Royally Drunk
A/N: I stopped being a writing machine for a couple days… and then it was nice out and the beach was calling my name, so I got sidetracked. And this took me a really long time to write…parts one and two were easy but part three was a bitch. So, my third version of part three is the one you'll be reading, and I'm satisfied. Still no beta, so, beware. This is more angsty, I'm sorry. It just keeps happening. This is months after Pinkie Swear. Please, please review once you've read it. Read on!
"Whatcha watchin', kiddo?" Rory asked, flopping onto the couch next to her six-year-old.
"Willy Wonka."
Rory grinned and ruffled his hair. "You are my favourite son, you know that?"
"I'm your only son, Mom."
"Yeah, but you're still my favourite." She paused. "Hey, when did you stop calling me 'mommy'?"
"Mo-om," he protested. "I'm too old for that now."
"Oh," she said, keeping the temptation to roll her eyes in check. "Of course. I'm sorry."
He picked up on her sarcasm and gave her sceptical look.
"I still call your Oma 'mommy' sometimes."
"Only when you're sad or something," he countered.
She sighed. "Fine, you win. But you're still my baby, Lukey."
He made a face at the nickname and Rory bit her lip. He was growing up, even if she could only admit it reluctantly. She was so used to babying him that it seemed odd for him to be more independent. "Hey, honey?"
"Yeah?"
"Daddy and I have an event to go to this weekend. Do you want to stay with Oma and Grandpa Luke?"
"Uh-huh."
"Okay. I'll give her a call." She reached for the cordless phone and dialled quickly.
"Good afternoon, you've reached the Gilmore-Danes household, your proud providers of all things dirty since 1968."
"Emma!" Rory cried laughingly. "Did Mom tell you to say that?"
"Yep. And to pretend that I couldn't hear if it was Grandma."
Rory sighed. "Don't do that anymore, okay? You're nine years old."
"Almost ten," Emma protested.
"In seven months," Rory retorted gently. "Is Mom there right now or is she at the inn?"
"She's here."
Rory smiled. "Can I talk to her?"
"Mm-hm. One sec." There was a lot of shuffling, some yelling, a loud crash and a few expletives.
"Rory!" Lorelai cried happily but breathlessly. "How're you doing, sweetheart?" she asked gently.
Rory fidgeted uncomfortably. She could feel Lorelai's eyes boring into her, even though she was hours away. "Okay," she said softly. "Okay. It's still…it's still really hard."
"Of course, honey," Lorelai said sympathetically. "You can't expect it to-"
"Yeah, of course. So Logan and I have to go away this weekend-"
Lorelai was thrown off by her daughter's sudden interruption and complete change of topic, but not thrown off enough not to interrupt right back. "Business or pleasure?"
Rory wrinkled her nose. "Both, I guess. LDB stuff."
"Oh. Romantic? I think that would probably be good for you guys, you know? Have a little time to-"
"Don't complete that sentence, please. Now-"
"Reconnect," Lorelai interrupted again. "I was going to say 'reconnect'. Get that mind of yours out of the gutter."
"Will you take the kids? For the weekend?"
"Um-" She was still thrown off by the conversation. She'd never known Rory to so determinedly avoid a conversation topic. "Of course I will, babe, my pleasure. You'll drop them off Friday night?"
"I was thinking more like Friday afternoon, if that's okay."
"I have a meeting at the inn then, and Will and Em are in school…hang on, I'll ask Luke. Lu-uke!"
"What?" Rory heard him ask gruffly.
"Can you take care of Lucas and Lory on Friday afternoon?"
"Uh…sure. Tell Rory I say hi."
Lorelai returned to the phone. "You hear?"
"I heard," Rory confirmed. "Thanks, Mom."
"Oh, sweets, don't be silly. I love seeing those two, you know that. And I do think it'll be good for you and Logan to have a weekend away, as long as you don't jump off anything."
"I make no promises," Rory deadpanned wearily.
Concern swelled in Lorelai's chest. "Honey-"
"Listen, Mom, I've gotta go. You know, the kids. Thanks again, I'll drop the kids off Friday. Love you."
"You-" she heard the click of Rory hanging up, "too. Love you, too." She stared at the phone for a moment.
"We're going to Oma's?" Lucas asked his mother.
"Yep, it's all set, honey. I'll drop you and your sister over there on Friday afternoon."
"Okay. Mom?" he asked uncertainly.
"Yeah, baby?" she asked distractedly.
"Um, Mommy?"
She turned and smiled at him. "Yes, Lukey?"
"Is something wrong?"
"No, honey, what gave you that idea? I'm going to go pack your guys' stuff, okay? I love you."
"Love you, too," Lucas said as he watched his mother run up the stairs.
(Part Two)
"Bye, Lory," Rory said as she hugged her daughter. "You'll be good for Oma, right?"
Lory nodded obediently and reached out for another hug. She made a small sound between a wail and a whimper. "Don't go!"
Rory kissed her forehead and tried to keep from crying. Lory had never done this before. She was always so excited about going to Oma's that she often forgot to even say goodbye to her parents. "You'll be fine, honey. You're always fine."
"I wanna go with you," Lory sobbed.
Lorelai crouched down next to them. "You don't want to stay and play with me, sweetie?"
"No!" Lory cried vehemently, clinging tightly to Rory. "I wanna stay with Mommy."
Lorelai looked taken aback. Logan, Rory, and Luke were all giving her bewildered looks.
Rory rubbed her forehead and looked up at her husband. "Maybe I should just stay."
"No, Ace…" he protested. He bend down, too, so that he was at Lory's eye level. "C'mere, angel eyes," he said gently, reaching for her.
But she recoiled, trying to get closer to Rory. "No!" she cried hysterically.
"Okay. Okay. Lory. Baby, look at me," Rory said gently. "Calm down." She pulled her daughter close and let her sob in her arms for a second. "There you go, deep breaths. Now listen, alright? Daddy and I have got to go. You are going to have so much fun. I bet Emma'll play with you a lot. Right, Em?" She looked up at her little sister.
"Definitely, Lory."
"And Oma will let you eat all kinds of candy, and Grandpa Luke will make you waffles, and Will will play Candyland with you…"
"Please, Lory, stay with us?" Lorelai asked, pouting.
"Yeah!" Emma added, mimicking her mother.
"O…okay. But, Mommy?" she asked, turning trustingly to Rory.
"Yes, honey?"
"Promise you'll come back?"
"Of course, sweetie. Why wouldn't I?"
"Cause you said you lost my sister and I don't want you to lose us too."
Rory just stared at her. She had that punched-in-gut feeling. She felt Logan's hands on her shoulders, steadying her, and she could sense her mother's compassion. She pulled Lory to her and kissed the crown of her head firmly. "I promise. That will never, ever happen."
(Part Three)
"Rory!" It was an exclamation, but a soft one. Rory felt Stephanie wrap her arms around her and she returned the hug.
"Hey, Steph."
"Guess what?" the other girl asked, her eyes searching Rory's. "This weekend, we are going to get royally drunk."
"Royally drunk?" Rory asked with a laugh. "What does that mean?"
"Who the hell knows?" Finn inputted. "But it's going to be good." He slung an arm around Rory and kissed her head.
She smiled up at him and accepted the drink Colin pushed into her hands. He hesitated, and then gave her a quick hug. "Drink up, Reporter Girl. In omnia!"
She tapped her glass against the bottle of wine he was drinking straight out of. "In omnia," she whispered, and downed her entire glass on wine in one gulp. She held it out and looked expectantly at Colin.
With an impressed smirk, he refilled her glass.
"Ew!" Stephanie cried. "Colin's backwash! Hey, Colin, you don't have any STDs, do you?" she asked innocently, causing Rory to hesitate with the glass to her lips.
He frowned at her. "No, Stephanie, I don't."
"Good, Colin, I was just making sure," she replied angelically.
Logan leaned down so that his lips were skimming his wife's ear. She shivered involuntarily as he spoke, causing him to smirk. "Wanna bet on it?"
"Thirty-five minutes," Rory offered.
"Twenty," he countered bravely.
She made a sceptical face but said so more. "So, what's the stunt this time?" she asked wearily.
Logan shrugged. "Something about diving and sharks. I wasn't really listening."
"Are you doing it?" she asked, alarmed.
"No, I'm gonna sit this one out."
"Whipped," Finn said through a fake sneeze. "Oh, sorry. Allergies, you know."
Rory just smiled at him and rested her head on Logan's chest. She felt his fingers weave through her hair. "Thanks for doing this."
"Hey. Who am I to get in the way of official LDB business?"
"You do have some pull."
She looked up at him with sparkling eyes. "I do?"
"You do," he confirmed, smiling back at her.
"But…but…" she spluttered. "Oh, Logan. If you'd told me this years ago…"
"You'd have abused your power, I know. That's why I didn't tell you."
She sighed and pouted. "But I could have had so much fun."
"Believe me, Ace, I know."
"Yeah, I believe you," she said, snuggling against his chest again.
"Hey."
"Hey yourself," she returned, looking up at him.
"Say we skip happy hour and spend some time in our tent."
"Why, Huntzberger. What are you suggesting?"
"What do you think I'm suggesting?"
"Something dirty."
He held aside one of the flaps. "You've always been an intelligent girl, Ace."
"I'm not a little girl anymore, Logan," she said, cheekily winking at him as she slipped by. "I thought you'd know that by now."
He raised his eyebrows as he slipped in after her. He laid down and he settled so that he was above her, but she flipped them over. He couldn't help but be surprised. "What's going on with you today?"
"I'm just glad to get away. Have some time with you," she added as she slipped her shirt off and began working on the buttons of his. She was kissing his neck and her fingers were moving quickly- everything was moving quickly.
"Ace," he tried. "Rory…"
"Mm, I love you…so much…"
He softened momentarily, gently kissing the crown of her head as she kissed her way down his chest. "I love you, too."
When she got all the way to his belt buckle, he stopped her, taking her face in his hands tenderly and saying, "Babe. Slow down. I'm not going anywhere."
He was startled to see great big tears gathering in her unfocused eyes. "I just need you right now," she whispered, her voice teary and strained.
Gently, he pulled her back up toward him so that she was lying flat on top of him. Before he knew it, she'd stripped them both of their clothes. "In your pocket?" she asked breathlessly, blindly reaching for his pants.
He reached out and grabbed her wrist lightly, massaging her pulse point with his thumb.
"What?" she asked. "What is it?"
It had been seven months and eighteen days, and he suddenly had the confidence to ask her the question he needed to know the answer to. "Rory. Ace. Do you want to…"
She was frustrated with him, he could tell. "What?" she asked impatiently.
"Do you want to try again?" he finished quietly, looking deep into her eyes to gauge her reaction.
When her eyes cleared and realization hit, she bolted.
"No! No!" All of the members of the LDB turned in surprise to see Rory rushing away from the tent area wearing a pair of Logan's old Yale sweatpants and a bra. She was trying to fight her way into a skimpy camisole as she walked away, but she'd mixed the arm and head spots up and was too upset to figure it out again.
Finn broke away from the group and ran over to her, crushing her trembling form against his chest as he hugged her. "I can't…" she whispered against him tearfully. Finn frowned and looked up to see Logan approaching them, wearing his dress pants and a t-shirt.
His eyes were full of sadness and regret, but Finn was in full-out protective mode. "What the hell happened?" he demanded fiercely as Rory clung to him.
Stephanie handed Colin her drink and rushed over as well. She pressed her lips together worriedly as she carefully pried Rory away from Finn. "Come on, honey," she soothed. "Let's get your shirt on." Rory's cami was still very revealing, so Steph looked around for something else to put on her.
Logan scowled at his friend. He appreciated that Finn cared about Rory. He was glad that they'd developed such a close friendship, but she was his wife, and this was their business. "Finn- really, this is between us."
Rory, now wearing her Finn's sport jacket and still sniffling, glared at him. "You can't…you can't just ask me that. You're such an asshole."
"Rory, please. Can we not do this here?"
"I don't care where we do this!" she shouted hysterically. "It's your fault! I'm still grieving, can't you tell that? Can't you understand that? Every minute of every day, I'm hurting!"
Rory's miscarriage had been a taboo subject since it'd happened, and everyone looked back and forth between the couple with wide eyes. Finn lightly placed his arms on Rory's shoulders.
"I know that, Rory! Fuck! I miss her just as much as you do. You know that, Ace," he added softly, reasoning with her.
"Then how…how could you…how could you say…"
"I don't know, Rory. I thought you might want that. I thought it might help you."
"You can't replace my daughter," she told him, shaking her head vehemently.
"Our daughter," he corrected quietly, and a tense, dramatic silence followed.
Rory broke away from Finn and threw herself into his arms, still sobbing. He held her to him, kissed her hair, and rubbed her back soothingly. His friends were all looking at him with concerned, curious eyes, but he just mouthed, "Later."
"I can't," Rory whispered against his jaw.
"Okay," was all he said. "It's okay."
"Lucas and Lory are…"
"All we need," he said firmly, his lips tell pressed to her skin.
She felt a wine glass being pressed into her hand and looked up to see everyone walking off. "Wha…"
"Finn," he said by way of explanation, cupping her face in his hands.
She sniffled but smiled. "Right, don't question it. Gotcha."
"Ace, I'm sorry."
She looked down and nodded. "I know. I just…flipped. I'm not good at dealing with stuff."
"But still, I didn't mean to…"
She shook her head. She understood. She leaned up to kiss him. When they pulled apart, he looked down at Finn's jacket and smirked slightly, wiping at the tearstains on her cheeks lovingly. "I feel like I'm kissing a guy," he whispered.
She sighed sweetly and kissed him again.
A/N: I, personally, really like this ending. Way better than drafts one and two. Review and let me know what you think!!!