Disclaimer: Amy and Daniel Palladino, along with the rest of the WB, own Gilmore Girls. I'm just borrowing the characters. New Order owns "Turn My Way." The Libertines own "What Became of the Likely Lads."

A/N: I love you all. I'm surprised by how much everyone likes this… no, really. You aren't just lying to make me feel good, are you? If you are, don't tell me. I like living in Denial. There's a mansion, and later I'm going wakeboarding. Haha. But seriously, you all rock my world. Love ya mucho. And, if you've heard the song that has the chapter name, I thought it was appropriate, but maybe that's just me. Also(I know, this is going on forever, but I can't help it, sorry), I have a C2 group for Rory/Finn fiction. Yeah, I know, I know. Make fun of me all you want, but if you want to join, the link is on my user info-thingy.

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Rory finally fell into a fitful sleep next to Logan on the floor. For her, it was easy to sleep pretty much anywhere. What surprised her was that Colin and Logan could do the same. Even Finn was on the floor in Tristan's room. Stephanie, having called the couch, got the comfiest place by far.

She woke up later that morning to find Tristan talking quietly on her cell phone. Her eyes widened as she processed that information. Tristan DuGrey, bane of her sophomore year at Chilton, was talking on her cell phone while she slept on his floor. Wriggling herself free of Logan's grip, she got up and stood in front of Tristan with her hands on her hips.

"Why are you on my phone?"

"Just a minute," he said into the phone. He put his hand over the mouth piece and lowered the phone, struggling to keep the smirk off his face. "Good morning, Mary."

"Give me my phone, please, Tristan."

"How about you get changed and we step outside so we don't wake the others? Then I'll give you your phone back."

"You're holding my phone for ransom?" she asked, still adjusting to her newly conscious state.

"I prefer the term 'holding for safe keeping.'" The time he did smirk as she rolled her eyes.

"What did my phone do to deserve this?" she questioned, more to herself than to Tristan.

He pointed to his room. "Your stuff is in there."

She looked around. "And where am I supposed to get changed, O Vexing One?"

"In my room." Upon seeing her glare, he hastily added, "There aren't any cameras or anything, I swear."

"I wasn't worried about that, but now I am."

"Then what?"

"Finn," she told him simply.

"Who's asleep," he argued.

"It doesn't matter. I'm not going to get dressed in front of Finn. I don't care if he's asleep."

"Well, I'd let you get dressed in my roommate's room, but he does have cameras," Tristan pointed out with a grin.

Rory rolled her eyes again. "Two peas in a perverted pod."

"Mar, think about it this way: you can get changed in front of a sleeping man, or you can go out in your pajamas. And while I think they're cute, at-" He looked at his watch "-11:15 in the morning, the rest of Princeton might not be as amused as me."

"Don't you have classes?" she asked.

"I already had two. You all have disturbingly deep sleeps," he informed her.

She glowered at him for a moment, before stomping off into his room. Carefully, she stepped over Finn's prone body and grabbed her bag, setting it on Tristan's bed. His room was somewhat messy as he probably wasn't expecting company.

Rory bit her lip and chanced a glance at Finn, who was asleep on his back. His mouth was parted slightly, and one arm was draped over his abdomen while the other rested above his head. He even seemed devious in his sleep, looking as though there was a small smile creeping up onto his face.

She turned around so her back faced him and took in a deep breath. In omnia paratus, she told herself. On that note, she grabbed the hem of her shirt and slowly started to take it off.

"'Morning, gorgeous," Finn said.

She yelped and spun around, dropping the hem of her shirt. Finn was lying there with both arms under his head, barely containing the lazy grin that was forming. She narrowed her eyes at him. "You were awake!"

"Guilty. Heard your whole conversation with DuGrey." He waved his hand. "Now, if you don't mind, I was enjoying the show."

"Finn!"

He put his hands up in surrender. "I'm going." He stood up, and there was a hitch in her breath. She had never noticed how muscular he was before, but standing there clad in only boxers with Sugar Daddy candies on them, she realized how good he looked. His arms were strong and his chest was looking quite kissable.

And his head was cocked to one side as he looked at her in amusement. She blushed and dove for Tristan's bed, covering her head with the blankets. She did not think thoughts like that, especially about her boyfriend's best friend.

"You ok?" she heard Finn ask as he desperately tried to keep the entertainment out of his voice.

"Can you leave so I can change?" she replied.

He chuckled. "Sure thing, love."

Even after she heard the door close, Rory didn't get out of the bed. Too much had happened to her already without coffee in her system, and she was fervently wishing that she hadn't let Logan and Stephanie talk her into coming with them.

It was almost fifteen minutes later when she re-emerged. Logan, Colin, and Stephanie were still asleep, and Finn and Tristan were quietly conversing with each other. Much to Rory's chagrin, Finn was still wearing only his boxers. The two looked up as she entered. Finn was the first to catch her gaze, winking at her once he had it. She quickly averted her eyes to Tristan.

"Do you know any place I can get a good cup of coffee?" she asked him.

"South America," he replied. "Or, there's a place not too far from here."

"Lead on."

"Finn, want anything?" Tristan asked.

"Nah, I already had my morning wake-up call." He looked pointedly at Rory, something that Tristan didn't miss.

"Suit yourself." Once outside, he began, "Last night, I was thinking-"

"Bad sign."

Tristan continued as though as if she hadn't interrupted. "We should be friends."

"Straight to the point," she commented. "You talked to Paris this morning, didn't you?"

"She says that someone named Doyle is expecting your article before 12:30." He smirked. "What do you say?"

"We tried this before, remember?"

"I was sixteen and an asshole, remember?" he mimicked.

"Understatement of the year," she muttered. "Say I do agree. What would this friendship entail?"

"I'll buy you this cup of coffee."

"Tempting. Very tempting. But I have one more condition."

"Anything."

"The innuendo," she told him, following him. The coffee stand wasn't too far away, and she could practically taste it.

He turned around and grinned at her. "So you do like it."

"I want it to stop," she shot back.

"But Finn's allowed." He got in line and took some money out of his wallet.

"Finn also makes me laugh." They got up to the counter. "One large coffee, please."

"Make that two." Tristan paid the man and they stepped to the side. "So, have you been taking care of yourself?"

"Yes. What about you? Last I saw, you were taking your bad boy role to the next level."

He laughed and grabbed the coffees, giving one to Rory. In his, he put two sugars and a bit of half-and-half. "Well, as you can see, I am now studying business management at Princeton."

"Really? I never would have guessed that you'd go into business management."

"My father pushed me into it. A bit of persuading and my future inheritance being brought up more than one, and I was ready to agree."

"So that's where you learned your blackmail skills."

He smirked at her and stopped at the base of the stairs. Rory stood on the first step, confusion etched over her features. He took out her cell phone, but didn't give it to her.

"I have a question."

She sighed. "Naturally."

"Have some patience. It's just a simple question." He paused for the dramatic effect. "What's going on with Finn?"

"He's a perpetual drunk and doesn't like going to class."

"I promise not to tell Logan," he swore, pulling his hand back when she tried to grab her cell back.

"I think he already knows, but it's nice that you care enough to want to spare him."

"Not about you and Finn."

It suddenly dawned on her what he was asking. "Nothing is going on with Finn and me. I mean, we're friends. And that's it. He's Logan's best friend, and I'm Logan's girlfriend."

"Glad we got that all cleared up." He handed her back her cell phone. "I'd be careful around Finn. It may seem like he's just teasing you, but you never know."

"I'll keep that in mind," she replied, distracted. She was checking her call history and her messages. "Why does it say that you called me? How long have you had my phone?"

"I put my number in your phone, and then made sure I had yours. And to answer your other question, I've had it since about 7:30 this morning when Paris decided to call. It was making a loud ringing sound."

"As most phone usually do." She flipped her phone closed. "I can't believe that you're still taking liberties."

"And I can't believe that you're still bitter," he countered, taking his keys out.

"I'm not. I'm just merely stating a fact."

"You keep telling yourself that."

"I will thank you very much."

He shook his head and unlocked the door to find Finn and Logan sitting on the couch in the middle of a heated discussion. Logan got up and swung his arm over Rory, steering her to the couch.

"Can you tell Finn he's wrong?"

"If I knew what you were talking about then yes, I would be happy to," she replied.

Logan sat down and pulled her onto his lap. Tristan took a seat on a chair.

"Well, we're watching Blue's Clues," Logan started out.

Tristan choked on his coffee from laughter. "Why the hell were you watching Blue's Clues?"

"Shut it, mate. You just don't enjoy the subtle art of a talking dog," Finn pointed out.

"Plus, Colin and Stephanie are 'changing' in your room," Logan added with a snicker, putting air quotes around changing. Despite their best efforts, it was common knowledge that they two were doing the friends-with-benefits thing.

Tristan raised an eyebrow. "So what you're saying is that the only thing that'll need to be changed is my sheets."

Finn grinned. "More or less."

"How did all of this happen in the ten minutes that we were gone?" Rory questioned.

Logan playfully leered at her. "We move fast."

"I'm getting bored, Huntzberger," Tristan said loudly.

"Ok, so, we're watching Blue's Clues," Tristan continued. "And long story short, did the first guy kill himself?"

"The guy who hated kids?" Tristan asked.

"He was like Milton Berle in those Ratt videos," Rory mused.

"What's the verdict?" Finn was literally on the edge of his seat in anticipation.

"He didn't kill himself," Rory finally decided. "He started a band."

"I knew it," Logan told Finn smugly. "Pay up."

Finn narrowed his eyes and muttered a string of curse words under his breath as he shelled out six 50 dollar bills to Logan's open palm. Logan folded up the bills and stuffed them in Rory's pocket. As he did this, he also adjusted her on his lap and took a sip of her coffee.

"Hey!" she cried, annoyed that he didn't ask. He gave her his best innocent act, but she wasn't buying it. "Get your own."

Tristan, sensing an argument, decided it was time for a subject change and asked, "What's the reason for the impromptu visit to my humble abode at a rival university at 3:30 in the morning? Not trying to sway me to Yale, are you?"

"No, we couldn't stand you that long," Logan replied.

"Thanks, Huntzberger, you do know how to make me feel special," Tristan told him sarcastically. "What's your excuse, Finn?"

Finn shrugged. "They promised me an adventure, mate."

"So you were bored," Tristan concluded.

"School blows," Finn agreed.

"How long are you staying?"

Finn pretended to pout. "That ready to get rid of us, DuGrey? I'm hurt."

"Until later today," Logan answered. "I promised Ace here a date tonight. And I'm anything but someone who goes against their word."

Tristan snorted, but didn't say anything. Finn let his actions speak for him as he fell off the couch from laughter. He got back up and hit Logan in the back.

"Good one, mate. I almost believed you."

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Stephanie and Colin came out sometime later looking flushed, but pleased as punch. As Rory finished up her article and e-mailed it to Doyle, she watched as her boyfriend and his friends played around with Tristan, teasing him and mock fought with him, in some cases. She idly wondered how they knew each other; this whole time, and she hadn't bothered to ask them. Despite knowing all of them quite well, she still felt awkward.

Of course, that all ended at lunch. Stephanie and Finn seemed determined not to make her feel uncomfortable. So much so that they let her choose where to go to lunch. She didn't have a specific preference, so they chose for her, but it was the thought that counted. After lunch, Tristan gave them an in-depth tour that included going over to all his friends' dorms and watching TV.

It was nearly four when they left. Colin was driving this time, and Stephanie was sitting next to him. Logan and Rory got the middle, and Finn was laid down in the back seat with his sunglasses on and a blanket over his head.

Stephanie gave Tristan another light kiss on the lips, a friendly endearment. "Do you promise to visit more?" she asked him when they were about to leave.

"That all depends on whether or not you'll be there," he replied.

"Flirt. But you'll definitely be there for Thanksgiving and Christmas, right?" she questioned.

"Where else would I go? My parents' house?"

"Touché, DuGrey, touché."

"Oh, and Mary?" Tristan had called out right before they left. "I can't believe that I'd actually have to say this again, but take care of yourself."

"You didn't need to say it this time, though. I'm going to see you again," she told him.

He smirked. "This time you're leaving, so I think it's poetic."

"You're also not taking any literature classes," she pointed out.

"Whatever, Mary. I'll see you later." He winked at her, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and sauntered away.