A/N: I think I should probably just explain a few things. I started this story over two years ago and I had a very set direction for where I wanted it to go. Then my muse ran away (probably screaming) and I forgot all about it for a long time. When I got back to it, I had completely forgotten where I wanted the story to go, and because I'd gotten a new computer as well, I didn't have any of the original chapters anymore, including the storyline. Which is why I today have no idea why I brought Dean back… He won't feature very much in the rest of the story, in fact I doubt he'll have any lines at all.
I really am sorry if the story sometimes seems to be going in different directions, it feels like I've started it all over again, but I figured it was better to try and complete the story than just letting it sit there, unfinished. I hope you will all be understanding, and if not, then I understand that.
Chapter 10: Pretty in punk
"Oh my god, this must be so awkward for you" Stephanie said in a stage-whisper, as the club filled up with Colin's bachelor-party.
"Yeah, thanks Steph" Rory muttered and took the shot Paris offered her.
"You want to leave" Paris asked her.
"I think I'll just stay here for now. Too many familiar faces in the bar" Rory said, trying discreetly to move backwards in her seat and hide behind a very buxom blonde.
"Oh my god" Paris suddenly whispered and leaned forward to get a better look at the bar.
"What? Paris, what?" Rory fought the urge to lean over too.
"It's Tristan DuGrey!"
"What?" Several heads turned to look at Rory, including some from the bar. She felt herself blush and hurriedly fell leaned back in her seat again. "What the hell is Tristan doing here?"
"Drinking, by the looks of it" Paris supplied. "Hey monkey-girl, how do you know Tristan Dugrey?"
Stephanie, who amazingly actually responded to the nickname, gave them a drunken smile. "He went to boarding school with Colin and Logan and I think he know Finn from somewhere as well… Hey Tristan" she called out.
"Mary? Is that you?"
Rory closed her eyes for a second and willed the earth to open up and swallow her. "Oh wow, Tristan. Hi…"
"And Paris Gellar. Never thought I'd see the two of you again."
"Must be your lucky day" Paris mumbled, not even bothering to get up and greet him properly like Stephanie did.
Tristan sat down next to Stephanie. "So, how you've been? Both of you."
"Fine" Rory and Paris answered in unison.
"Okay wow, one at a time" Tristan said.
"Oh they're both super, isn't that right girls" Stephanie said. "Paris here is busy being a total bore somewhere else and Rory is trying to patch things up with her baby daddy!"
"Baby daddy?"
Paris snorted at the choice of words, while Rory quickly gulped down the rest of one of her many drinks. "Yeah, um… I have a kid, Daniel… He's five."
"So I guess I should stop calling you Mary, huh? Who's the lucky guy?"
"Just a guy" Rory answered and felt like hitting Paris, as she started to cough up her beer.
"Come on Rory, is it someone I know? Is there an illegitimate Huntsberger baby running around somewhere" Tristan probed.
"No! No, definitely not!" Rory picked up one of Paris' shots and downed it, ignoring Paris' "hey". "No Huntzberger baby!"
"So, you work for your father now, is that right" Paris asked in her usually all-business like tone.
"Yeah, it's not so bad. Not great either, I mean, my boss is kind of a jerk, but I get by."
"How wonderful for you" Paris noted. "Rory works for the Times now."
"Really? That's pretty great. What do you write about?"
"Local politics, mostly. City stuff…" Rory tried to be evasive and not break into hives. "Stephanie said you know Colin and Logan from boarding school?"
"Yeah, well not really. Logan did a brief stint in the military school I was enrolled at and our families know each other. After I graduated, I spent a couple of months in Fiji with Finn."
"Really?" This caught Rory's interest. She barely knew anything about Finn and any and all new information was appreciated.
"Yeah Finn was a total surf-bum back then, isn't that right?"
Rory almost fell out of her seat when she noticed Finn standing behind her. She really needed to talk to him about sneaking up on her, it was freaking her out. "A handsome surf-bum" he said and sat down next to Rory. "I see you brought your flying monkey." Paris gave him a glare.
"You surf" Rory asked.
"Born and bred in Sydney, Australia, love. Of course I do!"
"Right, of course" Rory mumbled, trying not to breathe in his intoxicating smell.
"How do you know Rory" Finn asked Tristan and took a swig of Rory's beer.
"We went to Chilton together, isn't that right, Mary? She broke my heart!"
"You called her Mary?"
"Because she looked like a virgin" Tristan said with a smirk.
Finn snorted into the beer and Rory. "Of course she did."
"Come on, Finn. Rory was a good girl before she met you" Stephanie said.
"Definitely. And add to that the uniform" Tristan said with a creepy smile.
"There was a uniform" Finn asked.
Rory wondered why the world was such a cruel place. "Yeah, remember your birthday?" At Finn's raised eyebrow, Rory smiled. "Of course you don't, but I wore my uniform. I was dressed as Go-Go."
"And if I'm not mistaken you looked very lovely, although leaving with Butch Coolidge might have been a mistake" Colin said, as he sat down on the other side of Stephanie. "Hello my lovely bride to be."
"Nuh-uh, I'm still mad. You're totally crashing my party!"
"But we got bored" Colin pleaded.
"And the strippers really were bad" Tristan said.
"The good news is that Robert is well on his way to fulfil his lifeplan" Finn said. "I'm gonna go get some drinks."
Stephanie gave Finn's retreating form a look. "What the hell was that?"
"He's mad at me" Colin said. "He's been ignoring me all night."
"Colin I'm so sorry" Rory said in a small tone. She felt so bad for coming between them.
"He'll come around, eventually. I once, accidentally, set his car on fire and he forgave me for that."
"Hardly the same" Paris said.
"It was an Aston Martin Vantage. He cried for days" Colin countered.
"What happened" Tristan asked and it was like the four of them came out of their bubble and realized that they weren't alone.
"Tristan, I want to dance" Stephanie almost yelled and dragged him out onto the dance floor.
Rory sighed. "He's really mad at you?"
"Yes apparently you not telling him is fine, but me… Not so much."
"Colin I really am sorry. I never meant for this to come between you, I'll talk to him, I promise!"
"Relax Gilmore. Like I said, he'll come around, eventually. Finn doesn't know how to hold a grudge. Anyways, I better go make sure Stephanie doesn't try to set up Tristan with some of her horrible friends."
"Now I feel really bad" Rory told Paris, as Colin left their table.
"Don't. It was his choice not to tell his friend, it's not like you twisted his arm or anything like that."
"You think I should go talk to Finn?"
"Definitely, but not about Colin."
"I don't exactly this is the time and place to pour out my heart to him."
"Trust me, it'll be easier drunk and if it all goes wrong, you can blame the booze."
"Great…" Rory was just about to get up, as Colin stumbled onto the stage.
"Excuse me, could everyone just please shut up, as I'm about to give a very important and emotional toast" he said with a goofy smile. "As I'm sure my lovely bride will be getting all the attention this Saturday, I would like to propose a toast for the other love of my life, the light in my darkest hour, the Art to my Paul, the Lindsay to my Samantha! Finn Morgan!" Colin raised his glass and saluted Finn. Rory noticed that Finn, who was standing in the bar, tensed and stared at his drink. "I wanted to do this because I truly am sorry for what I did and I feel the only way to truly express my undying and unwavering love for him, is through a song of my own choosing." Colin gestured to the DJ.
"This sounds interesting" Paris said. Rory looked at Finn again, he was still staring at his drink.
"Travelling in a fried-out combie, on a hippie trail, head full of zombies…" People started to clap and cheer as they recognized the all too familiar tune. "I met a strange lady, she made me nervous. She took me in and made me breakfast. And she said: Do you come from a land down under? Where women glow and men plunder? Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder? You better run, you better take cover."
Colin downed his drink and started the second verse. Rory noted several people singing along, and she had to admit, the song was catchy. After the second chorus Colin started to dance, at least that's what it looked like, and finally Finn relented and joined Colin on the stage. He grabbed the microphone and started the third voice: "Lying in a den in Bombay, with a slack jaw and not much to say. I said to the man, are you trying to temp me, because I come from the land of plenty? And he said: Oh! Do you come from a land down under? Where women glow and men plunder? Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder? You better run, you better take cover!"
"Take it off" Stephanie screamed as she waved around a couple of dollar bills. Colin started to unbutton his shirt, which only made Stephanie laugh. "Not you, idiot" she yelled. "The hot one!"
The song ended and Colin and Finn received a standing ovation and several dollar bills were thrown at them. "Thank you, Colin, for that most inspirational display of affection" Finn said with a smile. "And I suppose I should be honest with you as well: I slept with Stephanie the first year of Yale." He handed the microphone to Colin and walked off the stage.
A weird silence fell over the club. "Did you know this" Paris whispered.
"No!" Rory sought out Stephanie on the dance floor, she looked just as surprised as Colin.
"Guess Finn knows how to hold a grudge after all" Paris said to no one in particular.
Rory found Stephanie crying in the ladies room. "Steph, are you okay?"
"Do I look okay" she almost screamed at Rory.
Rory wasn't sure what the proper form of addressing a question like that was, so she opted to gently pat Stephanie on the back. "You didn't tell Colin?"
"Of course not. I was so embarrassed. It was a stupid mistake, it didn't mean anything."
"What happened?"
Stephanie wiped away a tear. "It was after this stupid party and I was so in love with Colin and he wouldn't even give me the time of the day, so… I don't know, Finn was there and a lot of booze and he'd just broken up with his girlfriend. It just happened."
"Why didn't you tell him?"
"Why didn't you tell Logan you slept with Finn? Because it's hurtful! God I'm such a stupid slut."
"Steph no, come on, you're not. It was just a mistake, Colin will understand" Rory said.
"God sometimes I really hate Finn. He can be such a dick!"
"I think he's just hurt right now…"
"So he has to spoil my wedding? You know how hard I worked for this? How long it took me to finally get Colin's attention? And now he's ruined all that because he's a little bitch!"
Rory tried to be reasonable: "I hardly think he's ruined everything…"
Stephanie, however, didn't seem to listen, as she abruptly stood up and walked out of the bathroom. Rory nervously followed, afraid what she might do. "You, weird guy, where is Finn" Stephanie asked a guy in a threatening voice.
"Outside" he said, looking a little afraid of Stephanie, not that Rory could blame him.
Stephanie, with Rory in two, found Finn outside, and the first thing she did was to push him hard. "What the hell is your problem, you spoiled little bitch?"
"Shut the fuck up" he spat at her.
"Why the fuck are you ruining my night?"
"Oh like you're so special? You think it's the first time Colin's had my sloppy seconds?"
"I'm gonna ignore that right now and just hit you" Stephanie growled and slapped him. "God, you're such an egomaniac! Not everything is about you! Instead of pissing all over your friendship with Colin, why don't you think about why Rory opted not to tell you in the first place, huh? Because you were a fucking drunk dick back then" Stephanie yelled.
"Why don't you just mind your own goddamn business? You've been doing it so well for the last five years" Finn yelled back at her. He furiously searched his inner pockets and fished out a pack of cigarettes.
"Smoking again? Real classy" Stephanie spat. "Does Jane allow that?"
"Stephanie, go to hell!"
Rory had probably never felt more awkward than this moment. A dinner with the Huntzberger's were pleasant compared to this.
"Is that why you're trying to ruin my wedding? Because your own is gonna suck" Stephanie continued to taunt him. "Heard not even your mummy likes her!"
"I could always go in there and find your husband to be and tell him you slept with Logan too…"
"I didn't sleep with Logan" Stephanie screamed.
"No? That's not what I heard. And considering, who do you think Colin's going to believe? Me, his best friend or the slut who neglected to tell him that she slept with said best friend…"
Stephanie crossed her arms and smirked. "I'll tell Jane you slept with Rory! And then I'll call People and every media outlet in Australia and tell them about your illegitimate lovechild! And the time you got arrested!"
"Tell me, who rules Hell when you're up here?"
"Don't mess with me Morgan, I will hurt you" Stephanie said in a low tone. She narrowed her eyes at Finn. "I really don't care about your shitious little engagement, if you try to come between me and Colin ever again, I'm gonna make you my bitch!"
"What's going on?" All three turned at the sound of Colin's question. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He looked at Finn.
"Wrong with me? Oh I'm sorry, did I forget to tell you something important?" Finn lit another cigarette. "Fuck you Colin, I fucking thought you were my friend."
"Look, I said I was sorry…"
"This isn't my fucking car, you mongrel! You can't just say sorry and make this go away!" Finn sighed. "I really hate you right now, both of you. And it would be nice if you could just respect me enough to at least let me have that."
"It wasn't their fault" Rory suddenly interjected. Not really sure why she was throwing herself into the fight, she couldn't just stand idle by and watch him take it out on Stephanie and Colin. "I never told them. Colin guessed it the other day… And I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. For what I did to you and to Daniel. You didn't deserve that, but I was scared! And I thought it would be easier that way."
"Well is it? Easier, I mean? Do you think this is easier this way?" Finn gave her a pointed look.
"No. I was young and stupid. But what would you have done? You were dealing with your own things in Australia, wouldn't it have hurt more to know and not be there than simply not to know?"
"Please don't try to justify this" Finn suddenly sneered at her. "It cheapens you!"
"Keys" Stephanie suddenly said, holding out her hand.
"What?"
"Give me your keys, you're not driving like this." Finn didn't respond. "Give me the keys" Stephanie demanded. Finn finally handed them over. "I'll have someone drive you home, if you want?"
"I really don't care! I just want to get drunk" was Finn's response.
"How mature of you" Colin snarked. "You find out you're a father and your first instinct is to get hammered."
"What are you gonna do, call my mummy" Finn bated.
"I could call Ryder" Colin countered.
"Yes but then you'd have to explain why I was standing outside a club drinking… And then she would be mad at you, not me" Finn pointed out.
"Just tell me how long we have to endure old Finn" Stephanie said.
"A little while longer, I think" Finn said with a thoughtful expression. "See you inside."
Rory felt like her head had just been in a washing machine. "I am really confused right now. And who's Ryder?"
"Ryder is Finn's sister. His twin sister, actually" Stephanie said. "And I think it's best to just let him get drunk right now, he'll cool off eventually." Rory just nodded. "Could you give me and Colin a couple of minutes?"
"Oh yeah sure, I'll just go inside too" Rory said and left.
"I think we should go" Rory said, as she found Paris in the bar.
"What happened?"
"Finn just sort of blew up in the parking lot and now he's getting drunk. Colin and Steph are outside, talking things over, I think."¨
"For someone as shy as you, you cause a lot of drama" Paris pointed out. "A lot!"
"Paris, shut up and just come with me."
"Not going somewhere, are you" Logan asked. "The party's just getting started."
"Actually, the party is ending for me" Rory said and tried to sidestep him. She was definitely not in the mood for him right now.
"Come now, love. I think you at least owe me to have a beer and a dance…"
Rory sighed. "You need to stop sneaking up on me, Finn!"
"But you look so fun when I do" he said with a smirk.
"Are all Australians idiots, or are you just extra special" Paris asked.
"I'm extra special." He turned to Rory. "So, about that beer?"
"Fine, one beer."
"How is it that when I ask you just roll your eyes at me and when he asks it's fine" Logan asked. "That hardly seems fair.""Maybe she just likes me better? Can't blame her for that, I'm smarter and prettier than you" Finn said. "Come on, Rory, let's get drunk and do things we'll regret in the morning!" He put his arm around her and downed another shot.
A/N: Thanks for reading, alerting, favouring and most certainly your reviews. I really appreciate that you take the time to comment on this. You guys are so amazingly awesome and I just want to hug you all (really, I do, because I have readers from really cool places that I would love to visit!)
If you have questions ideas, pointers, advice, etc., please don't hesitate and let me know. Btw. I was wondering if someone knew Stephanie's last name? I don't know if the show ever provided her with one. If not, maybe someone out there has a great idea for one?