Note: Yes, Ellie is Rory's cousin and Lorelai's 'niece.' Long story short, for my story Chris Hayden had a sister who married an English Lord and had three kids. So basically, while Lorelai and Ellie aren't blood related, Ellie is blood related to Rory and so she just calls Lorelai, 'Auntie Lorelai' for the fun of it. Not to mention I like screwing up the members British Royal Family...

Chapter Two

Ellie sighed as moved through the throng of people towards the bar. Today hadn't started off well but after a day of movies and junk food she was feeling a bit better; though the fact she had gotten no sleep last night was catching up on her. She though of ditching Rory and Tristan, but decided it would be a bad idea. Instead she was stuck here without a man of her own. She swayed to the music as it filtered around her. After a few moments she patted her pocket to make sure she had Tylenol and smiled when she felt the bottle. She could really have some tonight.

"What can I get you?" The bartender asked as she stopped at the bar.

"A scotch on the rocks, Apple Margarita, and a Strawberry Wine Cooler," She told the man and he started to work on the drinks.

As she waited for the drinks she turned around and rested back against the bar. She surveyed the crowd of people and practically choked when she saw someone dancing a bit provocatively on the dance floor. It had her thinking about the three musketeers' junior prom; they had dragged her along and Finn had gotten a bit drunk and danced just like that. Realization dawned on her and she took a closer look at the man. After a few moments he turned slightly in her direction and she realized it was Finn and not just her imagination. Her eyes widened and she began to scan the pub for the other two musketeers. She found them sitting near her table and that's when she realized, yet again, the reason she had paused her earlier near there was because their voice's were familiar.

"Dear god."

She turned around and accepted the drinks from the bartender; in return she handed him a twenty and a ten and left the bar. There was something she had to do. When she returned to the table she noted that Tristan and Rory were talking quietly with Rory sitting on Tristan's lap. She handed them their drinks and swallowed half of hers. Tristan normally would have been amused by this type of thing, but he frowned.

"You alright? You look a bit pale."

She drank the rest before she answered, "I'll, hopefully, be back in awhile."

With a smile on her face and alcohol cursing threw her veins she walked away from the table and joined the people on the make-shift dance floor. A few people were laughing at him and she rolled her eyes as she slowly moved up against him; he was dancing alone. He turned swiftly and she lowered her head so he couldn't see her face. They began to dance together and after a few minutes Ellie lifted her head and smirked at the totally drunk Finn. With the smirk still on her face she took his hand and led him towards his table. Once there she looked at her old friends who hadn't yet noticed her.

She licked her lips and whispered in Colin's ear, "I thought we all agreed we'd stop Finn before he could make a fool of himself, especially after what happened at your Junior Prom."

He jerked away from her and turned in his seat. The smirk on her face grew wider and he just sat there in shock. It was obvious he hadn't been expecting this. A quick look at the table showed that everyone was now paying attention to them, except for Logan and the girl on his lap.

"We did agree to that," Colin stammered, "But we didn't realize he was making a fool of himself."

"Colin," She said dryly, "Finn is always making a fool of himself."

"Right. How are you?"

"Me? Oh, I'm just dandy and totally not drunk enough for this," she told him and he frowned. "Colin," she explained dryly, "I always envisioned that the next time we met I would either be getting married or very, very drunk. But I'm neither so…"

"Then get drunk," He told her.

--

A week had passed since the day Rory and Tristan had gotten together for the first time. As of right now they were sitting under her tree; with Rory leaning back against Tristan. They had books spread out around them and both were studying them. Both were glad to be in each other presence even if it meant they were studying instead of talking or making out. That's pretty much all it seemed like they did, talked or made out. Rory wasn't all that happy about it, but it had only been a week; things couldn't get much worse.

She set her book down and moved to stand, "I'm going to get a coffee, want anything?"

"No thanks Mary," he said preoccupied.

She smiled and stood up the rest of the way. Her favorite coffee cart wasn't too far from here. She grabbed her purse from the ground beside Tristan. With one last look back at Tristan she headed towards the coffee cart. She smiled at a few people she knew in passing and waved at the people she knew from the paper that happened to be around. She was cheerful today, who wouldn't be when they were spending time with their boyfriend? She stopped at the coffee cart a few minutes later and waited impatiently at the back of the long line. After what seemed like a lifetime it was her turn.

"Hey Rory," the vender greeted.

"Hi Joe," she replied. "The usual for me."

He handed her the coffee cups and she handed over the payment. With a smile at the vender she started her walk back to Tristan. When she got to the area she had left him he was talking to a blond that she had never seen before. She finished one of the coffees in a large sip and threw the paper cup into one of the trash cans.

"Tristan," she called as she got closer.

He smiled at her as he shifted so she could sit between his legs again, "Rory this is Jessica Cline, she's in one of my classes; she lost her notes and I lent her mine so she's just giving them back."

"It's nice to meet you Jessica."

"You too Rory. Thanks again for the notes Tristan," she turned to leave and then turned back just as fast. "I'm having a party tonight, you should both come. It's in my dorm, Berkeley."

"I'll think about it," Tristan replied even though Rory and he knew that they were going to another party that night."

Jessica smiled, "Great."

She smiled at Rory and Tristan, though her smile seemed larger for Tristan. Then she turned around and walked away from them. Rory waited until she was out of sight before she moved away from him in a huff. There didn't seem to be any notes around that hadn't been there before. She didn't know what to think.

"Something wrong Mary?"

"There are no notes, are there?"

"Mary…"

She shook her head, "I need to go. I'll see you later tonight."

"Mary…Rory!" He called but she was already to far away to hear him. "Dammit."

He gathered his books and notes in a hurry and shoved everything into his backpack. He needed to talk to someone about this, someone he probably wouldn't normally talk too, not after what happened in high school. But Paris would be able to help him figure this all out because right now he was only confused. Twenty minutes later he was knocking on the door to Paris's dorm that she shared with Rory. The door opened and Rory growled when she saw it was him. He pushed the door open when she tried to close it and stepped into the room.

"Rory, whatever you think-"

"Did you date that girl?" she asked.

He shook his head, "Never. Come on Mary, ever hear of a floppy disk? I typed the notes up and put them on the disk, that way if I lost the written notes I would have a hard copy. Is that so hard to understand?"

"Well, no, but the way she was looking at you and the way you looked at her-"

He cut her off, "Rory, I'll admit she's hot but you're far more beautiful then she'll ever be. I like you, not her. If I could choose she'd just be a friend. You're my girlfriend not her and I'm not going to cheat on you."

"You better not."

--

She hesitated for a moment before she raised her hand and knocked on the cherry wood door. She had no idea why she was doing this; what had made her do this. She brushed stray brunette hairs behind her ears and bit her lower lip. She knocked on the door again and glanced down at her watch.

"Maybe they're in class," she whispered and then shook her head. "Nah, them going to class would be a miracle in itself…except for maybe Colin."

Just as she turned around to leave the door opened behind her and she turned swiftly. Instead of it being Logan's roommate it was a hung-over Finn. She sighed and fished Tylenol out of her purse as she moved past him into the obviously male dorm suite. Finn was confused as hell but he still shut the door behind her and walked over to her as she grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge. She spun on her heel and stepped back when she realized how close he was to her. Wordlessly, she handed him two small white pills and the opened bottle of water. He took it gratefully and swallowed down both pills at the same time; she cringed in response.

"Finn, why don't you sit down and I'll see if I can make you some coffee."

"Do I know you doll?" He asked and didn't sit.

She chuckled, "We danced a week ago at the pub. Not to mention we went to high school together."

"Huh?"

"You can just call me the Tylenol faerie."

He stiffened, "Ellie."

"In the flesh."

In the silence that followed Ellie clearly heard the sound of someone in the shower. She didn't know who it was but part of her really hoped it was Logan, they needed to talk. Not to mention it meant seeing Finn again, even if that wasn't the reason for showing up. Hell, she hadn't even known he would be there. She sighed and went to work on trying to figure out the coffee maker. It was different then the one she had and she was a hater of instant. Finally, she just gave up and handed over her own cup of coffee.

"Here, you can drink this, I'm pretty hyper right now and don't need anymore caffeine."

"So, exactly why are you here in Logan's dorm at Yale?" He asked.

"Where's Colin?"

He rolled his eyes, "In his own dorm with his girlfriend."

"He has a girlfriend? That's so sweet, I'll have to meet her. Can we go meet her?"

"I've met her doll." He grabbed his head, "But dear god, just stop talking so loud, Tylenol and coffee can only do so much."

"Finn," She snickered, "Should I go out and get some Gilmore hangover necessities?"

"If you even think of buying me a beef barrito I'm going to get sick."

She smiled, "But it works."

"Do you have anymore Tylenol?"

"Only two every four hours," she said adamantly.

"Witch."

She smirked, "Kangaroo."

"That doesn't make sense, and it's only hurting my head more to figure it out."

She smiled at him and looked around the suite's common room. A large entertainment center was against one wall and she had no doubt that it was Logan's. The room was beautiful, especially since it aligned with her tastes; no girly colors for her. Finn finished the coffee with a loud sigh and she cringed herself when he groaned in pain. Being hung-over wasn't fun and here was Finn wide awake and the sun was still up, even if it was setting. He had to have been drinking till noon. It was the only possible explanation. She was knocked out of her thoughts when the door to the bathroom and Logan walked out clad only in a towel.

"Looking good Logan."

Almost immediately after she said that she clapped both hands over her mouth and blushed. This was not how she had envisioned this to go. Not at all; in fact she was thinking of ditching the whole operation. It took both Finn and Logan a few seconds longer to realize what she said but when they did Finn started to laugh and Logan just turned to look at Ellie.

"Ellie?" He asked in shock.

She only blushed deeper and tried to sink into the couch as Finn resorted to practically rolling around on the floor in his laughter.