"I think you've had enough," the grey-bearded bartender told Finn, who was finishing up what appeared to be his last scotch.
Finn didn't reply but stood to leave, tossing a hundred dollar bill on to the counter. Once outside, he dialled and waited.
"Hey Colin, my true friend!" he said a little louder than would've been appropriate.
"Finn," he replied, realizing from his voice that he was clearly drunk.
"Mind if I crash?" he asked.
He woke in the morning at Colin's guest bedroom, feeling rotten, unwilling to move. After he dragged himself to Colin's kitchen an hour later and sat in silence a few minutes gathering himself Colin asked, "So what happened, man, haven't seen you like this in a while?"
"Apparently I am not enough for Rory," he said boldly.
Colin sighed, thinking of what he could say, before commenting, "So what more does she want?"
"Something that he has and I don't," he replied.
"Have you talked to him?" Colin asked.
"No, I just went straight to the bar," Finn said, running his hand through his hair.
"Well you could just tell him to back off. This is your fiance and the mother of your child not some high school crush. I think that's a pretty convincing argument, at least it should be if he still considers you his friend," Colin added, deciding to side with Finn on this.
A few more hours later, Finn had sobered up and was ready to stop wallowing.
"Hi Finn, didn't expect to hear from you," Logan answered the phone, sounding a little surprised.
"Yea, I talked to Rory last night. Listen, I am not going to beat around the bush - I am pretty pissed," Finn explained.
"I am glad you two spoke, and for what it's worth, I am sorry," Logan replied, adding "but my sorry probably won't change anything as you don't trust me these days."
"I think you should come and visit us in Hartford sometime," he said, somewhat unexpectedly even to himself, "we should all talk."
"I have a free day Sunday, does that work for you?" Logan replied unsurely, not knowing what to expect from that invite.
"You realize that going back to school will be a huge burden on you financially, right? The pay is crap, you'll probably need a place to stay and all that travel back and forth," Paris said, as she and Rory walked around a park during her lunch break, strolling Leah. "Unless of course you intend to enjoy the ride on Finn's dime from now on," Paris added doubtfully.
"I won't do it unless I get the fellowship obviously, and I know I'll probably need to do some freelancing on the side," Rory explained, leaving the uncertainties concerning Finn's financial support in the possibly changed situation unmentioned.
"Well if you do it, I am proud of you. In Europe they don't really consider it a college education unless you've spent five years in the system you know," she added.
"Glad to live up to your standards, Paris," Rory laughed.
"How did Finn take it?" Paris inquired, putting on her sunglasses.
"The part about going to school he took okay, he said we'd figure something out, but at the time he hadn't heard everything else I had to say," Rory replied, a little hesitantly.
"What else did you say to him, Rory?" Paris inquired.
"Pretty much that I'm having some second thoughts," Rory said, looking towards the ground.
"What?!" Paris said a little too loudly.
"Keep it down, you'll wake her," Rory scolded, soothing Leah who was luckily still fast asleep.
"The guy seems pretty perfect as far as you've told, so what happened?" she asked, still in disbelief what she was hearing.
"Logan happened, well he didn't happen per se, nothing happened. I didn't sleep with him if that's what you are thinking," she blurted, "but he's been on my mind, and apparently he is not over me either," she added.
"I wish I could say I was surprised, Rory. You hopped into this thing with Finn way too fast, you knew it too," Paris stated bluntly.
"I didn't have much choice, I got pregnant," she reminded her, adding, "I hate hurting him though, he's done everything right, there is just this part missing, and I didn't really put my finger on it before I had some time to think about something other that surviving day-to-day with Leah," she explained, checking Leah's neck with her finger to see whether she was warm enough.
"How's it going with Leah? You seem to be managing better," Paris asked carefully.
"I think it's improving. I have my list, and it seems to be working. Not everything comes completely natural and there's still some excess guilt left I suppose, but I feel I am handling it," she explained.
"Any plans for today?" Rory asked Finn as they were drinking their coffee in awkward silence, that had lasted for a few days now.
"We're actually expecting company, my mom promised to babysit Leah today," he announced.
"Glad to have some warning, Finn," she hissed, asking "Who's coming?"
"Logan," he said plainly, taking his coffee to his laptop in the living room.
Logan stood pacing anxiously at the door. There had been a time when he had snuck into the pool house on a daily basis, waiting at that door just felt weird. The place looked familiar yet he knew pretty much everything had changed.
"Hi," Finn greeted inviting him in.
"Thank you for having me," Logan replied politely, feeling suddenly very awkward walking into their home.
"Hi, Logan," Rory called from the living room picking Leah up from her pen, "Zoe just texted that she's running a little late," she said to Finn.
"So, Logan, come on in, and well, here's Leah," she introduced.
"Looks like you alright," he said, recognizing Leah's bright blue eyes and dark brown hair.
"Anything to drink?" Finn asked.
"Water is fine," he replied.
"Do you know what he is up to?" Rory asked Logan quietly as Finn left to the kitchen to fetch the water.
Logan shrugged.
"I have a bad feeling about this," she said hesitantly.
"You've really changed this place up well," Logan began trying to lighten the mood, adding, "It almost doesn't look like the same house."
"We did like half of the house, some parts like the study are still stuck in time," Rory said, playing with Leah's hands on her lap.
"You look good with her." he said, loving the sight of Rory with a baby.
Rory turned Leah around and made some funny faces at her, making her giggle, as Finn returned with the water.
"Thanks," Logan replied, taking a sip.
"So, Logan, how have you been apart from…," Finn began as almost nothing was wrong.
"Work has been interesting, some different types of projects in the states than in the UK, more e-publishing, more administrative tasks. Spending a lot of time with Honor and her kids," he said casually.
"I think that's Zoe now. Hey Leah, let's get you a jacket, grandma is here to pick you up," Rory said as she handed her to Finn for a moment, going to grab her jacket and diaper bag.
Five minutes later Zoe pulled off the driveway with their daughter, leaving the three sitting uncomfortably.
"I wish I wasn't driving today, I sure could use a stronger drink right about now," Logan broke the silence. The other two could not agree more.
"I've got to tell you, Finn, you really surprised me with this invite, but please put me out of my misery, if you just got me here to yell at me. I probably deserve it too," Logan stated, trying to break the awkwardness.
"For one thing I wanted you to see how we live, and I am glad you got to see Leah. I needed you to see and understand that we're not just dating, but this is family. It has a dynamic. And while it may not be very career oriented or exciting, it is what it is. And it is a safe space for Leah," Finn explained.
Rory looked at the floor. She hated this.
"I never thought otherwise," Logan replied. Seeing their home and family stung, he knew too well that he was in an uncomfortable position and in an ideal world, he'd be the one to step out of the game like the better man. But he too was proud and somewhere deep inside him felt that he too deserved some happiness. Besides, he had kept his word, while she had reached out.
"And for the second thing, I just think it's wise that we all talked about the options on the table together," Finn added.
"Finn, I am not sure if it is something that can be talked about and solved just like that," Rory said, "I don't appreciate the pushing."
"But that's just the thing, you've just been the one telling us how things are and you've just expected me, us, to deal with it. But I don't think it is fair to me nor to Logan for that matter, that you just get to take all the time you want to figure this out, delaying the pain. One of us is going to get hurt, you must get that right?" Finn said, sounding annoyed.
"Finn.., " she began, looking at Finn and then at Logan, "I'm sorry, " she said, looking up trying not to cry. She needed to keep her mind clear.
"Finn, I think making her choose right here and now is not healthy either," Logan noted, adding "she's still struggling with other stuff, taking big steps forward in more than one of those, I think you can't blame her for taking some time before uprooting the things she knows."
"I guess one simpler question is whether there is any scenario that the two of you can talk, you push her towards her goals or whatever it is that you do, and stay just friends," Finn asked straightforwardly.
Logan looked at Rory, and she at him. The look was bitter-sweet. The silence lingered.
"I think that moment just answered itself," Finn added, after a pregnant pause.
"I can't say that I'd enjoy constantly being in contact if I knew it was something I couldn't ever have," Logan said sincerely. For him that would've probably been worse than staying away completely.
"And Rory, if you two weren't in contact, could you still do what you wanted to do?" Finn asked.
"I guess, but I am not sure how well," Rory answered reluctantly. Logan was an added bonus injecting her with confidence, rescuing her at times, as he put it, she didn't really need rescuing her.
"And in that light, do you see that our relationship would always end up lacking something that you have now pinpointed, or do you think this is something that can be improved," Finn asked brutally.
Rory felt short of breath, feeling a little faint.
"Can you just give me a minute," Rory asked, walking outside to the back yard, leaving the door ayar.
"Are you okay, Ace?" Logan asked from the living room, looking angrily at Finn.
She felt as if her gut was being torn out. She did the only thing she knew how, taking a deep breath after another. A few minutes later she walked back inside, pulled off her ring and handed it to Finn.
"You're right, it's not fair to you that I am such a mess," she said confidently. "I'm going to Stars Hollow, I'll pick up Leah later," she announced, glancing just a quick look towards Logan, before marching to her car.
Finn sat there defenceless, staring at a blank spot before he tossed the ring with full force somewhere in the room.
"I hate to say this Finn, but this is what you get for pushing. I am sorry about this, I really am. I know how much this hurts but I hope you find it in your heart not to hate her, at least eventually. She gave you a daughter, that's got to be worth something," Logan said and walked out.
AN: Apologies to all the Finn fans. The reasoning behind this decision was that Rory's character is not the most typical - she does not make the typical decision or the simpler one, she is not a settler. But don't worry, it's not the ending - all will be well. ;) Also I apologize in advance that tomorrow there won't be an update as I'm going on a small trip, and probably won't have time, I really wish I did.. the story just keeps living in my head.