AN: I know that this update is long overdue. All I can say is that I am very sorry I made you all wait so long. I had a moment where I didn't know where the story was going to go from here, but after a little bit of thinking I finally have a definite direction that I wanted to go. This chapter is mainly a filler chapter to jump us from point A to point B, but after the next chapter will see things speed up a little bit more.
One of the commenters, Droolia, asked about Finn's sisters and why they are the way they are to him. I figured I wouldn't be able to work it into the story as well as just give you the back story on it all.
Cami and Bella were only children for five years. Their father doted on them and their mother had nobody else to give attention to other than them. Cami and Bella built a bond with their father and were happy being spoiled by him, and he was happy spoiling them. Amelia just wanted a son and had to beg her husband for one more child. To her delight she was blessed with Finn. When Finn came along he took a lot of attention away from them. This didn't sit well with them and subconsciously this is the reason why they have hated him his whole life. Phineas tried to bond with his son, but unfortunately Finn was a 'mommy's boy' and would not let Phineas in. So Phineas continued to give his attention to his daughters who were always ready to please him. Over the time family became separate in a way. The girls were always on their father side and Finn was always on his mother's and vice versa.
I hope that this helps with the understanding of Finn's relationship with his sisters and his father.
Finn woke up on his first day of 2005 feeling better than he had in a very long time. Sitting up he examined his surroundings. He was in a medium-size room modestly decorated with various items that made the room seem more homey.
Lorelai had allowed him and Derrick to stay at the Dragonfly Inn. Lucky for them one of the two rooms with separate beds was free. Finn looked over at the other bed and found it empty. Derrick must be at breakfast. A glance at his watch told him he had 10 minutes before he would be out of luck for breakfast.
Less than five minutes later Finn was downstairs in the dining area. He managed to snag the last bit of bacon, a healthy portion of eggs, and a couple pieces of toast. He knew that this wouldn't hold him long, his metabolism was on the faster side, but it would hold him until he could get somewhere for a larger meal.
One glance around the room told him that Derrick wasn't there. This wasn't surprising.
After everything that had gone on last night, Derrick was probably out trying to clear his head.
Finn cleaned his plate of all his food, went back up to the room to shower and dress, and headed out to take a walk of his own.
It was cold outside, but the bite of the low temp was lessened by the brightly shining sun. While deciding which way to go, Finn spotted Derrick on a bench in front of the Inn. He was on the phone arguing with someone. Finn would be willing to bet that is was Bella.
He would have won.
As he approached the bench, he caught Derrick's side of the conversation.
"No…No…Because I don't have to…Not really…Keep it…Bella, honestly, I don't care. Keep the ring, keep the gifts, I don't want them…Okay, I'm hanging up now."
When he hung up the phone he let out a sigh.
Finn took a seat next to him. "That bad, mate?"
Derrick leaned forward and cradled his face in his hands. "That was the tail end of what I have been dealing with all morning. Turns out your sister is exactly as you described her."
Finn let out a short laugh, "What, you thought I was exaggerating?"
Derrick shook his head, "I thought you two just had some bad blood. You know how some siblings are. Turns out, after we left, Bella burned all my belongings. Good thing I have my wallet and phone here with me."
"Could have been worse," Finn stated simply.
Derrick scoffed, "Yeah, how?"
"Had she known where you were last night, she would have tried to kill you in your sleep. Just be glad that Bella doesn't know how to track credit card usage."
Derrick didn't reply.
They stayed quiet for a long time before Finn stood up from the bench. "Hey let's take a walk into town. I know a great diner, and I bet if we hang around long enough, we'll run into some beautiful ladies."
A thirty-minute walk later, they found themselves at Luke's diner with plates full of food. Derrick and Luke had picked up where they left off on the culinary discussion from the night before. Finn pulled out his phone to call Rory, but before he got the chance to start dialing he spotted her and her mom through the window.
Seconds later Lorelai, Rory, and Paris were sitting at the counter on the other side of Finn. Paris and Rory were discussing what he assumed to be dorm arrangements for when they got back to Yale.
"I just think it is stupid to rearrange our entire dorm because you read one book about Feng Shui." Rory sounded exasperated, as she often did when arguing with Paris. "And since when do you believe in such stuff?" She leaned towards Finn and gave him a quick kiss and then turned her attention back to Paris.
"Feng Shui has been around for over a thousand years. It is just a fact that if you arrange your furniture a certain way in your room there will be a better flow of movement and therefore a better flow energy."
Rory let out a sigh of defeat. "Fine you can rearrange your room and the common room all you want just leave my room alone."
Paris nodded in agreement. "Hey, can you take me to take porcelain shop? I want to see if they had something I could give to Consuela for her birthday."
Finn wondered who Consuela was.
Rory turned to Finn, "I'll be right back." She gave him one more kiss and hopped off the bar stool.
When he turned back to Derrick he saw that both he and Luke were heading towards the back of the diner. No doubt to go over more cooking techniques. That had been all they had talked about last night and since they had arrived today.
Finn then realized that he was alone at the counter with Lorelai. He hadn't been nervous until she moved to sit right next to him and began talking in the most serious tone he had ever heard her use.
"Look Finn, I'm going to cut to the chase before Rory and Paris get back. I like you, and so does my daughter, in fact I haven't seen her this happy in a long time. However, I do hope that you are not just using her until somebody who interests you more comes along. I will not have my daughter's heart broken any more than it already has been. She deserves to be happy, and if you do anything, I mean anything, to jeopardize her happiness you better be ready to leave the country and hide for the rest of your life."
Finn could appreciate what Lorelai was saying. He didn't want to hurt Rory. In fact he wanted to do everything in his power to prevent Rory from ever feeling an ounce of pain again. He turned to her and smiled, "I understand."
Lorelai returned his smile. "Good," she replied simply.
An hour later Finn and Rory finally managed to get away from the rest of the group. Paris had left for home, after getting Derrick's cell phone number, Derrick remained at the diner in Luke's company, while Lorelai, went to the Inn to check on a few things.
They walked through town side-by-side, fingers laced together. Finn couldn't think of a more perfect place to be on the first day of the new year than with his beautiful girlfriend in this lovely small town. Rory was showing Finn the parts of the town he hadn't yet seen, and telling him funny stories of what happened throughout her life at each location.
As they walked through the park for the second time, after visiting Patty's dance studio, Rory led Finn to the gazebo where they shared their New Year's Eve kiss.
The two of them took a seat on one of the benches. They stayed silent for a while. Finn was waiting for Roy to start talking, and he assumed she was waiting for him to start talking. He was enjoying the calm, comfortable silence between the two of them. It had been a long time since he had felt so at peace with everything around him. Even though he knew when he'd got home all hell would break loose.
After a few more moments of silence, Rory finally spoke. "Are you worried about going back home?" It was as if she was in his thoughts.
Finn knew she was talking about Bella. "I don't know. I know that my father my sisters are going to have a few choice words for me, but I hope my mother will be able to buffer enough of the anger out before I get there."
She let out a sigh, "It really sucks that your sisters are so horrible to you. Seeing them makes me glad that I'm an only child, well somewhat of an only child. I guess Gigi doesn't really count seeing as we didn't actually grow up together."
"That's how they've been my entire life," Finn said solemnly. "I really wish that I knew why they didn't like me so much. I'd hate to think it was just because of my existence."
Rory took Finn's other hand and laced it through her fingers. She laid her head upon his shoulder and they sat there in some more silence. Finn thought about everything that led up to this moment. Watching Logan fawn over her, wishing he could've got to her first, finally being the one to get her attention. He knew that there was a lot of drama in his life, but Rory was a bright shining beacon of happiness.
"I know what my mom talk to you at the diner when Paris and I weren't there," Rory said suddenly. "Don't let her scare you off. She's just worried about me after everything that happened with Jess and Dean over the years."
Finn released Rory's hands and stood up in front of her. He pulled her to her feet and looked her in the eyes. "Nothing anybody will ever say will deter me from wanting to be with you. I know it sounds crazy, but from the first moment I saw you, I have had this need to get to know you. After getting to know you all I wanted to do was to be closer to you. No amount of threats, no amount of warnings from parents or anything else will make me want anything else but to be with you." When she didn't reply right away, he took a breath and continued, "I really hope everything I just said did not scare you away from wanting to be with me. I know it seems rather sudden to have these kind of feelings but, there's something about you that just draws me in."
Rory smiled and shook her head, "It is crazy, but I don't mind it. I'm really happy to be with you. You are possibly the sweetest guy, and the most interesting guy that I have ever met. I am really lucky that you wanted me out of all the girls that you could've chosen from."
"Who wouldn't want to be with an amazing girl like you? With you there are no other girls."
Rory smiled and wrapped her hands around the back of Finn's neck and pulled him closer to her. Finn leaned down and let his lips softly graze hers. There kiss was gentle, nothing like it was the night before. It was gentle and sweet. No rush, no hurriedness.