The Truth

Chapter Nine

The blonde's eyes widened and his heart beat painfully fast behind his ribcage. Dark amusement played behind Scott's eyes as he noticed the beads of sweat trickling down the sides of Logan Huntzberger's face.

"And the best part is with you gone, I'll get your precious little girlfriend all to myself."

Logan's heart skipped a beat, and he stared at Scott with hatred. "Whether or not you kill me, everyone still knows what you did. There's no way they'll let you near Rory."

"Ah, but who has the gun?"

Rory hugged her knees to her chest, shaking her head and crying. She still hadn't told him what had been going on, and she could tell he was getting a little frustrated with her, as much as he was trying to control it.

"Rory, please let me help you," he begged. "Just tell me what's going on. I know you can do it. You can do anything."

It was then that Lorelai and Chris walked through the door. "Hey, we're home!" she said cheerfully, walking into the living room. She stopped when she saw Jess and Rory on the floor.

"Rory?" Lorelai asked worriedly, going to kneel by her, Chris following.

"You can do it Rory, we're right here," Jess said comfortingly.

Rory sniffled and took a deep breath. "There are some things I haven't told you," she finally said.

Officer Darrin pulled smoothly into the college where the scared student was waiting for him. He had gotten the call about ten minutes ago, and he knew time was running out. He commended the kid for his bravery in calling the police. Others would have been too scared but this kid had his head on straight. Backup wasn't far behind him, and within thirty seconds of his arrival, a second squad car pulled in.

"Are you Christopher Jenkins?"

"Yes."

"I'm officer Darrin and this is Officer Petty. Where are the hostages?"

"This way," Christopher said, hurrying away. He took the cops to the room, and motioned inside. There were four cops in total, and they all had their guns drawn.

"Stay back," Officer Darrin warned, taking the lead into the party. He could hear the gasps and shuffling as he and his team walked through the crowd, covering as many angles as possibly. "Scott Dlaring, put down your weapon."

"Oh shit, well this just got a whole lot more interesting didn't it? Who the hell called you?" he tried to sound brave, but Darrin could tell the boy was nervous.

"Put down your weapon now," he commanded firmly, his own gun still raised.

"So you can shoot me? No way."

"I'm not going to shoot you. But if you don't put down the gun and stop endangering this young man's life, I'm going to have no choice but to do so."

"Not a chance in hell buddy. I need that girl for myself, and the only way that's going to happen is if he dies," Scott turned his gaze once again to Logan.

"Don't do it Dlaring!"

No respond came except the sound of a bullet speeding through the air.

Lorelai and Chris sat on either side of their daughter, hugging her and crying. They both felt as though their world was crashing down around them. How could they have allowed their only daughter to get hurt like this? Why didn't they question her more, demand to know more, when they had come to visit her at Yale?

Jess watched the exchange between Rory and her parents. He too was very upset and cried when Rory told her story. He vowed to kill whoever had done this to her, and he was sure Chris and Lorelai would want to help.

"I wish you hadn't felt like you couldn't tell us. You can always tell us anything," Lorelai said.

"I know, I'm really sorry."

"Don't be sorry. Do you think you can please go the hospital with us? We're not going to force you, but you really should go."

Rory sighed. "I'll go."

Logan cursed in pain and fell to the floor, scooting quickly out of the way as much as possible as Scott fell dead next to him. Luckily, Darrin had managed to shoot Scott before he could do too much more damage, but Scott has till managed to put a bullet in Logan's shoulder.

"Fucking cunt!" Logan yelled, kicking at the dead form laying a few inches from him. "Go to hell you bastard!"

Officer Darrin went over to Logan to try to calm him down while the medic was called in. Logan barely registered what they were saying as they lifted him onto the stretcher and took him away. All he could think about was holding Rory again, and of never ever leaving her alone ever again. He couldn't help but feel like he failed her, and he was willing to do anything to have her back and to make it up to her. He loved her more than anything, and he needed to make sure she knew.

Rory sat with her mom on one side of the hospital waiting room, Chris and Jess on the other. They had gone to the hospital in Hartford, because they didn't need the town talking. Rory was definitely not on the mood to be a part of the rumor mill, or the subject of conversation among the townspeople.

"Hey, Rory, isn't that—"

Rory looked to where Jess was looking and jumped out of her chair, eyes wide. "Oh my God!" She yelled, rushing over to him. "Logan!"

"Hey Ace," Logan said, giving Rory a small smile. He was relieved to see she was okay. "Didn't expect to see you here."

"Ma'am, we need to take Logan into surgery."

"Into surgery?"

"It's okay Ace, I'm okay."

"Oh my god, that's from one of them isn't it. I am so so sorry Logan this is all my fault," Rory sobbed.

"Hey listen to me," he said, taking her hand. "None of this is your fault. None of it."

"Ma'am we really need to get going."

"I'm pretty sure we can afford to wait two more minutes," Logan said rather snappishly, never taking his eyes off Rory. He squeezed the brunette's hand. "Rory, look at me. Look at me. I don't blame you at all for any of this. I know what really happened."

"How—"

"Mike and Jared got drunk and blabbed, the cops have them now."

"But what about Scott?"

"He was shot after he tried to," Logan hesitated. "Tried to kill me."

"Oh my god," Rory's free hand flew to her mouth. "I'm so so sorry! I can't believe how stupid I was."

"You weren't stupid Ace, you were scared and you were trying to protect me. There's no way I could be mad at you for that. And I'm not mad at you at all. The only thing that you'll need to be sorry for is if you don't let me kiss you before this impatient woman rolls me off," Logan said, half-smiling and pulling Rory towards him.

They broke apart a few seconds later.

"I love you Rory Leigh Gilmore, and nothing that happens to you, and nothing you do is ever going to change that fact."

"I love you too."