A/N: Thanks so much for responding so positively! It means a lot to me, and I actually got to type this author's note so that means a lot to me too. I want to publicly thank Ryan for being the best boyfriend ever throughout all of this and even sitting here and typing this chapter while he could be doing anything else. I hope each and every one of you find your own Ryan if you haven't already. Love you baby…ON WITH THE CHAPTER!
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Finn was leaning against the wall outside the door when Rory opened it.
He grinned at her and offered his arm down to the dining room.
"Hamilton! Lorelai! You're late," Mrs. Finley barked as they entered the room.
Rory looked over at Logan who was staring at this plate refusing to make eye contact, Stephanie who was wiggling her eyebrows suggestively, and Colin who, as usual, was completely oblivious.
"I'm sorry Mum! I used all the hot water and Rory needed to shower so I said I would wait for her so she wouldn't have to come down alone," Finn lied easily and kissed his mother on the cheek.
"That's the biggest lie ever. I want details right after breakfast," Steph whispered when Rory sat down next to her.
Rory tried to look indifferent but couldn't help but grin slightly.
Finn sat down next to Rory and they all fell into comfortable chatter about nothing really but Rory noticed that Logan was pretty quiet and she had the feeling that he was still mad about her and Finn but she wasn't bothered as much as she would have expected.
"Hello everyone," Finn's brother Robert said coming into the room and smiling at everyone.
"Robert, breakfast started twenty minutes ago, you are being incredibly rude," Mrs. Finley admonished him.
"Sorry Mum," he said in the same easy manner Finn had used when dealing with his mother.
Robert sat down across from Rory and smiled good-naturedly at her but she noticed a slight scowl when his gaze reached Finn.
Rory was surprised when she felt a hand slip into hers under the table. She quickly glanced at saw that it was Finn's hand that clasped her and she smiled slightly but not enough for anyone to notice.
"What are you doing today with your friends Hamilton?" Mrs. Finley asked.
"I'm not sure. What do you guys want to do?" Finn asked looking at the others.
"Shopping!" Steph said immediately.
"Steph, we're not going shopping," Colin sighed.
"We girls should go on a trip to the malls. We could get to know each other a bit more," Kimberly suggested.
"That sounds like fun," Rory admitted and Steph and Scarlet both nodded in agreement.
"Mum? Will you watch Athena and Michele?" Scarlet asked.
"I suppose," the older woman sighed.
"What do you lads want to do?" Alexander asked the boys.
They all shrugged.
"Okay, well we should go…the longer we have the better. We'll see you all later," Kimberly said getting up first. She kissed Andre, Mason, and Michele on their cheeks and then her mother before going to the door and waiting for the others.
Scarlet followed suit and kissed Alexander, little Alexander, Christian, Athena, and her mother then left the room.
"See you boys later. No fighting," Stephanie said to the boys and they all knew the last part was directed at Finn and Colin.
Rory nodded and together the two girls left the room. On the way out Rory had to pass Finn's chair so she left her hand trail across his shoulders as she left and she felt the small hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
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"So what's with you and my brother?" Kimberly asked once the four girls were on their way to go shopping.
"Yeah Rory, do tell…I've been waiting to hear this," Steph pushed.
"Nothing's going on. At least not officially," Rory said not offering more than she felt necessary.
"Then what's unofficially going on?" Scarlet asked grinning.
"I don't know. We went to Sydney…it's not a big deal," Rory insisted. She wasn't even quite sure what was going on so she didn't want to say the wrong thing.
"Yeah, and you slept with him last night," Kimberly laughed.
Rory's face immediately turned red.
Steph stared at her then a smile erupted onto her face. "I knew it! I told you he liked you!"
"It was just a casual thing. It didn't mean anything," Rory sighed.
"To you or him?" Scarlet asked.
Rory was surprised, usually she would have been uncomfortable with these questions, especially from strangers but she felt right at home with Finn's sisters and didn't mind them asking. "To either of us."
"It meant something to him," Kimberly said confidently.
"Nah, he just needed someone to hook up with and I happened to be handy," Rory denied it.
The others all just rolled their eyes and their looks told Rory that none of them believe her for a second. A silence fell over the car and Rory took this time to think about everything that had happened.
In just three days she had gone from New Haven to Australia then she went to Sydney then hooked up with Finn and found out all that personal stuff about his life and here she was. She wasn't even sure if Logan, Colin, and Steph knew everything he had told her.
The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful with random chatter trying to get to know each other.
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"He told you about Braden didn't he?" Kimberly said to Rory about 2 hours later. The two of them had wandered off together while Scarlet and Steph had ambled in the other direction. Her question was more of a statement really.
"Yeah," Rory said nodding slowly. "I'm sorry about your loss."
"Thanks, I'm sure Ham bit your head off for trying to say that," Kim said smiling somewhat bitter sweetly.
Rory smiled the same way and nodded.
"He took it harder than the rest of us obviously. But I don't know…as much as I loved Braden I think it's been the hardest for me to lose Ham," Kim said.
"What do you mean?" Rory asked.
"Well I mean Braden was a great little brother and he was always so full of life and fun to be around. And after the accident, it felt like there would never be another happy day. But slowly we all started to get over it and we helped each other. Everyone except Ham that is…he was never the same again. He started drinking even more than before and distancing himself from the rest of us when we all needed him most. I know he needed us too but he wasn't ready. I think my heart broke more the moment he asked to go away to school more than it ever had in my entire life," Kim explained after pausing a moment.
She and Rory stopped walking down the sidewalk and sat on a nearby bench over looking the beach.
Rory didn't know what to say. She had inferred all of this from what she already knew but it was completely different hearing it from Kim and hearing the emotion in her voice as she said it.
"It might be hard to understand without know how close we all were. And I know you've heard it already I bet but it's different. You can't explain the bond that the five of us had and when Braden died we all just fell apart. That's when Pop basically disappeared I mean he still lives with Mum but I bet you haven't seen him yet. He hasn't forgiven Ham really," Kim said after another silent moment.
"I seriously just don't know how to respond to all of this. I'll admit it, I have feelings for your brother but I mean he won't let me get close to him at all so I don't see how he could ever feel the same," Rory sighed leaning back.
"He already told you his history…which is more than he's done with anyone else who didn't know what happened without him telling them. Like Colby, Roo, and Erin…they both knew but he never talked to any of them about it himself. I doubt even Logan, Colin, and Stephanie know," Kim reassured her.
"The rest of this week isn't about me. It's about him…I want him to remember what he used to be like even though I don't know what he was like," Rory said and as soon as she said it she knew it didn't make sense but she didn't bother to revise herself.
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The girls spent the rest of the day shopping and gallivanting about but Rory couldn't keep Finn off her mind for more than a moment or two.
When they got back to the house, she immediately went off in search of him.
She stepped into the backyard and saw him playing with Mason, Christian and Alexander. They were all attacking him and he was lightly wrestling them off and throwing them around. All four of them were yelling and laughing.
Rory just sat down on a lounge chair by the pool and watched yet another new side of Finn and she found this may be the one that she enjoyed the most.
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A/N: I'm sorry that this took so long to finish. I'm really tired so I'll let Ryan explain.
Ryan's Note-Hey everyone. So Lara was doing fine but then she started getting really dizzy on Thursday so she had to go back to the hospital until Sunday morning (yesterday). She's doing fine, her pain meds were just getting to her but she's still pretty tired and out of it. Thank you all so much for your endless support, it's been cheering her up and right now she really needs that. We'll try to update again when she's feeling a little better and when I have a chance to type it because my parents are making me go to school this week instead of staying home with her all say. Thanks and God Bless. -Ryan