A/N: It took a little longer than expected, but here you go. Thank you for the reviews, as always they were great… I'm to tired to write thank you's, so I won't…

I want to dedicate this to Evelyn, my most faithful reviewer, who just wrote me my longest one ever.

Thank you for keeping me at it…

Seven Swans A-swimming

When she woke up that morning, back in his arms, everything felt right. Her back was against his stomach, their legs were intertwined, and both his arms were around her body. She loved the feeling of him, the soft skin in contrast with the strong, flexible muscles. She rolled over in his arms, and faced him. His eyes were still closed and his breathing was regular and relaxed. She caressed his cheek, and felt the rough stubble against her fingers. She drew her fingers further down, over the jaw and onto the smooth skin on his neck. Her eyes had followed her fingers, and when she looked up again, Finn was looking at her intensely. He smiled.

"G'morning there Kitten, slept well?" he mumbled and tightened his grip around her slightly.

She pretended to think about it, and managed to keep her face looking thoughtful for a full minute before Finn lost patience.

"You little Devil" Finn mumbled and tugged her even closer, just when she thought that he was going to kiss her, he blew a raspberry at her instead.

"Mean!" she said and gave her best pout.

Finn laughed. He tried to stand his ground, but the pout made it impossible for him to resist her, and very soon, he was nibbling on her lower lip. When the kiss ended, Rory smirked triumphantly.

"Hah, no man can a pouting Gilmore girl"

Finn grinned and kissed her again, this time more passionately, and after only seconds, his hands were travelling over her body. Their breathing got heavier, and in a matter of minutes, they were well on the way to making Finn's sheets even messier.

Around noon Finn walked her home, they passed the coffee cart, and he bought her two large coffees. They walked through the campus in almost complete silence, only broken by a few short sentences. For the first time ever Rory was okay with it, with just being silent. Usually she would try to fill the silence with words, more or less meaningful words, but with Finn, the silence didn't seem threatening. He had his arm around her, and again the feeling of security she got when being close to him surprised her.

Every now and again, she looked at Finn. He looked like he was deep in thought, and when they reached her dorm he held her back. He kissed her lightly on the lips, and dragged her into an embrace. He looked at her for a couple of seconds and then tugged a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"What happened that morning… It won't happen again, will it?" he said quietly.

She shook her head; she had the feeling that it was really important for him to talk this through. He nodded, and his eyes skimmed over her face as if to catch any sign of insecurity. When he didn't find any he spoke again.

"Good," he tugged her a little closer and kissed her on the forehead "I don't think I could take it"

She looked at him intently, but didn't say anything; she just waited for him to speak. He cleared his throat and mumbled something she couldn't make out. He sucked air in through his teeth and repeated it.

"I like you," he thought for a second and then added "a lot. And I don't want us to be… well, not talking. In fact I want us to talk about everything, all the time and I don't want to talk with everyone else"

She looked at him as if he had just dropped out of the sky and landed in front of her, it was clear to him that she had no clue what the hell he was talking about. He sighed at the view of having to explain it clearer, of having to actually ask her. Distracted he fondled with a lock of her hair, twisting it around his fingers, and pulling on it lightly. She was still giving him the 'what-kind-of-alien-are-you?' look.

"I want us," he let go of her and motioned back and forth in the air between them "together!"

Realisation spread on her face, and so did a big smile. She leaned in and kissed his cheek. Oh, the kiss of death, the thought went through his brain like a speeding bullet. She smiled at him, to soften the blow…

"I thought we were," she grinned sheepishly "together I mean. I thought that was what I said yesterday"

He looked relieved.

"You did?" she nodded "We are?" she nodded again "Sure?" she nodded.

"Now this," she motioned to her own nodding head "I'm going to get very tired of this, very soon!"

He took a firm grip on her hips, and drew her closer. She stopped nodding, and instead she looked him deep in the eye. He looked happy, smiling, and it forced her to do the same, he had that power. He bent in over her, and kissed her softly on the lips. She raised herself onto her toes and leaned into his kiss, their lips softly bumping into each other, and his tongue tracing over her bottom lip. She opened her mouth and let him in, and he tugged her even closer. She could feel him against all the front of her body, and everywhere they didn't touch, she felt cold.

"Could you not do this here?" Paris had opened the door without them noticing "I don't need my gag reflex tested, it works just fine, and if you don't take that elsewhere I'll prove it to you!"

Finn and Rory broke apart, but they still stayed close, Finn rested his head on her forehead.

"I think your roommate just threatened to throw up on us," Finn mumbled.

"I think you're right" Rory tried to fight her need to laugh.

"Would she actually do it?" Finn shot Paris a sideward glance.

Rory tried to answer, but Paris interfered. She was giving Finn her best evil eye, and the mock-terrified look on his face was priceless.

"I'm premed, don't even think that it would gross me out" she looked very serious.

Finn looked back at Rory, he no longer looked mocking, just slightly amused.

"I think I better go, I just shined my shoes. I'll see you later Kitten. I'll be here at 7."

He moved his head up and kissed her on the forehead; he gave Paris a small wave, and started walking down the hall. Rory chuckled and yelled after him.

"That better mean 7.30"

Paris stuck her head through the doorway, and joined in.

"And you'd better be ready for round two"

Finn turned around and smiled at Rory.

"7.15" and then addressed Paris "I will be, but be warned… I'm fearless"

He turned and literally skipped down the hallway, something that made Rory laugh and Paris roll her eyes. Just before he turned the corner, he turned, lifted an imaginary hat of his head and sank into a deep bow.

"Right," Paris mumbled, "so is the dog!"

Rory shoot her a wide grin, and Paris looked back with annoyance written all over her face.

"So, that was Finn" she grumbled "aggravating guy"

Rory's smile just grew wider.

"I'm so glad you approve!"

She was going to a party that he and some friends threw, he had already invited her the second night they spend together. It was a twenties costume party, and she was looking critically at her reflection in the mirror. She was wearing a bottle green dress with a deep v-neck that came down to just under her knee. It was in two layers, the bottom layer was satin, and the top layer was thin silk in a slightly lighter shade of green. It had a wide glass pearl embroidered silk ribbon in the neckline, and a matching one over the hips. She had made pin curls, with the gracious help of Paris, and had a black lace ribbon with a few peacock feathers sewn on it around her head. She was almost done with her make up when the doorbell rang. She looked at the clock and cursed loudly. It was exactly 7.15. She stumbled through the common room, while she was trying to strap on her black, high heeled Mary Jane's. She opened the door, wearing only one shoe and looking annoyed at the perpetrator. Finn looked back with a defrosting smile.

"Hey Kitten, ready to go?"

He looked great wearing a black tuxedo and a long dark brown coat, but there was one thing she thought was a bit strange.

"Finn, you look great" she frowned "but what's with the hat?"

He grinned and lifted the shabby looking black, soft dress hat he was wearing. It made him look like a gangster, but a very charming one.

"You'll see Kitten, its all part of the theme" he winked at her, and looked her over "and by the way forget about how I look, you look fantastic!"

He leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips before he tugged a stray lock of hair behind her ear. She smiled, and he tried kissing her again, but instead she held on to his shoulder to get on her other shoe, and then she walked out into the bathroom to finish up.

"Not fair!" he yelled after her.

She sniggered at her own reflection in the mirror, when she was done applying her make up. She was so happy that she had met Finn. After the fiasco with Jess in her last year at Chilton, she hadn't really expected to fall in love like that again, but now she was slowly falling, and she didn't fight it.

"Now where are we actually going?" she said to Finn as she walked back into the common room.

He smiled at her, she was possibly the most beautiful girl to have ever been wearing a twenties dress, he was sure of that. Her eyes were glowing in a way that made his knees shiver.

"You'll see when we get there"

He walked over behind her and gave her a kiss on her collarbone. He could feel the light tremble that passed through her body, and for a couple of seconds he had to fight the urge to pick her up, and carry her to her room. Instead, he handed her jacket, and lead her to the door with one hand resting on the small of her back.

The chauffer had driven them to a shadier part of New Haven, a place she had never been before, and a place she was certainly never going to tell her grandparents she'd been. He had dropped them of at the end of a long alley, and Finn told him that he'd call when they needed him again. Finn took her hand and started walking down the alley, she felt a bit uneasy with the situation since it was a very dark and creepy alley, but then remembered, it was Finn, who had a firm grasp on her hand and he would never take her anywhere dangerous. They walked to the end of the alley, and Finn knocked on a door. A slide in eyelevel was opened, and someone asked Finn a question Rory couldn't hear.

"It does if the Lion's asleep," Finn mumbled through the slide.

The door was opened, and Finn pulled her through it. She expected something as shabby-looking as outside, but she was surprised. The room they stepped into was huge, it had dark wood panels on the walls and where they were currently standing there was a thick dark, red carpet on the floor. On the parts of the floor that was carpeted there were little, round tables, and chairs everywhere, all in dark wood. There was a band in one corner, a piano, a bass, a trumpet, a clarinet and a sax, and in front of the band, there was a dance floor covered with hard, dark wood. The dance floor was covered with people, all wearing twenties out fits, and dancing Charleston. Finn raised his hand and waved at some people across the room, she recognised Logan and Colin, but none of the others. Finn made some gestures towards the bar, and Logan nodded his head. Finn let his hand slip up onto her back, and led her through the crowd to the bar. When they got there, he leaned in and ordered.

"A Whiskey Sour," he looked questioning at Rory, but she just shrugged. "And a Manhattan"

The bartender put their drinks in front of them, and they both took a sip.

"Do you like it?" Finn motioned around the room.

"I love it," she had to speak very loud because of the music "You've made a speak-easy. It's amazing"

Finn smiled, he leaned in over her and kissed her passionately. Her eyes were shimmering, and it made him smile even wider. He loved that she was so easily exited. He kissed her again, and when they broke apart, Logan was standing next to them with a big smirk on his face.

"Another round at our table, please" he addressed the bartender, and then turned to the couple next to him "Aren't you coming down to keep me company, or are you just going to stand here all night with your tongues down each others throat? I'm lonely down there, Colin is making a fool of himself trying to score with Juliet as usually, and I don't think Steph's new boyfriend likes me very much." He ranted in a pouting voice.

They took pity on poor Logan, and followed him to the table after having refreshed their drinks. The mood at the table was light, everybody was already slightly intoxicated, and Finn introduced her to the people who were sitting at tree round tables that were drawn together.

"This is Steph, another old friend of mine like the two children who normally hang around in my common room"

"Hey!" Colin interrupted, tearing his attention from Juliet for a second.

Finn ignored him completely.

"She'd better introduce her current boyfriend herself"

"This is Calvin" the pretty blonde pointed to the guy next to her, she gave Rory a sweet smile "It's nice to finally meet you"

Rory got the feeling that she could make good friends with this girl, she seemed nice, really nice, and her being one of Finn's oldest friends was just a benefit.

"That is Juliet, but after Logan's little outburst I expect you guessed that" he smiled "That grumpy looking fellow over there is Robert, you wont like him, but he wont like you either" the last part was said under his breath "The redhead next to him is Rosemary, my one and only countrywoman. That's Ethan, also know as the most boring man on earth" everybody grinned loudly at that, and Ethan didn't look the least bit angry. As the laughter died out Finn continued.

"In short, Rory, this is everybody. Everybody this is my girlfriend, Rory"

A chocked silence fell over the tables as Finn uttered the word girlfriend. The first one to react was Steph; she flew up from her chair, and gave them both a hug. Afterwards she looked a little surprised in herself, but she made Calvin scoot over and offered Rory the seat next to her. Finn also sat down, and in less than seconds, he was engrossed in conversation with Logan and Ethan. Steph leaned over to her.

"I'm so glad that Finn found someone that seems normally intelligent for a change, the last redhead was a tramp. I just hope we'll become friends"

Steph smiled, and Rory couldn't help but smile back. In a while, they entertained each other, or more precisely Steph entertained Rory with stories of Finn's former improprieties. Later Finn disturbed them; he had left his chair and was now standing behind Rory, caressing her neck lightly. He bent down and whispered in her.

"Come dance with me"

Rory felt a shiver down her spine as the air from his expiration hit her on the ear. She smiled apologetic at Steph, and followed him to the dance floor. There was a slow song playing, and she sank into his arms feeling relaxed and comfortable. Truth be told she was a little drunk. They were dancing slowly over the floor, almost floating. He was a great lead; she just floated along with him. Suddenly the music stopped, but they didn't notice, people around them started counting down from ten, and as they reached one and started their happy New Year wishes, his lips hit hers. They broke apart fast, as the crowd around them started singing 'Auld Lang Syne' and they joined in. Rory felt an arm link with hers, and looked to the side to see Logan and Steph's smiling faces. She smiled back. She felt at home with them, and she smiled back.