Dirty Little Secret
Chapter 5 - Kiss Yourself Goodnight
"I want you."
Rory's words floated a while between her and Finn, while she still examined his eyes. She wasn't aware about what she had said until Finn broke into a wide smile. She frowned, before her words sunk in at last.
She blinked and felt her cheeks redden.
"You sure, love?", he asked, tilting his head.
"I think I am", she whispered, throwing him a shy smile before looking away again.
He watched her, a weird expression on his face that could easily be misunderstood as arrogance, but of the corner of her eye she could see that he was glad and proud that she had chosen him over his best friend Logan. At least she thought she had. Her fingers just hooked into his again, when he let go of her and stood up from the bed. She looked up, more than puzzled.
"I knew this night – or morning – might offer a reason to celebrate", he said and bent down to get something from behind the bed.
"Celebrate?", she asked, watching him.
"Yes, love", he replied, finally getting up again, hiding his hands behind his back.
"So?"
"So, here we go, love", he said with a smirk, revealing what he brought to celebrate. "The drink that brought us together!"
She couldn't help but grin at him, looking at the Tequila bottle in his hands.
"But before we kill your Tequila-virgin once again – and I know that's not possible, but anyhow, we have to talk", he said, sitting down beside her again, facing her.
"Talk?"
"Yes, my dear monosyllabic girl", he grinned. She just tilted her head, watching him with a spark in her eyes that could either interpreted as fear or impatience. Finn chose the latter. "Talk, yes, THE talk, love", he continued, locking eyes with her.
She raised an eyebrow.
"Alright, I am not the person to be believed to talk THE talk, but, just pretend I am", he added, noticing the sceptic look on her face. "Anyhow, love, I just want to know where we stand."
"We're sitting, Finn", she suggested.
"Oh, clever girl, now I understand why you're going to Yale", he grinned.
"And I'm still wondering why you are here as well", she mocked.
"Now that hurt, love", he said, hiding a smirk. "As I was saying, where are we, Rory? Am I still your dirty little secret?"
"Of course you are", she replied, watching him.
"And nothing… more?"
His worry made her smile at him. She never expected him to be that … cute. "Well, we still can't tell anyone about this, you know that. Logan would push you off a bridge, my mother wouldn't approve of it either, and –"
"Wait. Paris already knows, remember. At least she's assuming something. And Logan won't ask again –"
"What? What do you mean he won't ask again? Is this what you two talked about in your dorm bathroom?"
"Yes, love. I gave him my word that I would never ever even think about making out with you –"
"You are such a liar, Finn!", she chuckled.
"I know – and unlike Colin I'm pretty good at it too", he replied, grinning. "So I told Logan that, and he, as my best friend, believes me."
"But you know, if this ever comes out, you are as good as dead."
"I know that, love", he whispered, a tiny amount of concern in his voice.
"And you still want to do this? Be my secret?"
"Of course, love, never assume anything else!", he said and leant his head against her shoulder, which looked rather silly for him being more than a head taller than her. She chuckled and put a hand on his cheek, before leaning in to kiss him. He pulled his arms around her and soon she was sitting on his lap, her legs wrapped around his waist, her hands holding his face, falling more and more for his charm. Just as they kissed wildly with their lips sucking on each other's, a loud rumble echoed through the room – making them both growing rigid.
Rory looked around the room and let out a sigh as she saw the Tequila bottle lying on the floor, luckily still in one piece. She glanced back at Finn who just grinned and was about to lean into the kiss again – when suddenly her dorm room door burst open.
"Hands in the air!", Paris's loud voice rang through the room, causing Rory to jump and Finn to instinctively raise his hands over his head.
"Paris!", Rory blurted out, staring at her roommate in rage. "Ever heard about knocking?"
"What are you doing here?"
"What do you think, Paris?"
"I told you to warn me, Rory!"
"I thought you knew I had a visitor."
"I didn't expect … this", Paris said, her voice sounding rather disgusted. "And what was that noise? Do you hit each other while –"
"Paris, gross!", Rory said outraged, before pointing at the floor for Paris to see the bottle.
Paris raised an eyebrow and looked from the bottle to Finn, who was about to lower his hands but raised them once again as he noticed Paris's glare. A smirk was playing around his lips.
"Anyway, keep it down, will you? My night's already been short", she said grumbling.
"Paris, wait", Rory held her back.
"What? I don't want to watch you if that's what you are about to ask."
"Um, no! I just wanted to ask you a favour."
"What?"
"Please don't tell anyone about this."
"Why not?"
"Because then you might be involved in a lot of blood shed, not to mention that you might get a new roommate."
Paris stared at Rory, before she shrugged and turned around. "Fine." With that she slummed the door shut behind her again.
Rory turned to Finn, who sighed loudly. "Darn, I thought she would kill me right away", he said, lowering his hands.
Rory laughed at him and playfully caressed his cheek. "I would have protected you, poor Finny-poo", she said as if talking to a baby.
He grinned and quickly kissed her. "But you have to admit, love, that girl is scary!"
"I never said the opposite", she agreed. "But you can be sure that she won't tell anyone. She might even forget about it. Hmm, but we shouldn't put her into a room alone with Logan, if she is mad at someone – and she is always mad at Logan – then she might use this against him – and then we are doomed!"
"Alright, keep those two away from each other, then", he said, pulling her closer to him. "One problem solved, love", he added, kissing the corner of her mouth.
"Many other still remaining", she finished, looking a little sad. "Finn, I –"
"What is it, darling?"
"Don't get me wrong, I feel that everything is right when I'm with you, but the moment we part… you know, um, I don't know… I have doubts this is really what I want."
"And I thought we'd already declared what you want", he said, leaning closer to breathe against her neck before kissing it gently.
She closed her eyes and just enjoyed the warmth of his lips for a while, before she pushed him away as gentle as she could, locking eyes with him.
"Yeah, I know that I want this, this with you, but –"
He cupped her face with his hands, his eyes hypnotising her.
"But I don't know if I'm the person to do this…", she continued.
"What do you mean?", he breathed against her lips.
"I told you, I am not that kind of girl…"
"You'll never be that kind of girl, love", he then said, their noses already touching.
"What?", she breathed.
"You are not like every other girl, you are special, darling, you won't be one of many."
"Aww, Finn!", she mouthed and kissed him. "That was sweet and I wonder why I never expected you to say something like that!"
A grin broke from his face. "You really have to get to know me better, love!"
"That's what I'm planning to do", she whispered, grinning at him before she leant in to an even deeper kiss, her arms around his neck, her fingers playing with his hair.
"Not that I'm complaining about the service in your humble home", he interrupted her longing kiss. "But we're neglecting our little mate down there!"
She just laughed and bent down to grab the Tequila bottle. Shoving it into Finn's hands, she watched how he welcomed the bottle in their middle.
"Well, hello there, little lad, how are you? Ready to be drunk?", he said with a grin and opened the bottle to take a large gulp from it.
Rory stared at him in awe. "I'm always wondering how you do that…"
"Well, let me show you", he said, smirking, lifting the bottle to her lips. "You move your lips to that gap up here, you raise the bottle" – he did so – "and you drink! Very easy!"
She took a sip, before she leant back coughing, almost spilling the valuable liquid. Holding her throat, she blinked at Finn. "Damn, I can't remember that burning…", she said with a hoarse voice, causing Finn to laugh.
"You'll get used to it, love", he winked at her and took another gulp without even blinking. She made a face just watching him. "Come on, celebrate, darling!", he added, looking at her smirking. "Here's to us!", he said and took yet another gulp, before handing the bottle to her.
"I don't know if I should applaud you or throw up…"
"I think you should applaud me", he said, stretching slightly. "Throwing up is a bad business!", he added, stressing the word bad with his forehead furrowed.
She grinned at him and lifted the bottle to her lips again, yet taking only a little sip.
"Alright, the woman that calls me her dirty little secret cannot drink Tequila, I am disappointed", he said, grinning, yet acting as if being hurt. "We need glasses!"
When he got up, she could see that the alcohol had already settled in his system.
"But I don't have any glasses here, Finn", she told him, watching him rummage through her room.
"Oh, found something!", he said after a while holding up two Yale coffee mugs.
"But those are mugs, Finn, we can't drink Tequila from mugs! That's like… like… drinking coffee from buckets!"
"As if you would mind, darling, my little coffee addict", he smirked and cuddled next to her on the bed, holding out the coffee mugs for her to fill. She lifted the Tequila bottle to the mugs and filled them both half, emptying the bottle entirely. "Oh dear, they should do more inside those bottles", he giggled.
"And look how poor this little fellow looks right now, all empty and see-through…", Rory looked at the bottle, already feeling the alcohol in her veins.
"We should adopt it, make it our mascot!", Finn added.
"Of course first, we must be married!"
"Naturally, darling! I'm very old-fashioned!"
"Oh Finn!"
"Oh buttercup!", he said, tilting his head to look at her with a major sigh on his lips.
She giggled at him and took a mug from his hands.
"To us, love", he said, lifting his mug into the air.
She lifted her mug in the air as well, locking eyes with him. "To us…"
Finn emptied the mug in one big gulp, making Rory stare at him with her mouth open. He noticed her stare and smirked. "Come on, I know you can do the same!"
She frowned and looked down into her own mug. Swallowing hard, she lifted it to her lips and drank – and drank. While gulping down the last sips, she made a face as if she was about to throw up but then lowered the mug and brushed the back of her hand over her mouth. Finn glared at her as if he just found out that weekends have been extended.
"My, I am so proud of you, love!", he sang, pulling Rory into a bone-breaking hug. She laughed and let him pull her, lying on top of him, her head on his chest. In a moment when there was a small gap in the fog that clouded her vision, she looked at the clock on her night stand.
"Oh look, we've missed breakfast", she giggled.
"Don't worry, I can't remember being there once in my life, love!"
"No way!"
"Yes!"
She just giggled and snuggled against him, feeling how the alcohol rushed through her blood.
"You know that you are very, very, very bad for me, Finn?"
"I assume, love."
"I mean, I've never drank in the morning, this is a first for me!"
"Another virgin killed, I am so good!", he grinned.
She laughed and kissed his chest, feeling his heart beat right against her lips.
"Rory?", she heard him ask, his voice unnaturally calm.
She looked up, putting her chin on his chest. "Finn?", she replied in a mockingly deep voice.
He had his arms crossed behind his head and looked at her. "It's too bright", he then said, making her giggle even harder.
She sat up on top of him and quickly climbed off the bed, walking slowly over to the window (the Tequila messing with her system) and pulling her curtains over the windows. It was still a little light inside the room, for it was almost noon, yet the darker light made her feel even better about the young man in her bed and the fact that she had already missed several classes. As she climbed into the bed again, she lay down beside Finn, her index finger drawing lines on his chest.
"Do you want to wear this dress all day long, love?"
She looked down at herself, noticing the dress she had been wearing last night at the date with Logan. Under other circumstances that memory would have caused her to think and feel bad again, but with half a bottle of Tequila inside her, she couldn't care less. She sat up and pulled the dress over her head, before lying down beside Finn again.
He rolled onto his side to face her. And it was Rory who moved close to him, closing her lips around his, her arms around his neck. They kissed passionately, Finn's hands messing with her hair, Rory's hands holding onto his shoulder blades, her fingernails scraping gently over his skin. He rolled over her and pinned her to the bed, using his arms as support, while jerking his neck a little to kiss her, his tongue fighting with hers.
Her arms were still around his neck, her fingernails drawing lines on his back. She pulled him closer so that he laid on his elbows, kissing her eagerly, before one of his hands wandered down her body, his fingers causing jolts of electricity to run through her veins. She breathed against his lips, being totally absorbed by him. Closing her eyes, she fell into the dimness of her room, for the warmth of his body and his gentle touch that made her shiver.
While she forgot about everything, the life outside her window blossomed, students running around, talking, laughing, hurrying, learning, living.
Rory and Finn couldn't care less.
Rory woke up several hours later, cuddled against Finn's chest, his arm holding her tightly, the bed sheets holding her warm where his skin wasn't touching hers. She inhaled his scent deeply, opening her eyes slowly. Her room was still dim, so she couldn't tell what time of day it was. She still felt a little dizzy due to consuming Tequila in the morning and her lack of sleep, yet there was something inside her stomach that felt good, that made her smile.
"Still smiling, love?", she heard Finn mumbling.
She looked up at him and smiled even wider, leaning closer to kiss him. Looking quickly past him at the clock on her night stand, she leant back, shaking her head. It had finally sunk in how much time she had wasted today – even though it didn't feel like a waste. Yet she had missed at least three classes plus breakfast and lunch. It was almost three o'clock when she sat up and pulled the bed sheets around her. Looking down at Finn, she noticed that he had fallen asleep again, breathing deeply.
She sat on her bed, watching him, and smiled. She didn't know why, it just felt right. Rory got up after a while, leaving him the bed sheets and quickly gathering some clothes from her closet to slip into. She threw a last glance at the sleeping form of Finn, before she quietly left her room. Once she was outside her dorm, she headed straight to the next coffee stand, ordering a large coffee cup. She just turned around, taking the first sip, when she saw Logan standing right behind her.
"Oh", she said, almost spilling her beloved coffee. "Hey, Logan."
"Are you feeling better?", he asked and it felt like a stab of a knife.
She merely nodded and walked away from the line in front of the coffee stand. When she reached the corner, she felt his hand on her shoulder. She turned around again to face him.
"Logan, I'm okay. And I thought you would forget about yesterday", she added, avoiding his gaze.
"I just wanted to make sure, Ace", he said. "Where have you been today?"
"What do you mean?"
"I missed you at lunch."
"You did? Well, I wasn't hungry. To be honest I hadn't even had breakfast, I was in bed all day", she said, telling the truth. "I haven't felt well…" she added, creating another lie.
He watched her, so she added quickly: "But I told you, I'm fine again. I had my coffee, now I'm good!" She smiled at him.
"I'm glad", she heard him whisper, as he leant closer to grab her hand – pulling her across the street.
"Logan!"
He quickly stopped and pushed her into a small entrance area, pinning her against the wall. "Hi Ace", he said with a smirk.
"Hey", she whispered, watching him closely, her skin tingling.
He then leant in to kiss her rather hungrily. She leant back after a while to catch her breath.
"Ooh, Huntzberger, you did miss me", she said quietly, grinning at him.
With that he dragged her along until they stood right in front of her dorm room. It was then that she had the weird feeling that something bad was about to happen. What if Finn was still lying in her bed? Logan just kissed her neck, shoving her slowly against her door, when she pushed him away gently.
"Sorry, Logan, I can't", she said.
"What, you didn't clean your room?"
'Sort of', she thought.
"I don't care, Ace", he went on. "I like it messy!"
"Oh I know that", she said, mockingly. "But I can't, because –" 'Give me a reason!' "Because Paris is there!"
"I don't care about her either, Ace!"
'Damn it!'
"And I have classes this afternoon."
"You do? But you missed your other classes as well, when you stayed in bed the whole day, why don't you miss the whole day?"
"I can't, you know that!", she said, looking at him pleading.
"When's your first class?"
"Later… I don't know exactly, I have to check that. There's – there's been a change. I don't know the new times yet."
Logan raised an eyebrow but didn't ask any further.
"I'll go check it, wait right here!" With that she slipped inside her dorm, sighing as she closed the door behind her. She quickly walked over to her room and opened the door.
Something inside her cracked as she saw Finn still lying in her bed. She bit her lip and walked over to him.
"Finn?", she whispered. "Finn! Wake up!"
He didn't move. She bent closer to check his breathing. Normal. Slow and quiet, but normal.
"Finn!", she pleaded, shaking him by the shoulders. "Please wake up!"
"Ace?", she heard Logan's voice from the common room.
"Oh no", she mouthed, quickly getting up and walking to the door. "Oh no…"
She opened the door and quickly slipped through it, making it impossible for Logan to look inside her room.
"You checked?"
"Yes, yes, I did, and I'm already late", she said, her heart pounding against her chest in panic. "Sorry."
"Don't worry, maybe later?"
"I –" She bit her lip. "I don't know, Logan. I really need this night to sleep", she said, suddenly very much aware of the fact that she tried to avoid Logan. What drove her? She liked him. But apparently she liked somebody else a little bit more.
"Fine", he said and kissed her a quick goodbye. "See you then, Ace!"
Did she just disappoint Logan Huntzberger, the one that drove her into this weird situation in the first place? The one who neglected her? She smiled from the inside as he left her dorm. She did as he did. They were even. She didn't even feel guilty anymore. When she turned around to go back into her dorm, she even felt good about disappointing Logan. How evil she'd become.
Closing her room door behind her, she knelt down next to Finn again, touching his arm gently. Still there was no movement.
"Finn?", she said again. "Finn!"
She shook him again but there wasn't even a groan from him. What was wrong with him? He hadn't drunk as much as she has, this couldn't be a normal hangover. Yet she didn't know what else he did the last night.
"Finn, damn it, wake up!"
Suddenly she panicked. She leant back in shock, before checking his breath. He was breathing, right? Or was she just imagining it? But why shouldn't he not breathe? He was fine. He was fine when she had left him, not just an hour ago. What happened in that time? Did Paris kill him after all? But why would she do that? Rory checked Finn's pulse and again she was questioning its liability. Her breath grew quicker, her hands began to shake.
"Finn? Oh god, please, wake up!"
She leant back again, closing her eyes, trying to breathe normally.
It was then that she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up in shock and was about to scream – when she saw Finn look at her.
"You alright, love?", he asked, stretching his limbs.
"If I'm alright? I thought you were dead!"
"Dead?", he frowned.
"You wouldn't respond to my calling your name and shaking you and such and I was really afraid –"
"Oh love", he said with a smirk, and climbed off the bed to sit down next to her on the floor, pulling the sheets behind him to cover them both. "I told you once I'm asleep, nothing can wake me. I'm sorry, love", he added and placed a kiss on her temple.
"But – but you were awake just an hour ago!"
"I know, but as soon as I hit my REM state, nothing can wake me, love", he said with a smirk, noticing her furrowed forehead. "You know, I missed very much in my life because of that. I'm glad you're still here!"
"Well, this is my room", she said. "And guess what, I had trouble fighting Logan off."
Finn's smirk immediately vanished. "Logan?"
"He found me at the coffee stand and we somehow came back here, but I quickly enough remembered that you might still be lying here. Just imagine how that could have ended!"
"Well, I wouldn't have noticed, love", he grinned, even though a little forced. "Murdered in my sleep, that's a nice way to die!"
She just threw him a glare.
"I'm sorry, love", he whispered and kissed her cheek. No more bloody jokes from me now."
Rory leant back against her bed and sighed.
"So you told him –"
"I told him I had classes, which is not true at all and I really hope he doesn't find out."
"You lied to dear Logan?"
"Yes, what else should I have done? Lead him right here, shoving you off the bed so we had some space?"
"You would do that?"
"Of course not!"
"Relax, love, he won't find out."
"At least not that you were here…"
"He doesn't care", Finn said, causing Rory to look at him in surprise. "I mean, yes, he likes you – but he also likes, um, what are their names, Kimberly, Sophie, Julia and I-can't-remember-her-name. So what I want to tell you, darling, he is much worse than you. Next week there might be Susan, Cindy and Clair or whoever else he'll pick up. You might shag his best friend, but he is shagging half Yale."
Rory looked away in disgust.
She didn't want to be one of many. She wanted to be special. Just like Finn had said. She lowered her head and stared at her feet. She then felt Finn's arm around her.
"I don't know if it makes you feel better when I'm telling you that you still have me, love, so…"
Rory smiled at her feet. "It does, Finn", she said and looked up.
She met his gaze and quickly leant in to a passionate kiss. He then got up and gathered his clothes, slipping into them, before he knelt down beside Rory again. He closed his lips around hers, while his hands wandered down her arms to the pockets of her coat.
"Hey", she said against his lips, when he pulled out her cell phone. She watched him, flipping it open and quickly putting down some number. "What are you doing?"
"I'm leaving you my number, love", he said, his tongue sticking out between his lips while his thumbs flew over the small keyboard.
"But –"
"Don't worry, love, whenever you feel sad or just want a little private party, dial this number and –" He gave her back her phone, still open, with a name and a number on the display. "Felicity might help you."
Rory giggled in surprise. "Felicity?"
"Couldn't think of another girl name starting with an F", he said, shrugging.
She just leant in to kiss him. "Thank you, Felicity!", she giggled.
"You're welcome, love", he kissed her again before getting up, his hands deep in the pockets of his coat.
Rory got up as well, watching him walking over to the window.
"Finn?", she asked, holding him back.
"Yes, love?", he turned around.
"I'm going to dump Logan", she simply stated, convincing herself by speaking the words that had been in her head for a while now.
He grinned at her. "I feel special", he said, walking back to her to kiss her goodbye.
She watched how he climbed out of the window, vanishing around the corner, winking at her. She flipped shut her cell and slowly closed her window.
A smile on her face, a bad knot inside her stomach.
A/N: Chapter 5 - and guess what? There's just another chapter waiting for you until I'm running out of chapters xD
Due to that uploading problem I gathered 6 chapters to this story. So, yeah, have fun with the fifth, tomorrow there'll be another one!
And again, WOW. I am so overwhelmed by the amount of people reading and reviewing - this is the first day the story is online and already 15 reviews and more than 1000 hits... amazing, I'd never expected anything like it. So... THANK YOU EVERYONE SO MUCH! Thanks!
Disclaimer: GG belong to ASP, titles to AAR.