Gilmore Girls

Uncanny

A/N: I feel like this story is going downhill. I think it started strong and it's starting to slip and I don't want that to happen. Augh! For those of you who wanted to know what the pairing was going to end up, I should have PMed you by know. Please don't say anything in the reviews in case there are people who don't want to know. I wouldn't normally say because I think it can ruin a story but I was getting annoyed at so many people asking. Happy reading! Evie. xx

Summary: The voice on the answering machine. The picture on the entertainment. Both are eerily, uncannily familiar. L/R/T in London.

Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I affiliated with Gilmore Girls in anyway.

Chapter Eight

"Thank you for not leaving me on the bathroom floor," Rory told Logan. She opened one eye to look at him. He grinned and handed her a mug of coffee from his seat on the coffee table. Rory sat up on the lounge and pulled the cashmere throw around her tighter, her hands gripped the coffee as she inhaled the smell before lifting up to her mouth and gulping half the drink down. "How's Tristan feeling?"

"A whole lot better than you," Logan answered. He pushed a plate of food towards Rory and she screwed up her nose. "He went to work already and you have to eat because you know you'll feel better."

"Why did Tristan go to work on a Saturday?" Rory asked, pushing her hair out of her eyes.

"He had that big meeting with those executives from home, remember?" he asked. "Sometimes I feel like I should be the one dating him, not you."

"Sore point," Rory pointed out. She closed her eyes and then opened them again. "Can I have the plate now? I'm hungry."

"You can have the food after you and I have had a good talk," he said.

"Logan, please don't make me do this now," she grumbled.

"If we don't have this conversation now, we'll never have it and we need to if we're going to live together," he said, decisively.

"Fine," Rory said, tucking her legs under herself. "Can I please, please eat while we talk but?"

"Only because I know how lethal it is to keep food from a Gilmore girl," he agreed, giving her her breakfast. She gulped down a few bites and smiled blissfully.

"That is better," she smiled. "Now, what did you want to talk about?"

"Us," he answered.

"I knew it," she sighed. "What about us?"

"If there is any chance you still love me, tell me now," he said. "If you say no, I'll know you're lying but if you say yes, we can go from there."

"Yes, I still love you," she whispered. Her eyes fluttered closed. "I just don't know if I'm in love with you."

"Thank you for your honesty," he replied. "Now, I know that I am still in love with you and if there's a chance that you and I can be together, I would not hesitate to take it."

"But…" she prodded.

"I don't think that you can leave Tristan. Not because you're madly in love but you feel obligated to stay," Logan explained. "That and because you know that he thinks you're his soul mate and you can't bear to break his heart."

"Why are you telling me this if you already know it?" Rory asked. The only emotion in her voice was exhaustion. She was resigned and he knew he was right.

"Because I want to know what you think about this whole situation," he replied. "Am I right?"

"Yes and no," she sighed. "You're right that I can't leave Tristan, you're right that I can't break his heart but you're wrong about the fact that I'm not in love with him."

"I didn't say in love, I said 'madly in love,'" Logan interrupted. She sighed and glared at him.

"Let me finish, would you? I have the misfortune of being in love with two great men who adore me," she continued. "I don't wish it on anyone. How do you think I feel knowing that someone's heart is going to be broken?"

"So you are in love with me?" he asked.

"Yes, Logan. I am in love with you," she retorted. "So what? I'm in love with my new Coach suede boots."

"How can you compare us to boots?"

"I just can," she said shortly. Logan smiled a little, until he remembered what they were talking about. "Ace, if I ask you a question, will you answer me truthfully?"

"Depends what the question is," she replied. Logan leveled her with a look and she frowned. "Of course I will."

"Whose heart are you the most afraid to break?"

"His," she answered. "Because I know that it will take him longer to mend his than it will to mend yours."

"You know that's not true, Ace. I just look I've mended mine," he told her.

"You asked me a question, I gave you the answer. Don't elaborate on my feelings anymore," she snapped.

"I don't know what to do," Logan said suddenly. "My heart is telling me to leave so that you and Tristan can be together but everything else in me tells me to stay."

"If you leave…" Rory started.

"If I leave what?"

"Tristan and I might not make it either way. It makes no difference whether you're here or not," she admitted. "In fact, it can only make our relationship better, having you around. Tristan will know that he always has to be on the ball, that he can't take me for granted."

"So you've made your choice then? You're choosing Tristan?" Logan asked.

"I wasn't aware that there was a choice to make," she said, coldly. She raised an eyebrow briefly before dropping it and sighing. "That was mean. I'm sorry."

"This whole thing is mean," he answered, laughing mirthlessly. "I can't stay here, can't leave. I'm in purgatory."

"I don't know what to say to make it better," Rory said softly.

"You, of all people, can't make this better now matter how much you do or don't have to stay," he said, a tinge of anger in his voice. "Know this but. Rory, if you pick Tristan, you have to put me so far behind you. You can't be in love with me anymore. You have to give your whole heart to Tristan because he doesn't want any less. Don't tell me you can't because you can."

"I know I can," she whispered. "But what about you? Can you live in this house and watch me love another man?"

"I've been doing it for a month," he replied. "But tell me, can you love another man in front of me?"

"I've been doing it for a month," she repeated.

"And don't worry about breaking my heart. It's been in shreds since you left me anyway," he murmured. "By the way, about that…"

"Tristan didn't tell you the real story," Rory said quickly. "I moved in with him the night I left you but we didn't get together then, not really. How could I have been with him when my heart was still with you?"

"I don't know, Ace. You tell me," Logan jeered.

"You really want to know?" she asked, unsurely.

"Yep. Enlighten me. I want to know the whole sordid affair."

"It wasn't really an affair. I'd left you," she argued.

"We'd been apart for literally two hours. That's pretty damn close to an affair," he shot-back.

"Do you want to hear what happened or not?" she snapped.

"Of course I do," he yelled back.

"Then stop yelling at me and listen," she cried. 'For goodness sake, Logan. You are the one who brought it up."

"I know. I'm sorry. Go on."

"This much you know: I got home from work, told you I'd accepted Mitchum's offer, we fought, I told you it meant I was leaving you and moving out. After that I left, went to a bar with Cassie and I ran into Tristan who was there with some people we went to Chilton with. I joined the group, we talked for hours and I don't know, Tristan and I just sort of clicked. We ended up leaving the bar and going to a park where we sat on a bench and just talked. He told me that he had been in love with me since I started at Chilton and that he had never stopped then I told him all about you and I said I couldn't get into a relationship right then because I wasn't over you and he said it was okay, that we could just be friends," she said. She took in a big breath before she continued. "We talked for a little bit longer and then he said it was getting late so he had to go and I started crying because I realized that I had nowhere to go and that I had left with nothing but my handbag and my coat. Tristan felt sorry for me and he invited me back here but I said I should just go home because maybe you and I could sort it out but Tristan said that we would never sort it out because we couldn't support each other, that we were both too concerned with ourselves and that if I went home, I would just make it worse. I was feeling so badly that I guess I just decided that he was right so I went home with him and I've stayed ever since."

"That was why you came and left so quickly the next day," Logan mused, remembering the day. "You walked in, packed some stuff and then left. You barely acknowledged me."

"But I did," she answered. "I did acknowledge you a little."

"Rory?" Logan asked. He sat up in bed and looked into the ensuite. Rory froze at the sound of his voice. "What's going on?"

Her back turned to him, she quickly shoved her toothbrush and cosmetics into a bag. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she quickly wiped the tears off her face before turning to face him.

"I'm just getting some of my stuff. Cass will come by and get the rest later," she explained.

"Are you staying with Cass?" he asked.

"No. I'm staying with a friend. I really can't talk, Logan, but I'm really sorry it turned out like this. You are I are just too different."

"We're not too different, Ace," he snapped. "I don't care if you take this job. I really don't. All that stuff you said last night about me being jealous isn't true. I'm proud of you, Ace, not jealous. I know you earned the job. I'm just worried about you."

"You're not worried, you're unsupportive," she answered, rummaging through their drawers and pulling out her items. Logan stood up and stood by her, handing her a t-shirt. She dropped her handful and turned to him, her eyes flashing. "I don't want your help, Logan. I'm leaving you. Not going on a holiday."

"Rory, please don't go. Baby, we can work through this. I know we can," he begged. He grabbed her arm but she wrenched herself away, taking three steps back.

"Don't make this any harder than it already is. I'm doing the right thing. I know I am. We'll just destroy each other if I stay," she explained.

"You know that's not true. There is nothing that we can't get through."

"What? I'm supposed to go through my life knowing that my boyfriend doesn't support me and that he doesn't think I can do the one thing I've been working through my whole life," she said. "I'm leaving, Logan. You can't stop me. This is for the best, trust me."

"Rory, there is only one reason that you are walking through that door today," Logan said heatedly as she finished zipping her bags.

"And what is that?" she asked, as she pulled the zipper on the last one. Logan reached out and grabbed her hand. She tried to pull it away but his grip was stronger.

"The only reason you are leaving here today is if you don't love me anymore," he said.

Rory picked up the last of her bags and threw it over her shoulder. She didn't look at him before walking out of the bedroom, out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her.

"You didn't tell me what I needed to hear though," Logan continued. "You didn't tell me whether or not you still loved me."

"I thought me leaving would be enough to get you through," she admitted. "I have a confession to make. I was still in love with you and I felt so bad about leaving you but I knew I didn't deserve you, and I still don't, so I kind of hoped that you had taken it as a sign that I didn't love you and that you'd move on."

"You're a little hard to move on from," he admitted. "But I promise, to make life easier for all three of us, that I will and I will do it quickly. And don't tell me I'm a good friend for doing so because that's just insulting and a friend isn't even half of what I was to you."

"What do you want me to say then?" she asked.

"Say 'Okay, Logan. I will try and get over you too,'" he answered. "Say 'Logan, I have made my decision and you have made yours. I will stay with Tristan, I will try to make it work, it will hurt you for awhile but you will move on and we will all move on and be one happy family.'"

"Okay, Logan," she repeated. "I will get over you too and we will stick to your decision."

"Who's decision?" he asked.

"Ours," she said softly.

"That's my girl."

Somehow he had the strength to smile and somehow she had the strength to smile back and somehow they both had the strength to not lean in and somehow when Tristan got home and Rory was still on the lounge and Logan was still on the coffee table they had the strength to act normally.

"How's my girl feeling?" Tristan asked.

"Good, thanks," Rory smiled. She stood up and made her way over to him. "Logan made me breakfast."

"I made you breakfast too but you were already gone," Logan shrugged.

"Thanks, man," Tristan replied.

"No problem. Anyway, I'd better go. I told Cass I'd meet her and some of the guys today," he said. He stood up and grabbed his leather jacket. He turned and winked at Ace before he left Rory standing unarmed and vulnerable in front of Tristan.

"Logan and I had a good talk while you were gone," she said. She took a step further and gazed into his face. "I'm all yours, Tristan. You're the one that I want, the one that I love."

He opened his arms to her and she practically jumped into them, his arms wrapping around her so tightly she thought her bones would break.

"I'm sorry if I made you doubt us," she whispered.

"I'm sorry for doubting," he replied but he lessened his grip because he knew in his heart he had been right to doubt and he instinctively knew the conversation that had gone on between his life and his life's lover.

Logan stood outside the door and listened in. Things were back in place, where they should be. Things were righted and life could go on.

And that was how it became less complicated but more heart-breaking because they all knew the terms now. Rory and Logan had to be apart because one Rory wasn't strong enough to hurt one Tristan and because one Logan didn't have the guts to say 'No. This has gone on long enough. I will not fight anymore. I will leave' or to say 'No. This has gone on long enough. I will not fight anymore. I have won. The girl is mine' and because one Tristan, who saw all and knew all, wasn't brave enough or willing enough to say 'I have lost.'

They went on and moved on and tried to forget that they were all three in love with someone they would never really have and that made it all the more painful because they knew what they could have and what they were missing.

They were all paying the price for their sins and their decisions, past and future. And that price was Rory.