Logan walked away from Rory, his head reeling after just one meeting. That girl was incredible: beautiful, smart, quick-witted, and probably not nearly as serious as she wanted to seem. Nobody had ever spoken to him that way, especially not a girl. He was used to being sought after, wanted, by every girl that crossed his path. Most of them just wanted him for his money, the others simply cared about his looks. She didn't seem to want him at all, and that was intriguing.

He smiled at the fact that he would be seeing her often as he stepped into his car. Colin and Finn had mentioned a girl that they hung out with briefly in their phone conversations, but they had never given a name. It was easy to see why they were so taken with her. He turned the key in his car and started speeding off towards Colin's house, where he would spend some real time with his best friends. He had seen them only briefly in the hallway that day, and they had a lot of catching up to do. Plus, he still had a lot of questions about the Ace Reporter he met in the newsroom.

He could get the image of her brillant blue eyes out of his mind. And even though they had been shooting sparks at him the entire time, they were still absoluely gorgeous. He had to get to know this girl, he had to win her over. Anyone who could hold an argument with him for that long deserved some respect, and some attention. He'd only followed her down the hallway so he could keep talking to her. There was just something about her he couldn't resist.

Pulling his car into Colin's driveway, he let his mind drift to his friends. When he got kicked out of the latest boarding school, his father had informed him that he would be returning to Chilton. To Logan, that meant one thing, seeing his best friends again. They'd been friends since they were little, and they'd grown up together. He smiled as he walked towards the door. The pranks they had pulled at the beginning of high school were still greatly unmatched by anything Logan had done. He wondered how much they had told Rory about him, and if they cared to mention that they never got caught for helping Logan take the tires off Head Master Charleston's car.

The door to the house swung open and his two best friends stood before him.

"Hey man," Colin greeted, "Come on in."

He shared a quick hug with each one, before Colin motioned towards his living room and they took a seat, grinning as they leaned against the soft leather.

"So, how was your first day back?" Finn inquired.

"I think Mr. Anderson about had a heart attack."

"Ah, yes," Colin said with a sigh, "He was probably picturing his hair that interesting shade of green."

"Lime," Finn corrected.

"So, how did you get kicked out of the last one?"

Logan glanced over at Colin, "That place was too strict. All I did was throw a party in the dorms that happened to include a band that just happened to smash their guitars through classroom windows in their drunken state."

"Oh well," Finn said, grinning, "Is that all?"

"I've mellowed in my old age," Logan paused, "I met a friend of yours today."

"Which one?" Colin asked.

"Rory Gilmore-Hayden."

"Ah, yes," Finn nodded, "She's a doll, isn't she?"

Logan raised his eyebrows, "More like a spitfire."

"That too."

Colin leaned forward, "Where did you meet her?"

"Newspaper meeting," Logan explained, "I came in late and interrupted, that didn't go over too well with her. We ended up talking, actually arguing, until we got to the parking lot."

"Not a good idea to interrupt Rory's newspaper meetings."

"Yeah, I gathered that. But I was with someone."

Finn smirked, "What was her name?"

"Uhm," Logan was silent for a second, "Becca? She said she remembered me."

"Oh," Colin nodded, "Her."

"But anyway, back to Rory..."

"What about her?"

"Why aren't either of you dating her, for one?"

Colin and Finn shared a sideways glance and then burst out laughing. Logan stared at them, confused, until they were able to control themselves and turn back to him again.

"I tried getting her to go out with me," Colin began, "She shut me down in such a way that I still haven't recovered. We've been friends ever since."

"She does know how to put you in your place, doesn't she?" Logan said, shaking his head slightly.

"That she does," Finn agreed.

"Does she just go around shutting guys down for no reason?"

Colin shook his head, "She has a boyfriend, Logan."

The words hit Logan hard, and he wasn't sure why. Sure, he had liked the girl, and she was beautiful. He would've loved to spend a few nights with her, but that was all. Right? The attraction he felt towards her was no more than he felt for any other girl. Right? So, she had a boyfriend. Big deal. He would move on tomorrow to a new girl and her sparkling eyes would be forgotten. S, then why did his heart fill like it was made of lead?

"She has a boyfriend?" he forced out.

Finn nodded, "And we hate him."

"Why?"

"He just doesn't seem good enough for her."

"Oh."

"Why the interest?"

Logan shrugged.

"No," Colin announced.

Logan's head shot up, "What?"

"You can't date her, even if she does breakup with Diner Boy."

"Diner Boy?"

"We'll get back to that. You can't date her."

"Who said I wanted to date her?"

Finn pointed at his eyes, "You have that look."

"I never said I wanted to date her," Logan pointed out, exasperated, "And even if I did, what would be so wrong with that?"

"She doesn't do your kind of dating," Colin explained.

"You mean our kind of dating?" Logan corrected.

Finn relented, "Yes."

"I don't think you have to worry about her dating me, anyway."

"And why is that?" Colin demanded.

"Well, she hates me for one."

"Hates you?"

"We didn't get off to a very good start," Logan was silent, and then he smirked, "But I plan on changing on her opinion."

"You caught her on a bad day, anyway," Finn commented.

"Bad day?"

"She only had one cup of coffee," Colin explained, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

--------

Logan saw Rory again the next day. He was leaning near Finn's locker, talking to his two friends, when she walked over. She propped herself against the lockers on the other side of Colin and Finn and sent a smile their way. She acknowledged Logan's existance with a quick glance, before turning her attention back to her friends.

"Good morning, boys."

"Morning, love," Finn greeted, "How's your coffee supply this morning?"

She smiled and brushed a strand of brunette hair away from her face. Logan forced himself to look away. He couldn't get caught up in how pretty she was. Not only did she have a boyfriend, but she wasn't his kind of girl. She couldn't be his kind of girl.

"Almost full," she responded, "But Luke cut me off before my fifth cup."

"I see you drink coffee like Finn drinks alcohol," Logan observed.

She shot a look in his direction and offered him a half smile, although her stare remained icy.

"Yes, well. We all have our weaknesses."

His eyes traveled from her slender legs all the way up to her crystal clear blue eyes.

He smirked, "That we do, Ace. That we do."

"Ace?" Finn questioned.

Logan ignored him, He was too busy holding a steady staring contest with Rory, who was sending a not so subtle glare his way after his not so subtle hidden message.

"Okay, well," Colin began, shifting his gaze between his two friends, "I think--"

"Ace?" Finn interrupted.

Rory tore her eyes away from Logan, and he smiled at the fact that she looked slightly flustered.

"Don't ask," she nearly hissed, "I have class. Bye guys."

"See ya, Ror," Colin stated, then turned to Logan, "Knock it off."

"Knock what off?"

"Looking at her like that."

Logan shrugged, "I was just being friendly."

"Bullshit," Finn put in, his voice light, "And Ace?"

Logan shrugged again, "Just a nickname."

He knew he left the two speechless and he turned and walked towards his first class. He didn't give girls nicknames, he never let himself get that close. So he knew his friends were now wondering what was going on, and he was actually a bit curious about his actions himself. Shaking his head slightly, he opened his locker, selected the supplies he needed, and turned once again to walk down the hallway.

He stepped into his first period class, causing looks of interest to be cast his way almost instantly. Offering the group a dazzling half smile, he slid into an empty desk and leaned back in his seat, hoping the day would go as quickly as possible.

"Well, well, well," a voice said from behind him, "I heard the rumors, I just didn't believe it."

Logan's brow furrowed as he tried to place the voice. Finally, he gave up and swung around to meet the interested gaze of a girl from his past. A grin consumed his face as he stood up and engulfed her in a hug.

"Stephanie Vanderbuilt, as I live and breathe. What are you doing here?"

She smiled as they pulled apart, "Same thing as you probably. I got kicked out of the last place."

"Why am I not surprised?"

"I could say the same to you," she shot back.

He grinned stayed as he studied her and noted that she looked almost the same as she did a year ago. From her shining eyes to her slender form to her long, blonde curls: she was gorgeous. They had a fling at one of the many boarding schools Logan had attended in Europe, but then had quickly settled into good friends. Stephanie was basically a female version of him: wild, mischeivous, blonde, rich, and a master of short term relationships.

"How did you end up here, of all places?" Logan inquired as Stephanie moved her things to the desk beside his.

"My lovely parents decided it would be the perfect place for me to become a proper lady," she snorted slightly, "I've been here since the beginning of the school year. God knows how they found it. What about you?"

"I used to go here. My lovely parents decided I should finish off my high school career where it all began. I don't mind though, my best friends are here. I just started yesterday."

"Who are you friends?"

He grinned, "Colin and Finn."

"Ah, yes," she shook her head with a smile, "I could've guessed. What about the girl, you know her too?"

"Rory?"

Stephanie nodded.

"I met her yesterday. You know her?"

"No. She sticks to Colin and Finn, and that's about it," she shrugged, "I hang around with a bunch of girls I'd sooner kill then be near, but what are you going to do?"

"Aren't you glad I showed up, then?"

She smirked, another trait she shared with him, "My knight in shining armor."

--------

He made sure to enter the newspaper meeting on time after school, and offered Rory a wink as he settled in next to her. She stared at him for a second, unblinking, before turning back to the book she held in her hand. With a smile, he pulled a cup of coffee from behind his back and slid it across the table towards her. Her eyes peaked out over the book, and when she saw the cup, she slammed her reading material down and turned towards him.

"What's this?" she demanded.

"Coffee, Ace. And here I thought you were addicted."

She sent him a glare, then shifted her gaze warily to the coffee.

"I promise it's not poisoned with anything," he assured her, and then he paused, "Consider it a peace offering."

"A peace offering?"

"We're going to be seeing a lot of each other, we might as well not make Colin and Finn stand between us for safety measures."

"I think that arrangement would work quite well."

He sighed, "Come on. You aren't seriously going to let one conversation ruin our whole relationship."

"We don't have a relationship," she informed him, stressing the last word.

"Fine. Your," he was silent, searching for the right words, "...Impression of me."

"Actually, I was going to do just that," she chirped, "Keep the coffee, Logan."

"No, thanks," he shot back, "I can live without it."

She was about to open her mouth again when Paris burst through the doors. Logan's first impression of the girl had been less than flattering, and he was pretty sure it wasn't going to change. She looked at him and seemed to bar her teeth slightly.

"I see you decided to delight us with your prescense on time today, Logan."

He smiled at her, which only seemed to aggrivate her more, "I never make the same mistake twice."

"Is that what you tell all your girls?" Rory muttered from beside him.

"Are you sure you had enough coffee this morning?" he whispered back.

He smirked, she rolled her eyes. They were falling into quite the routine.

"Logan? Rory?" Paris questioned, her voice a little too sugar coated.

Rory glanced up, "Yes, Paris?"

"Shut the hell up."

As Paris launched into a lecture, to which Logan was already all too familar, so he turned his attention to the brunette on his right. She was scribbling away in a notebook, looking up every once and awhile at the ranting editor. He wondered what it would take to win her over, and exactly how complicated of a project he was undertaking. But then her fingers reached out and grabbed the coffee cup. She gulped down half of it, then sent him a stare that dared him to open his mouth with a smart remark. Wordlessly, he help but his hands in surrender and pretended to focus on Paris's words. Progress?

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the meeting came to close. Logan leaned against the wall by the door as Rory handed in an article to Paris. The two chatted briefly, and Logan could tell they were anything but friends. After his conversation with Stephanie earlier, he wondered if she had any friends besides Colin and Finn.

"And you, Huntzberger!"

Logan raised his eyebrows in Paris's general direction at the sound of her angry voice.

"Don't think just because daddy dearest owns half the newspapers in the world that you can't prance around here not doing anything. Don't think that for a second, you understand me?"

He watched as Rory's mouth dropped practically the whole way down to her feet. She finally got it, she finally realized his connection to journalism. He offered her a quick wink before turning back to Paris.

"Got ya," he acknowledged briefly, then turned to walk out the door, holding a silent countdown in his head.

And sure enough, three seconds later, "Your father is Mitchum Huntzberger?"

He didn't turned around at the sound of Rory's exasperated voice, just nodded simply, "Sure is, Ace."

"How?"

He laughed then, "Well, you see, when a man and woman love each other very much--"

"You know that I mean! How did a first class journalist like Mitchum Huntzberger end up with a son like you?"

Logan turned around then, and pretended to be shocked, "A son like me? What do you mean?"

"You don't seem that interested in journalism, or much of anything, besides pulling pranks. You have the opportunity to learn from that amazing man, and you don't seem to be taking advantage of it."

He almost groaned, "That amazing man? My father is a jackass, Ace. Sorry to burst your bubble. Have a talk with Colin and Finn about it, I'm sure they would confirm."

"Do you have any idea how lucky you are?"

What was left of his smile faded, "Don't presume to know anything about my father, or my life, okay?"

She seemed taken aback by his sharp words, and he turned to continue his walk down the hallway. He couldn't stand when people jumped to conclusions about his life thinking that just because he was rich; he was happy, just because his father was Mitchum Huntzberger; he should be a journalist, and just because his father and mother pretended; they were a close family.

The truth was, without his sister, Honor, he would've gone crazy growing up in the Huntzberger household. His mother was the most shallow person he had ever met, and couldn't go two seconds without judging someone. And his father was never around, ever. He cared more about his stories, and his papers, then his own family. Logan couldn't count the number of holidays and birthdays missed by his traveling father, and there was never so much as a present or apology to make up for it. He remembered when Honor had been in a car accident a few years back. His father had been too busy at work to show up, and his mother was there only long enough to talk to the doctors. Honor had been scared, and hurting, but the only person there to comfort her was her little brother. The two siblings had grown up as nothing less than best friends.

"Logan!"

He turned around at the sound of Rory's voice, which held a hint of obvious regret. He halted and turned around to face her.

"I'm sorry," she told him sincerely, "I was out of line."

He shrugged, "No worries, Ace."

He could tell it pained her to apologize, but he could also tell that she had to. She would feel too guilty if she didn't. They stared at each other for a second and Logan searched her eyes of a hint of softening, but it wasn't there. But that didn't mean it would never be there. He offered her a half wave and turned back down the hallway. She could come around, he smiled, it was his mission now.