Disclaimer: I still don't own Gilmore Girls….
Chapter Twenty Nine
Logan was sitting in front of Robert's dorm waiting for him when Robert got home. Robert looked at him and a chuckle passed through his lips. "Do you really think it's in your best interest to laugh right now Robert?" Logan said through gritted teeth
Robert shook his head slightly. "She sure has picked up some protectors hasn't she. I mean she's only existed on our periphery a little more than six months and already she has the most influential LDB members at her beck and call, ready to pummel the first person who hurts her."
Logan stood up and moved out of his way so that he could open the door and followed him in. "What did you do to her?"
Robert looked at Logan. "You know I don't believe that I invited you in. Didn't your mother teach you any manners?"
"No. She didn't. She always told me that I was a Huntzberger, and it was alright to look down on people like you." Logan said not caring how pompous he sounded
"So, let me ask you something why did Finn go after Gilmore and not you?"
"Because I'm here."
Robert nodded knowingly. "She didn't want you to go and get her huh? She specifically called Finn."
"What's your point?"
"I tell you what that girl is fickle."
"What do you mean?"
"One minute she's all sure I'll go with you, you tell her it's a surprise and you blindfold her…"
"You blindfolded her?"
"Yeah, she said to ask you how much she hated blindfolds. Kinky Huntzberger."
"Finish your story Robert."
"Anyway you blindfold her and you take her away for a romantic night and you say one wrong thing about the great Logan Huntzberger and she flips out. I figured when I left her she'd call you to come running and get her…"
"Wait… when you left her! Where did you leave her!" Logan yelled interrupting.
Robert was about to tell him when there was a loud banging on his door. "Excuse me." He made his way to the door and was about to open it when Colin burst in.
"For the love of God don't finish that sentence." Colin hissed at Robert
"Why not he'll find out soon enough." Robert said
"Where did you leave Ace!" Logan demanded
"New York."
xxxxxx
Finn pulled up near the clearing and got out of the SUV. He walked through the clearing to where he assumed Rory would be and saw her sitting on a bench. He walked over to her and sat down next to her. She looked up and saw him. He could tell she had been crying for hours because her eyes had passed bloodshot and she looked drained. He threw his arms around her and lifted her. She curled up into him and allowed him to carry her. He stopped by the picnic blanket and grabbed her purse and cell phone, and then carried her to the SUV. He buckled her into the car and pulled his cell phone out. He dialed Colin's number and when he answered he just said "I got her." And then hung up.
He walked over to his side of the car and got in. They didn't say a word until they got back on the highway. "Rory?"
"Will you take me home please?"
"Home Yale, or home Stars Hollow?"
"Stars Hollow." She said softly
"Of course." Finn said nodding his head. "I'll take you wherever you want to go."
Rory mumbled "Thank you." and then curled herself up in her seat and fell asleep.
Finn took his phone out and dialed Lorelai. She answered on the first ring. "Finn. Where are you?"
"On my way to bring your daughter to you."
"How long?"
"It'll be a while yet. I just got on the highway about fifteen minutes ago."
"Where was she?"
"New York."
"New York! He left her in New York?" Lorelai said her voice raising in volume
"Yes."
"I'll kill him."
"I'll help."
"He's a dead man." Lorelai said
"He knows it."
"Luke just walked in. I need to tell him what happened. He's been so worried. I practically had to tie him to a chair to stop him from running out and looking for her."
"I'll call you when we get closer to you ok."
"Thank you Finn. You are a life saver." Lorelai said hanging up
xxxxxx
"Finn has her." Colin said although he didn't think at this point it really mattered that Rory was ok. Logan was going to kill Robert. He had never seen that look in Logan's eyes. "Logan man, you don't want to do this now."
"I don't want to do what now? Kill him? Yes I do."
"Logan."
"Colin he left Rory in the middle of nowhere alone. Do you see how dark it is out there? She must have been terrified. He probably traumatized her!" He said and then turned to Robert, "So, do I want to you kill you pompous arrogant jackass? You're damn right!"
If Robert was scared he did a good job of hiding it. "You exhaust a lot of anguish on a girl you aren't in a committed relationship with Logan."
"Robert now really isn't the time to start antagonizing him." Colin said trying to intervene
"Why are you even here Colin?" Robert asked
"Because Finn sent me to keep you alive. Unless you want me to leave and let Logan kill you slowly and painfully."
"I think you should leave." Logan said
"I think I'm staying until you leave with me. I know he hurt Rory. I know he left her alone, outside, in the dark, and she had no clue where she was. I know that you care about her." He said then turned and looked at Robert. "I thought you cared about her."
"I do." Robert said
"Way to show you care jackass. You know what I think. I think you propositioned her and she turned you down flat. That pissed you off and you abandoned her." Logan said snidely "So help me you better pray that she doesn't tell me you hurt her. If you laid one hand on her I will kill you. In fact I think I just might kill you anyway." Logan said walking closer to Robert
xxxxxx
They were about an hour away from Stars Hollow. Finn looked over at the sleeping girl and sighed. He reached over and put his hand on her shoulder and shaking gently. "Rory, luv, we're almost there."
She shifted slightly and a small groan left her mouth. "Huh?"
"We'll be home in a little less than an hour."
"Oh ok." Rory said
Finn reached over and took her hand in his, entwining their fingers. "Sweetheart I need you to tell me what happened."
Rory sighed. "Well you now I got the call from Robert while I was there with you guys right?"
"Right. Logan was upset when you left."
"He told me he had a surprise for me and I love surprises so I left with him. He blindfolded me, much against my own personal dismay because you know how I feel about blindfolds…"
"Logan has told me something to that affect yes."
"So I fell asleep on the way there because we were driving forever. And when I woke up we argued about the blindfold. Then he led me out of the car and let me take of the blindfold. We were in this little clearing and there was this romantic meal set up and it was really pretty. He said he wanted to talk and I agreed mainly because I had planned on ending everything between us."
"To focus on Logan?" Finn asked
"Not entirely." Rory said blushing
"It's ok luv. You can focus on Logan. I'll tell you a secret."
"What?"
"He's pretty focused on you." Finn said smiling
"What makes you say that?"
"Because I know Logan. He's focused on you. So what did you and Robert talk about?" he asked trying to change the subject
"I asked him if he was using me to get at Logan. And he told me that it may have started out that way but now he had genuine feelings about me."
"Aww… Robert fell for you. That's kind of sweet." Finn said laughing
"Shut up Finn. I told him that he tended to rub me in Logan's face."
"Which he does." Finn interrupted
"I know. Then I asked him if we were dating. And he said that he'd like to believe we were, so I reminded him that I was still dating Logan. He got mad that I brought up Logan again and threw how little I had seen Logan in my face. I got mad and defended Logan and then I walked away. I had no clue where I was going or where I was so it wasn't that hard for him to talk me into sitting down. I told him that if he yelled at me again I was leaving. So we talked about movies and books for a little while and ultimately it became another conversation about Logan. He asked me why I was even with him at all if the only one I cared about was Logan, and I couldn't come up with an answer. I admitted that I had planned on ending everything with him tonight because I had just realized that somehow I had ended up in a relationship with him and that wasn't what I wanted. He got mad and stormed off. I assumed he'd come back for me and he never did." Rory said.
By the end there were tears running down her face. Finn looked at her and his heart broke. "Luv, it's going to be ok. We're almost home and then you'll have your mom and she'll fix it all. Please don't cry. The bastard isn't worth it. He's an ass." Finn said wiping tears off her cheeks.
Rory stopped crying and looked at Finn. "Is Logan mad at me?"
"For what doll?"
"For asking you to come and get me and not him."
"No, in fact I think he was a little hurt at first but even he knows now that it's better this way."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because he's probably with Robert right now." Finn said smiling
xxxxxx
Colin looked over at Robert and actually saw some fear in his eyes. Then looked at Logan who was fast approaching Robert with his fists clenched. "Logan, man. Wait."
"WHY?" Logan yelled through gritted teeth
"Because we have to deal with Robert. He's in the LDB man, he's a constant in our lives."
"So is Rory." Logan said quickly
"Since when is Rory a constant in your life Logan. I mean I know you have feelings for this girl but we've known Robert since diapers."
"Rory became a constant in my life the day I met her. I don't care how long I've known Robert. He hurt Rory. He terrified her. She could be traumatized…"
"Logan, you're rambling. If you're going to hit me could you just get it over with and get out." Robert said
"Robert, you are so not helping yourself here. I'm trying to stop you from becoming black and blue again."
xxxxxx
Finn drove past the Welcome to Stars Hollow sign and pulled out his phone. "Hello."
"I'm in Stars Hollow. You want me to bring her to the house or Luke's?" Finn asked Lorelai
"Luke's. I'm at Luke's right now." Lorelai said
"Ok, I'll be there in two minutes." Finn said hanging up
Finn pulled into a parking space in front of Luke's. He walked around the car and met Rory on her side. "You don't have to walk me in you know." Rory said softly
Finn smiled and threw his arms around her shoulders. "Nonsense luv, I'm not letting you out of my sights until I leave you with Luke and Lorelai. Let's go."
Finn opened the door and the bell rang over head. The diner was packed but when Luke looked up and saw Rory and Finn he yelled. "We're closed. You're food is on the house. Everyone out now."
People looked up at Luke and knew he wasn't kidding so they all scurried out. "Sit down. I'll be right back." Luke said to Rory and Finn as he headed up to the apartment to get Lorelai
Lorelai came down and ran to Rory, engulfing her in her arms. "I swear I'll kill that boy Rory. Mommy will kill him."
"No, I'm going to kill him." Luke said gruffly
"Don't worry about that Luke. I think me and Logan can handle it on our own. I just hope Colin was able to restrain him until I get there." Finn said. He then looked at Rory and said, "Luv, if you're ok I believe I will head back to Yale and stop Logan from murdering your ex."
Rory took one look at Finn and his smiling face and nodded. "I'm fine. Thank you Finn." She walked over to him and threw her arms around him embracing him in a tight hug and placing a kiss on his cheek.
"Anytime luv." Finn said smirking
He was almost out of the door when he heard Luke's voice. "Finn wait. I need to talk to you outside." Finn looked a little scared, "Don't worry it's fine. I'm not going to yell at you or anything."
Finn nodded and they both walked outside. Once they were standing in front of Finn's SUV he turned around and looked at Luke. "What is it that you want to talk about?"
"I wanted to thank you. That girl in there is like a daughter to me and I love her more than I can even begin to understand. You did something that none of could have done and you found her. I wouldn't have ever thought that she would date anyone that would abandon her in New York and not even let her know where she was. Just answer me one question."
"Of course."
"I know how she feels about this Logan guy, and I know how Lorelai feels about him, but what I don't know is how he feels about her. Is he worth what she's gone through tonight, or is he going to break her heart?"
Finn sighed. "He's in love with her. I don't know if he knows it yet, but he is. And I know that Lorelai hates him, but I know that he's a good guy with absolutely nothing but good intentions. And that's all I can say about it. I see the way he looks at her and I've watched him change slowly in the last six months for her. He used to be this big ladies man, hundreds of girls numbers on his speed dial, different date every night. That's not who he is anymore. He hasn't dated anyone other than Rory in at least three months. There isn't a single girl in his cell besides Rory, which is listed as LL, not something I understand…"
"Lorelai Leigh."
"Huh?"
"That's what the LL stands for. It's her real name. Lorelai Leigh Gilmore the Third." Luke explained
"Well that's more obvious than I expected. I feel kind of stupid. Rory told me I would too."
"So you're headed back to Yale?"
"Yeah. I got something to take care of."
"Robert?"
"Yes. Robert. Me and him need to have a serious talk." Finn said
"I'll let you go then. Thank you." Luke said walking back towards the diner
"Your welcome." Finn said getting in his SUV.
xxxxxx
Colin's cell rang and he looked at Logan and Robert before answering it. "Hello."
"I'm about ten minutes away. Are you still tailing Logan or are you standing with him right now?"
"Hey Finn, yeah I'm with him and Robert right now."
"Any bloodshed?"
"I've managed to stop it until now. But I don't know how much longer I can."
"Let me talk to Logan."
Colin handed the phone to Logan. "He wants to talk to you."
"Finn. Where's Rory?" Logan said frantically
"She's fine. I had her. I dropped her off at home."
"Home Yale or Home Stars Hollow?"
"Stars Hollow."
"Are you sure she's ok?"
"She's fine Logan I swear. A little shaken up but ok. Are y'all at Robert's?"
"Yeah, but you're sure she's ok?" Logan asked again
Finn laughed. "Yes Logan she's fine. I left her with Lorelai and Luke, and I promised Luke we'd handle the Robert situation."
"No argument there. I would have handled that hours ago if Colin would have let me. Where are you?"
"About to walk through Robert's door." Finn said opening the door and hanging up the phone.
Logan handed Colin his phone back and looked at Finn. Finn looked at Robert. "You are going to listen to me and that's final you understand mate?"
Robert didn't say anything. He just nodded.
"I just took a terrified, traumatized, broken girl that I have come to love as my sister home after you abandoned her in New York. Now I know you met Luke and you better thank your lucky stars that Lorelai talked him into letting Logan, Colin and myself handle you because if she wouldn't you'd be dead by now. I get that Rory delivered a major blow to your ego tonight, but what you did was unexcusable."
"I…"
"I thought I said you were going to listen to me. I thought I had made myself clear. Now let me tell you what happened tonight. You thought that you had Rory where you wanted her. You thought that if you played your cards right you'd end up with Rory and you could take her from Logan."
"She doesn't belong to Logan."
"SHUT UP ROBERT! You monopolized her time and you kept her from Logan. And then you managed to make it so that she didn't realize that was happening. You blindfolded her and took her out, wouldn't tell her where she was," he said then turned to Logan and Colin, "which by the way we will never be able to do again. We will never get another blindfold on that girl. We'll either have to induct her in the LDB or stop letting her come to events, because the blindfolding thing won't ever happen again. She's traumatized."
"We'll induct her that's not a problem, she's a legacy." Colin said nodding
Finn turned back to Robert. "You said you wanted to talk and you threw everything that Logan had ever done in her face. You pissed her off and she wanted to leave. You sweet talked her into staying and then got mad when she said she refused to date you. You stormed off after she told you that she didn't want to see you again."
"That's not what she said."
"No you're right, that's not what she said. She said she wouldn't stop seeing Logan. She said that Logan was too important to her for her to write him off for you. Isn't that right Robert?"
"Yes. Fine that's what she said." He said looking at Logan. "You know what this is all your fault. Why don't you just cut her loose? If you aren't going to be with only her let her know. Cut her loose and let the rest of us have a chance."
"You aren't going near her again." Logan said forcefully
"You can't tell me where I can and can not go." Robert said standing up
"Sit down. Do I look like I am playing some kind of game with you. I said you aren't going near her again and I mean it. If I catch you within ten feet of her and I'm not there or Finn's not there I will beat you within an inch of your pathetic life."
"I'm not scared of you Logan." Robert said standing up and getting in Logan's face
"Get scared." Logan said before he punched him knocking him to the ground. "I thought I said to sit down."
"Ok, you got your hit in. Let's go before this escalates anymore." Colin said shoving Logan towards the door.
"You." Logan said pointing to Robert who was rubbing his jaw, "You stay the hell away from her." And then allowed Colin to push him out of the door
Finn turned around and looked at Robert. "That was a warning. And no matter how bad I want to hit you right now, I'm not going to."
"He'll never feel the same way about her that she feels about him."
"He already does. Stay away from Logan. And her, if you know what's good for you." Finn said before shutting the door.
He walked out into the hallway and saw only Colin. "Where's Logan?"
"He went to Stars Hollow." Colin said "Can I ask you a question?"
"Yeah." Finn said starting to walk back towards their room
"Is it this easy for you to pick between Robert, a guy we've all known since we were in diapers, and Rory Gilmore, a girl we've known for less than a year?"
"How can you possibly be defending Robert! I thought you liked Rory!" Finn asked loudly
"I'm not. Robert was definitely wrong here. What he did to Rory was awful. And I do like Rory. I adore Rory. I just don't know if I can abandon Robert the way you and Logan are."
"No one's abandoning Robert. We're all just angry right now. Once Logan and Rory get their act together he'll calm down and given enough time it will just be water under the bridge." Finn said
"You know you didn't actually answer my question."
"Which was?"
"Choosing between Robert and Rory… is it an easy choice?"
"Of course."
"Who did you choose?"
"The lovely LL." Finn said immediately
"That easily?"
"Not even a full second of thought."
"You know the LL is still a mystery to me."
Finn smiled. "It stands for Lorelai Leigh, which is her name."
"That's far too obvious." Colin said laughing
xxxxxx
Logan walked up to the front door of the Gilmore house and sighed. He wasn't even sure why he was here, he just knew that he had to see Ace before he could sleep tonight. He had to make sure that she was ok with his own eyes. He knocked on the door and Luke answered it. He grunted somewhat. "I'm Logan."
"I know who you are. We met and the vow renewal."
"Not my proudest moment." Logan said
"No probably not. I'm guessing you want to see Rory."
"I do if that's ok."
"It's fine, come in." Luke said opening the door for Logan
"Thank you." Logan said walking into the living room
"She's in her room. Go straight into the kitchen and turn right." Luke said before walking back upstairs to Lorelai's room
Logan walked over to her door and knocked. "Come in." Rory said glumly
Logan opened the door and looked at her. She stood up once she saw him and looked at herself self conciously. "Are you ok Ace?" he asked gently
"I'm fine."
"Did he hurt you?"
"Not physically."
"I'm so sorry." Logan said walking over to her and stroking her hair
"It's not your fault. It's my own. I think I led him on." Rory said breathlessly trying to focus on anything other than Logan stroking her hair.
"It doesn't matter what you did Rory, he's a jerk." Logan said cupping her face and kissing her gently
"Logan…" Rory started
"I need to tell you something Ace."
"What?"
"I'm falling in love with you." Logan said before kissing her again
AN: Longest chapter I have ever wrote… and I gotta say I'm pretty proud of it… read and review