Disclaimer: Did you know Amy Sherman-Palladino owns this? Hey! Me too! Let's be friends.

A/N: Man, Real Life fucking blows, doesn't it? I wish boys fawned over me for ages like they did with The Gilmores [no I don't (well kind of)]. Anyway, everyone who has clicked on this story (even by accident. I will lure you into liking this story!) is pretty damn cool in my book. Just so you know and if you care (don't lie, you totally care).

Chapter 4: It Never Rains In Southern California

"Seems it never rains in Southern California

Seems I've often heard that kind of talk before

It never rains in California, but girl don't they warn ya

It pours, man it pours"

-Albert Hammond

Rory woke up the next morning around nine, fully expecting the bed next to hers to still be occupied. Instead, it was empty and the whole hotel room was darkened.

"Finn?" she called out.

"In here," came the reply. "Come hither."

"To the bathroom?" she asked. "Why are you sitting alone in the bathroom?"

"Just come here," Finn said impatiently.

Sighing, Rory got out of bed and turned on the lights in the bathroom. Finn was sitting in the bathtub with a wash cloth over his eyes and one leg swung over the ledge. Naked. Finn was naked.

"Lights off," he moaned before she could react.

She complied quickly and backed out of the bathroom. "Finn. You're naked."

"I usually am when I'm in the bathtub."

"What are you doing in the bathtub? In the dark? Naked?"

"I'm Franny, obviously," was the sarcastic reply. "It's a hangover bath, love. I'm terribly hungover. Not quite sure how I got back from the bar to the hotel, but I somehow managed it."

"You forgot how to take off your shoes," Rory helpfully supplied.

"That sounds like me. It's a wonder why I bother to wear the bloody things anyway. But I'm glad you're up. I need water," he whined.

"You're sitting in a tub full of it," she pointed out.

Rory could practically hear him pouting. "That's not funny, love. I need sparkling water. And aspirin.

Please?"

"I don't know, whining and begging all in one sentence? There are very few times I get to hear both from you at the same time."

"Ro-ry!" He stretched out her name as long as he could. "I'm in pain. I thought you were a humanitarian."

"In too much pain to warn me that you were naked?" she shot back.

"Yes," he replied. "Can you help me out so I can take you to the Tobacco Bowl? Please, love? With sugar on top?"

"I'm sure I can find this place on my own. It's called the Tobacco Bowl?"

"Stop teasing me. That's not nice," he admonished.

Rory laughed and pulled on a skirt. "Will you be out of the bathtub when I get back?"

"No."

"Will you at least cover up when I bring it in?"

"Maybe. Is my sexiness too much for you to handle?"

"I'm leaving now!" she called out, louder than was necessary and was rewarded with another moan from Finn.

On her way to the gas station she called her mom. "Hey, kid, what's up?"

"Getting some sparkling water and aspirin for Finn. He's in a hangover bath right now."

"Hangover bath? That's a new way of getting water into the body," Lorelai commented. "How's my own little Raoul Duke enjoying her first full blown road trip across America so far?"

"Dr. Gonzo and I are having the best of times," Rory replied. "Finn knows more songs than you and Lane combined."

Lorelai gasped. "Not possible. How is that possible?"

"Every time we changed the channel - because he insisted that the only way to listen to music on a road trip is to scan the radio and see what comes up, which leads to a lot of country and Finn trying to sing like he's Alan Jackson – he knows the song. It's equal parts impressive and annoying."

"Does Dean Cain know about him?"

"I'm sure there's been talk of him around Times Square," Rory replied. "What's new around the Hollow?"

"At the last town meeting, Taylor proposed the Second Annual Stars Hollow End-of-Summer Madness Festival," Lorelai said.

"Wasn't the first annual one almost three years ago?"

"Technicalities, according to Taylor. Apparently the bike race has increased tourism so much that he wanted to re-instate it, which led to a forty-five minute long debate: a capella band or no a capella band?" Lorelai laughed. "The town was divided! Taylor banged his gavel a lot and Kirk started shouting that he didn't want to ruin his relationship with anyone in the town and it was minutes away from turning into Los Angeles, '92."

"Well?" Rory prompted after a pause. "I'm on the edge of my seat here."

"A capella band won by a slight margin, on the promise that they know more than one song. We're going to hold auditions next week," Lorelai told her, barely able to contain her excitement. "I'm going to bring a video camera for you. My only regret is that I wasn't vocal enough during the debate itself."

"You, not vocal enough?" Rory repeated doubtfully. "I'm so upset I missed it."

"Miss a little, miss a lot," Lorelai quipped. "Where are you today anyway?"

"Iowa City. Apparently it's a college town, but I'm having my doubts."

"Corn."

"Gonna need a verb or maybe an adjective."

"There's corn in Iowa," Lorelai stated. "That's all I know about Iowa."

"That's about the extent of my knowledge of this state as well. Allegedly, there's a really good coffee place somewhere in this city, but Finn told me about it so the chances of it actually existing aren't that great."

"I have my fingers crossed for you."

"I miss you, mom," Rory said sadly.

Lorelai smiled. "Miss you too, Ror. Now go help cure Finn's hangover so he can take you to this coffee place that may or may not be somewhere in that city."

"This coffee is amazing!" Rory exclaimed.

Finn nodded from where he was splayed in the chair with a cigarette dangling out of the side of his mouth. "I knew you'd like it, love. Mind driving today?"

Rory smiled at him. "As long as you buy me another cup of coffee."

"Done." He waved a server down. "Another cup for the lady, and when she's done with that a large cup to go." He paused. "And a pack of American Spirit black."

"You didn't have to do that."

"Love, I'm going to be chain smoking during the entire five hour drive to Lincoln, you're gonna want coffee, I know you're not terribly fond of smoke," he told her.

She sighed. "Are you really so hungover that you need to wear those sunglasses inside?"

He shot her a faint smirk. "These are my hangover sunglasses. And for your information, they're pretty fantastic. They don't let in any stray sunlight, and when I look at windows I can see patterns in the glass."

The waiter dropped off Rory's third cup of coffee as she asked, "Aren't those glasses for people who have cataracts?"

"I guess I'm too cool to explain how awesome these are to you." Finn sighed dramatically. "Just when I think you're hip enough."

She started giggling. "I want to see you sing Brazil again with those on."

"Neither of those things makes me old."

"Or maybe Smoke Gets In Your Eyes. What do you think of kids these days?"

"Nothing but a bunch of whippersnappers," he replied without skipping a beat. "I'm just an old soul, darling. An old-fashioned guy, if you'd say."

"Hey, remember when you could get lunch and then go check out the picture show for just a nickel?" Rory asked. "Man, weren't those the days."

Finn just laughed and started packing his cigarettes.

Rory had barely just entered Nebraska when Finn startled flailing about the passenger seat and grinning. "We're finally in Nebraska!" he cried excitedly and started flipping through radio stations.

"Looking for something in particular, Spazzy McFlailington?" she asked.

"101.9, only the best of the 80s and 90s music in Nebraska. I've never heard something I hated on this station."

Rory gasped. "There are songs out there you hate? Say it isn't so!"

"Bennie and the Jets and anything by Fleetwood Mac," Finn automatically replied, then frowned. "Actually, 101.9 has played Fleetwood Mac."

"Bennie and the Jets? What's wrong with Bennie and the Jets?"

"Because I h-h-h-h-h-h-hate songs that stutter like that, and it's approximately a zillion years of Elton John trying to get that fucking b out so he can finish the damn word before singing it again for the rest of my natural life."

"You've thought a lot about this," she commented.

"It's come up a lot."

"How much you hate Bennie and the Jets has come up a lot? You live an interesting life."

"A-ha!" Finn exclaimed triumphantly. "Found it! More Than Words? No one can move me like Extreme moves me."

Rory laughed and started to sing with him. She had to admit, it was a pretty good station – especially if you loved awful music as Finn seemed to do. And she almost had to pull over to the side of the road as he did his William Shatner impression.

"And I think it's going to be a long, long time," he said, pausing dramatically to take a drag from his cigarette and let the smoke out, "Till touchdown, brings me round again to find, that I'm not the man they think I am at home, Oh No! No! No! I'm a Rocket Man." He punctuated each syllable by raising his voice higher every time and ended that verse with a fist pump.

Rory was almost in tears by the time they reached Lincoln. After seeing how much amusement it had brought her to see his rendition of Rocket Man, Finn decided to sing every single other song in what he called his "Creed voice." Hearing Finn yell Total Eclipse of the Heart had almost been too much for her.

Fortunately, they made it to the hotel Finn had chosen for the night without crashing and were now standing inside a shockingly nice lobby in a hotel called The Cornhusker. Rory couldn't wait to call her mom and tell her where she was.

The kid at the desk didn't look any older than them. "Checking in?"

"Yup, before storm rolls in, mate," Finn replied casually. "No reservation." He took out his wallet and pulled out his black card. "I believe you can help me though."

The boy blinked. "Smoking or non-smoking?"

"Non-smoking."

"Two beds," Rory chimed in.

He typed something into the computer. "Where are you headed to?"

"LA," Finn told him.

"Oh cool. I just had some friends out there, they said it was great."

"Really?" Finn asked disinterestedly. "For what?"

The boy looked down and blushed slightly. "Cannabis Convention," he muttered.

Finn laughed loudly at that and it echoed throughout the lobby. "I bet they had a good time. Let me tell you, I've been all over the world, and the weed is not as good anywhere as it is in California. I hope they brought you back some, mate."

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, we don't have any non-smoking, two bed rooms. Would a non-smoking king work?"

Finn swung an arm around Rory's shoulders. "Of course it would. Does that work for you, honey? I know your mum said no sharing a bed before marriage, but I know how you feel about smoking rooms."

Rory resisted the urge to shove him off her, and instead smiled pleasantly. "As long as you keep your hands to yourself, she'll be fine with it," she told him pointedly.

"The lady hath spoken. Give us the room, good sire."

The clerk swiped his card, asked for some personal information, and then gave them their room on the fourth floor. Finn grabbed her hand in the elevator and rubbed her palm with the pad of his hand.

"Are you having fun, darling?" he asked her as he made sure to make eye contact with her.

Rory smiled up at him. "I am, actually. I'm having a lot more fun than I thought I would."

"So little faith in me," he teased and squeezed her hand briefly before releasing it. "Sorry 'bout this morning also, I guess I forgot my audience."

"It's okay, just maybe a little warning could have helped the situation. Maybe we should come up with a signal, like Morse Code or a secret word," she suggested as they got off the elevator

"Or I could just tell you I'm naked." Finn smirked. "It's okay, I'm hot. I'm sure you called your mum up right away to talk about how much you wanted to do me in the bath, but resisted the urge due to my hungover state."

She rolled her eyes and waited by their room while Finn fumbled around and tried to get the key out. "Yes, I was considering your feelings in that. My not jumping you had nothing to do with Logan or how I feel about you, but your hangover," she replied sarcastically.

He triumphantly opened the door and held it open for her to go in before him. "You know, a little bit more sarcasm would have been nice." He laughed and started taking off his clothes.

"What are you doing?" Rory gasped.

"Uh, boxers time, darling. It's approximately seven hundred degrees, have you not noticed? And the fact that it's going to rain tonight isn't doing the sticky water feeling in the air any favors," he pointed out as he stepped out of his pants. "Is there a problem?" He flopped down on the bed and turned on the TV. "I have decided I love the person before us because they left it on USA. Monk marathon?"

"You aren't going out to drink?" she asked in surprise. "I thought there was a certain amount you had to drink every day to function as a normal human."

"Who do you think I am, Bender? I can survive twenty four hours without a beer. I'd just not rather get caught in that tonight. Did you see that lightening? That sky is menacing, love," he said with a chuckle.

Her eyes got wide. "Is it tornado season? No, that's dumb, it's August, that isn't tornado season, right? But isn't this tornado alley? Isn't that what Twister taught us?"

"Calm down. This is not a tornado storm, but I can go down and ask the desk clerk if you'd like."

She shook her head. "I believe you. It's just that I've never lived anywhere with tornadoes before, all I hear about is how destructive they are and how they'll take you to Oz."

"No one is going to take you to Oz. Would you like to lay down now?" He patted the bed. "I swear it's comfortable."

She laughed. "I believe you. I'm not going to strip down to my underwear though."

He shrugged. "Your loss." She laid down on her side of the bed. "Do I need to put a pillow barrier between us, love? I could make you a Great Wall of Pillows if you'd like."

"I think we should be fine," she replied as she snuggled into the bed. "Though we could use some snacks."

"Tomorrow," he promised. "I don't want to get up again."

Rory woke up with a start as thunder rumbled above her. Finn was sitting next to the window, whispering into a phone. Her phone.

"Finn?" she called out.

He looked over and put a finger over the mic. "Did I wake you, doll?"

She shook her head. "It was the thunder. Are you on my phone?"

"Logan called and it woke me up, I figured why not talk to my best mate?" He held the phone out to her. "Want to talk?"

She walked over to him and looked out the window. Rain was coming down in sheets and the winds were blowing the trees so hard the branches nearly touched the ground. A flash of lightening was followed by almost immediate thunder. "It's right over us."

"That is it," Finn replied as he handed her the phone.

"Hey, Ace," Logan said softly. "Finn told me you were sleeping."

"I am – was. I was."

"Well go back to sleep. I just wanted to tell you that missed you and I can't wait to see you."

She smiled. "I miss you too. We'll talk when I'm more coherent so we can banter more efficiently and you can laugh at all those Gilmore-isms I have."

"Sleep well," he replied.

She handed the phone back to Finn and lingered slightly as their fingers touched, before pulling her hand away quickly and going back to bed. "Go to sleep soon, Finn."

He laughed slightly. "Soon, I promise."