Missing Pieces

Chapter 25: Closing the Door

Finn and Rory were in her kitchen Monday night cooking dinner together.  Emma had warmed back up to Finn a bit, although she still wasn't her bubbly self.  Rory dried her hands off and went over to check her phone that had just beeped on the counter.  She looked at the text message and threw her phone back down angrily.

"Everything okay there, love?" Finn asked.

"It's Jess," Rory grumbled.

"Oh?  What does he want?"

"He says he wants to apologize to Emma and I.  I don't want to let him back in, Finn.  I can't let him hurt my baby girl any more than he already has," Rory whispered.

"Jess asked me to meet him yesterday after he talked to Luke.  Luke gave me his phone number.  He wanted to apologize to me.  He knows he screwed up, and he just wants to apologize to you two.  He doesn't expect to be part of your life again," Finn admitted quietly.

"Jess Mariano apologized?"

"He did.  I think you should just let him make his amends, Ror, and then you can move on.  I think it's important for Emma," encouraged Finn.

"Will you stay here when he comes over?"

"Of course, love," Finn replied tenderly as he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her.  Rory stilled in his embrace for a minute and then picked her phone back up and fired off a quick reply to Jess before returning to dinner prep with Finn.  She glanced at her phone as it alerted again and then began setting the table.

"He'll be here after we eat," she told Finn quietly.

"I'll be right here with you, kitten.  We'll move on from this together," Finn reassured her.

"Yeah," Rory replied uncertainly.

Finn frowned and tipped her chin up so that her eyes met his.

"Hey, it was a sucky thing, but something good came of it, no?  I mean, we have some clarity about where we're headed now, so it wasn't all bad," he said with a small smile.

"You're right, not all bad," Rory replied with a small grin.  "I must admit, I never thought I'd see Finn Morgan propose," she teased.

"And I never thought I'd propose and get turned down," Finn joked back.

"Hey, it wasn't a no!  It was a not-right-now," Rory defended as she laughed at the mock pout on Finn's face.

"I may never recover," he joked dramatically.

Rory giggled at him and wrapped her arms around him, leaning up on her tiptoes to kiss him thoroughly.  She giggled at the dazed look on Finn's face as she pulled away.

"Recovering now?" she whispered.

"I think I may survive," Finn replied with a grin.

"Good, because I really love you."

"Ah, there it is.  I think those three words may bring about a full recovery," Finn smirked.  He kissed her tenderly and whispered back.  "I love you too."

"Thank you," Rory said quietly.

"For what, kitten?"

"For knowing how to help make me feel better."

"It's my pleasure, Ror," Finn replied with a huge smile.

"Dinner's ready, so I'm going to go get Emma so we can eat."

"Sounds good.  I'll put dinner on the table."

Rory returned a couple of minutes later and they all sat down at the table for dinner.  Rory had come to really look forward to their "family" dinners at the table together.  It was nice having Finn there with them.  They'd almost finished their meal and Rory knew she needed to prep Emma a bit for Jess's visit.