A/N: Thank you guys for reviewing!
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For this chapter, I'm hoping to go over 30 reviews, so please review. Just think of it as my Christmas present? Anyway, this chapter took quiet some time to write, it's about 5 pages longer than usual and some parts were just kind of… tricky to write. You'll mind out why!
Now, enjoy and merry Christmas ;b
Disclaimer: Don't own a thing, sadly.
Chapter 21: The blonde and Mr. Tall, dark and handsome?
It begun as an innocent thing, really. A nice friendly gesture, even. All she really wanted to do was comfort her friend, find a way to make some of his pain go away.
And well, some of hers too, maybe.
It started out with one drink. Then another. And another. Before she knew it, she was way past tipsy and simply just pure drunk. She could no longer count how many drinks she had had, and she didn't really care. Her whole body felt emotionless, so did her mind.
And for a moment - a brief moment where she could feel nothing but the alcohol burning her throat, warming her body - that felt great.
"I just can not believe it! I ask her nicely, I plead with her, I beg her, and she says no! Then he comes along, with that badass attitude, and he can touch all he wants!" Finn pouted and drowned the rest of his drink. "That grease-haired wanker!"
Rory nodded her head slowly. "She must be going crazy," she stated, completely serious. "Surely!"
"He can grope, but can I? No! Not me! Bloody gorgeous Australian with the fabulous accent. I can't even touch a little, but he had his hands all over her body," Finn said, his voice filled with anger and hurt. "His arm wrapped around her waist, running up and down her back… And he touched her hair!"
Rory patted his shoulder friendly and gave him a drunken smile. "She'll come around."
It didn't seem like Finn heard her as he just went on with his speech. "Maybe she's in love with him," he said suddenly, his eyes looking slightly panicked. "Could she be? I mean, I don't know what she would see in that dimwit. That hair, that clothes! And he has absolutely no charm-"
"Do you want to know what I think?" Rory asked, interrupting him.
Finn stared at her, then nodded his head. "Fire away!" he half-yelled, his accent clear and pure.
"Forget. About. Rosemary." She said it slowly, almost as if talking to a child. "Just for tonight. I don't think she has genuine feelings for him. For all we know, she could just do this to make you jealous."
That made Finn smile a little. "You think?"
Rory smiled slightly as she nodded her head. "Yeah. Just look at them."
They turned around to look at the dancefloor, where the couple had been dancing just a few minutes ago. Their eyes were met with the sight of many dancing teenagers. But no grease-haired wanker. No Rosemary.
"Maybe she already dumped his sorry ass," Rory mumbled before turning to Finn.
When her eyes fell on him, she noticed the miserable look on his face. "Or maybe she went home with him."
"Or she just left to find Steph and Colin?" Rory tried, noticing how Finn's eyes seemed to narrow.
"Or she is making out with that bastard in some corner!" He stood up, his hands clenched by his side. "I am going to kill that son of a bitch!"
"Finn," Rory said as she stood up quickly, grapping his shirt before he had a chance to get away. She closed her eyes briefly, as she felt a little dizzy. "Don't do anything stupid."
"But he's kissing her!" he whined.
"You don't know that," she pointed out. "Like I said, she probably found out what an asshole he was and left him. She's standing somewhere talking to Steph, I'm sure of it."
Finn was quiet for a while. He didn't look completely convinced, but his anger had faded a little. "I'm pathetic." He let out a sight.
"No you are not." She really wanted to point out that he was simply in love, but it didn't feel like the right time. "What about me? If you are pathetic, then there is no word for what I am."
The Australian seemed somewhat confused. "What do you mean, beaut?" he asked her softly.
"I can't even get a guy to like me," she told him, then added, "Well, I can. But those idiot-types, who has absolutely no future, no life. Those coward, who barely dare to touch a girl. Oh, they love me." She let out an annoyed noise. "When I think I've finally finds someone special, he picks some blonde bimbo with zero brain-cells over me." Her head hung low, her eyes half-closed, a pained expression on her face.
"Whoever that is, is a bloody idiot."
Rory looked up at him and smile slightly. "Thanks Finny."
He gave her a bright smile. "You are welcome, kitten. But don't call me that ever again." She let out a laugh as he wrapped an arm around her. "Now, do you want to dance or should we continue talking about our miserable love lives? You decide love, I'm up for anything!"
"Let me think about it for a minute," Rory joked and held her hand to her chin. "Whine and bitch about how no boy loves me, hear you obsess about Rosemary and than Derek guy… Or dance with a hot Australian with the world's cutest accent." She added the flattery with a smile, knowing it would make him feel better. "Well, I've decided!"
Finn let out a genuine laugh, pulling her off the chair. "Well, you are very lucky, love. Not many girls get to dance with me."
Rory rapped her arms around his neck and rolled her eyes. "Oh no. Only about half of Yale's female population has already been in your bed."
"But!" he said loudly, then remained silent for a moment for dramatic effect. "Have they danced with me?"
"Maybe the horizontal dance," she shot back.
A grin appeared on his tanned face. "Well, you got me there." He brought her closer, his hands gripping her hips tightly, and smirked. "But yet, it has never been better than dancing with you."
She awed.
"Even with all those girls!" he went on. "Brunettes, redheads, blondes. Skinny girls, luxurious girls. Tall girls, short girls. Beautiful girls, a few quite ugly girls. Dogs even, if I have to sa-"
"Finn!" she cut him off, smacking his shoulder teasingly. "I think I have heard enough."
He shrugged his shoulders. "Really? Why? Those it makes you jealous, love?" he said playfully. "To hear about all those girls?"
"Oh yes, my heart is breaking as we speak," she answered dryly, only a hint of a smile in her lips.
"I knew it!" he said, mockingly serious. "The first day you saw me, I knew your eyes lingered a little longer on me than on Colin and Logan. I could see the lust in them, the desire to push everybody out of the way and just have me right then and there!"
She tensed briefly, when he mentioned Logan's name, but shrugged it off. "Oh no, my secret is out!" she said and held a hand to her mouth, looking mock-shocked.
"I'll forgive you for picturing me naked," he said in a mild voice. "But now that the secret is out, I'm not sure if I can stop myself from making a move."
"Noooo!"
"We could be great, kitten! Just you and me, against the world!"
"What would my brother say?!"
"He would probably try to kill me." He grinned, pecking her forehead quickly. "And failed miserably. The girls might like him, but that doesn't mean he isn't a wuss!"
Rory finally cracked and let out a laugh as her and Finn continued to dance.
-----
He looked down at his watch discreetly, silently cursing when he saw that only ten minutes had past since he last looked.
God, did time move slowly. Time seemed to move beyond slowly. Actually, he had never been more bored his whole life, than he had been the last few hours.
The blonde, Britney, had been talking none stop, telling him her whole life story. Why did she think he cared? He obviously didn't, but she didn't seem to notice. She just kept on telling him about her many ex-boyfriends, her bad break-ups and all the bitch fights she had been involved in.
He had stopped listening for a half hour ago. As soon as she had begun explaining her relationship with Campbell, Cameron, whatever, he had plastered a fake smile on his face and hadn't heard a damn word after that.
And to make matters even worse, he hadn't seen Ac-Rory since she disappeared off to find Finn. A weird feeling was spreading in his stomach. Concern? Worry?
Maybe even genuine fear?
"So I heard from Ana, who heard it from Liz, who heard it from Darin and Angelina, who were talking about it in school, that Cameron still liked me! So I told Bastian, who is his best friend – Well were his best friend, he's not anymore, because he made out with Cam's ex-girlfriend, Miriam, who Cam suddenly liked again. So he got really pissed off, Cam that is, and told Bastian to go to hell. Then Bastian got mad, because Cam has made out with one of Bastian's ex-girlfriends before and he said nothing to that… So Bastian punched Cam, and then Adrian came and-" She suddenly stopped. "Logan, are you listening?"
His eyes widened and he turned to her, nodded his head as he took a sip of his beer. "Yes. Of course."
She smiled sickingly sweet. "Good! Anyway, so I told Bastian to tell Cam, that I was no longer interested in him. But he would not hear of it, so he told Bastian to tell me that he loved me and wanted to have kids with me!"
"Wow, that's…" he paused and frowned. "Great?"
"No! That is awful. You don't tell a girl that. That is like telling me that he don't care if I get fat and huge, and we all know that is a lie."
"So he was lying to you," Logan said as he nodded his head.
"No, turned out he really wanted to be with me, so we got back together," she said and smiled. "And we were so great together. And so pretty! Just like Brad Pitt and Jennifer Anniston."
Logan tried to hide the frown on his face. "Awesome?" he tried.
"But then he made out with Ana, who was my supposedly best friend and I of course had to dump both of them, because what would everybody think of me if I stayed friends with them?" She shook her head and sighed deeply. "It was sad, really. Ana was such a great shopping partner."
Logan let out a laugh, but when he looked at her confused face, he realized that she wasn't joking, she was indeed being serious.
"Oh," he said and paused. "Well, yeah, those are hard to find."
"I know!"
There was an awkward silence between the two, before Logan saw Jason, Colin and Steph from across the room. He waved at them, motioning for them to come over, and with smiles, they began to walk over to them.
They were a few feet away, when Jason and Colin suddenly stopped dead in their tracks. Logan saw Stephanie look confused at them, her brows drawn together, and Logan himself couldn't help but wonder what was up with his friends.
"Oh my God. Isn't that your friends?"
The perky girly voice made him realized just what was up with his friend. Sighing, he turned to look at Jason, Colin and Steph. Steph had a tight grip on Colin's arm and tried to drag him over to the table, while Jason was standing completely still, his eyes huge. Both the boys' gazes were fixated on the blonde beside Logan.
Logan couldn't help but laugh at the frightened look in their eyes. "Yep, that's them."
"Hi Logan!" Steph called in a happy voice as she sat down beside him.
Soon after Colin and Jason came, neither saying anything, just sitting as far away from the blonde as possible.
"Stephanie," Logan said and kissed her cheek, a sincere smile on his face. "Looking beautiful."
"I know," she grinned and winked playfully at him. She noticed the blonde girl beside Logan narrow her eyes. "And who is this?" She turned to Britney and raised an eyebrow, a polite smile on her face. "Hi, I'm Steph."
"Britney," she said in a bored voice, then added, "Logan's girlfriend."
Both Jason and Colin looked rather shocked, while Logan, who had just taking a sip of his beer, began coughing loudly. Jason and Colin quickly regained though and instead turned to Logan, looking teasingly at him.
"Really?" Jason asked grinning, taking the beer-bottle out of Logan's hand and taking a sip. "Didn't know that. Quiet the surprise."
Ignoring the urge to punch him right in the face, Logan looked at Steph and explained. "Bridg- Britney is my date." His voice was clear, especially as he spoke the next words. "We aren't really boy- and girlfriend."
Britney seemed slightly disappointed, but his friends looked relieved.
"Well, for a moment there, I thought Logan Hunztberger had giving up on his casual lifestyle and finally decided to commit." Jason let out a breath. "I can not tell you how relieved I am! No offence, sweetie," he said to the blonde, who only scuffed.
"Well," Steph began and cleared her throat. "What were you talking about?"
"Nothing important," Logan replied quickly. "Now, excuse me for a second, I really need to speak to Colin." He locked eyes with Colin. "Alone."
Before they had a chance to say anything, Logan grabbed Colin's arm tightly and dragged him away from the group. When they were out of sight, he stopped and turned to look at Colin, who looked somewhat confused.
"Have you seen her?" he asked, his voice frustrated as his eyes looked around the room.
Colin frowned deepened and he followed his friend's gaze, but saw nothing. "Who?"
"Rory!" Logan hissed, while running a hand through his blond locks. "I haven't seen her since she went off to look after Finn. That was hours ago." He paused. "Maybe something happened to her."
"Yeah, I'm sure someone saw her and thought, 'What a nice piece of meat' and decided to have some fun with her," he deadpanned.
Logan's face turned even more worried.
"Nothing happened to her." Colin rolled his eyes. "This is a college-party, the worst that can happen is that she gets shit-faced. She is Jason's little sister and our friend. No guy would dare to touch her," he told him, his voice very convincing.
"Then where is she?"
"Somewhere," Colin said as he waved his hand. "Just because you can't spot her in a house filled with almost one-hundred teenagers, doesn't mean she's not okay. Actually, she's probably with Finn. You know how he is, he probably wouldn't let her go. She's somewhere listening to Finn whine about Rosemary."
Logan bit his lip. "You think?"
"99.9 percent sure," he answered confidently. When he saw that Logan still looked somewhat worried, he sighed deeply. "Logan, I'm sure she's fine. You really shouldn't worry about it."
The blond nodded his head agreeing. "I know," he said. "But I can't really help it, can I?"
Colin sent him an apologetic smile. "Come on, we can't keep standing here. Leaving Jason alone with Barbie and Steph, that is just mean."
-----
"I loooove this song!" Rory screamed over the music, receiving a nod from Finn.
She pulled him closer to her, grinning as their hips move together to the rhyme. Finn's grip on her hips tightened slightly, and the smile on his face seemed to widen.
Rory didn't know how long they had been dancing, all she cared about was that she was having fun. With the mixture of great company and loads of alcohol, she had managed to forget everything about Logan and the stupid blonde.
"You know, love," he began, making her look up at him. "I never knew you were such a great dancer."
"You have danced with me before Finn," she said with a smile.
"Well, then you must be even greater tonight," he said and winked.
"Or maybe you were just drunk and can't remember a damn thing?"
"Could be," Finn said with a quick nod of his head.
Rory laughed and rested her head on his shoulder, smiling into it as Finn kept on making jokes.
A few minutes later she felt someone poke her back and she pulled away from Finn. She turned around and saw Tristan. A grin immediately appeared on her face and she launched herself into his arms.
"Hey Bible Boy!" she half-screamed.
She had expected to see a smile on his face, a grin maybe, but instead he just looked so emotionless. His eyes were icy cold, his mouth a straight line. She pulled away and frowned.
"Rory," he said, briefly looking at Finn, then back at her. "Can I steal you away from a minute?"
"Not steal me, but you can borrow me," she answered with a smile.
"Great," he muttered and took her hand in his. He led her away from the dancefloor to somewhere more quiet. "Mary. Rory," he said when they stopped. "What the hell are you doing?"
She stayed quiet for a moment, as her brows drew together. "What do you mean?" she asked confused.
"What do I mean? You have been glued to Finn's side practically the whole evening. And the way you are dancing!" He shook his head. "You look like you are about to jump into bed with each other any moment now!"
"Shut up Tristan," she said annoyed. "We are just dancing. I have to spend my night with someone, right? And it obviously can't be you, since you have deciding to be a pathetic loser and spend the whole evening spying on Alicia."
His hurt was obvious on his face, but she went on.
"And Colin and Steph are being two horn-dogs, making out 24/7. Rosemary is off with some new guy, Jason is chasing girls like usual, and I can't exactly be with Logan, since he decided he suddenly likes blonde-haired bimbos!" She said frustrated. "So what do you want me to do, spend the entire evening alone? Or with Finn?"
He remained silent for a moment. "That is what this is all about, isn't it?"
"What?"
"That is why you are drunk and is reeking of alcohol. That's why you are spending all your time with Finn, dancing and flirting."
"What?!" she repeated, her hands in the air.
"Logan," he said quietly.
It seemed to soften her a bit. Her eyes were no longer filled with annoying or frustration anymore. Just hurt, now.
"He's having fun. Why can't I?" she asked him as she tried hard to sound casual.
"He doesn't like her. He can't even stand her-"
"-But he's here with her, isn't he?" Rory interrupted him. "He might not have asked her, but he said yes. He could have said no. I've heard him say no before, I know he can!" She shrugged indifferently, her eyes avoiding his. "So he obviously didn't care about me."
"Rory…"
"For a brief moment I though he did, you know?" she said, sounding vulnerable. "I mean, when we hung out we had fun, it didn't seem meaningless. When we were together, it felt amazing and special."
"I'm sure it was."
"But he was with that girl, Tristan! He said she was just a friend, but does it really matter?" she asked. When Tristan didn't say anything, she continued. "Obviously not. So I just want to have fun. Play around, you know?"
He didn't understand, he truly didn't. "But with Finn?" he asked her slowly.
"Why not with Finn? At least with him, I know it'll mean nothing. He does this all the time, sleep around with a million girls. And besides, he's already in love with someone else."
"Yes. Exactly. Rosemary, one of your friends," he reminded her.
"Who is somewhere, right now, playing around with her new boy-toy, not caring at all how that's making Finn feel!" she yelled.
They both knew she wasn't really taking about Finn and Rosemary, but neither said it out loud.
"Just don't do anything you'll regret, Rory."
"Who are you to give me advice?" she suddenly asked. "You had an amazing girlfriend, but got bored. You then slept with a girl, who was already taken. Then managed to fall in love with her!" She shook her head. "You shouldn't even say a thing."
With that, she walked off, leaving Tristan standing there alone.
-----
She hurried back to Finn, immediately placing herself in her arms. She tried to ignore the anger, disappointment and hurt that she felt, as she began to dance yet again.
Finn felt the anger surrounding her, but he didn't ask. Instead, he just wrapped his arms around her again.
"Hey Finn?" she asked after a few minutes.
"Mmhmm."
"Finn!" she said, this time louder.
He opened his eyes, looking down at her. "What Ror?"
She bit her lower lip, looking almost nervous. She looked around quickly, her eyes landing on a certain blonde pair, before turning back to Finn. She ran her hand up his chest.
"What to get out of here?" she asked in a quiet voice while smiling.
A smirk appeared on his face, and he nodded his head eagerly, grapping her hand and leading her to the exit.
-----
"…So when the diet didn't work, I joined this gym. It's really awesome, you should join it too."
"Sure," Logan said automatically as he played with the label on his beer, bored out of this mind.
"And you too Stephy!" Britney said, turning her head to look at the blonde.
Steph looked up and shot her a confused look. "What?" Obviously she hadn't been listening.
"Join the gym!" she repeated, her voice still perky. "After all, you could stand to loose a few pounds." She moved a hand to Steph's stomach and patted it gentle.
Steph looked down at her belly, then up again. "What! You did not just-"
Colin quickly pinched Stephanie's thigh, making her stop talking and instead pout. While she shot him an angry look, he sent Logan and Britney a fake smile.
"Well, we're off. To dance. We'll see you guys later. Probably." He quickly grabbed Steph's hand and dragged her off.
"We should dance too!"
Logan sighed, but nodded his head and stood up nonetheless. They walked out to the middle of the dancefloor and suddenly the blonde swung her arms around Logan's middle, pulling his body close to hers so every inch were touching.
"What are you doing?" Logan asked as the blonde continued to grin her hip into his, her arms circling around his waist.
"I'm dancing with my date," she said nonchalant, moving closer to him and pushed her breast against his chest, looking back up at him with a teasingly smile.
He tried to pull away, but her grip tightened. "Really?" he said sceptically. "Because to me it feels more like you are trying to have sex with me with my clothes on."
She only grinned, her hands running down his back, her nails digging into his skin. "Well, would that be so bad?" she asked in a flirtatious voice. "What do you say we get out of here?"
Logan stared at her with huge eyes. "Are you serious?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Do I look serious?"
"We are on our fist date, you have talked to me about one hour maximum, you know absolutely nothing about me, but you want to sleep with me?" he asked incredulous.
"Oh I know you," she said with a smile. "Logan Mitchum Huntzberger, son of Mitchum and Shira Huntzberger. Has a sister named Honor. You are twenty-two years old, in the progress of becoming a journalist. You are Yale's biggest playboy, just like your best friends Finnegan Morgan, Colin McCrea and Jason Gilmore." She paused and then added, "Or they use to be. Colin fell in love with Stephanie Alice Cooper the first time he met her, and hasn't really been with another girl since they started their 'relationship'. Finn, even though sleeping around, is in love with the small town girl Rosemary Jones, who had nothing to offer but her beautiful looks and one hell of a nasty mouth."
Logan's mouth opened slightly, his expression shocked.
"Then of course there is Jason. He's always been a heck of a playboy, but lately he's been holding out. Rumours say that he's found his dream-girl, a sassy blonde, who, at the moment, is nameless. But we'll figure it out," she said sure of herself as she nodded her head.
For a minute or two he didn't say anything. "You really like gossip, don't you?"
"I live on it," she corrected him, as she locked eyes with him. "So, do I really have to ask again?"
"No, you don't," he said firmly and the girl's smile widened. "I think I'll pass, thanks anyway."
She stared at him dumbfound, her face completely confused. After a few seconds anger began to set in, but she grinned bitterly instead. "It's about that girl, isn't it?"
He knew who she meant, but shrugged anyway. "What girl?"
"Rory. Gilmore." She said the name slowly. "Jason's sister. The Avril Lavinge-wannabe." She paused, looking up to see his reaction. When he showed no sign of affection, she went on. "I guess I can see what you see in her. Actually, she is quiet beautiful. Dark curly hair, big blue eyes, a slim body-"
"-A great personality?" he asked her sarcastically.
She only grinned. "I guess that's what he saw too."
His eyes immediately snapped up to hers. "He?"
"Yeah," she said with a quick nod of her head. "The guy she left with. I didn't actually see him, but a friend of mine informed me. Apparently he's tall, dark and handsome. Lucky girl."
"Rory left with some guy?"
She grinned. "She sure did. Looked happy about it, too."
"And you know this how?" he asked, his anger slowly showing as his fists clenched by his side and his eyes narrowed.
"Well, everybody is watching her. After all, she is 'the new girl', the sister of Jason Gilmore. She's friend with the school's hottest Australian, the possibly cutest nerd ever, and then of course you. Logan Huntzberger, ladies man." She smiled as she bit her lip. "And that blond friend of hers, that she has been seen with… Well.. He's not quite bad either."
He didn't say anything, just tried to control the anger and hurt that was growing slowly inside of him, burning him up.
"What?" she asked with an amused laugh. "You really like her?"
He bit the inside of his cheek. "I have to go," he said as he took her hands in his and forced her to let go.
He didn't look back at her, as he hurried away from her.
-----
His cell was held tightly to his ear, his other hand running through his blonde hair. He cursed loudly as he got the voicemail, snapping the phone shut.
"God damn it!" he cursed, looking down at his phone.
He stared at it for a few minutes, then dialled a new number. Once again he got the voicemail, but this time he didn't snap his phone shut.
"Rory?" he whispered, almost expecting her to answer. "Where are you? Britney said you left with some guy… " He paused, closing his eyes. "Just… Don't do something stupid, all tight? You should just come back, Jason will get worried. And I will too. Just come back and we'll talk, work this all out. Please. Just..," he sighed frustrated, not able to find the right words. "I'll see you later, right? And, um, Ace, I really do care about you."
He pressed the red button, ending the call.
His head hung low as he made his way to Jason and Finn's dorm. Maybe she was there, talking to Jason. It could be.
Though, when he opened the front-door and went to Jason's room, he saw nobody. The light was turned off, the bed was untouched. Everything looked normal and it was clear nobody had been in there.
He sighed and walked out.
"Finn?" he called, making his way to his friend's bedroom. "Finn?" he repeated, opening the door quickly. "You haven't seen Ace, have-"
He suddenly stopped, his eyes gone wide and his mouth hanging open, as he noticed the sight in front of him.
Ace. Rory. And Finn. On his bed. Kissing.
"Ace?" he whispered, making the two people pull apart. He removed his eyes from the guilty-looking Rory to the shocked Finn. "Of course," he said to himself.
Tall, dark and handsome.