smiled. "Don't think that I didn't notice the subject change." She began walking down the hall, leaving Logan to catch up. "C'mon Huntz, you're buying me the largest cup of coffee that I can find," she called over her shoulder.
He was grinning as he caught up to her.
-
As they walked away from the coffee cart, Rory found herself gazing at the blond beside her out of the corner of her eye. The kiss from the previous night was still on her mind but she was taking her lead from him, who had yet to mention it. Her nerves were getting to her, and she wondered if it had meant anything to him or whether it was just a spur of the moment thing with no meaning behind it. She sighed and stared into the dark liquid that was in the Styrofoam cup she held in her hands.
"So any luck yet?"
Rory looked up from the steaming cup of coffee that she had been savoring to the man in front of her with a questioning look.
"Any luck with what?"
Logan grinned and took a quick sip of his coffee. "Your journalistic endeavors."
She poked him teasingly, pushing away any of her previous thoughts as they slowly walked along the path. "Is that a fancy way of asking if I've figured out your last name yet?"
There was a pause before, "Maybe."
She sighed dramatically. "I'm working on it, Huntz." She frowned. "Do you even know my last name?"
Logan's smile widened. "Of course I do, but in order to comply with my source's wishes, I cannot reveal it to you."
His answer surprised a laugh out of Rory and she was suddenly glad that she had not taken a sip of her coffee just then. She shook her head as if she were disappointed in him. "You are so full of it, Logan."
He just laughed in response.
Rory smiled and tossed her empty coffee cup into a nearby trashcan, catching a glimpse of the time displayed on her watch. Her heart sank as she realized that she needed to go back to her dorm now if she was going to make her next class on time.
"I have to go." She smiled apologetically at Logan. "I have a class pretty soon," she explained, not quite knowing why she felt that she had to justify herself to him.
He nodded, not showing how disappointed he really was. "I'll walk you back to your dorm," he offered, already heading in the direction that she would have to go.
She laughed. "I have no choice, do I?"
Shaking his head, he grinned at her. "You have a choice; I just know which option you're going to pick ahead of time and so I've eliminated the middle ground."
"Oh you know what I'm going to pick ahead of time, do you?" She raised an eyebrow.
He nodded. "Of course," he said with mock arrogance, making her laugh at him.
It was only minutes later that they arrived at her dorm, and Rory tried not to frown that their time together had been cut short. She still didn't know how Logan felt about the previous night, whether that kiss had meant anything to him at all. The panic was now starting to set in, replacing the euphoria that had been present before.
"So I'll see you around?" Logan asked, as Rory dug through the pocket of her jacket trying to locate her key.
She smiled. "Yeah I'll see you around."
He leaned forward until there was barely a breath between them, brushing a hand along her cheek and making her smile. She took a step towards him, anticipating what was going to happen next, forgetting all the doubts that she had been having the previous moment.
His lips were barely a millimeter away from hers and she could feel his breath against her mouth when they were interrupted by the arrival of Paris.
She stopped short at the sight of Logan and Rory and rolled her eyes, her hands moving until they rested on her hips, striking an annoyed pose.
"You could at least move your trysts away from the door Gilmore," she said, brushing past the two of them into the dorm room, effectively breaking the moment that had been brewing between Logan and Rory.
Rory could feel embarrassment welling up inside her; what was she doing? She had spent the last ten minutes panicking about her last kiss with Logan and here she was, about to kiss him again.
"I should go," she mumbled, backing up from him as he leaned forward again. "I'll see you later."
He nodded, moving back as well and trying not to let the confusion show on his face. "Yeah, I'll see you later."
He had barely gotten his words out when Rory had slipped into the dorm room and closed the door behind her. He sighed, pushing his hands into his pocket and making his way towards his dorm, ignoring his thoughts that were telling him to stay and talk to Rory.
Rory slipped into the room, hoping that somehow Paris had forgotten about what she had almost walked in on. No such luck. Thinking that she had made it safely to her room without being interrogated, she gasped with shock when she turned around to see Paris sitting on her bed, idly leaning back with the book that Rory had been reading the previous night in her hands.
She put the book down and got up off the bed. "What the hell was that?"
"Nothing," Rory mumbled, backing out of her room and towards the mini fridge, suddenly feeling parched. Hoping for a moment that Paris had been deterred, she found no such luck when she followed her across the room.
"What do you mean 'nothing'? There was something there. I'm not blind Gilmore!"
Rory rolled her eyes. "I mean that it's nothing that I want to talk about." She popped the top on her soda can and made her way back across the common room to her room.
"You were practically sucking face with Huntzberger; I think that that's something to talk about." Paris threw her hands up to emphasis her point, not noticing that Rory had gone still during her tirade.
Huntzberger. Huntzberger. That was Logan's last name, the one that she had spent so long trying to find. Well, actually she had always put her search on the back burner, not trying as hard as she could to figure it out. She claimed that she had other things to do but even when she had the moment, she didn't take it. It didn't seem right. Realization hit her as she began to understand that she didn't want to know his last name, she wanted things to remain the way they were between them. She didn't want last names and birthrights to become an issue.
Rory looked up as she realized that Paris was still talking and she interrupted her. "Paris, its fine." She sat down on her bed, leaning against the headboard and closing her eyes.
"Fine? It's fine?" Paris asked incredulously. "I thought that you had more pride than that Gilmore. Huntzberger is one the biggest users of women and you're falling right into his arms and into his trap, just like he wants you to."
"Logan and I are friends, Paris." Rory sighed and took a sip of her soda. Realizing that she came back to her dorm for a reason, she got up and began gathering the items required for her next class.
Paris snorted but seemed to realize that Rory wasn't really listening to her. "Logan Huntzberger doesn't have girls that are just friends, Rory. And the sooner you realize that, the better off you will be." She left the room and a second later Rory could hear her door slam.
Rory stopped in the middle of picking up her book bag and sighed, leaning against the nearby wall. Was Logan just using her or did he really want something more?
-
Logan looked up from the paper that he had been reading to see Rory standing in line for coffee nearby and he smiled. Wondering how long she had been there and why she hadn't come over to say something, he stood up and stretched before ambling over in her direction.
"Hey," he said, falling into step with her and taking the book bag from her hands without thinking any thing of it. Her eyes were wide as she looked up at him, obviously surprised by his sudden appearance.
"Hey Logan."
"Haven't found out what comes after Logan yet?" he asked teasingly. "Maybe I overestimated your abilities, Rory."
There was a moment's pause as she appeared to look indecisive. "Nope, not yet," she replied with a smile, even though she seemed nervous somehow.
"Is something wrong?" he asked, looking at her through narrowed eyes.
She shook her head and with practiced nonchalance said, "No, I'm fine."
"If you're sure." He looked doubtful before grinned at her. "So, how was your class?"
"It was good." Rory frowned, trying to push the memories of what Paris had told her that morning to the back of her mind. "I don't really agree with some of Professor Lipid's opinions and so sometimes his lectures seem longer than they are."
Logan nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I had Lipid last year. He's very narrow minded about some things. He can be difficult to get along with."
She smiled, taking the last sip of her coffee before throwing it out. "Today, when he started on-"
"Huntzberger!" a voice called, effectively cutting Rory off.
Logan turned to face the person who called, although he kept an eye on the girl beside him. His eyes narrowed when he noticed that she didn't react at all to hearing his last name. From the short period that he had known her, he had noticed that she was very observant and that you couldn't slip much past her. Obviously, this meant that he being a Huntzberger came as no surprise to her.
The question was: how long had she known and why had she kept it a secret?
Turning back towards Rory after nodding at the person who had yelled his name, he smiled at her. "Shall we?" he asked, gesturing towards the path that they had been walking before they were interrupted.
Rory smiled. "We shall."
"So," Logan started idly, "How long have you known that my last name is Huntzberger?"
She stopped in mid-step, her eyes widening as she turned her head to look at him and she sighed. "My roommate told me when she saw the two of us together earlier today."
He narrowed his eyes trying to remember any possible roommates. "The intense blonde?" he asked, finally putting a face her.
She laughed. "Paris is definitely intense."
He looked at the ground. "Why didn't you tell me that you knew earlier?"
"You didn't want me to know," she stated matter of fact, looking up at him with wide blue eyes.
He raised an eyebrow, surprised by the assurance in her voice. "I didn't?"
She shook her head and sighed. "If you had wanted me to know then you would have told me when we met." He started to say something in reply but she kept going, "Not that I'm saying that it's a bad thing that you didn't. I understand why you didn't. But do you really think that I'll treat you any differently?"
Logan sighed, running a hand through his hair. "You will, Rory," he said quietly. "Everybody does in the end. Maybe you won't mean to but you will eventually."
She shook her head and then looked away, not saying anything.
He sighed again. "Look, why don't we just… I don't know." He was silent for a minute, running a hand through his hair. "I need some time to think. I'll see you later?" he asked.
She nodded. "Yeah, see you later." He took her book bag off of his shoulder and passed it back to her, smiling sadly before walking away.
Rory watched him walk away before turning in the opposite direction back to her dorm. She knew that their friendship would never be the same, that they would never have the lightheartedness that had existed until now. It had been a quick decision to not reveal that she had found out his surname and one that she had thought would be more beneficial. Tristan had always hated being treated differently because of his last name and Rory had assumed that Logan would feel the same.
Although if Logan hadn't been a Huntzberger, would she have hesitated to tell him that she had found out his last name?
-
The knock on the door came almost a half hour later and Rory was lounging on the couch channel surfing. Nothing was ever on TV this time of day, meaning that she was really bored and in desperate need of entertainment to be watching it. Stretching, she got up off the couch, smoothing down her hair and tugging on her shirt that had rode up when she flopped on the couch. She pulled the door open; half expecting to see Logan standing there with a smirk on his face. It was somewhat of a surprise, although not a disappointing one, to see Steph standing there instead.
"Hey," Rory said with a grin.
"Hey! I feel like I haven't seen you in forever!" Steph beamed.
"I know." Rory stepped back, gesturing for her friend to come inside. "How have you been?"
Steph settled on the couch and shook her head as Rory gestured towards the fridge. "I've been pretty good." She sighed wistfully. "Finn's been great."
Rory smiled teasingly. "So that's why I haven't seen you lately. You've been spending all your time with Finn." She pouted dramatically. "Ditched for Finn, I'm hurt."
Steph laughed and smiled coyly. "Honey, you obviously haven't seen Finn. Any sane person would drop all of their plans for him."
Her friend laughed, crossing her legs underneath her. "So things are good between the two of you?"
She sighed in response, thinking the question over. "It was awkward at first because we've been seeing other people for so long. I actually almost took this guy's number the other day before realizing that I couldn't because I have a boyfriend." She looked embarrassed.
Rory smiled sympathetically. "I'm sure that Finn's having the same problems."
Steph groaned. "That's what worries me." She stretched, moving off the couch and standing up. "Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to go something to eat."
Rory grinned. "Do you even have to ask?"
"I should know better."
"I'll go get my coat."
She began to walk towards her room when there was a knock on the door. Turning slightly to go in the opposite direction, she headed towards the door.
"I'm so popular today, aren't I?" she asked jokingly over her shoulder to Steph who scrunched up her nose at her in response.
Pulling open the door, she was surprised to come face to face with Logan who was leaning nonchalantly against the door frame with his hands in his pockets.
"Hey," she said, still standing with one hand on the door knob. She made no move to back up and let him inside.
"Hey Rory." He looked around her and smiled at Stephanie. "Hey Steph."
"Hey Logan," Steph replied, looking between Rory and Logan with a speculative look on her face. She had obviously missed a lot in the last couple of days. "How about I meet you outside, Rory?"
"You don't have to do that," Rory argued.
Logan smiled at the blonde. "Thanks Steph, Rory will just be a minute."
Rory opened her mouth to argue but, before she could, Steph was already slipping past her and out the door whispering, "You're telling me everything later."
And then they were alone.
Rory stepped back to let him inside, wondering when things had gotten so awkward. She had known that their friendship wouldn't be the same, but she hadn't known that it would be like this.
"I'm sorry," Logan said, running a hand through his hair, showing the nerves that his pride stopped him from voicing. "For doubting you earlier," he clarified at her questioning look.
She nodded. "I'm sorry for lying to you."
He nodded back and smiled. "So we're good?"
"We're good."
There was a comfortable silence before, "You should probably get going. You wouldn't want to keep Steph waiting."
Rory nodded, picking up her jacket and stepping out into the hall. She closed the door behind her and locked it, before turning to look at Logan. "Friends?" she asked, holding out her hand.
He smirked. "Friends," he confirmed, taking her hand in his. With one quick motion he tugged her towards him until his lips were almost on hers. There was a pause where Rory was afraid to breath and then he kissed her.
She found her hands traveling to his back and could feel his hands on her hips. The kiss deepened as they both took a step forward until there was no room between them. They broke apart slowly and Logan smiled when he noticed the blush staining Rory's face.
Rory looked down at her feet and took a step back so that Logan's hands dropped. "Stephanie," she mumbled. "I have to go meet Stephanie." Her eyes were wide as she turned and walked quickly down the hall.
Logan watched her walk away with a smirk on his face. He was getting to her, meaning that she had to feel something more than friendship, meaning that she felt the same as him. He fought the urge to whistle as he made his way to his dorm, knowing that something was happening between him and Rory. And he couldn't be happier.
-
Rory paced the room, running her hand through her hair and dialing a familiar number on the phone that she held tightly in her hand. Sighing with aggravation, she waited impatiently for someone on the other end to pick up the phone. She had fidgeted all through lunch with Steph waiting to make this phone call and then no one was picking up. When a familiar voice greeted her ears, she didn't bother with pleasantries and just plowed straight ahead.
"He kissed me again!" She sat down hard on the bed as her words penetrated. He had kissed her again. Logan Huntzberger had kissed her for the second time. She didn't know what to think.
"Mary?" Tristan asked, smiling at the woman behind the counter as she handed him a wrapped sandwich. He walked out into the cool air, tilting his head to keep his cell phone at his ear as he tried to balance everything that he was carrying.
"He kissed me again!" she repeated, still sitting, dazed on her bed.
Tristan wracked his brain for a moment before finding the name that he was looking for. "Logan kissed you again?"
Rory made an irritated noise. "Yes Logan kissed me again. Who else would I be talking about?" She didn't wait for him to answer before she plowed on. "He kissed me again and I don't know what it means. He didn't even mention the previous one or the almost one that Paris interrupted. I don't even know what it means!"
"Mary," Tristan said as soothingly as he could. He found an empty bench and he sat down, knowing that this would be a long conversation.
"I mean, what does he want from me?" she asked, either not hearing or ignoring her friend's words. "Oh my god, what if that's all he wants from me? What if I'm just the girl that he kisses when he's bored?"
Tristan rolled his eyes even though he knew that she couldn't see him. "I'm sure that there's more to it than that Rory."
"But he hasn't said anything; he hasn't even mentioned us being more than friends. If we are even friends, which I'm not even sure about anymore." She got up from the bed and began pacing again before a thought struck her and she stood completely still. "Oh my god, what if he has a girlfriend?"
"Rory…" Tristan said slowly, putting his head in his hands and massaging his temples. "I'm sure that he doesn't have a girlfriend."
"But what if he does? I mean, she could go to another school or something and he got bored and I was there and not exactly pushing him away." She sunk down on the floor and leaned her head against her bed. "I am a terrible person. I can't believe I did this to that poor girl, I mean she has no idea that I'm kissing her boyfriend. Or he's kissing me. I don't know."
"Rory, slow down a bit and be calm about this." Tristan sighed, wishing that she had chosen to call her mom or Lane instead of him; he was never very good at giving out advice. "I doubt that he has a girlfriend. Didn't you meet him through a friend of yours?"
Rory nodded before realizing that he couldn't see her. "Yeah, Steph introduced us."
"Okay and is Steph the kind of person that would let Logan get away with cheating on his girlfriend?" His voice was quiet and soothing as if he were talking to a small child.
She thought for a moment. "No."
"Okay so now that we know that he doesn't have a girlfriend, we're good right?"
Rory made an annoyed noise in the back of her throat. "No we're not good Tristan! I don't know what to do, what does it all mean?"
Tristan sighed, leaning his head against the back of the bench. "From what I can see you have two options. You can sit around, not say anything and wait for him to make a move about being in a relationship with you."
She made a face, not fond of the waiting game that would occur should she choose that option. "And what's the other option?"
He smirked. "Well, if you want to completely blow away my perception of you Mary, you can make the first move. Just go up and kiss him, let him know that the feelings are reciprocated."
She bit her lip, and looked down at her hands. "Isn't that a little bit forward?"
He laughed. "Exactly. Believe me; guys love it when the girl they like is forward."
"But what if he doesn't feel the same way?" she asked, worriedly.
He laughed again. "He feels the same way." He smirked. "How could he not?"
Rory sighed, leaning her head against her bed and closing her eyes. She had a lot to think about. "I'll take your word for it Tris. Thanks for listening to me."
"No problem Mare. I'll try to come down soon so we can hang out, okay?"
"Okay, bye."
"Bye." He flipped the phone shut, sitting for a minute to figure out how he could rearrange his schedule to go to New Haven for a couple days. He had to make sure that this Logan guy was good enough for his best friend. Sighing, he was reaching for his sandwich when he was interrupted by a voice.
"Hi," said the pretty brunette standing in front of him with a shy smile on her face. "I know that this is going to sound really weird but you're really cute and I've been staring at you for the past, like, five minutes. And I just wanted to tell you that."
Tristan chuckled, not bothering to keep the surprise off of his face. "I'm Tristan." He couldn't think of anything else to say.
"I'm Mallory." She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "And I know that you're probably completely freaked out and this was a mistake and I'm sorry. I'm just going to go." She made a gesture and started to walk off.
"Wait!" Tristan smiled charmingly. "Do you want to go get some lunch with me? I'm starving."
She smiled. "I'd love to."
After a moment, the two of them headed down the path leaving Tristan's lunch lying forgotten on the bench behind him. He grinned to himself as he snuck a sideways glance at the girl beside him. Oh yeah, the forward approach was definitely a turn-on.