A/N: Beware of very intense (and very long) chapter containing mature content, fights and major surprises
Dirty Little Secret
Chapter 11 - Happy Endings
Several months later, Rory was lying in her bed as her cell phone rang through the silence of the room loudly. She turned around groaning and reached over to the night stand next to the bed, shooting a tired glance at the clock that said 4:03 a.m. She answered the phone with a smile.
"Hey, mom", she muttered, leaning back in bed, her head on her pillow.
"21 years ago, I have been lying like I am lying now, with my stomach as big as a bowling ball and my ankles swollen and I was swearing like a sailor on leave. And there I was, in labour, and while some have called it the most meaningful experience of your life, to me it was something more akin to doing the splits on a crate of dynamite. And I was screaming and swearing and being surrounded as I was by a hundred prominent doctors, I'd never thought, that 21 years later, I would actually be grateful to have such a lovely daughter. I am very grateful! Happy birthday, little girl", Lorelai finished her annual speech.
"I love you, mom", Rory whispered back, grinning.
"How do you feel, now that you can do everything in the world?"
"I feel great", she muttered and turned her head to look at the sleeping form of Finn who cuddled against her, his arms around her, his face turned to her, his eyes closed.
"Say hi to Finn for me", Lorelai said.
"Will do", Rory said and stroke his hair gently, before looking around the room. Their room. It's been several months after they first met in the Pub and fell for each other over a bottle of Tequila. Rory was now in her junior, Finn in his senior year. As the new term had started, they had moved into a flat outside the campus, sharing their apartment with Colin.
Rory watched Finn and smiled. These last months were the funniest and happiest months of her life. She cuddled closer to Finn, her cell still pressed to her ear.
"I am happy, mom", she whispered.
"I'm happy you're happy", Lorelai replied. "I'll see you tonight, babe!"
"Bye, mom", Rory said with a smile and flipped her cell shut, putting it back on her night stand.
She moved even closer to Finn, their faces inches away. He then slowly opened his eyes, blinking, before he threw her a smile. She replied his smile and kissed him quickly.
"Mom says hi", she muttered.
"Hi to her and hey to you, love", he whispered, his voice husky. "Happy birthday, darling", he added and rolled a little lazily on top of her, kissing her.
She giggled underneath him.
"Can you believe it's already October?"
"Time flies when one's having fun, darling", he grinned and kissed her neck.
"I can't believe it's October already…"
"I'll certainly buy you a calendar", he said against her skin.
"Can you believe this?"
"I'm not religious, love."
"But can you believe this?", she said, locking eyes with him by cupping his face.
"I can't believe this, I am just living it", he replied, planting a kiss on her forehead. "And I'm enjoying it."
She smiled, wrapping the bed sheets tighter around them, closing her eyes as Finn put his head on her chest, breathing against her skin.
Rory awoke several hours later, inhaling deeply. As she reached her hand out to touch the other side of the bed, she found it empty. She opened her eyes and looked around. The autumn sun already tried to sneak under the curtains into the room. She sat up and grabbed one of Finn's shirts, that was dangling over the end of the bed. She pulled it over and slipped into her jeans, before she looked at her reflection in the mirror that stood in one corner of the room. Giggling at how his shirt almost covered her knees, she opened the door and stepped into the living room – almost making a step backwards.
The entire room was decorated with butterflies and piles of books and newspaper articles and coloured light bulbs and so many other things she couldn't yet realize. She just thought she had entered another world, a world that looked like the one in her dreams.
She noticed Finn standing by the door to the kitchen, watching her with a grin on his lips.
As soon as she noticed him, she ran towards him and jumped at him, wrapping her legs around his waist, covering his face with kisses. He tumbled backwards and held her tightly.
"Did you do this?", she said after letting go of him, looking into his eyes.
He smirked at her.
"I can't believe you did this – when did you do this? I never saw you up this early", she grinned.
"Well, I'm unbelievable, darling", he replied and kissed her.
"Thank you", she whispered against his lips. "Thank you for being so incredibly sweet!"
"You're welcome, love", he replied, deepening their kiss.
She let go of him after a while and jumped back to her feet, smiling up at him, before she looked around again. Shaking her head, grinning, she grabbed his hand and squeezed it lightly.
"This is amazing, I feel like in one of my dreams", she whispered.
"That's what I intended", he grinned.
She looked up at him, smiling. "I love you, Finn", she muttered, pulling her arms around his neck.
They locked eyes for a moment. "You make this whole commitment-thing so much fun", he then said, a smirk on his lips. "It's so easy to be a boyfriend, I'd never expected that."
She kissed him quickly.
"I love you, Rory", he breathed against her lips, causing her to smile even wider.
They soon found themselves caught inside a passionate kiss, before Finn let go of her and led her to the couch. She sat down and watched him forming a pile of presents on the table.
"Ooh, presents!", she squealed.
He laughed and sat down beside her. It was then that the door of their apartment opened and Colin entered.
"Breakfast's here", he called out, heading to the kitchen with a huge bag of rolls and pancakes and other things.
He then sat down at the other side of Rory and grinned at her. She looked at him with a smirk as he said: "Happy birthday, Rory!" and handed her a small present.
"Thanks, Colin", she smiled and kissed his cheek. "This is so sweet of you guys! I never expected living with you two would be so much fun!"
The boys exchanged grins, before Finn turned to Rory.
"Open them", he just stated and pointed at the presents.
Rory nodded, grinning, and took present after present on her lap, unwrapping it, hugging Finn or Colin depending on who gave her what present. After several moments she sat between a pile of new books, several bottles of alcohol, amongst them (dressed with pants, shirt and hat) a bottle of Tequila with a name tag saying 'Julio', a pair of large butterfly wings that Rory immediately put on her back, a couple of large coffee mugs, a bag of coffee beans and other things she could only grin about.
She kissed Finn and smiled at Colin, before she got up.
"Thank you guys, this is so sweet! Thank you, Finny-poo", she added, earning a frown from Finn that she kissed away immediately. "I'll get dressed now and then we have breakfast, alright?"
"Your word, Mistress", Colin said and walked to the kitchen, while Finn followed Rory into their room.
Rory just rummaged through her closet, when Finn closed his arms around her, standing behind her. He kissed her neck and she turned her head around smiling.
"I have to get dressed, hun", she giggled as he gnawed on her earlobe.
"I know, love."
"Well, I can't get dressed when you are hanging on my earlobe", she laughed, moving her head away from him in vain.
"I can help you", he said, his hands slipping under her shirt.
"Thanks for the offer", she chuckled. "But I can do this since I'm three."
"You're sure?" His warm fingers ran over her skin, circling around her breasts, making her inhale sharply.
"Yes, I'm sure", she then said with a smirk and pushed his hands away.
But he merely turned her around by her shoulders and pinned her to the closet, kissing her hungrily. She sighed deeply when he moved his lips to the hollow of her throat, while his hands unbuttoned her shirt, running along the sides of her body. Soon she was messing with his pants while he pushed her shirt off her shoulders. They stumbled towards the bed, each messing with the other's clothes.
Falling onto the bed, they continued kissing, Finn's hands running over Rory's abdomen, Rory's hands wandering over Finn's back. They rolled around in bed, kissing and giggling and hugging and smiling. After several minutes, Rory sat on Finn's lap, her legs wrapped around him, while he held her close to his chest, both their breaths joining in a sweaty embrace. She closed her eyes and bit her lip as he pulled her even closer, her fingernails scratching over his skin. He silently moaned into her ear, kissing her neck, while they both joined in to move to the beatings of their hearts.
They soon fell off each other, both panting heavily. Rory rolled onto her side and faced Finn, who lay on his back, staring at the ceiling with his mouth open and his chest rising and falling quickly. She put her hand on his chest and felt how his heart raced against his ribcage. Moving closer to him, her arm across his stomach, she kissed his chest and laid her head onto it. He pulled his arms around her and kissed her hair, breathing against her neck.
She sighed loudly and raised her head to face him. Throwing him a smile, she sat up in bed and watched him with a grin.
"Thanks for helping me getting undressed", she smirked and drew lines on his abdomen.
"Anytime, love", he said, still a little out of breath, before sitting up, tilting his head.
Rory looked at the door. "I guess Colin is waiting."
"I don't think so", Finn replied, grinning. "He's probably gone already; he hates to wait for us."
"Poor Colin, we really should be working on that", Rory grinned.
"He'll understand", Finn just said and pulled Rory closer, kissing her gently.
"He will", Rory agreed and leant even closer to Finn, deepening the kiss.
"Oh, hell, he has to", he said and pinned Rory to the bed again, before they both kissed each other passionately, once more being lost in each other's touch.
Rory got dressed finally, dragging a fully clothed Finn out of their bedroom to the kitchen, where Colin had prepared the table with knives and forks, coffee mugs and plates filled with rolls and pancakes. Finn poured them coffee and handed a mug to Rory, who sat on the counter connecting the kitchen with the living room. He stood in front of her, sipping his own coffee, and watched her.
She lowered her mug and smiled at him, tilting her head.
He frowned grinning and leant in to kiss her quickly.
Rory poked his nose playfully after they let go of each other again. He wrinkled it, his eyes darting to the top of it.
"I'm glad it's completely fine again", she said. "It would have been less fun with you if it would have been out of place or something."
"I always knew you only like me because of my looks", he mocked, poking her playfully.
She just grinned at him. "Of course! Because I am so superficial!"
"I know you are, love, as am I", he said and took her coffee mug out of her hands, putting it down on the table. "So we are perfect for each other", he stated and pulled her into a tight embrace.
"Yes, we are", Rory breathed against his neck.
It was late afternoon when Rory came from school, having finished her classes for the day. She unlocked the door to her apartment and stepped inside to find it empty.
"Finn?", she asked, looking around. "Colin?"
No answers whatsoever. She dropped her bag and walked into her room to get changed for her birthday party her mother had been organising for tonight (of which Rory of course didn't know anything). She put on a small black dress with red dots and green stripes on it, slipped into a pair of comfortable yet elegant shoes and then noticed the wings Finn had given her. She turned them in her hands and decided to wear them as well, putting them on with a grin. When she went back to the living room, she grabbed her purse and headed to the door. Just in time for the door bell to ring. She almost gave a start when she saw the person on the other side.
"Logan?", she asked, staring at him. She hadn't seen him for months. He once wrote her a postcard, telling her to greet Finn and that he understood her choice. So much to the proof of life. As he was now standing right in front of her, she couldn't believe her eyes. She still felt a little indifferent when it came to Logan Huntzberger.
"Hello, Ace", he said with a grin.
She stared at him.
"Can I come in?", he asked.
She backed up a little for him to step in. She watched how he sat down on the couch and examined the decoration of the room.
"Nice. I also like those wings of yours", he said, grinning.
Rory closed the door quietly, still watching him. "What do you want, Logan?"
"I wanted to talk to you."
"Well, talk."
"You see, I don't like this situation."
"What do you mean?"
"This, between us."
"Us? Logan, there is no us anymore. There hasn't been for a long time. I guess, there never has been at all!"
"Look, I just don't like that we're ignoring each other. I mean, you somehow took over my friends, you are living with them now, you are dating Finn, you're living your life and I accept that. I just don't want you to hate me."
"Well, you should have thought about this a while ago. You should have thought about that before you beat the crap out of Finn!"
"I didn't and I'm sorry. Ace, come on, Finn and me made up, why can't we?"
Rory stared at Logan. "You mean we should be friends?"
"Friends and nothing more. You made your choice and your choice fell on Finn."
"Exactly", Rory replied.
"So?"
"So?"
"Do you want to be friends with me?"
"Maybe…", Rory finally replied.
Logan smiled at her and got up again. He looked around once more.
"I like your apartment. Good to see that Finn can finally live out his feminine touch", he grinned.
Rory watched him as he walked over to the door. He opened the door and turned around to her.
"Oh and happy birthday, Ace", he said with a smirk.
She smiled at him and watched him leave. Rory stared at the closed door for a while, before following him outside, heading to her car to drive to Stars Hollow. She arrived at her mother's house and parked behind Lorelai's jeep. Getting out, she walked over to the front door, finding the house empty. She looked through every room but there was no one. The house remained empty.
Rory walked into the kitchen and headed to the refrigerator, getting out a soda when she noticed the note on the door. She ripped it off and read its lines.
"Read the signs."
"Oh how very Final Destination of you", she said and looked around.
There was a bunch of things lying around that could give her a clue. Coat-hangers pointing into various directions, a pile of books flipped open at certain pages with other things lying on top, marking certain lines. But the most noticeable clue was the little petticoat lying on top of a pair of tooth pickers with tiny socks on them on the oven next to a water bottle.
A petticoat that ballerinas wear. Ballerinas, however, can only be… at Miss Patty's!
Rory left the house and quickly walked the distance to Miss Patty's Dance Studio. She almost reached it when suddenly someone covered her eyes from behind. She gasped and grew rigid right away.
"Don't worry, love", she heard a very familiar, yet muffled voice and smiled at the sound of it.
"Finn?"
"Shh!", he said and covered her head with what appeared to be a mask whose usual eye slits were blackened out, before he grabbed her hand and dragged her away with him, into the direction she had come from.
She followed him blindly – well, what else could she have done?
They walked for a while, before Finn suddenly stopped, with Rory running into him.
"Are we there yet?", Rory asked, her voice as muffled as Finn's by now.
"Patience, love", was all he said, before dragging her further.
"Come on, I know there's a surprise party for me, no more secrets!"
They stopped again and this time Rory almost tripped. If it wasn't for Finn holding her by the upper arms. He then placed his hands on her neck, about to pull the mask over her head. She felt him leaning closer.
"Just try to pretend you wouldn't know anything", he whispered and pulled off the mask.
What Rory saw, made her blink several times. She was standing on a deserted piece of land, with a couple of trees surrounding it – and nothing else. She looked around, before she stared at Finn, who just pulled his own gorilla mask over his head.
"Where are we?", she asked. "Is this some kind of joke?" She walked to the trees and back to Finn. "Where is everyone? Are they hiding somewhere?" She looked around once more, frowning.
"Don't frown, love, your forehead might stay like that", Finn grinned, as she walked back to him again, staring at him.
"Come on. Why did you take me here?"
He just shrugged, smirking.
"Finn! You might take out your wand now and let the party appear!"
He stared at her, before he broke into a laugh.
"Alright, I am aware of how dirty that just sounded!", she muttered, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"Aww, darling", he said, still giggling, walking over to her to hug her from behind. "Patience is a virtue!"
"Ah screw that", she whispered. "All my virtues or virgins were killed, remember?"
He giggled even more, snuggling his head against her shoulder.
"Finn, I really don't want to stand on this field at the night of my twenty-first birthday!"
"I know, love", he smiled against her neck, before letting go of her, taking her hand, walking with her around the square.
She watched him with her eyebrows raised.
"You know, I was told to keep you away for a while and I was also told to keep that secret to you, but you know how I'm with secrets. Well, long story, not that short, um, hmm. Where was I?", he jabbered.
"Have you already drunk without me?", she asked, watching him with a slight grin.
"Caught in the act, love", he admitted. "But I just had a few drinks of that punch this Miss Patty had standing around."
"Oh, no, the punch", Rory giggled. "But I guess you can cope with that. Because you're a pro!"
"I am, love", he slurred, kissing her a little out of focus, his lips brushing over her nose.
She pulled an arm around his waist and cuddled against him, forgetting about her disappointment about her party.
"Finn?"
"Hmm?"
"Why are we walking in circles?"
"Ah, right, well, I have to keep you occupied – and warm."
"And that's why we're walking in circles?"
"You are so sharp", he grinned and kissed her, meeting her lips this time.
She looked up at him, smiling. "So?"
"So – what?"
"Tell me about this mysterious party", Rory pleaded.
"I won't, darling", he smirked.
"Ah, damn, you haven't had enough alcohol!", she mocked, sighing slightly.
"Life's unfair, darling", he whispered and pulled her behind a tree.
"So, what now?", she muttered, looking around. "Do we have to hide for the party to come out of their hide-outs?"
"No", Finn just said, looking at her.
It took her a while to realize he was looking at her. She smiled at him uncertainly, tilting her head.
"Um, Finn?"
"Hmm?"
"You're giving me the creeps right now", she laughed.
"That's part of my charm, love", he grinned, grabbing her hand to look at the watch he had once given her. "Hmm, okay."
"Okay what?"
"It's time."
"Time?", she squealed.
"Don't get too excited, love", he said, pulling her after him. "Oh, wait," he added and pulled one of the gorilla masks he was carrying over Rory's head.
"I can still see", she said, her eyes meeting his through the eye slits of the mask.
"Oh, wrong mask", Finn said and changed their masks.
"You're messing up my hair, Finn", Rory complained, laughing as he had trouble pulling the mask over her head.
"Forgive me, love. But I can assure you, nobody will look at that."
Rory just raised an eyebrow under her mask and let Finn drag her along.
They seemed to be walking quite a while before Finn finally stopped, positioning Rory with his hands on her arms, standing right behind her.
"Alright, again, love, I didn't tell you anything", he whispered and pulled off her mask.
Rory blinked at what she saw. She was standing in front of her mother's house – which didn't look like her mother's house anymore. It looked like…
"Welcome to little Atlantic City", Finn mouthed into her ear, watching her with a smile.
"Oh my god", she whispered, her hands on her face in awe. "This is amazing!"
The house was decorated like a casino with light bulbs all around and neon signs and there were even two uniformed men standing at the front door.
Finn grabbed her hand and led her towards the door. The uniformed men straightened up at her appearance and bowed as she passed. She giggled at them and walked into the house – that wasn't a house anymore. There were even more neon signs and there were slot machines and cards lying around on various tables, with people standing in the shadows, their backs turned to Rory. There was a black jack table and a roulette table. The living room was a casino, the stairs were filled with carton figures; there was Elvis and Marilyn and some show dancers standing on every step. The corridor to the kitchen was transformed into a hall of mirrors. There were her favourite bands playing in the background, the volume of the stereo at its top.
Rory stood in the middle of the house, staring at everything with her mouth open and her eyes sparkling. Finn was by her side, grinning, kissing her cheek, before placing a little crown on her head. It was then that everyone standing around the casino decorations turned around and faced Rory, singing in one voice the Happy Birthday song.
Rory grabbed Finn's hand and listened with tears in her eyes.
After they were all done with the song, there was loud clapping and Lorelai came towards Rory, pulling her into a tight embrace. Rory hugged her mother.
"Everything as you imagined?"
"Everything as we imagined", Rory replied and faced her mother with a big smile.
"It's not Atlantic City but it's close."
"It's perfect!"
Lorelai smiled and led her daughter towards one of the tables.
"Let's play 21!", she sang, dragging her to the blackjack table – and the party began.
Rory spent one of the best evenings of her entire life, partying with her friends and family – she enjoyed to have Lane around who she hadn't seen for quite a while due to college work, she was even glad that her grandparents had come and even they seemed to have fun. She was happy about Paris's and Doyle's arrival and about the special appearance of more members of the Life and Death Brigade such as Colin, Robert, Stephanie, Rosemary and Juliet – and she even hugged Logan welcome when he showed up.
She was just sitting at one of the roulette tables and played Finn's muse as he threw the dices over the table, kissing her whenever he won – or whenever he lost. Sipping on her drink – there were exactly 21 kinds of drinks created by her mother and Finn, Lorelai's job had been to find funny names, Finn's to pour the right alcohol together – Rory watched Finn and applauded as he rolled his lucky number. She then looked around and watched her guests, sighing happily.
"Hey, love", she heard Finn whisper into her ear.
She turned her head and smiled at him.
"Come on, I'm bored. Let's try something else", he grinned.
"Your word, Master", she laughed and dragged him along to the hall of mirrors, each mirror transforming their reflections into weird images. Rory giggled helplessly as Finn and she made a contest of who was better in making funny faces. He won – for Rory collapsed, holding her sides, laughing loudly. He laughed with her, grabbing her waist, pulling her back in front of a mirror that made them both very slim and very tall. He looked over her shoulder and grinned widely.
"Do we look silly", Rory laughed.
"Yes, we do", Finn confirmed.
Rory tilted her head, watching how her reflection did the same. Finn put his chin on her shoulder, his face suddenly very serious. Rory noticed his stern expression and pushed her lower lip forwards, mocking him by imitating him.
"Hey, Mr. Grumpy Gills", she said in a deep voice. "When life gets you down, you know what you got to do?"
Finn watched her.
"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming", Rory sang and laughed. "Aww, I love that movie!"
"What movie?"
"What? You don't know Finding Nemo? That movie is so – SO – cute. You got to see that!"
"Hmm."
"We have to see it, yes, we'll see it together. That's going to be the first thing we do tomorrow!", Rory giggled – before she noticed how he still looked rather serious. "Finn, what's wrong?"
He let go of her and walked a little away, with Rory quickly catching up, grabbing his hand.
"Come on", she then said and dragged him outside the house.
"Rory, it's fine. Nothing's wrong. Come on, let's enjoy your party!"
"No! I can see that there's something bothering you. You tried to overplay it, but I still know that something is wrong. Tell me, Finn, you know you can tell me", she whispered, cupping his face as they stood on the porch.
"My parents are moving back to Australia", he then said.
"What?", she blurted out, staring at him.
"My parents are going back to Australia, my sisters are already there. And… they want me to go with them."
"What?", Rory cried, Finn's words aching in her heart like burning arrows. "And – and what are you going to do?"
"I don't know", he whispered, avoiding her stare.
"Stay here, you still got your grandparents here! And me", she added, barely audible.
"I know, Rory", he replied and kissed her gently, wiping her silent tears away with his thumb. "But it's my family. And my grandparents consider to move to Australia as well, they say they're sick of the American Way of Life – so I would be the only one in this tremendously huge country. I could even graduate over there. There is nothing keeping me here…"
"But what about me? I am with you!", Rory cried, her voice high-pitched.
"I know, Rory, and I am grateful you are", he said, looking down. "But I don't think we'll be together forever…"
That caused Rory's jaw to drop, her heart to miss a beat and her mind to completely loose it.
"Are you breaking up with me?", she whined, letting go of him in shock.
"No!", he replied, apparently surprised about her shock. "I would never dare to break up with you! I love you, Rory, I want to be with you!"
"Then why are you saying these things?", Rory yelled.
"Because I don't deserve you!"
"What?" Rory's voice broke as she stared at him in utter disbelief.
"You deserve someone better than me, Rory."
"Are you serious?"
"You know, these last months were the greatest of my entirely life. I had so much fun with you, I enjoyed every minute we spent together. You are an amazing girlfriend! But –"
"But?"
"But I don't think I'm the best boyfriend…"
She stared at him with her mouth open, before she leapt at him, hitting his chest with her fists, crying agitatedly. He pulled her arms around her, holding her close, keeping her from hitting him.
"I am sorry, Rory…"
"You are such a coward", he heard her whisper. "I cannot believe this! I cannot believe you!"
He let go of her and stared down at her.
Her face was red from crying and yelling, but when she spoke, there was ice streaming down Finn's back.
"All of a sudden there is a problem in the perfect world and what do you do? Bolt. Run away from it, hide it, forget it. I cannot believe this is coming from you, Finn. Who are you? I thought you were Finn, the infamous Finn, the one that makes me laugh, that holds me when I'm sad, that I can talk to whenever I want, the one that's not afraid of anything. I thought you were perfect. Apparently, you're not. Now, just now, you butt out and leave me standing here all alone. The last months you killed all the doubts I had in you before. You were the perfect boyfriend, you've become so much more than the perfect boyfriend, you are my lover, my best friend, you were my dirty little secret, you are everything I always wanted. I never met someone like you, Finn. These last months I learned so much from you. The most important thing I learned, was that I need you. I need you, Finn, do not butt out right now. Do not leave me…"
He watched her frowning, a substantial melancholy welling up behind his eyes.
"Please don't say I deserve better, Finn", she continued, her voice almost breaking. "I don't deserve better, I deserve you. I want to deserve you! I want you!"
He lowered his head, unable to reply anything.
"Don't go, stay with me. If you really want to be with me, don't go back to Australia!", she said with finality, yet suddenly afraid that he'd told her she deserved better because he really wanted to back out of this relationship, seeing his moving back to his home-country as a good chance and excuse to leave her.
But it was then that Finn raised his head and met Rory's gaze. His eyes were serious, yet she imagined to see something sparkle behind his sincerity. He took a step towards her and grabbed her hand, before he went down on one knee, looking up at her – with Rory's heart already missing a beat.
"Rory, will you marry me?"
She stared at him with her mouth open, her head turning numb immediately. "What?"
"Will you "
"Yes, I heard you, but – what?", she blurted out, her voice nothing but a whisper.
"It's the only way I can be sure that you really want me to stay."
"What? I – I, yes, I want you to stay. But marriage? Aren't we a little too young? I – I just turned 21 –"
"I know, love, I'm not that much older myself!"
"But why marriage?"
"Why not?"
"I'm too young to marry!"
"Last year, you were too young to drink Tequila either", he smirked. "Life is about taking risks, darling. About adventures. We survived our first one – why not at least try to do another?"
"Marriage as adventure? Finn, getting married is a big deal! We can't just get married because we ran out of Tequila or something."
"I'm not saying that, love – besides, I would find other alternatives if we would run out of Tequila – so what I am saying is, that we should try it. You said so yourself, you want me – and I can say I want you. I love you, Rory, and these last months, this last year, showed me that I can be a commitment-guy, you taught me and I must say, I like it. As long as you are the one I commit myself to. I want to be with you – why not for the rest of my life?"
"Because the rest of your life is an awfully long time! What if we change our minds in the middle of that?"
"Then we change our minds – knowing that the time we spent together had been the best ever."
"You make this sound so easy…", she whispered down to him.
"You made commitment sound so easy too."
"We can do this, right?"
"Yes, we can, love."
"Oh my god", Rory hissed. "We're… we are…"
"Getting married?", Finn asked, looking up at her with a smile.
Rory broke into a tearful smile. "Yes! Yes, we are!"
Finn grinned and got up, pulling her into a tight embrace. She replied his hug even tighter, crying happily into his shoulder.
"Oh my god, I have to tell Mom! And Lane and –", Rory let go of him, walking towards the front door.
"Rory?"
"Hmm?", she stopped and turned around.
"Aren't you forgetting something?", he asked with a grin.
She laughed and ran back to him, leaping at him, pulling her arms around his neck, kissing him deeply. He held her tightly, replying the kiss hungrily. She then kissed his nose chuckling, before leaning back a little, watching him, her legs wrapped around his waist.
"I'm getting married", she whispered, locking eyes with him.
"Me too", he replied, smirking.
"This is going to be fun", she grinned and kissed him again, before she jumped to her feet again, grabbing his hand and pulling him inside the house after her.
The party was still going on wildly, the blackjack and roulette tables completely packed, the free space between all the activities used as dance floor occupied with laughing couples, the hall of mirrors filled with laughter, Rory's favourite music still ringing through the rooms. As they passed Logan and Colin standing at one of the blackjack tables, they caused them to exchange knowing glances, with the girls of the Life and Death Brigade holding their mouths in order to keep their screams low.
When Rory and Finn approached Lorelai and Luke dancing between the tables, Rory's mother just had to shoot a glance at her daughter, seeing both hers and Finn's enormous smiles, before she squealed loudly, letting go of Luke and running towards her daughter, pulling her into a bone-breaking hug.
"Is it true?", she called over the music, looking from Rory to Finn, who nodded with a huge smile. "OH MY GOD!", Lorelai squealed and hugged Rory again, pulling Finn towards them.
Lane joined them, watching Rory for only a moment, before another squeal echoed through the room.
"What's going on?", Luke asked, observing the scene frowning.
Lorelai turned to him. "Rory, my Rory, is getting married – of course before me, so typical!", she laughed and smiled at her daughter.
"Married?", Luke asked, looking very surprised.
"Yes", Finn replied. "This kind lady agreed to marry me!", he said and pulled an arm around Rory, meeting her smiling gaze.
"But why?"
"Well, why not?", Lorelai said, looking at Luke challenging.
"Life is about taking risks, Luke", Rory said, kissing Finn's cheek.
"Australia can more than wait", Finn grinned and leant in closer to kiss Rory more passionately. She pulled her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss.
Clapping sounds parted them again and they saw how Logan and Colin approached them with a large cake, decorated with both 21 candles and a wedding couple on top. Rory laughed at the sight of it and grabbed Finn's hand for support.
"Congratulations, buddy", Logan said and clapped Finn's back.
"You finally did it!", Colin joined them.
"Finally?", Rory asked in surprise.
"Yes, he has been bugging me for ages, always asking himself if you would say yes. Yet I never thought he would actually do it!", Colin said, grinning at Finn.
Rory looked up at Finn with a big smirk playing around her lips. "You always keep surprising me", she whispered.
"That's another part of my charm, love", he grinned.
While everyone gathered around them, armed with a glass of pink champagne, Rory looked into Finn's eyes, squeezing his hand slightly.
"I can't believe I'm marrying my dirty little secret!"
"That's just how it goes, darling", Finn replied, winking at her.
The End
A/N: Oh my god, it's done - and I'm smiling and crying at the same time. I finished this story, it's unbelievable... less than two weeks ago I started it and now, it's over. Done. Finished.
The major thank you goes to everyone who read and reviewed this fanfic, I love you guys, you were the ones that kept me writing, who I wanted to please and entertain. I hope you had a wonderful time reading this - I definitely had writing it! THANK YOU again!
So, the last chapter, what do you think? It took me a while longer because I really thought hard about how I wanted it to end... I really wanted to end it and not made it possible to write six or 100 other parts of it. It ended how it ended with this major BANG and guess what, there'll be a sequel, I got many ideas and there'll be more Rory and Finn for everyone who likes them! I promise!
Right now, I'm taking a little break - leaving you with this last chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.
Thank you everyone. Writing this was a wonderful thing to do!
Disclaimer: GG belong to ASP, titles to AAR, Finding Nemo to Andrew Stanton, Final Destination to Jeffrey Reddick.