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Logan Huntzberger had the perfect life until his fiancée walked out on him. When she suddenly reenters his life again, Logan and his best friend, Rory, come up with a brilliant plan. But, when the plan works better than they ever could imagine, it could mean more than they all bargained for.

OoOoOo

Rory had done everything she could possibly think of to delay her trip to work on Wednesday. Christmas had passed as the previous 25 had, with no earth-shattering change in her life. It was strange that even now, when she should know better, she still managed to get her hopes up that her dream guy would walk through the door Christmas Eve and sweep her off her feet.

That was probably why her heart had played out the whole fantasy with Brian, but of course, that was an illusion at best, a nightmare at worst. She pushed him and the whole club scene away from her mind. Just keep walking – pretty soon it will all be a distant memory.

She walked to the elevator and forced her gaze not to look out across the canopy of trees. Logan. He was the only other hurdle to cross in this whole mess, and if she hadn't had a chance with him before, she was sure her chances had sunk into the sub-negatives after her performance at Kaya. The elevator slid up to her floor, and she clutched her purse, steeling herself for what awaited her when the doors slid open.

Her gaze darted around the workstations as her feet carried her quickly over the carpet to her cubicle. Three more steps and she would be in his, but that wasn't a task she wanted to tackle at the moment. Thankfully she slide into her chair and then stopped.

A small red foil-wrapped package sat in the middle of her desk, and her forehead furrowed in confusion. Slowly she picked it up and examined it carefully before tearing the paper away. Eternity.

"Oh." Her heart thudded in her chest as she reached for the card. One finger tore it open as the other hand held it shakily. She pulled the card free and read the front. 'A Christmas Wish.' Still shaking, her hand opened the card, and it was all she could do to keep breathing.

'Rory, I'm so sorry to have put you in the middle of all of this. Can you give me a chance to make it up to you? It would mean the world to me.'

She turned the card over, but there was no signature. At that moment the phone at her elbow rang, and she jumped a foot. Her hand reached for it, even as her other hand clutched the card. "Hello?"

"Yes, I'd like to speak with Rory Gilmore please," the male voice on the other end said.

"This is she."

"Rory, oh, thank God you're okay," he said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Who… who is this?"

"Brian."

The name crashed into her consciousness as her heart jumped into her throat. "Oh."

"Listen, I'm so sorry about the other night. The whole thing was stupid. I should've been honest with you from the beginning." His voice stopped for a moment as she looked back at the bottle sitting on her desk. "Umm, I was wondering if you might consider going out tonight so we could talk."

Rory fingered the delicate box on her desk as her heart and her head battled over what to do. She knew that she should just hang up on him, throw the bottle in the trash, and go on with her life. But what she wanted to do was believe he was really truly interested in making things right with her.

"Please, Rory, give me a chance to explain… Please."

"Okay," she finally said as movement at her door caught her attention. When she looked up, her heart filled up her whole chest. Logan. Deftly she turned her chair around. She couldn't look at Logan while she was talking to Brian – it was too humiliating. "When?"

"I can pick you up at seven."

"All right," she said, hearing the shield and the brandished word in her voice. "I'll see you at seven."

"Great, and Rory, thanks for giving me another chance."

"Sure," she said, surrendering to the absurd hope in her heart. "I've got to get to work."

"Okay. I'll let you go. See ya."

"Yeah. Bye."

"Bye."

When his side clicked, she held the phone at her ear for one more second before she breathed a sigh and spun her chair around. The receiver hit the cradle as she fought for somewhere safe to put her gaze.

"Morning," Logan said, sitting forward in his chair, concern scrawled across his face.

"Morning," she said, dropping the perfume and the card into her top drawer and pushing it closed before sorting through paperwork stacked on her desk.

"How was Christmas?"

"Fine. Yours?"

"Good."

"That's good," she said with a tight smile although she only barely glanced up.

"Who was that?"

"Oh. Umm, Brian," she said off-handedly looking at the phone.

"You're going out tonight?" Logan asked, his forehead furrowing deeper with every question.

"Yeah."

"So, I guess that means the plan is working then?"

The Plan. Rory hated those words. They had caused her nothing but trouble. "I guess."

Logan nodded as his fingers laced themselves together. "You know maybe this was a dumb idea. I mean you don't really have to go through with it if you don't…"

"Brian's a nice guy," Rory said, wondering why she was defending someone she would normally consider a class A jerk. "We're just friends."

"Oh."

"Just friends," she said again as her chest constricted around those words. "No big deal."

"Oh."

Silence filled the room, taking up all the oxygen.

"You know I'm really behind here." She waved her hand over her desk. "Is there something else you needed?"

"Umm, no." Logan pushed himself out of the chair and walked to the door before turning. "I'm glad you had a good Christmas."

"Yeah, you too," she said without looking up.

He stood in her doorway for three more seconds and then lightly hit the doorframe and walked away.

Rory breathed a sigh of relief. He obviously didn't know about the Friday fiasco, and that was fine with her. Tonight she would go out with Brian, he would tell her he was marrying Mandy, and then her life could get back to normal. She couldn't wait.

OoOoO

Logan sat at his desk most of the morning listening to her every movement on the other side of the wall. Once he'd even answered his own phone when hers had rung. It was obvious from the way she had dropped his gift into the drawer that she wasn't interested in giving him a chance, and to be honest, he couldn't blame her. He had never treated her as anything other than a pawn, and knowing anyone could treat her like that made the anger clench his fists.

If he could just talk to her. Tell her what was in his heart. But she had made it perfectly clear what she thought of that idea. He shook his head, wishing he could think of something other than the way the light glinted off her hair, the startling blue of her eyes, and the light color of her cheeks. Her. Rory.

OoOoOo

She was dusting the powder on her face once more when the intercom rang at seven. "Yeah?"

"It's Brian."

"I'll be right down."

Quickly she grabbed her purse and a few extra dollars in case her luck continued to run so awry. With one more check in the mirror, she raced out the door and down the stairs. Leaving him in the could probably served him right, but even angry and humiliated, she couldn't be mean.

"Hi," he said, standing at the top of the stairs, hands in his pockets looking like he wanted to run as much as she did.

"Hi," she said softly.

"My car's this way."

She nodded and walked down the steps in front of him as she forced air into her lungs even though the chills of it burned all the way down. They got into the car and drove to the restraint with no words spoken between them. In fact, they might as well have been on trains going in opposite directions for the number of times they even met one another's gaze.

At the restaurant she got out before he had the chance to make it around to her side. Without touching they walked in, and when the waitress seated them, Rory made sure to put as much space between them as possible.

However, once they had ordered, there was nothing else she could find to put between them anymore.

"Listen," Brian began without looking at her, "Umm, I need to apologize to you for the other night. When I asked you out, I really wasn't being fair to you. See, I'd been going out with this other girl for a while and we were pretty serious – or so I thought. But I guess neither of us was as committed as I thought we were."

Rory sat, offering nothing. She was here to hear his apology, nothing more.

"Anyway, I shouldn't have asked you out until I'd at least talked it over with Mandy."

Mandy. The named rolled Rory's stomach.

"But we broke up," he said slowly. "Officially."

Rory's arms crossed in front of her firmly. "And this concerns me, how?"

"Look, I know I don't deserve it, but I'm asking for another chance." His gaze caught hers unexpectantly, and her heart turned over. I'd really like the chance to get to know you better. That's all."

Friends. She heard the word even though it didn't come out of his mouth. Without moving it, she shook her head in resignation – it was the word she was doomed to hear sooner or later.

"I just want to start over," he said softly. "Please."

Her gaze stuck to the table. The right thing to do was to tell him to get lost, to stand up and leave, to walk away from the whole stupid idea. But when she looked up into the pleading gray-green of his eyes, she simply couldn't do it.

"I'm not really dating anyone," she said, stating the obvious aloud, "so if you called me sometime, I might say 'Yes.'"

Brian smiled in relief. "That's all I'm asking."

OoOoO

By the time they were standing at the door to her apartment Rory's mind was saying she should've gotten out when she had the chance. Brian stood only inches from her although he never so much as reached out to her.

"So, I can call you sometime?" he asked, leaning his head to the side to get a look into her eyes.

She nodded before she looked up and smiled. "I had a good time tonight."

Instantly he smiled. "I'm glad."

He started to lean in, but for the first time that evening her rational side kicked in, and she turned, unlocked her door, and stepped inside. "Night."

"Night," he said just before the door closed between them.

Her eyes closed as she stood holding onto the doorknob. She exhaled slowly. Why she had accepted his offer wasn't at all clear in her mind. The only reason she could come up with was that she was simply tired of spending every night at home alone.

She dropped her purse onto the couch, went into the kitchen, and turned on the coffee. Besides, Brian wasn't so bad. He was cute and fun, and she really liked spending time with him. If her dream guy wasn't coming, she might as well have fun with the guy that showed up.

With that thought, she snapped of the light and trekked off to her bedroom. She would enjoy this while it lasted and the move on with no regrets. This time she was playing on her own terms.

OoOoOo

"So how was your date last night?" Logan asked, rolling an apple down his arm and catching it in the air.

"Good." Rory leaned back and looked up through the trees. "They broke up."

"I heard." He never looked at her as he bit into the apple noisily. "So I guess that means you're off the hook then."

"Yeah," she said softly. "I guess so."

He nodded. "That's good." He took another bite of apple and swung his lef to the side of the bench. "So, what are you doing for New Years anyway?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "Nothing, why?"

"No big parties?" he asked as the old feeling of comfort came back over him.

"Nah, I was just going to go to Stars Hollow to hang out with my mom. We'd watch the ball drop, throw some confetti in the air and eat lots of junk food. But they're going to New York with some friends so I'll probably just hang out at home"

He couldn't help the smile that spread across his face as he bit into the apple again and thought about her place. "Well, you know, I really don't have any plans either, so maybe we could get together and not have plans at the same place.

She laughed at that.

"No big deal," he said with a shrug as a teasing grin played at the sides of his mouth. "If you get a better offer, I'll understand."

Rory knew there would be no better offer. "You're on."

OoOoOo

When her phone rang on Friday night, Rory fully expected it to be a telemarketer or a wrong number. "Hello?"

"Rory, hi. This is Brian."

Moisture invaded her palm. "Oh, hi."

"Sorry I didn't call you sooner. Things have been a little crazy around here. But I was just wondering if you might be free tomorrow night?"

"Tomorrow night?" she asked, pulling the phone cord to the floor as she slid down the cabinet. "Umm, yeah. I mean, no, I'm not doing anything."

"Oh, good." She heard his smile over the wires. "I was thinking about checking out the Deux Plex, and I was wondering if you might wan to join me."

"The Deux Plex?" she asked as the sirens immediately went off in her head. She debated his offer while her arm twirled through the phone cord. "I don't know…"

"I promise I won't make another scene. Promise."

Her eyes fell closed as she considered the offer. How could she say no? More to the point, why should she? "Okay."

"Okay?" he asked, as thought he hadn't her right. "Really?"

"Yeah, okay." She smiled, knowing she must be out of her mind.

OoOoOO

"Hello, you," Rory said when she unlocked her door to see Brian standing there. "Just let me pull my shoes on."

"Nice place," he said, ducking into her apartment with his hands dug securely in the pockets of his leather jacket.

"Thanks." She buckled one shoe and smoothed the straight black skirt over her thighs again before bending and buckling the second one.

"This is a nice arrangement," Brian said, examining the plant on the corner shelf. "A split-leaf philodendron? Nice."

"My grandmother's idea." The buckle slipped into place.

"She has good taste."

Rory smiled and stood and took only one small step backward to get used to the news shoes. At this rate she would be broke by the end of the next month, but it was nice to have a reason to get some new clothes. Gilmore girls would do anything for a new outfit.

"Ready?" she asked.

He turned and smiled at her. "Yeah."

OoOoOo

The sunken floor of the Deux Plex was swirling in colors by the time they found a table on the railing.

"You want something?" Brian asked after she had been seated.

"Sure."

"What?"

"Coke, Sprite, whatever." She waited until he left before refocusing on the dance floor. Dancing twice in the same month? It was an unprecedented event in her life. Without really thinking about it, her finger ran itself around her heel just as Brian returned with their drinks.

"This place is pretty good," he said, pulling the wide armchair around next to hers.

"Yeah." She took a sip of the Coke from the tiny glass it had come in, and then she set it back on the table. Slowly her body began to unwind its coil of protection.

The dancers swayed in every direction, and she wished she had a sense of rhythm. Although Miss Patty insisted she had potential, she knew the truth. Rhythm had never been an asset Rory possessed. She felt the beat, but when her body tried to transfer it into movement, it never quite made it out with the same smoothness that it had gone in with.

"So you an only child?" Brian asked, leaning closer to her.

"Yea, for now. I'm sure it won't be long till I have a younger brother or sister though. My mom just got married about a year ago."

"Divorced?"

"Umm, no actually. She was never married." Rory said simply, leaving it at that.

"Oh." Brian watched her eyes as the patterns of color crossed her face. "You close to your mom?"

"Very," Rory said as she nodded her head. "I don't get to see her as much as I would like, life gets in the way sometimes."

"What about your dad?"

"He's around." Hoping to avoid his gaze, she grabbed her glass and turned to watch the dancers as a new song pounded from the speakers.

"You want to dance?"

The panic she felt on the phone returned. "Oh, I'm not very good."

"So, we'll be bad together," he said, standing and offering her his hand.

Seeing no other option, she took his hand and stood unsteadily. Praying that her feet wouldn't betray her and send her crashing to the floor, she followed him to the dance floor stairs.

"Careful," he said, turning slightly.

She negotiated the stairs one small step at a time and didn't let go of his hand until he had pulled her through the outer fringe of the crowd. The beat traveled through her to her feet, and her body began moving in time with it. In front of her he looked like a natural. His feet, his body, his head, they all moved in perfect rhythm.

Something about the total abandon his body exuded loosened the coil around her further. With each beat her body loosened until there wasn't a part of her that wasn't moving. Side-to-side, her hair flying patterns around her head. It was like being set free into the middle of a multi-colored dream.

The floor beneath them seemed to be pounding to the beat as well, and the crush of bodies around her seemed not so much frightening as simply insulation from reality. Here in the darkness she could move and have fun, and nobody had to know how unlike her this really was.

When her lungs felt like the were about to collapse, the beat mellowed and faded. Without asking, Brian moved closer to her and took her in his arms. That scent. Risk, she now called it, poured from him. And it was clear this time that the biggest risk of all came not form him but from her own heart. Falling for him would be easier than not.

Staying right here in the circle of his arms, her cheek on his shoulder. It would be easy to let him lead her anywhere he wanted to go.

OoOoOo

"Can I come up for awhile?" Brian asked at the outside door to her apartment.

She turned to him, wishing she could say yes. "I don't think so. I'm really tired. But thanks for tonight. I had fun."

Gently he took her hand and ducked his head. "So what are you doing for New Years?"

Her heart stumbled over the question as a picture of Logan flashed through her mind. "Not much, just getting together with some friends."

"Oh." Brian nodded slowly. "I figured I should've asked sooner."

"I can get out of it," Rory said quickly. "I mean, if you have something better in mind."

"Well, Dave scored some tickets for the David Bowie concert over at Philips Arena, I just thought you might like to go."

"David Bowie?"

"Yeah, you know, 'Lets dance, put on your red shoes and dance the blues…'" He took her in his arms and danced her around the top step before he stopped and looked at her. "What do you say?"

Her heart smiled for her. "I say it sounds like fun."

OoOo

Logan's heart had been on pause the whole night until he'd heard the front door open at two. He went to his door, knowing it was stupid but wanting to know anyway. He cracked it enough to listen, but there were no voices. Quietly he closed the door and crawled back into bed.

Although he had told himself it was ridiculous a hundred-thousand times, the thought of Brian taking Rory out cut right through him. When it was a plan not headed anywhere, it was different. But Mandy was out of the picture now, and the plan certainly hadn't included Rory taking Mandy's place – at least not in his mind.

"She's just a friend," Logan told his pillow as he rolled over, but even the ceiling didn't believe that anymore.

OoOoOoO

"We're still on for tonight, right?" Logan asked, swinging into her cubicle Monday morning, and just the sight of her brought a smile to his face.

"Oh, Logan, hey. I meant to call you," she said, looking up and there was pity in her eyes.

"Uh-oh." Without being asked, he stepped into the cubicle and sat down. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"

She scrunched her face together. "You know how you said if I got a better offer, you'd understand…"

"I'm really not going to like this, am I?" He saw the flawless set of nails she laid on her desk between them.

"I feel really bad about this, but Brian has these great tickets to the David Bowie concert tonight."

"David Bowie?" Logan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you know, 'Lets dance, put your red shoes on…"

"Yeah, I know who he is, but I didn't know that you liked him," he said, hearing the angry tinge in his voice.

"Well I do. You don't know everything about me, "she said in annoyance looking directly at him. "What? You never thought I would go to a Bowie concert? I'm boring, not dead."

He shifted self-consciously in the chair. "That's not what I meant."

"Well, that's what it sounded like to me."

"Look, Ace," he said, fighting to collect his scattering world. "I really appreciate you helping me out with the whole Brian-Mandy thing, but they're broken up now. You really don't have to see him anymore for my sake."

A sardonic laugh escaped from her throat. "Boy, you really are an egomaniac, you know that?"

The words hit him hard. "Where did that come from?"

"It came from me. Nice, little, sweet Rory who nobody wants to be anything more than friends with. Well, I'm dating Brian now. Now, I know that's probably a difficult concept for you to grasp, so I'll say it very slowly. He likes me – for real."

"For real?" Logan asked, surveying her skeptically. "That's not the real you. That's the you we made up."

For one split-second he thought she was going to come right across the desk at him, but then she closed her eyes, composed herself, and when she opened them again, there was nothing but ice in them. "Get out."

"Rory, I'm…"

"I said get out…Now."

"I didn't mean…"

"I know exactly what you meant. Now, get out."

Seeing no other option, he stood with a shake of his head and walked to the door where he stopped. "The New Years offer still stands."

"Yeah, well, don't hold your breath."

So I hope I didn't disappoint anyone to much with the contents of the card. It would be way too easy if he professed his love, then the story would be over:) Please let me know what you think!