AN: I know I know! I'm super late. With the new year came the requirement to verify all the insurance in my office. I'm still no where close to being done, but I just had to get this chapter to y'all. I am hoping to post more frequently, but cannot make any solid promises. I just want everyone to know, I have not abandoned any of my stories.
I would like to give a special thanks to Christine for catching my mistakes. She is super awesome, taking time out of her busy day to read over my stuff. I love her!
As always I hope you all enjoy this chapter and get the chance to review it.
February 4, 2005 (Friday)
"Finn! Finn Morgan, open this door right now!" Finn heard a familiar voice outside his door. He sat up from the bed and rubbed his eyes and checked his bedside clock; it was 5am. As he stood from the bed, he quickly remembered that he was not wearing any clothes and neither was Rory who was, somehow, still asleep.
He grabbed the pair of sweatpants he set out the night before and pulled them on. He checked to make sure Rory was still covered and then went to his bedroom door. After unlocking it he yanked the door open. The familiar voice on the other side, as he expected, belonged to Stephanie. "Not that I don't love you, Steph, but why in the hell are you waking me up at this ungodly hour?" He made sure to keep his voice down so he didn't wake Rory up.
"It, uh, is that Rory, in your bed?" She was looking past Finn, "And is she naked? Finn Morgan you devil."
Finn pushed his friend into the common space shutting his bedroom door behind him. "Yes it is Rory. But what is the big deal, you have known that we are dating." He went to the kitchen and started to make some coffee.
"Well duh I knew you were dating, but you failed to share the news that you two were active." She moved to sit at the dining room table.
"Well you wouldn't know, because last night was our first night together." Finn took note of how excited Stephanie got. She was used to hearing about the guys' sex life, but not when it came to a serious relationship.
She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her feet on the chair. "I love you two together. You two are so cute You're always stealing quick glances at each other, and you never run out of stuff to talk about." Her look went from excited to sad as she spoke.
Finn knew that Stephanie longed to be in a committed relationship, but she hadn't found the 'right guy'. Every guy that she dated either turned out to be a scum bag or was intimidated by her independence. She didn't need a guy to take care of her; she just wanted one of those sweet Hallmark relationships that were portrayed in every romantic movie she watched. He knew who she thought was the right guy for her.
He sat down across from her and handed her one of the cups of coffee he had made. "So, are you going to tell me why you came barging into my apartment and demanded I wake up?" He kept his tone as playful as possible. He didn't know how she was actually feeling at the moment, and didn't want say the wrong thing.
She didn't say anything at first. She just looked into her mug and swirled her coffee around. When she did finally speak her voice was soft. "I just, I needed a friend."
He reached out and placed a hand on her arm. "Steph, are you okay? Please tell me you're not,"
"No, I'm not," She said with a reassuring smile on her face.
The thing that just about no one knew about Stephanie was, that while she was brilliant, the stresses of school and her home life sometimes became too much for her. During her junior year of high school she had pick up some nasty habits of popping anxiety pills, cutting herself, and not eating. Finn and Colin were the only people who knew she did this, and had only found out when they saw her scars. They held her 'captive' in Colin's basement until she told them everything. They had worked really hard to get her to stop. Finn had even taken her to a teen help center to see a counselor. She had begged them not to involve her parents; her biggest fear was to disappoint them.
She had stopped all of it, but Finn knew that, with the pressures of law school, it was a daily struggle not to revert back to the way she was.
"Steph, you can tell me what is wrong."
She let out a long breath, "Colin is in Rosemary's bed right now." It was not secret that Stephanie was head over heels in love with Colin; well except to Colin. "You think that my roommate, and friend of three years, would have some boundaries. I mean, shit, I only have talked about how much I want to be with the man like every fucking time I see him with a new girl." She stood from her seat and started to pace in small circles. "And she and Juliet have asked me about him. They have given me advice on how to tell him that I like him."
Finn chuckled slightly, "Yeah, because lord only knows how he's been blind to it this whole time."
"Hey," She stopped in her tracks and pointedly looked at Finn, "I am not that obvious."
A snort escaped Finn's mouth. "I'm sorry luv, but you are. Anyone with two eyes could see that you are mad about him."
Stephanie put her hands on her hips, "Well, I have had to be a little more forward with him than I would with anyone else. I don't understand, a girl could just look at him and his interest would be peeked, but I have tried everything to get him to notice me as more than a friend and I get nothing." Her voice started to break, indicating that tears weren't far away.
"Steph, please calm down," Finn said as he got up from his seat and pulled her into his arms. "Colin is so not worth you getting so upset. He's nowhere near as devilishly handsome as me, and his personality lacks the intelligence and charisma that I have."
He heard Stephanie laugh into his shoulder. She pulled back from the hug and wiped her eyes of the nonexistent tears. "Well, too bad you are taken."
"Oh well, I don't know, maybe Rory wouldn't mind sharing," he said with a playful smirk.
She smacked him on the arm. "As much as I love you, I don't feel for you what I feel for Colin."
Finn feigned a hurt expression. "So you're saying that I am not the guy of your dreams? My heart is broken." He wiped a stray tear that remained on her cheek. "So, tell me, how do you feel for Colin?" Finn was curious as to how she would describe her feelings. He sat back down as Stephanie started pacing again.
She took a moment to collect her thoughts. "I just…he's the only one, other than you, who truly knows me. And I think I'm the only girl who knows him. We've been through so much together. He was there for my lowest points and I for his. When I'm around him I feel so happy, and when I am not, I just want to be around him. I actually like his dirty jokes and unlike most girls, I don't mind that he is a bit messy. I know what he likes and what he doesn't like. I know how picky of an eater he is and I'm okay with that. I like how he knows when I'm sad or mad. His smile melts me, and all I want to do every time he laughs is grab his face and kiss him."
Stephanie had been so absorbed in her speech, and Finn in listening to it, that neither of them had notice the additional person in the apartment; that is, until he cleared his throat.
A horrified look spread across Stephanie's face as she slowly turned around to find Colin standing just 20ft away. "C-Co-Colin." That was all she seemed to be able to get out.
Finn thought about moving out of the room, but feared he'd ruin whatever was taking place here; and he really didn't want to miss this conversation.
Colin ran a hand through his hair. "Steph, I never,"
Stephanie interrupted him before he could get his sentence out. "Of course you never knew. You were always looking the other way."
Colin tried again, "Why didn't,"
"I tell you?" She finished for him. "I did everything but say it word for word. You just don't see me like that."
Colin's brow furrowed and a frown formed on his face. "Are you fucking stupid."
"Excuse me?" She asked incredulously.
"Stephanie, you have a brain bigger than most, yet you are not smart enough to figure out that I have like you since we were 13."
"What?" Stephanie looked more confused than she had ever in her life.
Colin ran his fingers through his hair again. "I never thought in my wildest dreams that you would want me like that. I thought you were just extra kind to me because we were such good friends." He began to close the distance between them. "Had I ever known that you would have given me a chance I would have jumped on that opportunity."
"Why didn't you just give it a shot?"
"I didn't think you'd ever want to be with me. During our senior year you and Jessica told Finn and me that if a guy and girl were friends they could never go out, because if they did then their friendship would be ruined. I didn't want to ruin our friendship and I didn't think you'd go out with me because of the same fear."
"I didn't believe that. Jessica had a crush on you at the time and I was trying to deter her from trying to go out with you. I was a bit selfish. It's not like it worked anyways, you two ended up dating for 6 months."
"Only because she asked me to the Sadie Hawkins dance. And I didn't know it was going to bug you since you asked Michael Horton, who you went on to date for a year."
Finn had enough of this back and forth and decided it was time to intervene. "Hey you two, that's enough." He stood from his seat and looked towards Stephanie and then Colin, "You both obviously have some strong feelings for each other. So how about instead of bickering like an old married couple, you two start off by dating."
"He's sleeping with Rose. I'm not about to be the other woman."
Colin looked at Stephanie; his expression was a mix of amused and confused at the same time. "I'm what?"
"I saw you in Rosemary's bed, that's why I am here. I needed to talk to Finn."
Colin shook his head and smiled. "Yes, I was in Rose's bed, but did you see Rose in it with me?"
"I…uh…I don't know. I guess I didn't."
"No, she was at her new boyfriend's place while I crashed in her room. You see, your dorm is close to my job, and Rose and I have a deal where she allows me to use her room whenever she's not there."
Stephanie seemed at a loss for words.
Colin moved until he was standing right in front of her. He cupped her cheek; his face was only inches away from hers. "I hope I haven't spoiled my chance to be with you, because that would really fucking suck."
With only a moment of hesitation, Stephanie pressed her lips to Colin's.
Finn took this as the best moment to slip out of the room and head back to his own girlfriend, who happened to still be in his bed, completely naked. Before he closed his door he glanced back at his two best friends. They were still holding on to each other, smiles of happiness gracing both of their faces.