Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Monday, after she had said goodbye to Finn, Rory gave herself over to wallowing when she got back home. Sharing her ice cream with Will and her mom and watching bad movies, letting the sadness she felt out. Her mom had been surprised that Rory had wanted to have a wallow session. After all, as her mom had pointed out, it had only been just over a week. Rory couldn't explain it though, those ten days had been… well almost perfect. Finn was a great friend, who she had missed more than she'd realised until she'd seen him again, and then… He'd made her stomach lurch, her heart flutter, he'd made her feel more passion than she'd ever felt and he'd made her happy. Truly happy.

Tuesday morning she woke to a text message on her phone from Finn.

Hey Kitten, we're back in Aus, I'll call you when it's not three am there. Hope you had a good day x

She smiled at that as she got ready for the day. Then she looked up what time it was in Australia. It was eleven thirty at night, and he'd been on a plane for sixteen hours. She'd probably have to wait to call him. Internally she worked out that he should be up at about eight thirty that night, her time. Instead she sent him a text back.

Hey Finn, glad you got back okay, have a good night,

She hesitated as to what else to send.

Going to get my mug of mud to wake up. Speak soon x

With that she pressed send. She had a full day ahead of her thankfully. Wedding planning with Lane then hanging out with Jess that night.

Planning the wedding was much easier than Rory had thought. Brian and Lane hadn't wanted a huge sit down meal, which meant no seating chart. The food and bar was taken care of by the hotel, they had offers from loads of bands to play so entertainment was done. All they really had to do was go wedding dress shopping, bridesmaid dress shopping and get center pieces for the tables at the reception. The wedding planner at the Westchester had offered to put some samples together so they just had to choose from them.

They made arrangements to go dress shopping the next day at some exclusive shops in Hartford. Two of which were closing for part of the day just for them. Lane had found that weird still, but necessary. Then Lane, Brian and Rory were going to the hotel to choose the centerpieces. It was going to be a manic Christmas Eve.

At night her and Jess went out for pizza, chatted about books, editing, news and just generally hung out. He didn't bring up her future or lack of plans, he did say he thought Finn was an okay guy though. At nine she excused herself and went home to call Finn.

"Hello?" Finn answered on the fourth ring.

"Hi," Rory said with a big grin.

"Kitten, I was going to call you," Finn said and she could hear his smile.

"I'm not interrupting anything am I?" Rory asked, worried that he was busy.

"Nothing that can't wait, I'd much rather be talking to you love. How was your day?" He asked.

They spent half an hour on the phone talking about their days, about what they were doing the day after, when they could facetime. What their traditions were for Christmas. Until Finn had to go, he had to go meet up with his family for lunch, with his grandparents. It was already Christmas Eve there.

Hanging up the phone Rory smiled.

~~~~~~~~

Christmas morning dawned bright and early for the Morgan family, they'd never been ones to lie in bed all day on Christmas. Kelly always got up at six and waited till seven to wake everyone up.

Waking up in his childhood bedroom Finn smiled at his sister bouncing on his bed again as though she was five instead of twenty-five.

"Do you have to do that Gremlin?" He chuckled while sitting up.

"Yes I do Finny, Santa's been!" Kelly said with a wide grin. "And coffee's on, dad's making breakfast, Melanie's up with Mia, it's just you lazy arse, come on!"

"Alright, alright, get out," Finn laughed, throwing his pillow at his youngest sister.

"No, I'm waiting here till you're ready, you'll go back to sleep," Kelly said, sitting resolutely on his bed.

"Gremlin, I've got no clothes on, get out," Finn shook his head, the magic of Christmas.

"Ew! Were you chatting with Rory again last night? Is that it? Because if so, gross," Kelly said springing off his bed.

"Get out!" Finn chucked his other pillow at his sister. Waiting till she left he then got up and started getting ready for the day. It was a beautiful day, he pulled on his shorts and a wife beater with a rudolf on it. His nod to the festive season.

He checked his phone before he went downstairs, smiling as he saw that he had a message from Rory.

Christmas eve here, manic day but good, Merry Christmas Finn, hope Santa brings you everything you want. X

She never failed to make him smile.

Knowing Kelly would be back soon if he didn't hurry he put his phone in his pocket and went downstairs.

He could see everyone milling about in the open plan living area, it was light and fresh, a perfect family home, or that's how he'd always felt anyway.

His dad was dishing up breakfast, Kelly was trying to help while bouncing on her toes. His mum was sitting nursing a cup of coffee, not properly awake till after her second cup no matter what time she woke. Mel, his other sister was laid out on the couch, her eyes focused on her eight month old Mia, who was trying desperately to crawl. Finn grinned, all that was missing from the picture of family domesticity was him.

It wasn't long after that they were all sitting around the tree and presents were being passed around.

"This one is for Mia, from uncle Finn," his dad said, passing the present to Mel. Every year his dad dished out the presents and his mom sat with a trash bag waiting to collect the rubbish.

Mel opened the present with Mia on her lap, a smile stretching her face. Mel was the only blonde of the family, one year younger than Finn she was the more serious of the siblings. Which had been what made her unplanned pregnancy such a shock. The father was not in the picture, unlike most other society families the Morgan's rallied around Mel instead of shipping her off or covering it up.

"Thanks Uncle Finn," Mel grinned as Mia tried to eat the wrapping paper, not bothered about the singing, dancing toy inside or the onesie proclaiming her uncle to be handsome.

"Next one is for Mel from Finn," his dad said, passing over a small envelope that Finn had wrapped in Christmas paper, fairly badly. He wasn't great at wrapping, last year Sharon had offered to do it for him, which he took her up on. He was pretty sure Daniel wouldn't be offering that service anytime though.

"Thank you," Mel said sincerely, a smile on her face and tears in her eyes. He'd booked her a spa day and offered babysitting duties so she could go and have a pamper.

They were getting towards the end of the gifts, Mia had come out the best being spoiled by everyone. She'd got so many things that made noise and flashed, he was pretty sure that by the end of the day Mel would have a splitting headache.

"Here we are, one for Finn, this is a big one, it's from… it's from Rory," his dad said, sounding surprised, getting up to bring the large present over. It was wrapped in glittery silver paper with snowflakes all over it.

Finn looked at the label, sure enough, it was from Rory.

"How?" He asked looking around at his family, not trying to keep the wide smile on his face hidden. She'd got him a christmas present.

"I offered to bring it back," Kelly said, bouncing up and down in her seat, a grin across her face. "Open it already!"

Finn opened the gift. He was shocked to find two antique shooting pistols, he knew how much these went for. He pulled them out reverently and the certificate of authorization that went with them. Underneath the pistols was a small book, he took it out and laughed. It was about diner lingo and diners from the fifties.

"Did you help her choose?" He asked Kelly, he couldn't remember mentioning he wanted the pistols in any of their conversations. She must have had help.

"No, I just took the box, wow," Kelly said, her eyebrows shooting up.

The last present as always was opened by their mum, it was always the big one from their dad too. Finn loved their family traditions. The smell of pine from the real tree, the smell of turkey cooking through the house. The scurry to head for the pool after opening presents.

Finn took out his phone, aware it would make him the last one in the water this year and not caring as much as he previously would have.

Happy Christmas, beautiful. Thank you so much for the gifts. I love them. Speak to you soon xx

"Rory?" His mum asked, sitting down next to him on the comfortable beige couch.

"Yeah just sending her a message to thank her," Finn said smiling as he pressed send.

"Did you get her anything?" His mum asked.

"Yeah, not quite as good as the gift she got me though, I'll have to rectify that when I go back," he smiled. He'd think of the perfect gift for her like she'd done for him.

"What did you get?" His mum asked, another mug of coffee in her hands. He got his love of the drink from her.

"Just some jewelry," Finn shrugged, he thought they'd suit her and she'd like them, but still in light of the present she'd got him it didn't feel like enough. "And a picture of us on our date in a frame."

"I'm sure she'll be very happy with that," his mum said with a smile, her hand rubbing his arm like she had done when he was a kid. "You really like her don't you?"

"Well yeah, she's a friend," Finn said, not looking at his mum. Rory was a friend, that's what she'd been first, but he wished she could be more. That they could explore whether the brief relationship they'd developed could be more. Unfortunately on two different continents that was unlikely to happen.

Thinking of Rory made his stomach leap. He'd never felt like this before, never missed a woman's presence, never just wanted to call to see how she was, to tell her about his day. It was a new, and disturbing to him feeling.

"Sure Phineas, a friend," his mum chuckled. "Go on, go swimming with the others."

~~~~~~~~~

"Merry Christmas Will," Rory said walking into the kitchen that morning and gave her little brother who was acting like he'd had twenty pixie sticks in a minute a hug. "Merry Christmas mom," she gave her mom who was happily munching through a plate of cranberries a hug. "Merry Christmas Luke," she lastly gave her stepdad a hug.

Morning greetings were given, Will barely touched his breakfast, much too excited about the prospects of presents. Before long they were in the living room around the tree, all in thick Christmas pyjamas her mom had brought, even Luke.

Will opened his presents first in a shower of wrapping paper that went everywhere. His little face lit up at every present.

Next it was her turn. She laughed as she got books from Paris about being a Socialite and running a business. She grinned at the CDs that Lane had got her, always trying to educate her in music. She was feeling very lucky when she came to her last present. It was badly wrapped in bright red paper with Holly on it. Looking at the tag her heart fluttered slightly. He'd got her a gift. She hadn't thought he would.

Carefully she opened it. Her smile was so wide it almost hurt when she saw the picture. It was of her and Finn laughing together at the theme park, arms around each other outside of one of the roller coasters they'd ridden. Putting it down carefully Rory opened the box that had come with it.

Her hand went to her mouth, they were much too extravagant. But so, so beautiful. He'd got her a necklace with a single sapphire in it and earrings to match. They were stunning.

"They're beautiful, who are they from? Francine?" Her mom said, looking over her shoulder.

"No, they're from Finn," Rory smiled and then showed her the picture he'd also sent.

"That's lovely," her mom smiled fondly. "Did you get him anything?"

"Yeah some antique pistols and a book on diner lingo," Rory smiled, she thought he'd appreciated them from his text.

"Right… so he got you beautiful expensive jewelry and a cute picture of the two of you together, which says an awful lot. And you got him weapons and a book?" Her mom asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He talked about wanting some of the pistols back in college, and the book will make him laugh," Rory explained her odd gift giving.

"I'm just saying, I'd prefer the sparkles," her mom said.

"And that's why you didn't get what Finn did," Rory laughed, she'd gone with jewelry for her mom, a diamond bracelet and earrings to go with it. She'd also got her mom a new cashmere wrap that she could use for her pregnancy and when the new baby came.

"I have the best daughter, she buys the sparkles for her mom," her mom chuckled.

As things got cleared away Rory took out her phone and sent a message to Finn, smiling the entire time.

Merry Christmas Finn, thank you for my gifts, I love them, really, they're beautiful and I love the picture. It's going to have place of pride next to my picture of the band . Hope you had a great Christmas, talk soon xx

~~~~~~~~~

It was three days before New Year's Eve, which meant that Finn was ridiculously busy with work. He use to enjoy New Year's eve, he could drink until he couldn't drink any more, pick out a hot woman, then spend the night having sex before he left to go home. Perfect. For the past four years though he'd spent the days leading up to the day and most of the day itself sorting out problems the hotels had with entertainment. And this year he'd be spending for the first time in fifteen years not starting the New Year off by having sex with a random gorgeous woman.

He knew he could have, he and Rory weren't exclusive, hell they weren't really anything. But he didn't want to do that, he didn't want to screw some other girl, knowing he'd be seeing Rory in a few days. And knowing how he'd feel if she screwed someone that night.

Carol, his secretary, came over his intercom after he'd just sent an email to the manager of the hotel in Adelaide. "Finn there's someone here to see you, they don't have an appointment though."

"Who is it?" Finn asked, he hadn't scheduled any meetings for that day, technically he was still supposed to be off for the week. That didn't work out on his side though, not for New Year's, the rest of the board did though. Lucky fuckers.

"It's Sharon," Carol said quietly.

"Send her in, thanks Carol," Finn said, sitting up straighter. He didn't know why his previous PA who'd quit for no apparent reason was here but he hoped he'd get some answers. If he was a total arse to work for he needed to know so he didn't keep losing staff.

Sharon walked in and Finn was shocked. His normally perfectly presentable PA, who wore suits, had her hair up and wore minimal makeup, looked like she should be charging by the dance. Or hour. Her blonde hair was down around her face, which was made up in heavy makeup, her lips bright red and her eyes dark. A dress that could have doubled as a top was on her, admittedly shapley, body and she wore heels so high he wasn't sure how she hadn't broken her neck.

"Sharon?" Finn asked, he had a feeling he knew where this was going. Three weeks ago he wouldn't have hesitated.

"I know, I should have waited, but…" Sharon said, her voice huskier than usual, she started walking towards him slowly. "I think we have something and I know you don't date employees. You haven't been in the papers with anyone recently and I thought you felt the same way I do. Then I saw you with that heiress and I knew I needed to make my move."

He'd had employees hit on him before, if his dad hadn't told him in no uncertain terms that he'd be cut off if he did, he'd have slept with employees too. Never before though had someone pulled a Fatal Attraction on him.

"Look Sharon, I think you might have the wrong idea here. You were an excellent employee, really but that's it," Finn said honestly, he'd checked her arse out once or twice but had never really been into her.

"What?" She asked, her face dropping as she took a step back.

"I'll give you an excellent reference, but that's all Sharon," he said again, seriously and firmly.

"I see… sorry," Sharon said before turning on her heel and leaving. He supposed that could have gone a lot worse.

"You want some coffee Finn?" Carol asked over the intercom.

"Yes, please," Finn said, shaking his head.

He checked the time on the second clock he'd recently put in his office, this one showing the time back in Hartford. It was nine back there, so he picked up his phone deciding who to call.

"Hello," the phone was answered almost straight away.

"Alright mate," Finn said, leaning back in his office chair slightly.

"Finn man, how you doing?" Logan asked, sounding happy.

"Just had my ex PA in here propositioning me in an outfit those hookers in Amsterdam would have been proud of," Finn said with a chuckle. If he couldn't laugh about it with his best mates he couldn't laugh about it with anyone.

"Nice, did you hit that?" Logan asked, also chuckling.

Finn realized that he should have called Colin for this talk instead.

"Nah mate, I did not," Finn said.

"Why not? Not hot enough? Good personality?" Logan asked.

"Nothing like that, she's a looker but… nah," Finn said, wanting to get off the line all ready.

"Ah, so this is about Ace then?" Logan said, suddenly sounding slightly less happy now.

"Look mate, we don't have to talk about this, I just thought it was a funny story, didn't want to get all introspective. I pay a therapist for that," Finn said, forcing a laugh.

"It's a bit weird man, but we've been friends for thirteen years, Ace and me finished, I'm married. Plus I can probably tell you what not to do with her," Logan said laughing more sincerely. Finn felt a rush of brotherly love for one of his two oldest friends.

"It's not like that, I mean we have a thing, and we talk daily but after the three weeks in January I'll see her once or twice a year. So yeah I didn't fuck my ex PA because of her, but after these three weeks, unless I want to join a Monastery, " Finn sighed, what was he thinking, asking her out on a date, now he'd gone and caught feelings. Feelings he couldn't bloody well act on.

"Uh huh, you know… unless you move back, or she moves there," Logan said casually.

"Do you not remember the conversation I had with my dad three years ago? No way is he going to let me do my job over there. Rory's not going to move away from her mom and her little brother either, man," Finn said with a sigh. Three years ago he'd asked his dad to let him work from the States so he could be back with his mates. His dad had in no uncertain terms said no. Not a chance in hell.

"Sorry Finn," Logan said sincerely.

"Eh, it is what it is. Look I better get back to work, but we should meet up when I'm back yeah?" Finn said, he felt worse now than before he'd rang his friend.

"Sure thing. Make a date, Rose and I will be there," Logan said.

Carol came in with a huge mug of coffee as he hung up the phone. She was worth her weight in gold.

"Thanks Carol," Finn said, taking the coffee gratefully.

"No problem, look like you needed it," she said with a motherly smile before leaving his office again.

Finn picked up his phone again. This time he dialled a different number.

"Hello?" A chipper voice answered.

"Hi Kitten, how are you?" He asked, his heart flipping slightly at the sound of her voice.

"I am good, just putting together the bags for the bachelorette party tomorrow night. How are you, how's your day going?" She asked.

"Very strange, my ex PA, the one that quit, just tried it on," Finn told her.

"Really? Did she pull an Anne Hathaway, or was it more Sharon Stone?" Rory asked, he could hear that she was trying to sound happy still but underneath that he could hear her worry. She wasn't the best actor in the world.

"More like a Moulin Rouge. She left straight after I said no, but I had visions of bunny's boiling on the stove," Finn said honestly.

"You said no?" Rory asked quietly, hopefully.

"I did indeed say no Kitten, there was the threat to any pets I may get in the future, but also there's this woman. She drives me crazy, and I can't stop thinking about her, even though she lives in a different country. Thankfully I'm seeing her in just over a week though, I've decided that three hundred and sixty-nine is now my lucky number you see," Finn said with a smile.

"Lane's getting married Finn, sorry to disappoint," Rory teased him with a low giggle.

"Damn it, do you think her best friend might be available instead then?" Finn laughed.

"I think her best friend might be waiting for an exotic man to return, she seems to have decided that her lucky number is five," Rory replied and he could hear the smile in her voice.

Finn's work phone started ringing, the sound loud and shrill as it interrupted their conversation.

"Sorry Ror, I've got to go. But I'll talk to you soon Kitten," he said.

"Okay, have a good day exotic one," Rory said, her voice low.

~~~~~~~~~

Rory and Paris made their way down to the lobby of the Westchester where they had a room for the night and where they were meeting Kelly.

"So we're meeting your casual hookup's sister? You know that's not a casual hookup thing to do right?" Paris said in her typical Paris bluntness that Rory sometimes loved and other times made her want to flip off the blonde.

"Finn isn't a casual hookup," Rory repeated for the third time since she'd met her angry friend.

"And yet, you can't tell me what he is. You hook up when he's here, and then he vanishes to another continent. That sounds like a casual hook up," Paris insisted.

"Can we just drop this?" Rory groaned. She didn't want to have this conversation with Paris. "And be nice to Kelly, she's lovely."

"I can be nice," Paris said and Rory shot her a look. "It hasn't happened yet but I can try. Plus copious amounts of alcohol will help with that."

Rory and Paris waited in the lobby, watching what was going on around them. Rory noticed the manager was standing looking at them, a small frown on his face, she ignored him.

"Rory! What are you doing here? Is Mr Boss Man back? Because if he is I probably need to at least look like I'm doing something productive," Daniel came walking over to them with a huge smile on his face, seemingly genuinely happy to see her.

"No, he's still back in Australia, we're waiting on Kelly though, so you might still want to look appropriately busy," Rory chuckled, glad to see him again. A friendly face.

"Damn, and here I thought I might get away with slacking," Daniel fake sighed.

"Daniel, this is Paris, Paris this is Daniel, he's going to be Finn's personal assistant," Rory said, inwardly wincing, as she did whenever she introduced anyone to Paris.

"I feel sorry for you," Paris said bluntly to Dan.

"So you know Finn too then," Daniel laughed, not phased by Paris' bluntness.

"I've heard stories," Paris replied. Finn and Paris had never interacted, which Rory could only think of as a good thing.

"He's worse," Dan joked with a laugh. "So what are you ladies doing? Are you ringing in the new year here with our comedians and house band?"

"We're travelling to Maine to see Hep Alien," Rory said. They were going to be early for the gig so that they could hang out with the band for a bit.

"Lucky, tell them I said hi," Daniel said, glancing around the lobby. "Oops, I'm getting evil eyes from the guy who can sack me. Best get back to work, I'll see you soon, have a good night."

Rory looked to see the manager was indeed giving them dirty looks. She hoped he didn't take it out on Dan.

"I like him," Paris said as Daniel left.

"You, you like him?"

"You say that like I've never liked anyone before, I'm friends with you aren't I?" Paris rolled her eyes and folded her arms.

"Sorry I'm late!" Kelly came rushing over to them in a little black dress, pretty heels and her long brunette hair artfully curled.

"You're fine, you look lovely," Rory said, accepting the hug that Kelly gave.

"Thanks so do you, very hot," Kelly said excitedly.

"This is Paris Geller my friend and this Paris is Kelly Morgan," Rory introduced them.

"Hi," they both said with opposite levels of enthusiasm.

"I've got a car waiting outside for us with a stocked bar," Rory said pointing to the entrance.

"Miss Morgan, and friends, so good to have you back here with us," the manager, Mark, was joining them with a genuine smile for Kelly. Rory didn't like him, he gave off an odd vibe.

"Hey Mark, sorry to cut and run but our car is waiting. Have a good night and happy new year," Kelly said, sounding sincere as she hooked her arms through both Rory's and Paris' taking them outside. As they stepped out of the hotel she sighed. "I do not like him. At all, he's weird," the brunette said as the driver opened the limo for them.

The ride to the Maine Hotel was full of music and drinks, the three women getting to know each other better. The more time she spent with Kelly the more Rory liked her. Even Paris seemed to grudgingly approve.

They arrived at the hotel with an hour to spare before the start of the gig, Rory had got them all the golden passes so they could go anywhere without being stopped. They got out of the limo to screaming fans and the bright flashes of photography. The screaming soon died down as the fans realised they weren't the band, however the photographers carried on taking pictures.

"You think they'd be bored by now," Rory said with a sigh as they walked into the hotel, passed security as they showed their lanyards.

"Oh come on, you're hot news now and you're with Kelly Morgan who's a draw of her own, another rich pretty person. And the sister of the guy you've been screwing," Paris scoffed.

"We don't have to talk about that," Kelly grimaced as they walked through a lobby similar to the one in the Westchester, though with more furniture.

"Who do we ask where to go?" Paris asked, looking around the crowded lobby.

"A manager, a roadie, or we find security," Rory said, glancing around to try and find someone. Who she saw though made her stop. "Oh god."

"What?" Kelly asked as Rory stood behind her and Paris.

"It's my ex, Pat, I haven't seen him since we broke up. What's he doing here?" Rory asked in a slight panic. She really didn't want to see him, he was an asshole.

"I'm guessing by the huge camera on his shoulders he's filming it. Don't hide, you look hot. Just ignore him, he's not worth your time. He was always a loser, I didn't see what you saw in him anyway," Paris said.

"Where is he?" Kelly asked, looking around with interest.

"The guy in the red hoodie," Rory said listening to Paris' advice, she shouldn't be hiding. She was here for her friends, a fact he should be aware of, so why was he here?

"He's cute," Kelly said approvingly.

"He's a jackass," Rory said honestly. "Come on, let's go see the band."

"Babe! Babe! Rory!" She heard Pat shouting at her through the crowd but she ignored him.

Seeing Harry she smiled, he'd be able to get them to Hep Alien.

"Come on," Rory said, heading towards the driver.

"Babe!" A hand on her arm stopped her from moving forward. A warm, familiar hand filled her with anger.

Rory spun to see the face of her ex boyfriend. His blue eyes taking her in from head to toe, an easy smile on his face, his dimples showing. "Pat, what are you doing here?" She asked, pulling her arm out of his grip and crossing them.

"I thought you'd be here, I wanted to see you babe, I miss you," Pat said with that cocky smile that used to make her stomach flip.

"I'm sorry you feel that way, I can honestly say I don't feel the same. Goodbye Pat," Rory said firmly.

"Don't be like that babe, we were good together when you weren't being a raging bitch," Pat said with a chuckle obviously finding himself funny, his hand back on her arm.

"Goodbye Pat," she said again, her anger coming through in her voice. Was he always that much of an idiot, and if so how didn't she see it?

"Oh-"

"She said goodbye Pat," Harry was next to them, standing tall, his arms folded and a frown on his face as he looked down on her ex boyfriend.

"I'll catch you after then," Pat said to Rory looking at Harry once more he walked away.

"Thanks Harry," Rory said with a smile.

"No problem Rory, you want to go see the guys?" Harry asked, his eyes watching Pat retreat.

"Yeah please," Rory said.

"I'll take you, and we'll get you out of here later without that idiot around," Harry said, sounding annoyed as he started leading them from the lobby.

The band were all ready and psyching themselves up before the gig when they got there.

"Rory!" Lane squealed seeing her, she was bouncing around in huge Doc Martens.

"Hey Lane, you remember Paris? And this is Kelly, Finn's sister. Guys this is Lane, Brian, Zach, Gil, Gil's wife Debbie and their manager Shawn," Rory did the introductions wanting to head for a table covered in drinks. Zach was the only one that drank before a show but they all drank after so the room was stocked.

Harry walked over to Shawn and they stood having a muttered conversation as Rory went to the drinks table.

"Are you okay? You seem sorta bummed," Gil joined her, picking out a water for himself.

"Pat's here," Rory explained, pouring a shot of Tequila and shooting it.

"He is? Oh man, that guy's the worst! Sorry Rory, you need us to have a word?" Gil said sincerely, he was always such a nice genuine guy.

"No, thanks though Gil," Rory smiled at him before pouring another Tequila.

"Gil! Band meeting!" Brian yelled across the room.

Rory turned to see them all huddled together, every now and then Lane would look over at her with narrowed eyes and a set face. She didn't like that face.

~~~~~~~~~

Finn was getting ready for bed in his apartment, he'd spent the day on the beach with his mates, surfing, hanging, grilling, it had been fun. They'd had a few drinks, he wasn't drunk but it wouldn't have taken much to get him there. Which considering his high tolerance was something. His phone started ringing, making him head out of the bathroom to answer it.

"Hello?" Finn answered.

"Man, have you seen the videos of mother?" Colin asked excitedly down the line.

"What videos? Also happy new year and all that crap," Finn said leaving his bedroom and walking to his large study where his home computer and laptop were.

"Yeah, yeah, last night New Year's Eve… you know what just watch them. You'll never believe me, I almost didn't believe it and I watched like seven YouTube videos," Colin said with a laugh.

"Are you still drunk from last night?" Finn asked his friend as his laptop started up.

"Very possibly, I was out until four with a wonderful young woman who did the most marvellous things with her tongue," Colin drawled happily.

"I can well imagine," Finn laughed, bringing up his browser. "What am I searching for?"

"Just search for Hep Alien New Year's Eve ," Colin said. "It'll come up."

Finn did as Colin said and clicked on the first video.

"As it's New Year's Eve, we thought we'd change it up a bit. For the first half of our set we're going to sing you our songs, our hits and our favourites," Zach was saying into the microphone to screams and applause. "For the second half we're doing covers." Again more applause.

"What does this have to do with Ror?" Finn asked, he wouldn't mind watching Hep Alien's gig, but maybe when he hadn't had such a long day.

"Skip to half way through the gig, you'll see," Colin said and Finn could hear his friends smirk.

Finn once more did as Colin said before pressing play. He caught the tail end of Road to Nowhere before Zach started speaking again.

"We're moving into covers now, but we need some help," Zach grinned. "We're going to bring up our friend, now she's not a professional singer but we want you to show her the same love you showed us, Rory, come on up here!" Finn's eyes went wide. No. No way.

The camera cut to Rory who was shaking her head vigorously and being pushed up to the stage by Kelly and another woman.

Eventually Rory got on the stage, she looked very sexy in a tight black top that dipped low, high black heels and a short denim mini skirt. It was also obvious she was fairly drunk.

Hep Alien started playing All American Rejects, 'Gives You Hell'. Finn watched as Rory performed with the band, and then Adele's 'Rolling in the Deep'. And then Pinks, 'So What'. Colin was on the phone the entire time. Four songs later and the band and Rory counted down to midnight and the video ended with Rory hugging her friends.

"What the hell?" Finn asked with a huge smile on his face.

"I know right!" Colin said with glee. "Did you know she could sing?"

"No, I've heard her sing, we sang in the car, it did not sound like that," Finn said, she wasn't terrible but damn she wasn't like she had been on the video.

"Maybe it was the drink?" Colin offered, still sounding gleeful.

"Must be man," Finn said, impressed and more than a little turned on.

"We need to do karaoke when you get back man, I need to see this first hand," Colin said.

"Yeah, me too mate," Finn said, going back to the beginning. He'd watch once more before going to bed. He didn't think that was a bad start to the New Year.