A Gilmore Girls fanfic

Author: mz lynx

Disclaimer: I own neither Gilmore Girls nor any of the movies that the chapters are named for. I do however own this particular idea and the execution thereof.

AN: Another edited chapter... Sleeping wasn't an option, and I was too unfocused for writing, so I ended up doing this instead.

The Party's NOT Over!

Chapter 3: The Replacement(s) or Enter the Understudy

Rory sat, staring at the door Colin had just closed behind him, but not really seeing anything. She went over the events of the past 24 hours in her mind, again and again, picking them apart and focusing on details. She replayed all conversations she'd had with Colin, tried to analyze them, tried to find falsehood in their words. Watched them kiss on her inner movie-screen, and tried to tell herself that all those feelings were just something to be written off as "being caught up in the moment".

She failed miserably.

Yes, she wasn't about to stop Colin from going back to Stephanie, seeing as that was what he wanted. She'd seen first-hand how bad things could end when who you wanted and who you were with didn't add up. Dean was just the latest example. He'd married Lindsay, still in love with her, Rory, and look where that had gotten him. She on her part had messed up pretty good with Dean and Jess… But, the fact that she wasn't going to stand in the way of Colin and Stephanie didn't mean that she didn't want to. She'd enjoyed her time with Colin, and even though she'd been truthful about it not being love now the "maybe never"-part had been a lie. Rory was actually rather certain that given half a chance she'd have fallen in love with Colin McCrae very easily.

Going over everything in detail had told her something interesting: even though she'd proclaimed the dating-contest to be only for fun she had picked the one person she'd seen as capable of getting serious. How ironic that she'd been right – only to have him serious about someone else.

So, here she was, feeling like she was even worse off than she'd been before. Not only had her boyfriend dumped her, but she'd been given a taste of something potentially great only to have it snatched from her, and now she was stuck with Finn! Rory knew that there were lots of girls who'd happily take her place, and who'd cart her off to a mental institution for describing dating Finn as "being stuck with" him, but that was how she felt. She'd wanted to have her dates with Colin and Finn had only been the runner-up – the next best thing.

It all reminded her of the disastrous Shakespeare play in her second year at Chilton, where she'd played Juliet. First Tristin was to play Romeo, but he'd pulled a stupid prank leading to his immediate transfer. So then she'd thought that his understudy would step up. But the poor kid, Brad, had transferred too – since Paris scared the living daylights out off him. In the end Paris had played Romeo… It had felt not like a tale of "Juliet and her Romeo" but one of "Juliet plus one". This was beginning to give her the same feeling. Luckily things were bound to stay a little more controlled now – otherwise she'd end up on a date with Logan! I'd rather kiss Paris again, Rory thought to herself with a smile.

I wonder if I could talk Finn into skipping this? Nah, he's too much of a five year old for that. And I did pick him because I thought at least he wouldn't bore me. I guess I get to find out if I was right. After all, I wanted to back out when it was Colin too, and that worked out great… But that thought wasn't as comforting as she'd like – it only served to remember her exactly why Finn was going to call her.

Shut up, Gilmore, you only have yourself to blame for all this, her inner Paris growled, making her cringe. Yeah, she did. It had all been her idea, and if she'd just kept her mouth shut she wouldn't be in this predicament right now. But it was so fun, she thought, only whining a little.

Thankfully her cell started ringing before she could sink any deeper into self-pity.

"Hello, love. Having an interesting day?" Way with the understatements, Finn.

"Kind of, yes. And you?"

"Oh, not so much. Only one thing of importance happened all week: a friend called and told me I'd be able to take the loveliest creature at Yale out on a couple of dates."

"Living by 'flattery will get you everywhere', are we?" The sarcasm in Rory's voice was very obvious; she wasn't much for untrue compliments, and being described as "the loveliest creature" in any place felt very untrue to her.

Finn noticed, and wisely enough retreated slightly.

"Sorry, force of habit I guess. But you are a very lovely lady, I assure you. I have it from the most reliable sources." Colin, maybe? But then, not as lovely as Stephanie, am I? Rory quickly abandoned that train of thought – she knew it would get her nowhere but down.

"So, love, I was meaning to ask you. This thing with the three dates. Do I get all three or just the two that Colin didn't use?"

Ooooo! A way out!!! No, wait, I can't be like that. That'd be mean. Plus, then I'd be no better than certain others…

"How about we settle for two now, and then see if we need a third? I think that'd be a good compromise, don't you agree?"

"Perfect, love, perfect. Now, about Saturday. I have something special planned, which will take the entire day. I'll pick you up at your dorm at eight, dress casual – you'll get the chance to go back and change before dinner, okay?"

"Eight? In the morning? Do you even know that there is an eight in the morning?" Ooops. Maybe a little less edge?

"Yes, love, I do." Finn didn't seem to mind her sharpness, instead he just chuckled.

"Just because I don't like mornings doesn't necessary mean that I never see them – I just rather not, unless given a good enough reason. Like seeing you."

"Oh, Finn! You flatterer! Well, eight at Saturday it is then. See you then. Bye, Finn."

"Bye, love."

~*~*~*~

"Moooooooooooooom!" Rory whined at her cell-phone, not happy to be leaving a message instead of actually talking to her mother.

"I'm so confused, my date with Colin was great, but a pink panther stole him and now I have to date Finn instead. Call me!"

Weird, yes, she knew, but a message like that would ensure that Lorelai would call back at the earliest possible time – maybe even earlier. And sure enough, five minutes later she had her mother live on the phone, demanding details.

Lorelai gushed over Rory's description of her date with Colin, hissed when told about Stephanie's return (yet at the same time laughing at the picture presented by her daughter) and audibly shook her head about the Finn-dilemma. Her only advice was to take things as they came and have fun ("Safe fun, though, mini-me"). Then Lorelai proceeded with some rather disturbing news.

"Oh, and Rory? You didn't hear this from me, but you're not the only one with a 'replacement' date this weekend. Your grandmother? She's decided that it's time for her to start dating, and is going out with some man from the club…"

"What? Wow. Do you think this means her and grandpa are getting a divorce?"

"I'm not sure. I never thought it'd go this far, to be honest. I mean, so my parents drive me crazy, but they're my parents. I think I'm a little too old to get a 'new dad' actually, but it depends; he might buy me a new car as a bribe. I could live with that."

"God, mom! Stop talking now, please. Plus, I need to go. See you tomorrow, love you."

"Okay. Love you, kid."

~*~*~*~

Saturday morning came all too early, especially since Rory hadn't fallen asleep until two in the morning. Friday night dinner had been awkward, knowing about her grandmother's plans, and when she'd returned to her dorm the place hadn't exactly been quiet. Getting up in time had been a pain. Still, when Finn knocked on the door she was ready, albeit with only seconds to spare.

"Rory! Why the hell am I being woken up by your date?" Paris yelled, causing Rory to wince.

"I don't know. Maybe for the same reason that I couldn't fall asleep last night because of your sex-life?" Rory shot back, not bothering to hide her annoyance.

Finn's amused smile and Paris' explosive blush both made her feel a little better, and without waiting for another reaction she left.

"So. Room-mate trouble?"

"Sort of. Paris has a new 'boyfriend', for lack of a cleaner term, and they were at it when I came home yesterday. They are so much alike, both of them demanding respect and consideration from others while sucking at giving it. I like Paris; I really do, even if it probably means I'm ready for a mental asylum, but… Sometimes I wish she'd gotten accepted to Harvard so that I could have a normal room-mate."

"Harvard refused her?" Finn looked interested, so Rory told him the whole story – complete with a detailed description of Paris' public meltdown upon finding out. It made them both laugh, and gave them a better start of their "date day".

~*~*~*~

Finn had really hit the mark, Rory thought when she returned to her dorm for a shower and a change of outfits. He had gotten them a private lesson from a man who specialized in training baristas. A whole day to learn about coffee! Mom's going to be so jealous!

Thankfully Paris was nowhere to be seen – She's probably with Doyle – and Rory spent the hour until Finn knocked on her door again daydreaming about all that coffee while getting ready.

"So, where are we heading?"

"Oh, I thought that since we spent the day as we did there's this Italian restaurant, where they serve amazing espressos, that'd be just perfect. Now, they won't let you make your own espresso, not even after today's lessons, but still."

~*~*~*~

"It's okay; I'm all coffee'd out, I think. On the 'making of'-front that is, not drinking it. See, that's how you know if a Gilmore Girl is seriously ill; she refuses coffee and eats vegetables."

She smiled, thinking again on her mother and how Lorelai would react upon finding out what Finn had had up his sleeve. Finn joined in with a smile of his own, and placed his hand on the small of her back to guide her. The gesture felt a little too intimate for Rory, but then again: this was Finn, the guy who called her love. Also, the presence of his hand sent thrills through her body – a slightly unnerving yet nice feeling.

Dinner was great. Not only was she presented with an enormous selection of pastas, finally ending with a lovely dish containing chicken, bell peppers and Gorgonzola; but there was also an amazing tiramisu and an equally amazing espresso. The fact that conversation had been easy – Finn's knowledge of movies was impressive and his taste in music close enough to her own to give them lots of common ground – made her smile constantly and the fact that Finn had kept his alcohol intake to a minimum – a glass of red wine each - had eased her greatest worry about him.

They had talked about their next date, or rather: Finn had told her he had everything planned for the coming weekend. The only details he'd given her was that she needed to pack, for a multitude of occasions, and that they would need to leave Friday evening. No matter how much she pushed he refused to say more, not even when faced with her best Bambi-eyes.

Outside her dorm Finn stopped, and looked suddenly serious before asking her if she'd enjoyed herself.

"Yes, enormously. You know, I almost didn't go, but I'm really glad I did. Today's been great Finn," she said with a smile that suddenly turned into a yawn.

"Oops, sorry. It's not the company; it's the fact that I only got five hours of sleep. I've enjoyed it all, but I guess even the magic of coffee can only pull off so much."

"Then I'll let you go get some sleep. I hope your room-mate's not… busy," Finn said with a smirk and a heightened eyebrow.

Rory laughed quietly and shook her head, thinking to herself that Paris' earlier embarrassment probably meant she'd not see Doyle again that week. Not if she was lucky at least. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she missed Finn moving closer, until she felt his lips press against hers. Again she felt a jolt going through her body at his touch, an electric current flowing from where his skin touched hers and through her entire being. Wow… The feeling lessened after only seconds, as he broke contact, and Rory was uncertain what to feel. She wasn't sure what she felt about Finn, and here she was, feeling empty because he didn't do more than kiss her goodnight. How messed-up was she, really?

"Goodnight, love. I'll call you. Sleep well."

He stayed as she opened her door and said goodnight, and didn't leave until she had closed and locked the door behind her. A bit crazy he might be, but he did know how to be a gentleman when he so wished.

While getting ready for bed Rory pondered her earlier reaction. Just four days earlier she'd been on a great date with Colin, leaving her wanting more and well on her way to fall for him. Two days earlier she'd been sad, had in fact almost mourned, when their relationship had been nipped in the bud, and had not wanted to go out with Finn at all. And now? Now her body was filled with the memory of tingles, tingles caused by Finn's hand and Finn's lips. However, she didn't feel the same connection as she'd felt when spending time with Colin.

She was beyond confused, but firmly pushed all thoughts of handsome brunette boys away. That could be dealt with tomorrow – right now she needed sleep more than anything. But as she drifted into dreams memories of both goodnight kisses followed her…

~To Be Continued ~