TITLE: Worlds Together

SUMMARY: He's in college, she's in high school. He's an Eli, she's Harvard bound. He's a playboy, she's a commitment girl. He belongs to society and she hates his kind. Can an unexpected friendship bring their worlds together...and perhaps lead to something more? ROGAN

BACKGROUND: This story begins during Rory's infamous surprise interview at Yale in season 3. Everything that happened up to that point in the show happened for the sake of my story except 1 thing; Tristan never went away to military school. He won't be a major player in this story, but I did think it would be fun to include him so I am. At the beginning Rory will be with Jess and Logan and her will only be friends with a LOT of sexual tension. This may go on for a while but not nearly as long as it did for Skip a Beat, don't worry. This will also be a lot less angsty. I promise to try and keep the LIT stuff to only that which pertains to furthering the Rogan relationship. If you have any other questions about this story, please let me know. Hope you enjoy.

Rory Gilmore walked away from the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library in awe. She had to admit, there were some pretty cool aspects to Yale. Sure, it was no Harvard, but it definitely had potential as a backup; not that she would ever tell her mother that. It was no secret that Lorelai Gilmore was not a fan of Yale; to her it represented everything she had rebelled against—the high society world of her parents. Of course Harvard had more than its share of society brats roaming the campus too, but Lorelai chose to overlook that fact. Harvard was good, Yale was bad, end of story. So Rory kept her opinion of the college quiet as her grandparents went on and on about all the great things that came with being an Eli.

"OK, that was boring," Lorelai said and Rory discreetly rolled her eyes. How could seeing a real Gutenberg be boring? It was amazing; a part of history, a piece of culture, right before their eyes. "First I was scarred for life by the newly acquired knowledge that my mother was a homewrecker, now I have to listen to brainwashed tour guides drone on and on about things that are older than dirt. If the second half of this tour is going to be as painful as the first, I'm going to need more coffee."

Mmmm, coffee. Rory could definitely go for some coffee. "I see a coffee cart right over there," she pointed the way. "We should definitely get some. I have to test the coffee here, it'll be a vital part of my collegiate life," she said eagerly, and then for the sake of her mother she leaned in and quietly added, "plus this way when I go to Harvard, I can honestly boast that their coffee is way better than Yale's."

"OK then, coffee it is," Lorelai responded, already dragging Rory off in the direction of the kiosk.

"You want any, Grandma? Grandpa?" Rory asked, pulling out of Lorelai's grasp and pausing to wait for her grandparents.

"Actually sweetheart, I think I'm going to go freshen up a bit, I'll meet you girls over there in a few minutes," Emily Gilmore responded. She didn't understand the obsession her daughter and granddaughter had with the caffeinated beverage but it was one of their easier quirks to accept and so she tried not to make a fuss over it.

"Yes, I do believe a trip to the little gentleman's room is in order, you girls go get your coffee," Richard Gilmore added.

"OK, we'll be by the mocha lattes," Rory told them as she followed her mother away from the elders.

There was a short line at the cart and the two Lorelais joined it, waiting impatiently for their caffeine fix. "Coffee's on me today," Rory told her mother, pulling a change purse out of the pocket of her jeans. "I have to get rid of some of these coins."

"Thanks kiddo. How much is a coffee? Three bucks? I'll deduct it from your running total. You now only owe me $245, 647...and your life."

"That's good to know. I'll write you out an IOU," Rory replied with a laugh, opening her purse and digging through the change. A moment later Rory felt someone bump her from behind and the coins went flying everywhere. She sighed in frustration and bent down to pick up the money.

"I'm really sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," Logan Huntzberger apologized to the girl in front of him. He wasn't sorry at all. And he'd been looking exactly where he was going. In fact, he'd found it hard to look at anything but that ass. "Although I'm not quite sure how I could have missed someone as beautiful as you," he laid the charm on thick.

A new conquest was exactly what Logan need to distract himself from the crappy day he was having. His visit to the Yale Daily News had sucked the life out of him. He hated that place, but his father had been on his back even more so than usual. School's been in session nearly two months and you haven't had a single by line yet...when are you going to get your act together and take this seriously?... the future of this company is in your hands; do you have any idea what kind of responsibility that is? So, he had decided the easiest way to get a little peace was just to suck it up and write an article. He had just turned in his first story of the year and had had to deal with the brown-nosed editor kissing his ass, telling him what a wonderful job he had done before he had even glanced at the piece of writing before him. But it looked like his day might be turning around now that he was in line for coffee behind these two brunette women.

They looked very similar and he figured they were related; sisters, or cousins perhaps? They were both beautiful, though one was a bit too old for him; the other girl was, however, just perfect. He caught a glimpse of her shimmering blue eyes and her mirthful smile. She was gorgeous, of course Logan Huntzberger wouldn't settle for anything less than gorgeous, though she was dressed simply in plain zip up sweater and pair of jeans. When the younger girl pulled out a change purse, he'd seized upon the opportunity, bumping into her and watching the coins spill to the floor.

She bent down to pick it up and he paused for a second to get a good look—yes her ass definitely looked nice in those jeans—then bent down to "help" her recover her money.

"It's OK," she said tersely and turned to give him her best fake smile. If he didn't know better, he'd think she was society, the way she wielded that perfectly crafted façade. But he did know better; given her choice of clothing and currency, she definitely didn't run in his circles. All the better; less chance of running into one another after the deed was done—past experience had proven how messy that could get.

She was definitely annoyed with him, he could tell that much. Oh well, it was the risk he'd taken for choosing the course of action he did; her annoyance wouldn't last long, Logan could win any girl over. An award-winning smirk, a few well-placed compliments, a cup of apology coffee and if all else failed, his name, and this girl would be swooning like all the others.

"No, really, I should be more careful," he said, picking up the last nickel that still lay on the ground and placing it back in her hand. "Let me make it up to you," he offered, flashing her his signature smirk. "Let me buy your coffee...both of you," he added looking up at her companion.

"I don't think so," she replied coldly. She wasn't even pretending to be nice anymore.

"Aw, come on now, it was only an accident, no need to get all riled up," he told her. "Although I must say that angry works for you; really makes those baby blues sparkle."

She just ignored him and shot an exasperated look at the slightly older woman by her side. Hmm, this one was certainly giving him a little trouble, but no girl turned Logan Huntzberger down and he wasn't about to break that winning streak now. He was all set to try again when he was distracted by the sound of someone calling his name.

"Logan?"

Rory turned at the sound of her grandfather's voice. She looked around to see who he was calling out to and sighed in frustration when she followed her gaze back to man who'd been actively annoying her for the past few minutes. She should have realized; the boy reeked of society. He was probably the precious son of one of her grandparents' billionaire friends.

The designer clothes and the cocky smirk should have been a dead giveaway. Plus, he'd acted nothing but entitled since the moment he'd nearly knocked her over. From the insincere apology to the way he offered to buy her coffee—like she should just swoon at his feet for such a generous offer. Add in the backhanded compliment and the way he'd treated her mother like an afterthought, and it was clear he was probably just looking to get in her pants. And like all the society boys, he clearly assumed he would get whatever he wanted. He reminded her a bit of Tristan; a spoiled rich kid who thought that the entire world, especially the female half of it, should bow down at his feet.

Unfortunately, now that her grandparents were here, there was no way she could cause a scene by telling him off.

Logan responded to the sound of his name. "Richard, Emily! It's a pleasure, what brings you to our lovely campus this fine day?" He wondered what they were doing there, although Richard was an Eli so they were probably in town for some alumni event. He really wanted to turn his attention back to the feisty brunette but the Gilmores were friends of the family and he had to play nice, so he plastered on his society mask and turned to them.

"Oh well, I just stopped by for a little get together with the Wiffenpoofs. I brought my granddaughter along for a tour of the campus as well. She's a senior at Chilton this year, top of her class," Richard bragged. "It looks as though you two have met," he nodded his head to the very girl Logan had been fixated on. A Gilmore? Paying for coffee in nickels and dimes? That certainly didn't compute, but regardless, there before him was the illusive Gilmore Girl, often spoke of in society but never seen. It was certainly a shame to keep a girl like her hidden away.

"Yes, we had a little incident with some spilled coins but I offered my sincerest apologies and your lovely granddaughter just offered to let me buy her coffee as an act of contrition." Logan responded with a smile. He had identified his mystery woman and she wouldn't dare continue to spurn his advances with her grandparents around; that would be impolite after all.

"Richard, don't be rude," Emily scolded. "Make proper introductions."

"Oh yes, of course. Logan, this is my granddaughter Rory and my daughter Lorelai." Now that, Logan found interesting. The other woman was the mother; she was obviously older but he never would have guessed she was old enough to be the mother of a high school senior. He contained his surprise and politely shook hands with Rory and Lorelai. He noticed Rory give him a death glare as she reluctantly accepted his hand. He suppressed a laugh. This one would give him a run for his money but he was sure he wouldn't lose. "Rory," Richard continued, "this is Logan Huntzberger."

Logan carefully watched Rory's face as Richard introduced him. She hid it well but he could tell she was shocked to find out he was a Huntzberger. If Logan remembered correctly, Richard and Emily were always talking about how Rory wanted to go into journalism, so the name meant even more to her than most. That would definitely work in his favor. As though on cue, Emily spoke up. "Rory's going to be a journalist," she gushed.

"Ah, I think I've heard that mentioned before. I've been told you're a very talented writer."

"I am," Rory said confidently. "I work hard at it," she shot Logan a look that indicated she didn't believe Logan even knew what hard work was, let alone ever actually did any. In that assessment she was correct.

"She's going to be an overseas correspondent, take the world by storm. She'll be the next Christiane Amanpour," Richard added proudly. "You know Rory," he turned to his granddaughter, "Logan's father owns some of the best newspapers in the country. Logan knows all about the business. I'm sure he'd be willing to give you some tips."

"I'd be happy to Richard," he replied, sending a smug smirk Rory's way.

"You two could maybe go to dinner sometime...to talk about business of course," Emily added giddily. She was clearly very pleased by the idea of her granddaughter having dinner with a Huntzberger.

"I'd be honored to have the company of our beautiful, little Ace reporter." This was going great, he may not have won her over right away but she'd have no choice but to accept a date with him now, or risk insulting her grandparents. He'd take her out, wine her, dine her and by the end of the night she be screaming his name, begging for more; she seemed like quite the little spitfire after all.

Rory watched on with disgust as Bible Boy the second sweet talked her grandparents. She had to admit though, she'd been shocked to hear his name. Huntzberger? As in Mitchum Huntzberger, the newspaper guy? He was huge. Of course that made sense, the bigger the name, the bigger the ego, right?

Her grandparents continued to sing her praises to Logan. Rory knew they were wasting their breath; Logan was already interested in her but he wasn't interested in what was between her ears, he was interested in what was between her legs. It sickened her. When Richard suggested Logan give Rory some "tips," she could barely refrain from rolling her eyes. By the look she got from the new bane of her existence, he was thinking of all the tips he would give her that had absolutely nothing to do with journalism. It was actually a shame. A contact like that could be huge, if only he'd had any actual interest in helping her out.

And she could barely believe when they'd suggested dinner. To talk about business? Yeah right. She was willing to bet her Chilton tuition money that Logan wanted to talk about business about as much as Rory wanted to talk about a world with no coffee. But she was cornered; she couldn't say no or her grandparents would be mad that she'd insulted their friends and they would lecture her about her future and the importance of making contacts.

"I'd be honored to have the company of our beautiful, Ace reporter," Logan replied. Rory scowled at him, shooting blue flames out of her eyes.

"I don't know grandma," she tried to say politely, "I'm really busy with school and college applications. It might be hard for me to find a free night."

"What about next Friday?" Richard offered, turning to Logan to see if that was alright with him.

"I'm free as a bird next Friday," he told them.

"But Grandpa, what about Friday night dinner?"

"Nonsense, this is about your future, Rory. We'd be more than happy to excuse you from dinner."

Rory turned to her mother for help but Lorelai just smiled and shrugged her shoulders. Somehow Rory could tell she was getting some sort of perverse pleasure from this. She didn't know if her mother was just happy to see any stone thrown in the wheel of Rory's budding relationship with Jess, or if she was somehow getting her back for making them go on this stupid road trip to Yale in the first place, but Lorelai Gilmore was not going to be her daughter's savior that day.

Rory turned back to Logan and her grandparents with a sigh. She couldn't think of any way out of this. "Next Friday...to talk business," she stressed the last word.

"Of course Ace, what else would be talk about," he replied with a wink.

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