Story: And It Begins Again

Author: Silver Blood

Chapter Two: Cheesy Mistletoe Moments

Rory peeked inside to make sure she wouldn't be ambushed upon entering before carefully opening the door. She closed it as quietly as she could, before turning on her tiptoes and quietly running into Lorelai.

"Who were you talking to, mini-me? Was it your loverboy?"

Lorelai's muscles tensed slightly, but her tone was light. Rory could tell her mother still resented the boy, but she was trying anyway-and that fact alone made Rory want to hug her and never let go. She knew that now was the time to come clean about the events leading up to her return.

"Um... actually, Mom... Logan and I broke up."

Lorelai looked hurt for a moment, with hints of relief in the bright blue of her eyes.

"Oh honey, I'm sorry. Why didn't you tell me?"

Rory fought off guilt. She didn't need to feel guilty about not telling her. Although Lorelai was her best friend, they hadn't been close lately. Things had been tense since she'd gotten back, though they were both choosing to ignore it for the time being.

Rory wasn't sure if her mom would explode just hearing Logan's name.

She sighed.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know either until his sister called at Thanksgiving. We had this huge fight about Jess and he just... I don't know. We're over."

Lorelai's face was a model of sympathy and confusion.

"How did Jess come into this situation, dear daughter of mine?"

She didn't sound upset. She didn't even sound surprised, just a little worried.

Rory stared at her shoes for a full minute before looking up through her eyelashes at her mother and took a deep breath. She was going to try to get it all out at once. Even if it killed her.

"He came to see me. He wrote a book and wanted to thank me because he said he couldn't do it without me. So he showed up at grandma's and we went up to my room and talked and nothing happened or anything. Then we decided to go out to dinner the next night and Logan showed up when we were deciding where to go to eat so we all went together and Logan was drunk and he was so mean to Jess, and you know Jess- he doesn't take that crap. So he called Logan a prick and left. But I went after him and he yelled at me and made me reevaluate everything. When he left he told me happy birthday and said he'd call. So Logan and I had a fight. And Jess said he'd call and he actually did! So I sort of accidentally/on-purpose invited him to Christmas, 'cause it sounded like his Christmas was going to be sort of lonely."

Rory took a deep breath and let relief come.

"Rory! Slow down, child. Geez, now I know you're my daughter! That was your longest babbling session yet. I'm glowing with pride here babe."

Rory took a deep breath and looked at the floor again. She studied the tiles in the entryway as if they were the most fascinating things she'd ever seen. For some reason she was desperate for her mother to approve. It seemed as if the rehabilitation of their relationship depended on it. She waited for her mother to speak.

"It's okay that you invited Jess. Luke mentioned to me the other day that he'd like to invite him... So don't worry. It's okay with me."

Rory looked up at her mom. She knew her face was painted with disbelief and suspicion.

"You... He's- it's... really?"

Rory rarely stuttered.

"Rory, do you think your beautiful youthful mother really holds grudges?"

Rory snorted.

"Um... Yes. You would. You still haven't forgiven me for throwing away your black slippers when I was 15!"

"They were perfectly cute kitties!"

Rory rolled her eyes.

"You shrunk them in the washing machine!"

"Kitty killer!"

Rory gasped.

"Shh... Paul Anka might be listening. I don't want him to feel threatened."

"No, no, no, It's okay. He wants death to all fuzzy things that aren't him."

The Gilmore girls looked at each other for a second before they both began to laugh.

Lorelai pulled Rory into her arms for yet another hug.

"Kid, if you can forgive Jess, then I can try to tolerate him. I just hope you know what you're doing. And if you two 'get caught under the mistletoe' I'm going to gag."

Rory turned to head to her room, rolling her eyes.

"There will be no cheesy mistletoe moments, mother!"

She laughed.

"Good night!"

It was three a.m. when Rory woke again. She had been having a dream about being attacked by a giant can of whipped cream, and something had woken her up. It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the dark room around her. She'd just gotten used to being home again.

When she finally located the cause of her distraction, it was at the same annoying ring she'd heard when Jess called earlier.

At the noise, she jumped at least three feet before groggily climbing out of her bed to pick up the phone.

"Die."

Her voice was a harsh croak, it's volume startling in the silence.

"Look outside, love."

"Finn?"

"Right you are. Go to the window."

Surprised, Rory walked to the window and pulled back the curtain.

Snowflakes the size of quarters were falling thickly through the darkness. Snow covered ever surface; at least three feet of it. Rory had never seen snowflakes so huge, falling so densely.

"Oh my God."

It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.

As she looked out, she noticed a light. It looked like an old-fashioned lantern.

"Come outside, reporter girl. I made you something."

Rory hung up her phone and giddily ran to throw her shoes on. She grabbed her coat and climbed out the window, heading towards the light.

Finn watched in awe as she ran towards him, the light from her window washing out everything behind her, making her glow like an angel. When she was finally close enough to see clearly, he noticed snowflakes had caught on her eyelashes and in her hair. As she stood in front of him, small drops of moisture glowed like diamonds in the dark. She was grinning, and incredibly surprised.

"Finn, what the hell are you doing here? It's freezing."

He smiled but shrugged.

"Of course it is, doll. But I wanted to talk to you. C'mon."

Without another word, Finn put his hand on the small of her back and led Rory towards town. When they got close enough, she saw exactly what he meant.

There was a snowman in the middle of the gazebo. He had a fancy cigar in one hand and an incredibly red beret atop his head. Rory could barely contain her laughter, and as she turned to thank Finn, he could see the glee shining in her eyes.

"Oh my God Finn, you're amazing."

Rory laughed and threw her arms around the Australian, who picked her up and spun her around. When he put her back down he started to lead her towards the gazebo. They sat on the benches for a few minutes just staring at the snowman.

"You're here by yourself?"

Finn nodded, his head down.

"Logan doesn't know I'm here. I'm not here on his behalf. I was just worried about you, love. It's been boring without you."

Rory laughed.

"I'm okay, Finn. But I'm glad you came."

Rory looked up into his eyes as Finn sighed deeply. She knew he was going to ask, so she gave him a prompting look.

He took the hint and heard himself speak before realizing he'd opened his mouth.

"So... What's up with you and Logan?"

Rory tensed. He watched as every muscle in her neck visibly contracted at the mention of his best friend.

She stood up and started walking towards her house, and Finn followed.

"Ouch, that bad... "

Finn had a sudden disturbing thought.

"Did he cheat on you? I'll kill the wanker."

"No, Finn... I don't know. He just... wasn't as supportive as I thought. We had a fight. I'm not really sure why we broke up, because he didn't tell me we did. Honor did."

Finn tilted his head to the side and tried to see into her eyes again.

"You don't seem too upset."

They walked for a moment in silence before Finn spoke again, his words surprising Rory.

"He misses you, you know. Said he probably loves you, but he doesn't know how."

But he wouldn't look at her.

Rory laughed bitterly. It was a strange sound; one she hadn't made much.

She wasn't normally one for bitterness.

"No... he definitely hasn't a clue."

Finn just nodded and walked alongside Rory before putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close.

"If we were in love, princess, I wouldn't let you out of my sight for a second. But that's not Logan. He feels like he needs to give you space, to test you. He thinks he needs to make sure you're really in love with him before he can love you back. It's all about control."

He paused again, unsure if he should continue. Logan was his best friend, and he wanted him to be happy, but he didn't want to hurt Rory.

He'd have to tread carefully.

"Don't get mad at me for asking, but did you cheat on him."

Rory stopped walking and turned to him, as confused as she was angry. By now they'd reached her front steps so she spoke quietly, though her tone was harsh.

"No! Why would you even ask me that?"

Finn looked deep into her brilliant blue eyes and tried to judge her sincerity. He could tell she was offended, and nearly immediately felt guilty. He smiled sadly at Rory before making a statement that he knew was going to shock her.

"Because he thinks you did, darling. Good night."

Rory watched as Finn turned and walked back to his car.

It wasn't until she was lying in bed warming up under her covers that she realized that she'd never seen Finn sober before.

A/N: No this isn't going to be a PDLD. But I love Finn so he's going to be in this story. Definitely Rory/Jess-centric though. I'm sorry if you don't like Finn and I know this chapter wasn't my best, but I needed to get one out and the next one will have some Jess in it. Leave me a review, please. This was sort of a filler but it's got plot development... Give me some more ideas if you have any- I like hearing what you all think I should do!