Author Note: This is the original scene I thought of when I decided to write this story. Thank you to everyone who is reading and reviewing! I do not own Gilmore Girls. Logan's inner thoughts in italics.

Logan shuts off the car and sits still for a few minutes. He is glad to be out of New Haven but is dreading the extra time with his parents. With a sigh, he gets out and enters the house. Alan greets him at the door and goes out to get his bags. "Your mother is in the keeping room."

Let's get this over with. Merry Christmas, Huntzberger.

"Hi, Mom," he says, bussing her cheek.

"Logan, dear. I am so glad you have come home. Perfect timing. I actually need you right now. I am RSVPing for holiday parties, and I am expecting you at several." She looks down at her calendar. "Ours, of course. It's the 22nd. You will be coming to the Wellman's on the 18th. When is the Gilmore's? As Emily has no grace, we were not invited this year, so that one will just be you." She looks at him expectantly.

I can't believe she still doesn't know.

"I am not speaking with Emily, so you'll need to RSVP yourself. And don't forget to give this to Rory." She hands him an invitation to their Christmas party.

"I'll take care of it."

"Honestly, Emily is just so catty-"

"Mom, let's not talk about the Gilmores anymore."

"Fine. How about the Jordan's this Saturday night?"

"I'll give you two parties, Mom. Just tell me when."

"I want you at the Wellman's. You and Claudia make the loveliest couple."

"Whatever." Logan rolls his eyes and leaves the room, wondering how long he can stay hidden in his bedroom.

"Honestly, Logan. You couldn't wear a tie?" Shira inquires for the sixth time.

He ignores her and waits to be greeted at the Wellmans' front door. Their butler, James, lets them in and takes their coats. "Sir, Miss Claudia is in the parlor. Through the foyer and to the right."

He heads that way and sees her standing in front of the egg nog bowl. He grins at her as he pours himself a cup.

"Careful, it's really strong," she laughs. "Although that's probably how you like it."

As they sit and catch up, Logan contemplates Claudia. She is pretty, in a generic, blond-haired, blue-eyed way. She is relatively smart, having graduated from Princeton, but he just doesn't find her that interesting. There is nothing extraordinary about her. She has no quirks, no off-the-wall thoughts, and I bet she never rambles.

He struggles to remember why he was attracted to her all those years ago. She was older. She had a fantastic body. Or maybe she was just there, and I was a stupid eighteen year old whose only thought was getting laid.

As his buzz increases (this egg nog is very strong), he feels the direction the night is going. When Claudia asks him if he wants to see her bedroom, it is the definition of working blue. He agrees, trying not to think of Rory in the pool house. So now I am just a stupid twenty-three year old who needs to get laid…

As she shuts the door behind him, she whispers "We need to be quick before our parents notice."

Logan agrees completely. The last thing I need is for Shira to get wind of this.

In their haste, they undress themselves and climb under the covers. He manages to concentrate on Claudia- no thoughts of Rory. It is quick, though fairly passionate. She seems to enjoy herself, and he does too.

This is progress. It's nice to come with another person instead of my hand and porn. And for 15 minutes, I didn't fixate on Rory.

"Well, that was fun. Wait for a few minutes after me to come down," she says and kisses him sweetly.

After she leaves and he is getting dressed, he finally lets himself think of Rory. He wonders if it is weird for her with Jess, the way it is for him with other girls. Selfishly, he hopes so. Sex with Ace is mind-blowing. No way does she have that with him.

He charms his way through the rest of the party, his prep school manners on display. He flirts with the women and drinks scotch with the men. He ignores his mother on the way home as she prattles on about how beautiful Claudia looked.

As he passes out in his room, he realizes that this may be the way the rest of his life is to play out. Empty conversations and meaningless sex.

I guess it could be worse.

"Logan, you are wearing a tie tonight! I am laying your suit on your bed," his mother yells through his bathroom door as he showers. It is the night of the Huntzberger Christmas party, and apparently Logan is eight years old again. He ignores her and hopes she will go away. He has had a few good days, and he just wants to have fun with his friends tonight. Maybe a good sub-party.

"I never received Rory's RSVP. She must have learned her manners from Emily. When is she coming?"

He shuts off the shower and realizes he has put this off for as long as he can. He wraps a towel around his waist and opens the bathroom door.

"She's not coming. We aren't seeing each other anymore." He hopes his succinctness will discourage any conversation about it.

Shira's face registers surprise, then pleasure. "Well there are many lovely and far more suitable young women coming to the party tonight."

He rolls his eyes. "If you want me to come out of my room at all tonight, you will not play match-maker. Now go away, so I can put on the clothes my mommy picked out."

He has just reached the bottom stair in the foyer when Colin and Finn rush up to him.

"What's up guys?" he says as they drag him by the arm toward the bar set up in the rear of the living room.

"Drinks first," Finn says, followed by Colin. "We need to talk to you. Two scotch, rocks. One vodka tonic," he tells the bartender.

"Okay, but my parents are going to want me to greet their friends."

"You are going to want to hear this first, mate," Finn says as they take their drinks toward an unpopulated corner of the vast room.

"So what's going on?" Logan asks, beginning to feel faint nerves. His friends are never this serious.

"I called Rory," Finn volunteers.

Logan stares at him. "Why would you do that?" Did she tell you I lied about the break up? That she dumped me to be with some whiny emo douche?

"I was worried about her. You've been so miserable. She can't be doing any better."

Logan thinks this over and replies "I have not been so miserable…" They both look at him incredulously. "Whatever. So…is she? Miserable?"

"Eh…she's more like…really pissed off."

What? She is pissed off at me? I will never figure Rory Gilmore out.

"How does that work?" he asks Finn.

"Well, she says that you guys had a fight, and then you had Honor call her and break up with her."

"What? That's not true. When did she even talk to Honor?"

"Did I hear my name? Merry Christmas, little brother. Colin, Finn." Honor walks up to the boys with a big smile.

Colin and Finn politely reply "Merry Christmas, Honor, Josh," as Logan glares at his sister.

"When did you talk to Rory?" he says, raising his voice.

Honor smiles fades, and she speaks softly. "On Thanksgiving. I was trying to keep a connection to her. Just in case."

"Exact words, Honor!" he demands.

"Oh, God, okay…uh, I told her that I hated that you guys broke up, and um… that she and I could still be friends, and…I don't know, I think that's about it. What was wrong with that?"

"I don't know. What is wrong with that?" he asks Finn, his voice softening.

"Well, it turns out Rory just thought you were in a fight until Honor told her you were broken up."

"No, no, she said…" Logan trails off realizing he will have to admit that Rory was the one who ended things with him.

"Logan, tell me exactly what happened when you guys broke up."

He looks at his sister, silently pleading with her not to make him relive this in front of his friends and Josh.

"Don't you want to figure this out?" she asks.

Yes, maybe it can just be over one way or another.

"Fine. I came home early from those meetings in Omaha, and I caught her with her ex-boyfriend."

"What?" Honor exclaims.

"Caught them…fucking?" Colin asks.

"She didn't mention that," Finn says.

All of them respond at once.

He sighs. "No, Colin, they weren't fucking. But they were going out to dinner, and it looked too cozy…so I went too…and…I was pissed, so I was…not nice…and we fought, loudly…in the pub…in front of other people."

They are all looking at him intently.

"Then what?" Honor presses.

"When I called her afterwards, she told me she wasn't happy, and she wanted some space."

They are all staring at him intently.

Honor asks "Is that all she said?"

"Yeah, I... I think so. I was kind of stunned," he replies.

"How long after the fight did you call?" Colin asks.

"Um, maybe 10 minutes or so."

They are all quiet for a beat, and then they erupt at once.

"Oh, Logan…"

"That's not a break-up."

"Mate, you are an idiot."

"How is that not a break up?" he asks honestly.

"It was a fight, Logan. She wanted some time to cool off…Oh my God, I broke up with her for you. You are so clueless!" Honor scolds him.

Now it was Logan's turn to stare at them. Have I really been that wrong? Shit, I have slept with other girls. His mind is racing.

"So we're not broken up?" He swallows hard, thinking of Walker and Claudia and even Cassandra.

"Oh no, you're broken up now. Hence the very pissed off reporter girl," Finn reminds him.

He drains his scotch, feeling the familiar burn in his throat. "It's probably the right decision anyway."

"How do you figure?" Josh finally chimes in. "You don't seem very happy."

"It was just a dumb experiment that didn't work."

"Jesus, Logan. You're not fucking Rainman. You've been repeating that for weeks. It doesn't mean it's true," Colin rails.

He doesn't think he can be any more embarrassed tonight than he already is, so he pulls out his wallet and retrieves his pro-con list.

"It is true. 10-3 for the break-up," he says as he hands over the paper. They all read it silently over Honor's shoulder.

Colin rolls his eyes, grabs Logan's empty glass, and heads back to the bartender.

"Logan, you are such a moron," Honor scolds him. "Look at your pros. You are in love with her, and that would trump a thousand cons."

"I think this is an instance of quality over quantity," Finn says gently.

Logan thinks this over. Am I in love with her? Probably. Yes. I'm sure. Why can't I say it out loud? Just do it. Say it.

"Okay, I love her," he admits.

"And Rory knows that, and you will work this out," Honor consoles him.

"She doesn't know," he says quietly. "I've never told her that."

"Wow, Logan." Colin has returned and hands him a fresh drink. "How badly have you fucked this up?"

"Has she told you?" Honor asks. He nods in response. "Well, what did you say back?"

"I told her that I would tell her that when I really meant it."

"Logan!"

"Dude…"

"Ouch."

I wasn't ready…I was scared, and it felt too…permanent…I didn't know…I've never felt like this…

"Okay, okay, so as Colin says- I have fucked this up royally. Do you think I can get her back?"

Everyone is quiet for a moment.

"Logan!"

"Hey Alexandra," he says as Honor's friend plants herself right in front of him, somewhat violating his personal space.

"Look up," she demands.

He raises his eyes to see the mistletoe. As he looks back down, Alexandra grabs the back of his head and kisses him hard. She shoves her tongue into his mouth. Before he can even comprehend what is happening, she pulls away.

"How dare you?" she cries, slapping him across the face. "You know I am with Liam!" She stalks away from the group who stand there stunned.

"What the hell was that?" Logan finally asks.

"You know how dramatic she can be," Honor explains. "She probably needs a reason to fight with Liam. I would stay away from him for a while. He's pretty dramatic too. And getting back to Rory- let's not tell her you kissed my friend."

"But I didn't…" he starts and then trails off, because he knows he's done much worse.

"Okay, so I love our dear reporter girl as much as Logan here, but it's time to make a real sub-party." Finn pulls a zip-lock bag of marijuana from his inside breast pocket. "Pool house?"

On their way outside, Honor links arms with him and whispers, "You'll get her back, Logan. I'll help you."

Logan spends the last few days before Christmas wallowing in his own misery. I cannot believe what a dumbass I am. Even Finn knew better than me. I will never get her back. She is too stubborn, and I have been too stupid.

His guilt returns full force, and he wonders if he will ever be able to face her again knowing what he's done.

But I thought we were broken up. I thought she was with Jess. I was miserable and lonely.

Honor and Finn both call to talk to him about Rory, but he tells them the same thing. It's too late. He was too wrong.

Despite nice and expensive gifts from his parents (surely bought by staff), Christmas feels hollow. Honor is with Josh's family, and he does not want to interrupt her. He is alone, and he deserves it.

He retreats to his room to continue moping. Just as he reaches his door, he hears his father's voice call out to him.

Wow. I don't think Dad has stepped foot in this wing of the house in 10 years. There must be a serious emergency.

"Dad, it's Christmas Day. Can't London or LA or Dallas or wherever at least wait until tomorrow?"

Mitchum pauses awkwardly. "No, this is not about work. I'm worried about you." He looks away uneasily. "I think you should try and work this out with Rory."

Logan eyes him suspiciously. "Since when do you care?"

"That's not fair. You know I care. This is just… not what we do. But I want you to be happy, of course, and you're obviously not."

He says nothing, unsure of his next move in this odd display of fatherly concern.

"Take the Range Rover. Go to the cabin. Take your knuckle-head friends if you need to. Just figure out how to fix this, because you're no good to anyone right now." Mitchum locks eye contact until Logan acquiesces.

He hangs his head and admits "I don't know how to fix it."

"Just… go with a grand gesture. Woo her again. Remind her why she was with you in the first place."