Chapter Three: Horatio the Heart Breaker

"What happened to your eye?" Colin asked, looking strangely at his friend. Logna smiled, taking off his leather jacket and tossing it on the couch.

"Nothing,"

"It's all red and watery,"

"It's fine,"

"Why do I smell butter/" Logan rolled his eyes, walking into his room.

"How was the date?" Colin inquired, deciding to drop the whole eye thing. Logan obviously was not about to reveal what had happened. Logan emerged from his room again, figuring his date was a much better topic of conversation than his eye.

"It went surprisingly well,"

"Where'd you find her?" Colin asked, settling into the couch.

"I stole her tree,"

"Is that supposed to be some dirty innuendo?"

"No, I literally stole her tree,"

"Her tree?" A smile crept on Colin's face as the absurdity of the situation occurred to him, "She sounds a bit territorial,"

"Apparently this tree has the perfect location. She was pretty pissed off,"

"But then you offered her a date. I'd say you un-pissed her," Logan smiled, lazily rubbing his fingers against the couch's smooth apolstory.

"She actually didn't want to go with me," Colin laughed.

"Don't gloat Huntz. I'm sure she was thrilled to go on a date with you, absolutely swooning at the thought of a long romantic dinner and-"

"You're wrong, and nothing happened,"

"Are you saying you didn't get laid tonight? If that's true then why are you smiling?" Logan shrugged, putting his feet on the coffee table and settling back into the comfy leather couch.

"It was a good date," Colin smiled.

"Whatever man,"

"Where are you going?" Paris asked Rory as she headed out the door.

"To see Horatio," Paris shook her head, irritated for no particular reason.

"Are you ever going to stop calling it that? You've proven the fact that you are odd and and unusual, move on,"

"Hey, if Madonna can hold on to it so can I,"

"At least she reinvents the quirkiness. Either start wearing a red string around your wrist or stop naming inanimate objects," Rory smiled, picking up her book bag.

"Okay, I'll work on that. Bye Paris,"

When he saw her at the tree he couldn't help but smile. She was reading a novel and was deeply engrossed in it. Her dark hair was down loosely at her shoulders, falling into her face. He approached cautiously, not wanting to startle her.

"Hey," He said with a smile, anxiously awaiting the sight of her gleaming blue eyes. She looked up a few seconds after she spoke, looking at him with a lazy gaze.

"It's Wednesday," She said simply, closing her book, her slender finger within the pages marking where she'd left off.

"I know,"

"Horatio is mine on Wednesdays, your day is tomorrow," Logan smiled.

"We sound like a divorced couple fighting over a kid,"

"Your point is?"

"I understand that today is your sanctioned day with our beloved tree. That's not why I'm here,"

"Why are you here?" She asked, her heart beat quickening. He had such an impact on her, one she couldn't escape. She repeatedly had to remind herself to breath, to not let Logan intimidate her.

"I'm here to see you," He answered, setting her with one of his most charming smiles. He expected her to smile back or at least blush, but she did neither. Instead she opened her book and looked down at the slightly yellowing pages.

"Is it imperative that you see me? If not then I really need to continue what I'm doing," He was surprised by her response, the cool unattached sound of her voice.

"It is imperative,"

"Really?"

"I need to ask you something," She looked up at him smiling.

"Okay, I give, I like Coke better than Pepsi. The taste is just smoother," He smiled, the sarcasm in her voice not lost on him.

"No, it's an important question,"

"Seven," He looked at her confused, not at all sure of where she was going with her random response.

"What?"

"It takes seven licks to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop," Logan looked at her with awe, amazed by the sheer speed and agility she spouted off words.

"While that is very important my question is even more important,"

"More? Wow, it must be a pretty amazing question. Does it beat 'who really shot JFK?'?"

"I believe it does,"

"Shoot," She smiled, her eyes bright, "no pun intended,"

"I wanted to know if you would like to go on a second date with me," This had caught her off guard. She knew it was coming, the entire time she could feel it; yet when it came she was unprepared.

"Uh, no thanks," She said softly, avoiding his gaze. When she finally did look at him she saw his face had slightly paled, his eyes pained. Logan Huntzberger was not used to rejection, and he didn't like it.

"Okay, bye Rory," He quickly walked away and Rory didn't try to stop him. She felt bad about her decision, but stuck to it. Logan was a play boy, she was a one-man girl. She couldn't' afford to get involved with a guy like Logan, her heart had been mended enough already. Once Logan was out of sight she returned to her book, finding the words blurred and jumbled. She had done the right thing, she was sure of it. Girls like her didn't date guys like him. They were completely different, it would never work. However, no matter how many excuses she made she couldn't shake the feeling that she had made a mistake. The vision of his dark eyes, void of emotion, were forever ingrained in her mind.

A/N: Please review! Sorry it's so short, school is taking over my life.