Chapter 1- Surprises on Moving Day
Rory Gilmore woke up at 9 a.m. to the sound of her alarm clock. She sat up to turn it off and took a look around her bedroom. Most of her belongings were packed up in boxes waiting to be brought back to her apartment in New Haven, the apartment that she used to share with her boyfriend Logan. He had insisted she still live there while he was in London. He had even paid the rent for the whole year. So today she was moving back into the apartment and beginning her senior year of college without Logan and their friends.
Rory got out of bed and put on a pair of black cotton capris and a white ribbed tank top. Then she pulled her hair back into a ponytail. There was no use spending time on how she looked since she would be spending the day unloading boxes from her car and arranging all her things around the apartment. She walked out of her room to find Lorelai already dressed and pouring herself coffee.
"Mmmm coffee," Rory said as she walked across the kitchen to get herself a mug.
"Oh, yay you're up," Lorelai exclaimed. "I'm starving. Let's go to Luke's for breakfast before we head back to Yale."
"Great, I'm starving too," Rory agreed. "Let's take the cars this way we can leave right away."
"Okay. I can't believe it's your senior year of college already. I feel like I just moved you into your freshman dorm. Are you excited?"
"I can't wait to start classes and get back to the Yale Daily News. I've missed that stuff a lot. It's just going to be weird living by myself. I've always had someone: you, Paris, Logan. But this year I have no roommate. It's just going to be weird."
"Sweetie you'll be fine. Just think, without a roommate to worry about you can blast the music on your stereo and dance around naked," Lorelai said with excitement in her voice.
"When have I ever danced around naked?"
"That's my point! You have never been alone long enough to do it. But now that you're living alone you can do it all the time."
"Mom, I have no desire to dance around the apartment naked," Rory said matter of factly.
"Just think about it. Look how much fun Tom Cruise had in Risky Business and he was wearing his underwear. Imagine how much fun dancing naked would be," Lorelai said, her excitement rising with each word spoken.
"If I get the urge to dance around naked I'll call you. Now can we please go get breakfast? I'm still starving," Rory complained while holding her stomach.
Rory and Lorelai went to Luke's and ate chocolate chip pancakes with extra bacon on the side. After having three cups of coffee each (all of which they had to beg for) and Rory said her good-bye's to Luke and Ceaser, the two girls were on their way to New Haven. Lorelai had once again borrowed Luke's pick up truck and followed Rory in her car. During their ride the two girls called each other as they noticed silly things about other drivers. Lorelai had called to tell Rory about the old woman in the blue BMW who was picking her nose, and Rory informed her mother about the man with the nice ass peeing on the side of the road. Lorelai, who had been about a mile and a half behind Rory, took a picture of the man just before he was able to pull his pants back up.
When they had finally arrived at the apartment, the girls parked their cars in the front of the building so they could unload Rory's things. Lorelai ran over to her daughter holding her cell phone out.
"Who's on the phone?" Rory asked.
"Just look." Lorelai demanded.
Rory looked down at the phone and saw the man on the side of the road peeing. "Ewww mom, that's gross! Why would you want a picture of that?" she asked.
"So I can show Luke," Lorelai said with an evil smile spread across her lips.
"He'll be so happy," Rory said sarcastically. "Now can we please start unpacking the car? The quicker we move my stuff, the quicker we can order pizza and have a movie night."
"Can we watch Risky Business so you can see how much fun you're missing?" Lorelai said as if it were the best idea she had ever had.
Rory handed her mother a box and began to walk into the building trying to ignore the rant that was following her into the elevator. Both Gilmore girls made several trips between the cars and the apartment. Once all the boxes had been taken inside, Lorelai and Rory started to unpack and put things into their proper place. Rory had been hanging her clothes in the closet when she heard "Our Lips are Sealed" coming from her phone. She ran to answer it before the call went to voicemail.
"Hello," she answered.
"Hey Ace, how's it going?" she heard Logan's voice ask on the other end.
"Hey, I'm just hanging my clothes up," she told him with a smile on her face. The moment she walked into the apartment she had missed him. Hearing his voice made her feel a little better about their current situation.
"How is the place?"
"Good, but not the same without you around," she told him honestly.
"Ace you have no idea how badly I want to be there with you. I miss you."
"I miss you too. You have no clue how lonely I'm going to be here this year without you," she told him with a hint of sadness in her voice.
"It's funny you should say that because I have a surprise for you," he said with some hesitation in his voice.
"What?" Rory asked. There was excitement in her voice. Maybe he was coming to see her, or coming home for good.
Just then the doorbell rang. She told Logan to hold on as she ran toward the door. When she opened it up she found a smiling Finn on the other side.
"Hello love," he said as he walked in.
"Finn!" she yelled surprised as she gave him a quick hug. "What are you doing here?"
"Moving my stuff in," he said as if it were obvious.
"Why would you do that?" she asked confused.
He gave her a questioning look. "Haven't you spoken to Logan?" he asked.
"I'm on the phone with him now." She suddenly put the phone to her ear eager to find out what was going on. "Logan why is Finn moving his stuff into our apartment?" she asked with a hint of anger in her voice.
"That's actually why I was calling," Logan began to explain. "I didn't want you in that big apartment by yourself so I asked Finn to move into the second bedroom."
"And you're just telling me this now." Rory was now extremely angry. "This is something that should be discussed between the two of us. How can you do this to me?" she asked. She was getting angrier by the minute Rory could not believe he would make a decision like this without talking to her first. "And since when do you decide whether or not I can handle being alone? I'm 21 years old Logan, not 2!"
" Listen Ace, I'm sorry I didn't talk to you about this first. Finn called me and said he was going to be going back to Yale. Since he didn't have a place to stay and we have an extra room I figured it would be perfect. Now he has a place to stay and you won't be alone. Weren't you just telling me it was lonely there?"
"That still doesn't explain why you are only telling me about this now," she demanded.
"It was a sudden decision. I tried to tell you before he got there."
"I'm not going to argue with you about this now. I have to go." Before Logan could say good-bye Rory had hung up the phone.
Finn who had been standing there uncomfortably during Rory and Logan's fight finally decided to talk. "I'm sorry love. I didn't mean to cause a fight between you and Logan. If this is going to be uncomfortable for you, I'll find another place to stay."
"This isn't your fault Finn. I am surprised, but the thought of someone else living here is comforting. I was kind of dreading living on my own this year. If you still want to live here, I'd love for you to be my roommate."
"Well love, I would love to be your roommate. Now where exactly is our bedroom?" he asked with a suggestive smile.
"My room is the last door on the left and your room would be the first door on the right." She told him with a satisfied smiled.
"What is the point of a roommate, love, if you're not going to share a room with that person?"
"Finn you know I'd love to share a bed with you, but what would we tell Logan?" she asked with fake concern in her voice.
"I'll keep you my dirty little secret," he whispered as he put his arm around her shoulder. Rory could not help but giggle at her friend's antics.
"Why do I hear a sexy Australian accent?" Lorelai asked as she made her way into the living room.
"Because there is a very sexy Australian inside the apartment," Finn said as he walked up to Lorelai and took her hand. He brought her hand up to his lips and placed a soft kiss onto her fingers as he suggestively arched his eyebrows.
"Now this is better than dancing around naked," Lorelai told Rory.
Finn looked at Rory. "Did I miss something?" he asked.
"Nothing important." She turned back to look at her mother. "Mom this is Finn, a friend of mine and Logan's and my new roommate."
Without letting the surprise she was feeling show on her face, Lorelai turned to look at Finn. After obviously checking him out, she looked at her daughter. "This certainly is an improvement from Paris."
" I am better looking and much less intimidating," he playfully whispered to Lorelai.
"Finn, do you need help bringing your things up?" Rory asked trying to divert everyone's attention from the current living situation.
"No need, love. The movers should have everything up and unpacked quite quickly." He started to walk toward the door but stopped to whisper in Rory's ear. "Why don't you go explain our living situation to your mother, I'll be back in a little while." Finn then walked out the door to allow the girls to talk.
Rory nodded her head to Finn's suggestion and began to walk into the kitchen. Her mother followed her, but waited for the apartment door to close before she started to ask questions.
"So…I guess your not living alone," Lorelai questioned.
"Logan called right before Finn showed up. Apparently Finn is still in school and Logan didn't want me living alone," she tried to explain. She had no clue what her mom was thinking. The expression on Lorelai's face was unreadable.
"Well dancing around naked just became a lot more interesting." Both girls laughed, as the tension of the situation was broken. "Seriously babe, are you okay with this?"
"Although I was not expecting this at all, I think Finn living here will be good. I won't be alone and I'll have someone to hang out with other than Paris." The more Rory thought about it, the better she felt. She wasn't really looking forward to senior year with Logan and her other friends gone, but now with Finn living with her the year was quickly becoming more interesting.
"As long as you're comfortable I'm okay with it. But if you ever feel uncomfortable you are to call me immediately. It would be hard to move in with a hot twenty-three year old Australian, but I would do anything for my daughter," Lorelai said in a mock bothered tone.
"What would you tell Luke?" Rory asked
"He'd never know. I'd still show up at the diner every morning for coffee, and then after work for coffee. But if he ever questioned where I was, I'd just distract him with my kisses."
Both girls laughed as they hugged.
"Thanks mom," Rory said with appreciation in her voice.
"Anytime. Now where did that hot roommate of yours go? I need him to help me convince you to dance around this place in your birthday suite."
"I'll help as long as I get a front row seat for the show," Finn said smirking as he carried two boxes into his new bedroom.
"See even the hot Australian thinks you should dance naked," Lorelai said in a triumphant tone.
"Finn just wants to see me naked!" Rory accused as she dragged her mother back into her bedroom.
For the next few hours Rory, Lorelai, and Finn unpacked boxes and set up the rest of the apartment. When they were finished they ordered pizzas and watched Risky Business (at Lorelai's request). Lorelai and Finn tried to convince Rory to dance around naked and she promised to think about it to get them to shut up. When the movie was over Lorelai helped clean up and announced that she was leaving. She gave Rory a hug at the door.
"So kiddo, have a great school year."
"Mom, I'll be home in two weeks," Rory reminded her.
"I know, but I just wanted to wish you luck. You're going to have so much fun this year. And you have a hot, exotic roommate," Lorelai finished off with a mix of admiration and jealousy in her voice.
"Who just happens to be friends with my boyfriend," Rory reminded her mother.
"A boyfriend who is on the other side of the world," Lorelai stated.
" Mom," Rory whined. She knew her mom still had reservations about her relationship with Logan, but she was tired of hearing about it.
"Okay I'll stop. I'll see you at dinner on Friday. By sweets." Lorelai waved and began to walk down the hall. When she got on the elevator, Rory closed the door.
"Your mother is fabulous, kitten. I see where you get your quirkiness from," Finn said with a laugh.
Rory laughed too. "Thank you, I'll take that as a compliment."
"Well it was meant as one." Finn looked at Rory for a minute. He was shocked when Logan had chosen to settle down with one girl, but he could see how he'd want to. Rory was a great girl and he was glad they had become friends. "So are you really okay with me staying here?"
Rory went and sat on the couch next to Finn. "I know I seemed mad before when Logan was on the phone, but I was surprised. I'm actually excited you're gonna be here. I thought I'd be alone this year, well except for Paris."
"Well I'm glad to be of service to you and I do mean any service you might need." The suggestive smirk came back onto his lips.
"I'll file that for later use," she flirted back. She loved that about Finn. She found it so easy to play around with him. "I do have one question though, what are you doing here at Yale? I was at your graduation. I saw you get the fancy folder that holds your diploma. What happened?"
"I never 'officially' graduated. I wasn't ready. I walked during the ceremony to be with Logan and Colin. So here I am back at school, trying to stretch my last twelve credits in two semesters worth of work."
Rory laughed. "Finn why would you do that? I would think with Logan and Colin gone you'd be willing to go off into the work world."
"Don't get me wrong, I love my dad and taking over the family business is my goal. I just wasn't ready. So dad told me he'd give me one more year. So Miss Gilmore, you best be ready to party that adorable behind of yours off. I think you'll be more effective than a wingman. Girls love what they can't have," Finn stated confidently.
Rory looked him right in the eye and then smiled. "Let the games begin!"