Disclaimer: I don't own the series Gilmore Girls or the original characters. All I own it my imagination and the plot.

A/N: So I probably should apologize for taking so long to update this story. It's not that I wasn't thinking about it because I was, constantly, but it was the fact that I didn't have a lot of time to write in these past couple of weeks. I have had the basic idea for this chapter in mind for a long time and couldn't wait for myself to see what it would end up like once typed up. It's not bad, even if I say so for myself. :)

Weak (3)

There's going to be a party tonight, off campus.

Logan will be there.

I wrote the address on the back.

-Finn-

That was written on the note Rory found on her doorstep in the morning. It had been attentively wrapped around a bright yellow sunflower, a considerate color that seemed out of character for the owner of the surprisingly graceful handwriting where all of the t's were crossed, all the i's dotted, and all of the important facts were added, although the motive behind the gesture was left missing. She didn't trust him nor did she know him well enough to see through it all, so she crumpled up the message, but not before putting he flower in some water; it was a gift after all.

x-x-x

That evening, both Rory and Paris had settled for a night in. They had done all of their planned work, ticking off each item as they had gone along, and now looked forward to a night of bad movies and popcorn. Paris had installed herself on the couch with a bag of her favorite m&m's while Rory lay sprawled out on the floor, the bowl of popcorn to her left and the remote to her right. They were caught up in the movie and leaned in as the two main characters on screen did the same. Both of the girls knew what would happen next and that the on screen kiss would lead to only more drama as it often did in real life, but still they were slightly disappointed when a knock on the door put a temporary hold on their movie night.

''I'll get it,'' Rory announced while pressing the pause button on the remote and getting up.

''Ten bucks if it's one of your boyfriends.''

Rory shook her head, choosing to ignore her roommate's comment as she headed for the door and opened it. ''Colin, hey.''

''Well. hello to you, too, darling,'' he replied charmingly, although his eyes had already slipped from her face. It was something he couldn't help; he might just be a friend, but he was also a guy, one that liked to look.

''Colin, what are you doing?'' Rory naively asked before dropping her eyes down to the level of his, now seeing what he was, a skimpy tank top and a pair of shorts that Colin couldn't decide off whether it was a very comfortable bikini bottom or a pair of feminine boxers. Girls were a mystery to him, despite the countless he had had. ''Colin!'' His eyes shot back up to her face. ''I'm sorry, but that outfit is an open invitation for my eyes.''

Rory quickly crossed her arms, covering herself up as much as she could. ''What are you doing here?''

''Invite me in and I just might tell you.''

She smiled, letting her arms fall back down to her sides as she took a step back and motioned for him to come in. He tipped a hat that wasn't there and mimicked her smile as he passed her and proceeded to enter the apartment.

''Oh, it's you,'' Paris called from her spot on the couch once she caught a glimpse of Colin.

''Paris, always a pleasure,'' Colin greeted the other girl while continuing his stride over to her and taking a seat beside her.

She threw her bag of candy aside and got up, sighing as she went to stand by Rory's side. ''Why did you invite him in?''

''Because he's a friend,'' Rory answered.

''Yeah, I'm a friend,'' Colin chimed in while reaching for the bag of m&m's that Paris had abandoned.

''That's mine, you know,'' Paris said while crossing her arms defensively across her chest.

''Yeah, I know, but I've always been a firm believer of sharing; it's the nice thing to do,'' he returned before popping a handful of the colorful candy into his mouth.

''Are you seeing that?''

''Seeing what, Paris?'' Rory asked for good measure, holding back a smile as Colin rolled his eyes.

''That!'' She exclaimed with a finger point in Colin's direction. ''He's eating my food,'' she went on whining childishly. ''Food I paid for.''

''Just keep your panties on, Gellar. I'll just add a bag of m&m's to my list the next time me and the guys go grocery shopping.''

''Just tell us why you're here, comedian.''

''Yeah, Colin, we were in the middle of a movie night,'' Rory added.

''And you didn't call me?''

''Colin,'' Rory warned, but with the hint of a smile present.

''Okay, okay,'' he said while holding up both of his hands in surrender. ''I actually came to take you ladies out to a party,'' he proceeded while getting up. ''One that doesn't exactly have a dress code, but I can tell you that what you are wearing will leave both of you feeling slightly underdressed.''

''What party?'' Rory questioned.

Colin shrugged. ''I'm not sure. All I know is that it's off campus. Finn provided me with the address,'' he explained, a piece of information that was valuable to her. ''It'll be an excuse to be at the same place at the same time,'' he continued. ''It will look completely coincidental.''

Rory shook her head. ''No, Logan made it clear that he needed time.''

''And you're giving it to him only because you think, although it's more like a small spark of hope, that he'll come to you first and beg for your forgiveness, preferably on his knees, am I right?''

''No,'' was her first response, although she knew that she had just said it out of stubbornness, not wanting to give in to her false hope immediately. She bit her lip and cast her eyes down, trying to hide from Colin's searching eyes the best she could. ''Well, he doesn't have to be on his knees,'' she uttered in a velvet soft voice.

Colin chuckled and snaked an arm around her waist. ''Now, you know that as Logan's friend I am obliged to love you, but at times you can be so gullible,'' he said while pulling her closer to his side.

''Am not,'' she whispered.

Paris raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything, she didn't have to; all in the room knew of Rory's innocence and of how hard she sometimes tried to hold on to it. She was in no hurry to grow up and it showed in the games she still chose to play.

''Logan doesn't want me there,'' Rory reminded Colin, looking him in the eye as she did so.

He affectionately placed a kiss on the top of her head. ''He doesn't always mean what he says. Besides, he never said how much time he needed, now did he?''

Rory smiled as she gave in. ''Fine, I'll go.''

''And what about you, Paris, are you looking forward to an evening in, all alone might I add, or do you want to go to a party with friends?''

Paris looked from one to the other and nodded. ''Okay, but only because someone as to be the designated driver.''

''Oh, such a pretty head you have on your shoulders,'' Colin said in a singsong voice. ''It's a shame we never thought of that before; it might have saved me some 'driving while under the influence' tickets.''

''I always knew that we were too many brain cells apart to be friends,'' Paris murmured while heading for her room.

''I should go and change, too.''

Colin nodded and removed his arm from Rory's waist, following her as she also started in the same direction as Paris. He may not know a lot about girls, but he did know what guys liked.

x-x-x

''I can't believe you talked me into this,'' Rory commenced while trailing closely behind Colin as they stepped into the life of the party.

''Are you talking about the actual event or the clothes?'' came Paris's acidulous question.

Rory's hands instinctively went to the hem of the baby blue shirt she had been talked into, its straps threadlike and its bodice tight while from there on it splayed out into a playful mess of ruffling fabric, all above a pair of faded jeans. She looked like a modern princess and it made the picture of the snow white skin and the soft curls complete while Paris painted a more conservative picture with her neatly ironed black pants and dark shirt to match. She didn't feel as out of place as Rory, although she did look the part more.

Both took their time taking in the scene they had been set in, simply nodding when Colin offered to get them a drink. Paris was the first to take notice of the spark of interest that was sent in their direction by a complete stranger, and although she had never seen him before and knew nothing of him as a person, she did like the contrast between his dark hair and light eyes. She pointed out her observation to Rory and the two of them did nothing but watch as the gray eyed unfamiliar turned to say something to the boy beside him, his friend which carried a much darker color in his eyes.

''What are they doing?'' Paris inquired as smiles brightened up the two faces across from them.

Rory snuck a glance at them and crossed her arms, uncomfortable in the midst of their attention.

''Hey, you're at least half a man, what are they doing?'' Paris informed as soon as Colin had returned with their nonalcoholic drinks; he knew them too well.

''Checking you out,'' Colin said, smiling as he lowered his head to take a drink.

''Really!'' Paris didn't even try to mask her excitement.

''Oh, boy,'' Rory muttered before taking a drink herself.

''Why don't you go wild and ask one of them to dance?'' Colin suggested.

''Ask who to dance?'' a voice interrupted.

Rory's head shot up at the familiarity.

''One of the two guys that are checking us out, although since Rory hasn't shown any interest yet, I'm taking the liberty in choosing the most attractive one.''

''I never knew you could be so vain.'' Logan made sure to keep his eyes on Paris all the while he spoke, a task that provided him with more strain than he had imagined; he was so used to looking at the brunette beside her.

''I have my moments.'' Paris turned to look at Rory. ''Do you think I should ask one of them to dance? I mean, can I actually do that?''

''Well, I think the emancipation period cleared the road for you...''

''And just for that I'm taking the dark haired one.'' Paris threw her friend a confident smile before making her way over to her prince charming for the night.

''I advice you to follow in her footsteps before she takes them both.''

''I didn't come here to hit it off, Colin,'' Rory clarified.

Logan gave her outfit a quick once over, still refusing to really look at her afterwards. ''You could have fooled me.''

Her eyes dropped down to her shirt, even more insecure. ''What's wrong with my outfit?''

Logan shrugged up his shoulders. ''It just doesn't look like you.''

''Colin picked it out and I figured that since it was a special occasion, why not?'' She now held her cup with both hands while holding her elbows tightly pressed against her chest. ''Plus, I didn't think that it looked that bad...''

''Don't let him tip you off,'' Colin started as soon as he saw the slight pout her lower lip was threatening to sink in, ''you look beautiful.''

''Thanks, Colin.''

He winked while reaching for Logan's arms. ''We'll be right back,'' were his parting words as he pulled Logan with him.

Rory put down her coke and started to rub her knuckles, just because it gave her something to do. From beneath her lashes she kept and eye on both Colin and Logan, hoping to read something into it all.

Another girl seemed to share her interest. ''What are they doing?''

''I don't know and I don't care,'' Rory said, casting her eyes down just to convince herself.

''It sounds like you two have issues.''

''We do, sort off.'' She looked at the girl to her side, wondering if they had the same guy in mind. ''I'm Rory.''

The other girl held out her hand. ''I'm rebound girl.''

''Excuse me?''

''Oh, right, you're clueless.'' She pulled her hand back. ''I'm Sarah, Logan's temporary new girlfriend. Wow, you really do look shocked.''

Rory didn't get the chance to say anything in return; before she knew it, Logan came to whisk Sarah away without so much as a word, although he did finally look at her, but still didn't claim her. He wasn't sure where her heart was.

While he headed in one direction, she headed in the other, not looking up to see where she was going. It didn't matter because there was no one to see her anyway.

Of course she ended up getting in the way of someone and moved as quickly as she could to get out of it. She steadied herself, not looking up until she was ready to utter an apology, although it never came. ''Finn.''

''What's wrong, love, can't handle it?''

She took an instant step backwards while her hands went flying from his chest. The flower couldn't have been from him, even though, for a second, it had her believing that he could be someone he was not. Its bright color had blinded her from seeing the ulterior motive behind the written message he had left on her doorstep. It had been another one of his foul jokes, another laugh at her expense. He was like stone, hard and cold, and cared for no one but himself.

She got away from him and grabbed the alcoholic drink that was the closest to her on her way over to a quiet corner. After the first sip and the bitter taste that came with it, she put the drink down and settled for leaning back against the wall and just looking. It didn't take her too long to spot Logan dancing with Sarah and it was easy to notice Finn who had his back against the wall across from her. A girl was up against him, a redhead that probably had freckles everywhere.

Rory felt sick at the thought and knew that she wouldn't be able to take much more. She pushed herself off the wall and went in search of Colin. She practically begged him to take her home, but he was having too much fun to budge so she just left all by herself. She was already at the end of the driveway when she heard a pair of footsteps behind her.

''Rory!''

She stopped, but didn't turn, knowing who the voice belonged to. He also came to a halt closely behind her. ''Where are you going?'' he asked lamely just to break the awkward silence between them.

''Home. I want to go home,'' she said, the words sounding fragile as they left her mouth.

He nodded, even though she couldn't see it. ''I'll drive you.''

He was already on his way to his car when she turned to look at him. ''Finn,'' she stopped him. ''You don't have to.''

He paused while throwing her a look over his shoulder. ''It's a long way back.''

Rory bit into her lower lip before going on, ''What about the girl you were with?''

He simply shrugged. ''There are plenty more where she came from.'' When she didn't say anything else, he reached out his hand to her, patiently waiting until she took the few steps towards him and gingerly wrapped her fingers around the tips of his.

x-x-x

Back at Yale, Rory got out of the car, closing the door loudly before walking away.

Finn gave her a head start.

When saw her again, she was standing at her door, shaking all over. He walked up to her and took the keys from between her fingers. He opened the door for her and watched as she went straight to her room. He heard her fall onto her bed as he made his way over to her once again. He stood in the doorway and watched her tremble ever so slightly like his hands.

''Why are you crying?'' he finally asked, not understanding.

''Logan moved on,'' she breathed through her tears. ''Like I meant nothing to him at all.'' A painful laugh escaped from her lips as she raised her head just enough so she could wipe at her face with both hands. ''I don't even know why I'm telling you. It's not as if you care,'' she reasoned while resting her head back down on her arms and closed her eyes against even more tears.

''He hasn't moved on.'' He turned to leave, but couldn't help looking back at her one last time. ''And Sarah's the one who means nothing,'' he finished, his voice not as strong as before.

Knowing that he did his bit, he started to leave, seeing the sunflower he had left for her early this morning before closing the door behind him.

Review please? (: In my eyes, this chapter was somewhere in between a filler and in between an 'actual' chapter because I think that Finn is progressing as both a character and a person in my story and Colin is just fun to have around, even though I've only watched one or two episodes with him actually in it, so I know that he's probably out of character. All in all, I think I did okay, but let me know what you think? Also, thanks again for the reviews and for your patience. I hope people are still finding some interest in this story. :)