AN: As always, thanks to you guys for the reviews. You guys are awesome, but for as many times as I've told you, you should know that already. Anyway, here's the next chapter. And it will probably be the only one for awhile. I'm getting my wisdom teeth out, so I won't feel much like writing for a few days. Haha. But I'll try and get another one up asap. But please leave a review for me to come back to!

Logan's head shot up as the door to Finn's den slammed. He was surprised to see Rory coming down the steps, her face showing an angry edge. She paused briefly and stared at the group spread out on the furniture. Logan opened his mouth to say something, but before he could speak, she started instead.

"Don't ask. I don't feel like talking. Drink. Now."

Logan silently reached over and placed a drink in her hand. Colin and Finn lowered their gazes to the floor, and Logan had a feeling they knew as well as he did what she was so upset about. And the three of them new better than to comment about Jess at a time like this. Rory collapsed on the couch next to Logan, removed her coat, and then sipped her drink while staring at the wall. Stephanie shifted her weight slightly, Colin cleared his throat, and Tristan leaned forward on his chair.

"Trouble in paradise, Mary?"

Rory flinched, and Logan shared the action as he saw tears building up in her eyes.

"I said I don't want to talk about it," Rory insisted firmly.

"Then I guess I'm correct."

"Shut up, Tristan," Logan ordered.

"What? You guys talk about him all the time."

"Enough, DuGrey. I mean it," Colin demanded, "Anybody want another drink?"

"Me," Finn replied, holding out his hand and accepting the full cup.

Logan sent a sideways glance in Rory's direction. She was still staring at the wall, her eyes shining as she fought back tears. Slowly, he reached over and pressed his hand against the small of her back and began massaging light circles through the fabric of her shirt. A small, grateful smile appeared on her lips, but her eyes didn't move from their lock on the wall.

The silence continued for what seemed like an eternity, and the only one who didn't seem to notice was Rory. Logan knew part of the reason Rory didn't want to talk about what was bothering her was because Tristan was in the room. He was about to get up and say something to the other blonde, when Colin beat him to the punch. He walked over slowly, placed a hand on Tristan's chair, and began whispering in his ear. A few minutes later, Tristan had vanished, unhappily, from Finn's den.

"Do you want us to leave?" Logan offered, motioning to himself and Stephanie.

"What?" Rory's head shot up, "No, stay. It's okay. Thanks for getting rid of Tristan though."

"No problem," Colin assured her, "So come on, Ror. What happened?"

She sighed, finished of her first drink, started another, and then moved her gaze to the floor.

"He's acting like Dean used to all of the sudden," she said quietly.

"Why do you say that, love?" Finn inquired.

She pressed her fingertips to her temples, "Tonight he was freaking out about the party last night, and then when you called he got mad because he thought I would rather be here than with him. He apologized, but it's still bugging me. He wants me to have 'normal' friends, whatever the hell that means. And I know this is probably thrilling everyone but--"

"You know better than that, Rory," Colin corrected.

"Yeah, I do. I'm sorry."

"I don't know if this is a touchy subject, but who's Dean?" Stephanie asked.

Rory smiled almost bitterly, "Ex-boyfriend. He dumped me out of pure jealously, apparently I was having an affair with Colin and Finn."

"Only in my dreams," Finn commented, "Minus Colin, of course."

Logan smirked as Rory allowed a small laugh to escape from her lips, and then she turned deathly serious again.

"I don't want to lose him," she all but whispered, her voice growing hoarse.

Logan spoke up next as he draped a friendly arm around her shoulders, "Any guy who would leave you is crazy, Ace."

She rolled her eyes with a soft smile and downed the rest of her second drink.

"Who would've thought there was a sweet guy underneath that cocky exterior?"

He winked, "Like I said, you have to dig."

Logan didn't notice their friend's confused gazes as the two of them shared a knowing smile.

"But I'm not willing to give up you guys either," she spouted off quickly, appearing slightly flustered.

"No worries. We're not letting you go without a fight," Colin assured her, grinning.

"Besides that," Stephanie put in, "I'd be the only girl left here, and I'm not as brave as you."

Logan watched as Rory reached for another drink, and he put the one in his hand down instantly. Somebody was going to have to drive her home tonight. Finn was already out of the question, and Colin and Stephanie were not far behind. Logan, however, had arrived only shortly before Rory and had just a few swallows in his system.

"I've never even come close to cheating on him. I don't know what his problem is. He says he trusts me, but then he doesn't act like he trusts me. God, he acts like I'm the town whore or something, which actually wouldn't be too hard to do, considering where I live and all, but--"

"Take it easy there, Ror," Colin cut in, "You're starting to ramble."

The ringing of Rory's cellphone sliced through the room and she reached for it quickly. Logan watched her expression grow confused as she glanced at the caller id and then raised the phone to her ear, shrugging Logan's arm off her shoulders in the process.

"Jess?"

"Where are you?" Jess's voice demanded.

Logan turned his head away, pretending that he couldn't hear her boyfriend's voice coming through the phone.

"I'm at Finn's," she replied calmly.

"How surprising. I knew you would go off to your boys as soon as I left. Figures."

"Excuse me, my boys? And what did you want me to do?" she questioned coldly, "Stay home on a Saturday night because you had to start a fight?"

"I have good reason to question you when you're with them."

"Really? Enlighten me."

Jess sighed, "I can't help but get a little worried with you hanging out with those guys all the time. How am I supposed to know what's going on? You could cheat on me so easily. How am I supposed to be relaxed about that? I have no idea what you're doing."

"I thought you trusted me!"

"I do!"

"You have funny way of showing it. Have I ever given you a reason, even the smallest reason, to doubt me? Ever? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I'm just...I don't know. Are you still in the room with them?"

"Yes."

"Could you leave?"

"Why?" she all but yelled, "Are you afraid they're going to start groping me while I'm on the phone?"

Logan winced and ran a hand through his hair and down to his neck. She had downed several drinks by now, and the effects were starting to show.

"Could you just go to another room? Please?"

"I'll talk to you when I get home," she informed him, her voice flat.

"Rory..."

"Goodbye, Jess."

She clicked her phone shut sharply and tossed it back into her coat pocket. Logan couldn't help the dull ache in his heart as he watched tears gather in her clear blue eyes. And suddenly he understood exactly why Colin and Finn hated Jess so much. Any guy that would accuse Rory of even thinking about cheating was either insane or a jackass. In this case, Logan was picking both.

"I'm not leaving my friends behind," she choked out, her tears falling faster, "I won't do it."

"Rory," Colin said gently, "You'll never have to."

"I'm going to be a cat lady because my friends are mostly guys. I'll probably even have male cats."

Logan chuckled and put his arm around Rory's shoulders again, "Ace, you'll be traveling the world reporting too often to take care of cats."

"That is not the point!"

"Rory," Stephanie inserted, "Every girl has guy problems, I promise. That does not mean we're all going to end up cat ladies."

"You're right. Just me. Where are the drinks?"

"I think you've hard more than enough, love."

"And you know that when Finn says that, it's true," Colin told her with a smile.

"Fine. I think I'm going to go. I need...sleep. And quiet. And..." she let her voice trail off as she stood up slowly.

"And," Logan finished, "You are in no condition to drive home. I'll take you."

"My car's here."

"We'll take your car and I'll have Frank follow us in a car."

"Frank?"

Logan smiled, "My driver."

"I should've known," she paused in thought, "And what about your car?"

"I'll have Frank take me back here to get my car. See, problem solved. Let's go."

"We'll see you Monday, Ror. Sleep late tomorrow, okay? Lots of coffee," Colin ordered.

"And Aspirin," Finn added.

"Not a problem," she said with a watery grin.

Logan laced his fingers around her arm with one hand, and dialed the car service with the other. She stumbled slightly at his side and he tightened his grip, glancing over quickly to make sure she was okay. She noticed his eyes on her after a few seconds, and she sent a small smile his way.

"I'm not usually like this, I swear."

"Nobody's judging you here, Ace."

"It's just," she paused, inhaling deeply, "It's seems like I'm living the same scene over and over again. I don't want to have to choose, and I can't help it that I get along better with the guys at my school than the girls. I need friends, but I need Jess too. Why am I telling you this? I'm rambling again. That's probably the alcohol. I need to stop. Talking that is -- and probably drinking, too."

"Calm down, breath deep. Relax. You'll be home and sleeping in no time."

"Good thoughts," she whispered drowsily.

The limo drove up fifteen minutes later, and Logan guided Rory to her car and pulled the keys of out of her pocket. He started the car and pulled out as Rory leaned against the window, her eyes slowly drooping shut. She looked beautiful, a little broken, but beautiful nonetheless. She didn't have to tell him that this wasn't how she normally was, he knew that. He knew that the minute he met the headstrong girl at his first newspaper meeting.

He didn't know the whole story about Dean, and he made a mental note to ask Colin about that later. All he knew was that Colin and Finn were her best friends, and they seemed to love her just as much back. And it didn't seem fair to him that anyone, not even a boyfriend, should make her feel guilty about it. Rory was too different from the rest of the girls at Chilton to fit in with them, except for Stephanie. This group, the group that was slowly forming, was right for her. And it was right for him too.

"Would you trust me?" Rory mumbled softly, her eyes remaining closed.

"Hmm?"

"If I was your girlfriend, would you learn to trust me?"

Her words were slurred.

"I trust you already, Ace."

He watched her lips curl into a slight smile, and he had to smile himself. He didn't understand these boyfriends' of hers. Not trusting Rory was like not trusting Bambi -- or something to that affect.

Rory's cellphone broke the silence of the car and she groaned, flailed her hand into her pocket, and held out the phone to Logan.

"Talk," she ordered.

"Excuse me?"

"Answer my phone."

"What if it's Jess?"

"It's not. Answer."

Logan checked the caller id, just to be safe, before flipping open her phone, "Hello?"

"Rory! What a very manly voice you have," Lorelai's bubbly voice answered, "Is this something you want to talk about? Are you confused? Do we need to hire a therapist?"

"It's Logan. Rory had a little too much to drink and I'm driving her home."

"How very white knight of you," she paused, "I was just calling to check on her. She left a note saying she was going to Finn's and now there is a boy on my porch."

"What?"

"Nevermind. Not your problem. This is strictly between me and the boy on my porch. And maybe Rory."

Logan sighed, "Do you know the boy on your porch?"

"Oh, yes. Very well actually. Maybe I should let him inside," she paused, exhaled, and then spoke again, "Nah. It's kind of warm out, he'll live. Would I go to jail if he died out there?"

"I'll get you my father's lawyers if anyone tries to arrest you."

"My hero," Lorelai drawled dramatically, "Well, I guess now that we know Rory's in good hands Chris can stop pacing and I can prepare my drinking lecture. Thanks, Logan."

"No problem. Say hi to the boy on your porch for me."

"Oh, sure. Bye."

Logan closed the phone and slipped it back in Rory's pocket, "Your mom is very strange."

Rory mumbled something that he couldn't quite understand as he turned the car onto the Stars Hollow exit.

"We're almost back, Ace. You might want to start waking up now."

"Sleep good, waking bad."

"Ah, yes. I think I read that somewhere."

He turned the car down the deserted Stars Hollow and street and into Rory's driveway. She stirred slightly, but didn't move, and Logan laughed. Stepping out of the car, he walked around to her side and all but pulled her to her feet.

"Mean," she muttered.

"I thought we got over that phase in our relationship," he smiled.

"We're backtracking."

It was then that he heard the rustling coming from the house, and when he glanced up he realized that Lorelai wasn't as crazy as he thought. There really was a boy on her porch, and the boy had a name. Logan clenched his jaw: the boy's name was Jess.

"Is there a reason you're driving my girlfriend home?" Jess inquired bitterly, walking over to meet them.

"Yeah. She's drunk and I decided not to let her drive and die. I'm sorry, is that a problem for you?"

"You were so much more polite before."

"That's because I didn't know how big of a jackass you were before. Now, are you going to help her into the house or am I?"

Jess rolled his eyes, "I think I can handle it."

"That's debatable."

"Enough," Rory interrupted, suddenly sounding much more sober, "The drunk girl needs sleep."

Jess stepped between Rory and Logan and tucked his arm around her shoulders. Logan felt a mixture of feelings as he watched them walk away, primarily concern. But Jess was her boyfriend, and even though he seemed like a bad choice, that was her decision. With a shrug, he turned to walk back towards his car. But before he could leave completely, Rory twisted her neck around and mouthed 'thank you' ever so slightly. He smiled and nodded in return.

--------

Instead of driving home, Logan drove back to Finn's house and wasn't at all surprised to find Colin and Stephanie lounging out in his den. They were all too drunk to drive home, and probably too drunk to even think about calling a car.

"You're right," Logan informed them, "He is an asshole."

"No shit," Colin mumbled, "And so was the last one."

"Speaking of which, tell me about Dean."

Finn groaned, "Can't this wait til I'm sober?"

"You're never sober."

"Right."

Colin groaned and sat up on the couch, "Dean was her first boyfriend, and basically Jess times ten. Everytime she was with us and he wasn't around he would call her just about every five minutes to check up on her. And when he was with her and he was around he would send these backhanded comments our way that weren't that backhanded at all."

"In other words," Finn explained, "He was a dumbass."

"Yeah, that about covers it. He seemed to like her, I guess. But he never did anything, or even said anything, all that interesting."

"The safe first boyfriend."

"What?" Logan inquired, turning his attention towards Stephanie.

"The safe first boyfriend. Almost every girl has one. I did. His name was Joe. We lasted a week."

Logan couldn't help but laugh, "You had a boyfriend? A safe boyfriend?"

"Don't tease, Huntzberger. I was an innocent girl once, too."

"I want pictures of that."

"Anyway," Colin said, stretching out the word, "Back to the point."

"Point, mate?"

"Go to sleep, Finn," Logan ordered, "Continue."

"There was one of these festival things at Rory's town, and we agreed to go only because there was free alcohol involved. Dean was out of town. He called her, and she missed it because fireworks were going off at the time. He knew she was with us, assumed the worst, and broke up with her the minute she called him back."

"Ouch."

"She was devastated, not that I can see why."

"Because he was her first boyfriend," Stephanie explained, "You guys are such idiots."

"And what's Jess?" Colin shot back, "Boyfriend one and a half? I don't think he deserves get a whole number."

She shrugged, "Maybe there's more to him than meets the eye."

"Or maybe there's not," Logan offered.

"Maybe," Colin continued, "He's just a jealous asshole who needs to get his head on straight and realize what he has."

"And what she would never do."

Colin nodded his head towards Logan, "Exactly."

Logan sank back against the couch, thoughts of Rory clouding his mind. He certainly didn't want a girlfriend, and he could never even date Rory because she would always want commitment. And yet, the thought of her with someone like Jess was bugging him nonstop. She deserved so much more than that. She deserved someone who would trust her, and realize that her friends were just that, her friends. The someone she deserved didn't have to fit into society, they didn't have to be smart or perfect, but they needed to understand exactly what they had found in her. She was special. Logan had known her for only a short time and he knew that. Jess didn't deserve her, and she didn't deserve him. She could have so much more.

"Jess was there when I took her home," Logan told the group.

"What?" Colin demanded.

"He was waiting on the porch for her. He took her inside."

"Great. Just what she needed."

"He didn't seem too happy to see me."

"Can't imagine why," Stephanie muttered sarcastically, "He seems to like you all so much."

"Yeah, well, we like him just as much."

"I agree with Colin and I only met him twice."

"I'm sure she's fine, boys. How come you never worried about me like this, Huntz?"

He laughed, "Because you're the girl form of me. You're the one breaking all the hearts."

"Oh yeah."

Logan poured himself a drink and leaned back on the couch. He'd never had a girlfriend, and he wasn't an expert on that kind of situation, but he was pretty sure the title didn't come with dictation rights on friends. Who was Jess to decide what was 'normal' and who Rory could hang out with? Afterall, he came into the picture after Colin and Finn. She could've dated them before if she wanted to. But he guessed neither one of her boyfriends were smart enough to figure that one out.