I Think You Broke Him – Chapter 2 Payback
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Not mine, just amusing myself. I promise to put them back when I'm done.
A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter. I had no intention of continuing this after the first part, but the plot bunny wouldn't die. Also, it was fun, yeah?
Rory Gilmore opened the door to her suite, dropped her bag near the door, shed her jacket and flopped down on the couch.
Only to have the phone ring.
Irritated she stretched her left arm over the back of the couch to reach the handset.
"Yeah?" she answered, trying to sound as pitiful as possible. Maybe whoever it was would make it brief and leave her alone.
"Ace? It's Logan. Have you seen Finn?"
"No. Not since this morning."
"Tell him I'm looking?"
"Sure, bye."
She hung up the phone and sighed. Finally, peace. Then there was a knock on the door.
She moaned. Then yelled, "Enter at your own risk!"
The door opened and Finn craned his head around through the crack. "Are you planning on throwing things?"
"Oh, it's you!" she said with a tired smile. "You are a sight for sore eyes."
"But yours are closed," Finn teased. "You look exhausted," he continued once he rounded the couch and sat down next to her.
"The final was all essay questions. We had to pick 6 out of 10. Which would have been fine, but I had such a hard time choosing and then I had a hard time limiting my responses to be concise. Can it be possible to know too much for a test?" She leaned into him as he wrapped his arms around her.
"Dunno. Never had that problem, really."
She smiled as she stretched to kiss a spot behind his ear. "You forget who you're talking to, mister. Logan called, he's looking for you."
He smiled and returned her kiss with a peck to her forehead. "I'll call him in a bit. Listen, love, I know you're tired, but I've got a surprise for you."
She immediately perked up. "Surprise? Really? What is it?" She pulled away from him and sat up on her knees.
"I told you. It's a surprise, and don't think you can use those adorable baby blues to get it out of me. I won't break. Now, get in there, wash away all that study and test grime, and get dolled up."
"Hey! I'm not grimy!" she exclaimed with a pout and a swat to his arm.
"You are! You smell like the library," he teased. It was an inside joke they shared. He claimed he was allergic to the library smell she loved so well. He used it as the reason he refused to study with her among the stacks.
Truthfully, they distracted each other too much for studying together to ever work.
"Fine! I'm going. Hey! What should I wear?"
He turned and grinned as he headed out the door, "How about that sexy little red number you bought last week?"
"How did you know about that?"
"I have my sources, love. I have my sources."
She grinned as she hurried to get ready. "Ha!" she said aloud as she congratulated herself silently. She'd been with Steph when she bought the dress. One thing you could always count on was Stephanie not being able to keep a secret for very long. And since she'd told her that she wanted to surprise Finn with that dress, well, the rest was taken care of. It had also given her a small clue where they'd be going. Definitely fancy. She felt a second wind coming on.
Outside, Finn placed a call to Logan. He got the confirmation he was expecting. With Huntzberger's connections he'd been able to reserve the entire patio of Rory's favorite New Haven restaurant. He smiled and began whistling as he made his way to his own room to get ready for the evening.
Meanwhile, Rory contemplated her relationship with Finn. Who could have known that a night that had begun with her propositioning him would turn into this? Friends with benefits she had expected. She thought that Finn would be fun to be with, but she never expected it to get this serious. Sure, Finn was the walking embodiment of fun, but she'd never imagined he would be this way.
They spent a lot of time together - parties, dinners, lunches, coffee breaks, weekends in Stars Hollow, weekends in New York. He brought out her inner sense of fun and adventure and she brought out his serious side, a side that had been well hidden before they had begun dating. In fact, before Rory, the gang had been fairly sure that Finn did not possess a serious side.
The truth was they were a case of opposites attract, and they complimented each other perfectly. They really were stomach turning in their perfection. Colin pointed it out on a regular basis.
She knew things about him that nobody else knew. Like that he was actually very smart. While his friends didn't know he even went to class, she knew he was an Econ major. People saw the outer slacker and made all sorts of presumptions about his academic abilities. She knew he had a near perfect GPA. She new he had a childhood friend back in Australia that he kept in very close contact with. She knew he was the only boy in a family of five, and he was right in the middle. And, after that first night together, she had discovered exactly how flexible he was.
She also knew that about his first heartbreak. It happened when he was 11, her name was Candy, and she was a blond. Okay, it was his first pet, a golden retriever, and she died of old age, but honestly, he got all teary telling her about it. She'd told him she loved him that afternoon.
She was just putting the finishing touches on when he knocked on her door before entering.
"You look good enough to eat, love," he said as he pulled her to him for a slow lingering kiss.
"Dessert before dinner?" she asked between kisses as she quirked one eyebrow.
He pulled back and grinned, "Nah, we've got reservations," he said.
"You're up to something," she accused with a grin and a finger-poke to his chest.
"Me? Darling, I have no idea what you're talking about," he told her innocently. "I'm hungry, let's go."
He pulled her by the hand out the door, and she just barely managed to grab her purse and coat as he hurried her along. "You still haven't told me where we're going," she said as she skittered along the sidewalk trying to keep up with his longer strides.
He only grinned as he kept silent. He knew that she actually enjoyed the torture of not knowing, so he simply let her squirm with the curiosity. She couldn't help it; it was the reporter in her.
When they pulled up in front of the restaurant, she squealed and clapped her hands. The valet opened her door and Finn was there to help her out. He pulled her close and she gave him a small kiss before softly inquiring "What are you up to?"
He only grinned as he led her inside. They were led back to the patio and Finn relaxed a little as the sight had the desired effect on Rory. Things were going as planned.
"Finn, the entire patio? How did you get them to do this? Why did you get them to do this?"
"Yes, being friends with Logan does have a few benefits, and I thought it would be nice to have dinner together," he ticked off the answers one by one.
"Yes, but," she was interrupted by the jazz quartet at the other end that she hadn't noticed yet.
"Miss Gilmore, would you care to dance?"
She smiled her acceptance and took his hand. As his arms encircled her she thought about how much fun it was to be with him. He was always doing something surprising. He had an off-kilter sense of humor that was hilarious and comforting at the same time. Growing up with Lorelai had given her an appreciation of the ridiculous, and Finn was there to make sure she didn't take herself and life in general too seriously.
Dinner itself was fabulous. During midterms she'd been living off whatever she could grab on her way to and from the library. She hadn't eaten this well in a while. After they'd finished dessert and were lingering over coffee, Finn spoke.
"Ror, could you come over here?" She nodded and moved to sit in his lap. It was something the two of them had started doing early on. It seemed both of them shared better when they were in closer contact. It was comforting and easier when there wasn't a great deal of distance between them. He put his forehead to hers and continued,
"Love, these past few months have been the best of my life. I've never known anyone like you and no one on this continent knows me better than you. There was a reason behind tonight, other than feeding you and getting you to come back to my room and do wicked things to me." She grinned at that and got a mischievous gleam in her eyes. He kissed her lightly and continued. He took a deep breath resumed his spot at her forehead and closed his eyes in concentration.
"Lorelai Leigh Gilmore, I have fallen in love with you. You've stolen my heart and I wouldn't have it any other way. I want you to come home with me to Australia for the summer. I want you to meet my family and see the vineyards and see my side of the world."
He opened his eyes and pulled away from her. "Rory?"
Rory, was, at the moment, quite unable to speak. When she'd told him she loved him, she hadn't put any pressure on him to say it back, she'd just needed him to know. And, now, he'd said it right back to her. He'd planned this amazing evening, told her he loved her, and invited her to meet his family. All she could do was smile and gaze into his eyes with a dopey look on her face.
He wasn't sure what to do, then he remembered what had worked for him that night all those months ago. He kissed her.
However, unlike that first kiss, this wasn't tentative and questioning. This was passion defined. He tried to put everything he felt for her in this kiss in hopes that when he pulled back she'd come back to the ground and respond. It wouldn't do to have his angel up in the clouds.
They parted and when she blinked her eyes, the haze cleared. Now the giddiness was replaced with lust and passion.
"Yes, I'll go home to Australia with you for the summer. I'll meet your family and see your side of the world. But, first, do you think we could just go back to your room and I could do those wicked things to you that you mentioned earlier?"
The glint was back, and he grinned. Yeah, things were going exactly as planned.