A/N: Hi Everyone. Sorry for the disappearing act. Grad school is kicking my ass in so many different ways. I'm questioning why I thought it would be a good idea to get a PhD at this point. However, I'm so far in I can't give up now.
In any case, I hope you enjoy this short chapter. I wanted to make it longer but felt that the group had already spent too much time in Puerto Rico. What was supposed to be 1-2 chapters max, had turned in to several so I wanted to get them back on campus and back in the real world.
I live for reviews, likes, follows, and all those things that let me know you're reading and enjoying the story. I'll try not to go so long without an update for next time.
Chapter 13 – Back to Life, Back to Reality
Rory sighs as she leans back into Finn's chest. It had been a great weekend, busy and tiring, but so worth it. However, she was happy to be going home. She just wasn't quite sure what she was going to say to her mother. Since the opening of the Dragonfly things between the two had been strained at best. Rory wasn't sure how to bridge the gap that was created. Opening the book she'd pulled out of her bag she decided to focus on schoolwork and deal with her mother later.
"You okay, Kitten?" Finn looked down at his girlfriend, smiling that he was able to call her that. Finally. The two were ensconced on one of the sofas in the plane. Most of their friends were either sleeping or trying to catch up on homework without looking like they were studying. Rory was the only LDB member who studied opening and with pleasure. Everyone else saw it as a necessary evil.
"I'm good," Rory replies, turning slightly so she could kiss Finn's chin. "Just thinking about getting home. I'm not sure what I'm going to tell my mom. Or what I even want to tell her."
"Things still not back to normal there?" Finn knew how much Lorelai meant to Rory. Their rift had weighed on Rory all summer. He had hoped that the distance would have helped heal the hurt on both parts.
"Not really, no," Rory says after a moment. "She tried to be 'normal,' like I said when we first got back to Yale, but all of our conversations since then have been strained. It's so polite it's grating on my nerves. Plus, I didn't get a chance to tell her I was heading out this weekend."
"That's dangerous," Finn says, rubbing Rory's arms in comfort. "Especially if she had to go to Friday night dinner at the grandparents by herself."
"Yeah," Rory chuckles thinking about that awkward dinner, "I'm sure to get hell for that. Oh well, nothing I can do about it now. Do we need to worry about that?" she asks, changing the subject and pointing toward Logan and Juliet snuggled up on the other sofa. "You still have to tell me the story on that one."
"Well, if someone hadn't distracted me when we got back to the room last night, I would have then," Finn smirked remembering his girlfriend attacking his lips as soon as their bedroom door was closed.
"Well, if you hadn't teased me all night looking so hot in your Dread Pirate Finn outfit I might not have. Oh, and whispering dirty things in my ear while dancing."
Finn's smile grew thinking about the teasing they had both done while at the ball. "I will tell you, Kitten, when others aren't around," Finn agrees. He kisses her head before continuing, "It's a long story, and one not many know, fully."
"I don't want to pry," Rory beings.
"Not prying, Love, but we try not to bring it up around them," Finn whispers in her ear. "Now, read your book. I'm going to just lay here and enjoy having you in my arms."
"As you wish," Rory says with a smirk. As she pretends to read her book, her mind drifts back to the ball the night before.
Rory followed the group into the hotel's ballroom, marveling at the lengths the Life and Death Brigade went to to be authentic in their parties. The costumes alone were magnificent. She was dressed in a silver and ice blue gown that was very reminiscent of Buttercup's from the end of The Princess Bride. Her hair, thankfully, was minus the extensions that had been used for most of the weekend. While shorter than most of the others, her hair was softly curled and just brushed her shoulders.
The room they were standing in was decked out like a great hall in a medieval castle, complete with long trestle tables and benches instead of individual chairs. The place settings were silver, and Rory racked her brain trying to remember what the dishes could be made of given the time period. Pewter, she thought. "Are the dishes authentic to the time period too?" she asked Finn who was standing beside her surveying the room.
"Well, of course, Kitten. Wouldn't want to ruin the integrity of the event," he said, his smirk firmly in place.
"Of course not," Rory replied as she shook her head. Before she could ask another question, there was a disturbance about ten feet in front of them, near one of the tables. She stood watching as Logan was confronted by Rachael who just wouldn't get the message that Logan was no longer interested.
"A hundred bucks says she tries to kiss him, or worse," Steph says as she comes to stand next to Rory, also watching the brewing show going on in front of them.
"I'll take that bet and raise it to five hundred," Colin commented as he stepped beside Stephanie, wrapping his arm around her waist.
"I have my trust fund from my Gran, but I think I'll wait for later," Rory says. "I think that chick is going to go full on bunny boiler before the semester's over."
"I'll take that bet," Finn says with a smile. He hugs Rory close to him as they continue to watch Logan and Rachael 'chat'. "We can negotiate the terms later," Finn whispers in her ear before gently nibbling on her earlobe.
"I'll hold you to that," she whispers back, upping the game by licking the shell of his ear.
Finn smothers a moan before replying, "Evil, evil woman."
The two are interrupted by raised voices in front of them.
"You've got to be kidding me," they heard Rachael yell. "Does she have a golden pussy or what? She looks like a little mouse afraid of her shadow," Rachael continues yelling while pointing toward the group at the entrance.
"She didn't?" Steph asks in shock.
"Oh, that's not going to go over well," Colin and Finn say together.
Before anyone could move, Juliet pushed Colin and Steph apart as she marched into the ballroom. She storms up to Logan and Rachael, pushing the brown-haired girl back away from Logan.
"Listen here, you stupid Bint, he doesn't like her that way, but you know what, I bet he doesn't like you either. At all. You were a lay, and probably not a very good one at that. Now back the fuck off and go find someone else to leech off of," Juliet bit out. With every word she backed Rachael up a step or two.
The group watched as Rachael turned on her heel, tossing her hair over her shoulder and stalked off. Juliet turned to Logan to say something, but the group watched, enthralled, as Logan took Juliet's face in his hands and kissed her. Kissed her like she was the last woman on earth, and he was a drowning man.
"It's about damn time," Steph huffed with a laugh.
"Damnit, I lost two grand. I never thought they would get their shit together after—" Colin began, stopping abruptly, fearful of saying too much.
"Should we be worried about that?" Rory asks. Not knowing the history of the group, she worried that her friend would get hurt.
"Nah, something just finally got worked out I think," Finn says, pulling Rory to him, giving her a quick hug. "I'll explain later," he added as he saw Rory turning, figuring she was going to ask what was going on. "Let's go find our table folks," Finn says, loud enough for Logan and Juliet to break apart, both with goofy grins on their faces. As a group everyone moves to the center table, settling into the end closest to the stage.
"Kitten," Finn whispers into Rory's ear. "Time to wake up." Finn let out a low chuckle as Rory grimaced in her sleep, snuggling further into Finn's chest. "Come on, Kitten. We're about to land in New Haven and it's time to get back on campus."
"Don't wanna. Comfy," Rory murmured in Finn's chest, snuggling even closer if possible.
"Kitten, you really need to get sit up. We're about to land, but the nice pilot can't start the decent until you're safely buckled in," Finn tries again. "I promise you coffee when we get through the airport."
"Promise?" Rory grumbles as she sits up looking around the plane. Everyone else is in their seatbelts, staring at her and Finn. "Sorry. Guess I was more tired than I thought," she adds as she clicks her seatbelt.
"No worries, RG," Stephanie says from her captain's chair. "None of us are feeling all that great at the moment. I blame it on too much sun."
"Yeah, because it couldn't have been all those little umbrella drinks you had while sitting in the sun, right?" Rory asks. She'd watched as her friends all sat around sunbathing drinking like the fish they claimed to be. She, herself, after the drinking during the parties, decided to stick with her true friend, coffee.
"Bit me, RG. Bite me!" Steph shot back, sticking her tongue out at her friend.
"Maybe if you weren't slathered in suntan oil," Rory quipped. "I'm not a fan of artificial coconut flavoring."
"By god, I think we've finally corrupted her," Colin said from his spot next to Stephanie. "And it only took, three days," he added after pretending to glance at his watch.
"Now you can bite me, Colin," Rory grumbled.
"I'll leave that to Finn. I'm not sure he's in a sharing mood."
"Damn straight." Finn said. He clasps Rory's hand, waiting to feel the plane touch down on the tarmac. "No sharing my Kitten. She's all mine." Finn leans over and places a gentle kiss on the crown of Rory's head.
"Right back at ya," Rory says, turning slightly to look up at him.
"I think I'm going to be nauseous," Robert complains as the plane begins taxiing to the hangar. The beauty of private planes and private airstrips, no walking through terminals.
"Dinner at China Palace?" Logan asks, his hand firmly gripping Juliet's.
"As long as it doesn't turn into a marathon dinner," Rory says as they begin collecting their carryon luggage and deplaning. "I, for one, have some studying to do before classes tomorrow."
"Such a good little student," Logan ribs with a smirk. "I promise no three-hour dinner."
Everyone piled into the SUVs that had already been loaded with their luggage. Rory briefly wondered how she was going to get all her extra baggage back to her room, but she figured Finn would help and maybe she could convince Robert to help as well.
Dinner was its normal raucous affair with the group. Juliet watched in awe as Rory loaded her plate with the various dishes in the center of the table. As usual, the group had just ordered half of the menu and most of the appetizers to share. The bill would be combined and split between the guys per usual.
Back on campus everyone bid each other a good night before peeling off and heading to the various dorms. Rory had convinced Robert to help her and Finn get her various luggage back to her dorm.
"Robert, thank you so much for all your help," Rory says as the man set the rolling luggage he'd overseen next to her door.
"No problem, RG. I'll email you that paper once I have it done. My spelling is for shit, and spell check has given up on me," he responds with a cheesy grin.
"Whatever," Rory shoots back, giving him an incredulous look. "Thanks again," she says as she gives him a hug goodbye.
Rory laughs as Robert tips an imaginary hat to her and Finn before turning smartly and walking off toward his own dorm.
"Why didn't he get his own luggage from your SUV? Won't he need it for this week?"
"He'll get it later this week. We all have keys to each other's vehicles just in case, so there's no rush," Finn explains as he waits for Rory to unlock her door.
Before Rory can push the door in, it's roughly opened, Paris Gellar standing in the opening with the light of the common room back lighting her. "Where the hell have you been, Gilmore?" She continues on, not letting either Rory or Finn answer, "You say you're leaving for the weekend, which to my mind means you're going back to that insane asylum you call a hometown, but no, that's not it. I've been getting calls from Lorelai every hour wanting to know where the hell you are. You didn't show up to Friday night dinner. I have better things to do with my time than taking messages for you."
"Paris," Rory says, trying to cut in. As her roommate continues to ignore her, ranting as only she can, Rory tries again, PARIS!"
"What?" Paris finally shouts as she pauses in her rant to take a breath. "I had things to do this weekend, Gilmore. I didn't need to be your answering service."
"Why didn't you just let my machine get it? And can you move so we can bring everything in? I'm not fond of standing in the hall having arguments."
Paris moved back from the door, sparing a glance at Finn before refocusing on Rory. "You went on a shopping trip? With him? You don't even like shopping?" She barked as Finn set the various pieces of luggage in the common room by the door. "And since when do you have that type of luggage?"
"I'll explain what I can later, Paris. I'm really tired, I need to unpack, and evidently call my mother back," Rory begins just as she hears her phone ring.
"I'm not answering that, Rory. It's probably your mom. Again," Paris mutters as she stalks off toward her own bedroom, slamming the door for good measure.
"This isn't going to go well," Rory grumbles as she takes two of the suitcases and moves toward her room. Her phone had stopped ringing, thankfully.
Finn followed her into her room with the other two suitcases, and her laptop bag. "Just tell her you were whisked away for the weekend and only had time to call your grandparents to tell them you wouldn't be there at Friday night dinner." Finn reaches for his girlfriend, turning her to face him. "I'm going to miss you sleeping next to me tonight, Kitten," he says softly, leaning down to give her a gentle kiss.
"I'm going to miss that too, Finn," Rory says, reaching up to capture his lips in a firmer kiss.
Just as the kiss starts to heat up, the phone rings again. With a sigh Rory brushes her hand down Finn cheek, "I guess I should get that," she says as she turns to her desk.
"I'll see you tomorrow for lunch, yah?" Finn asks as he moves toward the door.
"Timothy Dwight?" Rory asks as she picks up the phone, punching the talk button.
"It's the best cafeteria on campus," Finn says before shutting the door quietly. He pauses a moment as he hears his girl answer her phone.
"Hi, Mom. Yes, I know I wasn't at Friday night dinner. There was a school thing that came up that I had to go to."
"I told Grandpa, he was supposed to tell you and Grandma."
"Yes, I know I should have called you, but it was all last minute and I wasn't allowed to bring my phone." Pause. "No, I didn't join a cult. You know me better than that." Pause. "Would I do anything illegal? Or dangerous?"
Finn laughs as his girlfriend tries to placate her overprotective mother. Still smiling, Finn makes his way out of the dorm room, heading back to his SUV to grab his own bag before heading to his room. This weekend was definitely one for the books.