A/N Several parts of this chapter are roughly paraphrased from a few season 6 episodes, hopefully you can all forgive me for that. It just works for the story to include these parts but also to adjust and reorder them a little. Thanks again for all the continued support for this story. I really appreciate it.
The following week continued much the same as the previous week. Rory was almost fully adjusted to living with Paris and Doyle, more so than they had adjusted to the presence of another person based on the fact that she had walked in on them in compromising positions more than once. Honestly, who doesn't hear someone unlocking five locks before the door even opens?
Being editor of the paper was also keeping her extremely busy, and unfortunately that was what had led her to here, having her first proper interaction with Logan since the day that Tristan and Paris had sent him away.
"Hey Chief, Can I talk to you for a minute?" Logan asked, walking towards Rory's desk in the newsroom. "It's about my article," he quickly added, seeing her get ready to refuse him.
"Okay, fine you have five minutes." Rory answered with a sigh, knowing she couldn't decline him if it was genuinely paper related.
"I was under the impression that you had assigned me the story about textbook pricing?"
"I did." Rory said sharply.
"Well imagine my surprise when I looked on the server and saw that the story had already been completed and submitted, but not by me."
"The story was important, it is about a topic that affects the whole student body, I wanted to be sure that it would be completed."
"I had two more days, it was going to be completed, I did interviews and lots of research for that story," Logan stated indignantly.
"I know. I used your research, well the parts that made sense. If it's about the byline, don't worry you will still get the credit for the story," Rory said, sitting down with a shrug.
"It's not about the byline. It's about the fact I had done the work and it would have been submitted on time, I don't like that you don't trust me to reach a deadline."
"Well I had to go by past performance, which told me to have a backup version of the story prepared."
"Past performance is not indicative of future results."
"Wise men call that a sucker's maxim."
"Look, Rory, we both know what this is really about. Please give me five minutes to talk to you in private," Logan begged.
Rory looked around the newsroom, and saw that everyone was determinedly pretending not to be paying attention to them, while really they were probably listening avidly. "Fine, five minutes." Rory agreed, gesturing towards the hall.
"Look, I understand that you're upset. And I really wish you hadn't found out like that. But, Rory, I love you. You know that I love you. When I said that I was your boyfriend, I agreed to be faithful to you, which, by the way, was a first for me. And I thought it was gonna be hard. But it wasn't. Then I asked you to move in with me. I asked you to move in with me, and I thought that was gonna be hard. But it wasn't. I have been completely faithful to you, Rory. I have not been with another girl. I have not looked at another girl. I've not even thought about another girl."
"Except for Walker, Alexandra…" Rory started to tick off on her hand, trying to maintain her aloof appearance as he talked.
"We were broken up, Rory." Logan said emphatically.
"No. You were…"
"I thought we were broken up. I thought that's what the fight was. I thought that's what the separation was. Do you believe me? Do you believe that I honestly thought we weren't together?"
"I guess." And Rory was telling the truth, looking back and thinking about it, as she had had time to the past few weeks, she could see how he would honestly think that.
"So then if you believe that, that I thought we weren't together, then do you believe that in my mind I was not cheating on you?"
"I guess."
"So then, if you believe that in my mind I was not cheating on you, do you think you can forget what those vipers said today, put it behind you and just come home with me?" Logan asked, looking hopefully at her, not quite smugly, but Rory could see from the gleam in his eyes that he thought he had won.
"No, Logan, I can't just come home with you. It's not as simple as that, a few words don't cancel out the betrayal." Rory replied honestly.
"Come on, Rory. Just come home with me. You wanna make a pro-con list?"
"Do not mock my pro-con lists," Rory said, angrily.
"I am not mocking your pro-con list. I actually think the list would come out in my favor."
"It might, or it might not, but in this case Logan, it wouldn't change my answer."
"Why Rory? You just said you could understand why I thought I was single."
"Just because I can understand your reasoning doesn't mean I agree with your actions. It isn't that simple, I can't forgive this. I know that. Even if I tried to, it would be in the back of my head every time we went out separately, or every time you had to interact with Honor's friends. I wouldn't be able to forgive or forget this Logan, and I know that. So I don't think it would be fair to either of us for me to try and pretend to. I'm sorry Logan but I can't." Rory finished, looking at him sadly before walking away, back to her desk in the newsroom.
"Rory," Logan tried again, but she didn't even turn around, leaving him standing alone in the corridor while people rushed past him.
"Paris, I need to go out and get drunk. I had a wallow night, I need a get drunk and dance it out night. Are you in?" Rory asked, looking up from where she was on the couch, as Paris sat at the kitchen island eating a bowl of cereal.
Paris looked up, her face screwed up in concentration as she thought about it. "When are you thinking? Not tonight? We both have 9am classes."
"No, of course not. I was thinking of the weekend. I was going to see if Lane wanted to come as well. She just got engaged to Zac but I think she would still be up for a night out, maybe with a little less of Miss Patty's punch than the last time we all went out."
"Yes, we aren't touching that stuff again, I don't know how long it took to recover." Paris replied, as the memory flickered across her face. "But yes, I'd go out on Saturday night."
"Great. I will give Lane a call and see if she is around." Rory said with a smile.
That Saturday found Rory, Lane and Paris sitting at a table in a bar in New Haven, they were waiting on a band that Lane had heard about coming on stage.
"So what kind of music do they play?" Paris asking, looking skeptically at the crowd in the bar.
"Pretty similar style to us actually, some 80's punk rock, but some more modern stuff as well. Don't worry Paris, if they are awful we will leave. Rory has already told me that she wants to be able to dance and relax tonight." Lane answered Paris, taking a drink of her rum and coke.
"I'm just checking that we won't be subjected to unintelligible noise for the night," Paris replied haughtily.
"Paris!" Rory chastised her. "You have known Lane long enough now, to know that we can trust her taste in music."
Lane was proved correct five minutes later when the band opened their set with a cover of The Killers Mr Brightside. The girls quickly took a drink before getting up to dance. They continued to dance while the band cycled through covers from a mixture of bands from the White Stripes to Paramore.
While the girls were approached several times throughout the evening by different guys, they all turned them away. Paris and Lane due to them being attached, and Rory had learned back in high school that the best way to get over someone was not to get under someone else. The band finished their set around midnight and were replaced by a DJ.
Rory was happily dancing quite tipsily when she felt someone wrap their arm around her and try to turn her around. Rory turned herself quickly to see who it was while also moving away from them, which drew the others attention to her. She was shocked to see that it was Colin, Logan's best friend.
"Rory," Colin started.
"What Colin? If you are here on his behalf, just walk away. I don't want to hear it."
"No, he doesn't know that you are here, that I am over here talking to you-"
"Does that mean he is here?" Rory interrupts him.
"Yes, he is over at the bar, or he was the last time that I saw him. Rory, he is heartbroken, he really misses you. He hasn't been clear on what happened, I don't think he even understands himself, nevermind well enough to explain it to us. But Rory, you have to give him another chance." Colin pleaded on his friend's behalf.
"She doesn't have to do anything, you entitled ass," Lane started, offended on Rory's behalf.
"Stand down, Lane. I can handle this," Rory reassured her friend before turning to talk to Colin. "Colin, this will be the last time that I dignify this with a response before I enlighten my grandparents to exactly why we split up. Logan knows exactly what he did, no matter what kind of beliefs he had, everyone knows you do not leave your girlfriend alone in a room full of girls that you have slept with previously, nevermind that it was while you were on a break with said girlfriend." Colin paled at those words, showing Rory that she was right, he hadn't even told the guys why she had left him. "He never told you that, did he? He left me in a room with all of Honors bridesmaids at the wedding, they then proceeded to tell me all about how they had fooled around and slept with him over Thanksgiving, which was quite enlightening seeing as we started dating in April last year. Just go Colin, you and Finn can feel free to still talk to me if I see you on campus, but don't approach me for Logan again." Rory walked away as soon as she finished, leaving Colin standing there looking shocked, he was subjected to looks of disgust from both Lane and Paris as they both followed Rory back to their table.
"Are you okay?" Lane asked as soon as she caught up to Rory.
"I'm okay, although I think it might be time to go."
"Are you sure? Don't let those trust fund idiots push you out of the bar, we were here first," Paris said, looking angry at the interruption Colin had caused to their evening.
"Yes, I'm sure. It's one am anyway, it's not like it's early. How about we leave now and get tacos on the way back to the apartment."
"If you are sure, I think now would be the perfect time to leave," Lane said, as she pointed to the bar where they saw Logan being held back from coming over by Finn and Colin.
"Yes, let's go before they ruin what has been a great evening." Rory said confidently.
"Do you think we could get Thai food to go with those tacos?" Paris queried as they walked out of the bar and into the open air.
