A/N: Hey! I'm sooooo sorry for the lack of updates. I don't even know how long I've left you orphans of this story hehe. It's been such a long time, I don't even know who reviewed, so I can't write my individual reviews because I'm too lazy and too busy to go to my profile and check them... So I'm thanking all of you who reviewed: thanks from the bottom of my heart, your reviews mean the world to me, I love getteing them. You guys are truly awesome. I promise next chapter (which will be updated sooner, or so I hope) I'll thank everyone personally.
Oh, another thing, this is the first part, you should be expecting the next part in about, let's see, three to four... weeks! Yeah, sorry, my classes end on the 8th and I'll be busy with work till then, so...
Ok, that's it, I've written a lot for an AN, sorry... happy reading!
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Chapter 5: The Engagement Party - Part 1
Luckily for Rory her mother and the party arrangements kept her pretty busy all through the following week. She saw very little of Logan, just at the newspaper and only greeted him from afar, and saw nothing of Finn. Lucky, since she had absolutely no idea what to say to either if she ran into them on Monday, after her drunkenness on Sunday; but the Gods were on her side and she thought a week would be enough for them to forget her behavior over the weekend. The only contact she had with Finn was a text message she sent him on Friday afternoon to remind him of the party. She was on her way to Friday Night Dinner when her cell phone vibrated inside her pocket. New text message it said. She flipped it open to read it and looked confused when she saw the message:
I'LL HOLD U 2 UR PROMISE. FINN.
WHAT PROMISE, she typed back when she stopped at a red sign.
DANCE, he simply replied and Rory let out a small laugh.
I'LL BE WEARING HEELS, she answered.
I TRUST U, he wrote her.
U SHOULDN'T, she simply said.
R U TRYING TO NOT DANCE W/ ME?
I'M TRYING 2 SAVE U FROM INCREDIBLE PHYSICAL PAIN.
LOL I'LL TAKE MY CHANCES...
FINE THEN, U'VE BEEN WARNED... CAN'T WRITE MORE. DINNER W/
GRANDPARENTS. TILL TOMORROW! She wrote when she arrived at her grandparents' house.
TILL THEN, LUV.
Rory entered the living with such a smile on her face that made her mother look at her suspiciously, "what's the reason for such a big smile?" she asked when Rory sat next to her.
"No reason," she began but her vibrating cell phone interrupted her.
SORRY 2 INTERRUPT. 1 MORE THING: I PICK THE SONG.
Rory laughed out loud and Lorelai looked at her amused.
"What's so funny?" Emily asked her.
"My friend's writing me stupid messages," she answered still smiling.
"Who?" Lorelai asked.
"Finn."
"Oh, the Australian. I see..."
"What kind of messages?" Emily asked.
"Private ones," Rory replied a little annoyed that her grandmother was trying to butt into her life again.
"Mrs. Gilmore, dinner's served," the maid came and interrupted their conversation.
"You'll be there tomorrow, right?" Lorelai asked her parents.
"It's your engagement party, we have to be there," Emily said.
"You don't have to do anything. I invited you, you go if you want to go."
"You don't want us to go?"
"I didn't say that, mom."
"Well, what did you say, Lorelai? It sure sounded like you didn't care if your own parents went or not to your engagement party."
"Emily, she didn't say that," Richard said trying to calm his wife down.
"Thank you for not taking my side, Richard."
"There are no sides to be taken, Emily. I simply said Lorelai didn't mean it how you thought."
Rory rolled her eyes at the discussion and desperately wanted to get away. She took her cell phone from her purse and quickly typed: SOS! CALL! when nobody was looking
"So you can read my thoughts now?" the argument went on.
"Mom! Stop it! All I asked was if you were going to be there tomorrow!"
"And then you said we didn't have to!"
"I don't want you to feel obligated to go! I know you're not very fond of Luke."
"This is not about your choice for a husband. This is about you not wanting us to take part in an important event in your life. Like always!"
"Mom! This is," Lorelai began right when Rory's phone rang.
"I have to take this, sorry," she said and walked away.
"You should teach your daughter some manners. It's not polite to answer a phone call during dinner."
"Dinner? What dinner? We're not eating, we're fighting!"
"We're not fighting, we're having a healthy discussion."
"This is not a healthy discussion, mom."
"I agree. The pork's getting cold," Richard complained.
"Taking sides again, Richard?"
"Oh, my God!" Lorelai said in a exasperated tone.
Meanwhile Rory retrieved to the patio and closed the door behind her.
"Hi," she answered her phone sweetly.
"SOS, call? What kind of message is that?"
"A despair message, thank you for answering, Finn," she replied smiling.
"Anything for you, love. But what's the matter?"
"My grandparents and my mom, they're fighting again. Thank God poor Luke's not here to witness this."
"They don't like him that much, right?"
"Yeah, they seem to think he's not good enough for my mom."
"Doesn't he love her? What happened to love being enough?"
"I don't know, they just don't care. They want greater things. Remember the 'auction Rory party'? I had a boyfriend then but they didn't care cause he wasn't rich, meaning he wasn't good enough for me."
"But they were right about him. He broke your heart."
"Not the point, Finn... but let's not talk about it, I wanted to get away from a fight, not start a new one."
"Sorry, love... so I didn't see you at all this week!"
"I know. I was just so busy with the party stuff, but it'll be great, you'll see."
"I know... but I missed you."
Rory felt butterflies in her stomach when she heard that, but decided to be cool, "thanks, Finn, that's sweet."
"And this is the part where you say 'I missed you too, my love'."
"I missed you too, my love?" she said and laughed, "What have you been drinking, Finn?"
"Nothing," he said innocently.
"Finn?"
"A few beers..."
She chuckled.
"It's Friday night!" he defended.
"I didn't say anything!"
"You chuckled."
"So? I'm not allowed to chuckle?"
"Not if you're gonna reprimand me!"
"I'm not reprimanding you, Finn!"
"Do I have to remind you I called you cause you needed help?"
"No, and I've thanked you for that."
"It won't hurt if you do it again," he said as a spoiled child.
"You're such a baby," she said laughing.
"I'll hang up and you'll have to go back to your lovely dinner," he threatened.
"Fine, ok. Thank you for rescuing me, Finn."
"And..."
"And I missed you too," she said rolling her eyes.
"Say it like you mean it."
"I meant it!"
"You did?"
"Yes... not that I wasn't thankful I didn't see you this week."
"Oh, I see how you really meant it then! But why were you thankful?"
"I wasn't on my best behavior last Sunday."
"Didn't notice."
"I was drunk!"
"You were?" he asked mocking shock.
"If I were standing next to you I'd be slapping your arm right now."
He laughed, "well, you didn't have to be embarrassed about meeting me. We didn't do or say anything we don't usually do or say when we're sober. You should have been embarrassed about meeting Logan though."
"Why do you say that?" Rory asked suspiciously.
"All the things you said to him..." he said and Rory could tell he was grinning.
"What things Finn? What did Logan say to you?"
"Oh, you know how we tell each other everything."
"No, I do not know that you do. What did he tell you?"
"Let's see... that you wanted him to see you naked," she interrupted him, "I didn't say that! I asked him if he was afraid to see me naked!"
"Same effect, Rory. You also wanted him to go into the shower with you," she interrupted him again, "I did not want that!"
"Whatever, that's what he told me."
"That's it?" she asked a little relieved.
"Why? Was there more?"
"Nah, that was pretty much it."
"Oh, yes, he also told me you find me nice, funny and cute and that my accent's hot. Thank you very much, doll," he said again grinning.
Rory could feel her cheeks burn, she was so embarrassed. 'Oh, my God, I am going to skin Logan alive,' she thought to herself, 'ok, be cool, you were drunk, you have that excuse.'
"It was the alcohol talking," she said her voice a little hesitant.
"Really? I was so hopeful you might like me."
"Nope, it was just the alcohol."
"Well, your loss then, I could have shown you a hell of a good time, if you know what I mean."
Rory rolled her eyes, "sorry, not interested."
"Well, I'll get over it... or I'll win your heart over when we dance tomorrow," he said joking.
"My heart's not so easily won, Finn. One dance won't do it."
"And what, may I ask, does it take to win the fair lady's heart?"
"I can't tell you that! It's like telling the secret of a good magic trick. If you know what it takes to get there, you just lose interest, mystery's over."
"Guess you're right. I'll just have to keep trying then."
"Won't mind if you do. As long as you don't ask me to watch any of your awful movies."
"No, I know the Art of Movie Night now. I won't make any mistakes again."
"We'll see... I don't hear anything, I think the fight's over. I just hope my mom didn't leave. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yes, you will, love. And if you need rescuing..."
"Great! My own personal superhero! Do you have any prejudice against tights or a cape?"
"Hey, whatever turns you on!"
She laughed, "bye, Finn."
"Bye, Rory."
"Is it formal?" Emily was asking Lorelai when Rory walked back into the dining room.
"The party's in the town square, mom."
"So? It's an engagement party!"
"No, mom, it is not formal," Lorelai said rolling her eyes, and then turning to Rory, "not wanting to butt in, but since we're in need of a topic change, who was that?"
"Finn."
Lorelai smirked at her, "you and this Finn person good friends, huh?"
"We're friends," Rory replied not really sure what her mother meant by that, "why?"
"Oh, nothing," she said playing with a baby carrot, "it's just that every time you tell a Yale anecdote he is present..."
"We're friends, we hang out," she said a little defensive.
"You spent the whole weekend with him."
Rory could not believe her mother was saying this, and in front of her grandparents too! She gave Lorelai a significant look which did not go unnoticed by Emily of course.
"Who's Finn?"
"Just a friend from Yale, grandma."
"You spent the weekend with him? Alone?"
"It's not like that, we just watched a few movies, we had nothing to do."
"But is he a nice boy? What's his last name?"
"He is a nice boy, grandma," Rory said knowing Emily wanted to know if Finn's family was important or if they had a lot of money, "his family lives in Australia, you probably don't know them."
"Oh, I see..."
"So, um, this pork's really good!" Rory commented, trying to change the subject.
"Oh, it's a new recipe I asked Rosalina to try..." Emily began and Rory was glad her grandmother didn't insist on the Finn thing.
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"How do you do it?" Luke asked Lorelai as they walked around the very decorated town square for their party. "You even got Taylor to allow Lane's band to play on the gazebo," he said.
"I am a very nice person. Sometimes it's good to say good morning to people instead of just a grunt," she said joking.
"How do you like the party?" Rory asked approaching them; Marty was with her.
"I'm loving it! Oh, did you just hear their version of Can't Help Falling in Love?"
"Yeah, sounded good, but I still can't believe Lane let the guys change an Elvis song."
"I love Elvis, but their version was better," Lorelai replied.
"I don't see why they had to change all the songs. It's disrespectful," Luke said.
"Gotta love my grumpy," Lorelai said hugging Luke. "Nice to see you again, Marty," she said turning to him.
"Yeah, you too, Ms. Gilmore. Congratulations on your engagement, I wish you all the happiness in the world," he said very politely.
"Well, thank you, Marty, that's very sweet."
At the same time two cars pulled up and out came Logan, Stephanie, Finn and Colin.
"Lorelai! Am I too late?" Logan asked dramatically, almost theatrically, when they approached them.
"Hey, Logan. Too late for what?" Lorelai asked him.
"Have you said I do yet? Or am I in time to stop you from doing this so we can finally go public with our relationship."
"Oh my God! You're flirting with my mother!" Rory exclaimed laughing out loud together with everybody else, with the exception of Marty. Even Luke found Logan's joke entertaining, while Marty just faked a smile.
"Logan flirts with anything female," Colin commented.
"As long as they're sober," Rory added smirking at him.
"I do not flirt with anything female, only gorgeous ladies," he said and winked at Lorelai who just smiled, "and what's the point of flirting with a drunk girl if she won't remember a thing in the morning. Although sometimes some things should be forgotten."
"He's gotta a point. Drunk girls go with it too easily. The fun is in battling for the girl's heart," Finn said.
"Well, kids, this conversation seems to be going a very interesting way, but we've got to make the rounds," Lorelai said and walked away with Luke.
"Drinks, love?" Finn asked Rory who just pointed at the table where the drinks were being served. He walked over there followed by his friends, leaving Rory and Marty alone again.
"I didn't know they were coming," Marty said, "is Paris coming too?"
"Oh, she couldn't come, something about her family, I'm not sure."
"At least she's not coming."
"What do you mean at least?"
"Nothing, Rory, nothing. Let's not talk about it, ok? I'm a little hungry, let's get something to eat."
Rory followed Marty to the food table, but she knew what Marty had meant by his previous remark. He didn't like her friends, he never did. Rory didn't like them at first either, but she chose to give them a chance and when she got to know them, she realized they were fun people; yes they liked their parties and their alcohol, but they were also interesting people who did actually go to class. The problem was that Marty would not give them a chance. It was a prejudice he couldn't overcome and that hurt Rory.
They were standing next to the food table when Zach started saying, "so far we've been playing only songs Lorelai requested, making a few arrangements here and there, but they were songs she wanted. Well, our dear friend Luke has requested a song also, but he told us not to change anything. We're not happy about it." He was going to continue but Gil interrupted, "you're not happy, dude, cause we're ok playing the song the way it was written."
"Elton John is not rock n' roll!"
"Just start the song Zach!" Lane yelled from behind her drum set.
"Fine, here it is, Luke wanted to dedicate this to Lorelai, so there, it's dedicated. You gonna dance to it, Luke?" he asked him. Luke took Lorelai's hand and everybody cleared the improvised dance floor in front of the gazebo.
"Elton John?" Lorelai asked while she waited for the band to start the song.
"He's good, and I like the song."
As he said this, the band started playing the first accords to Something About The Way You Look Tonight.
"Oh, my God, Luke, this song is so beautiful!"
"I was gonna sing it to you, but you know I've got a terrible voice."
"Aren't you a big romantic?"
"I just love you."
Lorelai kissed him lightly, "I love you too."
Rory heard Zach with a smile on her face and when she saw her mom and Luke dance to the song she said mostly to herself, "aw, that's so cute! This is such a pretty song."
Marty saw the opportunity to ask her to dance and was about to open his mouth when Finn came up from behind Rory and wrapped one arm around her waist, startling her.
"I believe the lady owes me a dance."
"But no one's dancing, only my mom and Luke," she said moving slightly so she could face him, but not enough to make him remove his arm from around her.
"They're just waiting for the next couple to join. Besides I said I'd pick the song and I wanna dance to this one. So stop with the talking and come on," he said leading her to the dance floor.
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A/N: Ok, so I was definitely not going to end this chapter here, but it's been so long since I've updated, I thought you guys deserved a word from me. I've already written some more and it was supposed to be in this chapter, but I've been so incredibly busy, I thought I would never post this and you guys wouldn't remember the story... anyway, this is it for now, not the best chapter but it's an update... I promise next one will be better... Oh, yeah, and please review! Byee!
