Ring ringring ring.

Rory swatted her hand at the nightstand, trying to come in contact with the snooze button. Her hand landed on something smaller than an alarm clock and she suddenly realized that the ringing had been coming from her phone. She groaned, pulling the phone off the stand and reluctantly flipping it open, before burying her face in the pillow again.

"Hello," she mumbled.

"Gooood morning!" the all too cheery voice of Lorelai chirped.

"Hey," she chanced a quick peek at the clock before once again shielding her eyes from the light of day. "It's early, why are you calling so early?"

"Uh, I don't know, I must have screwed up the time difference. What time is it there?"

"The same time as it is there," Rory said with a touch of annoyance. Note to self-hangover bad.

"Ah, sorry."

"How's it going?" Rory asked, trying to sound interested.

"Good. A lot of walking. We all had pizza at John's in the village and wrote a musical."

"Good for you."

"Then we picked the same Dean Martin song on the jukebox twenty-five ti…" Lorelai's ramble was interrupted by the sound of knocking. "Did someone just knock on your door?" Lorelai asked hesitantly, silently praying that she was just hearing things. It couldn't be Jess. Rory wouldn't have spent the night with Jess. Rory had promised her she wasn't even ready to think about taking that step with Jess.

"Ummm…sort of," Rory admitted sheepishly, sitting up in bed.

"Sort of? What does that mean?"

"Well, it's not exactly my door…"

Lorelai let out a slight sigh of relief, there could still be a reasonable explanation for this; maybe she had spent the night at her grandmother's after all. "So, whose door is it?"

"Hey, Ace…I thought I heard you up, I…." Logan trailed off as he peeked his head into the room and saw Rory on the phone. He probably should have kept quiet.

Or she wasn't at her grandmother's. Lorelai realized.

Rory gave Logan a look that confirmed what he had suspected. She was either on the phone with her mother, or her boyfriend. He felt himself growing angry at the mere thought of Jess but tried to contain his ire as he slowly backed out of the room, willing himself not to stay near the door and eavesdrop.

Rory sighed as Logan left the room. "Logan's," she admitted to her mother. "It's Logan's door."

"O…K," Lorelai responded, trying to form a coherent thought. Her high school aged daughter had spent the night at a college boy's dorm room. That was nothing to freak out about, right? "Why are you at Logan's?"

"Well," Rory began. "Dinner didn't go so well."

"So…you and Jess broke up?" Lorelai asked, trying to figure out what was going on.

"No!"

"So you're still with Jess but you spent the night with Logan?" Lorelai's head was really starting to hurt. Staying calm was becoming more and more difficult.

"I didn't 'spend the night' with Logan. I just kinda…spent the night at Logan's," she tried to explain.

"OK, so why did you spend the night at Logan's?"

"Well," Rory began. "Jess and I got into the most horrible fight of my life and it was…ugh. I can't even say."

"Oh, honey," Lorelai said apologetically. She still hadn't forgotten about the whole 'spending the night with Logan' thing but she would get back to that eventually.

"He showed up with a big black eye."

"A black guy?" Lorelai asked, honestly confused.

"Eye," Rory reiterated. "A black eye. He got into a fight.

"With who, Dean?"

"He wouldn't say, but yes, and he was all standoffish about it and things got worse and worse and he walked out. It was all horrible," Rory explained.

"Wow, honey. I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

"I'm upset, but I'm okay."

"Good, then as long as your OK, I'm still waiting for my explanation here."

"Well, Grandma took it really well, she was amazingly polite the whole time, even when he showed up late, but I was still pretty humiliated. I didn't really feel like staying there."

"Understandable."

"But I didn't really feel like being alone and it was too late to go to Lane's and you know how things are at school right now. I just didn't know where else to go."

"So you went to Logan's? You get into a fight with your boyfriend and you go run to another guy?"

"Logan's just a friend, Mom. You know that."

"Uh huh, sure," Rory was incredibly naïve sometimes.

"Mom," Rory rolled her eyes.

"Daughter," Lorelai mimicked her daughter's tone of voice.

"Ugh, not this again. I'm way too hung o…" Rory trailed off realizing what she had just let slip.

"Hung…out? Like you're all tired of hanging?" Lorelai asked, knowing that was not what her daughter was about to say. Rory remained silent. "Rory?" Lorelai asked, a hint of panic in her voice. "Rory, tell me you were not about to tell Mommy that you're hungover."

"I'm sorry," Rory sighed.

"You're sorry? You're sorry?" Lorelai screeched.

"Mom…"

"Don't 'Mom' me. My high school aged daughter went out to a college party or bar or something and got drunk, then spent the night with a college boy. You don't get to 'Mom' me."

"Nothing happened!" Rory insisted. She understood why her mother was upset but she had to trust her.

"Do you know that for sure? Just how drunk were you Rory? Maybe something happened and you blacked it out! I know I get the privilege of being the cool Mom most of the time, but I'm still your mother and I expect at least a smidgen of responsibility from you, Rory. What were you thinking?"

"I wasn't thinking," Rory admitted. "I just wanted to stop thinking. I wanted to forget what an awful night I had, but I swear, nothing happened. Logan would never take advantage of me like that; even if he did feel that way about me, which he doesn't." It was true that she didn't remember much of the previous night's events but she was sure about what she said; Logan would never take advantage of her.

"Oh please," Lorelai scoffed. "I mean this in the nicest way possible but for someone so smart you can be awfully stupid sometimes."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rory asked defensively.

"Come one, Rory. That boy is completely in love with you, and you're in love with him. You're both just too stubborn to see it."

"That's not true, I love Jess!" Rory insisted loudly. There was complete silence for a moment.

"You love Jess?" Lorelai asked, once the initial shock had worn off.

"I…love Jess?" Rory repeated, almost as a question. "Do I?" she asked, thinking out loud. "Do I love Jess?" She had never said those words about her boyfriend before, and he'd never said them to her.

"Well?" Lorelai asked impatiently.

"I love Jess...I. Love. Jess...I love Jess." She repeated over and over again, as though trying the words on for size. Something didn't fit.

"Rory?"

"No. I don't think I do…but it's still soon right? I mean, it's just too early for that. It doesn't mean anything."

"Or it means he's not the one you really want to be with," Lorelai suggested.

"No, that's ridiculous Mom. Just because I haven't gotten to the 'I love you' stage yet doesn't mean I don't want to be with him. It takes time to fall in love. I just need more time." But deep down Rory wondered why should would have even said such a thing. She knew she didn't love him yet, so why say it? Unless she thought she was supposed to be in love by now. If she didn't love him already, would she ever? Or was her mother right? Was Jess not really the guy for her? Something tugged at her mind, like a faint memory trying to escape. Something clouded over in the foggy area of her brain reserved for the previous night's memories. Was someone else the guy for her?

"Do you really believe that?"

Rory paused briefly, trying to find an answer. She couldn't come up with one. "I'm gonna go, Mom. I'll see you at home later." Rory hung up without waiting for a reply.

"Hey," Rory said, walking out of Logan's room, dressed in her clothes from the previous night.

Logan briefly glanced up from his spot at the kitchen table before bringing his eyes back down to the newspaper in front of him. "Hi."

Rory looked at him strangely, wondering why he wasn't making eye contact. "Is everything okay?"

"Yep," he replied shortly.

"Logan…?" she began again, wondering what his bad mood was all about.

"There's coffee in the pot over there," he interrupted her, pointing towards the coffee maker.

Rory glanced at the coffee, then back at Logan who was still staring intently at the paper. Without a word she walked over to the coffee pot and poured herself a mug-full of the brew. She walked back over to the table and sat down across from Logan. "Did I do something?"

"What are you talking about?" he braved another glance at her.

"Last night. Did I do something to make you mad at me? I can't really remember everything that happened so if I…"

"You didn't do anything," he cut her off.

"Then why are you acting like this?"

"Like what?" he asked.

Rory paused, trying to find the right word to describe the vibe she was getting from him. "Cold."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"So we're OK then?"

"Sure." There was silence for a moment, before he finally looked up and spoke more than five words.

"Are things alright with your Mom?" he asked her, in reference to the phone call he'd walked in on.

"I don't know. She was upset, but…I think it'll be okay." Rory answered honestly.

Logan nodded his head. "And Jess?" he asked, the bitterness would have been obvious to anyone, but Rory, as usual, was too oblivious to pick up on it.

"What about him?"

"Did you talk to him?"

"No."

"Oh," he paused. "You probably should. He might be worried."

Rory gave him another appraising look. All was not right with Logan. "He'll survive. I'm still mad at him anyway."

"But you're going to forgive him." It wasn't a question.

"It was just a fight. A bad one, but still…"

"Well, if you love him," Logan replied flippantly, once again tearing his gaze away from her.

"What? Who ever said anything about—" Rory trailed off as realization hit her. "You were listening to my conversation."

"I wasn't listening, Rory. You practically screamed it," he defended.

She knew it was true. She had been pretty loud. Besides, if he really had been listening in, he would have heard the rest of the conversation. She was still angry, though. He had no right judging her or her relationship like that.

"What does it even matter to you anyway?" was her response. She didn't even bother to correct him.

"Well excuuuuse me, if I'm concerned about the fact that one of my friends in claiming to be in love with a scumbag who treats her like dirt. Excuse me, if I don't like the idea of you showing up at my doorstep in tears." Sarcasm dripped from his every word.

"Fine, next time I'll find someplace else to go."

"That's not what I meant and you know it. This isn't about me not wanting you here when you're upset, this is about me not wanting you upset. The very fact that you openly just admitted 'next time' should be a tip off, Rory. He'll break your heart again. He doesn't deserve you."

"I think I can decide for myself who does and doesn't deserve me, Logan. I can decide who is and isn't worth my love. You don't get to make those decisions in my life." She stood up angrily.

"Fine. You know what? You're right. You have the right to let whoever the hell you want, walk all over you. Don't let me stop you from being in a crappy relationship."

"And what do you know about relationships?" Rory asked as she gathered up her coat. Her head was still pounding and she didn't want to deal with this anymore.

Logan ignored the jab. "Where are you going?" he asked, standing up from the table and walking towards her.

"To the bus stop."

"What? That's crazy. Listen, I'm sorry. You were right, it's your life, I shouldn't have said anything. I'm just worried about you. I won't mention it again, I swear. Just…let me give you a ride home." He knew she took the bus often, but he still didn't like it. Who knew what kind of crazy people could be on the bus.

She looked at him, into his eyes. He truly did look worried, and her anger melted away. She wasn't ready to let him off that easily though. "I don't think so Logan," she told him, but her voice was softened so that he knew she still wasn't really that angry.

"Then at least let me call Steph; she can give you a ride."

Rory sighed. "OK," she nodded.

"And you can help yourself to some tasty pastries while you wait," he motioned to the spread on the table.

"Well…" she said hesitantly. "A Gilmore girl can never say no to pastry."

"I didn't think so," he smirked.

"But I'm taking it to go and walking to Steph's to meet her. Call her and let her know so that she and Colin have sufficient time to get decent."

"I'll take care of it," he assured her with a smile.

"Bye, Logan."

"See ya Friday, Ace."

She smiled as she walked out of the dorm. "See ya Friday."

"Twenty-six" Logan mumbled from his spot at the kitchen table. He had his laptop out and papers spread all over the surface.

"Twenty-six what?" Colin asked, looking up from his reading, where he sat on the couch.

"Twenty-six days of school."

"You do realize that you're not making any sense, right?" Colin asked.

Logan looked up, staring at Colin over the brim of his reading glasses. "It's the number of days of school Jess has missed according to these attendance records."

"I'm not even going to ask how you got those, and I'm going to skip right to the 'what the hell?'"

"Twenty." Logan responded.

"OK, you're going to have to give me more here."

"Twenty. It's the maximum number of days a Stars Hollow High student can miss."

"So what you're saying is…"

"Jess has officially flunked high school."

"So you have your revenge. You tell Rory that Jess isn't going to graduate, that he's probably been lying to her about even going to school…she'd have to be an idiot to stay with him then."

Logan sighed audibly.

"You are going to tell her, aren't you?"

"She loves him." He rolled his eyes at the thought. How the hell could she love him? But she did. He'd heard it with his own ears.

"Isn't that the point. To make her realize what a loser he is and stop loving him?"

"I don't have a lot of experience in the area, but I don't think you just stop loving someone."

"So if you tell her, then you're the bad guy." Logan nodded. That pretty much summed it up. "And if they do break-up, she's devastated because she still loves him and it's all your fault."

"Gee Colin, way to make me feel better."

Colin ignored him. "Then she hates you for destroying her happiness and you have no hope of ever getting in her pants…"

"I get it Co…" Logan trailed off, realizing the full extent of what Colin had said. "Hey! I don't want to get in her pants." Well, he didn't just want in her pants, though he wouldn't say no; not after his little revelation the previous night. Of course as it turned out, her little confession had been nothing after all. It was all just so screwed up.

"Right, you actually respect Rory so you'd probably want to take things a little slow, let her know she's not just like all the other girls."

"Colin!" Logan growled. Just because he'd admitted his feelings to himself, didn't mean he was ready to admit it to anyone else.

"I'm just saying…"

"Well don't. It's not like that."

"If it's not like that, then what do you have to lose by telling her? You're just a concerned friend looking out for her well being."

"I promised I'd butt out of her and Jess's relationship."

"Then why are you doing this again? Other than you being a big, creepy stalker?"

Logan glared. "I'm not a stalker."

"Whatever you say." Colin rolled his eyes. Was Logan seriously still in denial about his feelings? Or was he just pretending he was still in denial.

"I don't make empty threats. I told Jess if he hurt Rory he'd regret it. I'm just looking out for her. She's my friend."

Colin stifled a laugh at Logan's use of the term 'friend.' "Well then tell her anonymously. Print out the attendance records and leave them in her mailbox or something," he suggested, seemingly letting the 'friend' argument drop.

"I can't do that."

"Why not?"

Logan wasn't sure he could answer that. All he knew was that when he thought of her finding out, he could practically see the disappointment and heartbreak in her face. He couldn't be the one responsible for causing that, even if it was only as the messenger.

"That's what I thought," Colin replied smugly. "You've really got it bad."