A/N: Thank you for all your wonderful feedback! I'm glad to see there are still Rogan fans out there :-D I hope you enjoy this!

Just a Casual Thing

It began with coffee. As they chatted in the local café, coffee stretched to dinner and then he was walking her back to her dorm, making some remark that he didn't want to keep her out too late.

"Paris will be checking up on me," Rory told him with a sheepish grin. "Sometimes I fall asleep in the stacks so she calls to make sure I don't get locked in the library."

"Are you serious?"

"I wish I wasn't," she answered.

"So, you're a studier."

"I'm at Yale," she said, clearly feeling that sufficed for an answer. He chuckled, clearly inferring that it wasn't, and said, "That means nothing, Ace."

"This is a highly respected institution. It's only fair that I give it the time it deserves."

"Most people go here and probably give it about half the time that you do. Most of them graduate, too."

"It is a privilege to be here," Rory said, shaking her head. "I want to make the most of it."

Logan stared down at her and wondered how in the world he got mixed up with such a straight-laced girl. After a few moments of silence she looked up at him expectantly and the blue glow of her eyes answered his question for him. He reached down for her hand and felt a warmth settle over him as his fingers intermingled with hers. Something akin to disappointment then settled when she unexpectedly pulled away.

"Logan," she said softly.

"What? Did I do something?"

She hesitated for a moment and then pulled him over to a bench. As they sat he mumbled, "I thought you had to get back."

"This will only take a minute," she said. "I think we should take it slow."

He gaped at her. "Holding hands was too fast?"

"I mean before jumping into anything. Logan, we just met."

"And made out on a beach," he reminded her. He watched her cheeks turn scarlet as she said, "I'm not usually like that."

"You should be."

"Logan," she sighed, irritated by the light tone of his voice. "I'm not kidding around here."

"I know," Logan said, his tone now matching hers. "What I don't understand is why you are making this so complicated."

"Because I'm me," she answered simply. "And unfortunately with my upbringing complicated is a given."

"Fine, then what do you want?"

"To be friends."

"We are friends," he said. "I want to be more. And judging from the angle of your body and how your hands are firmly planted on your lap, I would say that you do, too."

"Logan-"

"This doesn't have to be complicated. I'm very good at uncomplicated." His hands grabbed at hers and she didn't protest when his thumb rubbed against her palm.

"I just don't want to rush into anything."

"We can go slow," he told her. "We will go slow, and be uncomplicated. And we will do it together."

She kept her eyes planted firmly on her lap as she said, "I heard all these girls are after you."

"Ace-"

"And there's a line."

"Then just cut it." Her eyes widened and she blurted out, "There really is a line?"

"Ace-"

"Oh my gosh. I don't want to cut the line! There are repercussions for cutting the line. Or so I've heard, and-"

He cut her off properly with his lips on hers. Her mouth opened easily beneath his and he gently touched her cheek with his fingertips. After a moment he pulled away and said, "You have officially cut the line, Ace. Deal with it."

"Oh my," she said, her hand drifting to her lips. "I just did, didn't I?"

"We'll go slow, I promise. We won't rush into anything."

"I mean it," she told him, her hands firmly held by his. "Right now, I think we should just keep this casual."

Those were the words that every guy wanted to hear but having them come from her lips made him want to reject them. He didn't want casual. Not with her. She was special and the thought of anyone else being casual with her made him want to drink several beers. He could see that she would not be moved, though. It was a stubbornness that had taken him by surprise but he accepted it.

"Okay," he said. "We will keep it casual."

Rory seemed content and stood up. "We should head back. My phone has been buzzing like crazy."

"You put your phone on silent?" She nodded. "You planned this talk pretty extensively didn't you?"

"I jotted down a few talking points."

"You didn't," he said with a grin. She didn't respond but reached for his hand. Together they walked back to her dorm.

ROGAN-ROGAN-ROGAN

Rory pulled her car up in front of her house and turned off the ignition. She climbed out and opened the back door to take her laundry out. The bag was filled to the brim from her vacation and she struggled to get it out of the car. She thought idly that she should have brought Logan along for the heavy lifting but them remembered that she hadn't told her mother anything about the new blonde in her life. Taking him along to carry her laundry may look a bit suspect. She dragged the laundry to the door and after opening it kicked it further open with her foot.

"Is that my jet-setting daughter?" Lorelai called from the kitchen.

"Yes," Rory said, her voice strained from the exertion of carrying the damned laundry. "And I come with dirty clothes."

"And you expect me to do what with those?"

Rory got into the kitchen and dropped the bag. "Absolutely nothing."

Lorelai grinned, "Good girl. Come give Mommy a kiss!" She turned her cheek expectantly toward her daughter. Rory gave her a quick peck and said, "I can't stay long."

"Well, sit down for now." Lorelai swatted her hand toward the empty chair. "I want to hear all about your trip. How was it? How many times did you vomit? How many times did Paris yell at your vomiting?"

"It was a good time," Rory said vaguely.

"So you had fun?"

Rory thought of Logan and grinned. 'Yeah, I actually did."

Lorelai eyed her daughter carefully and asked, "Who did you meet?"

"What?"

"You have that tone to your voice. It's that I met someone with a cute butt tone."

Rory pressed her lips into a small grin and admitted, "I met a guy."

"Ooooh, what's his name?"

"Logan."

"Nice butt?"

Rory thought for a moment and then said, "Not terrible."

"Are we talking George Clooney or Richard Gere in Pretty Women?"

"Mom," Rory chided with a grin. "I am not rating his butt like that. It is perfectly fine."

"So, you like him?"

"Yeah," she answered. "I do. But we're keeping it casual."

Lorelai looked at her strangely. "Casual? Whose idea was that?"

"Mine," Rory said quickly. "I feel like things with Jess just ended and I don't want to dive right into another relationship. Casual is good for now."

"Did you guys talk about what that exactly means?"

"A little," she said. She hoped Lorelai couldn't hear the blatant lie. They, in fact, had not touched on the subject once since he agreed to her request of a casual relationship. Instead they had joked, held hands, and kissed against the wall of her dorm. Specifying the specifics of their relationship seemed relatively unimportant at the time.

"Well, I'm happy for you. You're happy, babe, right?"

Rory nodded. Just the thought of Logan made her all jittery inside. She would definitely say that she was happy. Lorelai smiled back, seemingly content for the moment. "Well, good. Now go do that laundry. Coffee will be waiting for you."

"So, meet at Luke's afterwards?"

"You know me too well! Try to act all homesick when you walk in. Talk about how you missed us all. Maybe Luke'll throw in a free donut!"

Rory grinned. "I will do my best."

ROGAN-ROGAN-ROGAN

Rory was walking back to her dorm, free donut in hand, when she saw them. They were walking across the street, laughing about some thing or other. She was walking at a comfortable distance from him, one that clearly showed familiarity. He slung an arm around the girl's shoulders and the distance closed between them.

She would have watched them longer but they disappeared around a corner. She stopped in front of her dorm, sitting down on a bench. It was similar to the one her and Logan had sat on. The bench where they had decided to be casual. The bench where she had brought this on herself.

He had seemed invested, though. He had not wanted casual. He had wanted something more, yet there he was clearly enjoying the perks of their casual relationship. She wanted to be angry but instead felt pathetic. He was out courting some long-legged blonde while she was moping outside of her dorm with a large bag of unfolded laundry.

After she collected herself, and her thoughts, she rose from the bench and made her way into the dorm. She took the elevator to her floor and headed over to her room. In the living room she dropped her laundry, quickly fielding the usual questions from Paris. She walked into the room and closed the door behind her.

"I will not be upset," she whispered, repeating the phrase over and over until the words came out as easily as a breath. "I will not be upset."

Despite her best efforts, she went to bed grinding her teeth.

A/N: Feel free to throw things at your screen. I was tempted to while re-reading this, lol. This may not be what it seems. Or it could be. Let me know what YOU think below! All you have to do is click that button :-D