6. Ice Cream and Chick Movies

Logan was in line by the coffee cart for his caffeine fix before his 10 o'clock class. Contrary to what people believed, his family's wealth could buy him many perks but not his school grades. Although he was talented and smart, he was not as studious as the average student. Nevertheless, he still did all the required work for all his classes. He especially needed to get an above-average GPA for the semester so that his father wouldn't veto his plans to go sailing around the world with his friends. With the help of his sister, Honor, he was able to convince his reluctant father during one of their mandatory "family dinners" to allow him to take off from school for a year. Those "family dinners" were really a joke for Logan. Without fail, he and his father would get into an argument at the dinner table, and, Honor would try to play peacemaker. His mother would be in the back corner smoking like a chimney despite five hundred attempts at quitting. For some reason, he envied Rory for having a normal relationship with her family. Logan shook his head as he moved to the front of the line for coffee – he could not believe that he thought of Rory. He even felt some hesitance for a moment about sailing. He was thinking on how next year he would show Rory around Yale and probably would be shielding her from the wrong guys at Yale. Logan could not fathom why he was so concerned about her. He tried to rid Rory off his mind when his phone rang.

He glanced at the unfamiliar number and he cautiously uttered, "Hello."

"Logan." It seemed ironic to Logan that he tried not to think of Rory and there she was – calling him. However, the sad tone in her voice made Logan forget momentarily about the whole twist of fate in their tentative and strange friendship.

"Rory, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but, I saw him in the bus and I confronted him, and to make a long story short I finally broke up with him." Logan could tell that Rory was trying to hold back the tears in her eyes as she was saying this.

"Ace, I thought this was what you wanted?" Logan did not want Rory to have regrets after breaking up with that loser.

"It was, but there were just some things that were so distressing that I didn't feel like going to school. Oh my god, you probably have classes. I'm such a stupid girl! I'm so sorry for bothering you… I think I'm going to hang up and call my mom." Rory rambled.

Logan could tell it was something she probably did when she was nervous or unhappy. He could not believe how perceptive he was of her quirks – he had known her for such a short time only.

"Rory, slow down. Where are you?"

"At the bus stop… a block away from my school?"

"It's in Hartford, right? I will be there as soon as I can. I am in line to get coffee… I'll bring you some."

"Oh! I love coffee, but, Logan, you have classes. I do not want you to miss any of your classes and I do not want you to break any speed limits.''

"Ace, speed limits are for kids and don't worry… it will be just one day of missed classes. I can always get notes from someone who attended the classes I missed. So, what do you say?"

After Rory had agreed to wait for him by the bus stop near Chilton, Logan made a mental list of other things he needed to bring to her. He figured he could call Juliet or Rosemary to get some advice on how to comfort Rory.

*********

While waiting patiently for Logan to come, Rory tried reading a book and some of her class notes but she could not concentrate. Her mind kept drifting back to that horrible conversation in the bus with Jess. She kept thinking and analyzing what she did to make Jess distrust her so much so that he couldn't even tell her the truth. Was there something about her that screamed "horrible girlfriend" when she did everything to be understanding and be supportive of Jess? She felt so confused. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw Logan's car. Logan got out of the car and opened the passenger door for her. He immediately felt anxious when he saw that she was tearing up. He handed her a large cup of coffee that he had in a cup holder. Rory took a sip of it hoping that her favorite elixir would cheer her up. The coffee was surprisingly good, not like Luke's, but pretty darn close.

"Mmm… this is good. Where is it from?"

Logan was surprised to see a smile on her face. She looked good when she smiled - her whole face lighted up and her eyes sparkled. He was determined to make her smile more often even if she was going through hell because of the crap from her boyfriend, now ex-boyfriend.

"It's from one of the coffee kiosks at Yale."

"Oh, so you were withholding information last night when I asked you about the food at Yale."

"Food, Ace, not beverages." Logan replied in an amused tone.

"Hey, I do consider coffee to be a form of sustenance. It is very nourishing."

"I don't think that's very healthy, Ace." Logan joked.

"You sound like Luke." Rory started to laugh. It was amazing how in their banter she had momentarily forgotten all the added drama she had that morning.

"Who is Luke?"

"Luke is the owner of the diner which serves the best coffee in Stars Hollow. He hates coffee, though, and tries to make me and my mom eat more healthy food. It is kind of hilarious since a lot of his greasy food is so tasty. Oh my god, I'm going to have to be careful when I go there."

Logan immediately became concerned when he saw her face become morose again. He luckily found a spot to park at so he could talk to Rory.

"Ace, what do you mean?" He patted her arm gently.

"Jess is Luke's nephew and he works there part time. Now I have to be careful and try to avoid seeing him when I go to Luke's, especially, when I come home on weekends next school year. Jess will probably be working there a lot more since he won't be graduating." The reminder of Jess' dishonesty caused the tears to fall from Rory's eyes.

Logan couldn't bear to see her hurting so much. He wanted to find a way to comfort her - he put his arms around her to give her a hug of comfort but he was unsure how Rory would react. Rory would probably push him away because they had barely known each other. But, to his surprise, Rory instead leaned on him. She was amazed to feel calmness in his arms.

She dried her tears and said, "When I talked to Jess this morning in the bus I realized he had lied to me." Rory then proceeded to tell him about how he had lied to her at Lane's and how much it hurt that he didn't trust her with the truth. "It hurts too much that he couldn't come to me with the truth when I specifically assured him that I could help. Somehow a part of me is still wondering if maybe I expected too much from him… that I wanted him to be perfect and that made him so insecure that he had to lie to me."

Logan could not believe that Rory had felt so much guilt and he really hoped that someday he could punch Jess for making her feel this way.

"Rory, look, I am not a shrink. However, I'm pretty sure that if Doctor Phil was here he would say that this Jess is an idiot for not graduating and an even bigger idiot for not trusting you. Look, you didn't make Jess insecure… he has issues and you didn't cause them."

Rory smiled lightly and said, "Well, I do believe Doctor Phil would have called him an idiot. I just hate feeling like this… so hurt and so small."

"It will get better, Ace… you're better off without him, Ace. I know that is a cliché but it is the truth."

"Well, I hope everything will get better. It might take a while but I really hope for the best." Rory said softly while trying to sound enthusiastic.

Logan rubbed her back. "Ace, I wish I could automatically make you feel better but what I can do is give you some chocolate Madelines' and biscotti I got from the coffee cart. I don't know much about break-ups but my sister would always have chocolate whenever she was going through a break-up."

He reached for the bags of cookies and biscotti on the back seat and gave them to Rory who smiled as she took the bags.

"Mmm… this is just what the doctor ordered for wallowing."

"Well there is more when we get to my suite at Yale. My friend Rosemary said she would get some ice cream and we could watch some movies."

"Wow, Logan, don't get too smug but I'm really glad that I called you today."

"Well, you need some wallowing after your break-up with your boyfriend, but you would be a lot more miserable without me." Logan smirked.

"Wow, for a moment you were modest." Rory teased.

"Hey, I like to admit my strengths, Ace. Come on, let's get out of here." He let go of her reluctantly - he had enjoyed the feeling of having her in his arms. However, Logan decided not focus on that - he couldn't be more than a friend to her.

*********

When Rory and Logan got to his suite, he was surprised to see Rosemary, Colin, and Finn inside the common room in front of the TV.

"How the hell did you guys get in here? And what are you doing here?" Logan asked, perplexed.

"Man, you gave me a key for emergencies and Rosemary was amazed that you asked her to bring ice cream and chick movies for a girl. We were wondering who she was." Colin stated.

"Logan, I was just curious… you never seemed to be so concerned about a particular girl before, so I wanted to meet her. And these guys just tagged along. It's a good thing I didn't tell Juliet. She would keep asking us how it feels to eat ice cream that's not non-fat." Rosemary informed them.

"Plus, I can perform the Rita Wilson monologue about the movie An Affair to Remember in Sleepless in Seattle." Finn excitedly uttered.

Logan turned to Rory and said, "Ace, if you want me to tell them to leave… its okay, but they are really good company and nothing is as bad as Finn's imitations of movies. However, if you feel uncomfortable with this group, I can kick them out."

"It's okay. They seem like fun to be with." Rory smiled.

They both sat down and Logan introduced everybody, "Rory, I would like you to meet Colin McCrae, Finn Morgan, and Rosemary Roberts. Guys, meet Rory Gilmore." They all said 'hi' and smiled politely.

"Alright, let's bring out the liquor." Finn demanded.

"Ugh, guys, Rory doesn't drink." Logan stated the obvious.

"Yeah, I like to refrain from drinking since I am far from being 21." Rory declared.

"Well, in Australia the drinking age is like 10." Finn matter-of-factly stated.

"In England, it's 18." Colin piped in.

"Well, were not in Australia or in England." Rory pointed out.

"Such a shame when we could have a lot of fun." Finn deadpanned.

"Somehow I find that hard to believe." Rosemary retorted back.

"Jealous, love? You always had a thing for me ever since you met me three years ago!" Finn volleyed back again to Rosemary.

"Finn, I have said a million times that I'm never going out with you… I have never felt anything for you other than pure annoyance." Rosemary replied without missing a beat.

"Keep telling yourself that." Finn came back with amusement in his voice.

"Do they always argue like that?" Rory whispered to Logan.

"Yep, every time… Finn always tries to get Rose to go out with him, and Rosemary shoots him down, but everyone believes that she secretly enjoys Finn's attention."

"I've noticed."

"Guys, stop whispering about me and Finn… I don't like him."

"How do you know I was whispering about you two?"

"'cause I can hear you whisper. Anyway, Rory, what did the guy you broke up with do to make you upset?" Rosemary politely asked as she handed her a bowl of chocolate-chip cookie-dough ice cream.

Rory gladly took it and was surprised that Logan's arm was around her shoulder for support, which made it easier for her to talk about Jess. "He was basically too immature to be in a relationship… and he lied about school. He is not graduating from high school."

"Wow, what a loser… love, even I graduated from high school. I wonder what his SAT scores are." Finn interjected.

"Probably lower than yours, I think. Weren't you drunk when you took them?" Rosemary asked, amused.

"He didn't take them. He didn't want to go to college. Anyway, it wasn't because of lack of smarts… he thought he was too cool for school. And the worst part was he didn't confide to me about it. I specifically asked him if he was going to school when my mother suspected he wasn't and all he did was deny it and ranted against my mother."

"Don't feel bad, Rory, men tend to suck."

"Hey!" Colin, Finn, and Logan said in unison.

"Minus the three in the room… so, which movie do you want to start with? She's All That or Sleepless in Seattle?"

"I guess, I'll go with She's All That. It's fun to mock the way Freddy Prince Jr. looks at Rachel Leigh Cook after she gets a makeover." Rory laughed.

"With the song 'Kiss Me' playing in the background, I already like this girl!" Rosemary stated.

"I can say the same thing about you." Rory smiled.

It started out as one of the worst day of her life but somehow things were beginning to look up.

Author's Notes: Please don't forget to submit a feedback/review! Thanks.