They lingered in the park after the fireworks, letting the crowds disperse ahead of them while they slowly hand in hand made their way back to the hotel. Once they got back to the hotel, they sat on the sofa in their living room each stealing glances at the other one.
Finn was the first to break the silence. "Rory, I had an amazing day, you have fully converted me to a Disneyland fan and it is now my mission to visit them all, ideally with you by my side."
"That sounds amazing Finn, I have been to California, Florida and now here. I've never visited Hawaii or Tokyo yet, or any of the cruises."
"Now we have a plan, you will have to take me to the ones you've visited before and then together we will explore the new ones." He said while looking at her expectantly.
"Finn, about the kiss, we can ignore it and go back to just friends, I know I'm not your normal type and there is the bro code of your friends ex and-"
"Rory, Ror, let me stop you there. I don't want to forget that kiss. That was the best first kiss I've ever had. I honestly thought those fireworks were going off in my head for a minute" Finn rushed out, he was so excited he looked like a little boy, not the 28 year old man he is.
"Really Finn, I thought it was just me," Rory said, allowing some hope to slip into her voice.
"Yes, Kitten, I've been thinking about doing that since the plane, but I was sure I was fully in the friendzone," he explained.
"Finn, I'm not sure you were ever just in the friendzone, even at Yale I never spent any time alone with you because I liked you so much and you were my boyfriend's friend. I brought Robert to your birthday party back in the day trying to make you jealous and so you could see I was casual and available. The only person it worked on was Logan." Rory rambled out, then she blushed and covered her mouth as she realized how much she had said.
"Is that true love?" Finn asked, tilting her chin towards him so he could look in her eyes.
"Yes, Finn," she tried to avert her eyes from his steady gaze.
"Rory, the second time I met you at your dorm, I was really looking for you but then you appeared when I wasn't expecting it, and I got flustered and pretended I was looking for someone else and then well you remember the rest of that conversation."
"Yes I do, I'm just shocked that you do." Rory said honestly.
"I've liked you since then Rory, most of the time I just pretended to be drunk around you so that if I let something slip I could pretend it was just the alcohol talking," he admitted sheepishly.
"Oh Finn, we are both so silly," she laughed, placing her forehead against his gently.
"I have something for you love," reaching into his pocket, "close your eyes kitten."
Rory did what he said, and she felt something cool slide around her neck.
"You can open up now," Finn said nervously.
Rory tried looking down to see what it was but that didn't work so she left the comfort of the couch to find a mirror. Once she got there she was shocked to see he had bought her a necklace, it was white gold, with a s-like string of seven diamonds that had a Mickey Mouse head made out of three diamonds at the bottom. It was gorgeous and subtle and she instantly loved it.
"Finn this is gorgeous, when did you even get time to get this, it's too much, I can't accept it-" Rory started to ramble.
"Let's just say that pretzel line wasn't really all that long, of course you can accept it Rory, these past ten days we have spent together have been amazing. Today blew me away. It totally exceeded my expectations of how much I would enjoy coming to somewhere I always thought was just for kids." As Finn was talking he gently pulled Rory into his arms, slowly enough that she had time to show any resistance that she may have had.
"Rory, I really like you, and I'd love the opportunity to give us a real chance?" He said looking down at her through his lashes. She could see the hope and affection in his gaze.
"Finn, I'd really like that too. I like you but I think we have some other things we need to talk about as well." Rory managed to squeak out.
"Rory, I'm going to kiss you now. If you don't want that, you have five seconds to move away."
Rory watched with anticipation as his face got closer to hers, she couldn't wait the five seconds and stood on her toes to meet his lips faster. Again the kiss started off gently, then his tongue poked out to touch her lip, and she opened her mouth with a happy sigh to allow him entry. The kisses continued growing as his tongue massaged hers and explored her mouth. They eventually broke for air and stood in each other's embrace with their foreheads resting together.
"Well we know that part works," he said breathlessly.
Rory could only nod back in response, she couldn't trust herself to speak yet. Finn hugged her tightly for a few more minutes before Rory broke the silence. "Finn, I'm going to head to bed, it's been an amazing day, and this is a perfect ending. I don't want to rush what we have because it feels like the beginning of something amazing."
"I agree Ror, Good night, sweet dreams," he says with one more chaste kiss on her lips as he watches her walk into her bedroom.
The next day Rory woke up to the sound of knocking at her bedroom door,
"Come in," she said, pulling the blankets up around her.
Finn came in and he was carrying a breakfast tray. "Thought we could have breakfast in bed before we fly back, love, if that's ok with you."
"That sounds amazing Finn, come on climb in" she said lifting the blanket for him to get in beside her.
"I wasn't sure exactly what you would like so I ordered a bit of everything. We've got fruit salad, Mickey waffles, bacon, sausage, pancake and some yoghurt." He said as he removed the covers from the food, "And obviously coffee."
"You are a god," Rory said, kissing him on the cheek as she snatched a piece of bacon. They sat amicably in the bed sharing the breakfast from the plates. Neither of them called dibs on any particular part of it. They were both shocked how seamlessly it was going.
The comfortable silence was shattered by the sound of a phone ringing, "oh that's mine, I better get it," Rory said. "It's my dad," she said looking at the caller ID as she answered.
"Hey Dad, what are you calling so early in the morning for?"
"Do you need me to leave?" Finn whispered.
"Stay," Rory said while covering the hand piece.
"I'm actually in Paris Dad, I haven't been to Ireland yet,"
"No, I didn't bring my laptop, I have my iPad and my work cell though. What do you need"
Listening to one side of the conversation was very confusing to Finn, he had never met Rory's Dad, he knew he wasn't around a lot, but this call made it sound like they were closer than he origninally thought.
"Dad, my stuff is all still in Scotland, I'm flying back there today, and then I intend to go to the house in Dublin for a few days."
I wonder if she owns the house in Dublin or her dad, Finn thought to himself. He really needed to learn more about what had changed in the past five years.
"What?! No, of course. Give me two minutes. I'll turn on my work cell and iPad. It's three am there, Dad, who is in the office?"
The change in Rory's tone caught Finn's attention, she was now off the bed and searching for her other cell while turning her iPad on and presumably logging into some kind of email.
"Ok dad, I found my work cell, I'm going to give him a call and see if I can fix this without having to fly home early. I'll call you back in a few hours, get some sleep."
"Sorry about this Finn," Rory started to say when she was interrupted by the newly turned on cell ringing.
"No problem, we all have to work," he managed to get out before she answered the phone.
"Leigh Hayden, how can I help you?" Rory answered the phone, as she watched Finn reel back in shock.
"Yes Charlie, my dad just called. What do you mean there is a problem with the brief? I finished it before I left the office."
"No, that was supposed to go to mediation, not to court."
"That isn't his decision to make Charlie, it's mine. You know that Michael always tries to take advantage when I'm out of the office."
"Look I will call him when it hits seven am your time, I assume he isn't in the office with you."
"Okay, relax Charlie, no I won't fire you, I will call you back later, get some sleep."
"Sorry Finn, just one more quick call," she said while already dialling.
"Hey Dad, it's fine, it's just Michael getting power hungry again. I'll deal with him once it's business hours. I'll call you back this evening to confirm that it's all sorted. Love you, bye!" Rory hung up with a sigh. She looked over at Finn. "I assume you have lots of questions?"
Finn just nodded in response.
"Can we shower and get dressed and then meet in the living room for this conversation?" She asked apprehensively. Rory didn't know how the conversation would go, she had planned on telling him gently today not, this baptism of fire technique.
"That works, kitten," he said, getting up and gathering the breakfast dishes, "one thing first though."
"What?"
"This." And with that he leaned down and kissed her, pulling her tightly into his arms. "Rory, nothing you can tell me at the moment will change how I feel about you. So, go, have your shower, collect yourself and don't worry about me."
"Thank you, Finn" Rory said and then walked off to her ensuite bathroom.
Finn sighed and ran his hands over his face, Rory is a Hayden, wow, I need a shower as well for this conversation he thought as he walked to his own bathroom.
