I curl up into Finn's arms as we pull away from the house. "See, my family sucks too." I whisper.
"If I thought we could get away with it again, we'd be on the next flight back." He offers. "Best I can do is the pub on campus."
I nod quietly. "What if Logan is there?"
"I'll come up with something love, don't worry."
I breathe deeply, noting suddenly that he smells like cinnamon and chocolate. "You smell really nice." I whisper.
I feel his arms tighten around me. "I appreciate the sentiment." He pauses. "Driver, there's a rather large tip in it for you if you can get us there quickly."
I lean into him on the bench as the waitress heads to the bar to get our drinks. "What are we drinking?" I ask softly.
"I figured you'd want something strong, so we, love, are drinking with Captain Morgan tonight, topped off with a splash of pineapple juice, of course."
I nod. "Of course."
"You can't argue with a Captain. He is the lord of the ship."
"Finn, I learned three days ago not to question your logic when we stepped off of a plane for one of the most relaxing weekends I've had in a long time." I admit.
"Mission accomplished then." He tenses next to me. "I really hope that waitress gets back with our drinks soon." He mutters.
"Why?"
"Logan and Colin just walked in."
I sigh. "Have they spotted us?"
"No, but they're looking." He exhales sharply. "And here they come." He glances up at the waitress as she puts down our drinks. "We're going to need another round of these pretty quickly love, and at least two more after that."
She glances at me. "You too?"
I see the flash in Logan's eyes as he sits down across from us. "Yeah. Definitely." I acknowledge to her.
She looks at Colin and Logan. "Anything for you?"
"What's your top shelf bourbon?" Colin asks with a lifted eyebrow.
"We have a bottle of 28 year old Heaven Hill for 650.00." she deadpans.
"We'll take it." Logan clips, glaring at Finn.
I grab my drink and down half of it, glancing at the waitress. "Thanks." I offer.
She nods, and walks away.
"What the hell are you two doing here?" Logan asks sharply.
"Spending some much needed time with Captain Morgan." Finn offers, and I groan as my phone rings. "You okay?"
I take out the phone, nodding at Finn, and then flipping it open. "Hello?"
"Where did you go? I needed you in there." My mom's voice says sharply.
"Hi mom."
"Don't hi mom me Rory." She says with a sigh. "I'm sorry I attacked Finn. I was on the defensive about going there."
"Then why did you go mom?"
"Because I haven't seen you in three weeks, and you up and took off for Australia on what was supposed to be our weekend." She admits. "I over-reacted."
"Yeah, you did. And then you and Grandma went at each other again, in front of my friend. It was the last thing I needed."
"Ace, we need to talk." Logan clips at me.
I lower the phone slightly. "I'm on the phone Logan. Wait." I lift the phone again. "Sorry mom."
"You're with Logan? What about –
"Can we not get into that right now? I'm at the pub; Finn and I needed to escape the insanity. Logan and Colin just got here."
"You didn't invite them." She says carefully.
"Mom, I love you. Can we please do this next weekend?"
"Do you promise to show this time?"
"Yes."
"No sudden trips to another continent with the Australian?"
"I promise."
"Bring him with you."
I sit up abruptly, noting that my side is cold where I was leaning against Finn. "I'm sorry, what did you just say?"
"I want to apologize, and I want to know more details. I can only get those if he comes with you."
"You want to apologize." I deadpan, glancing at Finn, whose eyes widen.
"That's what I said."
"You're serious?"
"I am." She pauses. "Rory, I'm not doing well with you growing up, moving farther from me. I'm trying though, and this is part of that."
I shake my head. "Did Luke talk you into this?"
She laughs a bit. "He suggested it, but I do agree."
"Saturday morning then?"
"Not Friday?"
"I'm not making him go through that again mom. I wouldn't make anyone go through that."
I can almost hear her nod. "I'm sorry sweets."
"I know. I'll see you Saturday."
"And the Australian?"
"I'll ask him."
"That's all I wanted to hear. Have a good night."
"Bye mom." I end the call, and quickly finish off my drink, even as the waitress drops off our next round. "Thanks." I tell her softly, glancing at Finn.
He nods. "I'll be there."
"Where will you be Finn?" Logan asks angrily.
I look over at him. "This has nothing to do with you Logan." I tell him as calmly as I can. "This is between Finn and my mom."
He stares at me. "You introduced Finn to your mother?" he asks incredulously.
I sigh. "Not by choice. He was at dinner with my grandparents. My mom showed up."
"You took him to your grandparents' for dinner." He deadpans.
I close my eyes, and drain my second drink before turning back to Finn. "Come see me tomorrow for details?"
"Are you okay love?" I see the concern in his eyes.
I nod. "I need to do this. I…I can't keep…"
He nods. "I'll stop by."
I turn back to Logan. "Let's go." I clip, standing and walking out, stopping at the bar to talk to the waitress. "Hi. The Australian one is covering my tab, don't worry about my other two drinks, just send them to him."
She nods. "Is everything okay hon?"
I smile at her. "I'm fine. It's just been a really long weekend."
She laughs. "Well, tomorrow you can go back to class and recover."
"You wanted to talk Ace?" Logan's voice cuts in from behind me.
I turn back. "Yeah."
