Force Major

2

Chapter 2

"Oh, crikey! Rory - is that really you?" Finn exclaimed, not believing his eyes as he pushed his sunglasses, which by the way seemed utterly unnecessary in this morning's weather, to the top of his head, and stepped close to hug her.

Finn was known for endearing but almost smothering bear-like hugs, and that even despite the fact that his body was very un-bear-like. Finn rather had the body of a skinny surfer, which was actually kind of admirable in his age. Rory could definitely see what had caught her sister's eye in him, seeing him not look his age one bit. Finn's hugs usually came with comments that could easily be interpreted as him hitting on you, or knowing him - hitting on anything really, but Rory was glad to see that in this case he held off.

"Flesh and bone," Rory said. She feltsheer joy to see her old friend again, and to feel his truly unconditional platonic love he'd just wrapped her in, making her physically remember him. An avalanche of everything else that came with him washed over Rory, however, causing her to struggle to say much else. What were the odds?

"I gather you two know each other from somewhere?" Gigi inquired, a hint of jealousy shining through her tone. "She's not...?" she began to ask, causing Rory and Finn to respond to that instantly, guessing where she was going with this.

"Oh, no, no, no...," they said, almost in perfect unison, causing both of them to laugh. It was certainly not for the lack of trying on Finn's part.

"O-kay," Gigi reflected, sounding puzzled

"Yale," Rory managed to spill.

"Yeah, we know each other from Yale," Finn clarified, casting a look towards Rory, being unsure how much she wanted people around her to know about the person who'd been their connection.

"Oh, right. Well, good, I guess. Then at least you know what a great guy he is," Gigi chimed, wrapping her arms around Finn's upper arm.

Finn smiled, almost apologetically.

"Yeah, that he is. A true knight in shining armor," Rory said, a hint of sarcasm hidden from Gigi but not Finn.

"Believe me, I've mended my ways and become an upstanding member of the community," Finn said, unable to hold back his chuckle. He might've grown up, at least he looked it, but inside he was still the same old playful Finn. And at this moment it was not so much the age difference, but search for proof how Finn had indeed transformed from the former playboy he'd once been to someone worthy of her sister.

"Oh, yeah right," Gigi teased, clearly having seen some other side of him as well.

Rory chuckled along, casually, not really knowing what to think of this whole thing. At least she knew Gigi wasn't planning on marrying some creep. There was one question, however, that rose to the forefront of her mind, but this she was both reluctant and scared to ask. She worried about what others might think of her if she did ask, the fact that she'd even been in contact with Logan in the past decade, not being public knowledge to most. On top of that Rory was afraid to know what it would tell her about herself if Logan was the first thing to be on her mind when faced with the possibility of one of his best friends becoming a part of her family through marriage. She'd thought she'd left Logan behind her, even just the mere thought of him.

Soon Christopher arrived, allowing Rory to quietly mull over this discovery. Her father's interactions with Finn and Gigi went largely unnoticed for her, her mind already being elsewhere, while keeping a steady, polite, smile on her face.

"Dad, did you know Rory and Finn know each other from Yale?" were Gigi's words that first reached her as they were making their way across the departure hall towards the car that apparently stood waiting.