Disclaimer: I do not nor will I ever own Gilmore Girls or any of the characters on the wonderful show created by the talented mind of Amy Sherman Palladino. Unless of course she sells the rights to it for about 100 bucks cause that all I got in my bank account this month…
AN: Here is the much anticipated fight… It's not everyday Rory and Lorelai go at it, but it's usually about a guy so who am I to change what works… enjoy
Logan watched as Rory walked over to the phone sitting by her bed and snatched it up. She dialed a number and Logan could tell by her attitude that she was furious and that she was going to need some serious cheering up later. He watched as she waited for the other person and decided she must be calling Lorelai. He wasn't disappointed because when the phone was answered the first thing that popped out of her mouth was "Why don't you like Logan?"
"Why don't you like Logan!" Rory asked her mother in a tone that could only be described as anger and confusion
"Sweetheart its not that I don't like Logan, I don't trust Logan. I don't think you know what you are getting yourself into. I don't like who you're becoming because of him." Lorelai told her daughter trying to sound nice
"That's crap and you know it. I am no different now then I was at the beginning of this year. You know what I think it is. You're pissed because I'm dating someone that your mother would approve of. They've always hated my boyfriends and loved yours and now it's the other way around and you can't stand it!" Rory yelled back immediately regretting bringing Emily into this fight
"How dare you throw that in my face? This has nothing to do with Emily and you know it. And there's a whole in your theory. Two actually. One, your grandmother would never approve of you sleeping with Logan while he's sleeping with other girls. And two, LOGAN IS NOT YOUR BOYFRIEND! But you're right maybe you are the same girl now that you were at the beginning of the year, but who says I liked who you were becoming then either. Remember Dean?"
She had initially been about to apologize about bringing Luke and her grandmother into this but mentioning the thing with Dean was a low blow. "I am well aware of the fact that Logan is not my boyfriend! And I can't believe you brought Dean into this. You know how awful I feel about that whole thing!" Rory told her.
"You're right Rory I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything about Dean. I'm just worried about you. I just don't like Logan." Lorelai said immediately
"And again I ask why don't you like Logan? Don't tell me you don't trust him again."
"Rory how do you know you can trust him? You've barely known him for eight months."
Rory got up and walked towards the door. She stopped when she got there and turned around to face Logan and mouth I'll be right back. Logan who had been sitting there listening patiently looked at Rory and was amazed by the expression on her face. She was defending him against whatever Lorelai had said, even though he and Rory both knew Lorelai was probably right. Stunned and unsure of what to say he just nodded and watched her as she walked out the door into the common room. Once Rory was out of the room she started in on her mother again. "It doesn't matter how long I've known him mother. I trust him because I know that he would never let a single thing to happen to me. When I jumped off that scaffolding with him he held my hand, and he didn't have to say anything. I understood that gesture to say 'If anything happens to you it's happening to me too.' He held me while I cried after Dean dumped me in front of a group of strangers. He goes out of his way to make me laugh and smile, and when I'm around him I can't even help but smile. I feel safe with him. That's how I can be sure I can trust him."
"Well then if he cares about you all that much then why aren't you two in a real relationship. Why bother with this no-strings attached thing. It's things like that that has me worried babe. You don't do the no-strings attached thing. You make fun of girls who flit from guy to guy."
"I'm not flitting from guy to guy and you know it. The only guy I'm remotely interested in is Logan. And you're right I'm not that girl, but Logan can't do commitment, and I'm not even sure that I want to be in a committed relationship right now."
"Sweetheart eventually you will though, and you are going to want it with Logan. What happens when you see him out with other girls. You're going to be jealous and it's going to make you realize that you want more."
"And what do you think is going to happen when Logan sees me with other guys. Especially since the only guys I actually know are his friends. Listen Mom, don't worry about me. I know what I'm doing."
Suddenly it all made sense to Lorelai. The wheels in her brain started turning. Perhaps there was more of her and her mother in Rory thatn she had initially thought. "You clever little minx! You are trying to make him jealous!"
"I am nothing but my mother's daughter." Rory said with a smile on her face. She was glad to have her mom back on good footing with her. "I know he likes me Mom. I know he wants me. He's just scared that he'll screw it up, and until he's not scared anymore I can wait."
"How can you tell?" Lorelai asked although her earlier conversation with Logan began replaying inn her head. This thing with Rory, it's not about sex. It's about me caring about your daughter. I haven't really known her that long but she's always there in my head. Has been since before the whole vow renewal. She's special and I care about her; more than I think I even realize yet. And yes while I have in fact been out on a few dates since our arrangement began I have not slept with a single girl.
"Because of the way he looks at me when he kisses me, the tender way he holds my hand, the way he sacrifices his entire day to watch my little sister, and the way he lies to his friends so that we can have alone time without them tagging along. That's how I can tell, and its reasons like that that I can and will wait for him to open his eyes."
Lorelai could hear the emotion pouring from her daughters voice and then she had an epiphany. "Are you in love with him?"
"I still think that the 'L' word is a lottle premature.I don't even thinkI know what love is.I always thought that I loved Dean but…" Rory trailed off unsure how to finish the sentence.
Lorelai had never heard Rory talk about anyone the way she was talking about Logan just then and she knew that that's what Rory was trying to say with the unfinished sentence. That she had never felt this way before. Not about Dean. Certainly not about Jess. The words And I certainly am not trying to break her heart that had came out of Logan's mouth earlier floated to her memory. It was then that Lorelai realized that Rory was probably right about Logan. She had met him and she knew that the boy was gorgeous. The reason that he hadn't been with anyone since he started this thing was Rory. It certainly couldn't have been because he couldn't find anyone else, it was simply because he really didn't want anyone else. And after pausing for a brief moment Lorelai said out of the blue "Let me talk to Logan."
"Mom I will not give him the phone so he can be yelled at again. I just got Dad to leave I think we should let Logan recover before we feed him to the lions, meaning you." Rory said not really anxious to have her mother and Logan have a confrontation
"I am not going to yell at the boy Rory."
"Ok but keep in mind that I don't really want to do this." Rory said as she opened her door
"Duly noted." Lorelai said
Rory walked back over to Logan who was laying face now on her bed. She watched him for a moment. She never really got the chance to just observe him without him knowing. He really was gorgeous. Rory fought the shivers that ran through her body and walked over to the bed and sat down next to him and reached the phone out. "She wants to talk to you."
"No."
Rory was surprised. Logan had never told her no before. "What do you mean no?"
"I mean I already got a tongue lashing from her today at the picnic, I just got one from your father, and I'm really not up for another one from Lorelai right now. I'm not entirely sure why but neither one of your parents like me. At all. I've never had this problem before." he told her and then laid his face back into her pillow
Tongue lashing at the picnic? What is he talking about? "What do you mean tongue lashing at the picnic?"
Logan sat up and looked straight into Rory's blue eyes. He forced himself to ignore the feeling of bliss he was experiencing when he looked into her eyes. "She yelled at me Ace. She practically did everything but demand me drop out of Yale to stay away from you permanently and I'm sorry if I don't want to listen to her go on and on again about how I'm not good enough to be involved in your life Ace." Logan said and then flopped back onto her bed face down in the same position he was in previously
"You yelled at Logan! Mom! What has gotten into you?" Rory asked her mom
Lorelai could hear the anger seeping into her daughter's words. "I want to apologize to him. I shouldn't have said what I said to him today. I'm sorry Rory. Please get him to talk to me."
"She says she wants to apologize." Rory told Logan
"No. I don't want an empty apology that's only meant for you anyway. I don't want her to apologize to me so that you won't be mad anymore." I want her to see that she's wrong about me Logan thought to himself
"That's not what this is Logan."
"Fine hand me the phone." Logan said and took the phone from Rory.
"I'm going to go talk to Paris I'll be right back ok Logan." Rory told him before walking out of the room
"Yes Lorelai, how may I help you?" Logan asked
"I'm sorry."
"No, your not. But it's ok. I'm not actually angry with you. I'm angry with this situation."
"What situation?" Lorelai asked genuinely confused
"You hate me. Chris hates me. And I think Luke hates me. All three of you have an impression of me undressing Rory burned into your head and no matter what I do I can't convince you three that's not who I am. You can ask Rory. That night was a weird night, for both of us."
"I know and I am sorry Logan. And you're right I do have a picture of you undressing my daughter in my mind whenever I think about you. And to be perfectly honest with you I think I will for a while. And just so you know. I don't hate you. Luke doesn't hate you, he may not like you at all but he doesn't hate you. And even if he does, I wouldn't take it to personal because Luke hates any guy that comes within a 10 ft. radius of Rory. He hated his own nephew when Rory and him were dating. But we're the two you have to worry about. I raised Rory and my opinion weighs a lot and Luke was there for every single one of Rory's major events for the last twelve years. Chris may hate you, but his opinion doesn't really mean a thing to Rory."
"Then what exactly is the problem here? I don't think that I understand. Why the tongue lashing earlier?"
"I said I don't hate you, and I mean it. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm worried about Rory. She doesn't do this kind of relationship. Rory needs strings. It's just who she is. Who she's always been. I just don't think that you can give her what she needs."
"I swear I'm begining to hate those words, NO-STRINGS! They are coming back to bite both of us in the ass!" Logan said with frustration dripping off of his voice. "This whole no-strings thing was her idea. You do know that right?"
"Yeah I know that, but I think that has more to do with her taking what she can get of you. She likes you, you know it and I know it. She may be ok with this thing now but what are you going to do in a few months when she can't handle seeing you out with other girls, or the idea of her dating one of your friends gets to be to much for you? Then what Logan?"
The idea of Rory dating his friends had never occurred to him before. "Why would she date my friends?" Logan said to himself but quickly realized that he had voiced his thoughts out loud and couldn't believe the jealous tone that had crept into his voice
"She doesn't know very many other guys Logan. You introduced her to all the guys she knows with the exception of Marty."
The idea of Rory dating Marty made his stomach turn. "He's in love with her." Logans mouth spat out before he could control it
"What?"
Crap! I said that out loud! Oh well, I can't take it back now. I might as well clarify it. "Marty, he's in love with her."
"I know." Lorelai said noticing the way Logan spat out Marty's name like Marty was some evil guy swooping in on his girlfriend
"I guess we'll just figure it out as we go along." Logan said moving the subject away from Marty
"You won't be jealous?"
"No."
"Logan jealousy is a natural emotion."
"I'm a Huntzberger I don't get jealous."
"Keep telling yourself that and maybe you'll believe it someday. Anyway I really am sorry for how I treated you and spoke to you today. But can I give you a piece of advice?"
"Yeah sure…"
"This relationship with my daughter, it will get more complicated sooner or later. Don't be afraid to see how you really feel about her. Don't run from it or sabotage it. You'll regret it."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"You'll figure it out… Oh by the way you should thank Paris too…"
"For what?"
"She saved you earlier. When Christopher was laying into you and Rory she called me and held the phone out so I could listen for a second thus forcing me to call the dorm and save you and Rory."
"Well then I guess I do have to thank her and you for that." Logan said. The door to Rory's room opened and in walked Rory with a smile on her face. "Did you want to say goodbye to Rory?"
"Yeah." Lorelai waited for Rory to answer the phone and when she did she wasted no time in spouting out a "I'm sorry."
"For what?" Rory asked
"Coming down on Logan. He's your… friend… and you'll handle it the way you think best. But off the record I mentioned you dating his friends and the tone in his voice sounded pretty jealous. I think I'mstarting to come around. I'm not there yet, but I think I will inevitably end up liking him."
"Thanks and that's funny, I've never seen that side of my friend before." Rory said stressing the word friend so that Logan didn't know she was talking about him. "Lane's a funny girl."
"I love you babe."
"Love you too… hey mom?"
"Yeah."
"You should try to talk to Luke again."
"We'll see kiddo." Lorelai said and then hung up the phone.
Rory hung up the phone and smiled at Logan. Her smile faded when she caught the serious look on Logan's face. "What is it?" she asked him
"We need to set some ground rules."
AN: Ok I know it seems like I'm stalling on the second part of the date, but I'm still not sure what I want to do… plus I think that it's important that the rules be more clear.