A/N: Hope you enjoy the chapter and thank you for all the reviews, I can't believe how many I'm getting these days!
--
After the girls left, Steph picked up the last few things left in her apartment. When she was done, she saw she still had an hour until Colin would be back. She had asked him not to come back until 6 because she hadn't been sure when they would be done with the party. She would call to tell him it was clear, but he mentioned going to the library, and she knew that meant he wouldn't answer his phone. Bored, Steph looked through the kitchen and saw they were low on food and decided to go to the store to pass some time.
Steph walked back into their apartment carrying a few bags and wondered where Colin was. She went to the kitchen and quickly put everything away before walking into the living room only to find Colin sitting on the couch pouring over his books: reading, underlining, taking notes.
"Colin what do you want for dinner?" Steph asked, leaning against the wall.
"Whatever you want," Colin replied not breaking his gaze from the page, Steph could tell he wasn't really listening.
"Okay, I was thinking liver and onions."
"Sounds good."
"Then after, I'm going to try my luck at amateur night at the local strip club."
"Have fun."
"I think I'll find a guy for a nice quickie."
"Mhmm."
"I bet he'll be better in bed than you, what do you think?"
"You're probably right."
Steph rolled her eyes and left the room. She knew Colin needed to study, but this was ridiculous. Normally, she left him alone while he studied, but he needed a break just like anyone else. During the week was one thing, but people need a break on the weekend. Steph also knew that she would go nuts if he ignored her: They had limited time together as it was. Walking back into their bedroom, Steph began to formulate a plan; it really was for Colin's own good, and well, if it was fun for her…who was she to complain.
Twenty minutes later, Steph stepped out of their bedroom and strutted her way into the living room wearing a knee length khaki skirt, black button up shirt and heels. She walked over to the stereo and started playing a track only to hear, "Steph, I'm working, please turn off the music."
"Oh come on Colin, it a Saturday night," Steph pointed out.
"Fine, just keep the volume low," Colin asked and started searching the coffee table for another book.
As the intro for the song ended, Steph began to slowly unbutton her shirt and walk towards the couch, making a show of each button coming undone. After she discarded the item, she glanced at Colin and noticed he was now flipping through his book of 20th Century Supreme Court Rulings. Rolling her eyes, Steph circled the couch and as she passed behind where he was sitting ran her hand down his neck.
"Hey while you're up can you get me a few more colored highlighters from my desk?"
Steph's jaw actually dropped, but she managed to coo, "In a minute."
"Thanks."
Steph finished circling the couch and put one leg up on the coffee table and proceeded to slowly unzip her skirt and then let it dramatically drop to the floor. This left her standing in red lingerie with black mesh along the sides that had a shelf bra and a laced up back. It also had a garter holding up her thigh highs, and she was still wearing her heels. But still, no response from Colin.
Deciding she would need to be bolder, she moved and sat on the edge of the coffee table, facing Colin. Putting her feet on the couch next to him, she rolled down one thigh high and then the other. She was shocked to see he was actually still doing work. If he was someone else, she would think he was just pretending not to notice, but one look at his face, and she knew it was no act.
Sighing loudly, she studied him and stood up, thinking about what her next move should be. He reached out to look up something and then leaned back again. As he did, she removed the matching g-string that had come with the outfit and twirled it on her finger, trying to decide what to do. She finally got an idea, and as casually as she could, let it fly, hitting Colin on the side of his head. To her surprise, he actually noticed, but only enough to grab the item and toss it behind the couch, never looking at what it was.
Soon, he turned to read the book sitting to his left, Steph saw this as her opening so strode over, maintaining her composure, and took the notes off his lap and books out of his hands.
"Steph what are you doing?"
Instead of answering, Steph straddled his lap. Just as she did, she saw the shock register on his face. "What are you wearing?"
"Like it?" Steph asked, with a flirtatious tone.
"Like it? I love it," Colin admired while taking in her outfit, but after a few moments, asked "When did you change?"
"Almost a half hour ago, I even stripped for you. You didn't see?" Steph questioned innocently.
Looking around the room, Colin now saw her scattered clothes, and groaned, "I'm sorry. I know I missed it…can I get a repeat?"
"You know I keep telling you life is passing you by while you study," She chided while she rolled her hips against him.
"Now is not the time for a lecture," he groaned.
"No it's not. But look at this as a life experience to learn from; just one more example to add to that list of Things Colin Missed While Being Boring."
"I haven't missed that much," Colin pointed out.
"You missed Rory throwing out her copy of Herman's and Chomsky's something or other."
"This is Rory we're talking about, she most certainly did not."
"She was writing a paper for a class and needed a quote from the book and couldn't find it. She got frustrated with the stupid book saying she knew she had read it, but not it wasn't there and threw it out. Only to learn later that Finn had found her book earlier and started paging through it. He apparently found a few pages simply fascinating, but was leaving so he ripped them so he could take them with him. When he got back, he realized what he had done, he threw them out hoping Rory wouldn't notice…"
"Well that does sound like Finn, but Rory couldn't have thrown the book out."
"Oh, trust me, she did. It took us a few minutes to get over our shock. When Logan finally could speak and managed to ask what the book ever did to her, she explained and Finn started looking guilty. She turned on Finn and he cracked under about 20 minutes of pressure. I've never seen our dear, sweet Rory yell as loud or long or in such colorful language as when she chased Finn around the apartment while you sat at the table studying."
"Fine, I missed that, what else?"
"You missed me stripping," Steph reminded him.
"If you do it again, I swear you'll have my undivided attention."
"Sorry, one show per day," Steph shot back and tightened her legs around him.
"You're so mean," Colin whined, but started kissing her neck and let his hands roam her body freely.
"I promise you didn't miss the main show," she whispered in his ear.
"Really?" Colin asked, realizing his night was about to get much better.
"Nope," Steph answered and stood up, pulling Colin with her, and led him back down the hall to continue what had already started in their bedroom.
--
Logan arrived at the apartment after his lunch with Finn, Colin, and Maddy. He saw Rory wasn't home yet so decided to read for a bit. Over an hour later, his concentration was interrupted by Rory walking through the door. Seeing that her arms were full, he moved to help her by taking the top two boxes off the pile. Not expecting his help, Rory jumped, causing the bottom two boxes to fall, and exclaimed, "Logan, I didn't think you'd be home."
"Trying to hide something?" Logan asked, seeing her scramble to pick up what she dropped.
"No," she replied quickly as she shoved something into the bag on her arm.
Coming up behind her, Logan quickly reached out and beat her picking up the last item, a sheer pink piece of lingerie. Holding it up, Logan let out a whistle and said, "When do you plan on wearing this because that is not something I am willing to miss."
"Logan, give it back," Rory demanded, her embarrassment and annoyance coming through as she began blushing.
As she was saying this, a wave of realization hit Logan, causing him to smirk and ask, "Is all of this lingerie?"
"Does it matter?" she shot back.
"No, but I would love to know when to expect my own private fashion show of you modeling them."
"Our honeymoon," Rory said seriously.
"That's like three months away!"
"I know, but these were gifts from the girls for our honeymoon, and no, you cannot get a preview."
"What about the shopping bag…that wasn't a gift, but I know it's from a lingerie store. Can I see what's in there?"
"No!" Rory said even stronger.
"Please…" he whined.
"You're just like a little kid!"
"Oh come on, what's the big deal about a new bra," he pouted.
"It isn't a new bra," Rory muttered, turning to walk down the hallway and put the gifts away.
"Then why can't I see?"
"It's for our wedding night. And please, don't go looking through everything when I'm out one day, I want it to be a surprise," Rory argued. True, she wanted to have some sort of surprise for him, but she also needed to work up the courage to wear all of this; she never really wore lingerie to bed.
Logan was going to try and plead his case, but he saw how much she wanted to have something to wear for him on their wedding night, which he was finding to be a huge turn on, so he dropped it. Deciding to go back to the boxes, he asked, "What about everything else?"
"What about it?"
"Our honeymoon isn't our wedding night, can't I see it?" he begged.
"You want to surprise me with where we are going, I want to keep the lingerie I'm bringing a surprise…unless you want to negotiate a trade?" Rory offered.
"What kind of deal," Logan asked, making a point to pay close attention.
"It's simple, I swear. You tell me where we're going, and I let you see the lingerie."
"No deal," Logan said after he thought not only about how much he wanted to surprise her, but also realized he didn't want to see her in the lingerie until the honeymoon. There was something alluring about her having these unknown outfits for him to enjoy. Deciding to redirect his argument he asked, "Fine, what about this?" holding up the pink number, "I've seen this. So can you put this on and give me a sneak peak at what I can expect?"
Seeing what Logan was holding, Rory asked seductively, "You really like that?"
"Yeah, I do," Logan admitted and started trying to picture her in it.
"Do you think I'd look good in it?"
"You'll look incredibly sexy," Logan replied smoothly.
Rory smirked and said, "Then be sure to thank Honor the next time you see her."
"Why would I do that?" Logan asked, Rory's statement bringing his imagination to a screeching halt.
"She bought it for me," Rory explained. With this, Logan froze allowing Rory to take the garment out of his hand and put it away with all the rest.
As she finished, Logan whined, "Why would you tell me that?"
"Because Honor gave it to me," she said simply.
"You do realize you ruined any chance of that ever having an affect on me."
"Why's that?" she asked innocently.
"Because every time I see it, I'll think of Honor and that has a neutralizing effect on anything that lingerie would achieve."
"Really, well, we'll see. Honor said you'd love what she bought, and now, after seeing your reaction, I'd love to see you actually remain unaffected once you see it on me."
"I would have been very affected, but then you had to tell me it was from my sister!"
"I think you'll like the other one just as much, wanna see?" Rory said, now teasing him.
"No!" Logan yelled.
"So you agree with me, you shouldn't see them until the honeymoon," Rory said proudly.
"I guess," Logan relented, but then moved closer to her and whispered, "but it doesn't matter, you're sexy in everything," and kissed her. He hadn't meant for it to lead anywhere only to emphasize his point, but soon enough they were on their bed.
Logan was surprised to see how eager Rory was so he ran his hands under her skirt and removed her panties. It was only when he moved to kiss her stomach that he realized that the rest of her clothes still remained. He started to undo the buttons allowing her shirt to fall open, then seeing that her bra closed in the front, snapped it open and immediately took her breast in his mouth.
Rory was a little shocked at how fast things were moving. The only other time it had escalated this quickly was their first time after Logan had come home for a few days from London, and if that was any indication of what was about to happen, she was not going to complain.
Rory reached for his pants, undoing them quickly, and pulled both his pants and boxers down in one motion. They hadn't reached his knees before she rolled a condom on him and used her legs to pull him closer.
Logan managed to push up her skirt as he felt Rory draw him towards her. He braced his arm so he could shift his body allowing him to enter her. He immediately set a quick pace, hoping this was what she wanted because right now, he didn't know if he could stop. Soon, Logan felt Rory start to go over the edge and sped up, hoping not to be too far behind.
Logan collapsed next to Rory on the bed only turning his head to see her face, eyes closed with a huge smile. All Logan could muster was a mumbled, "Oh my God."
Rory rolled onto her side, blushing at their current half dressed state, but still managed to reply, "So you agree with Dogma, God is a woman?"
Logan rolled his eyes because he couldn't think of any other response right now. When he finally began to recover, he asked, "What inspired that and can you do it again?"
"I just spent an afternoon planning and thinking of ways to seduce and pleasure you, what do you think caused this?" Rory admitted, but it caused her to blush even more.
Logan smiled knowing what had happened, but that Rory wasn't about to say it, "So your imagination is vivid?"
"I will not confirm or deny that claim," she shot back and made a move to get off the bed.
"Where are you going?" Logan asked, having yet to move from where he fell.
"I'm hungry," she answered as she changed into sweat pants and a tank top.
Logan watched as she walked calmly from the room, no sign of embarrassment over what had just happened. Pulling himself together, he went to the bathroom and then got dressed before following Rory into the kitchen. He saw her digging through the freezer so he walked up behind her, kissed her neck, and asked, "What are you looking for?"
"Food, I told you I'm hungry," she said, turning to him with a big pout on her face.
"How about I make something?"
"Okay, what do you want me to do?"
Logan looked at her, trying to decide what was safe, "Get a bag and put flour in it."
"Are you just giving me a pointless task to keep me from helping?"
Logan laughed, "Would I do that?"
"You have done that," she pointed out.
"Just once! But, no this is has a purpose," he answered.
"For the dinner?"
"Yes, for the dinner. I thought I'd bake chicken, it's easy, and you don't have to do much while it's cooking."
"And the flour is for?"
"You put each piece in the bag and shake, coating it with flour, then into the pan to cook."
"I get to shake?"
"Yes, but remember to close the top…I forgot that step the one time I let Finn help."
Rory laughed, but moved to do as instructed. Soon, the food was in the oven, and they decided to watch TV while it cooked. After dinner was done and cleaned up, Rory asked, "Do I get dessert?"
Logan smirked and started pulling her down the hall causing Rory to ask, "Logan, the ice cream is in the freezer."
"Ice cream?" he asked confused.
"Yeah, I said I wanted dessert," Rory reminded him even though the conversation had just happened.
"I thought you were asking to have sex again," he said seriously.
"I said I wanted dessert," she reminded him.
"I thought it was a metaphor."
"No, no metaphor, just my craving for Chunky Monkey."
"How about I have my dessert then you can have yours?" Logan bargained.
"Will you serve it to me in bed?" she asked hopefully.
"Sure," Logan agreed and started moving even quicker down the hall dragging Rory with him.
--
Finn dropped Maddy off at Bri's when she called to say she was home. He talked to Bri about getting together the next day, but didn't stay long since Bri had promised Maddy some girls' only time.
Sunday afternoon, Finn knocked on Bri's door, and when he heard a faint reply of come in from inside, he reached for the knob, only to find it unlocked, opened the door, and walked in her apartment. He moved to the couch, wondering when Maddy would make her appearance; they had a lot of fun going to lunch and the park yesterday, and he wanted to see her again.
After he had settled in, he heard Bri call, "Finn, can you come here?"
Getting up, he made his way down the hall to what he knew to be Bri's room. Pushing the already ajar door open completely, he was shocked to see Bri standing in front of him in a black and white floral flyaway babydoll and panties.
"Hi," she said softly and shifted her gaze away from Finn's almost immediately while slightly reddening. Then, gathering some courage, she took two quick steps towards Finn, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him.
It took a moment, but Finn soon responded, moving his hands around her waist to pull her flush against his chest, and deepening the kiss. His body was on autopilot as he moved his lips to start his trek down her neck while at the same time walking them towards her bed. Soon enough, Finn was kneeling over Bri, continuing down her neck and moving onto her collar bone. After spending time enjoying her, Finn returned to her lips as he ran his hands up her stomach to play with the only tie holding the lingerie closed. It was when he was playing with the ribbon that he heard her suck in a nervous breath and felt her entire body tense up, causing him to bring everything to a screeching halt. When he did, he felt her body relax again, confirming what he suspected, so he pulled back and sat on the edge of Bri's bed.
"Why did you stop?" Bri asked, wanting to understand his actions.
"I shouldn't have let it go that far, we needed to stop," Finn answered, trying to calm her.
"No we don't." Bri said, and moved to kiss him again only to have Finn stop her.
"Yes," Finn said as he finalized his decision mentally, "we do."
"Why? Don't you want to?"
"That's not the point: I should have stopped it sooner."
"That's not the point?" Bri asked in disbelief.
"No, it's not." Finn said, holding his ground.
"You're not attracted to me, that is the point!" Bri yelled, her confusion from where their relationship was going getting the best of her emotions.
"What are you talking about?" Finn questioned, trying to stay calm.
"I was offering to have sex with you, and you did nothing!"
"I didn't do nothing," Finn defended.
"Then, you stopped because you don't like me like that!" Bri accused, when Finn didn't say anything she continued, "Are you only still dating me out of pity? Just break up with me, I don't care!"
After a pregnant pause, Finn, in a voice void of emotion, offered, "I think you're looking at this the wrong way."
"How?" Bri shot back.
"The question isn't why don't I want you, but why haven't I had you," Finn explained.
"That's the same thing!"
"No it's not," he said firmly. "Let's make one thing clear: I am very much attracted to you."
"So why haven't we had sex?" Bri challenged, going straight to what had been bothering her.
"The truth?" Finn asked.
"No, lie to me," she bit back sarcastically, but there was no humor in her voice.
"At first, it was me not wanting to rush things," Finn admitted.
"Rush what? I'm not virgin Finn, hell, I have a kid!"
"Just because you've had sex in the past doesn't mean you're ready for us to have sex now," Finn pointed out.
"Bullshit! Does this look like I want to wait?"
"Not look, but feel like you want to wait, yes."
"Whatever," she muttered and then asked, "And now?"
"I'm waiting for you not to tense when I touch you," Finn said, still maintaining his calm.
"What are you talking about?" Bri asked, suddenly nervous again, she didn't think he would have noticed that.
"The second you think we're going to go farther than you're comfortable with, your whole body tenses, and this wasn't the first time. Right now, I'm just wondering how it got so far before you reacted."
"Because I wanted to!"
"No you didn't," Finn said, knowing he was right on this.
"So now, you know everything about me?"
"No, but I do know that you're basically terrified by the idea of a physical relationship, which again makes me wonder why you're wearing that" Finn stated seriously.
"I wanted you to want me!"
"Don't you believe me when I said I do?"
"I don't have any reason too!"
"Look at what we were doing, how is this not wanting you?"
"You stopped! You've slept with all those women but not me, your girlfriend!"
"Don't ever compare yourself to them, you're better then all of them."
"You had sex with them!"
"What could I do to change that?"
"You could've had sex with me!" Bri argued, letting out one of the thoughts that had been going through her mind constantly for the past day.
"So you wanted me to push you into something I knew you weren't ready for?" Finn replied, wanting her to see his reason.
"That's not what I said!"
"Then what?"
"I was here telling you very clearly what I wanted, and you rejected me!" Bri said on the verge of tears.
"What would you have me do?" Finn asked, seriously not seeing what other option there was.
"Nothing!" she yelled and stormed into the bathroom.
Finn remained on her bed and heard the shower turn on. It was a while later when he finally heard it stop, and soon Bri appeared in lounge pants and a t-shirt running her hands through her damp hair. Finn had known he shouldn't leave, if there was one thing he remembered clearly it was Logan saying his biggest regret was walking out of the restaurant after his fight with Rory. That was what had caused Rory to ask for some time, Finn didn't want Bri to ask for the same. He wanted to know what was wrong, being friends with Steph for so many years had taught him girls rarely freak out for no reason. But now that he saw she had been crying, any idea of what to say seemed useless.
Although Bri was still upset, she had managed to calm herself down, and quietly asked, "Why are you still here?"
"Would you rather I left?" Finn asked, now not so sure about his choice to stay.
"That's not what I meant, I'm just surprised you're still here."
"Oh," Finn let out softly, and before he realized how clichéd it would sound, asked, "Are you okay Doll?"
Bri nodded, but the tears began to resurface in her eyes. Finn stood up and brought her into a hug, not one for finding comforting words. It wasn't long before she buried her face into the bottom of his chest letting her tears out once again, only this time they weren't stopping.
After a few minutes passed, Finn, wanting to get her off her feet, led Bri to her bed for the second time that day. But this time, he lay down first allowing her to curl up at his side, her head still buried in his chest. He continued to remain silent and started rubbing her back as the time passed.
--
Finn wasn't sure how long they had been laying there, but he would guess at least 30 minutes. Bri cried for nearly 10 minutes and then seemed to be slowly calming down, by now, he was beginning to wonder if she had actually fallen asleep.
A faint voice interrupted his thoughts, "Finn?"
"Yes Doll?" Finn replied, his own voice scratchy.
"I'm sorry," she said sincerely.
"Nothing to be sorry for," Finn reassured and kissed the top of her head. Again, they fell into silence, this time lasting five or so minutes.
"I didn't mean it," Bri whispered.
"Mean you're sorry?" Finn asked confused.
"No," Bri said with a forced laugh. Then lifting her head to look at him, she said, "If we broke up, I'd care."
"I know, I'd care too," he admitted and gave her a gentle kiss, hoping it would reassure her.
Bri stayed in Finn's embrace for a while longer, but eventually sat up and declared, "We should talk, shouldn't we?"
"Probably."
There was an awkward pause, neither sure where to start so Bri spoke, "What did you mean there is a difference between wanting me and having me?" Bri wasn't stupid, logically she knew what the comment meant, but this had been eating at her mind, and she needed to hear it again, while her mind was clear.
"Exactly what I said. There isn't a reason why I don't want you because I do, you have no idea how much I do," Finn admitted.
"I'm working on getting that," Bri said.
"I know. And, as for why I haven't….I don't want to push you, I don't want you to think I expect it because I don't. In college, girls threw themselves at me and offered me sex thinking it would get me to settle down, but it just made them one of the many. You aren't one of the many, you never were."
"What does that mean?"
"The sex with those girls was just sex. I need you to realize that I'm not just trying to have sex with you; I want a relationship.
"Isn't sex part of a relationship?" Bri asked
"It can be, but I don't want to have sex just because we can. Sex wasn't going to seal the deal then, or I would be with one of them, and it's not a deal breaker now."
"Okay…"
"Bri, I've noticed how you react while we've been together that tell me you aren't ready for a physical relationship."
"Like what?" Bri questioned.
"Why does your body tense up?" Finn challenged.
"You noticed that."
"I did, and I also remember it happening before," Finn pointed out.
"When?" Bri asked, not knowing what he was referring to.
"There were two times…." Finn started, before reminding her of his memories.
--
Finn was in his car with Bri and Maddy driving them back to their apartment after spending the day at the zoo. Finn hadn't been to sure what to expect, but had to admit, he had a lot of fun. At first, Maddy had been a little shy, because of both Finn and being around so many people, but when Finn begged Bri to let them ride the train with her the two had bonded.
As Finn parked to walk Bri up, they saw Maddy was asleep in the back seat. When Bri went to pick her up, Finn offered claiming 'he was stronger,' which caused Bri to roll her eyes, but move so Finn could reach.
Finn carried Maddy to her room and left to let Bri settle her in, it was a little early but she could tell Maddy was tired from being out all day.
Bri came back and said, "I hope you had fun."
"I did, what about you?"
"I enjoyed myself, and I could tell Maddy did as well."
"That's good, so I have a question," he asked with a smirk.
"Okay…"
"I was wondering what you're doing Wednesday."
"Going to work," Bri answered, not seeing where he was going with the question.
"I meant after work."
"Oh, nothing planned yet, why?"
"I was hoping to give dinner a second try."
"Can we go back to the same place?" Bri asked hopefully.
"If you want," Finn replied. He closed the distance between them to kiss her and realized it felt just as good as it had before. Finn moved his hands to her hips as he leaned in for another kiss which caused Bri to reach up and wrap her arms around his neck, which because of their height difference caused her shirt to ride up. As they continued to kiss, Finn moved his hand to run it across her stomach, which was now bare. When he did, he felt her lips stop for a moment before continuing, but it still brought Finn back into reality, and realizing he wanted to move slower than he had in the past, decided he should stop.
He brushed his lips over hers one last time and then leaned back. Bri seemed unsure what to say so asked, "See you Wednesday?"
"Of course, but I'll call before then to work out the details."
"Okay, goodnight Finn, and thank you for today."
"You're welcome," Finn replied and then not able to stop him self stole one more kiss and then whispered, "Goodnight Doll," and walked back to his car.
--
Finn was over at Bri's apartment sitting on the couch with her watching movies. They had been dating for over a month now, and this had become some what of a routine. They did get out alone sometimes, but Finn knew it was hard for Bri to leave Maddy when she already spent so much time at work so the three of them had started spending most Saturday's together. Sometimes they went out for the day, and sometimes, like today, they just hung around the apartment.
They also tried to get time alone, on days like today, that usually came while Maddy took a nap or fell asleep for the night, but Finn also tried to get together with Bri for lunch once a week.
Bri noticed they were alone and leaned over to kiss Finn who was more than happy to oblige. He once again was holding Bri securely to him with his arms around her waist. Wanting to deepen the kiss, he kept one arm there while he brought the other up to cup her neck. While he did this, his hand brushed over her breast making her stop. When she felt his hand continue to her neck, she pulled herself together and resumed kissing, trying to brush it off as a conscience.
--
Bri nodded, vaguely remembering what Finn was referencing, and mumbled, "I'm sorry"
"You shouldn't be sorry, I can tell how nervous you become when it happens. I just don't want you to be scared of me."
"I'm not afraid of you," Bri said strongly.
"Then what? Because you're obviously afraid of something," Finn stated.
Bri looked up at Finn, not sure what (if anything) she should say. Before she decided, Finn asked, "Things are going good for us right?"
Bri nodded so Finn asked, "And, I know I want it to keep going well, what about you?"
Again, she nodded so he stated, "I want you to trust me, I want you to be able to tell me what's bothering you."
Bri nodded one final time, and the two fell into silence as Bri tried to figure out a way to explain what was going on. She wasn't sure what it was so she blurted the first thought that kept filling her mind when he made a move towards having sex, "I haven't had sex since I had Maddy."
"What about before you had her?" Finn said slowly, not sure what she meant by her statement but knowing it was important.
"We only did it once, Kyle was my first," she said blushing and looking away. While Finn had openly told her about his past with women, they hadn't discussed it, and they had definitely hadn't discussed Bri's past.
"Really?" Finn asked surprised.
"Yes," she said shyly, "is that bad?"
"No, it's not bad; I'm just surprised," Finn replied. "Why'd you only have sex once?" Finn asked, hoping to find out more about the situation.
"I got pregnant," Bri stated simply.
"But before that…Did you not like it?" Finn asked bluntly.
"It was okay," Bri said with an indifferent shrug.
"Okay?" Finn repeated. There were a lot of words he may use to describe sex and okay was definitely not one of them.
"Yeah, I mean, I didn't see what was so great about it so I wasn't in a hurry to do it again. Besides, it was right before finals, which are always crazy, and after that, Kyle left for a summer internship in California; we didn't really have the chance."
"If he was leaving, why have sex in the first place?" Finn asked because that didn't seem like something Bri would do.
Bri just shrugged yet again, "I wanted to know what it was like, and at the time, I liked him, thought I might even love him, and was worried that we would break up if we didn't. So we did, and I got Maddy."
"When did you find out?"
"We talked while he was away, and one day he told me he was coming back that weekend for his sister's high school graduation. He hinted at coming by to see me, which got me thinking about our first time, and that's when I realized I was late. Before that, I hadn't really had a reason to worry if I was a few days late, so when I was, I didn't think much of it."
Finn wasn't sure what to expect, but had to ask, "Then what?"
"After he landed, he went home to see his family, and then came over to my apartment. I was scared and ended up just blurting out I was pregnant," Bri explained, but was now on the verge of tears again.
Finn hugged her again and whispered, "What happened?"
"He yelled."
"About what?"
"Asking me how this could have happened if I was on the pill, I told him I wasn't. He asked why not, that when I didn't ask him to use a condom he thought that was my way of saying I was on the pill," Bri started to explain, the tears once again falling.
"It's not your fault," Finn said trying to soothe her.
She looked at Finn and started explaining, "I wasn't really thinking about anything, I just figured he would use something. God, I was so stupid!"
"What happened after that?" Finn asked, wanting to get the story out before anything else was discussed.
"We yelled at each other for a while, but then I asked what we were going to do now that it had happened."
"What'd he say?"
"He said he didn't want to have anything to do with it. That it wasn't his fault I wasn't smart enough to avoid getting myself knocked up, his exact words by the way. I was mad and told him that he didn't need to be involved in raising our child, but I thought he should pay child support because it was just as much his child as mine. When I said that, he became even angrier and threw me off the couch into the coffee table. Then, he walked up to me a kicked me in the stomach saying that should take care of the problem. That was the last thing I remember before waking up in the hospital," Bri got out, but was now shaking with tears streaming down her face so Finn hugged her even tighter.
"How'd you get there?" he asked after giving her a few moments to calm down a bit.
"I was living in an off campus student apartment building; I knew some of people on my floor: They heard the yelling and came to check on me when they knew he had left. They ended up calling 911."
"What happened at the hospital?"
"The doctor told me I had a fractured wrist, a few cuts that would need stitches on my hand and arm, the glass top on the coffee table broke, and a mild concussion, I must have hit my head when I fell. The first thing I asked was if the baby was okay."
"And she was," Finn supplied.
Bri nodded, "Up until then, I hadn't even thought about what I was going to do. But, when I asked, the doctor said they didn't know I was pregnant so hadn't checked. I waited for him to get the ultrasound set up, and I was so scared that something had happened. Finally, the doctor told me that the baby appeared to be fine, but called down an OB-GYN. She looked me over and said everything looked perfectly healthy for being six weeks along. Later, I overheard her talking to my main doctor, and she said that she was shocked because an impact like that usually causes a miscarriage."
"Of course, she was fine," Finn stated as if any other outcome was crazy talk.
"I knew the second he said the baby was okay that I was going to keep it," Bri said with a teary smile.
"Of course you would," Finn said. Then he asked something he needed to know the answer to, "You pressed charges right?" Finn asked.
Bri nodded, "After I was treated, they asked me how it had happened. When I explained, they called the police for me to give a statement. I told them I wanted to press charges."
"Good, what happened after that?"
"Lawyers got involved. I ended up agreeing to charge him with lesser counts if he signed away any and all rights to the baby, and a judge granted a restraining order…I just didn't want to ever see or talk to him again, and I haven't."
After Bri finished, they both sat there as all the new information sank into Finn's mind. He kept processing it and before he was done said, "Thank you for telling me."
He took a few more minutes and eventually said, "Don't ever blame yourself for getting pregnant. A guy should use a condom to prevent against disease, and to serve as a second form of birth control, especially for guys like me who had to worry about gold diggers lying about being on the pill, hoping to get pregnant. But regardless, in no way does silence ever mean a girl's on the pill."
"I know, I just can't believe I didn't think about it."
"Is he why you're afraid?"
"It's not like he beat me all the time, that was the first and only time it happened, and I would never have gone back to him," Bri said, wanting to defend herself.
"Good to know, but I asked if it had anything to do with why you're scared."
"I don't know."
"What's the first thing you think of when you think about having sex."
"That I could get pregnant again," Bri admitted.
"Anything else?"
Bri just shrugged so Finn decided to rephrase the question, "What does being pregnant make you think of."
"How much I love Maddy," Bri replied.
"It doesn't remind you of everything else that happened?" Finn hinted.
"No, why should it?" Bri asked, getting defensive.
"Anyone would understand if it did," Finn said calmly.
"I'm not afraid of sex!" Bri yelled.
"I'm not saying that, but I think all the all of those events are connected for you. And, Bri, you should be scared of what he did."
"I don't want to be," she confessed.
"I know, but you are…just don't be afraid of me, I would never put you in that position."
"You can't promise never to get me pregnant Finn," Bri said annoyed.
"I can't get you pregnant if we don't have sex," he pointed out.
"So we're never going to have sex?"
"Not right now. And don't start on the whole I'm not attracted to you bit again. I am, and I care about you, but this whole thing is still new. We're still getting to know each other; we're still learning to trust each other."
"Oh…"
"Can I tell you what I think?" Finn asked, but before she responded he continued, "I think that you should wait to have sex until you know he would be nothing but excited if you had to tell him you were pregnant."
"Him?" Bri asked a little confused.
"Well unless there have been major biological breakthroughs you, being a female, would need a male to produce a child, hence the masculine pronoun," Finn said, hoping to lighten the mood.
"Thank you, yes, I knew that. But that was a generic male, are you saying it won't be you?" Bri asked hurt. She didn't see the point of staying with someone if they thought a future together was out of the question.
"I didn't want the advice to be specific to me. I think it should be your personal rule that you apply to any guy you're with."
"That doesn't answer my question," Bri asked, understanding what he said and thinking he was probably right, but still needing to know his answer.
"I think it could be me, I would be ecstatic if it were me, but I can't see into the future and it's too early to be promising each other forever."
Finn's last statement left them both thinking about their relationship. Bri was the first one to speak, "You took that all very well you know, I was worried about how you would react." It was true, she had seen this conversation coming, and although she would have planned it differently, she had been worried somehow it would make him not want to be with her anymore.
"Would you rather I got mad?" Finn asked, not sure what she had meant by it.
"No."
"I am angry, not at you, at Kyle, and what he did…what's his last name?" Finn asked subtly.
"No, I don't want you to do anything to him…he's gone, and I've dealt with what happened, that's all that matters."
"He hurt you!" Finn exclaimed, finally allowing himself to focus on that part of the story.
"I know, I was there," Bri shot back.
"So why can't I kick the crap out of him?"
When Bri looked at Finn, the first thing she saw was that he was serious. She thought that he was joking, but now saw he was dead serious, in fact, she wondered what he would do if he ever did get his hands on Kyle…and that thought made her smile.
"Why are you smiling, I wasn't kidding. But if you'd rather I not use violence, I can make sure he's in financial ruin, and if he's not, put him there," Finn offered, as his mind started reeling at the possibilities.
Bri stood up and moved in front of Finn, wrapping her arms around his neck, "You're sweet."
"How is me hurting someone sweet?"
"You're being all macho," Bri said and smiled.
"You say that like I'm not normally…" Finn said acting offended.
"You're not, but it's sweet," she said again and kissed him, stopping whatever reply he was about to give.
Finn ended the kiss and pulled her onto his lap and asked, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine Finn, it was a lot of things coming to a head at once, but I'm glad I told you."
"I'm glad you told me too," Finn said honestly then asked, "Are we okay?"
Bri nodded and kissed Finn one more time before getting up and walking into the living room. Finn followed close behind and watched as she turned on the TV, then curled up with her on the couch as she flipped through the channels.
"Where's Maddy?" Finn asked, thinking back to what he expected when he showed up at her door this afternoon.
"I asked Rebecca to take her out, so we could be alone."
"When will they get back?"
"An hour or two."
"Did she know what you were planning?"
Bri nodded so Finn said, "Maybe you should call them and tell them to come back, I promised Maddy I'd see her today."
Bri reached over and grabbed the phone and dialed her sister, having a short conversation. When she hung up, she informed Finn that they would be home shortly.
They were still lying on the couch when Rebecca and Maddy returned.
"Mommy!" Maddy yelled and ran to Bri.
"Hey baby, I missed you."
"I missed you too," and then kissed her check before saying, "hi Finn."
"Hi Baby Doll, what'd you do with your Aunt Becky?"
"Ice cream!" she said happily.
Bri looked at Maddy and said, "You should wash your hands."
Maddy nodded and hurried out of the room, returning a few minutes later and climbed up on the couch and jumped on Finn's stomach to hug Bri, causing Finn to let out a grunt.
Bri turned her head and whispered to Finn, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
Bri smiled, "This is nice."
"It is," Finn agreed and silently kissed her forehead before Bri settled back down on his chest and rubbed Maddy's back.
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A/N: A few things to mention before I ask for those reviews:
I know this chapter had a lot of Finn/Bri, but I promise the next chapter will have Rory back at work, so please stay with me. I really like the Finn and Bri story and I hope you all do as well!
No Kyle will not make a reappearance in Bri's life (he is very much gone), just part of the story she was telling.
Okay now, send me reviews :-)